Chapter 45

“You’ve gone crazy again, haven’t you? Isn’t killing all those before enough for you?”

“You said it. You said you’d be my legs!” Longxia pounded his wheelchair with his hands. “You lied to me! You’re just like everyone else, lying to me!”

“I hate him!” he suddenly shouted. “He looks down on me, ruined me… yet he doesn’t remember a thing!”

Seeing Longxia’s wretched and frantic expression, Long Chun swallowed his words. He looked at Longxia with near despair. “Fine, what do you want this time, a rabbit or a dog?”

“A dog,” Longxia said.

Upon receiving his brother’s promise, he temporarily calmed down, staring intently at the only undamaged item on the table—a classmate directory. Everything else had been smashed to pieces, but the directory lay perfectly intact amidst the wreckage.

Longxia wouldn’t allow anyone to touch it or use it. Long Chun knew that Longxia was likely obsessed with someone in that directory.

Late at night, Long Chun finally emerged from his brother’s room, exhausted. Faced with the servants’ inquiries, he couldn’t say anything. Moreover, he had to handle this task on his own—fulfill the mission Longxia had given him.

Otherwise, everyone would know that Longxia had turned into a complete pervert.

When did all the tragedies begin? He wondered.

It seemed that everything started after Longxia went to a high school in another city.

Growing up, Longchun was never close to his spoiled younger brother. Especially after his brother got the opportunity to study at a prestigious school far away, he always felt that his parents were hoping for Longxia to have a different, higher, and farther-reaching life compared to his own.

It was like a castle, where one person stays to guard the home while the other is expected to explore and conquer a larger world.

This “difference” made Longchun very uncomfortable. If Longxia was special in their parents’ eyes, then what did that make him?

Until one day in the second year of middle school, Longxia changed completely. He became more frequently angry with his family, yet he often showed inexplicable fear, as if he were being bullied at school. Long Chun, busy with his studies, rarely went home and didn’t care about his brother’s changes. He knew how his father would react to his brother’s situation — telling him to be strong, nothing more.

Children are supposed to know how to adjust themselves. Long Chun thought. Sure enough, after half a year, Longxia stopped slipping deeper into a gloomy abyss. Instead, he seemed to crazily idolize another person.

He neurotically brought home a wine box and placed it high on a cabinet like a shrine. He locked himself in his room, spending all his time reading the books and watching the movies that person had enjoyed. He obsessively wanted to get close to that person, stalking, monitoring, and even trying to hack into their social media accounts… All of this Longchun learned from Longxia’s cries many years later.

He cried that the person was so perfect, but he didn’t even notice him.

Then, an accident led to Longxia transferring schools. After the transfer, Longxia seemed to change completely. He mimicked “that person’s” every move, as if he wanted to become the most similar person to him, thinking that only then could he be noticed.

Even his grades became exceptionally good. Longqiu even said, “I heard from others that my brother’s grades suddenly improved so much that it seemed like he started cheating. But as long as he proves himself in the college entrance exam, these rumors will be dispelled.”

However, this unstable balance was completely overturned by a car accident before Longxia’s college entrance exams.

The Long family parents hoped Longxia would take the college entrance exams as a disabled person. But Longxia refused. He locked himself in his room and never wanted to come out.

Long Chun thought he was just depressed. Coincidentally, he was more saddened by Long Qiu’s passing. Besides, Longxia’s depression was also a good thing. This way, all of the Long family’s wealth would belong to him alone and not be split with another male heir.

— As for Long Dong, she was never part of the Long family’s inheritance plans. Otherwise, their parents wouldn’t have insisted so strongly that she study nursing and return to work in Snow Mountain Town to stay close to them.

Until one night, Longchun rarely woke up in the middle of the night, but that day he felt extremely anxious. After Long Qiu’s death, he had developed the habit of visiting her room when he was upset. However, this time, he didn’t see the dog Longqiu had raised.

It was a handsome dog that the whole family liked, especially Longqiu. After Longqiu’s death, it replaced her and lived in her room as a memorial of love.

The dog was loyal and obedient. It wouldn’t bark at night or run away.

Long Chun opened Longxia’s door and saw a scene he would never forget—

The dog lay in the middle of the floor, covered in blood. Next to it was Longxia holding a kitchen knife.

Longxia’s hand trembled as he held the knife, yet he laughed hysterically, looking like he believed he had become a strong person. Longchun thought he would rush in, grab him, question him, and beat him…

But at that moment, he was so terrified that he couldn’t say a word.

This 23-year-old man, with the most promising job and a respectable future in town, wasn’t afraid of his brother. He was afraid that the whole town would know he had a crazy brother.

How great a loss that would be for the Long family!

He secretly buried the dog’s body. After that, he became Longxia’s most steadfast “accomplice” — unwillingly, with extreme disgust, but still handling all kinds of trouble for him, even bringing new victims to him out of “placating” purposes.

And Long Dong knew nothing of this. Long Chun saw no need to inform her because he believed she was an outsider sooner or later.

Poor Long Dong still didn’t know she wasn’t included in the Long family’s will. Neither did her vain husband. Now, Long Chun just couldn’t bring up the issue of splitting the family assets because Longxia was insane.

He stabilized Longxia’s mental state and felt he bore enormous pressure. He supported Longxia’s art studio, where he painted possibly gruesome and bloody scenes. He was forced to find the animals and tools Longxia needed, hoping he would throw fewer tantrums. He persuaded Longxia to stay home more and go out less, and he never even asked Longxia…

Whether his grades back then were really obtained through cheating. Whether the car accident before the college entrance exams was truly a coincidence.

