Chapter 161: Zhang Wen's Provocation

No matter how I pressed him, Zhang Wen stubbornly refused to reveal where he had hidden Wang Yazhuo. Wang Yazhuo was his bargaining chip and foundation for leaving this place safely, so naturally, he would never tell us her whereabouts. The woman standing before Zhang Wen was already growing impatient, her mouth seemingly murmuring complaints about why he had not yet taken her.

As far as I knew, this female high school student was usually as taciturn as Zhang Wen. Yet once her inner desires burst forth, she appeared utterly debauched. Even with so many people watching, she showed no sense of shame whatsoever, instead continuously urging Zhang Wen to hurry. Done with exchanging pleasantries with the police, Zhang Wen intertwined with the woman right in full view of the public.

Disgusting sounds spilled from their lips as Zhang Wen completed the first step of his provocation against both the police and societal norms. For the sake of the victim's life, every police officer could only stand by and watch Zhang Wen's frantic actions with their own eyes. Everyone was filled with righteous indignation; at this moment, law and morality appeared pale and powerless. Amidst so many armed officers, not a single person could do a thing.

I clenched my fists tightly, staring dead at Zhang Wen. Both he and the woman laughed uproariously. Growing agitated, Zhang Wen accidentally grazed the woman's neck with the knife in his hand, yet she acted as if she felt no pain at all, the frenzied smile on her face not diminishing in the slightest.

The fingers of every officer holding a gun trembled, and many kept shouting into their walkie-talkies for Fatty Lu. Yet Fatty Lu offered no response whatsoever, as though he had already left the scene long ago. I struck the glass window hard with my fist. Zhang Wen stared right at us, smiling triumphantly, and asked what we, as police officers, could possibly do in the face of such a situation.

Zhang Wen's attitude was arrogant to the extreme. If he were brought before a court of law, there was no doubt he would be sentenced to death.

Shaking his body, Zhang Wen jeered at us, "You bunch of hypocrites, you only know how to maintain the interests of the majority. The pleas of people like us mean nothing to you; you even try to suppress them. But now, you can only watch helplessly as I carry out my so-called crimes. What can you possibly do?"

Sounds of sensual pleasure continually escaped Zhang Wen's lips as he cursed us for our incompetence. He had given us two days, but his objective had still been achieved. Zhang Wen declared that through a mere little trick, he had made us suspect Qiu Lei, something he found utterly laughable.

Believing himself to be some kind of genius, Zhang Wen wore a distorted expression as he laughed triumphantly.

During the period when Zhang Wen deliberately befriended Qiu Xiao, he had also acted like a sworn brother to Qiu Lei. According to Zhang Wen, after Qiu Xiao left with Hu Yufang's corpse, he never contacted his family again. Seizing this opportunity, Zhang Wen continued to buddy up with Qiu Lei while pretending to help him search for Qiu Xiao.

Because of this, Qiu Lei trusted Zhang Wen implicitly.

A few days ago, Zhang Wen approached Qiu Lei, claiming that the police suspected him of murdering Hu Yufang, that Qiu Xiao had already been arrested, and that once the police caught Qiu Lei, he would likely never be released. This was because Qiu Lei had violently assaulted Hu Yufang shortly before her death, even threatening in a fit of rage to kill her.

Terrified that he would have no way to clear his name, Qiu Lei had hurriedly fled Yu City. Little did he know that this was all part of Zhang Wen's pre-arranged plan.

Zhang Wen felt that Qiu Lei's behavior of making a scene at the school was prone to drawing police suspicion. Unsure of when the police might uncover the truth of that year and point their suspicions at him, he had deliberately approached Qiu Lei early on to lay the groundwork for shifting the blame. In truth, however, Zhang Wen had already grown deranged to the point where he no longer cared to conceal any of his criminal acts.

Zhang Wen told us that he had used sodium nitrite to murder several women who looked remarkably similar to Hu Yufang, subsequently figured out ways to steal their corpses, and gradually began consuming raw meat—all in preparation for necrophilia. Initially, Zhang Wen merely possessed a special fetish for corpses, but by his college years, he had come to learn about the practice of necrophilia.

Ever since then, Zhang Wen began to revere necrophilia, eventually reaching a state of obsession.

