Klasse 0 der 10

Kapitel 17

Yang Zheng remained silent, his gaze sweeping around. The bar was dimly lit, and the artificial buildings and gardens appeared chaotic at first glance, but a passageway connected them all. Almost every visible seat was occupied, not to mention the more secluded ones. Yang Zheng thought that perhaps the detective was hiding in one of the corners, and he must be very confident about tonight's meeting.

Sure enough, just after 8 o'clock, Yang Zheng and Luo Bin hadn't even finished their bottle of Heineken when they suddenly saw a waitress in a short skirt walking down the street holding a wooden sign with two words written on it in fluorescent pen: "Mantis".

At this moment, the other people in the bar must have found it quite strange, not understanding what the "mantis" on the wooden sign meant. But Yang Zheng and Luo Bin looked at each other, speechless.

It turns out that "Mantis" was Yang Zheng's ID in the group he was killing.

After Luo Bin became acquainted with Yang Zheng, he once asked him why he chose that online name. Yang Zheng seemed to have never thought about this question before, and after pondering for a long time, he slowly replied, "Perhaps the praying mantis is the most aggressive insect."

This reason was obviously insufficient, but Luo Bin didn't press further. After all, a screen name was just a symbol and didn't necessarily have any meaning. Later, Yang Zheng used this screen name to join the murder group and met the detective.

Now, Yang Zheng and Luo Bin finally know how the detective meets with them.

The waitress holding the wooden sign was called over. Yang Zheng introduced himself, and the waitress smiled and told him that someone had left him something at the bar. Yang Zheng asked who left it, but the waitress smiled and did not answer.

Yang Zheng went to the bar to get the item, which turned out to be just a small brown paper envelope. He didn't rush to open it. He returned to his seat and, in front of Luo Bin, opened the envelope. Inside, there was only a card.

Luo Bin knew at a glance that it was a hotel room key.

Yang Zheng made a phone call, then called over a waitress, pointed to the room key, and asked her if she knew where the Duguang Hotel was. The waitress smiled and remained polite, but there was a hint of mockery in her smile: "This is the Duguang Building, and the Duguang Hotel is upstairs."

The Duguang Building is actually only nine stories high, which doesn't quite qualify as a "building" in a city full of skyscrapers. On the contrary, this building is surprisingly sturdy; it's not tall, but it occupies a considerable area. Standing on the front of the building, you can see a right-angled triangle protruding from the exterior wall, shaped like a figure, with an entrance on each of the two right-angled sides.

Upon entering the lobby, which appeared no different from other hotels, Yang Zheng and Luo Bin took the elevator and went directly to the 6th floor according to the room number on their room cards. The corridor was quiet and deserted. They walked to room 608, inserted their cards, and easily opened the door.

It was a standard hotel room with a bathroom by the door and two beds inside. The first thing Yang Zheng and Luo Bin noticed when they entered was a laptop on the cabinet opposite the beds.

The two exchanged a glance. In the short time it took Yang Zheng to close the door, Luo Bin was already in front of the computer. Immediately, he seemed mesmerized, his eyes glued to the screen. Yang Zheng's heart pounded. He walked up behind Luo Bin and was stunned.

On the laptop screen, two video windows were open, each showing a masked man. They each sat in a chair, their gazes blank and unfocused. The scene appeared frozen at first glance, but in reality, only the two men were motionless.

The notebook was clearly left to Yang Zheng by the executioner, but Yang Zheng couldn't understand what he wanted to do. Two masked men were completely motionless. Their bodies almost filled the entire frame; through the gaps between their bodies, only a black background was visible, making it impossible to determine their location.

"Could there be two executioners?" Yang Zheng murmured.

“Impossible.” Luo Bin shook his head. “There aren’t that many criminal investigators. These two are just wearing hoods over their heads. If you take them off, they’re no different from us.”

"Then who could they be?" A thought suddenly popped into Yang Zheng's head. "Could they be like us, people who came here to assist the criminal investigators?"

Luo Bin's expression was unusually serious. He stared at the two men and slowly nodded.

