Ivy League Murder Game

Chapter 12

I believe that if it were a matter of killing someone, a tough soldier like Gu Datou, who came from the special forces and had real combat experience, would be more effective unarmed than with such a knife.

But when a burly man, his body covered in jagged cuts and blood streaming down his face, still brandishes a gleaming machete, charging left and right like a tiger among sheep, his fearless and valiant spirit is enough to chill the hearts of petty thugs who have only ever witnessed street brawls.

In no time, the name "Brother Sanshi, who is not afraid of death" spread throughout the underworld of Rongcheng. Some small gangs surrendered upon hearing of his name, while others with more power offered little resistance before submitting to the banner of the Heaven on Earth Group. Liu Huatian's entertainment venues opened more and more, growing larger and larger, and the group also began to expand into other industries.

At the height of his fame, Gu Datou suddenly had a change of heart one day, resolutely gave up all his bad habits, and began a life of asceticism like that of a hermit. He spent his days dealing with company affairs and reading behind closed doors. Occasionally, he would go to a bar on weekends, but he would only order a glass of ordinary red wine, drink it, and leave without a second thought.

According to him, it all started when an old friend casually mentioned Afang and Huazi's recent situation. Suddenly, he remembered the simple yet happy days the three of them spent together, and he realized: some things, like happiness, cannot be bought back with any amount of money.

I just smiled noncommittally at this explanation.

It's likely that he couldn't forget Hanako, which is why he inquired about her situation from his subordinates. It's even possible that he never truly let go, secretly sending his underlings to "monitor" her life, ostensibly for protection, but deep down, perhaps still hoping to rekindle their romance someday.

Therefore, their chance encounter at the West Street bar was most likely due to a spy tipping them off. Gu Datou, unable to suppress his longing, finally had a steamy encounter with Hua Zi, who had run away from home, in the bar.

"...That night, Hanako got drunk. I wanted to take her home, but she kept saying no, no. So I had no choice but to take her to a hotel, um, this is the room. I was about to wash her face and undress her when she cried out: No, don't leave me! She held my hand tightly... She fell asleep quickly, and I sat on the floor, by her bed, looking at her face until dawn."

In most love stories, such scenes are heartwarming and touching. A person waking up from a hangover is deeply moved by their lover who stayed by their side all night, and then naturally… wait, no!

I suddenly realized a huge, huge mistake and couldn't help but shout out: "You said you only stayed with her for one night and didn't...have sex with her?"

He looked me straight in the eye and said without hesitation, word by word, "Yes, I remember it very clearly, no."

"Because she was holding my hand, but calling out another man's name." He turned his head and looked out the window, a faint sense of melancholy on his face: "A woman without love can't excite me."

The story takes an unexpected turn. At the very moment when Gu Datou's story and Afang's story intersect, a fatal question suddenly arises, plunging what was gradually becoming clear back into confusion.

In Afang's story, Hua Zi and Gu Datou had an inappropriate relationship while drunk, which was the beginning of a series of events that followed.

Tan Hui is a doctor, so he naturally has enough reason to prove that the child is not his, which is why he tried every means to force Hua Zi to abort the child.

Next, Hanako discovered that the children born through induced labor were being made into dishes for people to enjoy, which caused her personality to change drastically. This led her to go to extremes and practice secret methods to raise little ghosts—goodness gracious, and that's when the strange and tragic deaths of many people occurred.

From the perspective of proof by contradiction, firstly, Afang and Gu Datou have already confirmed the fact of raising ghosts, and the strangely gruesome corpse is irrefutable evidence. However, going back from this point, the source of all the clues suddenly disappears because of a single sentence from Gu Datou. It's like a person appearing out of thin air, without a father or mother, which seems illogical.

So, where does the problem lie?

I was reminded once again of Xingyun's "pen-tube copying" method for summoning ghosts. It seems necessary to summon Tan Hui's ghost; hopefully, he can fill this gap.

Section 29

As dawn broke, I ended my long conversation with Gu Datou and slowly descended the elevator from the 14th floor of the luxury hotel. Although my body was exhausted, my mind was still running at high speed like a finely tuned machine.

Gu Datou's story contains many personal experiences, and is not lacking in thrilling and epic plots, but unless I intend to write a novel like "My Gangster Story," these can be largely ignored. However, strangely enough, on several key aspects concerning the ins and outs of the entire incident, his and Afang's accounts diverge drastically.

