Chapter 28
Lie Chen!
The bronze bell on Lian Xi’s wrist automatically moved even though there was no wind. He grabbed it one hand, stilling the sound then flew out the door and ran downstairs.
He felt something odd by instinct and so Lian Xi ran directly to the first floor. He pushed open the thick glass door of the dormitory, then turned his head to look towards the corner of the stairs. He narrowed his eyes quickly and exclaimed:
“Be careful!”
He saw a dimly lit corner of the wall and within it a yellowed and shabby little white dove sculpture was standing quietly. In front of the sculpture, the Black Reaper had bent his body and was reaching forward…
His hand had completely been swallowed by the mouth of the little white dove sculpture!
This little white dove sculpture seems to have weird magical power. When Lian Xi saw it, he was stunned for half a second.
Since there was a crisis at hand, Lian Xi didn’t think further and just shook the bronze bell.
In the quiet corridor, there was a profound and long bell sound-
Omm!
When the first bell sound rang, the black pupils of the little white pigeon trembled violently.
Lian Xi didn’t dare to be careless and rang the bell again.
Omm!
A bright red light flickered in those tiny eyes and the pupils of the little white pigeon trembled like crazy. The whole ceramic body began to shake.
Then, there was a third sound.
Omm!
There was a long lonely silence followed by a loud cracking sound. A black crack snapped off the little white dove’s head. In an instant, like a spider web cracking, dense black cracks covered the entire body of the little white dove. The dove’s beak, which was biting Black Reaper’s right hand, also cracked off.
At this time, Su Jiao also ran down and suddenly saw the little white dove sculpture in the corner. He said in surprise: “What is this!”
Lian Xi looked solemn, he did not take anything lightly. Pressing the bell tightly with his fingers, Lian Xi cautiously walked towards Lie Chen. He looked at his hand which was still bitten by the little white dove and asked: “Can you pull it out?”
Lie Chen frowned and replied strangely: “Why wouldn’t I be able to pull it out?”
Lian Xi was surprised: “Ah?”
The next second, he saw the Lord Black Reaper lightly pulling his hand out from the little white dove’s mouth and at the same time pulling out two glowing orbs.
Lian Xi: “……???”
No, how come it seems like something is wrong?
Lie Chen snorted disdainfully and then showed the two orbs to Lian Xi. “The two jobs.”
Su Jiao suddenly realized: “Could it be that this is Sun Yan’s soul… and the other is Xie Ze’s?”
The three turned their heads to look at the small white dove sculpture covered with cracks. The sun was setting and the dim glow shone on the scarred body of the white dove. They saw that its eyes were crooked and its nose was cracked. The wings were all on one side, and had fallen to pieces. It looked very miserable.
Lian Xi: “It actually isn’t totally broken yet?”
As if it had heard Lian Xi’s words, they heard a rumbling.
The little white dove sculpture then completely shattered.
Everyone: “…”
The shattered sculpture fell to the ground, turning into a mass of ceramic dust.
Everyone choked and coughed twice. They waved away the dust flying in front of them. Suddenly, through the gray dust, Lian Xi seemed to see something. After the smoke and dust dissipated completely and he saw what was on the ground clearly, Lian Xi was shocked.
At this time, Lie Chen and Su Jiao also clearly saw what was on the ground.
The broken corpse had long rotted black as if it had been torn apart from the inside out. The places where the limbs broke had traces of being pulled apart. It was too bloody and more than a bit disgusting.
Lie Chen frowned slightly.
Su Jiao was shocked silly and after a few seconds, he trembled and said, “Is this…Sun, Sun Yan?”
Lian Xi had already taken out his mobile phone.
“Call the police.”
***
In one day there were two murders in SuZhou City University’s graduate dormitory.
This matter instantly trended on Weibo.
The fact that Liu Hao killed Xie Ze had caused a small wave on the internet and there was some discussion and popularity, but not a lot. However Sun Yan’s case directly caused a national sensation. The school officials and the SuZhou City police immediately blocked the scene to prevent outsiders from entering. However, since it was a dormitory with people coming and going, and it was also dinner time, prior to the police arriving on the scene many students had already taken pictures of the tragic scene and posted it online.
Although the photos were quickly deleted, as long as people are curious, they could always find traces of them somewhere.
The popularity of the Sun Yan case lasted for a long time and the people across the country angrily rallied against the murderer. It was no wonder because the way the girl died was just too miserable!
Her body was broken into five or six pieces and was stuffed into a small white dove sculpture made of ceramic. No one could have found it. It was not until the sculpture broke that Sun Yan’s body was found.
Because she had been dead for several days and was squeezed into a small enclosed space in the hot September, Sun Yan’s corpse was so horrible that it aroused strong sympathy from the people.
And this case is easily reminiscent of the corpse case in NanJing in the last century and also the Hello Kitty murder case from Hong Kong.
In the case of NanJing University’s corpse, she was also a female college student. She had been broken into several pieces by a cruel murderer and her corpse thrown onto the streets of NanJing.
In the Hello Kitty murder case, after the innocent victim was cruelly abused by her murderers, her head was stuffed into a HelloKitty doll! {These two are real cases.}
[The murderer must be found!]
[The NanJing University murder case has never been resolved. Now that technology is more advanced, there should be cameras everywhere. The case of the corpse being hidden in the little white pigeon must be solved. The truth must be found so that the dead can rest in peace]
The entire country strongly urged the police to find the murderer as soon as possible. Because the case had blown up too big, JiangSu Province and even the central government sent a special team to investigate the case.
However, Lian Xi knew that the police would never find the murderer in the Sun Yan case.
Because the person who killed Sun Yan was herself.
In the evening, Lie Chen stayed in his room and didn’t come out. After eating, Lian Xi and Su Jiao sat on the sofa in the living room and watched TV. When they turned on the TV, it was broadcasting the news. The news anchor of the Provincial Channel News Channel was indignantly telling the audience the specific information about the Sun Yan case and the current investigation progress of the investigation team.
