Volume 1: Prologue – The Beginning of All Evil (1)
The car accident happened very suddenly. There was a loud “bang,” followed by the screeching sound of tires scraping the ground. A black car was hit sideways by a truck that had crashed through a roadblock, pushing it all the way to a large roadside tree. When the car finally stopped, it had been crushed into a “meat pie,” and smoke was billowing from the hood. Gasoline dripped onto the ground, and soon the car caught fire.
The truck driver regained consciousness, blood dripping from his body. With the last bit of his strength, he pushed open the door, fell to the ground, and crawled toward a safe spot, dragging his injured body. Soon after, there was a deafening explosion as both vehicles blew up, sending a cloud of fire high into the air.
Passersby quickly called the police, but the fire was too intense for anyone to approach. The entire car was engulfed in flames, with explosions occurring intermittently. Thick black smoke rose from the wreckage, and the choking smell of burning filled the air.
Within minutes, the car had been reduced to an empty frame. Two charred bodies were exposed inside, their skin burned to ash, blackened and twisted. One was slumped in the driver’s seat, while the other lay in the back.
Some onlookers vomited on the spot, while others took pictures with their phones.
“God, it’s horrible!” someone exclaimed.
“Did anyone see what happened?” another person asked.
At this moment, a woman rode by on a bicycle, with a little girl sitting on the back.
The woman stopped to take a look but was horrified by the charred remains. She quickly told the girl, “Pengpeng, don’t look. It’s too scary. Let’s go home; Dad will be back soon.”
But the little girl, eyes wide, managed to glance through a gap in the crowd. Her face turned pale, and her eyes became vacant, yet she didn’t cover them.
Among the burned wreckage, a charred body lay twisted, its head bent to the side, its limbs contorted like the gnarled, clawing trees from the dark forests in fairy tales. The little girl had never seen anything so terrifying, and even after they had ridden away, her expression remained blank.
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That day, Xue Peng’s mother, Zhang Yunhua, received a phone call and left the house. When she returned, she cried in the room for a long time. Another call came in, and she spoke in broken intervals for quite a while. The next day, several people arrived at their home.
Xue Peng hid behind her older sister, Xue Yi, watching the uncles and aunts come and go with big eyes. Both girls were confused and uneasy.
Even though they were young, they could sense the heavy and strange atmosphere in the house. They heard their mother’s crying and knew that something terrible must have happened. And their father hadn’t come home all night. Was he working overtime?
A few days later, Xue Yi and Xue Peng, along with their mother, whose eyes were swollen from crying, attended their father Xue Yidong’s farewell ceremony.
For some reason, shortly after arriving, Xue Yi, who was two years older than Xue Peng, began crying as well, and two aunts comforted her. Feeling panicked, Xue Peng sought out her mother, Zhang Yunhua, and asked, “Where’s Dad? Where did he go?”
Zhang Yunhua squatted down and, in a hoarse voice, said, “Dad has gone to another place and won’t be back for a while.”
It wasn’t until two years later that Xue Peng started to understand. She realised that her father, Xue Yidong, had passed away from a sudden heart attack two years ago.
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Another year passed, and Xue Peng was now in second grade. One day after school, instead of going home right away, Xue Peng went with a few classmates to a nearby park to play on the slide.
There was a particularly tall slide that younger children were too scared to climb. But Xue Peng and her friends made a bet that whoever didn’t climb up would be called a puppy.
In the end, everyone climbed up together.
In a moment of panic, Xue Peng fell down, not knowing who had pushed her.
Perhaps it was because children have softer bones, so the fall wasn’t serious. Xue Peng stood up after a while. There was a small scratch on her forehead that didn’t seem severe, but both her knees were bleeding.
Xue Peng limped home, where she was scolded by Zhang Yunhua. She didn’t dare say that she had fallen from the slide, nor did she see who might have pushed her. Maybe no one pushed her at all—there was barely enough room at the top, with everyone squeezing each other. She probably just lost her balance and fell.
That night, Xue Peng had a nightmare.
The scene of a long-forgotten car accident came back to her. She saw again the black, charred corpse lying in the back seat of a burnt-out car.
In her dream, she was walking down the street.
As she approached the school gate, a man covered in smoke suddenly rushed out into the middle of the road. He grabbed and bit anyone nearby, terrifying passers-by, who fled in all directions.
