By Zephyria 
Episode 12: The Murderer Became the Light
Pinned to the ground, Jiang Lanpei gasped for air, her eyes bloodshot. A manic laugh leaked from her lips, sounding as if it were being crushed out of her.
“Ahahaha… the police… what good are the police? The police are all trash! Which officer found out I was trapped in this horrible place all this time? None! They’re all useless scrap!”
Perhaps because her reason had blurred, once she latched onto a keyword, she would delve into it for a long time, unable to break free.
While she muttered as if casting a curse, a strand of hair blown by the wind entered her mouth. Ptooey. As she spat out the hair, her gaze distorted violently.
“And what about now? You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you? The police? You’re just going to kill me to cover up your dereliction of duty, right?”
A faint smile appeared on her face. Even while pressed against the floor, her eyes remained mocking.
“Yes, you bastards—all you men are trash! Useless things, taking out your own incompetence on women! For twenty years, I was treated like livestock… do you know how I kept track of time? I calculated it by looking at the photos that bastard pasted on the wall! Every day, looking at those horrific photos. The first photo was from when I was barely twenty-nine! Twenty-nine! I’m fifty this year… huh? Was it fifty-two? Fifty-one? Or have I not even hit fifty yet?”
She wandered through her memories again, stumbling. The strange, eerie smile clinging to her red lips was like poison mixed into liquor.
“Forget it, that’s not the important part… the point is that I got out. Do you know how I got out?”
She continued.
“For years, I catered to that man and served him. While ignoring the psychopath, he would strut around, acting as if he were reclaiming some pathetic man’s pride while raping me… ahahaha… After I catered to him for years, he gradually let his guard down. Then, one time, while taking off his pants, he dropped my ward key in the darkroom.”
Her lips, which had been whispering as if sharing a secret, soon burst into a triumphant laugh.
“But I didn’t hide it. Instead, I handed the key back to him that night and asked what it was. The moment he saw the key, his expression shifted completely. Yet, he felt relieved that I was an idiot. He was convinced I had truly gone mad… a moron who didn’t even recognize a key, ha!”
Suddenly, her gaze and voice sharpened simultaneously.
“Who could live a life like this for twenty years and not go mad! He mocked me with that key. He treated me like a fool who didn’t even know how to use an escape tool even after getting it in her hands! He probably had no idea what I was thinking. That smug look in his eyes was so disgusting! Still, I played the part stubbornly. Do you think I can’t act like a psychopath? I fooled him perfectly with my acting. Thanks to that, he became increasingly lax, and every time he dropped the key, I would sneak out… and roam every single corner of the psychiatric hospital! Even then, I didn’t escape! Because I had to drag these men into hell! So, I finished all the preparations yesterday… and since that bastard left the key behind again, I kept it and sneaked out at night… and stole a knife.”
She was still gripping the scalpel tightly. The blood that had flowed on the silver blade had since dried into a gruesome brown clump.
Xie Qingcheng could feel that if he relaxed his grip even slightly, this woman would suffer another seizure and plunge the knife into his chest.
The beast-like, aggressive light in her eyes grew even more toxic.
It was a gaze that hated both heaven and earth.
Twenty years had transformed her from a simple patient into a blood-thirsty beast.
“I hid that knife under the bed. And when he rubbed that glistening mouth of his all over my body, I lay still, slid my hand under the blanket, and then…”
The blood and screams from the day she killed Liang Jicheng seemed to erupt from within her pupils.
“Ahaha… hahahaha… the blood was so hot… isn’t it strange? The heart is like a sheet of ice, but the blood is so hot? It doesn’t make sense…!”
She continued to spit out words through clenched teeth.
“Anyway, I killed him and dragged him to the office… I was about to dismember the body when I heard someone outside the door. I saw a girl I didn’t know through the gap in the door, and she seemed to be looking for someone. I couldn’t let that girl ruin my plan! Do you know how long I prepared! So I hid the body in the cabinet, attached his name tag, went outside… and had a conversation with your sister…”
Her face distorted. It was as if she were explaining the situation to Xie Qingcheng, but at the same time, she seemed to be muttering to herself.
