Die einsame Stadt geschlossen

Kapitel 22

When An Jia died, her whole face was contorted, but she died with a smile on her face.

“Finally… I can die…” she said last.

Ding Yan sighed. For the first time, she felt like she had killed someone. Although she had unintentionally caused the deaths of other children since childhood, and had continued to provide suicide counseling to others as an adult, countless people had died under her guidance.

But this was the first time she felt guilt, felt like a murderer. Because this time, she had encouraged someone to commit suicide for her own benefit. No, this wasn't encouragement; it was an exchange, a business deal, a life for a life.

She crouched down, staring intently at An Jia's face, and said, "You're dead. My secret is safe. Don't worry, I will keep my promise to you too."

15.

Fools don't lie. Xiao Jia said that Ding Yan hasn't returned yet.

The monk Yingjie, along with Yang Xin and Wang Xiaofeng, decided to sit at the apartment entrance until Ding Yan returned.

The monk, Yingjie, frowned and said that Anjia was very likely dead. He explained that when he left the ward that evening, he had endured excruciating pain, hoping to see if she would commit suicide in the next few hours, but he hadn't.

“I didn’t see it. What does that mean?” Ying Jie looked at Yang Xin. “It means she probably has no future.”

"Maybe it's because your head hurts so much that you can't see clearly?"

The monk sighed, "I hope so. Logically speaking, An Jia shouldn't have died..."

The three of them were chatting idly when they saw Ding Yan return, looking dejected.

"Where's An Jia?" the three asked in unison.

"Hmm? I don't know, she should be home by now. I tried to persuade her, and she promised me she wouldn't commit suicide, so I came out..." Ding Yan secretly hid the aconitine in his pocket. "After I came out, none of you were there, so I came back by myself."

Hearing that An Jia had given up her suicidal thoughts, Yang Xin couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Ying Jie smiled and clasped his hands together: "Her fate of death has finally been averted by me."

"Hey! You stinky monk! Why are you stealing my credit?" Ding Yan shouted.

"It was indeed I who averted her annihilation!" Ying Jie looked very happy, as if he had accomplished a world-shaking feat.

Wang Xiaofeng didn't care about anyone else's life or death; he only cared about Ding Yan: "Why are you only coming back now? Did something happen?"

"Oh... I was really annoyed by that girl, so I just took a walk to clear my head," Ding Yan said with a smile.

"Sigh!" Yang Xin said with a mournful face, "There have been too many suicides lately... I really don't know what to do."

Upon hearing this, Yingjie suddenly stood up and said passionately, "I am prepared to donate 50 million to establish the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva Foundation, specifically to help those who have suicidal thoughts!"

Everyone was stunned by this sudden, nonsensical statement. Wang Xiaofeng and Ding Yan thought that this monk who claimed to be Ksitigarbha was a bit mentally unstable. Only Yang Xin cheered and grabbed his hand, excitedly saying, "Great! Please support my suicide investigation team!"

"Where would a monk like you get so much money?!" Ding Yan asked unhappily. A suicide investigation team was already a headache enough; if a ridiculous foundation specifically for helping suicide victims actually appeared, Ding Yan might as well change careers.

The monk, seemingly oblivious, clasped his hands together mysteriously and said, "It cannot be said, it cannot be said."

"Tch! What a charade!" Ding Yan waved his hand. "Go home, everyone! It's past midnight!"

"Ding Yan, thank you for helping me today." Yang Xin looked foolish, his face full of gratitude.

"You're welcome, you're welcome..." Ding Yan waved his hand as he hurried upstairs.

I need to get a good rest tonight and let Old Mail think of a way to kill that radio station guy.

tomorrow?

Tomorrow is going to be very lively.

16.

The next day was indeed quite eventful, not only because the cleaners discovered An Jia's body.

It wasn't just that old monk who claimed to be Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva gathered many people at his home to raise funds.

Instead, Yang Xin discovered an important clue in An Jia's phone.

