Who broke the glass 12 "Rather than covet an escape from punish...

·

The course of the story changed slightly in Song Xiao's account.

After Song Xiao knocked Zhang Zhao unconscious with the knife, the two of them dragged and hauled him into the bathroom. By then, their parents were already lost in the hallucinations brought on by mercury poisoning and had begun hurting themselves incessantly to ease the pain. They tried to stop their parents, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, perhaps because Zhang Zhao had inhaled too much mercury vapor, he actually struggled awake in his extreme agony.

Song Sheng and Song Xiao looked up in panic. Zhang Zhao roared in pain as he crawled out, overturning a low cabinet and sending the medicines inside clattering across the floor. Amid her panic, Song Xiao suddenly spotted a syringe on the floor-it was something they had bought for pain relief when Zhang Zhao had abused her older sister, and it had a powerful sedative effect.

With strength that came from who knew where, Song Xiao suddenly got up, grabbed the syringe, and rushed forward, plunging it straight into Zhang Zhao.

Zhang Zhao's struggles weakened. Song Xiao shoved him straight into the bathroom. She was so terrified that she clutched Zhang Zhao's clothes and kept slamming him against something. Only when her sister wrapped her arms around her waist did she slowly come to her senses.

Zhang Zhao lay on the floor, his head covered in blood. He was no longer breathing.

"Sis, I killed someone." Song Xiao shuddered and collapsed onto the floor. "I killed someone. I killed someone, Sis. What do I do? What do I do..."

"It's all right, it's all right... Shh..." Song Sheng's eyes were red too, and her voice was choked with tears, but she did everything she could to comfort her distraught younger sister.

"Xiao Xiao, listen to me. Mom and Dad just... passed away too."

Song Xiao's sobbing stopped abruptly. She looked at her sister in horror. Tears streaming down her face, her sister drew her into her arms and stroked her head.

"The pain from mercury poisoning was too intense. They kept banging themselves against the wall to ease it. I wasn't watching them for a moment just now, and then-"

Song Sheng covered Song Xiao's eyes to keep her from seeing their parents. After a moment's hesitation, she said shakily, "Xiao Xiao, you need to leave."

Chapter 23: Who broke the glass 12 "Rather than covet an escape from punish...

"Sis?"

The mercury vapor was still spreading rapidly. Song Xiao's mind was growing hazy. She did not know what to say and could only shake her head desperately.

Song Sheng had inhaled a great deal of mercury vapor too, and her head was splitting. But she gently turned her face and pressed her forehead against her sister's, speaking quickly. "Be good. You weren't the one who killed him. It was my fault. If it weren't for me... none of this would have happened. I've wanted to kill him for a long time."

As she spoke, Song Sheng pulled her sister, whose tears would not stop, to her feet and stumbled toward the door. "I'll disguise the scene as suicides caused by mercury poisoning. Then you'll knock me out and tie me up as far from the bathroom as possible. After an hour, get the neighbors to notice something's wrong here and call the police right away. That way, we can control how much mercury vapor I inhale-enough to drive me mad, but not kill me."

"No, don't..." Song Xiao screamed in a low voice.

"Shh, listen to me. Once you escape, hide in the factory where I work. Once you've disposed of the mercury vapor Zhang Zhao stole, nothing can go wrong. Don't be afraid. Stay hidden. If the police don't find you, I'll say I don't remember what happened. If they do find you, I'll say I killed Zhang Zhao." Song Sheng calmly arranged everything for her sister.

"But if the police catch you, you'll die!"

"I won't." Song Sheng took one of Song Xiao's hands and gently pressed it against her lower abdomen. Slowly, she said, "I'm pregnant."

Song Xiao's eyes were blank. She vaguely understood what her sister was saying, and amid her terror, she actually began to waver. Seeing her standing there in a daze without responding, Song Sheng sighed softly, then suddenly released her hand and walked back inside.

Song Xiao stood trembling where she was, her legs weak, not daring to move. Before long, Song Sheng came out with blood smeared all over her face and handed Song Xiao a syringe.

"Xiao Xiao, give me another injection, just like before." Song Sheng smoothed her sister's loose strands of hair. "Once you do, I won't hurt anymore."

Song Xiao lowered her eyes, raising and lowering her hands several times. Amid her fear of death and resentment toward her sister, she finally took the painkiller injection with trembling hands.

"Are you really not going to die?" Song Xiao asked one last time, choking on her tears.

"I won't. I promise." Song Sheng knelt on the floor, looking up as she spoke softly.

Song Xiao drew a deep breath and swiftly raised the hand holding the syringe-

·

In winter, the interrogation room was kept between 16 and 22 degrees. Someone in good health could stay there for a long time without any trouble, but it was somewhat taxing for Pei Qingyu.

He listened to Song Xiao's account in silence. Before he could react, a fit of coughing interrupted him as soon as he tried to speak. Standing behind him, Xun Yin slowly rubbed his back and calmly took over. "Where are the two syringes you mentioned now?"

"...They should still be at home. I'm not sure. My sister hid them both." Song Xiao sniffled. Looking at the two men as they rose to leave, she suddenly lunged onto the table.

The chains on her hands rattled. Before Pei Qingyu could turn around, Xun Yin had already caught his hand and stepped between him and Song Xiao, shielding him behind his body.

Pei Qingyu froze briefly. The warmth against his hand left him momentarily dazed. The corner of his mouth lifted, but he slowly concealed the smile again.

Song Xiao shrank back. Looking at the wariness in Xun Yin's eyes, she asked haltingly, "Officer, I know I'm definitely guilty, but I wanted... I wanted to ask..."

Song Xiao's voice cut off abruptly. For a moment, the only sound in the interrogation room was her stifled sobbing. Xun Yin waited a while, but when Song Xiao continued to hesitate without managing to say anything, he simply turned and helped Pei Qingyu toward the door.

Pei Qingyu sighed inwardly. He had twisted his ankle when he jumped down from the iron bridge. Although it was not very serious, it had swollen up all the same. Leaning on Xun Yin, he used the injury to deliberately slow his steps.

Only when they reached the door did they finally hear Song Xiao break down crying behind them, shouting through her tears, "My sister... she, she didn't actually do anything. Will anything happen to her?"

Pei Qingyu paused. He silently looked back at Song Xiao without saying a word.