A Short Story Collection with Non-Human Protagonists - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: The Fourth Head

Even though Zheng Xinyan was a brave human, she was still a human… one had to be gentle enough with her when kissing.

Tata used His own lips to envelop her lower lip, gently, so gently sucking, like a sponge absorbing water, or a loach swallowing algae. Oh, the detective’s lips were as soft as a freshly set egg tart, as sweet as bread soaked in sweetened milk; they felt like they would turn into sugar water the moment they were touched.

He saw spring snow, sunsets, and shooting stars.

The upper lip was a different flavor altogether—thinner, more resilient, suited for a faster-paced grinding, with a texture like wild mushrooms in a forest after rain.

Tata opened His eyes to peek at the woman’s reaction. Zheng Xinyan’s eyes were closed, but her eyelashes fluttered every time He sucked. It was absolutely adorable. Is there anything more delightful than making a strong person show a vulnerable expression?

The woman’s breath, carrying her body heat, fell between His upper lip and the tip of His nose, gradually growing hot without Him realizing it. Would they turn into flames and burn together?

Tata’s fingers lightly caressed the muscle groups on the woman’s neck that He had long coveted. The mylohyoid, the sternohyoid, the sternocleidomastoid… a vivid, vigorous pulse throbbed passionately beneath His fingertips. That particles found everywhere on Earth could form such an exquisite and fascinating physiological structure was one of the few commendable things about humanity.

Tata was becoming slightly addicted to this. Kissing humans seemed to be a very fine activity. Certain boundaries were becoming loose. If kissing an ant could make a human happy, then perhaps, a human could occasionally kiss an ant. Tata decided that from this day forward, He could kiss humans. And He could do it often—very often!

“Finished kissing?” Zheng Xinyan asked. Her tone was icy, but a very, very faint blush hovered on her cheeks.

Tata’s eyebrows twitched in annoyance. What kind of reaction was this? A mere human remained unmoved by His kissing skills? And she clearly looked like she was enjoying it just now…

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

While Tata was still fuming, the detective’s phone vibrated in her pocket. Zheng Xinyan answered; Anan’s voice was hurried: “The president of the University of Technology is dead. His head was cut off and hung on the school flagpole.”

…Prasert Thongsawat was in custody, but the “Bangkok Headless Case” was continuing. Clearly, someone hadn’t told the truth. Not the whole truth.

Zheng Xinyan turned her head, glaring coldly at Tata. Tata spread His hands, wearing an innocent expression. “Prasert Thongsawat did indeed kill the Member of Parliament, but I never said there was only one killer.”

This was, after all, a very complex case.

Before the detective’s fist could land on His belly, Tata transformed into black mist and hid in the shadow of Zheng Xinyan’s chest. Oh, what a warm shadow. Through the soft skin, Tata could feel every heartbeat of the detective. The woman’s body heat enveloped Him like a sun-drenched meadow in the evening, like an ocean without storms. Like the ancient and majestic canyon where humanity was born.

Tata was perfectly willing to temporarily set aside His pride and dignity to stay here a little longer… Unfortunately, this ill-tempered detective ran back to the car, plucked Him out from the edge of her bra, and stuffed Him into the box without a hint of gentleness.

Zheng Xinyan drove to the University of Technology. Anan had arrived before her and was already taking a statement from the cleaning lady who found the body. The lady was pale with fright, her hands pressed together in prayer, chanting incessantly. “Namo Tassa Bhagavato… As soon as I turned on the light, I saw the president sitting there…”

Zheng Xinyan nodded to Anan and walked into the conference room where the body was discovered. The scene was identical to the previous three murders. Neat, cruel, like a meticulously prepared sacrificial ritual. The killers weren’t the same person, yet the methods were so similar…

Zheng Xinyan sat at the other end of the conference table, facing the headless male corpse, lost in thought.

What should I ask for this time… Inside the briefcase at her feet, Tata was already impatiently plotting. One kiss, or a kiss, or two… Oh, that would be a massive profit.

But Zheng Xinyan stayed at the university for half the day and then sat in front of the Major Crimes Unit computer for the other half, showing no intention of opening the box. Tata waited, feeling distracted and irritable.

This clever woman had made a discovery on her own. The next morning, she interrogated the kway teow shop owner, Prasert, placing the president’s photo in front of him.

“Do you know this person?” Zheng Xinyan asked.

The man in the prison uniform raised a hand to scratch his ear, asking the detective back, “Why ask me that?”

“I checked. You moved to Bangkok three years ago; before that, you were running a kway teow shop on Chang Klan Road in Chiang Mai. And this man…” Zheng Xinyan pointed to the fresh corpse in the photo, stating the result of her all-night investigation. “A few years ago, he lived on that same street.”

“Hahahaha…” The man burst into laughter. Tears even came to his eyes, as if he had been anticipating this murder for a long time. “When Chika dons the garland woven of nine heads, all sins shall be judged, and justice will finally descend completely.”

After reciting this prayer-like sentence, Prasert Thongsawat refused to speak again.

Oh, Chika… Tata didn’t like that name. He really wished Zheng Xinyan would stay away from this case. But it didn’t matter; He would protect His own things. He was very good at that.

