Chapter 1: Su Qi

*Bang!*

Liu Yishou pushed open the door to the interrogation room.

Inside, a young man in his early twenties was seated.

His gaze sharpened.

Those who often kill know that there is little relation between a crime and one's appearance.

But he still found it hard to imagine that the young man before him, with such a good-looking face, could have committed such a heinous and cruel act.

A month ago.

A family massacre occurred in Linjiang City, where all five members of a family were brutally murdered in their home, and all valuables were taken.

The perpetrator had not been found.

But today, the culprit was suddenly apprehended.

At that moment, two investigators saw Liu Yishou enter and were about to stand up.

Liu Yishou raised his hand to signal them to stay seated. He looked at the young man with a calm gaze and questioned him word by word:

"Two months ago, a family of five was killed with precise knife wounds, and there were no fingerprints or footprints in the house. Even the surveillance cameras only captured a fleeting shadow."

"I've been investigating this case and found many clues."

His voice was cold, and his eyes were piercing as he stared at the young man:

"You are not an ordinary criminal."

"You are a dangerous repeat offender, skilled with knives, experienced in crime, and meticulously planned your actions from start to finish!"

The young man smiled in the face of the interrogation.

Liu Yishou's expression darkened, impressed by his composure.

"Wait a moment."

One of the investigators interrupted him cautiously: "Chief, you're mistaken."

"This young man is not the criminal but a concerned citizen who subdued the perpetrator."

Liu Yishou's expression stiffened, and his imposing demeanor quickly dissipated. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Then where is the criminal?"

"The criminal has twelve broken bones and is currently being treated in the hospital."

---

Liu Yishou stood outside a single-patient hospital room, looking through the glass at the murderer, who was wrapped in bandages and still unconscious.

What a mess.

It was said that when the criminal was loaded into the ambulance, he had lost control of his bladder and bowels.

*Ding-ding-ding.*

His phone buzzed, and he received a file.

It was the young man's information.

He glanced at it:

"Su Qi, 21 years old, an orphan, not yet graduated, background—"

Liu Yishou suddenly paused.

He realized that this young man had a wide range of interests.

He had participated in various urban competitions such as archery, combat, rock climbing, and swimming. He was a member of an extreme sports club and had won multiple consecutive championships in community mahjong and chess tournaments.

After scanning through the information, Liu Yishou raised his gaze and muttered:

"From what I can see, the interrogation report is fine, but he did go a bit overboard. Still, this guy has some potential."

Bold, meticulous, and experienced.

He does things with great attention to detail.

If someone like this could be recruited into the investigation bureau, it would be great.

At that moment,

His phone rang, and a hesitant voice came through: "Chief, I've found some more information about the young man."

"Hmm?" Liu Yishou sensed something was off in the caller's tone.

"He submitted a leave of absence a month ago, quit the club, and stopped participating in various activities."

"Then—" The voice on the other end hesitated, sounding bewildered, "He started doing some strange things."

Strange?

Liu Yishou raised an eyebrow.

During his years of anti-prostitution work, he had seen men dressed as women. How strange could it be?

He said sternly, "Tell me."

"Someone reported that their cat went out to play and came back with its forehead shaved. The surveillance footage showed his figure."

Hmm, maybe he just dislikes cats. Not that strange.

"He sneaked into the locked music room at night and played several songs."

Well, maybe he misses school. Although the behavior is not encouraged, it's understandable.

"He moved the corpse out of the coffin in a haunted house after it closed and lay in it for the night."

?

Liu Yishou couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked, "Where did you find all this information?"

"From previous reports that were not taken seriously because they were minor."

Liu Yishou: "..."

Forget what I said.

A guy like this should never be recruited into the investigation bureau. He might corrupt the atmosphere.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps approaching.

He turned around and saw two unfamiliar faces. Noticing their unusual aura, he asked cautiously, "Who are you?"

The middle-aged man showed his badge: "Are you Chief Liu Yishou of the Linjiang City Investigation Bureau? Thank you for your hard work. The person in the ward is now under our jurisdiction."

Liu Yishou recognized the emblem on the badge. It belonged to a mysterious branch of the investigation bureau, a group that rarely appeared in the bureau and was almost unknown to most people.

Rumors had it that they didn't work but still received salaries, which was quite enviable.

The middle-aged man looked at the gruesome criminal in the ward and clicked his tongue: "Did you use private punishment?"

"This— It's a long story. I'll give you the interrogation report later." Liu Yishou coughed, still puzzled: "But why are you taking over this criminal?"

"Confidential, can't disclose."

This branch was mysterious because of its highly secretive nature.

"But—" The middle-aged man pushed open the ward door and suddenly turned back: "You'll find out soon enough."

---

At that moment,

On the side of a road at a traffic light,

Su Qi was looking at the other person with a somewhat wary gaze, trying to speak in a suitable tone:

"First, I need to clarify something."

"I'm not a pervert; I have a reason for this."

"Second, I don't have any special fetishes."

"Finally."

Su Qi paused slightly and looked at the OL on the electric scooter: "Can you sell me the stockings you're wearing?"

The OL's face changed: "Pah! Pervert! Creep!"

She sped away.

Su Qi watched the departing scooter: "See, society is cold. Sincere communication doesn't earn trust."

A month ago,

His eyes developed a problem, allowing him to see punctuation marks.

At first, he saw a [?] above a cat's head. Curious, he approached it and received a message from the cat's mind.

[What is this idiot looking at?]

Su Qi, who was insulted, didn't get angry. Instead, he generously bought a pair of scissors and gave the cat a haircut.

From then on,

Su Qi knew he had a unique ability. After multiple experiments and searches,

He found that there were two main types of marks.

Question marks and exclamation marks.

[?] When triggered, they provide some relevant information.

[!] They require completing a specific action and grant hidden special items.

It was like finding Easter eggs in a game.

Jumping along the walls in a knife battle room and dropping a machine gun.

Breaking one's meridians a hundred times in a martial arts online game and obtaining a divine body, which not only shattered the martial arts alliance leader but also the server.

Of course, he had done all these to test his ability, but they were all deemed cheating and his accounts were banned.

Games don't need to be logical.

But reality is different.

He lay in a coffin in a haunted house and played the piano at night, all to trigger these Easter eggs. The items he obtained were a finger bone and a sheet of music.

"Currently, I have no idea what they are for."

Su Qi crossed the road. Although it was already evening, the commercial center was even more crowded.

The more people there were,

The more frequently question marks appeared.

A beef pancake shop that used duck meat instead of beef.

A broken vending machine that dropped two drinks for one coin.

A couple on a blind date in a café, where the woman claimed she was too busy to date, but Su Qi saw 55 dating experiences above her head.

Question marks are relative.

When you see a question mark, you also have a question in your mind.

At that moment,

The crowd suddenly became noisy. Someone looked up and pointed in the distance, their voice filled with fear:

"What is that?"

On the giant screen outside a commercial building, a ghost mask appeared.

It filled the entire screen, its blood-red eyes staring at everyone, seemingly smiling sinisterly despite the lack of a clear face.

*Screech*

It extended several pale, emaciated fingers, and a line of blood-red