An Xun swept through the corridor of the Major Crimes Unit like a gust of wind. Ever since Ling Lie joined the Municipal Bureau, An Xun, who was always half a beat slow in doing things, had started speeding around like he was on Hot Wheels.

Downstairs, Ling Lie was already waiting by the police car.

Ideally, this case shouldn’t have required the Major Crimes Unit to take action. However, firstly, Zhang Chunquan was a university student who died inside Xiarong City’s best university, which made the impact complex. Secondly, the reason he was discovered before floating to the surface was that Xiarong University had reported him missing.

A missing person case.

Ji Chenjiao had been very concerned about “disappearances” lately. As soon as he saw the report from the sub-bureau, he decided to have An Xun participate in the autopsy.

An Xun slammed on the brakes beside the police car. “Lie, Brother Lie!”

“Get in,” Ling Lie said. “I’m going to take a look too.”

The twenty-one-year-old young man lay on the autopsy table, emitting a putrid smell. Although the temperature at the bottom of the lake was very low in autumn and winter, preserving some pre-death characteristics, the autopsy was still quite difficult after being submerged for so long.

While An Xun worked with the forensic doctor from the sub-bureau, Ling Lie wore a protective suit and circled the autopsy table. He watched them dissect while distractedly reading the on-site investigation report.

There were many footprints on the lake island. Although the school had locked up the boats, once the embankment was above water level, there would always be students who ignored warnings and went to the island. In the eyes of students, that island seemed to be a good place for romance. The low trees were tied with many red ribbons and bells, written with words about growing old together with so-and-so. Some students also treated the trees there as wishing trees, tying ribbons to pray for good luck before exams and hoping not to fail.

The first half of Zhang Chunquan’s footprints overlapped with others’, but in the section near the water where he entered the lake, there were no other footprints. His last two steps were particularly deep, showing hesitation but no retreat.

Ling Lie imagined the scene at that time—Zhang Chunquan walked from the embankment to the lake island, the swaying lake water wetting his shoes and pant legs. He passed through drifting ribbons and bells singing in the wind, arriving at the other end of the lake island where the terrain was low and one could walk directly into the water.

At first, his pace was fast, as if he couldn’t wait to do a certain thing. Later, his steps became slower and slower. Each step was half resolute and half reluctant, as if they were tearing him apart.

Finally, he stood in the damp soil by the lake. The downward gravity gripped him tightly. He stared at the moonlit lake surface. Not far behind him, the streetlights on the Study Bridge were cold and clear; there were no students passing by anymore.

He was struggling against an impulse towards death, but he lost. He took another step forward, then stayed there for a long time, perhaps looking up at the incomplete moon. His body tottered in the wind; perhaps he took advantage of the wind to leap into the water.

What was he thinking when he stood by the lake? Ling Lie narrowed his eyes, his gaze seeming to penetrate the cold reality and see Zhang Chunquan’s eyes. The young man’s eyes were empty, just like this corpse on the autopsy table.

Before he set foot on the path to drown himself in the lake, he was already dead.

The forensic doctors finished the autopsy. An Xun changed out of his protective suit and washed the smell off his hands and body. “Brother Lie, it was drowning, and there are no signs of struggle or restraint on his body. Next, we need to do a microbial comparison to see if he died in the lake or was moved to the lake after death, though the latter possibility is actually negligible. In addition, we need to take the internal organs for pharmacological testing. My preliminary judgment is suicide, but whether he was under the influence of drugs will depend on the results of this test.”

Ling Lie arrived at Xiarong University. The season was already bleak, with the wind stinging people’s faces and dead leaves scattered all over the ground.

Normally, this autumn scenery would be quite attractive, but now, with such a major incident occurring on campus, many campus activities had stopped, and students walked hurriedly. Especially on the Study Bridge connecting the dormitories and teaching buildings—because it spanned across the landscape lake, one could see the lake island no matter how they walked. Everyone unconsciously quickened their pace; the scenes of playing around on the Study Bridge in the past no longer existed.

