I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 250: Chapter 248: They Were There to Scam You

”Xing Chang and Chang Yong are dead,” Zhuang Yanzheng said, looking at Liang Ran.

”What?” Liang Ran was stunned. ”What are you talking about? Who’s dead?”

”Xing Chang and Chang Yong,” Zhuang Yanzheng repeated.

Liang Ran’s shock turned to fearful grief. ”You’re lying to me. How could they be dead?”

Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”They’ve been abandoned by their own people. If you want to live, you’ll confess everything, and be honest about it.”

”I don’t believe you! You’re lying! You must be lying, you’re trying to trick me into talking!” Liang Ran shouted.

”Was it Xing Chang and Chang Yong who got you into this game?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

Liang Ran didn’t speak.

”Do you know that this game is illegal?”

”How is playing a game illegal?” Liang Ran said. ”I just put money into it, didn’t I? I willingly spent my own money on the game! How is that illegal?!”

”Gambling is illegal. Don’t you know the game you’re playing is a form of gambling?”

Liang Ran fell silent again.

”You know,” Zhuang Yanzheng stated.

”I don’t know, I don’t know! I don’t know anything! I know nothing!”

”Are you sure you don’t know?” Zhuang Yanzheng continued. ”Have you thought about what happened to Xing Chang and Chang Yong? What did they tell you? Did they tell you this was the path to happiness and joy? Is their fate what you want for yourself?”

Liang Ran’s eyes blinked a few times before he said excitedly, ”I *was* happy! I had real friends! I wasn’t alone anymore, and I finally knew what it felt like to be cared for! Money is useless crap! I don’t need it!”

”Do you think they would have paid you any attention if you didn’t have money? They were only after your money,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”Do you know where all your money went? It all ended up in their hands.”

”Impossible!” Liang Ran yelled. ”Impossible! I would have died without them! They were my salvation! And my parents? They had me but couldn’t be bothered to raise me! Did they think giving me money was enough? That money could make up for everything? If you’re not going to raise your kids, don’t have them! What good is their money! Other kids have their parents with them, picking them up and dropping them off, but me? It was always the driver, driver, driver! Everyone said I was a stray! An unloved, uncared-for stray!”

”Only Xing Chang and Chang Yong cared about me. They were like my family. They gave me warmth, made me feel like I had a family. Only them! They were the ones who freed me from my pain. Freed me from the shackles of my parents.”

”They only did that to scam you out of your money,” Zhuang Yanzheng said.

”I don’t care. It’s not like I earned the money anyway. It can go wherever for all I care,” Liang Ran said.

Zhuang Yanzheng asked, ”How did you meet Xing Chang and Chang Yong?”

Liang Ran was silent for a moment, then let out a long breath. ”On a chat app. It’s an app for sharing your problems, ranting about things. I used to go on there and look for people with similar experiences. I’d pay them to talk to me.”

”After chatting for a while, I met Xing Chang and Chang Yong. They were so much better than the other people I’d talked to before. They would listen to me talk about anything, and they knew how to comfort me. They made me feel close to them, feel happy. And when I offered them money, they never took it. They treated me like a real friend.”

”Later, to cheer me up, they started distracting me so I wouldn’t dwell on sad things, like my parents never being around. They got me into games, all sorts of games. They were always the ones leading the way. They’d even order food to my house for me and top up my game accounts. Whenever I called for them, they were always there.”

”After a while, we met in person. They were great at taking care of people. They showed me a kind of warmth I’d never felt before.”

Liang Ran chuckled as he spoke. ”Family, friends... they made me feel all of it. That game you’re talking about, they were the ones who got me into it. Back then, we’d always play together, clearing levels. I put money in willingly. I didn’t just top up my own account, I’d top up theirs too.”

”When the amount spent reached a certain level, the game’s mode would change. Did you all still play together after that?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

”Yes,” Liang Ran said. ”They put money in too, even more than I did. Do you think a scammer would spend their own money on it?”

”When they put their own money in, it just ended up back in their pockets,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”It’s like they were just running it through a money counter. But your money? That actually went in. They didn’t lose anything. Besides, most of the money they put in was scammed from other people anyway.”

”Impossible! You’re lying! You’re lying to me!” Liang Ran shouted, slamming against the interrogation chair.

Zhuang Yanzheng waited for him to calm down before continuing. ”Why do you think they sought you out? Because you were on that chat app you mentioned, constantly transferring money to people just to get them to talk to you. They targeted you because you have money.”

Liang Ran stared at him.

”The two of them weren’t just nice to you; they were that nice to others, too. They took advantage of people’s feelings for them to cheat and scam them out of their money,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”That was their method. They exploited your psychological vulnerabilities to take your money.”

Having just had his outburst, Liang Ran now sat silently in the interrogation chair like a deflated ball.

”You have no sense of self-preservation at all,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”You meet two guys on a chat app and you dare to give them your address to order food for you, and even meet them in person. Do you have any idea who—or what—is on the other side of the screen? Weren’t you afraid that once they met you, they’d kidnap you and sell your organs off, piece by piece?”

”If things went south, couldn’t I just run?” Liang Ran retorted, his tone defiant.

”What if they put something in your food or drink? How would you run then? What if they outnumbered you? How would you run? What if they just showed you a piece of paper or patted you on the shoulder and you were knocked out? How would you run then?” Zhuang Yanzheng questioned.

Liang Ran shut his mouth and swallowed hard.

”Go on, why have you stopped talking?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked, frowning.

Liang Ran said nothing.

”Besides Xing Chang and Chang Yong, who else did you play this game with?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.

”No one. Just the two of them,” Liang Ran said.

”Did you ever hear Chang Yong or the other guy mention anyone else?”

Liang Ran shook his head. ”No. When we were together, it was always just the two of them with me. They never mentioned anyone else.”

Zhuang Yanzheng watched him for a moment, then looked down at the files in his hand.

At first, he had suspected Liang Ran was one of them, but based on his testimony now, he just seemed like a victim. Still, he asked, ”Did you ever join them in scamming money from other people?”

”I’m not short on cash. Why would I need to scam people for money?” Liang Ran said.

Zhuang Yanzheng could see he wasn’t lying.

Liang Ran was silent for a while before asking, ”Are they really dead?”

Zhuang Yanzheng looked up. ”Yes.”

”How did they die?” Liang Ran asked. ”Did someone kill them? Who killed them?”

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