Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
After hanging up the phone, we arrived at the activity center that Wu Xiufen had never completed. We stopped the car, and the three of us got out without turning off the headlights. Under the beam of the car lights, a wall appeared before us. The area around the wall was overgrown with weeds, some reaching almost a meter in height, indicating that no one had been here for a long time.
The village chief looked at this activity center, which consisted of just a single wall, and said, "This is it, but what use do you have coming here? The murderer who took the girl can't possibly be hiding her in this drafty place."
The wall was only about one and a half meters high and stretched roughly ten meters long, with one end still showing red bricks, making it look somewhat uneven. I propped myself up and climbed onto the top of the wall. Standing on this low wall, I surveyed my surroundings. The activity center was located in the northwest corner of the village; from here, a path sloped upward toward the back mountain.
From this vantage point, I could see flashes of flashlight beams intermittently shining through the trees on the mountain. Looking down at the ground, I could vaguely make out a path made of red bricks winding through the weeds. This path was about two meters wide and snaked off into the distance.
I jumped down from the only completed wall of the activity center and began to push through the underbrush along the red brick path. As I walked, waist-high weeds grew between the cracks of the bricks, completely covering the path. If it weren't for the car lights illuminating it, I probably wouldn't have seen it so clearly.
This path extended all the way to the foot of the mountain. At that point, it abruptly disappeared without a trace.
Gu Chen swung his flashlight around wildly as he hacked at the weeds growing over the red bricks while looking around. The beam of light danced like a mischievous cat running back and forth. Gu Chen gazed at where the red brick path vanished at the foot of the mountain and remarked, "This is my first time seeing a road built inside a building. If all the walls around this activity center were completed, wouldn’t that mean this red brick path would be inside the structure?"
Upon hearing Gu Chen's words, I closed my eyes. In my mind, various clues began to piece together like fragments of a puzzle forming a complete picture. The connections in my mind gradually became clearer, but I also realized that my pace was still not fast enough.
"The construction of this activity center is just a facade." I glanced at Gu Chen, who was still wandering around aimlessly, then looked at the village chief and said, "Wu Xiufen never intended to build an activity center; from the very beginning, she aimed to create some trouble during its construction."
The village chief scratched his head and replied, "But that raises questions. If Wu Xiufen didn't want to build us an activity center, why go through all this trouble? She didn’t spare any expense. Was she just burning money for fun? And initially, she even paid villagers to help out—fifty cents each. But later it changed to twenty cents; eventually, when the project fell through, she simply stopped paying."
I shook my head and said, "Xingdong Village is just this small; if someone wants to build something here, they can't possibly avoid attracting attention. Have you heard a story?"
"What story?" both of them asked in unison.
I began to explain: "There was an old man who enjoyed peace and quiet, but there were always noisy children playing outside his door. So initially, he gave each child ten candies and told them he liked their lively play and that there would be more candies if they came back."
Both of them looked at me in confusion, seemingly unable to understand the connection between my story and the brick road.
I cleared my throat and continued, "The children were very happy at first, so they came back here to play joyfully the next time. The old man, being trustworthy, gave the children candy, but this time he only gave them five pieces each. The children were a bit unhappy, but they accepted it anyway."
"I suppose you can guess how the story unfolds from here," I went on. "By the third time, the old man only gave the children one piece of candy. Consequently, these children were furious and declared that they would never come back to play with the old man again."
The village chief said, "Hmm, this is quite similar to how Wu Xiufen pays the villagers."
I snapped my fingers and replied, "The old man was someone who preferred peace and quiet, yet at first, he didn't directly tell these children that he liked tranquility; instead, he told them he enjoyed lively gatherings. Because the old man understood that sometimes, to get others to do something, it might be more effective to approach it from the opposite direction."
I casually plucked a blade of grass from the ground and continued, "The psychology of wanting to suppress by first elevating is something both the old man and Wu Xiufen utilized well. Humans inherently have a rebellious mindset; if you specifically tell them not to do something, they will want to do it even more. Therefore, you must pretend to like what you dislike; in doing so, others will naturally follow your preferences."
The village chief nodded and suddenly realized, "Yes, later on Wu Xiufen stopped providing assistance fees to the villagers, and they never came back again. She ended up managing everything by herself. Not long after that, there was an incident of dismissing workers. Many villagers secretly laughed at how cunning Wu Xiufen was; her schemes backfired."