The police had set up a cordon by the lake, and there were also officers guarding the lake island. The lake water had submerged the embankment, so the officers rowed boats to get to the island. Ling Lie looked at the edge of the embankment; the water wasn’t deep, only submerged by a few centimeters.

He asked a school worker for rain boots and stepped onto the embankment.

The beat cop from the police station was frightened. “Teacher Ling, it’s dangerous!”

Ling Lie waved his hand, indicating he knew what he was doing, and walked slowly towards the lake island.

He was from the Major Crimes Unit, so the beat cop certainly didn’t dare to intervene. But the wind on the lake was strong right now, and Ling Lie looked very thin. If his foot slipped and the wind blew, he would fall into the lake! The beat cop watched with trepidation, not understanding why he insisted on wading through the water to the lake island when there was clearly a boat!

Ling Lie was also thinking about this question. There were so many ways to commit suicide. Even if it was just jumping into the lake, one could enter the water from the lakeside after 10 PM. Why insist on walking across this embankment that wasn’t easy to walk on at all?

Because the lake island was more hidden? But Zhang Chunquan jumped after 10 PM. At that time, there was no difference between the island and the lakeside; both were deserted. Moreover, Zhang Chunquan walked from the lakeside to the lake island at 8:30 PM, close to 9 PM. That was the peak time for finishing classes and evening self-study, and many people saw him walking on the embankment.

What if there was someone particularly enthusiastic, or full of curiosity or responsibility, who shouted at him from the bridge, “Hey, don’t go on the island at this time, it’s dangerous”? What if someone ran directly onto the embankment and pulled him down? The most likely scenario was that someone saw him from the bridge.

The latter was already a fact. When the police first investigated, they obtained eyewitness information, which narrowed the search scope to the landscape lake.

Thinking of this, Ling Lie suddenly stopped. Was this exactly the effect Zhang Chunquan wanted? Did he hope to be seen, hope that someone would come to stop him when he walked towards a dead end? He couldn’t stop himself, so he could only pin his hopes on others? Or perhaps, he didn’t want to be stopped, but longed to be discovered as soon as possible after death?

The lake water crashed against the rain boots, like a force spreading up from the world of the dead. They seemed light, but if one’s footing wasn’t steady enough, it would be easy to be pushed into the lake by them.

Ling Lie looked down at the water, which appeared soft and peaceful on the surface but was essentially fierce. Staring at it for too long, one might even feel it had a strange attraction, making one want to walk into it and become it.

If a normal person could have such absurd thoughts while gazing at the water surface, what about a person whose heart was already riddled with holes?

Ling Lie walked onto the lake island and stood amidst the sound of wind chimes. This place might be romantic during the day, but late at night, when all was silent, it could be the eeriest place in all of Xiarong University.

It might urge a person seeking death towards their fate.

Ling Lie turned around, facing away from the direction Zhang Chunquan entered the water. Zhang Chunquan seemed to be walking towards him. Behind him was the thick night, the boiling lake water, the broken moonlight. They formed a bizarre picture, as if Zhang Chunquan was fleeing from this picture.

In Zhang Chunquan’s death, dying was just the most insignificant result.

Ling Lie took a deep breath, his lungs filling with the dampness of the lake water. The core of this case probably lay in that force that pushed Zhang Chunquan towards death.

At this time, the school administration was even more nervous and fearful than the students. Several school gates were closed urgently, no media were allowed in, and the leaders repeatedly exhorted the teachers not to talk nonsense after leaving the school.

Ling Lie wasn’t wearing a uniform. When he arrived at the School of Materials Science, he was stopped by security. Only after showing his ID did the other party half-believingly say they would ask the director.

Fifteen minutes later, four people who looked like teachers arrived. One was Zhang Chunquan’s counselor, one was the logistics director, and the other two were leaders of the School of Materials Science.

