Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1198: Chapter 39: Curse Murder Horror House

“Curse Murder Horror House? What’s that?”

In the school cafeteria—of course, even the cafeteria is divided into different levels: the first-floor common cafeteria, where you can eat for ten bucks, and even cheaper options exist. Then there’s the restaurant on the second and third floors.

At a nice spot near the window in the restaurant, a teammate mysteriously opened a webpage on his phone in front of Dong Shaofeng… What caught his eye was a pixelated image that looked like a horror game interface from the last century.

Due to the low pixel quality, you could barely make out the basic layout of the site—even so, it sent a chill down Dong Shaofeng’s spine.

The screen was pitch black on the edges, and in the center was a doll with bangs wearing a Gothic-style dress, holding a knife in its hand, with a faintly visible eerie bloodstained smile on its face—the background was a total lunar eclipse, emitting a dark red glow.

The teammate’s name was A Qiang, and seeing Dong Shaofeng seemed somewhat interested, he leaned in and said, “Someone introduced this to me, said it’s really effective, the owner of the horror house can curse anyone you want to curse.”

The teammate next to them froze, his name was Ming Zhen—surname Ming and given name Zhen, usually called Azhen by habit—A Qiang and Azhen had always been Dong Shaofeng’s teammates at school.

Actually, Azhen and A Qiang have known each other since they were kids, becoming close friends on a starry night.

Casting another casual glance at this so-called ‘Curse Murder Horror House’ website homepage, Dong Shaofeng shook his head and said to A Qiang with indifference, “If it weren’t for the school reserving some spots for local students, if it weren’t for your boss having a processing plant with some assets and donating a lot, I really can’t figure out how you, with your wisdom, managed to study here.”

“Oh come on, Feng Shao, the key is, it doesn’t matter if I can make it or not, the important thing is I’m already here, alright?”

Dong Shaofeng rolled his eyes, “Go play by yourself.”

Shaking his head, having finished lunch, Dong Shaofeng directly got up from his seat—usually at this time, he would choose to take a nap in the gym’s lounge—he’s a member of the school’s basketball team.

“Give it a try, it’s not like you’ll lose anything.” A Qiang ignored Dong Shaofeng’s disdain and picked up his phone to start researching.

“A Qiang, let me take a look too?” Azhen sat over at once.

“Oh, don’t get so close! It’s hot!”

…

Today, Dong Shaofeng didn’t go to his usual napping place but came to the front of the study room—beside the vending machine outside the self-study room.

A girl with both beauty and good figure was being embraced and kissed by Dong Shaofeng at the moment—having had plenty of experience already, Dong Shaofeng easily teased the girl into a state of slight disarray.

Especially in such a semi-secretive, semi-public place, the ease of discovery added excitement, making the girl’s already sensitive parts even more sensitive.

Unlike the girl’s emotions… under Dong Shaofeng’s skilled touch, his heart remained calm.

Finally, the girl gasped, separating from Dong Shaofeng’s lips… Her body almost collapsing, leaning against Dong Shaofeng’s chest.

“You’re so bad, choosing this kind of place on purpose…” The girl teased coquettishly, “You don’t usually come here.”

However, perhaps one could enjoy the tranquility after such a closeness, after all, it was a study room and very quiet nearby—but suddenly, a burst of singing shattered the peace.

The girl peeked out from the vending machine and saw a few meters away in the study room, through the glass, there was a skinny guy with glasses who for some reason stood on the table, started singing loudly and dancing.

“Is this person under too much pressure?” The girl felt curious.

But Dong Shaofeng smiled—for the first time since he had started meeting with the girl here, this smile appeared at this moment.

It seemed that being intimate with the campus belle held less interest for him than what was happening in the study room.

He put his phone back into his pocket and whispered something in the girl’s ear, to which she slightly bowed her head… and nodded.

The couple by the vending machine quietly left, while the glasses-wearing guy in the study room, who was shouting loudly, suddenly jumped down, then bowed his head, returned to his seat, and under the surprised gaze of others, hurriedly packed his things, then grabbed his backpack and rushed out.

