Chapter 19: The Nancheng Case (Part 12)

"Jia Wenming would add industrial solvent to water or food, causing people to lose consciousness after consuming it. I was forced to witness his crimes. I watched helplessly as those innocent victims struggled in vain, fighting like chickens in their death throes, only to ultimately accept their tragic fate!"

The tug-of-war between the most shameful and most terrifying psychological sensations can effortlessly shatter a person's sanity.

Liu Meixin was trapped in this cycle, sinking deeper every day.

"The only way to keep from going insane was to shut down my emotions and become a walking corpse," Liu Meixin consoled herself.

"Then did you never think of running away?" Wen Rou asked.

"During the time I spent with Jia Wenming, it wasn't that I didn't try to run. Once, I managed to escape, but I was caught and brought back. After a brutal beating, I was thrown into that cellar and locked in with the dead bodies. It was sickening."

Recalling the horrific scene, Liu Meixin burst into tears again. Despite having seen so much death, fear still held a firm grip on her heart.

"Did you participate in any murders?" Li Rui asked coldly.

At these words, Liu Meixin began to tremble uncontrollably. After a brief internal struggle, she finally spoke: "Yes. To ensure I would never report him to the police, Jia Wenming made me stain my hands with blood too!"

Wen Rou’s expression turned cold. She did sympathize with Liu Meixin, but the nature of the situation changed entirely if she had participated in the killings.

"How many did you kill?" Li Rui asked in a low voice.

"All told, three!"

Liu Meixin's clear answer shocked Wen Rou. "Liu Meixin, you..."

"The first person I killed was a prostitute. Jia Wenming directed me to trick her. I played cards with her to build a rapport, then invited her over to the house for a meal..." She paused before continuing, "But to blackmail me, Jia Wenming intentionally didn't drug her; he made me stab her to death myself."

Liu Meixin recalled it painfully. "I’ve been afraid of blood since I was a child. I’ve never even killed an animal, let alone a human. But Jia Wenming said if I didn't kill her, I would die. I had no choice; I had to use a shovel to hit her."

"I don't know how many times I struck her before she stopped moving. That was the first person I killed, and I still can't forget her eyes. They stared right at me, as if telling me that I would eventually face retribution."

Li Rui took a photograph out of a drawer, walked over to her, and asked, "Is this ring yours?"

Liu Meixin’s eyes flickered, and then she let out a mocking, self-deprecating laugh.

"You found it in the cellar, didn't you?"

"Since you knew the ring was in the cellar, why didn't you go back and get it? You must know it could become key evidence identifying you as a criminal," Li Rui asked.

Liu Meixin shook her head. "After the killing, I was completely paralyzed. My mind was a blank. By the time I realized the ring was missing, I figured it must have been pulled off during the struggle. But I didn't tell Jia Wenming."

"Why?"

"Heaven sees what men do. I committed murder; if one day I have to pay the price for my crimes, then I accept it."

"So, you actually left it there on purpose?"

"I wouldn't call it 'on purpose.' In truth, I didn't dare face that cellar. I was afraid of seeing those rotting corpses again. I was afraid—truly terrified..."

This was how Jia Wenming tortured Liu Meixin, using it to blackmail her and completely destroy her will to resist. In the end, she transformed into a guilty accomplice to murder, cutting off any path to redemption.

"And the other two you killed?" Li Rui continued.

"They were a father and son who sold soybeans. After they were lured into the house, Jia Wenming and I attacked the father first. He resisted violently and shouted for his son outside in the yard to run. The son had a chance to escape, but he rushed into the house to save his father, fighting for his life. An accomplice and I helped Jia Wenming subdue the son, and we stabbed them both to death."

"Liu Meixin, was your participation in this murder forced or voluntary?" Li Rui demanded.

Liu Meixin swallowed hard, pondered for a moment, and said, "Voluntary!"

"What?" Qi Wei, in the next room, couldn't help but exclaim.

"Uh, sorry, Team Leader Lei. I... I was just so surprised. How could Liu Meixin become like this?" Qi Wei said, her face flushing.

Lei Chen said, "This is the human nature I was talking about. Pitiful people often have hateful traits. Even if Liu Meixin was forced into the first killing, look at the moment she participated in the murder of that father and son—was there any struggle or hesitation left in her heart?"

"Perhaps there still was..." Qi Wei suggested hesitantly.

"Have you considered that she was already on Jia Wenming's boat and had at least gained his basic trust? If she had helped secretly, she could have allowed that father and son to escape. But did she? No, she did nothing!"

Lei Chen said sternly, "All we see is that she willingly became his lackey, selling her soul to Jia Wenming."

There is no greater sorrow in this world than this.

At that moment, Feng Feng walked in.

"Senior," Lei Chen said, rising.

"Lei Chen, acting on the statements of other suspects, we immediately organized the arrest of the gang's mastermind, Jia Wenming," Feng Feng said.

"How did it go? Did you catch him?" Lei Chen asked anxiously.

Feng Feng smiled. "We got him!"

"That’s great!" The weight finally lifted from Lei Chen’s chest. Qi Wei also clapped in approval.

"When our officers burst in to make the arrest, the guy was still fast asleep in bed, having no clue what was going on."

Lei Chen nodded. "It seems Forensic Pathologist Li was right; the environment in Hangzhou had made him lose his vigilance."

The Jia Wenming of the past was a cunning, greedy, and alert leopard. But now, only the greed remained.

Feng Feng glanced at Liu Meixin in the next room and asked, "Has this woman confessed?"

"She has," Lei Chen replied.

"That easily?" Feng Feng asked, surprised. "That Jia Wenming is a stubborn mule; he won't say a word."

"She’s actually a pathetic person, forced into this by Jia Wenming," Lei Chen said.

Qi Wei added, "When Liu Meixin met Jia Wenming and fell under his tight control, it was right in the middle of his criminal career—the transitional stage between two modes of operation. The earlier mode involved Jia Wenming committing crimes on his own. The later mode, as his courage grew, involved him finding accomplices through various means to carry out group-based crimes."

Lei Chen nodded. "Xiao Qi’s analysis is spot on. When Jia Wenming was no longer satisfied with his previous 'knife-edge' way of making money, a transformation was inevitable. Liu Meixin’s intrusion into his life happened just as he was looking for accomplices, which is one of the key factors that allowed her to survive."

In the interrogation room, Li Rui calmly opened his water cup, took a sip, and then suddenly asked in a leisurely tone, "Liu Meixin, what does it feel like to kill someone?"

"What?" Liu Meixin was stunned. Wen Rou looked at Li Rui, equally puzzled.

"This... does this have anything to do with the case?" Liu Meixin stammered.

Li Rui slammed his cup down and shouted, "Of course it does!"

"Several of the people you killed were dismembered. If this was purely about money, why desecrate the bodies?"

Liu Meixin was startled and blurted out, "I didn't dismember them! It was Jia Wenming—it was all him! He’s a deranged psychopath. After he killed them, he would take their hearts, livers, and even... their private parts... and boil them... to eat."

Hearing this, even Wen Rou’s face turned pale. During the previous autopsies, she and Li Rui had been puzzled by the missing body parts. Now that the truth was laid bare, she felt a strange, lingering dread.

"Is this person even human?" Wen Rou thought to herself.

But looking at the guy beside her, who heard such brutal details without batting an eye and continued to drink his tea as if nothing had happened, she felt a surge of anger. However, for the sake of the interrogation, she held her tongue.