Before coming, Ling Lie had read the preliminary investigation reports from the sub-bureau and the police station. It mentioned that Zhang Chunquan was born in a small city in another province, his parents were workers, and his financial conditions weren’t good. However, he studied hard and had a cheerful personality. The change happened during the summer vacation a few months ago; after school started, he became a different person.

Ling Lie asked, “If students stay at school during the summer vacation, how is accommodation arranged?”

The counselor nudged the logistics director with an elbow. The logistics director was a female teacher wearing glasses, very nervous. “We… we don’t have many undergraduate students living on campus. For unified management, we gather them into the graduate dormitories, divided by department and school. Generally, those living in one dorm are students from the same school and know each other.”

Ling Lie said, “How many people were in Zhang Chunquan’s dorm? Were they all from the School of Materials Science?”

The logistics director printed out a form. Zhang Chunquan lived in a four-person room. The other three were from the same school but different departments.

Ling Lie folded the form and asked again, “Regarding summer jobs, do students find them themselves, or does the school arrange them?”

“The school also has arrangements, but there isn’t much to do at school during the holidays, and the pay isn’t high. The vast majority of students find jobs themselves.” The logistics director looked troubled. “We… we require them to register. This is mainly to prevent them from doing dangerous or unethical jobs for money. If they encounter disputes, the school can also step in to coordinate. But… but…”

Ling Lie raised an eyebrow. “But are there exceptions?”

The logistics director looked at the vice dean.

The vice dean said, “It’s like this. Some students don’t listen to advice and insist on doing jobs we prohibit, so they don’t come to register. In this situation, it’s indeed hard for us to manage.”

Ling Lie said, “Then what did Zhang Chunquan register as?”

The logistics director hemmed and hawed. “It was tutoring. He signed up at a tutoring agency. Where he went to teach was arranged by the agency, and safety was also their responsibility.”

Ling Lie saw that the logistics director was hesitant to speak and asked, “Actually, Zhang Chunquan had another job? He didn’t register, and you didn’t question it?”

“Comrade, we really can’t control this. University students are adults. If they insist on not letting us manage them, we can’t do anything.” The vice dean waved his hand. “Let me put it this way. As soon as this happened, we held an emergency meeting and also learned from students that Zhang Chunquan became abnormal after spending the summer vacation. We sent someone to ask the tutoring agency if something happened. The other party checked the schedule—Zhang Chunquan was just listed there in name, but he didn’t teach a single class!”

Ling Lie said, “You also don’t know where he really worked during the summer?”

Vice Dean: “We don’t know!”

Given the short timeframe, it was normal for the school not to find out, but the police definitely had to investigate clearly. Ling Lie called Ji Chenjiao and explained the situation here. Ji Chenjiao said he would immediately arrange manpower to investigate Zhang Chunquan’s movements during the summer.

The sub-bureau was questioning Zhang Chunquan’s classmates, including the students who shared a dorm with Zhang Chunquan during the summer. Ling Lie listened for a while, greeted the detective from the sub-bureau, and called them out one by one.

“I met Zhang Chunquan in the student union. He… he was a pretty good person. I was only a freshman at the time, the only freshman staying at school. He took the initiative to find me and asked me to share a dorm with him so he could take care of me.”

Xiao Quan said he felt Zhang Chunquan was like an older brother. When the vacation just started, they went to find jobs together. He was willing to do any job, but Zhang Chunquan, being a year older, wanted to find something more decent. After hitting a few walls, they found a tutoring agency. After interviews, written tests, and trial lectures, they both passed. There was a basic salary for being listed, and if matched with parents, there would be class fees.

What puzzled Xiao Quan was that he actively communicated with parents and signed a high school sophomore student in less than a week, but Zhang Chunquan slacked off after being listed and didn’t strive for parents at all.

