Chapter 27: Turbulences in the Background

Midnight.

Jin Xi is sitting inside a police car as she writes with her head down on a soft leather notebook in her hand.

“Serial killer T:

1. Male, 25-35 years old, fit body, average looks;

2. Education: high school or university studying a major;

3. Career used as disguise: computer engineer, watchmaker, or other skilled type; may have beginners or intermediate professional certificate;

4. Address: a mid-range apartment in a small residential area in the city between 2nd and 3rd Ring Road;

5. Drives a black Citreon C-Quatre;

6. Experienced a big emotional impact in the past three months such as losing his lover or a family member;

7. Disregards life, and may be diagnosed with a disease, which is why he will sacrifice everything to complete his plan.”

She thinks for a moment, and then writes at the bottom: “Finding the common trait of the victims, and getting a grasp of his patterned actions will be the only way to crack the plan.” Read more

Chapter 26: A Series of Inferences

“I am a killer.

I have been one for five, eight, or ten years?  The time is not relevant.

I have a lot of money.  I have never made a mistake.  Otherwise, I would already be a prisoner captured by the Chinese police.

I can buy whatever I desire, and play whatever I want.  Although I’m not extremely wealthy, I don’t have any financial stress.

My finger is used to pull the trigger; I feel nothing while looking at each of the dead bodies.  All that comes to my mind is that I would receive another big sum of money.

I’m far away from the lives of ordinary people.  But when I don’t have any requests, I must live among them.  Even when I walk into the crowd, I don’t feel my own existence……”

“Wait——” a voice interrupts. Read more

Chapter 25: Jin Xi’s Grief

“He could be a psychopath now.  This means that as long as he desires, this whole city will be his hunting ground.”

After Bai Jin Xi finishes her sentence, everybody is in dead silence.

She’s also stunned herself.

It’s a strange feeling.  When she was at Guanhu Station before, she obviously couldn’t possibly have dealt with a serial killer case.  Then why does this all feel so familiar to her after speaking about it just now: nervousness, coldness, and a hint of……excitement.

It’s as if, this isn’t the first time she’s like this.

There’s no time for her to think deeper because an investigator has brought the neighbour living across from Chen Xi Xian over.  She and Xiao Zhuan immediately go over.

_____

The neighbour is a housewife in her thirties.  She’s standing outside the door of where the incident happened, looking pale.

“We don’t have much contact with the young fellow across from us.  We’ve bumped into him a few times in the hallway though.  He always had his earphones on by himself, and didn’t like to talk to others,” she says, “but you could tell that he didn’t work, and stayed home all day.  His garbage was all piled up outside the door.  The janitor scolded him every time.  Miss Officer, did he get killed by a gang member?”

Jin Xi asks, “Why do you think that?” Read more

Chapter 24: Sniping Heaven

Bai Jin Xi is standing in front of her desk taking out her belongings from a box and putting them neatly into the drawers.

Her desk faces the entrance directly.  There are people constantly passing by who turn and look inside.  There are even a few male officers who have stopped at the doorway to look at her and smile toward her.

Jin Xi smiles back at them.

After finishing tidying up, she raises her head and looks over.  Han Chen is seating diagonally across from her against the wall.  He’s reading a copy of “Titan Sports Weekly” (sports newspaper).  She had greeted him in the morning on arrival, and he hummed “Mm” to her.

This office has been designated exclusively for the “Black Shield Team.”  Her probation period is six months.  If she passes, she can stay.  She left Jiangchen just yesterday; District Chief and her other colleagues all expressed that they would miss her, but would also support her.

As for Xu Si Bai…… Read more

Chapter 23: Working Together Long Term

Morning of the next day.

The moment Bai Jin Xi steps into the training room that is big enough for a hundred people, she can sense that something is wrong.

Other trainees who have arrived are sitting up particularly straight, all wearing their police uniforms.  In the back row, those who haven’t been doing well, are flipping their books frantically, as if they’re putting in all their efforts last minute.  On the stage in the front, the training instructors are also wearing their police uniforms, chatting among themselves quietly; the atmosphere seems rather serious.  There are a few empty chairs beside them.

