Fang Si Ting tore off the white paper on his back.
Name: Lu Jin
Age: 25
Time of Death: Evening of the 16th, 19-21 o’clock
Direct Cause of Death: Chest and lung damage leading to blood accumulation that blocked the airway
Wounds: Caused by a sharp weapon approximately 8 cm long, 2 cm wide at its widest, 3 mm thick, pointed at the tip and thicker at the base—totaling 23 wounds: 3 on the thighs, 5 stabbed into the chest and abdomen from the front, 9 stabbed into the back, 2 on the arms, 1 on the neck, 1 on the right face, 2 on the left face.
Other wounds: Before death, all ten fingers on both hands had been severed at the root by a sharp weapon.
“This is the murder weapon.” Tang Shen handed over a pair of bloody scissors, then produced a pair of pruning shears. “To keep scissors sharp and rust-free, new ones are usually coated with maintenance oil. I found traces of this same oil on every one of Lu Jin’s finger stumps. So, I deduce his ten fingers were snipped off alive with these pruning shears.”
“Any other clues?”
“That’s all for anything suspicious… oh, right.” Tang Shen sealed the scattered poster fragments from around the area into evidence bags, then remembered something and followed him behind the chair. “Just found this.”
On Lu Jin’s firm and flexible lower back, there was a pattern.
Two overlapping thumb blood fingerprints on the upper left and lower left, the same on the upper right and lower right—the left and right halves merging to form a blood butterfly.
There were two such blood butterflies.
They entangled each other amid countless specks of blood, dancing gracefully—eerie yet carrying a wordless romance.
Scissors? Candles? Yellow paper? Blood butterfly?
A sacrificial ritual?
“Preliminary comparison shows these are from Lu Jin’s thumbs,” Tang Shen said. “Also, there’s a fresh glob of spit in the corner—likely spat unintentionally by the killer.”
Fang Si Ting pulled out a transparent evidence bag containing several strands of hair.
“Whose are these?”
“Xiao Fen’s.”
“When did you get them?” Tang Shen said delightedly.
“Last night, at the casino.”
【Brother Fen: I treat you like a brother, but you secretly pluck my hair???】
【If he actually finds something, Brother Fen will regret helping him vent anger tonight.】
【No way, why would Brother Fen knife Lu Jin again? The program crew didn’t assign a crime this time.】
【Has he committed few crimes? Gambling, kidnapping, street racing… criminal methods come naturally to him. I won’t believe he hasn’t done time in prison for a few years.】
【Isn’t the main quest escape? Why go offending people for no reason?】
【Maybe in a fit of rage for a beauty.】
【You mean for Ou Yu? Impossible.】
“So sure it’s Xiao Fen? Even if he killed Lu Jin last time, not necessarily this time—the program has plenty of high-IQ guests.” Tang Shen silently added in his mind, first ruling out those celebrities just there to fill seats.
“Yeah,” Peng Xiaoxiao chimed in, “I think the perpetrator this time is a man in his early thirties, unmarried, poor hygiene habits, sloppy appearance, around 170 cm tall, wearing size 41 shoes. Simply put, a good-for-nothing loafer.”
It didn’t match Xiao Fen at all.
Uninformed viewers began speculating who among the guests had committed this murder—someone even more formidable than Xiao Fen.
“First record Xiao Fen’s DNA info and archive it. It’ll come in handy eventually.” Fang Si Ting followed the footprints as he investigated.
This villa was in the first-phase construction area of the neighborhood and looked long abandoned. The ground was covered in a thick layer of dust, with renovation stains and dust uncleared. The decor was in a style popular a dozen years ago. Most soft furnishings showed no wear marks, but the waterproofing was poor—many walls had black-green mold spots, and the wooden furniture showed signs of mildew and rot.
From the dust patterns and the direction of the footprints under the scissors, Fang Si Ting quickly deduced the route and sketched the action trajectory on his tablet.
He had entered the foyer from the villa’s main door, gone through the living room, dining room, and kitchen, then circled the living room several times before heading to the second floor and third floor. The footprints wandered two loops down the corridor before descending again.
