Memory Lost

“Boom!”

A loud explosion.

Just as he’s running toward the crowd but before he could make contact with anyone, the clown’s body turns into a gigantic fireball. His broken body pieces are thrown up into the air and fall down like rain again. The phone on the table crackles and then loses connection. Many people have fallen onto the ground due to the force of the explosion. Everybody’s expression is full of fright.

Han Chen, Cold Face, and Chatterbox are expressionless. Su Mian, on the other hand, closes her eyes and then reopens them.

She doesn’t remember the past. But this is the most brutal murder that she has witnessed as far as she can remember.

Not only the victim is murdered, his hopes are shattered. Not only did he dress him up as a clown to ridicule, he had him be laughed at by others, stepping on his dignity. In the end, he let him die in front of everybody, bringing the most frightening thing to humanity.

A.

So this is the real, cruel, and ruthless A.

As if to prove the emotions in her heart, Chatterbox says suddenly beside her, “What is this? What’s on the ground?”

At a distance, the clown has already been blown up into pieces. The police officers are trying their best to keep things in order. And at a nearby area, Chatterbox points to the ground. It’s where the man was standing originally. There’s actually a mark on the ground. No one noticed it before since the clown was stepping on it.

The mark is simple. It’s written in red and in capitals——”A”.

“Look here!” Cold Face says out loud.

It’s another monitor that’s rather far away. Nothing strange was happening before and it didn’t capture their attention.

It’s a pathway entrance to a commercial area.

On the right side of the entrance, there’s a small white stage set up. A banner hangs on top of it which says that it’s for promoting a certain wax museum. The wax museum has started promoting themselves in secondary cities, so this type of promotion isn’t out of the ordinary.

There are five wax figures on the stage.

But at this moment, there are quite a few people crowding around pointing and chatting at the one on the far left, which is a wax figure of a middle-aged gentleman. A worker in an employee uniform runs onto the stage and to the wax figure. He seems to be in shock as he turns around and runs off the stage immediately.

“Zoom in!” Han Chen says.

The image gets closer. This time, the Black Shield Team can see clearly that the wax figure isn’t any famous person they know or anybody they would know. But the reason why he is attracting others’ attention is that there seems to be red liquid slowly flowing out of his eyes.

It looks as if it’s fresh blood.

No, it has to be fresh blood.

A strong feeling of intuition knocks onto Su Mian’s heart.

She blurts out, “The second person!”

An extremely serious and respectable on the surface but repressive and twisted on the inside. He hopes to dress up his victims like a star on stage. It’s the second serial killer!

He’s even more twisted. He has actually turned someone into a wax figure!

The blood from the wax figure’s eyes is dripping faster and faster. Gradually, a puddle of blood accumulates around his feet. The spectators are also in shock. Just like the reaction from the explosion scene: retreat and continue to watch the scene.

“Seal off the area immediately!” Han Chen orders.

At this very moment, something strange happens.

With the small puddle of blood expanding, the stage’s white cloth is actually changing color. On the white cloth, a certain red colored shape is slowly being drawn out.

“It’s a chemical reaction!” Chatterbox says almost losing his voice, “The cloth must have been dipped with something beforehand! It’s now having a reaction with the blood!”

Gradually, the shape is becoming clearer and clearer.

On the white colored stage, its contours are elegant and intricate.

It’s a letter written in calligraphy——”L”.

Su Mian’s mind goes blank.

L.

It feels unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time. It’s the second person, L.

There are already……two victims.

The main office is already full of chatters. All of the officers have now seen these two crime scenes. Qin Wen Long walks in quickly with other leaders. Every one of their faces looks pale. Xu Si Bai has also come after learning the news. He frowns as he focuses his eyes on the events happening on the screen.

It’s not that their methods of killing others are crueler than any others, nor that their methods are highly skilled. But they’ve already committed two murders that have brought even more fright and mental torture than any other serial killers that Su Mian has ever seen or heard of.

So then, what about the third person?

She turns her head and sees that Han Chen’s

eyes have returned to that TV network’s recording site.

And as if they can sense it, Cold Face and the others also turn to look.

The TV broadcast has already been put on hold, but they can still watch what’s going on at the scene——this is what Han Chen requested before. They can see that the local officers have already taken control of the scene. The audience is making their way out, the few mermaids are climbing out of the tank looking rather unpleased. And two staff members from the network are currently talking to the officers. Two forensic investigators with their gloves on are in the process of climbing up to the tank to take a closer look at what’s inside.

