Volume 5: Butterfly Specimens

Huadu, it was a calm and ordinary night, past 9 o’clock, and the whole world had quieted down.

Streetlights by the roadside lit up one by one, accompanied by colorful neon lights, outlining a beautiful cityscape at night.

Autumn in Huadu is short, and it feels like winter will arrive soon.

A bus carrying passengers slowly departed from the bus stop. It was a busy station, and many passengers got off, instantly easing the crowded situation and dissipating any arguments or displeasure.

The bus suddenly became much emptier, with everyone having a seat, and even several seats remained vacant, leaving only half of the bus filled.

In the nighttime bus, the driver turned on the lights, and the entire cabin was bathed in warm orange light. The bus drove quickly and steadily, and the tired individuals who had been busy all day were eager to return home.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man voiced a question, “Hmm? Whose bag is this?”

He discovered the bag under the seat next to him. The bag was black, and in the dim evening, it would have gone unnoticed if not carefully observed. The middle-aged man picked up the bag, feeling its weight.

In the empty bus, with only a few people remaining, no one responded upon hearing his question.

Puzzled, the middle-aged man carried the bag and walked towards the front, saying to the driver, “Master, someone left their bag on the bus.”

The driver was still driving and joined in, shouting, “Whose bag is it?”

No one answered.

The driver then asked the middle-aged man, “Did you see who left the bag there?”

The middle-aged man replied, “No, I didn’t notice. I just got on not long ago.”

The driver asked again, “Did anyone see who left the bag?”

No one responded. Other passengers began discussing the situation, “What if it contains something valuable? It looks like a brand new bag.”

“Should we keep it at the final stop for them to pick up later?”

“How could someone forget such a big bag? Maybe they intentionally left it here!”

“On this bus, nothing gets lost. The driver has seen all sorts of things.”

“Oh, there seems to be a sound coming from the bag.” Suddenly, a girl sitting close by spoke.

The bus immediately fell into silence, and everyone remained silent.

Indeed, a strange sound emanated from the bag, a soft dripping sound, like the beep of an electronic alarm clock.

An Auntie said, “Let’s check just in case it’s something bad…”

Upon hearing this sentence, the expressions on the faces of the people on the bus changed, and the middle-aged man quickly unzipped the bag.

Inside the bag, there was a square iron box with red flashing numbers on it…

It was another dream. Su Hui could clearly distinguish that he was in a dream, but everything in that dream felt so real, as if it had actually happened.

Su Hui couldn’t quite explain whether it was a dream or a memory that suddenly surfaced in his mind.

Lately, this kind of situation seemed to be happening more frequently.

He would often dream, but upon waking up, he couldn’t remember many details of the dreams.

“…I know, Mom, I will go back home this weekend. Oh, I told you I already made friends, so you don’t have to arrange blind dates for me.”

“What? Bring her home for you to see? Isn’t that too fast? Shouldn’t we consider the other person’s feelings?”

The voice of his mother came from the phone, and she cautiously asked, “Then… how does she look? Is she easygoing?”

In the dream, Su Hui casually responded and said, “Mom, you have to trust your son’s judgment. She looks good, virtuous, and especially gentle. Well, except for not wanting children, she doesn’t have any flaws…”

His mother wasn’t quite satisfied with that, but since he didn’t mind, she couldn’t say much and left a tentative remark, “Well… you two should discuss it and consider it. It can get lonely without children.”

Su Hui tried to persuade her, “Actually, if you want to experience the joy of raising someone, wouldn’t it be better to get a cat?”

His mother snorted, “Exactly, if I had gotten a cat back then, it wouldn’t have been so quick-witted in arguing with me.”

Su Hui quickly reassured her, “Mom, I recently bought a purple clay tea set for you, planning to bring it back next time.”

Upon hearing this, his own mother immediately smiled with joy and even asked him to take a picture to see.

Su Hui sarcastically asked, “Can a cat do that?”

