The situation had already blown up in the early hours of the morning. Almost the entire criminal investigation unit at Anning Police Station had been wiped out, and the circumstances were horrific.
Some had cut their own throats with kitchen knives. Some had lain across railway tracks and been severed at the waist. Some had drowned in their bathtubs. Some had jumped from high-rise buildings…
Aside from Chen Jing Sheng and Lin Yao, the only officer still alive was the policeman who had spoken with Chen Jing Sheng on the first floor yesterday.
That poor NPC knew absolutely nothing. He had even gotten up bright and energetic for work that morning. The moment he walked into the station, however, the tragedy hit him head-on and nearly made him faint.
After the municipal public security bureau learned what had happened, it quickly dispatched specialists to investigate. But the information the investigative team gathered from every death scene was very strange.
The forensic pathologists stated that, judging from the victims’ facial expressions and physical condition, all of them had experienced extreme terror before death.
Yet based on the specific circumstances at the scenes and all available evidence, virtually every possibility of homicide could be ruled out.
Their cause of death was suicide. There simply had been no conditions allowing an outsider to intervene.
But even an idiot could see that an entire police station’s criminal investigators all dying by suicide on the same night meant there was an enormous problem behind this.
No matter how one looked at it, there was absolutely no way this could have been some horrific coincidence.
The special investigation team consisted entirely of elites with quick minds, and they soon noticed the most glaring common thread.
Although the officers had used different methods to kill themselves, every one of them had done the same thing beforehand.
They had watched the elevator surveillance footage backed up by the property-management company in the cloud.
That was right. It was the most complete version of the footage, the one Yin Chen had not interrupted halfway through.
It was now seven-thirty in the morning. Happiness Property Management’s on-duty guards, legal representative, and technical staff had all been summoned by the police and were being questioned one after another.
Chen Jing Sheng could hardly believe it. He read and reread the station’s preliminary internal investigative bulletin.
It seemed he had once again gotten a great many innocent people killed for no reason at all.
With his face slightly pale, Chen Jing Sheng told all the players what had happened, then silently went glug-glug-glug through cup after cup of coffee, unwilling to speak.
He truly could not understand what had happened last night.
What kind of terrifying power could control so many professionally trained criminal investigators at once, forcing them to kill themselves so brutally without being able to break free…?
Lin Yao, the only person who might know more, still had not awakened.
She had slept quietly on Song Zang’s sofa all night, like a brain-dead vegetative patient. She even needed other people to turn her over, care for her, and feed her water and food.
Ye Xiao Xi volunteered to take on the task. She had once worked temporarily as a caregiver in a hospice. Though she looked slender, she was actually fairly strong and very experienced at caring for people.
Song Zang was comfortable leaving the job to her. It also gave him another opportunity to keep observing Ye Xiao Xi’s character.
His apartment was the safest place available. If Lin Yao were admitted to a hospital, long-term unconsciousness might not be the worst thing that happened. By tomorrow, she might even become… the bride of Apartment 1502.
Compared with Chen Jing Sheng’s guilt and confusion, Xiao Xiao Xiao focused much more intently on the surveillance footage itself.
Yesterday at noon, after Lin Yao entered Apartment 1502 alone, she never came back out.
Yet in the surveillance video, Chen Jing Sheng and Lin Yao appeared side by side, walking from the fifteenth-floor elevator lobby into the car. That was strange.
Not only that, while the elevator descended toward the fourteenth floor, Chen Jing Sheng appeared to be under the control of some special force and displayed all kinds of distorted, convulsive behavior. Yet Lin Yao, captain of the criminal investigation team, seemed completely unaware of it.
Both anomalies were extremely suspicious.
“Could it be that everything shown by the surveillance camera is completely fake? I’ve watched a lot of horror movies. Media is one of the things most likely to have evil forces attach themselves to it, using it to confuse people’s minds, conceal the truth, or even carry some kind of curse…”
Song Zang raised a brow. “A cursed videotape that kills you if you watch it?”
