Chapter 41 Forty, the relationship between two people

"It started a year ago. Do you remember, in a small alley near here. A little girl died in a car accident? It was not long after that accident happened." When I mentioned that traffic accident, I felt a burst of emotion. Pain.Barely suppressing my emotions, I continued to listen. "I was working that day—I said it was work, but it was just part-time work. Every morning at eight o'clock, I went to the oak forest to look at the shutter box next to Mr. S's house, and recorded the temperature and humidity in the forest. .” This is the first time I have heard of the term shutter box and the reason why the old man came to the oak forest every day.

"A year ago, one morning, I went to the shutter box to confirm it as usual, and then planned to go home. On the way home, I found a white thing on the side of the road." "The white thing..." "It's a plastic bag. On that forest path. There is a plastic bag next to the bamboo bushes. It's tightly tied. I thought, what is it? Then I walked over, opened the bag, and there was It was the corpse of a puppy—" It appeared to be a sorrel puppy. "It's like being thrown on the ground or the wall. The whole face is rotten. There is black blood all over the body. It's all clotted. I'm terrified. Who did it? Why is it thrown here ?——However, this kind of surprise didn't last long. Rather than being shocked, it's better to say that I was hit by another stronger emotion." The old man closed his eyes in pain, his lips trembling.

"A stronger emotion?" "fear." Grandpa's voice seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of his throat. "I was struck by an indescribable terror in that moment." "Are you a murderer who is afraid of killing kittens and puppies?" But the old man shook his head. "No. That's not what I'm afraid of. I'm—" The old man dropped his shoulders and sighed deeply. "I'm afraid the puppy will be reincarnated." I don't understand what the old man said.Looking at me with a confused face, the old man smiled lightly.

"Strange, don't you? But I think so for a reason." "reason?." "Yes. When I was a child—about the same age as you are now—my mother passed away and was killed by bad guys. Then she was put in a coffin and buried in the ground. But..." Then, the old man said Words that shocked me.The mother who had already died was reincarnated one day, sat up from the coffin, climbed out of the soil, and took revenge on the person who killed her. "From then on, when I saw the dead body, I was very afraid that he would be reincarnated. And I would also think of my mother's revenge. That morning, after seeing the dead body of the puppy, I felt very horrified. When I recovered, I've broken the puppy's leg."

"Legs? Why?" "Because by doing that, it can prevent it from being reincarnated. After those people killed my mother, they also broke her leg. Of course, it must have been broken at the time, because in the end, my mother was reincarnated." I gradually began to understand what the old man said. "After I broke the puppy's leg, I wanted to find a place to bury it. So I put the puppy in a plastic bag again." Grandpa continued talking. "At that time, I suddenly felt that someone was looking at me. When I turned around, I saw Mr. S looking at me from the opposite side of the bamboo bush. A child saw it, but... For a moment, I thought that the child must run away and tell others what he saw when he got home. Or he panicked and went to the police, saying that he was watching nearby. There is a person who behaves strangely. But Mr. S didn't do that."

Not only did he not do that, on the contrary, Mr. S was not surprised at all, but just stared straight at the grandfather's face, motionless. "Mr. S's eyes are full of the same kindness. There is a smile on his mouth. Mr. S must have seen the dog's corpse treated like that. I feel that he is the same as himself." "Why are you and Mr. S the same kind, Grandpa?" I asked.But the old man asked me a question. "Do you know why Mr. S killed those little animals?" I really don't know how to answer.In fact, the answer is always circling in my mind.So far, I think Mr. S has only one reason to kill those kittens and puppies.That reason should be the same as Mr. S raising kittens in a bottle.I finally made up my mind to speak out.

"It may be because Mr. S is not doing well in school. Mr. S is always bullied by his classmates. So Mr. S, how should I put it—maybe he wants to do some cruel things." I suddenly remembered that I was going to put the big spider of the new bride into the bottle containing Mr. S that day.At that time, I felt that I understood a little bit why people sometimes want to do some cruel things.When you can't do anything well, when you feel that you are not understood by others, you will do some cruel things that you can't even imagine at ordinary times.This is my own personal experience.

"I think so too. He has been under a lot of pressure at school and at home, so he may resolve it through behaviors such as killing small animals. ——So at that time, Mr. S saw that I treated the puppy Only after the corpse did such a cruel thing will he think that I am of the same kind as him. He will think that I also did that kind of thing to find a vent to vent my troubles." In order to prevent reincarnation, the legs are broken.Such things are generally difficult to imagine. "That was the beginning. After that, Mr. S began to provide me with animal carcasses." "What's the meaning?"