Suddenly.

The thick layer of sand at the bottom of the tank moves. The two forensic investigators are both stunned and don’t dare to go in yet.

“There’s a situation!”

Someone shouts.

Everybody at the scene turns their heads.

The Black Shield Team is also staring at it.

And then, a person comes out from beneath the sand.

As if it’s being guided by something, it rises slowly and vertically.

It’s a woman.

It’s a long-haired young woman in a mermaid bikini whose face has already turned pale from being in the water for too long. Her arms are spread apart while her head is hanging down. She looks as if she’s asleep but hugging the water with her arms out at the same time. And at the chest area of where her heart is, blood seems to be seeping through.

“It’s Xiao Tong!” the other mermaids outside of the tank shout at the same time. Their screams fill up the whole place.

“Leave the area!” the officers at the scene shouts.

“There’s a string!” Chatterbox says almost right up against the monitor. He points at the rippling water, “The killer has set up a device. Not sure when it was triggered but Leader, what you saw before must have been the string!”

Han Chen doesn’t say anything. His eyes are still fixed on the deceased mermaid girl.

And Su Mian seems to feel stuffed inside.

It’s because the dead body, young girl, device……she can imagine what is about to happen……

“Zzzzz——” a muffled sound coming from the water. The Black Shield Team might not be able to hear it from the monitor, but the people at the scene can hear it loud and clear as well as see it too.

It’s because the girl’s corpse opens its eyes suddenly. There’s blood dripping from her eyelids; they can see the silver colored thread sewed on the top, indicating that this is also being controlled by a device.

And then, a bloody hole appears in her chest area.

A piece of……indistinguishable flesh flings out just like that.

Everybody at the scene is in shock.

But the next thing that happens is even more frightening——

The corpse continues to float in the water as blood permeates the whole tank. Some of the fishes in the tank continue to swim around while a group of them are surrounding the heart that has just come out. They start to eat it.

Gradually, the water in the tank turns into a faint red color. And on the glass that is in direct view of the camera, a red letter begins to appear.

The Black Shield Team, Qin Wen Long, Xu Si Bai, and all of the other criminal investigators……are staring at the letter.

The third letter——

“R”.

……

I am A.

Your humble L.

Call me R.

Every day and night, life and death.

We no longer have any beliefs.

We are happier than pain and suffering.

The never to be forgotten S,

We are here for you.

__________

Mini Side Story: The Story of Buying C

Since the seven-member organization case hasn’t come to an end yet, it’s not a suitable time to have kids. On a certain day, Han Chen decides to go buy a certain must-have item. Since the work of a criminal investigator is rather busy, it’s already late night when he goes to buy it. The supermarket is already closed, so he finds a not-too-shabby looking pharmacy store. The store clerk is a young man who’s wearing a white lab coat while playing games on his phone. Seeing him come, he puts the phone down immediately, “What do you want to buy, handsome?”

Han Chen tilts his chin a bit with both hands in his pockets, “Condoms.”

Such a cool, handsome and stylish looking man is here to buy condoms, so of course, the young man needs to serve him well. He immediately smiles and asks, “Big brother, which brand would you like then? Durex is on sale right now. $30 for 2 boxes and comes with a free pregnancy test. It’s a great deal!”

Who do you think Han Chen is? He’s mature and dependable at work but he has the temper of a young master. Young Master Han is a bit conceited when buying these things. He sweeps his eyes across the price tags, “You’re recommending this one? You can go, I’ll pick myself.”

The young man realizes that

that he’s made a mistake. He tries to remedy the situation right away, “There are better ones! There are better ones! Our best store item——” He holds up a shiny gold colored box of Okamoto 003.

Han Chen doesn’t actually know anything about condoms. Even if he did, it’s been erased along with his other memories. But now that he sees a box of Okamoto 003, he somehow feels a sense of familiarity. Therefore, he smiles, “I’ll take that.”

The young man is a silly guy. Seeing that a customer has taken his recommendation and is buying the store’s most expensive box of condoms, he can’t help feeling elated and starts to praise, “Big Brother, our store is high-end, elegant and classy. Okamoto has the most complete selection. You can’t even get it from the supermarket. We have large, standard, and small. Which size would you like?”

