Gu Zhiya also showed Teacher Feng the related information about He Zilu.
“Their playlists are very similar. Could you help us judge whether there’s anything wrong with these songs?”
After listening to both playlists, Teacher Feng frowned and said, “These songs all talk about darkness. Even if the lyrics aren’t clear, the background sounds include screeches and effects similar to horror films. When someone is heavily immersed in delusions, it’s very easy to be influenced by such music. I can’t say these songs caused them to want to jump off a building, but they definitely have an impact—a very serious one.”
None of these songs are from official music websites.
Most have subtle alterations made on the original works.
It’s obvious that whoever produces these dark songs intends to use popular music to destroy the victims’ willpower, making them unknowingly drown in their fantasies.
Ma Feibo was so addicted to these songs that he couldn’t pull himself away.
Even after being brought into the interrogation room, he still wanted his own earphones.
When Gu Zhiya asked who recommended the playlist to her, she sneered at him.
“Uncle, what are you talking about? These were all recommended by netizens. What’s wrong with that? I’m not sick, and I’m not crazy. Why are you arresting me?”
“Why did you carve the glass? Who taught you to do that?”
“I just thought it was fun while skipping online classes, so I tried it. So what? Is it illegal? That glass belongs to my family. Even if I fall from the building, it’s none of your business.”
Ma Feibo had a pretty face but a fierce glare, as if everyone owed her eight million.
Gu Zhiya asked Teacher Feng to guide her into telling the truth.
She was very shrewd; the moment she realized Teacher Feng was a psychologist, she fell silent.
Liu Jingjia noticed Yu Song sitting quietly, lost in thought, and said to Gu Zhiya, “Team Leader Gu, maybe we should let Xiao Yu have a try. She’s three grades above Ma Feibo but basically the same age.”
Gu Zhiya glanced at Yu Song’s hair.
“Not a bad idea. If your hair were still green, Master Mu would probably like you even more.”
Ma Feibo’s hair was dyed only on the sides of her temples—commonly called “squid whiskers”—and dyed pink, very distinctive.
Yu Song didn’t really think she would have much in common with Ma Feibo, but when she thought of the original owner’s gloomy personality and the green hair, she found it hard to argue with Gu Zhiya.
Still, she was eager to talk with Ma Feibo’s mother, and since Gu Zhiya was willing to let her into the interrogation room, she naturally wouldn’t miss the chance.
Teacher Feng was a bit surprised. “Team Leader Gu, I didn’t expect you to trust this young girl so much.”
Gu Zhiya smiled wryly.
“There are many suspicious points about her, but most clues revolve around her. Actually, I want you to question her about her family situation—it’s very complicated, and so is she. I just can’t figure her out.”
Teacher Feng laughed.
“People all have many sides. Even the simplest person can’t be seen through at a glance. Team Leader Gu, even if you’re an experienced criminal investigator who can spot small tricks by criminals, you can’t say you’ve seen through them. I myself specialize in criminal psychology and still wouldn’t dare say that.”
Gu Zhiya shrugged helplessly.
“You’re right. Maybe I just didn’t choose the right words. I just know she’s hiding something. How to put it… she doesn’t seem like a child raised in that kind of family. She has a strong sense of justice, is very sharp, and knows she’s being watched—she will decisively call the police for help. But she also seems to not really trust us. How to say it… she seems to be using us. Anyway, I’ll ask you to talk with her soon and help us judge.”
“Judge what? Whether she’s a good person or a bad person? Or whether she’s using you? I think even if she’s using you, that’s not wrong. Finding the truth is the police’s duty after all.”
Gu Zhiya laughed. “Feng Xinshi, you seem to really like her.”
“I wouldn’t say like, but she’s definitely not a bad person.”
Hearing that, Gu Zhiya breathed a big sigh of relief, but at the same time, an inexplicable guilt welled up in his heart.
He shouldn’t have doubted Yu Song, but she was too abnormal—abnormal enough to make him feel like she was playing a game with them, and was eager to wrap it up.
Yu Song had no idea that not only Ji Jiang but also Gu Zhiya suspected her.
Once inside the interrogation room, she impatiently stared at Ma Feibo.
“Officer Gu arrested you just to scare you. Don’t be ungrateful.”
Ma Feibo exploded immediately. “You’re the ungrateful one! I don’t need him to save me. I’m fine at home dancing. You guys drag my whole family here—isn’t that crazy?”
Yu Song couldn’t help but think of He Zilu, who also said she was fine dancing at home.
“Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t care whether you’ll jump or not. I’m asking about your dad and mom.”
Yu Song decided to take another approach.
“Ma Feibo, I’ve seen people like you a lot. When your dad hit your mom, you hid in your room. At first, you might have felt pain and guilt, maybe even shed a few tears. But after getting used to it, you’d start to look down on your mom, maybe even hate her, and join your dad in abusing her.”
Ma Feibo was stunned, seemingly not expecting Yu Song to ask about her father abusing her mother.
“What can I do? I’m just a kid.”
