Chapter 398: Too Much to Drink, Easy to Drift 

‘It’s not him.’ Xiao Yu frowned, staring at the young man before him.

Suspect: Xiong Shaoyan.

The boy’s gaze was steady. Though nervous and confused, he didn’t show the kind of panicked guilt that people often reveal when they’ve done something wrong in front of the police.

The old saying goes, “the face reflects the heart,” and there’s some truth to that.

What’s more, Xiao Yu was well-versed in microexpressions.

Of course, nothing in this world was absolute. He could only judge based on strong impressions. And his impression was that Xiong Shaoyan was highly unlikely to be the murderer behind the Plate Spirit killings.

“You know them?” Xiao Yu pulled out six photos and handed them over.

Xiong Shaoyan glanced at them briefly, his expression shifting as he nodded.

Six university students killed—news like that couldn’t be contained. The whole school knew. It wasn’t something that could be kept quiet.

“For the past two months, you’ve been seen hanging out with them frequently.” Xiao Yu stared into his eyes. “Can you explain why?”

“Well…” Xiong Shaoyan thought for a moment. “They wanted to learn photography from me.”

‘So that’s how it was.’ Xiao Yu gave a small nod.

Though Xiong Shaoyan was still a student, he was also the president of the university’s photography club.

University life wasn’t like high school—students didn’t spend all their time in class. There were tons of clubs and extracurriculars.

But some clubs were expensive.

Photography, for instance.

Even a basic camera or camcorder could run thousands—some setups costing tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands.

Hobbies aren’t for everyone. You need both passion and a decent family background.

Filming a video didn’t just mean whipping out your phone and pressing record. You needed planning, a crew, a script, props, equipment…

A bunch of students who knew nothing, trying to shoot a horror-style video? Of course, they’d look for guidance.

Xiao Yu recalled that Group Two had already investigated and found that the victims hadn’t been close to Xiong before—only in the past two months had they gotten familiar.

All for the sake of learning to film?

According to Xiong Shaoyan, that was exactly what had happened. Over the past two months, he had spent a lot of time with the victims, mostly discussing how to shoot a video about the Plate Spirit.

Ironically, none of the victims had much money. They had planned to shoot it casually.

They didn’t need professional gear.

Originally, they just wanted to use their phones.

Later, they switched to surveillance-style cameras—something closer to the Paranormal Activity approach. Minimal requirements. No need for high-end gear. As long as there was a script, some acting, and a basic grasp of performance, it would suffice.

The idea to use surveillance-style cameras came from Xiong Shaoyan.

He also helped write the script and do some pre-production planning.

As for the actors? The six victims in the photos.

Xiong Shaoyan confirmed this confidently.

He also clearly stated that, over the past two months, he had only interacted with these six people. He’d never seen anyone else involved in their circle.

That… didn’t make sense.

Xiao Yu’s gaze dimmed, falling into thought.

Was his deduction wrong?

Was there no shell-shedding?

No, there had to be a seventh person.

Maybe even… an eighth.

“One last question.” Xiao Yu locked eyes with Xiong Shaoyan. “Do you know where they went to shoot the video?”

“I’ve heard of it.” Xiong Shaoyan nodded. “They said it was a haunted house.”

“Oh?” A sharp glint flashed in Xiao Yu’s eyes. “You’re all students. How’d you even know there was a haunted house in town?”

“That part, I’m not sure.” Shaoyan shook his head. “Apparently, Li Ming found it. Said a classmate told him. That classmate even took Li Ming there once.”

Li Ming was one of the six victims.

‘Some classmate. Who was this classmate?’

Xiao Yu frowned.

Suspicious? Absolutely.

And more importantly, that classmate was likely a local.

Following that thread and pulling it further, Group Two quickly locked onto another student.

A boy from the dorm next to the victims’.

Name: Che Yu, age 21. Local resident of J City.

Xiao Yu glanced through the file Wang Dong had just handed him.

“Another club president… Muay Thai Club?”

Muay Thai was known for its brutal efficiency and emphasis on explosive force and speed. Anyone who could rise to the position of club president in a combat-based society like that needed no explanation for what kind of person they were.

But the file Group Two had compiled included a critical detail:

Che Yu had once dated one of the female victims.

They reportedly met in freshman year.

One night, after drinking too much while out partying, they had a drunken hookup and ended up together.

It happens.

People drink. People drift.

Do things they normally wouldn’t dare to do. And in modern college life, this wasn’t rare at all.

Later, they broke up during sophomore year for reasons unknown.

Soon after, the girl started dating a boy from the dorm next door. Another one of the current victims.

That kind of thing was also pretty common in college.

Xiao Yu remembered a case from his past life—one even more outrageous.

A female college student who, during her four years, went through fourteen boyfriends. Two of them were from the same dorm room.

As a lifelong bachelor back then, Xiao Yu had been left utterly speechless. Before then, he’d only known the word “scumbag” as being used on guys. Only later did he realize scumbaggery was gender-neutral.

When a woman’s out to be scummy, men have no say in the matter.

“They all saw each other on campus. Didn’t things get awkward?” Xiao Yu smirked and kept flipping through the report.

By senior year, Che Yu had rented his own place off-campus.

Not surprising. Many wayward young men and women did that.

Hotels were expensive. Having your spot saves money. It was more convenient. But Che Yu was different.

The investigation showed that after breaking up with his girlfriend, he remained single.

Why would he, a local, rent a small apartment?

Too much money, nothing to spend it on?

Xiao Yu’s gaze lingered on the file.

It clearly stated: Che Yu came from a very average family. Both parents were regular folks. Even through college, his allowance was modest. A single guy, tight on funds—yet still renting a place?

Wasn’t that suspicious?

The killer in this case—someone who managed to slaughter six people—couldn’t possibly be ordinary.

Was it Che Yu?

***

J City – A Certain Apartment Complex

Xiao Yu and Wang Dong made their way toward one of the buildings.

“It’s gotta be him, right?” Wang Dong asked through gritted teeth.

“Not sure.” Xiao Yu shook his head.

He wouldn’t say anything with certainty until he saw the man in person—until the facts were verified.

Che Yu was a suspect. Nothing more.

In recent years, he hadn’t had any interactions with the six victims.

So why would they bring him along to a haunted house? Why would he be the one to tell them about it?

None of it made sense.