The detectives looked full of spirits after having drinks yesterday at Grand Orchid Pavilion.
The detectives were wearing vivacious smiles which also influenced Xiang Wan to have a great mood as she noticed the team was unusually cooperative and friendly.
“Teacher Xiang, morning!”
“Morning!”
Xiang Wan helped Little Liu pour water and cleaned her desk before sitting down on her seat. But when she just sat down, she received news that everyone had to go for a video conference at the meeting room for “National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival Security Deployment Conference”. Besides those on duty, everyone had to participate.
That also meant Xiang Wan, although she was not a permanent staff, was no exception as well.
The video conferencing was arranged by the Provincial Bureau. The main contents of the meeting were security and manpower arrangements during the National Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Every year at this period, it was also the time to pay close attention to social security. The top management’s expectations for the work at the ground level were also relatively high.
The respective leaders were speaking through the video, and Xiang Wan was listening carefully and taking notes diligently. Although she didn’t understand a lot of things, besides taking an occasional glance at the video screen, she was definitely the most attentive person in the conference room.
“Aren’t you silly?”
Xiang Wan received a message.
She had muted her phone and switched to vibration mode before the meeting started.
But even so, that vibration startled her.
She lifted her head, took a glance at Bai Muchuan who was also inside the conference room, and typed a reply.
“We’re having a meeting. Why are you sending messages?”
“It’s just a routine meeting. Why are you so nervous? There will be handouts given out later on the contents of this meeting. Sigh, my silly girl still wanted to take notes?”
Uh! Xiang Wan looked at the colleagues around her. She was totally like a young pupil who was listening attentively but ended up being the odd one out. For a moment, she found it hard to accept.
“Clumsy birds have to start flying early, right? I’m not trained for this after all, and don’t know much about it. What’s wrong with me learning more about it? Bai Muchuan, you can try laughing at me one more time!”
“I’m not laughing at you. I just can’t bear to continue looking at you like this. My heart aches…”
Heartache? Xiang Wan’s face felt warm and her heart started to race.
But before she replied, another message came in.
“I haven’t finished typing the message and accidentally sent it. I actually wanted to say that I felt heartache for your level of intelligence.”
What! Xiang Wan sent him an annoyed glare.
Right across the long conference table, she saw Bai Muchuan’s mischievous expression.
He was smiling at her. That pair of dashing eyes were as though the obsidian gemstones exuding a warm luster that charmed her so much that she did not know if she should be angry or happy…
“Don’t be angry, be good! It’s just a joke. Accompany me to the filming set again after this meeting!”
Again? Xiang Wan felt a little distressed whenever she thought of that filming set.
How many cases were there relating to this particular filming set?
First, Xie Wanwan’s personal item—a doll got stolen and ended up in Cao Mengjia’s hand.
Second, Kong Qingping, who stole the doll, died of a freak accident. The one who accidentally killed him was his biological father.
Third, Yu Hui and another girl died during the mass brawling incident between the fans of Xie Wanwan and Ye Lun. It was a major social case.
Fourth, Cao Mengjia committed suicide…
If one looked at it individually, each case was solved neatly.
However, there were unexplainable doubts in every case. There was as though a layer of veil was covering the doubts where somehow, Xiang Wan could feel a link yet she was unable to unveil it…
“Bai Muchuan, have you seen my update last night?” Xiang Wan sent a message.
“Yes, I’ve read it. You’ve written well from the point of a story. It is very complete and very entertaining,” Bai Muchuan replied swiftly.
“How about the reality aspect?” she asked.
“Reality… it’s better not to be so dramatic!”
He did not wait for Xiang Wan to reply and sent another message in a lighthearted tone. “In fact, the rhythm of the previous chapters are quite good. Girls generally liked to read about falling in love, flirting and joking around… Well, I’m also looking forward to when Detective Fang Yelan could get a hot scene with the female lead…”
“You! Go to hell!”
“Haha!”
The sweet interactions between the two of them were done very discreetly.
In the conference room, as there was the video conferencing, everyone tried to keep their movements minimal. However, there were a good amount of people using and occasionally checking their mobile phones. Hence, it was not strange for the two of them to use their mobile phone for a short while…
Nonetheless, Xiang Wan’s occasional smile did not escape Cheng Zheng’s eyes.
…
After the meeting ended, Cheng Zheng waited for Xiang Wan along the corridor outside the conference room.
“Teacher Xiang, are you free now?”
“Eh?” Xiang Wan was somewhat surprised. “Captain Cheng, what’s up?”
“Weren’t you saying some time back that you would like to see some autopsy records to enrich your knowledge for writing? I’m free this morning.”
“Unfortunately, Teacher Xiang is not free!” Bai Muchuan chuckled in a low tone as he walked toward them and patted on Cheng Zheng’s shoulders. “We need to go out for an investigation. Today, no, over the next few days, she won’t be free.”
“Investigation?” Cheng Zheng asked, “Is there a criminal case these two days?”
They did not inform the forensics team for the incident yesterday as nobody was found hurt or got hurt, so Captain Cheng did not know about it.
Moreover, that could not be considered a case at all. At most, an incident…
Bai Muchuan did not bother to explain. He raised an eyebrow. “There’s something relating to the previous cases.”
Next, he signaled Xiang Wan with a sidelong glance. “Let’s go, Teacher Xiang!”
He would always use this form of address when they were outside. In the past, Xiang Wan felt that this form of address was very awkward. However, she felt very comfortable with it now…
“Okay, Captain Bai!”
Then she turned to Cheng Zheng and put on a smile. “Captain Cheng, I’ll get going first. We’ll arrange for another day to look at the records!”
She carried her laptop, raised her head, and strode forward.
Behind her came Cheng Zheng’s light voice, “In future during meetings, try to lessen the use of your phone. The video is linked to the Provincial Bureau. If you’re caught, it would be very embarrassing!”
Cheng Zheng’s words were directed at Bai Muchuan.
But Xiang Wan’s ears seem to burn at that instant, and she suddenly felt she could not walk with her back straight.
She scuttled away quickly, almost like a rabbit escaping a predator.
Watching her flustered back view, the corners of Bai Muchuan’s lips turned upward. “It’s too late!” He looked at Cheng Zheng coldly.
The sentence “it’s too late” had double meanings.
Cheng Zheng’s face changed slightly whereas Bai Muchuan wore a languid smile and strode on ahead.
“Tang Yuanchu, go get the car!”
…
The long light rain before daybreak had kept most people at home.
