Chapter 187 [VIP] The End of the Night (17)

Chapter 187 [VIP] The End of the Night (17)

"Lu He, I'm sorry." Liang Ran knelt in front of Lu He, crying uncontrollably. "I apologize on behalf of my father. He should never have done this..."

Lu He's eyes were red and brimming with tears. He never imagined that for twenty-four years, he had been raised by the man who murdered his mother. For twenty-four years, he had respected Liang Chenghao as a foster father and mentor, but Liang Chenghao had only seen him as a pawn.

Every time he had an episode on stormy nights, it was because of the trauma left by his mother's murder. He had always wanted to uncover the truth about the demon in his nightmares, but the demon turned out to be the mentor he had lived with day and night. His ideals had crumbled, and the twisted truth cut him like a knife.

Bitter tears streamed down Lu He's resolute face and fell onto Liang Ran's forehead.

Liang Ran looked up, her face streaked with tears, her entire face a mess. This was the first time Lu He had seen her in such a state. She had suffered immense misfortune in her childhood. Indeed, for twenty-four years, Liang Chenghao had been his mother's murderer, but Liang Ran had always treated him well. However, this was not a reason for him to pity her.

As a criminal investigator, he knew his duty. He knew his identity.

His gaze slowly shifted forward, resting on Meng Siqi lying quietly on the table. His heart ached, but Liang Ran tightly held the detonator in her hand. He had to find the most appropriate way to get her to put down the detonator, ensuring that Siqi would not be harmed.

"I know you've been wronged," Lu He said coldly, "but why did you kill those innocent people? Du Lianxi, Yin Mo, Tan Xiaoshuang, Zhao Yuting... What did they do wrong? Why did you have to target Siqi?"

"What did they do wrong?" Liang Ran cried out, as if desperately accusing fate of its injustice. "I thought I had achieved true rebirth, but you all just looked down on me. I treated you so well, Lu He, but you always kept your distance. In high school, you preferred to move out rather than see me. Because you knew about my past since childhood. You always thought I was dirty! That's what you always believed."

Lu He was stunned. He had always seen her as an older sister, someone he respected and kept at a distance. He admired her genuinely and treated her well, but he knew the right way to do so. He stayed away from the Liang family because he respected her.

He shook his head, "You're wrong. I didn't know about your childhood. I didn't know about your past."

"Right, you might say that. In college, when Shen Xiangming pursued me, you seemed eager to push me away, didn't you? You were afraid I would get close to you, so I agreed to Shen Xiangming's advances. I just wanted to see your reaction, but I never expected you didn't care about me at all!"

"I didn't!" Lu He retorted. Back then, he had been happy for Liang Ran, glad that she had found her own happiness and a sense of belonging.

"You did! I thought you were never interested in women," Liang Ran laughed. "But Shen Xiangming told me you liked Meng Siqi, that you were even willing to risk your life for her. Look at the difference. It just shows that you've always looked down on me since childhood, thought I was dirty!"

Lu He closed his eyes. He didn't understand why Liang Ran was so harsh on him, why she couldn't move on. Even after twenty-four years, she hadn't moved on.

"The night I married Shen Xiangming, do you know what he said? He asked me if I had been with anyone before, do you know what he meant? He thought I was dirty, that I had been used before..."

Lu He no longer wanted to blame her. He felt Liang Ran was beyond saving. His heart was heavy with pain.

"As I grew up, I realized I couldn't have children," Liang Ran's sobs gradually softened into whimpers. "Lu He, do you know who Shen Lele is? She's actually Jiang Sheng's illegitimate daughter. Jiang Sheng gave her to me to raise because I couldn't have children."

Lu He sighed deeply, his heart heavy with pain. "So you're the real mastermind behind the Seattle Club? You're the real White Mask?"

"...So what if I am. I am the White Mask." Liang Ran smiled. "You didn't expect that, did you? I remember when Jiang Sheng came to me..."

It was five years ago, around 1989, when Jiang Sheng came to the Provincial Office and arranged to meet her at her home.

As soon as they met, Jiang Sheng called her "senior sister" because they had indeed been classmates and shared the same teacher, Xie Wenjuan.

Liang Ran sat on the sofa and asked, "Jiang Sheng, what do you want from me?"

Jiang Sheng sat down, and after the maid served coffee, he said when no one else was around, "Senior Sister Liang, your father is a professor at the Law School, and your husband is a leader in the Provincial Public Security Bureau. Your Liang family holds significant influence in the Provincial Office. I won't beat around the bush. The Seattle Club needs your help. I want to join the Mask Society, and I need your recommendation."

"How do you know about the Mask Society?"

"There's a saying that his 'mask' is almost indistinguishable from the cold face of a corpse. It's the most mysterious organization in Haijiang Province. If you help me achieve my goal, I will offer you a generous reward."

"You want to use the Mask Society to protect your Seattle Club? What sinister schemes are you planning?"

"Senior Sister Liang, you misunderstand. Jinyang City is also your hometown. I know you grew up there and attended Hope Elementary School with me in the first grade. You were also Xie Wenjuan's student. One day, I overheard Xie Wenjuan arguing with Xu Wangtu, and coincidentally, you were at her house that day..."