Lian Xi flicked through a few channels and they were all also talking about Sun Yan’s case. So he just kept it on and they watched it casually.
Su Jiao sighed as the two ate fruit, “I have heard my shishu talk about nightmare devils but this is the same time I’ve seen it. This kind of evil entity is not an evil spirit or a monster from the mountain wilds. It’s stranger and originates from a desire deep in the heart of people. It magnifies the desires of the people it meets and fulfills their wishes. However when it fulfills your wish, it will return to you at night to take its reward. When my shishu travelled the world as a young man, he met a lust devil. But the lust devil only ingests human yang energy, at most it can damage people’s lifespan. I’ve never heard of a nightmare devil that can kill people directly. This desire devil of SuZhou City can actually kill people directly, it’s too powerful right?”
Su Jiao turned his head: “Hey Lian Xi, how do you think the police are going to solve Sun Yan’s case? She is different from Xie Ze. Xie Ze sold his soul to the nightmare devil. His greed was magnified but because of his actions, Liu Hao killed him before his wish could be fulfilled. Sun Yan however was killed by the desire devil who had fulfilled her wish. There’s no murderer to be found.”
Lian Xi lowered his head and was peeling himself an orange. After he heard Su Jiao’s words, he thought for a while. “Liu Hao wouldn’t be so unlucky ba.”
Su Jiao was taken aback and then he understood: “No, no way right, there can’t be such an unlucky person.”
Lian Xi peeled off the orange peel: “Whether it was really an accident or he killed Xie Ze on purpose, killing Xie Ze alone shouldn’t sentence him to death. He should get a fixed term. But if they think he was also Sun Yan’s murderer then….”
The two looked at each other.
It would be death penalty for sure.
If he didn’t get that, then all the police officers across the country would be drowned in the spit of the people.
Yes, it was indeed Liu Hao who killed Xie Ze. With his weak spot being held by his opponent and after being repeatedly blackmailed, the former basketball vice-captain could no longer hold back. Finally, after Xie Ze wanted him to give up the recommendation opportunity, he became murderous and killed Xie. Ze.
But the problem was that the person who killed Sun Yan was really not Liu Hao.
Lian Xi peeled off a piece of orange, put it in his mouth, and chewed gently.
What will happen to Liu Hao…?
***
SuZhou City Public Security Bureau, Detention Center.
The hands and feet of the young man were chained on the iron chair. Three days ago, the young man who was full of spirit and energy was now covered with stubble, his eyes were blue and his forehead was white. He looked depressed but he was not silent at the moment. On the contrary, there seemed to be a fire coursing through his emaciated and weak body. He roared with red eyes, “It was not me who killed her!”
The little detective who handled the case flipped through the case information and said indifferently: “At 10 o’clock in the evening on September 10, 2020, Sun Yan came out of your dormitory, right?”
Liu Hao: “Yes but I didn’t kill her!”
The small officer: “Keep your voice down and listen! Your dormitory corridor surveillance video has a video of her leaving your dorm but the camera on the first level doesn’t have a video of her leaving the building. Do you know what it means?”
Liu Hao seemed to be enraged to the point he had become stupid. He could only shout over and over again: “I didn’t do it, I didn’t kill her! I killed Xie Ze, I admit it, I killed him. But I didn’t kill Sun Yan, I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it! You can’t pin it on me!”
The young man’s roar echoed through the interrogation room. He didn’t know how many people were standing in the next room at the moment.
They stood in front of the single-sided glass and looked at the almost maddened criminal suspect coldly.
After a while, one of the older people said, “Are all the surveillance cameras in the entire dormitory building available?”
Deputy Wu stood beside him and nodded: “We’ve found all the cameras. But it’s a school dormitory. The camera was installed too early on. In the past few years, there have been quite a few dead spots. It is impossible to take a clear picture of every single place. The victim suddenly disappeared from the camera after walking down the stairs to the first floor. She must have gone into a blind spot because she never appeared again.”
Another old detective asked: “Lao-Wu, what do you think?” {So when it’s Xiao or Lao, meaning Old or Young, I’ll put a hyphen to make it more clear. I haven’t had time to change the previous chapters yet. Once I finish the whole translation, I’ll go back to edit everything.}
Deputy Wu was silent for a moment, and said, “My opinion won’t sound very good.”
“What is it? Even if it doesn’t sound good, just say it.”
Deputy Wu: “Indeed, Liu Hao has the most motivation and is also the most likely suspect. We detected his semen in Sun Yan’s body and at the same time, Liu Hao’s fingerprints were detected on Sun Yan’s neck, wrist and other places. However, I think Liu Hao really didn’t kill Sun Yan.
“First of all, the camera in the corridor on the third floor of the dormitory did capture Sun Yan coming out of Liu Hao’s dormitory but Liu Hao was not seen coming out with her. However, this can be explained uf Liu Hao jumped from the balcony on the third floor to the first floor, evaded the camera in the corridor, then sneaked back to the first floor dormitory and murdered Sun Yan in a sneak attack. But I think it is extremely difficult to avoid the camera along the entire way. It is very difficult for him as an ordinary college student who has not had special reconnaissance training.”
“Secondly, the little white dove sculpture has no openings and it was completely sealed. Its biggest gap was its mouth. But Sun Yan’s corpse was divided into six pieces, and even the smallest piece was also about five times the size of the little white dove’s mouth. So may I ask, how did Liu Hao stuff the corpse into the sculpture?
“Also, no camera captured how the little white dove sculpture appeared in the corner of the dormitory on the first floor. It is not small, it is a big sculpture and even if an adult man wants to move it, it will take some effort. How come no one noticed it when someone was moving such a thing around the school?
“Finally…” Deputy Wu paused and his gaze was serious, “The last point and the most important point. Captain, the forensic doctor reported that the victim’s body was broken from the inside out.”
His words fell inside the room and everyone became silent.
Yes, as early as the first day, the police conducted an overnight autopsy and finally discovered an incredible secret-
Sun Yan’s body was broken from the inside out!
What does that mean? It meant that if Sun Yan was murdered, the murderer went inside her body and tore her alive from the inside.
