The tutor called and said that the son of his friend had gotten into some trouble and asked me to “take care” of it.
When I got the case file, it was horrifying. Rape and murder, and the victim was brutally beaten to death with a dumbbell.
Killing should be punished by death, it’s definitely a death penalty case. How could I help with this?
The tutor smiled and said, “What can’t be helped? Just do as I say.”
1
During the trial, I thought this guy deserved to die.
The suspect was named Ao Jie, a college student. He was only 1.6 meters tall but weighed 200 pounds, with a face full of acne.
Due to his poor appearance, Ao Jie was not happy on campus. In his own words, “I think girls look down on me.”
Ao Jie came from a wealthy family. His parents were both high – ranking officials, and his extremely privileged upbringing had cultivated his rather conceited personality.
However, girls in college were often more emotional and didn’t value material conditions as much, which made Ao Jie very distressed.
In fact, if Ao Jie was willing to spend money, I believe there would be girls who would cater to him. But he particularly despised realistic girls and said he was pursuing “pure love.”
So, this guy set his sights on female classmates on campus.
Moreover, he only targeted “virgins” to commit crimes.
“How do you know the victims must be virgins?”
Ao Jie said somewhat proudly, “I have a special ability. I can tell if a girl is a virgin just by smelling her.”
Although there is no scientific basis for this, from the results, all three victims he violated were indeed virgins.
I asked him why he specifically targeted virgins.
Ao Jie said that, first, defiling virgins could satisfy his spiritual cleanliness complex, and second, virgins cared more about their reputation and were less likely to report the crime if they were violated.
At first, Ao Jie didn’t dare to “rape” and chose to “molest” instead.
He would follow girls who were reviewing for the CET – 4 and CET – 6 exams. Because these exams required memorizing words, and girls who memorized words often chose secluded places, which were the best places to commit crimes.
The only problem was that Ao Jie’s body type was very recognizable. Even if he covered his face, it would be easy for the victim to identify him if she saw him. He didn’t want to go to jail.
So, every time he would blindfold the victim. He specifically bought a hood, the kind with only the mouth exposed.
The first victim was a freshman girl. Ao Jie attacked her from behind, dragged her into the woods, and molested her.
As a first – time offender, Ao Jie was very nervous. He just pinched the girl’s chest and buttocks and then ran away. The whole process took less than a minute.
But as Ao Jie expected, the victim girl chose to swallow her anger, which greatly increased Ao Jie’s sense of luck.
The next day, less than 50 meters away from the previous crime scene, Ao Jie molested a junior girl again.
This time, he used his tongue to violate the victim girl.
However, the victim girl was having a breakup with her boyfriend at that time. She was afraid that being molested would make her lover leave, so she also chose to remain silent.
These two successful attempts gave Ao Jie an illusion.
“Girls are very timid. As long as I scare them, these arrogant girls will be at my mercy.”
2
With successful experience, Ao Jie became bolder. He was no longer satisfied with molestation and decided to “go further.”
He reflected on the details of his crimes and thought that the outdoor environment had too many uncontrollable factors, and it was more convenient to act indoors.
So, Ao Jie began to select victims from the girls who were having evening self – study. He would specifically look for classrooms near the toilet and sit in the last row to observe carefully.
To be honest, Ao Jie was not satisfied with the previous two molestations. The reason was that he thought those two girls were too “ugly,” and he felt a bit “cheated.”
This time, Ao Jie decided to raise his standards and carefully select his target.
With his picky taste, it took him a full month to find his “dream girl.”
That was Cheng Yu, a student in the art department of the second grade.
Cheng Yu came from a single – parent family. Her father was a coppersmith. Influenced by her father, her biggest dream was to study in France and become a bronze sculpture artist.
Cheng Yu is 1.75 meters tall and has an excellent appearance and temperament. However, she always appears in public with a bare face. She doesn’t have a boyfriend and seldom goes out for social activities with her classmates.
