The Last Killer

The blade scraped the flint, and the splashed sparks fell on a ball of coconut velvet. The small orange flame flickered and lit up, and then moved into the torn fibrous trunk of the palm tree, carefully adding branches and leaves, and soon burned into a pile enough to A bonfire for warmth.

The sea cave at night was wet and cold. Although it was not unbearably cold, it was very uncomfortable to be wrapped in wet clothes. Sha Qing and Leo took off their coats and skewered them on a few branches to roast.

Although the fire was not very bright and one could only see the silhouette, Leo felt a little awkward that the two were facing each other wearing only a pair of underwear - it would be fine if the other party was a stranger, but it was the kill he had been chasing all along.

The federal police and the serial murderer were shirtless and warming up together. If the bureau found out, it would probably be rated as one of the FBI's annual jokes... The black-haired detective thought helplessly.

Killing did not show any discomfort, he chopped open a coconut with a dagger and threw it over, "There are only coconuts left here, and there are a few oysters and sea urchins, can I eat them?"

"No problem, I'm not a picky eater." Leo said, drank the coconut juice in one gulp, cut open the spiny sea urchin with the Swiss Army knife he carried, and dug out a small ball of yellow eggs inside and stuffed it into his mouth.There is only this little edible part of the whole sea urchin, and the rest has to be discarded; although the oysters are quite large, there are only a few of them.However, he doesn't expect to eat as rich seafood dinner as in a high-end restaurant, and it is enough to barely satisfy his hunger.

After dinner was settled, the two of them put on their half-dried clothes, each found a relatively flat corner, and nestled on the big plantain leaves laid out.Although the body is extremely exhausted, the spirit is still tense. It is not known whether it is due to the lack of routine medication (although the dose is gradually decreasing) or a serial killer lying two meters away. Leo found that he did not feel sleepy at all. I can force myself to close my eyes, but my thoughts are running wildly in my head.

He closed his eyes and remained motionless, but the other man seemed to sense his excitement, and after a long while, he suddenly asked, "Can't sleep?"

"Ah."

"For my sake? Don't worry, I won't stab you while you're asleep."

Leo could hear the sarcasm in his tone, and said with a smirk, "Don't overestimate yourself. It's you, I handcuffed you after falling asleep carefully."

"Oh, I'm not worried about that at all, don't say you don't have handcuffs on your body at all, even if you have, I will escape like last time."

"Speaking of which, how did you slip away last time? The handcuffs are obviously intact...Damn it, you broke your finger bones?" Leo turned over and looked at his silhouette caught in the dim firelight.

"It's just a dislocation." Sha Qing replied nonchalantly.

Leo said coldly: "Have you ever heard a saying: If a person can be cruel to himself, he can be crueler to others. No wonder you can cut open those prey without hesitation."

Sha Qing was silent for a moment, with a hint of cold mockery and disappointed annoyance in his tone: "Then what do you think it was normal for me to cut off your wrist? Anyway, in your opinion, I am a perverted killer, right? It is no different from those serial murderers who take pleasure in raping, killing and mutilating corpses!"

"—No, I don't think so." The federal agent immediately denied.He subconsciously felt that some of the hidden meanings in the other party's words came from real emotions. To Sha Qing, who is accustomed to pretending, it is like a crack in the extremely hard amber accidentally cracked, and a little bit of soft and flowing turpentine seeped out. ——Although it is only a tiny trace, it will soon solidify due to contact with the air, become a part of the hard shell, and block the gap again, but he has witnessed this fleeting process, and peeked out from it. A little bit of the secret deep in Amber: Did Shaqing choose to hurt himself because he didn't want to hurt him?How much does he care what a policeman thinks of him... or is it just because, that policeman is him?

This sudden realization brought Leo not only a bunch of chaotic thoughts, but also blurted out words: "You are different from them! Even though I insisted on arresting you, I never confused you with those people! "

"Different?" The killer sneered, "Are you referring to the charges and the sentence?"

