Chapter Ninety-Two: Sin

Just as Zhou Shen raised his gun, taking aim at Fang Meiqi's head and preparing to pull the trigger, the computer behind him suddenly came to life all by itself, with no one typing at the keyboard.

On the screen, a line of text began to appear: "The sins one commits must be repaid."

Then, astonishingly, the update finished on its own.

At the sight of this, Zhou Shen was suddenly gripped by terror.

Right after the chapter updated itself, a mass of black shadow forced its way out of the computer.

The shadow slowly took on the shape of a human. When Zhou Shen saw that figure, he was shaken to the core. It was the fellow police officer he had killed more than ten years ago.

Zhou Shen tried to flee, only to find that his body would not obey him at all. The shadow drifted slowly to his side and guided Zhou Shen's right hand, the one holding the pistol, until it was pointed at his own head.

"No, no, I'm sorry..." Zhou Shen let out one last, remorseful cry. But such repentance was far from enough to appease the hatred of those wronged spirits.

With a gunshot, Zhou Shen collapsed to the floor.

The shadow before him then turned to Fang Meiqi, who was bound to the chair, and offered its thanks before vanishing into thin air.

At once, the ropes around Fang Meiqi dropped away.

"Master! Master!"

In the distance, Zhang Shengnan and Fang You had tracked Zhou Shen's car here using surveillance traffic cameras.

Seeing this, Fang Meiqi hurriedly fled once more.

"Master!" Just as Zhang Shengnan had entered a moment earlier, she had heard the shot. She immediately dragged Fang You along, following the sound to this place.

"This is..."

Zhang Shengnan stared at Zhou Shen, sprawled on the ground. Zhou Shen's right hand still clutched the pistol, and there was a hollow wound in the center of his forehead, as if he had ended his own life.

Fang You, meanwhile, noticed the footprints on the ground, as though someone had only just left this place.

"Fang You..." Zhang Shengnan was about to say something when Fang You suddenly said, "Quickly call for backup to handle the scene. I'll be right back."

With that, Fang You followed the trail of footprints and gave chase.

Although Zhang Shengnan did not know what Fang You intended to do, she still used the walkie-talkie to summon the others.

Following the footprints, Fang You made his way all the way to the bridge, where Fang Meiqi stood by the railing, alone, smoking a cigarette.

"Is fame really that important? You've killed so many people. The novels you wrote gave those ghosts the power to take revenge. Do you understand that?" Fang You asked, his voice stern with reproach.

Fang Meiqi exhaled a ring of smoke into the air. It drifted along with the breeze. She reached out with her hand, trying to catch it, but that wispy, insubstantial circle darted mockingly between her fingers before slowly dissolving into nothing.

"We people are just like these rings of smoke. It's hard enough simply to find some sense of existence. If there really were such a thing as fairness in this world, then I doubt it would ever appear here, not now. The great masters of the writing world can do whatever they please, while the rest of us can only drift with the current, scraping by as full-time writers on a pitiful attendance bonus, living in the most wretched way possible."

"Life is hard enough as it is," Fang You said firmly. "You have no right to kill other people."

"Kill?" Fang Meiqi smiled. "Everyone has to answer for the mistakes they've made. They only got their punishment a little early, that's all."

"If you knew I was coming after you, why didn't you run?" Fang You asked in confusion. If she had fled, nothing would have happened. After all, the police could not possibly arrest Fang Meiqi for murder through a novel. In the end, she would surely have walked free.

"Because there's nowhere left to run."

As she spoke, Fang Meiqi opened her computer. On the screen were two newly updated chapters. One was about Zhou Shen; the other was about a writer.

"Could it be..." Fang You seemed to understand something.

"Yes. Ridiculous and ironic, isn't it? I've been written into a novel too. But this chapter wasn't updated by me. Still, who updated it? And what does it matter? In the end, I may still be written to death just the same. Would you like to hear my story?"

"By all means," Fang You said, steadying himself.

Last time, at the funeral home, that female ghost had been willing to die trying to kill the man; her resentment had clearly run deep. This time, Fang You felt that the woman named Fang Meiqi before him must also be entangled in some other bitter and karmic resentment.

Fang Meiqi took another deep drag on her cigarette and slowly exhaled a plume of smoke.

"Yes. I'm that so-called flop novelist you hear about. Write and flop, flop and write, over and over again. A life like that is like a haze blotting out the sun, so suffocating it makes you want to give up."

Counting on her fingers, Fang Meiqi opened her laptop, clicked into her novel, and turned to the latest updated chapter.

"What comes next is a story about a writer:

Once there was a beautiful female novelist who loved writing stories. Her name was Fang Meiqi, and she was a writer who adored fiction and cherished creation.

Yet Fang Meiqi had always been far from famous. Nearly every manuscript she wrote was rejected by publishers large and small. They thought her stories lacked novelty and that her plots dragged on, so much so that no one could even tell what she was trying to say.

That day, her novel was rejected as usual. Fang Meiqi crouched at a street corner with her manuscript in hand, smoking as she wondered whether she should finally give up. Indeed, writing had been Fang Meiqi's hobby and dream since childhood.

But dreams are only dreams. They can never easily be made to fit reality. By now, not only could Fang Meiqi not hope to become a distinguished novelist, she could not even get anyone to publish her work like an ordinary author would."

"Maybe I really just don't have talent," Fang Meiqi murmured, one hand pinching her cigarette and the other scratching through her tangled hair. "Maybe this really is where it ends."

She tossed the manuscript to the ground.

Just as Fang Meiqi was getting to her feet and preparing to leave, she suddenly caught sight of a girl at the far end of the street corner, frantically writing something all over the wall.

Then, out of nowhere, a group of youths rushed over and shoved the girl straight to the ground.

"You really are strange," the boys sneered at the fallen girl.

But the girl paid no heed to their words. She sprang back up at once and resumed scribbling madly on the wall. The boys laughed and moved to lay hands on her again. Unable to stand it any longer, Fang Meiqi rushed forward.

"Get lost. All of you, get lost, you little punks!" Fang Meiqi shouted, driving the youths away. The boys did not want trouble, so they left in a hurry.

"Are you all right?" Fang Meiqi asked the girl, who was still furiously writing on the wall.

Yet the girl seemed not to hear her and continued to scrawl away with the chalk, not stopping even when her hand rubbed itself raw and began to bleed.

"Enough. Stop it. Don't write anymore. Your hand is bleeding."

The girl remained unmoved and kept writing on the wall.

"Enough already, stop."

As she spoke, Fang Meiqi embraced the girl. The girl struggled to break free, but Fang Meiqi held her tightly. After a long struggle, the girl finally fainted.

Looking at the girl unconscious in her arms, Fang Meiqi saw how frail she was. Her palm had already been worn open by the fierce scraping. Judging by the scars on her hand, this was clearly not the first time she had done such a thing.

Fang Meiqi took the little girl back to her apartment. With great care, she disinfected the girl's hands with alcohol and then wrapped them in bandages.

After a long while, the girl woke up and stared at Fang Meiqi in terror.

Fang Meiqi smiled gently. "It's all right. I won't hurt you."

The girl looked down at the bandages on her hands and said, "Thank you."

"What's your name?" Fang Meiqi asked.

"Lin Anran," the girl replied.