CH 147

Ten cards that symbolized victory were arranged one after another on the long table.

It was just fifteen minutes—a five-round game. No matter what, the world couldn’t change in fifteen minutes. Li Jingtian looked at the closed wooden door, put down his hand from the doorknob, turned around, and walked back to the long table and sat down again.

“Then, please start,” he said humbly.

Lin Chen bowed his head slightly and no longer talked nonsense.

The calm psychologist that was sitting across the table folded up ten sun suit cards with his slender fingers, casually shuffled them on the table, and then laid them out.

Under the light, the pattern on the back of the card was exactly the same, laid out in a horizontal row. Li Jingtian narrowed his eyes slightly and asked, “Who will draw first, Consultant Lin?”

Lin Chen made a gesture of invitation.

Li Jingtian smiled slightly, casually tapping a card with his fingertips and dragging it out of the pile. “Shall we turn over our cards together, or should I turn over mine first?”

Lin Chen pointed to the camera behind Li Jingtian and said, “Let’s do it together, lest you say I’m cheating.”

“I’m becoming more convinced that this is a fair game.” Li Jingtian’s fingers were still pressed on the card.

Lin Chen also picked one out and said, “I heard that the people of Xinni pay most attention to the first hand in gambling. They think that if they can win the first hand, they are likely to win. In fact, this habit isn’t just reserved for all Xinni people. Gamblers in general have this common understanding, but I find it very strange, Mr. Li Jingtian.” Lin Chen raised one of his hands and looked up at him. “Whether it was choosing the sun suit that represents victory, or winning the first hand—even the fact that the pressure of your finger on the card in your hand shows that you really want to win. In this game, what is it that you cannot afford to lose?”

Li Jingtian’s first reaction was to let go, and then he realized that he had reacted too much to Lin Chen’s words, so he sat with his arms crossed. “Maybe because I have been an artist for a long time, so my competitive spirit is strong. I hope Consultant Lin doesn’t overinterpret it.”

“No, I’m not interpreting anything. You see, I was just explaining some background knowledge of Xinni card games.” Lin Chen tapped the card in front of him with his hand and asked, “Then as a Xinnian, how would you feel if you lost the first match in a best-of-five rounds without incident?”

After he finished speaking, he quickly turned over his card.

Li Jingtian looked intently and found that Lin Chen had the “Sun 9” in his hand. In a card game where the cards ranged from 1-10, he only had a very small chance of drawing a card that was higher than this number.

He frowned slightly. Obviously, this game was set by Lin Chen, and the environment was inside the embassy. Everyone knew the reason the embassy staff had diplomatic immunity was because the embassy had always been a den of spies. All kinds of spies and countless tools for “cheating” lurked here. It was entirely possible for Lin Chen to find the tools to deal with him. He even secretly made up his mind that if Lin Chen wanted to win, he would just let him win. It wasn’t a big deal.

Thinking of this, Li Jingtian flipped over his card and looked at the number. For a moment, he couldn’t believe his eyes.

Unbelievably, despite the small probability, he had turned over a “Sun 10” which symbolizes extreme brightness and victory. Li Jingtian couldn’t control his expression for an instant, He was ecstatic inside and laughed. “Consultant Lin, it seems that your luck is pretty bad.”

It was part of human nature to attribute victory in gambling to luck and think it was God’s blessing, so they would feel as if they were invincible.

Li Jingtian’s doubts disappeared in an instant.

Lin Chen turned the cards back upside down and stuffed them into a pile. Although he looked surprised, he still raised the corners of his lips provocatively and said indifferently, “Please ask your question.”

Li Jingtian’s fist tightened slightly under the card table.

In fact, he could ask a simple question such as “How are you feeling today?” or “Are you in a good mood today?” to let the round pass quickly, but seeing Lin Chen’s indifferent expression and calm appearance, he suddenly didn’t want this matter to end so easily. When he thought of this, he glanced at the clock. The first round of the game took longer than he thought. Two minutes and thirty seconds had passed, so as long as he delayed time a little, the fifteen minutes would pass in no time.

“Mr. Lin, I’m afraid my question will be a little candid. You see, you have already pushed me so hard today. Can’t I also fight back a little?”

“Well, you don’t have to pave the way for your own filth. Just ask whatever you want. However, I suggest you restrain your nature. In case you can walk out of this room intact, you still have to maintain your status as an idol singer and a moral role model.”

“You have already poured sewage on me like this; how can I have any morals to be a role model to speak of?” Li Jingtian leaned back and suddenly realized that there wasn’t a backrest behind his chair, so he stumbled a bit before regaining his balance. This sudden gaffe displeased him. He said, “In fact, the content you satirized me wasn’t too wrong. Having humility, decency, and kindness was imposed on me by the company. Over the years, every time I encountered ridicule or maliciously fabricated scandals, I had to deal with things with a nonchalant attitude because this is what the public requested of us. But we artists aren’t really saints. I’m truly tired that everyone wants me to just endure it, but since we’re being honest with each other now, I suddenly don’t want to endure it any longer. I can honestly say that although I’m indeed not as noble as how I usually act, in any case, I’m not as bad as you say.”