There were no other wounds and there were no chemical residues left. Being torn apart was Sun Yan’s fatal injury.
But how is this possible?
“How does someone just explode…” Deputy Wu gave a long sigh.
After a long time, the Captain said: “Take Liu Hao back to his cell.”
Deputy Wu was taken aback: “Captain?”
The Captain: “Xie Ze’s case has a special team investigating it and is not under our control. So why waste our time here?”
Deputy Wu laughed: “Yes!”
Everyone walked out of the interrogation room together.
Deputy Wu: “Captain, if we can’t catch the murderer, I think the citizens will drown us SuZhou City Police with blood.”
The Captain glared at him, “What, do you think this is ancient times? Just find a random scapegoat and close the case? Alright, no one had better think about going home tonight. Look through all the security footage from the dormitory one more time, frame by frame!”
Everyone cried out, “Captain!”
“It’s useless to beg for mercy, hurry up and look through the footage. The victim is still waiting for the truth!”
…
The sun was setting and twilight fell. It was a time for evil.
Everybody knows that at midnight the yin energy is the strongest and that it was easy to run into ghosts. You had to be careful for your safety. But most people don’t know that dusk was actually the easiest time to encounter ghosts and spirits.
It is called the Time of the Devil.
At dusk, yin and yang alternate. The ghosts of the underworld can easily take advantage of the void and sneak into the world of the yang at this time.
After two consecutive homicides occurred in the graduate dormitory of the SuZhou City University, the students were fearful at first but soon began to gossip. Xie Ze, Liu Hao, and Sun Yan were very popular at school and had many friends. Some of these friends were saddened by their deaths, and some of these “friends” used their friendship with the three of them as fodder for gossip.
A graduate student and his girlfriend went to the cafeteria for dinner and said, “I told you, I really didn’t expect Liu Hao to be that kind of person. He had been dating Xiao Jia for three years but actually cheated!”
The girlfriend snorted, “You men are all the same. I told you earlier that Sun Yan wasn’t anything good. She always likes to hook up with other people’s boyfriends. Last time when you played basketball, didn’t she come to pass out water?”
The boy scratched his head awkwardly, “Weren’t we all just benefitting because of Liu Hao? She wanted to give water to Liu Hao and just brought us some along the way.”
“Oh, that’s not necessarily true. That kind of green tea bitch likes to cast a wide net, you dumb guys don’t know a thing. Oh, forget it. She’s already dead so I don’t want to speak against her anymore. She died in such a miserable way….” The two chatted as they walked to the cafeteria.
Beside them, an old man wearing a cleaner’s clothes and holding a broom lowered his head and passed them by.
He gently hummed an unknown tune and walked slowly towards the graduate dormitory.
In the dim sunlight, he walked step by step to the place blocked by the yellow line.
This is the place where Sun Yan’s body was found and everyone was forbidden to enter.
However, no one seemed to see the old man so he crossed the yellow line and walked inside.
The ceramic sculpture fragments of the little white pigeon had long been taken away by the police and taken back to the bureau for investigation.
The old man squatted down and looked around. Finally, in a gap in the corner, he found a sliver of white that was imperceptible to the naked eye. He smiled, showing a mouthful of black teeth and his sallow face was full of wrinkles.
“I found it.” The old man reached out and picked up the ceramic fragment that could almost be called powder. He blew off the dust contaminated on it and a gloomy light flashed in his muddy eyes. The next moment, a small black bug flew into his mouth.
“Hic.”
The old man burped contentedly, gnashing his lips: “It’s the smell of a reaper and… also the smell of that young guy from the hospital?”
“Hehe, interesting.”
“It seems that things are about to get more interesting.”
“Looks like in the future I need to be more careful oh~~”
The old man stood up, hummed a tuneless song and walked out the door slowly.
The dizzy sunset was shining on him and also shining on every corner of SuZhou City.
On the streets and alleys, on the elevated tunnels.
After a busy day, tired people were heading home from school and work.
Crowded subways, noisy buses, and cars on the road. Everyone rushed to their warm and comfortable homes.
In a very inconspicuous small apartment in a corner of SuZhou City.
A young man in a suit and shoulder bag was standing in front of the security gate on the first floor, looking for his key. After a day of work, he was so tired and stiff, he just wanted to go upstairs quickly and lie down to sleep.
“Oh, why is the key missing again?”
The white-collar worker was looking for it and his head was dejected. Suddenly, there seemed to be a black shadow in his peripheral vision. He was taken aback for a moment and looked up to the corner.
When he saw the dilapidated little swallow sculpture in the corner, he opened his mouth and slowly his eyes were dumbfounded.
The wind in his ears stopped, and the setting sun no longer sank below the horizon.
At the Time of the Devil, the world fell into a weird silence.
After a long time, the white-collar young man lowered his head with a crunching noise and looked at the little swallow’s neck. He grinned slowly, and repeated the words on it-
“Can you tell me… your dream?”
Everyone had dreams and desires.
That meant they also had fears and nightmares.
As long as people still have desires and nightmares, the desire devil will never disappear.
***
Enjoying the cold air from the air-conditioner and eating oranges, Lian Xi watched the Sun Yan case news investigation special program on the TV. He spoke calmly: “Having said that, this desire devil of Su City is indeed too strong.” After a pause, he asked a question: “Why do you think the desire devil was attached to a little white dove sculpture? What do you think it means?”
Su Jiao gnawed on a sugar cane and replied vaguely. “No idea.”
Lian Xi pondered, “Because a sculpture that looks like a children’s toy can make people relax their vigilance?”
Su Jiao said casually: “Perhaps.”
Information about the Sun Yan case was still being shown on TV and some interpersonal relationships about the victim’s life was now being talked about.
Lian Xi lowered his head calmly and looked at the bell on his wrist.
Don’t panic, just ring the bell.
If he ran the bell, could he find a suitable murderer for Sun Yan’s case?
