Chapter 972: The Inevitability of Life

Tao Yueyue caught up with Lin Dongxue and asked what was wrong. Lin Dongxue, looking flustered, said, “The music in that supermarket, I heard it on Liu Qiang’s phone. He isn’t out of town at all. He lied to the police; there must be something wrong!”

Tao Yueyue recalled, “Now that you mention it, there was a man in a gray coat who passed by us just now.”

The two women rushed back to Liu Qiang’s house urgently and heard a woman’s scream from inside, “Help—murder!”

“Liu Qiang, stop! We’re the police!” Lin Dongxue shouted, slamming the door with all her strength, but the sturdy security door wouldn’t budge.

“Sister Lin, let me!” Tao Yueyue pulled out her lock-picking tools and fiddled with the lock. Just as she turned the lock cylinder and heard a click, someone inside locked the door again. The person said through the door, “Don’t interfere with my business. I’ll turn myself in right after I kill these two adulterers!”

Lin Dongxue shouted, “Calm down! Killing won’t solve the problem. Is it worth ruining your own life over scum like this?”

Liu Qiang roared, “I treated him like a brother, I took good care of her, and they betrayed me! Where is my dignity as a man?”

“Police, help!!!” the woman screamed.

“Shut up, you slut!” There was a heavy thud, followed by the sound of a body hitting the floor. It sounded almost metallic.

Tao Yueyue’s face turned pale, “I don’t hear the adulterer anymore; he must be…”

“Step back!” Lin Dongxue drew her gun.

Aiming at the lock, Lin Dongxue knew it was dangerous since a stray bullet could hurt her. But there was no other choice. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the trigger. The first shot left a white mark on the door, the second one missed, but the third shot broke the lock. She kicked the door open with a loud bang.

Liu Qiang was covered in blood, his hair standing on end. He held a woman by her hair; she was half-naked and disheveled. In his other hand, he clutched a bloodied knife. He yelled, “Don’t interfere! Please! You didn’t care when this slut was cheating, now it’s too late!”

From the bedroom came a heavy scent of blood. A man lay under the bed, his back covered in blood. Liu Qiang was beyond reason, already having killed one person. Talking him down was futile. Lin Dongxue raised her gun, “Drop the weapon!”

Liu Qiang sneered and stabbed the woman’s neck repeatedly. She suddenly went still, her body stiffened, blood pouring from multiple gashes. The scene left Tao Yueyue terrified.

Lin Dongxue, equally shocked, watched the woman collapse. She fired a shot into the ceiling, “Drop the weapon!”

Liu Qiang threw the knife away contemptuously and ran towards the window. Lin Dongxue thought he might jump and hesitated to shoot. Liu Qiang leaned out of the window, shouting, “Today I finally feel like a man! I killed the adulterers! Hahaha!”

This outburst was a result of long-repressed anger. Tao Yueyue felt the immense darkness in his heart, believing that his actions were an inevitable outcome of his fate.

Lin Dongxue rushed up, twisted his arms behind his back, and handcuffed him. She told Tao Yueyue to call an ambulance and tried to stop the woman’s bleeding. Liu Qiang, still in a frenzy, kicked his wife and said, “Don’t bother saving her. Even if she survives, she’ll just cheat again!”

Angered, Lin Dongxue slapped him, “She is your wife!”

The slap seemed to wake him up. He muttered, “She’s my wife, but also a stranger. She always mocked me, said I was useless and ugly. I truly cared for her…”

Crouching down, Liu Qiang held his head and wept.

Lin Dongxue’s hand was bloody. The slap left a clear blood mark on Liu Qiang’s face. Worried this might get her in trouble, Tao Yueyue quietly fetched a cloth from the kitchen, wetted it, and helped wipe Liu Qiang’s face.

Liu Qiang looked up at her with teary eyes, “Young lady, are you a police officer too?”

“Sort of…”

“Did they call the police?”

“It’s complicated.”

Liu Qiang nodded, sighing, “Fine, I won’t have to hide anymore. Today, I lied to them, saying I was on a business trip. I was giving her a chance. If she didn’t call that man over, I would have forgiven her. But she called him the moment I left. How could I forgive that!”

“Why didn’t you gather evidence and get a divorce?”

“You don’t understand! Being betrayed is the most painful thing. I couldn’t stand it!” Tears mixed with blood flowed down Liu Qiang’s face.

Tao Yueyue thought of her own situation, how she and Liu Qiang were both predicted by life’s algorithm to be killers. She sadly said, “I understand you, uncle. I really do!”

“Thank you! Thank you!” Liu Qiang cried, his shoulders shaking.

Shortly after, medical personnel arrived. The woman had her windpipe cut and couldn’t be saved. The adulterer, stabbed in the back, was thought dead but suddenly raised his head and called for help when the doctors arrived. He hadn’t been fatally wounded, just too scared to move while Liu Qiang was there.

In other words, he had the strength to fight back but chose to play dead. Even when Liu Qiang was arrested, his shame kept him feigning death, showing the superficial nature of their affair.

Saving one person didn’t ease Lin Dongxue’s conscience. On the way back to the station with Liu Qiang in custody, she was silent. Upon returning and seeing Chen Shi, she burst into tears, “If I had warned those two, they might not have died!”

“Don’t blame yourself. How could you have warned them? By explaining life’s algorithm? They’d think you’re crazy.”

“Where are the other predictions?”

“On my desk. Why…”

Lin Dongxue had already rushed to grab them, “We need to find these people, warn them, or control them to prevent more murders!”

“No, you can’t! Preventing crimes in advance makes us no different from the Observers!”

“It’s different. I don’t kill people. I save them! Didn’t you see that woman being murdered? She was awful, but did she deserve to die? Now her husband will go to jail, and their family is ruined. All because we did nothing!”

Chen Shi said, “Dongxue, you’re too emotional right now. Calm down before we discuss this.”

“Captain! The algorithm predicted Liu Qiang would kill today, and he did. Why can’t you believe it’s accurate? Since we know, we can’t just watch people get killed.”

“But I still say, no police should stop crimes before they happen! Obey the order, go home and rest today, and leave this matter alone!”