i must be in hell

[Love is indeed a very wonderful thing... Although philosophy is wise, love is wiser than her; although power is powerful, love is greater than her.The color of flame is love's wings, the color of fire is love's body, her lips are sweet as honey, and her breath is sweet as milk. 】

-Wilde

The room is dark, only the colorful pictures on the screen, projected on the wall, leaving large and small light spots.

The sound of gurgling water came from somewhere, drop by drop, like water leaking from a water pipe and dripping to the ground.But listen carefully, the sound is not quite like it.It felt sticky and heavy, and when it hit the ground, it didn't make a crisp sound, but seemed heavy instead.

It sounded more like something else was dripping, some kind of viscous, heavy liquid.

One sound after another, repeating in the ear.

He opened his eyes suddenly, facing the red suspended ceiling, and after a while of dizziness, he leaned on the sofa to support himself with difficulty.The surroundings are in chaos, men and women are all drunk on the sofa, some are naked and intertwined, some are lying alone on the edge, food crumbs, wine, are scattered all over the floor, mixed with the smell of lust, There was a faint salty smell in the air.

Tick, tick, tick.

The sound of water was still there, making him restless.

He pushed away the woman on his body, took staggering steps, trying to find the source of the sound of water.After stepping over a lot of drunk people, he finally saw a woman lying with her back to him in the middle of the thick carpet.

A broken wine bottle was lying beside the woman, and the sound of water might be coming from this bottle.He stretched out his foot and kicked the drunk woman lightly.

"Hey, wake up."

The woman was lightly touched by him, but did not respond.

Now he became impatient, bent down to turn the woman over, and said to her:

"I said you, you—!"

The voice suddenly stuck in his throat, his eyes widened, his black pupils suddenly constricted, the whites of his eyes dilated, and he looked at the woman in horror.

One minute later, the people in the box were awakened by a shrill cry.

Night, no longer peaceful.

Ning Xiao never liked to hesitate when doing things, but today he stood at the door of the criminal police brigade, but he wandered around several times without making up his mind whether to go in or not.The previous two experiences made him not have a good impression of patronizing the police force. After all, who likes to go to the police station when they have nothing to do?

But this time, besides this, Ning Xiao couldn't think of any other place to solve it.It's just that he was worried that what he wanted to say was so unbelievable, if the guy in the police force thought he was talking nonsense, what should he do then?

Turn left, turn right.Ning Xiao circled around the police station's entrance for about ten times. He was immersed in his own thoughts, and he didn't even notice that the monitor above his head had been staring at him for a long time.The surveillance camera seemed to be locked on to Ning Xiao, and it swayed slightly as he walked, always locking him in the very center of the surveillance screen.It is estimated that if Ning Xiao goes on like this, the people in the police force will first arrest him as a suspect.

"What a coincidence, I met you here, have you eaten yet?"

When Ning Xiao was still troubled, someone passing by came to say hello.When he looked up, he saw Xu Shangyu walking down the path, holding a pancake in his hand, and smiling at him.

Officer Xu greeted Ning Xiao in the most common way.Ning Xiao touched his stomach, it seemed that he was really hungry, and he didn't eat breakfast when he went out in the morning.

Seeing that he was covering his stomach with his hands, Xu Shangyu generously handed over the cake in his hand. "I just bought some as a snack on the way, but I haven't eaten it yet, so I'll give it to you."

"No need..." Ning Xiao was about to refuse.

"Xu Ji's finger cakes on the Ninth Avenue, I bought them in line and made them fresh, and added ten yuan to the barbecue." Xu Shangyu smiled and said: "Smell it, smell it?"

cuckoo-

His stomach growled disobediently, Ning Xiao looked at the pancake in his hand, and couldn't bear to refuse it cruelly.He took it with both hands, and said: "I owe you once, next time I will treat you to Liu Fushi's meat buns."

Xu Shangyu smiled without saying a word. He figured out the taste of the person in front of him. He is an absolute carnivore, and he loves to eat meat.

"Hey, that's not right." Ning Xiao was about to take a bite, looked at Xu Shangyu, and suddenly stopped. "Where did you go out in casual clothes today on a working day?"

Seeing Xu Shangyu's dusty appearance, he couldn't help guessing: "Is...there is a new progress in Zhang Ming's case?"

Xu Shangyu shook his head and said with a smile: "No, it's my private matter. And even if the case progresses, I can't tell you, an ordinary citizen, that we have an obligation to keep it confidential."

