It was already 5 p.m. when Huang Xiaotao drove me back from the orphanage to the city. She took me to a grilled fish restaurant for dinner.
During dinner, she was constantly on the phone - the team leader of a special case squad seemed quite busy.
When she finally hung up, I asked, "Any progress?"
"No substantial progress so far," Huang Xiaotao frowned. "The best chance to crack a murder case is within 48 hours of the discovery of the corpse. The body was found too late in this case. I'm worried it may turn into a prolonged battle!"
"It would be great if we found another body..." Wang Dali said.
Huang Xiaotao and I glared at him. Wang Dali awkwardly explained, "That's always how it goes in movies - bodies keep turning up one after another, leading to the real murderer."
"Jinx!" Huang Xiaotao scolded angrily.
"But Wang Dali may not be wrong. This is not a crime of passion, more like targeted serial killings! In seven days, I'm afraid another victim may have already appeared in some corner of the city," I said.
"Baiye is avenging his mother who abandoned him, so he specifically targets prostitutes - this is somewhat like Jack the Ripper, isn't it?" Huang Xiaotao remarked.
"Yes, I feel the same," I nodded.
"What if, like the Jack the Ripper case, this one also remains unsolved?" Wang Dali asked.
"Do you spit ivory from your mouth?" Huang Xiaotao glared at him.
"Alright, I'll shut up now. Can't I even eat in peace?" Just then, the server brought over the milkshake Huang Xiaotao had ordered. Seeing it, Wang Dali was probably reminded of the autopsy yesterday. He covered his mouth and rushed to the bathroom.
"What a wimp!" Huang Xiaotao laughed out loud.
After the meal, Huang Xiaotao was going to drive us back, but it was already dark by then, and the police station was quite far from our school. I didn't want her to make an extra trip, so I told her to head back first. Wang Dali and I would take the bus.
As we were leaving, Huang Xiaotao said, "I still need to comb through the available clues. I'll call you when I need your help."
"Sure!" I replied.
The next two days were uneventful. That night, Huang Xiaotao suddenly called. She sounded especially serious as she said, "Song Yang, there may have been another victim tonight. Can you come over?"
"What happened?" I asked.
"I've asked Wang Yuanchao to pick you guys up. Wait for him at the school gate." With that, she hung up.
Wang Dali had just gone to bed. I shook him awake. He was very reluctant. "Why is it always at night? This woman really is a night-roaming vampire..."
"Come or not? I'll go myself if you don't!" I said.
"Coming, let me get dressed!" Wang Dali tumbled out of bed.
We sneaked out of the dorm and waited at the school gate for a while until Wang Yuanchao pulled up. I asked what had happened after getting in the car, and why Huang Xiaotao said there 'may' have been a victim tonight.
Wang Yuanchao calmly replied, "You'll see when we get there."
As we drove on, I realized we were going towards the orphanage. When we got there, I saw many police cars surrounding the building. The aunt I had met last time was also there. Huang Xiaotao stood with her hands on her hips, scolding two policemen, "How could you mess up like this? Someone died because you lost track of them - who will take responsibility?"
"What happened?" I walked up and asked.
Huang Xiaotao explained that the last two days they had searched hospitals around the city, finding dozens of stroke patients matching the profile. But after eliminating them one by one, they still came up empty. So they expanded the search and finally found the orphanage director's medical records at a hospital in a neighboring city that specialized in stroke treatment. He had been treated for a stroke there a year ago.
Huang Xiaotao immediately grew suspicious - the director was highly likely to be the accomplice!
So she ordered the officers tailing him to take control of the director quickly. But he had already escaped through the orphanage's back door. According to the people at the orphanage, the director hardly ever went out, so he was likely out helping the murderer.
I suggested, "Let's check the director's office first."
"Right!" Huang Xiaotao nodded.
We went to the director's office and found the light on inside. One of the policemen who had botched the job mumbled excuses: "From a distance, we saw the office light was on, so we thought he was inside. We got careless..."
Huang Xiaotao sighed and shook her head: "It was my mistake. I should have deployed more people around the orphanage."
I examined the room. There was a Bible spread open on the desk, along with a fountain pen. The ashtray next to it contained some burnt scraps of paper. One of the forensics guys was about to pick it up when I called out, "Wait!"