Su Jiao chewed off a big mouthful of sugar cane: “Oh yes, how is the black ghosts’s ID card going? Have you registered an account for him? Don’t forget, the Public Security Bureau wants him to go and make a statement about Xie Ze this weekend. We can’t delay any longer.”
Lian Xi nodded: “I know.”
Yesterday he went out specially and gave the information to his university roommate Chen Kai. According to Chen Kai’s, the newly-issued ID card should be able to be delivered in two days.
Just as Lian Xi was thinking about him, they heard the door creak open.
Lian Xi and Su Jiao raised their heads and looked at the room.
Under the bright light, the handsome and indifferent man held the reaper record in one hand and had his other hand in his pocket. He glanced in the living room, saw Lian Xi, stared at him and then strode towards him with a solemn expression.
Lian Xi: “???”
Lie Chen walked to Lian Xi and lowered his head.
The handsome young man thought for a moment, silently broke a small piece of orange, and handed it to Black Reaper: “…Want one?”
Lie Chen: “…?”
What?
Forget it, eating oranges wasn’t a big deal.
Lord Black Reaper took the orange but he did not eat it immediately but silently glanced at the action of Lian Xi peeling the orange.
If he didn’t peel it and put it straight in the mouth, was it edible?
Then he put the orange piece into his mouth and chewed twice.
President Lie raised his eyebrows: It turned out to be pretty good.
Lian Xi grinned as he looked at President Lie’s face and suddenly realized – Lord Black Reaper wanted to eat more oranges!
It’s okay to want to eat oranges. How about I give you an orange and you give me a little golden light?
Lian Xi immediately gained momentum. He stretched out his hand and took an orange from the fruit bowl. But before it was half peeled, a thin and beautiful hand suddenly appeared in front of him.
Lian Xi was taken aback and looked up, “The reaper record?”
Lie Chen hummed softly and placed his Black Reaper record in front of him.
Lian Xi was confused and Su Jiao on the side gnawed sugar cane, pretending not to care but pricked up his ears and was ready to listen to melons.
In the quiet living room, he saw the solemn and elegant Black Reaper look down and stare fixedly at Lian Xi. His eyes are deep, like a cold pool whose bottom could never be reached. It made the back feel cold. Just when Lian Xi wanted to ask, “What the hell do you want to say, just say it directly!”, he saw the Lord Black Reaper suddenly nod with satisfaction…
Huh? Wait, you’re satisfied? !
What are you satisfied with?
Lie Chen’s expression was calm: “According to my calculations and observation this month, you’ve passed the test.”
Lian Xi: “?”
What happened? I’ve passed the test?
Lie Chen: “Although you had been absent from work for more than ten years before, it seems that it was because of your amnesia and that you didn’t intend to wag work.”
Lian Xi: “??”
……What? ?
Lie Chen: “Very well, I am satisfied.”
Lian Xi: “???”
What are you satisfied with, how are you satisfied?!
Can you stop using the tone of such an overbearing president? Even elementary school students don’t like overbearing presidents these days, okay!
Lie Chen: “Open it and take a look.”
Lian Xi: “Uh, don’t I also have a reaper record?”
Lie Chen: “Oh, your one was torn by me.”
Lian Xi: “?!”
****? !
Lian Xi hurriedly took out his white reaper record. He opened it to an empty page and carefully observed for some time before he found that after the pages of instructions, there really were two or three torn pieces of paper that had been torn out! If you don’t look carefully, you really couldn’t tell at all!
Gods, he really tore it!
Can the reaper record be torn so casually?
Does the underworld not want face?
President Lie’s paper tearing technique is quite good, this tearing is simply perfect.
The expression on Lian Xi’s face kept changing but he still did not open the Black Reaper record handed over by President Lie himself. President Lie also paused for a moment, thinking: Oh, is he angry? Because I tore his reaper record?
Lie Chen: “Then I’ll stick it back.”
Lian Xi: “What?”
Lian Xi was not given a chance to react. In the next second, he saw Lie Chen flip his palm and a few pieces of shiny golden paper appeared out of thin air. He narrowed his eyes, pursed his thin lips and moved his fingers lightly. The black light flew out from his fingertips and flew onto the pieces of paper that were shining with golden light.
Mid air, black light and golden light leapt on the surface of the paper together, dazzling their eyes. Immediately, the black light led the gold light, wrapped the sheets of paper and flew straight to the white reaper recorde in Lian Xi’s hand.
Like water into the sea, it just slightly melted in.
Lie Chen: “Open it and take a look.”
Lian Xi: “…”
Lian Xi opened his own white reaper record speechlessly. He actually wasn’t angry and was only thinking that Lie Chen might have torn out some more pages of weird rules and instructions and didn’t want to show him. He opened it quickly and turned to the last page of the instructions. After seeing what was on the new page…
Lian Xi: “…”
Su Jiao curiously moved in: “Let me see.”
Lian Xi snapped and closed the white reaper record.
Su Jiao: “Hey, I haven’t seen it clearly yet, what the hell was it?”
However, this time Su Jiao didn’t have to wait long. Lie Chen saw that Lian Xi had closed his reaper record so President Lie opened his own one and turned to the last page and held it in front of Lian Xi
Su Jiao read the text clearly, and then: “…. the ****!”
He saw on the last pages of the ghost official code, was a page with nine big golden characters printed on it-
Ghost official’s performance ranking of the month!
Looking further down, there is actually a line of small print: Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai Division.
Su Jiao began to recite the text: “1st place, ZheJiang WenZhou’s ghost officials with 31,778 performance points. 2nd place, JiangSu Yan City’s ghost officials with 23,445 points. 3rd…”
Lie Chen said indifferently, “Read the last one.”
Su Jiao looked down, all the way to the bottom: “Hey, how come the last three names are not gold and have turned red?” Then he read the last line. “25th place, JiangSu SuZhou’s Ghost Officials with 1893 points.”
Lian Xi: “…”
President Lie sneered: “Heh!”
Shameful!
Absolutely shameful!
Can you still stay sitting down!
***
The author has something to say:
President Lie: I feel ashamed for you!
CC: ……….. These days can’t be lived any longer!
