Chapter 17: The Three Sins

I instinctively grasped a crucial point: when my father had asserted years ago that Xu Jiaojiao could never like me, it wasn't for those messy, trivial reasons he cited—it was because Xu Jiaojiao's orientation and mine were two parallel lines, destined never to cross in this lifetime. We loved the same kind.

Xu Meijing was still wrestling with the authenticity of the problem, but I cut straight to the heart of it, asking Xu Jiaojiao, "How exactly did Liu Jia die?"

"It was my fault, all my fault. We could have parted peacefully, but I couldn't accept her loving another man... We had promised to elope after graduation and wander the world together. But on that day, she told me she wanted to break up, that she had fallen for a man..."

"I couldn't accept it. That night, I went alone to drown my sorrows, drank heavily at a bar, and remember nothing except that Gao Xiaolong took me home. I have no idea how much I drank or what nonsense I spouted, until the next day when I heard the dreadful news from the girls' dormitory..."

Xu Jiaojiao’s confession suddenly made the clues from the dormitory fall into place. She and Liu Jia had been lovers for years, their relationship carefully concealed due to its nature, both expertly guarding their secret.

Then one day, Liu Jia decided to break up, having found a boyfriend she loved. Xu Jiaojiao couldn't accept it, lashed out in anger, and Gao Xiaolong overheard. To curry favor with the heiress, Gao Xiaolong, along with Yang Zhihong, Song Yuan, and Ji Haifeng, decided to "teach Liu Jia a lesson." The three got her drunk and assaulted her on the back hill. Normally, they would never have been able to lure Liu Jia—but Gu Meijuan, a gold-digger, sold out her friend for a designer handbag, facilitating this heinous crime.

Liu Jia insisted on reporting it to the police, so Gao Xiaolong took it further, setting fire to the girls' dormitory, hoping to cover up their crimes with an inferno. The fire succeeded, masking everything and killing three other innocent girls as well.

"Damn!" I couldn't help but curse, suddenly finding Du Jiang's vengeful actions more understandable. If not for this feast arranged by Du Jiang today, I would never have seen these people's hypocritical faces. Without Du Jiang, Gao Xiaolong, Yang Zhihong, and their accomplices would still be free, their heinous deeds unpunished.

"Xu Jiaojiao! Your first crime is the origin of all this evil!" rasped the Red Smoke Box. "Your second crime is concealing the sins behind that fire. You could have exposed them, but you chose silence, chose to ignore everything, naively believing money could fix it all! You never truly loved Liu Jia!"

"No! Shut up!" Xu Jiaojiao suddenly lifted her head, her eyes bloodshot, shouting at the Red Smoke Box, "You know nothing about me! You have no right to judge me! How dare you say I didn’t love Liu Jia! Losing her hurt me more than anyone, I wanted to avenge her more than anyone... sob... sob..."

The Red Smoke Box’s voice drowned out her protests: "Whatever your reasons, you chose silence in the end. I said the world of the Red Smoke Box is fair—if you owe blood, you must repay in blood, no exceptions. Now for your third crime!"

"If Liu Jia’s death was an inadvertent mistake, and you concealed their guilt under duress, what about Zheng Guangxian? What about Zheng Yan’s father? Can you truly claim Zheng Guangxian’s death had nothing to do with you?"

What!

Suddenly, I snapped out of the tangled web of events—could Xu Jiaojiao have been involved in my father's accident?

---

"Who can tell me what really happened here? What major truth was hidden in my father's accident? Xu Jiaojiao, answer me!"

"I don't know... I don't know… I know nothing..." Xu Jiaojiao shook her head, tears streaming, but her evasiveness only proved there was something shameful being concealed.

I rushed to her, pointing at her face and yelling, "We’re at this point—what could you possibly have left to hide? Did my father ever wrong you? Why drag him into this? He never did anything against his conscience! He always lived with a clear heart!"

Xu Meijing sided with me: "Xu Jiaojiao, Teacher Zheng is Zheng Yan’s father. Whatever happened, you must give him an explanation. If he did something wrong, please tell the truth!"

"I let Teacher Zheng down... I let Liu Jia down... I let down those girls who died unjustly... Du Jiang, let me die, let me atone..." Xu Jiaojiao shook her head, her face contorted with anguish, refusing to reveal the truth from years ago.

