Volume One (Prequel): The Seventh Reader - Chapter 14: The So-Called Talent

The first case of the 21st century. Ding Shucheng sat in the car, lost in thought.

Outside the window, there was a surging crowd and fireworks soaring high into the sky. Police cars squealed as they struggled to navigate through the traffic, but not many people turned back to look in surprise. Other people's life and death were ultimately their own concern.

January 1, 2000, at 00:19.

The people in the theater had all fled, leaving behind scattered mineral water bottles, food wrappers, trampled flowers, and a few lost shoes on the floor.

The spacious stage looked extraordinarily vast, with a headless female corpse lying quietly on a cart, surrounded by several police officers and a group of tense security guards from the school.

Ding Shucheng jumped onto the stage, narrowly avoiding stepping into a large puddle of partially coagulated blood. Next to the pool of blood was a human head, with long hair tangled in blood, making the features indistinguishable, but it was certain that it was a young girl. About 3 meters away from the body, there was an axe thrown on the ground.

"We haven't touched anything," a 110 patrol officer walked over and said, "and a few people are still searching upstairs."

Ding Shucheng nodded, carefully avoiding the blood pool, and circled the cart to observe the female corpse. The headless body appeared unusually petite, and the congealed blood at the severed part revealed red muscles and white neck bones. The deceased had fair skin and was dressed in a white robe, with little bloodstains on it.

At this moment, a commotion came from the theater entrance. Ding Shucheng followed the sound and saw a boy running quickly down the aisle, stumbling, with two police officers chasing after him. He looked somewhat familiar.

"Is it her?" the boy shouted as he ran, an indescribable fear in his eyes.

No one answered, and everyone stared at him in astonishment.

"Is it her?!!" The boy rushed to the stage, trying to climb up, but stumbled and fell down.

The police behind him restrained him, and he struggled desperately, intermittently shouting, "Is...is it her?"

The police dragged him out.

"Damn it," a police officer took off his cap, wiping the sweat from his forehead, "he just rushed in, and three people couldn't stop him."

Ding Shucheng remembered the boy's name was Fang Mu.

At this moment, the walkie-talkie of the patrol officer next to him crackled: "There's someone on the third floor!"

Although it was likely that the perpetrator had taken advantage of the chaos to escape, the 110 patrol officers who arrived early still conducted a thorough search of the club. As a result, a person was found unconscious in a bathroom on the third floor.

"Isn't this Wu Han?" a security guard from the school exclaimed.

The police who found Wu Han said that when they found the boy, he was wearing only underwear, his hands were tied behind his back, his feet were also tied, and he was lying unconscious in a cubicle in the restroom. Two police officers took Wu Han to the hospital, while the others conducted an on-site investigation.

The bathroom was about 15 square meters, with a urinal on the left and a closed small window above. On the right were four cubicles, and Wu Han was found in the innermost one. There were two shoes scattered on the floor, presumably belonging to the victim, Wu Han. After a preliminary investigation, no valuable clues were found.

When Ding Shucheng returned to the theater, Xing Zhisen and his colleagues from the forensic team had arrived.

The forensic team was conducting an autopsy on the deceased on stage, and several people in casual clothes, clearly from home, were present.

Xing Zhisen sat in the front row of the audience, watching the busy forensic team on stage, lost in thought.

The spotlight above the stage still cast a blue light below. Below were a group of solemn-looking people with different attire, in the middle of which lay a headless female corpse.

Ding Shucheng sat down next to Xing Zhisen. Xing Zhisen did not turn around, still watching the people on stage.

After a while, he murmured, "Right here, in front of more than 3,000 people, she was killed?"

The deceased was named Chen Xi, a 21-year-old female student in her third year of the economics department. The cause of death was decapitation, and the time of death did not require the forensic team to strain their minds; when her head was severed, the watches of more than 3,000 eyewitnesses all pointed to 11:55 p.m. Residual ether was found in her mouth and nose. The murder weapon was the axe left on the stage, and as Xing Zhisen had expected, there were no fingerprints on it.

The deceased was the female lead in the play "The Devil's Feast." According to the plot, the princess played by the deceased was supposed to have her head chopped off by the male lead. However, the head that was supposed to be chopped off should have been a plastic model. According to the student in charge of props, before the scene, she had placed the model (which was later found in a corner outside the dressing room) covered with a white cloth on the cart and handed it over to Wu Han, the male lead from the Law School. The female lead, Chen Xi, was supposed to reappear in the scene where the princess was resurrected, so she had gone to the dressing room to touch up her makeup. Therefore, when the person wearing a mask and a costume pushed the cart onto the stage, no one expected that there was a living person lying underneath the white cloth—Chen Xi.

The male lead, Wu Han, had already regained consciousness in the hospital. According to his account: that night, due to a long speech before decapitating the princess, he parked the cart with the model at the backstage entrance and went to the corridor on the second floor to rehearse his lines (at that time, a monologue by the devil was being performed below, about 7 minutes long). It was there that he felt a sharp blow to the back of his head, and then he knew nothing. Upon examination at the hospital, Wu Han had a scalp laceration about 5 centimeters long and 0.5 centimeters wide at the back of his head, suspected to be caused by a square pillar with sharp edges. Subsequently, the police searched the second-floor corridor, the first scene of the crime, but found no items matching the murder weapon, which should have been taken away or discarded by the perpetrator. They also found no other valuable clues.

