Chapter 694: The Insane Writer

An hour later, Xin Bai was brought to the interrogation room. Chen Shi noticed that he seemed to have ADHD, constantly scratching and fidgeting in his chair, his eyes twitching and vacant, his face covered in cold sweat, as if he had taken some kind of drug.

According to the traffic police, his car had been driving erratically, like a ballet dancer, before crashing into a truck. It had scraped several other cars beforehand. The breathalyzer test showed no alcohol.

Chen Shi suggested a urine test to check for drug use.

Chen Shi wasn’t much of a web novel reader; “Detective Abyss” was the only one he followed, recommended by Tao Yueyue. Seeing his favorite writer in the interrogation room felt quite strange.

Lin Qiupu and Old Zhang started the interrogation. Lin Qiupu turned on the recorder and asked, “Is Xin Bai your real name?”

Xin Bai stared at the recorder, saying nothing, his eyes fixed. Lin Qiupu repeated the question, and Xin Bai suddenly shouted, “Turn it off! Turn it off! It’s watching me! Turn it off!”

Lin Qiupu glanced at the recorder and said, “You write detective novels, so you should know we have to record interrogations.”

“No, no, please turn it off… and that one too…” He pointed to the camera on the wall. “Don’t let it point at me. I’m scared.”

Whatever they said, he responded with paranoid behavior. Lin Qiupu had no choice but to remove the recorder and called Lin Dongxue to take notes.

The urine test results came back. The initial test using drug strips showed nothing, so the sample was sent for mass spectrometry analysis, which revealed something surprising.

Xin Bai had a large amount of Ritalin in his system, a banned stimulant known as “smart drugs” that force focus. However, its side effects include a rebound effect after the drug wears off, causing mental distraction and loss of focus. Xin Bai’s current state seemed to be a result of these side effects, likely leading to the car accident.

Lin Qiupu placed the urine test results on the table and asked, “Did you take banned substances?”

“I didn’t just take that; I also took fish oil, vitamins, algae oil… Algae oil makes your hair black and shiny, see!” Xin Bai pulled at his hair, yanking out a handful. “Oh, and did you know? There’s a substance called Chlorin e6. It lets you see far in the dark. I’m working on a novel featuring it.”

Lin Qiupu slammed the table. “Stop changing the subject. Why did you take Ritalin?”

Xin Bai scratched his neck furiously, shedding layers of skin, and said, “Don’t all writers need drugs for inspiration? Where else would it come from?”

“Did you kill for inspiration too?”

“Kill… I didn’t kill anyone!” He continued scratching his neck, leaving bloody marks.

“What’s with the body in your car?”

“The body in my car? Whose body? What body?”

“I’m the one asking questions now.”

“You’re asking me?” Xin Bai stared blankly. “You should do an autopsy. Some forensic doctors like to use a straight incision, some prefer a T-shaped one, and others a Y-shaped one. I like the en bloc method. Do you know it? It involves cutting open the neck and chest, exposing all the organs, and then snipping the aorta, esophagus, and inferior vena cava to pull out the entire set of organs. Can I watch the autopsy later? I’d love to see it.”

Xin Bai laughed, despite his neck bleeding from his scratching.

Lin Qiupu frowned. “What a shameless guy!” He’d seen many people mess around in the interrogation room, but this was a first.

“How do I take notes?” Lin Dongxue asked, her notebook still blank.

Chen Shi tapped on the glass. Lin Qiupu, Old Zhang, and Lin Dongxue stepped out, and Chen Shi said, “His mental state is off. It seems his brain has issues. You won’t get anything useful this way.”

“He’s acting.”

Chen Shi held up a novel app. “This is his latest chapter. It’s full of logical errors and typos, showing his mental state is very poor.”

“How did a writer end up like this? What’s his recent novel about?”

“It’s about a dead body that goes missing after an autopsy. The surveillance shows the body walking out on its own. It’s supernatural. Who knows how he’ll resolve it.”

“Bro, look!” Lin Dongxue exclaimed.

In the interrogation room, Xin Bai suddenly stood up and started singing and dancing. The four watched in shock. Chen Shi said, “What kind of dance is this? It looks like the eighth set of radio calisthenics.”

He entered the room, and Xin Bai was performing stretching exercises, chanting, “One, two, three, four. Two, two, three, four. Three, two, three, four…” It was indeed the eighth set of radio calisthenics.

“What are you doing? Sit down!” Lin Qiupu shouted.

Xin Bai looked terrified but seemed unable to control his body, moving mechanically. Lin Qiupu called someone to handcuff him to the interrogation chair—he had only been wearing gloves before. Xin Bai screamed, “Let me finish! Let me finish, or it’ll hit me!”

During his struggle, Chen Shi noticed injuries on Xin Bai’s body and asked, “Who’s hitting you?”

“The master! The master!” Xin Bai cried, tears streaming down his face.

Chen Shi whispered, “Let me talk to him alone. We’ve met once.”

Lin Qiupu thought for a moment and said, “Keep your phone on record.”

“OK.”

The room emptied, leaving Chen Shi and Xin Bai. Chen Shi pointed to himself and said, “Remember me? I gave you a ride once. We stumbled on a crime scene.”

“Oh…” Xin Bai suddenly understood. “You’re the guy who got killed?”

Chen Shi was speechless, raising his phone. “I’ve been following your novel. It’s good.”

“Hehe, just average. Do you know why I write these stories? Because I was bullied as a kid. I hated it, so I wrote stories about the bully getting killed to vent. Hehe, that’s how it turned into a novel! You know the villain Blue Falcon? He’s based on that jerk who bullied me!”

Talking about his work seemed to bring Xin Bai back to some semblance of normalcy, his eyes growing steadier.

For writers, their work is like their child.

“Your recent work hasn’t been great. Are you too tired?” Chen Shi asked, trying to get a sense of his current state.

“I’m exhausted. Every day I have to write, always busy. Sometimes I dig a hole and don’t know how to fill it, so I check the readers’ comments. There’s this user, ‘Long’an Veteran Driver,’ who loves guessing the culprit. Whenever he guesses, I write in that direction, miraculously filling the plot holes.”

Chen Shi was stunned. That ID was his. He thought he had guessed the culprits correctly, but the author had been using his comments to shape the plot. He smiled wryly. “I’m Long’an Veteran Driver.”

“Wow, really? Nice to meet you!” Xin Bai grabbed Chen Shi’s hand and shook it vigorously.