>At ten o’clock in the evening, the stalemate in apartment 202 of Building 4, Fangting residential area, continued under the bright moon.

Dong Jiaying’s hands, arms, and legs had already been stabbed with small knives, and blood kept flowing out. Under the intense pain, her mind had started to become confused. Her hands were tied, and ever since the game began, she hadn’t seen Zhou Ye again.

But from the voices coming from next door, it could be heard that Zhou Ye was still resisting with all his might, he had not given up yet.

Qin Yongchen sat on the bed opposite Dong Jiaying in black clothes, playing with the knife in his hand, waving it in front of her eyes.

The entire room was filled with an uncontrollable bloody smell, and the floor was covered in bloodstains, the smell of which was nauseating.

“The same question again, between you and your husband, who will die?”

This was a question with only one correct answer, and answering it wrongly meant death while answering it correctly meant life. But what was the correct answer?

Dong Jiaying’s face was pale, and cold sweat dripped from time to time. All her wounds were hurting intensely. Despair rose in her heart, and ringing sounded in her ears. She felt that the criminals would not spare them.

But how should she answer?

She had already answered this question three times, and as a result, she had been stabbed three times.

What about Zhou Ye? What problems and choices was he facing? Was he also enduring the same pain?

Dong Jiaying lifted her head and looked behind the robber. Due to excessive blood loss, the scenery in front of her turned black and had a sense of unreality. But she knew this was her familiar home, everything inside was chosen and bought by her and Zhou Ye together.

On the bedside in the bedroom was a row of dolls. They were the ones Zhou Ye gave her when they were dating. Dong Jiaying liked the dinosaur dolls in the claw machines, so Zhou Ye practiced for half a month to catch those dolls for her.

Dong Jiaying felt a bit distressed and said to him, “You’re so silly. The money you spent could have bought many dolls.”

But Zhou Ye said, “As long as my girlfriend is happy, it’s worth spending the money.”

The dolls had been there for a long time. Every time Dong Jiaying would carefully remove the dust on them. Each one had a name, and she couldn’t bear to throw them away.

There were also the sheets on the bed, which they bought after getting married.

At that time, they had just paid the down payment for the house and both of them were broke. When they went shopping, Dong Jiaying saw a bedding store and asked for the price, but felt it was too expensive and didn’t buy it.

A few days later, Zhou Ye brought back that set of four pieces.

Dong Jiaying was surprised and asked, “Where did you get the money from?”

Zhou Ye said, “I have a SWITCH, I’m not playing with it now, so I sold it.”

Dong Jiaying’s eyes suddenly became moist. She knew that Zhou Ye only liked playing games, and he had been using that game console all the time. How could he have idle time?

She held the sheets and asked, “How did you know I liked this?”

Zhou Ye said, “When you were in the store, your hands kept touching and feeling the bed sheets, and your eyes seemed to be stuck on them. Who couldn’t see through your little scheme? You can buy a new game console, but sleep is more important. With new bed sheets, you can sleep better.”

“Hurry up!” The robber urged her again, interrupting her memories.

Dong Jiaying gasped for breath, trying to calm herself down. Ignoring the robber, her gaze fell on a small piece of plaster on the table next to her.

There was a heart drawn on the plaster. It was from when they got married a year ago. Zhou Ye had an accident while on a business trip, and Dong Jiaying had prepared a table full of food to welcome him home. She waited and waited, but he didn’t come back. Later, she received a call from the hospital.

Dong Jiaying was scared to death and cried all the way to the hospital. Her hands were trembling when she signed the treatment form.

Fortunately, Zhou Ye’s injury was not serious. His hand was broken and he had to wear a plaster cast. When he came out and saw Dong Jiaying crying, he comforted her, “It’s okay. Your husband is lucky to have escaped unharmed. Look at you, you’re crying so much that your nose is running.”

Dong Jiaying wiped away her tears and said, “You’re a bad person! I was just worried about you…”

Zhou Ye said, “It really doesn’t hurt at all. The doctor said it will be better in a few months. With your blessings, I will recover even faster.”

Dong Jiaying looked at the white plaster and took out a pen. She drew a heart on it and said, “I’m blessing you now. You have to keep your promise.”

After he recovered, Zhou Ye kept the plaster and put it on a shelf, saying it was his lucky charm.

She remembered the first time she saw Zhou Ye at a party. She was nervous and wanted to ask for his WeChat, but he added her first.

She remembers the first date with him, when she spent a long time choosing her clothes, fearing her makeup wasn’t good enough, and almost arrived late.

She remembers their wedding day, when Zhou Ye got down on one knee and put the ring on her finger.

