Puzzle Madness

Chapter 160 Rain Rust (Part 3)

The raincoats hanging on the iron windowpanes were inflated by the wind, and raindrops slid down, seeping into the walls and turning them even darker; the room smelled of damp, musty wood.

The knives Ai Xi pulled out were both new and old:
Sheathed knives sold on street vendors on overpasses, kitchen knives with moldy wooden handles that look like they've been used for ages, Swiss Army knives bought by mail order, switchblades from convenience stores, and watermelon knives used at fruit stalls.

She arranged them in a row from largest to smallest, the metal and cement rubbing together with a teeth-grinding hissing sound.

DouDou hugged her knees, watching AiXi display the knives on the ground like merchandise:

"An assault? A murder? It seems like something like that happened. I just heard someone talking about it at the hospital's emergency room. Has it already made the news? I thought it would only be announced after the case was closed or there were clues."

Ai Xi took two round fans from her desk drawer and handed one to Dou Dou. The ceiling fan overhead seemed to have never been used, and even on typhoon days, this old house had a strange, stuffy heat.

"Whale Wave's neighbor was stabbed to death. His wife cried loudly in the hallway all afternoon; no one could calm her down. It seems like three people have died in their neighborhood this week?"

“I went to inquire about it too. I told the police that I was the niece of Jingbo’s neighbor, and I cried for a while; but the officer only said that the police force was too short to spare these two days, and this situation might continue. However, the Jiaozhi Autonomous Prefecture will send a special task force to handle it.”

"I think there have been quite a few similar cases recently."

She shrugged, picked up a watermelon knife, and brandished it; she casually rested it on her shoulder, the blade gleaming.
"Look: movies like 'Young and Dangerous' all involve slashing people, right? Slashing isn't as lethal as stabbing, but it's more frightening and intimidating. The movements are larger, and the person looks bigger—ordinary people would be too scared to move in that situation."

Dou Dou waved his round fan, creating a whooshing sound. He flicked his wrist, making the wind from the fan even stronger than that from an electric fan.

"Oh, things have been really turbulent lately. What are you doing with all these knives? I thought you were going to tell me you're a serial killer."

"Hey! Thinking about it this way, you're actually quite suitable. When people see that you're a female high school student, it's easy for them to lower their guard."

Ai Xi raised her hand, which was covered in several bandages, and patted her face:
“That won’t do. My scar is too obvious; it would be easy for witnesses to remember it, right? For things like this, concealment is the most important thing.”

"I mainly want to use the knife for research. I haven't handled many real knives before. Knives should be one of the easiest weapons to get my hands on, right? Ordinary people can't buy firearms, and they're not concealable at all."

She bent down, pulled a dirty tool bag from under the bed, and ripped open the zipper with a ripping sound:

"Actually, I think these repairs are better; they attract less attention than knives."

Ai Xi pulled out a dull awl, then placed a screwdriver in her palm and held it up to her ears:

"Stabbing is more dangerous, and the stabbing motion is small, so you often don't even notice before you get hit."

DouDou clapped her hands lightly, recalling the story of Richard Lichk chatting with the mathematician for ages:
"The metal ruler we use in class is fine too! The triangular kind, you can sharpen the tip. What, are you going to use this for self-defense?"

Ai Xi waved her hand and put the awl and screwdriver back into the tool bag:

"It's not for me. I'm thinking of giving it to Whale Wave to study which ones would be more suitable."

DouDou recalled Ruan Jingbo walking like a zombie when school ended at noon and scratched her head: "Huh? How can she be a serial killer like that? She can't even walk properly, she'd definitely trip and fall if she ran a few steps."

Ai Xi shook her head seriously and began to press down and count her fingers one by one:
"No, it's because I found that she's actually very suited for fighting. Ah! Weren't you at the provincial library this afternoon? I took Jingbo home and did some tests with her; because she wanted to make it to the city's basketball game, and time was quite tight."

Ai Xi raised her arm and moved it haphazardly as if to loosen her shoulder joint:
"Although Whale Wave wants to control her body through dreams and dance machines, it's not all bad. For example, her joint mobility is far beyond that of a normal person; even her knees can bend and rotate, almost like the ball joints of a figurine."

"And the speed of movement too! In fact, she can move very, very fast, and her muscles don't get tired. Moreover, all she can perceive with Whale Wave is the visual and auditory experience of the dance machine screen, which means she has no sense of touch and therefore no sense of pain."

"Also, she hasn't eaten or drunk anything for the past few days, but she doesn't feel hungry at all. Of course, she hasn't been excreting or sleeping either. Whale waves shouldn't have human physiological needs, but I don't understand the principle behind it. Oh! Whale waves still have knee-jerk reflexes and stuff."

"Just guessing, I think as long as she doesn't die completely or her bodily functions are damaged to some extent, she can maintain very strong athletic ability. A bit like a zombie? Like the kind in '28 Days Later' that can run very fast. No, more like a human who seems to be just angry because of the virus."

"Maybe it can still move even after death. Whale Wave is a bit like remotely controlling its own body. Maybe if you replace the flesh and bones with other materials, it will still work; but let's not try that for now."

"She just needs some time to adjust. If she can train properly for a while, I think she'll be amazing—"

"With Mong Cai in such chaos lately, it would be much more convenient if Whale Wave could fight."

Ai Xi talked on and on, gesturing with her hands. Just like when she taught Dou Dou how to do her homework, her eyes sparkled; her confidence in her ideas almost flew out of her pupils.

DouDou listened quietly, and only spoke after AiXi had finished speaking:
"But she seems to have a hard time adapting to situations, right? Just like when I'm in English class, I have to translate the Chinese into English in my head before I can say it, so I'm always a bit slow."

"Ruan Jingbo wants to do the moves, but he still needs to figure out how to dance on the dance machine."

Ai Xi nodded in agreement, patting her chest with her round fan:
"That's right. So the most suitable and quickest way is to design a process and practice it continuously; just like playing basketball. Anyway, she wants to participate in the city competition, so this is a good opportunity for her to practice."

"I think the stabbing technique is the best, and it's also convenient to train with. Eighteen stabs per second! Hahaha."

As she spoke, Ai Xi pulled a lighter out of her pocket and held it in her hand. It was a pulley lighter, which required pressing the roller to light; using it too much would make the pad of her thumb ache.

Crack, crack.

She lit a fire, held the flickering flame in front of her face, and placed her other palm on the outer flame, touching it and lifting it up, giggling.

The flames were even brighter than the broken light bulb overhead, making Ai Xi's burn scars gleam.

Ai Xi certainly doesn't smoke—it's like if you turned the whole Mong Cai No. 5 Middle School upside down and shook it a few times, you could only find a few bad students who smoke—Dou Dou knows that playing with lighters is her little quirk, but she just won't bring them to school or Dou Dou's house.

Especially when doing homework, she particularly likes to rub this lighter: DouDou knows that this is a habitual action to help with thinking.

"I want to investigate this murder case, to find out what happened." Ai Xi put down the lighter, cupping her face in her hands; some of the bandages on her fingertips were still stained dark red. "Ah! Dou Dou, you haven't finished yet. Where were we? What happened after I tricked you into coming to Changshan Beach?"

(End of this chapter)