Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 60

Just as Lin Chen looked out the window and watched the scenery of Jun Mountain a few kilometers away, at the same time, someone else was also looking out at the same scenery from their window.

In a small octagonal building, located near the highest point of the entire Tianren Club, a window surrounded by plum blossoms was half open. An old man was standing at the window.

The air in the afternoon was good. The spring breeze was soft, and the birds were chirping on the branches. The bamboo forest at the foot of the mountain was dotted with rows of small buildings. The people who had been partying all night had long since dispersed. The afternoon was almost the most peaceful time of day for Tianren Club, and such a moment was, of course, suitable for napping.

But Xing Fu didn’t sleep.

To be precise, he was awakened after lying down. After all, for an old man like him who needed his sleep, if there wasn’t a major matter, his subordinates wouldn’t deliberately wake him up, but after hearing the problem described by the young man, he only felt surprised.

“The Chen family has repeatedly put pressure on the police to obstruct the investigation of the suicide case at the university. Is that it?”

The old man’s tone was very relaxed, and he even prolonged the end of his voice as if he felt this issue wasn’t worth interrupting his sleep for.

Hearing these words, the young man’s mood also changed from anxiety to panic.

After all, he did take the initiative to send someone to follow the gentlemen without the old man’s order. When he learned that the Chen family was about to do something, he also thought about whether he should disturb the old man for this, but in the end, he still used the excuse of the suicide case at Yongchuan University and mentioned to the old man the obstacles that the gentleman might encounter because of the Chen family’s meddling. However, just looking at the attitude of the old man, he didn’t seem to think it was a big deal.

The young man felt he couldn’t figure out what the relationship was between the two.

However, thinking about the plate of peanuts that the old man had rolled up his cuffs and personally fried up last night, he felt that his analysis wasn’t wrong. The gentleman who loved to drink cold beer and eat fried peanuts should be very important, or even noble, so he could only bite the bullet and continue, “But that gentleman and his friend have encountered obstacles in their investigation. Do you think it’s necessary that I should go say something?”

“Huh? Say what?” The old man lightly fastened the button on his front lapel. He was still overlooking the verdant bamboo forest outside the building and hadn’t once diverted his gaze from it.

“Well…” The young man hesitated.

After the old man buttoned the last button, he turned around. His voice remained flat, almost languid. He said, “Saying something is nothing more than pressing people or asking for help. These are two things that we, the Xings, never do.”

When the young man heard this, he was taken aback, and bowed to the old man earnestly, expressing his gratitude for the lesson.

—-

To suppress people with power, one must first gain power or take advantage of it and then use it to suppress others. These things weren’t always upright, so the Xing family wouldn’t do it. This was a kind of natural pride.

But things like pride couldn’t be eaten like food, so most people would complain if they wanted revenge. After being provoked, they would naturally want to scold them back.

This was probably Chen Ping’s current state.

He had a belly full of anger and wanted to release it. After being refuted, naturally anyone would get angry, let alone he was humiliated mercilessly by Lin Chen, of all people, in front of everyone. He had been in this high position for a long time and had seniority because of his age. Except for the elites of the Chen family, no one in Yongchuan would dare snub him, yet right now he was being slapped in the face by a young man. Of course he wanted to pound on the table and scold him until he was black and blue.

However, the room was quiet. Lin Chen’s eyes were clear and sober. Everyone present was looking at them with complicated emotions, but full of trust.

Psychologists were indeed extremely good at compelling people.

Chen Ping once again sneered. It was inappropriate to touch a person who had swayed the hearts of people, so he raised his hand and looked at his watch.

The time was 1:20 PM.

The sun was getting brighter, dazzling the lake in the afternoon.

Because it was now a public holiday, the entrance of the Cohen May hotel was extremely busy, bustling with people coming and going.

Most of the guests were middle-aged couples with families or young couples who were making intimate gestures. They were beautifully dressed and looked either rich or famous.

Because this was the best hotel in Yongchuan, they naturally had the best food, rooms, and, of course, service.

A bellhop wearing a bow tie bowed down and picked up the luggage from the trunk of the taxi for an old couple and put it in the luggage cart.

After the two people paid for their taxi, they helped each other and were about to walk through the revolving door. When the bellhop saw this, he rushed over and held the door for them.

This was an act of goodwill, and goodwill would often bring good luck.

The bellhop stood there watching as the two elderly people walked smoothly through the revolving door, then he let it turn again. Just as he released his hand, there was a loud noise of a vehicle crashing behind him.

He turned his head suddenly and saw a mess in front of him.

The vehicle alarm blared all over the sky. The taxi had hit a guardrail, and the front hood was lifted up. The lights were broken and fell to the ground, and the luggage cart he had just loaded next to the taxi was also smashed to pieces. The culprit was a black SUV that suddenly rushed up the slope.

What made it strange was that it was obvious the driver of the SUV was the cause of the accident, yet there didn’t seem to be any intention from the driver to get out of the car and check.

The security guards in the lobby quickly reacted. About five people pressed their walkie-talkies and rushed from everywhere, but before they could go out, the door of the SUV slammed open.

With just one look, the security guards stayed in place and didn’t dare move anymore. Not only the security guards, but also the front desk attendants, who were originally shocked by the accident, all stopped what they were doing.

Because they saw a gun.

Dozens of heavily armed special forces rushed out of the car. They seemed to be even better equipped than ordinary special forces. The leader, who looked like a captain, gave a tactical order, and a group of nine people rushed directly into the executive suite on the 28^th floor. The last person to leave slowly walked to the front desk of the hotel as if to say hello.

In the hotel corridor, a hotel manager well dressed in a suit was holding onto the iron railing, looking at what was happening downstairs, but he didn’t mean to go down to stop it.

He raised his head and looked at the hotel executives with a wry smile on his face.

Not only at the entrance of the Cohen May Hotel, but under the white marble arch of Yongchuan University with the words “Peaceful and Calm”, there was also another black SUV and a group of special forces with loaded guns appeared.

The students wandering around the school gate were stunned, but perhaps it was because of the recent incidents at the school that many of the students’ emotions were calm. They watched the police officers rush to the administrative building, then yawned.

The conference room at Yongchuan University was still smoky.

A strange cry suddenly sounded, as if it were an electronic sound from a game that was close to the sound of an alarm. In short, it sounded very strange and harsh.

Since they were discussing important matters, all cellphones should have been put on silent, so the sudden sound made everyone frown, and they all cast their eyes at Vice Captain Jiang first.

Under their scorching gaze, Jiang Chao raised his hand, indicating that he wasn’t to blame.

The ringing sound kept going non-stop, and following the sound, everyone’s eyes moved to the corner of the conference room.

There was a young man who had been sitting on the ground and was clacking on his laptop.

Wang Chao became frantic.

After all, he was a computer expert, but he didn’t know why his laptop was making such a strange noise. He quickly screened the running program and seemed to see something incredible. He raised his head and looked for Xing Conglian’s figure, then gently called, “Captain…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Our room seems to have been broken into…”

Xing Conglian didn’t react for a while. “What room?”

“Our hotel room. There’s an alarm device on the door lock, and it’s ringing. It’s really strange. Wait let me show you.”

—-

Upstairs in the octagonal building around Jun Mountain, the old man was drinking tea. He had just set it down when he spoke with surprise. “What’s wrong?”

After being interrupted during his lunch break, he had finally settled down and was drinking tea, but not long after he sat down, the door of his room was knocked on again. The young man whom he just saw ran back again.

The young man bent down, and the look on his face was more uneasy than before.

“Hotel…” After the young man said this, he stopped talking again, as if he didn’t know if he should go on.

“If you’re working under me, you should know that no matter what, you should never be hesitant, even if Mount Tai collapses. There are not so many things in the world worth being nervous about…” the old man continued to educate.

“But that gentleman booked a room at our Cohen May Hotel, and just now special forces raided it. Is this not important?”

Hearing this, the old man’s hand that was holding the teacup shook, spilling most of the tea. The tea was hot, but the old man didn’t care about the pain in his hand. He said anxiously, “What are you doing in a daze? Go and find out what’s going on!”

The young man immediately ran away in response.

“Wait!” The old man suddenly stopped him, and his tone became cold.

The hotel guest room was broken into by the police. This wouldn’t be such a big deal if it weren’t for the fact that this was a Xing’s hotel and not some ordinary fast-food chain. If this wasn’t a major case and they had sufficient evidence, how could the Yongchuan police dare to be so arrogant as to break into an executive suite at the top of the hotel?

But the question was, why did the police raid the hotel room?

They obviously wanted to search for something, and since the police dared to act with such great fanfare, it meant that they were sure they would be able to find something.

The old man feared that there would be some inexplicably dirty things.

“I’m going too.” Thinking of this, the old man stood up as he spoke.

Xing Fu was just an old servant, but the fact that he had served the Xing family for so long and also managed some of the family business for his master meant that his brain was quite good.

So all the things he had thought about in his mind were roughly correct.

The conference room of the Administrative Building of Yongchuan University was a mess.

The door that had been kicked open before was still shaking gently. Three guns were aimed at the three residents of the executive suite 2801 of the Cohen May Hotel.

The rest of the people in the conference room were silent, except for the three residents, who were still calm and relaxed.

A pair of leather boots stepped on the oak floor, reading out the contents of the arrest warrant.

The teenager sitting on the ground dug his ear and repeated what he had just heard after hearing the righteous words. “You mean, when the cleaner was cleaning our hotel room, she found a suspicious white powder and then called the police? The police suspect it’s a drug, so they sent someone to search our room, and now they want to arrest us so they can investigate?”

“Yes.”

“Are you mentally retarded?” the young man asked incredulously.

---

The author has something to say:

The scene switching in this chapter is relatively fast. I don’t know if everyone feels that it is not smooth enough.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 59

Lin Chen had always known that the Chen family was trouble that followed him like a shadow, and this was something Xing Conglian had specifically reminded him of before he came to Yongchuan.

The fact was, no one liked to be constantly pestered by trouble.

After hearing Xing Conglian briefly explain the contents of the phone call to him, Lin Chen actually suspected his ears had some hearing problems. “School forum photos? They suspect I used hypnotism to induce suicide?”

“Shixiong, this was posted at the top of our school’s BBS!” Fu Hao reached into his pocket and wanted to take out his phone but found it empty.

Wang Chao reacted faster. He sat down again, took out his laptop, typed out the address, and opened the webpage. He put the laptop on top of his head and said, “Professor Fu, is this the post?”

Fu Hao pulled Lin Chen over, bent down slightly, and clicked on the post. “Yes, yes. This is it. Shixiong look.”

Lin Chen quickly scanned the photos and the replies. He was calm and simply said, “The angle of the photos is very good.”

Fu Hao got riled up, and as soon as he did, he started chattering again. “Shixiong, why do you think the Chen family keeps haunting you? How can this person who took these photos have such good timing? Were they taken by the murderer? The Chen family chose a really good time to make trouble. Could it be that they originally discussed it with the murderer? I think the Chen family is very suspicious!”

“Wang Chao, what do you think?” Lin Chen picked up the laptop from the top of the boy’s head.

Seeing his chance, Xing Conglian pulled up the little comrade from the ground and said, “Don’t sit on the ground all the time like you have nothing to do.”

“How can I type without sitting down, Captain? I’m working. Don’t you understand? I’m dedicated!” After Wang Chao finished speaking, he ignored Xing Conglian’s motion and just turned to look at the computer screen. His expression instantly stiffened. “This angle… This position…”

“How?”

“It seems to have been directly intercepted from the live broadcast!” Wang Chao said as he looked at Lin Chen in surprise.

Fu Hao was confused when he heard it. “What live broadcast?”

It was just the three people present ignored his question and continued with their own conversation.

“From the perspective, it really looks like it was taken by two surveillance cameras used for the live broadcast,” Xing Conglian said.

“Then, did the live broadcaster do this, then take these screenshots and post them to frame A’Chen?”

“Because we were about to touch the line?” Lin Chen replied.

“Line? Touch what line?” Fu Hao continued to interrupt.

But still, no one responded to him. After all, if you were chasing a drama and were one episode behind, you wouldn’t be able to keep up with the plot.

“Indeed. When the investigation hits a critical point, it will always arouse the vigilance and obstruction of the murderer behind the scenes.” Xing Conglian analyzed. “In fact, the time point at which this post appeared was well timed. It occurred after the three committed suicide, and we traced it back to the live broadcast website. First, this shows that our direction isn’t wrong. Second, it also shows that this case isn’t so simple and that there’s a deep criminal network behind it,” Xing Conglian said as he looked at Lin Chen. “But the question is, what about the Chen family? Are they using the murderer to deal with you, or was this itself their business?”

After all, within Yongchuan, a big family with deep roots like the Chen’s would inevitably have some invisible business. Similarly, only a big family like the Chen’s could support these dark businesses without being easily discovered.

Xing Conglian’s deduction was quite reasonable.

However, Lin Chen shook his head. “I’m not sure, but I suspect it isn’t the Chen family who’s doing it.”

“Why?”

“Their IQ isn’t that high, and they don’t have that kind of courage.”

Lin Chen spoke this calmly, as if he were elucidating a perfectly normal fact, but if the Chen family’s butler was present, he would probably be so angry at Lin Chen’s understatement that he would vomit blood.

“This is actually a good thing. If they’re starting to be nervous, then we will have a chance. After all, nervous people tend to be less thorough, so they’re bound to make mistakes,” Lin Chen said as he patted Xing Conglian on the arm. “Come on, let’s go meet them.”

—-

In the small conference room of the administrative building of Yongchuan University, the smoke was thick and the people were loud.

Most of the smoke came from Jiang Chao, but most of the sound wasn’t from him.

A group of people in the conference room were quarreling over the forum post. Jiang Chao took out a cigarette pack and was about to have another when the office door was pushed open.