Xue Peng froze, staring at the man’s back.
When he turned around, she saw his face was burnt black, his eyes hollow. His charred mouth was stained with blood, and in his hand, he held half of a corpse—the head had already fallen off.
The man walked towards Xue Peng, reaching out to grab her. She turned and ran.
He kept chasing her, and Xue Peng ran for her life, terrified. She ran to a nearby house, where she was given protection.
But the man killed everyone in that household, too.
That night, Xue Peng woke up screaming.
Her older sister, Xue Yi, was also startled awake by her scream. He crawled into her bed, comforted her for a long time, and then slept beside her.
The next day, Xue Peng had the same nightmare again.
Apart from the familiar scenes from before, the dream continued further: she ran to a new place, but the man pursued her relentlessly, killing several more people…
This pattern continued for nearly a month. Eventually, her mother, Zhang Yunhua, couldn’t take it anymore and took Xue Peng to the hospital for an examination.
At first, Zhang Yunhua thought it was due to the stress of school, or maybe it was because of the car accident scene Xue Peng had witnessed a few years ago. She couldn’t understand why her daughter was suddenly recalling it again—thinking about it during the day and dreaming about it at night.
It wasn’t until the doctor’s examination that it was confirmed: Xue Peng had a mild concussion.
The doctor prescribed medication, and after taking it for some time, Xue Peng finally stopped having nightmares.
However, even after her concussion healed, she couldn’t stop relying on the medication. Every time she stopped taking it, the nightmares would return.
According to medical and psychological explanations, the nightmares were likely due to stress or subconscious psychological projection. The doctor had no other solution and could only prescribe vitamins to replace the previous medicine, instructing Zhang Yunhua to continue giving them to Xue Peng.
Surprisingly, after taking the vitamins, Xue Peng no longer had nightmares. She firmly believed that as long as she continued to take the “medicine,” she would be able to sleep peacefully.
When Xue Peng entered high school, the lie of using vitamins to deceive children was exposed, and Xue Peng no longer needed to rely on drugs.
In fact, although Xue Peng would still dream about the charred corpse and sometimes wake up in fright, she no longer screamed like she had as a child. She wasn’t afraid of the dark anymore, and she no longer believed in ghosts or spirits seeking revenge.
Whether it was her inner demons or her nightmares, it seemed as though she had overcome it.
There was, however, one thing. Perhaps it was the bond between sisters, but whenever Xue Peng had a nightmare the night before, Xue Yi would always notice something was wrong the next day.
Xue Peng still remembered the last time they discussed this topic—it was January 26th, when she was sixteen.
It was winter vacation, a Friday.
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That day, when Xue Peng got up, Zhang Yunhua had already gone to work, and Xue Yi was rushing to school for tutoring. The two sisters sat at the dining table and chatted over breakfast.
Xue Yi asked, “Dream again?”
Xue Peng nodded.
Xue Yi asked again, “Do you want to sleep together tonight?”
After entering junior high, the two sisters had their own rooms and began building their own little secrets. They would visit each other’s rooms and spend time there but wouldn’t pry into each other’s privacy.
Sometimes, they slept in the same bed, talking late into the night.
But when it came to nightmares, Xue Peng would usually shake her head and say, “I have to overcome it myself. Besides, I’m not afraid of that dream. It’ll come if it comes.”
Xue Yi smiled faintly. Her eyes were light-coloured, unlike Xue Peng’s dark, deep eyes. Hers were more like translucent amber. She was always gentle to others, and her eyes curved into crescent shapes when she smiled, making her appear especially kind.
Not only that, Xue Yi was also the Student Union president, excellent in both character and studies. Both teachers and classmates liked her very much.
Xue Peng looked at her sister’s smile and felt particularly at ease.
At that time, Xue Peng wouldn’t have imagined that from that day on, another nightmare would be added to her dark nights.
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Xue Yi had already entered her third year of high school. After the winter vacation, she would face the most stressful months of the senior year.
But with Xue Yi’s grades, being recommended for admission was not an issue, and she had even chosen her major—law.
After breakfast, Xue Yi went to school for tutoring.
Saturday’s classes were only half a day. By noon, the students were heading home one after another. Xue Yi still had Student Union matters to attend to and usually stayed until around three in the afternoon.
