Proofreader:Sandra

Chapter 166

At 8:20 in the morning, in the restaurant of the Happy Inn on Nansha Island, the conversation continued.

After analyzing the entire process, Song Wen spoke, “I think these pieces of evidence should be sufficient.”

Li Ting’er sat at the table, silently tracing patterns on it with her slender fingers.

Song Wen continued, “And your actions should be related to your father’s death, right? Let me guess, your mother had a close relationship with that cake maker? And they… were both using laughing gas?”

His words were like sharp needles, piercing Li Ting’er’s chest.

Li Ting’er took a deep breath and finally spoke, “My family has lived on this island since I can remember. My parents used to run a farm stay. Back then, we were poor, but I was very happy.”

She remembered that time well. The island was rarely visited, and her family lived there. Although they were busy, they were happy. It was a pristine land away from the city, like humanity’s original Eden.

“Later… there weren’t enough people at home, so my dad hired a chef. That man came to the island and persuaded my dad to turn the place into a cake shop. The cake shop was very successful. Then he noticed the loose regulations on the island and, while going out to get supplies, brought laughing gas with him…”

“Soon after, some people became fascinated with this stuff. Those tourists with low awareness had almost no resistance to it… So, the business at home started booming…”

Li Ting’er continued with a face full of childlike innocence, “You probably have only seen a few people using it, right? But I saw it every day, at meals, before going to bed. The adults would hold those colorful balloons like they were the most delicious candies.”

“They called Yang Ling the man who brought joy. My parents, and many others, quickly got involved. From initial happiness to subsequent addiction…”

“I tried to persuade my parents to quit using the balloons, but they valued those things more than eating… more than me, their daughter… I advised my dad to give up on this business, but he said I was a child and didn’t understand. His earnings kept increasing, the cake shop expanded, and he even hired online trolls to make the shop famous…”

The girl had been holding these feelings inside for a long time and was now eager to release them.

Such things didn’t happen overnight; they changed gradually. This was likely the scene depicted in the two paintings hanging in the cake shop. It seemed harmonious but was actually fraught with danger…

Li Ting’er blinked and continued, “I hated seeing those people’s expressions when they used laughing gas. By then, they could barely be called human. Their vacant and obsessed state scared and disgusted me.”

“Once, those adults even brought the laughing gas in front of me and asked me to try it. I took a puff, and it felt like my brain exploded. I panicked and ran away, only to hear their mocking laughter saying I was a cowardly child.”

“Laughing gas, smoke, and alcohol—I don’t understand why adults are interested in these things. To me, they are dangerous, unpleasant, and harmful. At ten years old, I knew laughing gas could erode the brain and nerves, smoke could blacken the lungs, and alcohol could damage the stomach and liver. Adults think they have conquered these things, but in reality, they have become slaves to them, slowly eroding their bodies.”

She looked up and asked with a youthful voice, “Why don’t adults understand these simple truths?”

Upon hearing this, Song Wen confirmed their earlier suspicions and asked, “Didn’t anyone ever question Yang Ling about selling laughing gas here?”

With such a long period of time and so many tourists coming and going, how was this matter not discovered on the island?

Li Ting’er shook her head and quietly said, “Some of the guests came here specifically to buy this stuff, so they naturally wouldn’t expose themselves. A few guests stayed away, pretending not to see even if they did, afraid of being associated with it. There were inquiries, but at that time, Yang Ling bribed the visiting police, claiming the laughing gas was brought by the guests and had nothing to do with the cake shop. The matter was thus hushed up.”

Unlike drugs, laughing gas didn’t prompt drug enforcement officers to make special trips to this remote island. Even if someone came, it would only result in confiscation and fines. Yang Ling took advantage of this loophole, acting with impunity.

Li Ting’er lowered her head and said, “Then, the incident happened. During the summer vacation, a female student overdosed on laughing gas and died on the island… My parents, and Yang Ling, immediately thought of covering up the body and hiding the truth rather than reporting it to the police…”

“I saw with my own eyes how they sawed the sister’s body into pieces and secretly threw it into the sea at night…” Li Ting’er said, hugging her arms tightly. Even now, she sometimes has nightmares of such scenes.

Hearing this, Teacher Su bowed his head, gripping his hands tightly…

Song Wen now had a good idea that the bone they found might belong to the missing girl. He frowned and asked softly, “Since you knew all this earlier, why didn’t you report it to the police?”

“I did report it!” The girl turned her head and said. “I secretly called the police using my dad’s phone, but then my dad found out immediately. I had to say I dialed the wrong number and hung up. Later, Yang Ling saw that communication record. Yang Ling became suspicious of my dad, and my dad started to fear being implicated… He suggested stopping the laughing gas business, but he was immediately opposed by my mom and Yang Ling.”