“Is this place on fire?” Xing Conglian’s voice came from the door.

Hearing his voice, Jiang Chao suddenly turned his head and rushed to the door as if he had seen a savior, dragging the person into the room. “Lao Xing, you’re finally here!”

As he spoke, he also grabbed Lin Chen with his other hand and refused to let go. “Consultant Lin is here too!”

Unknown whether it was due to Xing Conglian’s arrival or because of what Jiang Chao had just said, but the entire office suddenly fell silent.

Lin Chen looked around the room and, unsurprisingly, saw the figure of Vice President Xu and the butler of the Chen family. In the same room, there were also three people who looked like part of the leadership of the university and about five family members of the deceased students who had red eyes and were crying.

Seeing this scene, it was definitely not easy for Jiang Chao to carry on for so long with these ten people bombarding him in here.

Facing those suspicious, angry, and mocking glances, Lin Chen walked into the room, but instead of taking a seat at the conference table, he walked to the drinking fountain and poured himself a glass of water.

“You’re Lin Chen, the one who killed my child, aren’t you?” A middle-aged woman stood up and pointed to his back as she scolded him.

The water in the water dispenser gurgled.

Without any anger or shock, Lin Chen slowly turned around and took a leisurely sip of the water in his cup, as if addressing the accusation that was just hurled was not as important as drinking water. He finished most of the cup before he finally spoke. “Oh, hypnosis? That is an idea.”

Hearing this, Jiang Chao frowned. “Is it really hypnosis, Consultant Lin?”

“Unfortunately, that’s not possible.” Lin Chen looked at the butler sitting in the main seat at the end of the conference table and raised his cup to greet him slightly.

“My child wouldn’t jump off a building for no reason. Someone must have harmed him!” Hearing this, the woman seemed to have lost all her strength. She sat down heavily and covered her face as she sobbed.

“Yes, my niece is very cheerful. She won’t commit suicide. You must have hypnotized these people. Don’t be so pretentious!” A middle-aged man replied.

“Aren’t you misunderstanding something about hypnosis?” Lin Chen put down the paper cup, walked forward, and stood in front of the middle-aged man. “Have you been watching too many TV dramas?”

“What is with your attitude!” the middle-aged man said angrily.

“If you don’t understand what I just said without emotions, you can realize what I mean. The reason you think hypnosis can kill people is that there are too many works of art that imply such things. Whether they are psychologists or psychiatrists, they are demons who can read into people’s minds and even manipulate their hearts, right?” The angrier the other party got, the calmer Lin Chen became.

“You dare say you can’t hypnotize them, then… Then what were you doing to that girl at the scene!”

“Do you mean like this?” Lin Chen spoke as he took two steps forward. He squatted down in front of the middle-aged woman, stretched out his fingers, and said to the woman, “Please follow my fingers with your eyes.”

As he spoke, he began to move the finger left, right, then up and down at a stable frequency.

At first, the middle-aged woman resisted a little, but slowly, her eyes began to move with Lin Chen’s finger.

The conference room was quiet again. After all, the psychologist was demonstrating a scene that was rarely seen with their own eyes, so everyone present watched with great curiosity.

Gradually, they discovered that the woman’s emotions calmed down at a speed visible to the naked eye.

But Butler Chen’s face became ugly.

Finally, Lin Chen retracted his hand, still with a calm demeanor, and asked, “How do you feel?”

The woman was a little dazed. “I…”

“Are you still conscious?”

“Yes… I feel…”

“It’s weird. You feel better, right?”

“This isn’t hypnosis. It’s just a desensitization technique that uses eye movement. It can reduce negative emotions and is mostly used for treating post-traumatic stress,” Lin Chen said. He patted the woman’s hand and stood up again.

The middle-aged woman clutched her chest, as if she were experiencing her emotions. Lin Chen didn’t say anything but took a few steps in the direction of Xing Conglian.

The woman suddenly raised her head and asked, “You… You… Do you have a number?”

“The therapists at the Psychology Counseling Center in Yongchuan University are more professional than me.” Lin Chen stopped, turned around and said lightly, “If you continue to have nightmares or feel daze, please seek professional help.”

Although this sentence seemed to be said to the middle-aged woman, in fact, he was directing it at all the victim’s family members that were present.

It was probably because Lin Chen’s attitude was neither humble nor overbearing that every word he spoke sounded reasonable. The victim’s family members who were throwing a fit over the suicide, stopped talking.

Some of them even looked at Lin Chen with their gaze changing from suspicion to trust.

Upon seeing this, the butler, who hadn’t spoken once, finally stood up. “Lin Chen, you’re really good at taking care of others… The question we’re obviously here to discuss is whether you hypnotized those students to commit suicide, yet you’re not performing any live psychotherapy? No matter how benevolent you act, your heart is still dirty!”

“I have already answered the question just now. That is not hypnosis.”

“Oh, a murderer would never say that he’s a murderer.”

“The truth is very simple. I can’t do this. I think the number of hypnotists that can do something like hypnotize someone to jump off a building and commit suicide can be counted on one hand. The fee for those people is more than a million U.S. dollars.”

The implication was that a hypnotist like that wouldn’t be so idle as to come to a school and hypnotize a few students.

However, when these words reached Butler Chen’s ears, he gave an intriguing look.

“In other words, you also admit that it’s possible to induce students to commit suicide through hypnosis.”

“Yes, yes. If it was a student suicide, the school would face a lawsuit with huge compensation demanded, but if it’s murder, the school’s responsibility will be much lighter,” Vice President Xu hurriedly agreed.

“Oh, don’t you remember what I said? It’s impossible.” Lin Chen sat down in the chair next to Xing Conglian. “It’s almost impossible to hypnotize others to commit a crime, let alone commit suicide.”

“I remember, Consultant Lin is a top student in the Department of Psychology, right? Is it impossible to hypnotize others to carry out criminal activities? Haven’t you heard of the Heidelberg incident?”

Hearing this, Lin Chen suddenly raised his head, and gave a smile. “You know about it? So you really made a lot of preparations in advance,” he said meaningfully. However, he didn’t give Butler Chen a chance to continue. “In the Heidelberg incident, a hypnotist did hypnotize Mrs. E and cause her to attempt to murder her husband, but if you carefully read the case file, you’ll find that Mrs. E actually behaved in a pained way during the process of committing the murder six times after being hypnotized. That is because the human subconscious will refuse to carry out things that violate moral concepts. If it’s forcibly ordered to be executed, it’s very likely to wake up the person from their hypnotic state, not to mention a life-threatening thing like suicide.”

Xu Guoqing was quite fascinated when he heard this, so he suddenly asked, “Then why did Mrs. E accept the influence and kill her husband?”

“Sorry, I can’t tell you exactly what kind of technique the hypnotist used to accomplish such a feat. I hope you can understand.” Lin Chen paused and then said, “But I can only say that the hypnotist had hypnotized her for several years as Mrs. E’s psychotherapist. I obviously don’t have such conditions or any connections with the deceased for several years, let alone the ability to complete such a complex hypnosis activity that finally induced them to commit suicide.”

Lin Chen ended his statement cleanly.

Everyone present was taken aback and left speechless. This statement was so clear and powerful that even Xu Guoqing felt there was something wrong with his hands as he couldn’t resist the urge to applaud.

“Oh!” Jiang Chao finally understood what Lin Chen meant. He thought for a while and then couldn’t help but ask, “But didn’t you say that hypnosis was an idea? What did you mean by that?”

“I said it’s not hypnosis in the traditional sense, but it is indeed an idea for solving this case.” As Lin Chen spoke, his gaze moved to the window.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

You can read about the Heidelberg incident here. Supposedly, a young girl named Anna Evan met “Dr. Bergen” on the train, who hypnotized her over the course of 7 years. During this time, he would ask her for money and sex for him and his friends. Later, when she married Mr. E, he tried to break up their strange relationship, resulting in Dr. Bergen trying to hypnotize her to kill her husband.

Despite poisoning and sabotaging the brakes on his motorcycle, Mr. E survived, and Dr. Bergen was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Ironically, during the course of Anna trying to kill her husband and failing, Dr. Bergen then tried to hypnotize her to induce suicide for fear she would go to the police, and that also failed. So… yeah.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 58

It was just an inference.

In this school, or rather, in this city, there were people who had lost themselves. Whether it was morality or law, those things could no longer restrain them, but this inference was certainly alarming.

The key question was, what was it that could make people lose themselves?

The music indicating the start of lunch had finally ended.

In the classroom of the psychology department on the third floor, Fu Hao was packing up his belongings. He glanced at the text message sent by Lin Chen earlier asking him to meet on the rooftop. He had just put down his phone and began to put the cable into his laptop bag when a student quietly walked up to him and mysteriously shouted, “Teacher Fu.”

The voice was extremely low and was so close to his ear that it caused Fu Hao to shrink back in fright. He cleared his throat and asked, “What’s wrong? It’s useless to ask to make up for your failing grade. For the CET-4 and CET-6 a passing grade is 60. Any lower and…”

“No, no.” The boy got closer and asked, “Who was that that just came to our class to listen to your lecture? Are you familiar with him?”

“Does this matter have anything to do with you?”

“I just saw a post on the school forum…”

“You’re on your phone during class! I’m deducting the usual points!” Fu Hao said smoothly. At the end, he suddenly came to a realization and asked, “What post?”

“If you don’t deduct the usual points, I’ll show you,” the boy said with a sly smile.

“Hurry up and show it to me!”

Fu Hao spread out his hand. The boy made a huff and stuffed the phone into it. “There.”

On the screen of the phone was Yongchuan University campus BBS. A post was pinned to the top by the moderator with only one word: “He”.

The person who made the post was probably well versed in the art of ambiguity. The more chaotic and unclear the content, the more interest it would garner.

Fu Hao glanced at the posting time. It was about 20 minutes ago, but the number of replies had already reached 200 and the number of clicks had exceeded 4,000.

Sure enough, there were little bastards playing on their phones while in class. Fu Hao sneered as he clicked on the post.

The conspiracy came quickly and caught him off guard.

There were only three photos in the main post, which happened to capture the scene before and after Xu Haozhen jumped off the building. However, the real protagonist of the photos wasn’t his dead shimei but his shixiong—Lin Chen.

Fu Hao stabilized his breathing and began to carefully observe the three photos.

In the first photo, his shixiong was standing on the rooftop, and his shimei, Xu Haozhen, was sitting on the edge of the rooftop. The girl looked back and seemed to be talking to his shixiong, but the composition of the photo was extremely clever. The shadow made his shixiong’s face look cold, as if he were indifferent to the girl’s words.

In the second photo, his shixiong’s position moved forward a bit, and Xu Haozhen had just jumped off the roof. His shixiong still maintained the posture of putting one hand in his pocket. This made it seem as if his shixiong had forced Xu Haozhen to jump off the building.

In the third photo, his shixiong was squatting over the edge of the flower bed in the square. The ground was covered with blood and messy flyers. A girl stood in front of him, terrified by the suicide and sobbing uncontrollably. The atmosphere was gloomy, and the picture showed his shixiong stretching out a finger to the girl as if he were doing something to her.

There was a strong suggestiveness in these photos, as if to say that someone happened to be at the scene of the crime when the suicide occurred, but that person not only didn’t prevent the tragedy from happening but was also indifferent to their death.

After the tragedy, the man went down to the square and did something strange to the witnesses.

Fu Hao felt that his palms had already begun to sweat heavily. These photos were so suggestive that even he almost ran wild with his imagination.

He sniffled and slowly scrolled down the post.

Sure enough, because of the suggestive hints, the replies underneath had made all kinds of speculations.

—-

3L: [Holy shit. Who is this? Why was he there at the crime scene?]

10L: [What’s wrong with him? LZ, don’t just post half-assed!]

17L: [In the third photo, what is that person doing? What is he doing with his fingers,? Is he hypnotizing her?]

19L: [Brother 17, you’re making me shiver.]

20L: [Yesterday, three corpses were found under the old banyan tree by the lake. It was terrible.……]

21L: [Like 17L said, it’s really like hypnosis…]

22L: [It makes sense! If it’s not hypnosis, then… If it’s not hypnosis… would they really be willing to jump?]

44L: [What, this isn’t suicide, and he’s a suspect?]

49L: [Who is the owner that could have taken these photos?]

—-

After Fu Hao read the reply on the first page, he only felt that his face was cold, as if the air seemed to be full of broken ice.

He hurriedly gave the boy back his phone, grabbed his laptop bag, and hurriedly rushed out of the classroom, even forgetting to take his own phone.

In the conference room of Yongchuan University, a few blocks away from the teaching building, there was another group looking at the same post.

“Excuse me, Captain Jiang, why did the police ignore such an obvious clue?” Xu Guoqing, the executive vice-president of Yongchuan University, half rose from his chair and tapped the table as he spoke in an aggressive tone.

Jiang Chao remained sitting and crossed his legs while he smoked a cigarette. “The investigation takes time…”

“It’s no wonder there has been no progress in the investigation. The Yongchuan Police are incompetent. We just had another suicide incident at school. Captain Jiang, you are to blame for this!”

Hearing this, Jiang Chao glanced at Xu Guoqing as if to say, “The management of your school isn’t good. There are always students committing suicide here and making such a mess for laozi. Laozi hasn’t asked you to settle accounts yet you’re here picking a fight now?”

Although internally there was a raging drama that had been heavily bombarding him for nearly half an hour and he was on the cusp of losing his patience, Jiang Chao still held back!

“The police will speed up their investigation,” he said.

“So, are you still using Lin Chen to help?”

Hearing someone interrupting him again, Jiang Chao looked impatiently in the direction of the noise.

At this time, he discovered that the door of the conference room had been opened at some point, and a middle-aged man in black stood at the doorway. Jiang Chao narrowed his eyes and felt that this man seemed a little familiar.

