Chapter 37 Courage
The white wooden door trembled in the wind.

Suzuki Sonoko took back her hand that pushed the door, made sure the back door was locked, and held her chin with some emotion: "Xiaolan, do you think classmate Su Bei is too cold?"

She scratched her frizzy hair and said, "Someone obviously died, but he acted as if it had nothing to do with him. He didn't even react."

Vermouth, who was following the two of them, nodded repeatedly and took the opportunity to smear Mao Lilan in front of her: "Su Bei classmate has always been like this. When he was studying in Hokkaido, he was not nice to anyone. No matter how nice you were to him, you wouldn't get a response."

She sighed in self-pity: "Even though I have known him for so long, he treats me just like a stranger."

Mao Lilan checked whether the surrounding windows were locked and said gently, "It may be related to the fact that Su Bei is an orphan. Because he has suffered too much, he is very wary of others and has few friends."

She turned around with a sincere smile on her face: "But Yuanzi, don't you think that classmate Su Bei treats us differently? He invited us to dinner, invited us to parties, and didn't refuse when you invited him to come and play... Since classmate Su Bei trusts us, we must help him get out of the shadow of his childhood!"

"...Xiaolan!"

Suzuki Sonoko seemed to see an angelic light on her face. She murmured and soon cheered up: "You are right! We must help Su Bei learn how to get along with others!"

Vermouth also stared at Mouri Ran in a daze.

That’s right, her Angela has always been so gentle.

Even to bad guys...

But please don't worry!
I will!
We will handle all threats for you!
"Oh, sorry! I'm not saying anything bad about you, I just think..."

Looking at Vermouth's appearance, Xiaolan apologized incoherently.

Coming back to her senses, Vermouth shook her head and said with a smile: "No, I was just infected by your kindness."

At this moment, she has made up her mind!

##
A moonless night, that is.

The sky and the earth are stitched together. There is no light and no shadow. There is only deep darkness, just like the devil in the human heart, making it difficult to see the truth.

creak~

creak~

The shoeless feet tapped lightly on the floor.

He was wearing a pitch-black cloak and holding a sharp axe that could take lives!
He came here only to kill two people! Kill two people who had seen his body and could guess that he was the murderer!
Recalling the structure of the villa in his mind, after a slight hesitation, he prepared to kill the boy first.

Because the windows of that room made it easier for him to break in.

He walked lightly, preparing to go out through the window at the end of the corridor, stepping on the raised wall outside the villa and going around to the windows of other people's rooms.

but……

When he passed the boy's room, he saw that the door was not closed!

what's the situation? !

Are you so careless?!

The absurd reality stunned him for two seconds, but he soon became ecstatic.

He carefully pushed the door open, leaving a gap for himself to pass through, slipped in, and quickly closed it!
Click~

The door lock sounded a little loud.

But it doesn’t matter. Even if the owner of the room is alarmed, he is confident that he can kill the person quickly and escape through the window.

He cast his eyes towards the soft bed against the wall, expecting to see someone still sleeping on it, but...

He saw nothing!
how come? !

Gripping the wooden handle tightly, his eyes moved quickly around the room.

No one at the window...

The table... no one...

There is no one under the bed...

Will it be in the cupboard?

wrong……

The cabinets in each room were of the same style—the kind of standard wooden cabinets with small compartments that could not be split apart. There was absolutely no way to hide someone in them! So… where did he go? !

His room was close to the stairs and he had been observing the corridor. He was very sure that the child never came out after entering the room!
Damn, what a hell!

His body was hairy and his breathing was rapid. He felt something was watching him in the darkness, which sent a chill down his spine.

He took a few steps back and reached behind to feel the door handle - he decided to retreat first and see what the situation was.

But what he touched was...

Grass!
The hair exploded in an instant!

He almost remembered that he couldn't see the light, and he tried hard not to scream.

But the axe in his hand had already been swung backwards with great force!

"Tsk, be careful."

A tone of blame.

Su Beixun held his wrist, pinching it with his fingers to make him lose strength, and said in a low voice: "Please, you took the initiative to touch my hand."

Hearing someone talking, Takahashi Ryo, who was hidden under the bandages, must have calmed down and realized that the soft thing he had just touched was the other person's hanging palm.

Oh shit! !
Gao Qiao really wanted to curse now, what the hell are you doing hiding behind the door so late at night? !

Isn't this sick?

As if seeing the ugly expression on his face hidden under the heavy covering, Su Beixun explained: "When I saw you in the rain this afternoon, I guessed that you might come... After all, I saw your real body shape!"

Takahashi Ryoichi was shocked, and his mind was filled with only one thought - it's over, he knows who I am!
Before he could form any murderous intentions, Su Beixun suddenly grinned, clenched his other hand into a fist, and hit him hard in the abdomen!

"No~"

The painful groan in his throat was blocked by the hand that suddenly covered his mouth.

A stream of acid surged up his esophagus, causing him to kneel on the ground in agony.

Su Beixun effortlessly pulled the axe from his hand, put it aside gently, and raised a finger to him.

"Shh~"

He squatted down and looked at Gao Qiao's crawling figure, and whispered: "I have no intention of exposing your identity, so you should also keep your voice down and don't attract others."

Takahashi Ryoichi suppressed his cough. After he recovered, he looked at the axe that was a million miles away from him and asked resignedly, "Why? Why didn't you expose me?"

"Because, I kind of admire you, Takahashi!"

His tone of voice actually sounded playful and cute?!
Su Beixun smiled and said, "You are a brave man!"

"...brave?" Takahashi Ryoichi repeated in a daze, "Are you...are you kidding?"

How can he tell that he is brave? Just because... he dares to kill people?

Su Beixun sat on the ground, crossed his legs, supported his knees with his hands, and said seriously: "Because you killed Miss Zhi Jiazi today."

Seeing the other person's expression of confusion, Su Beixun explained: "Two years ago, you should have known that Zhi Jiazi was the culprit who killed Dunzi, right?"

He paused, as if he was feeling a little emotional: "Suzuki Ayako doesn't know about this, Ota Masaru doesn't know, Kakutani Hiroki doesn't know... but you do know! Because the dreams and hopes she placed on the Sky Color Kingdom are only shared with you!"

Takahashi Ryoichi clenched his hands tightly.

"The Blue Kingdom... was a stepping stone for Chikako to steal your sweetheart's painstaking work and achieve her own fame. And Atsuko, on the other hand, died on that simple rope without anyone paying attention to her... I understand, Takahashi, the anger that has been burning in your heart."

Takahashi's eyes were distracted for a moment. He seemed to recall the cold body hanging in the office, and he couldn't help but mutter, "...Don't say anymore..."

Su Beixun ignored him, and his voice was full of power that seemed to warm people's hearts: "Mark Twain said that courage is to resist fear and control fear, not the absence of fear."

He slowly touched the bandage on Takahashi Ryoichi's face and gently removed it.

"You decided to take revenge two years later. This is enough to prove that you did not do it out of passion, but you overcame your cowardly self amidst hesitation, indecision, and fear... Takahashi, you are a brave man!"

Su Beixun stared into his eyes and used all the hypnosis techniques he had learned.

"You attacked me and Xiaolan because you were afraid of being exposed, but this also shows your unparalleled courage when you killed Chikako!"

　The protagonist has a distorted outlook on life, so don't learn from him.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)