"No, it's here," the detective pointed to his heart, "I always feel that those things that are hidden and suppressed in your heart, those things that drive you to kill people, no matter what they are, are not for Satisfying selfish and ugly desires."

Sha Qing was silent for a long time, and then said in a difficult voice: "There is pleasure in doing that kind of thing, and it is more intense every time, even if you don't think so at first, and even feel disgusted and disgusted... But no matter what it is, They end up being addicted, like drugs."

"I know what it's like to be addicted to drugs," Leo whispered, "I'm trying to quit. As long as you have the same desire and determination."

This time Daqing retorted without hesitation: "Many things in the world cannot be achieved by wish and determination alone. Are you a naive idealist, detective?"

"But you have to at least try."

"I've been trying, in my own way... I don't expect you to understand, and I don't care about other people's opinions, what nonsense like 'extremely distorted sense of justice, self-proving high IQ crime', TV newspapers Let them argue, I will only do what I think should be done." Sha Qing's speech speed is getting faster and faster, which is the rhythm of wanting to end this topic.Then he said bluntly to the federal agent: "Do you want to continue this futile argument with me, or hurry up and get some sleep? The tide will be high in five hours, and this cave will be flooded with sea water."

"Go to sleep, I'll watch the time, I'll wake you up in four hours." Leo didn't want to persist in this deadlocked conversation, so he changed the subject with him.

"Aren't you going to sleep?"

"...Can't sleep."

"Why? Missing a goodnight kiss?"

"You do not sleep?"

"Can't sleep."

"Why? Missing a goodnight kiss?"

"...No, the pair of handcuffs are missing."

Sha Qing smiled, "Okay, I promise not to sneak up on you while you are sleeping, but if you come to sneak up on me, I welcome it."

Leo turned his face away speechlessly. This guy always likes to play ambiguously when talking to him. Is it because of his own virtue, or is he making fun of his own reaction?Including that kiss...wasn't that a bad-natured prank?He said in a deep voice, "At ten past seven, I'll call you."

"Okay." Sha Qing said, and then there was no movement.

Five minutes later, Leo heard his long and regular breathing, apparently falling asleep.For people with long-term poor sleep, this fast falling asleep skill is quite aggravating. Leo is inevitably a little envious: a murderer can sleep as sweetly and calmly as a baby, unless he is not guilty of what he did In other words, his heart has been so cold and numb that it cannot be touched by death.

Such a person... Such a person still makes him harbor a glimmer of fantasy, and he never gives up the hope of turning him into a good person... Leo suddenly suspects that he is not far from losing his mind.

He fell into a state of half-asleep and half-awake in the chaotic thoughts, looking at his watch from time to time, and got up four hours later to wake up Shaqing.

The sea water under the rock where the rest point is located has shown signs of rising, and they have to hurry up and leave.When returning the same way, Leo was lucky enough to retrieve the flashlight lost in the fight. It was still bright, and it was much easier to use than the temporary torch, which saved them part of the estimated time.

Just when they saw the light of the cave ahead, a loud and indistinct sound came from outside.

The two immediately crawled and peeped out through the cracks in the rocks, and found lines of camouflage trouser legs coming and going on the beach. From this angle, the drooping carbine barrels and the German black backs on the rope were clearly visible.

"Damn it, they just searched here. I don't know if they can find a chance to sneak out." Sha Qing turned his head to listen to the sound of the tide, and frowned, "At most half an hour, this hole will be filled with water."

Leo ventured forward a few steps, carefully observed the movement on the barren slope behind the beach, his face was solemn, "There are a lot of people up there, and the sky is bright, and we can't fight head-on with just two pistols soaked in water. Can wait... wait, they sat down, as if they were going to rest on the slope, have breakfast or something."

Sha Qing also crawled over to take a look, "Their position is too good, condescending and facing the empty beach, 100% vision, as long as we show our heads, we will become the target of the fire, what the hell!"