University self-study rooms don’t have teachers… Well, it was just an interlude, and no one paid much attention, maybe it really was due to pressure?

…

…

Similarly studying, some chose the self-study room, while others chose the library—some chose the sofa area inside the library, while others chose the grassy area by the artificial lake outside the library.

“What are you drawing?”

The highly recognizable voice… Tara’s voice suddenly sounded behind Chen Mingming, followed by a rush of coolness pressed against his neck.

Chen Mingming instinctively frowned, this girl always seemed to suddenly find him… He didn’t accept the bottled water Tara playfully placed against his neck.

But Tara sat right down and directly snatched the notebook from Chen Mingming’s hand.

On it was a sketch, drawn with a blue ballpoint pen, which seemed almost complete.

“You’re becoming obsessed!” Tara took only one look, held her chest, appearing pitiful, “There’s such a great girl right next to you! Yet you’re drawing a guy!”

“Is it a pun?”

“Not a pun!” Tara glared back.

Chen Mingming smiled, curiously asked, “Today, where are you planning to take me to find?”

Tara pouted for a moment, then suddenly squinted her eyes, and directly pulled Chen Mingming’s body down, placing it on her lap, “In your dreams!”

For some reason, Chen Mingming didn’t resist such contact—not because of the softness of the girl’s legs or her scent.

But because time seemed to slow down, making him drowsy, as if lying on a grassland under the blue sky and white clouds… making it seem like you could really see the clear sky.

But a notification sound suddenly broke the tranquility.

Chen Mingming’s heavy eyelids opened at once, he picked up the phone and glanced at it.

Tara took another look, it seemed to be an avatar with a blank ID, at the same time she noticed that Chen Mingming’s social app was incredibly clean.

After reading the message, Chen Mingming deleted it, restoring the interface to blank.

Only then did Tara realize, it’s not always this clean, he deliberately keeps it clean.

“Why delete it, do you have a secret you can’t let people see?” Tara joked, “Could you have another woman?!”

“A friend.” Chen Mingming replied calmly, “Asking for something.”

“Won’t you reply?”

“No need.” Chen Mingming said indifferently.

“So cold.” Tara shook her head, and stretched out her fingers to poke Chen Mingming’s cheek.

Chen Mingming’s drowsiness returned once again, and he paid no heed.

Just then Tara suddenly asked, “Have you heard of the Curse Murder Horror House?”

“What’s that…” Chen Mingming mumbled incoherently, like in a dream, and gradually fell asleep.

Tara glanced at the now peacefully breathing Chen Mingming, smiled slightly, lowered his head with a gentle look, and placed his hand on his forehead.

A surge of exceptionally pure and clean spiritual power began to drift around… the green waves rippling on the lake.

…

When Chen Mingming awoke, Tara had disappeared once again, just as before.

But when he opened his notebook, he saw his sketches had been scribbled over with childlike doodles—a Q-version face sticking out its tongue was added.

At this moment, the phone rang.

“Are you free this afternoon? Let’s meet for a talk.”

It was a call from Zhou Yusheng.

…

…

At the bureau.

During lunchtime, Xiaobao was busy in the office—with a finished cup of instant noodles beside him!

Suddenly.

“Xiaobao—!!”

The sudden shout startled Xiaobao, causing his hand to jerk—planning to cast a single-target heal for his teammate as the priest known as ‘Milk God Xiao Bao’ in the game, he hit the wrong skill, casting Spell Protection instead—resulting in the nearly dead teammate getting chopped to death by the physical monster’s big cleaver…

“Lin Feng, damn you!!” Xiaobao turned around angrily, “I was just about to clear the First Floor of the Taiyin Demon King Tower! All for nothing!”

“Taiyin Demon King Castle? What’s that?” Lin Feng reached out and touched Xiaobao’s forehead, “Not running a fever?”

“Go away! What do you know! It’s the new version, everyone’s racing to rush the tower! It’s been so many days, and most haven’t even broken through the First Floor yet. I had hope today, risking being caught by the new forensic doctor… It’s all your fault!” Xiaobao said irritably.

“Don’t you have two particularly skilled friends? Let them take you along.” Lin Feng shrugged, casually sitting on the desk.

