Perte de contrôle précise

Chapitre 24

“I was unable to interview the victim, Yao Yulan, but the police said that the person who attempted to murder Yao Yulan was shorter than her. Yao Yulan is 1.66 meters tall, and she estimated that the murderer was about 1.60 meters tall.”

"I understand. You mean the murderer suffered from severe inferiority complex as a child because of his short stature, which distorted his personality. What's your basis for that? It's just speculation."

"I only have doubts and make connections, but these doubts don't seem to hold water."

"Why?"

"Have you heard that the murderer scratched a strange character on the victim's back?"

"By the way, I wanted to ask you something. Legend has it that he not only knows martial arts and can scale walls, but also has special abilities and is very powerful, acting all mysterious and mystical. Some say the woman was a prostitute and the man was a client; they fought over a price, and the man killed the woman, writing the word 'prostitute' on her back. Others say the words on the woman's back were drawn by the man while she was still alive, and that if he draws a talisman on a woman's back, she will lose her soul and become at his mercy, doing whatever he tells her to do. What does 'powerful' mean? What is a talisman? They say the murderer's writing was a talisman."

"The characters that Taoist priests draw on yellow paper to exorcise ghosts and spirits are called talismans. Those characters are very strange, and we can't recognize them. I don't know if the character drawn by the murderer is a talisman. I only know that it is a Chinese character, a Chinese character that ordinary people don't recognize."

Do you know what character it is?

"Right now, I mean right now, there are very few people in the whole city who recognize this character. I'm one of the earlier ones."

"What?! Aren't you afraid of your words being misinterpreted? Be kind and speak with some decency!"

"What do you know? The Chinese professor the police consulted for this character is my teacher. To maintain secrecy, the police only showed my teacher a small photo of the character, saying that a suspect in a case had written this character, which might be closely related to the case. None of us recognized it, so we wanted to ask my teacher for help. My teacher had no idea that the character was drawn on a woman's back. He looked it up for them, but then he became curious and called to ask me if I knew anything about it. Great! I immediately realized that this character must have been written by the murderer from June 29th."

"Your teacher knows this character? Amazing!"

"My teacher doesn't recognize it either. He said it's impossible for him to know it. He never encountered this character when he studied Classical Chinese in university. Even in Classical Chinese, this character is a dialect word; in modern Chinese, it's practically obsolete. My teacher guessed that the person who wrote this character was either very old, had attended a private school, and had a foundation in Classical Chinese; or was from rural Fujian and familiar with the local dialect; or was a calligrapher, because writing seal script and seal carving often requires consulting the Kangxi Dictionary, so it's possible they knew this character. Another possibility is that they were a member of a secret religious group. Secret religious groups like to use their own secret symbols to tell stories, believing that these symbols possess magical powers. In short, my teacher said that the person who can write this character is not young, is not an ordinary person, must have unique experiences, and have their own knowledge structure. At least the issues they think about are beyond the scope of ordinary people's thinking, and the information they convey is not something that ordinary people are interested in."

“Your teacher must not know that he is a murderer, otherwise, he wouldn’t have said that.”

"Wrong! I think my teacher's words were very insightful. If he weren't a murderer, I wouldn't have thought his words were so incisive!"

"You're so roundabout! After all this time, you still haven't told me what this character is? Maybe I can even recognize it!"

"Okay, turn on your computer, use full pinyin input, type 'miao,' scroll down, do you recognize this character '媌'?"

"It seems familiar."

"But he didn't write this character; it's a variant of it that's no longer used. How is it written? On the left is a single person radical, and on the right is the character '苗' (miao). The Kangxi Dictionary and the Cihai Dictionary say that the character he wrote is a variant of '媌' (miao), with two pronunciations and two interpretations. The Cihai Dictionary says it's pronounced as 'mao' (茅), meaning prostitute. The Fangyan Dictionary notes: 'People in Fujian call prostitutes '媌'.' In Fujian dialect, prostitutes are called '媌'. The Kangxi Dictionary says '媌 means good; from Guanzhong eastward, between the Yellow River and the Ji River, it's called '媌'. Northerners say '媌' means beautiful, so this character also has the pronunciation '苗' (miao). In ancient times, '媌条' (miao tiao) was commonly written as '苗条' (miao tiao). '媌' and '苗' have the same meaning. Tell me, isn't it perverted for him to write such a strange character on someone's back? Do you think he thinks the same way we do?"