“Can you cut the crap?” Lin Chen knocked on the alarm clock and interrupted his tirade.

Li Jingtian suddenly leaned forward.

Although Lin Chen controlled his expression very well, he still showed an irritable look. Li Jingtian saw this and said slowly, “Are you gay, Consultant Lin?”

If Lin Chen could watch the live broadcast on the big screen in the square or in any crowded place at this moment, he would definitely be able to hear the involuntary exclamations of the audience.

“Oh my god, he’s gay.”

“How gross.”

Similar words rang out among many people watching the live broadcast across the country.

Li Jingtian’s move was absolutely clever. He easily transferred the audience’s curiosity about him to Lin Chen.

Everyone in front of the TV waited for the answer with bated breath.

Lin Chen didn’t have much expression on his face. Li Jingtian was being stared at by these cold eyes and felt so excited that he was about to get an erection.

The second hand ticked three times before Lin Chen moved.

He got up slightly and took the dagger from the wooden box. A silver glint flashed, and blood overflowed. He didn’t hesitate to cut his arm.

All the viewers in front of the TV exclaimed again. They look at the knife wound on the hand of the psychological consultant with the police. The wound wasn’t deep, but blood was slowly oozing out. They silently thought, ‘Is he really gay? Is that why he decided to cut himself instead of answering?’

Li Jingtian looked at the knife wound on Lin Chen’s arm and was stunned for a moment, but he quickly realized that the question he asked offhandedly probably really poked at Lin Chen’s weak spot. It wasn’t natural for a person like Lin Chen to choose self-harm over answering the question.

“Consultant Lin seemed to have accidentally exposed his sexual orientation just now. Since it’s already exposed, why don’t you admit it frankly?”

“That’s a second question.”

Lin Chen allowed the blood to ooze from his wound and didn’t take any measures to stop the bleeding. He didn’t even have an expression of pain on his face.

“Consultant Lin, to be honest, I don’t understand why you insist on playing this game with me.”

“This Xinni card game contains an excellent collective subconscious. The game of drawing cards seems simple, but whether it’s tarot cards or other divination games, fortune is predicted by drawing cards. But for a psychologist, divination isn’t so much a mystery as it is a study of the human subconscious… So, when playing cards, remember to hide your fox tail, Li Jingtian.” Lin Chen raised his head and smiled slightly at Li Jingtian.

“Consultant Lin is really a master of serious nonsense.” Li Jingtian laughed dumbfoundedly, seemingly unconvinced by what he was saying. “Moreover, if cards can really be used for divinations, does this indicate that the Goddess of Victory is on my side?”

“You can try and test if she will stand by you forever.”

Hearing this, Li Jingtian picked up the cards on the table, shuffled the ten cards, and then spread them out upside down.

11 minutes and 30 seconds.

Li Jingtian took out a card.

Lin Chen didn’t speak. He picked the one on the left side of Li Jingtian’s hand with calm eyes.

His arm was still bleeding, and a stream of blood dripped down his elbow onto the table. The table was dotted with beads of blood, creating a shocking sight.

Without counting down, they both turned over the cards at the same time.

“Sun 5”. “Sun 6”.

Li Jingtian couldn’t hold back his ecstasy again. He even forgot to maintain his expression.

“It seems the Goddess of Victory really is on my side.” He threw his card back into the pile. “May I ask a second question?”

Li Jingtian stared at the person sitting opposite of him. Even under the warm light, Lin Chen’s face was gradually turning pale. Li Jingtian couldn’t control himself not to look at the wound on Lin Chen’s arm. Blood really did make him extremely excited.

Lin Chen nodded.

Li Jingtian stared at Lin Chen’s dark pupils and said softly, “Since you’re gay, have you ever slept with any of the police officers?”

After Lin Chen heard this question, his eyelashes drooped slightly. Li Jingtian couldn’t see his expression well. Just when Li Jingtian thought Lin Chen would speak, he actually reached out to draw the knife again.

Li Jingtian grabbed Lin Chen violently.

This feeling was too good. Under his palm was the back of Lin Chen’s hand. Lin Chen’s bones were distinct, and his skin was delicate. To his surprise, Lin Chen’s skin wasn’t cold but warm. He could almost feel the gurgling blood under the thin layer of skin that was burning…

“Consultant Lin, I’m sorry to ask you another question that you can’t answer and embarrass you like this. You don’t need to answer or self-harm. I take back the question just now,” Li Jingtian said apologetically. He believed that the expression he made was sincere, and the audience in front of the TV would be moved by his performance. He was also convinced that when he finished his lines, Lin Chen and the criminal police officer behind him should be unable to explain their way out. He even began to fantasize that Lin Chen would lose his job, and he would use any means to seize him.

