Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 10

Xing Conglian’s hair was messy and his beard unshaven. Because he was traveling in plain clothes today, he was still wearing a white t-shirt that was covered in mud that was paired with beach pants and flip flops, looking quite poor.

Even when he showed his police badge, the eyes of the principal of No. 3 Primary School thought he was simply a lowly policeman.

In a sense, he was indeed just a cop.

“Police officer, this is an internal affair at our school and has nothing to do with you.” The principal puffed out his chest and looked at the police officer walking towards him from the distance.

“Of course.”

Xing Conglian walked very slowly. When he walked to Lin Chen’s side, he took out a cigarette and stuffed it in his mouth.

“Then why don’t you go investigate the scene of the crime?”

Although Xing Conglian had an expression that gave off, “It’s none of your fucking business what laozi* wants to do”, he still replied seriously, “I’m here to collect evidence.” As if forcing back some discomfort, he put the cigarette from his mouth back into the pack.

*When used like this, it’s an arrogant way of referring to yourself, often times humorously. It’s basically saying, “I, this great one”.

“What do you mean?”

“Just now, Mr. Principal, I heard your complaints. You seem dissatisfied with our police investigation, so I came to inquire about it.”

Xing Conglian was very close to Lin Chen. He was tall and looked like a big brother who wanted to vent his anger on behalf of his younger brother.

“Sorry, Mr. Police Officer. I just thought you were going to intervene in the dismissal of an employee of our school.” The principal’s tone was strange. He pointed to Lin Chen and continued, “Though this dorm manager is a temporary worker, I’ll still pay enough severance. You don’t really have to bother about this.”

Xing Conglian didn’t respond, because he was thinking about a very serious issue. As a policeman, he had many ways to make things difficult for the school and could easily make them reverse their firing.

In fact, before coming here, he had thought of many, many ways to stand up for Lin Chen, but when Lin Chen actually got in trouble, he realized that he was a policeman.

Because he was a policeman, he couldn’t use the methods he came up with and this fact made things extremely frustrating.

Xing Conglian thought about it for a while before finally glancing to the right in annoyance. He said to Lin Chen, “I really can’t intervene.”

Lin Chen seemed to understand Xing Conglian’s mood. He nodded as if relieved. “I understand.”

“Then let’s pack up your things?”

“Okay.”

The conversation was simple, so much so that the three people wearing suits stood there awkwardly.

Then, Xing Conglian did something that made things even more awkward. He raised his hand, fanned it to one side, and said to the three men, “Then, please, could you move out of the way?”

Chen Ping didn’t move. He had been watching Xing Conglian the entire time.

From the news he received, Lin Chen did have a policeman by his side, who was the captain of the Hongjing Criminal Investigation Unit.

Lin Chen was always picky when choosing friends, so Chen Ping observed Xing Conglian with great scrutiny. From his ragged clothes to his unshaven face, the only thing that attracted Chen Ping’s attention was his eyes.

Those eyes were beautiful—cunning and intelligent. The key point, though, was that they were extremely clear.

To put it into a description… Taking Lin Chen’s eyes as an example, his eyes were also clear like the snow atop the peaks of a mountain, or that had melted, becoming water. They were so clear and cold that sometimes it was hard to look at him. Compared with the policeman’s eyes, they were vast and deep. Because of this, they weren’t just clear but also inexplicable.

Although he couldn’t see through this man, as a butler of an elite family, Chen Ping recognized a single truth. In front of money, even the hardest bones would soften.

So, Chen Ping took out his business card from a flashy metal box and called out, “Captain Xing.”

At this time, Xing Conglian had already squeezed into Lin Chen’s room. When he heard someone calling him from behind, he didn’t bother turning around and instead asked Lin Chen, “Is it fine if I don’t answer?”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

“Damn regulations,” Xing Conglian muttered. He turned around and, with a forced smile, asked, “Sir, how can I help you?”

“I’m the butler of the Chen family. I’ve heard of you before, Captain Xing. I want to discuss something with you. This is my business card.”

Chen Ping handed over a dark gold embossed card and held it in mid-air.

Xing Conglian didn’t take it. He rubbed his beard and asked Lin Chen, “Is he trying to bribe me?”

“You said that too loudly.”

“Of course I have to be loud. Otherwise, what should I do if he misunderstands me?” Xing Conglian said distressingly. “We grassroots civil servants are most afraid of this kind of thing, you know?”

It seemed that Xing Conglian was quite upright.

Lin Chen continued to nod his head to express his understanding. He walked to the door and bowed slightly to the three men outside. To their surprise, he casually closed the door behind him.

“Problem solved,” he said to Xing Conglian.

Xing Conglian was stunned.

A moment later, the room erupted in laughter, leaving the three men outside the door looking at each other in disbelief.

……

This was the second time Xing Conglian came to Lin Chen’s room, and naturally, it would be the last.

He crawled to the bottom of the bed, and, under Lin Chen’s instructions, pulled out a large cardboard box from under the simple wooden plank bed.

“You can come stay at my place. It’s quite big.” Xing Conglian gently brushed away the thin ash on the box, pretending to give Lin Chen a relaxed look.

“You didn’t come to get the letters? Why?”

Xing Conglian sighed. It was quite troublesome being just acquaintances.

“Two things.”

“Hmm?”

“First, Yu Yanqing most likely committed suicide. Second, we found needles in the tool room just now.”

“Drugs?”

“Phenylacetone*.”

*It’s an organic compound that’s used in manufacturing methamphetamine and amphetamine. 

“A stimulant?” Lin Chen frowned. “Large doses of stimulants can indeed cause erratic behavior. The fruit stall shopkeeper who went crazy and started slashing people should have taken a similar drug. This would make sense, but how strange…”

“Of course it’s strange. When we need clues, suddenly they appear,” Xing Conglian said nonchalantly as he sat on the floor.

When talking to smart people, it was true that occasionally there was a sense of connection.

Lin Chen also sat down on one side. Instead of speaking, he opened the cardboard box in front of him.

Xing Conglian expected to see a lot of letters in the box, but he never thought he would see that many letters. The letters filled the cardboard box to the brim. When Lin Chen opened it, some even fell out.

Xing Conglian was dumbfounded.

Lin Chen ignored Xing Conglian’s look and quickly sorted through the letters. He picked some of them out and put them on the floor. Others were stuffed back inside the box. Finally, he sealed the cardboard box, leaving about a dozen neatly packed letters on the floor.

There was an indescribable sense of beauty to his movement, like flowing water.

“Those inside?” Xing Conglian asked tentatively.

“Letters sent by others.”

“You didn’t read them?”

“No.”

“Who writes so many letters?” Xing Conglian said in disbelief, then felt that he was being too gossipy.

“Are we close?”

“It seems not,” Xing Conglian said, a bit aggrieved.

“Then why should I tell you?”

Xing Conglian didn’t know how to answer. He remembered Professor Fu’s groveling attitude when he first met Lin Chen. He guessed he needed to follow the same pattern. He rested his chin on the box and looked at Lin Chen with bewilderment.

Sure enough, Lin Chen averted his gaze and continued, “Similarly, I’m not familiar with these people who sent these letters. Why should I read them?”

“That makes sense,” Xing Conglian said.

With no rain falling outside, the room was quiet.

Lin Chen opened a letter and read it carefully. Similarly, Xing Conglian did the same.

Compared with Lin Chen, Xing Conglian’s reading was much faster. After he finished, he felt goosebumps all over his body and a chill going down his spine.

“How scary.” He pushed a few of the letters to Lin Chen. “All this, it’s all about suffering and death.” He then picked up another letter and shook it. “Who said, ‘Give me a dozen babies and I can turn them into whatever you want*’?”

*John B. Watson. The actual quote is much longer. You can read it in my Kinky Thoughts. The premise is that, as a behaviorist, he believes that any person could potentially be trained to perform any task, regardless of genetic background, personality, and internal thoughts (within the limits of their physical capabilities). All it takes is the right conditioning.

Lin Chen put down the letter and looked at Xing Conglian. “That is the view of Watson, the founder of behaviorism in the school of psychology.”

“So, is Yu Yanqing a psychology student?” Xing Conglian stroked his beard. “So she put sand next to the corpses because there’s a sand table in your room and she specifically studied sandplay?”

Lin Chen lowered his eyes. “If she treats the whole thing as a huge sand table game, then she’s obviously presenting death and forcing us to face it head on. But again, this behavior also projects…”

“Project what?”

“Her subconsciousness that is extremely afraid of death,” Lin Chen said slowly word by word.

Xing Conglian raised his head abruptly and latched onto the key point. “But there’s a problem!”

“If she’s afraid of death, why did she commit suicide?” Lin Chen said indifferently.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Girl’s probably off her meds. That’s why.

Full quote from John B. Watson: “Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors.”

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 9

Lin Chen was awakened by the sound of someone knocking on the window.

Outside stood a cleaning auntie wearing a yellow poncho. He got up and opened the window, only to hear the auntie angrily say, “Xiao* Lin, do you have the key to Yanqing’s toolshed?”

*Little/small (小) When used in front of a name, it’s an affectionate/friendly way to call someone who’s usually younger than you.

Lin Chen shook his head. Suddenly remembering something, he asked, “Isn’t the school closed today?”

“Even if it is, the boss didn’t give us a day off.” The auntie leaned against her long broom. “It’s hard sweeping floors day and night.”

Lin Chen was keenly aware of the abnormality here. Why would a cleaning auntie come to ask him for the key to Yu Yanqing’s toolshed?

With this in mind, he asked, “Who asked you to ask me for the key to Yu Yanqing’s toolshed?”

“Oh, it’s because you have such a good relationship,” the auntie said with a smile. Seeing as how he was young and good-looking, she couldn’t help but joke, “She resigned and said she left the key to you. Don’t you have it? Well, who doesn’t know? She usually runs to you whenever she needs something…”

The old auntie was still chattering, but Lin Chen suddenly had a bad feeling.

Yu Yanqing resigned but didn’t return the keys but said she gave them to him?

But he didn’t get any keys. If this was the case, the logistics department would need to break through the door.

So, what was behind the door?

“The key may be with me, but I have to look for it. Please go and clean other places first, okay?” Lin Chen bowed slightly. After finishing his conversation with the auntie, he turned around and returned to his bedside, took out his phone, and called Xing Conglian’s number.

…….

When Xing Conglian arrived, Lin Chen was alone. He was leaning on the door to the basement entrance, apparently guarding it alone for a while now.

Seeing a forensic officer and doctor following Xing Conglian, Lin Chen nodded, stood up straight, and moved out of the way.

There was only a dim light on in the stairwell, which made his face gloomy, even a bit sad.

As a criminal investigator, Xing Conglian could of course smell the abnormal fishy stench in the air. His expression darkened. He put on gloves and opened the door to the basement. The strong smell of blood choked everyone.

The criminal officer, who was used to dealing with this kind of scene, had to block off the cordon according to regulation. With all the lights on, it created a dazzling effect that made the dark underground space look like day.

Damaged desks, dilapidated beds, and textbooks were scattered about. Every item in the basement was illuminated clearly—even the dust was covered by a layer of brilliance.

At the end of the entire space, there was a closed, ochre-colored wooden door.

The police officer found the master key and asked Xing Conglian for his instructions.

Xing Conglian glanced at Lin Chen, took the key, and walked to the wooden door.

Opening it was a simple matter. All he needed to do was insert the key into the keyhole, turn it gently, and with a click, the door would open. Yet Xing Conglian found that this seemingly simple task was one of the most difficult and bitter things to do in the world.

The smell of blood drifted out along the crack of the door.

He put his hand on the door panel, glanced at Lin Chen again, and said, “You know, this means you’ll become a suspect.”

The light of the flashlight illuminated the entire room, showing a haunting scene.

