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墨書 Inktalez
Twenty-five meters in the air, life and death hung by a thread. However, for Gu Chen, catching Yang Ting was not an insurmountable task. After all, Gu Chen had accomplished far more difficult feats before, and I believed in his abilities.
All of this flashed through my mind in an instant, but life has a way of surprising us. As the two figures crossed in mid-air, Gu Chen did reach out his hand. Yet, he failed to grasp Yang Ting. They both plummeted downwards; according to simple calculations of free fall, it would take only two seconds.
What can happen in two seconds? A single breath, or a person falling from twenty-five meters to become a mangled corpse. Screams erupted as everyone instinctively recoiled. A body falling from such a height would land heavily on the ground.
Flesh splattered everywhere, blood and gore mingling on the ground. From such a height, Yang Ting didn’t even have time to utter a word before becoming a puddle of flesh. I stood at the forefront, and in that moment, the stench of blood assaulted my senses. Bound hand and foot, Yang Ting had no chance to shield himself; he crashed straight down.
Everyone held their breath as I stared at the body—Yang Ting’s remains lay just a few meters away from me. I watched clearly as he transformed from a complete person into what now resembled a shattered corpse. Yang Ting was like a water balloon that had burst into pieces.
Bones jutted out from his body, viscera ruptured, and bits of flesh were scattered everywhere.
Heavy rain began to pour down from above, cascading and washing away the remnants of flesh.
The rain intensified, quickly diluting the blood until it became faint and nearly untraceable. This scene mirrored the deaths of those children before; their wounds were clean, devoid of bloodstains, as if meticulously handled.
Yang Ting lay there with twisted limbs; he had ultimately failed to escape the punishment meted out by Zhang Zijun and his wife.
Yang Ting was dead, but others were still alive. I strained to look up and saw Gu Chen hanging on the wall. He hadn’t caught Yang Ting and was now suspended in mid-air. Fortunately, someone was pulling him back; for now, he seemed safe.
“Don’t!” I shouted.
Above Gu Chen, on the rooftop, stood someone outside the railing—Zhang Zijun, who had just let go. Facing the crowd, Zhang Zijun clung tightly to the railing to prevent himself from falling. He gazed upwards without moving.
We didn’t know what Zhang Zijun was thinking or when he might let go again. It was as if he had casually released his grip on Yang Ting’s life. Perhaps ending another’s life felt different from ending one’s own; Zhang Zijun hesitated to loosen his hold.
Regardless of whether Zhang Zijun feared death or had other reasons, killing Yang Ting so brutally in front of everyone was a crime that warranted a bullet in return. Around us, chaos ensued; some rushed upstairs to apprehend Zhang Zijun while others grabbed tools to clear away the remains on the ground.
Gu Chen had already entered through a window; I imagined he was racing toward the rooftop now.
The noise below was deafening, yet atop the building, Zhang Zijun’s world seemed eerily quiet. He appeared frozen in place for what felt like two full minutes. Then I saw him glance back over his shoulder—likely at Gu Chen and others breaking through the door. Zhang Zijun turned back to look down at the ground below.
"Son, I'm here."
He shouted this as he let go of his hand.
"Get away!" someone yelled.
The police below, who were trying to move the body, immediately scattered upon hearing the voice. In the next moment, another person fell from the high building. The body landed on top of another body; despite the cushioning effect, a drop from twenty-five meters was still a significant height. I even saw bones protruding from Yang Ting's body, piercing into Zhang Zijun's body.
The same position, the same method—one had passively ended his life while the other had actively chosen to do so, and yet both were the same person. They died in the same place, bodies stacked upon bodies, with some parts even merging together.
"He's still alive!" At that moment, a doctor shouted.
Several doctors rushed over to check on Zhang Zijun's condition. Indeed, Zhang Zijun was not dead; he wore a smile as he looked at me. No, to be precise, he was looking behind me. I turned around to see the police officer standing there with the prisoner Ha Li Min in tow.
Zhang Zijun was not looking at me but at his wife.
That wedding photo was wiped clean by Zhang Zijun.
"It's no use; his pulse is very weak now."
I heard someone shout.
The nearby police began to assist, but many bones had pierced into Zhang Zijun's body. I feared that several had already penetrated his viscera. If they tried to move Zhang Zijun away from Yang Ting's corpse in his already critical state, it would surely hasten his death.
But given the current situation, Zhang Zijun wouldn't last much longer.
Sure enough, I heard a doctor call out, "It's hopeless, it's hopeless..."