"If you won’t, I will..." The Red Smoke Box’s voice remained unaffected, unwavering. "After the dormitory fire, someone questioned its authenticity. That person was Zheng Guangxian. He investigated in secret, discovered many clues, and by chance found solid evidence and the arsonist."

"While Zheng Guangxian was gathering evidence, someone tried to make a deal with him: to conceal and abandon all evidence, promising him a luxury apartment in Donghai City to solve his family's housing problem. The negotiator was Gao Xiaolong, and the broker was the class advisor, Cao Baoyang."

I recalled Cao Baoyang’s words before his death—he had said that if not for him, my father wouldn’t have died. All the clues matched.

"In the end, Zheng Guangxian rejected their deal and urged Gao Xiaolong to turn himself in. This suggestion angered Gao Xiaolong, and the two quarreled fiercely on the back hill. What happened afterward is unknown. Two days later, Zheng Guangxian died in a car accident en route to the police station—his car tumbled off a cliff and was smashed to pieces, his body burned beyond recognition. Xu Jiaojiao, you know better than anyone how Zheng Guangxian died, don’t you?"

"You caused Liu Jia’s death, and indirectly covered up Zheng Guangxian’s wrongful demise. You are an accomplice to these murderers, and bear three crimes. In ancient Rome, women like you would be hanged; today, I’ll fulfill that sentence, sending you to the underworld to apologize to the dead!"

At this point, words could not express my tangled feelings. My father was clearly murdered—the killer orchestrated his fatal crash, leaving even his body charred. My emotions teetered on the edge; suddenly, I felt the urge to kill Xu Jiaojiao myself.

"I’ve said all that needs saying. Now it’s time to punish Xu Jiaojiao. Zheng Yan, Xu Meijing, before you is a gallows, specially made for Xu Jiaojiao—an exact replica from ancient Roman execution grounds. Activate the mechanism and in three minutes, this vile woman will be hanged. Life or death is yours to decide."

"Zheng Yan, you’ve noticed the four locks on the gallows. Yes, they are the key to breaking its mechanism. Find the four keys and you can take Xu Jiaojiao away. No need to search far—look ahead, at the fish tank at three o’clock. The four keys are inside. But Zheng Yan, think carefully—Xu Jiaojiao is an accomplice in your father’s murder. If you save her, you betray your dead father. Weigh the consequences yourself. Good luck; the punishment begins!"

“Beep… Beep…”

At the moment the Red Smoke Box finished its pronouncement, electronic tones sounded. The vintage ceiling fan above began to turn slowly, its blades twisting two hemp ropes, causing them to entwine.

---

The gallows’ power actually came from this ordinary vintage ceiling fan. As it spun, the ropes tightened, stretching Xu Jiaojiao’s neck. Though the fan’s strength was modest, once the ropes twisted together, the tension would be enough to rip her head clean off.

After only two turns, Xu Jiaojiao’s body was already hanging taut.

Surprisingly, Xu Jiaojiao smiled, "Du Jiang, thank you for this. After Liu Jia left, I’ve wanted to join her for a long time. Thank you for giving me the courage to go apologize to them..."

"No! I won’t allow it!" Xu Meijing shouted resolutely, "Jiaojiao! No matter what you’ve done, you helped me, and Zheng Yan and I won’t let you die here!"

I stood silent, unable to respond. My heart was torn—I hated bloodshed, especially towards women, yet I couldn’t bring myself to save the woman who helped kill my father.

"Zheng Yan! Don’t just stand there! You promised me you’d do your best to save Jiaojiao!"

I had promised, but my heart lacked the drive; I couldn’t move.

"If you won’t, I will! I’ll get the keys to save Jiaojiao!" Xu Meijing pushed past me, racing to the fish tank. After a few steps, she shrieked in terror, "Zheng Yan… look at the fish tank!"

I glanced toward it. In the left corner stood a rectangular tank filled with water glowing green, clear and clean, corals and green plants abundant. A string of white keys lay visible at the bottom.

But one thing was unavoidable—in that clean water, not a single fish swam. Instead, a dozen emerald-green cobras floated, raising their heads curiously.

Cobras?