The small toolshed was stacked with countless tools, mops, pruning equipment, large shears, hoes, broken plant roots, and all kinds of debris from being stacked on top of each other, all forming a dirty and thick background.

Yu Yanqing’s naked body was squatting in the corner. Her body had countless fine wounds and there was blood sprayed in every corner of the room, as if numerous scarlet earthworms were wriggling around, sucking out all traces of life.

In her hand was a small knife, commonly found in a student’s pencil case. The handle was light blue, and the blade had blood caked on it.

Despite being experienced at seeing such grisly scenes, even the police officer was speechless. He could hardly handle the sight. The scene was so quiet that the sound of a pin dropping could be heard.

The first thing that made a sound was the click of a shutter, followed by a flash. The forensic officer squatted down to take photos of the scene from different angles.

Then the forensic scientist walked in and laid Yu Yanqing down. His actions had an indescribably slow solemnity.

No one spoke.

At the moment when Yu Yanqing’s body was laid down, a handful of fine sand was exposed in her stiff fingers.

Fine, white, and delicate, like countless aphids swarming away.

Xing Conglian grabbed Lin Chen and dragged him out of the basement.

Typhoon season was always strange. The rainstorm had stopped at some point, and the sky looked so low that it seemed it would fall at any moment.

Xing Conglian pushed Lin Chen onto a bench in front of a lush camphor tree.

He took a bottle of mineral water from the trunk of his car, stuffed it into Lin Chen’s hand, and then sat down by his side.

As a criminal police officer, he knew very well that, apart from gods, there were only murderers who could foretell life and death. He was pretty sure that Lin Chen wasn’t the murderer, so the question was, what role did Lin Chen play in these incidents?

“I’m not the murderer.” Lin Chen unscrewed the bottle cap and spoke solemnly while keeping his voice calm.

Few could face such scrutiny and still make such straightforward statements.

“When the park incident happened, you were at the police station, so of course you’re not the murderer,” Xing Conglian said.

“If you believe me, then you believe that I’m not Yu Yanqing’s murderer.” Lin Chen raised his head and took a sip of water.

This was the second time Lin Chen said, “If you believe me”. Xing Conglian’s thought was, ‘Of course I still believe you.’

But there were some things that couldn’t be said and some that needed to be asked clearly.

“Why?” Xing Conglian asked.

“Remember that letter?”

“Nn.”

“She wrote, ‘My dear, I can finally face death calmly’, I… finally…” Lin Chen stared at Xing Conglian with cold eyes. “Think about it. When would someone use such words?”

“I finally ate crayfish. I finally drank cold beer…” Xing Conglian replied honestly.

“This is an indication of a state that has been completed or is about to be completed and contains a feeling of extreme urgency.”

Xing Conglian nodded, indicating he understood what Lin Chen meant.

But even if Yu Yanqing had decided to die when she wrote that letter, it didn’t mean Yu Yanqing wasn’t the murderer who tampered with the still rings and killed the young man.

There was no logical connection between the two.

Xing Conglian paused and suddenly thought of one possibility. “Could it be she was forced?”

Lin Chen shook his head. “All her words are in first person, which shows that she was self-aware when she wrote this letter…” Lin Chen’s tone was unusually gentle, as if he was speaking from nostalgia. “She had also written some letters to me before. Compared with the last letter before her death, they were the same handwriting. You know, if Yu Yanqing was under duress, then her mood swings would’ve been strong and there would have been trembles in her writing, creating a messy font. However, I didn’t find this.”

Xing Conglian ruffled his head, creating a mess of his hair. “What the hell is this girl thinking? Is everything she writes so cold?”

“I have only read some of these letters. The rest, I think, can be regarded as belongings of the deceased and can be handed over to the police.”

Lin Chen was a little sad.

When he received those letters, he never actually thought about what to do with them one day.

Perhaps when he quit his job, he would leave those letters behind, but handing over all the thoughts of a girl to the police was probably their saddest destination.

He returned to the dorms to pick up the letters and saw someone was waiting for him.

It was three men in suits. They were so neatly dressed that even their leather shoes were meticulously polished, and all had solemn looks on their faces.

Lin Chen had seen two of them on the bulletin board throughout the school. One was the school principal, and the other was a member of the board of directors. The last person was someone Lin Chen had known for a long time.

Many times, whenever he was awakened by a knock on the door in his dorm or residence, it was that person that was standing there.

“Hello, Mr. Butler.” Lin Chen stood still in front of his small dorm and bowed slightly, greeting the tall, thin man standing at the front.

In this day and age, those who could afford a housekeeper must be rich, and if they could afford a silver-haired, noble butler, they must be top-tier rich.

Therefore, when such a rich man’s butler stood in front of a shabby school and a simple dorm, he seemed quite out of place.

As if choked by dust, like all villains in the movies, before opening his mouth, Chen Ping coughed gently.

He lowered his head, a little condescendingly, looking at the young man in front of him.

The butler actually admired Lin Chen very much. How to put this. As the Chen family’s butler, he knew too many secrets. Naturally, he knew very well what this young man had done and what kind of paranoid maniac his master was.

Just like the grass under the strong wind, a young man who could survive openly under endless oppression was somewhat remarkable.

But he was a professional. The Chen family had given him an annual salary equivalent to that of any corporate executive. His existence was to solve all kinds of trouble for his master, which, of course, included looking for trouble.

So he drove hundreds of miles to Hongjing, found the people connected to the Chen family, and turned to the directors of Hongjing’s No. 3 Primary School and made a request.

Few people could refuse the request made by the Chen family, not to mention that it was such a trivial request.

Fire one of the school’s dorm managers.

In fact, this trivial matter didn’t require the school principal and director to come forward. He didn’t even need to meet with Lin Chen.

Coincidentally, when they were about to leave, someone rushed to the principal’s office. The man said that a body had been found in the school and that a dorm manager named Lin Chen had called the police.

“Lin Chen, is it? You’re fired,” the principal said, with his head held high.

“Why?” Lin Chen turned to look at the noble butler and the condescending principal.

“Look at the pandemonium you made of the dorms! There’s a corpse hidden in it! Is this not your responsibility? You even called the police!” The principal’s voice was so loud that the entire building could hear him.

“Oh, okay.”

In the face of the principal’s roaring, a faint voice sounded immediately afterwards, like clear flowing water.

The principal was taken aback. He didn’t expect that a young dorm manager would agree so bluntly. Saying it was too dismissive was a massive understatement.

Just when he wanted to respond, another voice that was even more glib and dismissive came from behind the dorm manager.

“Principal~ Do tell, are you dissatisfied with the work of us police officers?”

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 8

When Fu Hao arrived, he saw Lin Chen sitting in the dorm drinking tea. He was covered by a blanket, and his hair was still damp.

As soon as Professor Fu stepped into the cold room and saw the four white walls and lone wooden table, he couldn’t help but run to Lin Chen’s bedside and say, “Shixiong, this isn’t a place where you should stay.”

Lin Chen glanced at him and said nothing.

“You should move in and live with me!”

This time, it was Captain Xing who glared at him.

Although Fu Hao didn’t quite understand why Xing Conglian gave him that look, he clearly sensed impatience in that gaze.

Putting it into more understandable terms: What the hell are you talking about?!

Fu Hao mistook it as Xian Conglian blaming him for disturbing Lin Chen’s thinking, so he immediately shut up. Undisturbed by the cold ground, he sat on the floor in front of Lin Chen very obediently.

Lin Chen didn’t speak. Fu Hao contemplated for a bit before he tentatively tried to say something.

“Maybe it’s not a serial killer?”

Lin Chen nodded. “There’s no evidence that these people died of murder.”

He used his words carefully. Xing Conglian, who was sitting beside him, suddenly said, “This morning, forensics issued a report that the rings in the park were artificially damaged.”

Fu Hao responded to Xing Conglian with a look that says, “Why didn’t you say so earlier”, while the police captain gave an innocent look that says, “I didn’t have time to say it”.

“Murder and non-murder cases are mixed together. This is more complicated than just a simple serial murder, right?” Professor Fu said angrily. “Has white sand been detected near the sand of the park? If it appears, then these cases can be put together for a joint investigation.”

“Actually, there’s no need.” Lin Chen suddenly spoke, interrupting the argument between the two.

“Why?”

“There’s no need to go to great lengths to find something small in a larger concept.”

“You mean the sand?”

Lin Chen nodded. “This is the only clue that links all these cases together, isn’t it? Let’s assume for a moment that such a connection does exist. Then the question arises…” Lin Chen lowered his head and asked, “Why sand?”

Hearing Lin Chen ask, “Why sand?”, Fu Hao couldn’t help but think, ‘If I fucking knew, I would’ve solved this case long ago.’

But in front of Lin Chen, he couldn’t curse, so he could only search for possible answers. “Sand. Perhaps it’s something with special intentions?”

“Nn”. Lin Chen nodded and encouraged him to continue.

“In Buddhism, there are phrases like ‘the sand of the Ganges¹’, or ‘one sand, one world, one leaf, one Bodhi’², but you said that the sand used by the criminal is very special. It’s the sand from a sandbox. This means…”

¹Referring to the Ganges River, where Buddha lived. He would often use the Ganges as a metaphor for his teachings. He wanted to give the idea of an incalculable amount of something, so he would say that it was as numerous as the grains of sand in the Ganges. This relates to the ‘one sand, one world’ part explained next.
²This is from a longer verse. In Buddhism, they believe that a single grain of sand can see three thousand worlds, which science calls cosmic holography. The verse itself has a lot of philosophical and religious views that I won’t go into detail with. The ‘one sand, one world’ is basically a metaphor Buddha uses to say that the world is immeasurable and boundless.

“Therefore, it is difficult for us to analyze. What exactly do these sands represent?” Lin Chen seemed to sense what Fu Hao was thinking as he replied.

“Then, let’s just talk about sandplay. Didn’t teacher briefly go over this before? Sandplay therapy is to freely place characters on the sand to reflect the subconscious mental state… Is it possible that the murderer is playing a game?” Fu Hao asked.

Lin Chen looked at Fu Hao with a touch of admiration in his eyes. He got up from the bed and pushed open a door.

Behind the slowly moving wooden door, a huge sky-blue sand table was slowly revealed.

The vast sea of sand seemed to have opened up a new world within the entire space. Those delicate, white sand piled high and low, giving people a vast, boundless feeling.

On the wooden shelf on the side were small toys that took up the entire wall. There were all kinds of villains, miniature daily necessities, gleaming toy cars, and even some architectural models…

Fu Hao and Xing Conglian stood next to each other and suddenly felt small.

“Do you remember the sand that the murderer put next to the body?” Lin Chen asked.

“Yes, of course.”

“We speculate on the purpose of why the murderer put the sand there, but in fact, we can also speculate on their psychological state based on their behavior.”

Lin Chen took a villain from the wooden shelf and placed it on the sand table. “What if, imagine, he was using the entire city as his sandbox game and inadvertently put down their toys. Then, based on sandbox therapy theory, we can infer his own psychological state in reverse.”

“So the more he acts, the more he’ll expose himself?”

Lin Chen didn’t answer but used his hand to push the white sand on the sand table away, creating a huge void in the base of the sand. “First, the distance of the crime scenes, regardless of their time, were far apart and there didn’t seem to be a pattern. The information he gave me is ‘empty’.”

As he spoke, he placed two other dolls far apart on the sand table. “Second, since his behavior is disordered, he must have lost his support. This means his heart is in chaos.”

Lin Chen didn’t care about the expressions of the two people behind him. He grabbed a handful of sand, causing the fine grains to sprinkle out and some floated over the toy. “Finally…” Lin Chen said slowly, “Death.”

“Death?” Xing Conglian and Fu Hao asked in unison.