She remembers giving birth to their baby, with Zhou Ye by her side, encouraging her all the way, until the doctor placed the little, chubby thing on her chest.

All these memories flooded back to her.

And then there were the posts she had seen on the forums recently…

Those heartwarming true love stories…

Why couldn’t ordinary people like them have their own happiness and love?

Dong Jiaying’s chest rose and fell, and she gathered up the courage to say, “I’m willing to die for him. Don’t hurt my husband. Even if you ask a thousand times, ten thousand times, the answer will still be the same…”

She believed that Zhou Ye felt the same way.

She had so much attachment left, and didn’t want to die. And if she had to choose someone to die, it certainly wouldn’t be Zhou Ye.

She didn’t know how much more pain she could bear, or how long she could hold on. But she would rather die herself.

“You foolish woman!” Qin Yongchen looked up at her and gritted his teeth, “Do you know what will happen to you after you die? That man will immediately marry a new wife, forget about you, and sweet-talk other women. Your house, your belongings, will all be used by someone else. Your child will call another woman ‘mom’, and his life won’t change a bit!”

During this period of time, since they began this killing spree, he had seen too many people make unexpected choices.

There are husbands who cry and beg them to kill their wives.

There are children who hope their parents will shield them from the knife.

There are mothers who choose to sacrifice their daughters…

The question is so simple, yet people cannot answer it correctly.

This is the dirty world, where sin is everywhere but those who commit it do not receive punishment.

As he listened to those choices, he felt ecstatic and continued to kill.

They had seen the ugly side of people fighting for survival before their deaths.

Human nature is unreliable, and family members are unreliable. What happened to him was not a coincidence, and millions of people would make the same choice.

Only they were worthy of having a family and love.

Those who abandon their families, those who betray them, should all die.

Their reactions even made him forget the answer he wanted to find and his original purpose.

But why were there still people who could persist under such questioning?

He looked at the woman in front of him. She was extremely ordinary, short and skinny, like a pedestrian you could meet on the street. But there was a strong determination in her that made him afraid.

Dong Jiaying looked up, her face already pale, filled with tears, and cold sweat on her forehead. She smiled and answered him, “But I am willing. I love him.”

After hearing these words, Qin Yongchen had an instant expression that made it difficult to discern whether it was pain or joy. He pressed the knife against Dong Jiaying’s chest and said, “If you really have the courage, then go ahead and die!”

Although he spoke these words, his knife stopped. In the past, before killing someone, he would feel a sense of pleasure and look forward to plunging the knife into the traitor’s heart. But now, he felt nothing.

Did he really have to kill this woman? His heart hesitated.

Dong Jiaying closed her eyes and waited for the final moment to arrive.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door.

Qin Yongchen released Dong Jiaying and quickly walked to the door.

Mi Shu was standing outside the door and looked up at him, saying, “Brother Qin, that man has been stabbed four times and still hasn’t talked.” She could tell from Qin Yongchen’s expression that the same result had been reached over here.

Seeing Qin Yongchen’s silence, Mi Shu tentatively spoke, “Brother Qin, let’s spare them… We’ve been questioning them for three hours already.”

They had tried their best, searching through the couple’s phones and various information, but there was nothing serious enough to constitute betrayal. No matter what they said, ridiculing and taunting, the couple never gave up on each other.

Qin Yongchen’s eyes were bloodshot. “I don’t believe it! They still haven’t talked. It must be that the knife hasn’t gone deep enough…”

Mi Shu still had reason. “If we go any deeper, they will bleed too much and die. We’ve already stabbed them four times. You know, most people would have changed their minds after just one stab, and after two stabs, they would say anything to save themselves. You must believe that there are still people who love each other…”

At this point, she paused and looked at Qin Yongchen.

Qin Yongchen hesitated for a moment. “But we have to kill them to find the answer…”

Mi Shu looked at him and said, “I think we already have the answer now…”

Qin Yongchen was silent for a moment, then he said, “They saw our faces.”

Mi Shu sighed and lowered her head. “We’ve done so much, killed so many people. When I came out today, I heard that the police have been searching for home invaders, they probably already have some leads. And what about the couple we let go earlier? Do you really think they’ll keep their promise? They can even betray each other…”

Qin Yongchen’s eyes flickered as he gritted his teeth. “No, I don’t believe them. The game isn’t over yet, I’ll stab them again and enter the fifth round!”

His ultimate goal was only for interrogation, for his unwillingness, but in the process of killing, he gradually felt pleasure, gradually enjoying it. The reaction of this couple now was not in his expectations.

He felt that killing them would make everything return to normal.

Mi Shu blinked and said softly, “Even if you kill them in the end, what’s the point? The game has rules. Have you forgotten how we established the rules in the first place?”

