Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Gao Rui first laughed wildly at the sky, then tears began to flow.
Each of us is a tangled creature; there is no exception to this.
When we see someone being beaten on the street, we fantasize about stepping in to help, yet we fear getting hurt ourselves. When we witness someone stealing a wallet, we wish to speak up and stop it, but we worry about the glinting knife the thief might carry. When we see a husband hitting his wife, we long to intervene against domestic violence, but we are afraid of the rumors and gossip that might follow.
Those who dare to step forward and stop such acts are indeed brave, but we need not harshly judge those who do not act immediately. They are both courageous and timid; they are both great and weak. At least they are not bad people.
For Gao Rui, this dilemma had troubled him for a long time.
He hated Principal Zhang for secretly committing such despicable acts, yet he also despised himself for accepting the benefits brought by such a person and feeling at ease about it. Faced with the increasingly outrageous actions of Principal Zhang, Gao Rui suddenly recalled Martin Luther King’s words from "Letter from Birmingham Jail":
"Our generation will come to regret not only the vile actions of bad people but also the appalling silence of good people."
And so, on this night, at the moment he witnessed a headless corpse fall before him, Gao Rui decided to take action.
His choice was not to call the police but to respond with violence.
In the pitch-black night, Gao Rui seemed to see the female teacher silently crying under Principal Zhang's oppressive weight. He imagined her pleading not to report after being violated, and he envisioned Principal Zhang sneaking into Hu Jiajia's room to commit lewd acts against her.
Gao Rui followed down into the sewer.
Principal Zhang walked slowly while carrying a corpse, and Gao Rui quietly trailed behind him. With each step he took, his resolve to kill Principal Zhang grew stronger. The darkness had given Gao Rui black eyes, and at that moment, those eyes were fixed intently on Principal Zhang ahead.
"Thud thud thud."
Gao Rui deliberately made his footsteps loud.
"Who? What is that?" Principal Zhang's terrified voice rang out.
But when Principal Zhang turned around to look, all he saw was darkness behind him—nothing at all. At one end of the endless sewer seemed to be a black hole that swallowed everything, an expanse filled with nothingness.
"Thud, thud, thud."
The sound continued, echoing through the sewer, rippling in waves within the dark and foul environment. Principal Zhang's heart raced, feeling as if it might leap from his throat. He set down the headless corpse he had been carrying. Tightening his grip on the knife in his hand, he stood still, listening to the noises coming from not far away.
Principal Zhang held his ground against the sound for a while.
"Damn it!" he muttered to himself, trying to muster courage. "I've killed people; why should I be afraid of ghosts?"
With that thought, he began to move toward the source of the sound.
One step.
Two steps.
The sound originated from a junction. Principal Zhang tightened his grip on the knife once more. He was only a body’s length away from the junction when he stopped. He leaned in to listen, but the sound had ceased. For a full three minutes, there was not a hint of movement.
Principal Zhang chuckled to himself. "It’s probably just some rat; I'm just scaring myself."
Thinking this, he decided to turn back.
In the next moment, a figure appeared behind Principal Zhang.
He held a mug in his hand.
The knife slipped from Principal Zhang's grasp and fell into the sewage as he collapsed into it.
Gao Rui struck with deadly intent, bringing the mug down hard on Principal Zhang's skull again and again—seven or eight times at least. It wasn't until the handle of the mug broke off that Gao Rui finally released his grip. Principal Zhang had already lost consciousness after the first blow; he hadn’t even had time to utter a word.
Principal Zhang's brain matter and blood splattered across Gao Rui's face.
It was only then that Gao Rui realized he was utterly exhausted, collapsing weakly beside Principal Zhang. In that moment, he understood that killing someone was not an easy task at all. Yet he felt no regret; this time, Principal Zhang had mistakenly killed someone else. But when Principal Zhang realized his mistake, he might not hesitate to kill again.
But now, Principal Zhang would never have that chance again.
It felt like only five minutes had passed, yet it also seemed like a century had gone by.
Gao Rui lay quietly in the sewer, suddenly realizing that as long as a person's heart was calm, no matter how terrible the external environment was, it could feel remarkably good. He had never felt as at peace as he did at this moment; he no longer had to bear the weight of moral torment alone.
He had done what he believed was right, and he felt no guilt.
Principal Zhang had killed the impersonator of Hu Jiajia, and that was beyond doubt. If Principal Zhang went missing from that point on, all investigations would inevitably lead to him. People would uncover Principal Zhang's true nature and discover that he was the perverse threat to Hu Jiajia.
At that time, the police would conclude that Principal Zhang had fled after murdering someone who closely resembled Hu Jiajia.
Gao Rui quickly ran through the potential developments of the case in his mind. As long as Principal Zhang remained untraceable for a day, the case would be classified in that manner. Naturally, suspicion would not fall on him; it was a perfect plan.
Thus, Gao Rui carried Principal Zhang's body to the end of the sewer, where it opened up to the outskirts.
