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Chapter 247: Snowy Night Campfire (2)

When Victor and Schiller entered the Copperpot Manor, they were shocked. It looked as if it had just been heavily bombed.

Victor looked down at the pool of blood in the hallway and shouted, "Oswald! Are you here? Oswald Copperpot!... Copperpot!"

Schiller grabbed his shoulder and pointed at the bloodstain, saying, "In the bathroom."

Victor quickly crossed the hallway and rushed into the bathroom. He saw a pale-faced Copperpot lying in the corner, covered in blood.

He swiftly approached Copperpot, shaking him. Victor noticed a deep, bone-visible wound on Copperpot's left shoulder and upper arm, along with injuries all over his body. In his right hand, he held a mobile phone, obviously the one he had just used to call Victor.

"What happened? Where is your mother? Mrs. Copperpot?" Victor asked.

Upon hearing the word "mother," Copperpot's head moved slightly, and a strained voice, sounding like a skipping record, came from his throat. "Second floor... Bedroom..."

"You stay here with him, I'll go upstairs and check."

With that, Schiller walked towards the second floor from the bathroom, passing through a narrow corridor and ascending the creaky staircase. The smell of blood became stronger on the second floor.

Schiller entered the bedroom, where the frail Mrs. Copperpot lay by the bed. One of her hands rested on the bedsheet, which was soaked in a large amount of blood, coloring almost half of it red. Schiller realized she must have cut her wrists over an hour ago.

However, the bleeding had significantly reduced by now. Schiller leaned closer to Mrs. Copperpot's arm, observing the deep wound that was in the wrong location. The blood had coagulated. He pressed her chest and found that her heartbeat and breathing were still relatively strong.

Clearly, Copperpot's mother had attempted suicide by cutting her wrists, displaying strong determination but lacking some basic knowledge. Schiller took out a syringe and administered it to Mrs. Copperpot, observing the healing effects starting to take effect. He then stood up and walked back downstairs.

Victor also had a healing syringe given to him by Schiller. As Schiller entered the bathroom, Victor had just put away the injection syringe. Soon enough, Copperpot regained consciousness.

Victor squatted beside him and sighed, "What on earth happened? Why didn't you call me earlier?"

Copperpot's eyes looked somewhat lifeless, gazing at the ceiling. Schiller stood nearby, casting a shadow over Copperpot. Copperpot shifted his gaze towards Schiller, and Schiller said to him, "Your mother is okay."

Copperpot closed his eyes and turned his head away, displaying a despairing and exhausted expression that shouldn't be seen on a child of his age. Victor paid no attention to the bloodstains on Copperpot and helped him up from the ground, supporting him to the sofa in the living room.

Although Victor was only a scholar, it was evident that Copperpot was even more frail. Victor easily helped him onto the sofa. Observing Copperpot's disheveled state, Victor stood beside the sofa and said to Schiller, "Watch over him, I'll find a coat for him."

Schiller sat down on the other side of the sofa, tidying his sleeves. Copperpot's expression remained vacant, devoid of the usual gloom he carried.

When Victor returned with a coat and draped it over Copperpot, Schiller took out his mobile phone and called Gordon. Soon enough, Gordon, wearing his uniform, entered with a dampness and chill in the air. As soon as he saw the situation inside the mansion, he covered his forehead and exclaimed,

"Professor Schiller, what are you up to again? What have you done???"

Ten minutes later, they lifted Copperpot and Mrs. Copperpot onto the car and drove them to the hospital.

Thanks to the lizard serum syringe that Schiller obtained from Dr. Connors, when they arrived at the hospital, Mrs. Copperpot was not in critical condition. She had lost a significant amount of blood and needed to be hospitalized for observation. The younger Copperpot's wounds were almost healed and did not require treatment.

So, they returned to the Copperpot Manor. After the commotion, they were all wet from the rain. It was now past 3 am, and the Gotham night sky was pitch-black, with the rain pouring harder.

"It's a bit cold. Let's have some hot tea."

Two minutes later, Victor stood in the cluttered kitchen, finally finding a kettle from one of the cabinets. Facing the filled countertop, he felt a bit overwhelmed.

Suddenly, he heard some movement behind him. Victor turned his head and saw Copperpot stepping over the debris blocking the kitchen doorway, entering and saying, "Let me boil the water."

Copperpot kept his head down, so Victor couldn't see his expression. He handed the kettle to Copperpot and said, "Go ahead."

Schiller didn't sit on the sofa anymore but crouched on the floor with interest, looking at the overturned objects. He lightly brushed the dust on the floor with his fingers and said, "It seems these things were overturned at different times."

"These bloodstains..." Schiller glanced around. There were about four or five small bloodstains in the hallway, as if they had been accidentally dripped. The only large amount of fresh blood, which they saw when they entered the mansion, was still wet.

