Chapter 699: Murder Selfies

The corpse was so decomposed that it was unrecognizable, making everyone’s skin crawl. They quickly closed the bathroom door, waiting for Peng Sijue and his team to handle it.

Lin Dongxue patted her chest and said, “I feel like I’ve lost two years of my life.”

“Same here!” Chen Shi glanced up and said, “Look!”

Following his finger, they noticed cameras installed in all four corners of the room. The data cables were taped to the walls, leading outside. Chen Shi went to the balcony and saw that these cables were connected to a communication port, with a phone transmitting signals.

“Oh no, have we been seen?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“Even if we have, it’s too late now,” Lin Qiupu came out and said, “I’ve notified the tech department to check where the data is being transmitted.”

“No matter where it’s going, this proves someone is remotely monitoring everything in this house. The ‘owner’ does exist,” Chen Shi said.

“Not necessarily, it could be something the writer set up himself,” Lin Qiupu still wouldn’t admit.

They carefully examined the apartment. The bedroom had a massage chair, a computer desk, and a bookshelf, but no bed.

Chen Shi turned on the computer and found it was password-protected. He shut it down and skillfully removed the hard drive.

He glanced at the kitchen, which was spotless, indicating that the resident didn’t cook. The fridge contained some frozen foods and a few unmarked medicine bottles.

“Look at this!” Chen Shi said, “These might be Xin Bai’s illegal drugs. We should take them back for testing.”

“What’s this?” Lin Dongxue picked up a sticker-like object.

Chen Shi sniffed it, “Probably a nicotine patch?”

The apartment smelled bad, not just from the corpse in the bathroom, but also from long-term neglect. The overall feeling was chaotic, fitting Xin Bai’s style.

Could it be that he actually worked here? Did the owner live here too?

“Chen Shi, Chen Shi!” Lin Qiupu shouted from outside.

The two went out to find that Lin Qiupu had discovered something astonishing. On a shelf was a fallen photo frame. Picking it up revealed a shocking sight: Xin Bai smiling while holding a bloody object, which looked like a large slug, with red liquid streaks on his face. Chen Shi identified it, “It’s a human tongue!”

Lin Dongxue covered her mouth in disgust, “Is it from the corpse in the bathroom?”

“It shouldn’t be. The deceased’s mouth and throat were intact. This is a whole tongue, which had to be extracted by cutting open the throat. The one in the photo is as big as a pig’s tongue you’d find at the market.”

“Still think this guy is innocent?” Lin Qiupu asked, “Would a normal person keep such photos in their home?”

“This photo was taken by someone else because both of his hands are in the frame,” Chen Shi pointed out.

“Most phones have a timer function.”

“No, don’t you think his smile looks forced? A smile involves 20 to 40 muscles, making it the hardest expression to fake. His smile is insincere, like someone is forcing him!” Chen Shi insisted.

“I don’t understand why you feel sympathy for him. Is it because of his books? I looked at one of his novels last night. What rubbish! A cop and a criminal swap bodies, the police captain gets killed, and the first case is about a mother killing her child for revenge. It’s sensationalist garbage!”

“My view of him is objective. I just think the existence of another person makes more sense. Who would monitor themselves?”

“You can debate this later!” Lin Dongxue intervened, “What’s this?”

There was a tape recorder on the table. Lin Dongxue, born in the 90s, had never used one before and curiously pressed the button. Stirring music played—

“Now, let’s start the eighth set of radio calisthenics! March in place…”

They remembered Xin Bai doing exercises in the interrogation room last night. Lin Dongxue said, “We did the ninth set at school. Times are changing.”

“Captain, we found more photos,” an officer said.

They found several more photo frames in a cabinet, all featuring Xin Bai in grotesque poses: holding a bloody intestine shaped into a heart, posing as if kissing a woman’s head, and picking up a heart with chopsticks, looking delighted.

There were five such “works” in total.

“Oh my god!” Lin Dongxue couldn’t find words for her disgust and shock, feeling her stance wavering. This writer was definitely a pervert.

“Disgusting!” Lin Qiupu commented, glancing at Chen Shi to see what he had to say now.

Chen Shi stared at the photos in silence. He took one out and found a line written on the back—“Is it me who’s perverted, or is this world just too mediocre!”

Seeing this, Lin Dongxue pulled out the other photos, all with similar flowing handwriting—

“If self-destruction is human nature, why should we avoid it?”

“Those who decide life and death are gods!”

“Death is the sublimation of life, a celebration of the soul. Let me ignite your mediocre life.”

“Death is eternal. The moment you glimpse eternity, it’s like facing the mirror of truth.”

“It’s his handwriting, same as in his notebook,” Lin Qiupu said, “This guy is rotten to the core.”

“These lines all appear in his novels, spoken by the villain Lan Xiao, who loves to spout pretentious nonsense before killing someone,” Chen Shi said.

“So, did the creator draw inspiration from murder, or did he gradually immerse himself into the villain’s role while writing?”

Chen Shi couldn’t answer Lin Qiupu’s question. He picked up the first photo and examined it, pointing to Xin Bai’s face, “Look, the blood on his face was smeared by someone else. The thumb is on top. If he did it himself, the thumb should be on the bottom!”

Lin Dongxue tried smearing her own face, impressed by this detail. Lin Qiupu pondered and said, “If you smear blood with the back of your hand, the thumb would be on top.”

“That’s too far-fetched.”

“Alright, enough. Let’s investigate further,” Lin Qiupu said.

Peng Sijue and his team arrived to investigate the scene. The tech department traced the video data and found the IP address of the transmitting phone was in a nearby building.

Lin Qiupu quickly led a team there. It was an office building. They found the IP’s location, where a group of office workers looked puzzled.

After explaining the situation to the manager, the police began checking each computer. They found a Trojan horse program on one, but the port was closed, and the data wiped clean. The computer was merely a relay station.

“Why choose this place as a relay station?” Lin Qiupu looked outside and saw the apartment’s window.

For safety, he registered everyone’s information for further checks. At this moment, Lin Dongxue called, her voice excited, “Brother, we found the landlord of that apartment. Guess who rented it!”

“Who?”

“Lan Xiao!”

“Lan Xiao, you mean…”

“Yes, the villain from Xin Bai’s novel. I checked the police database, and it’s real. The renter’s name is Lan Xiao!”