Leo observed it again and again, calculating the possible escape routes in his mind, and finally had to admit with disappointment that there was nothing he could do except stay in the hole, and the first appearance would be a target.In fact, it is their greatest luck that the other party has not discovered this sea cave yet.

"Okay, it's time to choose a way to die." Sha Qing said, "Detective, do you want to be shot to death by bullets or drowned in sea water?"

There was no emotion in his tone, as if he was just asking "do you want tea or coffee?" This calmed Leo's gloomy mood a lot, shrugging his shoulders and replied: "As far as the degree of pain is concerned, , perhaps the former would be lighter, but I'd rather feed the fish than let the body fall into the hands of little Avril."

Sha Qing nodded and said: "Hearing what you said, I can imagine how perverted that kid is. Well, let's turn around and go to the cave."

Leo raised his eyebrows and watched him hold his hand again, "...can I trouble you to die first? I don't want our bodies to be entangled and unable to be pulled apart if someone finds them. as martyrs."

"Ah, I don't mind at all." The other man said, clenched his hand and walked into the sea cave where the water level was rising rapidly.

Soon they could not stand on their feet and could only swim in against the tide. "Let's talk about your plan B." Leo clasped the stone wall to fix himself not to be washed away by the current, and asked about the completion as a matter of course.

"Are you so sure there is B?"

"I have been chasing you for more than a year, and I dream of you more times than days at night. It is said that the cunning rabbit has three caves, you are much more cunning than a rabbit."

"It's a great honor for the detective to think about me day and night and understand me so deeply. In this way, our death together can be regarded as fulfilling your wish. Look, you finally caught me!" Sha Qing smiled Shaking their hands together, "Unfortunately, there is indeed B, but it's not a plan, it's just an adventure. I observed this cave yesterday, and the place where we rested before is a natural space formed by the intersection of two large rocks , It seems to be higher than the sea level after high tide... But I am not sure how much the specific data is, and I am not sure whether two people can be squeezed on it when the water level is the highest."

"But that's our only chance right now, isn't it?" Leo said, "then try your luck."

The water surface was getting closer and closer to the cave roof, and they had to dive over some sections, and then put their noses against the rock wall to catch their breath.

The section ahead is extremely narrow. Before, they crawled over with hands and feet, but now they are completely submerged in the water, and they don't know if they can dive through it with one breath.Sha Qing hesitated for a moment, let go of his hand, and shook Leo's shoulder solemnly: "I know your water quality is better than mine, if I can't reach the ventilation point, please give me a hand, if it's really difficult, forget it, Let go when it's time to let go."

Leo looked at his blurred face in the darkness and didn't know how to answer for a while.

Sha Qing took a deep breath while he was silent, and plunged into the water.

This passage seemed to be longer than he had imagined, and Leo held it until his lungs hurt, before he felt a gap between the water surface and the stone wall on the cave roof with his fingers.He raised his nose and took a long breath as if he had been pardoned, and shouted: "Shu Qing, here!"

There was no movement on the water surface before or after, Leo's heartstrings tightened, and he dived immediately.

The battery-depleted flashlight flickered for a moment, and after emitting the last faint light, Leo saw Sha Qing's figure clearly with that ray of light. He seemed to be unable to restrain his breathing instinct, and he covered his mouth and nose with his palm in vain. Strings of bubbles rose from between the fingers.

He was about to drown.

Leo kicked his feet and slid over, opened his palm with one hand, supported the back of his neck with the other, and sucked his lips to blow air in.

The other party hugged his waist tightly as if grabbing a life-saving straw, and took air from his mouth until half of their heads finally emerged from the water, and their heads were pressed against the hard rock wall.

The first-aid measures have obviously changed at this moment. They kissed feverishly amidst lung pain and chest tightness and shortness of breath. No one's brain can still think. All reason and rationality are worthless in front of this kiss. Hearing the heartbeat of both sides and some kind of unknown roar, it was the clamor in the body of the burning desire.

When the water flooded their eyes and the lungs were overwhelmed and had to part their lips, they raised their faces and gasped tiredly and excitedly, as if they were born after death.