Lin Chen didn’t answer the question right away. He stared at the vast sand table in front of him and said, “Death is both a narrow and broad concept, but there’s no doubt that whether it was under the hospital bed, on Chunshui Street, or in the park, there is an atmosphere of death that the murderer deliberately create. He wants people to fear and tremble in the face of death. This fear of death is gradually increasing, becoming stronger… Because of this, we can speculate that…”

“Speculate what?”

“If I were to analyze his sand table, I would speculate that he should be subconsciously extremely afraid of death. Perhaps a relative of his died, or maybe he experienced some kind of trauma related to it. In short, death has brought him extreme pain…” As Lin Chen finished, he narrowed his eyes.

….

Quite amazing. It’s weird; bizarre…

This was what Xing Conglian felt after listening to Lin Chen’s explanation. While Lin Chen fiddled with the sand, he made a series of inferences. Rationally, every word Lin Chen said was too esoteric and didn’t have any direct contribution to solving the case.

But from an irrational point of view, he seemed to think that every word Lin Chen said was reasonable.

The key issue was whether he actually believed it.

It was approaching evening. It was about 48 hours after the chaos of the market.

Because he hadn’t slept all night and had spent too much energy today, Lin Chen felt extremely tired. He changed into dry clothes and fell asleep on the bed.

Professor Fu still wanted to say something but was dragged away by Xing Conglian.

Truthfully, Xing Conglian didn’t want to leave either, but he had already resisted the serial calls from the director all afternoon. He was about to get off work and had no desire to go back to the police station—ever, really if he could.

The old director was still in his office drinking tea.

Seeing his subordinate rushing in, he signaled for him to close the door properly and asked him to take a seat.

As soon as Xing Conglian returned, he didn’t have time to inquire about the situation from his subordinates, but instead had to stare at the director, trying to find any clues from that wrinkled face and smooth head.

“I heard you took Lin Chen to the hospital?” The old director took a sip of his tea.

“Yes, did,” Xing Conglian stated casually.

The director glanced at his subordinate, who was sitting on the sofa nonchalantly, looking completely unrepentant.

“What did I tell you this morning?!”

“You said not to let him participate in the investigation of the case.”

“Then why didn’t you listen?”

“Because your reasoning couldn’t convince me. Is it just because you’re afraid of others reporting it?” Xing Conglian snorted and took out a cigarette pack from his pocket. Due to the heavy rain, the cigarettes were completely soaked, which made him annoyed. “I receive this kind of report every day. Because someone told us not to let Lin Chen participate in the investigation, we have to listen? What kind of evil force is behind this?”

“Evil force my ass!”

“Then tell me who’s behind it and I’ll write a letter of denouncement to expose him.”

“Are you questioning our integrity?”

“Who is it? What kind of big boss could be this domineering?” Xing Conglian asked mockingly as he rubbed his stubbles.

The director seemed to have lost all his patience as he slammed his fist on the table. “Do you know who it is? You know nothing at all!”

Xing Conglian was speechless, not knowing how to respond to being suddenly yelled at.

Indeed, he and Lin Chen had only known each other for a little more than a day. Lin Chen was also the silent type, so they probably exchanged less than a hundred sentences. Even Fu Hao knew more about Lin Chen than he did. In Lin Chen’s eyes, he was at most an acquaintance.

When he thought of this, Xing Conglian became serious. He looked at the director and asked, “Then can you tell me more about him?”

The director was stunned.

Looking at his subordinate’s sincerity and a face full of expectation that even had sad, pleading eyes, he picked up the cup of tea and gulped it down, trying his best to keep everything under wraps.

“Aren’t you very close to Lin Chen?” The director huffed. “Ask him yourself.”

It was almost the most frustrating thing when you desperately wanted to know something and everyone was secretive about it.

Xing Conglian scratched his head and stood up angrily, ready to leave.

As his hand touched the doorknob, the old director’s voice suddenly came from behind. “Ever heard of the Chen’s Consortium?”

“The one that deals with real estate? They seem to be rich.”

“Not rich. Filthy rich.”

“Is it great to be rich? My family’s rich too.” The young policeman with messy hair spat out disdainfully as he rubbed his stubble.

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Kinky Thoughts:

Just a note, when referring to the murderer/criminal, I try to use genderless pronouns when they aren’t revealed yet, but sometimes it can make the translation awkward, so there will be places where he/she would be used. However, this does not mean that the criminal is a man or woman. It’s a placeholder until the criminal’s sex is actually revealed.

In the case of this chapter, while Lin Chen is talking about the culprit and uses “he”, he’s not referring to the fact that it’s a man. Please keep this in mind when speculating on who the murderer is.

Also, to prevent any potential spoilers, please keep your theories from the comments until the arc is over. Then you can rehash what you thought, or you can join my discord to discuss.

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 7

Yanjia Lane wasn’t very far from Chunshui Street. It was within walking distance.

The heavy rain was still falling. With dark, heavy clouds looming, the boundary between day and night was no longer clear.

Whether it was due to a typhoon or murder, Chunshui Street was sparsely crowded, and many stores weren’t open.

The rain splattered on the streets over and over again. The bloodstains that were once there had long since been gone, leaving behind a clean ground and a refreshing air. It was so fresh that it made people want to slow down.

Lin Chen walked slowly and didn’t have an umbrella with him. Xing Conglian propped up a black umbrella and followed closely behind.

For some reason, Xing Conglian had a feeling that Lin Chen should be very young. Although Fu Hao referred to him as shixiong, he seemed younger than Fu Hao.

He had the obvious look of someone who had just graduated from college, but his demeanor was as decadent as an old monk; indifferent without any sorrows or joys.

He could make conjectures calmly or lie beneath a corpse by himself without any particular emotion, and even after he came out, there was no change in his expression.

This made Xing Conglian want to know more and find something that could move Lin Chen.

The two walked slowly. When they arrived at the fruit stall where the crime occurred, there was no one there. The roll-up door was tightly closed.

Lin Chen stood in the place where Yu Yanqing was standing that day.

At this moment, there was a dense overcast and the rain was heavy, not similar to the environment of that day.

At that time, the sun had not yet set and there were many people about, breathing in the fishy smell in the air.

Then, suddenly, the riot started. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on the crazed fruit stall shopkeeper. They watched him slash at an innocent woman. No one was paying attention to the old man who had long been dead that was sitting in front of them.

When the woman rushed to the door of the shop, causing the old man to fall silently, the fear of death was amplified indefinitely. Everyone was breathless, as if they were being strangled by a pair of invisible hands. They were no longer bystanders but became witnesses.

Who is the murderer? Why did they choose to take such strange actions in the morgue? Why did they watch this scene here?

That person stood here. What did they want? What did they see?

Lin Chen raised his head slightly, closed his eyes, and let the sporadic rain fall on his face.

Seeing this scene, Xing Conglian became uneasy. He looked around and patted Lin Chen on the shoulder.

Lin Chen suddenly opened his eyes.

Xing Conglian pointed to the surveillance camera at one end of the street and said, “This camera was installed a few years ago. We say it’s for the safety of the vendors, but that’s actually just a pretense.” As he spoke, he pointed down the long street. “The one on the other side has been broken for some time now.”

“Is there no surveillance in the park and morgue?” Lin Chen asked.

“The park is too large, so there would always be blind spots. As for the morgue… Even if it’s installed, no one dares to look at it.”

“Then, that is a problem.” Lin Chen paused, then said, “The criminal seems to know the surveillance system very well and can always avoid them when committing crimes. This begs the question, isn’t it strange why Yu Yanqing is always caught on camera?”

“That makes sense…” Xing Conglian laughed. “But technology isn’t living, while people are.” He looked around and walked diagonally opposite of the fruit stall towards a hardware store.

“I heard that psychological profiling is quite amazing. I’ve always wanted to see it.” Xing Conglian whispered softly into Lin Chen’s ears.

The owner of the hardware store was a middle-aged man in his early fifties. He was balding and had gray hair around his temples.

Seeing the documents Xing Conglian showed him, he rubbed his hand on the apron and addressed them as if he was familiar with this procedure. “You’re here to ask about that day again. I really didn’t see what was happening on the other side. You see these things hanging in front of me? I don’t even know when that old man opened his shop.”

The shopkeeper spoke very fast. There was some impatience in his words, as if he had repeated this many times.

“No, tell him about it again.” Xing Conglian interrupted him and pointed to Lin Chen.

Lin Chen took a half-step forward and moved away from the items in front of the shopkeeper. His tone was gentle, like an umbrella propped up in the middle of a heavy rain. “You don’t have to think about what exactly happened. I want you to tell me what the weather was like that day.”

His voice was calm and collected, and his eyes held a peaceful gaze. Without needing any instructions, the shopkeeper closed his eyes unconsciously, as if he was lost in his thoughts.

“The weather was pretty good. The sun hadn’t set yet, but the market was overcast and gloomy.”

“Take a deep breath. There were some sounds around, and the crowd was walking about. Did you smell anything at that time?”

Following Lin Chen’s voice, the shopkeeper took a deep breath, then slowly said, “Yes, there was the aroma of bahulu, raw meat, and something fishy…”

“Listen to the sounds around you. The voices and footsteps around you are getting louder. Work hard to hear those sounds more clearly.”

Lin Chen’s voice became softer. Combined with the sound of the rain, it was like a melodious flute.

The hardware shopkeeper was silent for a while before he spoke again. “Crying. I heard crying. The street was very chaotic. There was crying and shouting everywhere. A woman was shouting. Help, help… But I dared not move. I’m too scared to move!”

“How do you feel?”

“I’m very scared. I’m not afraid of being attacked. I have my own knife. If he dares attack me, I’ll attack him back. But then the old man across from me fell down, and I saw him lying there motionless. His body was very dark, but there was a smile on his face. It brought back memories of when my dad died. It was so scary…”

As the shopkeeper spoke, the muscles on his face tightened. He clenched his fists tightly. Suddenly, a peaceful voice, like a very thin stream of water, slowly but forcefully washed away his closed heart.

“You suddenly find that in front of your eyes, a piece of paper appeared. That piece of paper is very long and wide. It fell from the sky and slowly wrapped around the entire street.”

The voice was soft and spoke slowly. The shopkeeper found that in his mind, a piece of paper had really appeared. That piece of paper rolled from one of the streets to the other, wrapping everything, causing him to fall into a brief blankness.

He frowned slightly, as if perceiving something. There was a short pause before the voice spoke again.

“Now, please stretch out your hand and rub that piece of paper slowly. There are many things in it, so when rubbing it, please do it carefully and slowly…”

Following the instructions of the soft voice, the shopkeeper stood blankly in place. His hands hung on the sides of his pockets, but his fingertips started to slightly tremble.

Xing Conglian was stunned.

His gaze would shift between Lin Chen’s calm face and the shopkeeper’s face, who still had his eyes closed.

Lin Chen said, “Please hold the ball of paper.”

Hearing him say this, the shopkeeper clenched his fists.

“Imagine. Raise your hand. Keep raising it higher and higher until your arm is over your head… You feel a little tired, but the thing in your hand is light, very light… Then, please use all your strength to throw the ball of paper.”

Somehow, in the shopkeeper’s mind, he seemed to really throw the ball of paper. He felt himself raising his head until the snow-white point disappeared from sight.

Then, he felt a slap on his shoulder. He suddenly opened his eyes. He looked at the young man who was standing in front of him.

The young man wasn’t tall, a bit thin, and was wearing a white shirt. The shirt was soaked and stuck to his body. His face was calm, and his eyes were as clear as a stream under the rising sun.

In the shopkeeper’s ear, a familiar voice sounded again.

“Thank you very much.”

The young man paused, looked directly into his eyes, and said seriously, “Also, that’s all in the past.”

