We took him to a parking lot under maintenance. He initially refused to confess, but after being lectured, he finally confessed how he got the rope.
Qi Mengzhu and I leaned against the wire fence outside the basketball court. He looked at his watch and snorted, "I regret following you."
"You were the one who insisted on following me."
"Waste of time. I have a meeting tomorrow morning at five."
The door to the stadium opened and Jackman came out. Wang Chen tried to take the opportunity to escape, but was kicked back and fell to the ground unconscious.
"—An anonymous package." Jackman held Wang Chen's phone in his hand and looked through the contents. "In addition to the rope, the package also included a piece of printed paper, telling him that as long as he followed the instructions on the paper, he could kill the woman he wanted to kill. He was scolded by a female customer at the grocery store for molesting her, and he holds a grudge against her. But he doesn't know You Zili, and he has no idea how You Zili knew he wanted to kill that woman."
We were all planning to leave him to the police and walk away; but Jackman found some secrets in his phone, stared at the screen, and stopped.
"...This little girl is quite cute." He squatted down in front of Wang Chen. Many of Wang Chen's photos showed a girl of six or seven, but they were blurry, clearly not serious shots, more like candid snapshots. "Is this your daughter?"
"The neighbor's..."
"Oh, we filmed quite a lot." Jackman smiled. "Can I tell you something?"
Wang Chen raised his bloody face and let out a scream - the phone hit his mouth hard, making a creepy sound when it hit his teeth.
"—Girls don't want to be secretly photographed by something like you when they're showering." He stepped on the phone that was stuffed into Wang Chen's mouth and pressed down hard, forcing the phone down the young man's throat. "I've changed my mind. If I leave you to the police, I'll be really good to you."
He pulled Wang Chen up. At this moment, something hit Qi Mengzhu beside me, and he fell to the ground with a muffled sound.
In the dark night, someone walked towards us from the bushes. It was a young man wearing a black hood, with pale skin and an impatient look. He walked right past me, opened the door to the basketball court, and pointed the object in his hand at Jackman.
I could hardly believe my eyes.
This person is You Zili from the photo. And what he holds in his hand...
It's a gun.
Thanks to strict gun control, the probability of a gunfight in a city is now lower than an earthquake. I never thought I would be attacked by someone with a gun.
The silencer made a sharp "whoosh" sound, and Jackman was shot in the chest. He staggered and fell to the ground in shock.
Then, You Zili looked at me.
"Dai Xueming?" He sneered. "Ah, we finally meet. How's it going? Did you receive the gift I sent?"
——The person who leaked my information was You Zili.
He occasionally hacks into databases to investigate the "suicide cases" that he led - all the information on the Internet are his tentacles, chat records, cameras, transaction records... This person never does it himself, always hiding behind the screen, hunting women by luring men with murderous desires.
"I regularly check your database to see if anyone's noticed the cases I fabricated and is collecting data on them." He lowered his head and toyed with the muzzle of his gun. The man was still chewing bubble gum, pale green bubbles occasionally popping out of his mouth. "—I noticed a sudden increase in searches for those cases. In your data records, the person searching for them is named Dai Xueming."
Yes, because I wanted the details of those cases, my colleagues who had the authority to retrieve the information went to retrieve it in my name.
He started paying attention to me and searching for all my information. It was also around that time that he got the information about the high school student robbery and murder case, because Uncle Zhou asked me for help, and my name was also included in the database as an investigator of this case.
"I was thinking of posting your information online to see if the robbery and murder suspect would find you and kill you. That way, I could sleep peacefully." He pointed at the dark circles under his eyes. "Since I found out you're investigating me, I haven't had a good night's sleep in ages. Do you know how painful insomnia is?"
"...your gun..."
"Oh, this." He smiled, showing his two fangs like a child, "--someone gave it to me. Since I have to deal with you, I can only use this directly. I'm not good at fighting. There's Xu Tuo and Old J, how can I beat them..."
