Chapter 54: The Death of Bai Mei

  I'm now carefully examining the layout of the living room, which is roughly a hundred square meters in size. Except for the TV and sofa taking up about one-third of the space, the rest of the area is arranged like a tea house, with several bookshelves neatly placed together and a coffee table in the middle. The computer is in the corner on the other side of the TV. As I glance over at that corner, I suddenly notice a surveillance camera on the ceiling.

  My breath immediately solidified, the red dot of the camera flashed brightly, and I subconsciously turned my head to look at another location in the room, directly facing the direction of the camera. There, surprisingly, there was also a monitor.

  360 degrees, no blind spot monitoring?

  My heart skipped a beat and then my gaze suddenly focused on the computer, and I suddenly had an urge to check out Shen He's and Bai Mei's past lives.

  Time flies quickly, in the evening Bai Mei called me to eat dinner, I clearly saw that her eyes were a bit red and swollen around the edges.

  On her delicate face, it looks exceptionally charming and touching.

  "Holmes, you're a detective, isn't it just as dangerous for you?" Bai Mei suddenly spoke up.

  I chuckled twice, shrugged and said: "I like this profession."

  Bai Mei said in a low voice: "Yes, Shen Zhong also likes his job, but I worry about him every day and fear that he will have an accident."

  "Is it because of this that you're crying?" I asked further.

  Bai Mei hastily lowered her head and didn't say a word.

  I realized I had misspoken. Then I made a roundabout remark, saying: "Shen Zhong is very formidable, I have a hunch that all the criminals will be afraid of him."

  But Bai Mei's face turned pale after hearing this sentence, I noticed her abnormality and wanted to ask further, but Bai Mei didn't speak and instead lowered her head to eat.

  The conversation ended on an unpleasant note. But I always felt that Bai Mei seemed to want to tell me something, yet hesitated and stopped short of speaking her mind.

  When I returned to my room, Bai Mei suddenly handed me an envelope and gritted her teeth, telling me to "hand it over" to Shen Zhong when he came back.

  I was really shocked, grabbed her hand and asked: "What happened?"

  Bai Mei shook her head and smiled: "It's nothing, just some sweet nothings between husband and wife. I'll borrow your hand for a moment, but don't sneak a peek!"

  I furrowed my brow and nodded, and Bai Mei turned around and entered the kitchen.

  I lay on the 'bed', looking at the envelope in my hand, hesitating whether to open it or not. The love letter between Shen He and Bai Mei? Why didn't they say it directly to each other, but instead had me, an outsider, pass it on? A faint rose fragrance wafted into my nostrils.

  My eyelids are heavy, I'm so sleepy. How can I be so sleepy? In my dream, I seemed to hear Bai Mei's crying again, and the screams of struggling, finally it was a weak moan.

  I was woken up by a earth-shattering roar that sounded like the howling of a beast, after I had been sleeping for who-knows-how-long in a daze.

  I suddenly lifted my head, still holding the letter from Bai Mei in my hand.

  What time is it now?

  I pushed open the door with a sudden force, and a strong bloody smell rushed into my nostrils, I almost vomited.

  Tremblingly looking at the blood-red roses under her feet, they stretched out to form a small path in the middle of the corridor.

  A loud wail echoed into my ears, and a thread of fear suddenly rose in my heart, I quickly ran to the stairwell.

  Everything I see before my eyes almost collapsed me.

  Heavily embracing a corpse, kneeling on the ground wailing in grief, I clearly saw that on the corpse, there were countless holes the size of fingertips, fresh blood had been drained, and the corpse had turned pale. A large patch of blood-colored roses was spread on the ground, then a small path paved with roses extended from the corridor, all the way to my room door.

  I looked pale at Bai Mei's corpse, and walked down step by step. Tears fell from the corner of my eyes uncontrollably.

  Blood accompanied by the fragrance of roses makes me feel both sad and nauseous.

  Suddenly, Shen Zhong lifted his head, and his eyes were actually blood red. Countless bloody threads looked like a demon. He hugged Bai Mei's corpse, stood up in an instant, and then at a speed that was hard to see with the naked eye, he grabbed my throat.

  I didn't struggle, perhaps I've already forgotten how to struggle. The heavy sorrow and pain are lingering in his eyes and surrounding his body.

  I saw Bai Mei's face up close, her eyebrows furrowed, her mouth tightly pursed, the bloodstains on her body slowly magnifying in my eyes. I dare not imagine the immense pain she endured before her death. The red roses on the ground still had a hint of white petals, which were actually stained red by her fresh blood.

  Breathing heavily and rapidly, my eyes bulging with more and more bloodshot, my breathing gradually becoming difficult, face flushing red, the air in my lungs being squeezed out bit by bit, while the weight continued to press down, my neck was about to be twisted off.

  My consciousness began to blur, the tightly clenched fists slowly loosened, and the white envelope in my hand fell to the ground, the sound of the letter touching the floor was faint yet loud.

  Fell into my ears, also fell in the heavy heart.

  He lowered his head, the strength in his hands relaxed a bit, I weakly collapsed to the ground, pressing down on a patch of roses, gasping for breath.

  Bai Mei died, and her death was extremely tragic——

  Heavily grasping the envelope, he took off his clothes one by one, then tightly wrapped Bai Mei's body together. I trembled as I watched his movements, not daring to say a word.

  Heavy and cold like a block of ice, solid ice, no, it's a thousand-year-old glacier.

