Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Perhaps everything going well for so long made me conceited. When it came to Jiang Ke’s prison break, I made a rookie mistake. Detective, can you guess what mistake I made?” Cheng Lingfei asked.
“You shouldn’t have implicated Yang Zebiao,” Miao Ying interrupted before Zhao Yu could speak. “You shouldn’t have placed Yang Zebiao’s DNA under Wu Fangfang’s fingernails.”
“That’s right!” Cheng Lingfei nodded in approval. “As expected of Detective Zhao’s police lover, you are right! Indeed, I went overboard. My original intention was to use Yang Zebiao’s DNA to confuse you, so you wouldn’t be able to see the real motive. Otherwise, when Wu Fangfang and Jiang Ke’s photos appeared it would have been too obvious there was a conspiracy going on.”
“Of course, I’ll admit that I was also trying to provoke you,” Cheng Lingfei said, looking straight at Zhao Yu. “Didn’t Detective Zhao already arrest Jiang Ke? Didn’t Detective Zhao already solve the Demon case? Isn’t Detective Zhao known as the unsolved case master? Alright, here’s Yang Zebiao’s DNA, come and get me!”
F*ck… Zhao Yu was at a loss and frowned. Who would have known the situation was so complicated?
“But as it turns out, I ended up implicating myself…” Cheng Lingfei said coldly. “Everything I did was based on the assumption that you would die in the explosion on the bridge, so from my point of view it was a good decision!”
That’s right! Zhao Yu recalled that it was indeed Yang Zebiao’s DNA that threw the entire investigation off course. If not for the DNA, he would have sent a few men to interrogate Jiang Ke upon discovering the photos, and he wouldn’t have gone to Yao Ming himself. But the appearance of Yang Zebiao gave Zhao Yu hope that he would be able to solve the Rural Cooperatives Homicide Case, and looking at the bigger picture, he personally went to interrogate Jiang Ke. This caused him to fall into Cheng Lingfei’s trap.
“Although looking at it now, Jiang Ke’s prison break was still considered a failure. When I found out that Cao Sifen sent men to capture Jiang Ke, and that there had been an explosion at the seafood market, I realized that I had to start making new plans! It’s a shame. I thought luck was still on my side and refused to let go of the empire that I had so painstakingly built. Despite knowing that Jiang Ke’s investors had already been arrested, I was still obsessed with that huge fire, hoping it would erase all the evidence,” Cheng Lingfei said, looking at Zhao Yu and sighing with resentment. “Argh! If I had known that you didn’t die then, I would have definitely left!”
Ha… Zhao Yu broke into a cold sweat. Looking back, it was ingenious of him to stay low and play dead. If not, he would never have been able to investigate Cheng Lingfei and she would have been long gone by then! “This is called karma!” Miao Ying chimed in. “Tell us about your escape plans!”
Cheng Lingfei had no qualms and immediately continued her story, talking about how she had needed a helicopter and a ship to smuggle herself abroad. Upon reaching her destination, she had planned for her network to assist her. Everything had been thought out well in advance.
Judging by her honest confession, Zhao Yu could tell that Cheng Lingfei had completely given up. He decided to take this chance and find out exactly what had happened with each murder. Wu Fangfang had been killed by the female killer, He Yubing, with a hammer. The murders of Cao Sifen, Tao Wenming, and the person who poisoned Yu Fusheng, were all Cheng Lingfei’s doing. As for the huge fire, it was a joint effort between Liu Guangxin and He Yubing. After a large number of questions, the interrogation was nearly complete. The remaining minor details could wait until the police station.
“Anyway, my mother, Jiang Er, and Ah Biao are all innocent. All these cases had nothing to do with them. The revenge I’ve sought all these years has been carried out now, and all those who deserve justice have been punished!” Cheng Lingfei said with the same cold expression. “Being caught by the police was also expected, so don’t worry, I’ll cooperate and tell you everything. Not just my stories, I also know some interesting secrets related to both the government and the commercial world. I think I will be dragging a lot of people down with me. Ha! Since so many people are accompanying me to the grave, it’s still a win for me!” Cheng Lingfei let out a chilling laugh.
“Cheng Lingfei…” Miao Ying said seriously. “I have one last question that I really want to know the answer to…”
“Ask away!” Cheng Lingfei said indifferently.
“When you close your eyes, do you ever see Xie Mengqin’s daughter?” Miao Ying asked, staring at Cheng Lingfei. When she heard this, Cheng Lingfei’s face tightened up and twitched.
“Really, not even once?” Miao Ying continued in an icy tone. “You shot a six-year-old girl with your own hands. Doesn’t it weigh on your conscious? Do you not feel any remorse? When you fired the gun, did you see the fear on her face?”
“That…” Cheng Lingfei trembled slightly, seemingly embarrassed.
Miao Ying pressed on. “You keep talking about your revenge, but have you ever thought about it from another point of view? What if Jiang Er was the one who had been shot to death?”
“No! No!” Cheng Lingfei shouted agitatedly. “Stop talking, stop talking!”
“You have caused the deaths of so many people, have you never thought about how you’ve become a homicidal maniac?” Miao Ying continued. “Have you ever thought about the people you’ve killed and their families? Or their loved ones?”
“Stop talking! They all deserved it!” Cheng Lingfei said, getting more agitated. Her hair looked disheveled. “If they had not treated me so cruelly, I would not have had to do what I did. They all deserved it…”
“She’s right,” Zhao Yu took a deep breath and said. “There’s no end to revenge. Cheng Lingfei, you know why the pugilistic world has to abide by rules? If you want revenge, you can have it, but it has to be fair! They scolded you, great. At most, you scold them back. If not, you could have beaten them up. But you went so far as to kill them without giving them a chance to repent. There’s no morality to that!”
“I am not some pugilistic figure! I only care about the motive, not morality!” Cheng Lingfei shouted hysterically, no longer able to keep her composure. “I don’t want to hear these pretentious things from you people!”
“Wrong!” Zhao Yu shook his head and sighed. “I’m not Buddha either, why would I bother teaching you? I’m just trying to make you see it from another angle. I want you to understand that your current plight is the result of your own obsessions. You had a choice and happiness was within your grasp, but you ruined it yourself.”
“I don’t need you to tell me what happiness is!” Cheng Lingfei screamed.
“Do you consider this twisted love you and Yang Zebiao have to be true happiness?” Miao Ying shot back. “In the future when your child is grown and finds out about you two, what will he think?”
“Shut up!” Cheng Lingfei shouted. “You guys are not fit to judge me or my relationship! You guys have never experienced what I have so you’ll never understand! They wouldn’t even give me my cello, I had to take it back for myself!”
Hearing this, Miao Ying wanted to keep pressing Cheng Lingfei, but Zhao Yu stopped her. “Cheng Lingfei, that’s enough!” Zhao Yu said. “You don’t have to get so worked up. About your hatred, you said you read many books but never found the answer, right?” He paused before continuing. “Alright then, let me give you the answer. It has been in front of your face this whole time, but the books you’ve been reading were too profound.”
“What? An answer?” Hearing Zhao Yu’s words, Cheng Lingfei finally calmed down and asked curiously. “You know the answer?”
“Yes!” Zhao Yu said. “The answer lies in what I’ve just said, which is: revenge is not the end. The story continues with one last sentence, and that is to learn to forgive!”
“Wh… what? Learn to forgive?” Cheng Lingfei trembled as she repeated what Zhao Yu said over and over again. “Learn to forgive…”
