Fate Trading System – Chapter 232

Plan A

Mist Map 5

The Deceased

Although the Mist Map had mysteriously disappeared, the original host still had plenty of backup material here—many photos and videos taken and saved at her home.

Su Xin pulled Liao Qingjie along, heading straight for home. Although Su Xin walked quickly, Liao Qingjie had long legs and was tall, keeping up without any effort.

After arriving home and opening the door, Su Xin hurriedly changed her shoes and went into the study.

Liao Qingjie closed the door properly, then unhurriedly changed her shoes and walked into the study.

Su Xin was searching through materials. Her study was large, and the limited space was utilized to the maximum. Inside, there was a projector that could display slides¹.

Su Xin studied the slides one by one. The images on the slides were photos of the restoration progress taken previously by the original host.

She tilted her head from time to time to look, finally noticing something amiss after viewing several in succession.

“Here it is, this is what it looks like.”

Su Xin circled a spot on the slide with a small red light pen and quickly took out paper and a pen to sketch the shape of that thing.

Liao Qingjie leaned closer to look at what she had drawn, but to her, it just seemed like a bizarre symbol—perhaps text, perhaps a number, impossible to identify in any case.

Could the Mist Map be related to the people in that cave back then?

In that case, could the person who stole the Mist Map be the same culprit who committed several murders?

The clues ended here again.

Before long, Liao Qingjie’s phone rang.

“Found something?”

“Mm… Mm… Okay, I understand.” Liao Qingjie hung up, her expression somewhat grim.

“Your phone and watch both have tracking devices in them. When did you send them for repair?”

“The phone got bumped and fell on the road before, so I sent it for inspection. As for the watch, I’ve always worn it on my wrist, only taking it off when I work or shower.”

When the original host worked, she wouldn’t wear anything on her hands. Those items were both precious and fragile; if something happened to them, the loss was secondary—the main thing was it would break her heart.

“Meaning, your watch is off your person for a long period each day, and you don’t even notice if it’s still in its original place?”

“That’s right. Once I start working, I become completely absorbed and don’t pay much attention to external matters.”

Su Xin said this, and Liao Qingjie nodded. She knew it; this persona indeed fit well.

“I’ll get up at 6:30 tomorrow morning. I don’t need to wake you, right?”

“No need.”

Liao Qingjie’s toiletries were already placed in the bathroom; Su Xin discovered them when she took a shower, wondering when that person had put them there.

The next day at 6:30 AM, Su Xin was woken up by Fourteen in her mind. With Fourteen around, she didn’t even need to set an alarm clock.

After all, being woken by an external force versus a familiar voice in one’s own mind felt different—it was very effective at making one instantly alert.

As Su Xin shuffled in her slippers, ready to wash up, she found Liao Qingjie already awake, sitting on a chair at the dining table where breakfast was laid out.

“You’re up so early?”

“Mm, hurry and wash up. Eat breakfast after you’re done.”

The original host often dawdled a bit, leaving at seven to throw out the trash, buying breakfast on the way, finishing it on the bus, and arriving at the museum just in time for work.

Su Xin washed up quickly. The original host was a beauty who didn’t bother much with grooming; she had practically no cosmetics or skincare products, at most² just a bottle of Dabao SOD Milk³. Anyway, going to work meant facing a bunch of antiques, who was she putting makeup on for? That’s what the original host thought, which might have been one reason she was single.

Su Xin was truly grateful that her clients didn’t have any messy romantic relationships. The original host found men less interesting than antiques, so she had no inclination for romance. Being so obsessed with objects was rather peculiar.

Breakfast was century egg and lean pork congee, perfectly warm, and xiaolongbao. It looked incredibly appetizing and surely tasted delicious too.

After finishing, Su Xin smacked her lips contentedly and drank half a glass of warm water.

No need to throw out much trash today, because they had done a major cleanup yesterday. The trash can was practically empty today, except for the noodles in the kitchen trash can…

“You washed the bowls and pot?”

“Mm, since I was up early anyway, I washed them before buying breakfast.”

Su Xin had forgotten about that.

“Thanks.”

The two left the apartment, locked the door, and took their usual bus route to the museum.

Su Xin’s watch and phone were still at the police station; she would pick them up after getting off work at noon.

Work at the museum was actually quite relaxed. It wasn’t like there were artifacts needing restoration all the time. Wiping the glass of the display cases, and assisting if tourists needed explanations, was usually enough.

Su Xin entered the artifact restoration room with her work ID. Technically, Liao Qingjie wasn’t allowed in, but since no one else was in the restoration room right now, Su Xin casually brought her in. Even if discovered, she could just say Liao Qingjie was police—nothing wrong with that.

Lord Fourteen, scan this place.

