Du Xiao's fingertips gently slid across the phone screen, as if caressing the family photo.
This was originally a photo in a frame, but in order to erase evidence, he destroyed the photo after taking it.
He once had a happy and fulfilling family life, with a harmonious marriage and bright and intelligent children. If that incident hadn't happened, he and his family might have continued to live such a peaceful and happy life.
However, tragedy always strikes unexpectedly.
That day, he bought a small helium balloon for his five-year-old son. The son was very happy holding the helium balloon, which was shaped like a cartoon character.
That day happened to be a holiday, and there were many people playing in the park. Du Xiao was not paying attention for a moment and let her son get out of sight and she couldn't find him!
Du Xiao panicked instantly and hurriedly searched along the road. Under a tree, she saw a group of people gathered there, anxiously making phone calls and shouting for an ambulance. Some were even yelling that someone's child was missing.
Du Xiao's heart skipped a beat. He quickly pushed through the crowd and squeezed in. Then, he witnessed the most devastating scene of his life—
His son lay face down under the tree, his body and limbs twisted into a position that no normal person could do. Beneath his small body, a pool of bright red blood spread out, even flowing along the cracks in the stone slabs, down the low steps, and into the roadside ditch.
At that moment, Du Xiao felt as if her world had collapsed.
In that instant, his five senses seemed to disappear. He could only frantically rush forward, kneeling beside his son, so flustered that he didn't know whether he should pick him up or not.
Because there were many people, some saw that the child fell from the tree, and at the very top of the tree, a helium balloon with a cartoon pattern was stuck.
The cause of the tragedy seems simple: the child climbed the tree to get a helium balloon that had floated up to the tree, but lost his grip and fell. There were several overturned paving stones under the tree, and when the child fell, his head hit the sharpest part of the paving stone, killing him instantly.
This was a tragedy caused by a hydrogen balloon.
This helium balloon was a birthday gift that Du Xiao bought for her son.
Today happens to be my son's fifth birthday.
Du Xiao was filled with extreme remorse, while his wife, upon learning the devastating news, was completely devastated.
His wife could not forgive him at all and filed for divorce.
She felt that if she continued to share a bed with this man, she might kill him one night to accompany her son in death.
Du Xiao was also deeply distressed. She quit her job and spent her days in bars drowning her sorrows in alcohol, thinking only of drinking herself to death and ending it all.
One day, while drowning his sorrows in a bar, he overheard a conversation among a group of young people.
They were a group of college students who sneaked out for drinks at night. Once they got into a good mood, they started chatting about everything under the sun, dreaming about the future, and talking about life.
This was nothing unusual until someone started by telling an amusing story. One of the drunk male students chuckled and said, "None of your stories are funny. Take that festival recently, for example. Oh, I forgot what it was. Anyway, the park was packed that day. Xiaoxiao insisted on going there, so I had no choice but to go with her!"
"Pah! We don't want to hear this dog food! It's not funny at all!" someone immediately protested.
The boy immediately became unhappy: "Hey! I haven't gotten to the point yet! When Xiaoxiao and I went to the park, Xiaoxiao said she was thirsty and wanted milk tea. I went to buy it for her, but on the way we met a child whose balloon had accidentally flown into a tree and was crying anxiously down there. I didn't see his parents anywhere."
The boy took a sip of his drink, his voice slightly slurred: "I'm a brave and righteous young man! When something like this happens, of course I have no choice but to climb the tree and get that balloon down for him."
Others: "Wow, that's awesome! That kid must be so grateful to you!"
The boy said, "I thanked him, but I thought I should teach the child to be self-reliant, so I let go again and let the balloon fly up the tree."
Others: "Holy crap? That's a bit much, isn't it?"
The boy said, "How can this be called excessive? This is called training, you know? You guys don't know, when that kid saw the balloon fly up the tree again, his eyes reddened and he was about to cry, but I, his older brother, calmed him down with a series of enlightening words and he managed to hold back his tears!"
Others: "What did you say?"
The boy said, "I'm telling you... cough cough cough!" He cleared his throat and then said in a deliberately old-fashioned voice, "Kid, if you want to get something, you have to earn it with your own hands!"
Others asked with interest, "And then? And then?"
The boy puffed out his chest, looking quite smug: "Then, of course, I patted his head and turned to leave! I still had to go buy milk tea for Xiaoxiao."
