Chapter 34 The Demon Awakening

I'm home.

As soon as Yu Qing opened the door, he saw Li Qiulan sitting on the sofa in the living room watching TV. The sound of an ancient costume drama was coming from the TV, and the female lead was crying her heart out.

Yu Qing asked in surprise, "Mom, you're still awake?"

Hearing her son's voice, Li Qiulan turned around and asked, "Didn't you say you'd be back before ten o'clock? Why are you so late?"

Yu Qing bent down to change her shoes, then put her keys and schoolbag in the entryway, her voice weary: "Ugh, don't even mention it. I was supposed to be back before ten o'clock, but something happened."

Li Qiulan turned down the TV volume, turned to look at him, and asked nervously, "What happened? Did you get into trouble again?"

Yu Qing waved her hand, not explaining much: "It's nothing, it's just an internal matter for the hotel, so please don't overthink it."

Li Qiulan breathed a sigh of relief and softened her tone: "I've heated up some braised pork trotters and fish soup for you in the pot. Would you like some more?"

"I'll go get some soup!"

Yu Qing thought for a moment and then walked towards the kitchen.

He hadn't eaten much at the hotel, and his stomach was already growling with hunger. Then that incident happened, which made his stomach churn violently whenever he saw meat.

Li Qiulan stood up, her face stern: "How many times have I told you, wash your hands before eating."

"Okay, okay, I'm not a child anymore."

Yu Qing grumbled, but still headed towards the restroom.

When I returned to the living room, Li Qiulan had already placed a large bowl of steaming fish soup on the dining table, along with a cake with several candles on it.

Yu Qing stared blankly at the birthday cake on the table, then smiled wryly and said, "Mom, didn't I tell you on the phone that I'm celebrating my birthday with my classmates today and you don't need to buy me a cake? Besides... I can't eat anything right now."

Li Qiulan said irritably, "You child, today is your birthday. How can it be called a birthday celebration if we don't buy a cake? What are you standing there for? Come over and make a wish."

Yu Qing suddenly felt a little uneasy.

He took a deep breath, went to the dining table, closed his eyes, and silently made a wish.

God bless you.

This lifetime.

I must prevent that car accident.

I must make sure my mom lives a good life.

Then he opened his eyes and gently blew out the candle.

Li Qiulan gazed quietly at Yu Qing, a relieved smile on her face, and said with emotion, "Time flies! In the blink of an eye, you've become a young man, and in a few years you'll be getting married. By the way, is the person celebrating your birthday today a male or female classmate?"

"A woman."

Yu Qing answered while drinking the fish soup.

Upon hearing the name of the female classmate, Li Qiulan immediately became interested and leaned over to ask, "Son, tell me, is that girl pretty? What do her parents do? What's their family's financial situation like?"

Yu Qing froze as she drank her soup, her expression turning strange as she looked at her: "Mom, what are you asking about? They just happen to share the same birthday as me, we're completely unrelated, why are you asking all this?"

Li Qiulan glared at him and said irritably, "You brat, I'm your mother. If I don't worry about you, who will? Let me tell you, since they invited you to their birthday party, it means they have a good impression of you. You should seize this opportunity, do you hear me?"

"Cough cough..." Yu Qing choked suddenly and coughed violently, her face turning red: "Mom, she wanted to invite the city leaders to dinner, we were just there on the side, I'm not close to her."

Li Qiulan quickly patted Yu Qing on the back: "What's the rush? Nobody's going to take it from you."

Yu Qing smiled wryly and said, "Please stop gossiping. Your son is focused on getting into a good university right now. As for dating, we can talk about that later."

"Look at you, so useless, just like your father," Li Qiulan said with exasperation.

"……oh!"

Yu Qing gave a perfunctory reply and lowered her head to drink her soup.

Then Li Qiulan started muttering and nagging again, mostly about trivial gossip, such as someone's son losing millions gambling, or which relative bought a new car.

Yu Qing used to think that Li Qiulan's rambling was like Tang Sanzang chanting scriptures, and he would just let it go in one ear and out the other. But now he listens with great interest and occasionally responds.

However, Yu Qing did not mention the suicide incident that happened today to Li Qiulan, so as not to worry her.

