They crossed the road. This was a public park and no one was there at night. Everyone dispersed and searched, but only homeless people were found in some corners. They said they hadn’t seen any suspicious people coming in.

The police at the intersection called and said that the fire was under control. There was a female body in the burning truck which was suspected to be the one stolen from the hospital. Both of her arms had been cut off.

Then, the police who searched the park together called and said that no one had left at the other exit. Observers and hawkers there confirmed this.

"Stay there and guard!"

Lin Dongxue looked around the large but quiet park and was lost. She found Chen Shi standing in a daze by an inner lake and walked towards him. Chen Shi made a gesture for her to stay silent and pointed to the grass and shrubs with footprints beside her.

"Impossible!" Lin Dongxue whispered.

"Try and shoot into the water."

Lin Dongxue took out her pistol suspiciously and fired a shot at the sky. Hearing the gunshot, the other policemen ran over.

Lin Dongxue asked, "Your body doesn’t feel abnormal, right?"

"No, it can be seen that this guy is bluffing!"

"Don't do this kind of thing next time. It makes me worry for nothing."

"I promise!" Chen Shi smiled.

The police gathered at the lake and Chen Shi explained, "Shoot a few more shots and startle the guy out from the water!"

"Are you that confident? Is it you putting yourself in their shoes thinking again?"

"No, it's the exclusion method. The park is so big, but he disappeared. We have searched everywhere except here, so it could only be here!"

The police kept firing at the sky until bubbles appeared on the surface of the water. A man floated up, holding a corpse with no arms and legs in his arms. A pair of freshly cut arms hung on his neck with rope. The scene looked very strange.

"Li Xiang, you have no other way out of this!" Chen Shi said.

Li Xiang wiped his face and said angrily, "Do you have to push us to this state? Can the world not even allow this sincere love? You are a bunch of executioners!"

"Sincere love? You still have the face to say so? You have three corpses in your house. You usually have one in each arm, like a harem. Do you dare to say to her in your arms that it’s sincere love?"

Li Xiang glanced at the corpse in his arms. "Even then, I only love Peipei. You can kill me. If you kill me, I’ll cross the boundary of life and stay with Peipei forever!"

"Enough with your nonsense. You burnt your aunt to death, right?”

"So what if I did? She shouldn't have found my secret and told me this and that!”

"If you break the law, you should obediently bear the consequences!"

"Ha, what I violated is nothing but human laws. I’m not human. I am a metamorphosis[1]! Do you know what metamorphosis is? Caterpillars turn into pupae and evolve into beautiful butterflies. That’s called metamorphosis. Metamorphosis means evolution. I’ve already evolved from this human shell. You ordinary peasants can't understand me. You’re vulgar, ugly, superficial, and your love is narrow and boring. It’s just the original animal desire driven by hormones. Only Peipei and I have sincere love!" Li Xiang hugged the corpse in his arms as he said this, and his face was full of sorrow.

The perverted declaration made Lin Dongxue's cheeks twitch. She whispered, "I really want to shoot him dead!"

Chen Shi said, "Get up! You have no way to escape!"

Li Xiang stood motionless. Chen Shi gestured towards Lin Dongxue with his eyes before deliberately saying, "Shoot him on the shoulder!"

Lin Dongxue took aim and Li Xiang went pale with fright. He raised one hand and said, "I surrender! I surrender!" The other hand still held the corpse tightly.

Li Xiang didn't struggle much when he was arrested, but when the police snatched the dead body from him, he cried as if he were mourning. "Don't take my Peipei away. What do you want to do to her?!"

"There’s one thing I can't understand." Lin Dongxue said, "Has he practiced holding his breath? How did he stay underwater for so long?"

"He didn't hold his breath, he breathed normally under the water."

"Normal breathing? What did he use..."

"Take a guess!"

She glanced at the "captured" corpse and took a closer look. Its nostrils and eye sockets were wrapped with transparent plastic layer by layer, only showing the mouth. At the moment she understood, Lin Dongxue felt a shiver down her spine.

There was a little air in the belly of the dry corpse. Li Xiang sealed the other orifices so he could breathe underwater if he did mouth-to-mouth. That scene was terrifying to think of.

Everyone was exhausted today. The interrogation began only on the third day after the investigation. The three female corpses owned by Li Xiang came from eight corpses. Some of them were stolen from the mortuary and some were bought with money from funeral parlor staff. In his own necrophilia circle, he was a cult leader, so he had his ways to get bodies. Through him, they arrested several other necrophiliacs. The several police officers who participated in the case received psychological treatment afterwards. They were very "thankful" towards Chen Shi for discovering the case.

The flagellate used by Li Xiang had a scientific name of "Dinoflagellates" and were stolen from the research institute. After ingestion, this thing would produce hallucinations and confuse people’s sense of heat and cold.

