Chapter 53: Killing

Lin Xi said, “Third Brother, you’re something else—complaining behind our backs is one thing, but you always go after the people closest to you. Not even your own cousin is spared.”

“Precisely because Bai Xu is my cousin, I know exactly what kind of person he is,” Qin Yu replied.

He wasn’t trying to intimidate or sow discord; after all, they had all grown up together. Especially Bai Xu and Lin Xi—the two were close in age and spent the most time together. If he hadn’t sensed something amiss, there’d be no need to speak to Lin Xi about this.

“So, tell me, Third Brother. What kind of person is Fifth Brother, really?” Lin Xi’s interest was piqued; she propped her chin on her hand and looked at him with a cheerful smile.

Perhaps she had truly recovered; she seemed far better than when she’d first arrived at the hospital, with no trace of anxiety upon her face.

Qin Yu regarded her deeply for a long time before he finally spoke. “Back when you were both in high school in the capital, the time he beat up that student—you were there.”

It wasn’t a question, nor a test—his tone brimmed with certainty, as if he’d witnessed the bloody scene himself.

Lin Xi raised her brows in surprise. “Did Fifth Brother tell you? Or was it caught on surveillance?”

It was during her second year of high school that a family incident forced her to transfer to another city. Before that, when she was a freshman and Bai Xu was a senior, they attended the same school. That day, after the incident, the school’s surveillance system mysteriously failed; aside from Bai Xu and the beaten student, no one witnessed what happened.

Afterward, the student who was attacked suffered psychological trauma and refused to talk about it, with everyone saying he’d been frightened senseless by Bai Xu. As for Bai Xu himself, he never mentioned the matter again. Whenever anyone asked, he only replied, “What’s done is done—why are you so obsessed with the details? Why? I just didn’t like him. Is that a good enough reason? If not, I can make one up.”

No one ever knew why Bai Xu had been so ruthless. The whole affair remained a mystery.

Later, the Bai family paid compensation, and the Qin family suppressed the incident. Still, the elders of the Bai family feared it would affect him, so Bai Xu wasn’t allowed to attend university in the capital. Rumor had it he was to be sent abroad, but he refused and eventually went to study in the south.

—

“Do you really believe the surveillance malfunctioned that day? You think it was a coincidence?” Qin Yu countered.

At his words, Lin Xi instantly understood. She straightened, her smile fading.

“I thought Bai Xu had done it—but it was you all along, Third Brother.”

The fact that only that particular camera failed was simply too much of a coincidence. She’d doubted it at first, but eventually assumed Bai Xu was behind it. She’d never expected it to be Qin Yu.

Bai Xu’s parents couldn’t intervene, and his grandparents were elderly. At the time, it was Qin Yu, who had rushed back from abroad, who took charge. He’d handled everything from start to finish.

So, he’d known all along that the surveillance footage was intact, yet chose not to expose it and even helped cover up the truth.

“What else could I do?” Qin Yu’s irritation flared as he spoke of it, his gaze cold. “He was being reckless, and you followed him into trouble?”

Lin Xi knew she was in the wrong; she didn’t argue, accepting his rebuke in silence.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

Qin Yu didn’t think his words were too harsh—he’d exercised great restraint. Otherwise, he would have confronted her years ago.

“What is there to say?” He was a strange one, she thought.

With her head lowered, Lin Xi murmured, “I was at fault—what else can I say?”

She added quietly, “I just didn’t know he was that crazy.”

The story from back then was a long one.

In high school, there was a student council president—the very boy who was later beaten. During a New Year’s Eve event, Lin Xi had a performance. While changing backstage, she found a tiny hidden camera. Fortunately, no sensitive footage of her had been taken.

Still, she reported it to the school, hoping they’d catch the culprit. The school pressed her for the evidence, but since there were other female victims, she decided to find them first instead of handing it over.

A couple of days later, someone approached her. But it wasn’t the school, nor the other girls—it was the culprit himself.

The boy was direct in his intention; he appeared to beg and apologize, but what he really wanted was the evidence in her hands. There was no way he could’ve known she had the evidence unless the school had tipped him off. They argued, and he shoved her. How Bai Xu appeared, she never knew.

It all happened in an instant. Before she could react, Bai Xu had grabbed the boy by the collar and flung him against the wall.

When she saw Bai Xu, she felt relieved. In her anger, she hit the boy as well. Bai Xu asked what had happened, and after a brief hesitation, she told him everything.

But then things took a dark turn. As she was about to leave—planning to rally the other girls and call the police—she heard a scream behind her. Blood stained the floor when she turned. Bai Xu, with brutal blows, gave the boy no chance to resist.

She never imagined things would go that far, nor that Bai Xu would distance himself entirely, insisting she claim she wasn’t present.

“What does it matter if I say I was there? He hit me first, and I didn’t hurt him badly. Besides, you did it for me,” she argued.

But Bai Xu replied, “What’s this got to do with you? When did I say I did it for you?”

“He ought to thank you—if you hadn’t stopped me at the end, I wouldn’t have let him off so easily.”

“If you dare disobey, you’ll be the one I hit next.”

After that, Bai Xu left the capital, and her own family faced troubles, causing them to lose touch for a while. Not until she moved to the new city did he come to see her during his school break.

She had witnessed the scene that day—it was bloody and violent. She’d seen boys fight in the courtyard as a child, but those were just scuffles. What Bai Xu did that day could no longer be called a fight.

It was attempted murder.

For a time, she carried psychological scars because of Bai Xu.

When they were young, Bai Xu had never been especially good or bad to her; his mood was unpredictable, and no one could guess his thoughts. She always found him peculiar and hypocritical. To put it bluntly, he was truly deranged.

Especially after that incident, the image of a madman was cemented in her mind.

Still, she knew deep down that Bai Xu’s actions were mostly because of her; she understood that well. So when he came to see her in the new city, she was always polite.

Later, she grew weary of him, not wanting to deal with him anymore—mostly because his behavior was genuinely erratic, his words often cruel, and he seemed satisfied only when he saw her angered.

[Author’s Note: Bai Xu is simply a reckless madman, someone who could do anything, without reason.]

(End of chapter)