Due to the rain, the streets were wet and the amount of people who hang out at the Avenue of Stars had greatly reduced. At one glance, the people they saw now were mainly the elderly who would come by the riverside whether rain or shine. They would usually do their morning exercise and breathe in the fresh air there.
Bai Muchuan, Xiang Wan and Tang Yuanchu went to the Avenue of Stars that morning.
They did not directly go to the filming set but strolled along the street.
They walked to the area of the small teahouse they’ve been to yesterday. Bai Muchuan suddenly pointed at a window on the third floor. “Let’s go up for some tea,” he said to Xiang Wan and Tang Yuanchu.
Tang Yuanchu could not grasp what his boss was thinking. “Boss, why do you want to go up?” He seemed puzzled.
Xiang Wan had some guesses. She nodded her head and followed along.
When the three of them went up to the third floor, a waitress greeted them warmly.
“Welcome, what do you want to drink?”
Bai Muchuan ordered a pot of ripe Pu’er tea. When the waitress served the tea, he suddenly asked her a question, “How many surveillance cameras are there in your shop?”
The waitress was a little shocked and looked at him. “There’s two of them!” she answered honestly.
Bai Muchuan: “Where are they located?”
A glint of vigilance flashed past the waitress’s eyes. “I’m not sure about this. Only our boss will know!”
Bai Muchuan took out his police officer badge and flashed it in front of the waitress. “Please get your boss to come over.”
The waitress’s expression was now frightened from shock. She nodded her head hastily and left immediately.
“Okay, okay, please wait for a little while! I’ll get my boss now!”
The boss came over quickly and saw their serious faces. “Detective comrades, what happened?” he asked nervously.
Bai Muchuan pointed outside at the street. “Can the surveillance cameras in your store see that location?”
The boss paused for a moment and shook his head. “Our surveillance cameras are mainly focused on the inside of the teahouse. We can’t see the street outside…”
“Thank you!” Bai Muchuan got up from his seat. “Need to trouble you to let me have a look.”
The boss did not dare to delay since the police was inquiring about it. The boss quickly showed the surveillance footage to them and proved that he did not lie.
Bai Muchuan thanked his boss once again and turned to Xiang Wan as well as Tang Yuanchu. “Let’s go!”
“We’re not drinking the tea?” Tang Yuanchu looked at the pot of tea and felt his heart aching—that was a pot of expensive tea! The charges were expensive in this teahouse!
“Why don’t you stay and drink then?” Bai Muchuan looked at him casually.
“…”
When they came out of the teahouse, Tang Yuanchu still could not understand something.
“Boss, we could have just asked for the footage directly. Why do you want to waste money?”
Bai Muchuan said slowly, ” This is not a case yet. It can’t be treated as official business.”
“…”
Tang Yuanchu was speechless against such reasoning.
Seeing that Bai Muchuan was going to ask the second teahouse, he tried his best to stop him.
“Let’s not waste money this time. If you feel awkward about it, let me go ask them…”
“It’s not that he’s awkward about it.” Xiang Wan chimed in with a half-smile. “You don’t understand him at all. Why did he order that pot of tea? It’s just that he wants to try the taste!”
“Ah? Haha!” Tang Yuanchu laughed, bewildered.
“Teacher Xiang, how can you make me look uncool in front of my subordinate?” Bai Muchuan looked at her peacefully and grunted a laugh. “The wise and brilliant Detective Bai’s image instantly crumbled!”
“Tch!” Xiang Wan made a face at him. “I know you wanted to affirm the contents of my novel,” she said seriously, “but that’s only a story! In order to create a case, I have to write it that way. Whereas in reality… Fine, actually I do have the same feeling as well… The spot where the girl disappeared must have been a surveillance blind spot.”
What? What? What? Tang Yuanchu was in a daze. He could not understand what she was talking about.
Bai Muchuan paused for a while before asking, “Any basis?”
Xiang Wan looked up with a sweet smile. “Sixth sense.”
In last night’s update, she had written that a girl had gone missing in the filming set. That girl was a die-hard fan of the third male leading character in the drama. She had come from afar in order to meet her idol. However, she had disappeared in the set. Thereafter, Detective Fang Yelan brought Rong Xiaonuan to investigate the scene as he suspected the disappearance of the girl had something to do with the filming set. Nevertheless, they were unable to find any surveillance footage of the girl leaving the scene.
At the end of the chapter, she wrote: Three days later, the girl’s body floated in a nearby river.
When Bai Muchuan wanted to come to the Avenue of Stars and asked for the surveillance cameras, Xiang Wan had guessed what he was trying to do.
However, although she was glad that he had read through her novel seriously yet she was also speechless at his behavior.
“I wrote it this way for the sake of creating drama… But in actual fact, I do not wish to see this happening in reality.”
“I also have a sixth sense.” Bai Muchuan suddenly looked grim. “It tells me that you’re going to be popular!”
If she had a choice, Xiang Wan really did not want to be popular by writing crimes that would happen in real life!
Well, things that happen are those that one dreads the most!
Soon, Bai Muchuan’s sixth sense got verified…
That day when Xiang Wan got home in the evening, she went to help clean up the empty room since Bai Muchuan would be staying with them. Not long after, she received Bai Muchuan’s phone call.
“Congratulations! Your profiling is accurate once again!”
The moment she heard this, Xiang Wan’s heart sank. The hand which was holding the mop became stiff and she felt a chill all over her body.
“Someone died?”
“Yes, someone died.”
“Is it Ye Lun’s girlfriend?”
“We’re unable to ascertain this fact but we’ve affirmed that the deceased is a female!”
“Are you going over now?” When Xiang Wan asked this question, she sounded a little breathless and due to nervousness, she also sounded muffled.
“Yes.” Bai Muchuan paused for a while and puffed a helpless sigh. “Looks like I can’t move house today as well. I guess living together with Teacher Xiang is not easy after all. Maybe I need to go through 81 trials before I can achieve that!”
“…” Xiang Wan did not want to hear him jesting around. “Can I come along too?” she asked after a short pause.
“Silly girl, what’s so interesting about a crime scene?”
“I want to go!” Xiang Wan felt a chill in her heart and a deep sense of uneasiness that she did not dare to just wait at home for more information.
Waiting could make someone go crazy.
“If so…” Bai Muchuan contemplated for a moment. “If you go out now, you might be able to come together with Cheng Zheng.”
Eh? Xiang Wan felt her heart being squeezed. “You don’t mind?”