“Her face was quite pretty; she looked a bit like that ‘snack’ Liang Jicheng brought back who died by hitting a wall. I think… hehe, maybe she’s the reincarnation of that snack… it doesn’t matter if she isn’t. Actually, I don’t remember exactly what that girl looked like. Anyway, since she was around the same age as me, it felt like complete destiny. So, while she was off guard, I gave her an aphrodisiac… I know a lot about aphrodisiacs. The funniest thing about ‘normal’ people like you is that you ignore psychopaths too much. I’m well-versed in those specially made aphrodisiacs. Every time I resisted, that bastard Liang Jicheng would pour them in! I dragged the unconscious girl to the darkroom. I thought that when the revenge was over, her family… would surely search the darkroom! Not like me… not like me…”
At this point, her eyes darkened again. Her expression felt somewhat lonely.
Xie Qingcheng glared at her with a sharp gaze.
“So, after finishing your revenge, you hoped someone searching for my sister would find that darkroom?”
“…”
Instead of answering, the woman’s lips twisted stiffly.
“I don’t care about that anymore. I locked your sister in the darkroom and took Liang Jicheng out of the cabinet. There, in the place where I first met him, I intended to die with him! Just like when we first met… just the two of us, with no one else! Without anyone’s help, I was going to tear him into pieces myself—”
Her voice trailed off. A deep resentment was embedded in the gaze she leveled at Xie Qingcheng.
“Then you people came. You bastards interfered with my final revenge! To interfere with me… you’re a cop, aren’t you? Yes, you are. You cops are always on the side of the villains. Kill me. If you kill me, I’ll become a ghost and come back for revenge—!”
A determination filled with hatred, a hideously distorted smile.
Countless emotions seemed to grow into fangs, ready to pierce the man before her.
Despite this, Xie Qingcheng stared at her and spoke, emphasizing every word.
“I am not a cop. And I have no intention of killing you.”
The woman flinched at the unexpected response. She bared her teeth and widened her eyes.
“Then what are you going to do?”
“I intend to take you to the police.”
Meanwhile, He Yu entrusted Xie Xue to the nearby nurse and moved to Xie Qingcheng’s side. His expression was blurred, buried in the darkness.
“Report this to the police.”
“I won’t!”
Jiang Lanpei screamed hysterically.
“I’m not going! No one will believe me anyway! I won’t go! Liars… you liars!”
At that moment, He Yu slowly approached her.
Xie Qingcheng turned his head and raised his voice.
“What are you doing!”
“Xie Qingcheng, you don’t understand this woman. You tried to have a conversation, and all you got were insults, right?”
The young man, having approached the two, pushed Xie Qingcheng aside and supported Jiang Lanpei. In that instant, Jiang Lanpei exerted surprising strength and swung the scalpel toward He Yu.
However, her hand froze at a single sentence He Yu uttered without even blinking.
“Jiang Lanpei, I’m a psychopath too.”
The eyes of the boy and the woman met, separated by a space barely wide enough for a fist. Almond-shaped eyes reflected the eyes of the madwoman.
It was a voice so low that no one but the nearby Xie Qingcheng could hear it. While staring into Jiang Lanpei’s eyes, the young man slowly raised his hand and gripped the cold blade.
Even though it was obvious he would be hurt if Jiang Lanpei snapped out of it and pulled the scalpel away, He Yu looked completely indifferent. Though the muscles of his body were taut, his expression did not waver in the slightest. His attitude was as if he were dealing with an ordinary woman, a mother, or a normal person.
“Do you know? I’m a psychopath just like you.”
The scalpel quietly passed into his hand.
Only after losing her weapon did Jiang Lanpei sense the danger, glaring at He Yu with a pale face.
“You, just now—”
However, He Yu had no intention of attacking her.
He curled his fingers and gently tucked a strand of the woman’s disheveled bangs behind her ear. Then, looking straight into her eyes, he continued.
“I have autism. Look straight into my eyes. Since you’re crazy too, you should be able to recognize your own kind, right?”
Though still wary, Jiang Lanpei scrutinized He Yu closely, even smelling him.
He Yu waited calmly with an expressionless face as Jiang Lanpei identified her peer in the most primitive, animalistic way. No matter the type of person, everyone has their own way of verifying their safety. Among them, the instincts and intuition of a madman are usually stronger than those of an ordinary person.
Finally, Jiang Lanpei spoke in a small voice.
“You’re right.”
“I am.”
“Who made you like this?”
“I was born this way,” He Yu answered indifferently.
“So I have no target for revenge.”
“…”
“Still, everyone believes what I say because I’m a psychopath.”
“How is that possible?”
As He Yu let out a chuckle, the dark clouds cleared and pale moonlight poured down. His deep eyes sparkled silver, as if frosted. The fangs revealed beneath his upper lip looked infinitely cold and sharp.