On the one hand, she wanted to save money. On the other hand, she wanted to seize the time to pass the French language test and try to get a study – abroad visa as soon as she graduated.
But unfortunately, the accident came to this girl first.
The first time he saw Cheng Yu, Ao Jie was fascinated by this clean – looking girl.
He asked Cheng Yu for her contact information, but Cheng Yu politely refused. As always, Ao Jie thought Cheng Yu looked down on him.
So, he began to fantasize, “As long as I defile Cheng Yu, she will have to consider dating me.”
Ao Jie patiently waited for the opportunity. When Cheng Yu got up to go to the bathroom, he knew the chance had come. So he picked up his schoolbag and secretly followed her.
“What’s in the bag?”
Ao Jie hesitated for a while, “A mask, handcuffs, tape, and a dumbbell.”
“Why do you carry a dumbbell?”
“Because I exercise regularly.”
Liar.
But I didn’t point it out and let him continue.
Ao Jie followed Cheng Yu into the women’s restroom. He locked the door, wedged a book in the gap to fix it, and then secretly turned off the lights.
Cheng Yu, who was using the toilet in the cubicle, thought it was the cleaner and shouted, “Auntie, someone’s here! Don’t turn off the lights!”
She put on her skirt and was about to go out when she was attacked by Ao Jie.
However, Cheng Yu didn’t give in. Although she was a girl, she had learned taekwondo. Coupled with her height advantage, she kicked Ao Jie hard, making him scream in pain.
Cheng Yu ran towards the door, but the door was stuck, and she couldn’t get out.
Ao Jie, who had recovered, chased after her, pressed Cheng Yu’s head against the wall, and hit it. Cheng Yu was knocked unconscious. Then Ao Jie grabbed her hair and dragged her into the cubicle.
“I took out the handcuffs, fixed Cheng Yu’s hands on the water pipe, and then covered her eyes with a hood…”
“Did you cuff her hands in front or behind her back?”
“What?”
“Was Cheng Yu facing you or facing away from you when her hands were cuffed?”
“Facing away… No, facing me!”
Lying again.
The police report stated, “The deceased was facing forward. During the resistance, the hood accidentally slipped off. The murderer, fearing his identity would be exposed, panicked and hit the deceased’s head several times with the dumbbell he carried, causing the deceased’s cranial cavity to deform and die on the spot. It was an impulsive crime.”
But the autopsy report stated, “There were a large number of scars on both the inside and outside of the deceased’s wrists.”
If Cheng Yu was facing forward with her hands tied behind her back, the scars from the handcuffs should be on the back of her hands, not the palms.
So, Ao Jie must have made Cheng Yu face away from him first and then committed the crime. The scars on Cheng Yu’s palms should have been left during the struggle.
But if Cheng Yu was facing away from Ao Jie, even if the hood slipped off, she should not have been able to see Ao Jie’s face. Why did Ao Jie have to kill Cheng Yu, even going so far as to smash the poor girl’s head with a dumbbell?
3
During the recess of the court session, I discussed the case with several colleagues.
Interestingly, everyone avoided talking about the details of the case and almost all talked about Ao Jie’s “advantages.”
“He’s only nineteen years old and a college student.”
“He has the circumstances of surrendering himself and a good attitude of admitting guilt.”
“He committed the crime because of low self – esteem.”
Everyone, implicitly or explicitly, wanted to sentence Ao Jie to “death with a reprieve,” but they didn’t dare to say it too obviously.
Last night, the tutor told me that he had made all the arrangements. This case would be sentenced to “death with a reprieve,” and the procuratorate would not lodge a protest.
Indeed, from a legal perspective, sentencing to death with a reprieve was not a problem. It gave an explanation to the leaders and an account to the general public.
But would the victim’s family agree?
I hadn’t met Cheng Yu’s father yet. The leader chose not to hold a public trial on the grounds that the case had a bad influence. In fact, they were afraid that the family members would cause trouble.
After all, that was the murderer who had brutally killed his daughter!
My phone rang. It was the tutor. I quickly ran to the toilet to answer it.
