IPCFS: Chapter 137 Part 1

The big screen lit up.

The discussion gradually stopped and the audience was ready to start the movie viewing.

In the darkness, the subtle clashing sound of chains was heard.

A strong and irritating light turned on. In the next second, the light illuminated a pair of thin eyebrows hidden behind glasses. The glass-like pupil color hidden under the lens had a special taste under this light.

The camera zoomed out slowly, revealing the half body of the person and then the person’s full appearance.

The male protagonist Mu Qin, played by Ji Li, had his hands clasped together. He was sitting on an iron chair in an interrogation room, and his indifferent and cold face didn’t show any unnecessary emotions.

He was wearing a black shirt with the buttons done up to the top. The collar of his shirt slightly touched his sexy Adam’s apple.

He was obviously going through a rigorous interrogation, but he appeared as though he were facing some high end negotiations over a cup of wine. There was an inexplicable sense of calmness in his demeanor.

In an instant, there were slight discussions in the theater.

What was going on?

The male protagonist was arrested in an interrogation room at the beginning of the movie?

If they remembered correctly, the male protagonist of ‘Hidden Dreams’ was also later interrogated at a police station. Was this trend popular among the male protagonists of suspense movies now?

Qin Yue and Ji Li were put together into a popular real life CP, and their connected movie characters had subtle similarities. Was this really not discussed by the two of them in private?

“I like this opening!”

“Generally, the protagonist who is in a difficult position at the beginning will have a reversal!”

“Ahhhh, doesn’t Ji Li feel like a gentle and educated scumbag?”

“Wu wu wu, Ji Li is a beauty of the world!”

Some people were looking forward to the next plot point, while others were praising Ji Li’s beauty.

A mere 10 second shot had attracted the attention of the audience. Rong Tong glanced at Ji Li beside him and felt more and more certain that he had chosen the male protagonist well.

“Captain Zhou!” A police officer opened the door and greeted him.

The first male supporting role played by Fang Mo and the captain of the criminal investigation bureau Zhou Yong walked in. He looked at Mu Qin, who was sitting quietly on the chair and pulled out a chair angrily, sitting down.

“Do you know what is being spread outside right now?”

“It is said that our criminal investigation team hired a good forensic doctor who killed someone and avoided the autopsy process. By the way, they also mentioned that he waited in place for us to arrest him.”

Homicide and trouble, forensic analysis, and arrest. It was a one-stop service.

“Zhou…” Mu Qin paused. He raised his handcuffed hands to push his glasses up, his voice flat and unremarkable. “Captain Zhou, I told you. I didn’t kill anyone.”

Zhou Yong took a deep look at him before gesturing to the vice-captain beside him to continue asking questions. “Start the main interview.”

“Yes, Captain Zhou.”

The vice-captain opened the information he brought with him and spoke clearly. “Mu Qin, male, 25 years old.”

“15 years ago, your parents died in a vicious homicide.”

Once he heard this, Mu Qin finally reacted a bit.

There was hatred in his eyes. Then the camera switched to the scene of the murder case through the close-up of his eyes.

The eyes of the boy hiding in the closet were filled with fear. Through the tiny crack in the closet door, the murderer raised a knife. Under his feet was a young couple who died tragically while embracing.

The screen flashed back.

The vice-captain’s voice continued. “Since then, until you reached the age of 18, you were raised under the name of your relatives. But in fact, you lived in a long-term boarding school and were alone. After graduating from university, you practiced as a forensic doctor for the criminal investigation bureau in Longhai City. It took only half a year for you to become a full-time employee, and you worked until yesterday.”

“Yesterday?”

“Since the current case is unclear, you have been temporarily suspended by the bureau. Do you have any objections?”

Mu Qin’s mind returned as if the hatred in his eyes had never appeared before. “I have no objections.”

With just a few words of conversation, the life experience of the protagonist Mu Qin was explained in detail.

Wasn’t the rhythm of the movie good?

Similar affirmative thoughts flashed through everyone’s minds as they continued to watch the progress of the next event.

“The deceased, Feng Linfeng. He is male, 58 years old, and the owner of a family-style hotel. On the day of the crime, you participated in the ‘Catching Summer’ event organized by the Blue Star Travel Agency. You were arranged to stay at the hotel owned by the deceased.”

The vice-captain placed the photographs of the deceased on the table, and the camera deliberately scanned over them.

“The fatal wounds on the body of the deceased are exactly the same as the wounds of your parents when they died. Due to the special nature of your work, we have reason to suspect you…”

Mu Qin interrupted. “Is this the normal interrogation process? Vice-captain Jiang, isn’t this rising to the point where it has already been finalized?”

Zhou Yong and the vice-captain exchanged looks. The former pulled out a thin envelope with the words ‘Mu Qin’ written on them.

“First of all, what happened in between the time when you received this envelope to when you participated in the Catching Summer activity and your last night at the hotel?”

Mu Qin’s eyes lowered.

There were a few seconds of silence before he opened his mouth. “A week ago, I received an unnamed package with this envelope inside.”

Inside the envelope was a yellowed photograph of the Mu couple who had died tragically.

The case was unsolved because the young Mu Qin suffered a mental block and couldn’t remember the appearance of the murderer. So this matter became an obsession in his heart.

