Chapter 87: Stay with you while you sleep.
Liang Tianlu meeting Cha Lao was a complete accident.
He couldn’t hold down a job for long because whenever he encountered stress or emotional tension, he would start to twitch and curse uncontrollably, which made his coworkers increasingly afraid of him. A kind coworker once suggested he see a doctor, but Liang Tianlu told him that he was a special human, a guide. The fear induced by an abnormal special human was even greater than that of a violent mental patient, and Liang Tianlu was soon fired.
With nowhere to go, he came to resent the city. After all, this city had given him work only to abandon him, showed him the girl of his dreams but couldn’t fulfill his love.
Liang Tianlu bought a bus ticket and boarded a bus to the next city.
It wasn’t a regular bus service, and halfway through the journey, the bus broke down. The driver kicked everyone off and told them to get a meal at a nearby small restaurant.
The restaurant was naturally run by a friend of the driver. Liang Tianlu didn’t have much money and feared being overcharged, so he turned and climbed up a nearby low hill.
It was springtime, and the southern mountains were already lush green. The hill was covered with tea trees, and after walking for a while, Liang Tianlu saw an old woman working in the tea plantation.
He didn’t know she was Cha Lao. All he saw was an extremely short, wrinkled old woman with wrinkled hands and face.
Cha Lao was startled when she saw him. Liang Tianlu told her how he got there, and Cha Lao asked him to wait while she brought him some food and drink.
Liang Tianlu sat under a tree eating while Cha Lao cleaned the weeds in the tea plantation. They chatted intermittently.
Liang Tianlu learned what Cha Lao meant and knew her name. But until today, until the day Qin Ge entered his “sea area” to investigate, he didn’t know how important the old woman who died at his hands was.
Cha Lao was too old and, in Liang Tianlu’s eyes, too ugly. He had no se-xual interest or desire for her; she was just an old woman.
His anger flared up in the evening. When it got dark, Liang Tianlu asked Cha Lao if he could borrow a place to sleep, but Cha Lao immediately refused.
Cha Lao’s reason was that her residence was currently undergoing new tea variety research, with samples and data everywhere, making it inconvenient for an outsider to stay. She even told Liang Tianlu that she could give any passerby food or drink, but no one could enter her home. Her home was her research lab, containing many confidential materials. Due to her special status, many people came every year to investigate, and Cha Lao had become wary.
This reason was true; Cha Lao wasn’t lying. But Liang Tianlu was infuriated. He started twitching and shaking again, yelling incoherently and cursing at Cha Lao.
An old woman, such an ugly old woman! Do you think I’d be interested in you?—with this indignation, he kicked Cha Lao to the ground as she turned away in fear.
Excitement and agitation took over Liang Tianlu. He picked up a palm-sized stone and smashed it against the back of Cha Lao’s head.
The moment he started, he found himself no longer trembling, and his tongue and throat came under control.
It was a silent killing. He smashed Cha Lao’s head until it was a bloody mess, and he didn’t stop until the old woman beneath him was completely lifeless.
When he got up, he found his crotch wet and sticky. He had ejaculated.
Using a shovel, he dug a large pit in the tea plantation, threw Cha Lao’s body into the pit, and covered it with soil. He even felt that dying in the tea plantation she loved wasn’t a bad thing for Cha Lao.
He wiped the stone and shovel with soil to remove his fingerprints. Then he sat under a tree in the deep night and rummaged through the bag of the girl he liked.
The bag contained her cosmetics, wallet, and ID card. The wallet had a photo of the girl and her boyfriend. Using the girl’s photo and ID card, Liang Tianlu once again satisfied his desire. He gasped as he exposed himself to the night, and as he reached the peak of satisfaction, he suddenly understood what he really needed to do.
“When I entered his memories, Liang Tianlu was extremely excited at that moment. It wasn’t just physical excitement; his entire ‘sea area’ was filled with a carnival-like atmosphere.” Qin Ge pointed to his head, “Liang Tianlu confirmed his control over women the night he killed Cha Lao.”
Lei Chi frowned. The captain’s office was small, and Lei Chi had called in several colleagues responsible for solving this serial murder case. Everyone listened carefully to Qin Ge’s analysis.
“I’m only describing his mental state; the specific methods and processes are still up to you,” Qin Ge said.
Lei Chi nodded, “We understand. You mean that after killing Cha Lao, Liang Tianlu believed he had extraordinary control over special human females?”
“Yes,” Qin Ge confirmed Lei Chi’s words, “the most crucial point is that he discovered his se-xual satisfaction didn’t come from physical stimulation alone. Killing also gave him se,xual satisfaction, a more intense satisfaction than mere physical pleasure, reaching the peak of excitement both physically and mentally.”
Xie Zijing also sat beside Lei Chi. He looked at Qin Ge like a student attending a lecture.
When Qin Ge mentioned this point, he glanced at Xie Zijingg. Both of them simultaneously thought of X.
Does X’s reason for controlling people also stem from this? He achieves satisfaction through controlling others, and others achieve satisfaction through his control, both arriving at the same place by different paths.
Lei Chi’s colleagues had already understood the change in Liang Tianlu’s mindset: “So after the Cha Lao, Liang Tianlu chose to target semi-zombie humans.”
