Superstar's Development Diary
Chapter 331 - 332: Song of Sorrow, A Lament of Accumulated Sins

Chapter 331: Chapter 332: Song of Sorrow, A Lament of Accumulated Sins

The curtains by the window were drawn, and the outside scenery flooded into view. Few people would go over to the window for a look if there was no curtain obstruction.

As He Jinxia was about to leave, she employed a substitution method in her mind; if she were the killer, where in the room would she hide something?

She quickly thought of the window and the bed.

Walking over to the window, she looked around and, finding nothing, felt a twinge of disappointment.

Standing still and deep in thought, she unconsciously opened the window hoping to let in some fresh air and clear her mind.

As soon as she pushed open the window, a gust of hot air drifted in from outside, which only aggravated her mood.

He Jinxia lingered for a moment, then decided to close the window.

Suddenly, her eyes narrowed, spotting a card on the waterproof ledge below that had a pattern similar to the Character Card in her hand.

Her heart leaped. Could it be another clue?

He Jinxia estimated the height from the window; it was over a meter but wouldn’t exceed two, which dissuaded her from the idea of jumping down to get it.

Without protective measures, a height over one meter could be dangerous, and picking up the card would require bending down while the ledge was only as wide as a foot, making it difficult for her to crouch.

He Jinxia felt anxious, and took several deep breaths to calm down.

She turned around and surveyed the room, quickly finding a solution.

There was a long clothes rod in the closet, and in the toolbox under the table was double-sided tape. She attached the tape to the top of the rod, and with it retrieved the card from the waterproof ledge.

From discovering the card to hooking it took less than five minutes.

After retrieving the card, He Jinxia immediately looked at it, and on the other side was written—

[Seek External Help]!

***

Twenty minutes later, all the detectives gathered in the living room.

There were about ten minutes left before selecting the victim. This final time was for everyone to discuss and voice their thoughts; once it ended, they would have to vote.

Wang Tao scanned them and said in a grave voice, "Who do you think is the victim?"

Dead silence—no one spoke.

Ren Xiao looked around and, furrowing his brows, said in a troubled tone, "I think I’m the victim. Many clues point to me, and besides me, no one else seems suspicious."

Lin Qingzhu said, "I also think it’s Ren Xiao."

Ouyang Baoer let out a long "Hmm—" and, glancing between Lin Qingzhu and Wang Tao, rubbed her hair in vexation before saying bluntly, "Forget it, this is too vexing, I’ll just vote for myself as the victim!"

Wang Tao remained silent and instead looked towards He Jinxia.

He Jinxia nodded at him, her expression composed and her voice steady, conveying a sense of confidence, "The victim is—"

She deliberately paused and then emphatically said, "Ouyang Baoer!"

At this revelation, everyone’s eyes widened in shock.

Ouyang Baoer pointed to herself and asked, "Me?"

He Jinxia watched her intently, "Yes, it’s you."

What followed was He Jinxia’s solo deduction show.

"The numbers on the death list are related to the song discs found in the drawer, which in turn are associated with the victims who have already died. The key lies in the lyrics."

He Jinxia paused, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Ren Xiao and Lin Qingzhu before continuing, "What you don’t know is that there’s another translation of the song ’Hell Girl’."

Ouyang Baoer exclaimed, "There’s another version?"

He Jinxia nodded, "Yes, there’s a second translated version, and the key is in that second version."

She pulled a piece of paper from her bag, which had the second version of ’Hell Girl’s’ lyrics written on it:

Endless is the Yellow Spring road, expressing unending sorrow.

The moonlight, pure and bright, shines upon my tranquil heart; flames dance like the flowers on the other shore, guiding the way.

A song of sorrow, over and over, entwining the heart’s knots...

He Jinxia spoke leisurely, "These are the lyrics of the first part; the 34th character in sequence is the character for ’sorrow’."

Ouyang Baoer immediately raised her doubts, "The character for ’sorrow’ has nothing to do with us!"

He Jinxia, "Don’t rush, take another careful look at the lyrics, and don’t focus only on the numbers."

Ouyang Baoer furrowed her brow, murmuring, "Endless is the Yellow Spring road, expressing unending sorrow, the moonlight pure and bright, shines..."

Before she could make sense of anything, Ren Xiao caught on to something, "Wait, the first word is ’endless,’ which shares the same tone as the first victim, Luo Man’s name. There’s also the word ’bright,’ which shares the tone and character with the second victim, Luo Hongguang’s name."

His eyes shone at first, but then dimmed, "But Zhang Xiaochen’s name doesn’t match, and none of us have the character for ’sorrow’ in our names."

Wang Tao’s eyes narrowed slightly as he went over the lyrics in his mind, not quite sure, he said, "Although Zhang Xiaochen’s name doesn’t match, his profession does. Remember his introduction? He was a male dancer, and there’s the character for ’dance’ later in the lyrics."

Seeing they had almost figured it out, He Jinxia’s voice rang out crisply, "From the sentence starting with the 34th word: A song of sorrow, over and over, entwining the heart’s knots... Can’t you see? The next victim the killer wants to murder is a singer!"

Everyone was taken aback as if clouds had parted to reveal the sky.

He Jinxia, "The serial killer in a series of murders is meticulous, seemingly choosing victims at random, but actually follows a specific pattern. Clearly, he selects his targets based on the song ’Hell Girl’."

"If you look back at the first translated version of the lyrics, the 34th character lands on the character for ’crime,’ and that whole sentence is ’crimes piling into a tune, brimming in the heart...’ which also relates to music. The second translation can tie in all the victims, which is why I’m convinced that the last victim is definitely a singer."

She declared emphatically.

Ouyang Baoer was a bit frantic, quickly asking, "But both Wang Tao and I are singers, so how can you be so sure it’s me?"

Indeed, the Character Cards did not have much description for either of them, so how could it be certain that it was Ouyang Baoer and not Wang Tao?

He Jinxia, facing everyone’s puzzled looks, smiled and said, "Because ’Hell Girl’ is a female, you know!"

What?

The others were momentarily unable to follow.

"The killer, if he’s basing his choice of victims on this song, must be a die-hard fan of ’Hell Girl’ and would definitely recreate the image and ending of ’Hell Girl’."

"When all the sins and evils of the world have disappeared, ’Hell Girl’ will be liberated, which is to end herself, destined to be the last evil person to die in the world."

He Jinxia spoke authoritatively, "In reality, the fourth victim is also the last person to appear on the death list, corresponding to ’Hell Girl’s’ ending. So I bet that the victim is Ouyang Baoer!"