From the detective’s perspective, the case was becoming increasingly blurred. Prasert had killed a victim he had no connection to, while another person he might have known died in the exact same way. Finally, Zheng Xinyan took Him to that stinking morgue once again. The poor university president was now lying next to the MP; the two beheaded ghosts made for good company.

“Tell me, who is the killer?” the detective said to Tata.

Tata was tired of waiting. He decided to open with a bold price. “I want three kisses.” Tata raised three tentacles.

“No,” the detective replied flatly, leaning against a freezer.

“Then… two.” Tata retracted one tentacle, making a small concession.

“No.” Her attitude remained resolute.

“Then… one…” Oh, this was Tata’s bottom line. Only one tentacle remained in the air, waving lonelily.

“No.” The detective was truly stubborn.

Tata squatted on the briefcase, swallowing His pride. He had never suffered such a grievance. “…Then what do you want?” He asked.

Zheng Xinyan’s tone softened slightly. “I want to catch every killer involved in these cases… all the killers combined, in exchange for one kiss.”

Very, very bad. Tata could only bite His tentacle-whiskers and swallow them. “…Deal.”

Tata touched the president’s inelastic skin and spoke a name. “Thanyalin Kasatong. The one who played the female general in The Secret History of Siam.”

A week later, the famous actress was arrested at her villa in the suburbs of Bangkok. Zheng Xinyan had reviewed the surveillance footage from dozens of blocks and finally found a convenience store camera that captured a clear image of Thanyalin taking a taxi to the University of Technology. The knife used to sever the president’s head was buried in her garden, the blood not even washed off.

The actress said her motive for killing the president was because he had once touched her buttocks at a banquet. But Zheng Xinyan quickly found that the president hadn’t even attended the banquet she mentioned. It was identical to the absurd reason given by Prasert Thongsawat. Meanwhile, the actress and the shop owner both insisted they didn’t know each other despite committing the same crime.

Regardless, the detective had caught another killer. As for the previously victimized hospital director and the judge, Zheng Xinyan had already submitted an application to the court, hoping to get family permission to re-examine their ashes, creating an opportunity for Tata to touch the deceased (ashes version).

Finally, after working several days in a row, the detective picked up the briefcase, preparing to go home and get a good night’s sleep.

“Hey, Shay.” Her partner, Anan, happened to walk into the office and called out to her. “Do you have a moment? There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

They found a spot under the shade of a tree on the second-floor terrace.

“What is it?” Zheng Xinyan asked.

Anan looked at her, eyes behind the lenses filled with complex emotions. “…How did you know this time that Thanyalin Kasatong was the one who killed the president?”

“I checked the surveillance.” Zheng Xinyan had said this to every colleague.

But Anan was clearly not so easily fooled. “Hundreds of people visited the university in that footage, but you only dug up her garden.”

“I have a special informant. I know that, strictly speaking, the procedure wasn’t formal enough,” Zheng Xinyan said candidly. “But otherwise, we would never have caught the killer.”

“But… I’m worried about your safety.” Anan took a small step forward, standing very close to Zheng Xinyan. Too close. She actually reached out a hand to gently lift a stray hair from Zheng Xinyan’s temple and tuck it behind her ear. “There will always be a way to solve cases. Shay, promise me you won’t do anything dangerous, okay?” she said with feigned tenderness.

Oh, get your filthy hand away!

Tata was filled with rage; He was fuming, He was incandescent. He really wanted to burst out of the box right now and teach this bastard some basic etiquette for talking to a colleague.

Zheng Xinyan took a step back, creating distance from Anan, and gave a polite nod. “I understand. Thank you.”

Fine, that reaction was barely a passing grade.

All the way home, Tata was huffing and puffing, crashing around inside the box. As soon as Zheng Xinyan closed the front door, the girl bounded out of the briefcase and lunged toward her—only to be caught by the arm by Zheng Xinyan.

Oh, not good. Tata had forgotten that during the detective’s time at the police academy, her combat scores were always ranked first in the women’s division.

After a grueling 5.7-second struggle, Tata was finally completely subdued by the detective, pinned down on that none-too-sturdy single bed, hands and feet controlled, unable to move. This woman was far too strong!

“Don’t come out whenever you feel like it when I haven’t called you,” Zheng Xinyan warned.

Tata looked at her, blinked, and gave a sweet smile. “My dear detective, you didn’t think… I only had two hands, did you?”

Four black, soft, slippery tentacles slid out from under His red-and-black plaid tattered skirt, slowly crawling toward Zheng Xinyan’s limbs and coiling tight. The situation reversed instantly.

The girl took charge, flipping them over. Zheng Xinyan lay on the bed, her hands held firmly above her head by the rope-like tentacles. The collar of her shirt was partially open, her beautiful wheat-colored chest rising and falling beneath His eyes.

The detective, now reduced to a dessert, stared at Him fiercely with those dark, gleaming eyes. “Hurry up and finish the kiss. I want to take a shower.”

Oh, that won’t do. This is going to be a very, very long kiss.

He lowered His head toward His little cupcake, tightening His tentacles further.