Mu Qin used the convenience of his profession to keep in mind every detail after the incident. However, the angle from which this photo was taken wasn’t in the police case file or in his memory.

This was most likely taken by the murderer!

Mu Qin reversed the photo, and the close-up of the lens aimed immediately at the photo.

Behind the photo were particularly neatly written words: Commemoration, the fifth hunt.

The soundtrack of the movie suddenly grew louder along with the plot point. This frightened the audience who instantly got goosebumps.

Under such stimulation, the title of the movie finally emerged.

‘Reverse Hunting.’

Lead starring role: Ji Li.

Special guest starring: Fang Mo.

Director Rong Tong, Screenwriter Guan Xi.

“Is it actually starting now?”

“This is so exciting! The fifth hunt? Is it possible that the hunt in the moving title refers to a serial murder case?”

“This movie has a great rhythm! My heart is pounding.”

It wasn’t just the audience and fans who were discussing it. Even the critics invited to watch the movie had more anticipation in their eyes.

They originally thought that Qin Yue and Ke Hei’s ‘Hidden Dreams’ would be in first place. Now it seemed that the opening rhythm and suspense plot of ‘Reverse Hunting’ wasn’t bad. It all depended on whether the following movie content was stable!

If this level of suspense could be maintained without the reversal and ending collapsing, perhaps the reputation of this movie would be even better than ‘Hidden Dreams!’

After a short opening transition, the time on the screen jumped back to ‘a week before the incident.’

In addition to receiving the photo, Mu Qin was given an invitation letter that roughly meant that as long as he played the game as required and went to the Catching Summer event alone, the killer of Mu Qin’s parents would appear in front of his eyes.

Mu Qin spent three days watching the surveillance, studying the fingerprints on the photo, etc., but didn’t get any clues. The hatred toward the one who killed his parents lingered in his heart.

No matter whether or not it was a scam or a joke, he was doomed to walk this path.

Mu Qin participated in the travel agency’s Catching Summer event, which was actually a boring social organization. That night, he followed the arrangement of the travel agency. He and the other six people he had never met before were arranged at the same hotel.

Mu Qin didn’t want to get along with strangers. Due to what was in the envelope and the invitation letter, he returned to his room early with the excuse of ‘being unwell’ and wanting to rest early.

The next day, a girl’s screams signaled the murder.

The hotel owner was hung from the top of the spiral staircase. There were many bloody holes in his body that killed him, and blood splashed down on the stairs, falling to the ground in the shape of beautiful flowers that announced his death.

It wasn’t until Zhou Yong came in a hurry and pulled Mu Qin aside to confront him angrily that the audience understood the relationship between the two of them.

Back then, Zhou Yong was in charge of investigating the case of Mu Qin’s parents. He felt particularly sorry for the orphaned child and was afraid he would suffer from the ‘money-greedy’ jackals, tigers, and leopards that were his relatives, so he privately took good care of Mu Qin.

For many years, Zhou Yong and Mu Qin  were like brothers or like father and son even though they were not related.

The scene between Ji Li and Fang Mo in this part was very exciting.

They were like two old veterans releasing each other’s sense of the act, suppressing each other, and merging with each other. The emotional ups and downs were just right, allowing the audience to watch happily.

The plot continued.

Feng Linfeng’s death indirectly revealed the truth of the past.

The police found out from his private notebook that in addition to being the deceased in this case, he was also the murderer who was never caught by the police for the many homicide cases he had committed in the past.

Then who killed Feng Linfeng?

After a preliminary investigation, the police initially targeted Mu Qin among the seven guests for two reasons.

First, according to the preliminary determination at the time the crime was committed, Mu Qin was the only one alone in his room on the second floor, and there was no one else who could testify to confirm his alibi.

Secondly, the wounds on the deceased’s body were identical to the wounds found on the Mu couple’s bodies.

The scene changed and returned to the original interrogation room.

“Before I entered the room to interrogate you, I already questioned the other witnesses.” Zhou Yong took out several other murder photos and placed them on the table.

“You guessed right. In addition to you, there were four family members of victims present at the hotel.”

The camera swept over them one by one.

Out of the ‘one to seven’ hunts marked on the back of the photos, only the first and sixth hunts were missing.

They couldn’t find any direct connection between the rich second generation master and the working girl he pursued to the case for the time being, and they hadn’t received any similar photos before the crime was committed.

“Mu Qin, even this can’t clear you from suspicion. No one can prove what you were doing at the time of the crime.”

Mu Qin heard this, and a glimmer of light appeared under his lens. He asked, “What if I can testify for myself?”

“What do you mean?”

“There is a hidden compartment in my backpack with a miniature camera that recorded all my actions from entering the room last night to after the incident.

“I didn’t leave my room all night.”

“No matter whether you reference the timestamp of the camera footage or the recorded clock time, this should be enough to prove my alibi.”

Mu Qin initially suspected that this invitation wouldn’t be simple, so he prepared more than an average person. He hadn’t expected that the camera would really come in handy.

“Why didn’t you say this earlier?”

Zhou Yong’s tense heartstrings loosened when he heard this.

It wasn’t just him. The audience members in front of the screen sighed with relief.

It was risky, too risky.

They didn’t like to see a handsome man suffer. If the male protagonist played by Ji Li was really their murderer, they were afraid their morals would end up following their five senses.

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Proofreader: Azure