The Same Fate Awaits All Sins Chapter 24

Worship – 09

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Gu Yanta pushed open the door to the surveillance room, and was surprised to see Chen Chen and Ma Qin, two long-time adversaries, huddled together in front of the surveillance screen. When they heard him enter, they both turned around simultaneously.

"Boss, is this person really that serial killer from twenty years ago?" Ma Qin asked, staring at the kind-faced disabled man on the screen. "This is just... unbelievable."

"Exactly, Boss, this is so far from what we initially assumed. This guy committed such heinous crimes, yet he didn't flee. Instead, he ran a small shop on campus for so many years, earning a high reputation among teachers and students. We always suspected he was a misogynistic psychopath, but this man has a wife and child and has been living with them for years." Chen Chen chimed in.

Gu Yanta shook his head. "You can't judge a book by its cover. Someone with his level of psychological resilience is naturally adept at disguising himself. Even if he slipped through the investigation back then, without such an appearance, how else could he have remained hidden for so many years?"

"Speaking of which, Boss, during his two years of frenzied crimes, did his wife not notice anything at all?" Chen Chen asked.

"When he was committing the crimes, his wife was still back in their hometown, and he had come to the city alone to work. Later, after he suffered a work injury, his wife had to bring their child to the city to care for him. Losing both his physical capability and the conditions to commit crimes, he stopped," Gu Yanta explained.

In the interrogation room, Lu Zheng handed Meng Yong a blank sheet of paper and a pen. Meng Yong hesitated for a moment before taking them and began scribbling on the paper for a while.

Minute by minute, time ticked by, and the air in the interrogation room seemed to freeze. Suddenly, Meng Yong grabbed the pen and plunged it forcefully into his neck!

Lu Zheng reacted instantly. With a loud clang, he kicked over the table in front of Meng Yong. The table edge struck Meng Yong's elbow, causing his hand to shift slightly, narrowly missing his carotid artery. Instead, the pen stabbed into his throat! Meng Yong seemed determined to end his life, he put all his strength into the attempt, and blood gushed out immediately.

"Call an ambulance!" Gu Yanta shouted as he bolted out of the room in response to the sudden turn of events.

Meng Yong was rushed to the hospital for treatment. Thanks to Lu Zheng's quick reaction, his life was not in danger, though the throat injury left him temporarily unable to speak.

After the ordeal, everyone returned to the city bureau.

"What did you ask him to draw?" Gu Yanta looked at the blood-stained piece of paper on the table in the interrogation room.

On the paper was a crude drawing of a crooked house, a bare, leafless tree with twisted, claw-like branches, and a figure standing beneath it, but the figure was only half-drawn.

"This is just the basic house-tree-person psychological test," Lu Zheng picked up the paper and examined it closely.

"Can you make anything out from it?" Gu Yanta asked, puzzled as he looked at the childlike sketch.

Lu Zheng nodded. "Look here. The house represents the individual's early family environment and upbringing. The broken, misshapen house Meng Yong drew suggests he's deeply dissatisfied with his family background, believing his misfortunes stem largely from family factors. Now, look at the tree. The tree represents the individual's subconscious state and inner balance. Most people draw flourishing trees, sometimes even with fruit. But Meng Yong's tree looks like this, bare and lifeless, indicating extreme inner imbalance and full of aggression and vengeance towards society. And then there's the person. The person reflects the individual's self-perception in reality. Typically, people activate self-defence mechanisms when drawing themselves. Meng Yong only drew a half-figure, which shows he's very self-conscious about his disability. Deep down, he refuses to accept this reality."

Lu Zheng paused momentarily before continuing, "From this drawing, we can see that Meng Yong exhibits a strong sense of inferiority. At the same time, he is highly rational yet emotionally detached. This could be described as a schizoid personality disorder, a subtype of antisocial personality disorder. In his eyes, his victims are no different from roadside flowers or trees. He lacks empathy and cannot comprehend the emotions of others, joy, anger, sorrow, or happiness. His killings might have been purely a means of venting frustration. As for why he targeted young women, one, they were easier to control, and two, sexual instincts played a role."

"In early human civilisation, myths or fairy tales were often used to interpret universal human behaviours. For instance, Bluebeard killed his wives one after the other due to suspicions of infidelity. In ancient times, love had a straightforward purpose, producing offspring. Yet biological factors prevented men from guaranteeing this outcome, so in the male nature, control over women is very important. Meng Yong views his life as a failure and attributes this not to his own shortcomings but to his family background. This causes him to feel deeply inferior around women he admires. To maintain control over them, he resorts to killing, believing it to be the only way to preserve his male dignity. He is fully aware of his actions during the murders but oblivious to the deeper reasons driving him. In truth, it is an ancient, primal demon within him issuing its most direct command."

Gu Yanta fell into deep thought before asking, "But why did he target two children in the tenth case? That doesn't align with his psychological profile."