His mother compromised, shaking her hand, “Okay, okay, wasn’t it your idea to get a cat first? You’ll know in the future. As long as our children are safe and happy, everything else comes second. Your father and I are just worried that you’re too lazy in your daily life and can’t take care of yourself. If you find someone similar and then get a cat, will our whole family starve?”

On the other end, his mother continued to nag about something, and Su Hui hung up the phone. He walked along the corridor of Building 3 and reached the corner, where he saw a person in work clothes squatting in front of a vending machine that was usually unattended.

Su Hui: “…”

Worker: “…”

Su Hui asked the worker, “Did you see anything else inside?”

The worker hesitated for a moment and handed over a lunchbox, saying, “You mean this… I was just thinking about it. The vending machine is almost full of drinks, but there’s a lunchbox in the dispensing outlet. I was wondering how smart our vending machine has become.”

Su Hui laughed and thought to himself, “It’s just that you encountered it today, occasionally it also dispenses umbrellas, roses, snacks, and small gifts…”

He walked upstairs, placed the lunchbox in a drawer, and took out a fluorescent paper from it.

That pack of fluorescent paper was the last one.

Su Hui skillfully and quickly folded it into a star and placed it next to the lunchbox.

His phone beeped, and a message appeared: “I brought chicken soup for you today, did you receive it?”

The corners of Su Hui’s mouth involuntarily lifted, “If I were five minutes later, the maintenance staff would have taken it from the vending machine.”

After a while, the other person replied, “Sorry, I’ll be more careful next time.”

“It’s not your fault. Have you boarded the high-speed train?” Su Hui remembered that he had mentioned earlier that he would be on a business trip today, so he put the lunchbox in early.

“It’s going well. Luo and I are together. Remember to eat on time.”

This business trip might last for half a month, and Su Hui said again, “I’ll give you this star and the next lunchbox when you come back.”

“I already have ninety-nine stars. If I add this one, I can make it an even hundred.”

Su Hui hesitated for a moment and typed, “Then let’s meet when you come back. I can personally give you the last star.”

Instantly, the other person replied, “Okay!”

Su Hui opened his computer, entered the password to log into the system, and a file awaiting receipt popped up.

It was another case involving fine sand…

He opened the document, which described the latest explosion incident. Two people died, and two were injured. This was the eighth victim of the fine sand explosion case.

There had been a series of crimes for several months, and this mysterious fine sand seemed to linger like a haunting spirit.

Su Hui frowned. He had conducted so many criminal profiles, but this case always surprised him.

Initially, the name “fine sand” originated from some sand grains found at the scene of the explosion. This type of explosive was homemade, with layers of sand isolating its contents. When it exploded, it left behind colorful tiny grains of sand, hence the nickname “fine sand.”

What Su Hui didn’t expect was that this bomb maker, who used homemade explosives, was constantly changing. He seemed to be using all his tricks to outsmart the police, making it difficult to decipher his behavioral logic.

The only constant was the timing of the crimes—every ten days, a bomb would appear in the city.

Except for the successfully defused eighth bomb, the others had all exploded, causing injuries and deaths.

One was in the busy market, the next one in an abandoned area, the following one was placed in a cemetery, and later it was left at the school entrance…

The police were extremely passive, following the killer everywhere, searching everywhere, but they never managed to capture this mysterious perpetrator.

The criminal pattern of fine sand kept changing; he didn’t conform to the norms of criminal psychology. He had no specific targets and no complete logical chain. He seemed like an unpredictable variable, a bug appearing in the city.

Where did things go wrong?

Su Hui took a deep breath and began examining the photos in detail.

There must be some patterns; he had to find the underlying logic within these complex materials to prevent the next disaster from happening.

While he was engrossed in his examination, the computer suddenly beeped.

Su Hui looked up and saw an unfamiliar account, sent from an internal source, but he couldn’t make out the sender’s account.

“Poet.”

The other person addressed him directly by his name.

Su Hui furrowed his brow and replied with a question mark, “?’

The other person typed, “You can’t catch me.”