"Slap!"

Liang Ran suddenly grabbed the coffee cup and hurled it at Jiang Sheng, from his head to his suit, leaving a trail of dark stains. Jiang Sheng slowly stood up and bowed to her, "I'm sorry, Senior Liang, I shouldn't have spoken such nonsense."

The air was thick with silence, with Jiang Sheng keeping his head down. After a moment, Liang Ran smiled, "How can I trust your sincerity?"

Jiang Sheng seemed to have anticipated her question and replied, "Senior Liang, I will never betray you. If you're uneasy, you can take whatever you consider most important to me as a condition for our cooperation... I once really liked a university classmate, and she later gave birth to my child. Unfortunately, she has passed away. The child is only one year old now."

Jiang Sheng paused and continued, "Senior Liang, you haven't had a child for many years, right? You recently visited the orphanage. Coincidentally, she also has no mother. If you're willing, Senior Liang, you could raise her."

Liang Ran snorted with a chuckle. She indeed couldn't bear children and had always wanted to adopt one, but it would never be Jiang Sheng's child. She smiled, "Jiang Sheng, between profit and a child, would you really care about her?"

Liang Ran's meaning was clear—this child couldn't truly be a condition.

Jiang Sheng said, "Senior Liang, I have nothing more important on me except my life."

"You do!" Liang Ran said, "Jiang Sheng, you love your mother dearly. She is the person you love most in your life."

"...But she's no longer here." Jiang Sheng felt a pang of sadness upon hearing about his mother. Liang Ran was right; he had nothing to hold onto in this life except his mother, who was his lifelong pain.

After a moment, Liang Ran slowly said, "I agree to take her in. If you really die in the future, I will take good care of your child and bring her to pay respects to your mother every year."

There's always someone more cunning. For Jiang Sheng, Liang Ran had truly outmaneuvered him, or rather, Liang Ran was the first person in the world who genuinely "cared" about his mother. He was even somewhat moved. Even if something happened to him one day, he would never betray Liang Ran, nor would he betray his "mother."

With Liang Ran's recommendation, Jiang Sheng successfully joined the Mask Society. Jiang Sheng fulfilled his promise by continuously providing Liang Ran with money, achieving a win-win situation for both. Liang Ran told Lu He this story, though she deliberately concealed information about the Mask Society from him.

"You took on the identity of the White Mask for money, to make Jiang Sheng hide your childhood secrets. But why did you still kill people?" Lu He almost roared.

"Those I killed deserved it," Liang Ran said, tilting her head up with a fierce gaze. "The first girl was Du Lianxi. She came from such a good family, was so beautiful, and had a smooth life since childhood. Why did she deserve to live so well? I remember one day, I was sketching at the scenic spot in Jinyang City, trying to take a magazine photo, and Du Lianxi actually told me to move aside so she could take a picture. Her eyes brimmed with disdain. She was essentially telling me that I was too dirty to stand in such a beautiful place."

"Yin Mo was learning piano at that time. I remember she was also one of those perfect girls. They all deserved to die. Why did they get to live so well? I remember I could never play the guzheng well, but she could learn anything. I also remember her outdoor performance, which was mesmerizing, but I accidentally stepped on her dress. Do you know what she said to me? She said I had dirtied her dress. I could clearly see the disdain in her eyes. She thought I was filthy."

"Tan Xiaoshuang, I remember it was raining that day. I got on the bus, and there were no seats. She was talking with her classmates, and I found out she came from a wealthy family, had many boys pursuing her, and was even invited to an interview at the city TV station. Why did she have such a smooth life? I couldn't understand. But then, she suddenly said to me, 'The water from your raincoat is dripping on me.' Her tone was so disrespectful, as if I had dirtied her."

Lu He was utterly speechless. These motives for murder were the absurd reasons held by the "sister" he had spent so much time with.

"Zhao Yuting doesn't even need to be mentioned. Her life was smooth sailing, as if she was everyone's favorite. When she saw me leaving the TV station, she had to die. I had to make her die. So, do you understand now why I targeted Meng Siqi? She's the same. Why does everyone like her? Why! Lu He, I know I've done wrong, but there's no turning back now. Finally, I want to ask you for one thing..."

Lu He lowered his head, looking at the almost neurotic Liang Ran.

"I can't be judged yet, I can't be executed yet. There's one thing I haven't finished. I promise you, I won't kill innocent people anymore, but I must kill one more person—Xu Wangtu's granddaughter, Xu Yizhou. When she turns sixteen, in the prime of her youth, I will personally dress her in beautiful red makeup and kill her with my own hands..."

Lu He: "..."

Liang Ran said, "I want Xu Wangtu to feel heartbroken for the rest of his life and sincerely write a letter of repentance."

"I'm a police officer!" Lu He shouted. "Do you think this is something negotiable?"

Liang Ran knelt before him, suddenly hugging his legs, "I beg you, grant me this. I promise I'll turn myself in after killing Xu Yizhou. I beg you, Lu He, my brother!"

