criminal profiling

Fantasies abandoned by reason create monsters that do not exist.

——Francisco Goya

The forest at night is quiet and vast. Under the shroud of hazy moonlight, all the creatures in the forest are asleep—well, except for the countless young explorers who are swaying their energy.

In an open area, a bright bonfire was lit, and three tents were pitched beside it.Several young people sat around the bonfire, eating, drinking, chatting excitedly, and singing a few words together from time to time.

"This is the real camping. If you sleep in a tent in the park, you might as well just sleep on the street."

"That is, the so-called natural scenery has a lot of traces of artificial development, or there are too many people going there, and the kind, that kind of - wildness, yes, the taste of wildness has long been lost."

"So it's not in vain. We deliberately bypassed the forest ranger and walked in places with no roads. We almost broke our legs, and finally found such a place where no one has ever stepped. At night, no one cares about how we shout. Today It’s a bit late to arrive, and after dawn tomorrow, we’ll go explore and see if we can find any caves and the like. If we’re lucky, we might even find an ancient tomb.”

Under the red light of the fire, several young faces looked very energetic - I don't know if it was because of the fact that they drank too much beer in their hands.

It was getting late, but the young people seemed to be getting more and more excited as they talked, and they had no intention of going to bed at all.In the lively discussion, someone deliberately lowered his voice and said mysteriously:

"Hey, have you heard a rumor that there are terrible monsters hidden in this forest, and they only eat lonely travelers. So don't go into the forest alone, and if you have to, burn a fire, the more The bigger the better, so that monsters won't dare to approach."

As soon as the man finished speaking, his companion hissed in unison.

"It's childish to say such words to lie to children."

"Don't slander children—even children won't believe it."

"It's not completely deceiving. If there is no factual basis, there will be no such groundless rumors. I listened to the locals chatting during lunch today, saying that every year people come in but don't come out. I checked it online. , and indeed mentioned such a thing.”

"The area of ​​this forest is so large, and less than one-tenth of it has been developed. Who knows if those people who came here to play found another way to leave like us. Besides, accidents will happen to those popular scenic spots , In such a big forest, it’s not uncommon for something to happen, right?”

The last sentence sparked a new round of discussion—or to be precise, it was more like a crusade.

"Don't touch my wine, I'm going to take a pee, come back and continue." Someone stood up, drank a little too much wine and needed to let it out, and the person was a little wobbly.

With the firelight on his back, he walked into the dark forest.

The rest of the people continued to drink, because some of them got drunk, and the topics became more and more unconstrained, and they didn't know what they said.

Time passed slowly, and someone felt that something was wrong.

"It's just for convenience. Why did it take so long? Could it be that I dug a latrine myself?"

At the beginning, some people were joking, but as time got longer, everyone finally felt that something was wrong, the lively discussion stopped, and they looked at each other.

"It's not that you're drunk, where did you fall asleep?"

Finally, they proposed to find someone, because two of the companions were girls, they were left behind, and the other three boys went to the direction where the previous person left.

The three held flashlights and called the man's name as they walked forward, but did not hear any response.Just when they thought the man might really be lying on the ground asleep, there was a scream behind them.

is the camp direction.

The three of them couldn't care less about finding someone, so they hurried back.They hadn't gone very far, so they returned to camp quickly.I saw the two remaining girls, one of whom seemed to be terrified when he saw something terrible.The other one was also a little startled, but more of a blank expression.

"What happened?" Others asked the girl who hadn't recovered.

The girl shivered and pointed to the front, breathlessly said: "I, I see something over there."

"What is it?"

"No, I don't know, it disappeared in the blink of an eye."

A boy dared to take a photo there, but there were only bushes and branches, and nothing else.

"Did you read it wrong?"

Although her companion returned to her side, the girl was still in shock, "No, no, I saw those eyes, like, like a beast."

Remembering that there was still one companion who hadn't come back, the rest of the people were silent.

In the following search for someone, neither of the two girls dared to stay any longer, so the five of them set off together, this time they only dared to shout in a low voice.

The light of the flashlight flickered around, and suddenly, it seemed to hit something.

"there!"

Several people rushed over, and the light in their hands shone together.

"what--"

The scream was louder and more piercing than before, piercing the darkness of the forest.

I saw that there was indeed a person lying on the ground, it was the companion who went to the convenience.He was lying on the ground at this moment, but he was not drunk and fell asleep—his eyes were wide open, his ears were pierced by something, blood was gurgling out, and formed a small pool.

-

Zhuang Sheng was sitting in the cafeteria, with deep-fried dough sticks, buns and rice porridge in front of him.He grabbed the fritters in one hand and the documents in the other, while eating breakfast while reading the documents of previous cases.