In that instant, Su Hui felt as if someone lunged at him. Before he could even make out the person’s face, a knife was thrust into his body.

The icy blade seemed to freeze his flesh and blood, then slowly slid downward, cutting through his organs with excruciating pain coursing through his nerves.

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and shivers engulfed his entire body.

He struggled in agony, trying to sound the alarm, but his throat seemed to be constricted, allowing only painful groans to escape.

“Su Hui, Su Hui!” a familiar voice echoed in his ears. “Did you have a nightmare?”

Su Hui finally managed to break free from that dream, sitting up and tearing off his eye mask. It was like a suffocating person suddenly being able to breathe freely. He greedily gulped down the air, coughing uncontrollably.

Su Hui instinctively covered his abdomen, where there obviously wasn’t a lethal weapon. The wounds from two years ago had long since healed. But the feeling he had just experienced was too vivid.

His forehead was already damp with cold sweat. In the midst of confusion, Su Hui seemed to catch glimpses of some fragments, but he couldn’t recall the specific details. The dream had shattered into pieces, making it impossible for him to carefully trace the underlying logic.

Then he remembered, it was his last phone call to his mother. Since then, he never had the chance to see her again, and he couldn’t deliver that set of purple clay teapot to her.

Suddenly, he felt a pain in his chest, his fingers gripping tightly onto the bedding in front of him.

For a long time, Su Hui had been numb to everything around him. But as he was gradually pulled back into the world recently, the emotions that had been suppressed started surging out.

He felt overwhelmed for a moment, as if he was being engulfed by sadness. From his fingertips to his entire body, he couldn’t stop trembling.

Lu Junchi sat by his bedside, gently stroking his back. As Su Hui gradually calmed down from the panic, wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes, his gaze regained clarity.

Lu Junchi handed him a glass of warm water. Su Hui took a few sips and sat for a while before feeling slightly better. With a hoarse voice, he asked, “What time is it?”

Lu Junchi checked his phone and replied, “Seven o’clock.” It was earlier than Su Hui’s usual waking time.

As soon as Su Hui got up, he noticed that Lu Junchi had already prepared breakfast.

Today’s breakfast was a bit special, pocket sandwiches bought from the convenience store, filled with plenty of egg yolk and salad dressing.

Lu Junchi had gone for a run in the morning to buy them.

Su Hui immediately spotted the pocket sandwiches on the table and took a bite.

Lu Junchi asked, “Do you like it?”

Su Hui narrowed his eyes and said, “Mmm, it’s delicious. I really enjoy eating this kind with egg yolk sauce.”

The combination of egg yolk sauce and the freshness of the egg yolk created a delicate texture and brought back memories. Since moving to the police station, the convenience stores nearby were far away, and he hadn’t eaten this for a long time.

The delicious food eased the lingering effects of the nightmare, and Su Hui gradually felt much better.

Lu Junchi still remembered that this was the breakfast the poet used to enjoy.

He intentionally bought it today to confirm his suspicion.

People’s behaviors can easily change, but these small habits and preferences in life are difficult to alter.

Lu Junchi looked at Su Hui, hoping to find something in his expression.

Su Hui’s face was as pale as a fine piece of jade. He lowered his head, eating the salad egg pocket sandwich, and his long eyelashes drooped. There was a fragility in his appearance, as if he were a delicate porcelain that would break with a touch, but there was also a hidden resilience in his demeanor.

For a moment, Lu Junchi felt as if Su Hui’s soul and abilities were sealed within this seemingly frail body, burdened by the mundane world.

He had seen him give his all, effortlessly solving all difficulties before him, shining brightly and captivating everyone.

Seeing that Lu Junchi was watching him, Su Hui thought there might be something on his mouth and grabbed a tissue to wipe it off. Finding nothing, he picked up the second one.

Lu Junchi casually asked, “When you were with Dr. Huang before, he asked about your old injury. When did that happen?”

Su Hui paused for a moment, seemingly unwilling to bring it up. He casually replied, “It happened about two years ago, just an accident.”