“Shouldn’t Vice Captain Jiang detain Lin Chen as a suspect until he finds out the full story?”

The man specifically added the vice when addressing him. Jiang Chao suddenly remembered this windbag. Who could it be except for the butler who had nothing to do except go out and look for trouble?

“Hey, why are you always haunting people*?” Jiang Chao couldn’t help but say what was in his heart.

*(阴魂不散) Idiom when jokingly used, refers to people following closely and chasing after others.

“This is a representative of the Board of Directors of Yongchuan University, so he had the right to speak on behalf of them,” Xu Guoqing added doggedly.

Jiang Chao smooshed the cigarette butt and said coldly, “Oh, the Board of Directors of Yongchuan University, just because there are a few photos, you’re telling me I should arrest people?” He thought this was ridiculous. “This post is obviously a trap set up for Consultant Lin. Did you even think about it? Who could possibly be in such a coincidental position that allowed them to take the photo of the scene of the crime and capture it from such an ulterior angle?”

“But this is indeed a clue. It’s possible that the photo was taken accidentally by a student who loves photography. Perhaps they are afraid of being suspected of having posted it anonymously on the forum. Moreover, take a step back. Why didn’t this person take photos of other people instead of just Lin Chen?”

“Shit…” Lin Chen was about to be conquered by such unreasonable logic, just like saying that being raped was because one was being too coquettish, and he had to find a reason for it.

Jiang Chao was left speechless for a while, so he continued to be conquered.

“Besides, isn’t the reply from the student below a theory? Hypnosis… If it was hypnosis, it’s indeed possible to get students to commit suicide willingly. Lin Chen is a disciple of our Principal Su, and his psychological knowledge is quite deep,” Xu Guoqing sneered.

Although Jiang Chao trusted Lin Chen, hypnosis was a possibility, and he had to pursue it. He touched his chin, took out his phone, and began to look for Xing Conglian’s number.

—-

Xing Conglian and Lin Chen walked down from the rooftop.

Wang Chao sat cross-legged at the top of the stairs, fiddling with his laptop.

Hearing the sounds of footsteps, he hurriedly turned his head and could see the faces of the other two, which frightened him. “What’s the matter, Captain? Why are you making such an ugly face?”

“Is there any clue about the entrance to the live broadcast website?” Xing Conglian asked.

“No, that person didn’t get back to me. I added 50 bitcoins and wanted to ask for the entrance to the next live broadcast, but there was still no response. Maybe they’re in a different time zone?”

“It’s also possible the other party is aware of your motivation,” Lin Chen said. “After all, it’s an illegal act. Although there’s anonymity protection, their vigilance should be very high.”

“A’Chen don’t scare me!” Wang Chao quickly took out his cap from his backpack and put it on. He pressed down the brim of the hat, as if he were afraid of being discovered.

“50 bitcoins is nearly 120,000 yuan. If you spend too much, the other party may indeed get suspicious.” Xing Conglian thought for a while and then said, “But this is the dark web where money is king. Add a reward again. Don’t be afraid. If the other party doesn’t respond, just continue posting it. Someone will take the bait.”

“Won’t there be too much fanfare?” Lin Chen asked.

“The more people who appear to have persistent perverted desire, the more aligned it will make us appear, so we won’t be easily suspected,” Xing Conglian stated confidently. He looked at Lin Chen, paused, and said, “After all, we don’t have much time.”

Looking at Xing Conglian’s appearance, it frightened Wang Chao, so he asked in a small voice, “Did something happen again?”

“Not yet.” Xing Conglian stretched out his hand and pulled the boy up from the ground. “But, just make the call.”

Wang Chao quickly understood. He pulled up his pants and asked, “Why did you suddenly change your mind? Is it really serious?”

“Just in case, we need to be prepared.”

Lin Chen could hear the two’s brief conversation because the stairwell was quiet.

Although Xing Conglian and Wang Chao didn’t deliberately try to avoid him when they spoke, the content of their conversation was vague. Looking at Xing Conglian’s appearance, it didn’t seem that he would explain things to him, so Lin Chen should’ve felt a sense of irritability for being excluded.

However, it was possible that Xing Conglian’s tone was too calm, or that the content of his speech was so preparatory that Lin Chen felt a strange sense of calm—even peace of mind.

He looked at Xing Conglian and wanted to speak when suddenly, at that moment, the sound of rapid footsteps came from downstairs.

He lowered his head and saw Fu Hao’s figure appear in the corner.

Fu Hao seemed extremely restless. Through the interval between the handrails of the stairs, Fu Hao saw him. He rushed up within a few steps, grabbed his hand, and said, “Shi… Shixiong, something happened!”

As if to respond to such a rapid and slightly frightened tone, the ringtone of Xing Conglian’s phone suddenly rang.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 57

It was almost noon. The bell that signaled lunch had not yet sounded, indicating the class before lunch was still in session.

The sun was shining down from above, creating large shadows between the two buildings. There was no one outside of campus.

The campus security had already begun to wash away the bloodstains in the student square, wetting the entire cobblestone pavement.

From the bottom of Teaching Building No. 3, they could occasionally hear the high and low voices of teachers giving lectures. The voices floated back and forth in the cold corridor, but there was no sense of activity. Because of the occasional clear sound of people’s voices, it made the surrounding area feel too quiet.

The old iron door on the roof of the top of the teaching building was pushed open once more.

At the place where Xu Haozhen jumped off the building, there were two police officers who were doing a final investigation. The sudden movement of the iron chain and the door caused the two of them to shudder violently.

They turned their heads and saw two people step into the sun.

“Xing… Captain Xing?” One of the police officers recognized the person and couldn’t help but sigh with relief.

“How’s the scene?” Xing Conglian walked in front of the two of them. He had clearly seen the live broadcast of the suicide. It was clear that there were no other people present on the rooftop, but he still wanted to ask this question.

The sunlight was blindingly bright. He raised his head and looked straight ahead. Because of the angle of the sunlight, the shadow of the teaching building on the opposite side had covered the surveillance camera on the roof of the other building. He had to look closely in order to find it.

The angle of the camera had been adjusted. It seemed as if everything was normal, as if it had never been modified in the first place.

“It should be suicide. Judging from the footprint analysis, there was no trace of shoving.” One of the police officers stood up as he replied.

It was just that although the police officer answered like that, he had a difficult expression on his face, and he looked hesitant to speak more.

Xing Conglian keenly noticed his slightly open mouth, so he asked, “What’s wrong? What happened just now?”

“This matter…” The police officer took off his hat and jerked his hair before putting it back on again. He looked irritable. “Just now, the school leaders came over and quarreled with Boss Jiang downstairs, saying that we’re incompetent and didn’t handle the case well to prevent the students from committing suicide…”

“Can we be blamed for this? This is on the school’s mental health resources,” The other police officer interjected.

Seeing the depressed looks of the two of them, who couldn’t hold back their complaints, they imagined that the quarrel downstairs was probably extremely fierce.

However, the school leaders wouldn’t just accuse the police without reason.

Xing Conglian didn’t ask but turned subconsciously to look for Lin Chen’s figure. As soon as he turned his head, he almost shouted in fright.

He didn’t know when Lin Chen had moved and was standing on the edge of the rooftop.

The long wind was fierce and passed across the sky. Lin Chen’s clothes and his hair were chaotically blown by the wind, as if the next moment he would be picked up by it.

Suddenly, a scene from a long time ago appeared in Xing Conglian’s mind.

It was also the same kind of wind and this kind of person. At that time, the railing on the bridge broke, and he watched as the young man in white plunged downward.

Xing Conglian’s face turned ashen. He took a few hurried steps forward and came quietly behind Lin Chen. Just as he was about to stretch out his hand and hook it around Lin Chen, it seemed as if Lin Chen had eyes on the back of his head as he suddenly turned around.

For a while, Xing Conglian and Lin Chen were extremely close, and the shadows cast by the building were like ink, obscuring Lin Chen’s face and making it unclear.

“It feels scary to stand here, right?” Lin Chen asked suddenly.

“You, come down first. Don’t do anything dangerous.”

Xing Conglian took another step forward, trying to grab onto him, but Lin Chen cleverly avoided his hand.

Because Xing Conglian was standing on the edge of the rooftop, he followed Lin Chen’s voice and subconsciously looked down.

The wind was getting stronger.

Looking down from that height, it felt much higher than he expected.

“Why do you think she was so happy to jump from here?” Lin Chen asked.

“You, come down first.”

“Actually, something like that exists.”

“Like what?”

“Something that excites you, makes you happy, makes you feel omnipotent, as if you can do anything, and makes it impossible for you to never leave it…”

As Lin Chen spoke, his dark eyes had a hint of brightness in them, as if there were light in them.

In Xing Conglian’s ears, there was only the sound of a strong wind. He looked at Lin Chen’s mouth and then at his expression. Knowing that Lin Chen was talking about something very important, he still couldn’t disparage the memories that kept infiltrating his mind.

Xing Conglian discovered that he was indeed afraid of what Lin Chen was saying.

He quickly stretched out his hand and held Lin Chen’s arm, trying to pull him away from the edge, but he missed again and lost Lin Chen’s figure from his sight.

The sense of fear was like a kiss from a viper, making it feel as if he had fallen into an ice chest that froze him solid.

“How does the adrenaline feel?”

A quiet voice came from under Xing Conglian.

Hearing this, Xing Conglian quickly lowered his head and found that Lin Chen was sitting on the edge of the rooftop.

The posture was exactly the same as Xu Haozhen’s before she jumped off the building.

Xing Conglian took a deep breath. He saw a sly smile on Lin Chen’s face, like a child who had succeeded in his prank. That smile disappeared in a flash, and Xing Conglian suddenly felt the urge to drag him home and beat him severely.

It was just that this idea of punishment also passed in a flash.

“Exhilarating,” Xing Conglian said coldly.

It was exciting; very exciting. Too exciting.

Xing Conglian’s voice was low, like the dull sound of ice rubbing against each other as they floated in the sea.

Lin Chen turned his head and saw that Xing Conglian’s expression was terrible. He held an obvious fear in his eyes.

He hurriedly turned around, grabbed the edge of the roof, and wanted to get up. The next second, his eyes went dark, and he only felt a huge force coming from his waist before he landed on the hard concrete ground.

Lin Chen’s knees went weak, and he subconsciously held onto Xing Conglian’s chest as he took two deep breaths.

Xing Conglian was silent.

Lin Chen let go of his hand and raised his head quickly, only to see that Xing Conglian’s eyes had changed to a dark green color and his pupils were enlarged. His complexion was livid, and his aura was terrifying.

That was something Lin Chen had never seen before.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have used you as a reference.” He hurriedly apologized.

Lin Chen’s gesture was sincere, and his voice was soft enough that Xing Conglian couldn’t get angry. “Reference what? What you were talking about just now? Why do I feel as if you’re talking about some kind of drug?”

“In fact, it’s very similar. The physiological mechanism of drugs is to activate the euphoric center of the brain, stimulating the rapid release of dopamine and giving rise to that euphoric feeling. Norepinephrine*, for example, will excite your peripheral nerves and cause your heart to beat faster, making you excited.” Lin Chen pushed Xing Conglian away and took two steps back from the edge of the rooftop. “Whether it’s Wang Shishi or Xu Haozhen, they all looked extremely happy and satisfied when they died.”

*Another term for noradrenaline. It’s an organic chemical in the brain and body that mobilizes the brain and body for action.

“But I remember that in the autopsy report, there was no mention of alcohol or drugs being detected in their bodies,” Xing Conglian said.

“From a psychological point of view, it’s not just drugs and alcohol. When you consume food, fall in love, or even have sex, the brain will secrete these substances to make you happy and give you that ‘high’ feeling. This is the essential mechanism of human addiction,” Lin Chen said. “Pleasure is something that humans can’t refuse. In order to continuously pursue such a pleasant and stimulating feeling, many people begin to drink alcohol, take drugs, and increase their promiscuity…”

“So Wang Shishi and Xu Haozhen are both pursuing the ultimate pleasure, even the pleasure of death?” Xing Conglian suddenly remembered the expressions of the three young people who looked like they were lost in ecstasy in the sex tape. Indeed they weren’t only providing a sense of pleasure for those on the dark web, but they themselves were also enjoying such extreme pleasure.

Thinking of this, Xing Conglian shuddered.

“However, the question is whether everyone dares to deviate from normal moral norms and dare to pursue that kind of pleasure. Otherwise, the workload of the police will increase exponentially.” Lin Chen was no longer making a fuss. He didn’t wait for Xing Conglian to ask questions but just explained it. “You can use Freud’s most classic psychodynamic theory to explain this problem.” Lin Chen paused for a moment and met Xing Conglian’s gaze. “Our personality is divided into ‘id’, ‘ego’ and ‘super-ego’*. For example, the ‘id’ is at the bottom of the personality and is composed of innate instincts and desires. You can think of it as a wild horse. The ‘super-ego’ is the top level of the personality, following moral principles and suppressing the impulses of the ego, as if it were the rule of the road. Finally, the ‘ego’ is in the center. You can think of the ego as the rider who’s riding on the wild horse. If there is a problem with the rider, the wild horse will go on a rampage and disregard the rules, resulting in mental illness…”

*Set of three concepts in psychoanalytic theory describing distinct, interacting agents in the psychic apparatus. You can read more about it in the Wikipedia but basically, the id is the innate desire that acts based on pleasure principle, the super-ego reflects and internalizes cultural rules of society, while the ego regulates and balance the two by acting according to reality principle (i.e. it seeks to pleasure the id through realistic means conforming to the super-ego).

Xing Conglian suddenly understood what Lin Chen meant. “In other words, Wang Shishi and the others were unable to regulate themselves, making them addicted to the pursuit of the ‘id’ desires?”