***
Chapter 28
Lie Chen!
The bronze bell on Lian Xi’s wrist automatically moved even though there was no wind. He grabbed it one hand, stilling the sound then flew out the door and ran downstairs.
He felt something odd by instinct and so Lian Xi ran directly to the first floor. He pushed open the thick glass door of the dormitory, then turned his head to look towards the corner of the stairs. He narrowed his eyes quickly and exclaimed:
“Be careful!”
He saw a dimly lit corner of the wall and within it a yellowed and shabby little white dove sculpture was standing quietly. In front of the sculpture, the Black Reaper had bent his body and was reaching forward…
His hand had completely been swallowed by the mouth of the little white dove sculpture!
This little white dove sculpture seems to have weird magical power. When Lian Xi saw it, he was stunned for half a second.
Since there was a crisis at hand, Lian Xi didn’t think further and just shook the bronze bell.
In the quiet corridor, there was a profound and long bell sound-
Omm!
When the first bell sound rang, the black pupils of the little white pigeon trembled violently.
Lian Xi didn’t dare to be careless and rang the bell again.
Omm!
A bright red light flickered in those tiny eyes and the pupils of the little white pigeon trembled like crazy. The whole ceramic body began to shake.
Then, there was a third sound.
Omm!
There was a long lonely silence followed by a loud cracking sound. A black crack snapped off the little white dove’s head. In an instant, like a spider web cracking, dense black cracks covered the entire body of the little white dove. The dove’s beak, which was biting Black Reaper’s right hand, also cracked off.
At this time, Su Jiao also ran down and suddenly saw the little white dove sculpture in the corner. He said in surprise: “What is this!”
Lian Xi looked solemn, he did not take anything lightly. Pressing the bell tightly with his fingers, Lian Xi cautiously walked towards Lie Chen. He looked at his hand which was still bitten by the little white dove and asked: “Can you pull it out?”
Lie Chen frowned and replied strangely: “Why wouldn’t I be able to pull it out?”
Lian Xi was surprised: “Ah?”
The next second, he saw the Lord Black Reaper lightly pulling his hand out from the little white dove’s mouth and at the same time pulling out two glowing orbs.
Lian Xi: “……???”
No, how come it seems like something is wrong?
Lie Chen snorted disdainfully and then showed the two orbs to Lian Xi. “The two jobs.”
Su Jiao suddenly realized: “Could it be that this is Sun Yan’s soul… and the other is Xie Ze’s?”
The three turned their heads to look at the small white dove sculpture covered with cracks. The sun was setting and the dim glow shone on the scarred body of the white dove. They saw that its eyes were crooked and its nose was cracked. The wings were all on one side, and had fallen to pieces. It looked very miserable.
Lian Xi: “It actually isn’t totally broken yet?”
As if it had heard Lian Xi’s words, they heard a rumbling.
The little white dove sculpture then completely shattered.
Everyone: “…”
The shattered sculpture fell to the ground, turning into a mass of ceramic dust.
Everyone choked and coughed twice. They waved away the dust flying in front of them. Suddenly, through the gray dust, Lian Xi seemed to see something. After the smoke and dust dissipated completely and he saw what was on the ground clearly, Lian Xi was shocked.
At this time, Lie Chen and Su Jiao also clearly saw what was on the ground.
The broken corpse had long rotted black as if it had been torn apart from the inside out. The places where the limbs broke had traces of being pulled apart. It was too bloody and more than a bit disgusting.
Lie Chen frowned slightly.
Su Jiao was shocked silly and after a few seconds, he trembled and said, “Is this…Sun, Sun Yan?”
Lian Xi had already taken out his mobile phone.
“Call the police.”
***
In one day there were two murders in SuZhou City University’s graduate dormitory.
This matter instantly trended on Weibo.
The fact that Liu Hao killed Xie Ze had caused a small wave on the internet and there was some discussion and popularity, but not a lot. However Sun Yan’s case directly caused a national sensation. The school officials and the SuZhou City police immediately blocked the scene to prevent outsiders from entering. However, since it was a dormitory with people coming and going, and it was also dinner time, prior to the police arriving on the scene many students had already taken pictures of the tragic scene and posted it online.
Although the photos were quickly deleted, as long as people are curious, they could always find traces of them somewhere.
The popularity of the Sun Yan case lasted for a long time and the people across the country angrily rallied against the murderer. It was no wonder because the way the girl died was just too miserable!
Her body was broken into five or six pieces and was stuffed into a small white dove sculpture made of ceramic. No one could have found it. It was not until the sculpture broke that Sun Yan’s body was found.
Because she had been dead for several days and was squeezed into a small enclosed space in the hot September, Sun Yan’s corpse was so horrible that it aroused strong sympathy from the people.
And this case is easily reminiscent of the corpse case in NanJing in the last century and also the Hello Kitty murder case from Hong Kong.
In the case of NanJing University’s corpse, she was also a female college student. She had been broken into several pieces by a cruel murderer and her corpse thrown onto the streets of NanJing.
In the Hello Kitty murder case, after the innocent victim was cruelly abused by her murderers, her head was stuffed into a HelloKitty doll! {These two are real cases.}
[The murderer must be found!]
[The NanJing University murder case has never been resolved. Now that technology is more advanced, there should be cameras everywhere. The case of the corpse being hidden in the little white pigeon must be solved. The truth must be found so that the dead can rest in peace]
The entire country strongly urged the police to find the murderer as soon as possible. Because the case had blown up too big, JiangSu Province and even the central government sent a special team to investigate the case.
However, Lian Xi knew that the police would never find the murderer in the Sun Yan case.
Because the person who killed Sun Yan was herself.
In the evening, Lie Chen stayed in his room and didn’t come out. After eating, Lian Xi and Su Jiao sat on the sofa in the living room and watched TV. When they turned on the TV, it was broadcasting the news. The news anchor of the Provincial Channel News Channel was indignantly telling the audience the specific information about the Sun Yan case and the current investigation progress of the investigation team.