  In the icy heart, there is still a raging fire, an anger that is about to erupt and explode. I dare not imagine how heavy the anger has become now. What greater sorrow can there be than a loved one being brutally murdered? How will the heart turn out then?

  A heavy heart is like being thrown into a meat grinder, constantly cutting back and forth, then turning into minced meat.

  Sitting in the police station, I sat on a tiger bench for the first time since I can remember.

  The electric shock made my spirit tense up completely.

  This is a dark little house, empty and desolate inside, with only two stools and a black iron table.

  I sat on a tiger bench, in front of me was an old policeman with hair that had already turned 'white'.

  "Where were you when Bai Mei died?" The old policeman lowered his eyelids, holding a pen in his hand, and spoke in a barely audible voice.

  I bit my lip and shook my head: "I was sleeping, I don't know what happened."

  A loud crash shook the sky, and the old policeman slapped his palm on the iron table, suddenly standing up, the electric current on his skin suddenly increased, as if countless needles had pierced my skin at once. I let out a mournful cry: "I don't know, I was really sleeping." Tears and fear corroded my heart, Bai Mei died in the foreign house, that night, I didn't have any reaction at all. It's probably unbelievable to say it out loud.

  The old policeman stared at my eyes tightly, his gaze was like a knife that seemed to dig out all the secrets from the bottom of my heart. My skin had completely numbed, and I only had a faint consciousness left, muttering in a low voice "I don't know".

  Tears fell to the ground, the old policeman walked step by step in front of me, then took out a book as thick as one finger from his hand, and another hand took out a small hammer with a flat head from somewhere.

  I watched in horror as he expressionlessly placed the book on my stomach, I struggled desperately.

  The old policeman looked at me coldly, then raised the hammer high and brought it down suddenly. I only felt a sharp pain in my abdomen, as if my liver and intestines were being torn apart.

  The corners of his mouth suddenly had a bit of foam and a fishy smell.

  The old policeman didn't stop, the hammer swung again, I widened my eyes and watched his movements, suddenly the letter Bai Mei gave me sounded in my ears, as well as their home's 360-degree surveillance without blind spots, just about to speak.

  The hammer came down again, I let out a dull hum, spat out a big mouthful of fresh blood, and before consciousness was about to faint, two words were unclearly spit out.

  Letter... Surveillance...

  When I woke up, I found myself lying in a dark and narrow room. The cold hard 'bed' board was stimulating my skin, and the piercing pain in my abdomen made me curl up into a ball.

  Smoke entered my nostrils and I was coughing continuously due to second-hand smoke, which pulled on the wound in my abdomen, causing another sharp pain.

  The faint yellow light came on after a loud creaking sound, and I struggled to lift my head. He was heavily leaning against the back of his chair, numbly puffing on a cigarette, staring at me with no expression.

  "I trembled and said: 'It wasn't me.'"

  Heavily silent, I found that his hand was pinching a white piece of paper.

  "It really wasn't me." I was almost in tears.

  Shen nodded heavily, pinched out the cigarette, walked to my side, with a full beard on his face, bloodshot eyes, and tear marks at the corners of his eyes. His lips were dry and cracked, and even had red blood flowing out.

  "I'll kill him, I will make him die a death that is not worth living." Shen said heavily, word by word, his voice cold enough to make me start shivering.

  I suddenly remembered what I told the old policeman earlier and immediately asked: "Is there surveillance at your home, and also a letter that Baimi asked me to give you?"

  He didn't expect that after Shen Zhong finished listening, his face turned even paler, just like a dead person.

  He handed me that white letter paper, and I took it with a sharp pain in my abdomen.

  I didn't expect there were only four characters written above.

  Beware, Homie.

  My face turned pale in an instant, four words, constantly magnifying in my consciousness.

  "It's nothing, just sweet nothings between husband and wife, you mustn't sneak a peek."

  "It's nothing, just sweet nothings between husband and wife, you mustn't sneak a peek."

  Bai Mei's voice sounded in my ears again, and I solemnly retrieved the letter paper, saying coldly: "The envelope and letter paper have been tested, and there is a new type of 'drug' on them. You were knocked unconscious because you inhaled that 'drug'." This was the result of the forensic examination.

  But before the case is solved, you can't leave here anymore.

  "Why!" I glared at him with a sullen face.

  "Heavy eyelids narrowed and said: 'Do you remember what I said? Where is my home?'"

  "You won't have any more trouble with him, he can't escape and besides, he has a huge connection to you. The punishment I gave you just now was for his sake." Shen continued in a cold tone.

  I find it hard to imagine that Shen Zhong, who had just lost his wife, could recover so quickly. This fills me with a deep chill in my heart. He is no longer Shen Zhong, the Shen Zhong from the white rose garden, he has already died, and from the moment Bai Mei died, Shen Zhong was already dead.

  And his words made me even more shocked and terrified.

  "What does he have to do with me?" I blurted out: "Impossible."

  Shen Zhong shook his head heavily and said, "There's nothing impossible. I'll kill him, he's too arrogant." Shen Zhong laughed loudly as he left the room.

  I stared blankly at the thick steel bars, his massive back, and his loud laughter, how mournful it was. Is there any sorrow greater than a dead heart? A person is not dead, so how can their heart be dead.

  The gloomy and cold air inside the iron house suddenly engulfed me completely.

  I desperately shook my head, trembling and curled up together, shrinking into the corner of the wooden board 'bed' against the wall, muttering softly like a lunatic in an asylum.

  "It can't be Liu Ke, it can't be Chen Yan's 'Lu'."

  "Impossible, absolutely impossible—"