Chapter 15 of the Dark Lady
When the weather is bad, people will feel inexplicably depressed.
Outside Zhu Shun's gray courtyard, Xie Qianchou leaned against the wall, staring at the gray sky overhead, wondering what he was thinking.
Bu Kui came out of the yard and greeted Jie Qianchou when he saw him. Jie Qianchou's eyes fell on Bu Kui's right arm wrapped in gauze. It was the injury he had sustained a few days ago when he blocked a falling beam for himself.
Bu Kui took two steps forward: "You haven't left yet, waiting for Yan Ran?"
Jie Qianchou and the other two are important eyewitnesses in this serial murder case. Today, at the request of the police, they came here specifically to testify at the scene.
Jie Qianchou shook his head: "I'm waiting for you. Now that the case is solved and the murderer is dead, can you reveal some things?"
Bu Kui leaned his back against the wall next to Jie Qianchou. He was exhausted these days.
Bu Kui: "That depends on what it is."
Jie Qianchou asked, "What did Zhu Shunjia discover?"
Bu Kui: "Two female corpses were dug out, and their bodies showed signs of abuse. After investigation, they might be the 'wives' bought by Zhu Shun."
Jie Qianchou thought of the day when he had lunch at Gao's house. There was a conflict between the butcher and Gao Wang. Gao Wang said at that time, "You are afraid that others will know about the wicked things you have done!" It seems that Zhu Shun's human trafficking is no secret here.
Jie Qianchou: "Did the butcher kill them?"
Bu Kui: "It's hard to say. At the moment, I can only say that I highly doubt it."
Jie Qianchou: "Did you investigate the cause of Chen Quezi's death later?"
Bu Kui gave a wry smile and said, "They've all been cremated, where can I find out?"
Jie Qianchou: "Mochou, what is it?"
Bu Kui: "What Mo Chou?"
Jie Qianchou: "Gao Xing said at that time that you were there too."
Bu Kui: "How would I know what it is? You're going to take a psychopath's words seriously?"
Jie Qianchou: "Is she really mentally ill? Are you sure?"
Bu Kui: "We checked and found she has a stress-related psychological disorder. Gao Xing was hospitalized at the Wulin Jingwei Center for a long time and was only discharged after her condition stabilized."
Jie Qianchou: "Such a sophisticated serial killing method, I don't believe a psychopath could do it."
Bu Kui: "I can't say for sure. Isn't Yan Ran an expert in this field? You might as well ask her. But I think that if it were a normal person, killing someone wouldn't be so troublesome."
Jie Qianchou: "One last question. What about Gao Wang? How is he?"
Bu Kui sighed, "He's crazy, literally. We found psychotropic drugs in him, the same ones his wife had. Testing showed that their ingredients can amplify certain emotions."
Jie Qianchou frowned slightly: "What do you mean?"
Bu Kui: "For example, sadness, fear, or excitement, this drug can intensify any one of these emotions. That's what the medical examiner said. Don't ask about the others, I don't know."
Jie Qianchou tilted his head in thought: "Can current technology allow us to artificially determine other people's emotions?"
As she pondered this, Jie Qianchou's phone rang. Ever since the string of murders here, the telecommunications company had worked overnight to resolve the poor mobile signal. Jie Qianchou pulled out her phone, revealing a message from Yan Ran. After reading the message, Jie Qianchou said goodbye to Bu Kui and headed towards Wang Jinhua's house.
Today was Tian Xiaohu's wedding day. Several colorful kites flew high in the sky, and below them were a sea of red balloons. Two rows of flower baskets lined the ground, and a red carpet stretched along the winding road to Wang Jinhua's front door.
Yan Ran's hypnosis therapy worked, curing Tian Xiaohu's mental illness. To express her gratitude, Wang Jinhua specially invited Yan Ran and the other two to attend the wedding banquet.
Jie Qianchou made his way through the bustling crowd and found Yan Ran, who was staring blankly at a toilet. It was a wooden toilet, painted bright red inside and out.
Jie Qianchou jokingly said, "Are you preparing to treat a toilet problem?"
Yan Ran didn't know anyone here except Wang Jinhua and her daughter, and she was bored to death. This time, for the first time in her life, she didn't fight back.
Yan Ran: "It seems there are things you don't know."
"Ah?" Jie Qianchou said he didn't understand. What's so novel about a festive old-fashioned toilet?
Yan Ran: "I heard it's the custom here. You'll know soon."
As the two were talking, a group of people came over, escorting Wang Jinhua. Wang Jinhua was wearing gold and silver, and her face was filled with joy. She smiled at Yan Ran and the others as a greeting, and then a group of people surrounded the red toilet on the ground.
Wang Jinhua took out a bulging red envelope from her pocket and said, "It's the toilet. The first one to pee has a red envelope in it!"
This sentence was like a starting gun, and several little boys who had been waiting at the door ran over.
