Chapter 143: Mountain Peak Village

“The criminals took them to a deep mountain. Then they told Xiao Jing to go down the mountain and go home to raise money to ransom Wan Wenzhong. But Wan Wenzhong told the criminals… that Xiao Jing couldn’t raise that much money, and the money from the company and home couldn’t be withdrawn without his signature. So, he suggested to the criminals that they keep Xiao Jing on the mountain as a hostage, and he would go down the mountain to raise the money to come back and ransom Xiao Jing…”

“After Wan Wenzhong went down the mountain, he did not raise money to ransom Xiao Jing. Instead, he called the police…”

“The criminals, in their anger, took turns raping Xiao Jing. They cut off her waist-long hair and used it to strangle her. Then they cut her body into pieces and buried her in the deep mountains…” Liu Yin sighed deeply after saying this.

“That despicable man! When he was in love with Xiao Jing, he kept telling me he loved her deeply, that he would give his life for her at any time! But when the kidnappers suggested Xiao Jing go down the mountain to raise money, he shamelessly left her there as a hostage to save his own skin and went down the mountain alone!” Zhou Ling walked over, a cold, sharp look in her eyes as she stared fixedly at the man opposite Zhou Jing, as if she wanted to kill him at any moment.

“Do you love me?” Zhou Jing spoke, asking Wan Wenzhong softly.

“I do…” Wan Wenzhong replied to Zhou Jing, his voice trembling.

“You told my sister that for me, you would give your own life at any time, is that right?” Zhou Jing then asked Wan Wenzhong.

“I… I…” Wan Wenzhong was speechless, not daring to answer Zhou Jing’s question, probably afraid that if he said ‘yes’, she would take his life right then.

“Don’t be afraid… it’s enough for me that you can say that… don’t blame yourself so much…” Zhou Jing held Wan Wenzhong’s face in her hands and comforted him in a gentle voice.

“Xiao Jing! He is the one who got you killed! Who made you suffer so terribly! Why are you still protecting him!? Huh!?” Zhou Ling took two steps forward and knelt on the ground. She looked at Zhou Jing’s back, her expression full of extreme anger and fury.

Zhou Jing did not make a sound. She just looked quietly at Wan Wenzhong in front of her, no one knew what she was thinking.

“Xiao Jing, you hadn’t even been dead for two years before he started up with another woman! What are you still clinging to a man like that for!?” Zhou Ling became even more hysterical.

“I’m already gone. Isn’t it good that someone is taking care of him for me?” Zhou Jing replied to her sister in a low voice, her eyes still fixed on Wan Wenzhong in front of her.

“He is a scumbag! Little sister, you were killed because of him! Why are you still so blinded!?” Zhou Ling grabbed and pulled at her own hair, her expression already somewhat crazed.

Zhou Jing fell silent again. She continued to gaze softly at Wan Wenzhong. In her eyes, there was no trace of sadness or anger, only the same love as before.

“Why are there so many scumbag men in this world! They keep saying they would give their lives for love! But when they really need to give their lives, they just watch their loved ones die!? Why!?” Zhou Ling shouted loudly.

“Xiao Jing… I’m sorry…” Wan Wenzhong’s face was full of terror as he kept apologizing to Zhou Jing.

“No need to apologize… I just never had the chance to tell you, I never really blamed you…” Zhou Jing continued to stroke Wan Wenzhong’s face. Two lines of blood-red tears fell from the corners of her eyes, tracing paths down her deathly pale cheeks.

“Ah! Ah!! Xiao Jing, why are you so foolish!?” Zhou Ling cried out, knocking her head against the floor. Clearly, her sister’s deep, unwavering love for Wan Wenzhong even after her tragic death had exceeded her limits of tolerance. Unable to persuade her sister any further, she could only vent her inner rage with a hoarse, desperate scream.

“So, you created the Death Livestream to test whether scumbag men in this world would give their lives for the women they love, is that it?” Han Cheng walked over with a dark expression and questioned Zhou Ling, who was on the ground.

Liu Yin quickly walked over and blocked Han Cheng, stopping him from getting closer to Zhou Ling on the floor. She… how could she possibly be the Death Killer? For the past two years, Zhou Ling had been by his side. He felt he knew her very well…

“A joke! What right do you have to judge me!? Haven’t you always treated me like air?” Zhou Ling raised her head and looked at Han Cheng with a murderous expression.

“Have we met before?” Han Cheng looked into Zhou Ling’s eyes. Hearing the words she just spoke, which felt strangely familiar to him, his expression became confused.

“Of course we’ve met! You even wrote me into your book. What? Don’t recognize me now?” Zhou Ling stood up and took a few steps closer to Han Cheng.

“How is that possible!?” Han Cheng retreated several steps. The anger and hatred that were on his face moments earlier vanished completely, replaced only by shock and bewilderment.

