Chapter 3

The father kept demanding money.

The bus remained stopped in the road.

Passengers at the back grew angry and told him to stop making trouble.

Even with everyone against him, he didn't flinch.

Every sentence began with “motherfucker” and ended with it too.

He swore back at the whole bus.

Then the driver leaned on the horn.

The blast cut through the argument.

He bowed and scraped before the father, his voice trembling.

“I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

“I'll pay. I promise.

“Please, just give me a break.”

“At least you know what's good for you.”

Only then did the father return to his seat, still sulking.

The driver started the bus. At last, it was quiet again.

The brat sat in his mother's arms.

His little face was still red. He pouted without speaking.

She patted his back gently.

“Don't cry, darling. Mommy will buy you sweets.”

His father put away the aggression and opened his newspaper again.

I leaned back, secretly delighted.

The little pest had finally had a taste of pain.

We hadn't gone far when a policeman appeared by the roadside, waving.

The driver slowly pulled over.

My heart thudded.

Police.

The middle-aged officer boarded and spoke to the driver.

“Mind giving me a lift to the rest area?”

“Of course. No problem.”

The driver nodded repeatedly.

The officer looked around, chose an empty seat near the front, and sat down.

I lowered my head and didn't dare look at him.

My palms began to sweat.

I was planning to surrender, but I didn't want to be recognized here.

I wanted to walk into the station openly, not be arrested as a fugitive.

The brat raised his head from his mother's arms, looked at the officer, then at me.

His little eyes shifted. Who knew what he was thinking?

Suddenly, he wriggled free and started fidgeting again.

“Mom, I'm still bored.”

She absently stroked his head.

“Be good. Nearly there.”

As if he would listen.

Seeing me hunched over with my head down, he lost all his earlier fear.

He began tapping my seat with his foot.

Once. Twice.

I gritted my teeth and endured it.

The policeman was at the front. I couldn't do anything unusual.

When I didn't react, the brat grew bolder.

He kicked harder.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Other passengers turned.

The officer glanced back too.

I quickly pretended nothing was wrong. I even forced a smile for him.

The brat looked more pleased with himself.

He stood, climbed onto the back of my seat, and put his mouth close to my ear.

“Weren't you all tough before? Why aren't you tough now?”

His voice brimmed with triumph.

My fists clenched. Veins stood out on the backs of my hands.

But I couldn't move.

I absolutely couldn't.

When I ignored him, he became more outrageous.

He reached out, grabbed my hair, and yanked hard.

“Ah!”

I gasped in pain and lurched forward.

The little fucking bastard.

I whipped around and glared.

Seeing my anger, he snatched his hand back.

Then he opened his mouth and cried as if I had frightened him.

“Mommy! He's going to hit me again!”

He howled. Tears appeared on command.

Everyone turned.

Including the policeman.

The officer got up and came over.

“What's going on?”

The brat pointed at me through his tears.

“He shouted at me! He wants to hit me!”

His mother immediately stood and gathered him into her arms.

“Don't be scared, darling. Mommy's here.”

Then she glared at me.

“Trying to bully a child again?”

I was dumbstruck.

The little pest had started it, and somehow I was the one at fault.

“Officer, that's not what happened. He—”

“He what?”

The policeman cut me off.

“You're a grown man. Why are you picking a fight with a child?”

The brat cried louder.

“He glared at me! He looked really scary!”

The officer frowned at me.

“Even if the child did something wrong, you shouldn't frighten him.”

I opened my mouth to explain, but didn't dare say too much.

What if my identity came out?

All I could do was grit my teeth and nod.

“I'm sorry. I meant no harm.”

The officer soothed the boy.

At last, the crying faded.

But the sneaky look he gave me said one thing clearly.

Triumph.

The officer returned to his seat.

The brat wiped his tears and pulled a face at me.

It said:

“What are you going to do about it?”

I shook with anger.

He was nastier than I had thought.

He understood perfectly that the situation favored him. That was why he had no restraint.

I was almost out of my mind.

I had never met such a shameless child.

No.

Such a shameless family.

I stared at him, my eyes almost burning.

He wasn't afraid. He grinned even more.

He knew exactly what he was doing.

The little fucking bastard.

Then the bus slowed.

We had reached the rest area.

The officer got off, and I breathed out.

The pressure in my chest eased a little.

Long-distance buses stopped at a public rest area along the way.

Passengers got off to stretch and buy food, leaving their belongings aboard.

The parents got off too.

Before leaving, the mother stroked the boy's head.

“Be good, darling. Mommy's getting you something nice.”

The father followed lazily, not even bothering to look at me.

