Finding Friends

Chu Zhao walked into the washroom. He saw Su Bai washing his hands at the basin and asked in suspicion:

"What's wrong?"

Su Bai placed both hands at the hand dryer expressionlessly. His gaze was directed at the cubicle meaning 'take a look for yourself'.

Chu Zhao immediately opened the cubicle door; he was shaken.

"Call the cops."

Chu Zhao took out his phone and was preparing to call the cops. Even though he was not fond of the police profession, when facing such situations, his professionalism kicked in.

Su Bai did not do anything nor did he move; he quietly dried both his hands and walked out of the washroom.

After a short while, Chu Zhao walked over after making a call.

"Discovered anything?" Chu Zhao asked Su Bai.

Su Bai shook his head and looked at Chu Zhao. "It does not seem to be the work of an audience. It is hard for normal audiences to do such things. You are a cop, you go and investigate."

Chu Zhao sighed. "I'm not eating anymore. You leave with Aroma first, I have to wait for my colleagues over here."

Su Bai glanced at Chu Zhao. "Are you sure you can work like normal right now?"

"I understand myself best." Chu Zhao replied.　

"Alright, we'll make a move first."

Facing such a situation, Su Bai no longer had to mood to continue eating. Of course, it was hard for that place to continue on with its business.

Aroma carried the little fella and left the restaurant with Su Bai. Chu Zhao who was a police officer was aware that no one in the shop was allowed to leave, including the patrons and staff. Those were the rules. However, Chu Zhao was even more aware that these rules were not applicable for people like Su Bai and Aroma. Not to mention their identities in real life which was enough to break the rules, their other identities as audiences were also not restricted to such rules.

After getting into the car, Su Bai held the steering wheel with one hand but he was not in a rush to drive off.

Aroma had just seen her phone. Chu Zhao had just sent the pictures of the washroom to her. She, at that moment, finally understood what was going on.

The little fella was still in Aroma's embrace feeling moody. He had a certain intuition and it was acute. A child who was almost his age who was quite near him stopped breathing. The little fella was feeling sorrowful.

"Not leaving?" Aroma suddenly asked.

"Leaving." Su Bai started driving. Just as the car left a short distance, Su Bai stepped on the brakes and the car stopped at the side of the road. "Forget about it, we're not leaving."

Aroma did not make a sound. She quietly hugged the little fella.

Su Bai reversed his car. "After the result from Chu Zhao's side is out, even if it wasn't an audience, I want to have a look to see who the hell is trying to be deliberately mystifying."

Piercing the head of a child who was almost one year old and hanging him to death while tying weights on his leg. It really was trying to be deliberately mystifying. It even seemed like performing a ceremony.

"Will the murderer be still in the restaurant?" Aroma asked.

"Based on the situation, there might be a possibility, but there might be a possibility otherwise. If it was the restaurant staff, then he might still be in the restaurant. His identity would be revealed if he left. If he infiltrated the crowd on purpose, then he might no longer be there."

Su Bai took out a bottle of mineral water from the car and drank a few gulps; he then placed the bottle back. A police car had appeared from the corner of the road.

...

"Didn't I ask you all to leave?" Chu Zhao took off his gloves and walked towards Su Bai and Aroma. Su Bai and Aroma had been called over to give their statement, because they had enough evidence of not being at the scene of the crime and with their police friend Chu Zhao as a guarantor, taking their statement was just a simple process. Most importantly, the police had obtained an obvious clue, the female staff in charge of taking care of the child had gone missing.

It did not seem like she had suffered an evil scheme. Based on the surveillance video in the restaurant, she had snuck out the back door and couldn't be contacted until now. Police personnel had been sent to her residence and they would be receiving some news very soon. If she could not be found at her residence, she would be listed as wanted. The records of the surveillance cameras shows that she had carried the child into the washroom, there was no other footage of the washroom to protect the privacy of guest in the washroom.

"That woman must have gone mad to torture a child like this." Aroma was a little puzzled as she said. The little fella had fallen asleep and was lying on her shoulder.

"Perhaps she was a psychopath." Chu Zhao said. He also found it hard to believe. Not every psychopath was like Su Bai. Even when Su Bai committed murder, he would not act against a child, let alone using such a method to murder a child.

Su Bai remained silent as he furrowed his brows. He thought of something; he looked at Chu Zhao: "Do you feel that the method of death of this child is similar to the case of the Chongqing boy?

"His head was penetrated by sharp needles, his leg was tied up with weights and he was hung to death."

