Chapter 691: Her Forgiveness

Hearing that name, Chen Shi was surprised and felt a sense of nostalgia. He asked, “The liaison? Do you mean the one between you and the employer?”

“Yes, it was Brother Zhou who found us the job. When the employer got angry and wanted us dead, it was also Brother Zhou who called and spared our lives… though that punishment was worse than death.”

“Do you know what Zhou Tiannan does?”

“He’s a teacher.”

“Anything else?”

“No, that’s all!” Chu Shifang looked puzzled.

Lin Dongxue was incredulous and whispered to Chen Shi, “Zhou Tiannan has his own hitmen. Why would he hire outsiders?”

Chen Shi shook his head silently. He remembered how Zhou was rampant ten years ago. Could it be that their gang was so busy they outsourced the killings?

What could have prompted the assassination of the Changqing couple? Did they offend someone important or stumble upon a huge secret?

To confirm if the Zhou Tiannan mentioned by Chu Shifang was indeed the one they “knew,” Chen Shi asked him to describe Zhou Tiannan’s features. Chu Shifang’s description matched Zhou Tiannan.

Chu Shifang knew little else about Zhou Tiannan or the reasons behind the employer wanting the Changqing couple dead. He and Ma Xiang were just doing a paid job.

“So how did you and Chang Juan meet?” Chen Shi asked.

“After that job, I watched the police investigate like headless chickens. I knew they wouldn’t solve it. When I wasn’t killing, I liked playing cards and browsing forums. I saw Chang Juan’s post about buying her life stocks to play a parental role. It was fascinating. Her parents were killed by Ma Xiang and me, and now this? I hesitated to tell Ma Xiang and finish the job by killing the girl too. But it was too risky and unnecessary by then.

“I bought Chang Juan’s life stocks with the money from her parents’ murder, ironically. I became her shareholder. This ‘game’ was quite fun. We discussed her daily life, from what she should do to what she should wear. Most of the group were rich idlers.

“Ma Xiang changed after that job. He often went out at night looking for prostitutes. He had a mental block and couldn’t perform, leading him to beat the prostitutes and get beaten up himself. He then started stalking women. One night, he called me to a crime scene where a couple was brutally murdered. Ma Xiang, naked and crying in their blood, confessed, ‘I can’t get it up!’

“I yelled, ‘Are you insane? Killing won’t help you! I can’t even get it up anymore because of you!’ We argued and I helped clean up. After that, Ma Xiang kept raping and killing. Every time he raped, he killed, adding more unsolved cases to your police records. I knew he’d get us both killed, but he wouldn’t listen.

“One day, Ma Xiang excitedly called, saying he found the girl, Chang Juan! He believed killing her would cleanse his sins and cure his problem. I was terrified for her. By then, I saw her as a daughter. Ma Xiang didn’t know. I asked around, and Thirteen said he could find her. We rushed to save her, just in time to stop Ma Xiang. We had a huge fight afterward. Ma Xiang called me crazy for liking the girl. I told him he was the real madman and that killing Chang Juan wouldn’t help him. We parted ways.

“I realized something: men are driven by their lower instincts. Aggression comes from testosterone. Young men, full of it, are like powder kegs. Once married with a stable sex life, they mellow out. If a man can’t perform, he becomes deranged, capable of anything because his testosterone has no outlet. It’s a curse. The state should bring back castration; it makes men rational, like Sima Qian who wrote after his castration.

“A man without balls becomes a sage. Since losing mine, my personality changed. I saw how foolish Ma Xiang was, killing for that. I knew he’d self-destruct, so I distanced myself. I enjoyed my quiet life until I got cancer. Damn it, I thought, why me? Not Ma Xiang, who was the real troublemaker?

“I got lung cancer, had to quit smoking. The doctor said I had two years to live. I realized how precious life is. Killing is easy, saving is hard. I wanted to do good. Ma Xiang kept targeting Chang Juan, so I planned to have him caught…”

Chu Shifang shrugged. “That’s the story. I don’t care how it ends as long as Chang Juan lives well. I told her who I was, and her reaction was indescribable. I said I regretted it and asked for forgiveness. She said she could accept any command except forgiving me and Ma Xiang. It hurt, but I hope my actions earn her forgiveness.”

Tears rolled down Chu Shifang’s cheeks. Chen Shi glanced at the one-way mirror. Chang Juan was probably listening outside. From her behavior, she seemed to see Chu Shifang as more than an enemy, perhaps even having a bit of dependence on him.

Their relationship was indeed tangled and complex.