32 The List

When I saw the human head hidden inside the soccer ball in Jin Ze's hands—its eyes wide open and staring at me—I couldn't help but shiver. It seems that no matter how many horrific events one experiences, the fear of visceral, bloody sights never truly fades.

Jin Ze was much tougher than I; his hand only trembled slightly before he quickly tore open the soccer ball's casing, causing the head to tumble out.

As it fell, I realized it could hardly be called a head anymore. It had been completely hollowed out, leaving only a layer of scalp stretched over the skull. The brains and flesh had been entirely removed, causing the head to deform, perhaps to reduce its weight so it could fit inside the ball.

A question immediately arose in my mind: why go to such great lengths to stuff a head into a soccer ball? Without professional tools and craftsmanship, stitching a soccer ball back together after inserting a human head would be nearly impossible.

Why would Bai Ye do this? Was he trying to prove to me that he was still the same crazed deviant?

I knew Bai Ye’s personality; he never did anything without a purpose, just as he wouldn't kill someone irrelevant. In that regard, he differed from the assassin Chen Mu. Therefore, if Bai Ye stuffed this head into a soccer ball and called it a gift for me, it had to be useful. He was definitely trying to hint at something.

Jin Ze soon spoke: "Chen Mu, you and Bai Ye—or rather, the assassin Chen Mu you once impersonated—did you two grow up playing soccer together? Is he sending you this 'gift' to reminisce about your shared childhood?"

I pondered for a moment and shook my head. "I have no such memories. Besides, within the assassin organization, different operatives rarely have much interaction. This is partly to prevent them from forming alliances and partly for protection; if one is sacrificed, the others won't be implicated. The relationship between Bai Ye and the assassin Chen Mu was already pushing the organization's boundaries."

Jin Ze continued, "That’s strange, then. Bai Ye wouldn't commit such a murder for no reason, nor would he deliver it in this manner. He must be trying to express something we haven't grasped yet. Our priority is to identify the victim. However, since we are at a school, we must avoid causing a scene and conduct our inquiries discreetly."

Police officers soon arrived to collect the skull for forensic examination. Jin Ze and I circled the playground again, but found no further suspicious clues. When we asked the children where they got the ball, they said it was just lying there, which is why they started playing with it.

Since the "soccer ball head" was discovered at a school—a sensitive location—and fearing that Bai Ye might commit more depraved acts, Jin Ze and I stayed at the school to wait for news.

Before long, word came from the police station: the victim was Zhao Hai, a physical education teacher in his forties. He was divorced and had previously had a child, but the infant had died before reaching a year old.

Initially, Zhao Hai's death might have seemed unrelated to our previous cases, but the mention of his deceased child made us feel that something was wrong. Could his child have been swapped by "Dawn" as well?

We had no way of knowing without deeper investigation. Since we had only found the head and not the body, we needed to locate the rest of him quickly to prevent students from stumbling upon it, which would cause psychological trauma and trigger unnecessary panic among parents.

We went to the principal's office to inquire about Zhao Hai. When we told the principal that Zhao Hai had been murdered, he flatly denied it, insisting we were mistaken and that Zhao Hai was currently exercising.

He pointed out the window toward another playground. Indeed, a man was hunched over a pull-up bar, seemingly doing exercises. However, from our angle, we couldn't see his full body, only his upper torso. We immediately realized something was wrong.

Jin Ze bolted out of the office toward the small playground, and I followed close behind. Upon arrival, we discovered that the person exercising had no head. His head had been severed, and his body was propped up on the pull-up bar, completely drained of blood.

We confirmed that this headless corpse was the body belonging to the head we found earlier—Zhao Hai's remains.

Miao Miao came to process the scene but found no useful clues, which was consistent with Bai Ye’s MO; if he didn't want us to find something, it was nearly impossible to uncover any evidence.

We left the school and headed straight for Zhao Hai's home, with Jin Ze having already contacted Fang Qinghe to secure the residence. By the time we arrived, the police had already cordoned off the area. Fang Qinghe had searched the place but found nothing out of the ordinary. Zhao Hai appeared to be a mundane PE teacher, with no signs of anything abnormal or suspicious items like corpse-oil perfume.

However, once Jin Ze and I stepped inside, we immediately spotted something fishy—a crucial piece of evidence.

We saw a soccer ball. To anyone else, it would seem normal—a PE teacher having sports equipment is expected. But knowing how Bai Ye had hidden a head in a soccer ball, we couldn't help but be suspicious. We picked it up, but its weight felt normal, suggesting nothing was hidden inside. We were disappointed but not ready to give up. To avoid damaging any potential evidence, we handed it over to Miao Miao.

Using tweezers and a scalpel, Miao Miao carefully picked at the ball’s seams. As she opened it, she noted that the ball might indeed be suspicious; there was a faint odor, and she remarked that the inner lining felt like human skin.

In other words, the material inside the ball might be human skin. I didn't know how Miao Miao could distinguish the texture of human skin, but if she said so, it had to be true. Under her meticulous work, the ball was eventually dismantled into a smooth sheet of skin.

When we saw what was written on the inner lining, we were stunned.

There was a secret after all—a list of names!

There were over a dozen names, and some were not unfamiliar. Chen Youquan and Chen Tianming were listed, as was the recent victim, Zhao Hai.

While we didn't know the exact purpose of this list, its concealment within the ball proved it was significant. It was a vital lead for the police, who immediately took it to cross-reference with their population database. Searching through so many names to find the specific individuals we were looking for would be like finding a needle in a haystack.

As the police screened the names, Jin Ze and I discussed the situation. I asked him, "This clue is a gift from Bai Ye, and since he is part of the Assassin Alliance, theoretically, this should be a list of 'Dawn' members. But I see Chen Tianming and Chen Youquan on it—they are victims of 'Dawn.' Zhao Hai is also there. All three are people whose children were swapped by 'Dawn' years ago. I suspect this is a list of people who had their children taken. They might be members of a 'Revenge Alliance'!"

Jin Ze looked at me. "You mean Bai Ye is turning against his own 'Revenge Alliance'? Does he know he's a disposable pawn, and is he taking revenge?"

I thought it was possible, but shook my head. "Based on my understanding of Bai Ye, he isn't that type. I know his loyalty to the organization; he would rather die for them."

As we debated, Fang Qinghe arrived. He announced, "We’ve done a preliminary screening of the names on the skin. Although a few are unconfirmed, we’ve found a common thread: they were all once crematorium workers."

I froze. I had a lingering fear of crematoriums, especially since that time I sleepwalked into the bamboo grove near one. The thought made me uneasy.

And to be crematorium workers? It sounded sinister, as if there were some dark secret involved. But Chen Youquan—the 'father' of the assassin Chen Mu I once played—was a mason, not a crematorium worker.

What was the secret behind these workers, and why did Bai Ye want us to find this clue?