When Bright Moon Encounter the Dark Clouds

Soon, an overall picture of the matter formed in my mind.

The perpetrator must be Zhu Shuyun.

Zhu Shuyun was abducted twenty-five years ago when he was five years old. Since he was mentally handicapped and the Zhu family had many children, according to him, the Zhu family had quickly given up on him after a brief search.

Ultimately, he joined a group of thieves and became a master thief. Now, he was coming back now to exact his revenge on the family that left him.

He abducted four children, including his nephew, Zhu Zhihan, from the area he grew up in. Perhaps like what Tan Jiao said, he had abducted so many children for the sake of companions, or perhaps it was just a diversion.

By sending out the terms of ransom to another family, he was able to manipulate the police. Simultaneously, he secretly communicated with the Zhu family, luring them out to this hill and trapping them.

The mental torture and toying with the Zhu family’s emotions一first, he threatened the child’s life, then he suggested stabbing three people, and finally, he let them choose one to die一was nothing more than his vengeance and test for them.

In the end, the Zhu family failed the test, as none of them were willing to sacrifice themselves for the child. As such, Zhu Shuyun sentenced them to death.

I believe this was what Zhu Shuyun wanted from the start: to kill his family members. Everything else was merely torture.

What shocked me next was the fact that Zhu Shuyun had pulled out a handgun. It was a forty-six that looked old yet impeccably clean.

It was not preposterous for someone with his background to acquire a firearm, but this also meant the end of the line for the Zhu family. When I looked at the messy-haired man crouched beside the pit with a gleeful smile on his face, I could not help but let out a bitter smile and think, How can he be mentally handicapped? Everything he has done was perfectly planned and executed.

Screams sounded from the pit as soon as Zhu Shuyun raised the gun in his hand. His smile turned silly as he asked, “So… where should we start? F-father, brother, sister-in-law, or sister?”

Zhu Xianfeng was the first to speak out with his quivering and astonished voice, “Shuyun? You’re Shuyun? You’re mistaken, we’ve always been looking for you! It’s just that we couldn’t find you! Your mother and I didn’t think you’d still be alive! You can’t kill your family!”

For a brief moment, Zhu Shuyun widened his eyes and fixed his gaze as if in a trance. Then he shook his head violently. “You lie! Y-you… snake! You think I… don’t know? I was abducted on the 15th of August 1992 in front of a shop. You looked for me… for t-three days before telling m-mother to give up on me. You told her that I’m d-dumb and was a liability. M-mother was reluctant, so y-you beat her… m-many times. T-that’s why s-she passed away…

“I, I was forced to be a thief, a beggar. Every day I was punished and beat. I managed to escape when I was ten, but when I found you… I said, father, I’m your son. You recognized me. Y-you recognized me! But y-you chased me away! I knew in those eyes of yours, that look…”

Only Zhu Shuyun’s seemingly laughing and sobbing voice filled the air as tears rolled down from his eyes.

“Zhu Shuyun suffered so much… Zhu Shuyun was so pitiful…” he muttered.

I felt somewhat conflicted. His father, Zhu Fengxian, was indeed deplorable, as he had heartlessly abandoned his son twice just because he was mentally handicapped. Yet, I also felt that something was off with what Zhu Shuyun said and thought, How can he know so much when he left the Zhu family at a young age and for so long?