And now, Longxia had gone mad again. Long Chun had already noticed that since Bai Wei’s family moved in half a year ago, Longxia had been acting strangely. He spent a lot of time online, messaging reporters, even giving interviews, and secretly spreading rumors…

Long Chun didn’t understand why Longxia had such intense hostility towards Bai Wei. Was it jealousy? Boredom? But having someone to divert Longxia’s attention was a good thing, he thought.

But now, Longxia was even more mad than before. Reflecting on the meal earlier today, Long Chun suddenly realized that Bai Wei might be that “perfect classmate” who had “hurt” Longxia years ago.

Longxia was jealous of him and wanted to become him but never succeeded. And now, by a twist of fate, Bai Wei had moved to this small town. From the impressions during today’s meal, Bai Wei’s husband, Lu Sen, was indeed quite rude and impolite. But Bai Wei, except for the remarks he made after being offended, was polite and graceful, even “weak and easy to bully” most of the time.

Although Bai Wei didn’t do anything wrong—probably didn’t do anything wrong—he had to find a way to drive him away. Long Chun drummed his fingers on the stair railing, thinking to himself.

After all, Bai Wei was just an outsider who had intruded into the town.

And their family was more complex, having been entrenched here for much longer.

—-

Bai Wei pushed Lu Sen into the house, rather than letting him wheel himself up the steps.

He put the clothes he had changed into the laundry basket and ironed the clothes he would wear tomorrow, moving with the elegance and efficiency of someone who understood life well. Finally, he stared at the calendar on the wall and sighed.

The high-temperature steam torturing the clothes had almost calmed him down. He really shouldn’t have lost his temper at the restaurant today. He should remember that his primary goal was to get rid of Lu Sen and leave. This life here was brought upon him by Lu Sen.

It had been almost three months since he first tried to kill Lu Sen.

What was he thinking? He hadn’t taken advantage of Lu Sen’s broken leg to find a way to kill him and leave but had instead gotten involved in other things in the town?

But Bai Wei really wanted to teach that family a lesson. Holding the iron, Bai Wei thought gloomily.

Had they given him enough reason to act against them?

Since being treated by the psychologist hired by the Bai family, Bai Wei had resolved that he did not want his life completely controlled and influenced by his distorted personality. He needed to balance between his desires to kill, deceive, and maliciously treat others to gain pleasure and peace, and living a compliant life. Eventually, he set a rule for himself.

He would only act against people who disrupted the cleanliness of his living environment, whether they were drug-addicted vagrants harassing his colleagues on the corner or elusive stalkers.

But he couldn’t find any crime on this family yet. Moreover, if this family died first and then Lu Sen, and if the killer was traced through their connections… wouldn’t Bai Wei be too obvious a suspect?

Indeed, he should hurry up and let Lu Sen die first. A year later, he would return to Xueshan Town and then kill Long Chun, whom he had found guilty.

As Bai Wei pondered, he heard Lu Sen’s voice behind him: “Dear?”

There was no sound of the wheelchair moving, no sound of jumping. By logic, Lu Sen should already be upstairs… Bai Wei turned around and didn’t see anyone.

Until he looked down and saw Lu Sen lying at his feet.

Bai Wei: “…”

Lu Sen: “Dear, I wanted to come downstairs to find you, but my legs couldn’t move, so I crawled down.”

Bai Wei spread his fingers expressionlessly, letting the scalding iron fall onto Lu Sen’s face.

Lu Sen, as elusive as ever, dodged the iron, causing it to land beside his head. At this moment, Bai Wei curled his fingers and said, “Dear, you scared me. I accidentally let go. Boohoo.”

Lu Sen immediately comforted him: “Oh no! Don’t cry, it’s the bad iron! It almost burned your hand! It’s not your fault!”

Bai Wei: …

He just wanted to burn his husband to death, what fault did he have? Lu Sen actually thought Bai Wei would consider throwing away the iron his own fault, guilty and unforgivable, and deserved another death sentence.

While packing up the iron, Bai Wei cut the wire and soaked it in the water leaking from the iron, trying to electrocute Lu Sen lying on the floor. The result was still disappointing. When he turned around, Lu Sen was trying to stand up, holding onto the door frame. Holding the wire, he said, “Baby, this iron is really poor quality, it’s not only slippery but also leaks water and electricity.”

Bai Wei: “Husband, it’s great that you weren’t electrocuted to death.”

Lu Sen: “You shouldn’t iron clothes in the future, let me do it.”

Whether Lu Sen dodged the electricity or couldn’t be electrocuted to death.

Bai Wei sat back on the sofa with a grim face. He couldn’t help but notice all the dust Lu Sen had probably picked up on the floor along the way.

Even a monster should act a bit more like a normal person! He thought irritably.

His husband sat on another sofa. Bai Wei said, “What made you suddenly come downstairs?”

Lu Sen, with his slightly scorched head, said, “Actually, I wanted to talk to you tonight.”

“What do you want to talk about?” Bai Wei thought Lu Sen might say something stupid again.

“About your emotions. I originally thought you were unhappy today, but you just pushed me into the house and helped me upstairs—things you only do when you’re in a good mood,” Lu Sen said. “When you’re usually unhappy, you let me crawl up the stairs myself.”

Bai Wei: …

Was he that obvious? Bai Wei averted his eyes but said, “How could that be? Husband, I’m just tired from work. I’ve always helped you and pushed you… Are you dissatisfied with me?”

“Oh, I’m not blaming you. I just wanted to confirm something—did I make you angry?”

Lu Sen looked at Bai Wei with utmost focus. His blue eyes were like a sky reflecting curiosity, making it harder for Bai Wei to turn his eyes back.

Because once he looked forward, he would have to meet Lu Sen’s gaze.

“Are you mad at me for my rough attitude towards Long Chun and Longxia? I’ve always tried to be friendly to everyone in the town. I noticed you do the same, wanting to be polite to everyone.”

“If you don’t like it…”