This can be a vacant piece of land within the countryside. It’s off the overwhelmed observe.  A pile of previous junk sits amongst the bushes and overgrown grass.

Bo Jinyan parks his automobile on the facet of a mud highway and walks over. 

The police are in every single place.  The place has been totally searched.  There are pits on the bottom.  One in every of them has two policemen standing subsequent to it.  Bo Jinyan walks up and sees an enormous black plastic bag subsequent to the pit.  Additional again, there are a number of extra comparable wanting baggage, the place the police are analyzing the content material inside. They give the impression of being very intense and on the identical time, unhappy.  

Jian Yao’s coronary heart sinks.

Li walks as much as Bo Jinyan: “The dismembered physique components belong to a complete of eight boys.   Estimated time of loss of life for the newest physique is round one week.  We’d like additional testing to find out how lengthy the opposite our bodies have been there, however we expect the earliest homicide would have occurred greater than 12 months in the past.” 

Bo Jinyan nods and begins strolling in direction of the luggage. 

Jian Yao asks: “Can I keep right here?”

Each males take a look at her on the identical time.

Li sees her barely pale face: “Why don’t you wait within the automobile?”

Bo Jinyan retains his palms in his coat pocket to maintain heat.  He bents down barely and appears at her at ‘eye stage’: “Are you afraid?”

Jian Yao softly replies: “I don’t need to see.”

Bo Jinyan says mockingly:”Ah! Girl!”

Li is stunned at his remark.  Expertise tells Jian Yao that there’s extra to return.  Positive sufficient, she hears his voice that carries no emotions: “What a tragedy.”

Jian Yao appears at him: “No matter. I don’t need to see.” And she or he turns away.

Li is slightly surprised by the way in which they relate to one another.  He takes a take a look at Jian Yao and walks on with Bo Jinyan. 

–

Bo Jinyan squats on the bottom, He’s wanting via the objects within the bag sporting a pair of gloves. Li squats subsequent to him.

The physique components are lower very neatly.  The floor of the cuts are tidy.  Skins are nonetheless intact. Every physique is lower into seven items, together with the limbs and torso.

Li says “Based on preliminary forensic take a look at outcomes: The reason for loss of life is asphyxia.  There are bruises on their necks, brought on by generally obtainable nylon strings.  The physique is then lower into items.  We’re unable to find out what instruments had been used for the dismembering.  Apart from that, the victims undergo no different accidents.”

One other police officer asks:  “Professor, you mentioned yesterday that the assassin’s needs might be mirrored on the our bodies.  So what does the assassin need?”

Bo Jinyan factors to the physique components: “Nothing else was completed to them whereas they had been alive or after they died.  No sexual assault. No torture or abuse. No blood. No poisoning. He didn’t take any organ …… The assassin had just one objective – to kill and dismember.”

Li regarded on the corpses.  He all the time thought the youngsters may need suffered from sexual assault earlier than they died. However that weren’t the case.

One other policeman asks: “Do you imply… that he kidnapped these teenager simply to kill them? He isn’t making an attempt to take revenge on society?”

Bo Jinyan smiles: “True psychopaths don’t care concerning the group.  They do it as a result of they really feel they should, to not take revenge.”

That police is stunned on the reply. Li additionally raises his eyebrows to take a look at him.

Bo Jinyan stands up, appears in direction of the course of the farmers market: “Since he doesn’t play different tips, the case in all fairness straight ahead.  We have to determine what instruments he used to dismember the victims, and the tactic and sequence of how he did it.  As soon as now we have that data, we are able to discover the man. “

–

Jian Yao has waited within the automobile for fairly some time.  Bo Jinyan has not returned.  A younger policeman walks as much as her and says” Miss Jian, Professor Bo has left.  He requested me to move on this message to you – Drive again to the villa and wait there.” 

Jian Yao:  “The place did he go?”

The younger police replies: “He mentioned he wanted to purchase one thing, however he didn’t inform us the place he was going.”

——

Midnight.  Jian Yao is woke up by some irregular noise exterior.

She placed on her coat and slippers.  

The sound is just not coming from Bo Jinyan bed room, however a room she’s by no means been in.  It’s on the finish of the hallway.

She knocks on the door.   “Are available in.”

She will be able to odor blood when she walks in. 

The room is fitted with extraordinarily shiny lights.  The room could be very huge.  There’s no decoration on any of the partitions.     

Bo Jinyan is sporting a medical jumpsuit, full with surgical masks and cap.  

This complete scene reminds her of the film “Resident Evil”.

On high of an oblong chrome steel desk  lies a unadorned man’s physique.  Immobile. Behind him, there are 5 – 6 extra of those desk, every with a physique on it. 

Bo Jinyan appears at her:”Now that you’re awake. Give me a hand.”

“What are you doing?” Jian Yao asks.

Bo Jinyan is shifting one thing that resembles a cupboard that’s roughly 80cm excessive, with movable wheels on the underside.  He locations it subsequent to the corpse on the desk.  There are a number of blades connected to the facet of the cupboard.  Jian Yao appears nearer on the design.  They seem like guillotines. He leisurely replies: “Actual useless physique, human fashions, pc simulations…. I have to experiment with all of them to find out the instruments, processes and methodologies of how the killer mutilated his victims.”

Jian Yao asks: “Is there not a forensic room within the headquarters?   Why do we have to conduct our personal experiments?”

Bo Jinyan adjusts the angles of the blades: “By the point we get approval for a forensic corpse, our assassin may have had his palms on a number of extra little guys.”

Jian Yao factors on the physique on the desk: “…… The place did this come from?”

“Fu Ziyu.” He goes round to the opposite facet of the physique, turns round and appears at her, “Come. Maintain the blade for me.”

