Chapter 18 All Dead

Outside, Zhou Ze smoked a cigarette while Tang Shi stood beside him, chewing on a milk candy.

Inside, the corpse on the wall hung limply, its face frozen in a terrifying and horrified expression, as if a murder and corpse concealment case had just occurred.

All dead.

Not a single one left.

Xu Le was dead.

The person who killed Xu Le was dead.

The hit-and-run driver was dead.

The cousin was dead.

Every point on the line was dead.

Even Zhou Ze, in a way, was dead too.

Just as Tang Shi had said, sometimes it wasn't that you deliberately avoided trouble, but that trouble really wouldn't come looking for you anymore.

A pocket had been opened a long time ago, and whether you were willing or not, happy or not, you were already inside it.

"They're all dead, so the trail's probably gone cold," Tang Shi said, looking at Zhou Ze with a smile. She seemed to enjoy seeing Zhou Ze in this kind of mood and state.

In a wolf pack, all the wolves were bitter and resentful, with gloomy faces all day long. But then a husky appeared, just wanting to lie there and be cute.

It was a really unpleasant thing.

Why were they all so heavy-hearted, while he alone was so innocent and carefree?

It wasn't scarcity but inequity that was the problem, and this wasn't just limited to the distribution of money.

"It seems so, for now." Zhou Ze reached up and rubbed his temples. "And I have to worry about something else, whether the police will eventually investigate me."

The mastermind, the one who paid, was Xu Le.

The driver was dead, and the cousin, the middleman, was also dead.

The reason why Zhou Ze had refrained from seeking revenge before was precisely this, he didn't want to expose himself, because that would ruin his current life.

Modern society was very different from ancient times. Even if ancient times had a household registration system, it wasn't difficult for a person without an identity to truly hide away and live in seclusion.

But in modern society, a person's identity information tag was very important. Of course, Zhou Ze could hide if he wanted to, but the price he would pay was a rapid decline in his quality of life, constantly hiding and running.

Right now, Zhou Ze wasn't the one who killed the people, but he would naturally have to bear the possible fallout from their deaths.

He didn't get to enjoy the thrill of revenge,

And he had to take the blame,

How annoying!

He took out his phone and dialed the police station's number.

"Hello, I want to report a crime."

Tang Shi didn't accompany Zhou Ze to the police station. Instead, she went back to the bookstore. Accompanying Zhou Ze to check out the crime scene in the rain, wearing a raincoat and treading on muddy roads, was the most she could do. She couldn't go with Zhou Ze to face the complicated statements and investigations at the police station.

As for Zhou Ze, he had no choice, he had to do this. After all, he had just called the police station to inquire about the deceased's residence. If he didn't report it now, his suspicion would only be greater when the body was discovered later.

As for secretly disposing of the body, Zhou Ze was unwilling to do so. Before he could figure out who was manipulating everything behind the scenes, Zhou Ze didn't want to be clever and help others clean up the mess.

Maybe, if he wasn't careful, he would dig a pit and bury himself.

…………

The investigation and questioning continued until after eight o'clock in the evening. Several waves of police officers rotated through, and it was very clear that they were treating Zhou Ze as the murderer.

Don't think that a murderer wouldn't take the initiative to call the police.

In fact,

According to the police's big data statistics, more than 80% of the murderers in murder cases would disguise themselves as "onlookers" and return to the scene of the crime to take a look.

Most murderers wanted to disguise themselves and check out the information, while a small number were driven by the perverted thinking that if they killed someone, they had to go and admire their artwork.

If the deceased wasn't discovered for a long time, it would undoubtedly be a treasure wasted on someone who didn't appreciate it for the murderer, like the Mona Lisa's smile covered by a layer of black cloth, making them itch, so they simply called the police themselves to have the veil lifted.

In the end, an old detective with half-white hair sat in front of Zhou Ze, closed his notebook, and said to Zhou Ze:

"Mr. Xu, you can leave now, but please don't leave Tongcheng for the time being this month. We may still need to ask you about some things."

"Okay."

Zhou Ze got up, left the interrogation room, and walked to the entrance of the police station.

He turned around and looked at the police officers going in and out behind him, as well as the row of police cars parked inside, and felt a sense of pressure for no reason.

Perhaps, it wouldn't be long before the truth about the fabricated car accident would surface, and what he would face then might be a real storm.

He was actually the victim, but the real culprit,

Was also himself.

Zhou Ze was about to go back to the bookstore. He was a little tired and wanted to rest first, but his phone rang at this moment, his sister-in-law's call.

"Hello, Xu Le, that uncle of yours is here again. He's sitting in the stairwell. I asked him to come in and sit down, but he's not willing. He just said he's waiting for you to come back."

Uncle?

"Just tell him I won't be back, and don't tell him the address of my new store." Zhou Ze didn't want to bother with irrelevant people at this time.

"Bang!"

The sound of banging on the door came from the other end of the phone.

Zhou Ze frowned slightly and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Um, your uncle is banging on the door. He said that if you don't come back today, he'll send you to jail."

Hearing this, Zhou Ze raised his head, gritted his teeth, and said, "Tell him I'll be right back."

…………

No one wants to live like a punching bag, no one wants their life to be constrained, everyone wants to be free, but life is like this.

When you are a few months old, you can pee everywhere, you can wet the bed at will, and your elders and relatives will greet you with smiling faces.

But when you are in your teens or twenties, you can't just pee at will anymore.