—

The sky was still gray and overcast when they left the shopkeeper’s store. Xing Conglian leaned his umbrella towards Lin Chen as he lowered his voice. “What was that just now? Hypnosis?”

Lin Chen shook his head. “Psychology is not as weird as you think. You can’t just hypnotize people by looking at them.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s a psychotherapy method used by therapists to help patients get rid of some excessively horrible memories.” Lin Chen looked at him, then silently averted his gaze.

Xing Conglian didn’t know what to say. When Lin Chen asked about the case, he ended up treating someone’s trauma as well. This service seemed too thoughtful.

“Then, did you get anything?”

“It’s very strange. The perpetrator seems to be deliberately creating a certain atmosphere.” Lin Chen pondered for a moment.

The silent fear under the bed in the morgue, the old man who suddenly collapsed in the shop on the street, the young man struggling as he was dying under the still rings; all this brought out the fear of death…

As if remembering something critical, Lin Chen suddenly said, “Call Fu Hao.”

---

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 6

Trust was a strange word.

They had just recently met and had no deep friendship, so mentioning trust seemed quite ridiculous.

Yet Lin Chen asked, “Can you trust me?”

Xing Conglian thought, ‘Of course I do.’

The source of this trust was also strange. At that time, Xing Conglian thought the only reason he trusted Lin Chen was because he had a good feeling about the dorm manager.

Thus, he arranged for his men to scour the entire city to search for Yu Yanqing.

However, Yu Yanqing hadn’t committed any crime, and there was no missing report. The so-called search was just to monitor her ID, various citizen cards, and banking information, and to notify the police near where she lived for them to be on alert and to report to their superiors if anything occurred. Other than that, there was no better option. This was the limit of what Xing Conglian could do.

Xing Conglian put down the phone and looked back at Lin Chen.

Lin Chen lowered his head slightly while holding the ginger tea with both hands and took a small sip. As if noticing Xing Conglian’s gaze, he raised his head and said, “Take me to the hospital.”

Hong Jing’s Third People’s Hospital was where it all started.

If they wanted the full story, they had to come back here.

Because of the typhoon, there were few people inside. The wind slammed against the door, blowing away one stretcher after another.

Surrounded by icy white walls and smoky gray floors. Patients who were injured by the typhoon were placed both in and out of the emergency hall, which was filled with low wails that echoed through the corridors. The volume kept increasing due to the extreme pain, and the biting cold only added to their irritation.

Lin Chen put down his umbrella and patted off the rain on his shoulder.

The medical staff was busy with the patients, so they were received by the head of security of the hospital.

The chief of security was huge. He led the way. When they approached the corner of the stairs, Lin Chen suddenly felt a chill for no reason.

The elevator door behind him opened, and a doctor wearing a white coat was the first to rush out, followed by two nurses pushing equipment.

The doctor rushed into the ward. After a short while, a high pitched sound from a pacemaker rang out and was so shrill it pierced their eardrums like it was calling death.

Outside the ward, some people began to cry, while others silently sat down.

Only one person left the chaos of the crowd looking at ease. He looked around as if nothing had happened, found a row of blue benches, laid down on them, and went to sleep.

Just before he went up the stairs, Lin Chen’s gaze rested on that row of benches.

“That’s a hospital nurse.” As if he could see his doubt, Xian Conglian explained.

“Strange.”

“What’s strange?”

“Someone had passed away, yet he didn’t feel any sadness,” Lin Chen replied.

“After seeing too much, of course they’ll become numb to it.” The security chief who was accompanying them looked back at the nurse and said nonchalantly.

“Seen too much?”

“Indeed. Our hospital has a contract with a labor company. Cleaners and nurses who work here have long-term contracts. Some have been in this hospital longer than some of the doctors…”

Lin Chen suddenly stopped. He and Xing Conglian exchanged a meaningful glance before the police captain keenly asked, “Which labor company did the hospital sign their contract with?”

“’Good Home’, the largest labor service company in the city.”

Lin Chen retracted his gaze while Xing Conglian decisively called his subordinates and instructed, “Compare Yu Yanqing’s photo with the suspect who has been in and out of the morgue at Third Hospital.”

The call was short. After hanging up, he chatted with the security chief to inquire about the girl. However, as the head of such a large hospital, he wouldn’t have much impression of the girl, so Xian Conglian didn’t get much information from him.

Xian Conglian subconsciously searched for Lin Chen and found that he was walking very slowly behind him. He was only walking calmly, not even looking around to take a peek at their surroundings.

“What are you thinking about?” Xing Conglian inquired. “Are you thinking Yu Yanqing was the one who messed with the corpse in the hospital?”

“No.” Lin Chen shook his head. “I was thinking, why here?”

“This place must have been chosen because it’s special,” Xing Conglian replied.

Lin Chen nodded. He raised his head and asked, “So what is so special about it?”

“I don’t know. It could be someone here, something that happened before, or maybe even they took a liking to the place. The answers are too broad…”

“Not that broad.”

While speaking, they stopped.

In front of them was an ordinary white wooden door with the word “morgue” written on the sign.

The incandescent light above their heads flickered slightly and sounds of weeping floated from unseen spaces in the darkness.

The security chief took out a key and carefully opened the door.

Cooled air rushed out.

The entire room where the corpses were stored was only about two hundred square feet. The beds were close to each other, with white sheets hanging down to the ground, as if it were a boundless snowfield. While clearly not wide, it felt as if the distance between life and death was more insurmountable than heaven and earth.

The bed where the weird male corpse had appeared was empty. Lin Chen quickly walked to the empty bed and circled around it.

Because of the narrow space, he accidently touched the hand of a deceased person next to him. He glanced at the stiff and pale back of the hand, then suddenly remembered that Fu Hao had said the culprit had slept under the bed.

Why lie under a corpse?

What does it feel like to lie under a corpse?

If he couldn’t analyze it rationally, then he should close his eyes to feel it.

Lin Chen suddenly lifted the hanging sheet, bent down, and got under the bed, lying flat on the ground.

The ground was cold. He was surrounded by darkness. His eyes couldn’t see. His ears couldn’t hear. It seemed that all his senses were closed off and only his mind was lucid.

He imagined the corpses around him, imagined their lives of sorrows and joys, and imagined how they were born and how they died.

At this time, his heartbeat would speed up involuntarily because of fear yet also calmed his mind.

In such a cold, quiet, and closed space, he would find that he was close to death…

What did this feel like?

Lin Chen suddenly snapped his eyes open.

The sound of a ringtone rang in the room.

Xing Conglian took out his cellphone and hurriedly pressed the answer button.

When he finished answering his phone, Lin Chen had already crawled out from under the bed. Xing Conglian cupped his phone and said to Lin Chen, “There’s a clue.”

The person who found the clue was a technician under him.

The technician’s name was Wang Chao. He had all the qualities of a technical geek, quick handed, loved to chatter, and would constantly sell meng*.

*(卖萌) Internet buzzword describing someone who deliberate acts cute to impress others.

When Wang Chao saw Lin Chen for the first time, the young man, who was wearing a cap, took out all the candy in his pocket and arranged it on the table, then quickly picked out all the ones with chocolate inside as he sent them out while he kept talking. “Atsuko, Minami, Mayu,¹ who do you prefer? Warcraft, Dota, LoL,² which do you prefer? How about we play together when you have time?”

¹These are members of the idol girl group AKB48. Note, when he refers to Minami, he’s calling her cabbage (I guess it’s her nickname), because of this.
²These are online games. World of Warcraft is an MMORPG, while Dota and LoL are MOBAs.

This was the first time Lin Chen felt dumbfounded. He looked at the innocent eyes of Wang Chao and had to ask Xing Conglian for help.

Xing Conglian took a puff from his cigarette and said lightly, “Do you still want to get reimbursed for your taxi fare?”

The young man who was blowing bubble gum had a shameless expression, but he still sat down at the table obediently and spread out his laptop.

Because of the rain, Unit 6 on Yanjia Lane had a slight musty smell.

The young man sneezed, turned on the laptop, and said, “Look, I’m just asking, but why do you want to live here? My grandma lives in this kind of house, and it gets pretty easy for your legs to get cold when you’re that old…”

“Your grandma has quite good taste,” Xing Conglian responded as he knocked on Wang Chao’s head. “Stop talking. What about the clue?”

“Didn’t you ask to find a woman this morning? I just saw her. Guess where she is?” Wang Chao spoke rapidly. His face had heavy dark circles. “Ta-da! Based on what you said, when the hospital found the dressed-up corpse, she was seen pushing a cleaning cart into the morgue.”

A petite woman appeared on the screen. Wang Chao pressed pause and zoomed in.

The woman’s face was thin and sunken, and her facial features were so small that they seemed squished together. Her expression was morbid, seemingly devoid of joy, as if she had been tortured by life and had lost all her edges.

Lin Chen looked at the dry and thin woman and nodded, confirming that it was the gardener who had sent him the love letters.

“This chick is Yu Yanqing, right?” Wang Chao said. He quickly pulled up the folder containing a video file, selected one, and double-clicked to open it. “I used simple facial recognition software and searched for her picture in any video related to today’s case, and guess what?!” He spoke rapidly as he pressed pause, stilling the screen on an image of the evening riot on the vendor’s street. “She’s here!”

Wang Chao reached out and pointed to a long-haired woman standing on the side of the street watching coldly.

“Finally, guess what, my God.” Wang Chao clicked his tongue and sighed. He had a proud glow in his eyes as he quickly opened the last video in the folder and said, “The location of the camera is at the intersection in front of Central Park. This is about 35 minutes before the crime.”

In the surveillance video, Yu Yanqing seemed to have undergone radical change. She was wearing a red dress and had on lipstick, looking quite radiant. She was walking towards the park in a glowing manner.

This couldn’t be chalked up to coincidence, as it couldn’t explain why the same person would appear in three seemingly unrelated crimes. Xian Conglian rubbed his chin and looked at Lin Chen. “Why don’t we invite this pretty lady for a cup of tea?”

“I’m afraid it’s too late. Let’s go back to Chunshui Street.” Lin Chen shook his head and spoke in a hoarse voice.

---

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 5

Lin Chen felt that lingering ghosts* were really troublesome.

*(阴魂不散) Idiom referring to while the bad person and bad things have been eliminated, the bad influences is still at work. Jokingly, it can also refer to someone chasing after someone. From Li Lvyuan “Different Road Lamp”. || In this context, it’s the latter.

As for Xing Conglian, he felt that Lin Chen was troubled.

He had just arrived at the police station in the morning and sat down in his seat to read the newly released report. After only half a bite into his steam buns, he was informed by his subordinates to go to the director’s office for tea.

The old director made a cup of inauthentic Longjing tea and sat opposite Xing Conglian with a cup in hand. He seemed to want to have a long discussion with him.

 “Conglian, how’s the case going?” The director touched his cup of tea while speaking solemnly.

Xing Conglian stared at the director’s half-bald, shiny head and sat straight up. “The case is still under investigation. I just got a report from forensics. It shows that there were obvious signs of tampering to the still rings in the park, so it should be a murder case.”

When the director heard the word “murder case”, his expression suddenly became distressed. “Conglian, I’m old and my heart isn’t good. I hope you won’t say such intense words like that, and can you please lower your voice?”

“The murderer’s motives and criminal methods are still unclear. It could be related to the hospital and the white sand case on Chunshui Street…”

“Shut up!” The old director covered his heart. “Don’t say these kinds of things so casually!”

“But Professor Fu said…”

“Nonsense!” The old director slammed the table violently. “For Fu Hao to be at this level, his teacher must be laughing himself awake!”

“Professor Fu is our external expert after all.”

“Bullshit. Fu Hao studied psychometrics and has never been out in the field. You’re telling me he can do criminal analysis?”

“Are you saying someone is helping Fu Hao behind our backs?” Xing Conglian asked rhetorically.