"What kind of word is this? It mentions both prostitute and beauty, isn't that a contradiction?"

"That's the perspective of a kindergarten child. When our ancestors created this character, prostitutes were considered beautiful. Back then, young women who weren't pretty, didn't know music, chess, calligraphy, painting, singing, dancing, or hadn't undergone formal training couldn't become prostitutes. Brothels, big and small, were all approved by the government, so naturally, the selection of prostitutes was based on merit. Don't you know Feng Menglong? Even if you don't, you must have heard of him, right? He was a novelist from the Ming Dynasty. In one of his stories in *San Yan Er Pai*, he said: 'A wife is not as good as a concubine, a concubine is not as good as a maid, a maid is not as good as a prostitute, a prostitute is not as good as a stolen affair, and a stolen affair is not as good as one that can't be stolen.' His ranking of various women in this passage undoubtedly reveals that prostitutes held a very high position in the minds of men at that time. Therefore, the emperor..." Although Emperor Huizong of Song had a multitude of empresses and concubines in his palace, all of them beautiful, he still couldn't resist sneaking out to visit brothels, all for the purpose of secretly meeting Li Shishi, a renowned courtesan of her time. What were prostitutes back then? They were female stars, singers, and artists who could sing, dance, write poetry, and paint! Think about it, who were the people who could afford to go to brothels to enjoy song and dance performances in those days? They were officials, soldiers, intellectuals, wealthy people, and even the emperor himself. Could they afford to frequent brothels without a fortune? Much of the national treasury's silver came from brothels; could they earn cartloads of silver without selecting beautiful women as prostitutes? It's clear that prostitutes made a significant contribution to the country back then; brothels were an important state enterprise.

Zhao Xiaowei was quite surprised for a while, then said:

"This person is truly mysterious; no wonder there are so many legends surrounding this murder case! Can you guess what he meant by writing this character? Does it mean the woman was beautiful? Or that she was a prostitute? Perhaps it means the woman was a beautiful prostitute?"

"You're smart! I asked my teacher the same question!"

Zhao Xiaowei scratched her face with her right index finger:

"Let me recommend a beauty salon that offers discounts. Go there and get your skin thinned out!"

"Guess what my teacher said? He said, 'That's the complexity and richness of the Chinese language! Don't think that just because you find the definition of a word in the dictionary, you can understand what it means when someone writes it. Actually, it's not like that at all. A dictionary can only give the most basic explanation of a word, and it's far from being able to explain the variations in usage in various contexts. This is the subtle, complex, and profound nature of Chinese characters. Take the word '老' (lǎo, old) for example. Although the Modern Chinese Dictionary lists seventeen definitions, it still cannot exhaust the variations that arise from its use in different contexts. It can be derogatory, complimentary, or neutral. For example, the '老' in '老而不死' (lǎo bù sǐ, old but not dead) or '老东西' (lǎo dōng xiāng, old thing) is derogatory; but the '老' in '老儿子' (lǎo ér ér, old son) or '老姑娘' (lǎo gū niū, old girl) is an affectionate term.'" It's a compliment; saying "old" or "very old" is neutral. So the character '媌' is the same; you can't judge its meaning without knowing the context in which it's used. Sometimes, the user intentionally obscures their meaning, trying to trick you into guessing. Why not use characters we can immediately recognize and understand? Because they don't want to clearly tell you their feelings; they don't want you to guess their thoughts right away. I don't know the person who wrote this character, nor what crime they committed, but I can venture to say that this person is repressed in life, an introverted person, and must have a side of inferiority and fear within them. That's why they chose such a character to express their contradictory and anxious feelings, not wanting people to understand it at a glance.

Zhao Xiaowei nodded repeatedly as she listened.

