Pinned to the ground, Jiang Lanpei panted for breath, her eyes bloodshot, an insane smile forming at the corner of her mouth. "Ha ha ha ha… Police… What use are the police? The police are all trash! In all these years, has a single police officer ever found me trapped in this godforsaken place? No! They're all useless!"
Her befuddled mind latched onto the triggering keyword and began to spiral. The wind blew messy hair into her mouth as she spat curses with a ferocious gaze.
"Now what? You're going to kill me, aren't you? Officer? You're going to kill me to cover up your negligence, aren't you?" A beautifully indifferent smile appeared on her face as she spoke. Though she was restrained, her eyes were nevertheless filled with mockery.
"I knew it! All you men are like this! Trash! The only thing you know how to do is take out your frustrations over your own uselessness on women! You're completely incompetent when it comes to anything else!
I've been treated like livestock for twenty years… Do you know what I used to keep track of the days? I used the photos that that bastard posted on the wall! I looked at those disgusting things every day. In the first photo, I was only twenty-nine! Twenty-nine!!
"I turned fifty this year…huh? Or maybe fifty-two? Fifty-one? Or perhaps I haven't hit fifty yet?" Shaking off her confusion, her red lips curved into an arsenic-laced, bewitching smile. "Forget it, that's not important… The important thing is that I'm out. Do you know how I got out?
"I spent so many years as a lunatic and a slut, coaxing and pandering to him. He looked down on me, yet he still wanted to fuck me, to strut around and show off before me, to recover some of his pathetic male ego… Ha ha ha ha… I indulged him until he was giddy with glee. Bit by bit, that man lowered his guard. Once, when he took off his pants, he actually left the key to my room behind in the secret chamber."
She acted like she was letting them in on a secret, but she couldn't help but laugh loudly in delight. "But I didn't take it. That night, I handed him the key and asked him what it was. His face blanched the moment he saw it, but after seeing how stupid I was, he relaxed. He determined that I was far too ill…that I couldn't even recognize a key, ha!" Her gaze sharpened dramatically alongside her voice. "Who could possibly live like this for twenty years and not go crazy?!
"So he used that key to tease me, like he thought I was a stupid dog that had the key to my escape but didn't know what it was! He had no idea that I saw all the delight in his eyes, that I was so disgusted I wanted to hurl! But I could fake it—who said lunatics don't know how to fake it? I faked it so well that I completely deceived him. Later, he became even more relaxed, even more heedless. So long as he left the key behind, I would sneak out… I've touched every single brick in this loony bin! But I didn't leave! I wanted all these men to go to hell!
"I finished putting everything in place at last, just yesterday… I took advantage of the fact that he had once again left the key behind and took it. When night fell, I went out and quietly stole a scalpel."
She was still gripping the surgical knife tightly in her hand. The blood on its shiny silver blade had already dried up and congealed into an ugly brown. Xie Qingcheng knew that if he were to loosen his grip, however slightly, the woman would once again leap up and plunge the blade into his chest.
The animalistic aggression in her face was far too strong. She regarded the entire world with loathing. Twenty years had transformed her from an artlessly simple patient into a bloodthirsty, trapped beast with wicked teeth.
"I hid the knife under the bed, and when he came to rub his greasy mouth all over me once more, I humored him as I stretched my hand under the mattress. And then…"
Liang Jicheng's blood and miserable screams from when she had murdered him in vengeance seemed to sparkle in her eyes as she began to cackle. "Warm blood… Tell me, how can such a coldhearted person have such warm blood? It shouldn't be like that!
"Afterward, I dragged him into the office… I wanted to dismember him, but I heard something outside and, through the crack in the door, I saw a strange girl looking for something. Of course, I couldn't let her ruin my plans! I'd waited for so many years! So, I hid the body in the closet, clipped on his name tag, and walked out…to speak with your sister…"
Her face contorted, as if she were narrating a story to Xie Qingcheng, but also as if she were talking to herself. "The girl was very pretty, and even looked a bit like that tasty little morsel that had been brought back. You know, the one who killed herself by hitting her head against the wall? If I had to guess… Heh, she was the reincarnation of that little morsel… And even if she wasn't, that was fine as well. To be honest, I don't really remember what that girl looked like, but she was about the same age, so I thought it must be fate. So, I lied to her and got her to follow me into the office, then drugged her drink with a sedative when she wasn't paying attention… Of course, I knew which one was the sedative! The most laughable thing about you normal people is that you look down on lunatics. I know that special sedative all too well. Whenever I was disobedient, that Liang bastard would force a whole cup of it down my throat!
