When a Mystery Novel Comes True [Criminal Investigation]

[Note: This can be read as a parallel-universe version of Shen Qiu's story. Shen Qiu is still the protagonist, only with a different identity and profession.]

"In the March 16th rainy-night murder case, police took the eyewitness in for questioning. But the testimony given by Shen Qiu, who claimed to be a novelist by profession, sent a chill down their spines."

The handsome novelist had deep dark circles under his eyes. When he described the crime scene, his voice tightened slightly with emotion.

"He died right in front of me."

"He died exactly the way someone does in my mystery novel."

"The killer is reading my book, and watching me."

Shen Qiu was a rising mystery novelist. After finally submitting his completed novel to his editor, he decided to take a short trip to get away from the world of his story.

An avid hiker, Shen Qiu chose an old mountain village. The village had only one rundown inn. It was the off-season, so the only guests were him and two university students, a man and a woman. The proprietor was a man past fifty.

Everything went smoothly, and seemed perfectly ordinary.

Until the rainy night of their third day at the inn. Shen Qiu woke from his sleep, parched. As he went to get a drink, he saw a murder taking place through curtains that hadn't been fully drawn.

The male university student was hanging upside down in the inn's central courtyard. His blood, mixed with rainwater, ran into the well water they drank every day.

The killer faced him, wearing a black raincoat and a black demon mask.

As though doing it on purpose, the demon stared straight at him while raising a knife and cutting off the male student's genitals, then hurried away through the downpour.

The rain washed away every trace. If not for the crime scene in the courtyard being exactly like the first murder in his novel, Shen Qiu would almost have believed it was a nightmare.

Shen Qiu stayed at home for half a month, gradually recovering from the rainy-night murder.

He showered, changed into clean, soft clothes, curled up on the sofa, and turned on the TV.

The quiet room was instantly filled with the sound of the evening news.

"A shocking murder took place in our city yesterday. The victim was tied to a chair in his home, facing the front door. Several major arteries had been cut. By the time he was discovered, he had bled to death. The city's public security bureau..."

"Knock, knock." The sound of someone at the door interrupted the grave voice of the news anchor. Shen Qiu jolted back to his senses. His hand clenched around his phone so tightly that his knuckles had gone white.

He stood up and slowly walked to the door, opening it mechanically.

The shining police badge nearly blinded him.

A second murder, exactly like one in his novel, had taken place.

Theme: The law will always prevail over evil.