Pristine Darkness - Chapter 125

Please keep safe, everyone! As always, big hugs from us to you.

This chapter is just full of nail-biting suspense. Bo Jinyan delves deep into Wen Rong’s psyche and gives us a detailed account of what makes ‘the mask killer’ tick, but how will that help him, and Jian Yao? Wen Rong has the upper hand; everyone else is at his mercy, including Buddha’s Hand. Will Bo Jinyan and Jian Yao find a way out of their predicament? Or, will Ding Mo present us with another twist? Read on to find out . . .

*Warning: this chapter contains a paragraph with graphic descriptions of violence. I will demarcate the relevant paragraph with a row of asterisks before and after, and provide a short summary.

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“Why did you conceal yourselves in Buddha’s Hand?” Bo Jinyan asked.

Wen Rong absently answered, “To hide. Also, this fellow has indeed amassed a lot of arms and drugs. These few days, they’ve all been packed away. Naturally, I know where all of them have been stashed. Enough to fill several boats. When I’ve finished here, I’ll take the both of you on board. With these, we . . .”

“After today, you will be completely unrestrained and without scruple,” Bo Jinyan smoothly interjected.

Wen Rong smiled. “You really understand us well.”

Jian Yao was shocked. To have seized all these, so fundamental to the activities of Buddha’s Hand, at one go – these serial killers were even more crafty than wolves.

In an instant, Wen Rong had removed Song Kun and Qin Sheng’s clothes to expose their chests, whereupon he started giggling.

“Simon King,” he said, “take this as my gift to you.” With that, he cut deeply with the scalpel.

********* (start of graphic paragraph)

Qin Sheng was initially unconscious, but due to the acute pain in his chest, a blood-curdling screech suddenly burst forth from him, and his dull eyes opened wide, like those of a dead fish! Fresh blood poured forth while Wen Rong bent his head in full concentration and continued cutting. Qin Sheng’s body writhed violently, his screams were incessant . . . then Wen Rong paused for a rest and brought his eyes, brimming with excitement, to bear on Song Kun, he took up a clean scalpel, Song Kun instantly roused with a sharp cry . . .

*********** (end of graphic paragraph) Summary – Wen Rong is using a sharp scalpel on Qin Shen and Song Kun.

Bo Jinyan’s eyes were immeasurably black, as black as the deepest, most still night. Jian Yao could no longer bear to watch and looked away. Who could have imagined that the number one gangster boss who had shaken up the whole of the southwest would fall into the hands of the top-ranked serial killer and so swiftly be inhumanly tortured?

“I keep thinking, what is it that you want?” Bo Jinyan said unexpectedly.

Once again, Wen Rong’s hands stopped moving. Qin Sheng and Song Kun, both more than halfway to death, had ceased making noise as Wen Rong had gagged them with towels.

“The masked killer case in America . . .” Bo Jinyan said unhurriedly, his deep, low voice so powerfully compelling that it rendered any listener silent. “It is as if one of you wanted to take revenge for your fiance, so grieved and despairing that you wanted to confront the whole world, and incite an extensive public debate. In the end, you took Han Yumeng out to sea and drifted with the tides for several years. Possessed her. After that, she and Fu Ziyu fled in desperation, desiring never to be parted from each other. In the end, they were brutally killed by you all.”

Wen Rong did not say anything.

“What all of you want is love,” Bo Jinyan said. “A sentimental love that yearns for the other at parting, an overwhelming, alluring, destructive love*. One performance after another; sometimes you are the main characters, sometimes you are the directors. A love that rebels against the entire world, that makes you feel both tragic and grand; when the loved person dies in your embrace, your tears overflow. This is what interests you, what gives you pleasure. Over and over again, you live your life in a world of your imagination; over and over again, you experience false yet intense emotions. But, what I want to know is, what caused the three of you to have such demands? Is it because you could never experience emotions? And thus you chose mankind’s most intense, fierce emotion – love? Or is it because you had once longed for it, but suffered the most bitter wound of rejection instead? Which caused you to lose hope in love? And how did the three of you become such an intimately connected, tight-knit group? Are you related by blood? The best of friends? Or is one of you the nucleus of this core, who attracted the others, and is dominant in the group? Who allowed you to also be intoxicated by this life of lies and truth, of devilish madness?”

*T/N 倾城之恋 (qing cheng zhi lian) – describes the love of a woman who is so alluring that many people are attracted to her, and which may lead to the downfall of cities. I suppose a western equivalent would be Helen of Troy.

Wen Rong kept staring at him.

Jian Yao had managed to work one hand free of the bonds, but she had lost all sensation in it at the moment. She also kept looking at Bo Jinyan, watching him carefully entering this world, exploring, one step at a time, this cruel serial killer, yet without allowing the other party to respond with a single word.

