The scrawny man finished speaking, a look of understanding in his eyes. He directly picked up the axe on the ground and swung it at Han Mo.
Bai Xi pulled Han Mo towards her. She gently placed her right hand on Han Mo's shoulder and kicked out with her right foot towards the man's shoulder.
The man was sent flying to the ground, his axe clattering onto the floor. He spat out a mouthful of blood. "Cough, cough, cough..."
Bai Xi said calmly, "Surrender now. You have no chance of winning."
This man's strength was not strong at all, only more ruthless and sinister than an ordinary person. He must have known the haunted house very well, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to cover the surveillance in advance and make such effective use of the props within the entire haunted house.
Therefore, he was either a regular, had worked here before, or had scouted the place many times.
The thin and small man struggled to get up, spitting out blood, and let out a long sigh. "Ha, I knew someone would come for me. I just didn't expect it to be a young girl. These people deserve to die, all of them. How dare you arrest me!"
His eyes turned fierce again.
Bai Xi said calmly, "A rough estimate shows you killed fifty-one people. I don't believe they all offended you."
There were a total of thirteen staff members responsible for enhancing the atmosphere and scaring the guests in the haunted house. Therefore, the deceased were not only haunted house staff but also ordinary tourists.
In the "Dark Department," when classifying murderers, those who killed for profit or revenge were considered relatively less dangerous.
However, the man before her, who claimed those people deserved to die and seemed to be seeking revenge, had killed people of vastly different identities, ages, and relationships. This method of killing leaned towards indiscriminate killing and was extremely dangerous.
The thin and small man suddenly calmed down, his ferocious expression vanishing. "Can I tell you a story?"
Bai Xi said indifferently, "I'm not interested in your story. You might have your reasons, but you are doomed to die."
For criminals, redemption was irrelevant.
Every killer had a reason for killing. Some of these reasons might sound perfectly reasonable, while others might seem absurd.
But these were all subjective judgments by the killer, the results of their deeply held beliefs.
However, what happened today was a fact. Regardless of whether she could accept his reasons, or whether the general public could agree with them, this man before her had to die.
The thin and small man was slightly stunned, but then burst into laughter. "Since I'm here today, I never intended to leave alive. Think of it as my dying words, would you give me three minutes?"
Bai Xi remained silent, but did not move.
Han Mo looked at Bai Xi, also silent.
Although she appeared cold in this life, she was still as gentle as before.
The thin and small man sank into his memories, his expression suddenly becoming very gentle. "I had a childhood sweetheart, a girlfriend who was gentle, beautiful, and incredibly kind. A year ago, I took her to the amusement park, and she was so happy. I still remember, she was wearing a dress with small blue flowers that day..."
She was lively and adventurous, while I was timid, cowardly, shy, and taciturn, and had a congenital heart condition. My life was simple and dull. To me, she was like the sun in the sky, illuminating my life.
That day, she said she wanted to go to the haunted house, but because of my condition, I could only wait for her at the entrance.
She very kindly bought me an ice cream and told me to sit on the bench in front of the haunted house and wait for her. I sat there and waited, for a very, very long time, but she never came out.
When I called her mobile phone, the call indicated that the phone was turned off. This was already very unusual.
I wanted to go find her, but I was stopped by the female staff at the entrance, who told me to queue according to the rules. It was midsummer, and the cool haunted house was a popular attraction for many visitors.
I waited for nearly half an hour before I could enter the haunted house. During my wait, I kept looking at that bench, but she never appeared.
After half an hour, I finally got the chance to go in, and I searched for a long time inside, but I couldn't find any trace of her. After leaving the haunted house, I asked the female attendant to retrieve the surveillance footage from the haunted house to see where she had gone.
But that woman said to me with a look of disgust: "Ha, your girlfriend went in and didn't come out? Have you looked at yourself? Maybe your so-called girlfriend is just something you imagined!"
Her words drew ridicule from the people queuing for the haunted house: "Hahaha, that's right."
"Even if you have a girlfriend, perhaps she just felt embarrassed to break up with you and left you here alone."
"Makes sense."
I was both ashamed and furious, and left immediately.
The next day, I learned that she had returned home, and my mood was even worse.
She didn't come to find me, and I didn't look for her. I thought she had truly done as those people said, that she didn't love me and couldn't find a way to leave, so she took this drastic measure.
Until three days later, the news came that she had jumped to her death.
I was almost broken.
After hearing the news of her death, I had a heart attack and was hospitalized. I was discharged two months later.
After being discharged, I went to her home, wanting to know why she had committed suicide. But her parents had left when she was very young, and she had been living with her uncle.
Her uncle's family wasn't cruel to her, but they weren't particularly kind either. So, apart from studying hard, she also worked part-time to supplement the household income, but she didn't communicate much with them.
They couldn't explain her death clearly, only saying that after she went to the amusement park with me that day, she returned completely changed.
Her face was pale, she became silent, and she seemed to have lost her soul.
They had also asked her what was wrong, but she steadfastly refused to say a word.
They also advised me not to dwell on it and to live my new life well.
Seeing that I couldn't get any information, I left dejectedly, mocking myself that perhaps she had hidden in the underworld because she had such a useless and worthless boyfriend like me.
Although I told myself countless times to let it go and stop searching.
But I could control my brain, yet not my heart.
Countless times in my dreams, her figure would appear. Her smiling face, her playful expression, and the scene of her turning and leaving with a smile, wearing that floral dress.
Suddenly, I felt that I was just overthinking things. She was truly gone, and perhaps she didn't love me, but that didn't stop me from loving her.
From that day on, my life was filled with hope again. I began to chase after every trace of her past, the evidence of our love, and revisit the places we had been, and eat the food we had eaten together.
It was on this journey of searching for love that I unexpectedly found the truth behind her suicide.