"Hey! So in the end, you still didn't help them get the balloon down. How mean of you!"
"What do you know? Maybe those kids will be greatly inspired by what I said, and from then on they will work hard and make a name for themselves with their own hands!"
Upon hearing this, Du Xiao was trembling with rage. He smashed the wine glass in his hand, wanting to rush over and beat the man who told this story as a joke, as an experience to enrich his own persona.
However, he had drunk too much alcohol at the time. When he suddenly stood up, he felt dizzy and weak all over. He fell heavily to the ground, but he managed to keep his eyes open.
In his final moments before he fainted, he deeply imprinted the face of the boy who had indirectly caused his son's death into his mind.
Unforgettable.
And that boy was Jiang Qing.
Therefore, that car accident was not an accident, but rather a premeditated act of revenge by Du Xiao.
Du Xiao was filled with hatred, so even when he saw Jiang Qing walking arm in arm with another boy, he still decided to step on the gas in order to run Jiang Qing over.
Du Xiao stepped on the gas pedal with the intention of turning himself in to the police station after killing Jiang Qing.
But to his surprise, at the last moment, the man standing next to Jiang Qing actually pushed Jiang Qing away!
As a result, the innocent Jing Sheng was smashed in and left bleeding, while the person Du Xiao really wanted to kill survived.
Du Xiao realized that things were not going well, and knew that it would be very difficult to make another turn and hit Jiang Qing on such a narrow road.
So he simply stepped on the gas and fled the scene.
He can't turn himself in yet because the person he wants to kill isn't dead yet!
Du Xiao originally intended to plan another killing of Jiang Qing, but while he was following him, he discovered that Jiang Qing, who had been saved by Jing Sheng at the cost of his life, was filled with deep guilt.
That was exactly the same as the time when she had just lost her son.
Guilt, endless guilt.
Everyone is blaming you, everyone is scolding you, and you yourself know that you were indeed wrong, terribly wrong.
Because he couldn't refute it, he felt guilty; because he couldn't exonerate himself, he suffered; because he couldn't escape the guilt and pain, his whole life was plunged into darkness.
The person is still alive, but their heart is already soaked with immense sorrow.
Living in the human world, yet like a walking corpse.
Isn't such pain more agonizing than death?
Therefore, Du Xiao changed her plans.
He quickly erased all the evidence of his hit-and-run, and then used Jing Sheng's parents' grief over Jing Sheng's death to put pressure on Jiang Qing.
He approached him as a psychological counselor and provided him with psychological "treatment" for ten years.
Du Xiao's profession is psychological counselor. He knows very well how to enter a person's heart. Conversely, he also knows very well how to torment and break a person's heart.
He spent ten years hypnotizing and guiding Jiang Qing, even resorting to using banned psychotropic drugs as an aid, gradually building a "Jing Sheng" in Jiang Qing's mind.
Then guide Jiang Qing to kill "Jing Sheng".
At the same time, he also hinted to Jiang Qing that this "Jing Sheng" was extremely powerful because "Jing Sheng" had become a vengeful ghost, and a red-clothed one at that. If you were not careful, you might be killed by "Jing Sheng".
Du Xiao even vividly described to Jiang Qing what would happen if "Jing Sheng" killed Jiang Qing in return, and reinforced this impression in Jiang Qing through continuous hypnosis and drugs.
Over time, the image of "Jing Sheng" became more and more solidified in Jiang Qing's mind, and became stronger and stronger. Subconsciously, Jiang Qing felt that he was no match for that "Jing Sheng" and that the "Jing Sheng" who lived in his imagination could not be killed no matter what.
Just like in the first half of the story, every time Jiang Qing tried to assassinate Jing Sheng, Jing Sheng would evade the attack in various ways.
When the time was right, Du Xiao began to hint to Jiang Qing: Living with guilt is torture; it's better to die and be done with it! So, if you can't kill "Jing Sheng," then let "Jing Sheng" kill you. That way, you'll be completely free. And in that way, the one living in pain and regret will become "Jing Sheng."
Thus, this time, Jiang Qing and "Jing Sheng" faced each other head-on in Jiang Qing's hallucination.
Jiang Qing felt that she should "die" in this conflict, leaving the pain of living to "Jing Sheng".
And so, Jiang Qing died, and "Jing Sheng" opened his eyes.
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