However, he had never actually tried it himself, so he decided to give it a shot.

Just as the news surrounding Qiu Xiao broke, Zhang Wen decided to exploit this tense situation to commit crimes that would challenge judicial authority and societal norms. The first time he consumed human flesh, he boiled the body parts thoroughly in a pot until they were completely overcooked and mushy. Even so, when he first tasted the flesh of a corpse, Zhang Wen could not stop himself from vomiting.

Yet after vomiting, he unexpectedly found the experience intensely gratifying, prompting him to undergo a second and third round of adaptation.

Gradually, the nausea faded, and he became able to eat raw meat. To Zhang Wen's eyes, everything was simply a delicious feast.

Zhang Wen spoke with extreme arrogance, filling everyone present with righteous indignation. Yet he completely ignored the crowd's reactions. The woman also wore an expression of sheer enjoyment, her eyes narrowed as she emitted sensual groans.

Both the woman and Zhang Wen were standing, with the woman positioned directly in front of him, willingly acting as a human shield to block bullets for him.

Zhang Wen had consistently denied that he loved Hu Yufang, but I knew deep down that Hu Yufang certainly held a place in his heart. Otherwise, he would not have continually sought out targets who bore a striking resemblance to her. Even so, Zhang Wen's love for Hu Yufang could never compare to his obsession with necrophilia.

To be precise, both Zhang Wen and Qiu Xiao loved Hu Yufang, but their love for her was diametrically opposed. Qiu Xiao unquestionably loved her deeply; before her death, he had been an entirely normal person. Yet the moment Hu Yufang died, Qiu Xiao developed an interest in corpses. Moreover, because Hu Yufang had been fond of Zhang Wen during her lifetime, Qiu Xiao refused to give up the man who had killed her.

This kind of love had also become distorted.

As for Zhang Wen, his love for Hu Yufang fell far short of Qiu Xiao's. Zhang Wen had gotten together with Hu Yufang purely because he discovered she seemed to share a similar special fetish for corpses—nothing more. Having spent a long time unable to find a kindred spirit, his inner repression had reached a boiling point; the sudden appearance of someone like him had overwhelmed him.

When Hu Yufang ultimately refused to engage in necrophilia with him, Zhang Wen poisoned her to death—a truly frantic and deranged act. Thus, Zhang Wen's love for Hu Yufang was never genuine; it was merely a byproduct of his diseased psychological state.

Zhang Wen recounted all of his criminal deeds to the police without the slightest bit of reservation.

There were no longer any uncertainties regarding this case; the police's sole remaining worries were how to stop Zhang Wen's ongoing crimes and how to locate Wang Yazhuo and rescue her.

In the blink of an eye, a dozen minutes passed. Zhang Wen shuddered all over and halted his movements. Both the woman and Zhang Wen simultaneously displayed expressions of utmost gratification. Even at a time like this, Zhang Wen did not forget to keep the woman tightly positioned in front of him as a human shield, the knife in his hand remaining steady.

Smiling at us, Zhang Wen—knowing full well that everyone understood he was about to proceed to the next step of necrophilia, which was our true fear—spoke through the glass window, "What can you possibly do to me? I'm about to eat her right now. What can you do to me?"

An officer shouted furiously, "If you dare to take this any further, I will shoot you dead on the spot!"

Zhang Wen mocked in response, "Which of you is confident enough to kill me? Aren't you afraid of accidentally shooting the woman standing right in front of me?"

If we had no way to stop Zhang Wen, that woman was undoubtedly destined to die. However, whose hands she died in held immense legal significance. If the police acted recklessly, figuring the woman was going to die anyway, and opened fire directly, only to accidentally kill her, the firing officer would inevitably bear criminal responsibility.

This was because the woman was a hostage, not a criminal suspect.

Such was the helplessness of the law. True to Zhang Wen's prediction, no one dared to squeeze the trigger.

"Zhang Wen, where is Wang Yazhuo? Tell me, and I'll let you leave safely." Panic was beginning to take hold of me. If things continued this way, Zhang Wen might genuinely devour the woman, while the police might not succeed in stopping him. Out of concern for Wang Yazhuo's safety, the police might even let Zhang Wen walk free.