“Xing Conglian!” The old director became furious. “Yesterday, someone reported to his superiors that the Hongjing Municipal Bureau used a supernumerary to help with our case. This seriously affects our procedural fairness and the purity of the police force!”

Xing Conglian frowned. He thought it was strange. Just yesterday he had handcuffed Lin Chen and dragged him to the police station, yet someone had already reported it to his superiors?

There was something fishy here.

“Didn’t you formally hire Professor Fu to be our consultant?”  Xing Conglian continued to act ignorant.

“Idiot! It’s obviously not Fu Hao!” The director’s fury continued to rise. “It’s the one you arrested, Lin Chen!”

“Lin Chen?” The captain asked, “Who is Lin Chen?”

The old director looked at his subordinate’s serious gaze before he realized he had fallen into a trap of the other party’s counter-interrogation.

“Young people shouldn’t be so gossipy!” The old director collected his composure and drank his tea.

“So someone specifically reported to a superior all because of Lin Chen?” When Xing Conglian spoke, he held a bit of uncertainty in his tone. “I just brought him in to make a statement. If no one in our bureau recognized him, then they must’ve gotten the news through our internal network. Since they reacted so quickly, his name must be blacklisted…” As Xing Conglian spoke, he looked at his superior’s face getting darker. “Was he a police officer before? If not, then a former consultant to the police, right?”

When he finished, he hoped to discern some information from his superior’s face, but the old man refused to show any expression besides a nasty glare.

“Are you eighty this year?” The old director finally finished all the tea in his cup. He put it down and asked rhetorically.

“A little short of it.”

“Then fuck off. Don’t gossip like an old bag!”

Xing Conglian didn’t say anything more. He straightened his clothes and stood up. “What you actually mean is, you want me to exclude Lin Chen from our investigation, right?” While it was phrased as a question, his tone was flat, indicating that it was more of a statement.

When he finished speaking, he turned around and walked away.

“Stop.” The old director suddenly raised his head and looked at his subordinate’s back. “Hey, remember what I said.”

An old coot like this man wouldn’t reveal his true thoughts even if something happened, let alone reveal someone’s background.

Xing Conglian sat back down as the rain continued to pour outside the window. The rain was thin and dense, pouring rapidly while the manic wind blew about, causing umbrellas to sway so wildly that people couldn’t maintain a firm balance.

He put away his idle thoughts and began to look through the scene investigation report that had just been placed on his desk.

While he could read all the words on it, he couldn’t understand the meaning behind it.

A fully dressed male body in a hospital, the fruit store assault case, the dead old man, the broken still rings in the park…

All of these were seemingly unrelated, yet somehow, they were improbably linked closely together by sand.

He couldn’t help but think of the quiet dorm manager. The other person’s peaceful eyes and extremely calm demeanor made him really want to stand up, rush into the rain, run to the man and ask, “What do you know?”

With that in mind, he stood up, grabbed his keys, put on his jacket, and walked out of the police station. Just as he was about to step into the rain, he suddenly saw someone coming from afar in the middle of a storm.

The man was thin. He shakily held a black umbrella that had slightly collapsed on one side due to the wind.

However, the hand that was holding the umbrella was steady, and his pace was equally such that even the rain made a steady, calm sound as it hit the umbrella.

Looking at the person who was coming from the rain made Xing Conglian want to have a smoke.

Lin Chen walked up the steps, put away his umbrella, and shook the rain off his body.

He was completely soaked, like he had just been fished out of water. There wasn’t any special expression on his face, and he neither greeted nor made small talk. He raised his head slightly and bluntly asked, “Do you want to solve the case?”

“Yes,” Xing Conglian replied succinctly.

“Do you trust me?” Lin Chen asked.

“Yes.”

“Are you afraid of retaliation?”

“Yes,” Xing Conglian answered truthfully. He remembered the director’s warning just now and had a better understanding of why Lin Chen asked this question. He thought that his answer would disappoint him, but he obviously saw a smile in Lin Chen’s eyes. He couldn’t help but chuckle. “But I’m even more afraid that I won’t be able to solve this case and get my bonus. After all, it’s crayfish season…”

When he finished, he saw Lin Chen nod, as if he strongly agreed with him. “So, for the sake of your bonus and crayfish, please let me join.”

Lin Chen’s voice wasn’t very loud. Especially in the heavy rain, it became almost inaudible, but at that moment, Xing Conglian was stunned.

A few minutes ago, he made the decision to seek Lin Chen’s help and thought on how to go about it without making Lin Chen feel it was too abrupt while also considering that Lin Chen would refuse.

He never thought that Lin Chen would be the one saying this to him.

“Please let me join.”

If he hadn’t been in the director’s office that morning, he would’ve felt that Lin Chen wanted to get involved in the case, but when Lin Chen asked, “Are you afraid of retaliation?”, he suddenly realized that Lin Chen knew exactly how much pressure he—or rather, they would be under.

However, he still grabbed an umbrella, braved the rain, and came here to say, “Please let me join.”

He took a puff from his cigarette and asked, “Why are there so many people who don’t want you involved in the investigation?”

“Do you care?” Lin Chen smiled. “I don’t.”

Xing Conglian was part Russian. With such an extremely vigorous bloodline, it meant that when he wanted to do something, he would choose to do it no matter what.

Strangely enough, Lin Chen, who was calm and stable, was actually such a person himself.

Xing Conglian laughed loudly and choked on the smoke. He coughed a few times but continued to laugh.

“Welcome to the team.” He held out his hand and threw away the cigarette that was still burning.

—

Although he didn’t care about complaints or warnings, Xing Conglian still took into account the mood of the old man who suffered from heart disease.

Instead of bringing Lin Chen back to the police station, he took him to his home, Unit 6 on Yanjia Lane.

Inside, the home was peaceful, shutting out the raging storm.

It was the same location but a different time. As he watched Lin Chen sit on the wooden bed that was facing the river, Xing Conglian felt a twinge in his heart, so he took the initiative to take out a towel and also made a cup of hot ginger tea.

Lin Chen seemed unconcerned about being wet from the cold rain. He took the towel and tea that Xing Conglian handed over and put them casually aside.

“Actually, I came here this time because I received a letter with white sand in it.” As he spoke, he took out a pink letter that was placed in a sealed bag from his pocket.

Xing Conglian looked at the sealed bag and saw the delicate white sand inside and felt his scalp go numb.

Because he didn’t have gloves on, he could only carefully flatten the letter inside the sealed bag. “Do you know who wrote this letter?”

Lin Chen didn’t answer immediately.

He didn’t have a deep impression of the person who wrote it. In his memory, it should be a very young and quiet girl. If it weren’t for registering people who entered and left the dorms every day, he probably wouldn’t even know the girl’s name.

He had noticed many times that the girl was secretly looking at him and had also received letters from her that she had carefully placed on his desk.

Sky blue, beige, pink. The words on the cover were very elegant and always had the three words, “To Lin Chen” on it, but he never opened them…

“The sender is Yu Yanqing. She’s a gardener who prunes the flowers and trees for our school.”

“A gardener that’s so literate?” Xing Conglian looked at the letter. He had read the eloquent verses several times.

“She’s young, probably between 25-28 and should be well educated.”

“Why did she write this to you?”

“She has written a lot of letters to me in the past. I thought she had a crush on me, so I thought those letters were just love letters.” Lin Chen calmly stated. Even when mentioning the word crush, there was no blushing or shyness. He appeared so upright that even a person like Xing Conglian, who liked to joke, couldn’t tease him about being the object of the gardener’s admiration.

“She has a crush on you, so the white sand could’ve been stolen from your room too, right?”

“I don’t know,” Lin Chen frankly answered.

“Then why did she stuff white sand in the letters? Do these white sands have anything to do with recent events?”

“I’m not sure.” Lin Chen paused, then added, “But I suspect it’s related.”

Xing Conglian suddenly had an epiphany. “You suspect that this matter may be related to you, so that’s why you want to participate in the investigation, right?”

Instead of answering him, Lin Chen replied, “In any case, I’m here to help, aren’t I?”

Xing Conglian nodded helplessly. Then he heard Lin Chen say, “If you trust me, please send someone to look for Yu Yanqing. Most likely, she’s already dead.”

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 4

Lin Chen thought he had clearly shown his aversion to the police. The strange thing was that this mixed-blood policeman not only didn’t get angry about it, but after he said he wanted to take the bus home by himself, Xing Conglian quickly locked the car door and then said, in a trepidation tone, “It’s so late. My mother will surely scold me if I let Mr. Lin go home by himself.”

Without any explanation, Xing Conglian drove the car in the opposite direction of the City’s Experimental Primary School*.

*School tasked with exploring and testing a certain educational theory or conducting education reform experiments. One such famous one is Shandong Experimental High School.

As he stared at the passing neon lights outside the window, Lin Chen couldn’t help but feel as if he was being kidnapped by the police.

When the car stopped again, they had reached one of the famous food stalls in the city.

“I feel guilty for taking the liberty to ask you to assist in the investigation at the police station today. To make up for it, please allow me to treat you to a meal.” Mr. Police Officer turned his head and spoke to him very sincerely.

Lin Chen opened his mouth but found himself speechless. Anyone facing such sincere words couldn’t find an appropriate reason to refute in such a short period of time.

On the contrary, Fu Hao patted the back of the chair and shouted, “You delayed my shixiong for today and to make up for it, you brought him to a food stall to make amends? Lao* Xing, do you have any face?”

*Old (老) When used in front of a name conveys feelings of a close relationship. Generally, between people in similar age groups.

“What’s wrong with a food stall? Crayfish are now only 6 yuan a pound,” Xing Conglian said with an aggrieved expression. “The case hasn’t been solved, and this month’s bonus is gone. Money’s been tight, so I have to save.”

Last time he was invited for tea. Now, it was for dinner. Thankfully, at least it wasn’t a prison meal.

Although the typhoon was approaching, the night market in Hongjing was still lively. Smoke tinged the neon lights, blurring them into a misty color.

Although the price of crayfish had soared recently, the captain of the police criminal division still proudly ordered 8 lbs.* of crayfish.

*6 catty which is equivalent to 3.6 kg which is roughly about 8 lbs.

For a while, the white plastic table was filled with bright red spicy crayfish while their surroundings were filled with the lively sounds of cups clinking and dimly lit lanterns. The stall owner sprinkled a lot of chilis into the pan as choking white smoke floated everywhere.

Fu Hao looked around and started to cough, choking on the smoke. “At any rate, you’re a person of status. Can’t you have better taste?”

Lin Chen raised his eyes only to see Xing Conglian struggling with a crayfish. The man looked serious as he focused on it.

Hearing Fu Hao’s questioning, Xing Conglian picked up a beer bottle, gently touched it, and said solemnly, “Spicy crayfish is the quintessence of our culture. To speak badly of it means you’re speaking badly of our national culture.”

Lin Chen raised his brows when he heard those words. He stretched out his hand to peel a peanut, then picked up a disposable plastic cup and took a sip of beer.

From Xing Conglian’s perspective, Lin Chen didn’t seem all that difficult.

His movements of peeling the shells were serious and meticulous, and his posture while drinking beer wasn’t pretentious. The streetlights were dim, making his ears clear and bright, and his lips became somewhat ruddy because of the spicy crayfish.

“What do you think is going on?” Xing Conglian raised his cup and gently clinked it against Lin Chen’s.

“I don’t know.” Lin Chen took a sip of the beer and answered dryly.

“If it was just the matter of the hospital, even if some psychopath wanted to play around with a corpse, it wouldn’t be such a big deal to create a case like this. However, adding up the corpse from the vegetable market and the young man who had fallen to his death, things are not so simple, right?”