"One morning after another two weeks, I went to see the blinds as usual. But there was a folded paper in the blinds. I definitely didn't have this when I came the day before. I thought, this must be some kind of prank .That shutter has boards on all sides, and someone must have stuffed garbage through the gap." "What the hell is that?" I asked. The old man stood up and took out a roll of paper from the drawer of the tea cabinet behind him.One by one, there are still creases that were folded in four and then unfolded.I was taken aback.I have seen that paper.Just now, in my own room.That is the map of N Town printed with "The Neighborhoods We Live in", and there are several of them. "You seem to know."

"It was issued when our school enrolled." "Ah, so that's the case. I also think it might be that kind of thing..." The old man put the map on his knees sitting cross-legged.Place the top one on the table.My eyes fell on the paper.There is one place on the map marked with an X, near the lock of the River Y that flows through the neighboring town.I immediately understood the meaning of that place. "This is the first one. I was at a loss when I saw it, and I didn't understand what it meant. But I still cared about it very much, so I went to the place where the X-shaped mark was drawn. That feeling It’s like the kind of treasure hunt I used to play, it’s very nostalgic. But what I found there is not a treasure.”

When the grandfather arrived near the sluice, he seemed to think that there was nothing there at first, and it was indeed a prank.So, he decided to return along the way he came.But at this moment, a stench suddenly struck. "I went to the control room of the sluice, under the spiral staircase, where you wouldn't notice if you weren't paying attention. That, was left there. A snow-white kitten." Kitten and two weeks ago Like the puppy that arrived, it seemed that it had been seriously injured by falling on something and died. "Beside the sluice, the asphalt road used for morning jogs is full of blood." The old man lowered his head and stared at the map.While talking. "That must be a gift from Mr. S. He saw that I broke the legs of the dead dog, and felt that I had the same situation as him and sympathized with me. So, he used this map to tell me that he committed suicide. Where the kitten died." "Grandpa, did you break that kitten's leg too?" "Yes, broken." The old man nodded with grief on his face. "I couldn't resist the urge. Once the corpse appeared in front of my eyes, I was driven crazy by the fear. So, the only way to get rid of it was to break the legs of the corpse." The old man's Adam's apple moved, and the wrinkles between his brows deepened. "I stared blankly at the dead kitten with broken legs for a while. For a moment, I was so full of remorse and sentimentality for the cruel thing I just did, I couldn't even move. But what hurt me the most , What saddens me the most is that by doing that cruel thing, I freed myself from the fear that was almost crazy just now, and became calm again." After a while, I asked: "The kitten The soap in the puppy's mouth was also stuffed by you, grandpa?" The old man shook his head. "No, I didn't do that. When I found the corpse according to the map, I had already stuffed soap in my mouth. Why did Mr. S do that? Now I don't understand. He must have his own reasons." "Mr. S's own reasons..." I thought about it for a while.But to no avail. One morning a month later, the grandfather found the second map in the blind box. "This is the one." Grandpa stacked the second map on top of the first. "The second one is in the farmer's garden." The old man pointed to the place marked with an X with a finger like a dead branch.This is consistent with where the pup's body was originally found.There are still some farmers in that area, and some old bungalows are scattered sparsely among the vast farmland. "I figured it out, there were new animal carcasses there. My legs were shaking when I saw that map. I thought, did Mr. S do the same thing again? That horrible thing. At the same time I also realized that what I did myself at the sluice a month ago was horrific. I broke the kitten's leg, and for Mr. S, I gladly accepted the gift he gave me! " indeed so. Mr. S must be very happy after learning about the kitten near the sluice. "That day I was alone at home holding my head and kept saying to myself, don't do anything! Don't go anywhere!" "Then why did you go there later?" In fact, the body of a puppy with both legs broken was later found at that very spot. "When I think of a dead body in that place, and it has been kept there, I feel scared. If its legs are not broken earlier, I don't know when it will be reincarnated. I am afraid of this." Early in the morning, the old man ran to the place indicated on the map. "Among the camellia bushes, there was the body of a little tawny dog ​​with soap in its mouth. I broke the dog's leg again..." Since then, the same thing has happened over and over again. Mr. S kept stuffing the map into the blind box, and the grandfather kept following the instructions of the map to go to those places to break the legs of the corpse.The X-shaped marks on the map increased one by one. "Why does Mr. S mark the new location with the corpse and the previous location with an X mark on every map?" I couldn't help asking when the old man had the last two maps left on his lap. "Maybe he wanted to convey his thoughts to me. He wanted to remind me that he had given me