Chapter 5: The Flower Castle of the Confession Letter (1)

In the office of the police hall, Captain Wang Luoyong of the Criminal Investigation Team spread out a file and placed it before Wen Lanjing.

Wen Lanjing, the mother of Mo Jiang’s current body, listened to Wang Luoyong’s account, her hand silently clenching into a fist, so tight that her knuckles turned white.

“My daughter Qingqing, was she killed because of him?”

Mo Jiang stood to the side, gazing at the photograph attached to the file—a middle-aged man with an air of scholarly elegance, gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, hair neatly combed. It was easy to see that he was someone meticulous.

Yet, despite the impression that this man might be a ‘distinguished professor at some university,’ the police notes described him as the international con artist Jeros, the leader of a cult. His crimes included founding a fraudulent cult, prophesying the end of the world, compelling members to transfer their money to him, and then persuading them to commit suicide as a sacrifice to an evil god, in exchange for the promise of eternal life for their souls.

“Yes, madam. Through our investigation and surveillance, we discovered that before the incident, Miss Mo transferred fifty thousand gold yuan. After a series of transactions, the money ended up in his bank account.”

“Fifty thousand gold yuan… That’s not much. Qingqing should have had more than that in her account,” Wen Lanjing remarked, somewhat puzzled.

Mo Jiang’s eyebrow twitched at this. The gold yuan in this world was equivalent to the renminbi from his previous life. For a fifteen-year-old girl to have at least a hundred thousand gold yuan in her bank account—it made him silently sigh at the importance of being born into the right family.

“Yes. We also found chat logs between Miss Mo and Jeros. Jeros repeatedly hinted, sometimes outright stated, that Miss Mo should transfer more money to prove her sincerity. However, Miss Mo only made this single transfer, which was for purchasing Jeros’s cult literature and, as he confessed, a sculpture said to be an artifact from an ancient supernatural civilization. The bulk of the fifty thousand gold yuan was used to buy this sculpture.” Wang Luoyong did not conceal any information regarding the supernatural; he was well aware that these provincial magnates understood more about such matters than he did.

After all, his own rank wasn’t particularly high—he had only learned of the supernatural’s existence after signing a confidentiality agreement.

“And the sculpture?” Wen Lanjing inquired.

“It’s already been smashed. We followed clues from notes Miss Mo left behind and found the broken pieces of the monster sculpture.” Wang Luoyong pointed to his computer, and an image flashed on the screen—a pile of porcelain fragments resting inside an ornate box.

“This was taken when we discovered it.”

“That box was bought by Qingqing. I thought she’d use it for jewelry or trinkets, but never imagined…” Wen Lanjing’s voice caught with emotion. “What sentence will Jeros receive?”

“Although we haven’t determined exactly how he caused Miss Mo’s death, and he refuses to admit any involvement, his crimes are clear. He will be sentenced to death in accordance with the law, and the execution will be carried out immediately. He will not be extradited; even his citizenship in the United States won’t help him this time.” Wang Luoyong explained. Jeros had caused the death of the Mo family’s eldest daughter; not only the Mo family, but several others as well had joined forces to ensure severe punishment, to serve as a warning to others.

Wen Lanjing nodded, her expression finally softening. She then turned to Mo Jiang and said, “A Jiang, you haven’t been to school for days because of Qingqing… Why don’t you go today? Spend some time with Xiaozhou.”

Su Nanzhou was the name of his fiancée.

Such an exquisite name.

And she was an exquisite person.

Unfortunately, her fiancé was a pervert.

Mo Jiang naturally nodded. In his memory, Mo Jiang had always obeyed his mother in all things except those related to Mo Qingqing. After all, his bank account was entirely controlled by Wen Lanjing.

But he didn’t go straight to school as his mother wished. Instead, he found the Mo family’s housekeeper, Mrs. Zhou Fangqing—a woman nearing fifty, who had served the family for many years and held a distinguished academic record with a senior professor’s certificate.

“Aunt Zhou, could you help me retrieve the sculpture that Qingqing bought?”

“Of course, A Jiang.” Zhou Fangqing nodded, not at all surprised by the request.

But Mo Jiang’s next request did surprise her.

“And also, could you track down the author of a certain novel for me? I only know one chapter—it’s about a world as small as a town ruled by a little witch. The author got into trouble and the novel was abandoned. Oh, by the way, by ‘abandoned’ I mean…”

“I spend time online in my free hours. I may be older, but I read novels too, so I understand what you mean. Don’t worry, A Jiang, I’ll have an answer for you by tonight.”

“Thank you, Aunt Zhou.”

With that, Mo Jiang left at ease. Zhou Fangqing informed Wen Lanjing, and soon retrieved the broken pieces of Mo Qingqing’s sculpture for the family, since the matter was related to the supernatural but the item had belonged to the Mo family to begin with.

Then she set out to find the author Mo Jiang mentioned. She thought it would be easy, but an hour later she wore a troubled expression, frowning and muttering to herself, “Good grief, why are there so many abandoned novels?”

Feng Zhongyuan High School was a private institution that had raised billions in funding and spared no expense each year to recruit top students from all over, offering free tuition, scholarships, and academic bonuses.

With a strong faculty, the school retained its reputation as the city’s third-ranked high school, even though its halls were filled with the sons and daughters of the wealthy and powerful, whose behavior often left much to be desired.

This was where Mo Jiang attended classes—specifically in the lowest-ranked section of Feng Zhongyuan High School.

Naturally, this was the gathering place for the second-generation heirs of He Man Province.

In other words: a class full of underachievers.

As for Mo Qingqing, she hadn’t been in Mo Jiang’s class, though she too was considered an underachiever—simply because she was younger and in a different grade.

Mo Jiang entered his classroom, surveying the chaotic crowd of “classmates” and a teacher who was openly napping at the podium, and was at a loss for words.

When class ended, someone came looking for him.

It was Su Nanzhou.

This made Mo Jiang uncomfortable; the person he least wanted to face right now was his predecessor’s fiancée.

“Brother Mo, are you alright?” The beautiful young woman in a pink dress sat beside Mo Jiang, her first words filled with concern.

“I… I’m alright,” Mo Jiang replied after a moment’s thought.

“If you’re feeling down, you can always talk to me,” Su Nanzhou said. Perhaps because she was sitting so close, her face suddenly flushed, and she grew flustered, making up an excuse to leave.

Mo Jiang let out a breath of relief. Then his gaze caught sight of a book.

A black-covered book, cradled in the arms of a bespectacled girl.

“A Confession Book?” Mo Jiang’s expression darkened as he approached. This was one of the cult texts sold by Jeros.