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A Lunatic Says He Loves Me: Chapter 3
Chapter 3: Yin-Yang Murder 3
Han Rong’s first reaction was that he hadn’t fully woken up yet; he might be dreaming. It wasn’t until the police brought him to the morgue in the basement of the police station, lifted the white cloth, and saw Chen Sheng lying there with closed eyes that he had to face this reality.
Chen Sheng was dead.
“Mr. Chen hired a cleaner who would come to his house every afternoon to clean. Today, when the cleaner was working, she found him in the bathroom. His hands were tied, there was a needle mark on his forehead, and he drowned in the bathtub. The police did not find anyone else’s fingerprints in his room…”
The police officer taking Han Rong’s statement said, “But Mr. Chen’s cause of death is exactly the same as the first case in your latest work, ‘Yin-Yang Murder,’ published on Jinjiang Literature City.”
“As Mr. Chen’s identity is special, an experienced detective expert has been specially assigned to guide the police. His deduction is…”
Han Rong interrupted him, calmly saying, “The expert deduced that the murderer is either the author of ‘Yin-Yang Murder,’ who became obsessed with writing and cannot distinguish between fiction and reality, or a deranged reader of ‘Yin-Yang Murder.’ Either way, they’re insane.”
The officer didn’t say anything, his eyes showing some shock because Han Rong’s words mirrored exactly what the expert had said.
Then, Han Rong continued calmly, “If the killer really is imitating ‘Yin-Yang Murder’ to commit the crime, then the victim is not only Chen Sheng. You can detain me first and then search my apartment, but my advice is that you should immediately apply to the higher-ups to increase police force and conduct a city-wide manhunt.”
“The killer is a lunatic.”
Han Rong sensed the temperature drop several degrees when he uttered these words, and the gazes of all the police officers in the interrogation room looked at him as if they were seeing a mentally deranged killer driven by love and hatred.
Heh.
A bitter smile tugged at the corners of Han Rong’s mouth.
From the moment he found out about Chen Sheng’s infidelity, he was indeed angry and upset, but he never once thought about killing him. He wasn’t crazy just because of a scumbag. But these police officers obviously didn’t intend to believe him.
Han Rong felt like he was talking to a brick wall, so he shut up. According to the plot of “Yin-Yang Murder,” there would be four more victims.
That night, Han Rong was locked up. The conditions in the police station’s standard room were not bad: a cold, hard iron bed, a spittoon for relieving oneself, and that was it.
The night was cold, and he curled up on the hard bed, unable to sleep well. He felt goosebumps all over his body and had nightmares, where Chen Sheng cried blood tears and asked him why he wanted to kill him.
Han Rong screamed, “I didn’t,” and then woke up. In the darkness, there was a person sitting on the ground, and a furry head nestled into his arms, groggily saying, “Had a nightmare?”
“F*ck me!” Han Rong was frightened and pushed the head away with a slap. How the hell did someone get in here?
There was a fist-sized ventilation vent on the wall, and sparse moonlight shone through, illuminating the person’s face, allowing Han Rong to see who it was clearly. He was surprised and said, “What are you doing here?”
Ji Yan, who was slapped, looked a bit aggrieved. He bit his lip and, when his eyes met Han Rong’s, inexplicably felt very happy. He curled his lips and said, “I missed you.”
“I mean, how did you get in?”
Ji Yan said, “It’s almost New Year’s Eve. The police station’s small suite is in high demand, and there’s no room anywhere else. I just said I’m with you, and then they locked me up.”
“What do you mean, with me?”
Ji Yan tilted his head and said, “You killed Chen Sheng for me, didn’t you?”
Han Rong tried hard to restrain himself from slapping him again, and said in a low voice, “Stop talking nonsense!”
“Oh.” Ji Yan responded, then said, “Can I climb up and sleep with you? It’s cold on the floor.”
“You think this bed is big enough for both of us?”
“The police station is so poor…” Ji Yan, unwilling to give up, glanced at the narrow bed, bit his pretty lip, and said, “When we get out, I’ll sponsor several million to improve the prison environment.”
Han Rong chuckled in exasperation. Did he think the police station was a hotel? This also made him curious about the person in front of him and asked, “What do you do?”
“I do business.”
“What kind of business?”
“Smuggling, drug trafficking…” Ji Yan listed them cheerfully, giggling, “Are you scared?”
