Lei Mi - Profiler

"Do it…. Come on… Kill me…"

The muscles in Fang Mu's face twitched as he stared at Sun Pu. The look in the guy's eyes seemed to be taunting him on… It would be so easy…

Just one light pull of the trigger…

And this demon would be sent straight to hell…

"Don't shoot, Fang Mu!" Tai Wei shouted. "That's what he wants you to do! Don't fall for it!"

Fang Mu's body shook. He placed his finger firmly against the trigger.

A shot rang out.

And then another.

Tai Wei sadly looked away. It was over. Fang Mu had gotten his payback. But the price was too high. Suddenly he heard a sharp sound. A moment later something seemed to roll beneath his feet.

He looked down. It was a spent bullet shell.

He quickly looked up.

Sun Pu's head was still whole. His eyes were tightly shut and he seemed to be holding his breath, his face red from the effort.

Less than two inches above the top of his head, two shallow holes had been chipped into the cement.

Fang Mu was still in the same position, his arms outstretched and holding the gun. Smoke rose from the barrel. The clip was empty.

After a long moment, he tore open Sun Pu's pocket and grabbed the keys. Sun Pu finally exhaled.

Looking at Sun Pu's startled face, Fang Mu smirked and stood up. He slowly and clearly said, "Is that how you wanted to die? It won't be that easy. You'll have to wait for the execution ground."

He pulled Professor Qiao's fountain pen from his pocket and waved it in front of Sun Pu's face. "You think this is just an ordinary pen?"

He turned around and walked over to Tai Wei.

Tai Wei sighed with relief. He was about to praise Fang Mu, when he saw the student do something very odd. With one hand, Fang Mu reached inside his collar and seemed to pull something out.

Sun Pu lay where he was on the floor for a few seconds, staring up at the ceiling. Suddenly his eyes went wide.

He struggled to his feet; one of his hands brushed against Fang Mu's knife.

With a surge, he seemed suddenly imbued with supernatural strength. Leaping forward, he grabbed hold of the blade and sprinted toward Fang Mu.

Tai Wei saw the attack coming. He felt his heart seize up. Just as he was about to warn Fang Mu, he was dumbstruck by the look on the student's face.

Fang Mu was gazing casually at Tai Wei, a faint smile playing across his lips.

That's right, it seemed to say. I know exactly what Sun Pu is doing behind my back. And I also know that he has my knife in his hand.

Calmly, in a controlled manner, Fang Mu tore the bullet from his necklace and snapped it in the pistol chamber. He gently cocked the gun. With a click, the hammer fell back into place.

He even had time to raise an eyebrow at Tai Wei.

You still remember this bullet? his look seemed to ask.

He turned and raised the gun. Suddenly the figure before Fang Mu wasn't merely Sun Pu; it was simultaneously — impossibly — Wu Han and Sun Pu, seemingly to merge, both raising the same knife and facing Fang Mu.

It doesn't matter who you are. This case is closed. Fang Mu pulled the trigger.

In an instant a small hole appeared in Sun Pu's forehead and his head snapped back, absorbing the blast. A stream of blood and bone burst from the back of his skull as the bullet exited.

He fell back onto the floor.

Ding . A brass shell struck lightly against the floor. Tai Wei's mouth was wide open, and not until the sound of the gunshot slowly disappeared from Cell 7 did it finally close.

Fang Mu slowly placed the gun on the floor, feeling as if the last bit of strength had been pulled out of him. For a moment he looked at Sun Pu's body where it twitched on the floor.

Then he turned, unlocked Tai Wei's shackles, and helped him off the cross. The cop's whole body was stiff.

Doing his best to avoid Tai Wei's puzzled, fearful eyes, Fang Mu said quietly: "Come on; let's get out of here."

At the Jiangbin City police lockup, Fang Mu slept peacefully for several nights. He didn't dream at all.

As he had requested, Tai Wei arranged it so that he could have his own cell. All of his meals were takeout, and each morning he was given the day's newspaper and a pack of expensive Zhonghua cigarettes.

When he didn't feel like doing anything else, Fang Mu would lie on his iron bed and look out the window, silently watching the clouds pass and day turn to night.

Occasionally Fang Mu would think of those who had passed, the things that had happened. But now he was much more at peace and it seemed like it would be difficult for anything to shake him.

So this is all that it feels like to have killed someone.

A few days later, officers from the PSB discovered an abundance of evidence in Sun Pu's home proving that he had committed all the murders. Someone was then sent to JiangbinCityUniversity to inform them of the situation, and Meng Fanzhe's name was officially cleared. At the same time, it was determined that Fang Mu had acted in self-defense and the case was closed. Tai Wei's testimony had been the critical factor.

Fang Mu's only regret was that he had been unable to attend Professor Qiao's memorial service.

It was Tai Wei who came to let Fang Mu out of his cell.

The day was clear and bright. As Fang Mu walked out of the detention house, the sun was shining overhead. He bathed in its warmth, his whole body pleasantly tingling. Like many of those on the street around him, he couldn't help but raise his arms and stretch.

When they reached the jeep, Tai Wei gave Fang Mu his belongings, including the fountain pen. Fang Mu looked the pen over for a long time, and then placed it carefully in his breast pocket.

Tai Wei watched this and then suddenly asked: "You did all that on purpose, right?" He pointed at the pen. "That's just a regular pen."

Fang Mu didn't respond. He knew that Tai Wei hadn't mentioned what happened with the pen when he testified.

Seeing that Fang Mu wasn't going to answer, Tai Wei didn't ask anything else, just silently started the jeep.

When they reached the school gates later, something suddenly occurred to Tai Wei.

"Oh, that's right." He searched in his pockets as the jeep sat at the school entry. "I meant to give this to you, too."

He handed something to Fang Mu. It was the dagger.

Fang Mu didn't immediately take it from him. For a few seconds he just stared at it, not saying a word. Finally he grabbed it.

"I'm gonna head back," he said, his voice low. Then he hopped out of the vehicle.

After he had gone a few steps toward the gates, Tai Wei called out to him.

This guy is always like this, huh? thought Fang Mu.

He turned around.

Frowning, Tai Wei looked into his eyes.

After a long moment, he asked: "You remember how I once recommended that you become a cop?"

"Yeah."

Tai Wei looked down, thinking deeply about something. A few seconds later, he looked back up. In a determined tone, he said, "I take it back."

He drove off.

Fang Mu watched the jeep disappear into the distance. Then he smiled, turned, and walked through the gate.

Today was the last day of finals. Unable to wait any longer, the students who had finished their tests had already packed their stuff into boxes and were heading to the train station. Amid this crowd of homeward-bound students, Fang Mu walked slowly toward Dormitory 5.

When he was back inside Room 304, Fang Mu sat on the bed and looked at all the papers still stacked on the desk. Touching them, he found they were covered with dust.

After sitting in silence for a while, he began to organize his things.

At this point he had finished everything he needed to do. There was no reason to stay here any longer. That afternoon he would go to the graduate student office and apply to switch dorms.