Xiaobao stretched and said… since he had gotten the MT killed in the team and was being spammed with curses, he couldn’t be bothered to look, “They’re preparing to break through the ninth floor and don’t have time. The Demon King Castle has nine floors in one area, and you have to clear the First District ninth floor to reach the next area.”

“I don’t get it.” Lin Feng yawned too.

Xiaobao frowned, “Are you free or something? What are you doing here?”

Lin Feng sighed, “The dismemberment case is still a complete mystery. Secretary Liu gave Officer Ma and Zhou Sir a dressing-down for over an hour this morning, and then they came back to scold us for another hour, and it’s still not over.”

“Oh, so you are hiding here to escape.” Xiaobao poured Lin Feng a glass of water.

“Yes, Master Bao, Brother Bao, please help save us. Any new discoveries?” Lin Feng asked expectantly.

Xiaobao said, “No useful clues at the scene, the murderer really wiped out all traces… Such a cautious and careful killer, it’s the first time I’ve seen one. Generally speaking, murderers can be divided into two types, conscious and unconscious. Unconscious murder leaves a lot of traces, that’s relatively easy. Conscious murderers have a full plan, so they intentionally clean the surrounding traces after killing—but think about it, even with intentional murder, from beginning to end, it takes time, and no matter how careful, it’s impossible not to leave a single piece of evidence—unless he executed every step perfectly, but if that’s the case, the murderer is really scary. Look, dismemberment itself is a very cruel act, indicating the killer has a particularly twisted psyche, and if the scene is handled so cleanly, it shows he’s also a calm person… take a look!”

Saying that, Xiaobao, with tears in his eyes, logged out of the game, and began reviewing the files, “These are the photos I took later at the death scenes of Wang Liang and Wu Rong, what do you feel looking at these photos?”

One photo after another flashed before Lin Feng’s eyes.

The shoe cabinet at the entrance, the living room, the room, the kitchen, the bathroom… and the freezer used to hide the bodies.

“Do you see anything?” Xiaobao looked at Lin Feng and asked.

Officer Lin frowned, crossing his arms and tilting his head, before saying after a while, “It’s like… everything is too neat?”

“Yes, neat.” Xiaobao nodded, “Even though no one has lived there for a long time and most places are dusty, everything here is arranged very tidily, even the stacked bowls in the cabinet are placed in the same direction… look, this is Wang Liang’s house, and this is Wu Rong’s house, aren’t they all arranged like this?”

“They really are…” Lin Feng opened his mouth.

Xiaobao said: “Yeah, Wang Liang and Wu Rong are different personality types, why do their residences feel so similar?”

“Do you mean… this was all arranged by the murderer?” Lin Feng rubbed his temples, “Isn’t this cleanliness obsession over the top? Compulsive disorder?”

“I don’t know.” Xiaobao shrugged, “But even if you know the murderer’s personality, it’s not much use… seems like you haven’t even found a suspect yet?”

“Sigh…” Lin Feng hung his head dispiritedly, “It seems a mysterious force is manipulating everything from the shadows.”

“Yo, Brother Feng, didn’t know you’re a fellow believer too? Seems I’m not alone!”

Lin Feng’s phone suddenly rang.

“…Alright, I got it, I’ll lead a team over immediately to check.”

Xiaobao curiously asked, “What’s up, a killer call from Officer Ma?”

Lin Feng shook his head, “No, someone reported finding a hanging suicide, so I need to go check it out first… you’ll probably get notified soon too.”

Watching Lin Feng hustle out, Xiaobao clapped his hands and then spread them, asking, “Can I still fight the boss today?”

…

“Today’s harvest isn’t bad.”

On the street, the master-servant duo strolled leisurely—even now, Boss Luo’s habit of shopping for supermarket sales hasn’t changed.

But as they passed by an alley, Luo Qiu and the maid both stopped in their tracks simultaneously.

The two of them looked in.

In the dim alleyway stood an inconspicuous lightbox advertising sign… the lightbox’s lights were faintly glowing.

It read: Curse Murder Horror House.

“When did a shop like this open here?” Luo Qiu said, quite curious.