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I felt helpless, but at that moment, there was nothing I could do except help Zhao Mingkun lift Jiang Xiaochun up. Zhao Mingkun shook his head slightly and casually grabbed a pillowcase from the side, wrapping it around Jiang Xiaochun's head to stop the bleeding, not caring whether it had been disinfected.
Jiang Xiaochun stood there silently, not saying a word. Her blood flowed, and her tears streamed down her face. At that moment, I couldn't find the words to describe my complex feelings. For the person she loved, Jiang Xiaochun transformed into a ghost in the darkness, killing twenty people one by one in the eternal night.
I truly couldn't understand such actions, yet Jiang Xiaochun did just that. I finally realized why this case was so difficult to investigate; the motive was simply too bizarre. Who would have thought that a married woman would kill for someone who had been forgotten for seven years, and that she would take so many lives?
But perhaps that's how the world works—what others have long forgotten will always be remembered by someone. Just as Jiang Xiaochun said, this was something she had to do. At this moment, I also understood what would happen if Jiang Xiaochun were allowed to leave.
However, there was still one thing that remained unresolved: after seven years, who was the murderer? Among these twenty people, who killed Lu Zhiqiu? There were still no clues, and it was no wonder Jiang Xiaochun couldn't help but go on a killing spree. As Jiang Xiaochun mentioned, in a few more years, she might lose all trace of those people forever.
Zhao Mingkun had already bandaged Jiang Xiaochun's wounds; the blood on the ground had a faint metallic smell. The heavy bowing she had done earlier made me feel immense pain just watching it, but it seemed Jiang Xiaochun was unfazed.
Shaking my head, I asked, "There are still a few points I want to ask you. If your answers satisfy me, then we can fulfill your wish. But you must understand that with so much information in hand and given the severity of your crimes, where do you think you can run?"
Jiang Xiaochun pointed at herself and exaggeratedly said, "Me? Where could I possibly run to? Besides, I don't plan to run anymore. Time has passed too long; sometimes I almost forget when I first met Lu Zhiqiu. Sometimes I even forget when I fell in love with Lu Zhiqiu..."
"That's good," I nodded and said. "I only have four questions for you. First, did you do all of this by yourself? Was there anyone else who helped you?"
Everything was progressing too smoothly; Jiang Xiaochun's luck was incredible. She had succeeded in everything she wanted to do; it was almost as if someone was helping her. If there were any slip-ups in her plan, it would be easy for her to be discovered. To kill so many people without any mistakes was nearly impossible.
The interference factors in this case were simply too numerous; without Lu Xiangyang's involvement, we probably wouldn't have gone around in such circles.
"No, everything was done by me," Jiang Xiaochun slowly replied. "Don't be fooled by how many friends Lu Zhiqiu had; when something happened, how many of them were truly her friends? Even Lu Zhiqiu's family never treated her like their own daughter—let alone those outsiders."
I frowned and stared at Jiang Xiaochun; she didn't seem to be lying. However, she also revealed something important: it appeared she knew about Lu Zhiqiu's family situation. Previously, we had asked those thirteen people about Lu Zhiqiu's family and none of them knew she had a brother.
I continued to inquire, "Do you know about Lu Zhiqiu's family situation?"
Jiang Xiaochun nodded and said, "I know about Lu Zhiqiu's family situation; I went back to her home with her once before. At that time, I could clearly feel how poorly they treated her. Lu Zhiqiu has a brother named Lu Xiangyang; when I visited her home back then, I truly understood what gender inequality meant."
With a sigh, Jiang Xiaochun continued, "I remember back then, Lu Zhiqiu was eating leftover food. It was because I was there that her family treated her a bit better. I recall that at night, Lu Zhiqiu was sleeping in another room, which had nothing in it—no electricity, no water. Can you imagine?"
"Honestly, I never expected that behind Lu Zhiqiu's smiling face was a soul gritting its teeth," Jiang Xiaochun said, tears streaming down her face like a stream. "At that moment, I understood that there are indeed people in this world who, despite suffering so much and facing many injustices, remain kind to others."
"Exactly," I replied to Jiang Xiaochun. "Do you know Lu Xiangyang? Does Lu Xiangyang know you?"