"After she passed out, I dragged her to the secret chamber. I thought that after I finished taking my revenge, when her loved ones came to look for her, they'd definitely…definitely turn this place upside down! Unlike me… Unlike me…me…" Her eyes dimmed, her expression unexpectedly lonely.
Xie Qingcheng stared at her with a sharp gaze. "So, you hoped that after everything was over, someone would find the secret chamber when looking for her?"
The woman's smile was stiff and distorted. She didn't answer his question. "None of that matters anymore."
"After I locked your sister in the secret chamber, I dragged Liang Jicheng out of the closet. I wanted to end it all in that place, in the very spot where I first met him! Just me and him, like the first time we met…and no one else! I'd cried out to heaven and earth, but no one ever responded, so I wanted to personally cut him apart, piece by piece."
She paused. Her gaze gained a hint of bone-deep hatred as she stared at Xie Qingcheng. "But you people came. You interrupted me and wouldn't let me carry out my final revenge against him there! You interrupted me… You're a police officer, aren't you? You're a police officer! You policemen are all supporters of evil, so just kill me. Kill me, and sooner or later, I'll come and take your life too!"
Loathing, determination, malevolence, and insane laughter all practically erupted from her face, turning into long fangs and stabbing through the man before her.
But Xie Qingcheng only stared at her, speaking with deliberate emphasis. "I'm not a police officer, nor do I plan on killing you."
The woman trembled. This was beyond her expectations. Her eyes bulged as she bared her teeth and said, "Then what do you want?"
"He wants to help you call the police." He Yu handed Xie Xue off to a young female nurse to look after and walked to Xie Qingcheng's side. In the darkness of night, it was difficult to see his expression clearly. "He wants you to tell the authorities everything."
"I won't!" Jiang Lanpei began to shout hysterically. "I won't! Nobody will believe me!! I won't go! Liars… You're all liars!"
As He Yu slowly approached her, Xie Qingcheng turned his head and sternly asked, "What are you coming over here for?!"
"Xie Qingcheng, you don't understand her," said He Yu. "You've talked with her for so long, but other than cursing you out, has she listened to anything you've said?"
The young man walked over to them, pulled Xie Qingcheng away, and helped Jiang Lanpei to her feet. With a burst of astonishing strength, Jiang Lanpei immediately pointed the knife at He Yu as if she were about to stab him.
His gaze unwavering, He Yu said, "Jiang Lanpei, I'm also a lunatic."
Jiang Lanpei's hand froze.
Their faces were less than a hand's width apart.
The youth's almond eyes reflected the madwoman's gaze.
His voice was very soft. Aside from Xie Qingcheng, who was the nearest, no one else could hear him. He slowly lifted his hand and, gazing into Jiang Lanpei's eyes, steadily grasped the ice-cold blade with utmost calm.
If Jiang Lanpei were to regain her awareness and lash out with the knife at this moment, he would certainly get injured. But He Yu seemed far too detached—his whole body was tense, but his face did not reveal a single hint of emotion. It was as though he were speaking to a completely ordinary woman, a mother, a normal person.
"That's right, I'm also a lunatic."
Silently, the blade passed into his hand.
It was only when Jiang Lanpei lost the knife that she suddenly became aware of the danger she was in. She glared at He Yu, her face deathly pale. "You…"
But he had no intention of hurting her.
He slowly smoothed the messy strands of hair at the woman's temple back and tucked them behind her ear. Peering into her eyes, he said, "My illness is unique. Look at my eyes—I'm a madman. Can't you tell that we're kin?"
Though Jiang Lanpei's expression remained guarded, she carefully stared into He Yu's eyes. She even started sniffing him.
He Yu remained calm and expressionless as he let her use the most primitive, animalistic means to confirm his identity. Perhaps every type of person had their own ways of determining safety; perhaps lunatics had a stronger animal instinct and sixth sense than ordinary people.
At last, Jiang Lanpei said in a low voice, "You are."
"I am."
"Who hurt you?"
"I was born this way," He Yu replied. "I don't even have a target for revenge."
Jiang Lanpei said nothing.
"However, even though I'm a madman, they'll believe everything I say."
"Why?"
He Yu smiled. The clouds parted, and under the pale moonlight, his eyes seemed as though they were gilded with a bright layer of frosty silver, his exposed canines appearing coldly sinister and sharp.
He leaned in close, as though sharing a wonderful secret on how to defeat some illness with a fellow patient, and whispered into her ear in a low and gentle voice, "Because, just like you, I know how to fake it. You fake being a fool. I fake being a normal person."