“Almost time to sentence, right?”
I hesitated for a while.
“I still think that death with a reprieve is not appropriate.”
The tutor was a bit angry, “What’s inappropriate? It was a crime of passion, with the circumstances of surrendering himself and a good attitude of admitting guilt. Any one of these is enough for commutation. Do I still need to teach you?”
“But…”
“There’s no ‘but’! Everyone makes their own choices. I showed you the bright path, but you didn’t take it. Don’t blame me in the future!”
The phone was hung up with a “snap.”
I sighed. What choice did I have?
How could the fairness and justice of the law be more important than my own livelihood?
4
After the court session resumed, I sentenced Ao Jie to death with a reprieve. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief in unison.
Ao Jie was beaming with joy and couldn’t help but say, “Thank you!”
I wished I could find a crack in the ground and crawl in.
A few days later, an uninvited guest came to the court.
Cheng Yu’s father, Cheng Bing.
He was holding his daughter’s portrait and kneeling in front of the court. Behind him, a white cloth was hung, with a few large characters written in blood: “I earnestly request the court to sentence the murderer to death!”
There were many people watching and taking pictures. The leader was afraid of causing a bad influence and asked the bailiffs to drive them away several times with a loudspeaker.
The onlookers didn’t want to cause trouble and left, but Cheng Bing firmly refused to leave.
So the leader summoned me and said, “Clean up the mess you’ve made. If this thing hits the hot search, just wait and see how I deal with you.”
I had to put on my coat and drag my tired legs to see Cheng Bing. I introduced myself to Cheng Bing, and he knelt down with a “thud.”
“Leader, I dreamed of my daughter again yesterday. She said she died too miserably and couldn’t be reincarnated. Please, you must give her justice!”
Cheng Bing was very tall, nearly 1.9 meters. Maybe because of his work, his hands were very rough, with many burn marks.
But such a tough man actually cried.
I sighed and took out a set of clichés I had used countless times.
“It’s no use for you to kneel here and beg me. Your top priority is to hire a lawyer to help you go through the legal process. I can’t help you. Only the law can.”
When I said these words, my face was burning red.
I knew too well that the law couldn’t help this poor man.
5
Another two weeks passed, and Cheng Bing never appeared again.
I thought this matter was over.
The tutor came to Xijing in person. He booked a private room in the most luxurious hotel in the local area and invited several classmates, all prominent figures in the political and legal system.
The tutor patted me on the shoulder, picked up the wine measurer on the table, and put it in my hand. “This is my outstanding student. You should show some respect, right?”
I was flattered and raised the wine measurer, gulping it down. My face was as red as a monkey’s butt.
After drinking, we usually played two rounds of cards. I went to the nearby bank to withdraw ten thousand yuan in cash.
“You did a great job this time. Two of a kind.”
“Three – ten thousand. Thank you for your compliment, tutor. So, how should we handle the following matters?”
“Three – ten thousand. I win! All of one suit! Haha! You’re going to spend a lot today!”
I took out three thousand yuan from my pocket and handed it over. The ten thousand yuan was almost gone.
“I’ve already made arrangements. First, let him stay in prison for a few years and teach that brat a lesson. What a waste. He doesn’t know how to save his parents some trouble.”
Judging from the tutor’s tone, it was as if he was scolding a naughty child who had caused trouble, not a murderer.
What about Cheng Yu? What did she do wrong?
At that moment, I was a bit confused, and the tutor caught this subtle change keenly.
“There’s nothing wrong with your judgment. The death penalty is a vulgar and backward thing. What era is it now? Still believing in ‘an eye for an eye.’ Look, which developed country still has the death penalty these days?
“I think that little girl was just being naive. Her hands were already cuffed, and she still resisted the rape. Isn’t that just asking for death? Is chastity and reputation really that important?”
The tutor was talking with great enthusiasm, and the two leaders were smiling and echoing him.
“No, you’re wrong.”
I couldn’t help but stand up. The tutor was stunned for a moment.
