Ji Xun was watching two movies: one on the screen, and one off it.
The frames on the screen painted the pure black of the cinema into different shades of joy and sorrow, separation and reunion. Off-screen, the suspicious individual, empathizing with the story’s twists and turns, had his expression change again and again, as if this not-so-brilliant story had made him irresistibly immersed.
No, there were actually three movies.
Huo Ranyin, sitting next to him, stared intently at the suspicious bag-carrying moviegoer, even using his phone with its dimmed screen to note down the corresponding timestamps of the scenes.
Without prior arrangement, neither of them intended to disturb the bag carrier.
If he had indeed killed someone, it was clearly not a simple crime of passion, otherwise he wouldn’t be sitting so calmly in a movie theater.
He would likely be a difficult opponent. They—Huo Ranyin and Yuan Yue and the other criminal investigators—would prepare for battle, and this preparation certainly did not include flashing a police badge and taking the person aside for a search and questioning in a crowded cinema.
That might be the simplest method.
But if, by some slip-up, they really discovered today, right here, that the bag carrier was the murderer; that his large bag contained a blood-stained knife, or a grimacing head, or just some human remains and bloody clothes; and if, by another slip-up, his resistance caused a commotion and was witnessed by the surrounding crowd…
Ji Xun’s gaze returned to the big screen.
Utterly predictable. The murderer he had guessed in the first five minutes was indeed the murderer.
He continued to ponder:
Then this clichéd, gimmick-filled film, completely incomparable to Memories of Murder, would instantly go viral online.
This would be ten thousand times more thrilling than the “you might be watching a movie with a murderer” concept promoted when Memories of Murder was released—this was literally sitting with a murderer watching a movie.
Afterward, countless marketing accounts would swarm like sharks smelling blood, churning out articles by the minute with sensational headlines like “More ‘Memories of Murder’ than Memories of Murder, the real-life version,” “That day, I was 0.1cm away from a murderer,” and “The suspense movie even a murderer couldn’t resist watching.” They would stir up netizens’ emotions, trigger rounds of morbidly curious discussions, each article getting millions of reads, and a spot on the hot search for social news would be guaranteed.
Yuan Yue and Huo Ranyin, still on vacation, would once again lose their precious single evening of rest and be thrown back into the intense process of solving a case… well, that was a natural development. The criminal investigators were probably used to it. Even if some weren’t used to it now, after doing it for long enough, they would get used to it sooner or later.
Ji Xun thought idly. The ending theme song began to play, the cinema lights came on, and the screen turned black, signaling the end of the story’s joys and sorrows.
And so the box opened. The sounds of breathing, talking, and standing up, which had been muffled inside, all rushed out at once. The cinema became chaotic and noisy.
Ji Xun remained detached, observing every corner of the cinema.
He saw that while the vast majority of people got up to leave, the bag carrier remained in his seat. His eyes were still fixed on the screen, even watching the end credits with great interest, as if completely immersed in the story’s afterglow. The ordinary square characters representing people’s names on the screen all seemed wonderfully fascinating.
He also saw Yuan Yue and the other criminal investigators.
They were sitting in a concentrated group, mostly in the three central rows of the theater. They weren’t in a hurry to squeeze out with the general crowd, but were sitting in their seats, talking and laughing, relaxing for a moment, planning to leave in the second wave after most people had gone.
A clever coincidence.
Ji Xun thought impassively. His gaze fell on Huo Ranyin beside him. Sure enough, Huo Ranyin was on his phone, sending a long text message, likely communicating with his colleagues in front to coordinate, clear out the ordinary crowd, and leave the bag carrier alone in the theater.
An invisible plan was brewing.
After a short while, several criminal investigators stood up, including two female officers. One was Wen Yangyang, and the other was a new forensic pathologist at the bureau—he had seen her once before, but hadn’t looked closely last time. Now, looking at her, she had a slightly wide jaw and long, narrow eyes, not a typical East Asian beauty, but her long, narrow eyes had a hint of fox-like charm, which created a wonderful chemical reaction with her cool, androgynous attire.
She was a very attractive woman who was very aware of her own charm. It was rare to see such a smart woman choose to deal with criminals and corpses every day.
Ji Xun’s appreciative gaze lingered on this unfamiliar female officer for a few moments. Then, in a piece of music whose melody was already set, he discovered a misplaced note.
A short man was squeezing through the middle of the crowd. He nudged left, he nudged right, slowly but deliberately squeezing towards the women, and then, with a flash of his hand, he touched a girl with long hair wearing a white dress.
The girl flinched violently as if struck by a whip and instantly turned around.
Ji Xun was already hurrying towards the crowd, but it all happened in an instant. The girl who turned around looked around, but no one met her gaze. Everyone was looking at their phones. Her eyes slowly reddened. At that moment, her female companion spoke to her, probably asking what had happened.
The girl bit her lip, seeming to hesitate. Finally, Ji Xun saw her slowly shake her head, pull her companion, and quickly leave.
Less than thirty seconds had passed. The girl was gone. Ji Xun had just made it from the back row to the exit. But the good news was, the groper, having gotten a taste, wanted to continue. He didn’t leave the theater with the crowd, but instead circled around a few steps, continuing to loiter at the exit, and turned his target to Wen Yangyang and the unfamiliar female officer.
He moved closer to them, his arm snaking through the crowd like a serpent, slithering quietly around their sensitive areas.
The surrounding criminal investigators were on high alert. They were wary of the bag carrier. Just now, the bag carrier had suddenly stood up from his seat, picked up the bag he had been holding, and quickly walked to the exit!