“He’s a defeated opponent! What’s there to mind? I can tolerate him!”
Such an arrogant manner, it really made one—like him!
Xiang Wan’s mouth twitched but did not say anything more. She quickly left the house, taking her mobile phone with her. She did not even wash the mop.
Sure enough, Cheng Zheng just came out of his house and was locking the door. When he saw her, he nodded and greeted her. “Teacher Xiang… Where are you going?”
Xiang Wan smiled at him. “Crime scene.”
Cheng Zheng appeared to be slightly surprised. “You know about that as well?”
Xiang Wan chuckled. “Yes, let’s go together!”
Cheng Zheng’s eyes dimmed and remained silent.
In the past, he had tried ways and means to give her a lift, but most of the time, she refused and he was very unhappy. However, now that she took the initiative, he was still unhappy as well.
“Why? You’re not willing?” Xiang Wan raised an eyebrow and laughed as she saw his hesitation.
That calm and cool demeanor of hers made Cheng Zheng’s contracted heart ease up as he nodded at her emotionlessly. “Let’s go!”
…
When Xiang Wan arrived at the Avenue of Stars, Bai Muchuan was already at the scene.
On the riverside, the police cordoned off a large area. The firefighters and police officers were walking around and seemed to be searching for something in the river.
Xiang Wan entered the cordoned area and walked to Bai Muchuan’s side. “You’re so fast. Did you speed or something?”
She had said that as his house was further away than hers from the crime scene!
Bai Muchuan glanced at her. “When I called you, I was already on the way here!”
Xiang Wan was puzzled. “Aren’t you supposed to be packing up at home?”
Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow. “I got a call when I was halfway through packing.”
All right! Xiang Wan looked at the surroundings and saw that everyone was busy performing their job. “What are they looking for in the river?” She decided to get down to business.
Bai Muchuan squinted his eyes slightly and said in a plain tone. “The corpse!”
“Eh?” Xiang Wan could not understand and asked with her eyebrows furrowed. “But wasn’t the corpse found? Otherwise, how did you know that someone had died and the deceased is a female?”
This was a good question as she had directly gotten to the cruz of the problem!
Bai Muchuan looked at her and pointed with his mouth, indicating her to look over to where Cheng Zheng was. Mei Xin was also there and she was squatting down, checking out a black body bag used for containing corpses.
“What’s found was not a body, but a head…”
Thump! Xiang Wan gulped. Her stomach instantly felt weird as her stomach acid started to get active.
She saw Cheng Zheng wearing his white gloves and was now standing at where Mei Xin was standing earlier. Next, he proceeded to open the black body bag…
She immediately looked away.
“It’s too f*cking scary! Have you informed Xie Wanwan to come and identify the corpse to see if it was the girl she saw?”
After she finished saying this, she did not get a response from Bai Muchuan and turned to face him. “What’s up?”
Bai Muchuan laughed at her, his lips forming a smile. “You’ve become bad, Little Xiang Wan!” He mocked.
“…”
It was only then that Xiang Wan noticed that because of her nervousness, she had spewed a profanity. She felt a little embarrassed and patted her head. “You’re right! I don’t know why as well, that someone as pure as me actually become bad,” she retorted, “I guess one is really marked by the company one keeps!” She looked at him meaningfully.
Bai Muchuan grunted, but he did not continue to argue with her.
On the riverside, the respective personnel come and go.
Those police officers from the community police stations, the Criminal Investigation Unit, and the firefighters were busy searching for the corpse.
That human head was found in a river by several middle school students who were playing there. At first, they had thought maybe a hairdressing salon had thrown a mannequin head into the river and wanted to pick it up to play with it. However, as they tried to do so, they started to realize something was not quite right. When they caught a glimpse of the face with a flip of the hair, they were scared silly and reported to the police.
However, the police had been searching the river for a long time. They found a lot of garbage as well as dead cats and dogs, but they did not find any other human parts!
“Boss! We still didn’t manage to find anything. Should we continue to search?” Xie Hui wiped his perspiration as he walked over to consult Bai Muchuan.
“Continue the search!” Bai Muchuan took a look at his watch. ” We’ve been on it for not long and you guys are already feeling impatient?”
“No, it’s not that.” Xie Hui gave a grin and took a look at the riverside. “I just feel that we are all hungry and think that maybe we should go have our dinner before we continue the search?”
“The sky will be all dark by the time we finished eating!” Bai Muchuan raised his chin. “Continue the search!”
“Yes sir!”
Xie Hui went away. Xiang Wan paused for a while and turned to Bai Muchuan. “Let’s go over there as well and see if we’re able to do something too?”
This place was very near to the teahouse where they ordered tea during the day… Or rather, the head was found on the river just outside the teahouse. The second and third floor of the teahouse was filled with curious onlookers. These onlookers were holding their mobile phones or taking pictures. Some of them were pointing with their fingers and talking about it, making the atmosphere rather unsettling.
It had been proven that Xiang Wan’s guess had come true.
The boss of the teahouse was sighing at the entrance when he saw Bai Muchuan and Xiang Wan walking over. He recognized that they were the ones he saw in the morning and walked over to greet them.
“Detective, during the day when you asked me for the surveillance camera footage, is it because you know that someone had died in this area?”
Xiang Wan had wanted to reply but was stopped by Bai Muchuan. “My apologies, we’re unable to reveal anything before we crack the case!”
The boss smiled and walked away with a heavy mood.
Xiang Wan shrugged her shoulders and felt lucky that she did not say anything.
The buildings along the river were about two or three meters away from the stone railings along the river bank. There was a row of trees with luxuriant foliage planted along the river, which offered a nice scenery. On the river outside the teahouse, there was a stone path that led to the river. The middle school students were playing at that spot and found the human head.
“And this become a dumping ground for the murderer!”
Xiang Wan looked around the area and sighed when she noticed that Bai Muchuan picked up a piece of bamboo and slowly thrust it into the river.
“What are you doing?” She asked as she was baffled by his action.
“I’m finding out the depth of the river!” Bai Muchuan pulled back the bamboo and threw it by the river side. “The water depth is very shallow!” He frowned.
“Is that so?” Xiang Wan looked at his gloomy expression and suddenly thought of something. “Are you saying that the one who disposed the corpse had never wanted to hide it at all?”
If one had seriously wanted to hide the corpse, one could have chosen somewhere else? Why did the person choose to hide the corpse in such a shallow river?
Bai Muchuan nodded his head and gave her an approving gaze before walking to the boss of the teahouse.