“Do you still remember the earth-shattering changes that happened to them?” Lin Chen asked.

“You mean…”

“They have lost themselves. The Xu Haozhen you see is not the real Xu Haozhen.”

The sun was blocked by the clouds, pushing the shadows forward, and the wind was biting cold.

Xing Conglian was momentarily speechless. He eventually stabilized his breathing and then asked, “Why?”

What was it that could cause humans to lose themselves?

Lin Chen didn’t answer this question because any answer related to it was extremely dangerous. He looked at the woods in the distance and the sparking lake at the end.

At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the end of class.

Suddenly, music from the radio began to play, signifying the start of lunch. At first, it was just a slight piano sound, as if dew was dripping from the branches. Gradually, the noise became more intense and high-pitched, like countless streams converging and colliding. They blended together and tore each other apart before finally rushing into the sea.

“Please be sure to remind Jiang Chao that the people we’re about to face act in pursuit of instinctive pleasure, without shame, without morality, and may even become lawless…” Lin Chen said.

“The next live broadcast will be very dangerous, right?”

Lin Chen looked down at the campus under his feet and said, “Yes, they aren’t even afraid of the gun in your hand, but do you dare shoot them?”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Reminds me of adrenaline junkies, though it doesn’t seem to be listed as an addiction.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 56

“Of course he’s an idiot. He doesn’t understand the rules at all. How can you ask  something like that directly?! Generally, these kinds of websites have a very high degree of exclusion, and internal members have fixed chat rooms,” Wang Chao said haughtily. “Okay, Captain, look at the previous comments. Is it clear that this live broadcast has a fee?”

Hearing this, Xing Conglian glanced at Lin Chen and said, “I’ll adjust the recording content.”

Lin Chen knew that Xing Conglian was worried he would be psychologically uncomfortable watching Xu Haozhen jump off the building again, so he said, “Don’t worry about me. After repeated stimulation, the psychological threshold will become higher, and it’s not so easy to get emotional.”

Xing Conglian frowned but still complied. He slowly dragged the recording back to the beginning.

“I’m afraid not only does it charge, but there are also rewards.” Xing Conglian pressed the pause button and pointed at a message in an indistinguishable language. “Here’s a reward for 10 bitcoins asking for more violent performances.”

“Shit, they’re rich!” When Wang Chao heard this, he stretched out his hand to cover the suicide recording and then took a closer look at the chat box. “It’s really 10 bitcoins. That’s 25,000 yuan!”

“Is the exchange rate that high?” Lin Chen was a little surprise.

“Yes, bitcoin is used as a common electronic currency on the deep web. Because it’s encrypted and has good anonymity, many users use it, so the exchange rate between it and real currency has been continuously rising…” Wang Chao’s voice sounded cold. He paused then said, “It also indicates business in the underground world is getting bigger and better, haa.”

“Wait, didn’t you just say you were offering a reward of 100 bitcoins on the forum?” Xing Conglian suddenly remembered something. “You just spent 250,000 of laozi’s money?!”

“Captain, take a good look at the messages and don’t mind the small details, okay?” Wang Chao said angrily. “For the efficiency of solving the case, a little money is nothing at all!”

“Well, money is for those who actually work hard and make a difference.”

Wang Chao: “……”

“So, someone has offered a reward if they can see more violent content? Have the website manager respond to the invitation?” Lin Chen interrupted the conversation between the two and pulled the topic back to its original place.

More violent content?

If this website was not only on demand but also took requests from the audience for more content, then if the bounty was high enough to satisfy the owner of the website, would there really be more violent and bloody content than the live broadcast of three people jumping off a building?

Lin Chen didn’t dare to think about it.

“I’m afraid money can make the devil push the millstone for you*.” Xing Conglian’s finger crossed another message, and his face turned ugly. “This person said this live broadcast was very satisfactory and more exciting than the last live burial…”

*(有钱能使鬼推磨) Idiom referring to if you have money, someone will do it for you (AKA money makes the world go round).

Lin Chen looked at the screen. It was another message that was in an indistinguishable language. “What kind of language is this? Is there any relevant content before and after?”

“It’s Norwegian. I remember another message mentioning the word buried alive.”

Lin Chen was shocked. Xing Conglian’s linguistic competency seemed to go beyond the sky.

After all, he himself had never had any linguistic training, and his English only improved after he was admitted to university and was exposed to various literature. Therefore, he was at a loss for words when faced with a god like Xing Conglian, who seemed to be proficient in Russian, French, Arabic, and even a niche language like Norwegian.

Xing Conglian scanned the chat box, where text was flowing like water. He suddenly stopped. “Here.”

However, after he finished speaking, he paused, as if the content of the message in front of him was incomprehensible.

“What does it say?” Lin Chen asked.

Xing Conglian glanced at him, shook his head slightly, and stabilized his breathing. “It’s saying that last time he watched the buried alive video, he came.”

As if a cold air had just blown above him, it rushed down Lin Chen’s spine, rendering him speechless. He looked at the dark website as if he were staring into a bottomless, dark world.

Suddenly he understood why Wang Chao wanted to avoid the dark web that was full of snakes and scorpions*.

*(蛇蝎) Metaphor referring to terrible/evil people.

This was an underground kingdom that couldn’t be regulated and was filled with countless violent criminals and psychopaths.

“So these three cases are really deeply related.” It took a long time before Lin Chen found his voice. “The question is, what about next time?”

Judging from the live broadcast, from the three people being buried alive to the jumping incident, the level of violence was constantly increasing. Among them, there had to be a deeper intention on the part of the broadcaster to grab more benefits. The problem was that this case was full of insufficient information. They were waiting for another case to occur without any recourse to prevent it.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling window, the campus of Yongchuan University was still quiet and peaceful. Occasionally, young men and women holding books walked beneath the shade provided by the trees. They talked and laughed, feeling comfortable and relaxed, but perhaps among those students, some had penetrated deep into the darkest side of the online world and were wearing dual identities. The hungry and thirsty perverts of the dark web were performing a play at the cost of lives, while the rest were lucky not to know what kind of darkness was breeding on this campus.

“Can you contact the person who gave you entrance to this website again?” Xing Conglian knocked on the table as he asked Wang Chao.

“Probably, if I have enough money. I’ll try a few hundred thousand to see if it works?” Wang Chao asked tentatively.

Xing Conglian was noncommittal and only said, “Try to enter their private forum. It’s better if you can determine the time when their next live broadcast will start.” He paused, then asked Lin Chen, “Do you have any clues?”

Lin Chen held the coffee cup, took a sip, and retracted his gaze from the boys and girls on campus.

“There are two questions. First, why did these incidents take place on the campus of Yongchuan University. Second, what motivated these people to give up their lives willingly?”

Rather than murder, it looked like suicide, and because it was willing, it was even more creepy.

“Why?” Wang Chao slumped on the table depressingly. “Is there any clues that can be investigated now other than letting me fish and skirt around the law?”

Xing Conglian thought for a moment, then said, “It’s now certain that the first live burial incident was also a suicide, and as you inferred before, it was the deceased who dug the grave with his own hands, so there must have been someone who covered the last person…”

In other words, there had to be witnesses or accomplices.

“But it’s also possible that that person, or those people, have already committed suicide,” Lin Chen said coldly.

The problem stopped here, and they once again fell into a dead end.

Like the dead Cheng Weiwei, it was very likely that the person who covered the last layer of soil also became a corpse that could no longer speak before they were found.

That person could perhaps be Jiang Liu, or maybe Xu Haozhen, or possibly even the boy who had jumped with them, or even all three of them together.

“Ah, my head hurts so much.” After thinking about it for a long time, Wang Chao couldn’t help but bang his head on the table distressingly.

Once the deep web was involved, it was as if he had been shackled and all his powers were emptied out.

“Actually, there’s another clue that isn’t really a clue.”

Lin Chen held the teenager’s forehead and took out three sheets of thin paper from his pocket. Those were the personality test profiles he had previously pulled out of Wang Shishi’s, Jiang Liu’s, and Xu Haozhen’s files.

“Although we’re no longer able to communicate with the dead, they have left some psychological imprints.”

“What’s this?” Wang Chao cranked his neck and watched Lin Chen arrange the three pieces of paper in order on the table. There were numbers and zigzag lines connecting them printed on it, making it look like an electrocardiogram.

“MMPI, by far the most widely used personality test in the world. It’s mostly used to identify mental illnesses.”

“I mean, if they’re committing suicide, if it’s not mental problems, then what could it be?”

Lin Chen glanced at the psychological files in front of him and said, “Unfortunately, the results of their personality test when they enrolled in school show that the mental health of the three of them was healthy.”

“Is it accurate…” The teenager smacked his lips.

Hearing what Wang Chao said, Lin Chen lowered his eyes and looked at the data again.

In fact, when he first saw the personality profile curves of the three of them, he was also extremely surprised. Whether it was hypochondriasis, depression, psychosis, paranoia, mental weakness… The indicators of the three girls were all within the normal range. Their SI was the only thing that came close to an outlier, which he found odd.

“What do you think of this?” Xing Conglian asked suddenly.

“It’s simple. The upper line is 70 points, and the lower line is 30 points. 50 is the middle value. The closer to 70, the more abnormal.”

“Then what does this SI mean?”

“Social introversion.”

“Introverted personality?” Xing Conglian rubbed the stubble on his chin. “This point seems to fluctuate a lot. It’s very close to 70, which means…”

“It means that the three of them are introverted, timid, withdrawn, unsociable, yield easily, and would get nervous easily…”

Thinking about the bubbly and cheerful girl at the Tianren Club that day, Xing Conglian flashed an incredulous look. “This is not like Xu Haozhen.”

“But it’s the same as their state when they enrolled in school. I’ve seen their self-introduction videos. How to put it. They are extremely timid and quite introverted.”

“But if they’re all introverted girls, how would they dare to do such a deviant thing?”

“No, in fact, the personalities of the three of them have undergone major changes during college. This is the only clue I can grasp now.”

“What prompted them to change?” Xing Conglian was keenly aware of the key point.

“Rather, the question we should be asking is, did the reason for their change also cause them to commit suicide?” Lin Chen said.

Did such a thing exist?

Something that could energize you, transform you, and make you feel like a brand new person every day but at the same time was extremely evil, like a drug that would make you willingly pay with your life.

“Let’s go back to the rooftop and have a look,” Lin Chen said.

When the three of them left the café, Wang Chao deliberately fell to the end. When the revolving door turned, he suddenly grabbed Xing Conglian just as it separated them from Lin Chen.

“Captain, I’m afraid this is a big multinational case. Do you want to notify the ICPO?”

“No need for the time being,” Xing Conglian replied as he looked at Lin Chen’s back.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

I’ve never seen social introversion abbreviated with SI… but in fact, there is an abbreviation in psychology that uses SI to refer to suicidal ideation, often called suicidal thoughts/ideas. It’s a broad term used to describe a range of contemplations, wishes, and preoccupations with death and suicide, which is quite applicable to this chapter.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 55

Probably extremely frightened, Wang Chao quickly came.

Lin Chen waited at the entrance of the school for a while and saw a taxi speeding in the distance. The teenager jumped out of the taxi; his face was extremely pale, his footsteps were floating, and his palms were full of sweat.

After he got out of the car, his first action was to shove the laptop into Xing Conglian’s hand and yell, “Captain, take it away from me.”

For a teen like Wang Chao, who was good at technology, had a cheerful nature, and spent his days dominating the internet, it was rare to encounter such an issue that could make him this frightened.

Given the current state of the teenager, it wasn’t suitable to talk about the case right now. Lin Chen took him to the small café at the school instead.

This was usually a place for professors and lecturers to talk about research ideas. Few students would come here. The environment was quiet and elegant, but the main points were the floor-to-ceiling windows and the large soft sofas, which were warm and relaxing.

Lin Chen ordered a cup of hot cocoa. After he served the boy the hot drink that was sprinkled with chocolate chips on top, the boy’s pale face slightly improved.

The sun was warm, dispelling the spring cold.

Wang Chao held the porcelain cup and took a sip of the hot drink. He felt the sun’s rays falling on him, gradually warming his hands and feet.

On the opposite sofa, Lin Chen and Xing Conglian sat together, quietly waiting for the young man to calm down.

After a while, Wang Chao put down the porcelain cup and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Seeing his face turning red, Xing Conglian leaned forward slightly, rested his elbows on the coffee table, and gently said, “Tell me, how did you find them?”

“Cause I’m smart!” Wang Chao sniffled and motioned for Xing Conglian to turn on the laptop.

“The privacy of the deep web means I can’t use the usual retrieval methods to search for the videos I want. Even if I write a program, it’ll be an absolute torture to solve the problem, and the Captain didn’t give me that much time to write such a long program. Then, I suddenly had a flash of inspiration. In a place like the dark web, there’s one thing that can do everything!”

“What?”

“Money!”

The teenager rubbed his fingers very slickly. It seemed that his reliance was quite amazing.

“On the deep web, there’s a special reward website. If you have the money, you can commit any kind of crime, including murder and arson, so I gave it a shot. I posted the photos taken by Wang Shishi’s mother and offered a reward of 100 bitcoins. I was looking for the original video and the website it was posted on. Soon, someone sent me a private message saying this was a live broadcast website, and they gave me the entrance to it.” Wang Chao paused and took another sip of hot cocoa. “Captain, you pay this money.”

Xing Conglian couldn’t help smacking Wang Chao on the head. “Don’t keep people in suspense.”

“Oh, let me familiarize the deep web for you. Most websites require a special entrance to enter, and some places can even change locations with a click of a button. Only long-term members can enter. When I saw the entrance, the first thing I felt was that this website was engaged in some shady business.” To prove what he said was true, Wang Chao reentered the website at this time, but there was no webpage displayed. “When I entered, the website had already started a live broadcast. The angle of the video was very high. It seems someone had hacked into the surveillance of the school system. Then I happened to see someone jumping off the roof from the top of one of the buildings.”

