Human Fragility

"Fatso! This was your brilliant plan?"

Lan Mu was nearly speechless. Early that morning, he had rushed to a camera equipment store and bought a hidden camera, about the size of a ping-pong ball. It was inconspicuous whether held in his hand or tucked into a pocket.

Ma Xiang had told him to bring it last night so he could pretend to be a passerby watching the excitement and secretly film from the side.

They were going to the place where the victim had disappeared today. There was a good chance the murderer had kidnapped the victim here.

A scene like this was actually useless to the police. So much time had passed that any clues would surely be long gone.

That was why the local police station had been assigned to assist with the investigation, and there was no need to cordon off the scene.

After Ma Xiang learned about this, he figured that since the scene was not sealed off, Lan Mu could pose as a passerby and secretly record as long as no one saw him filming.

Even if he failed to capture any major news, once the case was exposed later, they could pair today's footage of the police examining the place where the victim vanished with subtitles. They could call it "Police at Work" or "The Place Where the Fourth Victim Disappeared..." and use it as a gimmick.

Besides, Ma Xiang was eager to earn merit. Maybe the murderer had left behind some trace at the scene!

It was now the next morning. Ma Xiang and several officers were working on a small street outside a residential complex.

Seeing Lan Mu arrive with that speechless expression, Ma Xiang came over and grinned.

"I'm helping you out here. Didn't you still come?"

"Anyway, you already know about this case, so there's no need to keep it from you. My wedding fund depends on you making me some money!"

Lan Mu secretly switched on the hidden camera and said, "With footage this crappy, make money my ass! You guys should hurry up and solve the case! I don't want someone keeping tabs on me."

Ma Xiang laughed. "I want to solve it fast too!"

"Once this case is closed, I can get married."

Lan Mu snorted. "Traitor! You'll definitely become a henpecked husband someday."

Ma Xiang wore an expression that said, You're just jealous of me. He did not say much more and went back to work.

This small street was quite secluded. At night, it would be extremely dark, so most people would definitely try to walk beneath the streetlights.

The police were mainly checking for clues near the streetlights.

In truth, this was merely a routine investigation. No one at the station held much hope for this place. The murderer was simply too cunning and had not revealed the slightest flaw so far.

There were quite a few pedestrians here during the day. When they saw the police at work, some passed by indifferently, while others stopped to watch for a moment before quickly leaving.

Only Lan Mu looked completely idle, glancing here and there as he kept hovering around the officers.

Some pedestrians also wanted to take out their phones and film, but the police stopped them and drove them away.

Looks like the police intend to keep this hidden the whole time. If this case gets exposed, the pressure on them will probably be enormous, right?

But if they don't expose it, they can't find any clues either. This really is...

If the murderer stopped now and fled far away, this case might become unsolved, wouldn't it?

Lan Mu secretly filmed all around. Several officers shot him a glare, but they had probably seen that Ma Xiang knew him, so they did not say anything.

Everyone at the station knew Ma Xiang's father was the police chief. They were willing to give him that much face.

Watching the police work in such a bored, lax manner, Lan Mu also became distracted. He looked around casually when he suddenly sensed something strange.

He quietly shifted his gaze and saw a young man whose face still carried a trace of youthful innocence. He looked like he had only entered society not long ago.

Like Lan Mu, he was watching the police work. However, Lan Mu's five senses were extraordinary, and his Sixth Sense keenly detected that someone was watching him.

Lan Mu narrowed his eyes and quickly spotted what was wrong.

There was a distinctive button on the young man's chest. Lan Mu's eyesight was incredibly sharp, and after taking a closer look, he suddenly smiled.

It was a button camera, one specifically used for secret filming!

"Ha... Did I run into a colleague?"

"This case is already mine..."

Without revealing anything, Lan Mu wandered over to Ma Xiang's side and bumped him.

Ma Xiang turned around and asked, "What is it?"

Lan Mu secretly pointed at the young man and whispered, "He's secretly filming you guys with a button camera. He should be in the same line of work as me."

Ma Xiang took a look. Seeing that the man had been wandering around for quite some time, he immediately understood what Lan Mu meant.

As the saying went, people in the same trade were enemies. When it came to news footage, the fewer people who had it, the better.

"I'll handle this!"

Ma Xiang nodded at Lan Mu, then waddled over with his fat belly.

When the young man saw Ma Xiang approach, he was first startled. Then he heard Ma Xiang say, "Hey! Stop filming! Hand over that button—"

Lan Mu followed behind Ma Xiang. Hearing how domineering his tone was, he gave a wry grin.

As long as this fellow reporter handed over the button camera and the police deleted its contents, he would be the only one with footage of the police working on the Corpse Dismemberment Case.

But the other man's reaction was wildly excessive.

