Liang Yi, nicknamed Little Auntie, graduated from the Public Security University. But she and Ji Feng were not in the same major. Ji Feng studied criminalistics while she studied public security administration. After graduation, they were assigned to different units. Liang Yi was assigned to an administrative position.
But Liang Yi was not satisfied with just doing paperwork. She yearned for frontline work, which was her dream job. Don't ask why she wanted to be on the frontline after studying law - just blame family conflicts. Those who understand will understand.
Anyway, after working in her assigned position for two years, she began looking for ways to transfer. The process was not smooth.
At the time of the famous artist homicide case, why was she working alone? It was because she was in a transitional period after her job transfer, but her personnel status had not changed yet.
All her colleagues were busy with other cases, leaving her alone in the office.
She was extremely unhappy about it. So when she received the report, she gritted her teeth, stamped her feet, and took advantage of her colleagues' busyness to investigate the case at the resort by herself. It must be said that she was lucky to have met Jian Jing there, and together they cracked the case.
She successfully transferred to her desired position. That's where she is today, with an official assignment.
The coroner began examining the corpse while the forensic investigator started processing the scene. Jian Jing accompanied them and provided explanations.
The scene was processed quickly. Jian Jing had already taken plenty of photos yesterday and recorded everything on video, even bagging all the evidence neatly.
The other police officers all said, "Ms. Jian is very professional."
"I've learned some basics from writing detective novels," Jian Jing said modestly. "How long will it take you to determine the cause of death?" she asked the coroner.
The coroner replied, "Seven to eight hours."
Liang Yi said, "Let's go talk to that female celebrity surnamed Tao."
Jian Jing had asked the innkeeper to look after the female celeb Tao, but her condition had not improved. She was still running a fever, delirious at times, and occasionally convulsing, very much like someone possessed.
"Let's send her to the hospital for examination," Liang Yi decided immediately. "The road is open now, we'll send her over in a patrol car."
And so, female celeb Tao was rushed to the nearest hospital.
At this time, Shao Meng's assistant returned.
He was panic-stricken. "What happened?"
"Are you Shao Meng's assistant?" Liang Yi stared at him.
Dressed in her police uniform today, she was tall and towering, looking down at the assistant with great oppressiveness.
The assistant nodded hastily. "Yes, I mean, it can't be Big Bro Shao..."
"Shao Meng is dead. We have some questions for you," Liang Yi said. "Please cooperate with our investigation."
The assistant's eyes widened, showing traces of fear on his face. When brought into a private room for questioning, his unease grew stronger.
"I'll ask the questions, you answer them. No concealment, understand?"
"Un-understood."
"Your name."
"Shao Bin."
"Age."
"21."
"What's your relationship with Shao Meng?"
"I...I'm his assistant."
"You both have the same surname Shao. Is that a coincidence?"
"No, I'm his cousin."
"Where were you from yesterday afternoon till this morning?"
"I went to buy medicine for Big Bro Shao yesterday, but the road was blocked on my way back. So I stayed overnight in town. The hotel staff can testify, Officer, I have nothing to do with Big Bro Shao's death!"
"What medicine did you buy?"
"Big Bro Shao said he had stomach discomfort, and seemed to have a cold too. So I bought some stomach medicine and cold remedies for him."
"Did Shao Meng have any mental health issues?"
"No."
"Are you sure?" Liang Yi looked closely at the assistant in front of her.
The assistant was very certain. "I've been following Big Bro Shao since I was 17. There's nothing I don't know about him. Big Bro Shao likes to drink, but he's totally fine mentally. His biggest health problems are allergic rhinitis and chronic gastritis."
Liang Yi paused, then said, "But Shao Meng died very suddenly. He was - scared to death."
Before she even finished speaking, she saw the assistant's face turn pale as she had anticipated. He was filled with shock and fear, murmuring, "How could that be? Could it be... that?"
Liang Yi asked, "That what?"
The assistant suddenly shut his mouth tightly.
Liang Yi banged the table fiercely. "Why aren't you answering? Are you deliberately concealing something? Does Shao Meng's death have anything to do with you?"
The fat on the assistant's face shook, and he pleaded, "It wasn't me! I'm Big Bro Shao's assistant, how could I harm him? I really didn't do it!"
Yet he didn't say a word about what "that" referred to.
Liang Yi didn't pursue the matter immediately. Instead, she softened her tone, "Then let me ask, did Shao Meng have any enemies?"
Relaxing slightly, the assistant answered without thinking: "Big Bro Shao is really popular now, lots of people want to bring him down. They all want something bad to happen to him."
Liang Yi asked, "For example?"
The assistant hesitated, then said, "Xie Wei."
*
While Liang Yi was interrogating the assistant, Jian Jing was online searching for clues related to the old TV drama "Mystery Cases of the Great Song Dynasty".
The drama was hugely popular at the time, and even today it remains a classic that many domestic fans talk fondly about. As a result, much of the information was not only preserved but enhanced, with many threads dug up and discussed - analyzing the plot, costumes and makeup, cast status updates, and more.
Jian Jing first looked at posts about the actors.
As Jiang BaiYan said, Shao Meng's appearance gave him an advantage, with his rosy lips and fair skin as a refined gentleman. Xie Wei, to fit his commoner character, dressed simply with darkened skin, and only his eyes shone brightly, full of spirit.
After watching an episode, Jian Jing's heart ached just like Director Huang's.
Among the other actors, some had also gained fame and success, but not as dramatically as Shao Meng and Tao.
Some slowly accumulated experience and got good opportunities which led to their success, while others started strong and landed good roles in new dramas that made them popular.
The only real overnight successes were Shao Meng and Tao.