The string that had been hanging taut in the cinema and in the minds of the many criminal investigators instantly tightened.
The few investigators who had already reached the entrance instantly pushed the remaining few ordinary people out the door, then stood their ground to block the passage. But this also made Wen Yangyang and the unfamiliar female officer stop, leaving them within the short groper’s reach.
A hidden glee flashed across the groper’s face. His arm shot forward!
At the same time, the bag carrier also suddenly reached out with the hand that wasn’t holding the bag!
Tan Mingjiu was lucky, positioned closest to the bag carrier. Seeing the bag carrier reach out, a spark instantly ignited in his eyes. He half-turned, about to apprehend the man on the spot—
In the nick of time, Ji Xun squeezed over, hooked Tan Mingjiu’s shoulder, and gave him a hard push forward.
Tan Mingjiu, completely unprepared for an attack from a friendly, instantly lost his balance and stumbled in front of the two female officers. He was still dazed when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his butt. A hand had touched him, and even squeezed hard!
Tan Mingjiu’s nerve snapped with a crack.
“Who the hell is grabbing my ass!”
Swish, swish, swish!
A group of criminal investigators with gazes like searchlights focused on the center of the incident—Tan Mingjiu’s butt.
They saw a short man’s palm pressed against Tan Mingjiu’s butt, and this guy’s wrist was being held by another person, someone none of the investigators, including Ji Xun, had expected.
The bag carrier.
The bag carrier had caught the groper!
This guy, not only does he watch a movie after killing someone, but he also acts heroically to catch a pervert. So moral, so high-minded, so leisurely and carefree… could we have been mistaken?
The moment they saw what was happening, this question flashed in more than one investigator’s mind. The taut string began to loosen.
This directly led to the first person to react being the groper who had been caught.
The short man put on an arrogant display, struggling hard. “What are you doing? Let me go! Can you afford to compensate me if you scratch me? Some migrant worker from god knows where, get out of the way!”
“I saw you being a pervert,” the gentle and honest bag carrier said, looking like he was no match for this guy. He was clumsy with his words and couldn’t say much, only holding onto the short man and insisting, “Come with me to the police station.”
He even wants to go to the police station…
The investigators fell even more silent. The taut string loosened further.
“Go to the police station!”
The pervert laughed exaggeratedly. He struggled violently. The bag carrier, who was originally holding him with one hand, had to put down the bag he was holding to control the pervert with both hands to prevent him from escaping.
The pervert failed to break free and was furious, playing the victim. “Fine, fine, let’s go to the police station together. Do you have any evidence? Who did I touch? In a crowded place, accidentally touching a grown man’s butt is called being a pervert? I think you’re trying to extort me! When we see the police, I’ll send you to jail for ten days to half a month!”
“Do you own the police station? You can send whoever you want to jail?” Ji Xun finally spoke up. The bag carrier’s bag was at his feet. Up close, the blood spots and the smell of blood on the bag were even more obvious.
Without a change in expression, he secretly kicked it with his foot. It wasn’t a human limb. It felt… like large metal equipment.
“And who are you?” the pervert redirected his attack.
At this moment, Tan Mingjiu’s snapped nerve was finally, with difficulty, reconnected. The pain in his butt was as explosive as his chest.
He couldn’t bear it any longer. He took out his handcuffs and, with a click, locked them on the pervert. “Evidence my ass! I am the police! Whether you were being a pervert or not, wouldn’t my ass know? Can’t my ass be evidence?!”
The pervert was dumbfounded.
The bag carrier was also stunned.
Taking this opportunity, Ji Xun bent down to pick up the backpack on the floor. As he lifted it, he accidentally unzipped it, getting a clear view of the contents.
His feeling just now was not wrong.
Inside the backpack was indeed large metal equipment—a tripod and a video camera.
Besides that, there was nothing.
Was I wrong? Ji Xun thought. It’s possible. Guesses are never 100% right. If they were, they wouldn’t be called guesses, but prophecies. If I had that ability, I might as well predict the next lottery numbers.
“Sorry, I accidentally opened your bag.”
He handed the backpack back to the bag carrier, his eyes sweeping over the surroundings. When he had unzipped the backpack just now, the surrounding investigators had also seen its contents. Now everyone had relaxed, and most of their attention had shifted from the bag carrier to the pervert.
This pervert’s luck had really run out. His fate was sealed with the police station. Of all the places to be a pervert, he chose a cinema where the criminal investigation department was having a group viewing. He was 100% going to be made an example of, with a severe punishment.
As he thought this, he suddenly saw Huo Ranyin standing outside the crowd.
The other investigators’ attention was scattered, but Huo Ranyin’s was not. He stood alone, not far away, his gaze fixed on this spot from beginning to end, ensuring that no matter what accident happened here, he could provide support at the first moment.
It was as if, even when he himself thought he might have been wrong, Huo Ranyin still firmly believed in his guess, still waiting, still on guard.
Ji Xun was momentarily surprised.
He often couldn’t understand where Huo Ranyin’s confidence in him came from.
“It’s okay.”
The bag carrier smiled and took the bag from Ji Xun’s hand. He hugged the bag to his chest again. Then he faced Tan Mingjiu.
“You’re a police officer? Can I see your police ID?”
Tan Mingjiu was stunned for a moment, then took out his police ID and showed it to the bag carrier.
The bag carrier looked at it very seriously, at one point tightening his grip on the bag in his arms. Then he looked up, his face still gentle and honest.
He said, gently and honestly:
“Hello, officer. I want to confess. I killed someone.”