The fourth person Liang Tianlu killed was also a se-x worker; she was a semi-zombie human. Her body was the most severely damaged of all the cases: Liang Tianlu dismembered her.
The woman’s feet, hands, and legs were cut off and thrown into the river and garbage bins.
“The torso and head were thrown into the sea,” Qin Ge said. “The reason he chose to dismember her had a lot to do with the changes in the bones and muscles of semi-zombie humans.”
Semi-zombie humans infected with the virus, although they could control the virus’s activity through medication, exhibited brittle and fibrous bones and muscles. They were prone to injuries and fractures. Liang Tianlu was purely driven by curiosity. After leaving the tea mountain and entering a new city, he discovered that there were actually semi-zombie se-x workers here and immediately became intensely interested.
Semi-zombie se-x workers lived in dim places, knowing that those who sought them out were purely driven by curiosity — even truly semi-zombie males would choose more normal-looking ordinary women. She was not affiliated with any shop or boss and always wandered the streets alone, looking for targets to bring home.
When Liang Tianlu began to truly plan his crimes, he became cautious. After receiving services from the semi-zombie se-x worker, he did not suffer ridicule, but he was not satisfied either. He left that dim little house and stayed at his temporary work location for another week.
At that time, he was a delivery worker for a restaurant. After the restaurant closed, he had plenty of time to himself.
After repeatedly confirming that the skinny woman had received several men and cleaned her room carefully each time, Liang Tianlu brought an old kitchen knife discarded by the restaurant and knocked on the woman’s door.
The woman’s home was only separated from the sea by a dike. Liang Tianlu knocked the woman unconscious and carried her to the seaside, carefully climbing down the dike until his feet touched the shallow water.
He completed the murder and dismemberment there. Everything went too smoothly; he hardly needed to exert any force, as the semi-zombie’s brittle joints, like over-marinated claws, were easily dismantled by the knife.
At this point, Qin Ge hesitated for a moment.
“When he started cutting off her hands and feet, the woman was still alive.”
The whole office was stunned, unable to speak for a long time.
“Liang Tianlu didn’t consider the Cha Lao to be human, nor did he consider semi-zombies to be human,” Qin Ge flipped through his patrol report. “With this murder, he also successfully became aro-used, achieving his goal. Moreover, controlling someone else’s life brought him intense pleasure, which significantly reduced the stress and tension he experienced in his normal life.”
“…His tics and tourette disappeared?”
“Yes. After each murder, his spasms would stop, and he wouldn’t swear for a long time,” Qin Ge nodded. “Then, when this pleasure gradually faded and his stress returned, he was often fired and driven away. After that, he would move to another city, continuing to look for targets.”
Lei Chi’s face was very grim.
If this murder case targeting special human se-x workers had received attention, Liang Tianlu might not have become so crazy.
But the labels “special human” and “se-x worker” greatly hindered the progress of this case’s investigation.
The fifth and sixth women Liang Tianlu killed were both special humans and guides. This seemed to be his perfect choice after careful selection.
Xie Zijing sneered, “Of course, he would choose guides. If he chose female sentinels, he would have his legs broken before he even drew his weapon.”
“In his later stages, Liang Tianlu was already a precise murderer. He would choose weak women, women without the ability to resist, and then execute his plan,” Qin Ge turned to the last page of the report. “The seventh victim was burned to death, which was also the most brutal method.”
“What did the seventh person do to him?”
“Liang Tianlu couldn’t get aro-used, and this woman mocked him,” Qin Ge said. “This triggered Liang Tianlu’s past fears. His hatred for women and lack of self-confidence ultimately led him to use the legend of the A-Ban Fire to kill.”
“Setting fire to a fishing boat to kill is too conspicuous,” Lei Chi interjected. “When Liang Tianlu committed the seventh crime, he no longer cared about the consequences of being discovered. He was venting his anger and putting on a performance.”
Retracing Liang Tianlu’s memories was a difficult task. Qin Ge was repeatedly shocked by this man’s darkness. Every time he left his “sea area,” he had to lean on Xie Zijing’s shoulder in silence for a long time to recover.
At first, Liang Tianlu was very resistant to Qin Ge’s intrusion, but as Qin Ge could dispel the negative influences in the “sea area,” Liang Tianlu gradually began to welcome him and stopped trying to resist. Every time Qin Ge completed his patrol, Liang Tianlu’s symptoms would lessen, allowing him to communicate with others normally.
Three consecutive days of patrolling almost exhausted Qin Ge’s spirit. It wasn’t until he and Xie Zijing were on their way back to the hotel that they remembered to contact Jiang Yong.
Xie Weiran answered his call, telling him that Jiang Yong was normal and calm now. Every day, besides going out to collect trash, he would go to Xiaohai’s house to supervise his studies.
“Jiang Yong is quite impressive. He’s really good at math. Although he’s a bit eccentric, he solves problems faster than I do,” Xie Weiran said happily. “I now believe he used to be an outstanding student at New Hope.”
After hanging up the phone, Qin Ge leaned on Xie Zijing’s shoulder, silent.
Xie Zijing lowered his head and kissed his hair. “Very tired?”
Qin Ge hooked his fingers. “Extremely tired…”
“I’ll stay with you,” Xie Zijing said softly. “Stay with you while you sleep.”
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