Although Bo Jinyan was currently bound, his eyes were sharp, shining faintly, and unfathomably deep. It was difficult to decide if he looked like an angel or a demon. With a low laugh, he continued, “Also, the third person in your group, what kind of secret is he hiding? What is causing him to be so timid, and also so insane? Why is he so against the entire world, why is it that he has never been able to find his true self? Mask Killer Number 2, tell me, why is Number 3 like this? What has shackled his soul for such a long time?”

Wen Rong was rendered speechless.

Both of Jian Yao’s hands had finally slipped free of their restraints and were hidden behind her back. However, at this time, she suddenly froze.

She knew that Bo Jinyan’s speech was either to prolong the time or to engage in a psychological battle with Wen Rong. There were no faults in what he had said, and they had done the analysis together for the most part. However, she could not quite pinpoint what had shaken her – whether it was something he had said, or a change in inflexion as he said it. She felt that some huge, terrifying secret was hiding somewhere. There had already been indications from the time she and Bo Jinyan had climbed out of that oil tank and arrived at this small town, but she just could not grasp what it was.

Then it was too late for careful thought. She pulled herself together and heard Wen Rong sigh. He said, “Simon King, now I know why those people always feared you, yet could not stop themselves from provoking you. Because you really understand us, in the same way as we understand ourselves. No wonder they all call you ‘King’, because you are practically our god.”

Bo Jinyan said, indifferently, “I don’t want to be your god.”

Wen Rong’s expression darkened, but he smiled for some unknown reason. He once again took up the scalpel and said, calmly, “Simon King, you’ve upset me again. So, I have to make you unhappy. What you’ve said is correct, people like us are not going to make any mutually beneficial exchange of interests. However, we uphold some kind of balance: the balance between righteousness and evil, between life and death. You all have killed a masked killer. Do you know what this signifies?”

Jian Yao started in apprehension as a vague premonition surfaced in her mind. With a calm expression, Bo Jinyan asked, “Oh, what does it signify?”

Wen Rong laughingly said, “I have prepared a reciprocal gift for all of you in this small town. However, you may not be in time to see it.”

Bo Jinyan did not speak further and Jian Yao felt as if her heart was being stabbed by millions of pins. A reciprocal gift? The balance between life and death? Who had they already acted against? Fang Qing? An Yan? Zhu Tao? No, from the time she and Bo Jinyan drifted to this place, the Special Cases Unit must have been waiting, consolidating their knowledge, taking careful precaution. It could not be so easy to injure a police officer, no, it could not be!

It was at this point that Bo Jinyan looked at her, his gaze steady and bright. As a result, Jian Yao calmed down, and she nodded. At present, the best thing to do was to continue to engage the masked killer in a battle of wits. If they could win this battle, then they would be better able to protect their comrades.

Just then, someone knocked at the door. Tong tong tong.

Wen Rong’s expression immediately brightened, as if he had been waiting for this for a long time. He put down the scalpel and instantly walked over to open the door.

At one side, Bo Jinyan said, coldly, “Tsk. . . . your female lead has arrived.”

Wen Rong said, “That’s right, shut up. Don’t scare her.”

Jian Yao moved her fingers vigorously behind her back, concentrating her full attention on seizing the opportunity to free herself and mount a sneak attack on Wen Rong.

The door opened.

——

Appearing before them was Qiu Shijin’s face, childlike and innocent. Her expression betrayed the fact that something was not right, her face was red, and her voice was shrill as she cried out, “Doctor . . .”

Wen Rong looked stern.

And then, it was too late

The black muzzle of a gun protruded from behind Qiu Shijin. Wen Rong was unable to draw his gun in time. As the peng of a gunshot sounded, the weary yet determined face of Zhao Kun appeared.

Wen Rong swayed from side to side, while Qiu Shijin let out a series of agonised wails. Jian Yao started and looked beyond the door to see that the gang members were all lying in a disorderly fashion all over the ground, showing the same symptoms of poisoning as Song Kun.

Why hadn’t Zhao Kun been poisoned?

A memory flashed through Jian Yao’s mind of him exchanging  glances with Bo Jinyan as he was being escorted outside. The revelation occurred to her in the twinkling of an eye. Very likely, he had begun to be suspicious at that time and had not swallowed the poison, and subsequently found a way to spit it out somehow. He had indeed proven himself worthy as the police officer who had been undercover in the wolves’ den for several years, to be perceptive to such an extent!

Before anyone could react, Jian Yao swiftly lowered her head and pulled off the ropes binding her legs.