"Enough, Liang Ran. Stop deluding yourself. Everything you've done ends today. I am arresting you now by law!" Lu He quickly took out handcuffs.

"Bang!" A gunshot echoed through the warehouse.

The bullet entered from the back and exited through the chest. Lu He's body was covered in blood. He never expected Liang Ran's sobbing to be nothing but an act.

He struggled to breathe, his body gradually losing control as he slowly collapsed.

Liang Ran cried out, "Lu He, Lu He, what's wrong? Brother..."

Lu He's lips turned pale and trembled, his hands losing strength. He struggled to look into the distance, toward Meng Siqi's direction, and with his last breath, he said, "Liang Ran, I beg you to agree to one thing."

"Speak, speak."

"Release her, release Siqi, I beg you."

Liang Ran laughed through her tears, "You really are like this, Lu He."

"Promise me... just promise me..." Lu He's lips kept trembling, his eyes slowly losing their light.

Liang Ran held Lu He's head and cried, "Lu He, my brother, I really loved the times we spent together as children. Why do people have to grow up? Why can't we stay forever before the age of six? If I had known, I wouldn't have begged my father to cure your illness..."

"Lu He has passed away." Facing the interrogation by Liang Yunfeng and Zhao Leiting, the sixty-year-old Liang Ran held a drop of turbid tears but smiled, "Lu He hoped I would let Meng Siqi go, and I agreed. In truth, I knew Meng Siqi would suffer the most. I let her go to make her suffer for a lifetime. Haha..."

Zhao Leiting recalled the past thirty years, how Meng Siqi lived a life of sorrow and loneliness, her solitary and desperate jump into Sujiang. Liang Ran had succeeded; she made Meng Siqi suffer for thirty years.

His eyes stung, the memories too painful to revisit.

Liang Yunfeng abruptly rose to his feet and demanded:

"Liang Ran, you used your relationship with Shen Xiangming to secretly profit behind his back, colluding with criminal organizations. Around 2013, Shen Xiangming discovered your deeds and wanted to report you, but you had him killed by the dark forces. Right?"

"No, I did not kill Shen Xiangming. Shen Xiangming discovered the secrets of the Mask Society while tracking the follow-up of the Seattle Club. I advised him not to interfere, but he investigated frantically, and as a result, he was persecuted by the Mask Society. He never knew I was a member of the Mask Society, not even in his final moments."

"Your adopted daughter Shen Lele was arranged by you to be molested at the age of six, causing her immense psychological damage, and she committed suicide by jumping off a building during university. Right?"

"No." Liang Ran paused, her eyes slightly red, "Even though Lele wasn’t my biological child, I always treated her as my own. Xiangming did not know she was Jiang Sheng's daughter; he always thought I adopted her from the orphanage, but like me, he treated her as his own. When Xiangming was investigating the Mask Society, he received warnings from them, but he never gave up. Until one day, Lele was raped by members of the Mask Society. Although I was a member, I couldn't stop their evil deeds. They wanted to warn Xiangming through this. After the incident, Xiangming became even more frantic, determined to die, and as a result, he was dismembered. Lele suffered from severe depression during that time, and Xiangming's tragic death was the last straw for her. Soon after, she jumped from the rooftop."

So that’s how it all unfolded, Liang Yunfeng's eyes also reddened, and he slowly asked, "Where did Qiao Shijie, who committed the crime with you, go later?"

"He died of illness long ago."

Liang Yunfeng finally said, "Liang Ran, write down the list of members of the Mask Society, is there any problem?"

Liang Ran was silent for a moment, then slowly nodded, "I have also been looking forward to the day of ending. I can tell you what I know. But Director Liang, you must also prepare, because the head of the Mask Society also shares the surname Liang..."

*

Two days later, in the chilly autumn wind of the cemetery, in front of a tombstone, Zhao Leiting sat on the ground, looking at the photo on the tombstone, mixed with sorrow and joy, he cried and laughed, "Yu Ting, your sister Siqi has finally avenged you. The truth has finally been found! The perpetrator has been brought to justice, I just came to tell you..."

Zhao Leiting's tone became heavier, "Your sister Siqi, she never forgot you, for thirty years, she has been searching for thirty years..."

He finally succumbed to tears, he would always remember Yu Ting's appearance from thirty years ago, her pleasant voice, her lovely appearance. After so long, she often appeared in his dreams, he dared not forget her, nor face her, he was filled with immense guilt.

For thirty years, he solved countless cases, but Yu Ting's death was a shadow he could never escape.

He adjusted the flowers and meticulously cleaned the tombstone with a cloth. The wind, rain, and sun had long faded the photo, but Yu Ting's photo still smiled, a pure and beautiful smile.

Zhao Leiting remembered Meng Siqi's words, he wiped away the tears and snot, murmuring, "Your sister Siqi said that in another world, you’re still alive, mom and dad are there too, and you’re happy, safe from harm. Yu Ting, no matter in which world, your brother will always protect you with his life!"