“You go back on your words so easily. Your character must be bad,” Lin Chen said coldly.

Li Jingtian withdrew his hand.

Lin Chen took out the knife from the box without hesitation and slowly cut his arm again. The knife slit open his skin, and blood overflowed from the wound. Finally, Lin Chen put down the knife that was stained with dark, red blood, and laid it quietly on the table.

Li Jingtian looked at the two knife wounds on Lin Chen’s arm and was surprised by Lin Chen’s principle. Wasn’t this just a game with causal lies?

……

“Lin Chen, pay attention to your hand strength. Wound infection is no joke. I remember you’re allergic to broad-spectrum antibiotics.”

Xing Conglian’s deep, metallic-like voice came through the miniature headset in his ears. Perhaps it was because the embassy’s equipment was so advanced that Xing Conglian’s voice seemed to be flowing gently into his ear clearly. Lin Chen was surprised that Xing Conglian did not blame him for destroying his reputation, but instead warned him about his wound.

But this was all planned. What could be done?

Lin Chen glanced at Li Jingtian and said, “Continue.”

Hearing this, Li Jingtian naturally gathered the ten cards on the table and began to shuffle them again. “Don’t you know that cutting yourself with the knife is basically admitting your relationship with Captain Xing? Why would you rather hurt yourself than just give an answer?”

“Because for psychics, blood will make divinations more effective,” Lin Chen replied seriously.

Li Jingtian sniffed lightly. He didn’t know if it was the dim atmosphere deliberately created around him or for some other reason, but the smell of blood was mixed with a hint of sandalwood. Of course, it could be because of the old furnishings here that just gave him such an illusion.

Li Jingtian shook his head and said to Lin Chen, “You really know how to joke. Are you going to use this set of cards for divination?”

“I’m looking for something.”

Li Jingtian was taken aback for a moment.

Lin Chen knocked on the table with his knuckles and said to Li Jingtian, “Continue. Don’t waste time.”

Li Jingtian arranged the ten cards one by one on the table. He took one for himself. “If we follow the conventional best-of-five system, if I win the third round, we can end the game early, right?”

“Yes, but you will definitely not win.”

After Lin Chen finished speaking, he heard Xing Conglian whisper into the headset, “The third from the left.”

He pulled out the card according to Xing Conglian’s instructions and flipped it over.

It was the “Sun 9”.

Li Jingtian’s face changed as he turned over the card in his hand.

Coincidentally, they drew two adjacent card numbers this round.

Li Jingtian flipped over a “Sun 8”.

“It seems that my luck isn’t very good this round.” Li Jingtian shook his head.

9 minutes and 40 seconds.

Lin Chen finally got his chance to ask a question. All the audience members in front of the TV held their breath, waiting for him to ask.

Lin Chen said simply, “My question is as follows: Li Jingtian, among the countless crimes you committed in our despicable life, did you retain the original material because of your arrogance?”

Li Jingtian remained expressionless. Ever since Mu Zhuo made that phone call, he certainly knew that Lin Chen was looking for the master tape. Now that Lin Chen had finally raised this question, he was certainly not surprised, so he was able to control his expression well.

“What are you talking about? I don’t know,” he said sincerely. “What material?”

However, what he didn’t expect was that Lin Chen didn’t entangle more on this issue. Lin Chen simply smiled at him and let him go easily.

Li Jingtian became vigilant.

This round only took 30 seconds, and they had already entered the fourth round of the game with 9 minutes and 10 seconds remaining.

Lin Chen’s arm was still bleeding, so he could only hold the cards with one hand; thus, Li Jingtian had to gather the cards and shuffle them.

Li Jingtian began to think carefully about Lin Chen’s movements. He had no idea what Lin Chen wanted to do. There were only two rounds left. Lin Chen only had two chances left to ask him a question about the master tape, but how could that be possible?

While thinking of this, he realized he had subconsciously shuffled the cards and laid them out again.

He looked up suddenly.

However, Lin Chen was looking at him with a profound gaze and said, “Do you think it’s strange? You were lost in your thoughts and weren’t even thinking about shuffling the cards, yet you had already shuffled the deck and laid them out. Do you really think your consciousness can control your behavior? As long as you don’t speak, I won’t know where you hide your things?”

“Is this a question, Consultant Lin?” Li Jingtian thought for a moment before he shot back.

“Of course it doesn’t count.” Lin Chen suddenly sat straight up.

“I always draw first every time, so I’m afraid it’s Consultant Lin’s turn, right?” Li Jingtian finally started having doubts.

……

“1, 3, 5, 9, 8, 7, 10, 2, 6, 4.”