“Cheng Yu didn’t resist. The injuries on her wrists were not left from resisting the rape.”
The tutor was speechless for a moment. He gave me a disgusted look.
“You’ve had too much to drink. Go back and sober up. You have to go to work tomorrow.”
6
I staggered out of the teahouse, and the scenes of Ao Jie committing the crime flashed through my mind crazily.
Cheng Yu definitely wouldn’t resist. She and her father depended on each other, and she knew very well how important her life was.
Then why did Ao Jie have to kill her?
Unconsciously, I heard footsteps behind me.
When I stopped, he stopped. When I walked, he walked. Obviously, I was being followed.
I didn’t know who it was. After all, I handled nearly five hundred cases a year, and there were plenty of people who were dissatisfied with me.
I started running, and the person chased after me. I fled in a panic and hid in an alley, looking around for a place to hide.
I found a blue trash can, which smelled of swill, but I didn’t have time to be disgusted.
I poured out the residue inside, turned the trash can upside down, and put it over my head to hide.
I held my breath. The footsteps approached and then faded away.
I crouched for another full fifteen minutes before lifting the trash can and crawling out.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew by my ear, and there was a dull thud on the back of my head.
I fainted. When I woke up again, I was tied up, with tape on my eyes and mouth.
Someone came over, grabbed my collar, lifted me up, and slapped me twice.
I was dizzy from the beating. The person’s palm was extremely rough, and it felt like being scratched by fish scales when it hit my face, burning with pain.
But thanks to these two slaps, I realized the true identity of the kidnapper.
I tried to break free from the tape on my mouth and shouted, “You’re Cheng Bing, right?”
Cheng Bing stopped. He asked me in a hoarse voice, “How did you know?”
“Your hands… have a lot of burn marks. They should be from the process of casting and demolding copper, right?”
Cheng Bing was a bit deflated after being recognized by me. He tore off the tape on my eyes and sat down in front of me.
I asked him what his purpose was and why he kidnapped me.
Cheng Bing licked his dry and cracked lips and stared at me with blood – red eyes.
“I want that bastard to die.”
I regretfully told him that it was impossible. Ao Jie was in custody, and there were countless police officers protecting him. Even if Cheng Bing wanted to take revenge, he couldn’t do it.
No matter how much Cheng Bing made trouble, the procuratorate and the court wouldn’t pay attention to him. If a closed case was reopened, it would involve the official careers of many people, and no one would help him.
I tried my best to explain to Cheng Bing, but he wouldn’t listen. He rushed over, grabbed my neck, and roared.
“That bastard destroyed everything I had. Do you understand? And you’re an accomplice!”
7
I couldn’t help but understand Cheng Bing. The pain of losing his beloved daughter, the anger with nowhere to vent, this man needed an outlet.
So he chose to take his anger out on me because I had let him down.
Cheng Bing didn’t have much education. Explaining things like “humanitarianism” and “the uselessness of the death penalty” to him was useless.
He only had the most basic moral values, that is, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
I struggled frantically, but Cheng Bing’s fingers were like hard rocks, and I couldn’t move them at all.
The intense sense of suffocation oppressed my brain.
At the critical moment of life and death, I used all my strength to kick Cheng Bing in the crotch. The intense pain made Cheng Bing have to let go.
I took the opportunity to break free and ran out for my life.
Cheng Bing chased after me. Suddenly, he tripped and fell forward, lying motionless.
I ran a few steps forward, then stopped and carefully went back to check. I found that Cheng Bing was rolling his eyes, with blood gushing from his nose.
This kind of situation was mostly due to a coma caused by cerebral hemorrhage. I’m afraid Cheng Bing usually had high blood pressure. Coupled with the fact that his daughter’s death had kept him awake at night, his body was on the verge of collapse at any time.
If I left him alone, Cheng Bing would surely die.
To put it mildly, I didn’t have to save him. As long as Cheng Bing died, my troubles would be over.