“Did you take a recording?” Xing Conglian asked.

“I did.” The teenager’s response was unusually solemn.

He opened another video, which was on a website that was almost all black. At the top of the website were two bright words: “Blood Video”.

The structure of the entire website was extremely simple. It only had a live broadcast screen in the middle, a simple message bar on the left, and a cluster of golden flowers at the bottom.

Lin Chen’s gaze was fixed on the live broadcast.

After all, this was a surveillance video. The pixels weren’t high. The particles in the picture were very large, but the picture was still distinguishable. The location of the video was the No. 3 teaching building of Yongchuan University and the student square below.

Lin Chen recalled the arrangement of the entire school’s teaching buildings. Wang Chao was right. This was recorded by a surveillance camera on the roof of building No. 4.

Wang Chao entered a little late. The first video he recorded was a girl in purple jumping down from the roof. The girl was fluttering, like a butterfly, and had a graceful posture as she fell in the air before heavily smacking into the ground.

That was the scene where Jiang Liu jumped off the roof.

What was even more terrifying was that after Jiang Liu fell, the live video even switched cameras, and the picture became a close-up of the pool of blood. The girl’s head was bleeding as she lied motionless on her back on the cobblestone pavement as blood trickled away.

The expressions of the students on the sidelines were all dumbfounded. Some even squatted on the ground, vigorously covering their ears with their mouths wide open. There was no sound in the picture, but he could clearly tell that those people were screaming at the top of their lungs.

Looking at those horrified expressions, Lin Chen suddenly realized the live broadcast had even switched the surveillance camera screen to make the stream smoother, like a silent movie.

This wasn’t a simple suicide video. This was a carefully planned live broadcast of death.

Outside, the sunlight in the spring was warm, and the heating was on in the café, but all Lin Chen felt was cold in his heart.

He couldn’t help but look at the person next to him.

Xing Conglian was expressionless, but his eyes were moving up and down quickly, as if he were reading something.

Lin Chen moved his gaze to the message bar on the left side of the live broadcast screen and then realized that Xing Conglian had been watching the quickly refreshed messages.

Those dialogues flowed like water, making them dizzying to look at. Not only did it include Chinese and English, but there were also Arabic and even Russian, as well as some statements in a language he couldn’t distinguish.

Lin Chen glanced at Xing Conglian again, somewhat surprised. Looking at his appearance, he seemed to be unhindered reading these statements.

“What are the messages saying?” Lin Chen asked.

Hearing this, Xing Conglian didn’t answer but only pressed his hand, as if to say, “Wait a minute.”

At this moment, Lin Chen’s breathing stagnated. He saw himself appear in the picture.

Xu Haozhen was sitting on the edge of the rooftop; her feet were dangling in the air. When she heard the movement of the iron gate being pushed open, she turned her head.

It was an eerie feeling that made all the hairs on his body stand up. When Lin Chen saw the man who was walking slowly on the rooftop, he almost wanted to shout at himself, “Don’t be slow. Rush over. Rush over. You still have a chance to save her!”

However, this was already an established fact and couldn’t be changed by regret.

He watched himself come to a halt not far behind the girl and watched as the girl turned her head and showed a contented smile.

In his ears, the voice at that time came to him.

He heard her say, “Shixong, you must refuel!”

As if there were a big hand squeezing his heart tightly, causing him extreme pain, Lin Chen couldn’t help but lower his head and cover his face.

At that moment, he suddenly realized that no matter how much he tried to comfort himself, in the end it was just self-deception. He truly regretted it.

He wanted to save her, but there was nothing he could do.

It would be nice if time could be reversed.

Sitting under the warm sunlight, Xing Conglian saw the girl sitting on the edge of the rooftop and jumped down.

Even when the screen was dimmed, the reflection was a little harsh. He saw Lin Chen standing on the roof of the building with one hand half-stretched out as if he were trying to hold something but, in the end, stopped.

At the end of the video, it was fixed on Lin Chen. The young man wearing white seemed transparent under the bright sunshine and blue sky. He seemed to exude a powerful, crushing cold.

Xing Conglian turned his head somewhat stiffly and saw that Lin Chen was no longer looking at the video. He had his hands covering his face and was hunched over silently.

Xing Conglian wanted to reach out and put his arm around Lin Chen’s shoulders, but his hand also stopped half way out, just like Lin Chen… Because he found that Lin Chen’s posture was like a statue. He didn’t even tremble, so he wasn’t crying.

Indeed, this was Lin Chen. The Lin Chen who didn’t even need relief.

Xing Conglian retracted his hand and signaled to the waiter.

After a long time. Lin Chen felt someone patting him on the shoulder.

He raised his head, and his vision was filled with the sharp, handsome face of a young, mixed-race man. Because he was covering his face for so long, his vision became blurred.

A cup of hot coffee was stuffed into his hand.

Perhaps it was due to the heat that diffused from it, but he only felt the sight in his eyes was very beautiful. It had a touch of blue and green, like the mountains and the sea, and was basked in sunlight. It was so captivating and gentle that it made it impossible for him to find the right words to describe it.

Then, he heard Xing Conglian’s low voice.

He said, “It’s said that caffeine can stimulate dopamine secretion. That is to say, it will make you feel happier.”

For an instant, Lin Chen was dumbfounded.

What an asshole. Even the words of comfort were copied word for word.

The coffee in his hand was hot. He took a big sip, and it stung from his throat all the way to his stomach, as if he were downing hard liquor.

It was so hot that it hurt, but it felt real.

“Sorry, I was a little overwhelmed just now,” Lin Chen said.

Xing Conglian stared at him, only to feel that this sentence was too frank without any pretense. It was so sincere that it made it hard for people to respond to it. Xing Conglian felt that he should go to Italy to improve his coaxing ability…

Naturally, Consultant Lin didn’t know what the captain was thinking. He quickly packed up his emotions, and said to Wang Chao, “This website was closed after the suicide was broadcast live?”

Only then did little comrade Wang Chao come back to his senses. He looked at Lin Chen’s slightly pale face and said with concern, “Yeah, this stupid website is closed. A’Chen, are you okay? Do you want a hug?”

“I’m fine.” Lin Chen couldn’t help but rub Wang Chao’s head. He then asked, “What kind of website is this? Is it profitable?”

“It seems to charge people, but I didn’t spend any money to get in. It may be that the person who gave me entrance paid for me, so I just needed to follow a link and click it.”

Hearing this, Xing Conglian nodded, as if he approved of Wang Chao’s speculation.

As Wang Chao spoke, Xing Conglian pointed to the last content of the message board and said, “Someone here asked about the entrance to the next live broadcast and how to purchase it.”

Lin Chen followed along Xing Conglian’s finger and found that the message was in Russian, and underneath there seemed to be two responses in French.

“Did anyone answer?”

“No, they’re calling the Russian guy a fool…”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Hoo boy, don’t get me started on bitcoin. In 2016, when this novel was written, 100 BTC were equivalent to $37,500 USD. At its current value of this translation, it’s worth 1.67 million USD. At the peak of BTC, that was equivalent to 6.5 million USD. Well, I guess $37,500 isn’t so bad, but if that person kept their BTC for just 6 years, they would’ve become a millionaire.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 54

On the student square, Jiang Chao’s men controlled the field. The onlookers gradually dispersed, but there were still some stubborn students who were still standing on the outermost edge of the cordon, looking around, refusing to leave.

Vice Captain Jiang got out of the police car. He had received a report that another fucking student had jumped off a building at Yongchuan University, making a total count of three. When he saw the students didn’t listen to the police’s orders, combined with the three corpses they had in the wings, he was furious. He sneered and shouted to the students outside the cordon, “Come here. Since you seem to have so much free time, come and make a statement. None of you are allowed to leave!”

After Jiang Chao finished speaking, he gave a wink to the policeman who was maintaining order, who then ordered a group of policemen to surround the remaining students.

Since they were ordinary students, seeing such an onslaught, they suddenly fled in all directions.

The square abruptly became empty. Although they didn’t know how many people were watching in the surrounding buildings as the police collected evidence, at least the area finally quieted down.

As soon as things got quiet, a faint cry sounded.

Jiang Chao followed the noise and found several girls sitting in a flowerbed by the square, crying.

They were several officers of the student council. When Xu Haozhen and the other two jumped off the building, they were standing in the most central position and were overly frightened. Two policewomen were there with them, patting them on the back as they tried to ask them questions.

Behind the flower bed, Lin Chen and Xing Conglian were standing there. They were very close to each other and was having a conversation that couldn’t be heard.

Jiang Chao thought for a while, but in the end, he still went around the flower bed and patted Lao Xing on the shoulder.

“I must say, Lao Xing, you’re too cruel. Those little girls are crying like that, yet you don’t go comfort them and help take a statement or something!”

Jiang Chao didn’t realize how hard he had smacked Xing Conglian, but it caught him off guard and almost made him fall into the flower bed.

“Keep your voice down.” Xing Conglian turned his head and saw Jiang Chao staring at Lin Chen. It was obvious that he had different intentions*. He made a silent gesture to Jiang Chao and pulled the man back.

*The drunkard’s intentions lies not in the wine (醉翁之意不在酒) Idiom referring to having a ulterior motive.

“Those little girls in your department are asking good questions. Just listen quietly.”

“This is stifling. I have to ask, when will he go? Can you do me a favor and have Consultant Lin collect some statements? It’s best if they include awesome details!” Jiang Chao leaned close to Xing Conglian’s ears and whispered. He had seen the files of the “Candy Bandit” case. Lin Chen’s ability to evoke sporadic memories from a witness with just a single phone call was simply amazing.

He wanted to say more, but a slightly cold voice sounded in his ears.

“Actually, I don’t need to.” Lin Chen crossed his arms and stood in front of Jiang Chao and said, “I’m a witness. I watched Xu Haozhen jump off the rooftop with my own eyes.”

Jiang Chao dug in his ears, thinking that he had a hearing problem.

Xing Conglian’s gaze swept across Lin Chen’s face. Though his face looked solemn and his eyes were clear, his complexion was extremely pale. Xing Conglian suddenly regretted that he hadn’t taken Lin Chen away from the scene just now.

“You—What’s going on?” Jiang Chao immediately pulled the two away and asked in a low voice.

“At that time, I was in the classroom of the psychology department. I received a call from Captain Xing saying that Jiang Liu had appeared and gone to the teaching building where I was. When I hung up the phone, someone had already jumped off the building. It was the boy. Thinking of the previous case, I was afraid things wouldn’t be so simple. Soon, another person jumped off the building again. When I rushed to the rooftop, I happened to see Xu Haozhen sitting on the edge of the building.”

Lin Chen’s words were concise as he briefly described to Jiang Chao what happened.

Although he spoke briefly, Jiang Chao felt goosebumps all over his body. “You just said that Xu Haozhen jumped in front of you?”

“Yes.”

“Did… she say anything at the end?”

“She did.”

“What did she say?”

“She said, shixiong, farewell. You must refuel.”

Lin Chen’s tone was very flat, and his voice was a little cold as he fully stated what he heard at that time.

Jiang Chao’s eyes widened, and he felt the creeps. “Isn’t this sick? Who would ask someone to refuel before committing suicide? Refuel what?”

“I don’t know.” Lin Chen’s mind was full of the girl’s smile before she ended her life.

How could he put it? Xu Haozhen was sober at the time. She coherently knew what she was doing, and she was delighted from the bottom of her heart, as if she could sublimate her life and soul by jumping off the building.

“Holy shit…” Jiang Chao rubbed his arms and couldn’t help but curse. “Is this school cursed? It’s not just one or two, but six people have died!”

“I’m afraid there’s no sorcery at work here. Xu Haozhen really died, and she had planned this for a long time. Two hours before she jumped off the building, I met with her. At that time, she deliberately said goodbye to me…”

“Then why didn’t you…” When Jiang Chao heard this, he wanted to speak, but was glared at by Xing Conglian. Seeing that, he abruptly swallowed back his words.

“How come I didn’t notice her suicidal tendencies?” Lin Chen faintly looked at Xing Conglian.

“In fact, there’s still a problem with this case,” Xing Conglian interrupted Lin Chen, not giving him the opportunity to continue. “Just now, there were too many people gathered in the square. The officers of the student council were organizing activities to find Jiang Liu. Lao Jiang knows that we didn’t entrust the student council to mobilize teachers and students to find her. Even the news of Jiang Liu’s disappearance was only known to a few. Why was it so coincidental that those three kids would choose to commit suicide at this point in time, in such a densely crowded place?”

Lin Chen raised his head and looked at Xing Conglian, speechless.

On the flower bed in the distance, the girls were still sobbing. The missing person flyers all over the ground looked as if it were a silent mockery.

Lin Chen bent down and picked up one that landed at his feet. Jiang Liu in the photo was smiling brightly, just like Xu Haozhen.

He finally looked at Jiang Chao, nodded, and said, “I’ll do it.”

Xing Conglian was slightly startled.

The amount of information just now was too large. Jiang Chao felt that his brain was already fried, so he just nodded and saw Lin Chen turn around and walk towards the girls by the flowerbed.

“I… I really can’t remember.” The girl’s interment crying came with the wind. “Please don’t ask me, okay?”

Lin Chen walked up to the girl, squatted down, and gazed at her flushed eyes.

Before the people around him could react, his hand was already gently touching the girl’s eyes. His voice was soft and quiet, but tender enough to soothe the trauma. “I don’t need you to answer any questions. Please close your eyes, take three deep breaths with me, and then open your eyes, okay?”

The girl sobbed for a while, then nodded.

“One, inhale…”

“Two, exhale…”

“Three, please open your eyes.”

Lin Chen’s hand moved away from the girl’s eyes.

