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    The girl was not the first to die. She was knocked unconscious by a wine bottle and collapsed on the ground.

    Then came the two adults, already drunk and dizzy. They reacted almost immediately when their daughter was struck, but unfortunately, the murderer had already prepared. They were successively slit across the throat.

    The man smiled, a bizarre smile that seemed to revel in the destruction of everything.

    Xu Zhizhi involuntarily took two steps back.

    When the girl woke up, she was met with a sight that made her eyes nearly burst with rage.

    Her parents, the best in the world, were being dismembered by the butcher they had once helped. Their pupils were dilated, their wide eyes filled with panic.

    They died with their eyes wide open.

    The girl’s eyes immediately filled with tears. She opened her mouth to scream for help. There were people living upstairs and next door; surely someone would hear her.

    But she could only open her mouth in terror, unable to utter a single syllable due to overwhelming fear.

    Until the murderer slowly approached, appearing before her as she lay on the ground. He bent down and stared directly at her under the dim light.

    His ugly face suddenly loomed large, the light casting a terrifying shadow that enveloped the petite girl.

    His grotesque hand grabbed her hair, lifting her up. Their eyes met, and he stared at her with a sinister gaze.

    For the first time, she truly saw the face of the person her parents had saved. Her eyes were filled with boundless hatred and fear. She regretted deeply why she had told her parents about the person at the door, why she hadn’t been more indifferent and ignored him.

    Tears fell like broken beads, one after another, hitting the cold cement floor.

    Blood gushed out like a spring, and the girl let out a final, despairing, low groan from her throat.

    Xu Zhizhi was already kneeling on the ground, crying. She wanted to step forward and hug the girl, to shield her from the harm. For the first time, she was fully immersed, wanting to stop all of this from happening.

    She wanted to stand in front of the girl, but it was futile. The simulation wouldn’t stop just because she was breaking down.

    Xu Zhizhi watched helplessly as a family who loved and cared for each other died before her eyes. She was filled with despair and a sense of powerlessness.

    Before this, all she had seen were written descriptions and a cold photograph.

    But now, she clearly watched as vibrant lives were taken, just like Wang Yuchun.

    They all died at their happiest moments, brutally killed by the murderer, shattering their beautiful dreams.

    Xu Zhizhi watched as the murderer played with the dismembered bodies, cleaning up everything around him, his eyes filled with bloodlust.

    The sounds during this time were not quiet, yet no one appeared, and no police arrived.

    The blood-stained room was eerily silent, all laughter and joy gone, replaced only by the sound of the murderer dragging his filthy body around, cleaning and scrubbing.

    Xu Zhizhi thought, if only someone had paid attention, perhaps this tragedy could have been avoided.

    But then she realized, leaving the girl alone in the world would only plunge her into endless sorrow.

    When she woke up again, she opened her eyes to the white ceiling. Her phone showed that an hour and twenty minutes had passed.

    Beside her was breakfast brought by Lin Yu. Seeing that Xu Zhizhi was still asleep, she had left it and gone.

    Xu Zhizhi had no appetite. She looked at the breakfast, closed her eyes, and without hesitation, entered the simulation again. Fear no longer mattered; her heart was filled with courage. She was determined to bring that person to justice!

    Entering again, she once more saw the poor but harmonious couple, and their well-behaved, diligent daughter who cherished her parents.

    And the ingrate they had helped. They had no idea what kind of devil lay beneath the skin of the person they had saved.

    The murderer was clearly calculated, carrying sharpened knives, his eyes always filled with a hidden malice.

    He would laugh while killing, his laughter filled with an ominous aura.

    A mysterious, inexplicable mind, complex human nature, and simple, brutal destruction.

    Destroying the most beautiful things in the world. Xu Zhizhi felt a familiar thought, and another possibility came to mind.

    She watched again, tears streaming down her face, and opened her eyes to the scene before her.

    To confirm her thoughts, she entered the simulation once more.

    If her thoughts were confirmed, it would be too horrifying, beyond the realm of mere变态 (perversion).

    After watching again, Xu Zhizhi’s heart sank heavily. Her slightly parted lips pressed tightly together.

    She sat up from the bed, somewhat dazed, and walked to the dining table. She mechanically finished the cold porridge and six steamed dumplings on the table.

    The food was cold, but it was nothing compared to the icy chill in her heart.

    If it really was that person, what should she do?

    She needed to take the initiative and verify it.

    At twelve o’clock, Xu Zhizhi and Lin Yu arrived on set on time, followed closely by Qin Su.

    He had promised to protect Xu Zhizhi, and he intended to do so closely.

    The afternoon’s filming involved the follow-up investigation of the massacre. The male and female leads, playing police officers, visited the people around the crime scene, asking if they had heard or seen anything suspicious on the night of the incident.

    But when they asked, everyone clammed up. The upstairs neighbor even claimed they had been asleep and hadn’t heard anything.

    The case hit a deadlock. The only clue they had was that this case and Wang Yuchun’s case were committed by the same person.

    After filming the investigation scenes, they moved on to the indoor scenes between the male and female leads.

    “In Wang Yuchun’s case, it could be said that everyone was at work and didn’t hear anything. But this case is different. I just went upstairs and listened. I could clearly hear everything you were doing downstairs, especially the loud sounds of dismemberment. There’s no way they didn’t hear anything!”

