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墨書 Inktalez
Li Taida's words and the expression on his face were utterly mismatched. The cruelty of his statement contrasted sharply with the brightness of his smile. It seemed that killing someone was an amusing affair for Li Taida.
Upon hearing his words, everyone froze in place.
The academic director beside him appeared unable to believe his ears. He grabbed Li Taida by the collar and quickly asked, "What did you say? Repeat that!"
Li Taida frowned and pushed the director's hand away, saying coolly, "Are you deaf or something?"
Then, with a loud voice, he declared, "I killed someone!"
He looked around, like a boxer who had just knocked out his opponent, his eyes filled with determination.
Could it be that this sixteen-year-old boy, Li Taida, was the one who had urged others to commit suicide and handed over the evidence to Gao Rui?
Age had never been a marker of maturity; sometimes, a young person might contemplate more than an adult.
I stood up, locking eyes with him and asked, "Who did you kill?"
Li Taida met my gaze and replied word by word, "I killed my father, Li Xian."
So we drove to Li Taida's home. The area where he lived was old-fashioned and looked like it had seen better days. Li Taida led the way while we followed behind him. He walked with a bounce in his step, as if he were a student heading home after school.
This exuberance in his stride only deepened the frowns on our faces. What kind of father-son relationship could lead a son to feel so happy and excited after killing his father? There was no sadness or regret—only joy and elation.
Some speculated that perhaps they were enemies in a past life, and this life was merely about settling old scores.
I had never believed such notions until now.
As Li Taida walked up the stairs, humming a tune, he seemed increasingly excited, unable to contain his eagerness to see what lay ahead. Standing before the door, Li Taida took a few deep breaths and then unlocked it with a key. He jumped into the room with excitement, only to freeze in place.
He appeared to be rooted to the spot, as if he had witnessed something unbelievable.
I hurried a few steps forward and stood behind Li Taida, looking in the direction of his gaze, but there was nothing there.
Li Taida stared at the Tea Table, completely motionless.
Gu Chen and Guan Zengbin entered as well. They were about to say something when I stopped them with a wave of my hand, signaling them to check the other rooms.
Taking this opportunity, I began to observe the house.
If I had to describe my first impression in one word, it would be "chaos." In two words, "very chaotic." In three words, "extremely chaotic."
Just looking at the Tea Table, it was covered with discarded Cigarette Butts and piled high with empty bottles and cans of beer. Ashes and spilled beer were strewn across the floor, dried and stuck together, creating a disgusting sight. Cushions from the sofa were thrown everywhere, and clothes lay scattered on the ground.
The television in the living room was smashed to pieces on the floor. Turning to check the kitchen, pots and pans were also tossed about carelessly. It looked as if there had just been a robbery—or rather, it seemed like a battlefield had taken place here.
Gu Chen and Guan Zengbin emerged from their exploration. Gu Chen glanced at me and said, "There are no bodies here; it's just a complete mess. It looks like someone was robbed. Could it be that someone stole the body? Hey, you’re not trying to trick us into coming here for fun, are you?"
As Gu Chen approached, he waved his hand in front of Li Taida, saying, "Is this guy out of his mind? Did he get robbed?"
Suddenly, without warning, Li Taida burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably as if he had encountered the most tragic event in the world. His cries sounded like torn fabric being ripped apart, evoking deep sympathy from anyone who heard him; it was unclear what had caused his distress.
However, this definitely wasn’t a robbery. Judging by the Cigarette Butts and beer bottles, it was evident that people often lounged around here; no thief would be bold enough to leave such a mess behind.
Yet Li Taida continued to cry heart-wrenchingly, showing no signs of stopping.
Guan Zengbin stepped forward to comfort him, while I stared blankly at the few bottles of unfinished beer.
From Li Taida's excitement along the way, it was clear that he must have believed his father was dead. And upon returning, looking at this place, it was evident that in Li Taida's expectations, his father's corpse should be here.
So we could assume two possibilities: one, Li Xian was dead and his body had been taken away; the second, Li Xian was not dead at all.
I immediately called Liu, asking him to find Li Xian's phone number from the academic affairs director. Within a minute, Liu provided me with Li Xian's number.
I dialed the number, and after half a minute, surprisingly, it connected.
"Li Xian? You're not dead?" I asked.
