Chapter 249

When Fang Yuan woke up, he found himself lying on a narrow bed; everything here was so familiar—the white walls, the white sheets, the white light, the ever-present smell of disinfectant in the air...

He smiled silently, knowing his broken body would still cling to this world for a few more days, slowly rotting away...

“Captain Gu, he’s awake.”

Fang Yuan kept his eyes half-closed; he knew it must be that team leader—he had failed to die, and now he had to face him. Feeling the man approach his bedside, he opened his eyes and saw a weary man’s face before him.

“Awake?” Gu Changzheng asked a pointless question, using it to begin their conversation.

“Mm.” Fang Yuan let out a soft hum, shifting slightly; a cold sensation came from his right wrist—the chill unique to metal. Only then did he look around: a single-patient room, a hospital bed, a low table. By the door, a police officer sat upright on a chair near the entrance. Before him, Gu Changzheng, dressed in civilian clothes, sat on a chair beside the bed, watching him. Behind Gu stood a young police officer in uniform, beside him a camera mounted on a stand.

“Zhang Shaodong is dead.” Gu Changzheng’s first words confirmed Zhang Shaodong’s death.

“Eh—!” Fang Yuan jerked upright, staring at the square ceiling light fixture; the blinding white light stabbed into his eyes, leaving his vision a blinding white haze.

When Gu Changzheng suddenly left the interrogation room, Fang Yuan had sensed something was wrong. When the police brought him out of the detention center, he knew something had happened. Sure enough, soon after, Zhang Shaodong called—over the phone, Fang Yuan guessed Zhang had taken Lin Xiaoxue hostage.

The thing he feared most had come to pass: Zhang Shaodong had ignored his plan and instead chosen to step forward himself. Fang Yuan knew Zhang wanted to prove he was the true culprit, hoping to clear Fang’s name. Though deeply moved, Fang also knew they were both ruined—he could not save Zhang, and Zhang could never save him!

Yet he still clung to a sliver of hope: he was already a dead man, but Zhang Shaodong, a schizophrenic, might still be spared.

But when the gunshot echoed through the phone into his ears, he knew Zhang Shaodong was likely dead. Overwhelmed by rage and despair, he bit down hard on his teeth—there, a newly filled tooth.

The detective escorting him noticed his abnormality, immediately called for help, and forcibly pried open his mouth...

After being rushed to the hospital, they discovered he had hidden a small pill inside a filled tooth—the pill contained zinc phosphide! This substance, when reacting with stomach acid, produces deadly phosphine gas; ingestion of 2–5 grams is fatal.

Fortunately, the detective beside him was experienced and recognized the danger in time; he was rushed for gastric lavage and saved.

After a five-minute silence, during which Gu Changzheng stared at him without blinking, Fang Yuan suddenly burst into laughter: “Ha ha ha! Xiao Dong—you beat me to it!”

When Fang Yuan finished laughing, Gu Changzheng said solemnly: “Fang Yuan! It’s too late now. So many are dead. You must tell us everything.”

“Heh. I know what I’ve done is unforgivable. But those monsters—their crimes go unpunished. Even if I destroyed my own future to expose everything, she’d only face hollow moral condemnation—and that cost her another chance to destroy us.”

Gu Changzheng listened to his twisted logic, knowing he meant Zhou Hui’s actions against him and Zhang Shaodong—but what about the girls? Why kill them?

“What right did you have to kill those girls? If Zhou Hui harmed you, does that mean as victims you must repay society by inflicting even greater harm? You say Zhou Hui’s crimes won’t be punished by law—did you ever consider using the law?”

Gu Changzheng’s words left Fang Yuan silent. His mouth hung slightly open, his eyes hollow. Perhaps for the first time, he wondered if extreme measures weren’t necessary to punish that old witch. But then—his terminal illness, Zhang Shaodong’s monstrous state—flashed back into his mind, drowning out that fleeting doubt.

Cold, bitter eyes surfaced in his gaze. He chuckled: “You probably already know—my life is ending. I have nothing left to fear. Xiao Dong is gone. The only person I still cared about is gone too. Now... yes, I can tell you the truth.”

Gu Changzheng’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. Fang Yuan said: “Captain Gu—you’re just like the rest.”

Gu Changzheng frowned, about to speak—then suddenly understood the meaning behind his words. His expression grew distant. After a frozen second, he said: “I want the truth so the dead may rest in peace. I want this judged fairly. Perhaps, at times, you and Zhang Shaodong were in a situation society ignored. Perhaps our law enforcement failed. But only the truth can punish those who committed evil—and only the truth can comfort the dead...”

“Heh! Once I believed black was black, white was white. But then I discovered this world is terrifying—no sincerity, no compassion, no beauty. People never fully trust each other. Deception and calculation surround us. Greed, desire, baseness cling to our skin! After being abandoned by the ones who gave me life, I was thrown into the arms of a hypocritical demon. I was abused and toyed with since childhood, never knowing justice or law existed. Then, when I finally found a companion who shared my suffering, he was turned into a monster because he witnessed the demon’s crimes—and the woman who truly loved and protected him became an accomplice! Not one of them spoke up for him. Instead, they helped the demon humiliate him!”

“Every day, every minute, we felt only despair and terror. So we learned to pretend—to grovel, to please that demon like animals, with no dignity, no bottom line—just to buy enough time to carry out our plan! Ha! To punish them, we named our plan ‘Blood September’—to kill them all in September.”

“You guessed right—the killer wasn’t just me. We worked in tandem; in a way, we were one person. While I was working at the hospital, he appeared in public—tracking victims, studying their routines. I was the one who carried out the executions. The first two women killed were chosen randomly: one, to practice; two, to confuse the police and buy time.”

“Xia Fei—because she worked at the same hospital as me, I made her the first target to avoid complications later. On September 23, we were on the same shift. After her shift ended, she seemed to have nothing else to do, so I invited her to dinner. We both came from the same orphanage; she trusted me. After dinner, I offered to walk her home—we lived in the same building. Naturally, I accompanied her to her door. Inside her apartment, I subdued her—and killed her.”

At this point, a strange flush appeared on Fang Yuan’s face—he seemed exhilarated. He continued: “I didn’t expect killing her felt so different from the first two. It filled me with such excitement—I hadn’t even had time to...”

Gu Changzheng looked at him with revulsion, thinking: How did this man become a monster?