Aside from the point mentioned earlier, another key point is that Gu Datou clearly stated that Liu Huatian, Director Gu, Sang Biao, A Jian, and Haozi had a gathering at Zhu Zi Fang, which is now the predecessor of Changchun Teng. The dishes on the table were extremely plentiful, and they ordered two portions of Zhu Zi Fang's signature dish, pork hock.

However, there was absolutely no gruesome infanticide. Because this gathering involved a very important initiative by the Heaven on Earth Group, Gu Datou and his security guards stood guard on both sides of the private room, personally inspecting each dish before it was served.

Zhu Zi Fang's braised pork hock is very famous in Fuzhou, and I have visited their new store on Antai Road a few times to try it. The pork hock, with its perfect balance of lean and fat, is cooked to perfection, resulting in a smooth, tender texture that melts in your mouth without any greasiness, leaving a lasting impression.

Judging from their respective accounts, Gu Datou truly lives up to his military background, recounting everything meticulously and based on his personal experience, making it highly credible. Afang's story, on the other hand, can be seen as a private conversation between Huazi and her, which Huazi organized and then incorporated with some deductions to create a coherent narrative.

I am a very rational person, so I believe Gu Datou's words. But that doesn't mean I completely deny what Afang said.

On the one hand, there's no smoke without fire, and there's always a reason behind everything. Even if it's just a retelling, I can't figure out why Hanako would fabricate such a story. Judging from the current situation, there's a lot of hard-to-determine evidence that, apart from a few suspicious points, the latter half of the story isn't fabricated. On the other hand, Gu Datou also confirmed Guai Guai's existence to me, but the appearance of "him" was slightly different.

Towards the end of the story, Gu Datou smiled bitterly and pulled open his pajamas, revealing his upper body to me.

The hotel's orange lights shone on his emaciated chest, revealing a patch of pale skin as if pickled in lime, covered with large, shocking black spots. Deep, finger-sized holes slowly oozed yellowish-white pus, emitting a putrid stench.

The stench mixed with the perfume scent in the air, causing my stomach to clench violently, and I almost vomited.

"The doctor said these are lividity marks that only appear on dead people. Hanako and I... we don't even know if we're still alive..." Gu Datou muttered to himself, picking up a paper cutter from the bedside table and playing with it in his hand. Suddenly, with a graceful turn of his finger, the paper cutter made a soft hissing sound and disappeared into his left rib.

The sudden turn of events shocked me. Gu Datou, however, nonchalantly pulled out the paper cutter, leaving another deep hole under his ribs. Pus mixed with a little blood sprayed out, as if to prove something to me, staining a large patch of white pajamas.

Then Gu Datou spent more than half an hour explaining, which finally made me understand his excruciating pain.

The method of raising ghosts wasn't actually a secret he'd obtained from some rural hometown. It was just that once, Hanako was heartbroken and grieving over her aborted child. To cheer her up, Gu Datou made up a story about raising ghosts. Unexpectedly, Hanako remembered it and kept pestering him to teach her how.

Gu Datou truly loved this woman, and in the end, he only used the excuse of returning to his hometown to seek secret techniques. After searching around, he bought a poorly printed book called "The Complete Book of Unorthodox Techniques" from a street stall. He memorized the "Method of Raising Ghosts to Get Rich" and told it to Hua Zi as a so-called family secret passed down by a feng shui master.

Unexpectedly, Hanako believed it wholeheartedly and followed the "secret recipe" exactly. She bought a wooden doll that was supposedly unearthed from an ancient tomb, hollowed out its head, and stuffed in the deceased's belongings—a few baby fingernails and a few small human bones, which Hanako somehow found. After sealing it, she set up an incense altar and offered sacrifices day and night, and according to the ritual, she would prick her finger with a needle and drip blood onto the doll every three days.

"Did you confess...?" As soon as the words left my mouth, an eerie chill instantly spread throughout my body, freezing my thoughts.

Gu Datou's eyes told me without a doubt—he confessed.

In this absurd and comical way, Gu Datou watched as Guai Guai gradually became real, transforming from a faint phantom into a tangible figure day by day. Although he himself couldn't believe his eyes when he first saw "him."

What's most strange is that, even though he hadn't had any relations with Hanako, and even though Liu Huatian and the others hadn't shown any signs of eating the infant, under these non-existent circumstances, the little devil "Guai Guai" was not only summoned, but also gave Gu Datou a strange feeling. That feeling was: this was his flesh and blood, his and Hanako's child.

