You Mingxu immediately spoke, merely to distract his attention: "Why did she leave you? You're a man who has a successful career, good looks, and charm. Unless she was blind."
This seemed to please Gu Tiancheng, who smiled lightly, sighed, "Yes, unless she was blind." He appeared to sink into memory, his face showing a moment of silence, a trace of confusion and sadness flickering in his eyes as he said, "You probably haven't loved someone for a long time, have you? No matter how good one is, when you've been together long enough, people may not treasure it anymore. I was tired of the nine-to-five grind, tired of serving others at their beck and call. I started my own business to provide us a better future. Fucking bad economy, it wasn't that I lacked competence, she just never understood the pressures a man shouldered in society. Seeing that I lost everything, she wanted to break up. She even ran off with my former supervisor from when I was still working as an employee. A shorty who only knew how to network and had no idea about professionalism, who was also jealous of my talent. So, tell me, isn't she shallow and stupid?"
After thinking it over, You Mingxu nodded: "Indeed shallow. A man without money just won't do, I, too, would never go with a man who's broke. But you have potential, she should have at least given you another chance."
Gu Tiancheng chuckled, saying, "You're rather practical."
You Mingxu: "Exactly."
He took a drag, looking at her through the thin white smoke: "I don't dislike this practical side of yours."
You Mingxu didn't reply, but asked again: "Did you kill her?"
Gu Tiancheng was silent for a moment, answering: "It was an accident. But at that time, I didn't plan on giving up life nor on going to prison. I wanted to give it another shot, to prove that I could do it. Then I could only dismember her, and looked for ways to burn her. The police had no evidence, in their files, she's still missing."
"So that's when it all started?" asked You Mingxu.
The question seemed out of the blue, but Gu Tiancheng understood. He laughed and nodded: "Yes. Everything was blank when I started. Later on, I gradually found out that the feeling was actually quite exhilarating. As if I had wholly freed myself. Watching her turn to ashes, I've never felt so relieved. Afterwards, I ate a bit each day, consuming her ashes. It gave me a sense of security."
He pointed to his chest: "She is here, inside me."
You Mingxu managed to suppress the faint sense of disgust and horror that was pricking at her heart as she said, "Yes, people always talk about empathy, but it's simply impossible. People cannot feel the completeness that others experience."
Gu Tiancheng stared at her with profound intent, giving her another affectionate and doting smile: "You have a way of amusing me. In fact, ever since I met you, you've behaved somewhat like you're of my kind."
You Mingxu just smiled and asked, "What happened next? Weren't you planning to keep trying? Why did you give up in the end?"
His features softened into indifference toward everything in the world: "Later, I tried to get a job at another company. I was willing to grit my teeth and put up with the orders and judgements of others. In those few months, I led my department to new heights, only for others to steal credit for my achievements. By the end of the year, the company was underperforming, and I ended up on the layoff list. Ha, they actually fired me. Tell me, was it my problem or the world's problem?" Before You Mingxu could answer, his gaze grew sharper as he answered himself, "It wasn't my problem, nor my fault. Otherwise, how could I have been diagnosed with cancer afterward?"
"And then?"
"Then..." He gave a laugh, "Isn't it strange? As I was looking at death, I wanted to know myself better. I started missing the sensation of killing. I read quite a few criminal psychology books and decided to become a serial killer. Experts in criminal psychology set a standard requiring the killing of four individuals. So, I decided to kill five, or perhaps even more."