Lin Chen felt a bit uncomfortable being stared at so intently. After all, Xing Conglian’s eyes were already good-looking, and his eyelashes had a racial advantage. Because he had raised his head, he could distinguish the profile of the man’s stubbled-covered face.

He had to admit, Xing Conglian was indeed very handsome.

Lin Chen looked away. Seeing that he didn’t respond, Xing Conglian persisted. “Then can you tell me, what kind of person would like to play with corpses?”

“A psychopath,” Lin Chen replied naturally.

“Well, of course. Can you still be normal if you do this kind of thing?” Xing Conglian slapped the table.

“The so-called abnormal psychology* refers to people’s behavior deviating from socially recognized norms. You must trace the mechanism behind their behavior.” Probably due to the alcohol making him tipsy, Lin Chen started to explain the term to Xing Conglian. “There are about three causes for such behavior. First, is a ritual that represents a certain appeal to the person. Second is hallucinations, which is due to faulty neuron activity in their brain.” Lin Chen paused, as if he was considering a third possibility. “Third, and the most elusive, is a link to the criminal act itself.”

*Branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion, and thought, which could possibly be understood as a mental disorder.

“What does the link to the criminal act itself mean?”

Lin Chen looked into the distance, seeing the cook pour some side dishes into the frying pan, creating an aroma that wafted out. “Is that stir-fried potatoes or green peppers? What dish is that?”

His words were vague, but Xing Conglian seemed to have been enlightened.

Mr. Police Officer picked up his coat and said, “Gotta go. We have to go to the hospital to take a look.”

Fu Hao reacted faster. Before Xing Conglian managed to run two steps, he rushed up and hooked Xing Conglian’s neck and shouted, “You want to escape without paying again?!”

“Professor Fu, Professor Fu, I really have no money!”

“I clearly saw a black credit card in your wallet. Don’t you think I don’t know the difference between a gold and a black card is you bastard.”

“It’s just a card painted black as a prop,” Xing Conglian stated innocently.

Xing Conglian was forcefully dragged back to the table by Professor Fu, but when they returned, Lin Chen was no longer there.

Fu Hao was about to find someone when Xing Conglian stopped him. “Lao Fu, tell me honestly. Who the hell is that?”

“My shixiong!” Professor Fu replied as if it was a matter of fact.

In short, basically asking him this question was tantamount to not asking.

Of course, Xing Conglian would also like to ask in-depth questions such as: “Why are you an associate professor while your shixiong is an elementary school’s dorm manager” or “Why does your shixiong, who’s clearly almighty, refuses to provide us with clues to solve the case” and so on.

But he still held back. After all, asking these types of questions would just make him look like a gossiper!

Under the coercion of Professor Fu, he finally paid for the crayfish.

The weather at night was much worse than during the day. The trees’ shadows swayed, indicating that a typhoon was coming. The climate had changed extremely fast as moisture filled the air, followed by the drizzle of rain.

Lin Chen had returned to the school. He had just greeted the doorman who opened the sliding door, when his cell phone rang. There was an unfamiliar number on the screen. Lin Chen glanced at the caller ID and hesitated to pick up.

When he connected the call, there was a few seconds of silence on both lines.

“Hello, Mr. Chen.” Lin Chen leaned against the back wall of the doorman’s room as he held the phone in one hand.

“Lin Chen, you’re still so restless.” The voice on the other end was cold and prolonged, making it sound quite harsh.

“If the person who reports to you is thorough enough, they will mention that I was taken to the police station in handcuffs to ‘assist in an investigation’, which shows that I didn’t volunteer. I hope you will understand.”

“I heard that you’re working in a dorm now?”

The person on the other end of the line ignored Lin Chen’s explanation and instead changed the subject; his tone became increasingly condescending.

“Yes, under your pressure, this is the most decent job I can barely find.” Lin Chen bowed his head slightly and put his other hand into his pocket.

“Ha, I didn’t expect Lin Chen from Yongchuan University to be in such a state like this. Is your life difficult now?”

“Yes, I’m living in terrible conditions and am extremely poor. I have lost my dreams and goals in life and live as a humble ant every day, just like you wish.”

Lin Chen knew what the man wanted to hear. With every word spoken, the breathing on the other end of the line became heavier.

But while he said those things, his expression was quite calm. The thin light from the doorman’s room fell gently on him, seemingly making his clothes transparent.

“You can’t hurt people anymore!”

“Yes, all thanks to you.”

“Ah, speaking of which, you’d better stay away from your stupid police friends and good shidi. If you get them killed, how many years will you need to repent? How can someone like you have friends?”

“I will.”

Before he finished speaking, the other line cut off.

As if proving a point, when he walked into the dorms, a heavy rainstorm followed.

It rained heavily. The splattering of raindrops fell on the trees and leaves, creating howling sounds like they came from a beast.

Lin Chen turned around and went upstairs, preparing to arrange the students according to the management plan. There weren’t many boarding students at the Experimental Primary School. Most of the children were picked up early by their worried parents, so only about a dozen children were left behind.

He and the other boarding managers knocked on the doors of each dorm, counted the number of students, helped the children organize their school bags and change clothes, and then took them to the large dorm that had already been prepared.

This wasn’t the first time the children in Hongjing had experienced a typhoon, so no one seemed overly worried.

Children of all shapes and sizes gathered in the large two dorms. Perhaps due to the snacks and drinks prepared and placed at the corner of the dorms, it made the sound and angry howls of the wind outside less terrifying.

It was nearly dawn when all the children were sleeping again. Lin Chen greeted the dorm manager on duty and returned to his room.

The wind was picking up, but the rain seemed to have stopped for the time being.

Outside, the banana trees were blown about by the strong wind; their huge leaves shaking violently as they cast messy shadows on the walls.

Lin Chen turned on the light, which illuminated the small space. Apart from a desk and bed, there was no other furniture.

The window in front of his desk was opened, causing the papers on his desk to be soaked by the rain, pooling into an ocean.

However, in that ocean, there seemed to be a small pink boat floating.

It seemed to be a letter that was folded into the shape of a heart. Lin Chen took a few quick steps forward and picked up the letter from the pool of water.

The envelope was drenched by the rain. Lin Chen looked at it and saw his name on the envelope. A bad feeling started to stir inside. He fumbled with the edges of the envelope, trying to open it, and then felt inside. His fingers touched some kind of hard mass.

The thing was hard yet also soft…

Lin Chen quickly opened the letter and saw a mass of sand stuck to it. The sand was pure white, but after being soaked by the rain, it had clumped together into an ugly mass.

Lin Chen frowned. He found a plastic bag in the room and gently dusted off the white sand in the letter, revealing vague handwriting underneath.

It was a poem. The edges of the handwriting were already blurred. The black characters melted away, as if a mist was wrapped around the entire piece of paper.

[My dear, I can finally face death calmly / I’m no longer hesitant, timid, and afraid / Death’s arms are gentle, his eyes are charming / His dark pupils bloom with moist flowers, and I can finally smell their fragrance / I see his fingertips extend like countless roots, headlong into the world. Can I touch it?]

Lin Chen suddenly felt a chill running down his spine as he stared at the blurry text.

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 3

Despite being questioned, Fu Hao didn’t seem offended. He smiled, clasped his hands together, and looked at Lin Chen eagerly.

Lin Chen had to admit that this trick worked very well.

Xing Conglian saw the unsmiling young man bow his head, picked up the evidence bag on the table, and spoke to them solemnly. “These white quartz sand should’ve come from a sandbox. There is a type of psychotherapy called sandplay therapy* that uses this white sand and many objects to explore and diagnose a patient’s mental state.” The young man seemed to think of something and spoke carefully. “In the days before Taobao, a complete set of equipment for sandplay therapy would be more than 20,000 yuan and there were only a few manufacturers and distributors, but nowadays, it will be very difficult for you to trace the source of this white sand.”

*A nonverbal, therapeutic intervention that uses a sandbox, toys, and sometimes water to create scenes of miniature worlds that reflect a person’s inner thoughts, struggles, and concerns. It’s a form of play therapy designed to help a patient connect between the world they created in sand to their inner world. By making changes in their make-believe world, the patients are often empowered to make changes in their real world. It was developed by psychologist Dora Kalff in the late 1950’s.

His voice was light, but whether it was the calm eyebrows or the upright posture, he commanded absolute authority.

What could possibly be said? When facing an expert, all presumptuous speculations seemed too trivial.

It was rare for Xing Conglian to apologize, but his apology lasted only a few seconds before it was interrupted by Lin Chen’s words.

“If you let me go and promise not to appear in front of me again, I’ll tell you where this sand came from.”

“Okay.” Xing Conglian didn’t hesitate and answered quickly. After he spoke, he rested his chin on his hand and looked at Lin Chen with interest.

This time, it was Lin Chen who was surprised. He didn’t expect the police to agree to his request.

He looked into the interrogator’s dark green eyes solemnly, seemingly able to see the sincerity and integrity in them, not finding any signs of bluffing. “The sand in the little fatty’s hand was stolen from my room. As for the white sand by the corpses, I have no idea.”

He replied as such.

Xing Conglian nodded with an expression as if he expected this response.

Lin Chen no longer spoke. He glanced at his shidi* and stood up, expressing that he wanted to leave.

*(师弟) Used to address a younger male fellow schoolmate or apprentice. In this context, it’s similar to calling him “kouhai”.

At that moment, there was a slight vibration in the interrogation room. Lin Chen subconsciously turned around, only to see the two people sitting in the chairs glancing at each other before each picking up their phones.

“Mr. Lin.”

Xing Conglian held down the microphone and suddenly stopped him.

“We’re heading to Central Park. Since it’s along the way, we’ll drop you off at your place. Please wait a while.”

He stated this in a matter-of-fact tone without leaving any room for refutation.

If Lin Chen knew that “along the way” meant stopping by the murder scene first, he would’ve never stepped into Xing Conglian’s jeep in the first place.

The incident happened at Central Park. The deceased was a young man in his thirties.

According to the report, the man was exercising in the park when he accidentally fell from the still rings. The cause of death seemed to be a fracture to his skull.

At this time, it was completely dark as streetlights sparsely lit up. The camphor trees in the park swayed gently in the wind. In the night, the yellow tape raised by the police looked quite conspicuous. There was a crowd of people gathered around the cordon that it was impossible to see what was beyond it.

When the car braked suddenly, it made Lin Chen lean forward slightly.

In a flash, the police officer in the car had already taken off his uniform, pulled the handbrake, and lowered the window. Before Lin Chen could react, the man had already gotten out of the car and locked the door, leaving him and Fu Hao inside.

“Mr. Lin, I have to trouble you to wait for a bit.”

Through the car window, Mr. Police Officer blew him a kiss and then ran away.

Lin Chen sat in the car as the night breeze passed through the window. Everything that happened today was strange, but his final analysis was that it was because of the people he met today that were strange.

At his side, his shidi trembled as he whispered, “Shixiong, don’t be angry. Captain Xing probably wants to send you home. He’s not a bad person, but because he’s a quarter Russian and a quarter Italian, he’s a bit more unrestrained…”

“When two bloodlines mix, they will create an abnormal person,” Lin Chen said as he stared at Xing Conglian’s back.

Of course, Xing Conglian couldn’t hear Lin Chen’s evaluation of him.

As a human with a complex bloodline, he was a model for flexibility and resilience. He scratched his hair, lit a cigarette, and mixed into the crowd, standing by an auntie who was wearing a square dancing* dress.

*An exercise routine performed to music in squares, plazas, or parks. It’s popular with middle-aged and retired women who have been referred to as “dancing grannies”.

“Auntie, what’s going on? Why are there so many policemen.” The captain of the criminal division was holding a cigarette while pretending to be an onlooker. He poked the auntie beside him for some news with a horrified yet inquisitive tone.

“They found a dead person!” The woman spoke in non-standard Mandarin as she leaned into Xing Conglian’s ears.

