Fang Mu stared at him without expression. After a few seconds, he calmly looked away and sized up the room.
Cell 7 was the same size as the other cells, but it was filled with a number of strange iron racks and chairs. There were two ventilation openings in the cement ceiling, allowing the sun to shine through. This was why the room was so bright.
After looking the room over, Fang Mu turned his attention back to Sun Pu. "Not bad," he said. "You planned this all the way from one to seven. It must have taken a lot of thought."
Seeing that Fang Mu appeared to be neither angry nor frightened, Sun Pu seemed a little puzzled. As he looked at Fang Mu, whose behavior was more like that of a curious tourist, his smile started to come a little forced. "That's right," he said. "I just hoped that after all my hard work you wouldn't let me down."
Fang Mu actually smiled. "Is that so? Then what did you hope I'd do?"
Sun Pu's smile disappeared at once. "What did I hope you'd do?" He cocked the pistol. "Why don't you tell me?"
Struggling violently, Tai Wei bellowed something from behind the tape. His wrists had already begun to bleed from the strain.
Fang Mu glanced over at him, still smiling. "Die?" He laughed. "You're not the first person who's wanted to kill me." He paused. "And I'm afraid you won't be the last."
"Oh?" Sun Pu made an exaggerated show of surprise. "Who do you think is going to come save you?" He stomped his foot. "That old piece of shit down there?"
Raising his arm, he pointed the gun barrel at Fang Mu. "The facts have shown that you're nothing more than an overconfident, conceited little fool."
"Really?" Fang Mu stared at the muzzle of the gun. "Is that why you wanted to kill me?" His eyes moved from the gun to Sun Pu's face. "You're jealous of me," he said softly, "isn't that right, shixiong?"
Sun Pu immediately paled.
"Ever since you killed Qu Weiqiang, I've understood what kind of person you are. To cut off a goalie's hands is to deprive him of his power. You're jealous of my intellect, aren't you?"
"Shut up!"
Seeming not to hear, Fang Mu continued unabated. "It started at that assembly, didn't it? When you saw me invited to the stage like a hero while you, just an insignificant librarian, could do nothing but huddle in the corner and watch, lying to yourself that those honors belonged to you!"
"Shut up!"
Again Tai Wei cried out unintelligibly. Looking at him, Fang Mu saw the pleading, worried look that filled his eyes, clearly begging Fang Mu to stop talking.
"So you schemed and schemed, wanting to compete against me one on one." Fang Mu gritted his teeth and slowly stepped backward. "You killed one person after another, all to prove that I was not as good of a criminal profiler as you. But did you really win? Do you really not have nightmares when you sleep at night? Are you still able to make love to your girlfriend? Or did Thomas Gill already turn you…?" Fang Mu smirked, and then his voice abruptly turned serious. "Well? Am I right, shixiong?"
Sun Pu's face suddenly twitched and he pulled the trigger.
Fang Mu instantly dove to the side. At nearly the same moment, he heard the gunshot. A bullet flew past his cheek and smashed into the door of Cell 8.
With no time to think, Fang Mu spun around and sprinted out of the room, pushed open the iron door, and burst into the corridor.
Another bullet cracked from the gun and whizzed into the door.
With his heart nearly bursting from his chest, Fang Mu ran down the corridor and ducked into Cell 5. Panting, he leaned against the wall and tried to catch his breath.
Hurried steps sounded from the corridor outside. Just as they passed the door to his cell, they stopped.
Holding his breath, Fang Mu listened closely.
Sun Pu stood there, breathing heavily. After a few seconds, he laughed. "You made me lose control, shidi." He paused. "Truly disgraceful, no? A shixiong should always be better at keeping his cool than his shidi."
Two gunshots rang out.
Fang Mu quickly calculated; at most Sun Pu had only five bullets left.
Sun Pu knew this, too. The darkness was the best cover he could hope for. Standing in the inky hallway, he didn't dare act rashly. Raising the gun, he listened for movement.
"Where are you, shidi?" he yelled. "Don't hide like a little rat!"
As the echo from his voice slowly vanished, Sun Pu held his breath and listened closely, but no sounds emerged from the darkness.
He laughed wickedly. "Speaking of rats," he said, cautiously stepping forward, "did you like the ones I left for you at Meng Fanzhe's house?"
Squinting, he took stock of his surroundings. "I was originally going to use them to help Meng Fanzhe overcome his fear; I never expected that I would actually end up using them on his mother. You are the reason she died, shidi." His tone brimmed with derision. "If you hadn't been speaking on the phone so loudly in the library hallway, you would have been able to find that letter and catch me a long time ago." He laughed. "Then Zhang Yao and Professor Qiao would still be alive, no?"
At once Fang Mu felt all the blood rush to his head. In that instant, he wanted more than anything to rush into the corridor and stab Sun Pu to death.
Seeming to hear Fang Mu's quickening breath, Sun Pu did his utmost to figure out what direction that minute sound was coming from.
"Angry? Then come out here. Let's see if you're able to avenge their deaths."
Hearing this actually made Fang Mu calm down. Forcing himself to breathe more slowly, he leaned against the wall and didn't move.
Sun Pu listened again. Unable to determine Fang Mu's position, he continued his taunting."Do you still remember Meng Fanzhe?" He feigned a sorrowful sigh. "What an unlucky kid. You know, I actually liked him a lot, and really did try to help him. It was such a shame that you and Tai Wei had to give me such a scare that night." He paused. "That's right, I have to admit it, you scared me. I was a little panicked, so what could I do but sacrifice the kid? But you have to acknowledge that it was an effective trick. Meng Fanzhe always was such an obedient kid." He chuckled. "Do you admire me, shidi?"
Fang Mu slowly crouched down and, very gently, felt around with his hand. He soon touched something that felt like the broken leg of a desk.
"When did you guess it was me?" Sun Pu asked, inching forward. "When I began teaching Professor Qiao's class?" He laughed easily. "I knew that was a bit of a risk, but the teacher's lectern is just too enticing for me. Can you understand that?" He took a few steps and stopped, then did so again, all the while paying close attention to the noises around him.
Fang Mu gently pulled on the desk leg. Realizing that it wasn't heavy at all, he quietly picked it up and then stepped cautiously to the cell entrance.
One, two, three…
Fang Mu suddenly burst out of the cell, hurling the desk leg in the direction of the iron door. He immediately slipped into Cell 6.
By the time Sun Pu heard the noise it was already too late. The desk leg smashed forcefully into his nose, the stunning pain making his vision swim. Protecting his face with one hand, he took a few steps back and fired two shots.
Those twin shots rang out.
In the light of the muzzle flash, Sun Pu discovered that the corridor was empty.
Shamed into anger, he rushed forward. Swiftly realizing this unwise, he hurriedly squatted down.
His nose burned and his eyes stung. Something hot was trickling out of his nostrils and down his face. When he wiped it away, his hand came away sticky and sickly sweet.