Everyone rushed to the scene and saw an old man lying in the sludge under the bridge. His upper body was stripped of clothes. His chest and back were covered with something like a medicinal plaster. Peng Sijue stepped forward to check and found that the old man’s lips were dry and his eyes were bulging. The skin on the neck was red.

Removing a piece of plaster from the corpse, Peng Sijue immediately found that they were warming stickers[1] available in convenience stores.

"These are warming stickers on the deceased. I think the cause of death should be heatstroke. The body surface temperature exceeded the body's ability to remove heat, causing serious dehydration of the cells, failure of various organs, and finally, heart and lung failure." Peng Sijue concluded.

This method of death was undoubtedly another long and torturous murder. The old man’s mouth had been blocked with something. In order to make the warming stickers have its heat completely utilized, the murderer tied the old man’s hands and feet together and stretched him out so that he couldn’t bend over. Late at night, nobody noticed the abnormalities under the bridge at all even though there were cars coming and going on the bridge. Everyone shuddered at the thought of the situation at the time.

Chen Shi said, "This is another method of murder mentioned in the novel. It’s terrible when you think about it properly. These readers of this curious story can actually kill people using the methods written."

Looking at the old man's body, Lin Qiupu felt a deep sense of powerlessness. He murmured to himself, "There can’t be any more deaths!"

Aside from the forensic police investigating the scene, Lin Qiupu asked the other people not to stay on the scene anymore and immediately went around to look for Xu Guolong's whereabouts.

"Wait..." Chen Shi said, "Where’s the deceased's clothes?"

After he said that, everyone discovered that the old man's clothes weren’t there. Lin Dongxue said, "You mean he put the clothes on?"

"It’s possible. The cases yesterday and today were in this area, within a radius of tens of kilometers. There’s security cameras everywhere. The police are now searching for him everywhere. If he walks out on the street casually, he’d be easily spotted."

Lin Qiupu observed the corpse and took out the photos of the deceased before his death. He said, "This old man originally had a beard, but now he’s been shaved. It may be used by the suspect as a disguise. Please pay attention to find someone who’s wearing brown clothes and an old man’s beard."

"Is this another part of the novel?" Lin Dongxue asked Chen Shi.

"No. I think he’s playing hide-and-seek with the police right now and is using his own creativity. Although he doesn’t have much education, human potential is endless during this time."

Chen Shi suddenly thought of Song Lang's hard years of "hide and seek" with the police when he was a wanted person in the city. In order to avoid the police, no matter how dark and narrow the place was, he’d use it to hide himself.

He cast aside these thoughts and said to Lin Dongxue, "Let's continue to do our task and persuade that guy to leave."

Lin Dongxue said, "I plan to go again in the afternoon. In the morning, I will follow my brother to find the suspect."

"Okay, there should be time."

Without noticing, it was already afternoon. There was still no progress on the police’s side of things. Xin Bai was still lying on his side on the table in the conference room. The two of them walked in. Xin Bai opened and closed his eyes. Chen Shi asked, "Teacher Bai, are you taking a nap?"

"What else can I do if I don’t sleep? There’s nothing here," he said stiffly.

"How nice would it be if you went home? You can use a computer and play games. By the way, shouldn’t you update your novel? Your readers are all kicking up a fuss."

"No way! I finally got arrested. Why would I waste such a good reason to procrastinate?!"

Chen Shi held his palms together. "Another old man was killed early this morning. Another life. Brother, I beg of you not to be so scared. If you walk out of this door right now, Dongxue and I will protect you personally!"

"Why does it matter to me?" Xin Bai said angrily. "Can you not put the responsibility of the dead on me? Isn't this responsibility yours? You couldn’t arrest him in two days!"

"There are hundreds of thousands of people in XX district, and there are only dozens of police officers. Two days just isn’t enough."

"Anyway, if I don't leave here, you guys can’t push me into the fire pit. Hmph!"

Chen Shi scratched his head straight. He was too stubborn. He wondered if he should get some ether to make him faint and drag him away.

At this time, Lin Dongxue leaned over and said, "I have something to tell you."

In front of a beauty, Xin Bai was still a little reserved. He sat up and tidied his clothes up, blushing, "Don't persuade me. It’s really my freedom to stay here. If you have the energy, then use it to catch the suspect!"

"Can I show you something?" Lin Dongxue took out a photo of a woman. "This woman is called Qin Xuemei. She runs an online shop at home and works freely, just like you. Her husband works in another city and only comes back once a week. The husband and wife are going to have a baby in the second half of the year. Every time her husband comes back, she will go to the supermarket to buy food early in the morning and make a table of delicious food. Do you know what her biggest goal is? She feels that her teeth aren’t beautiful and neat enough, so she wants to save money to get a set of the most expensive porcelain teeth, so that she can laugh more confidently... But this will never be achieved because her life stopped yesterday morning. The forensic pathologist speculated that her process of death was a long one, lasting two hours. She was gagged and couldn't scream. Facing the abuse and torture of a stranger and thinking of her favorite person, she died in despair."

Lin Dongxue's tone was sad. Xin Bai moved his body uncomfortably and whispered, "What does this have to do with me?"

Lin Dongxue took out another photo of the deceased, "This old man is called Han Jianjun. 70 years old this year..."

She vividly recounted the lives of the deceased and the painful experience of their deaths. Chen Shi understood her intentions. She wanted to let Xin Bai know that two lives weren’t just a number, but two lively lives that were put to a halt. Their two families were hit hard, and countless friends and relatives were also hit.

"You should have read that Hemingway novel, "For Whom the Bell Tolls". I remember a sentence in the book where it says, “don’t ask for whom the death bell tolls, the bell tolls for you...” Everyone’s death is related to you." Lin Dongxue said.

Xin Bai's face was red from shame and he scratched his neck. He was silent for a while. Lin Dongxue continued to move him with sincerity. "No one knows who the next victim is, but as long as you’re willing to go home, that person can escape a hurdle, and our police will have more time to hunt down the real murderer."

Xin Bai slowly shook his head. "You’re all deceived by him. He’s a wild killer. Asking to release me is just a cover... Forget it. I will go home now, but you must protect me."

Chen Shi breathed a sigh of relief. This stubborn guy was finally persuaded. Xin Bai packed his things and went to the bathroom to wash his face. Chen Shi said to Lin Dongxue, "I can’t believe you thought of that. So you were making these preparations in the morning."

"I didn't inquire too much. Part of it was my personal take!"

"Good job... Right, did you bring your gun?"

"I have!"

When Xin Bai tidied up everything, the two walked out with him. Seeing the sunshine again, Xin Bai sighed and turned to Chen Shi. "How many psychopaths are there in this city? It must be really hard for you police officers!"

1. https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRoG0ZGKulFzXtgksTCyzBKGGWweFUoh3zu6g&usqp=CAU