Because she hadn’t slept well, Xue Peng was in low spirits. She initially planned to take a nap at noon, but when she went into the kitchen to get some water, she found that Xue Yi had forgotten her lunch box.
The lunch box was packed full of rice and stir-fried dishes, all of which were Xue Yi’s favourites.
Xue Peng heated it in the microwave, packed it into a lunch bag, and headed out on her bike to the school.
It took at most fifteen minutes to ride from the Xue house to the school. There was no traffic at noon, and she barely hit any red lights. Xue Peng rode quickly and arrived in just ten minutes.
The school’s bike shed only had a few bicycles left, scattered around, and two had even fallen over.
Xue Peng parked her bike and walked toward the teaching building with the lunch box, cutting across the playground.
On the playground, a few boys were playing basketball. One of them, who was very tall, had a skilled shooting posture and scored a beautiful three-step layup.
Xue Peng was in a hurry. Just as she passed the boys, she heard a “thud” behind her on the cement. A basketball had slipped out of one of the boys’ hands, hit the ground, bounced up, and headed straight for her back.
By pure chance, the ball hit Xue Peng’s head. She nodded forward from the impact and quickly turned around, covering her head, staring at them in surprise.
The tall boy who had just done the layup took a few quick steps toward her, looking a bit startled himself. He said, “Sorry.”
Xue Peng recognized him and frowned, saying, “This is the third time.”
It was purely coincidence that Xue Peng had such bad luck. In his first year of high school, she was hit in the head by a basketball three times. Each time, the same boy came forward to apologise and pick up the ball, whether or not it was actually him who had thrown it. Since Xue Peng didn’t have eyes on the back of his head, she naturally assumed whoever apologised was the one responsible.
The boy pursed his lips, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He knew that Xue Peng wouldn’t believe him, even if he explained, but he still said, “It wasn’t intentional. I’m really sorry.”
Xue Peng glared at the boy and turned away.
The boy remained standing for a couple of seconds until another male classmate walked up and said, “That girl looks familiar…”
Lowering his eyes, the boy handed the ball to his classmate and said, “Anyone would be mad in this situation. I’ll go explain again.”
With that, he turned and followed Xue Peng.
A male classmate called out from behind: “Hey, Lu Yan! What are you going to say? Don’t go! You’ll only make it worse!”
By this time, Xue Peng had already jogged to the front of the teaching building. Suddenly, someone tossed a stack of test papers down from above. The wind quickly scattered them like fairy flowers, blowing some more than ten metres away, while others landed near Xue Peng.
Xue Peng stopped in her tracks and instinctively reached out, catching one of the papers as she looked up.
The paper hadn’t been answered yet, but it was crumpled, covered with clear wrinkles and smeared with red marks.
The red stood out vividly, looking like blood. Xue Peng froze at the sight.
A sudden “pop” sounded in front of her.
Jolted back to her senses, Xue Peng saw a book fall a few steps away, raising a cloud of dust, which was immediately blown away by the wind.
The cover of the book was the same blood red, and it even seemed to have a half-clear palm print on it.
Another gust of wind blew, rustling the pages of the book before it flapped closed again.
Lu Yan had already walked a few steps behind Xue Peng, his foot landing on a test paper stained with blood-red marks. He frowned, picked up the paper, looked at it, then glanced up at Xue Peng.
At that moment, several more books came tumbling down from above.
Lu Yan, reacting quickly, pulled Xue Peng back.
She stumbled a few steps from the force but didn’t turn to see who had grabbed her. Her eyes were locked on the first book that had fallen.
Even from several steps away, she could clearly see two large characters signed on the cover in bold pen strokes.
Xue Peng stood frozen for a moment. After a few seconds of silence, she shook off the hand that had pulled her back and slowly walked forward step by step.
Lu Yan glanced at her retreating figure and then cautiously looked up at the building.
With the backlight, Lu Yan had to squint, raising a hand to shield his eyes as he looked up, following the trajectory of where the books had fallen.
On each floor, the windows were all closed. Since it was the middle of winter, the classroom windows wouldn’t be left open for long.
A few classmates gathered around, whispering amongst themselves, some even gasping in surprise. Even a few boys from the basketball court came over to see what was going on.
