74hy

414 Selfie at Midnight

Blood fell. When Han Fei’s consciousness left his body, he could feel a chill from behind him. It was like something was sticking very close to him. The bloody person was finally within touching range but they didn’t hurt him.

Down the direction of the hospital, the Singer who hugged the old man’s head sat at the rooftop. It was worth noting that the old man’s eyes were open. He was using a familiar yet distressing gaze to study Han Fei. Suspended in the red world was a very unique experience, it lasted only a second but it felt like forever. Before Han Fei could take a closer look, he was already out of the game.

Removing the gaming helmet, Han Fei realized his back was covered in cold sweat. He never felt such instinctive fear for a long time already.

“The bloody person, the Singer, Fu Sheng’s memory fragment, the plastic surgery hospital, I have quite a lot of challenges awaiting me.” Removing his shirt, Han Fei massaged his temple. “The cryptic world is like a whirlpool, the deeper you explore, the more you’ll be sucked into it.”

Han Fei had no other choice, he had already chosen his path, he could only continue on it, even though he knew it would lead him deeper into the abyss. After crawling out from the gaming hub, Han Fei went online to search for info on Xia Yilan and Xiayi. He even joined their fan clubs.

Both of them had captivating looks and even similar names. However, the atmosphere in their fan clubs was completely different.

All 10 fan clubs for Xia Yilan were full. Even at 3 am, there was so much activity. They were discussing the upcoming movie festival and how they were going to show up to support their idol.

Xiayi only had 1 fan club. It was created by those who missed her after she passed away. No one was willing to believe that such a cute girl would make this extreme decision. Until now, many people in the club refused to read Xiayi’s last comment update. The creator of the fan club was a middle-aged woman in her 40s. Her own career had nothing to do with the entertainment industry.

The auntie was in the funeral business and the first case she had was for her sick daughter. The death of her daughter was a thorn in the auntie’s heart. It was probably why she cared about Xiayi that much. The auntie and Xiayi knew each other from way back when, they even came from the same neighbourhood. The auntie saw her daughter’s image on Xiayi; Xiayi lost her parents to an accident 10 years ago, so Xiayi also found maternal love from the auntie.

After Xiayi died, the woman almost broke down. She kept on telling people that Xiayi wouldn’t have committed suicide, there had to be a bigger conspiracy behind it. However, under the manipulation of the Star Shooters, no one believed her. There were still many people who mocked Xiayi who was already dead. It had been 3 months since then. The netizens who slandered this starlet had all forgotten about it but not the auntie.

Han Fei memorized all the info about Xiayi and then went to find the auntie through the fan club. Revealing himself as Xiayi’s fan, he exposed the work of the Star Shooter and provided some evidence to the auntie. When the auntie saw Han Fei’s message, at 4 am, she initiated a video call. This was the first time the kind auntie was so mad in her life. “Are these people still humans?!”

“They’re just devils with human skins.” Han Fei shared everything he knew with the auntie but he repeatedly told the auntie to not act recklessly, they needed the police’s help to do this well. After gaining the auntie’s help, Han Fei started to ask more in-depth questions about Xiayi and her parents.

The auntie didn’t know much about Xiayi’s parents, she only knew that they worked at a plastic surgery hospital situated in Xin Lu countryside. They often worked late into the night and didn’t care much about Xiayi. Therefore, it was surprising that Xiayi still became a perfect child despite not being cared for.

She was clever, hardworking, beautiful, confident, optimistic, she had all the best qualities in a human. The auntie had noticed Xiayi at the neighbourhood a long time ago, she wished multiple times Xiayi would be her daughter.

Xiayi’s parents didn’t care about her but her studies were always very good. Her many certificates filled up the wall. She had many hobbies too. She knew how to dance, sing and play many musical instruments. Xiayi had a perfect life waiting for her but sadly that didn’t happen.

After Xiayi’s parents died from the accident, Xiayi sunk into helplessness and despair. She stopped working hard and it was like happiness drained out from her. The only thing that didn’t change was her beauty. With the attention and care from the auntie and the other neighbours, Xiayi slowly walked out from her despair and treated her life seriously again.

The auntie accompanied Xiayi throughout her youth. She believed she knew Xiayi very well, so she was very surprised the girl would die just like that.

To provide Han Fei with more help, the auntie sent him the pictures she had of Xiayi, and the messages left behind by the girls, hoping that they could help Han Fei. From the messages and writing, it did show Xiayi as a very perfect person. She had all the good qualities in a human. If she had grown up, she would be the best in her field.

“A personality surgery?” Reading the messages left behind by Xiayi, Han Fei couldn’t stop thinking about the personality surgery once rumored to be offered by Immortal Pharma. Han Fei thought that was impossible but after getting to know Xiayi’s life, his opinion changed. “She was indeed perfect like a piece of flawless art.”

“Hmm?” Han Fei noticed something as he flipped through the pictures. “Auntie, can you send the last few selfies of Xiayi to me according to their chronological order?”

“What did you discover?”

“Xiayi’s selfies appear to subconsciously include a clock at her home and the clock always shows 12 o clock.” Han Fei scanned through the pictures. From a week before her death, Xiayi would take a selfie every day at 12 o\'clock. All the pictures would feature the clock, some directly, others indirectly, like through the reflection in the mirror or computer monitor. The interesting thing was, based on the lighting and views outside the window, Han Fei noticed among the 7 pictures, there was only one that was not taken on 12 noon but 12 midnight.

Han Fei studied that specific picture closer. He wanted to know what happened that day.

“The picture taken at 12 midnight is the one from the day before she died.” The auntie arranged the pictures chronologically and sent them back to Han Fei.

“This picture is strange.” Han Fei narrowed his eyes as he studied that last selfie. Xiayi’s expression was the same as usual in this picture, the furniture in the background was the same too but there was one thing that was different.

“Xiayi has no children of her own and hasn’t participated in any child-related charity work so why is there a child’s shoe in her room? And there isn’t a pair but a single one.” Han Fei enlarged the picture. This selfie was taken by Xiayi facing away from the front door. There was a pure white child’s shoe dropped at the front door behind her.

“Yes! But what does this mean?”

“The tip of the shoe faces Xiayi, it feels like a child is standing at her front door. Did someone place it there on purpose? There was someone else inside her room?” Han Fei mumbled to himself but he scared the auntie aplenty.

“You said Xiayi might be murdered, could this be the word of the Star Shooters too?”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. I’ll hand this over to the police and have them look further into this.” After all, this was a murder case and he was just a small actor.

“You sound like you are very familiar with the police, are you the police?” The auntie asked expectantly.

“I can’t say for now. But auntie, watch your own safety, do not go to Xiayi’s home.” Han Fei then hung up. He felt things had gotten so much more complicated. After he arranged all the info on Xiayi, Han Fei sent them to the police at 5 am. The officer on duty praised Han Fei.

At dawn, Han Fei had some quick breakfast and rushed to the set. The shooting for Thriller Novelist was over. Now he needed to prepare to attend the movie festival as an actor.