chapter 13
Li Wenzhou collapsed at the entrance to the Secret Room.
Grief and rage overwhelmed me. As soon as I broke free, I rushed straight into the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and wanted to stab him.
He Shuyu stopped me, but I refused to give up. I told her not to interfere, not to help him anymore-I was determined for Li Wenzhou to die.
But He Shuyu said, “Not now.”
I looked into her eyes and gradually calmed down.
Together, we dragged Li Wenzhou into the Secret Room, and then began to plot a long, drawn-out murder.
He Shuyu had once been a stage actress; her acting skills were already ingrained in her very bones.
From then on, she began to play two roles at once.
She no longer went out as He Shuyu.
She starved herself at home, growing gaunt and haggard, all so that she could eventually reappear before the world as a pitiable wife who had been locked in the Secret Room for a long time.
From then on, she only went out as Li Wenzhou.
She had been married to Li Wenzhou for years and was very familiar with his mannerisms and speech. She could imitate his gait and mimic simple syllables. Li Wenzhou was reclusive and rarely spoke in public anyway.
She was three centimeters shorter than Li Wenzhou, so she padded her shoes; she bought fake muscle props online to give herself a masculine build; she drew a birthmark on her left eye, a facial feature of Li Wenzhou.
She cut her hair short and wore a hat; during the pandemic, everyone wore masks outside, so her face could be concealed.
This neighborhood didn’t have close relationships between neighbors, so no one noticed anything unusual.
Li Wenzhou had always gone out rarely and socialized little. Later, with the pandemic and the neighborhood lockdown, there was even less need to go out.
As for me, I played the role of a student infatuated with her teacher, determined to become his lover. I made a show of not returning to my dorm, moving in with the teacher, even attending online classes lying on his bed.
We created the illusion that Li Wenzhou was having an affair with me and spread the scandal far and wide, making sure everyone at school knew about it.
In addition, I wrote a script paying tribute to Hell Screen. Previously, I had memorized all of Li Wenzhou’s scripts, so I understood his writing style and linguistic quirks, and could easily write in a Li Wenzhou-esque style. I stopped writing at the penultimate act.
With He Shuyu’s help, I wrote a second, unspeakable script-the one we would act out in real life. We revised it together many times, considering every detail to make it as realistic as possible. The story we told the police was the plot of this play.
As soon as I started writing, He Shuyu began communicating online with Li Wenzhou’s friends, using his identity to discuss creative ideas, expressing just the right amount of admiration for Hell Screen and longing for Hellfire. In this way, she hinted at Li Wenzhou’s future motive for arson.
She also used Li Wenzhou’s account to buy Gasoline online in advance.
Two months of living together passed in a flash, and He Shuyu and I had arranged everything.
Li Wenzhou had been locked in the Secret Room for so long that he had become dull and confused. We then carried out the final part of our plan: we made him drink, and let him die in the great fire in the Secret Room.
So, Li Wenzhou was not someone who entered the Secret Room later, nor did he die trying to save anyone.
He had been locked in the Secret Room from the start; he was always meant to be the one who died.
To make the act more convincing, He Shuyu even burned herself; I had wanted to do the same, but He Shuyu strongly opposed it because I was pregnant.
That night, He Shuyu and I stood side by side outside the Bathroom, watching through the one-way glass as the demon was consumed by Hellfire.
Softly, I spoke to the child in my womb: It’s not that your mother is cruel, letting you witness such a terrifying scene. I just want you to know-you are his flesh and blood, but you must not become a demon like him.
That unspeakable script scattered in the fire, its pages flying and turning to ash.
As the sound of police sirens drew near, He Shuyu asked me, “Have you memorized all the lines?”
I replied, “I have.”