Pure Darkness

Chapter 85

“The person we are looking for is a man aged 35 to 40. He's tall and sturdy. He was constantly exercising, and as a result had a very strong physique. This was how he could transport the bodies of his victims to the top of the mountain on foot.

Oi! I am an article!

He had practiced in armed combat or taekwondo or some form of martial arts before, and was an expert in that form. He was a meticulous thinker and very good at planning. He has several ways of accessing information about police cases, and is very familiar with criminal investigation techniques. This was why he managed to track down so many fugitives and slaughter them.

He has a very good financial situation. Either his family situation is fine, or he has a job with a considerable income.

Oi! I am an article!

He's from Tong City. Right now, it was impossible to ascertain whether he had any connection with Jian Yi's case that year. However, he must have experienced a great psychological provocation in his youth, after which, he started killing people. His experience in slaughtering people had matured from the chaos as he began. His first target was chosen without any pattern, and each of them was hacked to death, with butterflies painted behind them afterwards. Later, he changed progressively, and focused on the murder of criminals, even including bandits guilty of horrific crimes. In addition, he executed them by nailing them with iron nails, and completely transformed himself into ‘law enforcement’.

There did not appear to be a clear period of time in which he committed the crime, nor was there a clear pattern of events. In fact, there was a break of a few years in the middle. I suspect he was distracted by other reasons during that time, such as prison, going abroad or hospitalization.

The incense burner at the scene, as well as the various ways he handled the two types of bodies, also confirmed his regret and guilt over his treatment of the previous victims. Even though he was a psychopath, he always fought, and had a conscience. I believe, after he became ‘law enforcement’, he reached a considerable degree of relief, and his mental state was also stable. This was because he had finally found a way to balance his need to kill and his conscience.

However, from a psychological perspective, this stability is only superficial and temporary. The more he kills, the greater his level of psychopathy. After so many years, I am convinced that his mental state is teetering on the verge of collapse. All it takes is an ignition point.

Oi! I am an article!

And, recently, that flashpoint appeared. He finally, publicly kills an accomplice who mimics the murder of his butterfly.”

All the criminal investigators fell silent after Bo Jinyan gave her conclusion. Jian Yao, however, felt extremely uncomfortable; what was this feeling? There is always a sense of deja vu, a detail that seems so familiar; there is always a sense that a person and an important situation are there, on the verge of disclosure. But, being caught in the net, he could not see clearly.

He looked at Bo Jinyan and recalled his previous words to her. Slowly, his heart calmed down.

Don't be afraid to face your wounds.

Because the truth is always there, under our wounds. Just waiting for us to find him.

In the next few days, everything regarding this case happened on a massive scale, and shook the earth. A report had to be made to the Ministry of Public Security, where the case was listed as the number one major case this year, which shocked the entire nation. Additional troops were sent south to form a special investigation team with command of several working groups. Meanwhile, special case team Bo Jinyan becomes the core of the special investigation team, and its main consultant. Criminal investigators are conducting their investigations in several areas: running background checks on 12 victims, conducting thorough and careful site evaluations, compiling a list of possible suspects . . .

It was during this time that Bo Jinyan decided that the main focus of the special case team was Xun Town, the case of Jian Yi 20 years earlier.

He never did anything useless.

He just took a shortcut.

What is this showing? It shows that he had decided, long before, that the case of ‘Kupu’ Killer had an unknown relationship with the case of Jian Yi.

——

The autumn wind is blowing. The high walls outside the prison lay in endless gray. Fang Qing and An Yan walked out while holding a stack of files. When Fang Qing saw them, he said, “Investigation of that year's case found a total of eight killers. Of the eight perpetrators, three were sentenced to death, one was sentenced to life imprisonment, and four were sentenced to specific prison terms. Of the five, two died while in prison. As for the remaining three who were eventually released, two died more than 10 years ago. There is only one who is alive, named Xu Huqiang.”

. . . . . .

This place is a car repair yard, really regular. There are four or five employees.

Xu Huqiang already had white hair, a face full of wrinkles, and a hunchback figure, but he was washing the car along with younger employees. Life is hard. Jian Yao looked at this former assassin from a distance, and her heart swelled with something she could not describe.

“Will you forgive him?” Bo Jinyan asked gently, out of nowhere.

“I can let go, but there is no way I can forgive,” Jian Yao replied.

When he was brought to them, Xu Huqiang seemed to tremble in fear. “I did nothing wrong, why did you catch me?”

Coldly, Fang Qing said, “We want to ask you some questions, so tell me the truth. This is a very important issue, so if you do not take it seriously and give us an answer, you should follow us back to the police station.”

Those who have been released will never return. Moreover, Xu Huqiang was worried about losing his job, so he hurriedly nodded.

But what questions should they ask?

That year's case had been thoroughly investigated by excellent and angry criminal investigators at the time, and they had interrogated everyone repeatedly. All the details are recorded in small details. It was likely that Xu Huqiang had confessed many times.

Bo Jinyan calmly faced Xu Huqiang. No one could see his eyes under his sunglasses.

Xu Huqiang was stunned.