“Who? This is a big deal!”

“It is! I see that boy every day and even worked out with him yesterday.” The gossiping auntie spoke enthusiastically. “He shouldn’t have been so wild, hooking his feet into the rings and hanging upside down, like this.” As she spoke, the auntie bent down and excitedly demonstrated. “That’s how it was. Then the ring broke and he fell down dead!”

“How terrible!” Xing Conglian exclaimed.

“More than terrible! His face was so scary at the time, it looked like his eyes were about to pop out and his scream could be heard from miles away.”

“You mean he wasn’t dead when he fell?” Xing Conglian noticed.

“No. He was still moving when we tried to help him!”

…

“The auntie said the ring suddenly broke, and the victim didn’t die right away.”

Xing Conglian stood by the window on Lin Chen’s side with a cigarette in his hand. Although Fu Hao thought Xing Conglain was speaking to him, it felt like the words were directed towards Lin Chen.

Lin Chen leaned against the back of the chair, lightly closing his eyes as if he had fallen asleep.

One person seemed to be talking in the night wind, while the other was faking being asleep.

Fu Hao felt burned by this awkward atmosphere between the two, so he quickly stepped up and asked, “Was it an accident?”

Xing Conglian didn’t answer him but looked at Lin Chen as he spoke. “We can only make this conclusion after the forensic department has finished their investigation.”

Fu Hao felt his presence here was superfluous. Just when he wanted to continue, Lin Chen suddenly opened his eyes and stood up. Fu Hao followed his line of sight and saw that it was looking vaguely through the crowd, observing the crime scene that had just occurred.

It was extremely dark. The equipment was painted blue by the police lights that were flashing. The equipment was scattered about, looking to be standard equipment like pull-up bars and sit-up planks. It was a mixture of old and new, but there were no signs of rust or damage.

Only in the corner were the still rings. It had one ring dangling in mid-air while the other had fallen to the ground.

Under the hanging ring, which was covered with scattered bloodstains, was a pile of sand that formed after the degradation of the turf.

Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian, who was so close to him that he could feel the other man’s breath.

In the night, he saw Mr. Police Officer’s eyes darting about, searching for something. He seemed to have found a clue regarding the sand but held it back and didn’t mention it.

It was the same sand.

There had been several cases in this city that seemed to be related to this sand for several days. It could be a coincidence, but it was very likely these cases were connected.

However, Lin Chen’s thought was, ‘What does this have to do with him?’

“I was at the police station when the crime happened,” Lin Chen said, “so the murderer isn’t me.”

When he finished speaking, he saw a trace of disappointment in Xing Conglian’s eyes.

“I don’t understand what Mr. Lin is saying.” Xing Conglian took a puff from his cigarette, threw the cigarette butt to the ground and stomped on it as he spoke with a smile.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

I’ve decided to keep forms of addresses in pinyin. You may be familiar with shixiong and shidi if you read a lot of xianxia, but apparently, it’s also used in a police setting. At least someone told me they’ve seen this used a lot in the police dramas they’ve watched.

It’s also purposeful because it establishes ranks, so Fu Hao isn’t just calling him “brother” in a friendly way, but addressing him with some respect.

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 2

Hongjing was an old city.

It had seen many storms, but no matter what happened, big or small, it failed to make any ripples. The sun would rise, the students would wake up early, and the sound of morning lectures could be heard on campus as usual.

These situations were no different from the previous days.

As always, Lin Chen checked the student dorms. When he finished checking the last box on the roster, he turned to the front page and looked at only the names that hadn’t been marked off.

As the school’s dorm manager, this was something he was most afraid of encountering.

Just five minutes ago, he received a call from a teacher saying that Zheng Xiaoming, who was a first-year student in class three, was absent from morning class. The teacher asked him to go to his room to wake up the kid, who was probably still in bed.

But what really surprised him was that, after inspecting the dorms, he didn’t see any students there.

The white flower and blue background curtains at the dorm were blown gently by the wind. Lin Chen sighed. After three years of working here, this was the first time he encountered a missing student.

He casually spun the pen in his hand. His impression of Zheng Xiaoming was that the kid was quiet and chubby. He didn’t seem like the type who would be rebellious. Moreover, the school was strictly guarded. The guard wouldn’t easily let a child go out alone. Perhaps it was more likely he was taken away by his parents, or could it be that he was kidnapped?

As if to confirm his thoughts, his cellphone suddenly rang.

He took out his phone and saw an unidentified number belonging to Hongjing’s area code.

He connected the call and pressed the record button. A lazy voice came from the other line. “Mr. Lin, do you know Zheng Xiaoming?”

“Yes.”

“Well, Xiaoming is now in my hands. Please bring your wallet and come to Cangshui Bridge on Yanjia Lane to get him. Thank you for your cooperation.”

After the other party finished speaking, they hung up.

Lin Chen looked at the string of numbers on the screen, stupefied. Not only was this the first time a student went missing, but it was also the first time he encountered such a carefree “kidnapper”.

He hesitated for a moment, debating whether he should call the police, then grabbed his wallet and went to take a bus.

The day chosen by the kidnapper was good. The trees were lush and the flowers were in full bloom. Even the river under the Cangshui Bridge was shimmering like glass that had just been cleaned.

As if he was being watched, as soon as he stepped onto the stone bridge, his phone rang again.

The kidnapper’s voice was hoarse and calm. “Mr. Lin, please turn left. I’ll wait for you at the sixth door.”

It must be a thing that all kidnappers loved to command others. Before Lin Chen could joke about the “sixth door”, the aforementioned door sign, Unit 6 Yanjia Lane, had already appeared in front of him.

Dusty walls, an old door, and a window.

The wooden door creaked open. When he looked up, he saw an unshaven man standing by the door frame.

The man held a cigarette in his left hand while supporting himself on the doorframe with his right. The sun cast its rays on him, illuminating a pair of languid eyes that looked a bit sunken. Those eyes were faintly green. They looked unbridled, which gave off an unscrupulous vibe, giving him a look of recklessness, as if the sky, water, and city full of spring could be easily discarded.

A man that looked at everything indifferently probably wouldn’t really kidnap an eighty-pound chubby kid.

Lin Chen spoke calmly. “I’m here to pick up the brat. Thank you for taking him in.”

He slowly moved but didn’t hear the expected polite response, so he looked up only to see the other person had a cigarette in his mouth while he rubbed his fingers that were now empty.

Obviously, the phrase “bring your wallet” wasn’t a joke.

Lin Chen was left speechless, but he still reached into his pocket and pulled out a dark purple bill that was missing a corner and said, “Just five yuan.”

The man took the money and pocketed it. He didn’t seem half-ashamed at all. He raised his hand to remove the cigarette and puffed out, then moved to the side while still keeping his other hand propped on the door frame.

Lin Chen bowed slightly to thank him, squeezed into the house from under the man’s arm, and walked inside.

On the wooden bed facing the side of the river, he saw an upturned ass.

“Truancy isn’t a good thing.”

Lin Chen sat down by the bed, stretched out his hand and grabbed Zheng Xiaoming, who was pretending to be an ostrich, and put him on the bed. He then bent down, picked up the shoes on the floor, and put them on the child’s feet. He then continued, “Of course, since you’re a boy, it’s understandable to make mistakes every now and then.” He laced the shoes patiently while continuing his speech. “But the problem is, first, I don’t like to go out, and second, I’m really poor, so sneaking away is a more appropriate way to handle this than calling me.”

His voice was soft, but the little fatty looked at the man who was still smoking at the door with tears in his eyes.

Lin Chen glanced at the little fatty, then at the man who seemed to be smiling, before his eyes fell on a set of navy-blue uniforms at the corner of the door.

When a normal and well-meaning citizen found a lost child, their first reaction should be to send them to a police station. Instead, this citizen decided to torture this child for the dorm manager’s number and called him specifically to come pick the kid up. It was obvious that this man didn’t have good intentions.

Lin Chen retracted his gaze, grabbed the child’s hand, and turned to leave.

Just as he was about to cross the door, he heard a click and felt something cold touch his wrist. A pair of silver handcuffs had suddenly appeared there.

Lin Chen looked at the child who was hugging his leg and said helplessly, “Of course, if you provoke a police officer, you shouldn’t run away. It would be more appropriate to be coquettish and hug their thigh.”

“Mr. Lin is really a good person. How about we grab a cup of tea?” The police officer on the side said slowly.

“I’m not very suitable for going to the police station.” Lin Chen thought about it seriously before he answered.

“You’ll get used to it after a few more visits,” the other party said with a smile.

—-

There were many people who wouldn’t enter a police station in their entire lives. It was more appropriate to say, many people would never enter a police station’s interrogation room in their entire lives.

Therefore, if one could solve a problem by acting coquettish to avoid blowing things up, one should. After all, the interrogation room was extremely gloomy and depressing.

There were iron bars on the windows. On the wall facing you, in large characters, were the words “Leniency to those who confess. Severity to those who resist” plastered on it. An upright police officer would interrogate you while, at the same time, you may be watched by several people on the other side.

Zhang Xiaolong was an ordinary policewoman in Hongjing’s Criminal Police Division.

At the moment, she was standing outside in front of the one-way glass, monitoring every move of the suspect in the interrogation room.

She would look down from time to time, recording something in her notebook. Perhaps because she was too focused, she didn’t realize two people had come in at some point until a low, hoarse voice called out.

“How is it?”

Zhang Xiaolong turned her head, looked at the new captain’s handsome side profile, and then blushed a little. However, being strictly trained at the police academy, she quickly adjusted her mentality and reported, “Captain, the man you brought in has been sitting there for an hour and thirteen minutes. He had just looked at the pictures!” Zhang Xiaolong looked at the table nearby and flipped through two pages of notes. “According to your request, no one has spoken to him. Just half an hour ago, someone brought him some water, but he didn’t drink it. Oh, he seemed to look at the third photo the most. It’s really strange. Captain, there must be something wrong with this guy!”

The young woman tapped her ballpoint pen twice and looked at the young man in the interrogation room as she spoke excitedly.

To be honest, Zheng Xiaolong didn’t have any hostility towards this young man. After all, his looks were just her type.

The young man had black hair, and his eyes were black, as if they were bottomless. He was a little thin and wasn’t very tall. Maybe it was because of his calm demeanor or the seriousness in his eyes, but it gave him a very steady vibe, like the pines in the mountains or bamboo near a lake. When the wind blew, it would give off a refreshing smell.

If this was the case, there would be nothing suspicious at all, but after sitting in the interrogation room for so long, he only stared at three photos. He made no noise or even raised his head. How could a normal person have such patience?

Zhang Xiaolong thought that this was absolutely abnormal as she cast her gaze following the three photos on the table.

In the first photo, there was an old man with a peaceful expression, lying in bed, wearing a royal blue shroud. It looked as if he had just fallen into a deep sleep.

The second photo showed the old man lying in a morgue as there were corpses with white sheets next to him.

Compared with the first two photos that might have looked cold, the third was strange.

In the first two, the old man was lying flat in a shop. His eyes were closed, and he was wearing an old navy-blue uniform. He was lying on the ground covered in bloodstains. Looking closely at the photos, one would find that the old man’s side had white sand spilling out of his pocket.

…

If the photos were placed in chronological order, it would mean that the old man who was originally lying in the morgue, for some unknown reason, was carried from it to the troubled street.

Normal people obviously wouldn’t have this kind of hobby. If this wasn’t a medical fiasco, it would mean big trouble.

But no matter what the trouble was, that was a matter for the police. This didn’t seem like it had anything to do with a lowly dorm manager like him.

Lin Chen was pondering when the door to the interrogation room was pushed open, making a squeaking sound. He looked up and saw a policewoman sitting down in front of him.