Although Han Chen has no recollection, this isn’t something that he needs to confirm with memory.

“Large. Two boxes.”

The young man reveals an envious, shocking, yet understanding expression. He bags the boxes for him and sees him off to the exit as if it’s his idol.

And then……

The two boxes are done very soon. Afterall, 20 is just 4 sets of tally marks (clusters of five).

Tonight, Han Chen and Su Mian are on their way home from work. Han Chen stops the car when they pass by the pharmacy store. He tells Su Mian to wait in the car, but just as he’s about to get out, his phone rings. It’s the chief calling.

No matter how aloof Han Chen is, he wouldn’t take the chief’s call while buying condoms at the same time. Therefore, he continues sitting in the car while taking the call. It’s already very late at night but the chief still isn’t done talking. Seeing that the store clerk has come out of the front door and is about to close, Han Chen fetches his wallet, hands it over to Su Mian and gestures for her to go buy it.

He wants her, to, go, buy, condoms!!!!

Su Mian shakes her head furiously. It’s so embarrassing to go buy condoms in the middle of the night as a girl. The store clerk will definitely think: there are no more condoms at home, the guy is lying on the bed waiting while she goes out to buy some more. She must be a very thirsty and lowly woman! Holy s.hit!

But there’s no way that she would be able to fight against Han Chen. His eyebrows don’t even budge as he continues talking on the phone with a serious face while his other arm reaches over and opens the door for her. He pushes her out, throws the wallet at her and closes the door!

Su Mian stares at the clerk at the front of the store. The young man doesn’t see Han Chen in the car. He smiles at this beautiful woman who has appeared in the middle of the night, “What would you like to buy, beautiful?”

Su Mian bites on her lip and says as if she has nothing to lose, “Condoms!” She turns her head and walks inside.

The young man is a little shocked.

Oh man, how come this tone of voice sounds so familiar? It’s cool, handsome, and swift. It’s just that the beauty’s expression looks a little depressed.

The young man asks at the counter, “What brand would you like?”

Although Su Mian doesn’t know anything about condoms, she knows which ones she uses, so she answers crisply, “Okamoto 003.”

The young man is delighted. These condoms are expensive. He grabs her a box immediately. Su Mian recalls how quickly they ran out last time so she shakes her head, “I’m afraid it’s not enough.”

The young man is shocked again. He can’t help feeling that this big sister is very fierce.

“So……how many boxes?”

Su Mian realizes that she was a bit too bold just now, so her face blushes. She braces herself and answers, “I’ll take four boxes for now.” She thinks to herself that 4 boxes are just 8 sets of tally marks, so she feels much better.

“We have Okamoto in small, large, and standard size. Big Sister, which size do you need?” the young man asks.

Su Mian really doesn’t know the answer to this. Every time Han Chen grabs them, she only sees the brand name on the box. She never leans over and pays special attention to what size they are. Furthermore, she has only seen Han Chen’s……she has no concept of size.

She turns her head and sees that Han Chen is still on the phone.

These things are expensive, so Su Mian definitely doesn’t want to buy the wrong ones. She thinks for a second and says bracing herself again, “How many centimeters is the large? How many centimeters is the medium? Definitely won’t be the small one.”

It’s the first time that the young man has come across such a direct female customer. A beautiful one to add to it. The young man’s face turns red for no reason. Therefore, the two of them hold up the three boxes and reads through them until they finally find the section outlining the measurements.

Su Mian recalls her memory with her face red. She points to one of the boxes, “It should be this size. Mm……it has to be this one! This is the one.”

The beauty is shy and captivating, yet carrying a hint

a hint of proudness in her expression. The young man recites in his heart depressingly: large. His girlfriend is so pretty, cute, and considerate. Who’s this lucky guy? It’s too much!

Tonight……

Han Chen notices that Su Mian seems to be especially anxious after climbing into bed. She grins as she helps him take off his clothes and encourages him, “Hurry and grab the condom! Hurry!” Her expression says she wants to take credit.

But Han Chen really can’t understand what to take credit for from buying condoms.

And then……he finally puts it on. Su Mian’s first reaction isn’t to lie down and give her body to him. Instead, she claps her hands loudly, “Woohoo! My guess was perfect! It fits just right!”

