Chapter 88: Showdown
Chen Ge saw how cooperative Fan Yu's aunt was, so he stepped forward and picked up the drawing from the floor.
On the white paper was a black house, packed with tiny red figures. In a spot where none of the red figures dared to go, there was also a strikingly prominent black figure.
"Is this what you meant by me being in the drawing? How can you prove it?" Chen Ge wasn't about to believe her based on a single picture.
"Fan Yu's figures have always been red. This is the first time I've seen a black figure appear. I thought about it for a long time before I was sure it was you, because in the past month, you're the only outsider who's entered my home." Fan Yu's aunt stood in the corner of the restroom, raindrops sliding off her and hitting the floor with a steady drip-drip sound.
"That's it? Then what do these red figures mean? And what's the difference between the black figure and the red ones?"
Fan Yu's aunt stood silently in the darkness, staring at Chen Ge. Just when he thought she wouldn't reveal the truth, she suddenly spoke: "The red figures represent ghosts. The black one—I've never seen it before. It might represent a person."
"Ghosts?"
"I know you don't believe me, but some things really can't be explained." Fan Yu's aunt's voice was calm, as if she had rehearsed this speech long ago: "Before Fan Yu's parents had their accident, I already knew Fan Yu could see things that ordinary people can't. His parents knew too, but they didn't believe in ghosts or anything like that."
"If his parents didn't believe, why do you?" Chen Ge's curiosity was piqued.
"At first, no one knew Fan Yu had this ability—until my husband and two children died in a car accident. That was the darkest time of my life. Just looking at their photos would make me break down crying. Whenever that happened, Fan Yu would come running to me with his drawings. In a black house, he'd drawn two red figures, and he said those red figures were my younger brother and sister."
A rare warmth flickered in Fan Yu's aunt's eyes: "I didn't believe it at first. I thought Fan Yu was just trying to cheer me up. But as he drew more and more pictures, I started to waver. I asked Fan Yu what my brother and sister were doing now, and he described everything in detail, including little habits unique to my children—things only a mother would know."
"So you believed Fan Yu could see ghosts?"
"Yes. Maybe I wanted it to be true, too. Sometimes I even thought my children had possessed Fan Yu."
"Even if that's true, one drawing doesn't prove anything. Does everyone Fan Yu draws end up dead?" Chen Ge remained wary.
"Take a look at the other side of the drawing."
At her prompting, Chen Ge flipped the paper over. On the back was a drawing of a dry well, with several more vividly colored red figures climbing out of it. A black figure stood at the edge of the well. Interestingly, the position of the black figure on the back matched exactly where the black figure stood on the front.
"They say there's a well on this campus where many people died. The ghosts inside are about to break free, and you're standing right at the well's mouth. They've already set their sights on you. If you stay here any longer, something will happen." Fan Yu's aunt spoke sincerely, as if she genuinely cared about Chen Ge's well-being.
Chen Ge touched the paper and stared at the drawing for a long time, his brow slightly furrowing. He compared the figures on both sides of the paper and reached a conclusion in his mind.
"It seems I've misjudged you." Chen Ge casually stuffed Fan Yu's drawing into his pocket, with no intention of returning it. "I was planning to leave anyway. We can keep each other company on the way. This place is too creepy."
"Yeah." Fan Yu's aunt nodded and walked toward Chen Ge.
Chen Ge acted as if he fully trusted her now, turning to leave and exposing his completely unguarded back to her view.
Both of them had their own agendas, one ahead of the other.
Chen Ge walked slowly, his tool hammer gripped tightly in his hand. Behind him, Fan Yu's aunt seemed afraid of being alone and gradually quickened her pace. If anyone could have seen Chen Ge's expression at that moment, they would have noticed that the man walking ahead had eyes that were eerily calm.
The distance between them shrank. Just as Fan Yu's aunt was about to overtake Chen Ge, the dark, thin woman's face twisted into an expression completely different from before. Veins bulged on her forehead, and a hand hidden beneath her raincoat suddenly shot out, thrusting something toward Chen Ge!
"I knew you were trouble." Chen Ge reacted even faster than she did, striking harder. He swung the tool hammer and followed up with a kick.
"Thud!"
Fan Yu's aunt slammed into the back wall of the restroom, and the object in her hand clattered to the floor with a sharp sound.
Chen Ge walked over and saw that the object was a boning knife. It was small, used in butchering to sever tendons and cut cartilage—extremely sharp.
Disheveled and wild-eyed, Fan Yu's aunt scrambled up from the ground like a vengeful ghost, but Chen Ge didn't give her a chance to attack again. He "helped" her back down.
"I suspected you back at your house, but I couldn't prove it. Now I finally see your true colors."
The power imbalance was stark. Fan Yu's aunt tried to get up a few times but failed. She glared at Chen Ge with pure hatred: "How did you figure it out?"
"I never trusted you from the start. And that drawing—the back was your forgery. Did you really think a child's artwork was that easy to mimic? Don't look at me like that. You're the one in the wrong. If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it." Chen Ge picked up the boning knife, eyeing its chilling blade. "You killed Fan Yu's parents, didn't you? No matter your motive, killing your own family—what makes you any different from an animal?"
"I never meant to kill anyone! You have no idea what happened that day!" Fan Yu's aunt's face contorted with rage, as if she was recalling some terrible memory.
"I don't know what happened, but I know you're one of the killers." Chen Ge was considering how to temporarily incapacitate her.
"Fan Yu's father was the killer!"
"Putting all the blame on a dead man? You think that'll absolve you?" Chen Ge relaxed only after confirming she had no other weapons on her.
"It's true." Fan Yu's aunt lay on the ground, finally spilling the secret buried in her heart: "My brother had a twisted obsession. In this very restroom, he drove a girl insane. I heard she later killed herself. After that, my brother became even more unhinged—paranoid, always saying someone was out to get him. My sister-in-law couldn't take it anymore and wanted a divorce, but my brother refused. She had no choice but to threaten him, saying if he didn't agree, she'd expose his perversions and crimes to everyone."