Xiao Xiao Xiao nodded furiously. “Exactly, exactly! It’s a good thing you couldn’t finish watching it, or you might have gotten cursed too and gone through the same danger we did yesterday!”
Song Zang fell into thought. The only reason they had failed to finish the footage in the surveillance room was because Yin Chen had inexplicably appeared on the monitor.
Using some unknown method, Yin Chen had possessed Chen Jing Sheng’s image and argued with Song Zang. He had also made every playback device in the surveillance room stop working at once. Unable to bear the load, the wiring short-circuited and erupted into a raging fire…
“Chen Jing Sheng, I have an idea.”
“…Go ahead, Brother Song?”
“My boyfriend definitely knew that if we finished watching that footage, there was a chance we’d lose control of our bodies in the middle of the night and be forced to kill ourselves.
“So he came specifically to save me. But he’s a lunatic. Even when he’s doing something for my own good, he doesn’t know how to say anything nice and insists on making me angry enough to argue with him.” Song Zang tugged at the corner of his lips, listless. “So annoying. I really want to sew his mouth shut. All he knows how to do is be fierce with me all day.”
“Who’s being fierce with you?”
A voice that was incomparably familiar to Song Zang drifted eerily through the speakers, carrying a hint of mockery.
On the television program everyone had been ignoring, the male weather presenter suddenly raised his head and stared directly at Song Zang.
Song Zang looked over in alarm and uncertainty, only to see the presenter’s face transform in an instant.
Narrow phoenix eyes tilted upward, his gaze dark, and his thin lips curved in a beautiful arc.
“Song Zang, do you love acting this much in front of other people too? When did I argue with you? Is it fun making things up about me?” Yin Chen questioned him at an unhurried pace.
He tried hard to sound casual, but the resentment in his cold voice practically broke through the screen and wrapped itself tightly around Song Zang.
Song Zang closed his eyes briefly. After the lessons of the previous few encounters, he no longer wanted to argue with Yin Chen through a “medium.” It was a waste of time.
So Song Zang took a deep breath and said quietly in an even voice, “Yin Chen, I like you. I miss you. I want to be with you. We haven’t done it in a long time. Don’t you want to kiss me?”
Yin Chen’s reaction on the television was strange after hearing that.
The curve at the corner of his lips abruptly stiffened. His lazy posture vanished at once, his back going ramrod straight while the tips of his ears flushed with an almost imperceptible red.
Deep in those phoenix eyes, where emotions churned, there was even a trace of bewilderment and confusion.
Song Zang had been concentrating completely on observing Yin Chen. He saw that tiny change with perfect clarity and suddenly understood a great many things.
Yin Chen really had been stunned by his blunt declaration, and he was absolutely secretly pleased inside, but…
Pleased or not, Yin Chen did not seem to understand much of what he meant.
Yes. Yin Chen had not understood what he meant at all!
The Yin Chen who shared Song Zang’s bed, the Yin Chen who had said “let’s try it” and pulled Song Zang’s hand inside his shirt, the Yin Chen who wanted to spend day and night tangled together with him in bed… could never possibly react like this.
At the same time, however, Song Zang could also be completely certain that the person before him was Yin Chen himself, absolutely not some evil force disguising itself as a monster.
Song Zang had complete confidence in his own perception. Yin Chen was special. Yin Chen could not be imitated.
This fierce, foolish Yin Chen was clearly still the Yin Chen he liked.
Comparing Yin Chen’s strange attitude across his last several appearances, Song Zang had reason to make an even bolder deduction.
Yin Chen’s memories were a little scrambled.
Most of the time, he seemed to have gone back to the period before their relationship softened and gradually turned ambiguous.
Thinking back on the past now, Song Zang almost wanted to laugh.
In fact, even during that stalemate when they were testing each other, Yin Chen’s possessiveness had exploded plenty of times.
Back then, Yin Chen’s attitude toward him alternated between good and bad, changing with the weather. He kept saying he wanted to chop Song Zang to death, yet at the same time wished he could lock him at his side every second. For no reason at all, he was absurdly contradictory.
He was completely hopeless at communicating with other people. All he knew was how to threaten Song Zang in that deliberately sinister tone and forbid him from rejecting team invitations.