I was about to step out for some air when the brat passed me and squeezed the water bottle in his hand.

Water sprayed all over me.

The icy liquid soaked my clothes and even my backpack.

I was drenched.

The decent clothes I'd spent all my savings on were ruined.

My hands shook with fury.

I wanted to strangle the little animal.

Seeing my anger, he tried to run.

I grabbed his collar.

“Do you fucking want to die?”

My teeth ground together.

He screamed.

“Help! He's going to hit me!”

The officer heard and hurried back.

“What is it now?”

“He's hitting me!”

The brat put on a wounded face. Again, tears came on command.

The officer frowned at me.

Helpless, I let go.

The little animal ran aside and pulled another face.

I got off the bus.

Alone, I went into the restroom.

In the mirror, I looked soaked and pathetic.

Water dripped from my hair. My clothes clung coldly to my body.

I remembered what had happened a year ago.

My younger sister, Xiaoyu, had been abused by a village thug.

Unable to bear the humiliation, she had taken her own life in the river.

The bastard was arrested. But his parents had powerful connections, and he got just one year in prison.

One year.

Was that all my sister's life was worth?

I went mad with rage. I took a knife to his house and killed his parents.

Then I spent a year on the run.

Looking at my haggard reflection, I gave a bitter laugh.

“Forget it. Why get worked up over a kid?”

I shook the water from my hair and left.

But when I returned to the bus, my backpack had been ransacked.

Clothes lay across the seats. My old books had been thrown on the floor.

Worst of all, a bracelet lay broken there.

A red cord bracelet Xiaoyu had braided herself.

The only keepsake I had left of her.

The brat stood beside it, grinning.

“Sorry, mister. I broke it by accident. I'll tell Dad to pay you.”

Not a trace of guilt in his voice.

Only mockery.

Looking at the broken bracelet, at the little red beads scattered across the floor, I felt my heart break too.

It was the last gift she had given me before she died.

Now that was gone as well.

I lost control.

I lunged at him.

He opened his mouth to call for help, but I caught him by the throat.

“Do you know what this is?”

My voice was frighteningly low.

He couldn't speak through the pain. Only hoarse cries came out.

His face reddened. His hands flailed.

“Help… help…”

Barely audible.

His parents came back with their food. Seeing us, they rushed aboard.

“What are you doing? Let him go!”

His mother screamed and charged.

“You fucking want to die?”

His father came at me too.

I couldn't take any more.

People like them would never understand.

They only indulged him. Only shielded him.

They never understood consequences.

I pulled the knife from my pocket.

The sharp dagger flashed coldly under the light.

The same knife I had killed with a year ago.

I didn't mind a little more blood on it.

“Don't!”

His mother stared at it in terror.

Too late.

I stabbed his father in the chest.

Blood poured out.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

“You… you…”

The mother tried to run. I caught her by the hair and pulled her back.

The knife drove into her stomach.

She fell in pain, blood spilling from her mouth.

The brat looked at his parents lying in their blood.

Then at me, fierce and covered in it.

For the first time, he was truly afraid.

No swagger.

No triumph.

Only trembling and tears.

“Scared now?”

I grabbed his hair.

“Sorry… I'm sorry… I was wrong…”

At last, an apology through his tears.

Too late.

I seized his head and slammed it against the rail.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

When the rail was stained red, he stopped struggling.

Afterward, I felt much calmer.

As if the great stone pressing on my chest had finally been lifted.

I picked up the broken bracelet and carefully put it in my pocket.

Then I stepped off the bus.

The passengers outside stared in horror at the blood on my face and clothes.

Someone screamed.

Someone called the police.

I found the officer.

He was questioning a few passengers.

When he saw me approach, he instinctively stepped back.

“Officer.”

I calmly held out my hands.

“Cuff me.”

Of course, I was sentenced to death.

Before my execution, the policeman unexpectedly asked:

“Any last wishes?”

I thought for a moment.

“Yes. One little regret.”

He laughed, then changed the subject.

“Do you know the names of the family you killed?”

“No.”

“The woman was Zhang Mei. The child was Liu Tao.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“The man was Liu Neng.”

Liu Neng.

My heart tightened.

Throughout that year on the run, I had never stopped thinking about that name.

I wanted to find him.

Wanted to strangle him with my own hands.

He was the one responsible for my sister's death a year earlier.

“After he got out of prison, he was afraid you'd take revenge. He had plastic surgery to change his face.”

The officer went on.

I laughed quietly.

“Served him right.”

I faced the black muzzle in front of me calmly.

There was nothing left in this life to regret.