But Xiao Quan became busy and had no time to care about what Zhang Chunquan was doing. He only knew that although Zhang Chunquan didn’t tutor students, he left early and returned late every day, possibly doing another job.

By the end of July, the tutoring agency asked Xiao Quan if Zhang Chunquan was still coming. Xiao Quan went back to school to find Zhang Chunquan. That day, Zhang Chunquan returned to the dorm very late; the other two roommates had already returned. Zhang Chunquan treated everyone to barbecue and said he was going away for a few days in August. Xiao Quan hurriedly asked, “Then are you still going to work at the agency?” Zhang Chunquan patted his shoulder and laughed, “Brother has other work.”

University campuses aren’t like high schools. In high school, classmates, especially roommates, know everything about each other, but in university, everyone has secrets. Moreover, roommates during holidays aren’t even really classmates. Upon hearing this and knowing Zhang Chunquan didn’t want to say what work he was doing, everyone tacitly didn’t continue asking.

A few days later, Zhang Chunquan indeed disappeared. Everyone just assumed he went out of town to make money. They were all students from not-so-wealthy families. When others asked, they also helped cover for Zhang Chunquan, saying he was tutoring.

But what they didn’t expect was that Zhang Chunquan said he would be gone for a few days, but by late August, he was still nowhere to be seen.

Xiao Quan was a bit worried, thinking something might have happened to Zhang Chunquan. He was young and simple-minded, wanting to report to logistics and the counselor. Just in case something really happened to Zhang Chunquan, like falling into a pyramid scheme trap or something, the school could contact the police to rescue him as soon as possible.

But the other two roommates stopped him. “Zhang Chunquan obviously doesn’t want people to know about this. If you tell logistics now and he comes back fine, aren’t you harming him?”

Xiao Quan thought this made sense. After thinking it over, he gave up.

At the end of August, school started, and everyone returned to their original dorms. Xiao Quan was still uneasy and asked around among the juniors, finally hearing that Zhang Chunquan had returned.

He happily ran to find Zhang Chunquan. Zhang Chunquan looked at him but acted as if he didn’t know him at all. He froze on the spot, thinking this was too strange. Before leaving, Zhang Chunquan had hooked his arm around his shoulder and gone to the cafeteria to get food with him. How could he become like this after not seeing him for a month?

But he didn’t dare to ask more, nor did he dare to approach Zhang Chunquan. He thought something must have happened to Zhang Chunquan. It was his responsibility for not informing logistics in time that Zhang Chunquan became like this!

Xiao Quan started crying as he spoke. Ling Lie handed him two tissues.

The other two roommates were much more mature than Xiao Quan. Ling Lie chatted with the three of them separately. They answered some questions vaguely, seemingly afraid of implicating themselves and unwilling to say much. But generally, there were no contradictions in their answers.

Among the students questioned, Xiao Mi was undoubtedly the focus. She no longer had the nervousness of her first contact with the police and boldly described the scene of seeing Zhang Chunquan that night over and over again.

Ling Lie crossed his arms and listened to her from the side.

“Did you find Zhang Chunquan’s phone? He might have read the novel I an… no, recommended to him.” Xiao Mi looked a bit dejected. “I don’t know if I harmed him. His classmates said he became very strange this semester. I probably shouldn’t have recommended that kind of novel to him.”

Zhang Chunquan’s phone hadn’t been found yet. It likely fell to the bottom of the lake, and a small phone was hard to find. Shen Qi was checking the content saved on the server according to the account registered by Zhang Chunquan.

Ling Lie asked, “Infinite Flow? Why shouldn’t you have recommended it to him?”

Xiao Mi glanced at Ling Lie and immediately shrank her neck. This person was a police officer, but completely different from the police officers in her imagination. She had never seen such a good-looking police officer.

“That…” Xiao Mi twirled her hair, a bit stuck.

Ling Lie pulled out a chair and sat down. “Here, I’ll take your recommendation.”