So when Yin Chen discovered that Song Zang had “unilaterally” broken their agreement and run off without teaming up with him for the instance, his mood would naturally become exceptionally terrible.
Mystery solved, mystery solved. A Yin Chen who had lost all the later memories getting so angry that he deliberately barged into the rookie instance just to yell at him actually seemed completely normal, didn’t it?
Song Zang suddenly saw the light. Everything clicked into place, and he felt wonderfully refreshed.
He was no longer angry with Yin Chen, but he absolutely had to figure out what was going on!
“All of you, get out. I want to talk to him alone.”
The dumbstruck players were mercilessly driven out of Song Zang’s apartment.
Then, cheeks flushed, he stepped closer. His pale fingertip touched the slightly warm television screen and slid gently, ambiguously across Yin Chen’s handsome lips.
“Baby, you’ve lost your memory. We’ve been together for a long time already. You’re especially good to me. Every time, you deliberately choose roles that can protect me. I know everything…”
A crackle of electrical sparks sounded from behind the television, as if the machine could barely bear the surge of Yin Chen’s emotions and was struggling to hold together.
Yin Chen looked uncomfortable. More confusion and stunned uncertainty spilled through his deep phoenix eyes, and his lightly reddened lips pressed together. He was wavering, but still stubbornly continued to deny it. “No. You don’t know.”
“Y-you… how can you not believe me?”
Song Zang’s eyes suddenly reddened. Looking on the verge of tears and terribly wronged, he poked the screen hard.
Yin Chen froze. He fell awkwardly silent for a long while. Seeing Song Zang’s pitch-black lashes, dark as raven feathers, tremble and gradually turn wet, he could only clumsily comfort him. “Don’t cry.”
So stupid. Back then, Yin Chen truly had not known how to coax someone at all.
Song Zang lowered his eyes and fought back a smile. Crystal tears clung to his flushed eye corners, making him look all the more pitiful and helpless.
He pressed his palm against the screen and laid out the facts one by one, then immediately accused him in an aggrieved tone. “Yin Chen, your shell is two years old this year. You told me you’re not human. You told me the Infinite Game is targeting me… You sleep in the same bed with me every single day. Do you remember?
“We’ve gotten married twice. You’ve touched me all over, and now that you’ve lost your memories you don’t want to take responsibility anymore?”
Yin Chen listened quietly, rendered speechless. He discovered that he had no way to refute any of it. He had to admit that practically everything Song Zang said was true, and all of it consisted of facts he would never reveal to an outsider unless they were extremely close.
But Yin Chen did not remember.
His subconscious vaguely knew that he seemed to have teamed up with Song Zang many times, and that they seemed to have once been so intimate… that they could even casually take off their clothes and trade dirty jokes.
Yet the harder he tried to remember, the less he could recall the images that should have been so vivid and clear.
It was as though some unseen force were quietly interfering with him, secretly stepping in at crucial moments to block and sever his train of thought.
This was not a good thing.
If Song Zang had not pointed it out, Yin Chen would have remained extremely confident in his understanding of himself.
Given his personality, it would have been difficult for him to realize so quickly that there was something wrong with his memories, that they had been split apart and disrupted to such an exaggerated degree.
“Song Zang, I really did it with you, and we really got married twice?” Yin Chen’s eyes grew solemn as he confirmed it with Song Zang again, his voice unconsciously softening.
“Then what else? You took my innocence and now you’re asking me if it’s real? Yin Chen, you have no conscience,” Song Zang complained mournfully.
Yin Chen’s expression went blank for an instant. He said stiffly, “I don’t…”
Song Zang did not give Yin Chen a chance to keep spacing out. He was afraid Yin Chen would disappear again.
Tears streaming down his face, he glared at Yin Chen. Mist completely veiled his wet eyes, and he looked unbearably aggrieved. “I miss you so much. Why are you hiding somewhere I can’t touch you? Come out. I don’t care whether you remember or not. I want to hug you right now!”
“I’ll scare you. Are you sure?”