Han Chen is speechless, “……”

He lowers his body and presses himself against her. He bites her ear as a form of punishment and says, “So it turns out that you never knew……”

Yet he has always served her so satisfyingly. This woman has never realized how great her husband is.

Mini Side Story: Whistle Story

Ever since she started wearing the gold whistle on her neck, whenever Su Mian sees Han Chen, she can’t help but feel like “with the whistle in hand, the world is mine” kind of control. The second night after receiving the whistle, the freshness of it hasn’t gone down yet, so the following conversation happens——

“Han Chen,” she leans against his shoulder and says smiling, “Look, from now on whenever I blow on the whistle, you’ll come running to me. The moment I blow on it, you’ll come. This feeling……is like an owner and a pet kind of relationship, isn’t it?”

Han Chen has one arm on her shoulder while holding the remote control with his other. Hearing her speak, he answers without turning his head, “I didn’t hear you clearly. What did you say?”

Just when Su Mian is about to repeat herself, she realizes suddenly and senses the threat in his tone.

Oh s.hit! They’ve been well together for so long, yet he’s still so unruly!

It’s never too late for revenge. Su Mian shuts her mouth obediently. She holds onto the gold whistle on her neck and spins it.

After a while, Han Chen goes to take a shower.

An idea springs into Su Mian’s mind. She hops off the couch, runs to the wall outside of the bathroom, squats and listens.

The sound of water stops very soon. She suspects that he must have soaked his body once and is now covered in soap. She stands up, holds the whistle and blows on it——

The bathroom door swings open immediately. Han Chen, with his head covered in soap but still as handsome as always, lifts his solemn and damp eyes to look at her.

Su Mian smiles feeling pleased, “Oh, it was an accident. My hand slipped. Go back in and shower. Go shower.”

Just as she turns around and is about to walk away, Han Chen takes a step forward, stepping out of the bathroom barefooted, pulls her arm and drags her inside……Therefore, the first time Su Mian blows on the whistle, the result is her being ravaged……

After being “forced” to take a shower, Su Mian curls herself on the couch. Due to being ravaged, she’s full of anger right now. Han Chen, on the other hand, feels completely satisfied. He sits beside her and his whole body is carrying a sense of laziness and sexiness.

Han Chen later goes down to throw out the garbage. She dashes to the front door. She estimates that he is about halfway, four floors down (he usually takes the stairs as a form of exercise).

She holds up the whistle and blows on it——

Su Mian is sure that he isn’t going to come. She just wants to tease him. Afterall, they’ve already fooled around once tonight. But who knew that right after the sound of the whistle, rushing footsteps come. In a blink of an eye, Han Chen has already made it. His one hand is on the railing as he stares at her with his pair of dark brown eyes.

Su Mian still has the whistle in her mouth as she asks feeling a bit stunned, “……Why……did you still believe it?”

Han Chen walks over and pulls the whistle out of her mouth, “I’m afraid of you crying wolf.”

Although you’re reckless, if danger does come, what should you do?

Su Mian feels regret in her heart. She hugs him immediately, “I won’t play with it anymore.”

At night, Su Mian is acting especially gentle, considerate, and is apologetic. Han Chen lets her serve him and please him. Su Mian thought that this would make up for everything but on the morning of the next day……

When she wakes up, Han Chen takes the gold whistle back from her. 𝑓𝐫𝑒e𝒘𝚎𝘣𝚗𝘰𝘷𝐞𝑙.co𝑚

“Why?” she protests, “I already promised that I won’t play with it.”

Han Chen answers, “It’s nothing. I suddenly thought of another way.”

He hangs the whistle on his neck.

Su Mian is puzzled, “Huh?”

In the end……

Han Chen is sitting at his desk. Su Mian is just about to go into the kitchen to grab some snacks, but the moment she takes a step out of the study room——

Whee~Whee——

The whistle sounds.

Su Mian’s body freezes. She turns around, “What is it?”

Han Chen answers without lifting his head, “Don’t leave my sight.”

“But I want to grab some snacks.”

He takes a look at her, “Endure it. I need you to keep our promise.”

Su Mian is speechless, “……” is speechless, “……” He’s too much! He’s taking revenge.

A while later.

Han Chen’s phone in the living room rings.

But he doesn’t budge.

Su Mian glances at him. Why isn’t he going to pick it up?