so many gifts, so he marked all the places where the dead bodies were placed on the map over and over again, and I feel." I suddenly remembered the scene where Mr. S appeared in my room. Mr. S asked me to find his body, and I agreed to him.At that time, although I was very uneasy, I also felt a fresh force surging in my body.The idea of ​​why people do certain things fills me with energy. Mr. S probably felt the same way when he drew the X-shaped mark over and over again on the map. "During this period, didn't you think about stopping Mr. S?" "Well, I thought about it." Grandpa looked away from me and blinked. "But I don't have that kind of courage. When I think of how dangerous Mr. S is in his heart, I can't stop him. I really can't do it. If I stop him, he will be very sad. Myself I gave the other party a gift, the other party should be happy, but if he knew that the other party did not accept my kindness, next time he might—” The old man didn't finish his sentence, but just stared at the map in front of him. There were already eight maps. "This is the ninth—the last map." Grandpa before putting it on the table.say to me. "The ninth place marked with an X is the open space near Mr. S's house, right?" I told the story of the corpse I saw by chance.And also explained that this is why Dae Gil barked at me later. "Really—did you see that cat? In that abandoned car? Yes, it was killed by Mr. S, and I broke my leg. That's the last one. You and this matter are really destined what……." The old man said as if talking to himself, and sighed deeply. From just now, a question has arisen in my mind.After hesitating for a while, I decided to speak out. "Grandpa, didn't you move Mr. S's body away?" The old man looked at me in astonishment, and asked back, "Mr. S's corpse? Of course I wouldn't do that kind of thing! Do you think I can stay with a corpse—a human corpse for so long?" indeed so. Mr. S's body's legs were not broken.Grandpa wouldn't be with such a corpse for so long. "I decided to confess everything to the police the day before yesterday, that is, the day Mr. S's body was found. Somehow, it seems that Mr. S's body also had soap in his mouth. So I think, the police will definitely make those animals weird recently. The death incident is being re-investigated. In that case, it is only a matter of time before everything I have done is finally revealed. I think it is better to confess than to be caught by the police. I can’t make up my mind. These three days are really annoying. I finally made up my mind. I called the police just now, but the police officer was not there. I was wavered again..." The old man raised his face and smiled at me. "It's really helpful that you're here. When I'm worried, it's really nice to have someone to listen to me. I feel much better. I can make up my mind to do what I should do." The old man squeezed out a smile from the corner of his eyes Deep wrinkles. "Besides, this way one more person knows the truth. There's nothing to hide. Let it be my practice confessing to the police. Thank you." Those words ring true. The sun is starting to set in the west.Orange sunlight filtered through the oak tree branches and leaves came in from the window.The grandfather's side was bathed in the sun, arched, motionless, like an old tree that had taken root for a long time.The chirping of oil cicadas can be heard in the distance. I never imagined everything would be like this.I thought the old man was the murderer who killed kittens and puppies.That's why I ran here.However, the murderer was Mr. S in the end. Mr. S killed the kitten and the puppy, and the grandfather put his leg—— "Take your legs..." I looked up.Until now, everything was unexpected and I forgot to ask the most important thing. "Did your mother-in-law do it too?" "The mother-in-law..." Grandpa looked at me puzzled. "In the commercial street, from the Dachi flour factory. The legs were broken, and soap was stuffed in the mouth." "what?" The old man's face changed. "Did that happen? When?" Press the table with both hands.The old man leaned over to me, eyes wide open, lips parted, trembling. "Just two days ago, August 2nd—the same day as Mr. S's body was found." "But there's nothing in the news—" "I only found out at night. I saw it on the news at ten o'clock." The old man stared at me in astonishment, and said hoarsely, "It's ten o'clock." "Since that afternoon, I haven't turned on the TV. I was afraid to know the progress of the police investigation, and I didn't even read the newspaper. That's not what I did. I wouldn't do that kind of thing." But I didn't believe the old man right away. if.It was the old man who broke the legs of those kittens and puppies, so the mother-in-law was in exactly the same state when she was discovered, but the old man said that this matter had nothing to do with him, which is absolutely doubtful. I looked at the old man's face, and he shook his head desperately. "You're wrong. Really, I haven't done it. I just found out about it. Ah, but—" The old man stretched out his hands to cover his cheeks.An indistinct sound came from the gap between the palms. "That might really be my fault. Because I've done so much—I've done so much cruelty to dead animals—so maybe someone is imitating me..." "imitate?" "I can only think so. Someone..." The old man's fingers were trembling on his cheeks, and he seemed very timid in his heart. "Mr. Daofu—I'm really sorry..." The old man told me that he wanted to be alone for a while.