Yin Chen hesitated, but he was wavering too. He truly could not remember how far his relationship with Song Zang had progressed.
But the weather forecast was about to end. The male host lowered his head to gather his script, and Yin Chen’s features were gradually fading away.
Song Zang took a deep breath, then suddenly gave a soft laugh, his tone becoming even more aggrieved. “Brother Chen, can you stop treating me like an idiot?
“I guessed a long time ago that it was you. You secretly drank the blood I offered to the Earth Mother Goddess, burned a tiny hole in the most expensive white shirt in my house, clung to me, bullied me, scared me… Only you would do things that awful! Stop talking nonsense and come out!”
Song Zang had yelled at him again.
Song Zang never used to be this fierce with him.
Yin Chen’s mood became complicated and subtle. But Song Zang really was fierce now…
So, by instinct, Yin Chen did not talk back. He merely pressed his thin lips together, lowered his eyes, and gave a quiet “Mm.”
The next instant, the weather forecast officially ended and the television switched to a tourism advertisement. At the same time, Yin Chen abruptly vanished.
The electrical noise disappeared with him, and the scorching screen finally returned to a normal temperature.
Song Zang was not anxious. Yin Chen had already agreed, which meant he would definitely appear on his own.
Yin Chen almost never went back on something he said he would do. Every promise he made could be trusted. That was one of his greatest virtues.
Song Zang slowly wiped away his tears and went to wash his face in the bathroom.
Only after confirming there was no trace of tears left in his eyes did Song Zang reopen the security door and let all the players who had been craning their necks in the hallway hurry back inside.
“Brother Song, want a bun? I just bought these from the stall downstairs. There are fresh-meat buns, xiaolongbao, and pan-fried dumplings.”
The aroma rushed toward him. Xiao Xiao Xiao waved a large plastic bag filled with steaming food, panting for breath.
“Fresh meat, thanks.”
Song Zang took a bun from her. After a pause, remembering everything that had happened over the past two days, he cautiously refrained from biting into it immediately.
The meat bun’s □□ was thin and its filling generous, and it smelled steaming hot and tempting. Through the plastic bag, Song Zang gently tore away a layer of snow-white dough, revealing glossy fresh-meat filling mixed with finely chopped green scallions.
Elio’s Notes: The source contains a two-character gap marked “□□” in this sentence. It has been preserved rather than reconstructed from context.
Song Zang only gave it one sniff before his gaze abruptly turned icy. “Has anyone eaten the buns already?”
Swept by his dark, cold gaze, Ye Xiao Xi looked a little lost. Hiding behind Chen Jing Sheng, she worked up the courage to answer, “Only me. Brother Song, I took two bites.”
“This is human flesh. There may be other bad things mixed into the filling too. Go next door and make yourself vomit immediately.”
“W-what?!”
Ye Xiao Xi’s face turned deathly pale. Covering her mouth, she rushed out the door and nearly failed to stop herself from vomiting in the burly man’s living room.
Chen Jing Sheng wanted to go with her, but Song Zang stopped him. “Xiao Xiao Xiao can watch her. Bring your police ID. We’re going straight downstairs to arrest them.”
“Got it. My credentials are in my pocket. I’ll go call the elevator.” Chen Jing Sheng quickly buttoned his police jacket, his expression exceptionally grave.
Song Zang put on his coat and casually slipped a dagger into his pocket, just in case.
Although Building A only had one elevator, Happiness Community skewed older and did not have many office workers. They only waited two or three minutes before riding down smoothly with the flow of people.
Two police cars and a black sedan were parked outside the community, apparently belonging to the special investigation team sent down by higher authorities. Ye Xiao He’s fatal fall had now been transferred to them as well.
Meanwhile, on paper, Chen Jing Sheng and Lin Yao were still busy with the objects-thrown-from-a-height case. For the moment, that left them relatively free and at least kept them from attracting suspicion.
There was only one roadside breakfast stall near Happiness Community, built around a three-wheeled cart with rows of plastic tables and chairs spread along the road.
