veneno Gu

Capítulo 23

She felt as if she had entered a dream, because she saw her son running excitedly towards her in a dazzling light, his face beaming with joy. He grabbed her hand and said, "Daddy's back! Daddy's back! Daddy said he was going to pick you up, but he was afraid he wouldn't be able to!" Her son jumped and danced with joy.

The scene before her was like a dream to Ye Yanan, but a nightmare for the knife-wielding psychopath. He saw an angry man standing in the doorway, and his body trembled. He quickly backed away, pointing at Ye Yanan's husband and saying, "Let me tell you! I'm a psychopathic killer! I kill without blinking an eye! Don't come any closer!"

The deranged killer was only focused on what was in front of him and didn't notice what was behind him. It wasn't until he turned around that he saw another man appear behind him.

The psychopath held a knife in one hand and pointed at him with the other, saying, "Get out of my way! I'm that psychopathic killer! I kill without blinking an eye! You don't want to live anymore? Get out of my way!"

The man looked at him calmly, and when he stopped talking, he suddenly took a step forward and kicked him. The psychopathic killer didn't know what happened, but the knife in his hand clattered to the ground, and one of his hands went into handcuffs.

Once the psychopath's hands were cuffed, the man picked up the knife from the ground and yelled at the killer, "Go! I've been waiting for you!" He then kicked the psychopath from behind, causing him to stumble, and the two of them walked downstairs one after the other.

After walking a few steps, the policeman stopped and turned back to Ye Yanan, saying, "Don't be afraid. I'm from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Gujing District. I've been following him for a while. You guys rest first. We'll come to collect evidence in a little while."

I later learned during an interview that the policeman was Li Zhongxin from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Gujing District.

Rumor: Butterflies flutter their wings in the rainforest.

He Fangmei called New Century Modern Doors and Windows Company again to install burglarproof steel windows. The person who answered the phone said, "I'm sorry, miss, we are currently out of stock. If you can pay a deposit now, we will install the steel windows for you as soon as they arrive!"

I called several installation companies, and they all said that security doors and windows were out of stock.

When He Fangmei arrived at class, she mentioned that all the security doors and windows in the city were out of stock. Sister Li laughed at her for only just finding out, saying that they had been out of stock for several days. Sister Li told her that there were now many carpenters soliciting work on the roadside, the same carpenters who used to do renovations. They now specialize in sealing windows on fifth-floor landings and sixth-floor balconies. She suggested that He Fangmei hire them to seal the windows, which would save her money.

Later, Sister Li whispered in her ear, "No matter how isolated you are, it's not as safe as having a man by your side, don't you think? I've already made plans with him; we'll have dinner together next Saturday."

At that time, Yang Ming was always out running around, and he seemed to be making good progress. That day, he sat down and said to Zhao Xiaowei:

"Have you heard of this event that shocked the world in the 20th century? In the Amazon rainforest of South America, an unnoticed little butterfly, on a whim, flapped its wings a few times, causing changes in the air around it. These changes caused changes in the surrounding air system, which in turn caused further changes, creating a weak airflow. This weak airflow then impacted a larger area of airflow, and two weeks later, this butterfly triggered a tornado in Texas, USA."

Zhao Xiaowei widened her eyes and said:

"Stop making things up, okay? You're really good at exaggerating!"

"Get lost! How ignorant! This is the third revolution in 20th-century physics, and you don't even know that!"

"What good is it if I know this? If a butterfly flapping its wings can cause a tornado in the United States, then if I stomp my feet here, won't an earthquake occur in Japan two weeks later?"

"Yes! You're right, that's exactly what I mean! You're smart!"

What's the point of you spouting all this nonsense?

"Still don't understand? Let me enlighten my little sister a bit more. Have you heard this Western folk song? For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; for want of a horse, the rider was lost; for want of a rider, the battle was lost; for want of a battle, the kingdom was lost."

"Didn't you say you were covering cases of psychopathic killers these days? Why are you getting involved in these weird and strange things?"

"Of course I'm covering this case."

"Then tell me, why does the murderer keep committing crimes in the Gujing District? Isn't he afraid the police will identify him?"

