Chapter 879: The Terrifying Secondary Personality

Those three people.

One was a woman in her thirties.

Her features were decent, but life had clearly worn her down, leaving her looking haggard.

The other two were children.

A boy and a girl.

One looked about nine years old, the other around seven.

Both kids’ faces showed terror and fear, and their eyes were bloodshot.

As if they had just been crying.

Their mouths had been gagged, so all they could do was whimper.

“Who are these?!”

The man in his late twenties, the Monkey King Mask Man, asked in confusion.

Jiang Ran smiled and answered him, “Why don’t you ask the person next to you?”

The man in his thirties beside him was Hou Mengji.

The Monkey King Mask Man turned to look at Hou Mengji.

Hou Mengji’s eyes never left the woman and the two children.

Besides that, his face showed a complicated expression.

“No way…”

“No, impossible.”

The Monkey King Mask Man suddenly remembered that last night, Jiang Ran had mentioned Hou Mengji’s family situation.

An ex-wife and two children.

That was exactly the same configuration as these three!

And judging by Hou Mengji’s expression, could it be that these three really were his ex-wife and children?

What a joke…

Hou Mengji had woken up earlier than the Monkey King Mask Man.

Of course, not by much—only ten-odd minutes.

When he woke up and took in his surroundings and his own body, he knew he was done for.

But he was surprised. If he had been doomed last night, shouldn’t he never have woken to see the next day’s sun?

Why had Jiang Ran kept him alive until now?

What trick, what poison did he have up his sleeve?

While he was puzzling, he, too, heard the same whimpering after waking up.

He looked up, and Jiang Ran had moved aside for him as well.

Then he saw a scene he thought was a hallucination.

His ex-wife and their two children—here?

He opened and closed his eyes repeatedly in disbelief.

But his ex-wife and the two kids remained vividly before him, not vanishing.

He clearly saw his wife and children’s animated shock and disbelief when they saw him.

Obviously, his wife and the children had been brought here by Jiang Ran.

But how could that be?

Remember, ever since his ex-wife learned the truth about his murders, she had already moved away from their former home.

She moved from place to place, because whenever people around found out she had a perverted, pedophile murderer for a husband, they had to relocate again.

From one complex to another.

From one district to another.

Then from this city to another city.

Hou Mengji could only be certain of one thing: both he and his wife were from Jiangnan Province.

So even if they moved, it would still be within Jiangnan Province.

Beyond that, he had no idea.

As the ex-husband, he didn’t know where his ex-wife had taken the two children.

How did Jiang Ran find them?

And in such a short time—from near midnight yesterday to this noon—how could someone go find his ex-wife and two children, kidnap them, and bring them here?

It was absurd, utterly impossible!

But that impossible thing was happening right before his eyes!!!

“Heh heh, you kidnapped my ex-wife and kids—what do you want? To threaten me?”

Hou Mengji sneered, showing utter contempt.

Jiang Ran, standing before them, smiled faintly, “Threaten? Have you forgotten something?”

“Didn’t I tell you last night that your wife and your two children were as good as dead?”

“Mm mm mm.”

Jiang Ran let out that strange, hypnotic laugh again.

Hou Mengji’s face turned ashen, but then he laughed, mocking:

“Oh, they’re dead, then they’re dead.”

“You think taking them will threaten me? Useless.”

“To me, a wife, children, the so-called family—are dispensable.”

“I should even thank you—better to kill them all!”

“After all, that slut never came to see me after she found out I was a murderer. She didn’t bring my two kids either. So whether she dies, and those little bastards die, it doesn’t matter.”

“You should be thanking me.”

“You kill them, then kill me, and we can reunite below and be husband and wife again.”

Hou Mengji’s cold, vicious words finished, but Jiang Ran didn’t react. Instead, the woman on the rooftop edge—his ex-wife—had a violent reaction. Her emotions flared and her face reddened. If the gag over her mouth were removed, she would probably curse Hou Mengji as a beast who wouldn’t even spare his own children.

“Is that so? You’re cruel indeed, indifferent even to your ex-wife and your children’s lives.”

Jiang Ran paced in place, turning in a slow circle.

He continued, “But can you really do it? Are you truly heartless, or are you just pretending?”

“In this world, because crimes happen so often, there are plenty of so-called professionals who study crime.”

“Among them, some study serial killers. Serial killers have commonalities, and two of those common points are:

“First, extreme cold-bloodedness, an absence of empathy.

“Second, no sympathy, no guilt.”

“Therefore, serial killers can keep murdering one person after another. After all, ordinary people can hardly hand out fatal blows to strangers they have no grudge against.”

“You are a serial killer too, a serial killer who targets little girls.”

He pointed at Hou Mengji on the ground with his right hand.

Jiang Ran went on, “But now I’m curious.”

“Since the vast majority of serial killers are extremely cold, lacking empathy, sympathy, and guilt—”

“Can they treat their own family the same way?”

“You—”

“Your mouth has already done it, but next, I need to verify whether your heart can do it too.”

He walked to the rooftop edge.

Jiang Ran’s right hand kept motioning, pointing at Hou Mengji’s ex-wife, his son, and his daughter:

“You tell me, who should be first?”

He muttered to himself, appearing unable to decide.

Then he turned to ask Hou Mengji.

Hou Mengji snorted coldly. “Just push all three of them off. Don’t bother choosing.”

His ex-wife and the children immediately grew even more hysterical.

Jiang Ran looked at the Monkey King Mask Man. “What’s your suggestion?”

The Monkey King Mask Man glanced at Hou Mengji not far away.

He thought, if he picked, wouldn’t that make an enemy of him?

So he said, “I don’t know.”

Jiang Ran sighed in resignation. “Fine, fine. Since that’s the case, push the little boy!”

“After all, many men still attach importance to sons, for carrying on the family name.”

“The whole ‘I like daughters, I like cats and dogs’ nonsense—”

“Most men only use that as an excuse to sleep with women.”