The memories were so distant and vague to him now. However, since this one incident had changed her life, and also filled her with regret and premonition, when Bo Jinyan asked such a precise question, some of the images she had previously pressed, were, suddenly appeared in a blurred flash. It was as if shattered fragments of the film were twinkling in his mind.

“How do you know?” he answered without thinking.

Fang Qing, Jian Yao and the others were greatly shocked. On the other hand, Bo Jinyan simply smiled in an indifferent and indifferent manner.

“Of course I know,” he replied. “As if I have seen it with my own eyes.”

Why kill Jian Yi? The 80s and 90s belonged to criminal gangs. If this reckless bastard wanted to kill someone, it could be because of their desire to show their supremacy, or it could be because someone had rubbed them the wrong way.

And, in the eyes of all the villains in the city, Jian Yi had clearly misjudged them.

He hates evil with passion, and is highly skilled and capable. In quick succession, he destroyed many of the gang's underground gambling dens, and captured many of them in fights. At that time, all over the country, those bastards who had ‘become big’ all had the blood of some people who stained their hands. But, not in Tong City, because Jian Yi's attitude was firm that ‘all murders should be completed’. If someone were to kill someone else, the next day, when he was still celebrating Jianghu's newly won status*, Jian Yi would follow the most minute clues, track down the bastard, arrest him and send him into custody. Middle. Then, the death penalty! Or, life imprisonment!

*T/N (jiang hu) – wuxia world story (martial arts), also used to refer to the part of society that is beyond the reach of the law (underground).

All the gangsters hated Jian Yi passionately. However, in those days, no one dared to provoke the police, because the police themselves were as barbaric as tigers.

But, that night, the group of gangsters that Jian Yi had previously dealt with drank too much.

Furthermore, among them there are two or three characters that are ‘famous’ within the city. They thought it would be a good idea to “teach Jian Yi lesson”, and decided they wanted “hack to death that bastard”. So, they took their knives and left.

At that moment, someone was fighting with machetes and machetes. This seems to be proof of being a true ‘gangster’.

This rowdy, clamoring gangster group walks into Jian Yi's – old man's house a gangster has seen him go there that day, rather than return to his residence in the police complex.

Jian Yi was completely unprepared.

Young, ornate criminal investigators, famous throughout the province, were completely unprepared. If this killing intent had been premeditated, he might have a premonition about the situation and set it up somehow. But, it was an impulsive move by a group of drunken gangsters, who carelessly hacked into their weapons the moment they entered the house. Even the highly skilled Jian Yi could do nothing to defend himself once he was slashed from behind, moreover his elderly parents.

Fresh blood flowed over the ground in the meandering creeks. Everyone has been hacked into many pieces.

……

Back then, the gangsters* liked to collect ‘adik’**. Xu Huqiang vaguely remembered that the boss of the day had brought some ‘adik men’, to make their rowdy crowd look bigger, even stronger. However, they were really just kids and stayed behind. When the adults in front had finished their killing, the children turned around and ran, so frightened that they made a mistake without knowing where to run. After that, the police chased and arrested some of these ‘adik’. However, their lack of fingerprints in the CPI proves that they did not actually take part in the action. So, only a few of them were sent to orphanages for young offenders, where they stayed for several months.

*T/N (hey bang) – literally, ‘black’ help.

**T/N (xiao in) – literally, ‘adik’. This may refer to younger children who are interested in joining a gang (often drawn by a sense of kinship and perhaps a buzz of danger), but who are not fully committed gang members.

……

When Xu Huqiang finished talking about the past, he stared blankly at them, not really understanding what they wanted to know.

Jian Yao raised her head and looked forward in silence, without a word.

Bo Jinyan muttered to herself for a while, then said, “Among those ‘adik mens’, there is one that is different from the others. You must remember him. He is around 15 to 18 years old, his family situation is very good, you can see it from the way he dresses. He has a stubborn and non-talking character, but he always likes to talk about your code of brotherhood, your spirit of loyalty and self-sacrifice. Despite being young, he was really badass*. He would normally not say a word, but if someone bullied him, he was prepared to fight them to the death. He accompanied you to the murder, but, after that, he was never seen again.”

*T/N (hen jue se) – literally, someone who fits the role/personality of a cruel person; someone who dominates and attracts respect.

Jian Yao was completely confused.

Is there anyone like that?

Xu Huqiang stared at Bo Jinyan with wide eyes for a long time. Out of nowhere, he asked An Yan, who was sitting on one side, “Is he really blind? Did you ask him here to divulge? The police also believe in such things!”

Fang Qing slapped his shoulder. “Don't babble nonsense, talk!”

In fact, Xu Huqiang could no longer clearly remember those younger brothers, all those details. That year, he wasn't the boss, he was just an ordinary gangster. However, Bo Jinyan had described everything so clearly, in great detail, in a split second of consciousness, she actually remembered that there was indeed such a person, who had accompanied them that night, and then it disappeared suddenly without a trace afterwards. The police have arrested quite a number of these young men, but, of course, not that particular one.

“Stupid. .” Xu Huqiang muttered. “I only remember her nickname, ‘Blockhead’. .”