“Did you hear anything unusual these two days?”
The boss of the teahouse had seen the human head when the middle school students made the police report. He was so terrified. How was he able to think of anything?
He shook his head vigorously. “I didn’t hear anything! This has nothing to do with me! I just feel strange that the killer should have chosen somewhere else. Why did the killer dispose the corpse outside my teahouse? Is the killer trying to disgust me? Sigh, it’s not easy for me to run this business. After this incident, how will I be able to continue doing my business! Just see for yourselves… this is supposed to be a busy period, but I have no customers!”
“…”
No matter what happens in the world, no matter what happens to others—life or death—ordinary people will always only care about their own interests.
Xiang Wan kept quiet as she stayed beside Bai Muchuan, listening to him questioning the boss.
About less than two minutes later, Mei Xin called out to them.
“Captain Bai, please come over for a moment!”
The forensics team had sent three people this time. They circled around the black body bag while analyzing the contents inside.
As Xiang Wan walked over, she felt spooked. When she got closer, she noticed that she was unable to look at the head at all.
She did not dare to even steal a glance at the black body bag. Her gaze only landed on Mei Xin’s fair, almost colorless face. She only focused on listening, hearing what Cheng Zheng was telling Bai Muchuan.
“… The deceased is a female, aged around 18 to 22 years old. The cause of death was mechanical asphyxia 1 . After death, the body was divided by a chainsaw, and the incision was clean and smooth… The time of death should be within 12 hours!”
“Can you be more precise about the time of death?” Bai Muchuan asked.
“Further autopsy is required on that!” Cheng Zheng pointed at the black body bag. “If there’s no more questions, I need to bring it back!”
“Alright!” On matters relating to work, Bai Muchuan would not deliberately pick on him. “I’ll contact you again if anything crops up here.”
Cheng Zheng nodded his head and took a glance at Xiang Wan before exchanging a glance with Mei Xin.
Thereafter, Xiang Wan saw Mei Xin directly carried the black body bag with her and walked away.
Oh my! This girl is really good!
She praised Mei Xin inside her head and saw her leaving the place expressionlessly.
Soon, she saw Xie Wanwan coming here in a haste.
“Little Bai, where is she?”
Xie Wanwan’s reaction was basically the same as Xiang Wan.
She had also thought that she was supposed to look at a corpse. She had not expected that Bai Muchuan would show her a couple of pictures taken from different angles.
“Take a look at this person. Do you know her?”
“Eh? Only these…” Xie Wanwan covered her mouth as though she was frightened by the photos. She gasped after a few seconds and tried to calm herself down. “Can’t you just send the photos over so I don’t need to make this trip!”
“How can I just send these out like this?” Bai Muchuan gave her a glare and wanted her to continue looking at the photos. “Look carefully, is this the girl?”
Xie Wanwan tilted her head and it took a while to look at the photos with fear in her eyes. “She looks like her! She does look somewhat like her. But… the expression is too scary and it looks a little out of shape. I can’t give a definite answer!”
She was not sure.
But the deceased looked like the girl she saw yesterday.
That was enough to make Xiang Wan’s heavy heart almost jump out of her mouth.
If that was the girl that Xie Wanwan had told them about last night, and that her time of death was within the estimated 12 hours… wouldn’t that mean the girl died after she published her update?
This is too horrifying!
She started to break out in cold sweat. She felt as though someone was strangling her throat, and her legs suddenly felt kinda wobbly.
Bai Muchuan noticed her state from the corner of his eyes and quickly helped to support her. “What’s the matter? Not feeling well?”
Xiang Wan spoke rather haltingly, “I did not kill her but she died because of me? Bai Muchuan… Who do you think that person is?”
Bai Muchuan squeezed her hand. “Don’t think too much! This has nothing to do with you.”
Xiang Wan shook her head and looked at him seriously. “Why are you not surprised at all?”
Bai Muchuan took a look at Xie Wanwan who was beside them. “I have expected that the person would pay attention to your book, but not sure if that person will continue to replicate. This case is just a confirmation of our deduction.”
He squeezed Xiang Wan’s arm, as though giving her strength.
Then he proceeded to call Tang Yuanchu to arrange for Ye Lun’s interrogation as well as all his staff…
Xiang Wan listened to him assigning tasks to the team and stayed quiet for a while before she sniffled.
“I’ll never write a book based on reality again!”
“It’s no use.” Bai Muchuan turned to look at her sympathetically. “You’re on that person’s radar. No matter what you write… it’s going to be the same.”
“…”
Even if her book was totally unrelated to reality, that person would still replicate what he could?
The moment Xiang Wan thought about this, she felt goosebumps all over and felt a sense of horror that she dread.
“Is this the real reason why you engaged me as an advisor?”
Her sudden, out of the blue question made Bai Muchuan furrowed his brows.
“Not totally. It’s your ability…”
“What bleeping ability?” Xiang Wan’s fists were clenched tightly. “I just don’t understand. How did I cross paths with this person? Why did this person read my book and refuse to let me off?”
“Maybe from the beginning, it was just a coincidence!”
Coincidence! In the first murder case, the 720 case of Zhao Jiahang. Did Er Niu really replicate her novel plot coincidentally?
Xiang Wan rubbed her temples and did not want to delve deeper into her thoughts. Her brain was though being filled with lead, which felt painful as a humming sound kept surrounding her. She felt unwell.
“Bai Muchuan, let me have a look at the photo!”
Previously, she had passed by that frightening head many times, but she never plucked up enough courage to look at it.
However, at this moment, she was suddenly not so scared anymore.
Now, she wanted to look at the unfortunate girl who died because of her…
Bai Muchuan furrowed his brows, unlocked his mobile phone, and passed it to her.
The photo was right in front of her, but Xiang Wan had to summon a lot of courage before she dared to actually land her gaze on it.
In the photo in front of Xiang Wan, the girl’s eyes were wide-opened with her pupils dilated. Her mouth was agape and she was very pale. She had a really terrified look and her hair was in a mess.
Xiang Wan’s hand twitched heavily. Bai Muchuan’s mobile phone nearly fell onto the ground.
“Silly girl, if you’re scared, then don’t look at it.” Bai Muchuan held her shoulders and wanted to take his mobile phone back but Xiang Wan moved it away from him.
“It’s not that I’m afraid! I want to look at it again.” She spoke very fast, gathered enough courage to magnify, then minimized the photo numerous times before finally taking a deep breath. “Bai Muchuan, I think I know this girl!”
