Chapter 123: Huang Xiaotao Attacked

I asked Huang Xiaotao if there was anything suspicious about Teacher Li's background.

She said Li's past was spotless. He grew up in Inner Mongolia with his parents, who died in an accident when he was young. After that, he and his older brother Li Wenhai—ten years his senior—leaned on each other. Li Wenhai worked and studied at the same time to support his little sister, even paying for Li's university tuition. Naturally, the siblings were very close.

Li Wenhai was accomplished in psychology, especially hypnosis. Besides being a university professor, he was also a seasoned psychotherapist. To everyone else, he appeared to be a humble and refined scholar. But under the guise of therapy, he exploited hypnosis to seduce many beautiful female patients.

One day, his crimes came to light. A colleague threatened to expose him. In response, Li Wenhai hypnotized the colleague by strangling him and ordered him to jump off a building.

That was his first murder. He escaped legal punishment, and from then on, his dark nature was fully unleashed.

He no longer settled for mere manipulation. Using his skills, he killed anyone who displeased him. Once, a delivery man accidentally spilled soup on his order. Li Wenhai hypnotized him to walk into traffic and get hit by a car. Sometimes, for amusement, he would stalk a woman until they were alone, hypnotize her, sleep with her, and then command her to commit suicide.

In six months, Li Wenhai killed over a dozen people. All deaths appeared as accidents or suicides, but each victim had contact with him before dying. The police naturally suspected him. The thrill of wielding absolute control transformed him into a demon.

When Huang Xiaotao first met him, despite his polite smile, she felt a prickling sense of danger. The special task force spent a month playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with Li Wenhai before finally arresting him.

I asked, "How did you convict him?"

"Video evidence," Huang Xiaotao said. "I personally acted as bait, letting him hypnotize me while we recorded everything." She shuddered at the memory. "But it left me with severe psychological trauma. It took a long time and therapy to recover."

...

...

In the following days, no new breakthroughs emerged. All necessary questions had been asked. Ye Shiwen was about to be transferred to the detention center to await trial. I felt deeply guilty for being unable to help him more and decided to accompany Wang Dali to see him off.

Ye Shiwen cried the whole time he was escorted out of the station. Huang Xiaotao patted his shoulder: "Don't be sad. At the detention center, I'll make sure they treat you well. You won't suffer."

The transport van arrived. Besides Ye Shiwen, several other prisoners were to be sent to the detention center. Just before getting on, Ye suddenly dropped to his knees, shocking us all. He was kneeling facing the school and shouted, "Yanyan, I won't let you go to the underworld alone. I will come to be with you!"

Both Wang Dali and I were moved. Detention staff urged him on, but Huang Xiaotao called out, "Wait!"

Ye kowtowed three times, then slowly stood up. Suddenly, a crisp snapping sound echoed from somewhere. Ye's eyes changed instantly. He grabbed Huang Xiaotao's throat, and they both fell to the ground.

"Ye Shiwen! What are you doing?" I shouted in alarm.

Huang Xiaotao's eyes rolled back as he strangled her. Several officers rushed over, struggling to pry Ye's hands off her. Despite being a frail student, even five of us couldn't break his grip.

Huang Xiaotao fought fiercely, scratching bloody marks on his arms. Ye's eyes were empty and cold as he squeezed tighter. I could almost hear her neck creaking like it might snap any second.

"Stop!"

I kicked Ye's ribs twice, breaking a couple of them, but he refused to release her.

One officer jabbed Ye with a stun baton, delivering tens of thousands of volts for five long seconds. Ye convulsed violently, finally loosening his grip, collapsing and foaming at the mouth.

Huang Xiaotao gasped deeply, struggled to sit up, then began coughing violently and vomited. Two clear palm prints marked her neck.

Everyone was stunned, unsure what had just happened. I asked, "Did you all hear that snapping sound?"

"Yes!" they answered.

"Ye Shiwen was implanted with a hypnotic trigger. That snap was the kill command." I took a deep breath.

The intended victim was obviously Huang Xiaotao. Suddenly, I understood Teacher Li's plan — he planted a ticking time bomb right beside her, ready to be triggered! Under hypnosis, even a weak man could become a dangerous force. Without the stun baton, Huang Xiaotao might have died then and there.

After coughing for several minutes, Huang Xiaotao finally caught her breath, tears shining at the corners of her eyes. I asked if she was alright.

She waved me off: "I'm fine. Li must still be nearby. We need to find her quickly!"

She stood up, reaching for her gun — only to find her holster empty. She urgently asked if anyone had seen it. Losing a service weapon carried criminal consequences.

Everyone searched frantically, but Wang Dali stood perfectly still. Suddenly, I realized something was off. Before I could react, Wang raised a dark handgun and fired at Huang Xiaotao!

I shoved her aside just in time. A fellow officer behind her was hit and fell. Wang didn't hesitate and kept shooting at Huang.

I grit my teeth and charged forward, taking a bullet in my shoulder. It felt like being hit by a heavy punch. I tackled Wang to the ground, pushing his hands away from his gun as he fired several shots into the air, deafening me.

The other officers swarmed and subdued Wang, pinning him down. Suddenly, he muttered in a flat, mechanical tone, "Huang Xiaotao, your time has come!"

His expression was emotionless, as if repeating a recorded phrase implanted by Teacher Li.

Huang checked my wound. I'd been shot in the shoulder, but the officer who was accidentally hit had died. His colleagues were furious but restrained themselves from attacking Wang.

With everything that happened, Ye Shiwen couldn't be sent to detention. Huang ordered, "Take both of them back to the station. Keep them under separate, constant watch for 24 hours!"

Then she drove me to the hospital. The doctor gave me anesthesia and removed the bullet, tossing the bloody piece onto a metal tray. I'd only seen this in movies before — now it was real, and I felt dizzy just watching.

After dressing the wound, I saw Huang sitting on a bench in the hallway, pale and worried. "I called Wang Yuanchao just now. No answer…"

I froze. Wang Yuanchao had been monitoring Teacher Li at school. If Wang or Ye were hypnotized, the consequences would be unimaginable.

I comforted her, "Wang Yuanchao has a strong will. He won't be hypnotized easily. By the way, what was that snapping sound just now?"

"That was Wang Dali's phone ringtone — a trick Li pulled beforehand. But she should be close. I've sent people to her dorm to detain her."

Huang looked up at me suddenly. "Song Yang, can you stay with me tonight?"

I nodded firmly. "I'll protect you no matter what."

She forced a bitter smile. "Thank you."