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墨書 Inktalez
Er Yi held Li Danan tightly, tears welling up in both of their eyes. Old Xia, at that moment, showed no expression, quietly watching the two brothers embrace and cry. After a while, Old Xia could no longer hold back. Like a snow-covered noon, he turned away, facing the wall.
His silent sobs shook his shoulders. I couldn't understand why three grown men would cry at this moment. I also couldn't comprehend that I was now completely at their mercy, yet they seemed to have no intention of harming me.
I had never witnessed such a scene before; I simply watched them in silence.
Er Yi, with tears streaming down his face, said, "This is good, this is good. Danan, this way we five can be with you."
After saying this, Li Danan suddenly pushed Er Yi away. To everyone's shock, Li Danan knelt before me. With tears streaming down his face, he pleaded, "Officer Wu, Officer Wu, please just help me out, okay? Two months ago, I was diagnosed with cancer; I have less than six months to live."
As if fearing I wouldn't believe him, Li Danan pulled out a medical report from his shirt pocket. The hospital examination form clearly indicated that he was not lying. Li Danan had late-stage liver cancer and only had about six months left to live.
Li Danan held the report up like a student eager for approval, wanting me to see it clearly.
Seeing my lack of reaction, Li Danan began to bang his head against the ground in desperation. The sound echoed in the warehouse as blood soon began to seep from his forehead. At this rate, he might crack his skull open.
"Please," Li Danan begged me. "I'm begging you! It was just Er Yi who made a mistake! He's a good person! Just let me die; spare the others! Everything was my doing; it has nothing to do with anyone else."
But some mistakes cannot be undone; once made, there is no chance for redemption.
Li Danan's heart-wrenching cries were filled with sorrow that could soften even the hardest of hearts. But not mine—not this time. Russell Mei had died too tragically; she must have suffered immensely in her final moments and experienced profound despair.
She deserved justice; the truth deserved justice.
Seeing that I remained silent, Li Danan clung to my leg and repeatedly kissed my shoes. I felt a wave of nausea and quickly stepped back. Yet Li Danan persisted as if he would never rise again unless I agreed.
Er Yi gritted his teeth and said, "Wu Meng, listen. I've saved money for ten years and finally bought a house in Dongxing City two years ago. I'll give you the house if you let us go. It may not be big or in a good location, but it's worth two million. Please spare us."
I didn't want money or anyone's dignity; I only wanted the truth. Even now, I couldn't be sure if my final suspicions were indeed the truth. Li Danan remained kneeling before me, eyes pleading while Old Xia continued to cry against the wall without care.
When I still didn't respond, Er Yi suddenly snapped angrily, "Wu Meng! We've already pleaded with you! We can give you money; don't push your luck! You need to consider your situation right now—if you force us into a corner, do you think you'll leave here alive?"
Finally, we reached the point I'd been concerned about all along. Since I was already here, shouldn't it be me asking them to let us go? Why were they begging me instead? Did they think that after killing us they could simply run away without consequence? Or did they not truly want to kill us at all?
I looked at Er, at Old Xia, and at Li Danan.
After a long silence, I spoke up, "Answer me a few questions. Since I won't agree to your demands, I've prepared myself to not leave this warehouse. But you know, even when facing death, one cannot suppress their curiosity."
"Questions?" Er asked.
I nodded seriously. "Since your goal is merely to confuse the police, why leave behind provocative messages for them? That will only intensify our pursuit of you. Why write Blood Characters on the wall? Why serve us Human Dumplings? Why send text messages to Captain Zhou?"
I voiced my final doubts, waiting for their explanations. In my mind, I had gradually pieced together the truth. Everything connected into a whole; although I lacked concrete evidence, I was already about ninety percent sure.
If Guan Zengbin could follow the steps written on my phone, if I guessed correctly, we would be safe. But if I guessed wrong, it was highly likely they would resort to murder to silence us.
Gu Chen had once made me lose my courage, but now it seemed I had regained my confidence in this mountain village. If I was going to gamble, I might as well go all in.
