At 3 o’clock in the morning, the whole world was extremely quiet. Shao Changqing suddenly woke up from his dream and opened his eyes, feeling wide awake.

The hot and humid air of the night finally turned into an autumn rain. Raindrops fell on the glass, making a rustling sound, bringing some relief. Winter in Huadu was approaching.

In the darkness, Shao Changqing sat up on the bed and skillfully put on his clothes. He wore a watch and grabbed a raincoat, then walked out of the door.

The city was incredibly quiet now, with hardly any human voices. This street was not a main road, with very few vehicles passing by. Only the sound of raindrops falling continuously filled the air.

Shao Changqing walked slowly, being extremely vigilant. He occasionally looked back, and it took him over ten minutes to reach a nearby residential area.

This upscale residential area had a high vacancy rate and few people. As long as one had a card, they could enter without any obstacles.

Shao Changqing had rented a house in this neighborhood, mainly for the garage.

After entering the residential area, he skillfully turned a few corners and arrived at the door of the underground garage.

Shao Changqing looked at the rolling shutter door of the garage, took a deep breath, and prepared to open it.

Suddenly, a beam of light shone upon him. It was the light of a police flashlight.

Behind him, Lu Junchi’s voice sounded, “Mr. Shao, what are you doing here so late?”

Shao Changqing’s body stiffened for a moment. He turned his head and looked at the person behind him, calmly saying, “I couldn’t sleep at night, so I came out for a walk.”

Lu Junchi approached him, took the key from his hand, and threw it to Zheng Bai, who was waiting behind him. “What a coincidence, I’m doing the same.”

Shao Changqing tactfully took a step back, not struggling, and raised his hands. Lu Junchi handcuffed his hands.

There were streetlights in the courtyard, but it was still somewhat dark.

After having Shao Changqing escorted into the car, as Lu Junchi walked back, he saw that Su Hui had already received the location and arrived with the forensic team.

Everyone was wide awake. They had spent half the night carefully avoiding disturbing the sleeping residents. Fortunately, now they finally had a result.

Su Hui stood aside holding an umbrella, his long eyelashes trembling slightly. With some anticipation, he looked at the rolling shutter door in front of him.

Zheng Bai opened the door to the garage with a key, followed closely by the forensic team carrying their toolboxes.

As the rolling shutter door was lifted, a faint foul odor wafted in their faces.

Qiao Ze reached out and turned on the lights in the garage.

Su Hui surveyed the garage, finding it difficult to see clearly. He squeezed Lu Junchi’s hand and instructed, “Search thoroughly.” His tone completely treated him as a search dog at the crime scene.

The garage was not large, with a rudimentary single bed. There were ropes tied to the headboard.

In the corner, there was a huge plastic foam box. When opened, they could see something wrapped in plastic wrap inside, resembling a butterfly cocoon. Through the white transparent film, they could see that there were some activated charcoal packets inside. Beneath the charcoal packets lay the desiccated body of a woman who had been dead for quite some time.

She was dressed in sleepwear, with her eyes tightly closed, lying among the charcoal packets like a desiccated beautiful specimen.

Before coming here, they had already anticipated that they might encounter this outcome. However, seeing it in reality was still shocking.

The forensic examiner entered and examined the condition of the female corpse, saying, “She has been dead for approximately two weeks…”

This meant that Chen Xuexian had died in this garage since they became involved in this bizarre case.

Shao Changqing, who appeared normal, turned out to be the most deranged one, while Chen Xuexian, who raised Gu insects, ultimately succumbed to the backlash of the toxins.

A woman who stirred up trouble had finally encountered a man who saw her as his ultimate prey.

Half a month ago, on an autumn night, Chen Xuexian sat at the dining table in Shao Changqing’s home. They had just finished dinner, and today it was Chen Xuexian who personally cooked, making dumplings that Shao Changqing liked.

The dumplings were filled with pork and mushrooms, and she had made a lot of them, with some leftovers frozen.

After dinner, Chen Xuexian wore a gauzy dress, swaying a wine glass in her hand. “Shao Changqing, there’s something I can’t figure out.”

Shao Changqing looked up at this beautiful woman and asked, “What is it?”

“You’re such an outstanding and intelligent man, why haven’t you gotten married yet…” Chen Xuexian gazed at him tenderly.

Chen Xuexian knew that she was different from ordinary people. She couldn’t experience those emotions, especially love. She was numb and had to constantly stimulate herself in various ways to feel pleasure.

But this man in front of her was different. She initially thought he was just one of those ordinary and mediocre men, but in the end, he broke free from the pack.

He was elegant and intelligent, always bringing her surprises and giving her unprecedented excitement. That kind of stimulation made her even more thrilled.

In the past, every time she saw those men fighting for her, she felt deeply moved.

But as time went on, those emotions would fade away, be forgotten, and she would yearn for new excitement.

She chased after it endlessly, running.

It was this man who fundamentally curbed these emotions in her.

Under his arrangement, she witnessed slaughter and death. Finally, she understood what she had longed for and what love ultimately led to.

Those brutes were like untamed beasts that hadn’t fully evolved. Only the person in front of her understood her and could help her.