Lin Chen raised his brows and sat upright. Xing Conglian was revealing the sequence of the cards to him through the mini headset. After he reported the sequence, Xing Conglian said, “I suggest you choose the fifth on the right. That’s number 7, which is safer, but the question is, how can you make the number Li Jingtian draws be lower than yours?”

Lin Chen didn’t act immediately. After thinking for a while, he pressed his finger on the second card on the left but didn’t immediately flip over the card. His pale fingertips slid across the cards in the middle, one by one, and finally stopped on the second card on the right.

He pulled out the card and flip it over in one go.

Xing Conglian sat in front of the high-definition monitor and looked at the Sun 6 on the card table that Lin Chen just pulled out. There was a sense of tension accompanied by a rapid heartbeat. Lin Chen was really bold.

When Lin Chen explained the entire game to him earlier, he said that the fourth round of the game was the most difficult to grasp because the only thing he couldn’t control was the order of who drew the cards this round.

Lin Chen said that as a Xinnian, Li Jingtian would want to take the lead. He even suggested that if Li Jingtian won first, based on his personality, he would take the initiative to draw first. Li Jingtian wouldn’t have any doubts if he won the first two rounds, but once he lost the third round, according to his personality, he would inevitably suspect them of cheating. At that time, Li Jingtian would make him draw first, so he had to draw a card that wasn’t high enough that Li Jingtian would suspect they were cheating.

But just now, Lin Chen gave up the “Sun 7” and chose the smaller “Sun 6”. Xing Conglian found that even he couldn’t figure out what Lin Chen was thinking.

If Lin Chen could talk to Xing Conglian right now, he would tell him that because of his actions just now, the cards Li Jingtian would choose would only be out of four cards; the first from the left, the second from the left, the first from the right, and the third from the right. He was vigilant and was likely to choose the left at the end.

In the attack, Li Jingtian turned his gaze to the card table. Because of Lin Chen’s actions just now, he had various doubts in his heart.

He first put his finger on the “Sun 3” that was second to the left and found that Lin Chen had no change in his expression. Then he put his hand on the first on the right. Lin Chen had a slight frown on his face. The pattern on the cards was exactly the same, so there were no hints. Li Jingtian was about to flip it over. When his fingers touched the card, he quickly returned to the left and flipped over the “Sun 1”.

When he saw the unique bronzing sun pattern on the card, Li Jingtian felt dejected. He leaned back in his chair and staggered again.

Many viewers in front of the TV laughed out loud, and Li Jingtian seemed to feel their laughter. His face was as black as the bottom of a pot. After adjusting his breathing, he said, “Consultant Lin, you may ask your question.”

Lin Chen took out a pencil from the pocket of his shirt, then the pages from the file he was reading just now, and randomly pulled a page out and shoved it towards Li Jingtian together with the pencil. Because of the motion of him stretching his arm, blood dripped onto the surface of the card, making the scene particularly hideous.

Lin Chen sat back and said to Li Jingtian, “Please draw on this piece of paper the five elements of house, people, bird, sun, and flower of the Xinni cards suits, and then use this drawing to tell me where you stored that item.”

Li Jingtian was still holding the pencil that Lin Chen handed him, but after hearing what Lin Chen requested, he threw the pencil away. “What Consultant Lin said was just questions and answers. You didn’t say I need to draw, right?”

“Well, as psychologists, the way we ask for answers may be a little different. Please forgive me,” Lin Chen said casually.

“You didn’t explain this in advance, so I decline.” Li Jingtian pretended to be helpless.

“Well, if you don’t draw it, I won’t let you go in 15 minutes.” Lin Chen paused, then said, “Moreover, it would be very suspicious if you didn’t do it. It’s just a picture. Do you really believe I can guess your black and dirty heart from a picture?”

Li Jingtian observed Lin Chen for a long time before realizing that Lin Chen wasn’t joking with him from the beginning. He wanted to refute, but he didn’t know what to say.

He suddenly remembered that person. In the same dim recording studio, that person was lying on the ground, looking at him with the same tenacious eyes as Lin Chen. In the background was the song he made. He pulled that person’s hair and forced him to listen to that song over and over again, but no matter how many times he listened to it, the person would only say, “Trash”.

Trash was obviously referring to both himself and the music he created.

Thinking of this, Li Jingtian collected himself. Somehow, under Lin Chen’s guidance, he really started thinking of Song Shengsheng. This wasn’t good. He couldn’t think about it anymore. Otherwise, he would likely be exposed.

He picked up the pencil that he had thrown on the ground. No matter what, Lin Chen was right. If he didn’t do it, it would look suspicious.

Finally, he started to draw the first stroke on the blank piece of paper. “How do you need me to draw?”

“You can draw whatever you want, but first draw me a person.” Lin Chen stretched his neck and glanced at the content drawn by Li Jingtian, then continued, “Don’t draw a stickman. At least draw a person doing something.”