At this point, the village chief suddenly smiled—a smile of resignation: "Sometimes I find it strange; Wu Xiufen built this activity center for everyone’s benefit, yet in the end, it turned into a thankless task. Looking back now, either Wu Xiufen is too foolish or she is too clever."
I shook my head; I had heard too many stories like this in life. A famous artist helps their hometown build a road but gets criticized by locals for not spending enough money or for the road not being sturdy enough. Sometimes one realizes that being a villain isn't difficult; being a good person is what truly poses a challenge.
A good person must do good deeds their entire life to attain enlightenment, while facing a bad person requires just one phrase: "put down your knife and you can become enlightened immediately." This shows that choosing to be a good person is indeed a difficult mode of existence in this world.
Yet Wu Xiufen seemed to have deeply studied the principles of thick black theory; otherwise, an ordinary person wouldn't think of such things.
I spoke up again: "As I mentioned earlier, it’s impossible to sneak in so many red bricks and cement without drawing attention. So why not bring them in openly? Once she falls out with the villagers and dismisses the workers, Wu Xiufen can handle everything on her own."
"Still, it's the same question," Gu Chen said. "What does Wu Xiufen want to do?"
I replied, "To build a place where the Murderer can hide. The Murderer is in their twenties now, but five or six years ago, they were around fifteen or sixteen, just at the age when they formed their own worldview and gained the ability to survive independently. Perhaps it was then that the Murderer began searching for these people."
At that moment, my phone rang; it was Mary calling.
"Wu Meng, we have a lead," Mary said straightforwardly.
I felt a surge of excitement and asked, "What lead?"
"I found the IP address from the online posts," Mary explained. "The Murderer has been weaving stories online but encrypted their IP address, which shows as overseas. Since the first story, I've been trying to crack it, and just now, I finally found this IP address! And it's one you’re quite familiar with."
Before Mary could say more, I interjected, "Is it Xingdong Village?"
Mary replied, "You already know?"
I glanced at the clock; there were still a few minutes until the Murderer would contact us again.
"That's right. During this time in Xingdong Village, I've figured out a lot of things," I said quickly. "Now it's time to close in. Have you finished piecing together the bowls? The Murderer requires no visible seams; it mustn't look like they were broken."
"No problem," Mary said with a smile. "When it comes to matters of life and death, the City Bureau won't take any chances. They've immediately sought out the best porcelain restoration expert in the city. This person usually works on antiques, so fixing these bowls will be a piece of cake; you can rest assured."
Mary continued, "Even though you know the IP address is in Xingdong Village, do you know whose ID was used to register it?"
I paused for a moment before speaking, "Let me guess, Wu Xiufen?"
"You know this?" Mary replied.
"Is it really Wu Xiufen?" I asked.
"That's right," Mary confirmed.
Gu Chen chimed in, "You could guess that, but why is it Wu Xiufen? What is her connection to the Murderer? Why would she help the Murderer do so many things?"
I said, "Do you remember that USB converter? I think that's how the Murderer was able to go online. The Murderer usually lives in Xingdong Village and every time a post is completed, they travel from Xingdong Village to Dongxing City to commit murder. Afterward, the Murderer returns to Xingdong Village, waiting for the next post and the next kill."
"But!" I shifted my tone, "The Murderer absolutely cannot show their face in Xingdong Village. If an outsider comes to this village, they will definitely attract attention. Therefore, someone must provide food and water for the Murderer who resides in Xingdong Village. And Wu Xiufen never visits others or allows anyone into her home—why is that?"
"Why?" Gu Chen and the village chief asked.
I replied, "Because Wu Xiufen is protecting the Murderer; she can't let anyone see the Murderer. Moreover, we all know that the Murderer is skilled in psychology. That technique of raising desire before suppression—I think it might have been taught to Wu Xiufen by the Murderer. The Murderer knows they can't always stay at Wu Xiufen's house; that would be too dangerous. So, they rebuilt a hidden place in Xingdong Village where no one knows about."
The village chief shook his head and said, "But I don't know of any place in Xingdong Village that I don't know about."
Thoughts of what Zhao Mingkun had once told me surfaced in my mind, and at this moment, everything connected together.
Comment 0 Comment Count