Chapter 96 - 95: Homicide! Case: "Demon of the Mortal World

"Tsk, if something were to happen in a place like this..."

Xu Huo clicked his tongue, surveying the pitch-black surroundings.

"It’d be a total disaster."

Zhou Zheng stated matter-of-factly.

The law protects children to the absolute maximum.

In reality, the law applies differently to different people.

First, you have kids. They’re Tier 0. It doesn’t matter if they’re right or wrong; if something happens, everyone involved is in trouble. If a kid causes problems, the people around them have to take responsibility.

There’s a reason for this. Their minds aren’t fully formed, making them easily influenced by others into doing bad things.

If their actions lead to someone’s death, should they get the death penalty?

If you could, things would get chaotic. For example, drug traffickers could use children as mules. A kid might transport drugs, even knowing what they are, just for a piece of candy. In that situation, should they also face the death penalty?

No, you have to protect them. But children’s thoughts and actions can be unpredictable, and they’re physically weak. So, the law just maxes out their protection, which is frustrating.

Next are the elderly and the terminally ill—the Tier 0 of Tier 0s.

From a purely legal standpoint, they’re on another level compared to kids. The law is basically just a suggestion to them. If they’re in a good mood, they’ll follow it. If not, who knows.

Mmm, Song Si from the bombing case wasn’t in a very good mood. He’s a perfect example.

’Tsk, I wonder if Chao Zi will ever run into a Tier 1 these days.’

Xu Huo thought to himself as he wandered around the school with a flashlight.

’If he ran into a Tier 1, the kind of case Chao Zi could cook up...’

’Yeah, it’d probably be explosive!’

Tier 1 refers to gender. Objectively speaking, looking at past cases, you see different punishments for the same crime. A Tier 1 who commits the same offense will receive a punishment about thirty percent lighter than a Tier 10086.

Part of this is due to physical strength. For example, in an assault case, the consequences caused by the two types of people are completely different.

As for the other reasons... well, those can’t really be spoken aloud.

"Find anything?"

After searching for a long while, Zhou Zheng hadn’t found anything.

He let out a long breath, turned to the approaching Xu Huo, and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Nothing."

Xu Huo shook his head.

He had just been walking around with [Wang Die’s Scent] active but didn’t pick up any particularly strong odors.

If there had been the pungent smell of gunpowder or the scent of blood, it wouldn’t have escaped his nose.

Unless...

...a stronger scent was masking it.

Or if something was blocking the airflow, like that thing they found covering the corpse well.

He did another, more careful sweep, but still came up with nothing.

"See? I told you. Things aren’t always so mysterious."

Xu Huo breathed a sigh of relief and said to Zhou Zheng:

"You should just go back to the Capital City and get back to your research on the limits of human organ function!"

Zhou Zheng just smiled, not refuting him.

"I was just a little worried, that’s all. You know how creepy this address is."

"Besides, the limits of human organs aren’t that easy to study."

His special ability, to put it plainly, was just organ functions manifesting as special abilities in the human body.

Like smell, taste, sight, and the brain.

Hyperthymesia from the brain, heightened scent discrimination, telescopic vision—these weren’t some fantasy powers. They still fell within the realm of medical science.

’Studying Wang Chao is way more fun than medical science, though!’

"Alright, let’s head back. If we don’t go now, we won’t get any sleep."

Zhou Zheng glanced at the sky, returned the flashlight to the old man, and walked away with a yawn and a wave.

It was already past nine. If they left now, they could grab a late-night snack and still catch the train tomorrow morning.

"Alright."

Xu Huo nodded and started walking.

The school didn’t seem to have any hidden dangers. Teachers were strict these days. Usually, education involved fists or a cane, and they didn’t hold back when it came to corporal punishment.

And the students themselves?

That was a possibility, but it was most likely to happen in middle school, and not on campus.

The areas they had just checked...

...seemed to be clear.

THUMP!

Xu Huo opened the car door, plopped into the passenger seat, and had just reached out to buckle his seatbelt...

At that very moment, a sound suddenly rang out.

"AHHH!!!"

The sound was piercing, like a comet streaking across the night sky, as clear and loud as a rooster’s crow at dawn.

Xu Huo paused. He turned his head and looked at Zhou Zheng, his face devoid of expression.

"Your seatbelts are interesting. They make a sound when you buckle them."

Zhou Zheng said nothing. He turned his head and met Xu Huo’s deadpan gaze.

The next second...

WHAM!

The two of them shot out of the car, sprinting toward the source of the scream!

Moments later, Xu Huo saw a figure on the verge of a breakdown...

"Hey, kid, what are you doing here instead of sleeping at this time of night?"

Xu Huo’s pupils contracted, and he instinctively covered his nose and mouth.

Zhou Zheng also skidded to a halt and quietly backed away.

Where were they?

A toilet!

A public restroom not far from the school.

There were no lights inside. It was pitch-black, stuffy, and foul-smelling, without even a single voice-activated light. The two of them stared in shock at a dark figure struggling inside.

Although they couldn’t see the person’s face, the familiar voice told them exactly who it was.

"Huh?"

"Why aren’t you sleeping at home? What are you doing in a latrine pit in the middle of the night!?"

Xu Huo was utterly shocked. Staring at Wang Chao, who had fallen into the squat toilet pit, he suddenly understood the reason for the scream.

This was a public toilet, a dry latrine with a common pit. There was usually water to flush it, but it seemed the water had run out and it hadn’t been flushed in a while.

"Brother Huo, I just wanted to get some fresh air, use the restroom..."

Wang Chao was on the verge of tears.

While it wasn’t a full-on cesspool, he had definitely stepped in *something*. Plus, the squatting stalls around him were slick with unidentifiable liquids, leaving him too scared to move...