When Li Jingtian heard this, he really drew it on the paper.

On either side of the card table, one person was drawing vigorously, while the other was leaning back in his chair leisurely watching as he nagged. “Don’t reveal the information to me, Li Jingtian. I can guess things if you make it too accurate.”

“I have a suggestion. You better block out where you put that thing in your mind. Otherwise, it’s easy to project it onto your drawing.”

“There’s no such thing,” Li Jingtian raised his head and responded irritably.

“Okay, you can draw the house now.” Lin Chen spoke in an almost teasing tone, switching from the norm. “Pay attention when you draw the house. The things you draw in the room can easily show whether you are hiding what I’m seeking indoors or outdoors. It’s recommended that you just draw something simple. My request isn’t that troublesome…”

Li Jingtian reluctantly started drawing the house according to Lin Chen’s words, followed by flowers, sun, and birds…

Every time he drew something, Lin Chen kept talking, so that by the time he finished, his forehead was actually covered in a thin layer of sweat.

“Draw me another tree, Li Jingtian,” Lin Chen said.

……

In the surveillance room, Wang Chao looked at Li Jingtian, who was drawing obediently, with his mouth wide open, almost forgetting to observe the data on his screen.

“A’Chen Gege is so amazing. Li Jingtian is drawing innocently.”

However, Xing Conglian’s face was serious, and he remained silent.

He knew better than anyone that the reason Li Jingtian was obediently drawing on paper was because Lin Chen deprived him of the possibility of making other choices. This was the exchange for the two knife wounds on Lin Chen’s arm.

Lin Chen had told him a lot before the start of this gamble, including analyzing the physiological characteristics of people with antisocial personality disorder. Lin Chen said that people like Li Jingtian had a very low level of cerebral cortex excitement. This was the reason that prompted Li Jingtian to constantly seek abnormal stimulation in order to maintain the excitement level of the cerebral cortex. It also made it difficult for him to feel fear or panic. People with antisocial personality disorder were best at hiding it, so it was difficult for the police to break through his mind in a normal interrogation situation to infer the truth from their reactions.

The reason he wanted to set up a bet with Li Jingtian was to excite him. The victory and blood in the first two rounds would stimulate Li Jingtian and activate his cerebral cortex, and the subsequent defeat would make him flustered. Of course, this panic wasn’t comparable to the helplessness of ordinary gamblers, but it was enough to make Li Jingtian start to doubt. He would doubt their motives and the purpose of the bet, and of course, the most important thing was that he would begin to doubt his luck.

For anyone, once they lost their faith, they would become easy to deal with.

Not only that, but the wonderful thing about this game was the option of refusing to answer. In normal interrogation, Li Jingtian could prevaricate by relying on the questions, but since Lin Chen lost the first two rounds, this induced him to ask more offensive questions. Lin Chen’s refusal to answer and cutting his hand twice made Li Jingtian realize that rejection was tantamount to admission, so no matter what Lin Chen asked, Li Jingtian would not refuse to answer. He only had two choices: to answer positively or to lie. But what if he encountered a question that he couldn’t lie but also couldn’t answer?

For example, drawing a picture…

Lin Chen had reported these processes to him. When he heard that Lin Chen had set so many traps on a simple bet, his first reaction was that, fortunately, Lin Chen was on his side, and he usually treated him well. However, when he saw the knife wound on Lin Chen’s arms, Xing Conglian suddenly became extremely irritated.

It was better just to kill Li Jingtian, was what he thought at that time.

……

The moment Li Jingtian stopped drawing, there were 7 minutes left.

He handed the drawing to Lin Chen with both hands, and Lin Chen stretched out his hand to take it.

Li Jingtian looked at the card table and asked, “Do you want to continue?”

Lin Chen stared at the drawing Li Jingtian handed in and waved his hand casually.

“Did you see anything?” Li Jingtian asked in a good-tempered manner while shuffling the cards. He then took out a card and put it in front of him without flipping it over.

Lin Chen put down the drawing. The white paper was underneath his wound. His blood stained the paper and swelled, dyeing the drawn figurine red.

Lin Chen sat upright and slowly said, “10 years ago, you used illegal means to imprison Song Shengsheng and subjected him to inhumane sexual abuse for months or even years. You raped him, beat him, and regarded him as a plaything for your lust. After you felt things couldn’t go on like this, you conspired with Mu Zhuo to accuse Song Shengsheng of raping him. Song Shengsheng was wrongfully convicted and spent 8 years in prison in vain. When you were at Royal One three weeks ago, you met Xu Ran, a longtime fan of Song Shengsheng. Xu Ran refused to provide you with sexual service, so you used the same cruel methods you used on Song Shengsheng and raped her…”

Lin Chen spoke slowly, word by word, tearing apart the dark past from nine years ago with an extremely calm voice.