Lu Junchi asked, “Can you tell me the specifics?”

Su Hui’s movements halted, indicating that he didn’t want to talk about it. He brushed it off lightly, saying, “It’s all in the past.”

After finishing the second egg yolk pocket sandwich, Su Hui licked the corner of his mouth with his tongue, then picked up the third one…

Hemingway seemed to have smelled the food and boldly jumped onto the table, meowing.

Su Hui evaded it and earnestly reasoned with the cat, “Kitties can’t eat this.”

He stuffed the last bite of bread into his mouth, then reached out with his other hand and gently rubbed the cat’s head.

Hemingway felt a bit resentful that his food was taken away by his owner and let out a meowing sound.

The topic quickly shifted, and the first cautious probe didn’t yield any clear clues.

As they were getting ready to leave, Su Hui noticed a small box on the table and picked it up. “Looks like a new jigsaw puzzle has arrived.”

There wasn’t enough time to open it now, so they would have to do it later.

Lu Junchi casually asked, “This box doesn’t look big.” Recently, he had gotten used to Su Hui occasionally buying complex puzzles through overseas shopping, but this puzzle box seemed too small.

Su Hui replied, “This is Jigsaw Puzzle 29, it only has 29 pieces, and it’s rated as a level ten difficulty.”

Lu Junchi asked, “How many levels of difficulty are there for puzzles?”

“Ten levels,” Su Hui replied as he put on his shoes. “But I don’t think it lives up to its name. Larger puzzles require pattern recognition, precision, and patience, while smaller puzzles mainly test problem-solving skills.”

Today was the beginning of the month, and Director Tan and several captains from the Criminal Investigation Division held a regular meeting.

The former director sipped his goji berry tea from a thermos and listened to the reports from each team.

Lu Junchi wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but he felt a shadow pass over Chief Tan’s brow.

Sure enough, after the meeting, Director Tan spoke up. “Yesterday, the Fourth District received a report of a timed bomb being placed on a bus. Fortunately, it was discovered in time, and the SWAT team was involved in defusing it. Based on the yield calculation, if the bomb had detonated, many people on the bus would have been in danger.”

The Criminal Investigation Division hadn’t received a detailed report on this matter yet, so everyone looked at each other in surprise upon hearing it.

It had been nearly two years since there was a bomb incident in Huadu, and they wondered whose responsibility it would fall on this time.

Explosions in the city were rare but occurred every few years.

Most of the bombs were simple and ordinary, some made from materials obtained from fireworks displays, and others from leaked chemicals.

These types of cases were relatively routine and easier to handle.

However, timed bombs… the sophisticated ones meant the perpetrator had a certain level of professional skills and was consciously evading and concealing their identity.

Cases like these weren’t like ordinary criminal cases with multiple leads to investigate. Bombings left few fingerprints and traces behind, and the scene would be chaotic after the explosion.

These cases were uncontrollable, and the casualties would be more severe than in ordinary cases.

Sometimes they even posed a threat to the lives of police officers.

Not to mention the Fine Sand Case from two years ago, which was a nightmare for the police in Huadu.

Now, this thing had emerged again, and everyone was sweating. Some people kept their heads down, seemingly afraid of being assigned to this case.

When Lu Junchi heard this, he looked up at Director Tan.

If this case was related to the Fine Sand Case, he felt somewhat inclined to take it on voluntarily.

But Director Tan avoided his gaze and looked up, saying, “Xing Yunhai, based on the Fifth Team, form a task force. Be sure to prioritize safety and cooperate with the SWAT bomb disposal team.”

Xing Yunhai lowered his head and said, “Alright.”

TN:

It just hit me that I haven’t been indicating the Volume Divisions or putting in the chapter summaries. I’m too lazy to do the summaries for all the previous chapters and starting midway just feels wrong, so yeah… deal with it*respectfully*. I will put the Volume divisions though coz those are kinda important to signal new cases.

Anywhoo…Yay new case!