Iris 11

At this point, Mu Qin had only been suspicious.

But later, when Mu Qin led Qiu Zijia and Cheng Guoxu in searching the Little Church, and Cheng Guoxu brought him that stack of documents, Mu Qin began to think Cheng Guoxu's identity warranted looking into.

Because Cheng Guoxu had torn out the page containing the staff roster.

From Cheng Guoxu's perspective, an orphanage staff roster should have had little to do with him. There should have been no reason for him to destroy it, unless the torn-out page contained something he did not want Mu Qin to see. For instance, a staff member Cheng Guoxu knew well... or Cheng Guoxu himself.

He had found his own name in the documents and, not wanting anyone to know he had once worked at the orphanage, hastily torn it out before bringing the papers to Mu Qin. He had hoped this guilty action would prove that there was nothing unusual about him. But when Xu Fu and Han Li later came to the church, Cheng Guoxu overheard their conversation. Unable to hold back any longer, he decided to take a desperate gamble and made his move.

"Cheng Guoxu probably heard Xu Fu questioning Han Li about what happened ten years ago... about the serial killer who murdered several children at Iris Orphanage. He realized that Xu Fu was tracking down the killer from back then. Given Xu Fu's temperament and strength, if he discovered it was Cheng Guoxu, Cheng Guoxu would be dead for certain. That's why Cheng Guoxu took the risk of striking first, trying to kill Xu Fu before Xu Fu could kill him." That was the conclusion Mu Qin reached after piecing it together.

Qiu Zijia shuddered as he said, "You mean Cheng Guoxu is the serial killer who tortured children to death ten years ago?"

"There isn't any direct evidence, but judging by his reaction, it's almost certainly him." Mu Qin rubbed his arms and looked up at the dim, endless sky, where rain continued to pour down.

The sudden revelation seemed hard for Qiu Zijia to process. He clutched his head in both hands. "So we've been acting alongside a vicious serial killer this whole time?"

"Vicious is overstating it." Feeling his way through the darkness, Mu Qin walked beneath a tree. He found Han Li's arm. Her body felt slightly cold, but when he touched her forehead, it was burning hot, just as he had expected.

Mu Qin said, "I could tell at a glance that Cheng Guoxu is a coward. Inferior, weak, without the strength to fight adults, and without the confidence to beat them. That's why he could only target children. People like that are incredibly insecure and incredibly arrogant at the same time. Their hearts are vile and filthy. For him to dare step out and attack Xu Fu today probably took every bit of courage he had in his whole life."

"Heh... how ridiculous." Qiu Zijia was beginning to show signs of a breakdown. Still clutching his head, he started pulling at his hair. "When you put it that way... it's true. Every one of us has a criminal past. We're all hopeless bastards, which is why we were sent here... This so-called Death Game is punishing us, isn't it? Since we're already dead, then... this must be Hell, right!?"

Mu Qin turned toward Qiu Zijia. "You've committed a crime too?"

"I..." Qiu Zijia paused. After a moment, he finally confessed frankly, "I caused my older brother's death."

"Your older brother?" Mu Qin was taken aback. "The one you said your parents adopted?"

"Yes." Under the pressure, Qiu Zijia instead seemed to grow calmer. "I drove him to suicide. I was only six at the time."

"Six?" Mu Qin could hardly believe it. "You could drive your brother to death at that age? You probably didn't even understand what the words 'drive someone to death' meant."

"I could. It was actually very easy." Qiu Zijia suddenly laughed, a self-mocking laugh. "When I was six, I really didn't understand what those words meant. I was terrifyingly innocent then... in a way you can't imagine... You can't imagine how terrifying a child's innocence can be."

"From the time I became aware of things and learned to speak, I felt a simple kind of hatred toward that brother of mine. Back then, I suppose I thought he had stolen our parents' attention from me. It was a very simple mindset. Every child will do everything they can to win their parents' love and attention, whether by crying, throwing tantrums, or acting cute. Only children have it easier. But if there are siblings... you can imagine it. Older brothers or younger brothers, older sisters or younger sisters, all try their best to suppress one another so they can seize resources and attention from their parents."

"That behavior is instinct. Even a litter of puppies will shove and fight each other for their mother's teats. Humans aren't all that different from animals."

As Qiu Zijia continued, his voice sank lower and lower. "So in order to compete for resources, even though I was only six, I already had very dark thoughts. I hated that brother of mine. I wanted him out of our family. Especially after I occasionally heard my parents mention that he wasn't their biological child, that feeling only grew stronger."

"But I was young, and my ways of suppressing him were childish too. Whatever my parents gave him, I would take it away. Books, toys, school supplies, even clothes and shoes they bought for him. As long as my parents brought it home, I would snatch it. I either used those things myself or ruined them, then threw them back to him like garbage once I was tired of them."

"My parents spoiled me terribly, which was why I always acted without fear. In their eyes, their adopted son probably couldn't compare to their biological son. They never showed him much affection or attention. They tacitly allowed every unreasonable thing I did to him, and with that unspoken indulgence from them, my oppression of him only became worse."

