Parents

Chapter 40 Parents

At this moment, Officer Wang walked in.

He was also taken aback by the level of tidiness in the room.

"Whoa, such clean walls. This doesn't look like a teenager's room at all; there isn't even a single poster." Officer Wang's casual remark made Bai Yanliang freeze.

He leaned in close to the pristine white wall and reached out to touch it.

"Officer Wang, we might need a UV lamp," Bai Yanliang said earnestly.

Officer Wang turned to look at the wall, then back at Bai Yanliang. Although he didn't quite understand the meaning behind the request, he chose to trust him.

"Xiao Zheng! Get a UV lamp in here!"

While waiting for the officer to bring the lamp, Officer Wang noticed Hao Bowen's desk and the books on drawing scattered across it. He finally understood what Bai Yanliang was getting at, and he couldn't help but marvel at the young man's deduction.

This young man's thinking didn't seem to be clouded by external appearances or influenced by emotion. He maintained a level of composure that was incredibly rare; after all, humans were only human, not machines.

The UV lamp arrived quickly. Bai Yanliang pulled the curtains shut, and Officer Wang held the lamp himself, shining it against the wall.

Although he had anticipated something, the sight before them still made Officer Wang and the other officers gasp, and at the same time... a bone-chilling sensation crept up from the depths of their hearts.

"Thump--"

"Catch her!"

It was Hao Bowen's mother; she had suddenly fainted upon seeing the drawings on her son's bedroom wall.

One couldn't blame her. Even Hao Bowen's father, a man of few words with a fierce expression, turned pale.

It was simply because... the things on the wall were too shocking.

Under the illumination of the UV lamp, eerie drawings made with fluorescent paint appeared on the walls. The ghostly blue glow made the things in the paintings seem as if they had come to life.

No one knew why that child's heart had become so twisted.

These bizarre doodles covering the walls were all grotesque monsters!

The room was deathly quiet. Everyone's gaze silently followed the beam of Officer Wang's UV lamp as he moved it downward. However, everyone had reached the same conclusion: Hao Bowen's inner world was completely warped.

He was not at all the tidy, clean, and self-disciplined person he appeared to be on the surface.

Instead, he had veered to the opposite extreme: extreme repression, pain, distortion, confusion, and cruelty!

There was no hope to be found in his drawings, nor even a shred of mercy!

"Hoo..."

Officer Wang couldn't help but let out a breath and pulled the curtains open.

Sunlight filtered in from outside, dispelling some of the chilling, eerie atmosphere.

It was too suffocating. Even with his many years on the force and having seen many bizarre cases, he had never seen a teenager's heart twisted to such an extent.

What on earth had he gone through?

"Wait."

At this moment, Bai Yanliang spoke up.

He took the UV lamp from the bewildered Officer Wang and aimed it toward the ceiling.

Everyone was stunned, and then, the ghostly blue light actually revealed something!

There were doodles on the ceiling too!

But... what was this?

Everyone's eyes turned in unison toward Hao Bowen's father and his mother, who had just regained consciousness.

The couple stood there dumbfounded, staring at the ceiling in disbelief.

It looked as if they were standing in front of a building. Hao Bowen had only sketched a rough outline, without specifying what it was.

But Officer Wang knew that this drawing was a reflection of some twisted emotion deep within the boy.

What exactly was the building behind the couple?

"Mr. Hao, Ms. Gong, please explain the meaning of this drawing," Officer Wang asked, looking at the couple with a serious expression.

"Explain? Explain what! How would I know what kind of things he drew! That ungrateful wretch, I wasted my life giving birth to him and raising him!" Hao Bowen's father had been exceptionally agitated since seeing the drawing. His face was flushed red, his tone was crude, and the veins on his neck bulged as he spat out complaints about his own hardships and work difficulties.

He went on to curse the heavens and the earth, ranting about how Hao Bowen refused to improve himself and was addicted to the internet.

His spiraling lack of control forced Officer Wang to take action; he had his officers hold the man down, then turned his attention to Gong Lan.

The woman, nearly forty years old, looked dazed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Even though Bai Yanliang had already turned off the UV lamp, she remained staring at that spot in a trance.

After a long while, Gong Lan finally lowered her head and spoke.

"That is Yehua Education Center... a facility for... treating internet addiction."

Officer Wang's expression shifted. He opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, he remained silent.

Everyone listened to the woman's hoarse account.

"Bowen used to be very disobedient... aside from studying, he did every bad thing imaginable. His father was busy with work, and he wouldn't listen to a word I said. We watched helplessly as he kept getting worse; that simply wouldn't do!"

With a look of despair and confusion on her face, Gong Lan continued, "Later, someone introduced us to an educational institution that had excellent results! Every child they helped became well-behaved and obedient, loved by everyone who saw them. So... his father and I tricked him into going there."

"Who introduced you to that so-called educational institution?" Officer Wang asked.

"Li Degang. Many students were sent there on his recommendation. He... he is a good man." Gong Lan's face was deathly pale. She completely failed to understand why her own child would lay a hand on his benefactor. In her eyes, hadn't Hao Bowen already changed for the better? After a year of education, he had become extremely disciplined and organized, speaking with courtesy and politeness. He was supposed to have become a sensible, good child, so why...

Bai Yanliang watched her in silence, as well as the man who was still shouting in agitation. He had never known his own parents, having been raised by his older brother.

Yet, he was not incapable of understanding the feelings parents held for their children.

The cause and effect of this matter were already quite clear: Hao Bowen had grown up in a family with a disastrous approach to upbringing.

His parents were traditional in their thinking, possessed an intense desire to control their child, and viewed him as their private property.

They were failures on their own life paths, yet they were fond of shirking responsibility. In order to secure a "bright" future for their child, they had chosen to personally send Hao Bowen into hell.

Although Bai Yanliang did not know how the so-called educational institution was managed internally, from the dense, chaotic graffiti on the walls, he could fully sense Hao Bowen's helplessness, fear, and despair.

He had become the obedient child his parents wanted, but deep within his heart, he was emitting a twisted, unheard scream.

"Officer Wang, I'll be leaving now."

Bai Yanliang offered a greeting, and Officer Wang nodded, turning his gaze toward the couple.

His position prevented him from doing certain things or saying certain words.

He also knew that trying to overturn certain deep-seated beliefs was an extremely difficult task, and for any given family, it was also an extremely private matter.

Hao Bowen had only taken revenge on Li Degang; perhaps, within his twisted soul, that was the only kindness he had left.