“How is it not possible? You don’t remember me? That Xiao Ling whose hand you always held since we were little? It was you who woke me from my wandering, who I followed out of Mountain Peak Village, even becoming a Betrayer with you! I came into this world, was born into the Zhou family, became sisters with Xiao Jing, and then spent all my time searching everywhere for you…”

“Five years ago on that day, I finally found you, and found a way to stay by your side. For the two years after that, I stayed with you, waited for you, hoping that one day in the future, you would take my hand again…” Zhou Ling got up and pushed Liu Yin aside, continuing to step closer to Han Cheng.

“Xiao Ling, no… this… isn’t right…” Han Cheng’s expression showed immense pain. He no longer dared to look Zhou Ling in the eye.

“I waited for you, watched you, saw you flitting from flower to flower every day, attracting all sorts of admirers… Sometimes, you were hurt, and you came to me to pour out your heart; sometimes, you were tired, and came to me to complain; sometimes, you were proud, and came to me to show off… Every time you started a new romance, you would excitedly tell me how very, very much you loved her, how you swore to protect her with your life, to protect this love you waited a thousand years for…”

“Xiao Ling, you…” Han Cheng showed a face full of helplessness and embarrassment.

“I know, that Big Brother who held my hand and stopped me from wandering… is gone…” Zhou Ling raised her head and looked straight into Han Cheng’s eyes.

“Xiao Ling, I didn’t know you were… I didn’t recognize you… Why did you…” Han Cheng, who was always sharp-tongued and eloquent in front of the camera, couldn’t even form a complete sentence now.

“You don’t need to know. Four months ago, when the Death Killer asked if you were willing to exchange your life for mine, you chose your own life. From that moment on, the Xiao Ling in your heart was dead. She died in that Death Livestream.”

“Xiao Ling, some things… can’t be judged so simply… It wasn’t a choice… I couldn’t be sure that if I died, the Death Killer would actually let you go…”

“You don’t have to blame yourself. For me, it was just a ritual… to sever the lingering feelings I had for you in my heart… Besides… you never said you would die for me…” Zhou Ling let out a cold snort towards Han Cheng.

“Xiao Ling, what are you two talking about? What is going on? What is Mountain Peak Village? Weren’t you born in the city? And… you said you died in the Death Livestream… Are you Xiao Zhao? No… four months ago… were you the first victim?” Liu Yin listened to the conversation between Zhou Ling and Han Cheng, getting more and more confused, and couldn’t help but ask her.

“Of course I’m not Xiao Zhao. I died in the Death Livestream two months earlier than Xiao Zhao… It’s no surprise he wouldn’t die for me. I just never expected… he kept saying in front of me that he would die for Xiao Zhao, but in the end… he is still alive and well, while his beloved Xiao Zhao… the woman he claimed he would protect with his life died so horribly. It’s all just too ironic.” Zhou Ling looked at Liu Yin with complete indifference.

“You… you were the first victim of the Death Livestream? You died? Then who was the person following me after that?” Liu Yin was greatly alarmed and utterly confused. The world in his eyes had turned completely upside down.

“You wouldn’t understand. Even if I told you, you wouldn’t get it. A few days ago, I might have had the patience to explain it to you carefully. But now, everything is over… or rather, it’s time for it all to end.” As Zhou Ling said this, her eyes turned towards Lü Yang.

…

“An elevator is coming down from the fourth floor!” A staff member standing by the elevator shouted into the hall.

Sure enough, the floor indicator for one elevator changed to 3, then to 2, and finally with a ‘Ding!’, it stopped on the first floor and the doors opened.

Many people ran towards the arriving elevator, trying to get on and go upstairs to avoid being dismembered by the white-clad, long-haired Female Ghost in the lobby. But when the elevator doors opened and they saw the ‘person’ coming out, those trying to squeeze into the elevator all screamed loudly and desperately scrambled away in all directions through the crowd.

A naked humanoid monster emerged from the elevator. Its entire skin and most of its muscles were burned to a crisp. There were five holes burned through its body. Its eyelids were burned away, leaving both eyeballs fully exposed. Judging by its shape, it seemed to be a woman. After she stepped out, the elevator doors closed on their own.

Compared to the barefoot girl in white from before, this woman looked even more horrifying and more like a ghost, especially with those two eyeballs almost falling out of their sockets.

The burned woman looked around the hotel’s first-floor lobby, then her gaze fell on Han Cheng, who was near Zhou Ling and Liu Yin, and she started walking towards them…

The people in the first-floor lobby had long since screamed and scattered, clearing a path for her.

Han Cheng looked at the woman burned beyond human recognition. His expression became extremely grim and pained. He glanced at Zhou Ling, then looked back at the severely burned woman.

“A Cheng, it’s me, Xiao Zhao…” the burned woman spoke. Because of the severe burns, her voice sounded very strange.

Han Cheng’s face turned from pale to ashen. It took him a long moment before he finally gritted his teeth and replied to the woman, “I don’t know you.”