"Has it worsened again?" Schiller muttered to himself. As he was examining the scene, the hot water was ready, and Copperpot walked over with a wooden tray.

It was a wooden tray with carved patterns, and the cups on it were exquisite ceramic cups. However, with his slightly worn-out clothes and frail figure, Copperpot looked a bit comical.

Victor took the cup from his hand and picked up another cup to hand to Schiller. Schiller glanced inside the cup, which only had plain water. After Copperpot put down the tray, he awkwardly rubbed the back of his shirt with his hand and said, "We don't have any tea. I haven't gone out to buy it lately."

Victor took a sip of hot water and waved his hand, motioning for Copperpot to sit down. He asked with great concern, "What exactly happened? Didn't you say your mother was doing much better after taking the medicine?"

Copperpot regained some consciousness. He touched the cup handle, which had a missing piece. When Copperpot's fingers touched that spot, he pursed his lips and showed a bitter smile, saying, "...She did get better."

Schiller took a sip of hot water and felt a warm flow passing through his chest. When Copperpot's gaze met his, he was also looking at Copperpot. The calm and powerful look in his eyes helped Copperpot relax a little.

"After I was discharged, I returned to work at Living Hell. Most parts of Gotham were frozen, and the underground of Living Hell was no exception."

"As a result, the water supply system here was damaged. In order to have water, I had to lead the gang members to repair the water supply system."

"I did a good job. Although I couldn't understand some of the core devices, I could fix the pipes and circuits..."

"Everyone needs water, everyone depends on me. Soon, I gained a great reputation in the gang here and made a good amount of money."

"Because the underground of Living Hell has a highly advanced water purification system, the water supply system here recovered faster than other places. So, we could sell water to the surrounding areas earlier..."

Copperpot spoke about this matter calmly, but Victor widened his eyes and looked at Copperpot, saying, "I didn't know you had the ability to join a gang and do business."

"He certainly does, otherwise he wouldn't survive." Schiller took another sip of water and said.

"I led the gang members to work and helped them make money. They all believe in me, and I've been living better and better, so..."

Copperpot glanced at Schiller, and Schiller said, "Are you doubting me? But let me tell you, the medicine I prescribed for your mother is effective."

Copperpot shook his head and said, "No, I'm not doubting the medicine. Actually, the medicine is very effective, especially when my mother is in a manic state."

"She took the medicine for a while and started becoming more and more clear-headed. One night, we sat by the bedside and talked about the past. She could remember fragments of my childhood. It's been a long time since we had that kind of conversation."

"So what happened then?" Victor asked with confusion. "If her condition was improving, why did she..."

Copperpot's body began to tremble, his eyes reddened, and his voice became shaky. "It's because she regained consciousness, it's because..."

He swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and said, "Before the medication, she was going crazy."

"When she started going insane, I couldn't handle her at all. I could only wait for her to get tired and drink water on her own. But as her symptoms worsened, she started attacking me..."

Victor turned his head and looked at the dried bloodstains in the room. Copperpot clasped his hands together, his fingers tightly entwined, and said, "At first, she just threw things at me. My ear got scratched, and there was a little bit of blood..."

"Then she started randomly slashing with a knife. I was afraid she would hurt herself, so I had to find a way to take the knife away..."

"My arms and legs were cut by her, but fortunately, the wounds weren't deep. I bandaged myself and hid the bloodstained clothes."

"But..." Copperpot's voice trembled more and more, and Victor heard a hint of crying in it.

"After the medication treatment began, I tried to clean up the bloodstains in the house as much as possible. But I was busy at that time, there were too many things waiting for me, too many people pointing fingers at me. I had to earn money to buy medicine. I didn't have time to treat my injuries. When I hastily cleaned up the house, some bloodstains were pressed under the messy clutter, and I didn't notice."

"After my mother regained consciousness, one night when I was sleeping, she came into my bedroom. One of my arms was outside the blanket, and she saw it. She asked me where those injuries came from..."

"I didn't dare to tell her."

"When I came back tonight, I found the house in this state. She uncovered the bloodstains on the floor and found those bloodstained clothes. I smelled a strong scent of blood. When I went upstairs, I found... my mother had slit her wrists and committed suicide."

Copperpot's lips were trembling so much that he couldn't utter a word, tears streamed down his cheeks, and Victor's hand holding the cup also trembled. He heard Copperpot continue, "My last memory before you woke me up was walking into the bedroom and seeing a lot of blood..."

"Then why did you appear in the first-floor bathroom?"

"He probably had an episode too." Schiller said to Victor, "The wound on his shoulder is likely self-inflicted."

"He saw the image of his mother's suicide, couldn't accept that kind of shock, staggered downstairs, and used that dining knife to harm himself. Blood was scattered in the hallway, then he passed by the sofa and ran into the bathroom..."

"But luckily..." Schiller looked at Copperpot, "you still had a trace of sanity left, which prompted you to take out your mobile phone and call Victor."