Case Files 013

Zhao Pingjuan and Zhang Xue came out of the room and saw Zhou Moli, and the three felt a little embarrassed facing each other. They would never have thought that when we called them one by one, all their statements would turn out to be exactly the same. And all three of them declared innocent by planting suspicion on the other.

Except for Liang Mei, who couldn’t be contacted, all three of them had to meet here. I don’t know how embarrassing it must’ve been for them. The three looked at me. I looked back at them; no one spoke.

It was Wang Yikai who broke the stalemate. Wang Yikai had his brows twisted and scrunched up together. I could see that Wang Yikai was in great pain now. Clutching his stomach tightly, he opened his mouth to say, “Since it’s all said and done, you don’t need to feel ashamed. Since all of you claim that you haven’t done it, then you didn’t. Liang Mei is the only one left.”

“Liang Mei?” Zhang Xue called out in surprise.

Zhang Xue added, “It can't be Liang Mei. Liang Mei doesn't usually like to talk. She always asks us if she came across anything. She doesn't have any opinions of her own. I think she’s the least likely suspect.”

“But that night, did you guys see Liang Mei?” I asked, “I heard that she was alone in the dormitory that night.”

After I finished speaking, Zhang Xue and Zhou Moli also fell silent. After a long while, the two shook their heads in turn.

Zhou Moli said, “This, it seems that I really didn't see Liang Mei.”

Zhao Pingjuan said, “Then let us her and ask her about it Since the three of us are already here, let's call Liang Mei too.”

I shrugged and said, “But we can’t reach Liang Mei anymore. Can you guys to get in touch with her?”

Zhao Pingjuan said: “At the party that day, Liang Mei and I exchanged mobile phone numbers; let me try.”

But it was to no avail. It seemed like Liang Mei had disappeared.

“It’s looks necessary that we to find out what Liang Mei is doing.” I looked at Zhao Mingkun.

Wang Yikai said in a quivering tone, “Everything points to Liang Mei as the one who did it. But before the investigation, please take me to the hospital. My stomach pain is getting is taking a turn for the worse. I don’t I think can hold on until we reach the next city to check up.”

“Let's go then.” I looked at Wang Yikai.

Wang Yikai nodded, and stood up. Then followed me Zhao Mingkun out. From the corner of my eye, I could see Wang Yikai walking in small steps. His big legs clamping tightly onto each other, and he only used small steps to walk and move himself. It was like a duck walking.

Zhao Pingjuan looked at it and laughed, and said, “Wang Yikai, why are you walking like this? You’ll poop your pants at this rate.”

Having said that, the people around us couldn't help but chuff.

Wang Yikai was also a little embarrassed. At that moment, he was clutching his abdomen tightly with one hand, while the other hand was firmly pressing on the armrest of the sofa. Bean-sized beads of sweat fell from his face, as if a pregnant woman was about to go into labor.

To which I heard Wang Yikai say: “Don’t laugh at my state. You better bring me to hospital quick.”

“What have you been eating?” I had a nagging feeling in my heart that something was wrong with Wang Yikai. Even if he had a bad stomach, it won’t be to this extent and wouldn’t have lasted this long. Now it was exacerbating, and the situation did not seem to be getting any better. Is it possible that he might have gastroenteritis?

Thinking of this, I reached out to help Wang Yikai.

Wang Yikai was standing, but the whole person almost curled up into a big lobster. I reached out to help him, and his hand came off the armrest of the sofa, trying to grab my arm. But he seemed to have no strength, and suddenly fell to the ground the moment he stretched out his hand.

Then, he started rolling on the ground. We could see him shaking all over and retching. And the women who were still laughing at Wang Yikai panicked when they saw this situation. It was Zhao Mingkun who responded quickly and crouched down immediately to check Wang Yikai's condition.

I immediately squatted down, trying to help him up.

But at this moment, Wang Yikai seemed unable to hold back any longer. We just heard a few “prff” sounds coming from his butt, but what accompanied it was not a stench, but a bloody smell. I opened my eyes and saw that the blood had even turned Wang Yikai's suit pants red, and at that moment, blood was flowing down his pants.

I have never seen such a sight. Even if the hemorrhoids burst, it wouldn’t be this bloody.

Wang Yikai began to tremble violently and at the same time and kept retching.

“Call an ambulance, call 120!” I hurriedly shouted. Only then did the few people standing beside them react and began to dial 120.

But Wang Yikai’s reaction turned more violent by the minute. His body lurched violently, and he began vomiting copious amounts of blood. He was holding his stomach in great pain. He tried to voice out words, but every time he said a word, more blood would leak out of his mouth.

