Chapter 306: Poison in a Troubled Heart

2022-05-20

I studied the items in front of me and quickly figured out how the plants and insects were being used. This isn’t exactly rare knowledge, and as a kid I’d often heard adults talk about someone getting killed this way. Still, being face-to-face with the real thing for the first time, I nearly missed the answer.

It’s one thing to have heard tales; it’s another to actually see it myself.

I began, “The administrator’s right—it is possible to drink this stuff. But don’t mistake it for some harmless folk remedy. This is deadly. When these are ground into fine powder and stirred into water, especially in tea, the poison from a moth isn’t all that strong. Even if you touch or accidentally swallow it, chances are nothing major will happen.”

I glanced at the two people watching me, both absolutely focused.

Pointing at the white powder on the moth’s wings, I explained, “Most moths have this, but it’s not very toxic. Swallowing it might just give you diarrhea at most. But there is a hidden danger: if there are already wounds in your stomach or intestines, and you eat this powder, then things can get dangerous.”

Looking down at the moth, I continued, “That white powder is a combo of phospholipids and proteins. It helps the moth keep moisture and hunt, but for humans the toxicity’s too low to matter. There’s one exception—a species called the ‘Long-winged Swallowtail.’ Its powder is deadly.”

Zhao Mingkun eyed the moths and asked, “But there’s not much powder here. Even if someone swallowed it, would it really be enough to kill?”

I shook my head. “No, unless someone already has a gut injury. Otherwise the worst would likely be a stomachache—except for people with severe allergies, but Wang Yikai didn’t show symptoms of an allergic reaction.”

“That’s where this next thing comes in.” I motioned to the plant stalks. “These tiny thorns on the plant are what matter. They’re barely visible, but they’re incredibly dense and small. Our insides are much more fragile than our skin. Once these go down into your gut, they become weapons.”

The realization dawned on Zhao Mingkun. He said, “You mean, after Wang Yikai drank the mix, those tiny thorns tore up his stomach and intestines. That made the moth poison take hold?”

I snapped my fingers. “Exactly. No matter how the killer got Wang Yikai to swallow the water, once he did, there was almost no saving him. But here’s the thing—death comes slow. Most of the thorns would pass out with his waste, but some would lodge deep in his gut, leaving him bleeding inside.”

“That kind of bleeding is slow, and so is the poison. If one of those thorns happened to land in the stomach, it’d be even more dangerous. At first, after drinking the water, nothing happened. But as his intestines moved, the thorns worked deeper in.”

“See? The tips of these thorns are curved. If they go the wrong way in your intestines, they latch on and won’t come loose. They dig deeper. When the pain finally sets in, it’s already serious damage. To him, it probably just felt like bad food or a flare-up from his hemorrhoids. But the truth is, he was dying and never realized it.”

“With his intestines tearing open, the bleeding started. He had stomach pain, saw blood in his stool, but just blamed the hemorrhoids and didn’t take it seriously. It’s like a frog sitting in slowly boiling water—he never saw the danger until it was too late. Push came to shove, and right in front of us, Wang Yikai died.”

The administrator shook his head and said, “I don’t really get what happened, but it sounds impressive. Still, why not just throw away the evidence? These things reek—looks like they’ve been here for ages.”

“Good point!” I turned to look at the administrator.

He jumped back, startled by my sudden movement. “You nearly scared me to death!”

He stumbled backwards, accidentally knocking a pile of files off the desk. Flustered, he hurried to pick them up.

Yet what he said made a lot of sense. Even an outsider could figure out that the killer should have tossed the evidence. Why didn’t she? Just dumping them would’ve erased all traces—if she’d destroyed the chemicals, we’d have nothing to go on. But she didn’t.

It made no sense for someone as clever and cautious as the killer—someone with so many calculating methods—to make such a basic mistake. Something was off. Deng Xuemei’s sudden disappearance definitely hid deeper secrets.

And where would Deng Xuemei go? Did she really leave the city for good?

Setting that aside, we’d already unraveled the killer’s methods. Only one puzzle remained: Hu Pei and Luo Ding died from sheer terror. Both men were timid and ridden with guilt toward Lü Zhiqiu. Luo Ding believed Wang Yikai had killed Lü Zhiqiu. Hu Pei hid in the shadows, witnessing Lü Zhiqiu’s body being taken apart.

Crushed by guilt and fear, both men thought Lü Zhiqiu’s ghost had returned for revenge. With the killer’s tricks pushing them further, terror claimed their lives.

As for Hu Xiaoxue, Liu Ruijie, and Wang Xianduo, plus others like Zhang Xue, Zhao Pingjuan, and Zhou Moli who we couldn’t reach, all were killed by having corrosive substances poured into their eyes. The process varied, but the method was always the same. Each tore out their own eyeballs and died in excruciating agony.

Then there’s Zhang Yifa, Cheng Lu, and Sun Shouwang. Those three had it ‘easy’—they drank cyanide and died fast. There wasn’t even time for a single cry.

Yang Licheng and Wang Xin were poisoned by fumes given off from mercurous chloride—killed right in front of us.

Step by step, the killer used their knowledge of chemistry and biology. The tricks were simple but so ingeniously executed that almost everyone ended up dead. And at this point, there’s no one left for them to kill.

Liang Mei was murdered by the killer’s own hands. But we still have no idea where it happened, or how. Judging by her look of utter shock when she saw the killer, it’s likely she knew them. But oddly, no one seems to recognize Deng Xuemei.

One mystery still lingers: that brief flash of a huge face inside Luo Ding’s house. I can’t explain it yet. But now that we know the killer relied on chemistry and biology, I doubt that haunting face was anything supernatural.

We haven’t found the answer yet, but I’m sure it won’t be long before we do.

Right then, the administrator called out again. “Hey, come look at this!”

I shot him a look, trying to hide my irritation. This guy really does jump at every little thing.

“What now?” I sighed.

He rummaged through the pile and pulled out a sheet of paper, waving it at us. “Look! There’s a medical report here and a letter, too. I just glanced and I think they’re Deng Xuemei’s… the report lists a bunch of weird diseases…”

I reached for the report. Sure enough, it was hers. The front was filled with technical terms I didn’t understand, like transaminase and internal proteins, but the conclusion was crystal clear: late stage.

Seeing that, the seriousness of the situation hit me. It looked exactly like her father’s illness. Could it be genetic? I’m no doctor, so I couldn’t be sure, but from the report alone it was clear—she didn’t have long left. The doctor estimated two years at most.

I frowned and passed the report to Zhao Mingkun.

Zhao Mingkun finished reading, then asked in confusion, “If Deng Xuemei didn’t have much time left and was in the prime of her life, it explains why she killed so many people. Even with a death sentence, there’d be endless appeals to prevent wrongful conviction.”

I nodded. “Trust me, I’ve seen plenty of these cases. Severe illness means the appeals process drags out even longer. For her, whether she got caught or not hardly mattered anymore. Maybe that’s why she didn’t bother destroying evidence. In the last few days before she ran, she did and bought whatever she wanted, parted ways with her boss… it all fits.”

Zhao Mingkun said, “Makes sense. If she’s dying anyway, might as well take others down too. Kill one person, it’s worth it. Kill two, you’re already ahead.”

I frowned again. “Isn’t there still that letter?”

I picked up the envelope, opened it, and the opening lines stared back at me:

“I’d rather die than be tormented by illness and pain. If I have to die alone, I might as well take those cold, two-faced, hypocritical people with me. At least I’ll have company on the other side…”