"So, Wang Chen's exposure was also deliberately arranged by you? You knew that Class L was investigating you, and I was investigating you too. You wanted to use Wang Chen to lure us out of our original city and catch us all in this one?"
——No, something is wrong.
In other words, his behavior was simply wrong.
——Xu Tuo spent so many days but couldn't find him at all.
Even a shark with the best nose couldn't follow his blood trail. He'd covered his tracks so well, so why not just keep on escaping? Why would he have to kill us all? He used a gun after all—if there had been any problems with the body disposal and the shooting had been discovered, the fact of the shooting alone would have been enough for the police to launch a dragnet to find him.
Then there is only one possibility.
——Everything he did was to lure us in and kill us.
At this moment, Wang Chen finally got up from the ground, retched a few times, and spat out the phone. He spat out a mouthful of blood and raged at You Zili, "This is not what we agreed on!"
"Don't worry about the details." You Zili blew a bubble and pointed at Jackman, who was near death. "How about leaving him to you? You can do whatever you want with him."
Like a dog with permission, Wang Chen gritted his teeth and kicked Jackman's body.
"Why did you keep me?" I asked.
"Because someone wants to see you." He covered the gun with his coat and pointed it at me. "Come with me. If we finish this soon, I can still get back to my daily routine."
A sudden burst of thoughts connected the fragmented and strange feeling. I tested him: "The person who told you what brand of climbing rope I like is the one you want to take me to?"
You Zili's expression changed instantly, but quickly returned to normal. My doubts were also answered at that moment.
"—Someone brought you to my attention. You started committing crimes six months ago, and I've only been back home for two months." Cold sweat seeped down my back. "...Six months ago, I was still in the US preparing to graduate. But back then, I bought this brand of climbing rope at a sports store over there."
If...if all of this was planned in advance by someone behind the scenes...
Since half a year ago, when I was still in the United States, I have been monitored. My daily life, my interests, my purchase history...
The leader of this surveillance was undoubtedly related to Class L. After I returned home, everything began to converge, eventually becoming this basketball court in the dark.
Xu Tuo being taken away by Uncle Zhou was probably one of the few variables. Otherwise, it would have been Xu Tuo and me who came today, and it would have been Xu Tuo who collapsed in Jackman's place...
It seems that Wang Chen is in the same team as You Zili. The others received anonymous packages and "murder tutorials". Wang Chen might be his juice man.
You Zili blew some bubbles and put the muzzle of the gun against my abdomen, signaling me to leave. I took two steps back and asked, "Don't you care about Wang Chen anymore?"
"He'll help dispose of the body when he's had enough fun."
"—He's had enough fun."
A voice that absolutely shouldn't be heard again appeared behind You Zili. The young man raised his gun and turned, but he was still too slow—he was right, he wasn't good at fighting.
Jackman's arms softly wrapped around his head and neck. After a crisp sound, You Zili fell quietly to the ground.
On the other side, Wang Chen had been killed by him at some point.
"Damn, you actually used a gun?" He picked up the gun and confirmed it was a real gun. "Cheating..."
Qi Mengzhu also stood up, holding his abdomen: "If there is a channel, it can be obtained."
"Of course I know! Do I need you to remind me?!"
"——Don't forget, I was the one who reminded you to wear a bulletproof vest. Cough cough cough…it hurts so much…" Qi Mengzhu unbuttoned his shirt, and under the torn fabric, the black bulletproof vest blocked the bullet.
We waited on the plane for a while until Jackman returned after handling You Zili's body. He took off his sunglasses and wig, and stared blankly at the round window of the private plane, his body covered in wounds, wondering what he was thinking.
"I think..."
As soon as I opened my mouth, he interrupted me: "I know. I heard what you said to him."
"Who wants to take me away..."
"I have no business whatsoever with your life or death. I only know one thing: it was originally you and Xu Tuo who went to see Wang Chen today, but that guy suddenly had a seizure and was sent to the police station, so it was you and me who went instead."