What happened next was exactly as I expected. Parents' innate love for their children led him to join in feeding his little one with his own flesh and blood, even though he knew it was wrong.

However, after quickly draining his and Hanako's life essence, turning them into something neither human nor ghost, Guai Guai made a further evolution.

First, Grandpa Hu's grandson upstairs was sucked dry in his sleep, turning into a dried-up corpse. Then, Brother Zhao on the third floor and the prostitute sisters on the second floor died in gruesome ways. One of the residents in the stairwell was so horrified that they moved out in panic. The police were at a loss in the face of such bizarre cases.

"...I secretly told Hanako everything while she was awake. I didn't want anything to happen to her or Guai Guai, but I also didn't want to hurt any more innocent people. I'd rather the three of us move to a villa in the suburbs. When it's time to close our eyes, we can just close them and sleep. But I didn't expect this." Gu Datou said with a somewhat somber expression, "When it was time to feed the blood again, Hanako went crazy and held me down, stabbing me with scissors, drawing blood..."

I held my breath, imagining a delicate and petite girl suddenly turning into a mad bull, not daring to breathe.

"...Actually, it didn't have to be like this at all. If she had just said the word, my life would have been hers. What did a little blood matter... Later I found out that she was also acting against her will. Because I later discovered that when it came to feeding the blood, I gradually lost control of this body. Like a nightmare, I watched helplessly as I used a knife to stab myself, again and again, making one hole after another, one after another..."

His voice remained unchanged throughout, as if he were telling a story that had nothing to do with him. I, his only listener, was filled with dread and my hair stood on end.

Section 30

May is the most beautiful time of year in Fuzhou. The sea breeze blowing from near the Tropic of Cancer often brings warm, drizzling rain in the afternoon, coaxing the butterflies to bloom on the hot spring road.

When I'm in a relaxed and pleasant mood, I often stroll along this road in the drizzle, smelling the cool fragrance in the air, watching the red and pink petals twirl and fall in the air, only to fall to the ground and become mud under the hurried feet of pedestrians.

Back then, I would often wonder if I was dreaming. Only this time, the dream lasted longer.

As the streetlights came on, I finished a busy day at work and walked home alone. Looking up at the trees full of blossoms, I suddenly felt a pang of sadness for no reason.

I've been single for two years, and I thought I had forgotten that figure in Hong Kong. But after hearing Ah Fang and Gu Datou's story and feeling sorry for their joys and sorrows, I couldn't help but think of her again.

Ah, it turns out, some things never truly disappear, even if the dust of time buries them layer by layer. But there will always come a day when you suddenly remember certain people and events from long ago.

While I was engrossed in my work at the office, my friends would sneak over one by one to ask about my progress, showering me with concern and refusing to leave. I could only put on a mask of indifference and watch them leave helplessly, while secretly wishing that once everything was over, I would tell them the whole story.

As for Sister Yan and A Lei, who know the details, I only told them that there has been new progress in the matter, and we will have to wait for Captain Zhang and Xingyun's reply for the specifics.

I didn't want to tell them that Zhang Xiaojun had called, and told me with great indignation and helplessness, that the higher-ups had given him a stern order to take charge of a thorny case, and that things here had to be put on hold for the time being.

In other words, there's already a mastermind interfering with our efforts to uncover this dark secret. The road ahead is becoming increasingly clear, yet also increasingly unpredictable; I have absolutely no idea what we will encounter.

Gu Datou gave me a hint: if I could unravel the previous mysteries, he would understand everything. By "understand," I believe he meant surrendering to the police, which would signify the downfall of the Heaven on Earth syndicate and the impending arrest of several high-ranking provincial officials. The risks involved are self-evident.

I have no other choice.

The streetlights cast dappled shadows of trees onto me, and people were still coming and going in the distance. As soon as I stepped onto the small bridge not far from my home and into the shadow of a tall building, a gust of cool wind suddenly blew across my neck, and a chill instantly crept up my spine.

I tried hard not to look back, because even if I saw nothing, it would still unsettle me. I knew there was nothing behind me, and that was precisely what made it so terrifying.

Clutching the bell in my hand, I hurried through the shadows and down the gloomy alley. When I saw the familiar incense burning in front of Pei Xianxian's residence, I realized that my whole body was stiff and I couldn't move.