“We also want to be the detective’s helpers, so why did he send us here? And why did he show us these two videos? What is he trying to do?” Yang Zheng frowned, his mind racing, but he still couldn’t figure out what the detective’s intentions were.

Just then, pleasant music suddenly filled the room, startling Yang Zheng and Luo Bin, but they quickly recognized it as a cell phone ringtone. They exchanged glances, shook their heads instinctively, and then began searching the room.

The ringing phone was under the pillow. Luo Bin grabbed it first, hesitated for a moment, and then handed it to Yang Zheng. Yang Zheng expressionlessly put it to his ear and softly said "Hello."

"It seems you've reached your room." A woman's voice came from the other end.

"You're a woman?" Yang Zheng blurted out—he hadn't expected the detective to be a woman. Luo Bin, standing nearby, was also astonished upon hearing this. He leaned closer, pressing his ear against Yang Zheng's phone so that both of them could hear each other.

Laughter broke out, and this time the voice turned into a man's voice, which sounded very old: "What does it matter whether I am a man or a woman? You should think about how to pass my test tonight."

"Voice changer," Yang Zheng blurted out again. Voice changer is a new service recently launched by telecommunications operators, allowing users to alter their voice using the buttons on their phones. He composed himself and continued, "What exactly is the purpose of bringing me here?"

"Of course there are arrangements, but before you accept the test, I have one more question. If you decide to quit the game now, it's not too late, but once you join, you can't back out."

"What will happen if I regret it?" Yang Zheng had completely calmed down by now and asked coldly, "Will you still kill me?"

Laughter rang out from the other side, and after a moment, the executioner said, "Is there nothing more terrifying than death?"

Yang Zheng hesitated for a moment, his body seemed to stiffen a little, but he finally said in a firm tone, "Now that I'm here, I've already made my choice."

“Alright, let’s begin now,” the executioner said.

"Start what? How do we start?" Yang Zheng asked.

"See those two video windows on the computer? There are two people in there, and you have to choose one of them."

What will happen to the person I choose?

"You'll know once you've made your choice."

"I don't know what he'll do, how am I supposed to choose?"

Yang Zheng's stubbornness was clearly unexpected by the criminal investigator. He paused for a moment, then said, "I will reward those who work for me handsomely, but some people don't seem to be after money. So, I can't treat them as employers."

"Your money is not important to me, and I don't care about it at all."

“I know, but don’t think that being uninterested in money makes you any different. More than half of the people willing to help me are simply interested in what I’m going to do, and you’re no exception. Of course, besides interest, you have other reasons. For example, you need a way to free yourself. Right now, there’s a raging river in your heart, with more and more water flowing faster and faster. If you want to control the flood, there are two paths: either use methods like Gun’s to fill in and dam, or learn from Yu’s methods of dredging and channeling. You certainly know the stakes involved. Choosing to be my helper is not only helping me, but also helping yourself.”

Yang Zheng remained silent. The executioner's words struck him like bullets, hitting him squarely in the heart. He even felt a chill. Just who was this executioner? How could he see into his heart's secrets through the internet?

At this moment, Luo Bin moved his head further away from the phone and stared at Yang Zheng with a hint of sympathy, as if re-evaluating the person in front of him.

"Who exactly are you?" Yang Zheng demanded sharply. "How do you know so much?"

“I said who I am is not important. Maybe we were friends, maybe we are complete strangers, maybe I am you, but we live in different bodies. You just need to know that I understand you. What you need to do now is either leave immediately and pretend nothing happened, or do as I say and choose someone.”

Yang Zheng stared blankly at the computer screen not far away, seemingly still hesitating, but Luo Bin next to him nodded heavily to him.

"Alright, I choose!" Yang Zheng said slowly, his expression somewhat dejected, as if having his secret discovered was something he felt ashamed of.

He sat down at the computer, staring at the two masked men on the screen. He believed that something terrifying was lurking behind them; they were like two doors, and now he had to push one open, no matter what lay behind it, he had to face it.

The judge gave him a choice, but in reality, he had no choice left.

Chapter 12