Chapter 770: A Bloody Reunion

Everyone immediately set off for the ink factory, with Gu You joining them. “Please let me come. I want to see the person who ruined my father’s life,” she requested. Lin Qiupu agreed.

Around nine o’clock, they arrived at the residential area near the ink factory. Leading the way, Gu You explained, “My father rented a studio here to have a quiet place to write. He was working on an epic book about dreams…” She sighed, recalling the past. “He was obsessed with lucid dreaming, but no publisher wanted to print his papers.”

“What about—” Chen Shi started to ask.

“Enough with the questions!” Lin Dongxue nudged him.

They approached an apartment and cautiously positioned themselves around the door. They discussed their approach, knowing that pretending to be maintenance workers wouldn’t work. If Han Meng and the kidnapped people were inside, she would be highly alert.

“It’s so quiet. It seems like no one is home,” Lin Dongxue observed.

“Let’s just pick the lock,” Lin Qiupu decided.

The police unlocked the door and stepped into darkness. Dust-covered bookshelves and cobwebs suggested the place had been abandoned for a long time. Lin Dongxue pointed at the floor, “Look!”

There was a dragging mark on the dusty floor. Following the trail to the bathroom, they found it had been cleaned recently. Chen Shi knelt to inspect the drain, finding traces of blood and hair. His heart sank, fearing they were too late.

“How many people are missing?” Chen Shi asked.

“Including the uncontactable class monitor, seven men,” Lin Qiupu replied.

“Han Meng has a penchant for rituals. This place is too small and noisy. She likely moved to a larger, quieter place to commit the murders,” Chen Shi speculated.

“The ink factory next door is usually closed this time of year. I used to walk there when I was younger. It’s large and quiet,” Gu You suggested.

“She would need a vehicle to transport seven people,” Lin Dongxue noted.

“Let’s ask around outside!”

They headed out, and as they left the residential area, Chen Shi noticed a long-haired woman in black across the street. She had a lollipop in her mouth and a sly smile. A car passed, and she vanished.

In that brief moment, he felt he recognized her but couldn’t be sure due to the darkness.

Lin Dongxue returned, saying, “Residents saw an old van leaving this afternoon and heading to the factory.”

“Let’s go!” Lin Qiupu urged everyone.

At the factory, they searched the premises. Lin Dongxue, Chen Shi, and Xu Xiaodong entered one of the workshops. While searching, they heard a creaking noise from above. Dust trickled down.

Chen Shi seemed to understand, maneuvering around a pile of boxes. They found a man hanging from a thick rope tied to a steel beam, silently struggling. His face was a ghastly purple, his feet barely supported by the edge of a box.

“Quick, help him!” Chen Shi shouted, lifting the man’s legs to relieve the pressure, allowing him to breathe. The man coughed violently.

Xu Xiaodong aimed to shoot the rope, but Lin Dongxue warned, “Don’t shoot. You might hit him.”

“But the rope is tied up there.”

“Move a box under him first!” Chen Shi suggested, struggling to hold the man.

Lin Dongxue found a box for the man to stand on. As he caught his breath, tears streamed down his face. Chen Shi tried talking to him, but he seemed in a daze, unresponsive.

“Where are the others?” Chen Shi repeated.

The man pointed in a direction with vacant eyes.

“Xiaodong, stay here. Dongxue and I will check it out,” Chen Shi instructed.

On their way, Lin Dongxue called for backup. They all converged at a workshop with its doors barred from the inside. No amount of pushing budged it. Chen Shi suggested, “Someone needs to go through the window!”

The high and narrow window on the side was the only option, and only Lin Dongxue could fit. Using Chen Shi’s back as a step, she climbed in. Lin Qiupu cautioned, “Just open the door. Don’t do anything else.”

She climbed through, but after a thud, there was silence.

“Dongxue!” Lin Qiupu kicked the door in frustration.

The door finally opened. Lin Dongxue, eyes filled with tears and horror, stepped aside to reveal several bloody corpses inside.

They entered cautiously. One body, seemingly skinned, lay on the floor, still smoking from corrosive chemicals. Another, sitting in a chair, was covered in nails, head slumped and clothes soaked in blood. A third, sitting against the wall, had its abdomen split open, hands desperately trying to push intestines back in.

Suddenly, this “corpse” raised its head and cried for help, startling everyone. Lin Qiupu said, “He’s alive. Call an ambulance!”

Through a passage between stacked boxes, a dim light beckoned. With sweaty hands gripping their guns, they approached the light.

A rhythmic chopping sound echoed. They found a man kneeling under the light, chopping a bloody mass on a cutting board, surrounded by body parts. His neck bore a metal collar, tears streaming down his face, his hands moving involuntarily.

Nearby, a woman in a bloody old school uniform sat in a chair, holding a remote control. She gazed lazily at the intruders, indifferent to the police presence.

“Save me!” the man screamed.

“Don’t stop. Keep going!” The woman pressed the remote, making the man convulse and continue chopping.

“Stop that!” Lin Qiupu demanded.

The woman raised the remote, smirking, “Would he dare without my command?”

“Are you Han Meng?” Chen Shi asked.

Han Meng nodded slightly, “I’ve been waiting for you. Waiting for you to end my miserable life with a bullet. My forty years of pain and despair finally culminated in a day of utter joy, torturing those who once tormented me. This is the reunion I wanted.”

“Why involve my father, Chen Fengde, using him as a tool for murder ten years ago and framing him now?” Gu You shouted.

“Chen Fengde is your father?” Han Meng’s blood-streaked face twisted into a manic smile. “I didn’t use him. He volunteered because I promised him a beautiful dream.”

“You don’t have that power. It was all drugs and hypnosis, and you hired someone to do it!” Chen Shi exposed her deception.

“You like to rationalize everything with logic, don’t you?” Han Meng whispered. “Once, a girl was seen as a cursed star, bullied by everyone. Her life was a living hell. But a god in the darkness gave her a gift—the ability to wander freely in dreams. It was dreams that kept her alive, alive to finally exact her revenge today.”