It was run by a married couple, offering rice noodles, wheat noodles, buns, and a rich variety of food. Aside from the pastries, everything else was served freshly cooked in broth.
The fragrant steam of hot food spread wildly through the cool autumn wind, mercilessly tempting every passerby’s appetite.
No wonder they monopolized the breakfast business for the entire street. It smelled incredible. They really did have something going for them.
The honest-looking owner wore an apron and remained taciturn behind the stove on the cart, using a wok over high heat to stir-fry a customer’s fresh-meat noodles.
His wife was a lean, capable middle-aged woman responsible for greeting customers, clearing dishes, and collecting payment. She was much more outgoing.
She even dared wave at the police cars, calling enthusiastically, “Officers, you’ve worked hard! Want to sit down and have some hot soup? Fresh beef-bone broth, smells amazing. I’ll give you a big bowl for free!”
A moment later, a young officer climbed out of the front passenger seat of the black sedan, the hunger in his eyes almost impossible to hide.
“That smells amazing! Boss, two bowls of beef rice noodles and three baskets of xiaolongbao. Do the big buns come spicy?”
The proprietress waved with a smile. “No spicy ones. Our breakfast is all about being fresh, made on the spot, and delicious. Look, officer, this is the freshest, most tender beef. It cooks the second it hits the pot.”
Chen Jing Sheng’s gaze sharpened. He strode over, pulled out his credentials, and stopped the officer who was about to pay.
“Police. Don’t move!”
He pulled handcuffs from his pocket, caught the proprietress’s arm one-handed, and expertly twisted it behind her back. With a crisp click, the cuff locked in place.
“Ah, hiss…”
The proprietress shuddered in pain. Her legs immediately went weak, and she collapsed onto the ground, completely unable to resist.
Chen Jing Sheng ignored her. He instantly turned, launched a kick that knocked down the owner as he tried to slip away, then drove his knee hard into the man’s back and pinned him firmly to the ground.
Another crisp click. His movements flowed in one continuous sequence, leaving the young officer staring dumbfounded.
“…Brother, what did these two do?”
Chen Jing Sheng’s face was murderous. “These two animals are selling human-meat buns.”
“Holy shit?!”
Both husband and wife were cuffed beside the cart. Chen Jing Sheng rubbed his wrist, rummaged through the heaps of prepared ingredients and sacks of flour, and found their sole-proprietor business license and food-service permit.
Legal representative: Yang Mei.
Chen Jing Sheng paused almost imperceptibly, then looked up as if nothing had happened and barked, “Stop pretending you’re deaf. Which one of you is Yang Mei?”
“I-I am Yang Mei…”
The proprietress’s face was white with terror as she stammered repeatedly, “Officer, there’s no way we’d sell human flesh. My husband goes out early every morning to buy fresh beef and pork. We’re honest people running a tiny business. Who would dare do something that evil? Impossible, impossible… Officer, you must have made a mistake.”
Chen Jing Sheng’s face went cold. “Your husband is Zhang Da Qiang?”
“Yes, yes. We live in Building A of Happiness Community. How could we possibly sell human flesh? My god, just hearing that is terrifying.”
Chen Jing Sheng sneered. “Then why did he run just now?”
“W-well, he…” Yang Mei froze, then looked at her husband in disbelief and snapped, “Exactly, Zhang Da Qiang, have you lost your mind? We’re just selling breakfast. We didn’t break the law. What are you running for?!”
She seemed completely unaware that Chen Jing Sheng had not arrested the wrong people. Every piece of meat at this breakfast stall was fresh human flesh.
It had merely been deliberately sliced into paper-thin pieces or minced into a huge basin of blood-red filling…
Chen Jing Sheng truly could not identify cooked human flesh inside a steamed bun by sight alone. But he had witnessed the horrific slaughter carried out by terrorists overseas before and had some experience distinguishing bone, fascia, and the grain of flesh.
All he had to do was take a closer look to know that Song Zang had not made a mistake. This fucking stuff could not possibly be beef or pork. The bone broth was not made from cattle bones either. Every bit of it was human.
Zhang Da Qiang had not spoken at all.