Even if I saved him, would Cheng Bing be grateful to me? Would he let me go because of this?
Cheng Bing started to twitch. The situation was critical. I gritted my teeth, called 120, and then performed CPR on him.
The doctors conducted emergency treatment on Cheng Bing overnight.
They said that if it had been a few minutes later, Cheng Bing might have become a vegetable.
My feelings were rather complicated.
Entering the ward, Cheng Bing was wearing a hospital gown, glaring at me. His heart rate instantly increased from forty – five to a hundred and ten.
“I’m at least your savior. Besides, if you were paralyzed in bed, how could you avenge your daughter?”
Hearing my words, the fist that Cheng Bing had clenched gradually relaxed, and his eyes were full of sorrow.
Seeing that there was no one around, I lowered my voice and asked him,
“How far are you willing to go for revenge?”
Cheng Bing’s eyes widened instantly, and he said firmly, “At any cost.”
“If that’s the case, I might be able to help you.”
8
I told Cheng Bing that Ao Jie’s family would surely come to talk to him about compensation in the near future.
“Don’t resist. Don’t refuse. Ask for as much money as you can. The greedier, the better.”
Cheng Bing was puzzled. I told him, “As time goes by, no one will care about Cheng Yu’s case except you, her father. If Ao Jie’s parents want to get him out, they will definitely try to buy you off. The more money you ask for, the less guarded they will be.”
Sure enough, not long after, Ao Jie’s lawyer contacted Cheng Bing, saying that as long as Cheng Bing let bygones be bygones, he could fill in any amount on the invoice.
Cheng Bing had never seen much money in his life. He filled in his daughter’s birthday and asked for more than two million. The lawyer paid him on the spot.
Subsequently, I asked Cheng Bing to move, creating the illusion of running away.
With no more worries, the Ao family immediately started to get their son out. The method, of course, was the usual “medical parole.”
They fabricated a set of documents about monkey – pox for Ao Jie. The prison hospital wouldn’t accept this disease because prisoners were prone to same – sex sexual behavior, and it would be very troublesome if an outbreak occurred.
I heard that the Ao family spared no expense to get their son out. For a seemingly blocked way like medical parole, the Ao family managed to get through all the procedures and quickly obtained the approval letter.
The last step of the approval process was for me to sign. The Ao family was a bit worried, so they asked the tutor to call me.
“After this is done, come to my villa on Haihua Island for a vacation next month. I’ll introduce you to someone.”
I chuckled and signed the approval letter.
To be honest, if Ao Jie had served his sentence obediently and sincerely repented, I might not have helped Cheng Bing.
But he insisted on taking advantage of legal loopholes, treating the system as a joke, and challenging justice with money. Then I had no reason to let him go.
9
After Ao Jie was released from prison, his parents immediately found a substitute to be hospitalized for him, helped him get a new identity, and prepared to send their son to study in Japan.
After suffering in prison for two years, Ao Jie naturally couldn’t stand being lonely. Although his parents had repeatedly told him not to go out before the visa was approved, Ao Jie still sneaked out.
What he didn’t know was that for the past two years, Cheng Bing had been renting a place near the Ao family’s house. Every day, he would use binoculars to monitor Ao Jie’s room to confirm whether the murderer who killed his daughter was at large.
So, as soon as Ao Jie went out, Cheng Bing followed him and kidnapped him.
Subsequently, Cheng Bing called me and asked me to come to his copper – casting workshop.
As soon as I entered the door, I saw Ao Jie stuffed in an iron cage, shivering.
Cheng Bing was wearing thick protective clothing, throwing one copper ingot after another into the furnace, melting them into bubbling copper liquid.
I didn’t know what Cheng Bing was going to do, and I didn’t plan to ask. There was only one thing I wanted to know.
I squatted down in front of Ao Jie, looking directly into his eyes, “Why did you kill Cheng Yu?”
Ao Jie shouted hysterically, “Because she saw my face! I had no choice!”
“Liar.”
Ao Jie trembled.