Both inside and outside the room, as well as outside the building, and the entire world fell into silence.

Everyone thought they heard it wrong. What’s going on? What is Song Shengsheng? Who is Song Shengsheng? Xu Ran was a fan of Song Shengsheng, and Li Jingtian raped them? What the hell was going on?

The audience watching the live broadcast felt that they didn’t know what to expect. First, it was a gambling game in which the policeman self-harmed himself because he didn’t want to admit his sexual orientation. Then the policeman was looking for something, and now it changed to Li Jingtian raping Song Shengsheng.

After the silence, everyone started whispering. They asked each other what was going on, so their second action was to take out their phones and open a webpage. They started to frantically search for the words “Song Shengsheng”.

——”The young star that lost his voice. Song Shengsheng’s cruelty finally exposed.”

——”The famous singer who went to jail, now looks like a skeleton.”

Various news headlines appeared in a flash. It didn’t take long for people to fully understand the situation. Song Shengsheng became the champion of Weibo keyword searches with an unstoppable trend.

As for Song Shengsheng’s only remaining tenacious fans, as early as when Lin Chen said “Song Shengsheng” they burst into tears.

Mu Wenhua was such a girl. Nine years ago, she was a student who had just finished her college entrance exam in Hongjing. Because of her good grades, her parents knew how badly she loved Song Shengsheng, so they specifically rewarded her with a front-row ticket to his concert. Her father not only said he would personally take her to Yongchuan Stadium for the concert, but because it would be too late to return home, they would stay in Yongchuan for a night, so he even booked a hotel.

Mu Wenhua had been looking forward to this day’s itinerary since the ticket was issued. She would buy lots of merchandise at the concert. Just looking at the exquisite booths would take up her whole day. When the concert started, she would enter and sit down. Everyone would be spontaneously singing. Then at eight o’clock sharp, Shengsheng would dazzlingly appear on stage.

But these were things she had fantasized about for a long time and were broken by the rape case. There was no Yongchuan, no concert, and even the sound was gone. She cried, yet she was mocked by her friends and scolded by her parents. They all said she was blind to actually like a rapist. Her parents tore up all her posters and threw away all her CDs. Song Shengsheng had never appeared in her life since that summer.

Until now… Until that person on TV said Shengsheng was wrongfully accused and imprisoned.

She covered her mouth tightly. Tears flowed involuntarily. Her two-year-old daughter sat next to her, tugging at her clothes, for unknown reasons.

Mu Wenhua’s heart was broken.

However, Lin Chen’s narrative stopped.

After he finished his words, a handwritten letter appeared in the middle of the screen. Xu Ran’s tearful accusation moved everyone on the TV.

Thick and dark clouds enveloped everyone’s hearts. After reading Xu Ran’s letter, many people couldn’t help but cover their eyes and stop watching. They obviously came to watch entertainment gossip. Why did it become like this?

Yet the game in the dim attic continued.

Li Jingtian was silent for a long time. He put his hands on the table and said to Lin Chen, “So you’re just adding insult to injury.”

Lin Chen pointed to his ears and said, “Now all the audience will hear a song. That is your Illi’s famous single, ‘Peaceful’. At the beginning of the climax of this song, at 1 minute and 31 seconds, you inserted a large scream as background music, including Song Shengsheng’s screams of pain when you violently abused him.”

“That’s material from a music library. I don’t know the source,” Li Jingtian said.

“If it’s not material from a music library but instead full audio of Song Shengsheng that you personally recorded, does it mean that if a master tape exists, it can prove all this?” Lin Chen finally pressed on the wound on his arm and didn’t give Li Jingtian a chance to speak. “Li Jingtian, do you know that although you’re worse than a beast, you still at least belong to a species called humans. If you’re human, then you can’t escape the innate inferior nature of humans—a nature we have cultivated in tens of thousands of years of survival and reproduction. No one is immune to it.”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” Li Jingtian glanced at the clock, as if waiting for the moment the alarm would go off. “Is the game going to continue?”

“This nature includes one thing. You think you can hide your crimes, but in fact your brain activity time is three seconds faster than the time you feel you have to make a decision.” Lin Chen tapped his temple with his fingers. “In other words, no matter how restrained you are, your brain still precedes your consciousness and exposes lots of things…”

Li Jingtian interrupted him, “Consultant Lin, are you giving me a popular science lecture in psychology? I’m not interested.”

“No, I’m advising you. It’s better to close your eyes and walk to the corner with your back to me going forward, so that I won’t notice any abnormalities in your reaction, and I may not guess where the master tape is.”

“I’m not guilty, so I won’t go,” Li Jingtian said firmly.

……

In the surveillance room, Wang Chao touched the goosebumps all over his body and said, “A’Chen Gege nailed Li Jingtian to that chair and cut off all his escape routes. So cruel. I’ll never fight against A’Chen Gege in the future!”

