NOS Chapter 105

Chapter 105: Boundary Marker (13)

Eleven years ago, early spring, Songlan White River Prison.

A tall, sturdy man was leaning against a taxi, smoking. He listlessly fiddled with the radio a few times, then pinched out the cigarette and meticulously straightened his work clothes.

Before long, the prison gates opened, and a prison guard led an old man out.

“Is someone here to pick you up?” the guard asked.

Li Ying timidly looked at Li Guanglai walking towards him, and didn’t speak.

“Someone is,” Li Guanglai said, calmly answering, “I am Li Ying’s son.”

Li Ying’s son?

If the old folks from No. 2 Timber Factory heard this, they would be astonished. When did Li Ying get such a tall and strong son?

After all, everyone knew that Li Ying’s son, Li Qie, was a hopeless idiot, unable to learn anything, unable to do even ordinary worker’s jobs. Even when he started speaking, he was several years behind his peers.

So, who was this?

But the guard didn’t delve into it. He waved his hand, indicating that Li Guanglai could take Li Ying away.

“Why didn’t you tell me about your reduced sentence?” Li Guanglai asked once they were in the taxi.

Li Ying mumbled for a long time before quietly replying, “I told Li Qie.”

“Li Qie…” Li Guanglai snorted coldly, turned the key, and started the car. “That idiot Li Qie, what good is telling him?”

Li Ying was meek and dared not argue with Li Guanglai.

That’s right, now he and Li Qie were dependent on him for support, so of course, they had to do as they were told. Moreover, ever since the incident twenty-two years ago, in this strangely composed family, the only one whose words carried weight was Li Guanglai.

His biological son, Li Guanglai.

Back then, because of Li Shengnan and Li Guanglai’s “immoral love,” Zhang Nan and Zhang Changling’s conspiracy was exposed, and the whole thing came to light. Li Guanglai, then still called “Zhang Yi Jun,” stormed into his house, demanding to know why Li Ying had agreed to Zhang Nan’s request to switch sons a decade earlier.

Li Ying couldn’t give an answer. He never could give an answer. This timid, weak man had always been submissive, agreeing to whatever others asked of him.

So, even if the “bright” future became “so-so,” he dared not utter a word of complaint.

He just didn’t expect that the news of Zhang Nan’s molestation and rape of Li Shengnan in his early years would be leaked out.

“A few years ago, I saw Jiang Min once, at the market in Za Mu Er,” Li Guanglai said as he drove the taxi.

Li Ying didn’t know what to say, because he could barely remember Jiang Min’s face. This feisty and headstrong woman had helped Li Shengnan a lot in the beginning, but sadly, good people don’t always have good endings. According to Li Guanglai, Jiang Min’s life was also terrible.

“This woman said that about six years ago, Qian Guowei went to see her once.” Seeing that Li Ying didn’t say anything, Li Guanglai continued.

“Qian Guowei?” Li Ying was shocked by this, and he asked blankly, “Isn’t Qian Guowei dead?”

Li Guanglai scoffed: “They said Qian Guowei was dead, and you actually believed it? Good people don’t live long, but evildoers live for a thousand years. Not only is Qian Guowei alive, but Xu Wen and Ai Hua are also alive.”

Li Ying opened his mouth, realizing that his throat seemed to be blocked by something.

Twenty-two years ago, because of Li Shengnan’s matter, Li Guanglai went berserk. On September 23rd, after work, he tricked that beast Zhang Nan to the back of the No. 2 Timber Factory’s warehouse.

“I’m going to kill him.” Li Guanglai, still called “Zhang Yi Jun” at the time, said while smoking, “Don’t tell Shengnan when you go back.”

Li Ying trembled, rubbing his hands together. He wanted to reject this terrible proposal, but he didn’t dare to speak, so he asked timidly, “What, what are you going to do?”

Li Guanglai flicked the ash from his cigarette, calmly saying, “I’ve already written him a letter in Shengnan’s handwriting, asking him to meet at the warehouse tonight. This afternoon, I’ll go to the school and steal the chemicals used for the chemistry competition. When the time comes, we’ll melt his insides and dump him in the river.”

Li Ying was terrified, his face pale. He repeatedly waved his hands: “No, no, this won’t do…”

“What won’t do?” Li Guanglai got up, his face cold. “Zhang Nan has to die.”

So, on September 23rd, Li Ying, who had rarely been brave, went to Zhang Nan’s office with a hammer. He tried to appear calm, sticking his neck out as he questioned Zhang Nan about whether he had ever done anything to bully men or act like a tyrant.

How could Zhang Nan admit it? He looked amused, even deliberately talking about Li Shengnan’s “good qualities.”

This is what they meant by those who are destined to die can’t be stopped by heaven, and Li Ying couldn’t stop the doomed Zhang Nan. That night, he stood downstairs in the office building, watching that beast swagger away.