As if sharing a secret method for fighting a disease, he whispered tenderly.
“I’m good at acting, just like you. While you pretended to be a fool, I played the part of a normal person.”
He smiled with eyes that looked drenched in cold frost.
“I’ve been acting for nineteen years, and very few people know I’m a psychopath. People like us need protective coloration, don’t we?”
Jiang Lanpei looked dazed for a moment, then quickly snapped back to her senses.
“No… I’ve already killed someone. My acting is over now.”
“I don’t know about others, but you can trust me. First, shall I tell you a secret?”
Jiang Lanpei widened her eyes and focused on his words.
He Yu raised a finger and placed it against his lips.
“The police will be here soon.”
At those words, Jiang Lanpei’s pupils contracted.
“What? You reported it to the police? Those bastards actually reported it? You cowardly—”
“I reported it,” He Yu replied with a cold expression.
“Why would you… we’re on the same side… why are you siding with those people? If it were you… you should obviously…”
The woman began to ramble.
“I am on your side,” He Yu began.
“Don’t you want to do more than just have Liang Jicheng die? Don’t you want to completely ruin him? If he just dies as a helpless victim, he might even be mourned as a great businessman. His gravestone will be covered in flowers, and the families of the patients who know nothing will come to mourn him. Conversely, you’ll become a notorious murderer, and your ugliest photo will be on the front page of the newspaper. Without even knowing what you went through, everyone will curse you as a black-haired beast. Even though Liang Jicheng is dead, you’ll be treated worse than him. Think about it. Is this a profitable trade?”
“…”
“If you tell the police everything, the situation changes. You can probably guess how Liang Jicheng will be treated after he’s dead, right? You can kill him twice—first his life, then his name.”
He Yu tilted his head to the side and whispered into her ear seductively.
“Where else can you find such a profitable trade? Isn’t this much better?”
Jiang Lanpei was half-swayed by his words.
Just then, sirens began to flood in from all directions, centering around the psychiatric hospital standing alone in the darkness.
“Get down!”
“Everyone get down!”
Jiang Lanpei’s gaze wavered. As she struggled, the security guards stiffened, looking as if they would pounce and subdue her at any moment. However, He Yu merely supported her with a gentle touch.
“I’ll go with you. Go and see for yourself. Over there… there might still be a bright exit.”
As if possessed, Jiang Lanpei approached the rooftop railing, trembling. She gripped the cold, rusted iron railing and stretched her neck to look down.
In her blurred vision, the red and blue lights of the police cars flashed. It was a dazzling sight she had never seen in her ‘prison’ all these years.
It felt as if all the injustice, shame, and hardship she had endured—the darkroom that had been submerged in darkness for twenty years—would be laid bare under this dazzling light.
As she gazed for a long time, emotion overwhelmed her. Tears burst forth.
She slowly turned her head. Her red long skirt fluttered in the night wind—the skirt Liang Jicheng had bought according to his taste under the guise of caring for an unclaimed patient, and which was often stripped away by his filthy hands.
“…It’s dazzling,” she murmured softly.
“It really is as dazzling as broad daylight. Thank you. But…”
The last few syllables that escaped her lips mingled with the sound of the police loudspeakers.
“Those trapped in the building, please remain calm! Please remain calm! Use of elevators is prohibited! Look around for safe liquids such as water, tea, or beverages! Soak a cloth in the liquid and cover your mouth and nose! Then, keep your body low! Firefighters have been deployed! Please signal SOS with the most visible objects possible! We will deploy for rescue immediately!”
Suddenly, Jiang Lanpei’s eyes sank into darkness.
“It’s already too late. —In twenty years, I’ve come to hate the entire world. The moment you burst into the office, the final part of the plan will be complete. I’m sorry, but there’s no turning back.”
Immediately after, as if to prove her words, suddenly—.
BOOM!
An explosion that shook heaven and earth rang out.
The staff trapped on the roof panicked and looked toward the corridor. The windows of the hospital warehouse, which had been tightly closed, were violently blown open by fierce flames.
With the blazing fire behind her, she slowly began to speak.