Xing Conglian turned his head to face Wang Chao. “Don’t be distracted. Look at your own stuff.”

Wang Chao hurriedly turned his head. In front of him were two other display screens.

In the center of one display screen was a three-dimensional dynamic graph. The data flow in the lower corner of the graph was constantly changing, while the other screen in front of Wang Chao displayed a series of data such as Li Jingtian’s heartbeat, body temperature, and pulse. Naturally Li Jingtian wasn’t aware that most of his physiological data was hidden in the table and turned into specific model diagrams for analysis.

……

“Very good.” In the attic, Lin Chen smiled at Li Jingtian. “You just said that you’re not interested in psychology. In fact, I advise you to learn some relevant knowledge. For example, there’s a famous term called the ‘rebound effect*’ in psychology. To the effect that the more you suppress certain thoughts, they will emerge in a more violent manner. The simplest example is that if I tell you not to think of ‘a white bear’, then the reaction in your mind is ‘a white bear’. You see, this is what I’m saying when I tell you about the uncontrolled state of people.” Lin Chen raised the corner of his mouth and continued. “It’s like when I repeatedly ask you to hide the clues on the master tape. It will appear in your mind in subtle ways that you will not notice. Then those images that appear repeatedly would be reflected in your drawing.”

*Refers to suppression of a particular thought often result in subsequent increased return of the unwanted thought.

After he finished speaking, he held up the drawing so that all the audience in front of the TV could see it.

“I still don’t understand what master tape you’re talking about. After all, there’s no such thing, so how can it be reflected in my drawing?”

“Because the drawing you drew is a bit special.” Lin Chen put Li Jingtian’s drawing back on the card table and said calmly, “The reason why you chose the Sun suit is simple. Among the five suits, Sun contains two elements of psychology’s most famous ‘House-Tree-Person Test*’. The House-Tree-Person Test is a personality test commonly used in psychotherapy. It can systematically release your subconscious, including your motivation, perception, insights, past experiences, and the like…”

*(HTP) is a projective test intended to measure different aspects of personality. Test takers are asked to draw a house, a tree, and a person. The interpretation of these drawings is used to create a picture of the person’s cognitive, emotional, and social functioning.

“So, did you see anything from my House-Tree-Person Test just now?” Li Jingtian maintained a decent and humble smile.

“It’s unfortunate that I’m a national licensed psychiatrist and have forensic authority. Based on this drawing, I can identify that you have full civil capacity.” Lin Chen pointed to the simple white paper on the table. “You see, this is like a baseline. When your legal team wants to defend your innocence in court on the ground of mental illness, it will never cross that threshold.”

A crack finally appeared on Li Jingtian’s fake calm face. Seeing this situation, Lin Chen continued, “But mental appraisal is an afterthought. Now, please wipe out the white bear in your mind. Let’s talk about this drawing of yours.”

“I would like to hear more about it.”

“First of all, the intermittent brushstrokes in your drawing indicate that you’re impatient. You have difficulty controlling your impulsiveness; the roof of the house you painted has sharp corners, indicating that you are impulsive and have an abnormal interest in morbid things. The horizon line on the right side of this tree is deepened and emphasized, indicating that you’re afraid of what’s coming; the eyes of the person you painted are very round, showing that you have a strong desire to control, are willful and selfish…”

“You can just call me a rotten person. Anyway, what you’re doing is just lip service.”

Lin Chen smiled. “Mr. Li Jingtian, this is a scientific analysis based on test norms, and I am a professional.”

“So, Consultant Lin. Is it your specialty to create fictitious things? Where is that master tape that you’re talking about?

“Your provocation towards me is tiresome.” Lin Chen stained his fingertips with some blood. He circled the house drawn by Li Jingtian with bloodstains and said, “Well, let’s get to the point. I have always suspected that you hid the master tape at home, but after looking at the house you drew, I think this is unlikely. The line on the left side of the house is particularly unstable, indicating that your family relationship is bad, not to mention the distorted walls. In your mind, your family, and thus your home, is an unreliable place, so you wouldn’t hide things in your own house or someone else’s house..”

While Lin Chen spoke and observed Li Jingtian’s expression, Wang Chao kept reporting Li Jingtian’s physiological index to him through the headset.

Li Jingtian was worthy of being a top psychopath. Under such circumstances, he was still able to stabilize his heartbeat.

Lin Chen moved his gaze to the exterior of the wall of the house on the paper. “You were very relaxed when you heard what I said just now, so the master tape really isn’t indoors. Where did you hide it?”

“Wait A’Chen, when you said ‘isn’t indoors’ just now, Li Jingtian seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.”

Hearing this, Lin Chen stared at the door and windows drawn by Li Jingtian, then questioned, “Actually, the master tape isn’t ‘in your home’, but it’s still indoors?”