…
The detectives looked full of spirits after having drinks yesterday at Grand Orchid Pavilion.
The detectives were wearing vivacious smiles which also influenced Xiang Wan to have a great mood as she noticed the team was unusually cooperative and friendly.
“Teacher Xiang, morning!”
“Morning!”
Xiang Wan helped Little Liu pour water and cleaned her desk before sitting down on her seat. But when she just sat down, she received news that everyone had to go for a video conference at the meeting room for “National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival Security Deployment Conference”. Besides those on duty, everyone had to participate.
That also meant Xiang Wan, although she was not a permanent staff, was no exception as well.
The video conferencing was arranged by the Provincial Bureau. The main contents of the meeting were security and manpower arrangements during the National Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Every year at this period, it was also the time to pay close attention to social security. The top management’s expectations for the work at the ground level were also relatively high.
The respective leaders were speaking through the video, and Xiang Wan was listening carefully and taking notes diligently. Although she didn’t understand a lot of things, besides taking an occasional glance at the video screen, she was definitely the most attentive person in the conference room.
“Aren’t you silly?”
Xiang Wan received a message.
She had muted her phone and switched to vibration mode before the meeting started.
But even so, that vibration startled her.
She lifted her head, took a glance at Bai Muchuan who was also inside the conference room, and typed a reply.
“We’re having a meeting. Why are you sending messages?”
“It’s just a routine meeting. Why are you so nervous? There will be handouts given out later on the contents of this meeting. Sigh, my silly girl still wanted to take notes?”
Uh! Xiang Wan looked at the colleagues around her. She was totally like a young pupil who was listening attentively but ended up being the odd one out. For a moment, she found it hard to accept.
“Clumsy birds have to start flying early, right? I’m not trained for this after all, and don’t know much about it. What’s wrong with me learning more about it? Bai Muchuan, you can try laughing at me one more time!”
“I’m not laughing at you. I just can’t bear to continue looking at you like this. My heart aches…”
Heartache? Xiang Wan’s face felt warm and her heart started to race.
But before she replied, another message came in.
“I haven’t finished typing the message and accidentally sent it. I actually wanted to say that I felt heartache for your level of intelligence.”
What! Xiang Wan sent him an annoyed glare.
Right across the long conference table, she saw Bai Muchuan’s mischievous expression.
He was smiling at her. That pair of dashing eyes were as though the obsidian gemstones exuding a warm luster that charmed her so much that she did not know if she should be angry or happy…
“Don’t be angry, be good! It’s just a joke. Accompany me to the filming set again after this meeting!”
Again? Xiang Wan felt a little distressed whenever she thought of that filming set.
How many cases were there relating to this particular filming set?
First, Xie Wanwan’s personal item—a doll got stolen and ended up in Cao Mengjia’s hand.
Second, Kong Qingping, who stole the doll, died of a freak accident. The one who accidentally killed him was his biological father.
Third, Yu Hui and another girl died during the mass brawling incident between the fans of Xie Wanwan and Ye Lun. It was a major social case.
Fourth, Cao Mengjia committed suicide…
If one looked at it individually, each case was solved neatly.
However, there were unexplainable doubts in every case. There was as though a layer of veil was covering the doubts where somehow, Xiang Wan could feel a link yet she was unable to unveil it…
“Bai Muchuan, have you seen my update last night?” Xiang Wan sent a message.
“Yes, I’ve read it. You’ve written well from the point of a story. It is very complete and very entertaining,” Bai Muchuan replied swiftly.
“How about the reality aspect?” she asked.
“Reality… it’s better not to be so dramatic!”
He did not wait for Xiang Wan to reply and sent another message in a lighthearted tone. “In fact, the rhythm of the previous chapters are quite good. Girls generally liked to read about falling in love, flirting and joking around… Well, I’m also looking forward to when Detective Fang Yelan could get a hot scene with the female lead…”
“You! Go to hell!”
“Haha!”
The sweet interactions between the two of them were done very discreetly.
In the conference room, as there was the video conferencing, everyone tried to keep their movements minimal. However, there were a good amount of people using and occasionally checking their mobile phones. Hence, it was not strange for the two of them to use their mobile phone for a short while…
Nonetheless, Xiang Wan’s occasional smile did not escape Cheng Zheng’s eyes.
…
After the meeting ended, Cheng Zheng waited for Xiang Wan along the corridor outside the conference room.
“Teacher Xiang, are you free now?”
“Eh?” Xiang Wan was somewhat surprised. “Captain Cheng, what’s up?”
“Weren’t you saying some time back that you would like to see some autopsy records to enrich your knowledge for writing? I’m free this morning.”
“Unfortunately, Teacher Xiang is not free!” Bai Muchuan chuckled in a low tone as he walked toward them and patted on Cheng Zheng’s shoulders. “We need to go out for an investigation. Today, no, over the next few days, she won’t be free.”
“Investigation?” Cheng Zheng asked, “Is there a criminal case these two days?”
They did not inform the forensics team for the incident yesterday as nobody was found hurt or got hurt, so Captain Cheng did not know about it.
Moreover, that could not be considered a case at all. At most, an incident…
Bai Muchuan did not bother to explain. He raised an eyebrow. “There’s something relating to the previous cases.”
Next, he signaled Xiang Wan with a sidelong glance. “Let’s go, Teacher Xiang!”
He would always use this form of address when they were outside. In the past, Xiang Wan felt that this form of address was very awkward. However, she felt very comfortable with it now…
“Okay, Captain Bai!”
Then she turned to Cheng Zheng and put on a smile. “Captain Cheng, I’ll get going first. We’ll arrange for another day to look at the records!”
She carried her laptop, raised her head, and strode forward.
Behind her came Cheng Zheng’s light voice, “In future during meetings, try to lessen the use of your phone. The video is linked to the Provincial Bureau. If you’re caught, it would be very embarrassing!”
Cheng Zheng’s words were directed at Bai Muchuan.
But Xiang Wan’s ears seem to burn at that instant, and she suddenly felt she could not walk with her back straight.
She scuttled away quickly, almost like a rabbit escaping a predator.
Watching her flustered back view, the corners of Bai Muchuan’s lips turned upward. “It’s too late!” He looked at Cheng Zheng coldly.
The sentence “it’s too late” had double meanings.
Cheng Zheng’s face changed slightly whereas Bai Muchuan wore a languid smile and strode on ahead.
“Tang Yuanchu, go get the car!”
…
The long light rain before daybreak had kept most people at home.
