The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 136 Cats and Biscuits
Qi Dongjun's nasolabial folds suddenly twitched like a spasm, and his Adam's apple rolled over gravel under his old skin, sobbing: "You won't understand..."

Qi Fei was pinned to the spot, his rational criminal logic crumbling inside his head. He couldn't think. All the truth he wanted to know, all the clues tangled like a spiderweb, the monster hiding in the center of the web was actually his brother. At this moment, the shadows of father and son split into countless shadows on the wall, and Xi He seemed to become a shadow among them.

"Xihe is only one year older than you. From the moment he was born, I knew he was a smart child. I still remember when he was still in swaddling clothes, his pair of black eyes were always moving around smartly, as if he could understand what adults were saying. He could talk before he could walk, not just babbling, but being able to express his meaning completely. He would say, Mom, I love you so much." Ziyun often said that she was the happiest mother in the world. But as Xihe grew up, all the beautiful and dreamy things began to develop in a worrying direction. At first, he just arranged the ants into a circular queue and used honey to guide them to circulate until they died. He would also fly the wings of cicadas. He tore off pieces one by one and tucked them into the dictionary, saying he was making insect specimens. He would squat in front of an anthill for six hours on rainy days, drenched in sweat but refusing to go home, just to watch the worker ants struggle before drowning. We thought it was just a child's scientific exploration and even foolishly felt relieved by it, until that day..." Qi Dongjun suddenly coughed violently, as if he didn't want to talk about it until now, "Until we found the neighbor's cat nailed to the sycamore tree, with two glass marbles embedded in the cat's eyes - those glass marbles were a reward given to him by Ziyun when she played with him. And he did it simply because your mother thought the cat was cute and gave the cat a piece of the biscuits she made for him..."

"What's even more terrifying is his tampering with the rules." Qi Dongjun loosened his tie, his Adam's apple rolling with a sound like sandpaper rubbing against each other. "He was only three years old back then, and he already knew how to use my Swiss pocket watch to time his hide-and-seek games. Every time it was his turn to hide, the watch chain would 'accidentally' get tangled in the door lock. When I broke into the closet, he was squatting in the closet, carving marble patterns into the lining of Ziyun's mink coat with a utility knife. The knife marks were arranged so neatly, without any of the carefree innocence of a child.

What worries me more is his attitude towards you." Qi Dongjun said, looking at Qi Fei with serious eyes.

"Has he ever hurt me?" Qi Fei asked, but he was not confident, because in his memory, the child whose face he could not see clearly was always kind to him.

Qi Dongjun waved his hand. "On the contrary, he loves you very much. He will torture and kill small animals and play cruel pranks on adults, but to you, he behaves like a perfect brother. Ziyun is very pleased with this, but I have a different opinion."

"I do not understand……"

"It's as if his love for you is a deliberate act just to please Ziyun." Qi Dongjun's dejected gaze suddenly fell on Qi Fei's left wrist—where there was a circular scar so faint it was almost invisible. "When you were two years old, one day, you were clearly asleep, but suddenly burst into tears. When I ran to check, I found that your left hand had touched the lit mosquito coil and was severely burned. Ziyun complained about why I put the mosquito coil in that place, but I clearly remember that it was on the windowsill, not by the bed. I still remember Xihe's reaction when he saw you were burned. He stretched his wrist to the mosquito coil and burned himself, saying that he was feeling the pain for you. This action deeply moved Ziyun, but I was full of doubts. My only hesitation was how could a three-year-old child plan such a complicated conspiracy?"

The temperature in the study plummeted, his breath turning to frost. Qi Dongjun unbuttoned the first button of his shirt, revealing three faint scratches on his collarbone. "I'm starting to worry about this kid. I want to take him to see a doctor, but Ziyun says Xihe is her child, and no one knows her better than she does. He's just more precocious than most children... When the neighbor's cat appeared in a strange position on the sycamore tree, your mother's baked cookies were deliberately stuffed into the dead cat's mouth. The animal was positioned as if begging for food, its glass-beaded eyes shimmering with eerie colors in the morning light, as if the child was warning Ziyun not to share her love with others. Regarding medical treatment, despite Ziyun's objections, after he killed the neighbor's cat, I insisted on sending him to a psychiatric department. The diagnosis was harsh. The doctor said he was a 'pathological rule reconstructor'—he tramples on human nature under the guise of rule-abiding behavior. He can plan elaborate alibis at the age of three, and is likely to develop a tendency towards ritualized serial killings in the future. We recommended that we place him in isolation and custody."

We didn't dare tell anyone that we had a child with mental problems.

He was secretly raised in a secret house in Nanling and someone was arranged to take care of him.

On the other hand, you are gradually growing up. Xi He brought me deep fear when he was so young. Now you know why I made up my mind to take Xi He away before you can remember anything. I am afraid that you will become another Xi He.

Qi Dongjun looked at Lu Man, who had been standing quietly a little distance away, not interrupting their conversation. "Lu Man is not my lover. She is the top student I picked from the medical school to take care of Xi He. It's hard for her to take on such a difficult job right after graduation."

"I'm sorry, Lao Qi, I didn't take good care of him..." Lu Man still blames herself. "If I hadn't obeyed your request and let Sister Ziyun take Xihe away, perhaps this tragedy wouldn't have happened... As a woman, I sympathize with Sister Ziyun's longing for her son, and I helped her keep it a secret from you..."

"I've thought about this many times. Xi He always behaved well and sensibly in front of you, and no one would be wary of a child. I know that at that time, everyone thought I was the one with mental problems. They all thought I was a neurotic and cold father. Alas, perhaps everything is fate, not something I can control." Qi Dongjun sighed to the sky. His hand knocked over the tin can on the table, and the glass beads that Xi Ziyun had saved rolled to the floor, making a series of crisp sounds.

When Lu Man heard this voice, her face suddenly lost color. She murmured, "I'll never forget. After you two broke up, the pine wood floor of the Nanling building would always vibrate in this rhythmic way in the middle of the night. He was always playing marbles alone—the first impact faded into the darkness, followed by the second, over and over again like the pendulum of hell..."

"The person he hates the most should be me, not your mother... He killed the person who loved him most in the world..." Qi Dongjun's voice trembled so much that he couldn't continue speaking.

(End of this chapter)