He climbed up a hill and used a narrow knife to dig a hole. The knife was too small for him to create a large pit, and besides, he needed to hurry back home; otherwise, Hu Jiajia would surely suspect him. So Gao Rui only dug a hole large enough to bury Principal Zhang's body. After burying it, he casually tossed the knife away and hurried back home.
He did not expect that Principal Zhang's body would be discovered so quickly.
He knew that once it was revealed that Principal Zhang had been murdered, suspicion would soon turn toward him. Moreover, both the knife and Principal Zhang's body bore his fingerprints; it wouldn't take long for the case to be solved. Thus, he decided to turn himself in.
In the Autopsy Room.
"Indeed, I found a fingerprint on Principal Zhang's clothing," Guan Zengbin said. "I just compared it, and it's definitely Gao Rui's fingerprint. Furthermore, the blunt force trauma on Principal Zhang's head appears consistent with being struck by something like a mug. If we can find that mug, we can make a comparison."
"Tell the police to split into two teams: one team will search the sewer for the mug, while the other will search the hill for that knife," I instructed Xiao Liu. "I'll take Gao Rui to the construction site and let Old Zhang see if this is our guy."
We split up to carry out our tasks.
Gao Rui specifically asked me to go to the apartment he shared with Hu Jiajia to retrieve a piece of clothing—the outfit he wore that night at the construction site. Although he knew Old Zhang must have seen what his clothes looked like, he hadn't thrown it away because it was a gift from Hu Jiajia.
I sighed and looked at Gao Rui. "Do you want me to come with you? This might be your last chance to see her."
"No," Gao Rui replied softly.
“Gao Rui sent you to pick up his clothes?” When I explained my purpose, Hu Jiajia looked a bit puzzled.
“Yeah, the one you gave him.” I replied with a smile, “We hit it off right away; he got addicted to gaming at my place.”
Hu Jiajia took out the clothes, her expression somewhat forlorn. “Principal Zhang's body has been found. It's only a matter of time before the Murderer is caught, and we can't live together anymore. If you see him, tell him to come home; I have something to say to him.”
“Okay.” I said lightly.
Indeed, with the Stalker dead, Hu Jiajia would no longer be harassed. Moreover, since Gao Rui was the Murderer, he naturally had to face legal consequences. Still, I felt reluctant to share this with Hu Jiajia. After all, the man she loved turned out to be a killer, and he had killed largely for her sake.
How could I bring that up?
“By the way.” I took the clothes and asked, “Did Gao Rui go out late that night five days ago?”
Hu Jiajia looked puzzled for a moment, clearly not understanding why I was asking this question, but she answered honestly. “Yes, he said he went out for a bit and came back really late. When he returned, his clothes smelled terrible. He said he accidentally fell into a stinky ditch by the roadside; I washed these clothes for him.”
It seemed Gao Rui hadn’t lied; everything matched up.
“I’m leaving.” I said.
“Mm.” Hu Jiajia stood at the door, leaning against the frame like a little wife waiting for her husband to come home.
At the construction site.
“Old Zhang, are you sure it was him you saw that night five days ago?” I asked Old Zhang.
Old Zhang scratched his head and replied, “He looks familiar. Here’s what you should do: have him reenact what he did that night.”
Before I could respond, Gao Rui had already started demonstrating.
“Yes! Yes!” Old Zhang exclaimed, slapping his thigh. “That’s definitely him! His movements are exactly the same as that night, and he was wearing those clothes—no doubt about it!”
I emphasized my question. “Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?”
Old Zhang nodded heavily, "If I got it wrong, you can dig out my eyeballs."
"Take Gao Rui back," I said to the person next to me. "I'll wait here for Gu Chen."
As Old Zhang and I chatted, we waited for Gu Chen and the others who were searching the sewers for Mug's whereabouts.
An hour later, Gu Chen emerged, covered in dirt and smelling foul. In his hand, he clutched something—a broken-handled Mug.
"I found it, just not far from where we discovered the body," Gu Chen said. "I never want to go down there again."
Not long after we returned to the Autopsy Room, the knife was also found.
Guan Zengbin conducted a thorough comparison of the evidence and confirmed that the knife was indeed the one that killed Zhang Mingliang, and the Mug was definitely the one used to kill Principal Zhang. The marks on both items matched perfectly with the wounds on the victims, and Gao Rui's fingerprints were found on both objects.
"Witness and evidence are all present, with motives and timing accounted for. Besides, he has confessed; everything adds up," Guan Zengbin said as he sat in a chair in the Autopsy Room, staring blankly at the ceiling. "The evidence is overwhelming! But how could such a gentle Teacher Gao Rui be a murderer? Have you seen him teach?"
Gu Chen added, "Gao Rui has been voted the most popular teacher for two consecutive years; students say his biology classes are lively..."
I tugged at my hair in frustration. "But that still doesn't explain how Principal Zhang managed to hide upstairs without leaving any bloodstains, considering there was so much blood."
"Principal Zhang is dead," Guan Zengbin said gloomily. "Maybe you should let him come to you in a dream and tell you..."
Comment 0 Comment Count