"You said you loved lilac the most because your name is it..."
Muffled music came from her trouser pocket, accompanied by waves of buzzing vibrations. Lin Shuyue's thighs felt a little numb and itchy. She subconsciously reached into her pocket and took out a very old-fashioned mobile phone the size of a palm.
After a pause, Lin Shuyue pressed the green call button.
A middle-aged man's voice came: "Shu Yue, you have been interning at our newspaper for half a year, right? Your internship report has passed, but... you also know that there are many interns from your school this time. Although you have worked hard, you have not reported or discovered any valuable news. What does this mean? I think you should understand that the newspaper may not be able to keep you..."
Staring at the translucent screen floating in front of her, Lin Shuyue responded calmly: "I understand what you mean. I have something to do here. Let's talk later."
On the screen, the red bold countdown was still ticking rapidly, and the self-proclaimed good and evil discrimination system in her mind reminded her again: [ Host's remaining life time is 02:57:31, health value is too low, please recharge as soon as possible. ]
Three minutes ago, Lin Shuyue was still a sophomore student at the People's Public Security University.
On her way back to school, she encountered a human trafficker who was trying to snatch a child from the street. Without thinking, she rushed forward to stop him from taking the child away. However, she did not expect that the trafficker was carrying a homemade wooden gun, and during the fight, she was shot.
Before she lost consciousness, she saw the armed police finally arrive. She closed her eyes as the electronic voice said, "The good and evil discrimination system is at your service."
When she opened her eyes again, she was already in this strange place.
This is a busy and somewhat dirty street, with the hawkers' cries, the customers' bargaining, the noise of diners at the roadside stalls, the aroma of wontons and buns, the pungent smell of cheap cigarettes, and the pungent smell of sweat and perfume mixed together...
Everything around her was filled with the smell of fireworks, but Lin Shuyue felt an indescribable sense of unreality. She raised her hand and looked at it. This hand had thick calluses on it, but the middle finger of her right hand did not have the scar that looked like a gold ingot when she was a child and was chopped off for stealing candy.
Before she could think about it, the voice in her mind appeared again: [ A serious criminal case has been detected in Baoan Street, Suishan Village, 800 meters away from the host. Please go to the scene to investigate and assist the police in finding the criminal. Completing the task will earn you one month's worth of health and a random reward. ]
At this moment, the bright red countdown on the screen showed 02:53:09.
Lin Shuyue took a deep breath. Time was so tight!
Lin Shuyue quickly scanned the surroundings. There was no signboard with Suishan Village written on it. She searched in the bag on her back and found a fifty-yuan note and several small-denomination notes.
She held the money and walked towards the motorcycle driver who was smoking on the roadside: "Master, do you want to go to Baoan Street in Suishan Village?"
The driver flicked his cigarette butt, looked at Lin Shuyue, and spoke in the plastic Mandarin that is unique to the Guangdong and Guangdong regions: "Little girl, let me make it clear first. Although the distance is short, I have to charge a starting price of five yuan. If you agree, you can leave immediately."
The countdown continued, and Lin Shuyue didn't have time to think: "Okay, let's go."
The driver was smoking a cigarette with a beaming look on his face. The roar of the motorcycle engine sounded. As soon as Lin Shuyue sat on it, the motorcycle rushed out at a speed that was as fast as lightning.
Along the way, passers-by who were almost hit kept cursing.
The driver kept his word and arrived in exactly five minutes.
Lin Shuyue touched her hair that was blown into a mess, handed over five yuan with a wooden face, and walked straight to where the crowd was gathered with her camera slung over her shoulder.
The street they just came from was still bustling and lively, but only a few hundred meters away, and a few more turns, they crossed from the city into the countryside. The streets were crowded and narrow, and the houses on both sides of the street looked like irregular buildings built by children with old building blocks. They were short and dilapidated, and illegally built houses could be seen everywhere.
Village in the city?
The last time Lin Shuyue went to the urban village, the streets were wide and clean, and the buildings were brand new. She hadn't seen such a dirty and messy urban village for a long time.
It was too shabby, whether it was the houses, the streets, or the clothes worn by passers-by, all gave Lin Shuyue a sense of "nostalgia".
It looked very much like the period drama that Lin Shuyue watched with her grandmother a few days ago.
"Madam boss, why are there so many policemen here?"
Lin Shuyue walked to a small roadside shop, bought a bottle of water, looked at the place with a yellow cordon not far away, leaned against the counter, and asked the shop owner in a chatty tone.
"Oops!"
The boss was a fat middle-aged lady with curly hair and a big gold bracelet on her hand. She looked up at Lin Shuyue and saw that she was fair and pretty, so she was particularly willing to talk to her.
Speaking of the matter that Lin Shuyue asked, she had something to say. She said angrily, "He's dead, damn bastard, he didn't even let the child go!"
"Ah! What happened?" Lin Shuyue covered her mouth and asked in surprise.
