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墨書 Inktalez
A flash of lightning suddenly illuminated the outside, making it seem as bright as day and rendering the lights inside the house dim in comparison. The lightning made Hu Ningning's face appear pale and ghostly, evoking images from those horror movies in my mind. Immediately following was a booming thunder that made my eardrums buzz.
In an instant, everything returned to silence. It was then that I realized it had become completely dark outside. However, the heavy rain showed no signs of stopping. I wondered where Gu Chen was at this moment; it was truly unsafe in such pitch darkness.
Hu Ningning stood up and closed the door tightly, saying, "If this door isn't secured, the rain will easily seep in."
Afterward, she glanced at the pouring rain outside and continued, "You're right. They believe me because I know the details so well; those specifics compel them to trust me. But they aren't as clever as you think. They have no idea who Zhang Zuocheng's friends are; in reality, Zhang Zuocheng has no friends at all."
"Think about it: a wealthy boy with toys and snacks but who is very timid is someone everyone wants to bully. Because everyone knows that if you raise your voice, he will be scared of you, will share his snacks, and let you play with his toys. Faced with such temptation, what would you do?"
Hu Ningning's tone suddenly grew somber, like that of a wise old philosopher: "There is no one in this world who can resist temptation. If there is, it’s only because the temptation isn’t strong enough. A student might bully others for the allure of toys and snacks; a penniless person might steal or rob for money; a lecherous man might commit heinous acts for beauty."
It was astonishing to hear such perceptive words from a nine-year-old girl. Had children matured to such an extent? Although I knew kids today were more aware than adults in many ways, I still underestimated the complexity of a child's inner world.
We often take for granted what we think the world is like, yet it constantly reminds us that we can never truly guess its nature. We can see what the universe looks like; we know how deep the ocean trenches are, but we don’t know what the person sitting across from us is truly thinking.
Hu Ningning spoke confidently: "No one is immune to temptation. Even the richest people can be tempted by absolute power; even those with power desire immortality. Do you understand? Human desire is infinite. Why should we resist this? Why can't we follow our true instincts?"
"And for you..."
Suddenly, Hu Ningning leaned closer and asked, "What tempts you? Money, power, beauty? Or perhaps... truth?"
I didn’t care about the rest, but when I heard that last word, I froze.
Hu Ningning continued, "I can sense your pursuit and obsession with truth within your heart; otherwise, you wouldn’t discuss these matters with a nine-year-old girl. But you must understand: is truth really what people want to see? I can tell you the truth about things, but will others believe it?"
"Whether others believe it or not, truth is still truth. It may not be simple, but it is absolutely pure; it is starkly real. Some may prefer to live in a beautiful world of their own making, but not me. Even if the truth is cruel and disgusting, it's something I need to know."
"Then your guesses are mostly correct—except for Gu Hui; you haven't guessed right there." Hu Ningning smiled: "Sometimes you place too much importance on a person's life. Perhaps as police officers, you always think that taking a life requires immense psychological torment. Criminals lose sleep over it; they become jumpy at the sight of police."
"But that's not how it is," Hu Ningning said firmly. "I'm not afraid that Gu Hui will expose anything; in fact, you still don't understand human nature. No matter how much time passes, Gu Hui will never come forward. Everyone believes Teacher Gao was a beast because of her words, and Teacher Gao is already dead—do you think she would come out? After all, Teacher Gao was killed by her."
Hu Ningning stated decisively: "She will absolutely not come forward; she might even forget about it entirely—though perhaps she’ll never truly forget—but she will pretend to have forgotten. Do you understand? That’s human nature; there’s no exception."
"If it weren't for this, why did you kill Gu Hui?" I found it hard to believe. "If it weren't for Gu Hui, Teacher Gao wouldn't have been dismissed. She lied for you, and what she got in return was your slaughter?"
Hu Ningning smiled and said, "Let me tell you another story. One day, it was pouring rain, and a girl was bored at home, so she took an umbrella and went to find Gu Hui to play. When Gu Hui saw the girl, she was very happy because they were best friends. The two girls walked out of the house, and the adults inside didn't even notice when the girl called Gu Hui out."
Hu Ningning continued, "The girl and Gu Hui walked along the road under one umbrella, laughing together. But the girl didn't see that there was a big puddle beneath her feet. She stepped right into it; the hole was deep and submerged her up to her chest. The girl was covered in mud and looked quite disheveled."