“You bought the meat?” Chen Jing Sheng kicked him.
Zhang Da Qiang closed his eyes briefly and silently nodded.
“Then squat your ass down and stay there. Hands out. Point at it!”
Seeing that Zhang Da Qiang was at least cooperating, the tension in Chen Jing Sheng’s body eased slightly.
He turned toward the stunned young officer, his tone becoming somewhat friendlier. “Brother, I’m from the Anning precinct. There’s basically no one left at the station. Can you help me take some scene photos?”
“Huh? Of course, of course. You’re one of the three survivors, right? My god, you’ve had it rough.”
The officer immediately looked sympathetic. He took out his phone, positioned the husband and wife, and quickly photographed them identifying the evidence, enough to justify emergency detention.
“Thanks, brother. I’m Chen Jing Sheng. Are you with the special investigation team too? Can I borrow a police car?” Chen Jing Sheng put the photos away and struck up an easy conversation with him.
“Ha, I don’t have that kind of skill, Brother Chen. I’m from Linxiu District. I’m here to drive errands for those elites. Just call me Xiao Sun…”
Officer Sun knew all about the tragedy at Anning Police Station. He discreetly studied Chen Jing Sheng, unsure how to comfort him, and could only deliberately act more cheerful. “Use the police cars however you like. Take the keys. But don’t touch that Hua-brand sedan. They say the people using it are elites among elites, with serious backing. Special talent.”
Chen Jing Sheng looked thoughtfully toward the temporarily empty black sedan. “Special talent? Hopefully they’re useful.”
“Don’t worry, Brother. Leadership issued orders overnight. This is now the number-one major case in the province and the whole country, higher priority than the steelworks. We have to uncover something within a week. Otherwise nobody gets to go back to the new district for work. Even if it kills us, we solve the case.”
Chen Jing Sheng sighed. “Thanks. You all be careful too.”
He took the keys from Officer Sun, searched the police car’s trunk, and expertly found a tow hook, which he attached to the three-wheeled cart filled with human flesh.
Then he grabbed the married couple and roughly shoved them into the locked back seat of the police car.
Officer Sun ran off to another street to buy breakfast, while Song Zang had quietly taken the front passenger seat long ago without attracting anyone’s attention.
Throughout the drive to the station, Yang Mei kept protesting her innocence.
Chen Jing Sheng ignored her, so she turned to blaming Zhang Da Qiang. Normally, one couldn’t beat half a fart out of him with a stick, but why was he still acting mute after getting into a police car? Who knew what rotten meat he had secretly bought that had gotten them both arrested in such humiliating fashion.
She really did feel wronged. She could not understand how peacefully selling breakfast had somehow turned her into a criminal suspect.
Chen Jing Sheng was getting annoyed listening to her. He glanced up at the rearview mirror and was just about to bark at her when his eyes happened to meet the silent Zhang Da Qiang’s.
In the next instant, that lean, honest-looking man suddenly broke into a grin. The corners of his mouth stretched almost to his ears, exposing two rows of pitted, brownish-yellow teeth.
Beneath blood-red gums covered in ulcers, wet strands of raw meat hung through every cavity and rotten gap between his teeth.
His smile was enormous, but his eyes were not smiling. They remained numb, lifeless, and cloudy, stiff and dull like those of a man at the end of his life.
Yang Mei was frightened into silence. Eyes wide, her entire body shaking, she shrank toward the other side of the seat.
“Brother Song?” Chen Jing Sheng tightened his grip on the steering wheel and calmly eased off the accelerator at an even rate.
He did not dare act on his own. His gaze shifted toward Song Zang, asking for guidance.
Song Zang’s lips curled. He tilted his head and looked at the ferocious man in the rearview mirror. A hazy flush rose over his pale cheeks, and his bright, beautiful black eyes curved as he gave an equally eerie smile.
“…Brother Song?”
“Baby, he’s trying to scare us. Kill him.”
The instant the words left his mouth, the gas cylinder hanging beside the three-wheeled cart trembled, and a strange, ghostly blue-white flame sprang to life.
Yin Chen had arrived.