Li Ting’er continued, “After my father died, I realized that Yang Ling and my mother had secretly been together behind my father’s back. They feared that my dad would stop the profitable business and betray them, so they teamed up to kill my father and made it look like a suicide. The day before, my dad had asked me what birthday gift I wanted, and the next day, he was found dead from a wrist slit. My dad’s death is definitely related to them…”

She raised her small face, now showing not indifference but immense anger. “I don’t want such a mother anymore!”

Upon hearing this, Lu Siyu realized that the store owner and his wife had already been at odds over the laughing gas issue. Everything the girl said undoubtedly accelerated the tragedy.

“My mother is now a murderer. I watched her turn into a useless person, lying in bed every day, except for eating and sleeping, inhaling laughing gas and showing a vacant expression. Every time I saw her with the people who killed my dad, it made me want them to die! They killed my dad, and one day, they might kill me… If I don’t act, they’ll harm more people!”

“I must take action first! I must kill them!”

By the end of her words, the girl’s face was twisted in a snarl, screaming.

Step by step, the killing intent became more apparent.

The ruthless perpetrator of the explosion was, in fact, this ten-year-old girl.

Perhaps this island was once a pristine land, like a carefree Eden, but with Yang Ling and the arrival of the laughing gas, everything changed.

The poisonous snakes tempted people with their sinful fruit. On the surface, it symbolized a sweet cake shop, but in reality, it bore the fruits of greed.

They concealed the truth about the missing girl. Yang Ling occupied the shop, killing the original owner, and got involved with the owner’s wife, taking over the cake shop…

This place had long since become a lost paradise.

Since Prometheus stole fire and Cain killed his brother, humanity began its path of sin. Lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, pride… all pervade the world.

This island, distant from the world, became the perfect cover for evil.

Li Ting’er saw adults losing their sanity from laughing gas, saw them greedily pursuing unlawful gains, saw them disregard human life for personal desires, saw them raise knives against loved ones for money…

A girl growing up in such a world was no longer innocent; her worldview was distorted.

When the lighter ignited, her mother should have been surrounded by flames in hell, every inch of her skin torn to shreds…

The flames, like the fires of hell, also consumed Yang Ling, who brought the laughing gas to the island.

An explosion and a fire reduced all the sins to ashes.

Now, the culprit has confessed.

The restaurant fell silent.

Song Wen looked at the girl before him, “Your final method was to take matters into your own hands? To burn your mother and Yang Ling to death in such a way?”

Even though they were evil, stopping evil with more evil was never an act of justice.

Li Ting’er smiled, her eyes reddened, her expression evil and ghostly, “I’m not yet of age, and with my strength, how could I compete with adults? To kill them, I could only rely on external conditions. I saw news of a flour factory explosion in the newspaper, and there was so much flour in the cake shop. After that, I kept thinking about how to kill them!”

“This world has disappointed me so much… If growing up means facing such a world, I’d rather die now,” Li Ting’er said, lifting her head. There was no trace of innocence in her eyes as she spoke, “I don’t regret doing these things.”

Song Wen continued, “Did you never consider that the fire might endanger more people, or that someone might lose their life trying to save you?”

Li Ting’er widened her eyes. “I don’t care about that anymore. If someone came to save me, it’s because you all insisted on coming! Even if they’re burned to death, it’s their own fault, not mine.”

Song Wen said, “Now, you will also face legal consequences…”

Li Ting’er’s expression twisted with rage as she gritted her teeth and lowered her head. “I’m still young, and you’re just a few meddling tourists! The police won’t believe you… That footprint was just something I left when I passed by. I don’t know anything about the flour or the explosion, and I don’t understand anything! I won’t say anything to the police!”

The girl before them seemed like a caged rat, baring her teeth and struggling to bite.

Lu Siyu had some sympathy for the girl initially, but after hearing these words, all his sympathy vanished.

The fact that she had killed Yang Ling and Yan Min was another matter.

After Song Wen risked his life to save her, and she spoke like this, Lu Siyu found it unforgivable!

“It’s too late to say that now,” Lu Siyu said, lifting the phone he had placed on the table. His gaze was cold, as if he were looking at a corpse. “Our conversation just now has been recorded…”

Li Ting’er was stunned for a moment, feeling as though her throat had been grabbed by the person in front of her. A hint of panic appeared on her innocent face, and she finally seemed like a ten-year-old girl.

Then the girl changed her expression, tears welling in her eyes as she looked pitiful. “I… I was wrong. I did it because I had no choice. Can you not turn me over to the police?”

Song Wen shook his head and sternly refused. “Sorry, we are the police.”

Li Ting’er’s face turned ashen…

The handcuffs were clearly too big. Song Wen led the girl out and had Wang Bo confine her in a small sealed room in the hotel.

Then Song Wen turned to Teacher Su. “Teacher Su, you should have found the answer you were looking for and learned about your daughter’s whereabouts.”

During the latter half of the interrogation, Teacher Su had remained silent with his head bowed.

This reaction confirmed their suspicions.