The girl opened her eyes, and there was a finger in front of her. That finger was very thin and white. Then she heard someone in front of her say, “Please look at my finger and gaze to the right.”

Despite the fact that she had no idea what was going on, the girl couldn’t help but stare at the finger and look to the right obediently. Then, her gaze followed the finger again and slowly moved to the left.

Jiang Chao stood on tiptoe, looking at Lin Chen, who was squatting on the ground and was slowly moving his finger. He tugged hard on Xing Conglian and asked in a low voice, “What is he doing?”

“Didn’t you want him to ask questions? It’s probably a technique to calm people down.” There was a bit of coldness in Xing Conglian’s voice that he himself didn’t even notice.

Time passed for about half a minute, and the surrounding area became silent.

Lin Chen’s slowly moving finger finally stopped.

“If you feel better now, can you answer a few questions for me? You can just nod,” he said.

The girl was strangely calm. She sniffled twice, and most of her original resistance disappeared.

“You… can ask.”

Seeing this, Jiang Chao became extremely excited and tugged at Xing Conglian again. “It looks like hypnosis. This is amazing.”

“Why were you handing out flyers here? Who told you to come?”

Lin Chen’s voice hadn’t fallen yet, but another girl sitting next to the one he was questioning suddenly let out a howling cry. “It’s… It was Senior Xu who asked us to do this. She said—she said…”

The policewoman on the side hurriedly handed over a tissue. Lin Chen didn’t speak but just looked at the girl in front of him quietly.

“Senior Xu?”

“Senior… Xu said… Jiang Liu is missing, and her situation might be dire. As her classmates, we can help a little…”

“Senior Xu, as in Xu Haozhen?”

The girl nodded. Her eyes filled with tears again. “Did Senior Xu deliberately deceive us and let us watch her commit suicide?”

Looking at the girl in pain in front of him, Lin Chen didn’t answer. He slowly stood up, took out a pen from his pocket, then opened the palm of the girl’s hand and wrote down a string of numbers.

“This is the number to the counseling center at school. You must find professional help.”

As he spoke, he looked at the policewoman on the flowerbed. “Later, please make sure to send them to see a psychiatrist.”

——

After the noise, there was only silence until death.

The number of people in the square gradually decreased. Lin Chen remained silent the entire time. While Jiang Chao presided over the work, Xing Conglian left quietly with Lin Chen from the square.

It was class time, so there were no students around campus. Everything seemed too quiet.

Unknowingly, the two walked to the edge of the big lake.

The sky was shining brightly above them, glistening the entire lake surface, which gave it a weird misty halo that gently floated on the lake.

The banyan tree was still full of branches and leaves. Under the tree, there were many commemorative garlands, and even candles that were spontaneously lit by students. The candles hadn’t burned out yet, and their candlelight gently swayed.

Xing Conglian patted Lin Chen on the shoulder, but he didn’t know what to say.

Just after Lin Chen had spoken with the police officer just now, he had remained silent the entire time.

For 18- or 19-year-old college students, witnessing someone commit suicide was probably the most horrible thing they would experience in their lives.

But what about Lin Chen? His shimei had leapt to her death just a few steps away from him. He had failed to save her. Any normal person would blame himself and be in anguish.

In fact, it was clear even now that Lin Chen didn’t want to make a statement because he himself was still confused. He wasn’t ready, but at the request of Jiang Chao, he quickly collected himself and, even to the end, didn’t forget to remind those children to see a psychiatrist.

He was really too fucking dedicated.

Looking at the slightly thin back of the person in front of him, Xing Conglian felt inexplicably irritable.

The force on the shoulders became heavier. Lin Chen came back to his senses and saw that Xing Conglian was frowning. He remembered the conversation between him and Jiang Chao that was deliberately interrupted by Xing Conglian just now. “Don’t worry. I won’t be sad. Even an ordinary psychologist can’t see that the patient has suicidal tendencies, which is considered a dereliction of duty, let alone me?”

Xing Conglian withdrew his hand and asked solemnly, “You haven’t noticed that you have a serious problem. Have you always felt that you’re omnipotent?”

It was ridiculous to feel that he was responsible for everyone; thinking that failure to save lives was negligence on his part.

“I know very well that I’m not a god, I cannot save everyone, and I don’t have the mentality of a saint, so I won’t attribute all mistakes to myself.” The corner of Lin Chen’s mouth showed a self-depreciating smile. “Maybe I used to be, but after experiencing some things, you will find that people’s abilities are always limited, and if you can’t do it, that’s simply that.”

“Then why do you think this is a dereliction of duty? Take a step back. This isn’t even our case at all. It has nothing to do with your duties!”

“I’m just discussing the subject…”

“You’re taking the bull by the horns.”

Before Xing Conglian’s words fell, he felt a tightness around his waist. Lin Chen had suddenly turned around and hugged him.

The hug was very short. Lin Chen’s arms were wrapped around Xing Conglian’s waist, and then he leaned his head onto his shoulders. Before Xing Conglian could react, Lin Chen backed away, but there was still the lingering breath that belonged to the psychologist. Although it was short, it was clearly a very sincere hug.

Lin Chen said, “Thank you.”

Xing Conglian was stunned. Damn, who is comforting who?

“Thinking about it another way, even I didn’t pick up that Xu Haozhen was suicidal. Don’t you think this is very strange?”

After all, this was Lin Chen, a person who was really good at shifting topics quietly. Xing Conglian didn’t even remember what he was going to say just now. His attention quickly shifted away from the hug. He only felt that this sentence would be extremely conceited, but coming from Lin Chen, it sounded reasonable.

“I also think that this isn’t your mistake. Perhaps these children jumped off the building to commit suicide, but not in the traditional sense?”

Xu Haozhen had arranged for her classmates to distribute flyers, looking for Jiang Liu to deliberately gather a crowd. She then said goodbye to Lin Chen before jumping off. Judging from these small details, this was no longer a simple plan that could be easily summarized. Therefore, this, of course, wasn’t just a desperate suicide caused by negative emotions in the ordinary sense.

If this were excluded, the remaining motivation for suicide would become terrifying.

“Of course it’s different. This is like a suicide according to a script.”

Lin Chen squatted down and stroked the soft soil in front of him. Early yesterday morning, the bodies of three students were found one after another by the lake, and a day later, three more students jumped off the teaching building one after another.

One, two, three corpses.

One, two, three jumpers.

From shock to fright and then from fright to horror, the mood of any bystander would look like a rollercoaster. After twists and turns, they would experience the ultimate fear of rushing to hell.

The ups and downs in these two episodes were too subtle. It felt too much like a story in which someone had written a script and then performed it scene by scene.

There was silence all around.

Xing Conglian took a deep breath, only to feel that Lin Chen’s inference was too bold, but because of its boldness, it was terribly reasonable.

Perhaps it was because it was too quiet that the sound of the phone ringing was much louder than expected and broke the silence.

When the phone was connected, Wang Chao’s voice jumped out. “Captain, Captain, are you at Yongchuan University? Did someone jump off a building in the school just now?”

The boy’s voice had a rare trembling.

“How do you know?”

Lin Chen brushed himself up and gazed at Xing Conglian with burning eyes.

Xing Conglian quickly realized the problem.

Wang Chao should be working alone at the hotel right now. Neither he nor Lin Chen had time to tell him about the suicide case, so how did he know?

“I… I seem to have found a live broadcast…” the boy said fearfully.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 53

There were too many reasons that could change a person.

An accident, a conversation, a book, or even a smile could offset the established trajectory of life, but this didn’t mean that these subtle events were enough to completely change a person.

People were inherently stubborn creatures. Not only that, but they were also particularly gregarious, so they crowded in herds and were easily excited.

Lin Chen was sitting at the end of the lecture hall while Professor Fu was teaching in front of the podium.

The sound of a megaphone came from outside the window. As the building of the psychology department was high, when it reached the upper floors, it was no longer clear.

Lin Chen watched as his shidi was chatting with the students while casually listening to the sound floating from outside.

“I hope you can provide all the information possible to the police so they can find the missing student, Jiang Liu, as soon as possible…”

The voice in the megaphone was impassioned and was constantly soliciting students and teachers in the surrounding areas.

Lin Chen roughly understood. This seemed to be a search organized by the Yongchuan University student council after learning of Jiang Liu’s disappearance.

He couldn’t help but look out the window.

It just so happened that they were between classes. Many students had just finished class. Several people who looked like student officers were distributing leaflets. The square slowly became crowded as more students started to gather, and the officers became more spirited as their voices got louder.

Lin Chen frowned. Mobilizing the students and teachers to find Jiang Liu was, of course, a quick and effective means, but with Yongchuan University already on edge, coupled with this missing girl, he was afraid it would only cause more waves. He took out his phone and texted Xing Conglian.

[Did you contact the student council and ask for their help in finding Jiang Liu?]

[No. What happened?]

[At student square, the officers of the student council are handing out flyers.]

Outside the campus gate, Xing Conglian retracted his phone and looked at the telephone pole in front of him.

At some point, “missing person” posters had been posted around Yongchuan University.

The poster had a picture of Jiang Liu and underneath it was a heartfelt message that the entire school was looking forward to Jiang Liu’s safe return and if she were to see this message, she should please return to campus as soon as possible.

Just as Xing Conglian frowned and was reading the poster, a girl in a light purple dress stood in front of the school’s bulletin board, reading the same poster with a smile.

The girl was dressed exquisitely and had on light purple eyeshadow and dark red lipstick, which were bright and beautiful, as if her lips were glowing.

A group of boys holding textbooks passed behind her. One of the boys couldn’t help but look at the girl, then paused his footsteps.

If he wasn’t mistaken, this should be the person on the missing person poster.

In the classroom of the psychology department, Lin Chen was leaning against the window, looking down at what was happening in the square.

At this moment, his phone suddenly vibrated.

Lin Chen glanced at the screen and saw it was Xing Conglian. He walked out of the classroom and picked up the phone, but what came from the other end was Xing Conglian’s anxious voice.

“Jiang Liu has appeared.” Xing Conglian was panting heavily, as if he were running.

“Where?”

“A student said just now that they saw her at the entrance to cafeteria No. 3.”

“Did they say which direction she was heading to?”

“They said she went up school building No. 3.”

Lin Chen was taken aback when he heard this. He looked up at the classroom number and saw that it was 3609. If his memory was correct, the teaching building where he was now was No. 3.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

On the other end of the line, Xing Conglian seemed to notice his brief pause and asked with concern.

“If I’m not wrong, I’m afraid Jiang Liu should be on the roof of the building now…”

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding…

Unluckily, the bell for class rang.

Lin Chen couldn’t help but look at the ceiling.

Suddenly, there was a muffled noise outside the building, as if it was the sound of a heavy object landing. Lin Chen only felt his scalp go numb. He quickly rushed into the classroom. There were already a good number of students peeking out the window.

Lin Chen covered a student’s eyes and dragged the boy back to his seat. “Don’t be too curious,” he whispered in the boy’s ear.

Fu Hao moved quickly and had already retracted his gaze from below. He brushed the curtains and said to the students, “Everyone by the windows, close the curtains!”

“Fu Ge, you don’t want to leave us with any psychological scars? Did someone just commit suicide outside?” Taking advantage of this moment, a mischievous boy tried to secretly open the curtain to look out.

“Why are you saying so much nonsense? If you ask again, I will fail you immediately, and you will be forbidden to retake the course!” Fu Hao’s attitude was tough.

Seeing his shidi was controlling the scene, Lin Chen nodded at him, gripped his phone, and rushed out of the classroom.

However, before he reached the door, there was another muffled noise outside the building. Under the teaching building, students’ shouts and screams tumbled up like a tidal wave.

Lin Chen called Xing Conglian’s phone, but was met with a busy signal. He clenched the phone, turned around, and ran to the top floor.

The iron gate on the rooftop was half open. The original iron chain was hanging loose on the door. Lin Chen slammed the iron gate open and rushed through. As far as he could see, there was a dazzling blue sky without a single cloud, and the scorching sun made the corners of people’s eyes sting.

On the edge of the rooftop, there was a long-haired beauty sitting there.

She was wearing a white blouse and black skirt, and her long hair was tucked behind one ear.

Lin Chen looked at her back and walked slowly towards the edge of the rooftop. Just before he got close, the girl looked like she had eyes on the back of her head and snapped back.

“Shixiong, farewell. You must refuel*!”

*(加油) A ubiquitous Chinese expression of encouragement and support, which derives from the Chinese term jiayou. There’s really no direct translation for it.

The girl smiled softly and sweetly as she finished her last sentence.

Lin Chen didn’t even have the chance to speak. In an instant, he only felt the tinging of his eardrums, and his heart turned extremely cold.

A few steps away from him, a weak and slightly opened palm quickly disappeared from the top of the rooftop!

The sound of a heavy object landing was heard and was followed by screams.

With a bang, the rooftop iron gate was kicked open again.

Xing Conglian grabbed the door frame and was panting for breath, but on the rooftop, there was only Lin Chen by himself.

The sky was blue, and the spring breeze was warm. The subtle wind brushed Lin Chen’s black hair and blew up his clothes.

Xing Conglian walked to the edge of the rooftop and stood still at an arm’s length from Lin Chen.

Lin Chen stood still in place. He didn’t even take two steps forward as he looked down at the three students who had fallen.

“It’s not your fault,” Xing Conglian put his hand on Lin Chen’s shoulder and said with relief. To his surprise, he felt no trembling in his palm. Lin Chen stood very firmly, and his voice was still calm.

“You don’t have to comfort me.” Lin Chen showed a self-deprecating smile. “It’s an extremely delicate arrangement. The first and second suicides distracted my attention. If I had rushed to the rooftop as soon as I received the call, I could have saved her.”

Xing Conglian’s hand that was about to pull out a cigarette stopped midair. He turned to put his hands on Lin Chen’s shoulders and pulled Lin Chen towards him.