"I had just squatted down when I think I touched a strawberry tower. I panicked and fell in..."

"Help me out, please, just help me out. I don’t dare touch the walls right now..."

Xu Huo almost lost his composure.

’A strawberry tower...’

’What the hell is that?’

One could imagine it: a pile of excrement, stacking higher and higher into something resembling an anthill, which then dries up...

...like one of those crispy shark wafers.

"Please, bro, pull me up. I’m too scared to touch the sides of the stall."

Wang Chao was about to cry.

"Stay away from me!"

Utterly disgusted, Xu Huo pinched his nose and shuffled closer to Zhou Zheng.

"Please, I’m begging you, bro. My hands didn’t touch anything, I swear. Please, just help me up so I can get my pants... uh, Brother Zhou, could you go buy me a new pair of pants?"

Wang Chao felt a wave of despair.

"You really didn’t touch anything?"

"I really didn’t!"

Xu Huo steeled himself. Looking at the dark silhouette reaching out, he stopped hesitating, grabbed hold, hooked his hands under the armpits, and pulled with all his might.

"Use your strength!"

’Leaving this unlucky kid standing in there isn’t an option. Might as well give him a hand...’

THWUMP!

The person was yanked up.

The moment they were out, Xu Huo quickly retracted his hands.

"Hurry up and pull up your pants!"

"Wandering around in the middle of the night with nothing better to do. See what happens? You found some trouble."

Xu Huo grumbled, but...

"Huh?"

"Brother Huo, can you give me a pull? I’ll pull up my pants once I’m out..."

Wang Chao’s voice rang out again.

’Give him a pull?’

"Didn’t I just pull you up?" Xu Huo said instinctively.

"I’m still down here! Brother Huo, who did you pull up?" Wang Chao’s silhouette, hidden in the darkness, shifted to prove he was still there.

He was, indeed, still in there.

But, if he hadn’t moved, then...

...who had he just pulled up?

Xu Huo froze. He slowly lowered his head and looked down.

In the darkness, a dark shape had appeared on the ground before he’d realized.

GULP...

Xu Huo paused again. He took out his feature phone, turned on the flashlight, and slowly pointed the beam downwards.

Suddenly.

A pale, cold face with contorted, rigid features emerged from the darkness.

She was lying on the ground, face up, at Xu Huo and Zhou Zheng’s feet, level with Wang Chao’s waist...

Those cold eyes slowly met Xu Huo’s gaze.

In a daze, a voice appeared in his ear.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host, for triggering the mission: Script the plot ’Modern-Day Devil Case!’]

[(Incomplete)]

[Rewards are divided into four tiers: 25% Immersion, 50% Immersion, 75% Immersion, and 100% Immersion.]

[Scripting Time: Four days.]

[Failure Penalty: Forfeit mission rewards.]

Before him was...

...a female corpse.

CREAK...

Zhou Zheng subconsciously took a step back, his face a mask of astonishment.

This was...

...a murder!

"Let’s call the police."

...

...

This world is a strange place. Some people can be sitting at home and a winning lottery ticket will fly in through the window.

Other people, even during the Lunar New Year, in their zodiac year of birth, will step in a shit-pit while out visiting relatives.

Of course, Hanhai Province’s bad luck was far more severe than that!

「October 24th.」

Nine-ten PM.

Hanhai Province’s Zhaozhou City received a report. The local dispatcher quickly sent police officers to the location provided by the caller to confirm.

After a quick confirmation...

...a case was officially established!

A female corpse was found at the crime scene, located in a public restroom. The suddenness of the incident and the remote location meant it took the police a long time to assemble a team.

However, when these officers arrived, they found that the scene had already been skillfully secured.

Of course, what confused the police the most was...

...why someone had specifically reminded them on their way over...

"Remember to bring a couple pairs of underwear."

...

...

「Hanhai Province, Linlan City.」

「October 25th.」

"What?"

"Another death!?"

"Didn’t they just have a bunch of people die a few days ago?"

In the municipal bureau office, Zhang Jian had just started his shift when the news he received nearly made him suffocate.

"Not in Linlan City, in the city next door!"

Qian Hua, having just received the new information, quickly spoke up.

"Zhaozhou City. Something happened over there."

Hearing this, Zhang Jian breathed a sigh of relief.

’Zhaozhou City, huh? As long as it’s not Linlan City...’

Linlan City couldn’t take another beating!

In just one month, they’d had the bombing and the corpse well case. Both of them were textbook material for the police academy!

If another murder case happened now, they really wouldn’t be able to handle it. Everyone from the top down would be sacked. Well, the criminal investigation department might be spared.

Of course, that wasn’t the important part. The important part was...

...why was Qian Hua mentioning this?

Zhang Jian frowned. Normally, there was no need to specifically report a case from a neighboring city to him. Was it because Zhaozhou City and Linlan City were so close they were practically one city?

Or was it...

"Who reported it?"

As if in a daze, Zhang Jian asked a seemingly unrelated question.

"Um, Director Zhou of the Special Seventh Bureau, as well as Advisor Xu and a Mr. Wang," Qian Hua replied.

Zhang Jian: ...

Zhang Jian fell silent. He wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come.

After a long moment, he let out a choked laugh.

"Zhaozhou doesn’t have many officers."

"I’ll let their captain know. You take a team and get to Zhaozhou City as soon as possible. Assist them—hell, even take the lead on this investigation!"

Looking at Qian Hua, Zhang Jian took out his phone and spoke with extreme gravity.

"Timing is critical right now. Even if this is just a small case..."

"...we can’t afford any delays!"

"Yes, sir!"