“What's wrong with me? What's wrong with me?” Wang Yikai's voice was low, but we could hear it clearly.

Wang Yikai was in panic.

“I did not kill anyone, I really did not kill anyone. I know that it was wrong of me to let Luo Ding steal Lu Zhiqiu’s underwear.” Wang Yikai stretched out a hand and grabbed my arm tightly. “But, I know I was wrong. I know I’m wrong. Why does this still happen to me? Doesn’t God want people like me to live?”

I shook my head, grabbed Wang Yikai's hand, and said, "It's alright, you just burst your hemorrhoids. You won’t die.”

Wang Yikai's eyes widened, he clenched his teeth tightly, and he said: “I know, I know my own body. It hurts. I hurt so much. I don't want to die; I still have a lot of things I want to do and a lot of places I haven't been to.”

“I don't want to die.” Wang Yikai's eyes widened suddenly, and he grabbed my arm with such force that I thought that he would rip it off.

And a lot of blood poured out of his mouth and nose. And I could also feel that the strength in his hands was gradually weakening. Eventually, his hands fell down, and there was no more strength. But his eyes were still open and round, unshut.

His pupils had dilated, and we asked Yang Licheng to find a flashlight. I pointed a flashlight at his pupils, and their pupils stopped shrinking, which means that Wang Yikai was dead. Around the pupil, cloudy white objects had begun to form.

I sat directly on the ground with no one around to speak to.

What the hell was going on? We were with Wang Yikai at eight o'clock last night. So far, so good. There are fourteen or fifteen hours. When Wang Yikai was with us, he always behaved normally, and there were no symptoms of discomfort.

What the hell was going on? We were with Wang Yikai since eight, last night. So far, he had behaved normally, and did not show any symptoms and discomfort.

But after that, Wang Yikai began having faint pain in his stomach, and now he had lost his life directly because of it. How did the murderer do it? I really can’t think of a method that the killer might’ve used to kill Wang Yikai.

Was it some delayed-action poison? But from my limited understanding of poisons, I couldn’t think of any poison that could delay the attack for almost fourteen to fifteen hours. Moreover, during this period, Wang Yikai had visited the toilet many times. If he ingested the poison orally, it would’ve been rendered ineffective already. If it hadn’t been taken in orally, I’m afraid Wang Yikai was marked for death long ago.

And I've never seen a poison so potent that it would cause such symptoms in a poisoned person.

Is it possible that someone broke into the house and poisoned him in the early hours, yesterday? Wang Yikai went to the toilet frequently in the early morning.

Who is the murderer, and why can he kill people in such a strange way?

I looked at Wang Yikai's body and was speechless for a long time.

Wang Yikai had booked a plane for 6 o'clock this afternoon to go to another city, but the murderer started before that. And I too basically understand why the murderer kills so quickly. The murderer wants to kill thirteen people, which is a huge number. Once someone feels that something’s wrong and wants to leave Dongxing City, the murderer is likely to lose the chance to kill him.

The killer moves so fast that even when news of someone's death reaches the ears of a survivor, the next survivor dies. So now the best way to avoid the murderer is to leave Dongxing City, and when we or the police catch the murderer, these people will come back.

I looked at the women, who were still dumbfounded, and said, “You see, no matter if it is the murderer who killed Lu Zhiqiu seven years ago, this person who came to avenge Lu Zhiqiu will not let go. Although I still don't know who that is among you, Whether there is a murderer or not, you all have families in Dongxing City, so you wouldn’t be able to escape. I advise you to go out and hide.”

The women nodded, and Zhang Xue's voice trembled: “Then I, then I'll leave first. I'll make arrangements. I'll leave Dongxing City immediately. I'll go back to my parents' house to hide for a while, and will be back when the murdere is caught.”

The remaining two women also nodded and said, in unison, “So will we.”

Yang Licheng said, “I will go to Wang Xin to discuss what to do. No, no, we will hire a few bodyguards to watch over us 24 hours a day. We’ll have to move quick. This is really terrible. A good person, just like this, died in front of us in such a manner.”

At this time, the sound of an ambulance came from outside the window.

“You wait here. Let’s usher in the doctor.” I looked at Wang Yikai’s body and said, “However, it is useless now. Damn, if only we had sent him to hospital back when his stomach ache had started, such a thing wouldn’t have occurred.”

Zhao Mingkun and I had already walked out of the room, and I turned my head and said, “If you can find Wang Xin, stay with Wang Xin. That's fine. Remember to tell him to be careful. After we investigate Liang Mei's situation, I will go to Wang Xin's house.”

Yang Licheng nodded and said, “Okay, that's the only way to go.”

(End of this chapter)