Now, sitting in the taxi, recalling the events of that year, Li Ying still felt a chill down his spine. He sniffled, almost pleading: “Why don’t we just let it go? Living a good life is better than anything.”

Li Guanglai didn’t answer, he said coldly: “What’s there to be afraid of Qian Guowei? Don’t forget, we have something on him.”

That’s right, twenty-two years ago, after Li Ying and Li Guanglai killed, dismembered, and destroyed Zhang Nan’s body in the warehouse, they had witnessed Qian Guowei and others raping Jiang Min and then throwing her into the river in the small woods behind the warehouse. All three of them had murder charges on their backs.

What’s more, there was “Little Pear Blossom,” Li Shengnan.

“Don’t forget how Shengnan died,” Li Guanglai reminded him.

How could Li Ying forget? He could forget himself, but he could never forget how his daughter died.

As the poorest and most ordinary worker in the No. 2 Factory, Li Shengnan was an indispensable part of his life. This beautiful, sensible daughter had been his only hope for the future, but now, she had become his greatest despair.

Li Ying heard Li Guanglai say: “Don’t forget, after Qian Guowei and the others found out that we had killed Zhang Nan, they were afraid that Shengnan would reveal the other things. Under Zhang Changling’s orders, they used the lie that Jiang Min had caught a cold after falling into the river to trick Shengnan into taking dumpling soup to the warehouse, and then they used a fire to burn her alive. If it weren’t for them, do you think the fire could have started?”

Of course not.

Because the so-called Za Mu Er 9.24 fire was not an operational accident at all, but a fire of revenge set by Li Ying and Li Guanglai to stop Qian Guowei from escaping and destroy Zhang Nan’s body after they discovered that Li Shengnan was dead.

But—

“It’s all burned clean, there’s no evidence. If we pursue it now, both of us… both of us will not be able to escape,” Li Ying began to cry.

“Then we’ll die together, I’m not afraid.” Li Guanglai’s gaze was very cold, so cold that Li Ying trembled a little. He only heard this man say, “I’ve already found out where Xu Wen is now, and what kind of work he’s doing. I’ve also contacted Qian Guowei through a woman. When the time comes, I won’t leave a single life.”

“Guanglai!” Li Ying shouted.

Li Guanglai ignored him, he said: “Not only Qian Guowei, Xu Wen, and Ai Hua’s lives, I won’t leave, but their sons’ and daughters’ lives, I won’t leave either.”

This was early spring twenty-two years ago, and the prosperous Songlan had begun to show signs of decline at some point.

At that time, the ice and snow melted, and the sun was shining, but no one knew that before long, a chase and slaughter lasting more than a decade would begin.

* * *

With a *pop*, the lights in the interrogation room came on, and two policemen from the provincial pre-trial department sat opposite Li Guanglai.

One of them said, “Name.”

“Zhang Yi Jun.” Li Guanglai moved his lips.

The policeman looked up at him, “Parents’ names.”

Li Guanglai’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he spat out a sentence: “Are you asking about Zhang Yi Jun, or me?”

“You,” the policeman replied.

Li Guanglai twitched the corner of his mouth: “Father is Li Ying, I don’t remember my mother’s name.”

The policeman asked again: “What is your relationship with the deceased Li Shengnan?”

“Siblings,” Li Guanglai was silent for a long time before uttering these two words, he said, “Should be siblings.”

The policeman asked again, “What is your relationship with the deceased Zhang Nan?”

“Enemy.” This time, Li Guanglai didn’t hesitate.

The policeman was not satisfied with this answer. He knocked on the table and said sternly, “Face the interrogation properly. I’m asking about the relationship, not your personal feelings.”

Li Guanglai took a deep breath and answered as if resigned to his fate: “I killed him. I killed him with my own biological father, Li Ying.”

At this point, everything became clear.

Thirty-three years ago, in order to avenge “Little Pear Blossom,” Li Guanglai committed murder in the warehouse of the No. 2 Timber Factory on the evening of September 23rd. When disposing of the body, he inadvertently bumped into Qian Guowei and others who had raped and murdered Jiang Min.

Because Zhang Nan was dead, Qian Guowei was worried that Li Ying would go all out after the matter was exposed. He planned to use the lie that Jiang Min had been rescued by Li Ying after falling into the river and was resting in the factory to trick Li Shengnan into taking dumpling soup to the warehouse. Then, he ordered Xu Wen to prepare the oil cans and open flames, and in broad daylight on September 24th, he burned Li Shengnan alive.

Li Ying, who rushed to the warehouse, failed to save his poor daughter. Li Guanglai went crazy and directly lit the wood in the warehouse, wanting to die together with Qian Guowei and others.

But unfortunately, those who died were all innocent people.

This fire lasted all night, and the chaotic Za Mu Er gave criminals an excellent opportunity to escape.