He Yu smiled slightly, his eyes like overflowing pools of ice-cold frost as he continued, "I've faked it for nineteen years already, but very few people have discovered that I'm sick. We all need some means of camouflage, don't we?"
Confusion flickered across Jiang Lanpei's face, but she quickly cleared her head once more.
"No… I've already killed someone. My disguise has been exposed."
"You can't trust them, but maybe you can trust me. First, let me tell you a secret."
Jiang Lanpei's eyes widened as she listened.
He Yu raised a finger and pressed it lightly to his lips. "Very soon, the police will arrive."
Jiang Lanpei's pupils suddenly contracted. "What do you mean? They called the police?! They still called the police! They deceived—"
"I called them." He Yu's expression was very calm.
"Why would you… We're the same… Why would you stand on their side… You should…you should…" The woman began to mutter incoherently
"I'm standing on your side," He Yu said. "But don't you want Liang Jicheng's reputation to be completely ruined after his death? After twenty years, you'll allow him to die pointlessly like this—as a victim, perhaps even to be memorialized as an outstanding entrepreneur, with flowers spread over his gravestone and the oblivious relatives of his patients all lamenting his death? Meanwhile, you'll be known as a murderer, with your reputation tarnished, the newspapers splashing your ugliest photo across their front pages, and everyone saying you're a beast who bit the hand that fed you. No one will know the suffering you've endured, and after your death, you'll still be beneath him, with everyone vilifying you. Think about it—is that worth it for you?"
"If you tell the police everything, you might not find yourself at a dead end," He Yu continued. "Liang Jicheng's posthumous reputation would be finished, and you could have him die twice over—once in person, once in name." He Yu tilted his head, speaking quietly into her ear in an enticing tone. "It would be such a good deal. Why don't you do that?"
For a split second, Jiang Lanpei seemed to have been moved by what he had said. At that very moment, however, the sound of sirens came like a distant tide from all directions, rushing toward the psychiatric hospital that loomed in the night.
"Out of the car!"
"Everyone, get out of the car!!"
Jiang Lanpei's gaze shifted as she struggled to stand. Seeing this, the security guards all looked like they wanted to stop her, but He Yu very gently helped the woman to her feet.
"I'll go with you to take a look," said He Yu. "Take a good look. Before you, there might still be light on the path out of here." Jiang Lanpei seemed to have been enticed. Shivering, she walked forward to the rooftop railing. She abruptly grabbed onto the ice-cold, rusty metal handrail and craned her neck to peer down.
In her hazy field of view, everything was lit up by the red and blue flashing lights of police cars. At first sight, it was indeed a scene that she had never witnessed in all her years in this prison.
It was as if all the injustice, humiliation, and suffering she had endured could be illuminated, and that secret chamber, hidden in the dark for twenty years, could also see the light of a bright and sunlit day.
As she continued to look, she became overwhelmed with emotion, and tears slipped from her eyes.
She turned around slowly. In the night wind, her red dress—the dress Liang Jicheng had bought for her under the pretense of caring for an abandoned patient to satisfy his own perverse desires, the dress he had given to her but then kept lasciviously stripping off her—billowed noisily in the wind.
"…So bright," she murmured in a soft voice. "It's like the breaking of dawn. Thank you. But…"
The last few syllables that fell from her bright red lips overlapped with the sounds of the police loudspeakers from below.
"All civilians, please remain calm! All civilians, please remain calm! Do not take the elevator! Try to seek out a nearby source of water! Soak a cloth with water and cover your mouth and nose! Stay low! The firefighters have already arrived! If you can, please use any nearby conspicuous object to help mark your location! We will immediately begin the rescue!!"
The light in Jiang Lanpei's eyes dimmed. "It's already too late. Twenty years is more than enough time for me to grow to despise everyone. The moment you charged into that office, my plan reached its final step." She paused. "Young man, I can't turn back anymore."
As if corroborating her words, the boom of a massive explosion suddenly echoed through the air.
The hospital staff trapped on the rooftop rushed to the building's edge in panic—near the linen room of the psychiatric hospital, a set of tightly closed doors and windows had finally exploded violently from the blazing flames inside.
Backlit by the flames, Jiang Lanpei slowly said, "Cheng Kang Hospital has many unspeakable secrets. Liang Jicheng created several secret rooms in the hospital, storing gasoline and ignition systems inside… He didn't dare speak about it in front of anyone and only dared show it off in front of a fool like me. He said that all he had to do was press that hidden button in his office and everything would start to burn in less than ten minutes…
"He had a guilty conscience, and he allowed the smoke alarms and surveillance system in this damned place to break down ages ago. He even called people to discuss these matters while he was doing those things in my bed. He let me hear everything. These past few years, I got to know Cheng Kang better than anyone.