Lian Xi flicked through a few channels and they were all also talking about Sun Yan’s case. So he just kept it on and they watched it casually.
Su Jiao sighed as the two ate fruit, “I have heard my shishu talk about nightmare devils but this is the same time I’ve seen it. This kind of evil entity is not an evil spirit or a monster from the mountain wilds. It’s stranger and originates from a desire deep in the heart of people. It magnifies the desires of the people it meets and fulfills their wishes. However when it fulfills your wish, it will return to you at night to take its reward. When my shishu travelled the world as a young man, he met a lust devil. But the lust devil only ingests human yang energy, at most it can damage people’s lifespan. I’ve never heard of a nightmare devil that can kill people directly. This desire devil of SuZhou City can actually kill people directly, it’s too powerful right?”
Su Jiao turned his head: “Hey Lian Xi, how do you think the police are going to solve Sun Yan’s case? She is different from Xie Ze. Xie Ze sold his soul to the nightmare devil. His greed was magnified but because of his actions, Liu Hao killed him before his wish could be fulfilled. Sun Yan however was killed by the desire devil who had fulfilled her wish. There’s no murderer to be found.”
Lian Xi lowered his head and was peeling himself an orange. After he heard Su Jiao’s words, he thought for a while. “Liu Hao wouldn’t be so unlucky ba.”
Su Jiao was taken aback and then he understood: “No, no way right, there can’t be such an unlucky person.”
Lian Xi peeled off the orange peel: “Whether it was really an accident or he killed Xie Ze on purpose, killing Xie Ze alone shouldn’t sentence him to death. He should get a fixed term. But if they think he was also Sun Yan’s murderer then….”
The two looked at each other.
It would be death penalty for sure.
If he didn’t get that, then all the police officers across the country would be drowned in the spit of the people.
Yes, it was indeed Liu Hao who killed Xie Ze. With his weak spot being held by his opponent and after being repeatedly blackmailed, the former basketball vice-captain could no longer hold back. Finally, after Xie Ze wanted him to give up the recommendation opportunity, he became murderous and killed Xie. Ze.
But the problem was that the person who killed Sun Yan was really not Liu Hao.
Lian Xi peeled off a piece of orange, put it in his mouth, and chewed gently.
What will happen to Liu Hao…?
***
SuZhou City Public Security Bureau, Detention Center.
The hands and feet of the young man were chained on the iron chair. Three days ago, the young man who was full of spirit and energy was now covered with stubble, his eyes were blue and his forehead was white. He looked depressed but he was not silent at the moment. On the contrary, there seemed to be a fire coursing through his emaciated and weak body. He roared with red eyes, “It was not me who killed her!”
The little detective who handled the case flipped through the case information and said indifferently: “At 10 o’clock in the evening on September 10, 2020, Sun Yan came out of your dormitory, right?”
Liu Hao: “Yes but I didn’t kill her!”
The small officer: “Keep your voice down and listen! Your dormitory corridor surveillance video has a video of her leaving your dorm but the camera on the first level doesn’t have a video of her leaving the building. Do you know what it means?”
Liu Hao seemed to be enraged to the point he had become stupid. He could only shout over and over again: “I didn’t do it, I didn’t kill her! I killed Xie Ze, I admit it, I killed him. But I didn’t kill Sun Yan, I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it! You can’t pin it on me!”
The young man’s roar echoed through the interrogation room. He didn’t know how many people were standing in the next room at the moment.
They stood in front of the single-sided glass and looked at the almost maddened criminal suspect coldly.
After a while, one of the older people said, “Are all the surveillance cameras in the entire dormitory building available?”
Deputy Wu stood beside him and nodded: “We’ve found all the cameras. But it’s a school dormitory. The camera was installed too early on. In the past few years, there have been quite a few dead spots. It is impossible to take a clear picture of every single place. The victim suddenly disappeared from the camera after walking down the stairs to the first floor. She must have gone into a blind spot because she never appeared again.”
Another old detective asked: “Lao-Wu, what do you think?” {So when it’s Xiao or Lao, meaning Old or Young, I’ll put a hyphen to make it more clear. I haven’t had time to change the previous chapters yet. Once I finish the whole translation, I’ll go back to edit everything.}
Deputy Wu was silent for a moment, and said, “My opinion won’t sound very good.”
“What is it? Even if it doesn’t sound good, just say it.”
Deputy Wu: “Indeed, Liu Hao has the most motivation and is also the most likely suspect. We detected his semen in Sun Yan’s body and at the same time, Liu Hao’s fingerprints were detected on Sun Yan’s neck, wrist and other places. However, I think Liu Hao really didn’t kill Sun Yan.
“First of all, the camera in the corridor on the third floor of the dormitory did capture Sun Yan coming out of Liu Hao’s dormitory but Liu Hao was not seen coming out with her. However, this can be explained uf Liu Hao jumped from the balcony on the third floor to the first floor, evaded the camera in the corridor, then sneaked back to the first floor dormitory and murdered Sun Yan in a sneak attack. But I think it is extremely difficult to avoid the camera along the entire way. It is very difficult for him as an ordinary college student who has not had special reconnaissance training.”
“Secondly, the little white dove sculpture has no openings and it was completely sealed. Its biggest gap was its mouth. But Sun Yan’s corpse was divided into six pieces, and even the smallest piece was also about five times the size of the little white dove’s mouth. So may I ask, how did Liu Hao stuff the corpse into the sculpture?
“Also, no camera captured how the little white dove sculpture appeared in the corner of the dormitory on the first floor. It is not small, it is a big sculpture and even if an adult man wants to move it, it will take some effort. How come no one noticed it when someone was moving such a thing around the school?
“Finally…” Deputy Wu paused and his gaze was serious, “The last point and the most important point. Captain, the forensic doctor reported that the victim’s body was broken from the inside out.”
His words fell inside the room and everyone became silent.
Yes, as early as the first day, the police conducted an overnight autopsy and finally discovered an incredible secret-
Sun Yan’s body was broken from the inside out!
What does that mean? It meant that if Sun Yan was murdered, the murderer went inside her body and tore her alive from the inside.
