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墨書 Inktalez
In this world, nothing is purely black or white. A drug addict may have things they absolutely cannot let go of. If Lin Shu had left Takizawa City earlier, perhaps he could have hidden for a while longer. I recalled a Drug Lord I had encountered in prison, who was caught while playing with his daughter at an amusement park.
Those who cannot remain unaffected by external circumstances are inherently weak.
Lin Shu's actions warranted a death sentence, yet he did not wish to die. I told him that if he did not want me to expose him and hoped to protect his grandmother, he should tell the police everything he knew. This was Lin Shu's weakness; it was his joy and sorrow.
Lin Shu named someone: Lai San, who was upstream from him.
Lai San was the only person Lin Shu had seen successfully overcome addiction.
Following the clues provided by Lin Shu, we quickly found Lai San's file. Lai San was originally named Lai San, but he had been labeled as insane. At thirty-two years old, he had already spent five years in prison. The details of his first detention were worth sharing.
Lai San had two older brothers and two older sisters; he was the youngest child in a very poor family. His brothers bit their nails to survive, while his sisters scavenged for food outside. Lai San managed to eat steamed buns at every meal, as parents often favored their youngest son.
Eventually, they decided to send Lai San to Shaolin Temple because as his appetite grew, they could no longer afford to support him. At least at Shaolin Temple, Lai San would have enough to eat; this was the best fate his parents could envision for him. He stayed at Shaolin Temple for fifteen years.
When eighteen-year-old Lai San returned from his training at Shaolin Temple, he wandered the world aimlessly. Following the core belief that all martial arts originated from Shaolin, Lai San challenged various martial arts schools. Armed with a cleaver, he would storm into any dojo or taekwondo club he encountered.
No matter how skilled one might be, they fear a kitchen knife; moreover, most martial artists today trained for fitness rather than violence. However, Lai San from Shaolin Temple showed no signs of this Zen philosophy; the highest realm of martial arts was simply not to fight.
Lai San was unstoppable; no one could stand in his way.
As he left, Lai San clasped his fists and bowed slightly: "Thank you for your guidance; I am Lai San from Shaolin."
Watching Lai San's departing figure, everyone realized for the first time that the martial world had always existed and never truly vanished; wherever there were people, there was the martial world.
Sometimes Lai San would gaze at his knife or look at his hands, and finally ask himself: "Are they afraid of me or of the knife in my hand?"
On this day, the winds changed dramatically as Lai San arrived at a place marked with black letters on a white background: "Hua Shan Sect."
Having read The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, Lai San knew that Hua Shan Sect was renowned for its swordsmanship; he wondered just how formidable Dugu Nine Swords could be. His blood surged with excitement; during over a year of wandering, he had yet to encounter any prestigious sects. This time, Lai San intended to show the heroes of Hua Shan Sect just how powerful his cleaver was.
With a loud shout, Lai San charged in with his cleaver raised high and soon faced his most critical defeat in life.
Several guns were aimed at Lai San.
"Who is so bold as to commit robbery right in front of the Police Station?" an old officer exclaimed.
Lai San claimed that he truly didn't notice the words "Police Station" behind "Hua Shan Sect."
Upon learning of Lai San's motives, everyone burst into laughter. They symbolically detained him for a few days and confiscated his watermelon knife. Lai San felt as though he had lost the meaning of life. He realized that it was surprisingly easy to drive someone out of the underworld; all it took was to take away their knife. He hadn't returned home in fifteen years and had thought about it more than once, but he didn't even know where his home was anymore.
His parents had sent him here without ever considering that one day he might come back. There was nothing to eat or drink at home; what would he return for?
Without his knife, Lai San needed to get another one. So, he walked into a shop and said to the owner, "I want the sharpest knife you have."
The Boss pulled out a kitchen knife. "This knife is incredibly sharp; it slices vegetables and fruits effortlessly. It can butcher poultry and chop beasts, and for those slippery squids in the water, one cut is all it takes. If you buy my knife, you can rest assured. I’ll say this: if it’s not sharp, you can chop me with it."
The next day, people discovered the Boss of the Gold Shop lying in a pool of blood.
The one who attacked him was Lai San, who remarked that this knife wasn't as sharp as his previous one. Remembering the Boss's words, he returned and plunged the knife into the Boss's chest. Fortunately, the Boss did not die. This marked Lai San's first time in prison; at this point, he had truly become Lai San.
Whenever the Boss recounted this incident, he felt a shiver down his spine. When those unaware pointed at the long scar on his chest and speculated that perhaps he had once been a significant figure in the underworld, hoping he'd share tales of bloody encounters from back then, the Boss would always smile.
Then he'd say, "The greatest lesson from this scar is that I will never boast again."