Due to the rain, the streets were wet and the amount of people who hang out at the Avenue of Stars had greatly reduced. At one glance, the people they saw now were mainly the elderly who would come by the riverside whether rain or shine. They would usually do their morning exercise and breathe in the fresh air there.
Bai Muchuan, Xiang Wan and Tang Yuanchu went to the Avenue of Stars that morning.
They did not directly go to the filming set but strolled along the street.
They walked to the area of the small teahouse they’ve been to yesterday. Bai Muchuan suddenly pointed at a window on the third floor. “Let’s go up for some tea,” he said to Xiang Wan and Tang Yuanchu.
Tang Yuanchu could not grasp what his boss was thinking. “Boss, why do you want to go up?” He seemed puzzled.
Xiang Wan had some guesses. She nodded her head and followed along.
When the three of them went up to the third floor, a waitress greeted them warmly.
“Welcome, what do you want to drink?”
Bai Muchuan ordered a pot of ripe Pu’er tea. When the waitress served the tea, he suddenly asked her a question, “How many surveillance cameras are there in your shop?”
The waitress was a little shocked and looked at him. “There’s two of them!” she answered honestly.
Bai Muchuan: “Where are they located?”
A glint of vigilance flashed past the waitress’s eyes. “I’m not sure about this. Only our boss will know!”
Bai Muchuan took out his police officer badge and flashed it in front of the waitress. “Please get your boss to come over.”
The waitress’s expression was now frightened from shock. She nodded her head hastily and left immediately.
“Okay, okay, please wait for a little while! I’ll get my boss now!”
The boss came over quickly and saw their serious faces. “Detective comrades, what happened?” he asked nervously.
Bai Muchuan pointed outside at the street. “Can the surveillance cameras in your store see that location?”
The boss paused for a moment and shook his head. “Our surveillance cameras are mainly focused on the inside of the teahouse. We can’t see the street outside…”
“Thank you!” Bai Muchuan got up from his seat. “Need to trouble you to let me have a look.”
The boss did not dare to delay since the police was inquiring about it. The boss quickly showed the surveillance footage to them and proved that he did not lie.
Bai Muchuan thanked his boss once again and turned to Xiang Wan as well as Tang Yuanchu. “Let’s go!”
“We’re not drinking the tea?” Tang Yuanchu looked at the pot of tea and felt his heart aching—that was a pot of expensive tea! The charges were expensive in this teahouse!
“Why don’t you stay and drink then?” Bai Muchuan looked at him casually.
“…”
When they came out of the teahouse, Tang Yuanchu still could not understand something.
“Boss, we could have just asked for the footage directly. Why do you want to waste money?”
Bai Muchuan said slowly, ” This is not a case yet. It can’t be treated as official business.”
“…”
Tang Yuanchu was speechless against such reasoning.
Seeing that Bai Muchuan was going to ask the second teahouse, he tried his best to stop him.
“Let’s not waste money this time. If you feel awkward about it, let me go ask them…”
“It’s not that he’s awkward about it.” Xiang Wan chimed in with a half-smile. “You don’t understand him at all. Why did he order that pot of tea? It’s just that he wants to try the taste!”
“Ah? Haha!” Tang Yuanchu laughed, bewildered.
“Teacher Xiang, how can you make me look uncool in front of my subordinate?” Bai Muchuan looked at her peacefully and grunted a laugh. “The wise and brilliant Detective Bai’s image instantly crumbled!”
“Tch!” Xiang Wan made a face at him. “I know you wanted to affirm the contents of my novel,” she said seriously, “but that’s only a story! In order to create a case, I have to write it that way. Whereas in reality… Fine, actually I do have the same feeling as well… The spot where the girl disappeared must have been a surveillance blind spot.”
What? What? What? Tang Yuanchu was in a daze. He could not understand what she was talking about.
Bai Muchuan paused for a while before asking, “Any basis?”
Xiang Wan looked up with a sweet smile. “Sixth sense.”
In last night’s update, she had written that a girl had gone missing in the filming set. That girl was a die-hard fan of the third male leading character in the drama. She had come from afar in order to meet her idol. However, she had disappeared in the set. Thereafter, Detective Fang Yelan brought Rong Xiaonuan to investigate the scene as he suspected the disappearance of the girl had something to do with the filming set. Nevertheless, they were unable to find any surveillance footage of the girl leaving the scene.
At the end of the chapter, she wrote: Three days later, the girl’s body floated in a nearby river.
When Bai Muchuan wanted to come to the Avenue of Stars and asked for the surveillance cameras, Xiang Wan had guessed what he was trying to do.
However, although she was glad that he had read through her novel seriously yet she was also speechless at his behavior.
“I wrote it this way for the sake of creating drama… But in actual fact, I do not wish to see this happening in reality.”
“I also have a sixth sense.” Bai Muchuan suddenly looked grim. “It tells me that you’re going to be popular!”
If she had a choice, Xiang Wan really did not want to be popular by writing crimes that would happen in real life!
Well, things that happen are those that one dreads the most!
Soon, Bai Muchuan’s sixth sense got verified…
That day when Xiang Wan got home in the evening, she went to help clean up the empty room since Bai Muchuan would be staying with them. Not long after, she received Bai Muchuan’s phone call.
“Congratulations! Your profiling is accurate once again!”
The moment she heard this, Xiang Wan’s heart sank. The hand which was holding the mop became stiff and she felt a chill all over her body.
“Someone died?”
“Yes, someone died.”
“Is it Ye Lun’s girlfriend?”
“We’re unable to ascertain this fact but we’ve affirmed that the deceased is a female!”
“Are you going over now?” When Xiang Wan asked this question, she sounded a little breathless and due to nervousness, she also sounded muffled.
“Yes.” Bai Muchuan paused for a while and puffed a helpless sigh. “Looks like I can’t move house today as well. I guess living together with Teacher Xiang is not easy after all. Maybe I need to go through 81 trials before I can achieve that!”
“…” Xiang Wan did not want to hear him jesting around. “Can I come along too?” she asked after a short pause.
“Silly girl, what’s so interesting about a crime scene?”
“I want to go!” Xiang Wan felt a chill in her heart and a deep sense of uneasiness that she did not dare to just wait at home for more information.
Waiting could make someone go crazy.
“If so…” Bai Muchuan contemplated for a moment. “If you go out now, you might be able to come together with Cheng Zheng.”
Eh? Xiang Wan felt her heart being squeezed. “You don’t mind?”