"The family whose body died is from another place. The couple worked in an electronics factory. Today is Sunday, so they worked overtime. Their two daughters were at home on holiday and no one was looking after them. In the afternoon, my next-door neighbor's daughter, Ah Hua, went to play with them and found out..."
The fat lady recalled, her face still horrified, her voice lowered: "Ahua screamed and ran out crying, we went over to see... two little girls lying on the bed with nothing on, their heads chopped off, only a layer of skin attached."
"They are still young. The oldest is ten years old and the youngest is only eight! What a sin! There are only two girls in their family. They are usually loved by their parents, but they were killed like this. When their mother came back just now, she couldn't even walk..." The fat lady said, shaking her head.
Lin Shuyue frowned, her expression solemn, and she even crushed the bottle of mineral water in her hand.
As a reserve police officer and someone who was born into a police family, Lin Shuyue hates all kinds of criminals the most, and rapists, child abusers and murderers are unforgivable in her opinion.
Even if it wasn't for her life points, she had to find this beast today and bring him to justice!
"Madam Boss, do you know who the murderer is?" Lin Shuyue asked curiously.
"How could we not know? The police have been here for more than an hour and have questioned a lot of people. They were all questioning the pair of neighbor brothers who lived next to the two little girls' house. They were mainly asking about Duan Taoyong, what he liked to do and where he went." The fat lady said affirmatively.
"How can you be so sure?"
"I was watching over the store while my husband went to check. He heard that the bloody footprints led from the two girls' homes to that bastard's home. Who else could it be but him? The police also found a set of bloody clothes in the brothers' home. The scoundrel also left a note saying something like 'I'm sorry, brother. I'll be more filial to my parents in the future.'"
"Tell me, how can such a person be so cruel?! Some time ago during the Dragon Boat Festival, the parents of the two little girls invited him to celebrate the festival together. That day, the little girl's father even killed a duck for them to eat."
"Last time, Duan Taoyong was sick and had no money, so he asked the little girl's father for help. The father even lent him 20 yuan."
"This is how he repays others! How can someone in the world be so heartless?!"
"I've said before that Duan Taoyong is gloomy, doesn't like to talk, and never smiles. He goes to the mountains during holidays. There must be something wrong with him. Look, it's true, isn't it?"
The fat lady's tone was filled with incredible excitement. Then she thought of something and said, "My husband told me that the idiot ran into the back mountain from the alley of the butcher's house in front. The armed police are here. I heard that a group of people went into the mountain to look for him. My husband and the neighbors are going to help."
"Our mountain is so big that it's hard to find him once you go in. He's been in there for more than an hour, and I don't know if he can be found!"
Her eyes paused for a moment on the bright red countdown of 02:27:32, and she asked the fat lady, "Boss, do you have iron bars and baseball bats for sale? If something like this happens, I'd feel really panicked if I didn't buy something to protect myself."
"No, they were all bought by people just now. Everyone is very scared now, and every family needs to have some self-defense supplies at home."
Finally, Lin Shuyue walked out of the store helplessly with a fruit knife that was not much bigger than her palm, and walked towards the crime scene.
Technical police in white coats were going in and out of the house to investigate, and circles of people watching the fun surrounded the cordon.
A couple stood outside the house, supporting each other. The woman was crying bitterly, and the man looked dejected, but he still cheered himself up and answered the questions of the detective.
Lin Shuyue squeezed into the crowd and looked beyond the cordon. She could see bloody footprints at the door circled with white chalk by the criminal investigation technician, and two small bodies covered with white cloth could be vaguely seen.
At this time, a plainclothes police officer walked over to the police officer who was questioning the couple and had his back to the crowd, and said in a low voice: "Captain Hang, the armed police have arrived at Suishan Village."
The police officer called Hang turned around. He was a young policeman in his mid-twenties. He was tall, wearing a brown jacket, with a stern face and sharp eyes. He said, "Bring the search and rescue dogs, go up the mountain, and search."
When residents living nearby heard that the armed police were going up the mountain to search for people, they spontaneously brought hoes, iron bars and knives from their homes. Led by the village chief, they joined the large group in righteous indignation and headed up the mountain.
Lin Shuyue looked at the fruit knife in her hand, thought for a moment, picked up the old bamboo pole leaning against the wall, and followed the large group looking for the murderer.
[ The host has been detected at the crime scene, the good and evil radar has been activated, and the radiation distance is 130 meters (upgradeable). ]
[ Congratulations to the host for activating the Good and Evil Radar. The novice gift pack has been distributed. Please check it. ]
[ Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining an ordinary brick x1. ]
On the screen that only she could see, a radar similar to the WeChat radar for adding friends appeared. The pointer moved from left to right, gradually changing from white to black, and the value was also slowly increasing.
The bright red life countdown stood above the radar, and now it had jumped from 02:27:32 to 02:03:01.