Chapter 19: The Psychopath’s Pleasure and Qiao Xia’s Fury

Ding Ce watched Grandpa Li’s face contort in despair, an indescribable surge of perverse pleasure rising within him. A grim smile immediately curved his lips as he reveled in the satisfaction of striking such a blow against the old man.

That damned old man had always appeared utterly indifferent, even in the face of death. Yet, the mere mention of Qiao Xia’s name had rendered him pale with shock.

Anyone would assume they shared blood, given how deeply he worried for a complete stranger.

As this thought crossed his mind, Ding Ce’s smile vanished, replaced by a blank expression. He reached out and slapped Grandpa Li, sending him tumbling to the ground.

‘This meddling old fool should just die!’ he thought.

‘To prioritize someone else’s safety over his own life—what noble sentiment! How truly touching!’

‘Pah!’

‘A moralistic hypocrite. Just putting on an act.’

‘Even parents with a blood connection wouldn’t treat their children with absolute devotion, so how could this old fool genuinely worry about someone else’s life or death?’

‘Just like my own parents, who only knew how to beat and scold me. When I was sick and hospitalized, they never once visited, seemingly wishing for my swift demise, as if I were nothing but an annoying burden.’

And so, Ding Ce had secretly orchestrated an ‘accident,’ ensuring his parents met their untimely end one day.

Ultimately, all the family’s assets were left to him.

Before their deaths, they had discovered his intentions and screamed at him so loudly that the noise simply made his ears ache. He had then pushed them both off a scenic cliff. By the time park staff discovered their bodies, they were mutilated and unrecognizable.

As he gazed upon the corpses laid before him, Ding Ce suppressed the urge to burst into laughter. He forced a sorrowful expression, prompting a few hypocritical individuals to offer empty words of comfort before scattering, leaving Ding Ce to face his future alone.

Of course, some relatives had set their sights on the inheritance.

However, after Ding Ce pushed their child into a river, drowning them in another ‘accident,’ the grief-stricken relatives naturally lost all desire to covet another family’s assets.

For Ding Ce, killing one was the same as killing two.

While fear had gnawed at him initially, with each subsequent death, he grew increasingly callous.

He had eliminated a few more people who had displeased him, then settled into a period of quiet. Life was meant to continue smoothly, but this old fool and that student named Qiao Xia insisted on being a nuisance.

‘They deserve to die! It serves them right for meddling!’

The more Ding Ce pondered, the angrier he became. Once he had Grandpa Li’s phone in hand, his pleasant smile returned.

‘Never mind the rest. Once these two are dead, everything will be fine.’

‘All the troublesome people will be gone, and my life will continue smoothly… As for those police wanting to catch me, haha, maybe in their next life!’

Lost in these thoughts, Ding Ce opened the phone’s contact list. Upon finding Qiao Xia’s number, he excitedly dialed, ready to lure Qiao Xia over and kill him.

“Sorry, the number you have dialed is currently switched off. Sorry, the…”

To Ding Ce’s utter shock, Qiao Xia’s phone was switched off at that moment.

‘This isn’t right!’

According to his inquiries over the past while, Qiao Xia’s parents were out of town, so his phone was always kept on and reachable. It should never be off.

‘Why is it off now?’

Just as he stood there, momentarily stunned, he failed to notice Qiao Xia swiftly approaching. A wooden club slammed directly into Ding Ce’s head.

****

After successfully knocking Ding Ce down, Qiao Xia recalled the excruciating pain of being struck in the head by Ding Ce in his premonition. Then, remembering Grandpa Li’s recent abuse, a furious rage surged within him.

The combined anger of old grudges and fresh indignation made him hold nothing back. He seized Ding Ce’s collar, raised his clenched fist, and began pummeling Ding Ce’s face.

His fists flew, a relentless barrage of blows connecting with brutal force.

Smacking sounds echoed repeatedly against the low wall.

During his training sessions with Liu Ge, Qiao Xia had learned several boxing techniques. He had absorbed quite a lot, and now, applying them to Ding Ce yielded remarkable results. In no time, Ding Ce was beaten into a battered, swollen mess, resembling a pig’s head.

Another person might have stopped at this point, fearing excessive self-defense. However, Qiao Xia found himself unable to cease.

If he hadn’t been able to foresee the future, he wouldn’t have even been able to save his own life when Ding Ce made his move!

Even though the events hadn’t fully transpired yet, it didn’t negate Ding Ce’s malicious intent.

Simply witnessing Grandpa Li’s abuse was enough to reveal Ding Ce’s psychopathic tendencies. Recalling Grandpa Li’s death in the premonition further fueled Qiao Xia’s suspicion that Ding Ce had killed before; otherwise, he wouldn’t be so calmly planning to attack Qiao Xia, whom he had lured over.

If this were his first kill, Ding Ce would have fled in terror after killing Grandpa Li.

Even if Ding Ce possessed immense courage and psychological resilience, he would have dealt with Grandpa Li’s body immediately, rather than going to such lengths to lure Qiao Xia out to kill him as well.

‘This is a premeditated murder!’

At this realization, Qiao Xia’s fury intensified, and he continued to relentlessly strike Ding Ce’s face with his fists.

He wanted nothing more than to beat Ding Ce to death!

“Xiao Xia, stop! There’s no need to implicate yourself for this kind of scum. We’ll just send him to the police station; the law can punish him!”

As Qiao Xia’s blows grew harsher, his eyes becoming bloodshot with emotion, Grandpa Li, who had been knocked down by Ding Ce’s slap, endured the pain of his bleeding lip and urgently pleaded with Qiao Xia to cease.

In a society governed by law, victims are permitted to retaliate when threatened. However, excessive retaliation can constitute ‘excessive self-defense,’ which, under certain circumstances, can also lead to punishment.

Still, Ding Ce had committed both kidnapping and assault. Qiao Xia’s impulsive actions, driven by the urgency of saving someone, were understandable. If the police tried to charge Qiao Xia with excessive self-defense, Grandpa Li resolved that he wouldn’t care about the law anymore; he would simply stage a protest by lying down at the police station entrance.

His life had been saved by Qiao Xia; in other words, Qiao Xia was his savior!

Upon hearing Grandpa Li’s words, Qiao Xia’s rationality returned. By the time he stopped, Ding Ce had already been knocked unconscious.

Qiao Xia spat disdainfully, then released his grip on Ding Ce’s collar. Turning to Grandpa Li, he said, “Whew, Grandpa Li, are you alright? I saw that beast hit you several times just now. We’ll go to the hospital later to get your injuries documented. We absolutely cannot let him off the hook!”

“Good! Oh, my phone’s ringing. Hold on, I need to answer this.”

Seeing Qiao Xia stop, Grandpa Li breathed a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to speak, his phone, which had fallen nearby, suddenly vibrated. Grandpa Li quickly picked it up and answered.

“Grandpa Li, be careful! After we took Liu Dali to the hospital, he attacked the treating doctor and escaped!”