——Xu Tuo is in danger.
"Uncle Zhou said he'll be out this afternoon."
"I'll pick him up in advance." Jackman took out a cigarette case and matches, but Qi Mengzhu pressed them down. "—What for? It's a private plane anyway..."
Qi Mengzhu confiscated the matches and said, "You have to go to the hospital."
"You don't need to arrange my itinerary."
"You have a broken bone, right? You've been sitting in this weird position since just now."
"...just a rib."
"Would you like me to arrange a confidential medical appointment for you?"
"I have someone of my own who can—uh…."
He clutched his ribs, took a deep breath, and fell silent. There was an emergency medical kit on the private plane, and Qi Mengzhu had him take some painkillers as a last resort. After the medication took effect, Jackman fell into a deep sleep.
"You're sleeping like this," Qi Mengzhu glanced at him, "You have no manners."
Jackman started talking in his sleep and struggled desperately. Qi Mengzhu could only hold his hands to prevent him from rolling off the sofa.
In the afternoon, I was still planning to pick up Xu Tuo. I arrived half an hour early, and a little later, another car stopped next to mine.
The car window rolled down and Xia Mo greeted me from inside.
"Are you coming to pick him up too?" he said. "I thought Ajie would come too."
"He's injured. By the way, You Zili's issue has been resolved."
"Ah...that's great." He smiled with relief.
——Behind the glass door over there, I saw Xu Tuo's figure flash by. He must be coming out and going to the window to complete the departure procedures.
"He's completely turned into 'Xu Tuo'." Xia Mo smiled bitterly, "Xue Ming, do you want to have dinner together this afternoon?"
"-Is You Zili the cleaner of Class L?" I asked.
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet.
Xia Mo stared at me in the car, his face still elegant and beautiful, his expression innocent. He was really beautiful, and for a few seconds, I did feel a sense of guilt, guilty for even doubting him.
"Someone told him everything about me. I was addicted to the feeling of near-death that suicide brings. I used a certain foreign brand of climbing rope... He used the same rope to commit the crime to attract my attention... I felt like this was an entrance exam. If I noticed, then the exam would continue."
Xu Tuo's figure appeared again behind the door in the distance.
Xia Mo sighed at this time: "-Some exams cannot be withdrawn once they begin. Xueming, get in the car."
"So You Zili isn't a 'freshman' at all. He's your tool. Every time someone in Class L turns up unruly or difficult to deal with openly, you give them a fake mission to atone for their sins—kill You Zili. Of course, it could be Wang Zili or Zhang Zili. You gave You Zili the gun, didn't you? Guns are such tricky weapons. People who go looking for him rarely think he has one, so naturally, they never return. The person you want to deal with dies in the process of atonement, and no one suspects anything."
"Xue Ming, look, Xu Tuo is about to come out!" Xia Mo excitedly called me when he saw the glass door about to open. Then, his tone changed, "...but this time, You Zi Li was specially made for you."
There was a soft sound next to him - the driver in the front seat rolled down the window, and a black gun muzzle with a silencer was leaning against the window, and the muzzle was pointed at Xu Tuo.
"Xueming, please get in the car?" His voice was pleading. "You definitely don't want to see Xu Tuo get hurt."
The distance between Xu Tuo and me was only fifty meters. It was like one of those stupid math problems—if we walk towards each other at the same time, how many seconds will it take?
"Originally, if you passed the 'test' and discovered You Zili's affairs, then Xu Tuo would die, and You Zili would bring you to me." His words echoed with the sound of the car door opening. "If you failed, then you would die, and Xu Tuo would survive."
It's 12 seconds. I figured it out. It only takes 12 seconds for us to be reunited.
"Now, you two can survive. Isn't that good?" He put his arm around my waist and gently led me into the car. The window rolled up, and Xu Tuo's figure gradually disappeared from sight.
In the moment before the car window closed, he seemed to glance over here.
I don't know if we will be able to meet again in the future.