Case Files 013

Chapter 144: Great Acting

Sometimes, the eyes were the most deceiving organs. The village head had told me something similar, Lee Danan too and now I had a full appreciation of this statement. Was the thing I saw before me the truth? If more people said it was the truth, it had to be the truth? If that was the case, we wouldn't need judges anymore.

My voice was small but they all heard me clearly. Before Er Xiao could speak, I heard a voice come from above. It was Uncle Lee, "I guess there's no point talking anymore." Then I saw Father Sun help Lee Luo slowly down the ladder. Lee Danan asked, "Why are you down here, what about the two of them?"

Father Sun replied, "We fed them sedatives after knocking them out, they won't be waking up anytime soon. Don't worry. But does it really make a difference? Do you plan to murder 3 police officers?" After that, all 5 of them were silent.

I looked at Lee Danan and Lee Danan looked at me. Even though his bleeding had stopped, blood was already all over his face. He looked like an accident victim. He leveled me a vicious gaze and then gritted his teeth. Then the conspiracy hissed through his lips, "Brothers, how about this? The two cops up there are still unconscious and they don't know anything. The only one who knows we're the murderers is Wu Meng. I'll kill him and no one will know the truth anymore, right?" The psychopathy colored his eyes, "We'll continue with our script. After I knocked out Chief Zhou and Gu Chen, Wu Meng hurried over. We tussled together and in the panic, I murdered Wu Meng. Right then, you realized you had gone down the wrong direction, came back to the store and found me." Lee Danan was so excited, "And you captured me before waking up Gu Chen and Chief Zhou. With all 5 of our testimonies, our Wu Meng would become a hero who died on duty and I would be punished by law. It could still work."

They were submerged in another temporary silence. "So?" Lee Danan basically pleaded.

It was Er Xiao who said, "This is all my fault, I'm the reason we're in this state. I don't want to run or kill anymore. At this point, I can't even tell if I'm a psychopath or not. I'm so tired, killing is not as easy as I thought. Do you know, ever since that day, I haven't had a good night sleep. I don't want to do this anymore. Every time I close my eyes, I see Luo Sumei" Tears trickled down his face but there was no sob. The tears Er Xiao had shed today was probably more than the amount he had shed throughout his life. "I'll stop running, killing and hiding." Er Xiao looked at me through his tears. "Yes, I won't kill you, if I wanted to, you'd be dead now."

Lee Luo sighed and added, "I'm blind and there's no way I can run far. Leaving home and moving somewhere else will be no difference from death for me. Well, it is right for the wrong to be punished."

Lee Danan frowned, "Wait, so we're giving up just like that?"

At that moment, Ol' Xia shouted, "Kill!" Ol' Xia still savored his breath like gold. Even at a moment like this, he conserved his word count. But this formed an awkward situation, 2 versus 2. Only Father Sun hadn't made a decision and everyone turned to him. The meaning couldn't be clearer, Father Sun literally held my life in his hands. But to be honest, I didn't care anymore, because things were developing the way I had expected it to.

The atmosphere was cold, not from the weather but the chill in our hearts.

Father Sun looked at me and then at the rest of the group. His lips moved, he had made a decision, "This officer is a good man. When Kangning saw that arm, he thought it was his arm. This officer not only didn't blame Kangning for ruining the evidence, but also helped protect little Kangning's dream." Then his eyes rimmed with red. "Kangning is still small, he won't remember this gesture of kindness, but as a father, I owe this officer for shielding Kangning. He is unlike most people who chased my family to this place. I will never forget their faces and what they said to Kangning. This place is our new home and Kangning can only grow up safely here, I can't deprive Kangning of that." Father Sun said through his tears, "I can't bring him to go on the run with me. Even if I have to die, the fact that Kangning can stay here is good enough for me. It's not easy to find a place to call home, it's hard to find good people as well." Father Sun sighed, "Everything is too hard."

Lee Danan looked at him like he couldn't understand the man, "You mean we're going to let him go like that? Once he leaves this place, we're all going to be arrested. I only have half a year left in my life, it doesn't matter where I spend the rest of my life, but it's different for the rest of you, you still have a whole life ahead of you."

"I guess this is it." Er Xiao sighed, "My lifelong goal was to buy a house in Dong Xing City and I did. But what about it? I said I would leave 2 years ago but I stayed until now. I didn't get it before but I get it now. This place is the real Shangri-la."

"Yes." Lee Luo concurred, "We've stayed here for too long to be able to survive anywhere else."

Everyone nodded. Er Xiao turned to Lee Danan and Ol' Xia. "The 3 of us have made our decision, we're not going to run. The two cops up there are still unconscious and Wu Meng poses no threat to us. The sky is still dark. Climb into my truck and drive down the highway, you'll reach a new city by daybreak. And don't come back here anymore," Er Xiao said with melancholy. "Find a place like First Drain Village to hide in. I know you are all good people, and you deserve a long life, so go and enjoy it."

A tragic haze billowed among us. They sounded like they were giving their will. Standing there, I felt like I was intruding. A soft-hearted person would have been affected by their brotherhood. To be honest, I was feeling a bit touched as well.

Lee Danan slammed his fist into the wall and growled, "If none of you are leaving, why should I? I only have half a year left in my life, I do not want to live the rest of my life as a fugitive. I've lived my whole life here, it might not be a long life but I want to die peacefully at my place of roots."

Ol' Xia cursed, "Fuck." It was only one word but we still got his meaning, he wasn't going on the run either. The five of them decided to stay and stood there, looking at me. I shook my head and didn't know what to say.

I had already guessed the whole truth but I'd rather that I didn't know this truth. The truth was always gory, stark and dark, but I had an unhealthy addiction towards truth. For me, I wanted to know everything that was to know about this world. For example, why was I abandoned? Would I see Zhao Mingkun again? Who was that Wu Zui?

And why were these 5 doing this?

I frowned and said, "I know you won't kill me, despite the efforts to look threatening. Another person might have been persuaded by you but not me, because I was never afraid of death, but I still don't understand why you're doing this." I continued, "But it hit me earlier. There are emotions other than love which could beget hatred and sin. Sometimes, to kill is not to kill but to save."

"What exactly is that you're trying to say?" Er Xiao looked at me.

I answered slowly, "From the moment I entered this convenience store, you've arranged a skit that I could have seen through easily for me to know that you're in the same gang as Lee Danan. The 5 of you cooperated to murder a person but when I saw the dead body and the rest of your performance, I get it now. Even at this moment, you all are still acting."

Er Xiao shook his head, "What acting?"

I smiled sadly. "You can drop the act. Since I've said that, I knew the actual truth behind this case. What I don't understand is, is it really worth it? I believe from the moment you murdered that poor woman 4 days ago, you have already imagined things would end up in this state."

I took in the group, Er Xiao, Ol' Xia, Lee Danan, Lee Luo and Father Sun, the 5 who tried their best to portray themselves as psychopaths. The interesting thing about this world was that actual psychopaths wouldn't admit that they were psychopaths but non-psychopaths wanted to let others believe that they were psychopaths. I continued, "The five of you decide to sacrifice yourself to save one person."

We were all silent for a long time. Then I broke the silence and the words slowly tumbled out of my mouth, "Is the person really that great? Is the person worth your sacrifice? Is he worth everything you're doing for him?"