At this moment, she suddenly sees Han Chen holding up the whistle and blowing on it.

Whee~Whee——

He says indifferently, “Go get it for me.”

Su Mian, “……”

She grabs onto his arm, “Big Brother, the whistle isn’t supposed to be used like this! I’m (self-deprecating) wrong, okay? I will never dare to blow on it without a reason. Please give it back to me, please.”

Han Chen smiles.

He then points to his neck, gesturing for her to take it off.

Su Mian puts the gold whistle on her neck again. Seeing his smiling face, she pretends to spit at him, but she can’t help but think in her heart: I wish that I will never need to use this whistle.

And as Han Chen looks at her, he thinks to himself: I wish that this whistle will never need to be used.

Mini Side Story: Chatterbox’s Love History

In contrast to Han Chen and Su Mian being a couple, the other three members of the Black Shield Team are single. But among them, Chatterbox is the most depressed. Because different from Cold Face, who’s not good with interacting with women, and Xiao Zhuan, who can’t attract women at all, he has had a couple of girlfriends in these few years. But in the end, they all split up with up. Furthermore, the reason for them breaking up with him is really too upsetting!

First girlfriend; three-month relationship.

During the breakup, she said, “Chatterbox, everything about you is great, it’s just that……you’re way too talkative. Your work is so busy, so every week, you can only be with me for half a day to a day. Sometimes, I don’t even see you for ten days or even half a month straight. But once we see each other, you talk non-stop. You just keep talking, talking, and talking. Stuff like oh s.hit, and whether or not the weather is great. You even have to point it out if the color of my scarf is not right. If there’s a person not crossing the street properly, you have to run over and lecture the person……I’m sorry, I really……I think that it’s better for a man to be more composed and quiet. Let’s just be friends.”

Chatterbox was dumbfounded. Of course, their love wasn’t deep, so he wasn’t too sad. But after this first defeat, he still didn’t realize his own problem. He believed that it was the girl who was strange. Which woman doesn’t like a man who’s caring and humorous, right?

Therefore, his second girlfriend, they were in a relationship for a month.

It was the exact same girlfriend. Chatterbox was dumped again!

Dumped!

He thought about the pain and finally admitted that he was too talkative. Perhaps women do not like it. He decided that when he meets his next girlfriend, he would definitely try his hardest to be a quiet pretty boy.

Finally, he was in a relationship for half a year with his third girlfriend.

They still broke up in the end!

This girlfriend was a rather fierce female officer, big sister. During the breakup, she said without holding back, “Chatterbox, you’re quite a good looking guy, you’re kind, and you have great skills in your profession. I originally wanted to get married to you. But I feel that there’s something very wrong with you! During work, you’re energetic and you chit-chat and smile with your team, but once you’re with me, you seem to have no interest to chat. What’s even more unacceptable is that only when we’re in bed that you would keep talking, talking, and talking. You would talk about this and talk about that. Could it be that this is the only thing that you’re interested in? Anyhow, I’ve mistaken you.”

Chatterbox was completely shocked.

He admitted that he got a little excited when they slept together. But don’t the books say that during sex, men should be more gentle and considerate, so they should ask them how they feel and stuff? And he was less talkative during other times because he wanted his girlfriend to like him, okay?

So being talkative didn’t work, but being non-talkative didn’t work either. Chatterbox is completely perplexed.

A certain night at the Black Shield Team’s office.

Su Mian has gone to the washroom and isn’t around. The office is left with the four men. After feeling perplexed for the whole day, Chatterbox can’t keep it in himself any longer, so he pokes Cold Face beside him, “Hey, Cold Face, my girlfriend said I talked too much and broke up with me again. Sigh. I want to ask you, when you get busy in bed with your ex-girlfriend in the past, do you also not talk at all?”

This is quite a shocking question to be asked so frankly. Han Chen and Xiao Zhuan both look toward them. Cold Face is a nice guy deep down inside. Although he thinks that this is a stupid question, seeing how Chatterbox has just broken up with another girlfriend, he answers kindly, “No talking. Can’t keep up.”

Chatterbox feels his heart shake. Han Chen speaks up in support suddenly, “Mm. Can’t keep up.”

Chatterbox is speechless, “……”

F–k! Why do their words seem to carry a hint of superiority?

Xiao Zhuan is speechless, “……”

This is too much! I’m……I’m still……a you know.