I am Mortal with Sin

The rain was getting heavier, as if wanting to wash away all the filth in this world. A deliveryman was riding an electric bike through the rain curtain, his gaze sometimes firm, sometimes remorseful. Too many things had happened this night. Su He went back to the hostel, took a hot shower, and soon fell asleep.

Early next morning, Ma Mingzhe and two others went out for delivery. Su He still had to go to the police station to give a statement today, so he didn't go out with them.

With no one in the room, Su He took out the reward from the system: a Vial of Truth Serum (after taking it, one will speak the truth for ten minutes). It was a transparent little glass bottle with only one drop of liquid inside, gently shaking, as if alive.

He put it back into the system space, went downstairs to buy breakfast, then headed straight for the police station.

After an overnight interrogation, the man had confessed everything.

Liao Fan, male, 38 years old, was formerly the chief surgeon of the Capital People’s Hospital. He had excellent academics since childhood, outstanding and award-winning, a rising star in medical circles.

Eight years ago, because he didn’t obey the hospital president’s arrangements, he left the Capital People’s Hospital. While looking for a new job, he was obstructed many times by the hospital president Ma Yihong, so he stepped out of medical circles and started looking for other jobs.

He had run businesses, delivered takeout, worked at a pet store. Just as he was slowly integrating into life, late stage lung cancer was discovered, making him suffer terribly.

His wife couldn’t take this kind of life. Luckily they didn’t have children yet, so she directly chose to divorce.

He hid at home, enduring physical and mental pain alone. At the last moments of his life, suddenly, he had an urge - he wanted revenge!

Ma Yihong!

If Liao Fan's life had not been rewritten that day, the past eight years would not have been so painful either.

An evil plan grew in his heart. He would eliminate these evils in the last moments of his life.

Looking at the energetic Liao Fan in the news reports, then looking at the man lying on the wooden bed, breathing weakly and coughing nonstop.

Zhou Bing asked, “Do you regret it?”

Liao Fan opened his eyes and looked at Zhou Bing. “Officer... I just want to experience what it feels like when a bullet pierces through my brain...”

“I don’t regret it... Even if thousands condemn me, at least it proves that I existed...”

“Justice that comes too late is not called justice. Before I close my eyes, I have to turn myself into a devil... Officer, do I have a choice?”

Zhou Bing didn't speak, he gently closed the file. Perhaps Liao Fan would have left this world before the day of legal judgment.

And as he said, his name would be condemned by thousands. How would the justice of those victims be upheld?

Su He gave his statement. He didn't see Liao Fan. This case was over for him, he didn't need to know too much.

Su He's name and image didn't appear in the news reports. The only proof of his participation was that award ceremony clip, so many people mistook him for a cop.

"Officer Huang, catching criminals?"

"Uncle, I'm delivering takeout."

"I see, don't worry, if you need any cooperation, just speak up. These old bones of mine can still work hard. I will not tolerate evil!"

"..."

Su He had no choice but to put on a face mask. He didn't stop until 2:30 in the afternoon. Because he accidentally spilled an order on the way, he paid for it himself and sat down on a stone bench to eat lunch.

Next to him, a middle-aged man was setting up chess boards, surrounded by a group of uncles arguing.

"Bet any amount, I'll pay double... However much you want to bet..."

The uncles all stood by and watched the fun. A man in his early twenties was squatting on the ground, his face a little ugly.

The middle-aged man urged: "Last round! Think carefully, I pay you double if you win. If you bet 500, and win, I'll give you 1,000..."

The young man had lost twice already. A nearby uncle advised: "Young man, you shouldn't have moved the knight first... You should've checked the king directly... then..."

"Young man, wanna keep playing? If you're out of cash there's WeChat Pay and Alipay... works with cards too. You can owe first, if you win he pays you, if you lose you can go with him to withdraw money..."

Su He went over with his lunchbox. Street chess games, nine out of ten were scams, the last one left was bait. The nearby "uncles" were not real uncles, but shills for the middle-aged man.

From the looks of it, there was more than one shill.

Over the years, Su He had seen plenty of street scams. Men in their early twenties who just entered society were still ignorant and fearless.

Eyes fixed on the money in others' hands, not knowing those people had long eyed the money in their pockets.

The young man lost seven or eight hundred yuan bit by bit, and was quite frustrated. The shills kept yelling directions. The young man's face flushed as he yelled, "Shut up, I'll play myself!"

"Hey, quite the temper this young man has... I'm only trying to help..."

"Uncle, less talk, let him play himself... Young man, still wanna play? If not I'll close up shop..." said the middle-aged man.

The youngster hesitated, mumbling: "I'm out of money..."

"Borrow from your friends! I double whatever you bet, win once and you get it all back..." A shill kept persuading.

Just then, three options appeared before Su He's eyes.

"Option 1: Win the leftover game. Reward: Mastery of Chess"

"Option 2: Publicly expose the scam. Reward: $500 cash"

"Option 3: Call the police to catch the criminal gang. Reward: Gain title of "Conscientious Citizen", Effect: Improves favorability when interacting with others"

It was an unspoken rule of the jianghu to see but not reveal scams, or risk causing trouble if one spoke up. Su He looked around, aside from the youngster it seemed the other eight men were shills.

While seemingly watching the game, their eyes kept glancing around. At the slightest irregularity they would flee immediately. Only the youngster was still oblivious as he called friends to borrow money.

The jianghu itself leans sideways, only by knowing schemes within schemes can one become superior. One may be illiterate, but must recognize people. By conventional jianghu ethics, Su He was an outsider and should not speak extra, lest incur retaliation.

But now was an era ruled by law, Su He had no worries at all.

Of the three options, the first seemed to reward mastery of chess, but required winning the leftover game. Since the opponent dared set up stall here, at most one could achieve a draw despite chess skills, let alone Su He's elementary school level.

The second option, publicly exposing the scam, the core rhetoric of such street chess scams was willing to gamble means willing to lose. Most realized something was fishy yet still impulsively charged in, then blamed themselves for poor skills after losing everything instead of realizing it was a trap.

Even telling the youngster they were scamming him would be futile.

Pretending to play on his phone indifferently, Su He sent Zhou Bing a message, then walked over and took out a 10 yuan bill to toss on the ground.

"I'll play one round!"