After dinner, Yu Qing watched TV with Li Qiulan for a while, and then went back to the bedroom to rest.

Before going to bed, Yu Qing habitually opened the drawer and took out her notebook.

Let's start by reviewing what happened today.

This has always been a good habit of his.

First of all, Lu Chi was not at the scene when the incident occurred at the hotel, so he had plenty of time to commit the crime. In addition, when he returned, he had more scars on his hands, which should have been left during the fight with the victim.

Moreover, he felt that Lu Chi was acting strangely from the moment he started cleaning the classroom.

Secondly, if Lu Chi is indeed the murderer, what was his motive? Why did he specifically target a chef?

Or is there... something else going on?

Third, Lu Chi's private inquiry into Yu Qing was a dangerous sign, so Yu Qing had to be more careful in future interactions.

Yu Qing's pen moved quickly across the paper, trying to piece together the events.

This incident might just be the trigger; Lu Chi's killing spree is far from over. Yu Qing decided that she must find an opportunity tomorrow to observe Lu Chi closely and see if she could find any more clues.

...

When Zhou Xiaoming got off the bus, he looked as if his soul had been ripped away, and he walked along the road in a daze, dragging his heavy steps.

His eyes were empty and numb.

Vehicles sped past, weaving through the surrounding traffic.

A taxi sped towards Zhou Xiaoming, its wheels screeching as it came to a stop just centimeters from him.

The driver broke out in a cold sweat.

He started swearing and cursing.

"You cross the street without looking for cars? Do you want to die?"

However, Zhou Xiaoming seemed to be under a spell, continuing to walk slowly forward, ignoring the driver's curses.

Passersby cast strange glances at him, as if he were a monster.

Zhou Xiaoming didn't know how he got home. He only felt that everything around him became blurry and distorted, as if the whole world was spinning.

He took out his keys and mechanically opened the door.

The air was filled with familiar smells, a mixture of various cigarette, alcohol, and perfume odors that made him quickly cover his mouth and nose.

"Ah Yong, your son is back!"

A middle-aged woman was sitting at the mahjong table, holding a five of bamboo in her hand. Her eyes lit up and she grinned from ear to ear: "Sorry, I won by self-draw, it's a pure suit, and I've closed out the other three players."

The man called A Yong, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, saw Zhou Xiaoming at the door and his smile vanished instantly. He glared at his son fiercely and said, "Why are you only coming back now? You might as well have died out there. It would be best if you never came back, just like that wretched woman."

Zhou Xiaoming lowered his eyes and remained silent.

Seeing this, A-Yong became even more furious: "Are you mute? I'm talking to you!"

Zhou Xiaoming remained silent, as if he had lost his soul, and walked silently toward his room, closing the door behind him.

"Hey Yong, your son seems a bit off. Do you want to go check on him?" the woman said, nudging Zhou Yong beside her.

Zhou Yong glanced at the closed door and snorted coldly, "I think he's just bookworms who've gone stupid. He can't utter a word all day. Ignore him. Let's keep fighting. Nobody's leaving today. We'll fight until dawn."

...

Zhou Xiaoming sat on the edge of the bed, motionless.

Time passed silently. He sat there for two whole hours, the horrific scene replaying in his mind—corpses falling from the sky, flesh and blood flying everywhere, the bloody scene flashing before his eyes.

He had always seen such horrific scenes on television before, but experiencing it firsthand today, the sight of flesh and blood being mangled...

I was incredibly excited.

Indeed, according to normal logic, one would probably be terrified by such a thing, but he felt that such a bloody scene had a broken and twisted beauty.

It's like a flawless work of art that has been ruthlessly torn apart, revealing a suffocatingly bizarre beauty.

This insane idea sent chills down his spine.

He didn't understand why he would have such a strange feeling about a dead person.

Does he have necrophilia?

No, that's impossible.

He is a normal person and has absolutely no such perverted hobby.

It must be because I've been under too much pressure lately.

That must be it...

Zhou Xiaoming comforted himself, quickly lay down, covered his head with the blanket, and tried to close his eyes.

However, the sound of shuffling cards came from outside the door. The piercing noise was like sharp knives stabbing into his eardrums, making him extremely irritable.

I can't sleep, I just can't sleep.

If only they could stay quiet forever.