When Wu Han was found, his hands and feet were tied with plastic fastening ropes commonly found in shopping malls, used to secure goods. He was only wearing these when found, and had been dumped in the restroom cubicle, unconscious. This meant that the perpetrator's target was only Chen Xi.

According to interviews with the deceased's social circle, the deceased, who was from Hunan, had only one relative in the city, her aunt. The deceased was described as cheerful and easygoing, without any grudges with anyone. According to her roommate, the deceased had recently been very close to a group of people, all of whom were readers listed on a borrowing card, and they had even formed a small group, with the leader being Fang Mu, a third-year student in the Law School.

When Xing Zhisen and Ding Shucheng entered Room 352 of the male dormitory at the Normal University, there were already two people in the room.

Fang Mu was half lying on the bed, pale-faced, staring straight at the bed above. Sitting by the bed was a middle-aged woman with a slightly plump figure and gray hair. When she heard someone enter the dormitory, she turned around, and Xing Zhisen noticed her striking resemblance to Fang Mu.

Fang Mu looked at Xing Zhisen and Ding Shucheng, his eyes filled with complex emotions, whether resentment, anger, or anticipation, was unclear.

The middle-aged woman stood up. "Who are you...?"

"We're here to see him," Ding Shucheng nodded towards Fang Mu, "no need for introductions, right, Fang Mu."

The middle-aged woman was clearly surprised at how familiar Fang Mu was with the two police officers.

"I'm Fang Mu's mother. What do you want? This child isn't feeling well. If you have something to say, tell me," she said nervously, constantly looking at Xing Zhisen and Ding Shucheng.

"Sister, don't be afraid. We just want to ask Fang Mu some questions," Xing Zhisen turned to look at Fang Mu, who stared back at him, and then said to his mother, "Go buy some fruit for me."

The middle-aged woman hesitated, but Fang Mu urged her again, "It's okay, I'll talk to them."

She picked up a leather bag from the bedside, tucked in the quilt for Fang Mu, and left.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

There were only Xing Zhisen, Ding Shucheng, and Fang Mu in the room.

Xing Zhisen sat down on the bed opposite Fang Mu, looking at him, but not saying a word.

Fang Mu remained in the same position, looking up and staring at the bed above.

The three of them remained silent for a while, until finally, Xing Zhisen cleared his throat. "We..."

"I know what you came to ask," Fang Mu suddenly turned his head, "Is it about the SUO group? Yes, Chen Xi was a member of the group, and we are all the readers listed on that borrowing card."

SUO? Xing Zhisen pondered for a moment; it should be "saveusourselves."

These kids, he smiled faintly.

But this smile angered Fang Mu, who had been watching him all along.

"Is it funny? Is it childish?" he got up, jumped off the bed barefoot, and walked straight to Xing Zhisen, "Someone died! Chen Xi died!"

He pointed at Xing Zhisen's nose, "I told you, that borrowing card must have been a problem. What do you think? Chen Xi is dead..."

"We came here today to ask..."

"Ask what? What kind of nonsense is this? What about my relationship with Chen Xi? Nothing, there's nothing! I didn't have the chance!"

Fang Mu suddenly squatted down, crying bitterly.

It was too late; he hadn't had the chance to say that to her.

Ding Shucheng looked at Fang Mu, at a loss, then at Xing Zhisen.

Xing Zhisen waved his hand, indicating to not disturb Fang Mu.

After Fang Mu finished crying, he wiped the tears from his face with a towel and silently lay back on the bed.

Xing Zhisen saw his emotions gradually calm down and spoke, "I understand how you feel right now, and I don't think your group is childish at all. I am also deeply saddened by Chen Xi's death, and like you, I want to catch the perpetrator. I came today to hear your thoughts."

Ding Shucheng looked at Xing Zhisen in surprise.

"I know that you have many of your own...feelings about this case," he paused, looking at Fang Mu, who also returned his gaze with less hostility, and he nodded.

"I remember giving you a business card and asking you to call me if you discovered anything, but you didn't come to me on your own in the past few days."

Yes, Fang Mu thought to himself.

That night, when the dancer let out that deafening scream, Fang Mu immediately realized something was wrong. He desperately tried to squeeze towards the stage, but was carried out by the panicked crowd, twisting his ankle in the process. After finally breaking free from the crowd, Fang Mu prayed that Chen Xi would be okay and tried to force his way back into the club. He even broke through the blockade of three police officers and was about to reach the stage when he fell. Although he repeatedly asked, he also knew in his heart that the person lying on the stage, decapitated, was Chen Xi.

For two full days, Fang Mu lay in bed, not eating or drinking, and didn't even go to the hospital to find out about Wu Han. His mind was completely blank, and at one point, he even felt like his heart had stopped beating.