“Li Jingtian is beginning to panic,” Wang Chao whispered.

“The master tape isn’t in your home, but it’s certainly inside a building?” Lin Chen looked at the trees and flowers in the picture and continued, “The flowers and trees you painted are far away from the building, which shows that there’s very little vegetation around that place. It shouldn’t be a cemetery or a wilderness. There are clusters of buildings in the cities, so you wouldn’t hide it at CA Entertainment headquarters, right?” Lin Chen glanced at Li Jingtian, then shook his head. “No, it’s not at the headquarters of CA Entertainment. What kind of building is it?”

Li Jingtian’s complexion was getting worse.

“We’re going to talk about the beauty of the Xinni cards again. One of the five suits is a bird, and in your subconscious, the bird is a symbol of Song Shengsheng. Of course, this kind of psychoanalysis is more abstract, so you don’t need to refute me. It’s a pure coincidence that I just observed that you originally planned to draw the bird on the roof of the house, but your strokes suddenly changed midway. Instead, you drew the bird in the sky and then drew lots of clouds around the bird. These clouds show that you subconsciously want to hide things better, and it also means that there are many things wrapped around the master tape. So did you hide that tape high up in a building with many things around it?”

Accompanied by the ticking sound, Li Jingtian was losing control of his muscles.

“What are you nervous about? This limit is for me.” Lin Chen finished speaking and stared at Li Jingtian’s drawing again. “The door of the building you painted is very large, and the windows are very small. There’s a problem with this ratio… The door is huge and will reflect the proportions of the building. Based on the ratio of the person you drew compared to the building, it should be a very large building. This should be correct. It’s a building with a big door but no windows?”

Lin Chen stopped after saying this.

Li Jingtian clasped his hands and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Because the following content doesn’t use this picture, it is purely a guess. If you keep a piece of incriminating evidence, it means that it’s of great significance to you. A pervert like you will always keep something that you think is a trophy. If you don’t have the master tape by your side, then it must be in a very meaningful place. It’s a place that can prove you’re stronger than Song Shengsheng and can continue to humiliate him after he’s in jail.”

A large building, huge door, area away from vegetation…

Lin Chen looked up in shock. He felt some fear for his guess. He couldn’t think of how devastated Song Shengsheng’s fan would be if his guess was true.

“You hid that master tape in a certain building where Song Shengsheng held a concert?’

“A’Chen, Li Jingtian’s heartbeat has obvious signs of acceleration.”

“It’s not an ordinary concert venue. It should be a place where Song Shengsheng once graced the stage, and you also held concerts there later. In that venue, you experienced extraordinary power. That place tells you that Song Shengsheng is already a thing of the past, and you are the greatest singer now… And you hid that master tape there to show off to all of Song Shengsheng’s fans, thinking the idol they like is a bitch who moans under you.” Lin Chen felt uncomfortable, but he still had to go on. “So, tell me, Li Jingtian. Where did you hide it? Of the four places, is it Zheliu Mesa Performing Arts Center, Fengchun Anhe Stadium, Yongchuan Christine Cultural Center, or Yangcheng Tianli Stadium?”

“Enough!” Li Jingtian slammed his fist on the table.

The second hand counted down to 30 seconds.

“It’s not enough. Of course not.” Lin Chen finally held down the headset. He took a step back, pushed the chair away, and stood up. “Is it at the Yongchuan Christine Cultural Center?”

Li Jingtian finally showed a completely crazed expression on his face. It was insane, bloody, and hideous, as if only a repulsive, primitive creature in the mud could display.

Lin Chen still didn’t let Li Jingtian go. He said condescendingly, “Do you want to know why I guess so accurately? Because the table in front of you is loaded with the most sophisticated pressure detector. And the reason why you had to sit on that square stool is because people subconsciously seek support in a state of tension, so without a backrest, you will definitely put your hands on the table. This table will accurately record your pressure reading when you hear every word I say. I said earlier that your body’s response will be more honest than your mouth’s, so Li Jingtian—the Christine Cultural Center. You’re finished.”

The next moment, Li Jingtian suddenly grabbed the knife on the table and stood up abruptly.

“Performing a murder in front of audiences all over the world?” Lin Chen actually laughed.

The next moment, Li Jingtian moved the knife across his neck. “Consultant Lin, why are you pushing me so hard?”

“If you die now, you’ll never return to your country.”

Lin Chen looked at the alarm clock on the table.

The second hand returned to its place, and the alarm rang through the air.

Li Jingtian consciously threw away the knife and rushed to the door, vigorously pulling it open.

The moment he saw light, Lin Chen walked in front of the table and flipped over a card. The card was covered with dazzling golden sunlight.

Sun 10.

Pass, kill.

“Li Jingtian, remember to run faster,” Lin Chen said softly.

Kinky Thoughts:

This is probably my favorite chapter of this novel.