Behind Wang Jinhua was a young girl. As soon as she heard there was a red envelope, she ducked into the crowd, plopped down on the toilet, and started to pee. This frightened Wang Jinhua and the others. Amidst exclamations, the surrounding aunts and uncles began to grab the girl's arms and pull her up. Before she could even pull up her pants, she was kicked out by the crowd.
A small boy took advantage of the chaos and "shot" the toilet, which was followed by a burst of cheers from the crowd. Wang Jinhua happily stuffed a red envelope into the boy's hand.
The girl just now looked at the adults who were sometimes angry and sometimes excited and cried in grievance. She stood outside the door and didn't dare to go in. She couldn't understand why she was kicked out when she had already snatched it.
On this happy day, no one paid attention to a girl who was leaning against the door frame and sobbing quietly. Her cries were soon drowned out by the overwhelming sound of firecrackers.
Yan Ran was very curious, so she asked an aunt nearby and found out that the "carrying toilet" meant that one had to urinate into a boy's urine on the wedding day so that one could "have a boy in one go."
Yan Ran, the only daughter in the family, had never felt anything about these things. She asked Jie Qianchou, who was standing beside her, "Is it so important whether the baby is a boy or a girl?"
Jie Qianchou rubbed his brows and said, "From ancient times to now, people have always congratulated others by saying 'early birth of a son'. When have you ever heard of 'early birth of a daughter'?"
Yan Ran was speechless.
After the wedding banquet, it was still early.
A gray rain started falling from the gray sky without me noticing when.
Jie Qianchou stood on a high point. In front of him was the Gao family's small building, now only a pile of ruins remained. The magnificent iron gate was still there, but it had become black and deformed, and now it could no longer protect anything.
There was an umbrella on Jie Qianchou's head, and Yan Ran came over without knowing when. The umbrella in her hand was the one Jie Qianchou had given her as a weapon.
Yan Ran: "It's all over, let's go back."
Jie Qianchou looked at the ruins below: "One thing is over, so it loses its meaning of existence, right?"
Yan Ran: "When I saw you this time, I felt that you were very different from before. What happened?"
Jie Qianchou turned his gaze towards nothingness: "Nothing, I'm just like you, I don't want to live in such confusion."
Yan Ran looked at Jie Qianchou, wanting to say something but stopping himself.
Jie Qianchou: "Where did Gao Xing, who was born in a small town, learn her magic tricks? And where did she get all those props? And those psychotropic drugs that can stimulate emotions, I'm afraid even you can't get them, right?"
Yan Ran nodded. Psychotropic drugs are strictly regulated in countries around the world. Even for basic psychiatric medications sold in pharmacies, buyers must not only present a prescription from a licensed physician, but the pharmacy must also strictly register the purchaser's information.
Yan Ran: "I have indeed never heard of a drug called Mochou. Perhaps it is a hallucinogen or a new type of drug."
Jie Qianchou: "What's even more strange is why she wanted to kill Zhu Li, and why did she want to kill her own parents? You were also at the scene at the time, and Gao Xing looked very calm. I don't think she was crazy at the time."
Yan Ran: "It's impossible to tell whether a mental illness patient is in the onset stage simply by looking at the surface."
Jie Qianchou: "But the order in which she killed people was too planned, wasn't it?"
Yan Ran looked down at the ruins: "All the answers have been burned."
Jie Qianchou: "What do the medical records of mental patients usually contain?"
Yan Ran: "What do you want to do?"
Jie Qianchou looked at Yan Ran and said, "Can you get Gao Xing's case? She was hospitalized at the Jingwei Center in the city."
Yan Ran: "You must be joking! The patient's medical records are strictly confidential, and I'm not working there right now, how could I possibly do that?"
Yan Ran stared at Jie Qianchou's face for a while and said, "Don't have any bad ideas. Medical records are all managed electronically now. There are no files for you to steal."
Jie Qianchou felt a little lost, his eyes were empty, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Yan Ran: "Actually, I've been wanting to ask you for a long time, what does this have to do with you? Why do you care so much about Gao Xing?"
Jie Qianchou touched his nose and said, "Just curiosity."
Yan Ran's mind flashed back to the scene. Gao Xing had set the fire and perished along with his parents. Jie Qianchou had said she had something to ask her, even rushing into the flames to save Gao Xing, regardless of the danger. How could he have been simply curious?
Yan Ran shifted his gaze to his feet and was silent for a moment: "I'll try asking my former colleagues, maybe I can find out something."
Jie Qianchou: "That's great, thank you."
Yan Ran: "It's not easy to hear you say thank you. Actually, I just want to clarify some things."
Jie Qianchou didn't understand the meaning of Yan Ran's words. He had already started planning his next move. Perhaps the police had found something in the ashes.
The rain was getting heavier, but the two of them were no longer prepared to stay here.
The legend of the Bone Bride eventually became a story and was gradually forgotten.
"A new paradise for pig farming, a role model for prosperity"
Before leaving, Yan Ran looked back at the town's iconic slogan for the last time.
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