【What was Lu Jin doing last night, sleepwalking?】
【So weird—one person, late at night, not sleeping, wandering back and forth alone in an abandoned villa. Is that normal?】
【Looks like he was trapped here, searching for an exit?】
【Didn’t you notice an even creepier problem?】
Fang Si Ting examined the living room’s floor-to-ceiling windows. The glass was undamaged, and the switch’s rust was intact—only disturbed when he turned it, causing the flaky rust to break apart and fall off easily.
He pushed the door open; the track was stiff, clearly unused for ages.
Outside was a concrete platform, beyond that a lawn with a pebble path running through the middle to the villa’s back door, where two vice squad officers were collecting evidence.
The kitchen door was open, but the windows were locked tight with no signs of tampering.
He checked the bathroom door too—Peng Xiaoxiao had seen from outside that the bathroom window was open, so the killer likely entered that way.
But the bathroom door lock and rust were intact. He tried turning it: locked.
The keyhole showed no signs of being picked.
Every room door on the second floor, every room door on the third floor—even the doors to the balconies—were tightly locked with no signs of disturbance.
The entire villa was one giant sealed room!
Had Lu Jin appeared out of thin air?
A chill wind swept through the villa, making every vice squad officer present shiver.
Tang Shen flung open all the first-floor doors and windows. “The smell here is too foul—let’s air it out.”
Peng Xiaoxiao let out a startled cry.
Everyone followed her gaze: on the dusty bathroom floor, there was also a circle of footprints—and scattered scissors everywhere.
Just like in the living room, kitchen, and dining room.
Lu Jin had passed right through the door, wandered a loop in the bathroom, then exited.
“But the bathroom door was locked—no key. How did he get from the living room to the bathroom?” Tang Shen’s keys jingled as he frowned in confusion.
He checked the toilet: it had accumulated water.
In a normal abandoned villa, the water would have dried up long ago. Water still there meant someone had used it last night.
Lu Jin? Or the killer?
Tang Shen collected traces around the toilet, hoping for killer info.
He examined the broken window Peng Xiaoxiao had mentioned and found fresh soil scrapes on the sill.
Indeed, someone had climbed in through this window.
But if Lu Jin and the killer had entered via this window, how had they passed through the locked bathroom door into the living room?
Why had the killer left no traces at all?
And what was Lu Jin wandering upstairs and downstairs for? Looking for something?
【Wall-phasing technique?】
【Doesn’t this feel like ghost hitting the wall? Boss Lu kept pacing the villa, never leaving—of course he couldn’t get out. Finally possessed by a ghost, stabbing through his own body with scissors and snipping off his ten fingers.】
【Is Lu Jin human or ghost? Late at night—I dare not watch.】
The vice squad officers’ live stream audience surged by over 1.6 million. #SealedRoomSoulPhasing# and #SleepwalkingGhostWall# rocketed to the top three hot searches, with all sorts of ghost stories flooding in.
But to the vice squad officers, modern forensics meant that simpler, more random crimes were actually harder to catch.
The more elaborate and complex, the more traces left at the scene.
They just didn’t know yet.
++
In the morning, Ou Yu had already ordered braised dishes—eight small plates lined up on the table, the soup ladle slowly swirling in the boiling hot porridge.
He glanced up now and then at the shop door, then at his watch—no sign of the familiar figure.
Suddenly, his shoulder was patted.
He instinctively looked right: only a fair fingertip with a hint of pink. A figure circled from behind him to the left and sat opposite.
The clock on the breakfast shop wall struck exactly nine.
Ou Yu saw the person and couldn’t help smiling.
【Movie Emperor Ou, your little brother came back after messing around outside.】
【Movie Emperor Ou, this concubine accuses your brother of midnight street racing, luring Young Master Ji into a mountain ditch, seducing Yama King Fang into the woods with him, secretly chatting online, corrupting the program crew—crime beyond forgiveness!】
【Evidence ironclad—quickly consign him to the cold palace.】
The live stream chat erupted in laughter, full of cheer.
“Tasty.” Xiao Fen unceremoniously snapped open the disposable chopsticks and shoveled a chopstickful of braised large intestine into his mouth.
“How was last night?”
“Eventful but no real danger.” Xiao Fen slurped some porridge. “Busy half the night—starving.”
