The first winter vacation had finally arrived. At last, they would be escaping this backward place and returning to city life. Ke Bu’s satisfaction with that thought didn’t last long. Someone—he had no idea who—suggested that everyone take a train trip before the New Year. Ke Bu really wanted to refuse, but he couldn’t. His exhausted body wanted to rest, yet his heart struggled to get up and go, simply because Zhi Li would be going too.
The group gathered in front of the train station, carrying bags large and small. These people really had too much free time. Chu Hao Yu and Ying Xiu Jie were helping the girls carry their luggage. Looking at the mountain of bags, Ke Bu said, “Are you people emigrating or something?”
“It’s not every day we go on a trip. Of course we need to bring more stuff. What would you know? You have no appreciation for life’s little pleasures.”
“Quit talking and get moving,” Ying Xiu Jie said, carrying luggage in both hands as though he were training his arms.
Their destination this time was Yinguo Town, a seaside town. Though it was called a town, its size was comparable to a county seat. The climate there was warm at this time of year, and the scenery was beautiful. Because of the complicated terrain, development had been limited, and very few tourists visited the area.
After putting away their belongings, everyone gathered in one of the train’s soft-sleeper compartments.
It was crowded. Really crowded.
Zhi Li lay on the upper bunk drawing. Su You Yan sat across from him reading a book. Zhang Luo was on his computer. No matter where he went, he could never be separated from it. Ke Bu seriously wondered why someone like him would participate in a daytime activity. Zhang Luo gave people the impression of a rat—someone who lived in darkness and only dared to emerge when no one was around. The others played cards, ate snacks, and before long, everyone became bored by the long journey.
“Someone tell a story,” Ying Xiu Jie said with a bored yawn.
“Since everyone’s expectations for me are so high, I’ll do it,” Chu Hao Yu volunteered.
Ke Bu immediately rejected the idea.
“I can already guess what kind of story you’ll tell. Something about a large breast meeting a small breast.”
Zhang Luo pushed up his glasses and revealed an eerie smile.
“Then let me tell one. Let’s see if everyone can guess who the murderer is.”
The suggestion quickly won everyone’s approval.
“To make things easier to remember, allow me to borrow everyone’s names.”
“Make me the handsome one,” Chu Hao Yu requested.
The story began like this:
Fresh out of the police academy and filled with passionate ideals, Ke Bu wanted to serve his country and make something of himself. But dreams and reality always differed—and in this case, by quite a lot. Ke Bu was assigned to a small town. It wasn’t exactly deserted, just utterly ordinary. When his friends saw him off at the train station, they looked at him the way people looked at a criminal being sent into exile.
“Could you not write me as such an idiot?” the real Ke Bu interrupted.
“When I’m telling a story, I’d appreciate it if no one interrupted,” Zhang Luo said.
Everyone immediately shot Ke Bu disapproving looks.
Zhang Luo cleared his throat and continued.
After spending a year in the town, Ke Bu had become completely numb. Occasionally he read a book, but most of the time he simply sat at his desk staring into space. There were only three police officers in the entire town, and all of them were men.
At that moment, a middle-aged man rushed in, panting heavily.
“I want to report a crime! I want to report a crime!”
“What happened?” Ke Bu straightened up, though he didn’t sound particularly enthusiastic.
“My pig! Some bastard pulled a prank, killed it, and hung it in the woods!”
Ke Bu made a show of scribbling in his notebook.
“Think about it. Have you had any conflicts with anyone recently?”
“No. I’m an honest, law-abiding man.”
“Alright. I’ll investigate. Go home for now. If I learn anything, I’ll let you know.”
After the man left, Chu Hao Yu patted Ke Bu on the shoulder.
“Come on, Xiao Bu. You should be a little friendlier with people. We’re police officers serving the public, after all. At the very least, you should learn how to handle interpersonal relationships.”
Chu Hao Yu was Ke Bu’s colleague, an upright and courageous man who always stood up for justice.
(As soon as Zhang Luo finished that sentence, quiet laughter spread through the compartment.)
“If I learn how to handle interpersonal relationships, will that tell me who hung his pig?”
A week after that incident, Chu Hao Yu rushed over with a look of panic and shook Ke Bu out of his daydreaming.
“Ke Bu, something happened.”
“What now? Did somebody else’s pig disappear?” Ke Bu grumbled as he pushed himself upright.
Chu Hao Yu stared at him with a pale face.
“A dead person. Someone died. In South Village.”