My tiny, empty room remained silent, the dark corners seeming to lurk something—a thought that could drive anyone mad. I vowed to move out as soon as things calmed down, to find someone to share the place with, no matter what, so I wouldn't die alone like this, with no one knowing.

With a "snap," the orange light suddenly illuminated the room. In that instant, I thought I saw a dark shadow flash by in the corner of my eye, but when I looked closely, there was nothing there.

I steadied myself.

Amidst the distant sounds of cars and people, there were some strange noises, seemingly coming from the locked, empty room next door. They sounded like an old woman coughing, or like the sound of someone walking on tiptoe.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

The South is wonderful; even the air is filled with a moist scent. Every time I return from a business trip to the North, I feel this gratitude as I step off the plane.

How many times in a person's life do they hover on the edge of life and death? If that's the case, what is there to be afraid of?

It was easy to prepare the props needed for the pen-and-ink trick; it was just a ballpoint pen, all provided by the company. I turned off the light and sat down at my desk.

I closed my eyes and began to meditate on everything about Tan Hui.

Thanks to Zhang Xiaojun for faxing me the information he found about Tan Hui even when he was under pressure from above, otherwise I would have known very little about him.

Tan Hui's background was not simple. His parents were both high-ranking officials in the provincial pharmaceutical company, one at the deputy director-general level and the other at the bureau level. In an era when the pharmaceutical market was still largely controlled by the state, even a small amount of power was enough to ensure his lifelong financial security.

However, according to the records, Tan Hui did not rely much on his parents' power. His only private clinic was opened with his savings from several years of working at the hospital, in partnership with a few doctor friends. He only contributed tens of thousands of yuan to the clinic. He worked very hard and deliberately avoided receiving special treatment because of his parents' connections.

Perhaps they wanted to prove their worth in this way, but unfortunately, state-owned hospitals held a monopoly, and private clinics could only barely survive by relying on a few wealthy customers.

Tan Hui's death was not suspicious. More than twenty eyewitnesses confirmed that he was swept away by an undercurrent while trying to save an elderly person who had fallen into the water. His body was eventually found near the estuary downstream, too swollen to be identified. The media had also given extensive coverage to this young man who bravely sacrificed his life to save others.

Although I never considered him a bad person, after learning these things, I felt a bit more sorry for him. Of course, now is not the time to think about these things.

I picked up the first pen and threw it behind me.

With a loud thud, it hit the cabinet at the other end of the room with too much force. A moment later, I threw it again, and immediately heard it hit the ground.

I don’t know if Xingyun’s method was incomplete, but I kept silently chanting Tan Hui’s name while throwing a pen every now and then, and without exception, I immediately heard the sound of the pen hitting the ground.

The pile of pens in front of me was gradually decreasing, and my mind was starting to relax. The all-night conversation with Gu Datou, followed by forcing myself to work all day, was finally taking its toll.

Leaning lazily back in the chair, I casually tossed aside the last pen, and sleepiness washed over me, making it impossible to keep my eyes open. My last thought was: I'll go find Xingyun tomorrow and give him a piece of my mind... I vaguely heard a sound like water dripping.

...

I sat in a daze at the table laden with delicious food. Aunt Yun kept running around, reheating the cold dishes, but the steaming hot food on the table quickly cooled down again.

Mom and Dad haven't come back yet. My tenth birthday was so quiet and lonely.

After the bell rang twelve times, no matter how much Aunt Yun tried to persuade me, I stubbornly refused to eat anything and ran back to my room to sleep. My heart ached with bitterness.

...

I'm about to graduate high school. I stand on the bustling street, looking blankly at everything in front of me.

My buddies were chattering about which nightclub to go to, their pockets stuffed with the pocket money their parents had given them before they left.

Even though they knew the college entrance exam was just a formality, the best medical school in the province had already opened its doors.

But are they welcoming me?

...

My mother, beaming, quietly opened the door. I was carrying a basket of groceries, including a bottle of French red wine. It was my parents' 30th wedding anniversary. I had finally managed to persuade my mother, who had been separated from me for so long, to come home. Perhaps this heartwarming occasion would bring back a warm home.

The door opened.

The panting coming from the half-open bedroom sounded familiar. The male voice, like a bellows, was her father; the female voice, which made her blood boil… it was her.

A suffocating pain in my chest made me slide to the ground. Why did this happen? Why did this happen!

...