Chapter 487: Lost Souls

Chen Shi brought Wu Xu to the station and handed him over to Lin Qiupu to be detained for now. The interrogation wasn’t urgent; they still needed to gather more evidence.

Lin Dongxue sat on a bench in the corridor, feeling emotionally drained. Chen Shi approached, sat beside her, and handed her an opened bottle of water. “Do you need to go to the hospital for a check-up?”

“No, I only inhaled a tiny bit of chloroform. It’s no big deal. It’s just… my mood isn’t great.”

“I understand. Discovering that someone you know is a criminal is a hard blow.”

“I was actually happy to see him driving a van and collecting scrap the other day. I thought he was finally turning his life around. Who knew it would come to this!”

Chen Shi knew she wasn’t just sad but deeply pained. He gently patted her shoulder to comfort her.

The evidence collection process went smoothly, although Wu Xu’s mother was constantly causing trouble and obstructing the police investigation. It turned out that she didn’t actually know what her son had been doing. She only vaguely knew he had recently come into some money and instinctively tried to protect him.

When the police went to Wu Xu’s house to collect evidence, his mother clung to the officers’ pants, crying and screaming. Neighbors recorded the scene on their phones and uploaded it online, where some sensationalist blogs falsely claimed that the police had beaten an elderly woman.

Two days later, the formal interrogation of Wu Xu began. Lin Dongxue volunteered to be the interrogator, along with Chen Shi.

After two days in detention, Wu Xu looked haggard, a layer of gray stubble covering his face. When he saw Lin Dongxue sitting across from him, he perked up slightly and asked, “Where’s my mom?”

Chen Shi replied, “The police aren’t obligated to take care of your mother.”

Wu Xu instantly became angry, pointing at Chen Shi. “I don’t want to talk to him. Get someone else, or I won’t say a word!”

Chen Shi snorted and gave Lin Dongxue a nod, indicating he’d leave this to her for now.

Lin Dongxue began the questioning. “Name.”

“Wu Xu.”

“Gender.”

“Male.”

“Age.”

“Thirty-eight!” Wu Xu lifted his head.

“We’ve investigated and found that you served time with Zhang Xiao. People in the prison said you took care of him a lot when he was newly incarcerated. After you got out, Zhang Xiao contacted you quickly. What did he want?”

Wu Xu stared at Lin Dongxue for a long time before saying, “Business.”

“What kind of business?”

“……”

“What kind of business?”

“……”

“Wu Xu, you know we’ve gathered a lot of evidence. This interrogation is your chance to come clean…”

“Lin Dongxue!” Wu Xu yelled, “Don’t try to trick me. I’ve killed so many people. I know I won’t escape death. Do you think I believe you when you say I can get a lighter sentence? I know what you think of me. Society abandoned me first, and then I abandoned myself. The only thing I care about in this world is my mother. I just wanted her to have a good life in her later years. Who knew…?” He sneered, “You’re good. You caught me. I’ll accept my fate. I have nothing more to say.”

Lin Dongxue said, “Yesterday, my colleague visited your home. Your mother cried a lot, begging us to bring you back. The neighbors said…” She wanted to tell Wu Xu the truth, that his mother hadn’t eaten for two days, but she stopped herself. “The neighbors said your mother cried a lot at night.”

“Mom!” Wu Xu sobbed, burying his face in his hands, his frail shoulders shaking. Lin Dongxue opened a pack of tissues and placed it on the interrogation table for him to use.

After his emotional release, Wu Xu calmed down a bit. He said, “After I got out, I couldn’t find a job and was constantly arguing with my mom. Then Xiao Fatty contacted me and asked me out for drinks. That night, we drank a bottle of wine by the river and vented our frustrations. He said that society always oppresses the weak, that the real criminals, once released, go back to their old ways and end up better off. It’s the honest ones who trust the government and try to reform who always get bullied. I could tell he had something in mind, so I asked him. He told me about a big shot he met in the detention center—Shen Ya, the mastermind behind a notorious case.

“Xiao Fatty said Shen Ya was skilled. He kidnapped prostitutes, forced them to give up their bank card passwords, and then killed and dismembered them. Shen Ya and his girlfriend made millions, living a lavish life, only getting caught when a body part clogged a drain in the winter. Xiao Fatty said that while Shen Ya was eventually caught and sentenced to death, he lived well while committing his crimes. He also said that most cases go unsolved for decades.

“Chen Shi interrupted him. ‘Zhang Xiao is dead now, so you’re just pinning everything on him, aren’t you?’

Wu Xu glared at Chen Shi and continued, “I thought Xiao Fatty made sense. I was already like this. Better to wrong the world than let the world wrong me. So we started. It was easier than I thought. We’d find prostitutes and ask how long they’d been in the business, targeting those planning to quit in a few years—they usually had savings. Xiao Fatty would follow them, drug them with chloroform, and I’d be there as backup.

“In June, we did our first job. Zhang Xiao followed the woman and used chloroform. She struggled, nearly escaping. I had to step in and help. We argued, and I told him to quit if he couldn’t handle it. He insisted he could, so I let him take the lead.

“That night, Zhang Xiao started torturing her. He used needles. I laughed and called him a novice. I took over, slapping her until she bled. She thought her connections would protect her. Naïve! I used pliers to pull her nails. You know what that’s like? The nail comes off clean, the pink flesh underneath doesn’t bleed immediately, then blood starts oozing out like red nail polish. After the third nail, she broke. Xiao Fatty was shocked, eating chips and getting sick at the sight of the nails…”

Wu Xu’s calm narration, with his vacant eyes, made the room feel cold. Even the air seemed to chill as he spoke.