Yang Xin firmly refused to believe that An Jia had committed suicide, because he firmly believed Ding Yan's words.

Ding Yan said that she had persuaded An Jia to give up on suicide.

How could someone who had just decided to give up on suicide suddenly die on the street? So, he thoroughly searched An Jia's residence, looking for any suspicious clues.

An Jia's phone contained a suspicious call; the caller ID displayed a string of asterisks.

He checked the time; that phone call was from the first time he met An Jia. He frowned, trying hard to remember, but still couldn't recall what An Jia had said to the other person.

According to information obtained from the telecommunications operator, this number is a foreign number currently roaming internationally. The owner has set the highest level of data confidentiality for this number; to access the owner's information, one must go through the foreign telecommunications operator. And foreign operators require documents from local government departments to disclose data.

Damn it, Yang Xin cursed inwardly. He had accidentally turned this into an international case.

Looking at the two elderly people crying their hearts out at the police station, he couldn't help but feel his own eyes welling up with tears.

"It's all your fault! You heartless bastard... Last time the girl called back, she clearly regretted it, but you still said such nasty things..." The old woman hit the old man while wiping her snot. The old man just wept, his face pale, his lips trembling, but he couldn't say a word.

Yang Xin punched himself in remorse. He was filled with regret. If he had kept a closer eye on An Jia, this tragedy wouldn't have happened.

"Officer!" The young man next to An Jia's parents suddenly grabbed him, saying excitedly, "My sister definitely didn't commit suicide! Absolutely not! It must have been that man Lang Fei who killed her! It must have been!"

"Who are you? And how can you be so sure?" Yang Xin was not going to let any clue slip by.

"That bastard Lang Fei works at the radio station, and my sister died near the radio station!"

Lang Fei?

Yang Xin wrote the name down in his notebook; perhaps it really was an important clue.

17.

In the afternoon, Lang Fei was summoned to the police station. He never expected that An Jia, that bitch, was actually dead.

"I'm the victim! She pointed a machete at me last night!" Lang Fei shouted, pointing to his chest.

"Why was she pointing a knife at you?" Yang Xin asked, even though he already knew the reason; An Jia's brother had explained the whole story.

"It was because of feelings... But I really didn't know she would really die! Her suicide had nothing to do with me!"

Lang Fei's interrogation lasted for three hours, but still made no progress. Although he had a motive for murder, he also had an alibi.

After seeing Lang Fei off, Yang Xin dialed Ding Yan's number. He wanted to know what Ding Yan had said to An Jia, and he wanted to know how sincere An Jia was when she said she was giving up on suicide.

At that moment, Ding Yan's forehead was steaming, because the Very Apartment was in complete chaos.

Halfway through the fundraising event for the monk Yingjie, his followers started making a fuss.

At first, an older believer said that the monk who predicted the calamity was a fraud because the things he had predicted for him the day before had not come true. Then, another believer said that a relative of his knew this monk, who turned out to be a monk who had escaped from a small town temple. He was wicked and stupid, and the townspeople said he was mentally ill and had even seduced respectable women.

This aroused suspicion in many people. In the end, everyone said that the fundraising was a scam, and they blocked the elevator and smashed the victim's home to pieces.

The monk Yingjie sat cross-legged on the futon from beginning to end, neither fighting back nor arguing back.

This is destiny. Ever since he confirmed that he was the reincarnation of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, he changed his Dharma name to "Yingjie" (应劫), meaning "born to face calamity." All of this is the tribulation that the reincarnation of Ksitigarbha should undergo.

Everything is fate.

Ding Yan didn't feel sorry for the monk; she felt sorry for the apartment's glass.

"Hello? Yang Xin!" Ding Yan answered immediately when he saw it was Yang Xin calling: "Your call comes at just the right time! Come to the Extraordinary Apartments right now! There's a riot!"

"What riot?"

"The old monk is about to be beaten to death! Oh dear! Even A, B, C, D, and the rice can't hold him back!"