“Yeah, when you were little, you didn’t dare and couldn’t do anything. I don’t blame you. But now that you’re grown up, why are you siding with your dad too?”
Ma Feibo angrily said, “Who said that? When have I ever sided with him? I never hit my mom, just didn’t listen to her. Who told her to act cheap? If a man treats you badly, just divorce him. She says she won’t divorce because of me. When my dad hits her, she comes crying to me. What can I do?”
Yu Song said coldly, “If you can’t do anything, you can just leave. You can go study somewhere else, instead of bullying your mom with your dad.”
“I don’t!” Ma Feibo shouted, but her tone wasn’t very firm. “Why would I bully her?”
“Are those cuts on your mom’s arms from you? With a knife or something?”
Ma Feibo jumped in fright. “How do you know? Did my mom tell you? She said she wouldn’t tell anyone. She lied to me!”
She got angrier and angrier. “Where’s my mom? I want to find her and ask clearly. How can she say one thing and do another?”
Actually, Yu Song was only probing.
Usually, abusers use the same method on one person.
There are exceptions, sometimes different methods are used like experiments, but it’s rare to have two completely different yet equally intensive injuries.
Just now, when Ma Feibo angrily raised her hand, Yu Song saw the scars on her wrist and immediately guessed.
So she started bluffing Ma Feibo.
Unexpectedly, the girl was so fragile that she actually admitted it.
“Why did you use a knife to cut your mom’s arm? Did she find out you wanted to kill yourself?”
Ma Feibo sneered, “She’s a waste. I told her to divorce, but she wouldn’t, saying it’s for me. Fine, if she treats me so well, then I’ll repay her. She willingly let me cut her. I saw my dad burn her with a cigarette, and she said she wasn’t afraid of pain. So I wanted to see if she really didn’t feel it.”
Yu Song listened in speechless disbelief.
What kind of family was this?
Was Ma Feibo’s mother a masochist?
Or had she been completely controlled mentally and emotionally by Ma Minghao?
Turned into a walking puppet?
“Go on. Why do you have knife scars on your wrists too?”
“I saw her say it didn’t hurt, so I wanted to try it myself. It didn’t hurt. Hah, my mom’s a fool. She said it was our secret and never to tell anyone. Guess what? She told you herself.”
Ma Feibo was still fuming. Yu Song frowned, feeling no sympathy for her. But a child can’t choose her family; being twisted like this wasn’t her fault.
“You said you hate your dad the most because he hits your mom. Does he hit you too?”
“He doesn’t use his hands to hit me, but his eyes. Sometimes when he looks at me, it’s like I’m some dirty thing, the biggest idiot in the world—especially when he sees my grades. Then he hits my mom, calling her a fool who gave birth to an idiot like me.”
Ma Feibo laughed as she spoke. “Isn’t the dumbest one him? If he thinks my mom’s so stupid, why did he marry her and have me? Couldn’t he find someone else?”
“Good question. Why don’t you ask your dad?”
“I did. Then he beat my mom again, saying she can’t control me and even called my class teacher to ask for help improving my grades. You see, my dad is the biggest fool in the world.”
Ma Feibo got more excited as she spoke and even repeated what Ma Minghao said when beating his wife.
Apparently, whenever Ma Minghao had problems outside, he would come home to vent.
Since he had many leaders at the Urban Construction Bureau, he had to keep a low profile in front of them. But at home, he acted like an emperor, bossing his wife around, hitting her if she didn’t obey, and even burning her with cigarette butts.
Yu Song sighed. “So you turned to the internet for comfort? Did you find any net friends who could cheer you up?”
Ma Feibo stared at her in surprise. “You know that? No, I never told my mom. How did you find out?”
Yu Song naturally guessed.
Ma Feibo was nothing like He Zilu, who was introverted at school and had no friends.
Everyone needs to socialize—if not in reality, then online.
So she must have important net friends. And the Shenxidaoshi probably influenced her through the internet.
“I have my own channels. Didn’t you already know about He Zilu? More than one girl was brainwashed and cut glass to jump. Ma Feibo, what story are you fantasizing about? Do you think you’ve become Spider-Man? Or that you can turn into a bird and fly up?”
Ma Feibo’s eyes glimmered for a moment and she snorted.
“That’s our secret. No way I’m telling you.”
“Secret? Ma Feibo, aren’t you afraid the gentle handsome guy online might actually be a big thug at the other end of the line?”
Ma Feibo proudly shook her head. “We video chatted.”
Yu Song frowned. “You don’t know how realistic AI Face Swap is? Even if you video chatted, you can’t take it seriously. How about we help you find him and have him meet you face to face?”
Ma Feibo’s eyes lit up immediately. “Really?”
“Of course!”
“Great!”
Yu Song didn’t expect her to agree so easily.
“Where did you video chat with him? What software?”
“Space-Time Software. He’s a person from another Parallel Universe. Can you really find him?”
Yu Song was stunned but quickly caught on.
This was Ma Feibo’s fantasy world.
Did she really think smashing that piece of glass would let her meet a net friend from another universe?
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