Chapter 66

At that moment, Gu Changzheng’s pager suddenly vibrated “buzz-buzz-buzz.” He picked it up and saw a message on the screen: Confirmed, Tao and Jiang are colleagues. Let’s meet and talk details. Hu.

Gu Changzheng glanced at Tao Xiaoyong, showed the message to Lu Haoxuan, who nodded—everything was connected now!

Tao Xiaoyong, now unburdening himself like a child showing off to an adult, grinned: “That night, Xiao Jiang said he was going to the police station. I knew he was thinking about Lan too—but he was just like those other bastards! All he wanted was to take advantage of Lan! I knew it! I knew it all! To protect Lan, I had to kill him. The next morning, I got up early and kept watch on him. When I saw him ride off on his bike, I followed. I knew the route from Jiangjia Tai to the police station—he meant the Jiangdong Branch—went along the riverbank. He was on a bike, so I couldn’t catch up. I took a shortcut and got there ahead of him. As soon as I reached the riverbank, I saw that bastard riding over, grinning like an idiot!”

“Hmph! Bastard! He was definitely lusting after Lan! I knew it! That’s the kind of men they are!”

Tao Xiaoyong snarled: “When I saw his leering grin, I got even angrier. I pretended to run into him, stopped his bike, and feigned curiosity: ‘Where you headed?’ He’d probably forgotten what happened after drinking the night before—he lied and said he was going out for fun. The fool was stupid. I pointed behind him and asked, ‘Hey, weren’t those two guys from yesterday here too? Did you arrange to meet them?’ He actually believed me and turned around! In that instant, I pulled out the red brick hidden under my cotton coat and smashed it into the back of his head!”

“Damn! The bastard was tougher than I thought—I only knocked him down at first. He was still moving, so I straddled him and kept smashing, smashing, smashing until he stopped moving. Then I dragged him to the river, tied him and his bike together. I saw big rocks nearby, picked one up, shoved it into his clothes, and pushed them both into the river! Heh heh heh! Lucky for him, I couldn’t chop him up outside. Otherwise, I’d have sliced him to pieces! Hahahaha!” Tao Xiaoyong burst into wild laughter.

Beside him, Gu Changzheng’s hands trembled with rage. This guy was completely insane—he killed like swatting a cat or dog, speaking of it so casually!

Lu Haoxuan asked: “Where did you hide the brick you used to kill Jiang Weimin?”

Tao Xiaoyong slowly stopped laughing: “That brick? I threw it in the river. Do you think I’d carry it around?”

Lu Haoxuan glanced at Gu Changzheng, who understood immediately and left the interrogation room to notify Hu Jinquan to inspect Tao Xiaoyong’s crime scene and retrieve the weapon.

Lu Haoxuan continued: “We know about Jiang Weimin. Was Shao Tianyang killed at He’s Meat Shop? Who killed him?”

Tao Xiaoyong smirked, showing contempt: “Officer, don’t try to lead me. Everything here is recorded!” He tilted his head toward the interrogation room’s camera: “I already told you about that rat—I and the butcher killed him. The butcher had already cut him into pieces, planning to bury him somewhere. But I hated him so much, I volunteered to bury him. After that, you know the rest.”

Lu Haoxuan still had a question: Shao Tianyang’s body was incomplete—several parts were missing. He’d long suspected something, though it was too horrifying to accept. Still, he had to confirm it. He looked at Tao Xiaoyong: “Besides dumping his body down the sewer, what else did you do to Shao Tianyang?”

Tao Xiaoyong cackled: “Jie jie jie! Guess! I think you already know. I thought only that dog figured it out—you’re impressive! Hahahaha!”

Lu Haoxuan’s stomach twisted. The man before him had transformed into a demon with a bloodied maw, filling him with a chilling, icy dread.

Meanwhile, Hu Jinquan, after receiving Gu Changzheng’s call, led the technical team to the riverbank Tao Xiaoyong described. They found a patch of blood concealed under yellow soil—blood type matched Xiao Jiang’s. At the spot where Xiao Jiang’s body was dumped, they recovered a red brick matching Tao’s description. Though most blood traces had vanished, meticulous forensic technician Xiao Zheng detected faint traces in the brick’s cracks through spectral analysis…

————

Interrogation of He Jian also achieved a breakthrough: bloodstains found in the meat shop were confirmed to belong to Xiao Fang and Shao Tianyang.

When police presented these evidences, his spirit visibly collapsed. When they subtly revealed Tao Xiaoyong had been arrested, He Jian grew even more lifeless.

The will to survive is a basic human instinct. Though he deeply loved Lan, his situation now involved not just one kidnapping, but two murders. His chance of survival was virtually zero.

This was the fundamental difference between him and Tao Xiaoyong. For Lan, one was driven by lust—whether romantic or carnal—always ultimately self-centered; the other was a spiritual obsession, an abnormal fixation.

Tao Xiaoyong would truly die for Lan—with no expectation of return. Everything He Jian did required exchange. That’s why, when he realized he was doomed, he clung desperately to any straw that might save him.

Once a psychological dam develops a crack, its collapse is only a matter of time.

When the photo of the girl with the ponytail (Lan) was placed before He Jian, the tiny fissure in his mental defenses shattered into a gaping chasm.

Lan, the hidden puppeteer, had finally surfaced.

He Jian’s confession:

Q: Tell us about Lan. What’s her full name?

A: Lan. I only know her as Lan. I met her around two years ago, spring of ’93. My meat shop was in the industrial zone, full of factories and outsiders. One morning, a beautiful girl, maybe twenty, came in. I thought she wanted pork—but she asked if I needed help. She looked too pretty to be working in a meat shop. I was about to refuse outright, but when I saw her big, curved eyes fixed on me, the words died on my lips—and instead I asked, “You’re looking for work? I’m short-staffed.” That girl was Lan. She told me her name.

Q: Didn’t you ask for her ID? Didn’t you wonder where she was from?

A: I did. I asked. She said her life had been cruel, and if I’d let her stay, I shouldn’t ask anymore. She spoke with such pain—I couldn’t bear to press further.

Q: Why did you kill Shao Tianyang?

A: I didn’t kill him!