    The female lead, Jiang Mu, was a rookie detective. Her face flushed with anger as she spoke rapidly and furiously about her findings. She couldn’t understand why, if they had heard, they would claim they hadn’t.

    The male lead, Yu Fengqiao, patted his apprentice’s shoulder. “The murderer hasn’t been caught, and this case has caused a city-wide uproar. They’re afraid to speak up, worried that the murderer might come after them.”

    The murderer was too brutal; no one wasn’t afraid.

    They didn’t even dare to call the police. If it hadn’t been for the landlord coming to collect rent and noticing blood flowing from the house, the case might not have been discovered for another two days.

    Jiang Mu’s expression darkened. “We’ll protect them! And if someone had heard the noise and come to check, the murderer wouldn’t have gotten away!”

    “What nonsense are you spouting!” Yu Fengqiao’s face turned extremely serious as he roared, “What did you learn at the academy?!”

    Jiang Mu looked at Yu Fengqiao, opened her mouth, but ultimately remained silent.

    Seeing that she understood, Yu Fengqiao’s voice softened slightly as he explained, “Our duty is to protect ordinary people, not to blame them. The longer you’re in this line of work, the more you’ll understand. Try to see things from their perspective. They’re just ordinary working people; they can’t handle such high-stakes situations. Don’t expect them to take risks. That’s what we, the police, are for.”

    “Okay…” Jiang Mu lowered her head, looking at the dismembered girl piled on the chair. She covered her mouth and nose, tears uncontrollably streaming down her face.

    She realized she couldn’t stay here any longer and quickly turned to leave, checking for other clues elsewhere.

    Blaming anyone was wrong, and she didn’t want to do it, but this family’s fate was too tragic.

    Watching Jiang Mu leave, Yu Fengqiao crouched down and continued to examine the scene.

    Soon, he found a strand of fabric in the girl’s fingernails, likely grabbed when the murderer wasn’t paying attention.

    He put on gloves and carefully placed the evidence into an evidence bag.

    Then came the silent filming, where actions spoke louder than words, and many details were gradually revealed.

    However, this scene was difficult to execute. Bai Sheng had to cut several times before he was satisfied.

    “Your expression isn’t enough! Do you understand the demeanor and actions of an experienced detective? Anger? Sadness? A professional detective doesn’t have time for so many expressions. Didn’t you read the materials beforehand?!” Bai Sheng roared, his voice filling the entire set.

    And then they started again.

    But sometimes, the harder you try to act well, the worse it gets.

    After several takes, Bai Sheng’s face turned red with frustration, and he announced a temporary halt to filming.

    Due to limited funding, Xu Zhizhi and the others didn’t have professional dressing rooms. Most of the time, they had to sit near the set for makeup and then start filming immediately.

    Bai Sheng looked at Xu Zhizhi, who had just finished her makeup, and waved his hand. “Xu Zhizhi, come here and show him the calmness of a murderer, along with that sinister, evil aura. You act it out. Xu Yunlai, stand next to her and rehearse. Use your brain to think about how to portray someone who can suppress a psychopath. Otherwise, the audience will laugh at you. With that look, how are you supposed to catch a murderer?! Props, props, go handle the scene!”

    Xu Zhizhi nodded, standing to the side. The order had been reversed.

    After the props team finished, they would film the crime scene, then restore the scene to its pre-murder state, and finally shoot the scenes of cooking and inviting people to eat.

    Originally, they were supposed to film in sequence, but the makeup for the dismembered bodies took a long time. They had to start at five or six in the morning to make it in time for the afternoon shoot. If they filmed the earlier scenes first and then the post-makeup scenes, it would drag on until night, which didn’t match the script. So, they had to do it this way.

    Xu Zhizhi, being called out, felt a bit embarrassed, but Xu Yunlai gave her a grateful smile, as if saying, “Thank you, savior, for saving my life.”

    Xu Zhizhi couldn’t help but laugh. Xu Yunlai was truly carefree.

    Standing in the middle of the set, Xu Zhizhi noticed that He Wen had appeared beside Bai Sheng at some point. Her steps faltered slightly, becoming heavier.

    She pretended not to see him, her expression shifting as she smiled, bending down and pretending to grab someone’s hair, pulling them up to face her.

    “Look, the people’s police can’t catch me, can they?!” She wore a wild, arrogant smile, her eyes filled with mockery as she looked at the male lead, Yu Fengqiao.

    It was as if, across time and space, the murderer and the detective were locking eyes.

    Yu Fengqiao was startled by the cruel mockery in Xu Zhizhi’s eyes. It took him two seconds to get into character. His gaze became steady as water, and in an instant, the restlessness and agitation on his body disappeared, transforming him into a seasoned detective.

    His eyes were both righteous and sinister, his face fierce, filled with determination and self-assurance.

    He met Xu Zhizhi’s intimidating gaze head-on, not backing down an inch. “No matter what, no matter how long it takes, I will bring you to justice!”

    “Good, good, good!” A loud round of applause erupted as Bai Sheng excitedly clapped and shouted.

    Xu Zhizhi didn’t continue to look at him. Instead, she turned her gaze directly to He Wen, who was standing gracefully nearby, and gave him a strange, intrigued smile.

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