Jiang Xiaochun thought for a moment before starting to speak. "I definitely know Lu Xiangyang, but I don't know if he remembers me. I recall he was only about five or six years old back then; he might have forgotten me long ago. However, later on, Lu Zhiqiu mentioned me, and her brother brought me up too. After that, I don't know what happened."
I nodded and then asked, "Alright, that was the first point. The second point: Did Liang Mei die in your new home? Was she killed by you?"
Jiang Xiaochun did not hide anything and replied, "Yes, I did kill Liang Mei. Just as you guessed before, during the process of killing her, I inadvertently lost track of Liang Mei's whereabouts. You see, I had to ensure that the others showed no signs of wanting to leave; otherwise, I would have to kill anyone trying to escape first. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to kill everyone."
"I understand that," I nodded.
Jiang Xiaochun continued, "That's how it was. However, Liang Mei went missing during the second incident. You know, I used to be classmates with these people and had their phone numbers and social media accounts; I even knew where they worked. I could look up various things online to investigate whether they were still in Dongxing City."
"But not long after, I realized it seemed like Liang Mei had disappeared. At that time, I thought she was the murderer from seven years ago and had fled quickly because of it. But unexpectedly, in the end, Liang Mei actively sought me out. I had added sleeping pills to the soup my mother-in-law drank; she would sleep for almost four hours straight. When Liang Mei came knocking at my door, I knew she was helping me."
"Later on, when she called you all, that's when I made my move. The body is still in the new house," Jiang Xiaochun looked at me.
I nodded again and asked, "Alright, third point: Did you push Deng Xuemei into the sea?"
Jiang Xiaochun replied, "That's right; it was indeed me. Back in college, I didn't know about Deng Xuemei's situation. But over these seven years of investigation, I discovered that Deng Xuemei's father suffered from a genetic mutation disease. Haha! Her own father teetered on the brink of life and death; sometimes even the money for medicine had to be covered by others. Yet Deng Xuemei flaunted designer brands at school and went to bars while pretending to be wealthy by treating classmates to meals."
After a pause, Jiang Xiaochun continued, "At that time, I realized there was something to exploit here. Deng Xuemei's roommate didn't know Lu Zhiqiu's character while Lu Zhiqiu's roommate didn't know that Deng Xuemei was an ungrateful person. This gave me an excellent opportunity for a clever switch."
"What a pity," Jiang Xiaochun glanced at us and said. "It didn't really matter."
I shrugged helplessly.
"After graduating from university, Deng Xuemei's father's health worsened. At that time, Deng Xuemei had no choice but to earn money for her father's treatment. It's almost laughable when you think about it; in truth, Deng Xuemei probably wished for her father's death. After all, before, even though her father couldn't afford her education, at least he didn't have to spend her money. But later..."
Suddenly, I recalled the incident of Deng Xuemei's mother abandoning the family, and it dawned on me that Deng Xuemei didn't want to leave her father; she simply had no choice. If her mother had offered to raise her, I believed she would have left without hesitation.
A chilling realization struck me: I hadn't seen any medications or bottles in that shed. I doubted any scavenger would pick up such items. So, could it be that these medications were taken away by a seemingly dutiful daughter?
The thought sent shivers down my spine. Now that we understood what kind of person Deng Xuemei truly was, perhaps she really could do something like that. To outsiders, they appeared to be a devoted father and daughter, but in reality, the daughter might be praying for her father's swift demise to lighten her burden.
There are too many examples of children abandoning their parents during prolonged illness.
I could even envision a scene: on a quiet night, the daughter quietly returned home and stealthily took away the medicine her father had prepared by his bedside, all while he remained completely unaware. Everything happened silently, just like any ordinary night.
That night, Old Deng needed life-saving medication, but when he reached out, there was nothing there. In that moment, instinctively he wanted to knock on the wall for help; his hand reached out but then retracted because he suddenly realized why his medicine was missing. The only possibility that came to mind was one he dreaded.
The daughter he had raised with such difficulty might abandon him now that he could no longer earn money and wished for his death instead. He slowly lowered his hand, suppressing the pain without uttering a sound. If he had cried out loudly, he surely would have summoned Old Li and Old Zhang from the silence of the night.
But nothing is more sorrowful than a deadened heart. He fought to live not because he couldn't bear to part with his daughter but because he finally understood that his daughter wished for him to die.
"How did you manage to draw Deng Xuemei out? It seems she even separated from her boss," I asked Jiang Xiaochun, posing my final question.
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