Lai San lost his knife once more.
This was Lai San's first imprisonment.
His second imprisonment came when he was so hungry that he resorted to robbery for the first time.
Lai San pleaded, "Miss, please have mercy. I'm so poor—no car, no house, no money, no food or drink. I'm left with nothing but this knife; please have mercy."
Lai San's approach to robbery was more creative than others.
But eventually, one calm girl took a picture of Lai San and called the police.
This was Lai San's second time in prison.
Later, Lin Shu saw Lai San at the Rehabilitation Center. No one knew how Lai San had become addicted to drugs. However, in the years that followed, they would never forget the figure of Lai San. There were many methods to quit drugs, but generally, one had to first overcome the body's dependence on drugs, and then tackle the psychological dependence.
Many people could manage the first point, but almost no one could sustain the second.
Lin Shu and Lai San were roommates, supervising each other. If one noticed the other succumbing to their addiction, they would immediately inform the staff at the Rehabilitation Center. After a month or two of living together, they had basically figured out each other's patterns of addiction. One night, Lin Shu estimated that Lai San's cravings should be kicking in soon, so he waited in the darkness.
But there was no movement—no twitching or shouting.
Lin Shu thought perhaps the detox was working; maybe Lai San's cravings were becoming less frequent. With this thought, Lin Shu unknowingly fell asleep. When he woke up the next morning, he was surprised that he had actually slept through it all. He wondered why he hadn’t woken up when Lai San's cravings hit.
But when he saw Lai San, everything became clear.
Lai San's bed was completely soaked in blood; a large amount of it had already congealed. Lai San sat cross-legged in the blood, and Lin Shu could see that it came from both of Lai San's arms and legs. Lin Shu's mouth fell open as he struggled to describe what lay before him. The flesh on Lai San's body was torn and mangled, with only his face still resembling a human being.
Lai San had somehow hidden a small nail and used it to carve countless bloody lines into his own flesh.
Lin Shu understood; he had encountered people like this before—those who transformed their addiction into physical pain. He recognized that feeling: when cravings hit, it felt like a hundred claws scratching at one's heart, as if swarms of biting ants were crawling all over their body and mind. This sensation was more torturous than any physical pain.
Self-harm during withdrawal was not uncommon. Yet Lin Shu had never witnessed anything like this; throughout the entire night, Lai San made no sound of suffering—not even a creak from the bed—otherwise Lin Shu would not have slept so soundly.
One could imagine that scene: in the pitch-black silence of night, a person sat cross-legged on their bed, holding a small nail in hand. They scratched at their own skin, tearing at their flesh until it bulged outward, much like a diligent farmer tilling his fields. Eventually, there were no more places on his arms to pierce, so he moved to his legs and then to his torso.
Fortunately, just before he could completely mutilate himself, Lin Shu woke up.
When Lai San saw Lin Shu, he smiled brightly and said, "I think I’ve quit."
Lin Shu had always believed that he was quite resilient compared to others in this world. But now he understood that there were many who were far stronger than him.
Lai San stayed in the hospital for a month until his wounds healed completely; after that, he never relapsed again.
Soon enough, Lai San left the Rehabilitation Center.
A year later, Lin Shu also left the Rehabilitation Center. When he saw Lai San again, Lai San had become a Drug Lord. Lin Shu's willpower was quickly crushed under the temptation of drugs. By the time he met Lai San, Lin Shu had already relapsed for some time.
Lai San pointed out a path for Lin Shu, one that involved trafficking to support his addiction.
Lin Shu agreed.
As previously mentioned, the psychological addiction is the hardest to overcome. There was a survey conducted by staff at the Rehabilitation Center that rated the pleasure of various activities on a scale from one to ten: making love scored three, while drug use scored a perfect ten. That euphoric feeling was simply irresistible.
If you can't even give up something as basic as a three, you should not even attempt drugs. Because you will never be able to quit.
But Lai San managed it; he became a Drug Dealer. He knew the taste of drugs, yet after he got out, he never took another hit.
Lin Shu could not do the same.
So Lin Shu agreed to become a human drug mule. For the past three Mid-Moons, he had been living this way. He even saved up some money to send to his grandmother. In truth, Lin Shu knew he would eventually be discovered; it was just a matter of time.
As for Lai San, he had clearly left Takizawa City and vanished without a trace. Our responsibility lay with homicide cases, and regarding Lai San, Captain Shao handed the case over to the narcotics team. Our mission here was officially over.
"Lai San is quite an interesting character; I wonder if I'll have the chance to personally apprehend him in the future," I said as I looked at a photo of Lai San in front of me, depicting an honest-looking farmer.
Captain Shao glanced at me and said, "Lai San will eventually fall into our hands."
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