Those paper bits could contain vital clues. They had already been burnt to ash - one shake and they would crumble. I told Wang Dali, "Go buy a squid and some linseed oil."
"Fuck, where do I go buy that stuff this late at night?"
Wang Yuanchao said, "The nearest supermarket is 3 km away. Let me drive there."
"Good, I'll leave it to you," I nodded.
After Wang Yuanchao left, Xiao Zhou walked over and surreptitiously tapped my shoulder. "Song Yang, there's something I want to tell you."
"What is it?" I asked.
"There really are vampires in Nanjiang City!" Xiao Zhou whispered mysteriously.
I nearly spit blood. Was this guy a wooden-head? Why was he still obsessed with this?
Seeing I didn't believe him, he promptly took out a yellowed case file from his briefcase and handed it to me.
Huang Xiaotao said with exasperation, "Xiao Zhou, have you only been researching vampires these last two days instead of analyzing the videos properly?"
"I believe this is a vital clue to cracking the case," Xiao Zhou stated confidently.
Huang Xiaotao's cheek twitched. If they weren't colleagues of equal rank, she probably would have showered him with curses.
I opened the file. It documented a bizarre murder case from eighteen years ago. The victim was a 37-year-old prostitute, found dead in her rented apartment. Nearly all her blood had been drained.
The file also contained a photo of the corpse. She was wearing a red dress and sprawled on the bed, her skin as pale as paper. Another close-up showed the neck - there was a small bite mark, much smaller than the gaping wound in our current case.
Seeing the photo, my mind buzzed. I swiftly put the pieces together: "Red dress...Prostitute...Eighteen years ago...Orphan..."
Xiao Zhou didn't notice my reaction. He asked, "Well, isn't this file very important? It proves vampires have long existed in Nanjiang City!"
"Yes, it's very important. Thank you!" I nodded again and again.
Xiao Zhou looked confused, clearly not expecting me to thank him. I told Huang Xiaotao, "If I'm not wrong, this dead woman from eighteen years ago was Baiye's mother!"
"Are you sure?" Huang Xiaotao asked.
"Extremely sure. Eighteen years ago he killed his own mother, so the director lied to us that day - Baiye wasn't abandoned, he went into hiding after committing murder." I spoke rapidly.
"Why would the director cover for him?" Huang Xiaotao wondered.
"I don't believe for a second he's some saint who'd shield even a killer. There's only one explanation - the director is his biological father!" I said coldly.
Everyone present was stunned for a moment. I calmly analyzed - when the director was young, he didn't properly adhere to the church's precepts but went out womanizing. That was how he met Baiye's mother.
It was unclear whether theirs was a fleeting affair or secret love. In any case, Baiye's mother later got pregnant and gave birth to him.
As the orphanage director, he absolutely could not acknowledge this son. And given her profession, Baiye's mother likely could not properly fulfill a mother's duties either. An abandoned woman bearing such a freak - naturally she harbored deep resentment, which she took out on Baiye.
It's easy to imagine how growing up in such an environment would warp Baiye's mind, making him extremely twisted, dark and full of hatred for his own mother.
So one day, he killed her. The director had probably been watching him all along, and chose that moment to appear and take him in, helping him escape imprisonment...
he colors of other people’s emotions. Light red meant anxiety. Gray meant exhaustion. Orange meant excitement. Yellow... meant repression. At the same time, he could gain unlimited control over one of those colors. Pale cyan: relaxation. Using this ability, he started offering “two-yuan hugs,” spending an afternoon exchanging emotional-color experiences with others. Then came his final female customer of the day— a girl whose emotional color was pure black... —— A week later, Xu Chuan had become skilled at using pale cyan—Relaxation—treating it like a bottle of menthol balm whenever he needed it. That was when he discovered he had unlocked another unlimited emotional color: Purple, the color of fear. So these emotional colors refresh every week? Fine, I take it back—I’ll never call you useless again... —— Much later, after Xu Chuan had accumulated countless emotional abilities, one night, he suddenly found himself inside someone else’s dream. There, he could use the emotional colors he possessed to paint. And in her dream, he painted her a shower of pink shooting stars, spreading across the depths of the night sky...
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