A smile crept onto Hu Ningning's lips. "That scene was hilarious, making Gu Hui laugh uncontrollably. Gu Hui is actually a nice girl; she just doesn't understand that for some people, mockery is a weapon more lethal than death. I have worked hard for many years to ensure that no one in the village would mock me in any way, but Gu Hui? She just doesn't get it."
"You're not being strong; you're being pathological, do you understand?" I said.
"Pathological?" Hu Ningning shook her head. "You don't understand because you weren't the one being mocked. The girl struggled to climb out, but by then she was covered in mud. Gu Hui was still beside her, laughing maniacally. That laughter reminded me of the mocking voices of older kids from years ago; it annoyed me."
A cold light flickered in Hu Ningning's eyes as she said, "When I climbed out, she was still laughing. If you want to silence someone forever, the best way is to ensure they can never speak again. That hole was interesting; I felt it when I went down—narrow at the bottom with no way to gain leverage. Luckily, my arm got stuck outside so I could climb back up."
"So you can probably guess what happened next," Hu Ningning continued. "I pushed her into the hole. Honestly, I never expected that when Gu Hui fell in, she would disappear completely; from outside, you couldn't even tell there was a girl inside."
"After she fell in, there wasn't a single sound from her. I could see bubbles rising from the puddle," Hu Ningning gazed out the window, her eyes drifting as if recalling that moment. "It was quite amusing; I thought I would have to prevent her from calling for help. If she tried to climb out, I'd have to push her back down. But I stood there waiting for several minutes—Gu Hui showed no reaction at all. After a while, feeling bored, I went home."
"Oh right," Hu Ningning suddenly chuckled lightly. "At that moment, I thought clearly: with the rain pouring down and no one on the road, I could wait for her to die before leaving. But I didn't expect it would only take a few minutes. When I returned home, my family didn't even know I had gone out."
"So I put on a show," Hu Ningning said as she looked out the window again. "I pretended like I had just stepped outside and then accidentally fell in the yard; that way, it would explain how I got muddy while also proving that I'd never left home."
Hu Ningning's voice took on a playful tone: "In the end, others took an entire night to find Gu Hui's body—how interesting."
She sat on the bed with an indifferent expression.
"Why tell me this? Why tell a police officer?" I asked Hu Ningning. "Don't you think you'll get caught?"
Upon hearing my words, Hu Ningning burst into laughter and took a while to calm down before saying, "Brother, what are you talking about? Do you have any evidence? Besides, aren't we just telling stories? Everything we talked about earlier was just a story—are you really taking it seriously? You're too cute."
"Is this really just a story?" I looked at Hu Ningning and slowly asked.
Hu Ningning said, "That's right. No matter who you tell my story to, it's just a story. Besides, don't forget, I'm not even fourteen yet. The television can tell us a lot of things, you know? I'm a good student, and the law is a weapon to protect ourselves. Aren't you?"
With that, Hu Ningning smiled and added, "Alright, brother, I know I'm just telling a story. Why are you being so serious?"
Then, Hu Ningning took back her phone.
I watched as Hu Ningning instantly transformed from her cold demeanor into a cheerful girl next door, and an overwhelming sense of fear gripped my heart. Hu Ningning would always hide her true self, pretending to be different in front of different people. It was as if she had no real self at all, or perhaps everyone was just a version of Hu Ningning.
Everyone has their own evil side, their own lewdness, and their own greed, but everyone also possesses kindness, integrity, and contentment. It's like a tug-of-war; whenever we encounter something, our good and evil sides begin to pull against each other. For some, evil triumphs over goodness; for others, goodness prevails over evil.
But for Hu Ningning, all her facets existed solely to satisfy her distorted self-esteem at such a young age. No one stopped her from getting what she wanted.
The door creaked open, and Hu Ningning's grandmother walked in.
Seeing her grandmother, Hu Ningning happily exclaimed, "Grandma! I was just telling my brother a story. Is dinner ready? I'm so hungry!"
Her grandmother joyfully touched her granddaughter's face, and the reunion brought a bright smile to her own.
"It's ready! But your dad and mom and grandpa haven't come back yet. We'll wait for them to eat together," Hu Ningning's grandmother said apologetically as she glanced at me.
I spoke up, "Give me an umbrella; I'll go check on the situation..."
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