Chapter 379: Blinded by Patricide

For the next two hours, Tu Yunmeng recounted the details of her murders, leaving Lin Dongxue feeling deeply uneasy.

“…The fourth murder had some complications. I drank the drink the man gave me and suddenly felt very dizzy. I knew he had bad intentions, so I acted in the car. I wore his coat and escaped the neighborhood, finding Xiao Zhou. He was terrified by the blood on me, but I couldn’t hold on any longer and fell asleep at his place. In my dream, I saw the police coming and handcuffing me. When I woke up, Xiao Zhou had already cleaned my clothes and stayed up all night watching over me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see his smile… Maybe because I’m becoming numb to killing, the time I can see is getting shorter and shorter.

“But that day was unforgettable. Xiao Zhou confessed his love to me. After I told him everything, he said he wanted to officially date me once the heat died down. He didn’t care that I was blind and was willing to take care of me forever… Actually, if you had stopped investigating, there wouldn’t have been another victim, and the old lady today wouldn’t have died.”

Chen Shi said, “With such a strong addiction, how can you be sure you wouldn’t kill again? If the police hadn’t caught you and you married Xiao Zhou, wouldn’t you kill again someday just to see your child’s face?”

“Maybe,” Tu Yunmeng smiled.

“Today, the old lady was helping you cross the street, yet you killed her. You’re utterly heartless!”

“If the police weren’t chasing me, I wouldn’t have killed her. I only kill men who arrange sex through the app. I don’t feel guilty killing them.”

A police officer brought in some documents. After reading them, Chen Shi stood up and waved his hand in front of Tu Yunmeng’s face. She said, “It’s no use. I can’t see anything.”

“Have you seen a doctor?”

“Yes, a long time ago. He said my eyes were normal. I also saw a psychiatrist, but it didn’t help.”

“Let me try to help,” Chen Shi said.

Tu Yunmeng scoffed.

“How did you become blind?”

“When I was ten, my father ran a food processing factory, making hawthorn paste and such. Our family lived at the factory. One night, bad people broke in. My father fought with them and they rolled into the feed inlet. I was scared they’d kill him and then us, so I… I pressed the button, and my father and the bad man were ground up together. Seeing my father’s mutilated body, I couldn’t see anything anymore… The psychiatrist said I blinded myself out of guilt for killing my father. I took lots of medication, but nothing worked.”

Her story matched what the police had found about her past. Chen Shi said, “So placing a hawthorn in the victims’ mouths symbolizes your guilt?”

“At first, it was just for fun. The first man I killed happened to be eating hawthorn, so I put one in his mouth. Later, I kept doing it… Maybe your interpretation is correct.”

“What methods did the psychiatrist use? Psychoanalysis, cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy?”

“Everything you can name, including electroshock and acupuncture… The guilt of killing my father and my mother’s death because of it is like a cancer in my heart that will never heal.”

Chen Shi crumpled a piece of paper and suddenly threw it at Tu Yunmeng. She reflexively raised her hand to block it. This shocked Lin Dongxue and the officers outside.

Tu Yunmeng stared at the paper on the floor, her eyes quickly losing focus. She shook her head, “It’s useless. The psychiatrist tried that too. I know my eyes aren’t physically damaged. The problem is with my mind.”

Lin Qiupu called in, telling Lin Dongxue, “Tell Chen to stop playing mind games. We’re not here to cure her.”

Lin Dongxue relayed the message, but Chen Shi said, “Wait a minute!” He continued, “You said your blindness was due to immense guilt? It’s not what you think. When you were ten, your father and the bad man fell into the inlet. The button was right in front of you. You desperately wanted to press it, to see them ground into meat. Your heart was cold-blooded, like a reptile, which is why you experience this strange pathology of regaining sight through killing. In that moment, you felt immense pleasure. That’s the real source of your guilt. You’re guilty because your heart is a monster!”

Tu Yunmeng’s eyes widened, tears streaming down her face. She screamed, “You’re lying! I never wanted to press that button. How could I… How could I want to kill my own father!”

“It was exhilarating, wasn’t it? Hearing the two people being ground up, the screams of your own father being torn apart! Killing is so pleasurable that it felt like ascending to heaven, even if it was your father. The real reason your eyes recover is because you want to see those you kill with your own hands, their twisted faces in pain and their bloodied bodies!” Chen Shi yelled.

Fearing things were getting out of control, Lin Qiupu rushed in, “Enough!”

Tu Yunmeng turned to Lin Qiupu, tears in her eyes, but her pupils focused like a normal person’s. Lin Qiupu was stunned. The officers crowded around. Lin Qiupu said, “Is she… has she regained her sight?”

Exhausted, Chen Shi said, “No need for a psychiatric hospital. She can go straight to jail.”

Tu Yunmeng looked at her hands, smiled through her tears, “Thank you. Thank you… So this is who I am… What’s your name? If I ever break out, I’ll joyfully kill you… hahaha!”

“I’m Chen Shi. You’re welcome,” Chen Shi said, turning to Lin Dongxue, “Let’s go eat. I’m starving.”

The rain had stopped. The muggy June air felt refreshing. They found a food stall, eating fried rice and drinking soda. Lin Dongxue kept replaying the interrogation in her mind. “That girl’s eyes were terrifying. I never imagined someone like her existed.”

“I think her real illness is emotional deprivation. Even her love for Xiao Zhou was just a transference after regaining her sight. She loves the colorful movies and transferred that love to him.”

“If she weren’t blind, would she have been a more terrible criminal?”

“Maybe. Psychologically, Tu Yunmeng is a natural-born criminal…” Chen Shi looked up at the night sky, thinking, just like me.