Without a word, the young man turned and ran. He was incredibly fast, disappearing from the small street in a flash.

"Fuck!"

"Don't run! Hand over the camera!"

Ma Xiang and Lan Mu froze for a moment, then hurriedly chased after him.

This case was confidential. Though Ma Xiang did not know why this reporter had come to film it, he naturally did not want an outsider secretly recording. If the case was exposed ahead of time, it would count as negligence on his part.

As for Lan Mu, being in the same trade, he naturally wanted to ensure that once the case was made public, his own investigative report would be the only one of its kind.

The two chased after him, while the other officers did not pay much attention.

Four officers remained at the scene, and only one jogged after them.

The young man was extremely fast. After chasing him for several hundred meters, they watched him dart into an alley, nearly losing him.

Lan Mu could no longer worry about exposing his speed. He suddenly accelerated, chasing after him like the wind and diving into the alley as well.

Lan Mu rapidly closed in on the man, the distance between them shrinking continuously.

The young man had not expected Lan Mu to run so quickly. In a panic, he kept knocking over objects beside him in an attempt to block Lan Mu.

Lan Mu smiled faintly, leaped two meters into the air, cleared the layers of obstacles, and landed behind the young man.

Smack!

Lan Mu casually stuck out a foot, and the man was caught off guard and tripped.

Lan Mu then rushed ahead and blocked the young man's path.

Only then did Ma Xiang reach the entrance of the alley. Seeing Lan Mu block the young man, he burst into laughter.

"Run! Keep running! Damn it, I'm exhausted!"

Ma Xiang was panting heavily, his clenched fists cracking as he kept advancing.

"You're pretty fast! No wonder you're a paparazzo!"

Lan Mu immediately knew something was off about that remark and snapped, "Don't lump everyone together!"

Ma Xiang waved his hand. "I wasn't talking about you! Brat, where do you think you're running? You still ended up in my hands!"

Ever since Ma Xiang became a police officer, he had never caught a thief! With his build, he usually just coasted through his days, which was why he was so eager to earn merit.

Today, he had caught this man. Though he was only a reporter who had been secretly filming, since he had fled, Ma Xiang could say he was obstructing official business. He was delighted!

To Ma Xiang, this was his first real catch!

"Brother Mu, don't interfere! Leave it to me. Film my heroic performance, and maybe I'll make the newspapers too."

Lan Mu chuckled. He blocked the other end of the alley, leaving the young man nowhere to run, then raised his camera and began filming properly.

However, the situation suddenly changed. The young man abruptly sprang into action and slammed into Ma Xiang's fat body.

Then Lan Mu heard three consecutive muffled sounds!

The sound of a knife entering flesh!

Lan Mu was horrified. He threw down the camera and rushed forward.

The young man shoved the stunned Ma Xiang into Lan Mu, broke through their encirclement, and sprinted toward the alley entrance.

Lan Mu caught Ma Xiang, and a pungent stench of blood rushed into his nose.

He saw blood staining Ma Xiang's chest. The young man had stabbed him three times in the heart!

Blood gushed out like a fountain. Ma Xiang's pupils had already dilated. He could not say a word, and it was clear he would not survive.

"No! This can't be happening!"

Caught in this sudden catastrophe, Lan Mu wanted nothing more than to fly after the young man and kill him.

But Ma Xiang was at death's door. His body had no strength left, and Lan Mu was the only thing holding him up.

Lan Mu watched the young man run out of the alley and collide with Ma Xiang's colleague, who had just arrived. Then that officer fell to the ground as well. It was obvious that the young man had ambushed him too.

"Ma Xiang, hang on!"

Lan Mu could no longer spare any attention for the killer. He gently laid Ma Xiang on the ground.

Blood was still flowing from his chest. Lan Mu immediately covered the wounds with both hands and frantically poured Natural Power into him.

However, those three stabs had destroyed Ma Xiang's heart. Natural Power had some ability to restore vitality, but it was not omnipotent. Faced with such an absolute fatal wound, it could do nothing.

The vast Natural Power merely stopped the bleeding from his chest and healed the wound slightly.

But his heart had already stopped beating. When the young man stabbed him, he had even twisted the knife during the final strike. He had attacked with absolute lethal intent, ruthless to the extreme!

"Fuck! Damn it! Useless! Useless! Useless!"

When Lan Mu discovered that his Natural Power was useless, he immediately fell into despair.

He hated himself for being so careless. He had ten thousand ways to completely subdue that young man, but he had done none of them.

At that moment, regret filled his heart to the extreme, and he hated himself for being unable to save his brother.

The human body was far too fragile, so fragile that it could wither so easily.

No matter how much Natural Power he poured into Ma Xiang's body, there was no response.

Because Ma Xiang had already become a corpse.

His brother was dead.