I showed the woman the video on my tablet. Upon seeing it, her eyes immediately darted away, as if she had done something wrong. I slammed my hand on the table and yelled, "Manager Xie, I think you should stop hiding things. Don't you understand the consequences of withholding information?"
"It's not what you think. Actually, what we have together... you know, we like to do it together!"
"You mean a threesome?" I teased.
Liu Yuning blushed and glared at me, while Manager Xie shyly admitted, "Yes, in fact, when we meet, we always arrange a place and then... "
"You don't understand, Officer He. My family is facing difficulties. My parents are both seriously ill and need medical treatment. The reason I asked you not to tell them is to avoid upsetting them. Otherwise, no matter how much money I earn, it will be useless."
"I will verify what you've said later. I hope you're not hiding anything. I'm here today because of the two victims, not for your personal issues."
"You mean Quan Yingzhen and Fu Yongyuan? I know they're dead. You suspect me because you found out I used to hang out with them, right?"
Guan Shansong seemed to understand, even before I could speak, and blurted it out herself. I observed her reaction, noticing no trace of nervousness or panic.
"Yes, when was the last time you saw them? What did you do? Did they behave unusually at the time?" I fired off a series of questions.
"They were the same as usual. It was the day before I learned about what happened to them. Honestly, I never dreamed that someone in the association would meet with misfortune. Everyone was a bit scared then, and some even wanted to quit, but the boss calmed them down, saying those were accidents and the killer wouldn't target us."
"So, you ultimately compromised?" I asked.
Guan Shansong shook her head, bit her lip, hesitated for a moment, and then her lips parted slightly as she said, "It wasn't a compromise. We were already infatuated with this kind of life. That's right, at first, it was just for money, but later, I found myself actually enjoying this feeling. I became addicted to it. I felt like a part of me was missing every week if I didn't do it. It was like it was in my blood. If I didn't, I would feel incredibly restless. Perhaps this is what you call addiction, but I genuinely love this kind of thrilling life. It felt like it had completely opened up my horizons, allowing me to enter a whole new world!"
"I understand you're tired of ordinary life, but that's no excuse for infidelity. If everyone behaved like you, imagine how chaotic marital relationships would become," I said with a hint of disdain.
"I didn't think that far ahead at the time. I didn't care about the consequences. If I didn't break free from that boring life, I feared I would collapse. It was better to truly release myself and find rebirth than to wither away in boredom."
I didn't want to engage in a lengthy discussion of such theories with Guan Shansong, as her mindset had already diverged significantly from that of ordinary people. During those...
"In all those activities you recall, was there anyone who seemed to enjoy it on the surface but was actually probing or testing something? Do you understand what I mean?"
"Are you referring to the family members among us? Now that you mention it, I do recall one time. A man was walking quickly down the hotel corridor, and I bumped into him. He looked incredibly angry. I thought, what's wrong with this guy? Now that I think about it, was that guy constantly monitoring the situation in our hotel? He was wearing a maintenance worker's uniform at the time."
"And how many people were involved with you in those encounters?"
"Besides the victims you mentioned earlier, there was a newcomer named Teng Yanrou. She was a bit uncomfortable at first and was hurt by Fu Yongyuan. She cried quite miserably. I tried to comfort her a bit, as many people who came at first were just like her, but later they became very compliant after we 'trained' them. So, we didn't pay much attention then."
Teng Yanrou. I made a mental note of the name and decided to investigate her later. For now, I took my leave of Guan Shansong.
Back at the provincial department, after some investigation, I discovered that Teng Yanrou was indeed a member of the s.m. association. However, she had only joined less than half a month prior. Furthermore, we reviewed her online chat records and found that after being mistreated by Fu Yongyuan, she had not attended any such activities. Her whereabouts also remained confined to her home. We were unsure what had happened.
At that time, in the information department, He Xin had a bold idea: "Teng Yanrou, could she have already..."
I knew what she was implying. I asked her to provide the location, and I immediately took members of the Punishing Sin Squad to Teng Yanrou's home. It was a two-story residential building. As we approached, our hearts were pounding. After knocking a few times with no response, everyone braced for the worst. Seeing that no one opened the door, we stepped back a few paces and then pulled the door open.
As the door swung open, the entire world seemed to fall silent. It was already 7 PM. The surroundings were deathly quiet, but upon witnessing the gruesome sight of a severed head on the coffee table, everyone couldn't help but let out a soft gasp.