She had openly communicated with the person in front of her, and he knew what she was pursuing.

He could make her feel love.

Her frozen heart was opened by the man in front of her, and she decided to love only him.

Shao Changqing’s gaze flickered. “Since I first saw you, I knew you were the one I had been searching for.”

“I feel the same way. I have broken up with those men,” Chen Xuexian looked at him. “I sent them breakup messages.”

“Send me one too,” Shao Changqing suddenly said.

“Why?” Chen Xuexian was curious about this request.

Shao Changqing said, “I want to see how you reject them.”

Chen Xuexian smiled and copied a message to send to him as well.

Perhaps due to the effect of the red wine, she felt her vision wavering. She felt a bit dizzy, but she could still think. She envisioned their future, thrilling and exciting, bound together.

Shao Changqing crouched in front of her, looking at her with devotion. “Xue Xian, the people you see and feel in life are not complete. Some people wear disguises, like me, and do not reveal their true nature to others.”

Chen Xuexian said with a smile, “Then don’t suppress your true nature. Let me see what else you can do…”

That was the last sentence she uttered.

Chen Xuexian quickly regained consciousness, opened her eyes, and saw complete darkness. Then she realized that a cloth was covering her eyes.

She didn’t know where she was, couldn’t discern day from night, or even understand her surroundings.

Her mouth was sealed shut, and she could only breathe through her nose.

Her hands were bound from the wrists and she lay on a cushion in a bizarre position, which seemed to be a crude single bed.

Her memories fragmented, and sweat broke out on her forehead.

She struggled desperately, smelling a scent in her nostrils, the dusty smell of aged furniture. This was a room.

She could hear voices in the distance, sounds of vehicles. Those sounds made her aware that she hadn’t been separated from the world but was still within this city.

She widened her eyes and tried to see through the cloth covering her eyes.

She saw something, a line, a faintly glowing line.

That light was shining through the gap under the door…

This place could be an abandoned store or an unused garage…

If she were free now, she could probably reach the exit in just two steps.

Chen Xuexian struggled desperately, sliding her limbs as if she were drowning in water. She had to break free, making grunting sounds as she kicked and pounded the mattress beneath her. However, only faint sounds escaped her efforts.

The ropes were tightly bound, cutting into her flesh, and she gradually realized the futility of her struggles.

In this room, all her senses were amplified infinitely. She listened to her own heavy breathing and pounding heartbeat. Cold sweat kept dripping from her forehead, sticking her hair to her face. She felt like a person pulled out of water, with her clothes clinging to her body.

She tried to calm herself down and organize her thoughts. Why was she here? What fate awaited her?

In the midst of oxygen deprivation and hunger, she began to have hallucinations. Butterflies, one after another, fluttered their wings in the air.

She suddenly remembered the butterfly specimens she had made. Each butterfly had fascinating wings. She softened their bodies and inserted sharp insect pins, carefully spreading their beautiful wings on the mounting board for drying…

Those were the most beautiful corpses, turned into butterfly specimens.

She tirelessly searched for more colorful and attractive butterfly specimens, experimenting with various methods of preservation.

She never tired of the entire process and always felt it wasn’t perfect enough. She wanted to create more specimens and find the most beautiful butterfly.

Until now, she hadn’t found it, and her heart was filled with regret…

A faint sound of “click” came from nearby. The door seemed to open, and light seeped in.

A person approached her, looking down at her. She couldn’t see the person’s gaze, but she could feel the tenderness and passion in their eyes.

It was Shao Changqing. He reached out and touched her face with a hand that carried a burning sensation. He wanted to touch every inch of her skin, like the gentle caress of a lover. The warmth in his touch conveyed the feeling of love. He kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear with a magnetic voice.

“You finally belong to me alone.”

Her throat was tightly grasped, but Chen Xuexian’s body suddenly relaxed. Tears streamed down her face, wetting the blindfold over her eyes. This was what she had longed for.

She realized that in that moment, she had found that butterfly.

The most beautiful butterfly was herself.

“You’ve found her after all.” In the interrogation room, Shao Changqing’s thoughts receded.

He calmly confessed the entire process of killing Chen Xuexian.

Lu Junchi asked, “You got to know Guo Chengfeng and Wu Chengguang under the pretext of business. You instigated Chen Xuexian among those men. You knew that Guo Chengfeng had a hot temper, so you deliberately provoked him to kill Wu Chengguang and then killed him, framing Qiu Jiarong. Have you been planning these things since the fight with Qiu Jiarong?”

Shao Changqing nodded gently.

Lu Junchi continued, “How did you know how many men Chen Xuexian had relationships with? Did you monitor her?”

Shao Changqing calmly explained, “Initially, I gave her a phone with a listening device installed. Later on, she told me herself.”

Lu Junchi asked further, “You are also the true culprit behind the murder of Guo Chengfeng, right? Chen Xuexian arranged a meeting with both Guo Chengfeng and Qiu Jiarong, recorded the audio to mislead the police, and after Qiu Jiarong left, you made Guo Chengfeng drunk and then entered her house to kill him. What else have you done?”