"I also have my doubts on this point," Lu Zheng admitted. "But don't worry, it won't be long before he speaks up himself."

"Looking at his condition, I'm afraid it won't be easy," Gu Yanta said with a sigh. "After lying low for twenty years, how could he confess overnight?"

"Don't worry, from my observation, Meng Yong sees himself as highly intelligent and harbours a deep resentment toward society. The success of his crimes twenty years ago gave him a psychological advantage, allowing him to look down on both the police and society. But now that he's been caught, that advantage is completely gone. Add to that his failed suicide attempt, and his years of psychological superiority have crumbled. He should be on the brink of collapse. Any further resistance would only expose his vulnerabilities, so he's likely to start talking soon."

Lu Zheng sat down, tossed Gu Yanta a cigarette, and lit one for himself. Amid the curling smoke, his already strikingly dark eyes seemed even brighter.

"By the way, why have you been smoking less recently? Today, you even relied on me for one," Lu Zheng flicked ash from his cigarette. "Before, I didn't want to smoke, but you kept handing them over, one after another. You practically turned me into a chain smoker."

"Eh, it's just my ancient male instincts kicking in," Gu Yanta replied, taking the cigarette Lu Zheng had tossed him. "When male animals are choosing a mate, don't they always want to show their best side? Like... a peacock spreading its tail feathers... Don't you dislike me smoking?"

"I didn't say that."

"I could tell." Gu Yanta shrugged. "You're one of those people who chain-smokes like crazy but can't stand the smell of smoke on others, this is the first time I've met such a person."

Lu Zheng chuckled softly, exhaling a slow ring of smoke. "Alright, so, does this count as you confessing to me?"

Having sparred with Lu Zheng a few times now, Gu Yanta no longer displayed the awkwardness he once did. Instead, he smirked faintly and responded calmly, "It does, why? Worried I'll ghost you after putting my pants on? Relax, the surveillance cameras are still on."

"Don't twist it like that, clearly, it was me pulling your pants down, wasn't it?"

Gu Yanta was about to retort when the intercom in the interrogation room suddenly came alive with Chen Chen's voice, "Boss, Consultant Lu, could you please refrain from discussing who pulled whose pants down in public spaces? There's new information about Li Wenli's case, would you two like to come over?"

"Why didn't you say he was in the surveillance room?" Lu Zheng hissed through clenched teeth.

"How was I supposed to know they'd return so quickly?" Gu Yanta was evidently thrown off as well. Despite his thick-skinned nature, even he couldn't help but flush slightly at this point, and he waved a fist at the surveillance camera.

Conference room. 

Gu Yanta pulled Chen Chen aside and whispered, "Hurry up and delete that footage."

Chen Chen leaned closer, smirking mischievously. "Boss, this is your first confession. Sure, the location was in the interrogation room, and yes, the effect was a bit of a flop, but it's still a moment to remember. How could I just delete it? I've already captured it and saved a copy, you can relive it anytime you like."

Gu Yanta angrily said, "What's wrong with you? Hurry up and copy it for me, if anyone's going to relive it, it'll be me! And you'd better watch out, or I'll have you reassigned to admin duty, sharing an office with Yu Tiantian, that lovestruck officer who adores you!"

At the mention of Yu Tiantian, an image of her incessantly calling out "Brother Chen, Brother Chen" popped into Chen Chen's head, and his scalp instantly tingled. "Alright, alright... Boss, I'll copy it for you right away."

Gu Yanta pretended to cough. "Ahem! Meeting time, Chen Chen, start us off."

Relieved, Chen Chen quickly turned to his computer and began. "After interviewing Li Wenli's friends, family, and colleagues, no one could confirm the existence of the new boyfriend her ex, Xu Leixin, mentioned. However, while reviewing surveillance footage from Li Wenli's neighbourhood prior to her death, we found this."

On the large screen, a video played of Li Wenli entering the gated community with a young man following a short distance behind. The man occasionally walked up to Li Wenli, exchanged a few words, and then fell back, maintaining the distance. This continued until they reached the entrance to Li Wenli's apartment building, where the man turned and left.

Chen Chen paused the video and continued, "We found over a dozen clips like this, but none show the man entering Li Wenli's apartment. On the day of the murder, the surveillance cameras were deliberately damaged. It's the middle of summer, yet this guy didn't care about the heat and consistently wore a baseball cap and mask, so his face was never captured."

"Here, rewind and have a look," Lu Zheng interjected, pointing at the screen, and Chen Chen swiftly complied, rewinding the footage. "Yes, that's it."

The video froze on a frame where the young man glanced directly at the camera.

"He's checking the position of the camera," Lu Zheng muttered, furrowing his brows. "Those eyes..."

Gu Yanta also saw it. "This... aren't they the eye features you summarised from the victims' profiles that day?"

"It's not just the victims in the photos," Lu Zheng said softly. "I'm certain I've seen those eyes somewhere in real life."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: December 16, 2024 by Angel

Edited: January 14, 2025 by Angel