“Because she resisted too fiercely, and I couldn’t hold her down, so I…”
“Liar.”
Ao Jie’s pupils suddenly dilated, as if deflated.
“After I tied up Cheng Yu, she stopped resisting. She said, ‘No matter what you want to do, please don’t hurt me. My father only has me as his family member, and I don’t want him to be sad.'”
However, Cheng Yu’s submission made Ao Jie lose interest instantly.
He was surprised to find that what he really desired was not “sex.”
What he desired was the pleasure of watching a woman struggle in pain after being abused.
No, perhaps he had realized this for a long time, which was why he had a ten – kilogram dumbbell in his schoolbag.
“Why didn’t you kill her from behind?”
Ao Jie licked his lips.
“Because I wanted to watch the light in her eyes go out with my own eyes.”
10
The truth finally came to light.
The only question was, how should we deal with Ao Jie?
I tried hard to persuade Cheng Bing, “If we hand Ao Jie over to the police and submit supplementary evidence, even if he can’t be sentenced to death, he can rot in prison. There are many scoundrels there who will make his life a living hell.”
In my opinion, it was not worth giving up his life for a scoundrel like Ao Jie. Cheng Bing had already suffered so much. I didn’t want this poor man to pay more.
Cheng Bing stubbornly shook his head. He asked me a question, “What do you think is the meaning of the death penalty?”
To be honest, this question was a bit offensive to me. After all, I was a professional in this field.
“The meaning of the death penalty is to punish criminals and comfort the families of the deceased.”
Cheng Bing shook his head, “I think the meaning of the death penalty is to prevent other girls from suffering the same harm as my daughter and prevent other fathers from bearing the pain I’ve endured.
“Even if Ao Jie goes to prison, when he gets out, he will still have the ability to do whatever he wants. Since the law can’t punish him, then I’ll kill him.”
I sighed, and Cheng Bing gave a sad smile.
He pushed a bronze statue out from the room. I took a closer look and found that it was actually a statue of Cheng Yu.
I thought Cheng Bing must have spent a long time on it. He carved the statue of his daughter extremely carefully, especially the shy and dreamy smile, which was almost lifelike.
Seeing the statue of Cheng Yu, Ao Jie suddenly started to shake. He knelt down and kowtowed.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Cheng Bing used a tranquilizer dart to force Ao Jie into a coma, then stuffed him into the base of the statue. There was a small space there, just big enough to fit Ao Jie.
After doing all this, Cheng Bing took the red – hot copper liquid from the furnace and slowly poured it in through the air hole at the top of the statue.
Screams and the stench of melting flesh filled the air instantly.
I had been secretly observing Cheng Bing’s expression.
He didn’t have the complacency of getting revenge, nor the excitement of killing. He just gently looked at his daughter’s side face, as if expecting the statue to respond to him.
It was not until the seventh pour that the screams gradually disappeared. Suddenly, two streaks of bloody tears slowly welled up from the eyes of the statue of Cheng Yu and dripped to the ground.
Cheng Bing hugged the statue of his daughter and cried like a child.
11
After killing Ao Jie, Cheng Bing fled.
He couldn’t take the statue of Cheng Yu with him, so he had to leave it there, along with the body inside that had been completely cooked by the copper water.
Ironically, after Ao Jie’s parents found out that their son was missing, they didn’t dare to call the police.
After all, the place where Ao Jie was kidnapped was not the hospital. If the police found out that they had helped their son “escape from prison,” not only would they not be able to find Ao Jie, but they would also end up in prison themselves.
However, the Ao family had quite a few connections. They soon found out that it was Cheng Bing who had kidnapped Ao Jie.
The Ao family told the tutor about this, and the tutor immediately called me, “Does this have anything to do with you?”
I flatly denied it.
“I’m giving you a chance. Now the Ao family is eager to find their child. If you can provide the whereabouts of Ao Jie, it will be a great contribution.”
“I really don’t know. This has nothing to do with me.”
