Love Me if You Dare: Pristine Darkness

This chapter has a little bit of everything. We finally get to see Bo Jinyan’s reasoning on the Ke Ai/ Ke Qian situation, and his brain is in top form, as usual! We also get to see his sarcastic wit, but that’s par for the course. Fang Qing discovers Bo Jinyan was right, and he and An Yan have a light-hearted conversation. Did you come to the same conclusion as Bo Jinyan? Feel free to say ‘I told you so’ in the comments!

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Jian Yao fell silent for a moment before saying, “But, I always think that this kind of speculation is too outrageous. Ke Qian didn’t die, the one who died was Ke Ai. And then, he . . .” She stopped there and looked at Bo Jinyan.

Bo Jinyan replied as he drove, “The facts are already quite obvious. And, because there are several contradictions in logic, those whose minds are more logical will be able to perceive the actual facts more clearly. However, Fang Qing . . . is evidently still a little lacking in this aspect.”

Jian Yao laughed heartily. “Don’t malign him. Why did you have to argue with him yesterday?”

“You have reversed the logic,” Bo Jinyan replied. “It was he who argued with me, not me who argued with him. Intelligent people have clear minds and sharp senses, and the truth is self-evident. It’s the stupid people who need to argue, because one who has the wrong logic will always need to convince others.”

Jian Yao decided to just keep quiet.

“First of all, that very first night, one of the twins, without doubt, died,” said Bo Jinyan. “However, we were mislead by the accounts of Xu Sheng and the rest. The deceased wore a cosplay costume and heavy makeup, so the differences in appearance of the twins were less noticeable. As a result, they all thought it must be Ke Qian, and we also inferred the same. But, do you remember, when Xu Sheng and Wen Xiaohua spoke about that night, they recounted that Jiang Xueran and the others said that ‘Ke Qian’ had suddenly become hostile and refused to divide up the money, and even told them to leave, saying he would report them to the police. The kind of personality who would react this way is not in line with Ke Qian’s typical ‘yes-man’ nature; instead, it is more like Ke Ai’s calm and rational nature. It was only when she saw that her younger brother’s friends were so selfish and uncaring that she inevitably burst out in anger. The results of the forensic investigation are the most conclusive proof. The phrase ‘the odds of survival are extremely small’ is equivalent to ‘one of those twins must surely have died’. It’s just that this is not a conclusion that will hold up in a court of law.

Secondly, in the serial murder case, the murderer showed that he was familiar with the studio, the habits of the members, and all sorts of details both big and small. Even though Ke Qian and Ke Ai had once had a detailed discussion about the studio’s situation, for her to be familiar with the studio to such a high degree would be too far-fetched. Thus, at that time, I had my suspicions. However, as you know, I do not speak of things that are uncertain.”

Jian Yao pursed her lips.

“Thirdly, as I mentioned yesterday, Ke Ai could have put up a false front when interacting with us, but there is no way to fake her past relationships and her life. The Ke Ai who once was did not fit the characteristics of the murderer.

On the other hand, Ke Qian fitted the profile in every way. Although the impression he gave everyone was of a fragile person, don’t forget, he had a great academic record in his school and is highly intelligent. He is perfectly capable of carrying out the murders. And, only he fits the profile of a personality who stakes everything on one throw of the dice, is desperate, and is stubbornly set in his ways. Moreover, his attachment to his older sister is really strong, and he is an excellent cosplayer who frequently dresses up as a female. For him to play his dead sister, to substitute for her in everyday life, would be something fully within his ability.”

“Then . . .” Jian Yao continued, “when he needed to kill someone, he would take off the disguise and resume his male identity. That’s why Fang Qing and Gu Fang Fang immediately perceived him as a man when they saw him. Then, when we found ‘Ke Ai’, because we had not located Ke Qian’s body, we could not rule him out as a suspect. Thus, he was able to put all the blame and suspicion on ‘Ke Qian’. He became ‘Ke Ai’, and escaped the reach of the law.”

Bo Jinyan nodded.

“But these are all your speculations; you have no evidence.” Jian Yao added, “Since you had such speculations earlier, why didn’t we find an excuse to subject Ke Qian to a physical examination and expose his identity?”

“And, then?” Bo Jinyan asked. “My dear, Ke Ai’s body has yet to be found. Even if we were to expose Ke Qian’s male identity now, he could still push all the suspicion onto the vanished Ke Ai. After all, no one can prove that the murderer is a man! Twins always give rise to the most exciting types of cases!”