"I took his personal belongings whenever I pleased, destroyed or threw them away, tore up his homework and textbooks, threw trash at him, splashed water on him, and hit him with things, until he was covered in wounds from morning to night. I didn't want to eat with him. Whenever he sat down at the table, I cried, screamed, and smashed bowls, so after that he could only eat alone in his room. Later, I complained that his room was bigger than mine, so my parents made us switch. He could only live in the cramped little room."

"I even pushed him down the stairs. It wasn't a very tall staircase, but he hit his head and blood streamed all over his face. My parents wanted to take him to the hospital, but I cried and threw a tantrum, so they could only stay with me while he walked to the hospital by himself to get stitches."

Qiu Zijia paused for a long time there, then looked at Mu Qin. "Terrifying, isn't it? Even I think the person I was back then was terrifying when I remember it. How could I have been that evil? It's... it's beyond description..."

"No. You're not the terrifying one. Your parents are." Mu Qin offered his opinion, thinking it through as he spoke. "Your parents never restrained or stopped you. By tacitly allowing it, they encouraged all your unreasonable and even cruel behavior. Whenever you bullied your brother, they indulged and spoiled you, forgave you unconditionally, and met all your demands. That was a reward."

"A reward?" Qiu Zijia stared blankly at Mu Qin.

Mu Qin said, "That's right, a reward. You were still a child then, and your behavior was very easy to shape. All they had to do was instill the idea that 'bullying my brother earns me a reward' and mold your behavior around it. Then you would only get worse, taking pleasure in bullying your brother, even doing increasingly excessive things because your parents spoiled you without limits."

"Was it really like that?" Qiu Zijia seemed unable to be sure. He looked dazed. "My brother died in the end. When I grew to hate and humiliate him more and more, my parents decided to send him away to board at school. But he needed living expenses at school, so every weekend he came home to ask them for money. One weekend, I stole several thousand yuan from my mother's purse and put it in his schoolbag, then framed him for the theft. My parents cursed him viciously, took all the money he had on him, and threw him out of the house. He apparently couldn't bear it anymore and jumped to his death. From the building where we lived."

"That was the first time I saw a mangled corpse." Qiu Zijia said, "Strangely, I wasn't afraid. It didn't frighten me as much as the body we saw in the stairwell today, and I didn't have nightmares. But I always dreamed of my brother's corpse. In my dreams, he was always lying there, mangled and bloody, in that same place."

"I'm a selfish person, Mu Qin." Qiu Zijia laughed at himself. "All these years, I barely reflected on it. I grew up heartlessly, squandering time and money, turning a blind eye to other people's suffering. I have lived to this day by stepping over my brother's corpse and blood. Someone as damned as me... retribution has finally come."

Mu Qin stared at Qiu Zijia for a while before saying, "Qiu Zijia, I think Xu Fu frightened you just now. You're not in a good state of mind right now, and you're showing self-destructive tendencies."

Qiu Zijia suddenly glared at Mu Qin. "Why are you so calm?"

Mu Qin went still for a moment. "Calm? I have to stay calm in a situation like this."

"Don't you think you're too calm?" Qiu Zijia abruptly shouted at Mu Qin. Even the clatter of rain could not cover his howl. "Since the start of this so-called game! From the moment I met you, there haven't been many expressions on your face. You've been analyzing everything with that blank expression the whole time. You aren't surprised, you aren't afraid, you..."

Qiu Zijia looked at Mu Qin, trembling. "You're not really the killer, are you?"

Mu Qin was silent. He watched Qiu Zijia for a long while before answering, "I'm a soldier. I've had relevant training. Staying calm is normal. If I were hysterical like you right now, then we'd really be finished. And the killer is obviously Xu Fu, isn't he? Qiu Zijia, there really is something wrong with your state of mind... And Han Li has a fever now. We need to find somewhere safe to stay. We can't keep getting soaked in the rain."

"Just leave me behind." Qiu Zijia suddenly said something startling. He lowered his head. "I'm useless. My only purpose is to hold you back, so just leave me behind. You're an outstanding person. You have a better chance of surviving than I do."

"Are you giving up?" Mu Qin understood Qiu Zijia's state of mind, because their situation was truly awful. Two out of six people were dead. The killer was Xu Fu, whose strength and physical ability far surpassed everyone present. Then there was the female teacher, burning with fever and useless, while they had not even caught a glimpse of the key to the main entrance exit. In an orphanage this large, finding any hope of escape was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Despair was only natural.

That was why Qiu Zijia said, "I give up."

"After easily driving your brother to death, are you going to just as easily drive yourself to death too?" Mu Qin looked at him without expression. "Are you such a coward that you don't even have the courage to go back alive and kneel at your brother's grave to atone?"

Qiu Zijia looked up at Mu Qin and could not help laughing. "You seem so cold... but you're actually a good person."

"I only do what needs to be done," Mu Qin said. "Your chances of survival are at least better than Han Li's. There's no need to give up so quickly."