He bowed slightly, pressing his hand down, and looked into Lin Chen’s dark eyes, as if he were gazing at the depths of his soul.

“Self-blame and sadness don’t suit you. The rest of the police force will be here soon. Let’s go downstairs first.

——

The student activity square wasn’t as hidden as the grove. In addition, the activities of the officers of the student council had attracted a lot of students. For a while, more people from teaching building No. 3 came out and surrounded the outside of the scene.

Many students covered their faces but peeked through their fingers to catch sight of the pools of blood on the ground and the people lying in them.

Lin Chen followed Xing Conglian downstairs. Perhaps it was because he had run too quickly back then that he felt his limbs gradually warm up.

Because the police had been searching for Jiang Liu around campus, they came quickly. A cordon was hastily set up, and Jiang Chao’s men began to drive away the onlookers, but no one rushed to touch the three motionless students.

Lin Chen stood on the flower stand at the outermost part of the crowd, staring coldly at the cruel scene that looked like hell.

Xu Haozhen, Jiang Liu, and an unknown boy were lying in a pool of blood. Red, white, black, purple, and other various colors mixed into a mass. The original screams had gradually weakened into whispers, which were more piercing than the screams.

Jiang Liu fell into a small pond by the square. The water there was extremely shallow—just a thin layer. The bottom of the pond had pebbles of different sizes. There were originally several aquatic duckweed floating in the pond, but they were now smashed to pieces by the falling girl.

The blood slowly seeped away.

An ambulance came whistling in. A doctor trickled through the water and checked the girl’s pupils and pulse, then subconsciously shook his head.

Two nurses carried the girl on a stretcher and sent her into the ambulance.

Everyone present knew very well that the three students who jumped from such a high-rise building had almost no possibility of survival.

The doctors and nurses present seemed to be there just to complete the final procedure.

Lin Chen took a deep breath. The smell of mint tobacco gradually came to the tip of his nose.

He turned around. At some point, Xing Conglian was standing behind him and had naturally placed his hand on his shoulder.

If there was really someone in the world who could keep a straight face in front of Mount Tai collapsing before them, Xing Conglian was that person.

The mixed-race young man was holding a cigarette as he spoke in a calm tone. “Another three. What do these three represent? Some kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder*?”

*A mental and behavioral disorder in which an individual has intrusive thoughts and/or feels the need to perform certain routines repeatedly to the extent where it induces distress or impairs general function.

Lin Chen could hardly believe his ears. When most people faced a sudden accident, even if they didn’t panic, there would still be a brief blankness, but Xing Conglian kept moving forward without any panic from beginning to end. Lin Chen suddenly remembered what he told him. ‘It’s not your fault.’

How tough were this man’s nerves that he would start to comfort others first and foremost?

“No matter what it’s related to, this is an important clue.” Perhaps it was because of the steady hand on his shoulder, or maybe it was the smell that was too reassuring, but it made Lin Chen speak slowly.

“What clue?”

“I don’t know.”

Lin Chen answered honestly. The clues they currently had were pitifully few, so it was impossible for him to analyze the reason behind this number.

It was another three people who committed suicide together. Anyone would think that the number must have a very important meaning, but he really couldn’t say what it represented.

Was it an obsessive-compulsive disorder?

From Xing Conglian’s point of view, it could be one angle. Getting three people to die together could represent a kind of coercive behavior, but if he were to analyze it this way, it would only bring more endless problems.

What caused this kind of obsessive-compulsive behavior? What did it mean? And what was the story behind it?

Why did these children commit suicide, and would there be more?

Questions came flooding in, and Lin Chen felt a splitting headache coming again.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

With such a heavy topic in this arc, I just want to say if you’re struggling with mental health, please reach out to someone. Know that you are not alone. 

Here are some resources:
SPRC
AFSP
Yellow Ribbon
Call 988 / Text ‘Help’ to 741741

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 52

The sorrow of powerlessness wasn’t comprehensible to outsiders.

In fact, Lin Chen had too many questions to ask Xing Conglian. For example, why did the municipal authorities and the police force participate in the investigation of an international massacre case, or what kind of massacre could leave such a heavy shadow on Wang Chao to this day? In the end, the questions would boil down to two simple ones: who was he, and who exactly were you?

However, he didn’t ask for anything, just as Xing Conglian had always done for him.

Early the next morning, Lin Chen was awakened by a scream.

“Ahhhhhhh!!!”

Wang Chao had woken up at some point and was lying on the carpet, staring at the furnishings of the room, full of shock.

Lin Chen walked up to the teenager barefoot, reached out his hand, and felt his forehead. Fortunately, it wasn’t hot.

It wasn’t until his cold fingertips touched Wang Chao’s forehead that the teenager shuddered and came back to his senses. “Grand hotel. Shit, grand hotel!”

Lin Chen pinched Wang Chao’s soft face and asked, “How are you?”

“So luxurious, so luxurious, so luxurious!” Wang Chao jumped up and ran to the window. He opened the floor-to-ceiling curtains, but the curtains remained motionless.

“Oh, oh. It’s electric!” The boy began to rummage through the room, looking for the remote control.

Lin Chen stood with his arms at his sides while Xing Conglian was scratching his head as he walked out of the second bedroom. He asked bleary-eyed, “What’s wrong with that little brat.”

“Probably sympathetic nerve activity disorder caused by the self-healing process of childhood trauma?”

Xing Conglian: “……”

“Captain, have you finally become a rich man?!”

Wang Chao finally found the remote control. When he looked back, he saw Xing Conglian as he pressed the switch excitedly.

The curtains slowly moved away from both sides, revealing the waterfront outside. Under the sunrise, the mist was like a veil shielding the sparking water.

Xing Conglian yawned as he smacked the back of Wang Chao’s head. “Nonsense. Laozi has always been rich, okay!”

“Then can I order breakfast? A big lobster!”

The boy didn’t seem to realize he had been smacked. Before Xing Conglian could even agree, Wang Chao threw himself on the coffee table and began to search for the breakfast menu.

Naturally, Australian lobster wasn’t served at breakfast.

However, a big, fluffy croissant and delicious chicken mushroom soup could still soothe the stomach as well as a wounded heart.

Wang Chao ordered all the food on the menu and three kinds of drinks, then began to devote himself to eating. Lin Chen made himself a cup of black tea and sat beside him.

The morning light was good as it shone on the boy’s satisfied smile.

Xing Conglian ate two pieces of toast. As if recalling something, he suddenly asked, “Have you thought about finding someone to replace you?”

Wang Chao had just stuffed his mouth full of bacon. He could only look blankly at Xing Conglian and didn’t respond for a moment.

“I heard that BlackJack is very famous. How about him?”

“Fuck, that moron can’t even type properly, okay?!” The boy swallowed the food abruptly as he gave an angry reply.

“Didn’t you say that if it’s about the deep web, you won’t check it?”

“When did I say that?”

“Yesterday, during dinner.”

“But A’Chen has healed me!”

“Wow, so powerful…”

“Okay, okay, Captain, stop talking nonsense. How can you be rest assured if the case is handed over to an idiot like BJ?” Little comrade Wang Chao waved his hand, bit into a croissant, and rushed to the front of the computer. “I’m going to start working. Isn’t it just a shitty video!”

Xing Conglian shrugged but saw Lin Chen looking at him with an intriguing gaze.

“That was a bluff,” Consultant Lin took a sip of tea and said in a low voice.

“Boys have to be spurred on occasionally. How can they think about giving up when they encounter a small problem?” Captain Xing spoke righteously.

Just like the baguette that was eaten clean or the creamy soup that left no traces at the bottom of the bowl, yesterday’s gloom seemed to have been thoroughly swallowed up.

At the end of breakfast, Lin Chen received a call from Fu Hao asking him to meet at the school office.

“Shixiong, come early. Ah, remember to get me an egg scallion pancake at the entrance of school!”

“Have you found all the files?”

“Of course!”

Lin Chen could almost imagine Fu Hao patting his chest at the end of the line, pretending to be relaxed.

“But why did you wait to call me until now?”

Fu Hao’s tone wasn’t right, so Lin Chen thought for a bit and inquired deeper.

“It was too late yesterday!”

After Fu Hao finished speaking, he hung up.

Lin Chen put down his teacup. Usually when people lie, they tend to become chatty, but his shidi was a bit special.

Sure enough, when children grew up, they all had their own little secrets…

Then, as a democratic parent, he certainly couldn’t ask for everything.

Lin Chen raised his eyes and said, “Then let’s call Xu Haozhen.”

“Why?”

“To watch the video together.”

——

Yongchuan University maintained a good custom of recording the self-introduction of freshmen. Although it was for archiving records, it was mainly used for scientific research tracking.

When the sample size was large enough, these freshman admission data could not only represent the general characteristics of a certain generation of students, but it could also be used as a starting point for longitudinal research to observe those college students who started as a blank canvas to see what they would look like four years, ten years, or even decades later.

The initiator of this research was Mr. Su Anzhi, the president of Yongchuan University and Lin Chen’s mentor, which was why Lin Chen first thought of checking the freshman’s files after encountering the issue with Wang Shishi.

Xing Conglian went with Vice-Captain Jiang to search for Jiang Lu, the missing girl in the video, while Lin Chen went to Professor Fu’s office alone.

Lin Chen had to admit, although Professor Fu delayed for an entire night, the information he found was very complete.

Among them, not only were there the freshman self-introduction videos, but there were also medical examination records, and even mental health results at the time of admission.

Lin Chen opened the files related to Wang Shishi, Xu Haozhen, and Jiang Lu, pulled out a MMPI*, and arranged them on the table in turn.

*Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory is a standardized psychometric test of adult personality and pathology. Psychologists and other mental health professionals use various versions to help develop treatment plans, assist in diagnosis, help answer legal questions, screen job candidates, or as part of therapeutic assessment procedures.

At this moment, someone opened the wooden door of the office.

A girl wearing a white shirt, a black sheepskin skirt, and small high heels with her long hair draped over one shoulder entered. She was dressed simply, giving her an intellectual feel, and had on light makeup, which made her look brighter and more beautiful than a few days before.

Lin Chen looked up at Xu Haozhen, who had already stretched out her hand.

“Shixiong Lin Chen, hello. We meet again.”

A hand that resembled jade, shaped like a scallion, hung in front of his eyes. There was a slender silver chain on her wrist, but there were no traces of nail polish on those round nail petals.

“Don’t be so polite. I came here specially for you.” Lin Chen didn’t shake hands with the girl but pointed to the seat beside him, signaling for her to sit down.

Xu Haozhen felt a bit flustered. After all, a girl like her had never been treated so rudely by a boy in a long time.

It seemed that people like Lin Chen were more straightforward than Xu Haozhen had imagined. He ignored Professor Fu, who was frowning across from him, turned on the office computer, and clicked on the video file marked “Xu Haozhen”.

A stumbling female voice preceded the picture and came out through the audio.

“He… Hello everyone. My name is Xu Haozhen… Graduated from Fuxing No. 3 High School…”

Admissions were in September of every year, but the girl in the video was wearing a thick, long-sleeved jacket. Her complexion was yellowish, and her bangs almost completely covered her eyes. If it weren’t for the label Xu Haozhen on the file name, Lin Chen couldn’t believe that the girl who didn’t dare to look directly at the audience would be the same person as the intellectual beauty sitting beside him.

“…I hope to find like-minded good friends in college.”

The self-introduction was short. When the girl finished, she quickly fled off the stage.

Xu Haozhen kept staring at the screen with burning eyes. There were no hints of embarrassment or shame in her expression. When the screen turned completely black, she shifted her gaze to Lin Chen’s face.

“What is shixiong’s intention in showing this to me?” The girl’s voice was cool, but from her tone, there seemed to be hints of anger.

“Do you know Wang Shishi?” Lin Chen asked, then clicked on another video labeled “Wang Shishi”.

The video unfolded on the screen. In it, Wang Shishi slightly bowed her head. Her voice was so low that it was almost inaudible. She was wearing an ankle-length white dress and a shoddy chiffon shirt. She looked like how Xu Haozhen was many years ago, timid and afraid.

Lin Chen glanced across the screen and turned to Xu Haozhen.

“Do you know Wang Shishi?” he asked again.

“I… am very happy to be admitted to Yongchuan University… and become… classmates with everyone…”

The volume was adjusted to the max, yet Wang Shishi’s voice only came out intermittently.

Xu Haozhen didn’t answer.

“Did you know that she and Jiang Liu made a sex tape?”

Lin Chen’s question was straightforward and sudden, yet such a question didn’t make Xu Haozhen fluster. She straightened up her hair, looked at Lin Chen respectfully, and said with a light smile, “I know Wang Shishi.”

Hearing Xu Haozhen’s answer, Lin Chen’s expression froze, as if the person sitting opposite wasn’t a beautiful woman but a stone that was about to be weathered.

“Wang Shishi and I have both participated in the literature club. Because I’m a shijie, Wang Shishi often sticks to me. Jiang Liu is an officer of the student council and used to be my subordinate. All three of us know each other.”

“Wang Shishi is a very good girl. She’s very beautiful and has many admirers, so she’s often ostracized by the other girls in her dorm. However, she’s a very upright girl and would never mess with the relationships of others.”

Lin Chen listened quietly. He was so close to the girl that he could almost see the shape of the other’s pupil and the anger in them.

“Shixiong, is it because you found out about my relationship with Wang Shishi that you doubted me, right?” The girl straightened up and spoke with a kind of condescending pride. “I know them, but I also know hundreds of others in this school.”

“I don’t know what videos they have made. I don’t believe Wang Shishi and Jiang Liu would do such a thing. Moreover, I have never made such a video. Shixiong, you should know that your question just now is the biggest insult to girls,” Xu Haozhen said.