“Lin Chen, where were you on September 7^th between 1:00 and 3:00 PM?”

The female officer spoke in a clear voice. Before she even opened her file, the words she was about to ask had already left her mouth.

“In the dorms of the city’s elementary school.” Lin Chen looked at the photo again, then turned to the policewoman in front of him and calmly gave his reply.

The policewoman was beautiful. She had long black hair, fair ears, and in those ears was a small wireless headset.

“Can anyone verify this?” The policewoman hurriedly interrupted him and added, “You said you were at the dorms. Do you have someone who can vouch for this?”

“During the time you specified, I was alone as the students were still in class. There is no one who could verify this.”

After Lin Chen finished his answer, he could tell the policewoman looked a little depressed. She lowered her head and tapped her pen, then continued to ask according to the questions in her notebook. “Then, have you been to Third Hospital recently?”

Obviously, someone had prepared these questions in advance and sent their subordinate to go interrogate him. This meant that the person in charge was most likely standing behind the one-way glass and was observing his every move.

It didn’t seem like they needed to go through such great lengths just for a corpse that was moved.

“Tell me, why am I being detained?” Lin Chen interrupted the policewoman’s questioning.

The policewoman’s eyes wandered and she subconsciously looked at the glass wall.

Lin Chen leaned forward. He probably roughly knew what was going on. “I heard recently that there were cases of neatly dressed male corpses that had a handful of white sand beside them in the morgue at Third Hospital.” He stared into the policewoman’s eyes, then leaned back in his chair. “This is extremely weird. If the city bureau finds this case difficult, they will probably seek out two types of people to help—one would be Taoist priests, the other, psychologists… So, you guys are cooperating with Unit H, right?”

Zhang Xiaolong’s eyes widened, staring at Lin Chen as if she was looking at a pervert. Suddenly, she pressed on her headset. It seemed she had received some instructions. She abruptly stood up, turned around, and left.

Lin Chen turned to the side and faced the one-way glass and said calmly, “Come out. Don’t hide.”

A moment later, the door of the interrogation room was opened again.

A slightly chubby man pushed the door in. He was holding a thermos in his left hand while his right was holding a freshly washed porcelain cup. He set the items on the table, took out a bag of tea from his pocket, and placed it in the cup, then poured the hot water in. He did this all in one smooth motion. Afterwards, he bent down and very respectfully handed the cup of tea as his voice trembled a little. “Shi… Shixiong*.”

*(师兄) Used to address a senior male fellow student or apprentice. In this context, it’s similar to calling him “senpai”.

“It turns out it’s Professor Fu.” Lin Chen didn’t take the teacup as he replied back icily.

“Shixiong… It wasn’t me who arrested you!” As the only external criminal psychology consultant for the city bureau, Fu Hao was rarely at a loss when he was at the police station.

“Why detained me?” Lin Chen asked dryly.

“Because of the sand.”

“What kind of evidence is this?”

“Shixiong, I don’t dare deceive you.” Fu Hao came forward doggedly. “There’s been panic at the city’s hospital recently. Every time they found a fully dressed corpse, the corner of their bed would always be sprinkled with fine sand. This you already know.”

Lin Chen nodded.

“This morning, Captain Xing met a lost child on the side of the road. The child knocked on the car window, pulled out sand from his pocket, and said ‘Uncle, I want to eat KFC. Can I exchange it with this?’”

“What a genius.” Lin Chen could hardly believe his ears.

“Hur hur,” Fu Hao snarked sarcastically. “Afterwards, they compared it with the evidence at the office. The sand the child took out matched the ones next to the corpses.”

“How coincidental.” Lin Chen frowned.

“This is more than a coincidence, senior. Don’t you know? There was a riot in Chunshui Street yesterday. An old man fell dead to the ground in front of everyone’s eyes. When the ambulance arrived, they said he’d been dead for at least several hours.” Fu Hao lowered his voice and said slowly, “Moreover, a handful of sand fell out of the old man’s pocket.”

“What kind of sand is it?”

“It’s very special sand—very white—but the evidence team hasn’t figured it out yet.”

When Lin Chen heard this, his brows furrowed. “Show it to me.”

Before he could finish, the door to the interrogation room was pushed open again, and a bearded man carrying a bag of evidence smugly walked in.

“Mr. Lin, my name is Xing, Xing Conglian.” The man had changed into a police uniform at some point, which made his demeanor more dignified and his attitude more appropriate, unlike the hooligan who was rubbing his fingers earlier on. “I hope you can identify this sand. Have you seen it before?”

Lin Chen didn’t bother to look at him and instead smoothly picked up the bag of sand on the table.

The bag weighed about 50g. He opened the evidence bag carefully and examined the content inside.

The sand was extremely white, and the grains were particularly clean. It was obviously different from the rough dirt at a construction site or the fine sand on a beach.

Lin Chen put down the bag of sand and looked at Fu Hao as he spoke in a cold tone. “You haven’t seen this sand before?”

“I don’t think so,” Fu Hao answered honestly.

“If you don’t even know this, how on earth did you even graduate?” Lin Chen asked seriously.

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

Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

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

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Chapter 1

A world of sand.

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Chunshui Street was an old street in the southwest of Hongjing.

It wasn’t much different from other bustling streets in this city; the shops were spread out from one end of the long street to the other. The sunset would cut the sky, creating a golden film that covered the street, and the air seemed to have the aroma of fluffy egg tarts.

Towards the evening, the streets gradually became lively.

In this fish shop on the side of the road, a crucian carp was trying to swim away from a plastic basin. Just when it was about to escape, it was grabbed by its belly and picked up.

Wang Chunhua was almost sixty years old this year. Her life was no different from that of a middle-aged woman in her sixties in this city. She had just finished getting a perm in the salon next door and was now stopping by to buy a crucian carp on her way home to make some fish stew for her grandson.

“Ten yuan! Ten yuan and nothing more!” She took out a worn-out ten-yuan bill from her wallet and stuffed it into the shopkeeper’s hand, triumphant over scoring her discount, and brushed her hair smoothly.

The air was filled with the rustling background noise of the radio, and it seemed that something was being said.

The fish shopkeeper shook his head helplessly, stuffed the money into his leather apron pocket, and turned up the volume on the radio with his wet fingers.

“We interrupt this broadcast for an emergency announcement.” On the car radio, a female announcer paused to collect her soft voice. “Great Typhoon Yunna will hit our city head-on at night on the 12^th. The Meteorological Bureau reminds everyone that starting tonight, citizens are requested to minimize going out.”

Wang Chunhua took the fish. The crucian carp in the plastic bag was swimming gently. As if to confirm something, when she looked up at the sky, it quickly darkened.

The fruit shopkeeper at stall No. 18 on Chunshui Street also raised his head and looked at the gray sky. As if he felt the wetness of the rain in the air or for some other reason, he suddenly picked up a half-frame of rotten apples and poured them into a crate holding expensive red delicious. A few of them accidentally fell out, causing him to hurriedly turn around to chase them.

The rotten fruit crackled and fell like a torrential rain. A few had fallen away, rolling further along the iron-gray sidewalk…

With a crisp crunching sound, a pair of thick-soled leather shoes stepped on them without hesitation, crushing the fruit and spilling their juices on the side of the road.

“Oh, a few rotten apples.” Wang Chunhua raised her foot, looked at the fruit she had just trampled over, and kicked it in disgust. “I almost slipped!”

The stall owner didn’t respond. He picked up all the apples, lowered his head, and carried them back to his stall.

When the shopkeeper didn’t apologize, Wang Chunhua suddenly got angry. Just when she was about to walk away, she suddenly caught a glimpse of the fruit stall owner frantically stuffing all the rotten apples in together with the high-end apples. Recalling all the rumors she heard about these kinds of shops, she became even more angry.

“Is your brain broken? Selling rotten apples with good apples!” Seeing this, Wang Chunhua ran to the fruit stand and poked at an apple as she raised her voice. 

The face of the stall owner flushed, but he didn’t say anything and instead glared at her with bloodshot eyes. Wang Chunhua cleared her throat and was about to mock some more when the wind started.

The wind was light, like a flowy girl’s hair, and soft, like the lips of a mother’s kiss.

Wang Chunhua stood under the awning as the gentle breeze blew through her permed hair, causing it to brush against her arm and fall on her fingers. Then, she felt as if something had fallen from her hand.

She subconsciously lowered her head to look and found a finger on the ground. 

Where did this finger come from?

The severe pain came after, as she timidly shifted her gaze to her right, where a huge and ugly gap had appeared.

She wanted to call for help but found she couldn’t say anything. The stall owner grabbed her throat with an iron grip and held a narrow watermelon knife to the side of her face.

The sense of fear was far more terrifying than the physical pain. The stall owner swung the handle of his knife and slashed at her. In an instant, her skin split and blood engulfed her vision. All that was left was inhuman panting in her ears.

The desire to survive stimulated the greatest potential in humans. Wang Chunhua used all her strength to push away the fruit stall owner, tumbled away and tried to escape into the shop next door. 

There was an old man sitting in the store. Wang Chunhua could hardly see anything. She only felt an eerie sense of serenity around her. She arched her upper body and wanted to climb over the threshold. Just when she was about to touch the old man’s trousers, she was kicked down again…

The severe pain didn’t come as expected. It took her a long time to gather the courage to look back.

Behind her, several men were trying to subdue the crazed fruit shopkeeper who was slashing at the crowd. The faces of the onlookers had horrified expressions. They were whispering among themselves things like, “How could this happen”, “He’s usually very nice”, “He didn’t seem like a psychopath”, and so on.

Wang Chunhua opened her mouth and wanted to speak but found that nothing came out. There was warm blood on her face and hands. She propped up her elbows on the ground and tried to stand up, but before she could maintain her balance, her knees buckled suddenly, causing her to stagger. She stumbled down, hitting the old man who was sitting in the armchair.

With a crash, the old man fell without warning.

Wang Chunhua was startled. She propped up her body and staggered back a few steps, then stretched out her hand to wipe the blood that encapsulated her vision. The old man still maintained his fallen posture. His gray hair was neat and tidy, and he was wearing a clean, old navy-blue uniform, looking like an odd, serene sculpture.

Wang Chunhua held her breath and leaned forward again. She cautiously pushed the old man with her now missing index finger, causing him to tumble over and fall flat on the ground. A handful of white sand blew out of the seam of the old man’s pockets like thousands of tiny white aphids swarming out.

The sunset reflected on the window and cast its light over the old man’s wrinkled face, making the deadness on his face even more apparent. The shadows obscured the upper half of his face, while the setting sun illuminated the lower half, giving it a sense of softness. There seemed to be a smile on the corner of the old man’s mouth.

Chun Shui Street was eerily quiet. Only the voice of the female announcer was still coming out of the radio. “The police request that citizens pay attention to safety while traveling and be vigilant…” 

The magnetic voice filled the air over the entire block.

When everyone was focused on the old man, no one noticed that someone wearing a cap lowered the brim of their cap and walked out towards the long street where the murder had just happened, against the flow of the crowd.

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Kinky Thoughts:

I’ve been itching to do a mystery novel, so I decided to pick up Criminal Psychology. Personally, I think Criminal Minds is a better title, but since the audio drama cover even shows its Criminal Psychology along with previous translators, I decided to leave it. Also, it could get confusing with the American TV show of the same name.

Truthfully though, I just got art baited again like I did with Stray, from the audio drama covers, but that’s just fine since a mystery novel has been on my to-do list.

Anyways, I hope you’ll enjoy this series. *Sigh* I sometimes ask myself why I torture myself by picking up such long projects. This novel has 310 chapters total with 1.2+ million Chinese characters, about the same length as Stray. Guess I’m a masochist.

Here’s some artwork from the audio drama that can be purchased here. Season 1, 2, 3.

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|| Table of Contents || >>>