After arriving on the island, Teacher Su had inquired about the missing girl. He had disappeared for a while in the cake shop, possibly searching for evidence, and his actions after saving Li Ting’er indicated someone who had cared for the girl.

The man before them was a father who had lost his beloved daughter.

“So you knew all along…” Teacher Su adjusted his glasses. “The story Jiang Jiang told on the boat… the one who went missing on the island was my daughter… and my daughter took my ex-wife’s surname, Zhao.”

He smiled bitterly. “She… didn’t delete my contact information to prevent fraud, but because she was afraid her mother would be angry after our divorce. She had memorized my number and would secretly call me…”

“I was the last to know about my daughter’s disappearance on the island… At that time, I felt there were many doubts about her disappearance. So, I posted online, listing various suspicions and hoping that someone with information could tell me the truth… But I never found the answer I wanted, so I organized this expedition to the island…”

“I just… couldn’t accept my daughter’s disappearance being so unclear…” Saying this, Teacher Su took a deep breath, removed his glasses, and wiped away his tears with the back of his hand. “Thank you for letting me know what happened to my daughter.”

Lu Siyu turned around and asked, “I want to ask you a question. You must have already suspected that the cake shop was connected to your daughter’s disappearance before this morning. But after the explosion, why did you still come with us? Were you hoping to see your enemies die in front of you?”

Teacher Su shook his head. “Although the events have already occurred, I never thought that way. At the time, I was hoping to rescue more people. Before dinner yesterday, I went to the storage room behind the cake shop and took photos of the laughing gas… hoping to use them as evidence.”

“I want to find out the truth so that my daughter doesn’t die in vain. I don’t want such tragedies to happen again. But I still believe that everything should be resolved through the law.”

Lu Siyu was somewhat skeptical of his words and asked again, “Did you never think about seeking revenge for your daughter?”

Teacher Su looked at him and said, “If revenge meant killing others, I might find temporary satisfaction and solace, but no matter what happens afterward, whether I am judged or escape by chance, I would live in the shadow of that act and become as evil as those I sought to kill. I don’t believe that sacrificing oneself to uphold justice is worthwhile. I think, if my daughter really has a spirit in heaven, she wouldn’t want me to seek revenge in such an extreme way. I will work hard to send those wrongdoers to prison and do everything I can to ensure they receive appropriate punishment and retribution, so that I can live my life without regrets.”

Everyone faces different choices in similar situations.

It’s easy to step forward to confront enemies, but stepping back is much harder.

Teacher Su was ten years older than Lu Siyu. When he said these words, he appeared calm, and somehow, Lu Siyu was reminded of his own father.

If his father were still alive, would he also give him such advice?

Lu Siyu had been troubled about how to face the White Whale. Hearing Teacher Su’s words, he lowered his head and reviewed them in his mind. He realized that these words had soothed his restless emotions.

Looking at the man before him, Lu Siyu saw that what people do is closely related to their experiences. Teacher Su, well-educated and kind throughout his life, lacked the bitterness that would have led him to act otherwise. If not for his daughter’s disappearance, he would never have stepped into this place.

Because of this, he tried to save Chen Zui, who had inhaled laughing gas, and was willing to rush into the fire to save the daughter of his enemy.

Lu Siyu was not that kind of person and couldn’t do such things, but he understood that such people do exist in the world.

Since the Code of Ur-Nammu emerged thousands of years ago, there have always been people who follow the rules strictly.

Where there is evil in the world, there is also a hundredfold of good to counter it.

Every case is a clash and confrontation between good and evil.

Lu Siyu felt he was standing on the edge of good and evil, one step forward leading into darkness. Fortunately, when he was indecisive, Song Wen had embraced him from behind…

In front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Happiness Hotel, the three of them suddenly fell into silence.

Then Teacher Su sighed, “I also understand that the law is not perfect. If I want to use the law to put the bad guys behind bars, it might be an incredibly difficult road. At this point, I think it’s a tragedy of our legal society to have a girl seek so-called justice and eliminate the laughing gas in this manner.”

Saying this, Teacher Su looked up at the room where the girl was confined. “I don’t know how the girl will be treated, or if she has any relatives or guardians… If possible, I would like to adopt her.”

The law often shows leniency towards minors. Song Wen didn’t know what awaited the girl. He somewhat understood Teacher Su’s actions; this was a father who had lost his daughter, seeking solace.

But Song Wen still reminded Teacher Su, “Even if Yang Ling and that woman deserved what happened to them, many things are only the girl’s side of the story. The truth still needs to be investigated. Regardless, she is a mother-killer, and her pain and experiences are not an excuse for her to commit evil. You heard her words earlier; she is a cunning murderer with an evil side.”

Teacher Su nodded. “I understand. That’s why I want to adopt her even more. A child who hasn’t yet developed their worldview encounters such things… I don’t think her nature is evil, and regardless, she is someone who avenged my daughter… Maybe, this is also a kind of fate.”