Jian Yao spent some time in deep thought, digesting his words. Therefore, no matter who was alive right now, whether Ke Ai or Ke Qian, if they could not find the other person’s body, both of them would be suspected equally, there would be no way to convict the truly guilty party.

“So, what do we do now?” Jian Yao asked.

Bo Jinyan looked up. Before them was the place that they had visited once before, Ke Ai and Ke Qian’s old hometown.

“We will look for Ke Ai, whom Ke Qian has hidden.”

——

Fang Qing hardened his face and strode into the police station.

Some things cannot be clearly understood at the beginning. However, upon careful thought, all becomes clear.

That bstrd Bo Jinyan was right. Fang Qing recollected how he had strongly argued his point against Bo Jinyan the previous night, just like a stupid c**t. How had Bo Jinyan concluded the debate? He had smiled faintly, looked at Fang Qing as if he were a blockhead, and said, “He is someone else.”

At that time, Fang Qing had not understood the meaning of those words. He had kept looking at Bo Jinyan, looking at him as if he (Bo Jinyan) were the blockhead. Well, this time, he had been given a rude awakening by a ‘blockhead’. What was more foolish than a blockhead? Wasn’t it a stupid c**t?

Although he was angry, his expression had toned down by the time he walked into the interrogation room. He asked the criminal investigator at the door, “What about the other?”

“Inside, it’s already been a long time. Her schoolmates have also been brought in.”

Fang Qing nodded calmly and whispered, “Ask a female colleague to come over.”

Five minutes later.

Fang Qing led the policewoman into the interrogation room. ‘Ke Ai’ looked up, slightly stunned. Her appearance was still collected and elegant.

Fang Qing smiled. “Ke Ai, there was another surprise attack today. We need you to cooperate with us and undergo an examination. I’ll let my female colleague take over.”

Ke Ai did not move. “Officer Fang, I’ve been busy with the experiment all afternoon, my schoolmate Zhu Momo can testify to that. I do not wish to be examined.”

Fang Qing’s smile did not reach his eyes. “Don’t be like this, Ke Ai. I don’t care about any evidence that you were not at the scene. You are currently the primary suspect. I’ll ask my colleague to examine your body, to check if there are any scratch marks or other injuries. It’s only reasonable to comply. Then, I’ll take my leave first?”

The policewoman stepped forward. “Ke Ai, please comply.”

Ke Ai looked at the policewoman, and glanced at Fang Qing. Abruptly, she started smiling, slowly. “There’s no need.”

The policewoman and Fang Qing were both startled.

Previously, her words had all been uttered in a low, soft voice, just like a woman’s. Right now, her voice had deepened and taken on a rough quality, clearly a man’s voice.

His smile was cold and distant. After smiling for a while, he said, “I am Ke Qian.”

——

On hearing the news, the entire investigative team was in an uproar.

Someone they had thought was a murder victim was actually a person playing two roles, living his older sister’s life while murdering people in his own identity. While vainly attempting to exact revenge, he was simultaneously escaping legal punishment.

However, after the police had uncovered the truth, he had confessed so quickly.

“This Ke Qian is not so simple,” said Fang Qing to An Yan. “After being subjected to such extreme provocation, he became vicious and merciless. He was already smart, and everything he did was carried out with incredible precision.”

However, An Yan said something quite profound. “He is now living the lives of two people, thus, he also possesses the calmness and power of Ke Ai.”

Fang Qing eyed him. “Hey, stay with those two for long enough, and you’ll also spout criminal psychology analysis?”

An Yan smiled lightly. “Of course.”

After a while, he continued, “You have no idea how Bo Jinyan derides me. Once, he actually called me ‘Prince of Monitoring’. Do I only know how to check surveillance footage? I am the best hacker in China, and criminal psychology is a breeze for me, huh!”

Fang Qing guffawed.

When he had stopped, he asked, “What’s happening on their side?”

An Yan replied, “They’ve reached Ke Ai and Ke Qian’s old home.”

Fang Qing nodded. “Then, let’s go and meet with Ke Qian, and strive for a breakthrough on our side first!”

An Yan assented, then said, “Fang ge, don’t compete with Jinyan.” Fang Qing was about to comment that he would not lower himself to compete with others, when An Yan continued, “You can’t beat him.”

Fang Qing frowned, and heard An Yan say, unhurriedly, “Since when have adults ever gotten the better of capricious little kids?”

“Ha . . .”

“Heh heh.”