Two girls nearby picked up the scattered test papers. One of them exclaimed, “Oh! What’s on this? Just throw it away!”
The other girl quickly tossed it aside, whispering, “Is that blood?”
Xue Peng, however, didn’t notice any of this. Her ears were filled with a constant buzzing noise, blocking out everything around her. Her limbs were growing colder, and her heart felt like it was sinking deeper.
She reached the book, staring at the two large characters on the cover for a moment before crouching down to pick it up. Then, as if snapping back to reality, she started gathering the other scattered books.
All the books bore the same signature, written in bold, flowing calligraphy—Xue Yi.
Xue Peng took a deep breath, raised her head, and followed the angle from which the books had fallen, looking up.
Lu Yan came over and saw the signature on the books she was holding.
When he looked up again, just like Xue Peng, he saw a head briefly peek out from the rooftop before quickly retreating.
By the time Lu Yan lowered his gaze again, Xue Peng had already run up the stairs.
Without knowing why, Lu Yan found himself running after her.
Xue Peng ran fast, clutching the books as she dashed into the stairwell.
The rooftop was on the fifth floor. Xue Peng didn’t stop at all, racing up the stairs in one breath. On her way, she bumped into two or three classmates, but she didn’t stop to see who they were.
When Xue Peng passed the fifth floor and stepped on the last few steps, her knees weakened, and she almost fell to her knees.
Lu Yan followed her and dragged her along.
Xue Peng took two breaths with the help of Lu Yan’s strength, then crossed the last few steps.
The door to the rooftop was wide open, and the cold wind hit their faces and bodies.
Through the door, they could see the test papers flying and circling on the rooftop, whistling with the wind.
Xue Peng didn’t know how she managed to walk through the door—whether she stepped over on her own or someone dragged her through. She only felt cold all over, a chill that came from her blood and bones.
Then, she saw a girl lying in the corner, her back against the metal guardrail. The girl’s eyes were closed, and her head was tilted weakly to one side. There was a wet spot on her cotton coat. Because the coat was dark, the colour of the spot couldn’t be seen, but in the middle of the wet patch was a knife—the blade was sunken into the coat, and the handle was exposed.
The girl’s hands were also stained with blood. Her arms hung limply, and her palms were spread open.
Xue Peng approached and finally knelt down in front of her.
At that moment, the whole world turned blood red.
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Author’s note:
There are a few points to explain at the beginning:
This article will involve crime scenes and physical evidence technology, and there will be graphic content from time to time. Those with fragile or timid hearts should not read.
This article is part of the “Parasite Lies” series. The stories in the two parts are independent and do not interfere with each other. The protagonist from the previous story will appear here, and their follow-up will be mentioned, but it won’t affect the reading of this one. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t read the previous part.
The representative colours of this article are red and white. White represents daytime, symbolising light and truth, while red represents the bloody cases, symbolising conspiracy and bloodshed. The content is slow-paced and serious. The case and the human nature aspects can be a bit depressing. Since the story involves a crime, it will be written thoroughly. It’s not a light-hearted or “cool” novel. There are creative ideas but no “golden fingers” (plot conveniences or cheats). If you prefer fast-paced, light-hearted stories where romance is the main plot and solving the case is secondary, believe me—don’t read on.
The author has never worked in public security, has never attended the Public Security University, and has never been to a crime scene. All professional knowledge has been collected through research. Please forgive any inaccuracies or “bugs.”
This article is also suspenseful and brain-burning. It’s not recommended to read it all in one go—it can be exhausting. Please manage your reading time reasonably and remember to rest~
PS: All city names, place names, and names of mountains and lakes are fictional. Any resemblance to real names is purely coincidental.
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The explosion and burning of the car mentioned in this chapter:
There is an experiment to prove that there is no explosion; it takes 10 seconds from the open flame to burning the car.
The car was completely engulfed in fire within 40 seconds.
It takes 5 minutes for a small car and 6-10 minutes for a larger car to burn down to an empty frame.
For surface skin and flesh carbonization:
The time is hard to say, as it depends on the conditions of the explosion and burning at the scene. Generally, third-degree burns will lead to partial skin and flesh carbonization.
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(づ˶•༝•˶)づ𓍢ִ໋🌷͙֒
