whereabouts
Without delay, Wen Xubai immediately headed towards the address.
To avoid attracting too much attention, Wen Xubai chose to park his car in a parking lot not far from his destination, and walked the rest of the way on foot.
This place is called Locust Flower Lane.
It was daytime, and the alley was bustling with people: elderly men enjoying the cool air, children playing, and elderly folks chatting and eating sunflower seeds in front of their homes…
Without detailed navigation, Wen Xubai had to ask someone for directions and then vaguely figure out the way based on the other person's accented speech.
When he finally stood in front of the iron gate of the building he was looking for, Wen Xubai finally breathed a sigh of relief.
This building was dilapidated, even more so than the other houses in the alley, and was filled with a stench of something rotting or from the sewers, forcing him to cover his nose...
With each step the shoes took on the stairs, a "sizzling" sound was heard... that was the water stains that couldn't evaporate in the enclosed, damp environment.
The hallway lights had been out of service for years, rendering them practically useless. Therefore, although it was clearly daytime, the hallway, already shaded and without any light, was as dark as night…
"Building 8-602..."
By matching the numbers on the house number with the "exuberant" handwriting on the note, Wen Xubai finally confirmed that it was the house in front of him.
"Knock knock knock—" Wen Xubai knocked lightly on the iron gate a few times.
Seeing that no one responded, he raised his hand and knocked a few more times with more force.
"Knock knock knock!"
Who is it?
This time, an impatient response finally came from inside the room.
With the sound of something being thrown to the ground, the man cursed impatiently as he forcefully opened the door.
"Who is it?! Are you crazy? Disturbing my sweet dreams so early in the morning?!"
Are you Li Haiqing?
"Yeah, who are you?"
The man had barely uttered a word when he finally saw the person outside the door. The person was slender, with pale skin hidden under a black mask, and a pair of gleaming eyes staring at him menacingly.
"Holy shit."
Li Haiqing felt a chill run down his spine and instinctively tried to close the door, but was forcefully stopped by the man's shoe, which quickly slipped through the crack in the door.
Li Haiqing was startled by this, and couldn't help but loosen his grip. The next second, the man pushed the door open, entered the room, and then quickly closed the door again!
A loud "bang!" echoed as the door slammed shut. Li Haiqing instantly rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a cleaver, and frantically pointed it at Wen Xubai in the doorway, stammering, "Y-you! Who are you? What do you want?! I-I-I'll tell you... my family has no money!"
But the man opposite seemed completely unconcerned and slowly took off his mask.
Her light brown eyes glanced at him indifferently, and she said in a cold voice, "Do you recognize me?"
"Huh?" Li Haiqing was stunned by the question.
"I...I...How the hell would I know you?!" Sweat dripped down Li Haiqing's forehead.
Are you sure?
The man strode towards him with his long legs and hands in his pockets, speaking in a languid yet questioning tone, forcing him to retreat step by step.
"Damn it!" Li Haiqing was genuinely terrified, starting to stammer incoherently. He kept pushing the knife forward, desperately trying to bolster his courage: "I said I don't know you, and that's final! What the hell do you do??? Let me tell you, I'm not someone to mess with! You, you, you... if you dare come any closer, I'll use my weapon!!!"
His expression was excited, and it didn't seem fake.
Wen Xubai lowered his eyes and stopped in his tracks.
Seeing that he was no longer moving, Li Haiqing thought he was finally scared and wanted to force him to leave his house. However, before he could speak, he was interrupted by Wen Xubai's sudden action.
"Then you should... know them, right?"
It's not a question, it's a statement.
Wen Xubai slammed a newspaper onto the dining table next to them.
Li Haiqing was confused. His hand holding the knife trembled slightly, and he hesitated to step forward.
It was only after Wen Xubai took two steps back that Li Haiqing finally mustered up the courage to cautiously peek at the contents of the newspaper. He didn't dare to put away the knife in his hand, still pointing it at Wen Xubai, trembling like a leaf.
Upon seeing this, his blood seemed to freeze instantly.
The newspaper showed a picture of a three-car collision, with the large truck stopped between two cars standing out prominently.
Li Haiqing suddenly looked up at Wen Xubai, his pupils contracting sharply. The kitchen knife clattered to the ground at his feet. Pointing at him in disbelief, he stammered, "You...you...you are......"