How much suffering was this 21-year-old young man going to endure?

How much fear would make this inexperienced boy tremble?

He didn't want to talk, didn't want to think, and just wanted time to stop, everything to be silent, frozen in this moment.

Until Xing Zhisen and Ding Shucheng appeared in the dormitory.

I will protect you.

Fang Mu, you should remember that.

"That person should be about 174 centimeters tall," Fang Mu spoke with difficulty, "slightly stronger than Wu Han."

Ding Shucheng nodded, finding his analysis consistent with the descriptions from other witnesses at the scene.

"This person should be familiar with the environment of the scene, have a rough idea of the plot, but not a detailed understanding," Fang Mu continued.

"Why?" Ding Shucheng raised his eyebrows.

"Because according to the plot, there was a long passage of lines before decapitating the princess, but he didn't memorize those lines at the time, and his dance was also incorrect. Thus, the perpetrator must be someone from this school who has seen the rehearsal."

Ding Shucheng nodded slightly. When they questioned the play's director the next day, the senior student from the School of Art said that the drama club's initial plan was to install a blood bag on the plastic model, but considering it was too bloody and could easily splatter onto the front-row audience, this plan was canceled. When the deceased's head was chopped off and blood splattered onto the stage that night, he had thought Wu Han had added the blood bag without permission. What surprised him even more was that the originally arranged long lines (which was the director's proudest line) were not recited, and the male lead's dance was a mess. Due to this sudden turn of events, the later dancers were not ready and hurried onto the stage.

Fang Mu noticed Xing Zhisen's expressionless face; he knew this wasn't what he wanted to hear.

Fang Mu bit his lip.

"This murder can be described with one word: perfect."

(Chen Xi died in a perfectly planned murder. She didn't know whether to feel fortunate or unfortunate.)

"If this were a performance, I think nothing could be more exciting than this, in front of over 3,000 spectators, beheading the victim (it's difficult to say this), and even getting applause from the entire audience. This is an upgrade, from the unimaginative strangulation in the toilet, pushing off the building from upstairs, to sculpting the victim into a snow sculpture, impaling with an icicle falling from the wall, and finally killing in public, each time more thrilling than the last. He is experiencing a growing sense of self-fulfillment, and as a result, his actions become increasingly adventurous. But for him, the more daring the murder, the greater the sense of success."

Fang Mu paused to catch his breath, "He should be a person full of contradictions, intoxicated with self-satisfaction. I think in reality, he might be a failure, needing an extraordinary way to express his strength and wisdom. For example, murder, to let you—police, fall into an unsolvable mystery. Also," Fang Mu licked his dry lips, "I can hardly imagine what method he will use to kill next."

"Will there be more deaths?" Xing Zhisen suddenly asked, who had been listening intently.

"Of course, there are still 10 more people on the list."

Xing Zhisen furrowed his brow slightly, "Do you still insist that the people on that borrowing card are the victims."

"Yes, the evidence is right here, and another person on the list has died."

"No, that borrowing card definitely isn't it," Xing Zhisen shook his head.

"Why?" Fang Mu was about to ask, but someone else answered the question.

"Because of me."

The door opened, and Wu Han, with bandages on his head and a pale face, walked in with the help of Zhuo Laosi and Laoda.

"I am not dead, and that's the evidence."

Fang Mu suddenly understood; Wu Han was also on that borrowing card. If the perpetrator was using the list on the borrowing card to commit the murders, then after knocking out Wu Han, he could have easily killed him, but instead, Wu Han was only knocked unconscious and left in the restroom, meaning the perpetrator's target was only Chen Xi.

Song Bo, a person unrelated to the borrowing card, was killed, while Wu Han, listed on the borrowing card, was only knocked unconscious.

There was no need for further explanation; the borrowing card was indeed a coincidence.

Fang Mu's mood returned to despondency. I'm so foolish not to have seen something so obvious.

The only clue had been severed, and everything had to start over from scratch.

As they were leaving, Fang Mu kept looking at Xing Zhisen, who sensed that he had something to say.

"Is there anything else?"

"I hope... I want to help you solve the case."

His voice became hoarse.

"I promised her I would protect her."

Xing Zhisen looked at him silently.

"What do you need?"

"Everything," Fang Mu said urgently, "all the details of these cases."

Xing Zhisen looked seriously at Fang Mu's face, and Fang Mu stared back at him without flinching.

"Alright," after a moment, Xing Zhisen spoke, "come to my office tomorrow."

On the way back, Ding Shucheng curiously asked Xing Zhisen, "Why did you want to involve him in this case? Do you believe his analysis?"

Xing Zhisen smiled. He looked out the window and said, "Do you know why Ronaldo is the world's number one striker?"

Ding Shucheng was a bit puzzled; he didn't know how to respond.

"Why can't Hao Haidong become the world's number one striker?"

Ding Shucheng was even more confused, not knowing how to answer.

"It's not because of the intensity of their training, but because of—" Xing Zhisen turned to look at Ding Shucheng, "talent."

He turned his head back to look out the window, "Some people just have that talent, the talent to perceive crime."