The tutor was silent for a while and then asked me to go to Cheng Bing’s workshop immediately.
I wanted to ignore it, but I was afraid of being exposed, so I had to go reluctantly.
Cheng Bing had originally hung a big lock on the door, which had been cut off by bolt – cutters.
Ao Jie’s father, along with several decoration workers, dug up the floor of the workshop, scraped off the wall plaster, and smashed almost everything that could be smashed, but they found nothing.
Ao Jie’s mother’s eyes were red from crying, and she kept muttering, “That damned… If he dares to hurt my son, I’ll tear him to pieces…”
I couldn’t help but glance at the statue of Cheng Yu. Only this statue was touched and examined by several people, but they didn’t notice anything unusual.
The tutor walked up to the statue and knocked on it with his knuckles, “Solid. Strange. Usually, bronze statues are hollow.”
I felt a bit nervous. At this time, Ao Jie was only “missing,” so they didn’t dare to call the police. But if the body was found, the police would issue a wanted notice, and Cheng Bing would soon be caught. I might be implicated at that time.
But I didn’t dare to show that I had anything to do with this. The tutor was very shrewd. He had already started to suspect me, and I had to be careful.
Ao Jie’s father asked the workers to saw off the head of the statue. I couldn’t help but stop them, “Isn’t this a bit inappropriate?”
“What’s inappropriate?”
“She’s the soul who died at the hands of your son. Aren’t you afraid of… if you desecrate the statue?”
The tutor sneered, “What’s there to be afraid of? Even if she turns into a fierce ghost, she’s just a little girl.”
Ao Jie’s father thought it made sense. He ordered the workers to bring an electric saw and start cutting at the neck of the statue.
Cheng Bing’s craftsmanship was excellent, and the statue was very solid. The workers cut for a long time and changed several saw – blades before they made a crack.
At this time, a very strange thing happened.
The statue of Cheng Yu actually spoke.
“No…”
It was a voice as low as the wind, full of threats.
Everyone present was shocked. The workers immediately said they wouldn’t do it anymore. They didn’t want to risk their lives for a little money.
Ao’s father and mother were also so frightened that their faces turned deathly pale. As the saying goes, there is always a person responsible for every grievance and debt, and they felt extremely guilty.
Only the tutor managed to calm down a bit. He judged that since the statue made a strange sound, there might be gas inside, and there must be something fishy!
But Ao Jie’s father and mother had already backed out, “Forget it. The workers won’t do it. We can’t do anything about this copper lump either.”
12
I hoped that Cheng Bing could escape successfully. He could leave the country quietly and start a new life in a foreign land.
He had enough money and a skill to make a living. He could completely start a new life. If he wanted to, he might even become a father again.
However, such an expectation was ultimately too idealistic.
A few months later, the tutor called me and said that Cheng Bing had been caught.
I was stunned for a moment, “Caught by the police?”
The tutor sneered, “How could it be? He was just too stupid and insisted on falling into the trap.”
He said that the Ao family deliberately damaged Cheng Yu’s grave to lure Cheng Bing out, and as soon as Cheng Bing got the news, he showed up.
The tutor told me the location where Cheng Bing was being held, which was a villa in the suburbs. I immediately drove there.
In the dim garage, I saw Cheng Bing tied to a chair, and two men were interrogating him.
They clearly had no intention of sparing Cheng Bing’s life and were using all kinds of means to torture his body.
Cheng Bing’s left eye was swollen high, his face was covered in blood, seven of his ten fingers had their fingernails pulled out, and a spring – loaded knife was stuck in his right thigh.
The man in charge of the interrogation grabbed the knife handle and slowly rotated it in Cheng Bing’s flesh, trying to cause as much pain as possible.
Cheng Bing shouted hoarsely, “Kill me! Kill me!”
I wanted to call the police, but my phone had been taken away by another person. They surrounded me, always on guard to prevent me from running away.
It seemed that Ao Jie’s father was certain that I had helped Cheng Bing. He called me here just to get a definite answer.
