Chapter 726: My Dream

When Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue were leaving the police station together, Xu Xiaodong caught up to them and said, “Brother Chen, you asked me to check the surveillance. I found something. On March 23rd, Duan Lin entered the community with an older man. She even helped him carry a bag.”

“What kind of older man?”

After Xu Xiaodong described him, Chen Shi said, “That’s Duan Lin’s father.”

“So, should I continue investigating?”

“March 23rd… Haha, this is an important discovery. Thanks!” Chen Shi patted Xu Xiaodong on the shoulder.

After Xu Xiaodong left, Lin Dongxue said, “The old man said he arrived on the 24th. Did he lie to us?”

“And the 23rd was the day Duan Lin died…”

“Is the person who dismembered her the old man?” Lin Dongxue raised her eyebrows.

“Isn’t that a bit too outrageous? A father finds his daughter dead, and the first thing he does isn’t call the police but dismembers her and sends her pieces to nine ‘suspects’… I don’t think someone of his cultural background and age would have such a cunning plan.”

“You don’t know his cultural background and experiences. If his daughter committed suicide, he might have known calling the police wouldn’t help and decided to seek justice himself.”

“Do you think he also killed Xiao Wei?”

“I noticed he used a new smartphone. He said it was his daughter’s old phone, but is it possible that the phone actually belonged to Duan Lin?”

“If that’s Duan Lin’s phone, he must have found out who caused her death.”

“That’s just your assumption. Duan Lin’s phone might not have had any clues. Maybe the person who intended to control her death hid all their information from the start to prevent being discovered.”

“Then the old man gets the phone, finds those nine people, dismembers his daughter, and sends her pieces to them to test who her boyfriend was?” Chen Shi shook his head, “It all seems too full of holes.”

“Well… you have no objection to checking the old man’s background, right?”

“No objections. Leave it to Xiaodong!” Chen Shi sent a text message to Xu Xiaodong, asking him to check on Duan Dazhu’s background, adding a “1” at the end.

Xu Xiaodong replied, “No ‘1’, I want ‘2’!”

“Alright, ‘2’!”

Curiously, Lin Dongxue asked, “What does that mean?”

Chen Shi smiled and replied, “It’s a code between Xiaodong and me. ‘1’ is for a late-night snack, and ‘2’ is for a proper meal, to save the hassle of typing it out each time.”

“It’s like you’re training a police dog, Pavlov style?”

“Calling Xiaodong a police dog is quite fitting. He’s physically fit, executes tasks well, and has a pure heart. If he’s ever fired, I might just hire him to work at the detective agency.”

“Why would Xiaodong get fired? He’ll be my good subordinate in the future!” Lin Dongxue playfully winked.

They went to an art studio to meet Xiao Si, who was an intern art teacher there. Seeing them arrive, Xiao Si quickly covered the painting he was working on and came over, saying, “Xiao Wei is dead?”

This was previously informed over the phone. Chen Shi nodded, “We shouldn’t have revealed this, but after police research, it’s believed you eight are also in danger. So, we came to let you know to be careful.”

“You mean… the person who sent the body parts killed Xiao Wei?” Xiao Si raised his eyebrows.

“There’s something related to the case we need to clarify. Which body part did Xiao Wei receive?”

Xiao Si, no longer hiding the truth since the person was dead, dejectedly answered, “I saw a leg in his bag.”

“What about you?”

Xiao Si gestured to his right hand, pinching near his left elbow, “Right hand!”

“Who received the head?”

“I don’t know!”

“How could you not know? You only received a hand. How did you know it was Duan Lin? Duan Lin wasn’t even your girlfriend, but someone else’s.” Chen Shi was testing, observing Xiao Si’s expression.

Xiao Si’s face didn’t change much. He took out a cigarette and asked, “Can I?”

He seemed more subdued than the last time they met, perhaps affected by his friend’s death.

“Go ahead,” Chen Shi said.

Xiao Si lit the cigarette and said, “You know QQ groups have an anonymous feature, right? One night, while we were having a gathering, an anonymous message was sent to the group. It was a video of Duan Lin slitting her wrists, filmed by herself. The person excitedly said, ‘Brothers, I did it. A dumb girl died for me. My life is worth it!’ Personally, I thought it was too much, but everyone else was excited, guessing who it was! Xiao Ge said, ‘Play around, but don’t cause a real death. Whoever’s girl it is, go take her to the hospital or call an ambulance.'”

“At that time, did you know her name was Duan Lin?” Lin Dongxue asked.

“Yes, the anonymous person said it himself. He had posted pictures of Duan Lin before. We had an unwritten rule that whoever got a new girlfriend would post her picture in the group for everyone to evaluate. This was to prevent any of us from falling for a woman because we’re all heartless hunters… Miss policewoman, please don’t frown. I’m just stating the facts! The person posted Duan Lin’s pictures anonymously because she was average-looking and from the countryside. We thought he was embarrassed, but it turned out he wanted to play her to death!”

“After Xiao Ge said that, who got up to make a call or left?” Chen Shi asked.

“Xiao Ge was considerate enough to tell us to go home, giving the person some privacy. I don’t know who called an ambulance because Duan Lin wasn’t my girl! Death control is a type of PUA game. You could say it’s an advanced pursuit, like the highest level of BDSM where the submissive self-harms or commits suicide. It’s complicated. I wouldn’t try it because I’m not at that level yet.”

“What’s your advanced pursuit?” Chen Shi asked.

“Haha, finding a rich woman to take care of me, so I never have to work! As for Xiao Ge, his dream is a threesome without paying, convincing two women to willingly be with him. He’s been slapped by countless girlfriends for this. Have you seen ‘A Clockwork Orange’? The protagonist’s dream is to rape a woman in public. I know it’s perverse, but I understand that feeling. Ordinary people are content with one lover for life. We’re different. We’re very empty. We can’t afford luxury cars or mansions. So, we collect women. At first, it’s just about sex, but after many encounters, it becomes an addiction. You can’t stop. Lies are the same, bodies are the same, actions in bed are the same. But finding a slight difference in the sameness satisfies us. Then comes a bigger emptiness, like a shipwrecked person drinking seawater to quench thirst. He can only keep drinking until he dies. Knowing the outcome, but the cold seawater down the throat feels so damn good!”

As he spoke, Xiao Si’s eyes seemed to gaze into the distance, almost with a sense of grandeur.