Chapter 404: Zhou Tiannan

Translator: Azza

Editor: Conspiracing

On the morning of July 15th, Lin Qiupu left the house and saw Chen Shi's car waiting for him outside. He got into the car and asked, "Are you sure that person is Zhou Xiao?"

"Very sure."

"Where did you get this information from?"

"Confidential."

"You’re keeping it a secret from me? I’m more honest than you then. Do you still remember that last case with the fake kidnapping? In the follow-up investigation, we found out that Hao Jie’s mother had a group of friends from an online book club. A person named ‘Ghost Face Butterfly’ offered her a lot of advice for her criminal plans. It could even be said that this person was the one who orchestrated the entire course of the crime."

"No wonder a housewife thought up such a method. I thought that she was mentally abnormal, so her thinking was particularly keen... Ah, yes, what book is the club for?"

"An internet suspense novel. We investigated the author. In fact, he doesn’t belong to the group at all. The group was organized spontaneously by people who read the book, but what they discuss doesn’t seem to be the standard type of stuff. It’s all about crimes. The group has already been shut down by the Internet police department."

Chen Shi thought to himself, why does this cyber community discussing crimes seem so much like "Black Honey”? He said, "The group can be rebuilt even after it’s gone."

"I have sent some people to monitor the core members of that group. At present, they are just 'crime enthusiasts'... I can't figure out why some people have nothing better to do than to get together to discuss these things!"

"Have you cheated on someone before?"

"What are you saying?!"

"For ordinary people whose lives are monotonous, breaking taboos will bring great pleasure. It’s just like how most successful middle-aged men would have affairs. Is it just for sex? Those greasy middle-aged people’s sexual abilities aren’t that great at all. What they’re after is actually the excitement of breaking taboos."

"You say it as if you’ve done it before." Lin Qiupu gave Chen Shi a skeptical look, "I'm sorry but I can’t empathize."

"I heard that there are nineteen states in the United States where sibling marriage is legal.[1]"

Lin Qiupu suddenly had goosebumps all over him. "Asshole, why are you suddenly talking about that stuff?!"

"Look! Look!" Chen Shi smiled wickedly and raised his eyebrow. "You also have a desire to break taboos in your heart. Everyone has a muddy flow of chaos within their hearts. It doesn't matter what you think as long as you don't do it. That way, it’s okay! "

"I just want to kill you with one punch right now."

"Okay, let’s not talk about that... Do you have any background information for that ‘Ghost Face Butterfly’ that you just mentioned?”

"So far it seems like he’s just an ordinary netizen."

"Keep an eye on him! Especially when the last case is reported in the news. As the strategist behind the scenes, he will definitely gain a great sense of accomplishment. I think that he’ll continue to give 'pointers' to others."

"Haii, when did Long’an become so troubled?" Lin Qiupu sighed.

kk and Sun Zhen found Zhou Tiannan’s address, but there was no evidence to convict him. From the scattered evidence, Zhou Tiannan was a spiritual leader similar to Moriarty[2] in "Black Honey". Ever since the tragedy at Villa Luolin, his hands have not been stained with blood again.

Chen Shi's car was parked outside a housing district. The two sat in the car and stared at the people walking out of the housing district. A balding, middle-aged man over forty in a cheap suit walked out holding a briefcase. He smiled and greeted neighbors as he walked past them. He seemed to be quite approachable.

Chen Shi compared the photo in his hand with the man and pointed at him, "He’s Zhou Tiannan!"

"He looks so ordinary." Lin Qiupu said emotionally.

"He was the creator of Zhou Xiao, the murdering fiend. Zhou Xiao is a gang. I suspect that the serial killers back then actually exchanged victims between the gang members who carried out the murders. That’s why we’ve never found this person.”

"What's the basis for your reasoning?"

"I don’t have one."

"You’re also just guessing that this person is the leader?"

"Yes!"

Lin Qiupu covered his face. "You should have confirmed it before calling me here!"

"It’s just to meet him face-to-face this time." Chen Shi got out of the car.

Zhou Tiannan found a seat at a breakfast stall near the gate of the housing district. He asked for deep-fried dough sticks and tofu brain[3]. He ate them as if they were especially tasty and even occasionally sucked the oil off his fingers. Chen Shi sat down in front of him. Zhou Tiannan’s glistening bald head was still buried in the bowl of tofu brain. It took him a long time before he looked up and smiled at Chen Shi.

"Boss, give me what he’s having." Chen Shi said.

"This store has been open for a long time and the taste has always been so good. I come to eat here every morning." Zhou Tiannan said.

"What do you do?"

"What do you think I do?"

Chen Shi noticed the frayed skin on his fingers and some white powder between the cracks of his skin and said, "Teacher? Someone who teaches science?"

"Sharp eyes!" Zhou Tiannan gave a thumbs up. "I didn’t expect a driver to have such sharp eyes."

"The same to you!"

Zhou Tiannan's eyes turned from Chen Shi's face to the car behind him. At that moment, the boss brought breakfast over and asked Zhou Tiannan, "Teacher Zhou, is this your friend?"

"An old friend that I haven't seen for years. He’s become unrecognizable." He narrowed his eyes and a sneer formed at the corners of his mouth.

Chen Shi stared at his face and Zhou Tiannan stared back at him. Chen Shi asked, "Have we met before?"

"Have we?"

"Maybe we’ve chatted online before."

"Haha, what do we have in common?"

"Mr. Zhou, do you still go online?"

"Who doesn't surf the Internet nowadays? It’s convenient to communicate with friends that way."

"Not only is it convenient, there’s also a lot of freedom! For an honest teacher, the online self is another identity, am I right?"

"Haha, according to this, you also have another identity. Maybe nobody around you knows about it, such as the one in the car."

Zhou Tiannan laughed and Chen Shi laughed as well. Almost like old friends who hadn’t seen each other in many years.

In fact, Chen Shi really wanted to turn the table over and beat him up. He was very convinced that this person was the crazy programmer, Wang Sunxu's mentor, and Black Honey’s spiritual leader.

Chen Shi stopped smiling. "Do you have a lot of friends online?"

Zhou Tiannan dug his nostrils and wiped his fingers with a tissue. "There are a lot of them. One of them has played a game with you as well."

"Really? Why don't I remember that?"

"He said that your technical skills weren’t very good. Two teammates were killed and the user name was also blocked after that." Zhou Tiannan laughed.

Chen Shi clenched his fists under the table. His nails dug into his palms and a smile appeared on his face. "Tell that friend to test his skills against mine again when he has the time."

"Haha, it depends on what he wishes. He's been very busy recently..." Zhou Tiannan looked at his watch. "Sorry, I should go to work."

"Be careful on your way. Don't run through red lights!"

"Thank you for reminding me. I’ve got great luck though. I always get a green light when I get to intersections." Zhou Tiannan patted Chen Shi's shoulder. "Old chap, take your time to eat!"

1. Since this isn’t true, I’m guessing that Chen Shi is just making a joke here to rile Lin Qiupu up. That or he meant first-cousin marriages.

2. The main antagonist in Sherlock Holmes.

3. It’s a tofu dish. It can be eaten as a dessert served with syrup and sugar on top. Sometimes people add mochis and other things into it. Some don’t have it as a dessert with syrup, but with soy sauce and whatnot. This is the dessert version (tofu hua) https://media.timeout.com/images/105479002/image.jpg and this is the savory version (tofu brain) https://intothemiddlekingdom.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/tofu-brains.jpg.