Chapter 136: The psychology of sadists

*Xin Lei*

Bro paused the video, and we all sat in silence. It was like giving the last respects to Liao Chuntao. Liao Huifang stared hard at her sister in that video, lying motionless on the floor for a long time before she buried her head in her hands and burst into tears.

She suddenly got up and dashed away from the room. I quickly got up to follow her, but Bai Li held my hand.

He softly whispered. "Leave her alone for some time, Xin Lei."

I bit my lip.

"Yes, Lei Lei." Bro grimly looked at me, "Give her some time. She needs it. Let her be."

I felt tears trickling down my cheeks and slowly sat back.

A few moments later, Luo Zhiqiang said, "I will come back in a while." I glanced up at him. His gaze seemed cold and devoid of any expression. He soon left.

Silence.

Everything was so shocking and hard to digest. The images of those bastards who tortured the innocent people kept on flashing in my mind again and again until I wished not to remember it anymore.

I tremblingly took the phone in my hand and typed. "All those people...they kidnapped them just because they wanted to have their 'fun' with them?"

Bai Li said, "It may be 'just' for us, but that is not the case with them. They think what they are doing is right. You heard how and what those men said. They were enjoying making their victims suffer."

"That is, they are sadists but with a far worse mentality." Yuan said, "Not all sadists are that harmful and detrimental to society. But what these people did clearly ascertains the fact that their minds are not functioning normally like the rest of us."

Shi Ruiling nodded. "I could see that. An apt word is crazy, but I feel that it is too less to describe them."

"Yes. As a psychologist, I was carefully examining their behavior. Everybody had one common point. They liked blood, and so they liked to torture others to see that blood again and again. That gives them a sense of satisfaction. You can almost compare it to sexual release. For them, the sight of blood is their gratification. That's what I heard again and again. 'Ah, the blood..', 'Hey, look! The blood is coming out' or 'It is so beautiful.' They were focussing heavily as to when they will see the messy state of their victims. They are clear signs that they are not in their right state of mind."

I stomped my foot as I felt rage engulf every cell of my body. I furiously typed. "If they want to see blood that much, then why don't they torture themselves! Their own bodies have blood within them too!"

Yuan sadly smiled and sighed. "Unfortunately, that's not how it works, Xin Lei. Their mental state is deranged. They are sadists. They want to derive pleasure by torturing 'others,' not themselves. If that were the case, then they would be masochists."

Bai Li nodded. "No doubt. In the years of my service, I have come across many cases like that, including domestic violence. They don't feel guilty about what they do."

I typed. "But why do they do that! How can anybody's thinking be so cruel and degenerate! How many people have they killed just for the sake of their own pleasure!"

Bro coldly said, "It's hard to say."

I looked at Yuan, and he nodded. "There are many factors. Most of them may have had a terrible past. They could have been the victims of torture at some point. That may have changed their mindset and affected their thinking. They may have had a troubled childhood, failed marriages of their parents because of which they suffered, or abusive parents who hit and beat them up. Some may have suffered betrayal, and it may have flipped their switch. Neglect, physical abuse, mental and emotional harassment, and other such things may have hurt them to the point that they grew up to be like that.

You know a child learns from the environment he or she grows up in. That largely influences one's mental state. If that environment is hell or harmful to anybody, then it can affect them. Of course, some of them may be naturally born like that. Maybe some psychological condition runs in their family, so they inherited those genes. It can be a mixture of everything."

Bai Li said, "Right. I had heard somewhere that such people who are victims don't have an outlet to release their frustrations or the injustice they suffered."

Yuan continued. "Those people are scared to stand up to their abusers or the person/s responsible. They don't go against them because a psychological barrier in their minds prevents them from getting that courage. But that doesn't mean that they are not angry inside. So for them, torturing and killing these innocent people is a way to let it all out. When they stand at the same pedestal where their abusers stood at one time, they get a sense of superiority. For that period, they think of themselves as the boss who can do anything. They don't have to be scared of anybody. Instead, they want the other people to be scared of them the same way they had been at one point."

I looked at him, stunned. This didn't make any sense.

I typed. "But shouldn't those people understand it all the more how it is like to suffer? How can they inflict the same pain on others?"

Bai Li said, "Of course not all people are like that. Not all people turn out like those crazy sadists. Many people have suffered and instead have helped other abused people like them to give them a better life."

"Right." Yuan agreed. "Human mind is complex, Xin Lei. Some can come out of it and retain their sanity even in the worst if the situations but some cannot. Instead, they get lost in that darkness. Some people grow up to be wanting to help similar people in need, and some want to see others suffering the same as them. It's like they want to say, 'Why should only I suffer?' It's hard to say what makes their mind decide which path to take."

I typed. "But if these people are so dangerous, how can the people around let them be free?"

Bro snorted. "Baby sister, that's what they do. Hide their true nature of everybody. Do you think these people are all run away patients from a Mental Hospital? No. If you check on their background, then every one of them would have a decent job. Maybe a white-collar worker, a chef, a teacher, a gym trainer, or anything. They act normal on the outside for others. They have mastered themselves to present in such a way that they 'look and talk' normally."

Yuan nodded. "Of course. They cannot go on about saying that I like blood, or I like torturing others. That is not a 'hobby' that they can share with others. So they keep it hidden. And when they are alone or with the people they can show their true nature to, they come out. From the outside, these people look and behave completely normally. You can hardly guess that they might be such dangerous predators in reality."

I lowered my head. I clenched my fingers into a fist.

Just how many people have needlessly suffered…

Shi Ruiling said, "Didn't you also see how they got pissed off when almost all the victims called them crazy or insane? They cannot bear anybody to call them someone as weird."

Bai Li nodded. "That's why they were harsher. On the contrary, Liao Chuntao didn't give them the expected reaction. They wanted her to scream and cry and beg for help the same way other victims had, or they must have at one point in the past. So they got especially more agitated with her. I kind of felt strange when I heard how they talked with her. They were disappointed with her."

Bro sneered. "She was the first one to give them a shock with her reaction. They killed her in the end, but I felt that they still weren't satisfied even if they won like always."

That was true.

I typed. "Liao Chuntao was so brave. She understood what they wanted and had the courage not to give them that. It must have been so terrifying."

Silence.

Shi Ruiling faintly smiled. "Indeed. She must have definitely freaked out, but even in that situation, she managed to stay composed. That takes a lot of mental strength."

I typed. "I will check on Liao Huifang."

Bro stared at me and nodded. Bai Li smiled. "Go."

I stepped outside the room and headed upstairs.

I think I had seen her running towards the terrace.

I climbed two flights of stairs, and I saw the terrace door slightly ajar.

I budged it a little. I saw Liao Huifang, but then it took me aback to see her resting her head and crying on Luo Zhiqiang's chest.