Zheng Tan trusted his instinct. He suddenly regretted coming here.
No matter how curious he was, he shouldn"t have risked his life. Even if he was a cat, living was better then dying.
He didn"t know that the fur on his back was standing on end. He was deeply afraid and couldn"t notice the change in his body.
He decided to leave right now to be safe.
Just when he was about to jump off the window sill, he saw a scene through the shades that he would never forget.
Lai Er was on fire!
No one poured gasoline on him. No one lit the fire.
But a fire was burning.
There was no sign this was going to happen except for the foreboding feeling Zheng Tan had felt.
Zheng Tan couldn"t see Lai Er"s face, but he could see the masked face on the laptop screen. The screen reflected the light from the fire, but Chen Zhe was calm. Too calm.
Lai Er had believed that he could scare Chen Zhe into showing weakness. He knew immediately when he saw how his people had died that Chen Zhe was back. He had everything planned out. He would catch Chen Zhe the moment he showed any weakness.
However, he never would have thought this would be his ending.
Before Lai Er lost consciousness, he realized he never really knew the person on the screen. To him, he was still the fat boy whose sister far outshone him.
Lai Er didn"t make a sound. He didn"t call for help, nor moan out of pain. He didn"t even move. Not because he didn"t want to, but because he couldn"t.
There was a b.u.t.ton by his right hand. If he pressed it, the guards outside would come in immediately. But he couldn"t press it.
The man on the chair was a ball of fire now. Oddly enough, the fire didn"t reach below his knee. The heat had even changed the shape of the chair, however, the fire didn"t spread.
Lai Er"s people had cleared the room of flammable objects. Lai Er was always cautious. He even moved the desk. What caused this? How did Chen Zhe set up this trap and why didn"t Lai Er"s people notice anything?
Suddenly Zheng Tan remembered something.
He had heard a few students chatting about spontaneous combustion on one of his strolls.
There were many instances of this in history. Those instances might be pure coincidence. However, Chen Zhe had wanted revenge for over ten years. He lured Lai Er here on purpose. This was not a coincidence.
People used to believe that spontaneous combustion was G.o.d"s punishment. However, was there a scientific explanation?
Scientists tried explaining the phenomenon. Fat, alcoholism, static electricity and atomic reactions were all possible explanations. However, the true cause was a mystery.
Maybe Chen Zhe had solved this mystery, or maybe he knew the person who did. No matter what, Lai Er had burst into flames. Zheng Tan was deeply shocked.
He remembered the students saying people could be burnt into ashes in only twenty minutes.
No matter how Lai Er combusted, Zheng Tan wanted to leave the place. He was frightened.
Zheng Tan checked the side of the house. No one was there. He immediately jumped down. He was stiff from shock and landed too hard on the ground. However, he was too focused on leaving to feel pain.
When he reached the guards at the cross section where he had seen the man from yesterday, they were on their phones. Their faces changed and they started running towards the house. Zheng Tan knew Lai Er had been found. However, he was surely dead by now.
He was on a busy street. Cars and pedestrians came and went. The temperature was warm.
It was a sunny day but Zheng Tan felt the sky wasn"t so blue anymore. He couldn"t feel the warmth of the sun. He was still frightened, even though he was far away from the house.
He jumped onto a flowerbed. He had always felt he was quite brave, but now he doubted it.
He took a few deep breaths. He was trying to calm his nerves, but he suddenly saw the tall apartment buildings in the vicinity.
The buildings stood out in this area.
Uncle Wintersweets, or Chen Zhe, lived there.
He should have known. The roads around here were all interconnected. Zheng Tan hadn"t realized the building was close by before because he wasn"t familiar with the area.
Chen Zhe was very close by this whole time. Did this mean, he had everything all set up and was just waiting for Lai Er?
Lai Er was dead. He died in the fire. Zheng Tan knew even if the police came they wouldn"t be able to find any conclusive evidence that pointed this death to murder. They might suspect something but they wouldn"t have enough evidence.
Zheng Tan thought about recent events and what happened today.
Chen Zhe knew Lai Er very well. He knew for sure that he would come today and he would be in the room alone. He knew Lai Er would shut the blinds and that no one would realize he was on fire fast enough to save him.
The surveillance camera they found was probably just a bluff. As for the "stuff" Lai Er wanted, Zheng Tan didn"t know what it was nor did he want to know. It was best if he remained a normal cat.
He looked around himself. He didn"t want to walk back. He would run into Lai Er"s people again. He decided to go to Uncle Wintersweet"s neighborhood and check on him. He wouldn"t go inside his house this time. He would check if he was home, then go back to the Eastern Quarters.
Zheng Tan had it all planned out. He would satisfy his curiosity and stay a safe distance away.
He went into the neighborhood and stood below Uncle Wintersweet"s building. He was home. The light was on in his house. Zheng Tan could see a person moving inside.
Zheng Tan was wondering if Uncle Wintersweets would run away after completing his plan when the door opened and Chen Zhe walked onto the balcony. Zheng Tan was startled and almost sprang away like a kangaroo.
He controlled himself and didn"t run away. He wanted to pretend he was a normal cat and leave without seeming suspicious. Chen Zhe waved to him.
"Hey, black cat."
Zheng Tan ignored him.
Chen Zhe called out again. Zheng Tan looked up. He couldn"t help but wonder if he would burst into flames as well if he went to Chen Zhe.
However, this Chen Zhe was the kind Uncle Wintersweets. Zheng Tan didn"t feel the chill he felt when he saw the masked man on the laptop screen.