“You talk too much,” Lin Chen said seriously. “I didn’t ask you those questions. You just needed to answer whether you were aware of the tape and whether you knew them.”

“I have answered your questions. I don’t know about the tape, but I know them.”

Xu Haozhen responded back sharply, as if she were a dart and Lin Chen was her target.

Lin Chen looked at the girl’s face, which was like jade, and nodded. He turned off Wang Shishi’s self-introduction, clicked on Xu Haozhen’s video again, and began to watch it solemnly.

“Shixiong, I’m leaving.” Xu Haozhen got up and turned to leave. When she reached the door, she suddenly turned her head. The corners of her lips curled up slightly, and her tone changed.

“Goodbye, shixiong,” she said with a smile.

Looking at the girl’s flower-like smile that flashed away, Lin Chen had a bad feeling in his heart.

She came and went like the wind. Facing those caustic and insensitive questions, she still behaved appropriately, making it impossible to pick out the slightest mistake.

After Xu Haozhen left, Fu Hao hurriedly rushed to him. “Shixiong, you’re too fierce. That’s just a little shimei!”

“I know.”

Lin Chen pressed the pause button. In the video, the youthful Xu Haozhen of several years ago bowed her head with darting eyes. She looked completely different from the beautiful woman who was still confident and proud in the face of such acrimonious questions just now.

“You were so rude just now.”

“Do you think that college can really change a person so perfectly?”

Could a college education and small-scale social interaction really make the timid gradually bold and even an ugly duckling into a golden phoenix?

Lin Chen whispered, as if he were asking Fu Hao and also as if muttering to himself.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Fake it until you make is what I always say.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

---

Chapter 51

If everyone had an unknown side, then Lin Chen had never seen the current side of Wang Chao.

The young man was aggressive as he slammed the door in the interrogation when he rushed out and walked towards Captain Jiang and unceremoniously asked, “Where’s Wang Shishi’s laptop?”

Captain Jiang was taken aback by his roar and was left a little dumbfounded. “Oh, I don’t know if there is…”

“What do you mean you don’t know if Wang Shishi has a laptop?” Wang Chao narrowed his round, grape-like eyes, as if he were about to get angry. “Bring me the list of the deceased’s belongings. I’ll find it myself.”

After all, it was inappropriate to be unscrupulously angry in someone else’s territory.

Lin Chen gently pushed away the two police officers who were blocking him and walked over and pressed down the little comrade’s head and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

The boy’s delicate lips pursed tightly, but he didn’t brush away the hand on his head.

“Here, here. The list is here.” Ma Han’s quickly handed over the folder.

Wang Chao didn’t speak. He flipped through the pages, and then his expression became uglier.

“Why is there no laptop? Shouldn’t the laptop be the most important physical evidence of items belonging to the deceased, huh?” Wang Chao asked.

No one present could answer this question. In fact, if Wang Chao hadn’t specifically mentioned it, no one would have considered this question. For a while, the atmosphere was extremely cold.

“There really is no laptop.”

“But the victim’s mother clearly said she found it on her daughter’s laptop!”

Lin Chen stared at the pale face of the young man, and petted the back of his head again, stroking his thin black hair.

When Wang Chao was halfway through speaking, he stopped abruptly. He clenched the white paper, crumpling it in his hands, turned his head around, and sat down. “Forget it. I’ll do it myself.”

Xing Conglian stayed in the interrogation room for a long time.

When he went out again, there seemed to be no trace of the previous quarrel in the office.

His technician’s hands were flying as if they were in a fierce struggle with data.

Lin Chen was carrying a glass of water and leaned against the window close to Wang Chao, looking as if he was aimlessly distracted, but also as if he was guarding someone.

It was gradually getting dark now. The streetlights outside gradually lit up.

Lin Chen saw Xing Conglian coming out and glanced at him. The two of them walked out of the office at the same time.

They stood near a huge, green-leafed potted plant in the corner of the office. Xing Conglian took out a lighter, lit a cigarette, and asked in a low voice, “Is that little brat causing trouble?”

“Just now, because of Wang Shishi’s laptop, he almost got into a quarrel with people in the Second Division.” Lin Chen took a sip of water, then asked, “What happened in the interrogation room?”

“It probably some childhood trauma.” Xing Conglian puffed out a ring of smoke as he spoke casually.

It must be a really big trauma that could make a sunny boy with 5 stresses and 4 beauties* become restless and gloomy. Lin Chen stroked his buckle gently. What Xing Conglian said was like a prevarication. He knew it clearly, but he said it so casually that it prevented people from inquiring further. Lin Chen raised his eyebrows and didn’t ask any more.

*Content of ideology education and publicity activities promoted in China in the early 1980’s. 3 loves were later added. The 5 stresses are: decorum, manner, hygiene, discipline, and morals. The 4 beauties are: mind, language, behavior, and the environment. The ideology was an attempt to move away from the chaos of the Cultural Revolution era and maintain the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party.

“Don’t worry too much about it,” Xing Conglian added.

Lin Chen didn’t respond.

Xing Conglian rubbed his nose. He knew Lin Chen understood he wasn’t answering the question seriously, but there were some things that couldn’t be explained in just a few words. If they couldn’t be explained clearly, it was best not to speak about them.

So, Xing Conglian could only change the subject. “Where’s Professor Fu? Is there no news yet?”

“He said he got caught up in something and couldn’t make it today.”

“Well that’s fine. By the way, ask him to get Jiang Liu’s admission introduction as well…”

“Why?”

“Based on listening to Wang Shishi’s mother, your psychological statistics are quite reasonable.” Xing Conglian held the cigarette and remembered that in the interrogation room just now, the woman used an arrogant tone when mentioning her dead daughter.

Well-behaved, sensible, obedient, filial… Too many words of praise, all of which could be applied to Wang Shishi. The daughter that Mrs. Wang was describing was like a puppet produced by a typical authoritarian family. She was obedient and cowardly, and she never knew what resistance was.

How could a girl like that dare deviate from the rules, create a sex tape, and then commit suicide?

“It should be so.” Listening to what Xing Conglian said, Lin Chen wasn’t too surprised. “But Jiang Liu…”

“I’ve already sent someone to look for her,” Xing Conglian hurriedly replied.

Suddenly, there was a scream in the office.

“Ah!!!”

Lin Chen and Xing Conglian hurriedly rushed into the room, only to see Wang Chao had taken off his cap at some point. At this moment, he was holding his head with both hands and roared, “Why is the internet speed so slow!”

Everyone in the office looked at each other, lost for words.

Wang Chao was like a cross between a piece of porcelain marked “handle with care” and a little dragon that could spit fire at any moment.

Xing Conglian walked over, picked up the police uniform on the armrest of a chair, and said to him, “Let’s go. I’m taking you to get something good to eat.”

——

Yongchuan wasn’t Hongjing, so Xing Conglian wasn’t familiar with it.

In the end, they settled on eating at the restaurant inside the Cohen May hotel.

Little comrade Wang Chao was a person who had seen the world, so of course he wouldn’t bat an eye just because there was a whole tray of sashimi and king crab.

Lin Chen brought a full cup of coffee and placed it in front of the young boy, who didn’t even raise his head, still immersed in his endless image retrieval program.

Lin Chen pushed the coffee over and said very gently, “Drink it.”

“I’m still young, so I can’t drink too much coffee!”

“Caffeine can stimulate dopamine secretion, which can make you feel happier,” Lin Chen said very seriously.

Wang Chao hit return a few times and finally raised his head. He said very movingly, “A’Chen, you’re so kind to me.”

Captain Xing had just returned with a plate of pan-fried yellow croaker. When he heard this, he didn’t hesitate and put the plate in front of Wang Chao.

Seeing the tech genius was finally willing to engage with people, Captain Xing couldn’t help but ask, “What, you haven’t found the original video yet?”

“Boss, do you know what trying to find a needle in a haystack means? It’s not about searching for a few pictures. This is searching for dynamic videos through static pictures. You need to use Image2Play technology. It’s very difficult, okay?”

Xing Conglian rubbed the stubbles on his chin as he murmured, “Do we have to watch all the recent videos?”

“Don’t knowingly break the law, alright, Captain!” Wang Chao abruptly took a sip of his coffee. “I have finished programming, and now I have to wait for the search results.”

Seeing that the boy’s eyes were bloodshot and his expression was rarely solemn, Xing Conglian thought for a while before asking, “Do you think it’s necessary to find the original video?”

“I’m more worried that if I can’t find it, it’ll become more troublesome.”

Xing Conglian raised his eyes sharply and paused his hand that was holding the chopsticks.

Mrs. Wang made it clear that she only saw the video on the internet and couldn’t download it, so she could only take screenshots.

Then, if even Wang Chao couldn’t find the original video, there was only one possibility left—a possibility that would cause the degree of trouble in this entire case to exponentially increase.

“If I really can’t find it… I don’t want to investigate such a case anymore. You can find someone else,” Wang Chao said.

The dialogue between Xing Conglian and Wang Chao was very short and cryptic. It was as if they were talking in secret codes that ended with the young man’s prophecy.

Lin Chen didn’t know what had happened in the past, but he knew that the young man could still joke in the face of robbers and timebombs, but something in the online world could discourage him.

After eating, Wang Chao’s gaze never left the laptop screen again. He didn’t even have an interest in the executive suite that Xing Conglian had booked.

The young man found a suitable place on the carpet and sat down cross-legged. The carpet with the canary and rose pattern was soft and plush, and there were bright crystal lights around. Outside the window was the vast night sky, but Wang Chao was guarding the laptop on the coffee table like a sculpture.

When Lin Chen got up in the middle of the night, Wang Chao still maintained the same posture, staring at the computer screen in the dark.

Apparently, the search results weren’t good.

Lin Chen thought about it, put on his slippers, found a blanket in the room, and covered the teenager. He then sat down on the carpet by his side.

“Still can’t find it?” Lin Chen asked.

The young man’s face looked extremely pale as he shook his head mechanically.

“How?”

“There are two possibilities. First, this video wasn’t uploaded to the internet at all. It was only spread privately, and Wang Shishi’s mother is lying.”

“What about the second one?”

“A’Chen, have you heard of the dark web?”

Lin Chen thought that this word really didn’t sound so simple.

“A little bit.” As Lin Chen spoke, he took out a cushion from the sofa and let the teenager lean on it.

Perhaps it was because of the soft blanket, or maybe it was Lin Chen’s gentle voice, but Wang Chao suddenly felt a wave of tiredness hitting him. He leaned on the cushion and slowly said, “If a video can’t be searched on the surface network, there’s also a possibility that this video is deliberately hidden deep in the network and can only be viewed through special means.”

“What do you mean?”

“The online world we usually come into contact with is just the tip of the iceberg. All websites that can be captured by search engines are called surface web, but in the deep sea under the iceberg, there is a broader and darker online world. In that world, there are no police, no laws, no regulations, and it is filled with countless drugs, pornography, arms trading, smuggling, organ trading, human trafficking… Isn’t it laughable? We invented a new technology that allows users to connect to the internet without revealing their identities to the server, so police around the world can only look like idiots as they watch countless criminal transactions happen right under their noses. But there’s no way. We can’t find their IP address!”

The more he spoke, the angrier Wang Chao became. At the end, he even slammed his fist on the floor.

Fortunately, the carpet was thick. Lin Chen held down the boy’s hand and stopped him from further self-harm. “Then, please tell me, if that video really appeared on the dark web, what does it mean?”

“What does it mean? The deep web* has some serious videos that violate the laws of all countries. A 3P is nothing but a fart. It can only mean that a group of stupid college students discovered a whole new world online and couldn’t help but get high and accidently lost their lives!”

*Clarity: I’m not sure if this is intentional, but the author is using two different terms here. What Wang Chao said before was describing the dark web, but what he’s saying now is the deep web. These two are different things that I’ll explain in my Kinky Thoughts.

“You’re too extreme,” Lin Chen said lightly.

“A’Chen, have you ever seen an extremely evil world? Everything is bad and dark—a kind of world without any light.”

“I really want to tell you a story, but after thinking about it, I can only say that I seem to have never seen it before.”

“Have you never seen someone who is so bad that it’s inexplicable?”

Looking at the young man’s gaze, Lin Chen was silent for a long time before he finally spoke. “I have.”

“How can a person be broken like that?” Lin Chen wasn’t sure what Wang Chao was recalling, but when he responded, his lips trembled slightly.

“Whether there’s absolute evil in this world is not a philosophical question. You can look at this question from a more idealistic perspective.”

“I don’t understand…”

The boy’s eyes were wet, and he looked very confused. Lin Chen stretched out his hand and covered his eyes.

“As long as your heart is bright, the world will never be dark.” Lin Chen spoke slowly, and his voice was extremely gentle. Before he finished speaking, the sound of the teenager’s sweet snoring was heard.

Lin Chen turned his head around and saw Xing Conglian standing behind him for who knew how long.

“Once, we traced a massacre case. The murderer used the dark web to broadcast the entire killing live…” The mixed-race young man bent down and tucked the teenager in. “Wang Chao was responsible for locating the specific address, but in the end, we were powerless.”

---

Kinky Thoughts:

The deep web/invisible web/hidden web are parts of the World Wide Web whose contents aren’t index by standard web search-engines. This is in contrast to the “surface web”, which is accessible to anyone using the Internet.

The dark web is the World Wide Web content that exists on darknets: overlay networks that use the Internet but require specific software, configurations, or authorization to access. Through the dark web, private computer networks can communicate and conduct business anonymously without divulging identifying information, such as a user’s location. The dark web forms a small part of the deep web, the part of the Web not indexed by web search engines, although sometimes the term deep web is mistakenly used to refer specifically to the dark web.

I am unsure if the author had mistakenly confused the two as she uses two different terms, but I’m guessing it’s intentional because deep web was specifically written in English.

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