Chapter 395: Murder on Stage

Chapter 395: Murder in the Play

At the moment the words ‘Golden Cicada Escaping’ were spoken.

【Ding! Case Triggered Successfully.】

【Divine Detective Case Check-in Opened.】

【Is the host ready to check in?】

Xiao Yu was astonished.

If he remembered correctly, the system’s appearance meant the case had only just begun?

This didn’t feel right!

If his reasoning was sound, this case should have been a breeze to crack.

Could it be… that there lay a hidden twist within this case?

The weight of that idea struck Xiao Yu so hard he fell silent for a moment.

He had an unsettling feeling of being set up…

“What are you thinking?”

Seeing the young man in a daze, Wang Dong asked.

“Brother Wang, what did you feel back when you joined National Security?”

Xiao Yu casually changed the subject to cover up his momentary stupor.

“Feelings?”

Wang Dong straightened up, ready to show off: “I walked the common path of life, carrying a banner against the wind. I stayed true in National Security, earning the people’s respect.”

“Pfft!”

Xiao Yu burst into laughter, “Come on, be serious.”

Surely even a monkey wouldn’t dare let you play the fool?

“Hehe.”

Wang Dong’s face turned red. “I come from a military background; my education isn’t as high as yours from the police academy. But truly, I believe… the true way of the world is filled with hardships!”

Hearing this, Xiao Yu felt a stir of emotion.

‘The true way of the world is filled with hardships’… Is that really the belief you hold dear?

Sure enough, Xiao Yu smiled in agreement.

Silently in his mind, he checked in: Check in!

【Ding! Congratulations, host, on a successful case check-in!】

【System Reward: Ability Unlocked – Performance Expert!】

【System Task Assigned: Crack the Pen Spirit Murder Case!】

【Time Limit to Solve: Twenty-Five Days!】

【Complete the task in time to earn the extra system skill: Gun Shrimp Explosion!】

【Fail within the time limit and the granted system abilities will be retracted!】

【Task Countdown Begins…】

Countless performance-related abilities and data merged into his body.

Another ability he didn’t need for now… Xiao Yu sighed in resignation.

Even if it isn’t needed now, that could change at any moment.

As for that so-called Gun Shrimp Explosion?

It sure sounded formidable!

But… only twenty-five days?

This case clearly promised a challenge like no other…

Shaking off stray thoughts, Xiao Yu refocused on the case.

Was his deduction truly viable?

Grabbing the surveillance video, Xiao Yu watched it again.

Until finally…

“Brother, what did you mean by ‘Golden Cicada Escaping’ just now?”

Wang Dong couldn’t help but ask in confusion.

“In the video, among the six young men, two always faced away from the camera.”

Watching the footage, Xiao Yu explained, “Though it’s very possible that the two initially killed were those figures, it isn’t definitive. As I theorized—if what we’re viewing is a surveillance video… what if it’s just a performance?”

“If it’s a performance, what we’re seeing might be entirely staged!”

Wang Dong felt that possibility was entirely plausible.

What is seen on camera isn’t always the truth—and Xiao Yu wasn’t the only one who knew that.

He himself understood it all too well.

If the surveillance video were staged, then another possibility emerges:

Were the six victims killed only after the act was over?

The murderer might simply have disguised the victims to mimic the deaths shown in the video.

This is one of the most common tactics in fabricated crime scenes!

“It might not be fake,”

Xiao Yu nodded, his eyes burning as he continued, “Perhaps someone began killing during the act—as I said earlier… like a Golden Cicada Escaping!”

“Although a couple is seen with their backs to the camera in the video, later all six suspects’ faces are shown.”

Wang Dong, still baffled, asked, “Then how does Golden Cicada Escaping work?”

“Why not?”

Xiao Yu pointed at a frozen frame on the tablet: “When the ghostly woman appeared, the camera focused solely on her while all six victims ducked completely out of frame.”

“It started with that girl, then the boy appeared. It was as if they ran right into the frame and were killed by the ghost!”

“We can’t be sure that when the six suspects slipped out of view, the two initially seen from behind weren’t replaced!”

…….. Please send flowers……..

“If it were just a performance…” Wang Dong frowned, “then why use a double?”

“Remember what I said at the beginning?”

In a cold tone, Xiao Yu replied, “The first girl killed and the second boy killed remained completely still—as if waiting to be slain. Is it possible that by then, they had already… been murdered?”

Both already murdered… Wang Dong’s heart skipped a beat.

Is that why they remained so motionless?

“Let’s act it out ourselves and see!”

Xiao Yu said in a deep voice, “Let’s simulate the crime scene!”

……

Xiao Yu, Wang Dong, and four members of Team Two sat around a table.

…….

Two team leaders played the roles of the two individuals seen with their backs to the camera.

“At this moment, the ghost appears.”

Xiao Yu glanced to the side.

The seventh person emerged, manipulating a doll as he stepped forward.

“We begin to evade.”

Xiao Yu and the other six pretended to flee, ducking out of the camera’s frame.

Just then…

Xiao Yu took a knife-wielding stance and swiftly stabbed Wang Dong around the neck.

He then instantly pushed Wang Dong away…

Wang Dong, playing the part of that girl, was shoved into the camera’s view.

The person controlling the doll moved along the edge of the frame.

The doll appeared to drift across the screen.

At that moment, Xiao Yu quickly stepped out of view and moved beside the doll’s controller.

He mimicked a slicing motion with his knife.

In one fluid move, he snatched the doll and shoved its controller into the camera’s frame.

After that, Xiao Yu directed the doll to Wang Dong’s position, making it perform a slashing action.

Then, pushing Wang Dong into the darkness, he reached out toward his left eye and grabbed it.

It was as if he had seized an eyeball, tossing it into the doll’s mouth and prompting the doll to chew.

He then reasserted control of the doll, making it move like another person who had been stabbed.

Soon, the doll cradled this person’s head and mimicked a gnawing motion…

The final two candles flickered out.

The room was plunged into utter darkness!

In the dark, Xiao Yu discarded the doll, brandishing his knife as he advanced toward the remaining three…

The hunt begins! End.