“Because of things that shouldn’t be shown to others, Liang Jicheng prepared several darkrooms in the hospital and brought in gasoline and combustion devices… He wouldn’t dare do it in front of others, but he talked so big in front of a moron like me. He said if he pressed a hidden button in his office, the device would explode within ten minutes… He’s quite dirty behind the scenes. I also knew that the fire alarms and CCTV here had been broken for a long time. I heard what that bastard said on the phone while he was doing that on my bed. I heard everything clearly. While staying here, I came to know about Qingkang better than anyone. …I didn’t originally intend to go this far, but why did they have to come right when I was cutting the body… I don’t want to be caught by the police. So, when you went to the darkroom to save that girl, I had already pressed that button.”
Xie Qingcheng’s expression changed.
“What do you mean—!”
“That’s right, I brought you all the way up here to buy time. So that when the fire spreads, no one can escape and we all die here together. Because if we die, it wouldn’t be this painful… to turn back now.”
Jiang Lanpei murmured with a pitiful smile.
“It’s late. Too late… for me, for you, for everyone…”
“It is not too late!”
At the sound of a rough, unfamiliar voice that erupted like thunder amidst the gale, Jiang Lanpei suddenly turned her head. A firefighter seemed to have climbed up in the shortest time possible, hooking a safety clip to a part of the wall not yet on fire and sliding down a steel cable.
The firefighter in the protective suit was as massive as a bear. Not having heard the conversation they had previously, he only heard a middle-aged woman murmuring that it was too late the moment he arrived.
Is she doubting my professional competence right now?
Thinking this, the bear-like firefighter brushed everything aside and shouted loudly.
“It’s not too late! I got here so fast! Come this way, quickly! We have to go down immediately! The fire will spread from the north toward here! Hurry, hurry! Women and children first!”
“Me! Me first!”
The youngest nurse, who had been on the verge of fainting from shock, rushed forward in tears the moment she saw the firefighters, as if she had encountered a savior. Firefighters climbing up to the roof via extension ladders began rescuing people and bringing them down before the flames could spread.
Xie Xue and the other female employees were the priority for rescue. A firefighter shouted toward Jiang Lanpei.
“Ma’am! Hurry over here! Why are you standing all alone over there! I’ll take you down! Don’t be afraid, I’ll keep you safe! I’ll get you home! Hurry!”
Jiang Lanpei shuddered violently, as if she had been struck by an electric shock. Her blood-red long skirt fluttered in the wind as she stood beneath the water tank.
But where was the home to return to?
Who was she?
Where could she go once rescued? She had lived in madness for so long. She had already forgotten the outside world. Her world was a boundless, lonely darkroom filled with nothing but thousands of photographs and hatred.
She had to go to hell along with all of it.
She hoped the raging flames would spread in all directions, carrying all the darkness up into the sky. And that after this long night faded, she could become the first rays of the morning sun.
“Ma’am— I said hurry over here—!”
As a window on the floor below exploded due to the airflow, the flames, meeting oxygen, roared in the shape of a dragon and spewed out pitch-black smoke. The light illuminated the dark sky brilliantly.
Trembling, Jiang Lanpei took a step forward.
Then, she stopped.
She lifted her chin and looked back at the water tank behind her. That tank, which was usually turned off, didn’t contain much water. No, it wasn’t water to begin with.
A desolate smile flickered across her lips.
It was gasoline, which she had obtained by stealing the keys from Liang Jicheng several times. And hidden against her chest was the final item that would send her to ‘heaven.’
“He Yu, come this way!”
Xie Qingcheng, who had grasped the situation in an instant, grabbed He Yu’s arm and bolted in the opposite direction.
It was the moment the two of them moved. With a thin smile, Jiang Lanpei pulled a Zippo lighter from her chest, lit it, and threw it toward the dripping water tank.
Boom!
A thunderous surge of flames instantly engulfed Jiang Lanpei.
Xie Qingcheng collapsed to the ground while holding onto He Yu. A wave of intense heat surged behind them. The stunned firefighter stared blankly at the woman who had thrown her arms wide and lifted her head. In a posture that looked as if she were trying to fly toward the sky in search of divine salvation, the woman was consumed by the fire.
“…….”
Sparks flew in every direction. The flames, accompanied by a thick scent of burning, emitted a horribly black smoke. The woman’s desperate wails and her decayed life merged into the smoke that rose toward the sky like a pillar. The deep flames danced as if insane, splitting heaven and earth. The fire and smoke, distorted by rage, heavily cleaved the night sky and flowed violently beyond the mountains and the sea.
“For twenty years, I trusted no one. Now, there is no way back. Someone from heaven will come for me.”
Forever, I will not return.