Yang Xin hung up the phone and decided to go to Ding Yan's place first, and ask Ding Yan about An Jia in person.

When he arrived at the apartment, the angry believers had already left. Yingjie lay on the ground, barely alive and covered in blood, while Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, and Da Mi were also badly injured.

Da Mi said, "How annoying! I won't be able to see Xiao Mi until the bruises on my face disappear!"

The monk, Yingjie, smiled and slowly opened his eyes, saying softly, "This is destiny."

"What nonsense about calamities!" Ding Yan helped him sit up. "You meddlesome monk, stop pretending. Just say you're not Ksitigarbha, and they might go easy on you! They're all followers of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, of course they can't tolerate anyone blaspheming their faith!"

"I am... Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva..." Yingjie said, "I want to save all sentient beings... If I don't go to hell... who will?"

"Then go to hell!" Ding looked at the wall, which was pitted and dented by furniture and hard objects, with heartache—a huge repair cost, and he wondered if the monk would be willing to pay for it.

18.

It's another second day.

It was another lively second day.

The believers, having had their fill of the act, did not give up. They sued the monk Yingjie for fraud. After verification, the charge was actually upheld because the former abbot of the temple had testified that this man was the lowest-ranking monk in their small temple.

On the same day, Lang Fei died from aconitine poisoning, near the site of An Jia's suicide.

Human life can be as hard as steel at times, and as fragile as thin ice at others.

Yang Xin found that mysterious number again in Lang Fei's mobile phone communication records.

It seems that the deaths of these two people were extraordinary and related to the owner of that mysterious number.

Yang Xin submitted a progress report on the case and applied for international assistance.

The captain said, "This case has been transferred to the Major Crimes Unit. Don't get involved anymore!"

"Why?!" Yang Xin jumped up. Why was he always targeted and given no chance to stand out?

"For no reason," the captain said calmly, "it's just because you're in the suicide task force, and this case is beyond your jurisdiction."

When Yang Xin told Ding Yan the news in a very depressed mood, Ding Yan's bottom split into four pieces with laughter—because he was so happy, he accidentally fell to the ground.

The Major Crimes Unit? She'd feel relieved to leave it to the Major Crimes Unit. As far as Ding Yan knew, there were only three types of police officers in the world who were willing to seriously solve cases: the first type was a clueless cop like Yang Xin, a rookie who knew nothing; the second type was the kind of police officers in TV shows, movies, and novels; and the third type was those who had been given a death order by their superiors that they wouldn't be promoted if they didn't solve a case—in short, the kind who were forced into it.

Ding Yan offered Yang Xin a few words of feigned comfort, but was secretly delighted.

This matter should be resolved satisfactorily, right? The monk who might have caused trouble has been arrested, and although Yang Xin's suicide task force still exists, it's no longer of any importance.

"Yang Xin, you fool!" Ding Yan laughed as he turned on the TV, looking somewhat sweet.

What an idiot!

The television was broadcasting a special feature on the monk who had been robbed. Reporters had dug up almost his entire family history, even mentioning Yao Ying, with rumors circulating that they were having an affair. Many psychologists, sociologists, experts from religious associations, and highly respected monks had conducted comprehensive and multi-faceted analyses of this absurd fraud case.

However, no matter what others said, the monk Yingjie remained convinced that he was Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, and he argued vehemently even in court. To prove his greatness, he even confessed to killing the child, and based on his description, the police indeed found the child's body in the well. In court, Yingjie roared, "I am not a murderer! I am acting on behalf of Heaven! That child deserved to die; he had to die! If he didn't die, an innocent person would die in his place!"

The psychologist said that the monk was suffering from a classic case of "identity disorder".

He believes he is not his original self, but someone else. This "identity delusion" often tends to be exaggerated, with his new identity often superseding his old one. From a physiological perspective, this may be related to abnormal metabolism of neurotransmitters in the patient's brain.

But why must everything be given a scientific explanation?

Does something that science cannot explain necessarily mean it is superstition?

19.