There were no other wounds and there were no chemical residues left. Being torn apart was Sun Yan’s fatal injury.
But how is this possible?
“How does someone just explode…” Deputy Wu gave a long sigh.
After a long time, the Captain said: “Take Liu Hao back to his cell.”
Deputy Wu was taken aback: “Captain?”
The Captain: “Xie Ze’s case has a special team investigating it and is not under our control. So why waste our time here?”
Deputy Wu laughed: “Yes!”
Everyone walked out of the interrogation room together.
Deputy Wu: “Captain, if we can’t catch the murderer, I think the citizens will drown us SuZhou City Police with blood.”
The Captain glared at him, “What, do you think this is ancient times? Just find a random scapegoat and close the case? Alright, no one had better think about going home tonight. Look through all the security footage from the dormitory one more time, frame by frame!”
Everyone cried out, “Captain!”
“It’s useless to beg for mercy, hurry up and look through the footage. The victim is still waiting for the truth!”
…
The sun was setting and twilight fell. It was a time for evil.
Everybody knows that at midnight the yin energy is the strongest and that it was easy to run into ghosts. You had to be careful for your safety. But most people don’t know that dusk was actually the easiest time to encounter ghosts and spirits.
It is called the Time of the Devil.
At dusk, yin and yang alternate. The ghosts of the underworld can easily take advantage of the void and sneak into the world of the yang at this time.
After two consecutive homicides occurred in the graduate dormitory of the SuZhou City University, the students were fearful at first but soon began to gossip. Xie Ze, Liu Hao, and Sun Yan were very popular at school and had many friends. Some of these friends were saddened by their deaths, and some of these “friends” used their friendship with the three of them as fodder for gossip.
A graduate student and his girlfriend went to the cafeteria for dinner and said, “I told you, I really didn’t expect Liu Hao to be that kind of person. He had been dating Xiao Jia for three years but actually cheated!”
The girlfriend snorted, “You men are all the same. I told you earlier that Sun Yan wasn’t anything good. She always likes to hook up with other people’s boyfriends. Last time when you played basketball, didn’t she come to pass out water?”
The boy scratched his head awkwardly, “Weren’t we all just benefitting because of Liu Hao? She wanted to give water to Liu Hao and just brought us some along the way.”
“Oh, that’s not necessarily true. That kind of green tea bitch likes to cast a wide net, you dumb guys don’t know a thing. Oh, forget it. She’s already dead so I don’t want to speak against her anymore. She died in such a miserable way….” The two chatted as they walked to the cafeteria.
Beside them, an old man wearing a cleaner’s clothes and holding a broom lowered his head and passed them by.
He gently hummed an unknown tune and walked slowly towards the graduate dormitory.
In the dim sunlight, he walked step by step to the place blocked by the yellow line.
This is the place where Sun Yan’s body was found and everyone was forbidden to enter.
However, no one seemed to see the old man so he crossed the yellow line and walked inside.
The ceramic sculpture fragments of the little white pigeon had long been taken away by the police and taken back to the bureau for investigation.
The old man squatted down and looked around. Finally, in a gap in the corner, he found a sliver of white that was imperceptible to the naked eye. He smiled, showing a mouthful of black teeth and his sallow face was full of wrinkles.
“I found it.” The old man reached out and picked up the ceramic fragment that could almost be called powder. He blew off the dust contaminated on it and a gloomy light flashed in his muddy eyes. The next moment, a small black bug flew into his mouth.
“Hic.”
The old man burped contentedly, gnashing his lips: “It’s the smell of a reaper and… also the smell of that young guy from the hospital?”
“Hehe, interesting.”
“It seems that things are about to get more interesting.”
“Looks like in the future I need to be more careful oh~~”
The old man stood up, hummed a tuneless song and walked out the door slowly.
The dizzy sunset was shining on him and also shining on every corner of SuZhou City.
On the streets and alleys, on the elevated tunnels.
After a busy day, tired people were heading home from school and work.
Crowded subways, noisy buses, and cars on the road. Everyone rushed to their warm and comfortable homes.
In a very inconspicuous small apartment in a corner of SuZhou City.
A young man in a suit and shoulder bag was standing in front of the security gate on the first floor, looking for his key. After a day of work, he was so tired and stiff, he just wanted to go upstairs quickly and lie down to sleep.
“Oh, why is the key missing again?”
The white-collar worker was looking for it and his head was dejected. Suddenly, there seemed to be a black shadow in his peripheral vision. He was taken aback for a moment and looked up to the corner.
When he saw the dilapidated little swallow sculpture in the corner, he opened his mouth and slowly his eyes were dumbfounded.
The wind in his ears stopped, and the setting sun no longer sank below the horizon.
At the Time of the Devil, the world fell into a weird silence.
After a long time, the white-collar young man lowered his head with a crunching noise and looked at the little swallow’s neck. He grinned slowly, and repeated the words on it-
“Can you tell me… your dream?”
Everyone had dreams and desires.
That meant they also had fears and nightmares.
As long as people still have desires and nightmares, the desire devil will never disappear.
***
Enjoying the cold air from the air-conditioner and eating oranges, Lian Xi watched the Sun Yan case news investigation special program on the TV. He spoke calmly: “Having said that, this desire devil of Su City is indeed too strong.” After a pause, he asked a question: “Why do you think the desire devil was attached to a little white dove sculpture? What do you think it means?”
Su Jiao gnawed on a sugar cane and replied vaguely. “No idea.”
Lian Xi pondered, “Because a sculpture that looks like a children’s toy can make people relax their vigilance?”
Su Jiao said casually: “Perhaps.”
Information about the Sun Yan case was still being shown on TV and some interpersonal relationships about the victim’s life was now being talked about.
Lian Xi lowered his head calmly and looked at the bell on his wrist.
Don’t panic, just ring the bell.
If he ran the bell, could he find a suitable murderer for Sun Yan’s case?