Ao Jie’s father walked up to Cheng Bing and asked threateningly, “As long as you tell the truth, I’ll give you a quick death.”
He pointed at me, “Do you know this person?”
My heart instantly jumped to my throat.
Cheng Bing raised his eyelids, glanced at me, and said with disgust, “Isn’t this the damned judge?”
“Did he participate in the kidnapping of my son?”
Cheng Bing laughed wildly, “Yes, he did! Yes, he did! Kill him quickly!”
Ao Jie’s father looked at me suspiciously. I really admired Cheng Bing. His answer was very clever.
“Where’s my son? Where did you hide his body?”
Cheng Bing proudly straightened his chest, “I ate it!”
“Ate it?”
“Yes, I drained his blood, sprinkled salt on it, put it in a suitcase, and ate one piece a day.”
Cheng Bing said it in such a serious way that it seemed real. Even the interrogators couldn’t help frowning.
“Okay, then the last question. Where did you put the two million we gave you? I’ve checked your bank records. You didn’t deposit or spend that two million. Since you killed my son, you should return the money to me, right?”
Cheng Bing chuckled, “I burned it. It’s all in hell. I’ll return it to you when you die.”
Ao Jie’s father didn’t believe it, so Cheng Bing changed his words.
“I hid the two million in my daughter’s statue. If you want it, cut it open and take it.”
This time, Ao Jie’s father believed it. He asked someone to bring the statue of Cheng Yu and prepared to cut the base.
Cheng Bing glanced at it, “This is solid. With an electric saw, you’ll be cutting until next year. Bring the oxygen and acetylene. That’s faster.”
I immediately realized what Cheng Bing was going to do.
Ao Jie’s body had been rotting for several months. The statue was probably filled with methane.
Copper has much better air – tightness than cement. All the methane was compressed in the statue with nowhere to escape. That is to say, at this moment, the statue was equivalent to a huge gas tank!
Cheng Bing was going to die with them!
I immediately said to Ao Jie’s father, “Since my suspicion has been cleared, I don’t need to be here anymore, right?”
Ao Jie’s father nodded, “I know your address. If I find out that you can’t keep your mouth shut, don’t blame me…”
I quickly interrupted him, “Don’t worry. I definitely won’t inform anyone.”
Two of his subordinates had already carried the oxygen cylinder in. I ran away without looking back, running all the way.
Until the flames devoured everything.
13
The firefighters dug out all the charred bodies from the ruins. One of them was highly decomposed and the most severely burned. The police couldn’t figure out what was going on.
It was the knife stuck in Cheng Bing’s thigh that caught the police’s attention. They classified this accident as a mafia – related activity and traced it back to Ao Jie’s mother.
She was arrested while attempting to flee the country. The police found a lot of diamonds and gold bars in her suitcase.
I wrote several letters of report and submitted them to the school. The content and evidence in them were collected with great effort, and I was sure they would be useful.
I heard that these letters of report caused a great stir in a short time. But after a while, the commotion died down, as if a stone sinking into the sea.
The tutor invited me out and gloatedly threw the letters of report in front of me.
“You’re still too young to fight me.”
I smiled bitterly.
The tutor also had his own superior. This small letter of report wouldn’t work in the face of the intricate web of relationships.
But why did I write this letter?
Probably in my heart, I still believed that the law represented “fairness and justice.”
“Don’t you really fear retribution for all the wrongdoings you’ve done?”
The tutor burst out laughing. “What karma? That’s just a dream made up by the poor, a form of spiritual victory. Those who kill and set fire get rich, while those who build bridges and pave roads end up without a burial place. Tell me, which bad guy has actually received retribution?”
He picked up the letters of report, tore them into pieces, and threw them in my face, then walked away.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang outside the door.
I quickly ran out and saw the tutor lying on the ground, his limbs twitching slightly.
A dumbbell, which seemed to have fallen from nowhere, hit his head right on.
The police arrived soon. He asked me what had happened.
I shrugged.
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s retribution.”
– The End –