“He’s a defeated opponent! What’s there to mind? I can tolerate him!”
Such an arrogant manner, it really made one—like him!
Xiang Wan’s mouth twitched but did not say anything more. She quickly left the house, taking her mobile phone with her. She did not even wash the mop.
Sure enough, Cheng Zheng just came out of his house and was locking the door. When he saw her, he nodded and greeted her. “Teacher Xiang… Where are you going?”
Xiang Wan smiled at him. “Crime scene.”
Cheng Zheng appeared to be slightly surprised. “You know about that as well?”
Xiang Wan chuckled. “Yes, let’s go together!”
Cheng Zheng’s eyes dimmed and remained silent.
In the past, he had tried ways and means to give her a lift, but most of the time, she refused and he was very unhappy. However, now that she took the initiative, he was still unhappy as well.
“Why? You’re not willing?” Xiang Wan raised an eyebrow and laughed as she saw his hesitation.
That calm and cool demeanor of hers made Cheng Zheng’s contracted heart ease up as he nodded at her emotionlessly. “Let’s go!”
…
When Xiang Wan arrived at the Avenue of Stars, Bai Muchuan was already at the scene.
On the riverside, the police cordoned off a large area. The firefighters and police officers were walking around and seemed to be searching for something in the river.
Xiang Wan entered the cordoned area and walked to Bai Muchuan’s side. “You’re so fast. Did you speed or something?”
She had said that as his house was further away than hers from the crime scene!
Bai Muchuan glanced at her. “When I called you, I was already on the way here!”
Xiang Wan was puzzled. “Aren’t you supposed to be packing up at home?”
Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow. “I got a call when I was halfway through packing.”
All right! Xiang Wan looked at the surroundings and saw that everyone was busy performing their job. “What are they looking for in the river?” She decided to get down to business.
Bai Muchuan squinted his eyes slightly and said in a plain tone. “The corpse!”
“Eh?” Xiang Wan could not understand and asked with her eyebrows furrowed. “But wasn’t the corpse found? Otherwise, how did you know that someone had died and the deceased is a female?”
This was a good question as she had directly gotten to the cruz of the problem!
Bai Muchuan looked at her and pointed with his mouth, indicating her to look over to where Cheng Zheng was. Mei Xin was also there and she was squatting down, checking out a black body bag used for containing corpses.
“What’s found was not a body, but a head…”
Thump! Xiang Wan gulped. Her stomach instantly felt weird as her stomach acid started to get active.
She saw Cheng Zheng wearing his white gloves and was now standing at where Mei Xin was standing earlier. Next, he proceeded to open the black body bag…
She immediately looked away.
“It’s too f*cking scary! Have you informed Xie Wanwan to come and identify the corpse to see if it was the girl she saw?”
After she finished saying this, she did not get a response from Bai Muchuan and turned to face him. “What’s up?”
Bai Muchuan laughed at her, his lips forming a smile. “You’ve become bad, Little Xiang Wan!” He mocked.
“…”
It was only then that Xiang Wan noticed that because of her nervousness, she had spewed a profanity. She felt a little embarrassed and patted her head. “You’re right! I don’t know why as well, that someone as pure as me actually become bad,” she retorted, “I guess one is really marked by the company one keeps!” She looked at him meaningfully.
Bai Muchuan grunted, but he did not continue to argue with her.
On the riverside, the respective personnel come and go.
Those police officers from the community police stations, the Criminal Investigation Unit, and the firefighters were busy searching for the corpse.
That human head was found in a river by several middle school students who were playing there. At first, they had thought maybe a hairdressing salon had thrown a mannequin head into the river and wanted to pick it up to play with it. However, as they tried to do so, they started to realize something was not quite right. When they caught a glimpse of the face with a flip of the hair, they were scared silly and reported to the police.
However, the police had been searching the river for a long time. They found a lot of garbage as well as dead cats and dogs, but they did not find any other human parts!
“Boss! We still didn’t manage to find anything. Should we continue to search?” Xie Hui wiped his perspiration as he walked over to consult Bai Muchuan.
“Continue the search!” Bai Muchuan took a look at his watch. ” We’ve been on it for not long and you guys are already feeling impatient?”
“No, it’s not that.” Xie Hui gave a grin and took a look at the riverside. “I just feel that we are all hungry and think that maybe we should go have our dinner before we continue the search?”
“The sky will be all dark by the time we finished eating!” Bai Muchuan raised his chin. “Continue the search!”
“Yes sir!”
Xie Hui went away. Xiang Wan paused for a while and turned to Bai Muchuan. “Let’s go over there as well and see if we’re able to do something too?”
This place was very near to the teahouse where they ordered tea during the day… Or rather, the head was found on the river just outside the teahouse. The second and third floor of the teahouse was filled with curious onlookers. These onlookers were holding their mobile phones or taking pictures. Some of them were pointing with their fingers and talking about it, making the atmosphere rather unsettling.
It had been proven that Xiang Wan’s guess had come true.
The boss of the teahouse was sighing at the entrance when he saw Bai Muchuan and Xiang Wan walking over. He recognized that they were the ones he saw in the morning and walked over to greet them.
“Detective, during the day when you asked me for the surveillance camera footage, is it because you know that someone had died in this area?”
Xiang Wan had wanted to reply but was stopped by Bai Muchuan. “My apologies, we’re unable to reveal anything before we crack the case!”
The boss smiled and walked away with a heavy mood.
Xiang Wan shrugged her shoulders and felt lucky that she did not say anything.
The buildings along the river were about two or three meters away from the stone railings along the river bank. There was a row of trees with luxuriant foliage planted along the river, which offered a nice scenery. On the river outside the teahouse, there was a stone path that led to the river. The middle school students were playing at that spot and found the human head.
“And this become a dumping ground for the murderer!”
Xiang Wan looked around the area and sighed when she noticed that Bai Muchuan picked up a piece of bamboo and slowly thrust it into the river.
“What are you doing?” She asked as she was baffled by his action.
“I’m finding out the depth of the river!” Bai Muchuan pulled back the bamboo and threw it by the river side. “The water depth is very shallow!” He frowned.
“Is that so?” Xiang Wan looked at his gloomy expression and suddenly thought of something. “Are you saying that the one who disposed the corpse had never wanted to hide it at all?”
If one had seriously wanted to hide the corpse, one could have chosen somewhere else? Why did the person choose to hide the corpse in such a shallow river?
Bai Muchuan nodded his head and gave her an approving gaze before walking to the boss of the teahouse.