【Two intact surveillance cameras, no blind spots.】

The museum must have already replaced the damaged surveillance cameras with working ones.

Could there be any evidence left behind by the thief in here?

Su Xin felt it was doubtful, probably not.

Could the thief and the murderer be the same person?

Su Xin sat on the chair, closing her eyes to think.

Six years ago, what did the original host do in the cave? What actions did she take?

Su Xin didn’t believe the original host wasn’t special in the murderer’s mind. She must be; otherwise, why not kill the original host directly, instead resorting to intimidation tactics to make her panic?

Thinking until her head ached yielded nothing. Su Xin opened her eyes and approached the restoration table.

After the painting was taken, only some tools remained here. There was nothing else on the restoration table.

The colleague who had worked with the original host on restoring that painting had asked for leave to go home the day before the incident happened to the original host, saying their parents were ill and needed them to return to their very distant hometown.

Completely clueless.

Apart from that symbol, there were no other leads.

“I’m going to look up some materials. Make yourself comfortable.”

Su Xin turned on the computer and started searching for related books online, then jotted them down in a notebook to see how many she owned. She would buy the missing ones at the bookstore.

After buying all the books from the bookstore, Su Xin didn’t return to the museum but took the books back to the residential complex. Liao Qingjie conveniently went to the supermarket to buy groceries.

Su Xin discovered that Liao Qingjie’s cooking skills were far beyond just “barely edible”—they were excellent, more than enough to open a restaurant.

“How come you’re so good at cooking?”

“Talent, I guess, plus it’s necessary for wilderness survival. I can also barbecue; I’ll let you try it sometime.”

“Okay.”

Liao Qingjie also took her laptop to Su Xin’s study. Su Xin buried herself in the books⁴, while Fourteen helped her search online for that symbol, or similar ones.

The worst-case scenario was that the symbol was created by that group itself, never shared with the outside world, and only they understood its meaning. If it wasn’t shared externally, then naturally it wouldn’t be recorded in any books.

However, language is a mysterious thing. Ancient scripts have variant forms⁵, different characters representing the same meaning. In ancient times, various tribes had their own languages; their ways of expressing the meaning of an object might be similar, but the shapes [of the characters/symbols] were not necessarily the same.

The day passed quickly. Su Xin had never felt that reading books was such an exhausting task. She hadn’t even finished two books, and the sky had already darkened.

Some symbols were drawn neatly on the paper, with their meanings marked below.

Museum work was relatively relaxed. The original host had always been serious and responsible in her work and had a decent relationship with the director. The director, knowing about the recent events the original host had encountered, told her she could stay home and didn’t need to come to work.

Actually, the director was probably a bit afraid that something might happen to the original host in his museum. People have an instinct for self-preservation⁶. The original host couldn’t see it, merely thinking the director was being kind to her and feeling very touched, but Su Xin could see through it.

The next day, Su Xin spent another morning reading books.

Around noon, Liao Qingjie’s phone rang again. It was about a new case.

Su Xin also heard Liao Qingjie’s voice and wiped the sweat from her forehead.

“Another murder case?”

“Yes, let’s go to the police station.”

“Okay.”

Su Xin stuffed the book list into her pocket, walked out of her home, and hailed a taxi with Liao Qingjie.

“Captain Yan, what happened?” Liao Qingjie walked briskly, Su Xin keeping pace beside her.

“We just received a report. Someone found a headless female corpse near Weiming Lake⁷. The medical examiner estimates the time of death between 11:00 PM the day before yesterday and early morning. The body shows signs of binding, and the cause of death was excessive blood loss from having her head sawed off.”

The captain pulled up the pictures, presenting the victim’s tragic state before Su Xin and the others.

“The witness is an elderly man living nearby who likes to fish in a shady spot by the lake every few days in the morning. Today, as he prepared to fish, he saw something floating on the water. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a corpse and immediately called the police.”

“We are checking if anyone on the other side has reported someone missing. We’re worried it might be like the first case, crossing provincial lines. In that situation, if the head isn’t found, it’s very difficult to identify the victim. However, I suspect if it’s still the same killer and not a separate case, then he will definitely let Miss Bai discover the head.”

The captain sighed. He was worried sick. If this was still part of the serial killings, then someone else might be in danger. What was worse, they knew someone else would likely die next, but they didn’t know who.

The killer was audacious, still committing crimes under heightened security, and clearly favored dismemberment.

“The deceased should be an adult female over twenty-five, normal weight. Judging from her clothing, she was likely in a bar or disco before death. There were traces of sedatives⁸ and alcohol in her blood. The lakeside is the primary crime scene. The victim was killed and then dismembered. Notably, this time, the front parts of the victim’s breasts were cut off.”

Su Xin frowned. So perverse?

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