Chu Zhao smiled in an unnatural way. "Perhaps it was just a coarse copycat."

Su Bai shook his head, "It does not seem like it." Su Bai's phone rang as he talked, Fatty had sent him a reply. Su Bai had taken the photos from Aroma and sent it to Fatty before this and Fatty had finally replied.

Even though Su Bai and Fatty were not at the best of terms, they would still communicate to things which did not relate to any benefits. They were specialized in different things; nobody could guarantee that they would not encounter things they could not comprehend which were beyond their own enhancement.

"Based on my observation, this is not quite similar to the mythical case of the Chongqing boy. The boy in the Chongqing boy case was subdued, forced to wear a soul-locking red shirt, buckled with soul weights to hold the soul. He then killed the boy and used a soul-separating needle to stab the boy's head to release to soul. The murderer must have had some Taoist treasure to contain the soul like a calabash, a box or something to contain the soul. Finally, he hung him on the roof beam; based on Taoist methods, it's not possible to fully cleanse the soul. That is why he must not touch the ground. Hanging on the roof beam because wood represents life. It has the effects of attracting the soul, that's how the child's soul could be fully extracted! As for the thirteen years and thirteen days of age, the female relative's red dress contains the water element, it is to raise the soul quality to be extreme Yin!

"For your side, it is just specious. There are many details which points to a copycat but it is meaningless. The washroom contains heavy Yin aura, but the washroom in a high classed restaurant and a public washroom are not the same. The Yin aura there is a little too pitiful; even if there are very few people using it, there are people in charge of cleaning up. Furthermore, the child's head was pierced for the sake of piercing, it was not pierced in the accurate acupuncture point. There are many minute details that seem to be similar to the case of the Chongqing boy but are similar in face only, not the same."

After reading the reply, Su Bai still had not fully calmed down. He felt that there was something not right but could not point it out. There was no reality task issued by Dreadful Radio, it seemed like there was no need for an audience to handle this matter in Dreadful Radio's eyes.

Chu Zhao's phone rang; he was already a middle rank leader. He was considered to have discovered the scene of the crime. The progress of the case would be reported to him.

"Hello, what?" Chu Zhao's breathing became hasty. "I will immediately send backup, take care of the scene."

After ending the call, Chu Zhao's face became paler.

"What's wrong?" Aroma asked, "Something happened again?"

Chu Zhao nodded his head with a gloomy face. "That female staff was found dead in her house. The way she died... was exactly the same as that child." Chu Zhao turned around and faced Su Bai. "Su Bai, are you sure this is not the work of an audience?"

Su Bai shrugged his shoulders. "Unless he had gone mad or this child was an enemy who killed his father and he is taking revenge. But thinking back, it is impossible. It is impossible for an audience to run amok in the real work. What's more, if an audience keeps murdering people right under our noses, Dreadful Radio would issue a reality task to us soon enough."

Su Bai's phone rang at that moment. He checked the called ID and it was Fatty. Hadn't Fatty already explained everything? Why was he still calling?

He answered the call. Fatty's hoarse and rough voice could be heard:

"Ah Bai, you only sent me the photo of the hung child, do you have photo of other angles? I want to see if there are any special traces on the child's hands or even his shoulder. Can you send me a few photos of the child without his shirt to have a look?"

Su Bai lifted his head and looked at Chu Zhao. "Were there any special markings on the deceased child's body? For example, his hands or shoulder."

Chu Zhao heard what he said and immediately entered the restaurant. He understood that Su Bai had engaged the help of another audience. He was also aware that only Su Bai had such connections among the three of them. He and Aroma still had not networked around with other audiences.

Chu Zhao took a pile of photos and walked over soon enough.

"These are preliminary photos of the deceased. As for other things, we have to wait for an autopsy report from the hospital."

Su Bai received the photos, the child's clothes had been taken off to check for injuries, and these photos were very distinct.

Su Bai's pupils suddenly dilated. There were a few black dots on a few places on the child's shoulder and palms. It seemed like a bruise but it was not the same.

"Fatty, are you still there?" Su Bai asked.

"Yea."

"There are black dots on his shoulder and palm but it isn't very obvious."

"Oh, indeed. Then, that's it." Fatty made some munching sounds, "The murderer is not imitating the Chongqing boy case because the murderer is not human, it's a... ghost. He is using his method of death on other people."

"How did you find that out?"

"Have you heard of a song before?" Fatty suddenly asked.　　

"Finding friends, finding a good friend, give a bow and shake a hand, you are my best friend.　　

"He

"is lonely

"And is looking for a playmate."