The Novelist Forced to Become Famous

The moment she stepped through the front door, her heart was already soothed.

Her parents being alive and well was all she had hoped for. As for getting along with them... honestly, that was another matter entirely.

In the past, Jian Jing had actually been a bit afraid of going home. Her parents always wanted her to follow their path, to live a steady, ordinary life.

But she didn't know how to rebel, or rather, hadn't made up her mind to rebel.

She resisted, so she moved out, but she hadn't completely solved the problem, so she had no choice but to juggle relationships with so many men on WeChat.

However, coming home today, her mood was calm. Even if her parents brought up old issues, she didn't find it annoying.

Because it was all useless now.

She already knew what kind of person she was and what kind of life she wanted. No matter what her parents said or did, they couldn't change her mind.

Lost in these thoughts, she arrived at her destination.

Jian Jing paid the fare and found a high spot to squeeze into the crowd of onlookers.

It was really crowded at the scene.

Many self-media personalities were filming videos at the entrance of the residential area. Those shooting short videos were fine, but some were even live streaming: "Folks, in the residential area behind me, a dismembered body was discovered this morning. It's said that the body was cut into one hundred and eight pieces..."

Jian Jing's mouth twitched, and for a moment she didn't know whether to criticize the high crime rate of the parallel world or the vultures feeding on tragedy in this world.

Fortunately, the body had already been taken away, so there was actually nothing to see at the scene.

What was intriguing were the police searching the residential area.

They wore gloves and masks, carefully searching every corner, revealing an obvious message: the body hadn't been completely found.

A dismemberment case.

Jian Jing felt a chill run down her spine.

How to put it... At first, she thought she was dealing with a crime of passion, which, although unjust, was common. She never imagined it would turn out to be a dismemberment case.

Such a serious case happening in this world was more unsettling than in the parallel world, but undoubtedly, it also excited her more.

She walked around the entrance of the residential area, getting a general idea of the situation.

The residential area was newly built, mid to low-end, occupied by tenants, with a complex mix of people. Neighbors didn't know each other, everyone was a stranger.

The property management was also mediocre, usually collecting garbage only once in the morning and evening - according to the residents watching the commotion. The access control wasn't strict either, with complaints about stolen packages. Advertisements were plastered everywhere, for drain unclogging, computer repairs, and even some unsavory content.

In short, anyone could come to such a residential area and be sure not to attract attention.

Jian Jing walked around to the back door, where the police were checking water meters.

Dismemberment would leave a lot of blood, and washing away the traces would require water.

Whoever's water meter had been unusually active in the past couple of days would be a major suspect.

"I'm sorry, you can't enter here," a police assistant politely turned people away.

Jian Jing nodded cooperatively: "I'm just looking around. Anyway, the killer probably isn't in this residential area."

Someone inside seemed to look out, and then a tall man came out.

Jian Jing was about to leave when she saw him and was shocked as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Are you a resident?" he asked.

Jian Jing closed her eyes and took a deep breath: "...No."

He sized her up, his demeanor friendly, except for his eyes which analyzed her impassively, as if pondering the reason for her presence and the purpose of her words.

Jian Jing suppressed her urge to make a sarcastic comment and deliberately baited him: "Have you found all the body parts?"

"Why are you concerned about that?" Ji Feng of this world asked, his tone gradually becoming stern, "What do you do?"

Jian Jing glanced at him and turned to leave.

Ji Feng found her a bit strange, but there were too many people feeding on the tragedy, and he couldn't pay attention to all of them. After memorizing her face, he went back to work.

The water meters showed no abnormalities.

The search area expanded to the surrounding areas.

Two hours later, he saw her again in the park.

Once could be a coincidence, but now that the media clearly hadn't gotten the news yet, her appearance again was hard to ignore.

Ji Feng's approach was simple. First, he intimidated: "This is a crime scene, unrelated personnel cannot linger." Then, pretending to be kind, he said amiably, "This isn't a good place to be. Why do you keep coming here? Did your boss send you?"

Jian Jing smiled and said: "I'm looking for the remaining body parts."

Ji Feng also smiled: "Why do you think they're here?"

"If you don't want a body to be found, you wouldn't dump it in a residential area." Even in the worst residential area, there would certainly be cleaners regularly emptying the trash bins. "Since only part of it was found in Nanhua Residential Area, the rest is probably in nearby crowded places."

Ji Feng: "And then?"

"I've seen the photos of the limbs."

Nowadays, when people see something newsworthy, their first reaction is to take photos and upload them. Before the police arrived, someone had already taken photos of the body parts. Jian Jing, being in the system, had access to information and it wasn't difficult for her to find an uncensored photo.

The body parts discovered in the morning belonged to the limbs, cut crudely but not too damaged.

She pondered: "The killer chose these places to dump the body, obviously hoping for quick discovery, especially prioritizing the limbs over the torso. The dismemberment might not just be for the sake of dismemberment."

Ji Feng: "Then what was it for?"

"Curious?" she said, "I'm not telling you."

Ji Feng: "..." Who did this girl belong to? Her temperament was too prickly.

He put on a serious face, half-jokingly said: "Saying all this in front of me, do you know something, or are you trying to find out something?"

"Both, I suppose," Jian Jing said. "Can you tell me?"

Ji Feng: "Of course not."

She didn't push it, carefully examining the cordoned-off crime scene, when suddenly inspired: "I'll bet the head appears last."

Ji Feng: "Heh."

He had already figured it out. This girl wasn't filming videos for views, but probably a mystery enthusiast who couldn't resist showing off when encountering a case.

Jian Jing reminded him: "You should pay more attention to serial killer cases."