"Gujing District is the old city area, with a population of 700,000 to 800,000 and 600 to 700 buildings. How large is that area? How did the police locate him? I've been there for a long time. The buildings there are very old, the tallest being only six stories, and most are six stories. The better ones have a wooden door on the ground floor, which is not very useful; many buildings don't even have wooden doors, either because they're broken or stolen. There are no streetlights between the buildings, so it's completely dark at night. You can easily enter and exit any building's doorway, whether it's for running away or hiding. It's very convenient. The new city area is different. The buildings are taller, the shortest being at least eight stories, and they're all in gated communities. At night, security guards control access to and from the communities." Every building has a security door on the ground floor. At night, with the neighborhood brightly lit, it's impossible to enter or leave freely. This notorious murderer preys on the poor and fears the rich, specifically targeting the Gujing District. Now, during the day, people keep going to look at apartment 601, building 127, Yonghong Street, checking the windows and awnings on the fifth floor. They all say this person is incredibly capable; that place isn't something an ordinary person could climb. I squatted there in beggar's clothes, observing the expressions of the men and women onlookers. I saw surprise, doubt, fear, helplessness, but also curiosity, excitement, and satisfaction. I even thought, perhaps the murderer is among these onlookers, gloating over the fear he inflicted on them…”

Before he could finish speaking, Zhao Xiaowei exclaimed:

"Your imagination runs wild! How could he possibly..."

Yang Mingchao waved her hand and continued speaking:

"Because that day, I saw a man who was grinning and looking at the sixth floor. At the time, I thought he was mentally ill. Later, I heard that the killer was not tall, about 1.60 meters. Then I remembered that the man was also short. Could it be that the killer came back to look at the scene again? Later, I checked some books. The FBI said that these kinds of psychopathic killers often go back to the crime scene, or to see the progress of the case, or to gloat over the commotion, or to maintain their excitement. I have all this information on my computer."

"How can someone like this be so terrifying?"

"From what I understand, single women in Gujing District are leaving home en masse, either going back to their parents' homes, staying with relatives and friends, or even staying at their workplaces or in hotels and guesthouses. Those single women with nowhere to go have no choice but to stay in their homes, installing security doors and windows, sleeping with the lights on all night, watching TV all night, and sleeping during the day. I heard that even elderly women are leaving these days; they're women too. Primary and secondary schools are letting students go home early. If you go to Gujing District at night, you'll see many homes with the lights off, empty; those left behind have their lights on all night. At night, all the street and community cadres and elderly women are out in force, wearing red armbands, lining up, holding megaphones, going from building to building shouting: Lock your doors, close your balcony windows! Be vigilant, beware of perverts! If you find anything unusual, call the police immediately! Right now, the business of installing security doors and windows is booming throughout the city; prices are rising every day, and in just a few days, forty or fifty new security door and window installation companies have opened." The number of text messages sent has quadrupled and is still surging, mainly warnings about the psychopathic killer and urging people to be careful. Restaurants and barbecue shops are unusually quiet at night, with fewer and fewer people eating, especially on Saturday nights. The streets and shops are deserted, and young women are rarely seen. The food industry, which had just recovered from SARS, has been hit hard again. All the police in the city have canceled their holidays and are out on stakeouts every night. Almost the entire city's police force has been mobilized for this case. What is the hottest topic in the city now? If two or three people get together, they will inevitably talk about the psychopathic killer within three sentences, making everyone feel insecure and uneasy, especially young women, whose psychological pressure is almost at its limit. Some old ladies even said, "Why would the psychopath stay in the house for more than two hours after killing someone? He is chanting incantations, performing rituals to help the dead find peace, and taking the dead into his hands to be his wives. If he can collect a hundred dead souls, he will live forever."

"How could this be? Is it really that serious? Why is everyone so fearful?"

"You live in the newspaper's dormitory every day, what are you afraid of? Of course you can't imagine the fear of ordinary citizens. If the murderer tells many people, 'I'm going to kill so-and-so in two weeks,' most people will be indifferent, except for the person waiting to die. Even if they are concerned, it's just sympathy; no one will feel fear. But if the murderer tells everyone, 'I'm going to kill one of you in two weeks, and I'm looking for that person,' what will people think? Although it's still just one person dying, because they don't know who that person might be, everyone worries that they might become that person. So the fear of one person dying becomes the fear of everyone. Although the murderer is still just one person, many people believe that he might appear among them." One person's murderer becomes everyone's murderer in their hearts, which is equivalent to hundreds or thousands of murderers. As time goes by, the fear grows stronger day by day. Everyone is tormented by the fear of death, and this fear is contagious and amplified infinitely. Isn't that a heavy fear? What's even more terrifying for the young woman is that he not only smashed her face with a hammer, but also stabbed her in vital areas with a knife, causing her to die in excruciating pain and despair. Then he dressed her in pantyhose and high heels, and placed food, wine, and playing cards in front of her corpse. After death, the victim suffered all kinds of desecration from the sadistic killer. Just thinking about this makes many people shudder, tremble with fear, and panic.

