The Five-Year-Old Case of the Exterminated Family

  At 19:55 on December 31, 2010, the No. 12 bus finally arrived at its terminal station, Renhe Town Government. I got off the bus with joy, my home is in Renhe Town, and every day I have to take the No. 12 bus for more than an hour to go to school. I ran all the way home in the drizzle. Although today's weather was gloomy and cold, which I hated, and the No. 12 bus was extremely crowded on the eve of New Year's Day, but at this moment, nothing could stop my good mood.

  Today is my 16th birthday. My good mood comes from the message sent by my dad after school, he said he wants to give me a surprise and asked me to go home early.

  What I call a surprise is probably the Apple 4 mobile phone that I have been dreaming of for a long time. The mobile phone I am using now is an antique Motorola function machine, which was bought by my mother five years ago.

  The door is unlocked, it must be that Dad and Mom knew I was back and left the door open for me on purpose.

  I excitedly pushed open the door, and my heart was racing as if it were expressing its impatience just like mine.

  Huh? The living room is empty, why isn't the light turned on? I walked to the lamp switch and pressed it repeatedly several times before deducing that it might have tripped. Whatever, let's go take a look at my birthday gift first, fixing the tripped fuse can be done by dad later.

  But... why is there a strange smell at home?

  At that time, I was probably confused by the text message my dad sent earlier and didn't suspect or observe anything unusual around me. If I had been more rational at that moment, I might have noticed the signs of the door lock being pried open, the main switch being smashed, and the signs of a fight in the living room. But I didn't. My mind only had one thought: "Oh, it's a surprise, must be surprising and delightful." And because of this thought, it covered up a kind of inexplicable unease that suddenly sprouted in my heart.

  A low "Woo... woo..." sound came from the parents' room, seemingly mom's voice. What's going on? Is this calling me? Why not call my name?

  My home is just about sixty square meters, and after passing through the narrow living room, I arrived at my parents' door. I wanted to knock on the door first, but as soon as my fingers lightly tapped on it, the door swung open by itself. Seeing that the door wasn't locked, I pushed it open and saw... My phone, the gift for my 16th birthday, Dad, Mom, I love you guys...... These thoughts of mine came to an abrupt end when the door opened, and as soon as I took in the scene before me, my heart seemed to stop beating all at once, and my legs lost their strength, causing me to sit down on the floor.

  Her mother's body was already covered in blood, her hair disheveled, her body rigid and prone on the ground, her hands and feet bound tightly with a yellow rope. A long steel pipe had been inserted into her mouth, and around it, blood flowed out with each breath, gurgling continuously.

  At this time, my mother's eyes widened, as if she was staring at me, wanting to say something, but the steel pipe had obviously been pressed against her throat. As soon as she wanted to speak, fresh blood would gush out of her mouth even more violently.

  I only then noticed that the other end of the steel pipe was being held by a burly man wearing an old-fashioned police uniform, with short hair and a Sun Wukong mask.

  "Dad, what are you doing?!" I forcefully controlled my body which was shaking violently like a sieve, and trembled with my voice, asking subconsciously.

  "Foolish child, I am not your father, your father is on your left." A strange and cold voice came from under the mask. At this moment, although I couldn't see his true face hidden behind the mask, I knew he was grinning savagely.

  Yes, when I pushed open the door, I felt as if something had touched my left shoulder, but because of the terrifying scene that appeared before me in the next moment, I didn't instinctively turn my head to look. It wasn't until I heard the stranger's words that I turned my head to the left, and up until then, a thought kept popping into my mind: this must be a surprise from Mom and Dad, and everything will be revealed as fake in the next second. But I was wrong, what I saw was an unforgettable scene, but it wasn't something to look forward to.

  My father was wrapped around his neck with a thin iron wire and hung on the wall, his hands were nailed by long nails, blood and flesh blurred, below his waist, there was no skin, but bones with blood and white, my father's lower body had been brutally stripped of its skin, looking at my father's face again, he stuck out his tongue, his eyeballs bulged out, without a hint of life.

  I swore, my head "buzzed" for a moment, and I was stunned, but I didn't faint or vomit, I just felt at a loss, not knowing what to do or where to look.

  At this moment, I only have one thought in my mind, what's going on, it shouldn't be like this, is this the surprise? But the surprise I wanted was to hold a brand new iPhone 4 and lend it to the girl I had a crush on in class, Duan Lan Zhi, and then I could confidently stand up straight in front of her...

  "What your dad enjoyed was, heh heh, the legendary torture of lingchi. Unfortunately, your dad's vitality was too poor and he died after only thirty-one slices of flesh were cut off. Oh, maybe it was my fault, I'm a novice, so I didn't grasp it well." The voice from Sun Wukong's mask interrupted my thoughts, and his tone actually made me sense a hint of regret.

  "And your mom enjoyed it, was the stick punishment, of course, as you can see, this stick punishment is not used to hit with a stick, but an iron rod is inserted from the mouth, breaking through everything, all the way to the intestines, if you stir it up again... Ah, just thinking about it is very exciting." The man was very excited, but after looking at my mom's face, he suddenly said with great disappointment: "Alas, unfortunately, your mom's vitality is actually weaker than your dad's. This iron rod had only just reached her throat and she's already almost choking to death."

  No, this must be a dream, a nightmare. The real plot should be that I got the brand new iPhone 4, the white one that Duan Lanzhi likes, and then I changed the wallpaper to her photo, intentionally playing with it in front of her. If she wants to borrow it, she will discover my intention...

  But it's clear that all these unexpected things seem to be true at this moment.

  I swallowed hard, and my whole body started trembling again, uncontrollably. And my head... only today did I truly understand the meaning of "hair standing on end".

  "Haha, but as the saying goes: a gentleman helps others to complete their beauty. Letting you watch your mother die with your own eyes, letting your mother see you for the last time before she dies, am I not being very considerate?" The masked man said, his hand gripping the iron rod suddenly using force, the iron rod went in several more inches.

  "Ah!" A sharp cry escaped from Mother's mouth, this cry seemed not to come from her mouth, but from her throat. This sound of Mother's was something I had never heard before.

  I have almost completely lost my thinking ability brain, at this time finally had a judgment, in front of this mask man, is an unqualified pervert.

  "You... you're crazy!" I shouted.

  Mom's eyes have rolled up and her body has started hiccuping uncontrollably, I know this is also an instinct, a futile self-protection of her own body.

  "Haha, that's right, I'm a psychopath, a thoroughbred psychopath. I have the diagnosis to prove it. Even if I killed someone, I wouldn't die." The masked man let out a triumphant laugh, his hand gripping the steel pipe tightened again, this time with all his might.

  When the steel pipe burst out of mother's throat, her hiccups stopped abruptly. The part of her throat was bleeding profusely like a spring gushing out blood.

  My mother is dead. I don't know whether to be happy that she has escaped from suffering or to grieve for her inexplicable death.

  "Alas, I've failed. Not only did your father's death by a thousand cuts not come to fruition, but your mother's caning also didn't end with her throat being pierced... Waaahhh, I'm sorry, I've failed." The masked man's voice grew increasingly choked, and in the end, he burst into tears.

  "Ah!" I couldn't control my emotions anymore and burst into tears: "Why did you have to kill them? Why?!"

  "For a madman, does killing need a reason? For a psychopath, does killing need logic?" The masked man heard my question and his voice stopped abruptly. His eyes turned to me, his voice carrying a hint of madness: "Tell me, which way of dying do you prefer? Flaying? Enema? Or dismemberment by five horses?"