Xiao Mi’s eyes lit up, her anxiety gradually easing. She tapped on her phone a few times and found a novel. “It’s this one. Infinite Flow is a genre…”

She explained for a while, her eyes starting to turn red. “Some deaths that look bizarre and sudden in our world happen because they have already died in the battle world. I think, I think…”

Ling Lie quickly understood what she meant. “You think Zhang Chunquan’s death is very similar to the death described in the book?”

Xiao Mi said, “I know it’s impossible. Fiction is fiction, reality is reality. I’m not stupid enough to believe that. But, but the more I think about it, the fishier it feels. Zhang Chunquan wasn’t like this before. Why did he become like this as soon as this semester started? His classmates said he disappeared for nearly a month during the summer vacation. This is too similar to the situations written in the book.”

“When we met that day, he might have wanted to die then, but he hadn’t made up his mind yet, and was interrupted by me.” Xiao Mi continued, “There is a scene of drowning in the lake in this book. Oh my god, could I have added fuel to the fire!”

Ling Lie chuckled softly. “Student Xiao Mi, you are a university student.”

Xiao Mi was usually very emotional. She had been frightened by her own imagination just now. Hearing Ling Lie’s laughter, she came back to her senses, a bit embarrassed. “So-sorry. I really do feel that Zhang Chunquan’s death, no, and the process before his death, is very similar to the novel.”

Ling Lie didn’t believe in any inner world or surface world, but Xiao Mi’s words gave him an important line of thought.

Sitting in the car, he downloaded a few reading apps, searched for Infinite Flow novels, and skimmed through both male-oriented and female-oriented ones. He also read some explanations about Infinite Flow, learning that this genre was popular in web novels and many young people read it. Its setting was fascinating—could this setting be exploited by evil? Was the month Zhang Chunquan went missing spent participating in a similar “game”?

Extending from this line of thought, Yong Huihao went missing last November and was later killed as a “Feng Shui fish.” Tang Qi also went missing last November and jumped off a building to commit suicide, with talismans among the physical evidence. Did they also go missing because they participated in a similar “game”?

This hypothesis was very detached from reality. Even Ji Chenjiao, who was accustomed to Ling Lie’s erratic thinking, found it incredible.

Leaving aside how much energy it would take to organize such a “game,” how could the people behind it ensure that everyone who left alive wouldn’t tell the whole story? And why move a literary genre into reality?

Ling Lie didn’t stubbornly stick to his view but said, “If they are made to die, can the secret be kept?”

Yong Huihao, Tang Qi, and Zhang Chunquan were indeed dead.

But saying they died due to Yu Qianming’s superstition was more credible than saying they died in a so-called Infinite Flow game.

Thinking about the case, Ling Lie interjected, “Does ‘Floating Light’ have any movement?”

Ji Chenjiao said, “There’s a lot of movement abroad, but within the borders, it seems they have really ceased all activities.”

The investigation didn’t stop for a moment. An Xun rushed into the Major Crimes Unit office with two reports. “Microbial comparison shows Zhang Chunquan drowned in the landscape lake, not moved after death. The pharmacological and toxicological results are also out. No ‘Snow Child’, nor other poisons, but he took melatonin for a long time.”

Ling Lie: “Melatonin? Did he have sleep problems?”

At this time, Shen Qi also arrived. “He bought the melatonin at a pharmacy. He had no medical records. It’s hard to buy sleeping pills in regular pharmacies, but buying melatonin is easier.”

An Xun said, “He didn’t take a large amount or concentrate the dosage. He likely just used the medication to help with sleep.”

Ling Lie tapped his fingers gently on the table. “It seems Zhang Chunquan has been under a lot of mental pressure these past few months.”

Shortly after, Liang Wenxian sent back news. He found out what job Zhang Chunquan was doing behind the backs of the school and his roommates—he was working as a waiter at an e-sports club, and sometimes helped play for a while.