The weapon by the pillow

Chapter 25 Half a Lipstick

"She died too."

Could this "she" refer to Li Wan?

"Do you know why?" These six words, like a barbed knife, pierced Li Kai's heart, then spun and churned.

His lips seemed to be trembling violently, and his eyes were fixed on the blood-red words, burning with rage.

He was completely enraged.

"Who...who the hell is it..." he spat out the words through gritted teeth. "Who wrote this?! Who threw it in?! Get in here! Get in!"

He rushed to the window and frantically shook and pounded on the hard wooden planks.

The wooden planks remained unmoved. He rushed to the door again and rammed the iron gate with all his might.

"Calm down! Li Kai! Calm down!" Lin Qian tried to pull him back, but Li Kai shook her off.

Shadow rushed forward quickly and, together with Lynx, subdued the almost out-of-control Li Kai.

Li Kai continued to struggle and roar, like a wounded and trapped beast.

"Let me go! I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill this bastard!" His eyes were bloodshot, tears mingling with sweat as he crouched down by the door. "I regret it so much... I shouldn't have... my sister, her death wasn't about playing these kinds of tricks!"

"wrong……"

Cheng Tan suddenly said.

He stood there, looking at the half-eaten lipstick, at the words, and shook his head.

This must be yet another "she." Another female victim? Why use lipstick to write it? Lipstick is a woman's personal item; what does this imply? Is the person who threw the box suggesting that Li Wan's death is related to her female identity? Or to some other feminine trait?

"She...she's dead too?" Cheng Tan's voice trembled. He looked up at everyone. "I'm not talking about Li Wan!"

Another one has "died"!

Following Zhao Jianguo, Wang Bin, and Wu Guodong, this is the fourth person to "die"! And this time, the word "she" is used! A woman!

"Lipstick..." Lin Qian stared at the half-eaten lipstick, her face deathly pale. "This is... the lipstick Li Wan used?"

"Not necessarily," the shadow observed carefully, "but its presence here, writing with lipstick, is clearly meant to suggest 'her' female identity and its connection to 'lipstick,' a woman's personal item."

Cheng Tan's headache eased slightly. He stared at the half-eaten lipstick and the words, his mind flashing through images of murderous weapons like a video. The third one… after the wrench, was it a paper cutter? Or a paperweight? Or… did it jump straight to "lipstick"?

But lipstick wasn't one of the weapons in my dreams.

Unless...her death is related to lipstick? Or perhaps, her death was another form of "murder weapon"?

"Do you know why?" Wu Wenbin repeated the question. "Is this a provocation... or... a hint?"

Lynx was completely panicked: "Another one dead?! When will this ever end?! Who the hell is outside?! Where are the police?! Why haven't they arrived yet?!"

After a brief moment of shock, the live stream chat exploded again:

"Lipstick! Yet another victim!"

"Is that the lipstick Li Wan used?!"

"Who is she? Li Wan? Or some other woman?"

Why ask, "Do you know why?"

"This is definitely a serial killer! Someone is systematically eliminating those involved from back then!"

"Who's next?! Following the order of nightmares, after the wrench comes the box cutter!"

This is the modern internet—spreading yet precise. In forums, discussions about "lipstick" and "she's dead" quickly unfolded. In this vast world, some began searching for other unsolved female deaths or disappearances near Anpingli around thirteen years ago. Some netizens tried analyzing lipstick shades and brands to see if they could find information about the buyers.

After listening to Cheng Tan's analysis, Li Kai seemed to have calmed down from his previous rage.

He stared at the box, suddenly feeling a sense of powerlessness. Thirteen years had passed, and his sister's case was like a wound that never healed, bleeding every day. And tonight, that wound was being torn open again and again, salt rubbed into it.

Now another half of a lipstick has appeared, and perhaps another "she" will die because of it?

"Take another look!" Li Kai suddenly turned around and looked at Wu Wenbin. "Did your father mention any other women in his belongings? Besides my sister, are there any other possible women involved?"

Wu Wenbin paused for a moment, then hurriedly reopened his father's notebook and the stack of letters, quickly skimming through them. Li Kai, meanwhile, crouched down, ignoring the shadow's obstruction, carefully picked up the velvet box, and examined it closely once more.

The box was ordinary, without any trademarks or markings. The lipstick was a twist-up type, with slight wear and oxidation on the metal tube, and a dark bronze color, also without any obvious brand logo. But Li Kai found a very small line of writing in black ballpoint pen on the edge of the velvet lining of the box:

Happy birthday, W. L.

……

On the phone, Chen Jing heard the driver's tone suddenly become urgent:

"A new situation has arisen... They are looking for a fourth person, and you must find the fifth one before they do..."

Zhou Zhigang's voice sounded somewhat distorted, but every word pierced Cheng Jing's eardrums like an icicle.

"The five vertices of the pentagram correspond to: an ice pick, an electrical wire, a wrench, a utility knife, and a paperweight. And the center point... is pliers."

The location of the tools scattered in the live broadcast instantly flashed through Cheng Jing's mind.

If you connect them—yes, a distorted pattern, it really does look like a five-pointed star!

"The pliers are in the center..." she repeated.

"Xiaojing, do you remember Li Wan's wrist injury?" Zhou Zhigang's voice grew more urgent. "It wasn't a blow injury, it was a crush injury. The forensic doctor described it as 'a complex fracture caused by repeated compression from some kind of clamp.' But we've never been able to find what the clamp that caused this injury was. Now that I think about it... could it have been pliers?"

The pliers are in the center of the pattern.

The pliers caused characteristic damage to Li Wan's wrist.

The pliers were the weapon of Cheng Tan's thirteenth nightmare.

All the clues came together at that moment.

The weapons, like scattered puzzle pieces, were suddenly pushed together by an invisible hand, presenting a chilling and complete picture.

"A five-pointed star... a ritual... five vertices... a center..." Cheng Jing's mind raced. "Master, you mean that at least five people were involved in the abuse of Li Wan back then? They used five different tools: an ice pick, an electrical wire, a wrench, a box cutter, and a paperweight, and finally... someone used pliers to inflict the final harm on her?"

"And this injury," Zhou Zhigang added, "may have some symbolic meaning. The wrist...control? Restraint? Or...punishment for 'what she did with her hands'?"