And back then, their status was worlds apart. Their only connection was an accident with a collapsed prop tower.
The tower broke and sent Tao, who was playing a dancing girl, and Shao Meng, who was playing a brothel frequenter, to the hospital.
Prior to this, there had been two other accidents on set.
One occurred in winter during filming when an actor accidentally fell into the water and contracted pneumonia, nearly dying. The other happened when the location manager was in a car accident while contacting the scenic area, injuring many crew members.
The online poster claimed these were caused by restless lonely ghosts and wild spirits who saw the crew filming the first story about a ghostly murderer, and mistakenly followed them.
To back up his viewpoint, he even posted a behind-the-scenes photo of the crew inviting someone to perform exorcism rituals.
Jian Jing: "..."
She called He Daochang from her contacts to ask about this.
He Daochang patiently listened to the whole story, then solemnly advised, "Little Jian, don't believe in feudal superstitions."
Jian Jing: ??? You're a Taoist priest telling me not to believe in feudal superstitions?
"Those are all crooked ways, raising ghosts, worshipping fox fairies - they're all false teachings. I've never seen ghosts or fox fairies. People who do that stuff are crooked con artists. Religion shouldn't be used like that." He Daochang rejected it all decisively with one strike. "I was asking if these accidents had any special meaning?" Jian Jing said with a laugh.
He Daochang said, "They do."
"What are they used for?"
"Scamming money!" He Daochang said. "First pretend there are ghosts, then scam money to exorcise them. It's an old trick."
Jian Jing: "..."
Very materialistic!
But this avenue was a dead end.
"Jingjing." The door opened and Scriptwriter Xu poked his head in. "Come over for a minute."
"What's up?"
"Auditions." Xu let out a sigh. "Old Huang is so anxious he's getting mouth ulcers."
This morning, Feiyu Entertainment received the news and knew Shao Meng had died. The higher-ups called Director Huang, and though they didn't say much, everyone knew that with the male lead role suddenly vacant, a bloody storm was bound to come.
Between the investors and director, it was either the east wind overwhelming the west wind, or the west wind overwhelming the east wind.
Director Huang understood that Feiyu was hesitant to reveal anything externally before the case details were clear. Once the news got out, there would be lots of trouble.
It would be best for him to nail down the new male lead before others got involved. Otherwise, if the investors forced in an unsatisfactory lead, not only would collaboration be unhappy, their first hard-won reputation for quality could be ruined - he'd have nowhere to cry.
Luckily there was a ready candidate.
Director Huang took out a freshly written script, planning to have Xie Wei audition for the role of the demon. Similarly, to keep things temporarily confidential, he also gave Jiang, Xue, and Zhang a chance to audition.
Jian Jing understood Director Huang's concerns and agreed to cooperate.
"You'll like Xie Wei," scriptwriter Xu said in a low voice. "I met him a year ago. Back then, he still looked a bit decadent. Who would've thought he'd change so dramatically when we met again this time? Wow, that aura, it's like an international superstar."
Jian Jing said, "I thought he had always been like this."
Scriptwriter Xu shook his head: "He wasn't so dazzling before. After ten years of decline, how good could he be? I didn't expect to see him reborn when we met yesterday."
Jian Jing didn't say anything more.
After she arrived, Director Huang immediately announced the start.
Sunshine streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, extremely bright and sunny. But when it fell on Xie Wei, he seemed to become a black hole, absorbing all the light and leaving behind chaos.
Xie Wei stood there, his gaze sweeping over the distant flowers and plants, moving to the nearby tables and chairs. His posture was leisurely and natural, as if he knew he didn't fit in but didn't care, looking around in a lazy, bored manner.
Then his head tilted slightly to the side, as if catching some interesting information. His eyes looked towards a certain spot in the distance, gradually focusing.
So everyone understood that someone was walking towards him.
How strange. Without any physical presence or action, just the subtle expressions on his face conveyed so much information. Jian Jing's heart rose with his performance, feeling unprecedented tension.
She was the first to realize which scene he was acting out.
The imaginary person approached, stopping a few steps away from him.
Xie Wei's lips curved up slightly as he uttered his lines gently but extremely clearly:
"Hello, Hunter."
Dead silence on set.
Delight flashed in Director Huang's eyes, then doubt. Scriptwriter Xu stroked his thighs excitedly, appreciating Xie Wei's performance. Xue Xiaosheng looked at them hesitantly, shifting uneasily. Zhang Hongchun bit down hard on her plump lips, her expression inscrutable.
Jiang BaiYan clenched his fists tightly, his whole body tensed like an iron plate.
Xie Wei wasn't speaking to him, yet he felt the visceral fear and shudder of facing the devil head-on. Was his acting already so terrifying?
In the silence, Director Huang spoke: "Jing Jing, what do you think?"
"He performed very well," Jian Jing said. She looked at Xie Wei again, gazing at him for a long time.
Xie Wei asked, "Does Teacher Jian have anything to say to me?"
Jian Jing smiled. She leaned her elbows on the table, resting her chin in her palms, looking very much like a little girl. But her eyes were far from a child's innocence, sharp and piercing instead.
"You played the demon very well," she said. "But I feel you're more suited to play the Hunter."
Xie Wei was taken aback, staring deeply at her. "Why?"
"You know why," Jian Jing said.
Xie Wei was silent.
She stood up and walked over to stand in front of him, staring into his eyes.
Although she was at least 20 cm shorter, Jian Jing seemed to have the upper hand in this confrontation, subtly suppressing Xie Wei's strange aura.
"There's also a monster living in your heart," her voice was very soft, but her eyes were like blades. "Xie Wei, what are you hiding? Does Shao Meng's death have anything to do with you?"