As soon as he returned to China, he encountered a serial murder case. Zhuang Sheng didn't have time to familiarize himself with the environment before he started working.Now that the case is over, he can adjust his mood while finding out the big and small cases that Danteng City has cracked over the years.

I don’t know if I don’t look at it, but I’m startled when I see it.Danteng City is worthy of being the city with the highest crime rate for many years. Not only are crimes frequent, but the nature of the cases is not ordinary, and it is not inferior to those he has seen abroad.

Many people have studied with a scientific and rigorous attitude why the crime rate in Danteng City is so high, or why those crimes like to gather in Danteng City.But none of them came up with any convincing reasons. In the end, a reason that was neither scientific nor rigorous, and seemed to be nonsense, was unanimously acquiesced.

— Feng Shui problem.

"Why is it still the same as when I was a child, reading while eating, hurting my stomach and hurting my eyes." A deep voice sounded from above the head, and then the paper file in his hand was taken away, and a tall figure sat down beside him.

"..." Zhuang Sheng kept his hands raised in the air, his eyes were dazed, and he didn't understand, "—Meng Yan?"

"It's not big or small." The man laughed and cursed, rubbed Zhuang Sheng's head, put down the breakfast he brought and pushed it in front of his eyes, "This is your favorite soup dumpling, try it and see if the taste changes."

Before Zhuang Sheng recovered from the dazed state, he subconsciously took the bun handed over by the man and took a bite. The familiar taste permeated his mouth, making him instantly feel like he was back when he was a child.

Meng Yan pretended to be nonchalant, but was actually carefully observing Zhuang Sheng's expression, seeing that he seemed to be stunned after taking a bite, and seemed to have forgotten to chew, so he couldn't help becoming nervous.

"What, isn't it delicious? It's still the same shop you ate when you were young, but the chef who made the buns has changed, but I'm fine with it." After speaking, his tone became obviously uncertain, and he squeezed a bun himself. After eating it, there was a little doubt on his face, and he whispered, "It's the same. Could it be that I lost my sense of taste after eating too much? If you don't like it, then-"

Turning his head, he was about to persuade Zhuang Sheng to spit it out, when he saw the young man chewing slowly with a dull face, his bulging cheeks twitching like a little hamster, not to mention that he turned his face with those black grape-like eyes Looking straight at him—the second half of Meng Yan's sentence died in his open mouth like that.

"Eat more if you like it." He put a soup dumpling on the youth's dinner plate, and watched him eat with a satisfied face.

"Is it delicious?" Meng Yan asked with a smile.

Zhuang Sheng couldn't find time to eat, he seemed to be stunned for a moment, then he glanced at him and nodded.

There is no obvious expression on the young man's face, he eats very seriously, and his eyes are brighter than usual if you look carefully.Meng Yan looked even more satisfied, his fingers were a little itchy, he stroked the young man's head again obediently, and rubbed it gently.The young man let him rub it obediently, so the expression on Meng Yan's face became more satisfied, like a lion that was so full that he was about to doze off.

It still has the same hand feeling as when I was a child, and it still becomes sluggish when being fed. It shows its belly to you like a kitten that has been groomed, and at the same time stretches out its meat pad to play with you.

The sharpness of the first meeting, as well as the awkwardness and resistance shown from time to time in the subsequent handling of the case, are gone now.

This is the child he raised with his own hands, accompanying him from childhood to adolescence.Although it is a pity to miss the transition from a teenager to a young man, Meng Yan believes that Zhuang Sheng's sharpness at the beginning was only due to the child's small resentment and rebellion against the parents' absence for a long time. As long as he coaxes him well and the two spend more time together, I believe it will be back to the past soon.

——No, has Shengsheng finished the buns he bought?

The smile in Meng Yan's eyes became more intense, he coughed lightly, and planned to say something to connect with Zhuang Sheng.

"Sheng Sheng—"

The young man stood up suddenly, as if he had forgotten that there was another person beside him, he picked up the plate and turned around and walked away gracefully.

The outstretched hand stayed in mid-air awkwardly.

Meng Yan looked at the back of Zhuang Sheng leaving, his expression was a little stiff, and he didn't recover for a long time.

——He needs a cigarette to calm down.

As for Zhuang Sheng who took the plate and left, his heart was far less calm than the expression on his face.When he walked out of the cafeteria and made sure that the other party couldn't see him, the calm and steady expression on his face suddenly collapsed, and he puffed up his cheeks a little angrily.

"Hmph, even if you still remember the steamed stuffed buns I loved when I was young, don't try to bribe me with just a few steamed stuffed buns. It won't be so easy to forgive you after leaving me alone for eight years—but the soup dumpling is really delicious. .”

While savoring the delicious buns, Zhuang Sheng walked slowly towards the unit.When he was approaching the gate, he received a call, Zhuang Sheng's relaxed expression disappeared instantly, and turned into a solemn one.

There was another murder case.