"What you're saying is giving me the creeps."

"Fear is something everyone experiences to some extent. It makes people more cautious and protective in life. Mild fear is not only normal but also a self-protective mechanism, which is a good thing. However, the problem now is that the fear of death has created a climate of fear, causing widespread anxiety, sleepless nights, and severely impacting normal life and work in cities. It has evolved into urban phobia, and it's spreading. During the SARS outbreak, people's fear of death far exceeded their fear of the virus itself. This fear of death affected almost all major cities, spreading at an unprecedented speed, making everyone and every household feel insecure. This shows that, just like in its ancient past, nothing in modern cities can spread as quickly and widely as the fear of death!"

"You're right. No wonder I get dozens of text messages every day reminding me to be careful. The day I received the most, yes, it was Saturday, I got more than forty, which startled me. I thought they had all gone crazy!"

“Think about this case carefully. It’s incredibly mysterious and terrifying. The women the killer targeted all met four criteria: young, beautiful, single, and living on the sixth floor. He must be an ordinary citizen. He couldn’t advertise on TV, radio, or in newspapers, nor could he openly recruit women. He could only rely on his own guesses and clandestine surveillance to screen them. How could he possibly find the woman he was looking for just by bumping into her on the street? Think about how many women he would have to follow to select one. Isn’t that like looking for a needle in a haystack? You’re saying he could find a victim in just two weeks? That’s unbelievable! These past few days, I’ve been going to busy areas, imagining how the killer finds and follows these women, trying to simulate what he does, and the result…”

"What was the result? What did you discover?"

Zhao Xiaowei pressed for more information.

Yang Ming shook his head:

"I feel lost, confused, and in pain!"

"Of course! Aren't you the murderer?"

"On a bright, sunny morning, a man happily drove his BMW, humming a tune, and smoothly entered the highway. His lover called to tell him she was waiting for him at the next intersection. So, he swerved, veered off the road, and plunged into a ditch. When people found him, he was still holding his phone in his right hand, smiling. It was clear he died contentedly, without a trace of fear, because his death was unexpected and swift, leaving no time for terror. On the same bright morning, a man was diagnosed with lung cancer. He was much older than the BMW driver, and had been smoking for two or three decades. He could have easily lived for several more years; logically, he should have lived longer than the BMW driver." The young man who died must have been happier, right? Quite the opposite; he lived in constant fear of death, no happier than the one who died earlier. Why? The one who died earlier didn't know he was about to die; he had no fear of death. The one who lived several years longer, however, lived in the fear of waiting for death. A person who dies without knowing they are going to die experiences no pain or fear. Knowing you are going to die, and waiting for it every day—is there anything more painful or terrifying than that? Now, an insignificant little person has plunged the entire city into this pain and fear of waiting for death. Isn't that a powerful butterfly effect?

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaowei's expression immediately changed:

"According to you, he's not a butterfly!"

"Then who is it?"

"I don't know. Anyway, I can't explain it."

“Let me tell you,” Yang Ming opened a document on his computer and read it aloud to her, “American writer Stephen Hall was very short as a child. Later, after he became a writer, he said, ‘During that period of my life, other children didn’t think logic and linguistic flexibility were good ways to resolve conflicts. They jostled me, punched me, bumped into me, slapped me, pushed me, punched me, knocked me to the ground and laughed at me. Some of it was just common childhood play, but some was despicable and vile, bordering on predatory. I’m not linking this bullying to tall people; I’m only talking about people taller than me. We were all participating in this game of mutual torment, layer upon layer.’ Stephen Hall was, after all, excellent, so he emerged from this mutual torment and overcame his inferiority complex. But many more short boys may not be able to escape this shadow. From childhood, they develop a sense of inferiority, and they spend their whole lives trying to be superior to those who mock them.”

"What does this have to do with the butterfly effect? Give me a reason first!"

“Some police officers believe that the perpetrator of the two attempted cases that you and I reported may be the same person as the perpetrator of the completed case on June 29.”

"Holy crap! What does this have to do with height?"