Wen Rong had been shot in the abdomen but, strangely, did not topple over immediately. He quickly drew his gun. With a swift move, Zhao Kun pushed himself away from Qiu Shijin’s shoulder, aiming for another shot. Suddenly, Qiu Shijin yelled and grabbed Zhao Kun’s arm. Caught off guard, Zhao Kun shot her in the heart. Zhao Kun went rigid as Wen Rong howled in anguish and fired, hitting Zhao Kun!

“Shijin!” Wen Rong staggered a few steps forward. Qiu Shijin and Zhao Kun both collapsed at the same time, but were not dead.

Qiu Shijin cried out, “Doctor! Run! Run! They are all bad guys! Jie jie wants to kill you!” With a start, Wen Rong snapped his head around and saw that Jian Yao had struggled free, thrown herself to the ground, and was holding a gun. Even though Zhao Kun was seriously injured, he drew a strained breath and threw Qiu Shijin off himself in order to shoot Wen Rong. With enemies attacking from both front and back, Wen Rong was instantly thrown into confusion. He looked up, and the only thing he saw was Qiu Shijin’s tearful, pleading expression. His heart ached with so much grief and hot tears rolled down his face. He gritted his teeth, turned, shoved open the door, and fled.

Zhao Kun had already used what seemed to be his last remaining strength to prop himself up, and remnants of the poison were still in his body. He saw Wen Rong fleeing, but was unable to muster up the strength to grab hold of him. His gun slipped from his grasp and he slid onto the ground. Bo Jinyan commanded him, “Zhao Kun! Hang on! You’ve already persevered till this day! You can’t die like this!”

*T/N Anks and shl want to say that they will be extremely upset if Zhao Kun doesn’t make it!

Jian Yao felt a deep grief as she leapt up from the ground and rushed over to support Zhao Kun. She looked towards the open door, but the night was completely dark and it was still raining, where would they be able to find Wen Rong?

Jian Yao asked urgently, “How are you?” Zhao Kun’s face was deathly pale and he had already lost consciousness, but he was still breathing. She first lay him on the ground, then turned to cut through the restraints securing Bo Jinyan’s hands and legs. Qiu Shijin lay on the ground unmoving, with blood oozing out from beneath her. She appeared to be dying.

“Jinyan, what do we do next?” she asked frantically.

Bo Jinyan bent his head to look at her. Suddenly, she found her hand empty as he appropriated her gun. His voice was low yet powerful as he said, “I will go after him. You stay here. Wen Rong’s medical bag is still here, render emergency first aid to Zhao Kun, he must not die.”

Jian Yao looked at him. “But . . .”

Unexpectedly, he smiled briefly and said, “Don’t worry. Although your combat skills are better than mine, what’s crucial in pursuing this kind of criminal is one’s brains. Moreover, the marksmanship of Bo Jinyan who has finally opened his eyes is not necessarily worse than yours – especially at night.”

Jian Yao was stunned. Before she could react, he had hugged her, then turned and left.

Jian Yao stood where she was for a few seconds. This room had suffered a brief moment of carnage*. Now, there was no one left standing in it apart from her. Everything was silent, and the only sound was that of the rain against the window. She abruptly lowered her head and smiled. Yes, there was no need to worry. Someone as intelligent and steady as Bo Jinyan had been able to catch criminals while blind. Now that he had opened his eyes, how could he fail to capture this insignificant serial killer?

*T/N 腥风血雨 (xing feng xue yu) – lit. foul wind and bloody rain

She calmed down and was infused with sudden energy. Even though her heart was still shrouded in dense layers of fog, causing her to be somewhat unsettled, she could clearly sense that the light they were yearning to see was not far off.

She immediately ran to retrieve Wen Rong’s medicine bag that was beside the table, knelt next to Zhao Kun and did her best to staunch the flow of blood and treat his wounds.

She had no idea how many people had ingested Wen Rong’s poison. However, the twenty or so people both within and without this secret hideout appeared to have been affected. The surroundings were extremely quiet; only the rustling beneath her hands was heard.

She laboured on, head lowered, for a good few minutes, fully focused on her task. She did not realise that someone had opened their eyes to look at her.

At this time.

She heard a weak, mirthful voice, coming from behind her:

“Hi, Jenny.”

Amongst the people who had fallen to the ground.

Jian Yao felt all the blood in her body turn cold in an instant.

. . . .

Hi, Jenny.

Hi, J.

Xie Han had once called you that, intimately.

But, did you know,

I’ve called you that in my dreams millions of times.

Just to see your smiling face.

Just to create a devastatingly beautiful love, capable of felling entire cities.

He has almost caught me before.

But I will not let something like that happen again.

I have finally broken out of that prison I’ve been confined in for half my lifetime.

In this joyful state, I am coming to you.