“So much food—eat slow, plenty for you.” Ou Yu picked dishes for him, letting him chow down without distraction.
“Why aren’t you eating?” Xiao Fen looked up mid-gorge.
Ou Yu started to speak, but a cold sharpness gathered beneath his usual gentle gaze. “You showered?”
“Sweated buckets last night—not shower and I’d reek you to death.”
“Leather, casino, sedan, moldy place.” Ou Yu’s eyes darkened. “You’ve been with three men: Inspector Fang, one unfamiliar scent, and Lu Jin.”
A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes.
【See? Caught red-handed hooking up with wild men.】
“You a dog or what? Can smell all that?” Xiao Fen clicked his tongue, scraping the last of the porridge into his belly before sniffing his arm—only shower gel and laundry detergent.
Ou Yu watched him admit it so casually, all carefree, and his mouth corner twitched downward slightly. “Besides the casino last night, what else did you do?”
“Con-fi-dential.” Xiao Fen finished the bowl but still craved more, reaching for the braised duck feet—only for a warm-cool hand to pin his hand back.
He blinked blankly.
Why stop him from eating?
Ou Yu smiled at him. “What did you go to Lu Jin for?”
Xiao Fen keenly sensed the danger. “To vent for you, obviously. What else?”
He felt puzzled, but the premonition vanished in a flash—so quick it seemed like an illusion.
Wish there was a system right now; he could clearly see the emotional value shifts.
Way easier.
“You don’t like me going after Lu Jin?” Xiao Fen felt baffled. “Mad?”
Shouldn’t be—Ou Yu disliked Lu Jin, and they had no real ties. Why get mad over him privately confronting Lu Jin?
“I’m not mad.” Ou Yu released his hand.
“You say that like you are.” Though his expression betrayed nothing.
Ou Yu calmly voiced his worry. “Going after Lu Jin to vent—did you do something dangerous?”
“Oh, that…” Xiao Fen’s eyes drifted to the sky, left, right—until his nose was suddenly pinched.
“Mm…” He wrinkled his nose and ducked his head.
Ou Yu said annoyed, “You stirred up trouble again.”
“Couldn’t hold back.” Xiao Fen wheedled.
Ou Yu sighed. “How’s the cleanup? Need me to take the fall this time?”
【Ouyou, wake up—know what your bro did last night? Asking if cleanup’s done, even offering to take blame? He’ll get you killed someday.】
【Movie Emperor Ou is a kind-hearted beauty—unlike certain malicious fans.】
【That certain vase is narrow-minded and vicious; his fans just wait. Some folks aren’t for a little star to offend—see if your bro makes season two.】
“No way I’d screw you over like that.” At the table, Xiao Fen smugly fished a check from his pocket and handed it over.
Ou Yu glanced at the number and stared at him in surprise.
Twenty-four million.
“Just one night, and… with this kind of pull, why bother with showbiz?”
“Had to sell my skills—acting’s the real gig.” Xiao Fen faced the flycam righteously. “Gambling’s illegal crime—curb it starting from me, from those around me.”
【Rest assured, we know you’re sworn enemies with gambling.】
【Thanks to Brother Fen showing us the world—more events like this.】
【Four days left—can’t wait for Fen Treasure’s next surprises.】
【Upstairs, don’t celebrate too soon. Latest news: the pursuit team is already routinely suspecting Xiao Fen.】
【What! Which eye saw him do it?】
【An 18th-tier trash vase thinks escaping once makes him invincible—watch how he dies this time!】
【I’ve long disliked his arrogant attitude. Now it’s great—soon I won’t have to see that face anymore.】
【It was originally a pretty good show, but this useless vase turned it into a total mess.】
【Hurry up and leave.】
“This money can’t be withdrawn,” Ou Yu said worriedly.
Any entry into the bank would have meant falling straight into a dragnet.
“This is a small matter. I found someone to help out,” Xiao Fen said nonchalantly as he fanned himself with the check. “Over the next few days, stick with little brother me—we’ll eat the best and drink the finest!”
Suddenly, his sharp eyes caught several people acting suspiciously not far from the deli’s entrance, glancing at them from time to time.
“We’ve been recognized,” Xiao Fen said, pulling him along. “Let’s go.”
