chapter 1
“I’ve already said, I’m not the murderer.”
He was wearing a blue vest, rubbing his head, his voice sounding a bit helpless.
A youthful face, looking not yet twenty, made him appear even more innocent, but only his eyes seemed unusually sharp for his age.
Opposite him, aside from a computer, a camera, and recording equipment, sat a man and a woman in uniform, both staring at him menacingly.
His hands and feet were shackled with handcuffs and leg irons.
While insisting he wasn’t the murderer, he held a pen in his hand, drawing on a piece of paper.
He kept feeling that something was wrong, erasing and redrawing with his eraser.
Behind him hung a digital clock and a slogan in eight large characters: “Leniency to those who confess, severity to those who resist!”
The man in charge across from him wore an obvious air of authority. He snorted coldly.
“Chen Shu, calm down. This is already your fifteenth day in detention. Please explain why you were at the crime scene?”
Chen Shu fell silent, only answering after a long pause: “Officer Lu, I really don’t know. I didn’t see the murderer either…”
Then, as if suddenly remembering something important, he added, “By the way, Officer Lu, do you believe that in the same space-time, there could be multiple versions of oneself?”
Upon hearing this, Officer Lu’s brows furrowed for half a second, his gaze growing even darker.
He thought the young man before him was already losing his mind.
“I’m asking you, why were you at the crime scene!”
Chen Shu sighed and replied slowly, “I was looking for someone.”
“Looking for whom?”
The female officer beside him couldn’t help but interject.
Chen Shu glanced at her, then at Officer Lu, and slowly shook his head. “You can’t help me.”
Han Xue’s eyes flashed with confusion as she looked at Chen Shu. “What do you mean by that?”
Chen Shu smiled faintly. “Have you forgotten? Fifteen days ago, I got off work and went home.”
“Then, in a daze, I appeared at the First Crime Scene, and then you inexplicably brought me here.”
“Saying I’m the murderer?”
“How shameless!”
Lu Fan shouted angrily, “Chen Shu, what kind of attitude is that!”
Hearing the reprimand, Chen Shu turned to look at him. “Uncle Lu Fan, can’t you change your temper?”
“Officer Han Xue has told you so many times to pay attention to your image. Stop being so impulsive all the time!”
“You…!”
Lu Fan was instantly choked with anger, his face turning red, but he had no retort.
What Chen Shu said was true. He was always like this, hot-tempered during investigations, never considering his colleagues’ feelings.
He liked to do things his own way.
Every time he handled a case, he was like this?
Lu Fan felt a bit puzzled, but didn’t dwell on it.
Han Xue quickly tugged at Lu Fan’s sleeve, advising, “Don’t rush. Let’s question him slowly. The truth will come out!”
“Mm.”
Lu Fan shot Chen Shu a disgruntled look, then nodded, suppressing his anger.
Han Xue asked Chen Shu, “Who were you looking for?”
“I was looking for myself.”
Chen Shu replied without hesitation.
At these words, their expressions changed dramatically.
Then, they looked at him as if he were a lunatic.
Chen Shu ignored their looks and turned to glance at the digital clock behind him, pondering for a moment.
“It’s just eight o’clock now. If nothing unexpected happens…”
“You’ve administratively detained me for fifteen days. If you have no evidence that I’m the murderer… you have to let me go.”
“Uncle Police?”
Han Xue narrowed her eyes. “Are you deliberately wasting our time?”
Chen Shu shrugged and rubbed his head. “Other than this, I really can’t think of anything else to tell you. No, actually, I’m just telling you a story!”
At this moment, Lu Fan couldn’t help but stand up.
He slammed a hand heavily on the Interrogation Room table, glaring angrily at Chen Shu. “Chen Shu, you’d better recognize your situation! This is your time to confess, not to make up nonsense!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the door to the Interrogation Room was suddenly pushed open. A police officer walked in, his face anxious. “Captain Lu, something’s happened. There’s been another murder in the suburbs outside Nanling Street. The comrades called to say that the victim and the method are exactly the same as last time, and they’ve already confirmed the suspect’s location. They want us to go there immediately to make the arrest.”
Lu Fan and Han Xue were stunned, exchanging glances as if surprised by the news.
The officer, Xiao Gao, also glanced-intentionally or not-at Chen Shu, whose hands and feet were cuffed.
Chen Shu smiled, unconcerned.
After a moment, Han Xue and Lu Fan finally recovered from their shock.
“In that case, let’s move quickly!”
Lu Fan stood up and hurried out the door. Just before leaving, he turned to look at Chen Shu, a dark glint flashing in his eyes.
Chen Shu looked up and met his gaze, letting out a light laugh.
Then Chen Shu lowered his head to look at his hands and feet bound by handcuffs and shackles, his smile growing wider. He continued, “Officer Lu, aren’t you going to let me go?”
Lu Fan thought for about thirty seconds.
“Xiao Gao, let this lunatic go.”
With that, Lu Fan and Han Xue quickly left.
In Lu Fan’s mind, if Chen Shu really wasn’t the culprit, maybe he had been so frightened by the case that he’d lost his mind.
After all, he was the only survivor-while the other ten people’s heads had been stripped of flesh and bone, sliced into long strips like potato shreds, and arranged on a large platter!
Then, Xiao Gao unlocked Chen Shu’s handcuffs and shackles, saying, “You can go, but please don’t leave the city. Until the case is fully investigated, please cooperate. Thank you.”
“Alright, thanks, Brother Gao!”
Chen Shu smiled, stretched his limbs, and walked out of the Interrogation Room…
Xiao Gao watched him leave, then noticed a piece of paper and a pen on the Interrogation Room table. Curious, he picked them up to take a look.
On the paper was a drawing of a ‘temple,’ simple and rough, with little decoration, yet it somehow gave off an ancient, rustic feeling.
Beside the ‘temple’ squatted a small rabbit, and below the rabbit were three holes.
Xiao Gao glanced at it, not paying much attention, and muttered, “Heh, who does he think he is? Does he think our temple here is too small to contain him? Tch~”
Despite his words, he still put the drawing away.
…
In a supermarket on the outskirts of Nanling Street, the owner handed a cigarette to a man and turned to look at the news on the TV.
“Breaking news: Recently, a gruesome locked-room murder and dismemberment case occurred in an apartment on Nanling Street. The killer stripped the flesh and bone from ten people’s heads, sliced them into strips like potato shreds, and arranged them on a platter! Only one person survived. Police are investigating the case!”
“Just now, a body was found outside the suburbs of Nanling Street, bearing a striking resemblance to the previous case. Police have opened an investigation and have already pinpointed the suspect’s escape route. Citizens are urged to be cautious…”