South Village was one of the villages under the town’s jurisdiction.
Ke Bu shot up from his chair. His face flushed red.
“What happened?”
“Someone just reported it. They found a man’s body hanging in the woods in South Village.”
The moment Chu Hao Yu said those words, Ke Bu immediately thought of the middle-aged man who had come to report the dead pig the previous week.
“Suicide?”
“No way. He was hanging upside down from the tree.”
“Let’s go take a look.”
Ke Bu rode his little motorcycle alongside Chu Hao Yu toward South Village. His mind was racing the entire way. Murder? Was it for revenge or for love? It reminded Ke Bu of scenes from movies, and for a moment he felt just like one of those heroes from the big screen—ridiculously handsome and larger than life.
When they arrived at the crime scene, Ying Xiu Jie was busy keeping the local villagers from crowding around. Ying Xiu Jie was the third member of their three-man police force. From a distance, Ke Bu could already see a body hanging upside down from a tree. The victim was around 1.75 meters tall, weighed a little over 120 jin, and appeared to be a middle-aged man. The trunk of the tree was bent under the weight, as if it might snap at any moment.
Ke Bu hurried over while Chu Hao Yu photographed the body. There were multiple injuries on the victim, suggesting he had struggled with his killer. Signs of a fight were also visible around the scene. Chu Hao Yu and Ying Xiu Jie lowered the body. Judging by his clothing, he appeared to be a homeless drifter. Who would have a grudge against a homeless man?
They questioned the person who had discovered the body. He said he had been passing through that morning on his way to the fields when he found the corpse and immediately reported it. No one nearby recognized the drifter. With no other leads, Ke Bu and the others arranged for the body to be transported back and reported the case to their superiors.
After investigating for an entire week, Ke Bu had found absolutely nothing. Then the phone rang. Ying Xiu Jie answered it. Ke Bu watched his expression grow increasingly grave, his brows knitting together. He immediately knew something had happened again.
When Ying Xiu Jie hung up, Ke Bu quickly asked, “What happened?”
“Another person is dead. Same forest. Same method.”
Ke Bu froze.
The excitement he had felt before was gone. He finally realized how serious the situation was. That day felt exactly like the previous week. The scene was identical. Another drifter. The same height and build. The only difference was that this victim had fewer injuries than the first.
The investigation had made no progress whatsoever.
Ke Bu, Chu Hao Yu, and Ying Xiu Jie began to panic. Rumors spread throughout the town. Ke Bu had no leads at all. No one in town recognized either of the two drifters.
Outwardly, Ke Bu remained calm, but inside he desperately wanted to solve the case. He desperately wanted to be a hero.
But he had only recently graduated from the police academy and had never dealt with anything like this before. Although he had once dated a girl from a forensic medicine school and often saw corpses because of it, this was different.
Another week passed.
Near the end of the workday, as evening approached, Ke Bu received a call from Chu Hao Yu.
“Ke Bu, get to the forest. Now.”
“Something happened again? Another drifter?”
“You’ll know when you get here.”
Ke Bu hung up and rushed toward the forest.
This time, the person hanging upside down from the tree was not a drifter.
He was wearing a suit, appeared to be around thirty-five years old, stood roughly 1.75 meters tall, and weighed around 120 jin. His face was twisted into a grimace, as though he had been brutally beaten.
Once the body was lowered, Ke Bu stepped closer.
“There seems to be something left on his face,” he said.
Just as the words left his mouth, a man crouched beside the corpse and leaned in to smell the victim’s face.
“It smells like cosmetics.”
Ke Bu jumped in surprise.
“Who are you?”
The man looked up.
What entered Ke Bu’s field of vision was an astonishingly handsome face.
He looked like a prince straight out of a storybook. His face, his figure, even the aura he gave off seemed too perfect to belong in the mortal world. He was the sort of beauty that could make someone fall at first sight.
Standing in front of a corpse, Ke Bu actually blushed.
He silently cursed himself. It wasn’t as if he were a girl—why was he blushing just because he saw a handsome guy?
But seriously…
Wasn’t this man way too handsome?
Ke Bu couldn’t find the words to describe either the man’s appearance or the feelings surging through him at that moment.
(At this point, the story is already shamelessly adding extra scenes to flatter someone. Besides, there’s no way I’d be stupid enough to think something like “he’s way too handsome.” And why is there suddenly a BL subplot in this story? Ke Bu grumbled inwardly, though he didn’t say any of it out loud.)
Next
Futile Devices Scans 
Leave a comment