Ji Feng laughed, with a hint of disbelief: "Don't watch too many American TV shows in your spare time."

"Don't think I'm fear-mongering," she said. "I'm next."

Ji Feng was stunned.

Jian Jing asked: "Want to bet?"

Ji Feng looked at her, and with a just-in-case attitude: "Alright, shall we exchange contact information?"

This was exactly what Jian Jing wanted. She took out her phone: "Deadline is midnight."

Ji Feng scanned the QR code.

What popped up wasn't an add friend page, but a chat conversation.

Dead silence.

He looked at her contact name on his side: (Blind Date H) Ji

Jian Jing looked at her contact name on his side: Chen-Middle School Teacher-Jian

Ji Feng: Tsk.

Lucky him, he didn't even need to check her ID. Just asking Aunt Chen would reveal everything. The matchmaker would surely be happy to introduce her in detail.

He glanced at Jian Jing.

Her expression was quite awful, face ashen, almost carving four words on her face: Utter. Humiliation. And. Disgrace.

Ji Feng: "..." Is it really that bad?

"Hiss," Jian Jing took a deep breath, suppressing her urge to kill and silence him, quickly deleted him.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she said: "If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

Ji Feng didn't stop her.

"I need to make a call," he told his colleague, walking a bit further away to call Aunt Chen.

Aunt Chen was the wife of a senior officer at the police station. The senior officer was warm-hearted and generous, often inviting juniors to his home for meals. Aunt Chen herself worked in the library of the middle school, and with her leisurely job, she had taken up a side business - matchmaking.

Due to the couple's social connections, they introduced people who were in civil service or public institutions, with comparable conditions, and had a good reputation in their circle.

Hearing Ji Feng actively inquiring, Aunt Chen spoke freely and extensively.

"Teacher Jian is the most popular female teacher in our school. Every time she attends an event, several more male teachers start pursuing her. But this person, though she seems easy-going, is actually quite hard to chase. The other day, Mr. Jin from our school suffered quite a setback..."

Aunt Chen spoke with great enthusiasm, contributing numerous pieces of gossip, and of course, also clarified what Ji Feng wanted to know.

Clean family background, parents still alive, proper conduct, and although she was surrounded by many men, it was normal given her beauty.

Ji Feng confirmed: "She just works normally? No other... other hobbies?"

Aunt Chen replied decisively: "I've inquired thoroughly. She doesn't even go to bars."

Ji Feng: "Thank you."

After ending the call, he fell into deep thought.

Although Jian Jing's behavior earlier was quite different from the female teacher Aunt Chen described, Ji Feng felt that Aunt Chen, having been a matchmaker for so many years, should have reliable information.

In other words, Jian Jing had a respectable job, was young and beautiful, and her biggest worry should be deciding which gentleman's date to accept.

There was no reason for her to come and waste the police's time for no apparent reason.

She said she would be next. What did that mean exactly?

Ji Feng made a mental note.

Throughout the afternoon, the police mobilized dozens of personnel to search for the remaining body parts in the vicinity. By five in the afternoon, they had found a total of seventeen pieces, all near the Nanhua Residential Area.

The limbs and torso were now complete.

However, there was no head.

At 8 PM, Ji Feng called Jian Jing: "Care to join me for dinner?"

Jian Jing: "Who is this?"

Ji Feng: "No head."

Jian Jing: "Hmph."

"Can we talk?" he probed.

Jian Jing gave him an address, then said: "Buy some fried chicken. I'll have it as a late-night snack."

Then she hung up.

Ji Feng was uncharacteristically perplexed. Even if he was a police officer, she shouldn't trust him so easily, letting a man come to her place at night. If people found out, who knows what they might say.

So, he bought fried chicken and arrived at her building, but didn't go up. Instead, he called and asked her to come down.

"If I tell you to come up, just come up. What could you possibly do to me?" Jian Jing said. "I'm not crazy. Hurry up."

As Ji Feng was still pondering her intentions, he suddenly received another phone call.

After the call, he rushed upstairs without a second thought.

As soon as he rang the doorbell, she immediately responded: "Come in."

Her words were decisive and crisp, which again made Ji Feng feel something was off.

Entering, he habitually observed the environment but didn't notice anything obviously unusual.

"My roommate went home for the weekend. She won't be back today," Jian Jing said. The living room was small, with only a dining table and chairs. She casually pointed at a chair for him to sit down. "I don't have much time, so I won't beat around the bush."

"Look into this person," she opened her phone and showed him a photo, pointing clearly. "His name is Zhou Zisheng. He's a friend I met recently. This is his cousin. Last night, I went to attend a party at his company. When I was leaving, I saw blood stains in his cousin's car trunk."

This straightforward speech threw Ji Feng off his rhythm.

But he recovered quickly, saying with a mix of amusement and exasperation: "You can't determine he did it just based on blood stains, right? I thought you had seen a body."

"Of course. Even if it's his car, we can't be sure he did it," Jian Jing thought thoroughly. "Maybe he's just a runner who disposed of the body. Anyway, as long as we can identify the victim and investigate her social connections, if they're related to these people, their suspicion increases, doesn't it?"

Ji Feng said: "We can't confirm the victim's identity yet."

Jian Jing: "It's just a matter of time. Have you found the head?"

Ji Feng stroked his chin.

"Let me be honest with you," she sighed and said, "I'm certain someone wants to kill me, but I can't say with 100% certainty that it's the perpetrator of this dismemberment case. But you must have looked into my situation. Revenge killing is impossible, and it hasn't reached the point of a crime of passion. I'm taking a gamble that it's this killer who wants to kill me."