Han Rong rolled his eyes, “You’d better ask if I believe you.”
“Oh. Do you believe me?”
“No.”
“You know me so well.” Ji Yan smiled again, his features becoming even more beautiful, and groped for Han Rong’s hand in the dark. “I’m so happy.”
Han Rong shook him off, saying, “I’m going to sleep. Dare to disturb me, and I’ll beat you.” Then he closed his eyes and fell asleep before long.
Ji Yan obediently stiffened his body, not daring to move, restraining his breathing and making no sound. Han Rong slept soundly and didn’t have any more nightmares.
The next day.
The adjacent cell emptied, and the police took Ji Yan away. Han Rong took the opportunity to ask the police about the reason for his arrival.
“He deliberately provoked a fight with the little hooligans and refused bail from the legal team. He even asked to be locked up with the most brutal murderer. If it weren’t for the lack of space in the cells, we wouldn’t have entertained this request. I really don’t understand the mindset of rich people,” the police said in a tone that said “I’ve never seen such insanity.”
“Wait a minute…” After a long silence, Han Rong said, “Who do you mean by the most brutal murderer?”
The police gave him a meaningful look and then left.
Han Rong was detained for three days. Initially, he remained calm, eating, staring into space, sleeping, and occasionally contemplating new plotlines for his novels. However, as time passed with no progress from the police and a growing sense of restlessness, he felt that something significant was about to happen.
Ji Yan was in the adjacent cell, and his hand could touch Han Rong through the bars as he tried to attract his attention.
Han Rong coldly said, “I’m in a bad mood right now, really want to vent by hitting someone. You better not provoke me.”
Ji Yan said, “Making love helps relieve stress. Do you want to try?”
Han Rong raised his hand to slap him, but Ji Yan cooperatively lifted his face, approaching him with an expression of enjoyment.
“…” He suddenly lost the desire to hit someone and instead twisted Ji Yan’s face fiercely, making him blush as if he had been trampled on.
Ji Yan seemed pleasantly surprised, smiling with raised lips, “You can’t bear to hit me? How delightful.”
“…”
He really had no temper left.
“Don’t worry,” Ji Yan said. “What needs to happen will happen.”
After another three days, the police opened the cell door, wearing visible fatigue on their faces and a serious expression. They said, “The second victim has appeared.”
Han Rong felt a shock in his heart but maintained a calm expression on his face, asking, “Does your expert suspect that I have an accomplice?”
“No,” the police said. “He applied to the higher-ups for your assistance in solving the case.”
The police didn’t find any crime tools in Han Rong’s apartment. During these days, they systematically investigated Han Rong’s social circle but found no suspicious individuals. Just as the possibility of Han Rong being the killer gradually diminished, the second victim was discovered.
“Take me to the morgue,” Han Rong said after a brief silence.
The police handcuffed him and led him out of the cell. Inexplicably, he looked back and saw Ji Yan with a gloomy expression, a trace of unrestrained ferocity between his eyebrows. When Ji Yan noticed his gaze, he immediately turned sunny, smiling with raised lips, “I’ll be waiting for you to come back.”
Han Rong suddenly felt a giant stone pressing on his chest, making it hard to breathe.
He thought, if this is a nightmare, wake up quickly!
Until facing the second corpse, he closed his eyes, tried hard to control his anger, and then opened them, observing the person in the ice coffin with an expressionless face.
Someone was using his books to commit crimes.
This caused Han Rong immense pain and hatred.
In a cold, emotionless tone, he heard himself say, “Within ten minutes, I want all the information on the victims.”
The second victim was named Qiao En, a project manager at a landscaping company. He was found dead in the woods by a patrolman, dressed in a green women’s cheongsam with his hands bound, hanging from a tree, suffocated.
Han Rong remembered very clearly that in “Yin-Yang Murder,” the first case involved a lunatic seeking immortality who committed murders according to the principles of the Five Elements in Taoism.
In the novel, the first victim’s birth chart belonged to water, and he worked in a field related to water (as a swimming coach). He died wearing swim trunks, and the place of death was a bathtub.
Born in water, died in water.
The second victim was someone who liked to cross-dress as a woman, with a birth chart belonging to wood, and was a carpenter. He died wearing a green work uniform (green belongs to wood), and the place of death was hanging from a tree in the woods.
Born in wood, died in wood.