"I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what he meant by writing this, and I even dream about it at night. I think he might be a bachelor, or he might have been dumped after dating a prostitute, or he might have been tricked by a prostitute. But these thoughts are still within the realm of normal human thinking, aren't they? So if I want to understand what he means, I have to become abnormal. From this, we can also deduce that you and I are both normal right now, and our relationship is also normal."

"Get out of here! You've gone off the track again!"

"You seem so anxious, it's like you're saying our relationship isn't normal, right?"

Zhao Xiaowei suddenly stood up and slammed her body into his shoulder:

"Nonsense! Who said you two have an improper relationship?"

Seeing that he was busy looking at documents on the computer and wasn't saying anything, she asked:

"You seem to have gathered a lot of information about this case; are you planning to write a TV series about it?"

"What kind of TV series would I write? Do you think I'm cut out for that? You're just talking about whatever you're doing, and you're just learning everything you do!"

"Then tell me more, let me broaden my horizons! I never expected you to come up with so many things about such a terrible case, you're really something!"

"No! Don't flatter me. Even if you do, there are still some things I can't tell you. You're just a young girl; you shouldn't know everything. You might not feel anything during the day, but when you're lying in bed alone at night without me by your side, you'll be in trouble! Don't you understand, beautiful lady?"

"Hey! You're getting cocky just because I called you fat! Don't try to ride on a donkey, okay?"

After saying this, Zhao Xiaowei suddenly realized something and her face turned as red as if it were bleeding.

"Why should I go up there..."

Fortunately, Yang Ming hadn't finished speaking when his phone rang. He listened for a couple of seconds, then shouted:

"A new clue? Great! Wait for me! I'll be right there!"

Without even turning off the computer, he excitedly slung his bag over his shoulder and ran outside.

Zhao Xiaowei thought that this might be a new clue in the case. Unlike Yang Ming, who had made many friends from all walks of life, she couldn't help but want to check Yang Ming's computer; he must have collected a lot of strange and unusual information.

She quietly opened the "June 14th Documents" on her computer desktop:

Childhood characteristics of psychopathic killers

Sociologists who have conducted in-depth research on children and family relationships emphasize the importance of family structure, the quality of family life, and interaction with society. In particular, children's perception of family members and their interactions with them are crucial factors influencing child development. The closeness of a child's relationship with their parents and other family members directly impacts their future social relationships and their respect for the value of other members of society. In other words, a child's early family relationships are entirely transferred to their adult social relationships; their adult understanding of society stems from their early childhood.

The mothers of these criminals mostly played the role of devoted wives and mothers, while the fathers went out to earn money to support the family; very few of these families could be classified as impoverished. Regrettably, these children, whose conditions and upbringing were quite good, not only failed to successfully participate in and integrate into society as adults, but instead committed heinous crimes.

Further exploration of these individuals' backgrounds may provide answers to the aforementioned questions. Evidence suggests that the reasons behind their later acts of murder are related to their family background, the social environment at the time, the interpersonal relationships and treatment they received in childhood, and their sexual experiences during childhood and adolescence.

We have hypothesized that childhood traumas can leave indelible memories, profoundly impacting a person's development and leading to symptoms such as daydreams or fantasies. Literature has documented that children who have experienced physical or sexual abuse, or witnessed domestic violence, often have recurring nightmares with the same scenarios, memories that are indelible. Children who have suffered emotional distress or hardship in their early years tend to develop a conflicted and rigid worldview. In contrast, children who haven't experienced similar struggles are more likely to cultivate a creative, resilient, and adaptable worldview. We even believe that the former may occasionally reveal these painful memories during play, expressing their pain in similar ways. If this trauma can be successfully resolved, all will be well. However, if it cannot be resolved, it can lead to deviant thoughts and behaviors later on. For example, they may become indifferent to the helplessness of the victims, have recurring fantasies of attacking others, or act with the sole aim of possessing or controlling others, disregarding reality. (Excerpt from "Mutant Portraits: FBI Psychological Analyst's Investigative Notes on Abnormal Killers")