Seeing that he couldn't utter a complete sentence for a long time, Wen Xubai simply helped him complete the second half of the sentence:
"I am a family member of the victim."
With a thud, Li Haiqing's massive body fell to the ground, his face filled with terror.
Wen Xubai looked at him coldly, stepped forward, picked up the newspaper on the table, and then slowly squatted down in front of him.
"You...you've come seeking revenge?" Li Haiqing swallowed hard, looking at Wen Xubai's face so close to his own, and those familiar eyes and brows, finally recognizing him...
"Daddy...Mommy...Waaah...Don't leave me...I'm so scared..."
The image of a little boy, covered in blood, kneeling before his closed-eyed parents, his cries hoarse and hoarse, suddenly flashed before my eyes…
He hesitated at the time... He hesitated...
The accident scene reeked of blood and gasoline from a burst fuel tank, posing an imminent risk of explosion. He hesitated at the time, wondering whether to call the police or try to save the child…
But when he instinctively stepped back and accidentally stepped on the arm of the woman's corpse behind him, he was terrified and dared not think of anything else! He... he was just too scared!
“I…I have an elderly mother at home, and…and children at home, I…I really can’t go to jail…” Li Haiqing murmured blankly, his eyes glazed over.
The voice matched his voice from eighteen years ago.
"And what about them?" Wen Xubai pressed on, his voice cold. "They also have families, parents, children, and the right to live. You clearly had the chance... so why didn't you save them?" Wen Xubai questioned coldly.
His fists clenched tighter and tighter with anger. Wen Xubai suppressed the surging anger in his heart and resisted the urge to punch the other person in the face.
"But...but I've already paid the price! I...I've served eighteen years in prison...My mother has cut ties with me, my wife has divorced me, and my child...I've lost my child too...I have nothing left now!"
Li Haiqing suddenly became agitated and grabbed Wen Xubai's shoulder with such force that Wen Xubai's shoulder ached.
"I have nothing left now, I can only live like a rat in a sewer, barely surviving every day! Why... why won't you let me go?! Why won't you let me go?!"
Li Haiqing was almost in a frenzied state, his face covered in stubble and dripping with water, his eyes bloodshot.
After saying that, she suddenly seemed to have all her strength drained away. The hand that was gripping Wen Xubai's shoulder slowly fell and gradually slid down to his arm. She murmured absentmindedly, "Could it be... could it really be... that you really have to let me go before you're willing to let me go...?"
Wen Xubai stared coldly at him, then suddenly stood up, shook off his hand, and looked at his bewildered and helpless appearance, but felt no sympathy whatsoever.
"You clearly had the opportunity... to stop all of this from happening."
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." Li Haiqing finally broke down, trembling as he hugged his head, his large body shrinking into a small ball as he kept crying and murmuring.
At the time, he was just a young man in his early twenties... but a sudden accident ended his life...
"Just kill me... just kill me..."
Wen Xubai took a deep breath, suppressing the surging emotions in his heart and the faint pain in his heart, and turned his back.
For a moment, the room fell silent...
This was a tiny rented room, so small that there was only enough room for the two of them...
After a long silence, Wen Xubai broke the silence first.
He said, "Li Haiqing, you still have a chance to make amends."
Upon hearing this, Li Haiqing froze, then suddenly looked up, quickly crawled forward, grabbed Wen Xubai's clothes, and said in a trembling voice, "What...what is it? Tell me, what is it?! As long as...as long as you tell me...whatever it is...I'm willing to do it!"
As long as it can atone for my sins!
A ray of sunlight shone through the narrow window, across the dark room, and onto Wen Xubai's pale face.
He looked out the window at the clear blue sky, wild geese soaring high, birds flitting about – it was a beautiful, sunny day…
"How much do you remember about what happened that day?" Wen Xubai asked.
“I… I can’t remember many details clearly… it’s been too long…” Li Haiqing said in a daze, “But… but I still remember the general situation!”
"Alright, let me ask you, where did the other child who was present go?"
“Another… child…?” Li Haiqing’s expression suddenly turned blank, and he couldn’t utter a word for a long time.
"Did it fall into the sea or... was it taken away by someone?" Wen Xubai frowned and gave a slight reminder from the side.
"Child..." Li Haiqing seemed to be thinking carefully, but then suddenly shook his head and hesitated, "No...no..."
"That day... there was clearly only one child!"
Wen Xubai's pupils suddenly contracted!
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