Er did not expect that I would rather die than soften my stance. Of course, I had a compromise in mind—pretend to agree with them and then report them to the police to have all five arrested. But if I showed any weakness, perhaps I would drift further away from the truth.
For that reason, I had to remain stubborn, even if losing this gamble meant losing our lives.
After saying so much and seeing that I remained unmoved, Er grew impatient. "Isn't it obvious? The more we act like this, the less you will suspect us. Or perhaps we have already gone too far down this path. To confuse you, we must pretend to be perverse."
"That's why I went into your yard in the dead of night and wrote Blood Characters with blood," Er sneered. "That's why we had to insert severed limbs into the snow when no one was around; that's why we made Li Luo prepare Human Dumplings for you."
Suddenly, Er lunged toward me, grabbing my collar with one hand while fiercely pinching his own face with the other. "Look at this face! Look closely! Has it not become the face of a pervert? Examine it carefully; is it not utterly hypocritical and hideously ugly?"
Er seemed to have lost his mind as he continued to pinch his face; his expression twisted and truly resembled that of a deranged person.
"Some things cannot be undone once they begin," Er trembled all over. I could see the veins on his neck bulging; his entire face turned red. "Once the bow is drawn, there’s no turning back. We have come this far. But what I don’t understand is why must we die!"
Er gasped for breath. "You are not from Yumu City; I don’t know where you came from or when you will leave. But during your time here, such things have happened."
I fell silent for a long while before finally speaking again. "If I hadn't come here, if Captain Zhou were here instead, how do you think he would handle this? Or do you believe Captain Zhou would never investigate this place?"
Er suddenly laughed at my words. "I know Russell Mei; in fact, I also know that Russell Mei is Captain Zhou's girlfriend. But do you know why I dared to assault Russell Mei? It's precisely because she is Captain Zhou's girlfriend. I really don't understand how Captain Zhou became the captain of the Police Force. He's such a fool, always bringing his team to help the villagers of Tou Gou Zi Village with trivial matters."
When he mentioned Captain Zhou, Er's tone was filled with disdain. "He's been in our village for a long time, so I know what kind of person he is. He's like a complete idiot. If he had come here alone this time, we wouldn't have needed to go further down this road!"
"He definitely won't find out who the Murderer is; he's incredibly slow-witted," Er continued. "If it weren't for the fact that Yumu City rarely has homicides, Captain Zhou would have been fired by now. But I didn't expect that Captain Zhou brought you all here."
Er pointed at my eyes and said, "You have sharp eyes! From the moment you came to investigate me, I knew that Captain Zhou was nothing to fear; you are the real opponent. It was only when Li Danan told me you saw the newspaper in the bathroom that I realized you understood everything when you saw the second half of it."
"So," I picked up where Er left off, "you deliberately had Li Danan dispose of the body and then let Old Xia sabotage things to lead us here. In the Second Market, Li Luo and Sun Kangning's Father were already lying in wait to knock out Gu Chen and Captain Zhou?"
I continued, "After bringing them to the warehouse, you restored the scene and waited for me to arrive. Then you intentionally had Li Danan show up, speaking like a victor to reveal what you wanted me to know. Finally, just as Li Danan was about to kill someone to silence them, you and Old Xia arrived just in time?"
Er nodded lightly.
After a pause, I continued, "Then you staged the Sacrificial Strategy in front of me, placing all the blame on Li Danan. Once successful, you could leave Captain Zhou and Gu Chen in the snow and wake them up later. We all fell into Li Danan's trap; they were knocked out as soon as they entered the city."
"Two people were half-convinced," I said with a smile. "At this point, believing that Li Danan is the Murderer would make me speak on your behalf because I had indeed fallen into Li Danan's trap when I came in. This plan is seamless—it's like a chain where each link connects perfectly, making it hard not to believe."
Er waved his hand dismissively and said calmly, "But it was still seen through by you. If it had been Captain Zhou instead, he would have believed my words by now. I'll ask you one last time: can you spare us? If you're looking for credit, Li Danan has already decided to sacrifice himself."
I replied firmly, "I disagree."
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