Profiler (Fang Mu Eastern Crimes Series Book 1) (55 page)

"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.

"Well done…" Sun Pu said, restraining his anger. He forced a smile. "You're cleverer than I thought,
shidi
." Spitting out a mouthful of blood, he continued. "You made me bleed, kid. Lucky for you I'm not Ma Kai, otherwise I'd suck all the blood out of your body!"

Startled, Fang Mu couldn't help but say, "Ma Kai?"

The sound gave away his position.

Realizing immediately that Fang Mu was up ahead in Cell 6, Sun Pu gripped his pistol and cautiously drew closer.

"Surprised? That's right; Ma Kai was once my patient, just like Meng Fanzhe. He was ripe for research, but sadly he didn't trust me and ran off after only a few sessions. Later," Sun Pu said, pressing himself against the wall and slowly feeling for the doorway, "when I heard someone was going around killing people and sucking their blood, I knew it had to be him. Do you know what a pleasant surprise that was? I thought that I had finally found an opportunity to prove myself again. I never expected that you would get there first…" He finally felt what seemed to be the doorway. He could faintly hear Fang Mu breathing rapidly inside.

He was on the other side of the wall, right beside the doorway.

"That should make you understand how much I hate you!" Sun Pu burst through the door and spun to the right. At the same instant he aimed and fired at the space just beside the doorway.

The gunshot echoed into the space ahead.

As the bullet flashed from the end of the gun, Sun Pu saw that the direction he had fired in was empty.

Before he could react, Fang Mu leapt from his crouched position at the foot of the wall. He smashed headlong into Sun Pu's chest.

Sun Pu squeezed the trigger and two more bullets burst from the end of the gun. He lost his balance, falling backwards to the floor. 

The collision left Fang Mu dizzy as well. Feeling his legs go weak, he fell heavily to the floor.

Across from him, Sun Pu squeezed the trigger again, but the gun clicked emptily.

Relief flooded Fang Mu.

Now you've got no more bullets.

Holding his blade, Fang Mu slowly stood up, pulling out the lighter and flicking it on.

With a small whiff, a little flame appeared in his hand. Despite its size, it clearly illuminated their surroundings.

Sun Pu sat on the ground a few feet away. His face was shining with sweat and he was madly searching for something on his body.

Gripping the knife, Fang Mu walked closer and closer.

Sun Pu tried to scoot back, mumbling, "Don't…don't…"

Seeing the fear and despair in his eyes, Fang Mu felt a burst of retribution.

"Are you scared?" He slowed his steps. "Did the people you killed ever ask you for mercy? Did they?"

"I'm begging you…don't kill me…please…" Sun Pu's voice sounded like he was crying and his eyes seemed to fill with tears.

But in a flash, that penitent look was replaced with a cunning smirk. He suddenly stopped moving backwards. With one hand, he popped the empty magazine out of the gun and snapped another new clip in with the other.

Fang Mu froze. He had more bullets!

He instinctively hurled the lighter at Sun Pu and then turned and ran.

In the blink of an eye, Sun Pu had loaded the ammunition, cocked the gun, and fired two shots in Fang Mu's retreating direction.

Fang Mu felt the bullets whistle past him and slam against the iron bars of the cell across the hallway. Another shot roared from behind him and the bullet smashed into the floor beside his foot.

Fang Mu sprinted to the iron door at the far entrance of the corridor and pushed it as hard as he could, but it wouldn't budge. He felt the door. An iron lock had been placed over the handle.

Behind him another gunshot cracked out. Another bullet struck the door beside him, sending up sparks.

Diving out of the way, Fang Mu scrambled into Cell 1. Having seen Fang Mu escape into Cell 1, Sun Pu slowly stood up and felt the floor around his feet until he found the lighter. He walked down the corridor.

When he reached the entrance to Cell 1, he flicked on the lighter.

One side of the room was stacked with old, broken-down desks and chairs. The other side was empty.

Sun Pu chuckled, unable to contain his satisfaction. "Tai Wei had an extra clip on him. You didn't know?"

Fang Mu was lying behind the desks and chairs, his heart filled with fear and hatred.
      

Damn, I was too careless.

"You want to try again,
shidi
?" Sun Pu asked, sounding as if he thought victory was already assured. "Will you still not admit that you've lost?"

Fang Mu's knife hand began to tremble. His opponent still had three bullets and he knew where Fang Mu was hiding. His death was just a matter of time.

Is this how it's going to end?

"Are you really going to be this stubborn?" Sun Pu sighed dramatically. "You're just like that old fool, you know that?"

Professor Qiao…

"Do what you have to do, using your own methods."

"That's right, I am like Professor Qiao," Fang Mu said, slowly and carefully climbing to his feet. He pressed himself against the wall in the narrow space between it and the desks. "But do you know what the difference is between us and you?"

"Oh?" Sun Pu sounded a little surprised. "What difference is that?"

"You really are an excellent psychological profiler," Fang Mu said, keeping an eye on the light in the doorway. "But you're soulless. Therefore you lack the sense of duty and respect that your profession demands. Everything you've done has been for yourself alone. We, on the other hand, are willing to sacrifice our own lives to protect those of others."