A banner is hanging above their heads in the center: “Welcome, Provincial Criminal Investigation Team!” Read more

Chapter 22: The Sophisticated Me

Han Chen takes Jin Xi to a family restaurant.

The restaurant is relaxing.  The cherry-brown wooden windows separate the private dining rooms from the general dining area.  Lamps with lotus leaf shaped shades hang from the ceiling.  And the river is just outside the window.

Jin Xi sits down across from him and thinks to herself: he sure seems to like these old fashion decorations.

The server hands the menu to Han Chen.  He flips through it and asks, “What do you want to eat?”

Jin Xi answers, “I’ve never been here.  You pick.”

“Mm.”

Jin Xi rests her chin on her palm and looks around until her gaze falls onto him. Read more

Chapter 21: As Cute as Her

September at City Lan is already getting cold.  It’s slightly foggy in the morning, and there are cool winds at night.  The city is prosperous, pretty, and comfortable, like a pearl surrounded by the rivers.

It’s a little past 5pm when Bai Jin Xi and Zhou Xiao Zhuan arrive at the hotel.  It is the public security bureau’s (provincial station) designated hotel, and they will start training tomorrow.

Standing in front of the window in the room looking at the Yangtze River and mountains afar, the Chinese parasol trees and the streets, Bai Jin Xi feels refreshed.

Xiao Zhuan feels absolutely no shame in lying on her bed with his legs crossed as he asks, “My classmate’s car is here.  You really don’t want to come eat dinner with us?”

Bai Jin Xi replies without turning her head, “No.”

Xiao Zhuan gets up, walks to her side, and says slowly, “Xiao Bai, I think you’re becoming more and more dangerous lately.”

Bai Jin Xi glares at him, but he walks away while humming a melody.

Bai Jin Xi goes back to sit down on the bed, and leans backward.  Xiao Zhuan’s words make her think about last night’s dinner with Xu Si Bai. Read more

Chapter 20: So Gentle

Bai Jin Xi looks up at the group photo on the billboard.

She reads and searches through the names slowly.

She finds it.

The guy in the photo is still twenty something; a fair white face, handsome looking with a tall nose.  Even though everyone’s head is small in order to fit in the group photo, it’s obvious that he is good looking.

It seems to match up with the man that she has seen in her dreams.  But it also feels unfamiliar. Read more

Chapter 19: You Step Forward I Step Back

Xu Si Bai has made reservations at a restaurant in the central part of the city.

It’s already past lunchtime, so there aren’t a lot of people in the restaurant.  Streams of spotlights shine above their heads, and the floor is covered with a thick and soft layer of carpet; the atmosphere is quiet and relaxing.

After Bai Jin Xi finishes ordering her meal, she rests her chin in her palm and watches Xu Si Bai complete his order.

He’s wearing a white shirt and a pair of brown casual pants today.  He looks more laid back than when he’s wearing the white lab coat at work.  Perhaps because his facial features are too refined and he looks well educated, so when he raises his head and places his order with the waitress speaking in his low voice, it’s as if the waitress has been affected by his aura, she also talks to him in a low voice and very politely. Read more

Chapter 18: Prologue to T

Late night.

The temperature is rather cool at night in City Lan during the summer.  The wind from Yangtze River blows from the North, moisturizing the entire city.  Many people are already asleep, while many others have just begun their day.

In the central part of the city, there’s an old district.

A forty or so year old man is standing on the balcony of his home shirtless while having a beer.  Inside the apartment, his wife is cleaning up the dishes on the table and cursing at him at the same time.

A mosquito flies across.  The man slaps his hand on his arm.

And then he’s stunned.

It’s because he seems to have heard a sound just now.

Like it came from his body.

He looks down, and is in shock.

On the left side of his chest where his heart is, a splat of red has appeared.  He touches it with his hand——it smells like red ink. Read more