As for the case of Li Xiang killing his aunt, since the aunt’s body had been cremated, no investigation was possible. However, Li Xiang regarded the aunt’s burnt house as his “harem”. After careful investigation, it was found that there was a residue of combustion aid on the scene, which was evidence of deliberate arson.

During the several days of being imprisoned, Li Xiang kept shouting to see Peipei. When he was taken into the interrogation room, he was already practically mute. His whole person was dejected. His skin was pale and his eyes had sunken in. He looked like a dead person.

Chen Shi said, "Let's talk about it nicely!"

"I want to see Peipei. If I can't see Peipei, I won’t say anything.”

"Don't negotiate conditions with us."

"Then I won’t speak even if I die."

"Do you really think we’re missing this confession? There’s already solid evidence and it’s certain to send you to prison. We’re giving you an opportunity but you’re not even cherishing it!"

"What are you going to do with Peipei? Do you want to cremate her? In the eyes of ordinary people, she is just a corpse. You don't know how to appreciate her beauty! If your mother was taken to get cremated, how would you feel? Do you not respect human rights?" Li Xiang roared.

Lin Dongxue was startled and Chen Shi was stunned for some time as well before saying, "Mr. Li, I have seen a lot of perverts. It’s really the first time for me to see one as straightforward as you are. When did your special hobby start?"

"When did you find out that you liked women?" Li Xiang countered.

"So, you were born like this?"

Li Xiang was silent. When he realized that this might be the last chance to talk about what was in his heart, he slowly said, "It was at a funeral I attended when I was a child. The dead woman was the wife of a distant relative. I couldn't even name her. I saw her lying in the flowers, so quiet and so beautiful. It seemed like something in my heart was slowly crawling out and I couldn’t control it. I kept imagining making love with her. I masturbated again and again and couldn’t stop. Since then, I’ve had no interest in living people…”

Listening to this perverted monologue, Lin Dongxue had the urge to rush out several times, especially since his voice was so monotonous. In conjunction with the "deeds" he told, it was really chilling.

Chen Shi twirled his pen around and he seemed to be very engaged. His habit was to let the suspects speak freely as they were bound to talk about the case eventually. Everyone had the urge to talk, and just like eating and drinking, it couldn’t be stopped.

At about the same time, Chen Shi asked, "What were you planning to do with the stolen flagellate from the laboratory?"

Li Xiang replied, "A small amount has a magical effect."

"What a magical effect?"

"When I touch Peipei's skin, it will have the same temperature as a living person, and it's elastic. You couldn’t stop even if you wanted to! Peipei is my most perfect work. I put her together with the most perfect arms and legs. She’s perfect all over and she is impeccable. You ordinary people can’t appreciate this kind of beauty!" As he said so, he showed a proud expression.

"Your aunt must have said something bad about her, so she was killed by you?"

"She was courting her own death!" Li Xiang said angrily. "I warned her many times that I didn’t want her in the room I rented. She still went there and saw things she shouldn't have. Then, she said many unpleasant words. I was so angry that I strangled her to death. I was a little frantic when I saw her corpse. What should I do with it? Of course, I wasn’t interested in my aunt’s old and ugly body. I’m not like that kind of perverted... If she went missing, I wouldn’t be able to explain it to her family. Corpse dismemberment was also easily found out. After thinking about it, I created a fire and told her to disappear. Sure enough, the police didn’t find anything out! But how did you know?”

Taking into account Wei Yi's privacy, Chen Shi didn’t answer this question, only saying, "The police will know everything. The heaven’s net’s mesh is wide but nothing will be leaked. Understood?”

Li Xiang sneered contemptuously. "Someone must have seen it and talked nonsense before you suspected me. Otherwise, who would have thought that I hid Peipei in a house that was lost in a fire... I have said everything I should say. Can you let me see Peipei one last time? It’s just one last time. I beg of you!”

"You should really let it go!"

Li Xiang shook his handcuffs. "You’re still discriminating against me at the end of the day, you gang of ordinary people!"

Chen Shi stood up, "Why can't we discriminate against you? You keep saying ordinary people, but us ordinary people can fall in love publicly, while you have to hide in a dark corner like a cockroach to satisfy your sexual fetishes. No matter how justified you pretend you are, you always knew that you were abnormal. Your anger when you committed murder proves this. As an outlier, you must hide yourself completely and spend a lot of thought and costs to disguise your source of twisted happiness. Otherwise, don’t blame anyone when you’re exposed, and don’t expect others to understand you. Ordinary people can’t even understand each other. Who would share their precious sympathy with you?!”

Li Xiang widened his eyes. His lips were trembling, but he was speechless.

Before leaving, Chen Shi said again, "Right, I will give you some meaningful advice. When you go to prison, don't preach your wonderful sexual habits everywhere. They’re not the same as your circle with the same fetishes. Otherwise, you’ll live a very painful life.”

1. The harsh way of saying pervert is the same as metamorphosis.