Jian Yao appears at him for a number of seconds:”Sorry, I can’t do that. I might help you to name a policeman.”

She turns round to stroll away.  She hears a deep voice from behind: “To analyze a case however refusing to take a look at the corpse, is like closing your eyes in entrance of the reality.” 

Jian Yao pauses for a second.  She decides to stroll out.

The low deep voice once more: ”He should be alive.”

Jian Yao turns and appears at him: “He?”

Jian Yao is aware of who he’s referring to.  Lao Xiao’s son.  The final physique discovered on the scene died per week in the past.  Lao’s son has been lacking for less than 4 days. 

Jian Yao whispers: “? Do you assume you can convey him again?”

Bo Jinyan continues to be staring on the guillotine.   With out wanting up, he replies: “I’m saving him now.”

–

Jian Yao leaves the “morgue”.  She returns to the bed room and lies down for some time, She appears exterior the window into the deep darkness.  After a deep breath, she washes her face and heads in direction of the place Bo Jinyan is. 

Bo Jinyan lifts his eyes.  He has a smile on his face – as if he’s satisfied that she might be again.

Jian Yao placed on the  “resident evil costume”.  She walks over to the opposite facet of Bo Jinyan to maintain the blades regular, as per his earlier request.  

Bo Jinyan: “Maintain regular.  I’m beginning the experiment now.”

Because the blade is rushing down in direction of the physique, Jian Yao closes her eyes.  She hears a loud crash.  She will be able to think about how it might seem like if her eyes had been open.

Bo Jinyan asks: “What are you afraid of? He received’t transfer.”

Jian Yao retains her eyes tightly closed: “Bo Jinyan !  Are you able to simply inform me what I have to do subsequent and say nothing else?”

–

At 3am, all of the “experiments” are completed.

Bo Jinyan says he wants a number of hours for the pc simulation programme to provide you with the calculations.   Jian Yao instantly takes off  her terribly dirty garments, goes again to the room to wash.

After her bathe, she lies in mattress.  She stares on the ceiling.  It’s onerous to wipe off the disturbing photographs that preserve rising in her thoughts.  Despite the fact that she had her eyes closed for more often than not throughout the experiments, there have been cases the place she inevitably needed to open them to finish some duties.

It’s onerous to fall asleep.  She will get up.  She notices the door of one of many rooms is open.  The one with the examine desk and the white board.  Mild is popping out from that room.  She walks in. 

Bo Jinyan is sitting on the couch, studying. There’s a cup of espresso and a plate of smoked salmon fillet on the facet desk.  He takes a take a look at her and continues to learn.

She grabs a e book from the shelve, sits down beside him and begins studying.  

No person is aware of how a lot time has handed.  

“Good night time.” Bo Jinyan says.

Jian Yao: “Good night time.” 

After he leaves the room, Jian Yao will get out too. Simply as she is about to go to sleep in her mattress, she hears a loud knock exterior the door.  

She runs to open the door, however is stunned that nobody is there.  She hears Bo Jinyan’s room door being closed.  Puzzled, she closes her door and walks again to mattress.  However her toes knock onto one thing.  A black object has made its manner into her room.  “Chen Mo” is crawling slowly in direction of her mattress.

–

When Jian Yao wakes up once more, the solar is hanging excessive within the sky. The nice and cozy rays resting on the picket flooring boards.     Chen Mo is having fun with the solar tub, heads and limbs stretched out from its shell.

Jian Yao will get away from bed. She kneels down in entrance of the turtle. She appears at it for a second and strokes its shell. The shy turtle tucks its head and limbs again into its shell.  

The ‘morgue” door is open.  She is aware of Bo Jinyan is in there. 

By the point Jian Yao comes out of the toilet, Chen Mo is now not in her room.  It’s slowly crawling again to Bo Jinyan’s room.

–

Contained in the ‘morgue’, Bo Jinyan is now not in a jumpsuit.  He’s in his traditional black go well with, along with his again to her, wanting exterior the window.  The desk with the corpse is now not there. 

Bo Jinyan turns to take a look at her.

Jian Yao: “Thanks for the turtle.”

Bo Jinyan smiles.  He speaks about one thing completely unrelated: ”He dreamt of being a killing machine.”

Then he strikes apart.  Jian Yao sees what’s beforehand lined by his physique that’s between him and the window.  

It’s a modified “guillotine”, with three blades all lined up collectively.  Bo Jinyan raises his hand to push down the deal with.  All three blade got here down without delay.

Bo Jinyan appears proud.

“Based on the experimental information final night time ……” He takes off his gloves, throws them apart: “This thickness, this materials, would create a wound that intently resembles those we discovered on the our bodies. Sure, three knives falling concurrently onto frozen blood and physique.  As you realize, nobody can use three knifes on the identical time.”

Jian Yao: “So… you imply..?”

“I imply – the killer’s residence has a machine much like this.  He lures his sufferer residence, in order that they’ll grow to be sacrifices underneath his killer machine.  However after all, his machine might be in all methods inferior to mine.” 

As if she is contaminated by the eagerness in his voice,  Jian Yao’s coronary heart begins to pound and grow to be excited: “Giant blades like these are restricted objects.  They’re solely stocked in particular shops. You may’t purchase it over the web.   They don’t seem to be allowed in lengthy distance buses and trains.  If we test with the retailers that promote these blades,  we should always have the ability to observe him down fairly simply.”

Bo Jinyan sits down subsequent to his killer machine.  Picks up a cup of espresso and takes a swish sip:” You aren’t too dumb in any case.  With the intelligence stage of our assassin, he would have wasted many blades earlier than he may make a machine that’s barely similar to mine. 

Let’s get to work.  Inform your boyfriend.  I’ll give them an in depth and correct description of who they’re in search of.  Fingers crossed, we will even win again a toddler.”