On the other end, a voice replied, "Who the hell are you? If I’m dead, you won’t be alive either. Get lost."
Li Xian was indeed alive. I said, "I'm your son, Li Taida..."
This time, Li Xian's tone softened slightly as he responded, "Oh, you're Li Taida's teacher? That brat thinks I'm dead? Well, if you have something to discuss, don't come to me—go find that damn mother of his. I'm hanging up."
Before I could say anything else, Li Xian hung up on me.
"Guan Zengbin!" I called out. "Take all this beer away; there might be something here."
We brought Li Taida back to the interrogation room. He appeared somewhat agitated—not because he was caught, but because upon hearing that his father was still alive, his inner turmoil erupted. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment; it seemed this principle applied even in murder.
It turned out that from the very beginning, Li Taida had planned to kill his father. His seemingly casual question to Zhao Erming about what was most powerful was actually well thought out. Li Taida had contemplated killing his father more than once. When Zhao Erming mentioned that a certain substance could quickly kill someone, Li Taida became intrigued.
Zhao Erming told Li Taida that only a tiny amount of this substance was needed to take a life. Moreover, when dissolved in water, it would be colorless and tasteless—ordinary people would never notice. Thus, Li Taida devised a plan to steal the substance and used what he obtained to poison his father.
Li Taida was far more ruthless than Zhao Erming. Zhao Erming had brought a dog for his experiments; perhaps he had people he hated, but in the end, he never dared to use a living person for his tests.
After returning home, Li Taida felt an unusual joy. Looking at his messy house, he experienced a sense of home for the first time. He sang and danced around the house, playing happily. He had never felt this joyful or this happy before.
Li Taida glanced at the tea table, noticing the cigarette butts and several opened but unfinished beer cans.
Li Taida's father was an alcoholic and a gambler. Li Xian spent his days idly, never working but always out gambling. Once, Li Xian had been the boss of a large company, but after becoming addicted to gambling, years passed, and the family's situation worsened—their house became smaller, and their savings dwindled.
The saying goes that nine out of ten gamblers lose; it’s a simple truth. But Li Xian didn’t understand. He believed that what he lost at the gambling table could be regained there as well. Yet there were no gods of gambling in this world; they only existed in television dramas. Li Xian would never have another chance to turn his life around; his company went bankrupt, and his reputation was ruined.
Every night, he would return home, watching television while smoking and drinking until early morning when he finally fell asleep. The next day, he would continue gambling, day after day, year after year—until his wife left him.
When drunk, his favorite thing to do was to hit people.
When Li Taida was still very young, his father would always beat his mother after getting drunk each night. Li Taida would cry out and plead with them to stop, but it was all in vain. Every night, as he looked at the scars on his mother’s body, he thought countless times about killing him.
But he was too young; he didn’t dare.
So every night, he could only hold his mother and silently shed tears. They dared not make a sound and could only cry quietly because if their father woke up, it would inevitably lead to another beating for his mother.
Thus, Li Taida had one wish: to cry out loud.
Now, Li Taida finally did it. But his greatest wish was to kill his father with his own hands.
In the interrogation room, Li Taida screamed: “Why! Why is this happening! Even the old man helps him! He should die; he must die! Only then can he make up for what he did to my mother!”
With that, Li Taida cried out once more.
It turned out that Li Xian had not returned home for three days because he had recently found a new gambling game. Similarly, his son, Li Taida, had also been absent from home for the same duration.
That night, Li Taida mixed poison into the few bottles of unfinished beer. He knew his father had a habit of grabbing a bottle and drinking it down without caring how much was inside. So as long as his father returned and drank the beer laced with poison, he would die.
After preparing the poison, Li Taida left.
Li Taida had thought more than once about the possibility of his father dying when he returned. He was staying at a classmate's house, under the bridge. But he never went home; he didn't want to see his father's dead body.
When he was alive, he didn't want to see him, let alone after he was dead.
Li Taida thought this way.
But no one expected that after Li Xian left, he never came back home again.
The beer indeed tested positive for poison.
Li Taida believed he had killed his father, unaware that Li Xian was still lost in the world of gambling.
"I really regret it. I should have gone back to check; I should have confirmed before coming out. But remember, as long as he is still alive, I will kill him."
Li Taida was serious.
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