Qian Guowei made the decision, and he, Xu Wen, and Ai Hua split into three groups, taking different vehicles to leave Jin A Lin, and finally reuniting in Shunyang.

Perhaps it was because heaven was watching, Qian Guowei’s escape was not smooth. Xu Wen, who was eager for money, betrayed him at the Shunyang train station and put him on a trafficker’s car, all the way to Sui City, where he was blessed by misfortune and obtained the new identity of “He Wang.”

Xu Wen, carrying the money from betraying his brother, changed his name to “Wang Xinsheng” and returned to Huacheng. Taking advantage of the spring breeze of reform, he invested in building land and bought the “Tianyun Metallurgical Factory” that later caused many disputes.

Ai Hua ran to Baishan and started smuggling in the border town under Baishan.

But any crime, once committed, will eventually come to light. No one can escape the sanctions of law and fate.

After a few years of peace, a message crushed the three of them—Li Shengnan had actually left a suicide note, and the suicide note recorded the crimes of everyone!

Who released this message? No one could say for sure.

What was written on the suicide note? No one had ever really read it.

Soon, Qian Guowei, the most impatient of the three, took action. He found his childhood friend Lin Zhimin and asked him to pretend to be himself and go to Za Mu Er to test Jiang Min’s attitude. Unfortunately, Jiang Min was extremely tight-lipped, and he therefore exposed his whereabouts.

So, eleven years ago, Li Guanglai couldn’t wait to take action before Li Ying was released from prison.

He first found out about Xu Wen’s, that is, Wang Xinsheng’s, Tianyun Metallurgical Factory, and then sent Li Qie to disguise himself as an ordinary worker to spread the rumor that Li Qie was carrying Li Shengnan’s relics, in order to lure Xu Wen to take action. Before Xu Wen took action, in order to protect himself, he reconnected with Qian Guowei, who he had not seen for many years, and promised that as long as he helped him once, he would definitely compensate him in the future.

In this way, Li Guanglai easily found Qian Guowei’s residence, and through Qian Guowei’s girlfriend, Yang Xiaowei, he met their young son.

Under Li Guanglai’s plan, Yang Xiaowei and Qian Guowei’s son died, the murderer Chen Yujie, who helped Xu Wen and Qian Guowei murder Li Qie, died, Yu Zeng, who was taken advantage of, became a tool for him to make money by making drugs, and the carefree Ge Xiaopei also fell into the trap step by step.

In addition, Li Guanglai confessed that at that time, Li Ying, who had returned to Za Mu Er at his request, after several twists and turns, finally approached Qin Tian, who was also working at the Far East Department Store, and learned the truth about Jiang Xin’s disappearance from Qin Tian’s mouth.

The rest of the story is clear.

Li Guanglai alarmed Xu Wen and Qian Guowei, and the two fled in panic. He had to continue to wait for an opportunity until a year and a half ago, when he finally found Qian Guowei, who was hiding in Songlan.

Li Guanglai, disguised as a cleaner “Yi Jun,” sneaked into Qian Guowei’s house. In order to save his life, Qian Guowei promised Li Guanglai to immediately contact Xu Wen and Ai Hua, and to liquidate all the small industries under his name and give them to Li Guanglai.

But Qian Guowei didn’t expect that what Li Guanglai wanted in the end was his life.

Just last June, when the two agreed to return to Za Mu Er together to take the last sum of money, Li Guanglai took action.

He had already been watching Xu Wen’s daughter, Wang Xi, a year earlier, and disguised himself as Wang Xi’s online boyfriend, luring this innocent girl to Songlan.

Xu Wen, mistakenly believing that his daughter had been kidnapped, immediately rushed to the location requested by the “kidnapper.” However, he didn’t expect that waiting for him there were the deranged Li Guanglai and Qian Guowei, who had long-standing grievances.

The bodies of the father and daughter were put into the freezer, but bloodstains and a small section of severed finger were “inadvertently” left in Qian Guowei’s house. Li Guanglai, who thought everything was perfect, ran into Yu Chunming, who was investigating the case, and Qian Guowei’s account hidden in Za Mu Er was also exposed to Guan Yao.

At that time, no one knew how important the line that Xu Wen wrote on his leg with a marker before he died was. Everyone only thought that “Za Mu Er, District 11, Number 35” was a strange location, but Yu Chunming, who came from the Forest Farm, keenly realized the problem:

The fire, the fire thirty-three years ago, has not been extinguished to this day.

Time has passed for a long time, but the truth has not been buried in history. Those secrets hidden in the mouths of old friends and old archives have not disappeared.

Perhaps it is because the wronged souls cannot be cleared, that for decades, the sky above Za Mu Er has always been covered with a layer of gloomy haze, allowing everyone living in it to smell a gunpowder smell mixed with blood.

And today, this layer of haze is finally about to dissipate.

People cannot come back to life after death, but those who kill will eventually pay with their lives.

[The author has something to say]

The next chapter is the end.

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