Chapter 2458: Chapter 2459: Dust-covered Past

Just like that, time passed second by second.

Like the babbling spring water in a stream.

Neither of the two spoke; they just sat in silence.

“Officer Lin, why don’t you just arrest me?” Zhang Long said:

“Someone like me doesn’t deserve to live.”

“That’s a serious statement. I think you handled it well,” Lin Yi flicked off his cigarette ash:

“When I sorted all the connections a few days ago, I put myself in this matter and came to a conclusion that you are not a bad person.”

“Not bad?”

“If it were me, not only would I have killed them, I wouldn’t have spared their entire families,” said Lin Yi:

“But I can’t help it, I sympathize with you, because the law can only punish and can’t erase hatred, but I understand your actions and to some extent, I support you.”

“Still, up to now, I can’t figure out where the problem lies.”

“You disguised the scene, sold Fang Daye’s car, and we found a cabbage seed inside,” Lin Yi continued:

“Then I went to your old family house and found the same cabbage seeds, whereas Fang Daye’s family doesn’t grow cabbage at all.”

“So you zeroed in on me?”

“Pretty much. I later went to the agricultural market and confirmed that the seeds you bought were indeed of a variety called ‘Snow Green’,” Lin Yi said:

“And the alibi you created, I guess you played a movie in the hotel room and then slipped out the window. After killing them, you went back to the hotel, creating the perfect alibi.”

“That’s right,” Zhang Long smoked quietly, looking exhausted.

“Can you talk about what happened back then?” Lin Yi spoke:

“We need to record this in the case file, even if I don’t ask, the people from the precinct will.”

Another long silence followed, and Zhang Long lit another cigarette, saying indifferently:

“That year I was six, I went to Sichuan Province with my dad. We paid 12 yuan at an old lady’s house for a porcelain vase from the Qianlong Period. My dad said it could be sold for at least 500,000 yuan, and nowadays it would be worth at least 2 million.”

“One day, someone came to Fang Daye to propose a marriage, and they wanted to entertain their guests with some mountain goods from our place. They accidentally saw that porcelain vase at our house.”

“About three or four days later, they came over, bringing gifts and inviting my dad for drinks. Towards the end, they revealed their intentions to buy my dad’s vase, even offering 2,500 yuan.”

“I knew the value of the vase, of course, we wouldn’t sell it, and I didn’t want to talk about it with them, but the five of them insisted on buying it. In the end, they even tried to rob us.”

“And then, by accident, they killed your dad?”

“It was no accident,” Zhang Long said:

“My dad was pushed to the ground, bumped his head on the corner of the table, and gashed open a big wound, lying motionless on the floor.”

“They all were scared, not knowing what to do. Fang Daye wanted to call it quits, but Ma Haiqiang said: even if we leave, my dad would call the police, we couldn’t escape; finally, Li Hongzhu said: ‘Finish off my dad, take the item, and nobody will ever know.’

“So, Li Hongzhu’s death was the most brutal one, right?”

Zhang Long nodded.

“What were you doing at the time?”

“I got annoyed later while they were drinking, so I went out to work in the yard… huh…”

Zhang Long took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and said:

“Until I heard the quarrel inside, I felt that something wasn’t right, I wanted to go back and look, and that’s when I saw they’d killed my dad.”

“Did they let you go?”

“How could they.” Zhang Long said with a self-deprecating laugh:

“The first person to come out was Song Lin, she caught me, and then came Ma Haiqiang and Wang Jiasu, hitting my head several times. After that, I passed out.”

“How did you survive?”

“I was woken up by choking.”

“Choked awake?”

“I guess they thought I was beaten to death, so they took both my father and me to an uninhabited mountain to burn us together.” Zhang Long said:

“But I was choked awake by the smoke, and I couldn’t care about anything else. I just ran off into the dark night, kept running, and running, until I met my adoptive parents.”

The story that had been sealed for thirty years was, at this moment, unveiling its mysterious veil, laying all its details in front of everyone.

“When did you start planning your revenge?”

“The moment I escaped, I swore to avenge my father.”

“Can you talk about it?”

Zhang Long nodded, then picked up a cigarette and lit it for himself.

“My adoptive parents were very poor, and because they couldn’t have children, they were very kind to me, but the actual situation at home was dire. One more person meant more expenses; after I arrived, life became even harder. Those initial years were tough.”

Taking a heavy drag on his cigarette, Zhang Long flicked away the ash.

At this moment, his face showed a smile, starkly different from the dejection of moments ago.

Revenge was something that brought him joy.

“It’s quite a coincidence, at that time, the village chief said the military was recruiting and asked if anyone was interested, so I signed up. But I was only 15, too young, and I didn’t understand anything, they didn’t take me.”

“After a year, the recruitment came again, and I went to sign up once more.”

“You got in this time?”

Zhang Long nodded.

“You became a soldier at sixteen?”

“Because I was better than any of them!” Zhang Long exclaimed:

“After being rejected the first time, I found Old Wang Si on the west end of the village. He was an ex-soldier and had experience. I learned from him every day, had him instruct and practice with me, so a year later, those older than me were no match for me. The military leaders saw that I was a good prospect and personally visited my home, confirmed the situation with my parents, and, seeing no issues, they took me away.”

Lin Yi listened carefully; with Zhang Long’s talent, none of these things would have been difficult for him.

“After leaving home, I was assigned to Fengtian, promoted rapidly due to good performance and fearlessness, and became the head of the special forces squad within a few years. Until five years ago, I took the initiative to retire.”

“Did no one try to keep you?”

“They did, the leaders said all they could to persuade me, but I refused.”

“Was it time to carry out your revenge plan?”

“Yes,” Zhang Long affirmed:

“But I didn’t know what the outcome would be. If I didn’t retire and got caught afterward, it would definitely involve my leaders, who treated me well. I couldn’t burden them.”

“Hmm, continue.”

“After leaving Fengtian, my first stop was to return to Jindou Village. I started by finding out news about Fang Daye, and that’s where my revenge plan began.”