397. "Crane's Song Chronicle"

It took some time for the police reinforcements and forensic experts to arrive at the scene, and the three of them took the opportunity to inspect the second floor.

The second floor is Dr. House's living room.

He possessed a fastidiousness and meticulous lifestyle that was unusual for a man his age. His washbasin was spotless, his toilet was spotless, his bed was neatly made, and even the books on his bookshelf were arranged in order, which was pleasing to the eye for someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

"Few people who frequent the Gray Alley are so self-disciplined; I even suspect he has never masturbated."

As soon as Trist finished speaking, he remembered that Xiya was still there, so he quickly changed his words.

"He is single, does not work with prostitutes, and has no romantic relationships. The prostitute downstairs is probably his patient, and she may have been attacked during a consultation."

"Trist, would you date a woman like that?"

Lu Ban asked a fatal question.

"No, of course not. My heart belongs to that lady. Don't think I'm that kind of person."

Trist immediately denied it.

"That lady?"

Xiya leaned closer to her ear.

"She's a singer, a true singer. She once performed in the theater of the Ruined City. That opera about the Daoist He Ming is a masterpiece. If you've heard it, you'll become her fan, just like me."

When this was mentioned, Trist Fate became more talkative.

"The operas of the Daoist He Ming?"

Lu Ban heard the keyword and reacted automatically.

"There are many operas about the Daoist He Ming, some of which are adapted from biographies left by him and his disciples. Madam Charlotte, I'm referring to that lady, starred in a play called ' The Crane's Song Chronicle,' which tells the story of the Daoist He Ming's experiences from his youth to his enlightenment. Although those operas are not very popular with the gentlemen of high society now, the common people in the Ruined City are very happy to listen to them. She is a true artist."

Trist explained.

"Do you know ' The Crane's Song Ascension Chronicle '?"

Lu Ban inquired about the names of the materials he needed.

"The Crane's Song Ascension Chronicle? No, I've never heard of this script or book. The most common book about Daoist He Ming on the market is The Biography of Daoist He Ming, followed by The Anecdotes of Daoist He Ming. Only a small portion of The Crane's Song Chronicle is in circulation. It is said that after the script was adapted, the theater bought back most of The Crane's Song Chronicle to ensure box office revenue."

Trist counted on his fingers.

"Won't the disciples of Daoist He Ming protest against these scripts?"

After thinking about some famous figures in the real world, Lu Ban would have reservations about adaptations based on his ancestors, and some even directly banned the adaptations.

"No, how could that be? The He Ming Sect declined a few years after Daoist He Ming ascended to immortality. Some say they touched some taboo they shouldn't have, while others say the big shots in the Ruined City capital wanted to block the path to ascension. In short, the He Ming Sect no longer exists. The name appears most often in the mouths of swindlers. Many people claim to be true disciples of Daoist He Ming and have the method to ascend to immortality, and then they swindle money from people."

Trist denied it.

"Do you know about the Rainstorm Villa?"

Lu Ban then asked, "With Trist Fate here, we can take advantage of any opportunity to make a profit."

"I've never heard of the Rainstorm Villa. Is this a place in the Ruined City capital? Have you been there on your mission?"

Trist frowned.

Not yet.

Lu Ban shook his head.

"So that lady is your lover?"

Xiya interrupted their conversation about Daoist He Ming and pressed on with questions about Trist's personal relationships.

"Not really."

Trist changed the subject.

"That's not the focus of this case; we should thoroughly investigate the room!"

He decided to change the subject.

Lu Ban had already collapsed to the ground.

He looked under the bed in Dr. House's bedroom.

Under the dimly lit bed, a thin layer of dust had accumulated due to neglect over the past few days, but there was nothing dirty.

"Very clean."

Lu Ban commented.

"Or rather, it's just too clean."

Trist casually pulled a book from the shelf, flipped through a couple of pages, and put it back.

"It's hard to imagine a normal man doing this. Not to mention the toilet, even under the bed is spotless. This is not normal at all."

"The area under my bed is very clean."

Lu Ban replied.

"What I mean is, there's no sense of life here at all. Either Dr. House doesn't usually sleep here, or he cleaned the house for some reason, or the murderer cleaned it for some reason."

Trist didn't really want to talk to Lu Ban.

"Possibly."

Xiya nodded in agreement, then thought for a moment and added.

"I've been thinking that Dr. House's death was the killer's goal. He killed the doctor to torture him and he had a deep hatred for him. But according to you, he doesn't usually make enemies. Even if someone wants to kill him, it's because he knows something he shouldn't know. This is quite different from the killer's attitude."

"Pleasure Killer?"

Trist stroked his chin. This kind of criminal was really difficult to deal with because the killing had no logic; it was just killing for the sake of killing.

In the Ruined City, the most difficult cases to solve are not those meticulously planned tricks or locked-room mysteries. These cases are easy to solve as long as the suspects are identified and their testimonies are checked one by one.

The most difficult cases to solve are random killings.

Pleasure Killer usually take pleasure in killing. For them, killing is not a means to an end, but the end itself. They obtain pleasure through killing, and they feel pleasure from killing any human being.

They might roam the corners of the Black Street, randomly killing homeless people, women walking at night, or security guards on duty, and the bodies of these victims might not be discovered for a while.

When the bodies are discovered, due to the identities of the victims, the police may not seriously investigate these cases. Most of them will be attributed to gang fights, and the blame will be placed on the gangs.

"So, this person killed Dr. House and the prostitute in the dark room, and then moved Dr. House's body to the first floor so that it would be discovered. Does this mean that killing the prostitute was just a coincidence, and his real target was Dr. House? Is the murderer trying to send a message to someone?"

Lu Ban suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"It's like trying to identify the murderer in a novel, but accidentally writing two names wrong. To prevent later readers from mistaking them, you write the real murderer's name on the page again."

"You're such a despicable person."

Trist couldn't help but complain.

But on second thought, Lu Ban's statement seemed to make some sense.

Thank you to "Cake Cutting Man" for the 2,000-coin reward, thank you to "Lonely and Rebellious" for the 800-coin reward, and thank you to "The author is under great pressure", "Nian, has turned into ashes" and "CYBER" for the 100-coin reward!