When Chen Sheng died, he was shirtless and wearing wet swim trunks. After graduating from a military academy, he was assigned to work at customs. Chen Sheng’s birth chart belonged to water, while Han Rong’s belonged to fire. The two were incompatible, as water and fire do not mix. Chen Sheng would often joke, “The moment I saw you, I felt like burning with desire. It’s okay to burn me to death.”
Qiao En’s multinational company was related to landscaping, and his profession belonged to wood. His birth chart also belonged to wood, and the place of death was also wood.
Their foreheads each had a needle-like hole. In the novel, this hole was made by a Soul-Attracting Needle. It’s a very sinister ritualistic artifact used to draw out a person’s soul.
The soul is then placed inside a puppet and nourished daily with fresh blood. After forty-nine days, the puppet ghost will obey the killer’s commands and take the lives of others at night. The more people the puppet ghost kills, the longer the killer lives.
According to the novel’s plot, the killer must kill three more people, making them into puppet ghosts of fire, gold, and earth attributes.
This is called the “Five Ghosts Longevity Technique.”
The killer is following the plot of “Yin-Yang Murder” completely. What is his purpose? It’s unknown.
Han Rong is well aware that there’s no such thing as the “Five Ghosts Longevity Technique” in this world; it’s all his creation.
“The killer could be a computer hacker, an employee of an insurance company, or someone working in public welfare organizations like hospitals or social security bureaus, places where basic information about the deceased can be easily obtained. They are likely well-educated, at least with a college degree. They have an interest in Yin-Yang theory and detective novels…”
He rubbed his temples and said, “But we don’t need to rush to find him now. We need to find his targets first—the next victims. We have to find those people and protect them before he strikes.”
“But our city has hundreds of thousands of residents. It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.”
Han Rong said, “The death location of the third victim in the novel is at the crematorium of the funeral home. She belongs to the fire element, died wearing a red dress, and is a woman. There aren’t many female workers in funeral homes, and we only have one funeral home in our city. I believe that by checking the birthdays of female employees, we can quickly find her.”
He sighed deeply again, feeling extremely exhausted. “But what I can think of, the killer can think of too.”
The police officer beside Han Rong immediately ordered, “Check it out immediately!”
“Yes!”
Through the public security system, they retrieved the information of the funeral home’s employees and went through them one by one. Only one girl named “Mo Yi” belonged to the fire element. The police quickly called the manager of the funeral home and rushed over. Han Rong and the police got into the police car together, feeling sticky and sweating profusely.
Ding Ling Ling—
The piercing sound of a cell phone rang out.
The police officer who had just contacted the funeral home pressed the call button, his expression gradually becoming serious. Then, he raised his head, cleared his throat, and said, “The director of the funeral home said… that female worker named Mo Yi…”
“Murdered.”
“Back to the police station!” Han Rong shouted loudly to the driver. “Don’t waste time, go back immediately and find the next victim!”
“The fourth victim belongs to the metal element, is a man, and works in a mechanical processing plant. The cause of death appears to be improper operation, being caught and killed by machinery. However, in the novel, the killer tampered with the machine. But in our city, there are three large-scale mechanical plants, each with thousands of employees. It will take a lot of time to investigate.” A police officer closed the Jinjiang Literature City app.
Because of staying up late, Han Rong’s face was somewhat pale. “We need to change our approach. Why can the killer infiltrate Chen Sheng’s home, the mountain forest, the funeral home, and the mechanical processing plant without arousing suspicion?”
A young police officer joked, “Maybe he’s a delivery guy.” After receiving a warning look from the superior, he stuck out his tongue.
But Han Rong nodded. “Exactly.”
“I want to overturn the previous profile of the killer. His educational level is not high, he has experienced setbacks in life, his personality is somewhat immature, and he is obsessed with fantasy novels, games, and other virtual worlds. Nowadays, delivery platforms require customers to fill in their date of birth, in order to offer them discounts on their birthdays. So the killer can obtain customer information through the work platform. Please check the phones of Chen Sheng, Qiao En, and Mo Yi to see which delivery platform they often use to order food.”
“It’s the ‘Have You Eaten’ platform.”
Han Rong circled Chen Sheng’s home, Qiao En’s company, and Mo Yi’s funeral home on the city map, saying, “Retrieve the surveillance footage from these three locations and look for the figures of delivery guys.”
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