Adhering to the rules is the meaning of the game.

Unlike Qin Yongchen, Mi Shu couldn’t feel any joy from this killing.

She was Qin Yongchen’s supporter. When so many people opposed Qin Yongchen’s behavior, when so many people thought he was crazy, she firmly found him and followed him.

When she was truly with Qin Yongchen, she had a strong sense of admiration. At that time, Qin Yongchen had already emerged from his confusion and began to search for answers.

Mi Shu believed that this man was reliable. If she became his girlfriend, they would not abandon each other.

She believed that what Qin Yongchen was doing was just, and she strongly wanted to join in and punish those people.

At first, Mi Shu felt like she was taking revenge on her ex-husband, but as time passed, she began to question it.

Are those people who died at their hands, those who abandoned their loved ones in times of danger, really deserving of being killed?

If they hadn’t intervened, would they really have hurt each other to the point of death?

With each killing, Mi Shu became more and more uncertain about these things…

Qin Yongchen became more and more deviant, enjoying the killings and reveling in the struggles of those who betrayed him.

He ridiculed the police for their incompetence, repeatedly committing crimes without being caught.

Now, they have killed so many people.

Mi Shu became increasingly uneasy, feeling that the police were getting closer and closer, and that it was all going to end soon.

As the two were talking, Zhang Xiaocai stood by the window keeping watch. He was eating ice cream when he suddenly saw several cars drive into the yard and said, “Brother, something’s not right. People are driving here, and many people are walking out of the hallway…”

Zhang Xiaocai saw someone get out of the car. Having been to the detention center several times, he recognized that the person’s figure and posture were different from that of an ordinary resident, indicating that he had received training. He turned around and cursed, “Damn it, it’s the cops! How did they find us?!”

Zhang Xiaocai was scared and threw the unfinished ice cream on the ground. The memories of his past imprisonment still haunt him. Even though he didn’t directly participate in the killing spree this time, he took most of the money and was an accomplice. He knew what awaited him if caught, so he quickly picked up the bag from the ground and said, “Let’s escape!”

Mi Shu also grabbed Qin Yongchen’s hand and said, “Brother Qin, let’s go…”

Qin Yongchen glanced at the police outside who were gradually closing in and said, “Escape? Where are we going to go? Those people were notified to evacuate, and the police have already surrounded us! Do you want to go out and get shot?”

After hearing his words, Zhang Xiaocai, who had already opened the door, instantly stopped in his tracks. He closed the door and looked outside. Many people had already been evacuated by the police and street workers, and some were being questioned outside.

He knew they couldn’t escape or survive. They had missed their best chance to run. Qin Yongchen was right, they couldn’t escape.

“If you leave now, we’re as good as dead! We have hostages and weapons. Those police officers can’t do anything to us!” Qin Yongchen walked into the room and dragged Dong Jiaying out. She was already heavily injured and couldn’t run even if she was untied.

He viciously stabbed her in the leg, the fourth time he had done so, and the knife went deep into her flesh. Dong Jiaying was in so much pain, her face covered in cold sweat, and she let out a miserable cry.

“Do you think the police can save you now that they’re here?” Qin Yongchen crouched down, grabbed her hair and said, “Don’t dream! It’s not over yet! You’re tough, aren’t you? You’re all about each other, right? Then hold on till the end and prove your love to me.”

Then he turned around and said, “The game continues!”

The people in the courtyard were a team of detectives who had just arrived, including the Major Crimes Investigation Unit and the Criminal Investigation Unit, led by Lu Junchi and Qi Zhengyang.

Lu Junchi turned to ask Qiao Ze, “Has the ambulance been notified?”

Qiao Ze nodded, “It’s already on the way!”

“How’s the evacuation of nearby residents going?”

“We’ve already notified each household in this building, and they’re evacuating in an orderly manner.”

In the dark of night, the lights on the other floors have been turned off one after another, except for room 202 on the second floor, where the curtains are drawn and the lights are on. Because it’s only the second floor and not very high, the police have already surrounded the building from front to back, with people stationed at the entrance ready to storm in at any moment.

Now, even if the robbers grew wings, they would find it difficult to escape.

“Three hostages, a couple and their child,” Zheng Bai took out his telescope. “We can’t confirm yet what weapons the criminals have.”

Su Hui also got out of the car, and Lu Junchi turned back and looked at him through the crowd. Su Hui lowered his head slightly, his slender figure leaning on the cane in his hand. Amidst the chaos, he remained firm and calm, as if the evil could not break him down.

Just then, the curtains on the balcony of the second floor were suddenly pulled open.

Qin Yongchen appeared on the balcony, holding a baby just over one year old in his left hand and a grenade in his other hand.