Shao Changqing pondered for a moment and then said, “I obtained some bloodstains from Guo Chengfeng. From Chen Xuexian, I obtained the key to Qiu Jiarong’s house. I replaced his medication and wiped the bloodstains on his clothes and shoe soles.”

“You also had contact with Qin Yiyun, Qiu Jiarong’s mother, right?”

Shao Changqing nodded, saying, “I obtained her personal information and phone number, pretending to be a family financial advisor. I contacted her, and we met several times. That old lady was lonely, and once we became familiar, she would tell me every detail of her fights with her husband and her son’s girlfriend. I took advantage of that and manipulated her.”

“Did you take away Chen Xuexian’s identification documents to create the illusion of her escape?” Lu Junchi asked.

Shao Changqing replied, “…I went to her address and took her identification documents.”

From this deduction, it was highly likely that the memory card was deliberately left there to mislead the police.

Lu Junchi looked at the man before him, and if he hadn’t heard it from his own mouth, it would be hard to imagine that he had done so much behind the scenes.

He not only made Qiu Jiarong’s mother doubt her own son but also made Qiu Jiarong begin to doubt himself…

He almost succeeded.

It’s just a pity that the more things he did, the more traces he left behind.

Even if his plans were clever, he couldn’t escape the law.

Facing Lu Junchi’s questioning, Shao Changqing calmly explained, “I believe that what sets humans apart from beasts is evolution and the ability to disguise oneself.” He lowered his head and continued, “I know that I haven’t done it completely; I haven’t evolved to a sufficient level. And I fell in love with that woman, which put me in a passive position. My plan was still incomplete.”

“And in the end, you killed Chen Xuexian?”

Shao Changqing said, “Love and death are not two separate things; they are two sides of the same coin.” He lifted the corners of his mouth, revealing a smile. “I let her experience the ultimate love, and in the end, she should be satisfied.”

Lu Junchi said, “I’m curious, if we hadn’t discovered you, how would you have disposed of Chen Xuexian’s body?”

Shao Changqing sat up straight, calmly saying, “I would have cultivated mushrooms in the box containing the body. The spores would absorb every trace of flesh and blood. Then, I would have separately extracted the bones and crushed them into bone powder, mixing them with soil. Everything would have disappeared.”

If the police hadn’t caught on any later, within half a year, all traces of Chen Xuexian would have been completely erased by him.

Lu Junchi looked at him, and the man before him was incredibly calm. Sitting in the interrogation room, he confidently analyzed the whole situation, as if he were a student summarizing his experiences and lessons.

He wasn’t a ruthless criminal; he had always maintained his sanity and wasn’t that deranged. But in him, Lu Junchi saw endless darkness.

Su Hui was right. This man before him was completely different from a normal person.

At six o’clock in the morning, the group finally emerged from the interrogation room. The rain had stopped, and everyone had been busy all night.

Su Hui couldn’t hold on anymore and fell asleep on the sofa for a while.

The case was solved, and Qiao Ze’s eyes were bloodshot from excitement. He stretched lazily and said, “Finally, it’s finished!!”

Now, with the culprit captured, they only needed to wrap up the case and write the summary.

Lu Junchi said, “You’ve all worked hard. Go home early, take the day off today, and come back tomorrow for the case summary.”

“It’s a good thing that Captain Lu and Professor Su saw through him. I almost got fooled by this psychopath,” Xia Mingxi was still caught up in the excitement of solving the case, actively saying, “No worries, Captain Lu. We volunteered to work overtime. Give me two days, and I’ll have the summary ready.”

The process of solving a case was always arduous, from initially entering the maze, to later uncovering the truth, then experiencing twists and turns, and finally revealing the truth.

Within the entire Major Crimes Unit, everyone couldn’t contain their excitement at solving the case. It was another case cracked, and it was worth celebrating.

As Lu Junchi turned around, he saw Su Hui. He had just woken up and was sitting on the sofa, holding his cane. Perhaps due to staying up all night, his face was a bit pale, and he looked calm, his gaze empty and staring ahead.

The current case had been solved, but Su Hui didn’t feel the slightest sense of relief. His own concerns made him somewhat out of sync with the jubilant atmosphere.

Su Hui felt a bit emotional. Humans truly were the most complex beings in the world, unfathomable creatures.

Each person is unique, and everyone has their own inner world, which leads them to act differently…

In this city, there are thousands upon thousands of people. You don’t know what others are thinking, what they have done, or what they are planning to do. Those ordinary and mediocre passersby, neighbors next door, hurried colleagues and superiors in the company… you can’t say for certain which person might be a hidden killer.

“It’s late today, let’s go home first,” Lu Junchi crouched in front of Su Hui and whispered.

Su Hui looked up at Lu Junchi. His vision was blurred, but the person before him was like his eyes, his ears, his world…

He placed his cold fingers in his palm and instantly felt a wave of warmth engulf his body.

Chen Xuexian’s body had been found, but he knew that this matter was not yet over. He hadn’t discovered the connection between Chen Xuexian and himself…

Author’s note: The theory of the Dark Triad is derived from Paulhus, D. L. & Williams, K. M. (2002).

Love and death are not two separate things; they are two sides of the same coin. – Yi Yi