It's hard to imagine the scene of a forty-five-year-old elder with a young man in his twenties:

"You peed again, you rascal."

That scene is too eye-watering.

Therefore, when Zhou Ze appeared in front of Xu Dachuan,

Xu Dachuan had a gloomy face,

And Zhou Ze also had a depressed face.

Everyone was unhappy,

Everyone was not happy,

But everyone still had to meet.

Xu Dachuan didn't hurt the people in the house. When Zhou Ze arrived, he was squatting there smoking his dry tobacco pipe. When he saw Zhou Ze coming, he stood up and patted his trouser legs.

"Come walk with me."

This time, Xu Dachuan didn't bring any local specialties, he came empty-handed.

Zhou Ze and Xu Dachuan walked out together. He didn't say hello to his sister-in-law and Dr. Lin who were in the doorway.

The two walked outside the residential area,

It was completely dark,

And there weren't many people under the streetlights.

Xu Dachuan walked for a while, then squatted down again, "chomping" as he smoked his dry tobacco pipe.

Zhou Ze stopped beside him.

"Little Chuanzi has been cremated," Xu Dachuan said.

Little Chuanzi should be the cousin's nickname.

"Yeah," Zhou Ze responded. "I wasn't in Tongcheng at the time."

"It's okay."

Xu Dachuan tapped his dry tobacco pipe and raised his head. His face was full of vicissitudes and ravines. He was an honest old man who worked hard to support his family. Xu Le, the college student, was actually supported by him.

"Ah Le, you didn't come to Little Chuanzi's funeral. That was really unkind."

Xu Dachuan's eyes were wet, and he squatted there, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes with the back of his chapped hand.

"I said, I wasn't in Tongcheng at the time."

Xu Dachuan suddenly stood up, grabbed Zhou Ze's collar with one hand, and pushed Zhou Ze against the telephone pole.

"Ah Le, tell your uncle the truth, did you get rid of Little Chuanzi!"

Zhou Ze's eyes narrowed slightly. There was a lot of information in Xu Dachuan's question just now.

Before, Zhou Ze had some good feelings for Xu Dachuan.

Right or wrong, good or bad, it had nothing to do with him, and Xu Dachuan was the first stranger who had really cared about him since he was reborn.

He could endure the Lin family's disdain and bring local specialties to see him.

Even on the hospital bed, he would still smile at Dr. Lin, his niece-in-law, and be satisfied.

He also said that if he couldn't continue as a live-in son-in-law, he could just go back and farm with him.

In Zhou Ze's opinion, he should have been simple, kind, and should have been a pure land.

But now, it seemed that this pure land was not as pure as he had imagined.

"It wasn't me." Zhou Ze reached out and grabbed Xu Dachuan's wrist.

"Don't think I don't know about Little Chuanzi and your affairs. I also know that Little Chuanzi has been coming to you often these days to ask you for money. He doesn't understand things, he's not ambitious, he has a thousand faults and ten thousand mistakes.

But he is your brother after all!"

Xu Dachuan's eyes began to be bloodshot, and he was a little crazy.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Zhou Ze suddenly hated the man in front of him,

This honest man.

"Don't know what I'm talking about?"

Xu Dachuan put his face close to Zhou Ze's and said, word by word:

"That driver, is he dead? He's from the village next to mine. Do you think Little Chuanzi could know anyone, could understand whose mouth is tight?

He's just a kid, what qualifications does he have to talk to others?

That driver, I was the one who found him, the one who talked to him.

Your uncle wants you to live a good life, your wife has fallen in love with someone else, you're living a frustrated life, so your uncle will help you kill that mistress!

Your uncle wants all the children in our family to live comfortably, not to be bullied, not to be looked down upon.

But,

Ah Le,

You can't kill Little Chuanzi to silence him,

Your father died early, your uncle supported you to go to school, your uncle has always treated you as his own child!

Tell your uncle the truth from the bottom of your heart,

Did you deliberately have someone hit Little Chuanzi like last time,

Did you want to silence him?"

Zhou Ze took a deep breath,

Xu Dachuan asked the wrong person,

In fact,

Every question he asked was like adding fuel to the fire.

He had to know that in front of him,

Wasn't his nephew Xu Le,

But the real victim in that incident!

"Bang!"

Zhou Ze kicked out and knocked Xu Dachuan to the ground.

At this moment, Zhou Ze had an urge to self-destruct;

He regretted it, very much. If he had known it would be like this, he should have taken the initiative to surrender to the police when he was first reborn.

Xu Le's cousin,

Xu Dachuan,

That driver,

Let them all accept the sanctions from the law, even if he was implicated as Xu Le, it didn't matter.

Using this second life he had earned to avenge his first life seemed to be a happy revenge.

At least,

It was much better than the current dilemma.

It was just that now,

The cousin and the driver were dead, and the person who killed Xu Le was also dead. They died cleanly, which made Zhou Ze's revenge impossible.

You have strength, you have power, but punching cotton is always frustrating.

Xu Dachuan, who had been kicked to the ground, immediately got up and shouted at Zhou Ze:

"Ah Le, you're the one who turned your back on us,

I'm going to report you to the Public Security Bureau,

You're a murderer,

A murderer!

I want you to be buried with Little Chuanzi, buried with him!!!"

Zhou Ze looked at Xu Dachuan,

Looking at this old man who still looked weathered and honest,

His left hand behind his back,

Slowly grew black fingernails,

The corners of Zhou Ze's mouth hooked up,

As if he was savoring the word:

"Buried with him?"