"Have you guys heard? There are new victims in the old district murder case."
August 8th, 12:30 PM. The sweltering sumr heat made the streets feel like a steam basket.
On a bustling main street, a group of students, who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen, stood in the shade of a tree on the pedestrian walkway.
The barbecue gathering for Class 1, Year 2 of Hongcheng First High School was about to begin. The students, having decided to have one last bit of fun before the school year started, took a rare mont to cast aside their stress, sipping drinks and chatting with one another.
"On the local news this morning, everything was pixelated."
A girl with shoulder-length hair held her phone and spoke to her friends with a feigned solemnity. "I heard most of the victims’ bodies weren’t intact. So were even impossible to identify..."
"Can you shut that pretty little mouth of yours and show so respect for the dead?"
With a sharp reprimand, a tall girl—at least one-point-eight ters—with a waist-length ponytail slapped the other’s shoulder, cutting her off. She glared, her eyes wide with feigned anger. "We’re on our way to a barbecue, and you’re talking about this? Are you hoping I’ll shove a piece of bloody raw at in your mouth later!"
"Waaah, nooo! I was just trying to practice for my future internship at the Central Criminal Departnt Judicial Academy~"
Showing not a hint of remorse, the girl straightened her disheveled hair, her expression turning serious once more. "Little Liuu... I heard the deceased..."
Before she could finish, she ignored the looks from her classmates, which all seed to say, ’We’re used to her, but this is still a headache,’ and let out a wicked laugh.
’A person like that would never pass the background check and psych evaluation!’
A tall boy, half a head taller than almost everyone else there, overheard them.
He had been talking with Shao Qiming about their future academy aspirations, but the girls’ conversation caught his attention, and he chid in. "My family lives in the old district. I heard the victims were all elderly people living alone, single won, and people who went out late at night... Basically, the killer is a cowardly piece of trash who only preys on the weak."
Coming from soone with his build, the statent was rather convincing.
"Even if he’s a coward who preys on the weak, he’s still a lunatic who kills. Don’t try to act tough. Make sure you go out with a group of people and be careful," a friend advised with a frown.
"There are so many lunatics these days. I hope the Patrol can catch this guy soon," soone else said, worried.
On that topic, everyone began to chatter at once, and the conversation grew heated.
Lately, in the days leading up to the new school year, strange rumors had been surfacing one after another. Even high school students, who were supposed to be focused solely on their studies, had caught wind of things due to their families’ discussions and the general atmosphere of panic and confusion.
Their discussion wasn’t just idle gossip; it was also a way for them to soothe their own panic and unease. They used the comfort of their peer group to numb themselves and cope with the ’abnormalities’ happening all around them.
"Speaking of which, where’s Su Zhou? Isn’t his family full of Patrols?"
In the middle of the discussion, a girl suddenly thought of a certain horror-incident-loving eccentric in their class. "He definitely knows the inside scoop!"
"He didn’t co today. Said he wasn’t feeling well?"
Shao Qiming blinked. Not being a very good liar, he offered an extrely unconvincing excuse, even phrasing it as a question. "...Seems like he’s not feeling well, got a stomach ache... Just... take my word for it."
"Him? Sick? If he didn’t want to co, he should’ve just said so. That’s such a la excuse! We’ve been in school together for five years, through middle and high school, and I’ve never even seen him sneeze!"
"Whoa, a virus that could make Brother Zhou sick? So sick he can’t even co out for barbecue? If sothing like that existed, the entire city would probably be dead by now!"
"Let’s call and check on him. A barbecue isn’t fun without Brother Zhou here to perform his ’devour-a-cow-a-day’ feat—polishing off twenty plates of beef tongue, twenty plates of beef ribs, and thirty plates of fatty beef in an hour."
Nodding in agreent, a decisive classmate nearby wasted no ti, picking up his phone and dialing.
BEEP... BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...
"Awei? What’s up?"
The call connected. A low, muffled voice ca from the other end. "Aren’t you at the gathering? Why do you have ti to call ?"
"From the sound of your voice, you actually have a cold?!" the boy called Awei exclaid on his end, his expression one of utter shock. "Is the world ending?!"
Shao Qiming, who knew a bit of the real story, could only offer a wry smile from the side.
’He actually dared to answer the phone at a ti like this... He really is as bold as he is skilled.’
"It’s nothing, really. I just wanted to ask sothing... Sorry to bother you while you’re resting." The stuffy, nasal tone definitely wasn’t fake, and Awei felt a little bad for disturbing his friend. "It’s about the murder case in the old district. Do you know anything? I an, since your family are all Patrols, have you heard any news?"
"If it’s inconvenient to talk about, then don’t! I’m just asking casually!" Awei added hastily, as if suddenly rembering himself.
"The murder case, huh..."
Su Zhou’s voice on the other end of the line drew out, taking on a aningful tone. "About that... BANG!"
"Wait, sothing’s co up. I’ll call you back."
「The scene changes.」
The scene was a room filled with the stench of rotting corpses and blood, its floor littered with scattered photographs and scraps of paper.
Everything had been overturned. Tables and cabinets were shoved aside, clearing a space in the middle of the floor. In the center of this space was a complex Array, apparently drawn with rcury. And at the heart of the Array lay a middle-aged man, bound tightly with nylon rope.
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