“Did you hear anything unusual these two days?”
The boss of the teahouse had seen the human head when the middle school students made the police report. He was so terrified. How was he able to think of anything?
He shook his head vigorously. “I didn’t hear anything! This has nothing to do with me! I just feel strange that the killer should have chosen somewhere else. Why did the killer dispose the corpse outside my teahouse? Is the killer trying to disgust me? Sigh, it’s not easy for me to run this business. After this incident, how will I be able to continue doing my business! Just see for yourselves… this is supposed to be a busy period, but I have no customers!”
“…”
No matter what happens in the world, no matter what happens to others—life or death—ordinary people will always only care about their own interests.
Xiang Wan kept quiet as she stayed beside Bai Muchuan, listening to him questioning the boss.
About less than two minutes later, Mei Xin called out to them.
“Captain Bai, please come over for a moment!”
The forensics team had sent three people this time. They circled around the black body bag while analyzing the contents inside.
As Xiang Wan walked over, she felt spooked. When she got closer, she noticed that she was unable to look at the head at all.
She did not dare to even steal a glance at the black body bag. Her gaze only landed on Mei Xin’s fair, almost colorless face. She only focused on listening, hearing what Cheng Zheng was telling Bai Muchuan.
“… The deceased is a female, aged around 18 to 22 years old. The cause of death was mechanical asphyxia 1 . After death, the body was divided by a chainsaw, and the incision was clean and smooth… The time of death should be within 12 hours!”
“Can you be more precise about the time of death?” Bai Muchuan asked.
“Further autopsy is required on that!” Cheng Zheng pointed at the black body bag. “If there’s no more questions, I need to bring it back!”
“Alright!” On matters relating to work, Bai Muchuan would not deliberately pick on him. “I’ll contact you again if anything crops up here.”
Cheng Zheng nodded his head and took a glance at Xiang Wan before exchanging a glance with Mei Xin.
Thereafter, Xiang Wan saw Mei Xin directly carried the black body bag with her and walked away.
Oh my! This girl is really good!
She praised Mei Xin inside her head and saw her leaving the place expressionlessly.
Soon, she saw Xie Wanwan coming here in a haste.
“Little Bai, where is she?”
Xie Wanwan’s reaction was basically the same as Xiang Wan.
She had also thought that she was supposed to look at a corpse. She had not expected that Bai Muchuan would show her a couple of pictures taken from different angles.
“Take a look at this person. Do you know her?”
“Eh? Only these…” Xie Wanwan covered her mouth as though she was frightened by the photos. She gasped after a few seconds and tried to calm herself down. “Can’t you just send the photos over so I don’t need to make this trip!”
“How can I just send these out like this?” Bai Muchuan gave her a glare and wanted her to continue looking at the photos. “Look carefully, is this the girl?”
Xie Wanwan tilted her head and it took a while to look at the photos with fear in her eyes. “She looks like her! She does look somewhat like her. But… the expression is too scary and it looks a little out of shape. I can’t give a definite answer!”
She was not sure.
But the deceased looked like the girl she saw yesterday.
That was enough to make Xiang Wan’s heavy heart almost jump out of her mouth.
If that was the girl that Xie Wanwan had told them about last night, and that her time of death was within the estimated 12 hours… wouldn’t that mean the girl died after she published her update?
This is too horrifying!
She started to break out in cold sweat. She felt as though someone was strangling her throat, and her legs suddenly felt kinda wobbly.
Bai Muchuan noticed her state from the corner of his eyes and quickly helped to support her. “What’s the matter? Not feeling well?”
Xiang Wan spoke rather haltingly, “I did not kill her but she died because of me? Bai Muchuan… Who do you think that person is?”
Bai Muchuan squeezed her hand. “Don’t think too much! This has nothing to do with you.”
Xiang Wan shook her head and looked at him seriously. “Why are you not surprised at all?”
Bai Muchuan took a look at Xie Wanwan who was beside them. “I have expected that the person would pay attention to your book, but not sure if that person will continue to replicate. This case is just a confirmation of our deduction.”
He squeezed Xiang Wan’s arm, as though giving her strength.
Then he proceeded to call Tang Yuanchu to arrange for Ye Lun’s interrogation as well as all his staff…
Xiang Wan listened to him assigning tasks to the team and stayed quiet for a while before she sniffled.
“I’ll never write a book based on reality again!”
“It’s no use.” Bai Muchuan turned to look at her sympathetically. “You’re on that person’s radar. No matter what you write… it’s going to be the same.”
“…”
Even if her book was totally unrelated to reality, that person would still replicate what he could?
The moment Xiang Wan thought about this, she felt goosebumps all over and felt a sense of horror that she dread.
“Is this the real reason why you engaged me as an advisor?”
Her sudden, out of the blue question made Bai Muchuan furrowed his brows.
“Not totally. It’s your ability…”
“What bleeping ability?” Xiang Wan’s fists were clenched tightly. “I just don’t understand. How did I cross paths with this person? Why did this person read my book and refuse to let me off?”
“Maybe from the beginning, it was just a coincidence!”
Coincidence! In the first murder case, the 720 case of Zhao Jiahang. Did Er Niu really replicate her novel plot coincidentally?
Xiang Wan rubbed her temples and did not want to delve deeper into her thoughts. Her brain was though being filled with lead, which felt painful as a humming sound kept surrounding her. She felt unwell.
“Bai Muchuan, let me have a look at the photo!”
Previously, she had passed by that frightening head many times, but she never plucked up enough courage to look at it.
However, at this moment, she was suddenly not so scared anymore.
Now, she wanted to look at the unfortunate girl who died because of her…
Bai Muchuan furrowed his brows, unlocked his mobile phone, and passed it to her.
The photo was right in front of her, but Xiang Wan had to summon a lot of courage before she dared to actually land her gaze on it.
In the photo in front of Xiang Wan, the girl’s eyes were wide-opened with her pupils dilated. Her mouth was agape and she was very pale. She had a really terrified look and her hair was in a mess.
Xiang Wan’s hand twitched heavily. Bai Muchuan’s mobile phone nearly fell onto the ground.
“Silly girl, if you’re scared, then don’t look at it.” Bai Muchuan held her shoulders and wanted to take his mobile phone back but Xiang Wan moved it away from him.
“It’s not that I’m afraid! I want to look at it again.” She spoke very fast, gathered enough courage to magnify, then minimized the photo numerous times before finally taking a deep breath. “Bai Muchuan, I think I know this girl!”
…
