Pristine Darkness

Chapter 86

To no one's surprise - especially not yours, PD readers, you knew where this was headed, didn't you? - Bo Jinyan concludes that Blockhead is the Butterfly Killer, and delves into his reasons for killing - a fascinating psychological study of someone seeking redemption. He also outlines a plan to capture the Butterfly Killer, but his conversation with Jian Yao is interrupted by the appearance of none other than Luo Lang . . . . (Fu Ziyu appears in a brief flashback as well - oh, the tears)

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Translator: shl

Editor/ Proofreader: Anks

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Blockhead.

This nickname is all Jian Yao and the others got. No matter what questions they asked, Xu Huqiang could not remember anything more, nor did he know anything more about this 'Blockhead', not his real name or where he lived. He only hazily remembered that Blockhead was very tall. He could not recall his face.

It had already been two decades, and all the people involved in the case that year had either died or scattered. Although Blockhead was one of the little brothers who had hung around with the gang for a few days, naturally, the ordinary man on the street would have no idea about his past involvement.

It seemed as if the trail had ended.

However, everyone knew that they were so close to the truth.

Bo Jinyan's second objective in travelling to Tong City was to visit a family who had lost their son over 10 years ago.

To be honest, the family's financial situation was pretty good. They lived in a little community in the city centre. When the door opened, Jian Yao and the others were met with the wan and haggard visages of two elderly people. They had already received the news that their son's body had been found, and they were unable to view it with their own eyes.

Their son was the first youth to be killed by the butterfly killer.

They were already numbed by their years of waiting, but when they found out that their son had been cruelly killed by someone over 10 years ago, all those years of waiting were truly meaningless, and they could not help bursting into tears.

"What kind of child was Li Zhijin?" Jian Yao asked gently. She was always able to give comfort to the victims, who would also readily lower their guard and talk to her.

"Zhijin, he . . . he was a really good child!" the mother cried. "He was sensible, obedient, and filial to his parents."

Any child is pure and innocent in the eyes of his parents.

Especially those who have been lost.

At the same time, Fang Qing and Bo Jinyan were searching the room that belonged to that child at that time. They were looking for reasons and characteristics as to why he had been the killer's first victim, and what had triggered the killer to commit crimes.

The furniture and furnishings were all from the previous century and they had been left untouched from the time the child had disappeared. Fang Qing opened the old wardrobe and saw clothes typical of youth. Apart from school uniforms and basketball gear, he also saw . . . how to put it - street-style sleeveless tops and T-shirts.

Gangster movie posters were stuck all over the wall, and all were yellow with age. In the chest of drawers were several imitation toy guns. Fang Qing took one out, aimed it at his thigh, and fired. WTF! Although the bullet was made of plastic, it was still extremely painful, and left a deep red mark.

Finally, Fang Qing dug out a long, rusty machete from the bottom of a storage box under the bed. It was not possible that Zhijin's parents did not know about this machete's existence, but they had treated it as something remaining of their child and thus kept it. It could be seen that their adoring love for their child was very deep, and their grief cut them sharply.