"Confidentiality obligation." Ning Xiao repeated these words with some displeasure, and bit down hard.I muttered in my heart, if it weren't for me, you still don't know in which sea you will sink your body, keep it secret, hum.

Of course, he was just thinking about it, if Xu Shangyu were to tell him the inside information, he would not say so, and the policeman would definitely not agree.Even if it's a beauty trick, it's useless... Wait, quickly delete that idea just now, what kind of beauty trick is messed up.

Xu Shangyu looked at Ning Xiao and shook his head violently while eating the cake, and said a little amusedly: "You are so mysterious all the time, why are you looking for me again today?"

Ning Xiao swallowed a mouthful of meat, looked at him, there was still some oil around his mouth, and his cheeks bulged.

"Slow down, no one will grab it from you." Xu Shangyu couldn't laugh or cry, "Why don't I still have two buns here, and I'll give them to you too."

Gudong.

After taking a big bite of meat, Ning Xiao finally felt a little more at ease in his heart.He pondered that the reason why he was so hesitant just now probably had a lot to do with being hungry.Once the stomach is hungry, the brain is underfed, and his thoughts stagnate.

Now that he had a bite of meat, he finally made up his mind.

"Xu Shangyu."

Ning Xiao opened his mouth and said solemnly, "I'm here to report the crime."

……

Five minutes later, the two sat in the police office.Ning Xiao sat on the guest chair against the wall, Xu Shangyu took out the chair and sat down.

"Please say."

Xu Shangyu said: "Who is the murderer?"

"...Why didn't you ask me what case I reported, and just asked the murderer?"

"I think that when people like you arrive at the police station, the real culprit must have been found out, and all the schemes have been exposed. As long as we police sit on the sidelines and listen to your wonderful reasoning, we can go out and arrest people."

As Xu Shangyu said, he poured a cup of tea in his hand in a dignified manner, pretending to be listening attentively.

"People like us?"

"Sherlock Holmes, Dupin, Dr. Phil, Di Renjie, Conan, Monkey King, etc."

The last random intrusion is not counted, the first few are all well-known detectives at home and abroad.Xu Shangyu compared such a character with Ning Xiao, to be honest, it was a bit of a compliment.

Ning Xiao carefully looked at him several times, and saw that he didn't look like he was joking, but he was very serious.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you. No, or to put it another way, I know who the mastermind behind the scenes is, but I can't guess the specific murderer without conclusive evidence and clues."

"The amount of information in your words is a bit large." Xu Shangyu was slightly taken aback. "In general movies, the protagonists say this before they start fighting against the evil forces."

Ning Xiao nodded and said, "Indeed, it must be a big organization. They are dangerous enough. What would you think if I said that the two previous cases I participated in were inseparable from this organization?"

Xu Shangyu put away his joking expression and looked at him.

"you sure?"

"Soon, there will be another unusual murder case in the city." Ning Xiao said, "You will know at that time whether what I said is true."

Xu Shangyu's face was solemn, and his voice was a little colder than before.

"Who are you talking about manipulating behind the scenes?"

"A crazy pervert."

After Ning Xiao explained the cause and effect of the incident to Xu Shangyu, he was relieved that he did not see any contemptuous expression on the policeman's face. "I have no evidence now, so I can only rely on some speculation and reasoning. I don't think anyone will easily believe such absurd things, but cases will definitely happen again."

"There will be more deaths and more sacrifices. Even if the direct murderer is not him, this is his letter of challenge to me." Ning Xiao said: "I hope you can believe me."

When choosing to tell Xu Shangyu all the guesses in his heart, Ning Xiao was actually a little apprehensive.How could a person manipulate a real murder case according to the facts in the novel?This kind of fantasy is only worthy of appearing in third-rate scripts.He was ready to be treated as a joke, but unexpectedly, Xu Shangyu did not deny him decisively.

After thinking for a long time, Xu Shangyu spoke again.When he spoke, he pressed his lips, almost gnashing his teeth.

"Three days."

Xu Shangyu said: "I applied to hire you as a special consultant, and sorted out all the report materials for the past month for you. You have to read them within three days and eliminate any suspicious points."

Ning Xiao opened his mouth slightly, Xu Shangyu's reaction was completely different from what he expected.

"Every second, an innocent person may die in vain in this world." Xu Shangyu looked at him and said in a deep voice, "I can't afford to bet, Ning Xiao, I can only trust your judgment."

It wasn't until this time that Ning Xiao suddenly felt that the person in front of him was really a policeman.From Xu Shangyu's words, he heard a heavy tone.

That is Xu Shangyu's mission and responsibility.