When a person has been decapitated and can still live for a few seconds, Zhang Zijun managed to give his wife a smile in his final moments. For these two people, perhaps everything had come to an end right there. It was clearly a smile of relief; for some people, being alive is nothing but torment.
Several doctors stood up and shook their heads at us; Zhang Zijun was beyond saving.
"Take both bodies back to the police station," I said, glancing at the nearby officers. "Notify Yang Ting's parents."
Just as my words hung in the air, I suddenly heard a commotion behind me. At that moment, Ha Li Min seized the opportunity while the two officers were distracted and violently broke free from their grasp, making a beeline for the police car. Fortunately, the two officers reacted quickly and managed to grab Ha Li Min just before she could collide with the vehicle.
But Ha Li Min was like a wild animal at that moment, desperately trying to escape from the hold of the two officers. This time, however, they were not going to let her go easily.
The scene was chaotic, with everyone bustling about.
Yet in my heart, I felt an unusual calm. This should have been a sorrowful scene, but for some reason, all I could perceive was their overwhelming noise.
"Why are you stopping me!" Ha Li Min screamed hoarsely. "Let me die! Why do you have to hold me back? Hypocrites! This world is full of hypocrisy. Even if you take me back, I'll still die later. What does it matter if I die now? I want to die with my husband."
Sometimes, being alive is a difficult thing, but death is not always easy either. Especially for Ha Li Min, who had killed so many; she no longer had the power to decide her own death.
Now, this case could be considered resolved. Zhang Zijun and Ha Li Min had spent half a year planning their murders out of guilt for their son and anger towards those who abused him. At the beginning of their scheme, Zhang Zijun was responsible for diverting the police's investigation, while Ha Li Min, the enraged mother, took on the role of executioner.
After killing two people according to their plan, Zhang Zijun and Ha Li Min realized that the police had begun to focus on the abuse case. They knew that soon enough, the police would find Zhang Zuocheng among the list of previously abused individuals. So they deliberately set up a situation where Zhang Zijun would leave a clue and get caught before they killed Guo Li.
While we monitored Zhang Zijun, Ha Li Min had ample time to carry out her intentions. Zhang Zijun intentionally exposed himself so we could apprehend him. In the interrogation room, the couple played us like pawns in a game of misdirection. While everyone rushed to catch Ha Li Min and search for Hu Ningning, she began her actions.
The words exchanged in that interrogation room had long been planned by Zhang Zijun and Ha Li Min. It appeared as if Zhang Zijun wanted to exonerate himself; in reality, he aimed to capture Yang Ting once he was released at midnight. The heavy rain that day aided Zhang Zijun immensely; everyone on the street wore raincoats and carried umbrellas. Yang Ting likely never suspected that someone beneath a raincoat was coming for his life.
Many officers had already loaded the bodies into vehicles; everyone was busy collecting those remains. For deceased bodies, ambulances would not transport them; thus, it fell upon these officers to take them back for an autopsy. Although both individuals died in plain sight, an autopsy was an essential procedure for any unnatural death.
After exchanging greetings with me, police cars began to leave the school one after another.
The School Leader looked at me with a troubled expression and asked, "Several have died already; let me ask you one thing: is there going to be another?"
"Why won't you let me die? Why won't you let me die!"
In the distance, the cries of Ha Li Min could still be heard.
But in an instant, everything fell silent again.
I looked at the ground, which had been stained with blood just moments ago, now gleaming as if new. The heavy rain had diluted and washed away the blood, flowing into the drain along with Ha Li Min's tears, forever lost from sight. And those children who had already gone home from school would likely never imagine that such things had happened here.
"I can't continue being this leader," the School Leader said, shaking his head as he walked away alone.
Mary stood beside me as we waited for Gu Chen and the other two police officers to come down so we could return to the station together.
Mary had naturally heard the School Leader's words. She shook off the rainwater from her raincoat's brim and said, "No one will die anymore. There were four people in total, including Zhang Zijun and Zhang Zuocheng, who died six months ago. And then there's Ha Li Min; no more deaths will occur. But what did Yang Ting do? Are you interested in investigating further?"
I shook my head and replied, "Will there really be no more deaths? As long as the issue of bullying in schools remains unresolved, as long as those kids have not faced proper punishment, this kind of thing will never end. What about you?"
Mary looked at me thoughtfully but remained silent.
We could uncover why Zhang Zuocheng committed suicide; we could save a child like Wang Mai who was being abused. But our country is vast, and what we see are only the cases that have already exploded online, those that have resulted in fatalities. But what about the children who are still suffering in silence?
Who else can we save?
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