"…Originally, I wasn't planning on going this far, but you just had to show up when I was hacking up his corpse… I don't want to end up in police custody, so I had already pressed the button when you went to the secret chamber to fetch that girl."
"You!" Xie Qingcheng exclaimed in anger.
"That's right. The reason I brought you all up here was to stall for time. Once the fire spreads, no one's getting out. We'll all die together, and it won't hurt so much after death… You want me to turn back now?" Jiang Lanpei let out a wretched laugh and added, "It's too late. Too late… Too late for me, and too late for all of you as well…"
Amid the lashing of the wind, the hoarse voice of a stranger yelled out, "It's not too late!!"
Jiang Lanpei whipped around to find that a specially trained firefighter had climbed up using a rope ladder slung over a wall still unaffected by the flames.
The firefighter was a bearlike man wearing protective gear. He probably hadn't heard what they had been talking about with any clarity and only heard this trapped woman saying, "It's too late, it's too late" the moment he got onto the roof.
Wasn't this doubting his professional capabilities?
The little firefighter bear couldn't take it and loudly yelled, "It's not too late! I was very fast! Everyone, come over here! Get down now! The fire's gonna reach the north side soon!! Hurry up, hurry up!! Women and children go first!!"
"Me!! Me first!!"
The nurse was scared silly. To her, the firefighter looked like a god descended from the heavens. She ran over, sobbing, as a few more firefighters climbed up the rope ladder and took everyone away before the fire got out of control and spread closer.
Xie Xue and the other female employees were the first group to be brought down. A firefighter shouted at Jiang Lanpei, "Jie!! Come here!! Why are you standing so far over there?! We'll take you down! We'll protect you, don't be scared!! We'll take you home! Hurry!!"
Jiang Lanpei's entire body twitched, as if she'd been struck with electricity. She stood beneath that high water tower, the wind blowing through her long, blood-colored dress.
But where was home?
And who was she?
If she were saved, where could she go? She'd been insane for so long, she'd long since forgotten the world outside. Her world was a dark and secluded room filled with thousands of photographs, a heart full of hatred, and boundless misery.
She was going to hell with all of it in tow.
She was just waiting for the fire to burn its way to the top, waiting for the flames to spread and to take all the darkness up into the sky, transforming it into the first glimpse of dawn after a long night.
"Jie! Come here!"
The expanding gases shattered the windows, and the flames, no longer silent below them, surged out like a fiery dragon spitting furious black smoke as it howled, and illuminated the night sky with their glow.
Jiang Lanpei took a shaky step forward.
And then, she stopped.
She turned her face to look up at the water tower behind her. That backup water tower was rarely used, and there wasn't much water inside—no, that wasn't water.
The corner of her mouth curved up in a grim smile.
That was the gasoline she'd obtained from countless trips to the storage site after stealing the key from an oblivious Liang Jicheng and sneaking out. And, in the lapels of her dress, lay the final item that would allow her to go up into the sky.
"He Yu, get over here!!" Struck with a sudden realization, Xie Qingcheng grabbed He Yu by the arm and hurtled in the opposite direction. At that very same moment, Jiang Lanpei smiled and pulled a metal lighter out from her dress, flicking it alight and tossing it toward the water tower where gasoline was dripping ceaselessly.
Fire swirled upward with a loud roar, engulfing Jiang Lanpei's entire body in an instant.
Xie Qingcheng tackled He Yu to the ground as waves of roiling heat surged behind them. The firefighters were struck dumb, staring as the woman spread her arms and looked up—as if anticipating holy redemption, as if wanting to fly into the sky—before she was swallowed by the raging flames.
Xie Qingcheng and He Yu turned around, speechless.
Sparks flew in all directions. The raging, pungent inferno viciously spat out terrifying black smoke. A pillar of malevolently twisting dark gases took shape, its thick fumes combining with Jiang Lanpei's miserable howl and festering life. That fire danced madly, splitting through the skies and shattering the earth. The furious flames and smoke rose into the inky sky that had been forcibly torn apart by the blaze, smashing through the vault of the heavens, surging away in a spectacular, all-consuming wave.
"It's been twenty years. I don't trust anyone anymore."
"There's no way for me to turn back."
"The people in the sky will come to take me away. I want to go up into the sky."
I'll never turn back.