Su Jiao chewed off a big mouthful of sugar cane: “Oh yes, how is the black ghosts’s ID card going? Have you registered an account for him? Don’t forget, the Public Security Bureau wants him to go and make a statement about Xie Ze this weekend. We can’t delay any longer.”
Lian Xi nodded: “I know.”
Yesterday he went out specially and gave the information to his university roommate Chen Kai. According to Chen Kai’s, the newly-issued ID card should be able to be delivered in two days.
Just as Lian Xi was thinking about him, they heard the door creak open.
Lian Xi and Su Jiao raised their heads and looked at the room.
Under the bright light, the handsome and indifferent man held the reaper record in one hand and had his other hand in his pocket. He glanced in the living room, saw Lian Xi, stared at him and then strode towards him with a solemn expression.
Lian Xi: “???”
Lie Chen walked to Lian Xi and lowered his head.
The handsome young man thought for a moment, silently broke a small piece of orange, and handed it to Black Reaper: “…Want one?”
Lie Chen: “…?”
What?
Forget it, eating oranges wasn’t a big deal.
Lord Black Reaper took the orange but he did not eat it immediately but silently glanced at the action of Lian Xi peeling the orange.
If he didn’t peel it and put it straight in the mouth, was it edible?
Then he put the orange piece into his mouth and chewed twice.
President Lie raised his eyebrows: It turned out to be pretty good.
Lian Xi grinned as he looked at President Lie’s face and suddenly realized – Lord Black Reaper wanted to eat more oranges!
It’s okay to want to eat oranges. How about I give you an orange and you give me a little golden light?
Lian Xi immediately gained momentum. He stretched out his hand and took an orange from the fruit bowl. But before it was half peeled, a thin and beautiful hand suddenly appeared in front of him.
Lian Xi was taken aback and looked up, “The reaper record?”
Lie Chen hummed softly and placed his Black Reaper record in front of him.
Lian Xi was confused and Su Jiao on the side gnawed sugar cane, pretending not to care but pricked up his ears and was ready to listen to melons.
In the quiet living room, he saw the solemn and elegant Black Reaper look down and stare fixedly at Lian Xi. His eyes are deep, like a cold pool whose bottom could never be reached. It made the back feel cold. Just when Lian Xi wanted to ask, “What the hell do you want to say, just say it directly!”, he saw the Lord Black Reaper suddenly nod with satisfaction…
Huh? Wait, you’re satisfied? !
What are you satisfied with?
Lie Chen’s expression was calm: “According to my calculations and observation this month, you’ve passed the test.”
Lian Xi: “?”
What happened? I’ve passed the test?
Lie Chen: “Although you had been absent from work for more than ten years before, it seems that it was because of your amnesia and that you didn’t intend to wag work.”
Lian Xi: “??”
……What? ?
Lie Chen: “Very well, I am satisfied.”
Lian Xi: “???”
What are you satisfied with, how are you satisfied?!
Can you stop using the tone of such an overbearing president? Even elementary school students don’t like overbearing presidents these days, okay!
Lie Chen: “Open it and take a look.”
Lian Xi: “Uh, don’t I also have a reaper record?”
Lie Chen: “Oh, your one was torn by me.”
Lian Xi: “?!”
****? !
Lian Xi hurriedly took out his white reaper record. He opened it to an empty page and carefully observed for some time before he found that after the pages of instructions, there really were two or three torn pieces of paper that had been torn out! If you don’t look carefully, you really couldn’t tell at all!
Gods, he really tore it!
Can the reaper record be torn so casually?
Does the underworld not want face?
President Lie’s paper tearing technique is quite good, this tearing is simply perfect.
The expression on Lian Xi’s face kept changing but he still did not open the Black Reaper record handed over by President Lie himself. President Lie also paused for a moment, thinking: Oh, is he angry? Because I tore his reaper record?
Lie Chen: “Then I’ll stick it back.”
Lian Xi: “What?”
Lian Xi was not given a chance to react. In the next second, he saw Lie Chen flip his palm and a few pieces of shiny golden paper appeared out of thin air. He narrowed his eyes, pursed his thin lips and moved his fingers lightly. The black light flew out from his fingertips and flew onto the pieces of paper that were shining with golden light.
Mid air, black light and golden light leapt on the surface of the paper together, dazzling their eyes. Immediately, the black light led the gold light, wrapped the sheets of paper and flew straight to the white reaper recorde in Lian Xi’s hand.
Like water into the sea, it just slightly melted in.
Lie Chen: “Open it and take a look.”
Lian Xi: “…”
Lian Xi opened his own white reaper record speechlessly. He actually wasn’t angry and was only thinking that Lie Chen might have torn out some more pages of weird rules and instructions and didn’t want to show him. He opened it quickly and turned to the last page of the instructions. After seeing what was on the new page…
Lian Xi: “…”
Su Jiao curiously moved in: “Let me see.”
Lian Xi snapped and closed the white reaper record.
Su Jiao: “Hey, I haven’t seen it clearly yet, what the hell was it?”
However, this time Su Jiao didn’t have to wait long. Lie Chen saw that Lian Xi had closed his reaper record so President Lie opened his own one and turned to the last page and held it in front of Lian Xi
Su Jiao read the text clearly, and then: “…. the ****!”
He saw on the last pages of the ghost official code, was a page with nine big golden characters printed on it-
Ghost official’s performance ranking of the month!
Looking further down, there is actually a line of small print: Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai Division.
Su Jiao began to recite the text: “1st place, ZheJiang WenZhou’s ghost officials with 31,778 performance points. 2nd place, JiangSu Yan City’s ghost officials with 23,445 points. 3rd…”
Lie Chen said indifferently, “Read the last one.”
Su Jiao looked down, all the way to the bottom: “Hey, how come the last three names are not gold and have turned red?” Then he read the last line. “25th place, JiangSu SuZhou’s Ghost Officials with 1893 points.”
Lian Xi: “…”
President Lie sneered: “Heh!”
Shameful!
Absolutely shameful!
Can you still stay sitting down!
***
The author has something to say:
President Lie: I feel ashamed for you!
CC: ……….. These days can’t be lived any longer!
***
