A single divination predicts life and death; the entire internet begs me to start a live stream.

The second bow has been completed.

One more bow needed!

The red lettering on the tablet bleeds out like blood.

Inside the studio, everyone stared at those few lines of text, and no one spoke.

The young police officer, who had just thought it was just a bizarre murder case, was now pale-faced.

The first one.

Second place.

One more bow is needed.

The meaning is very clear.

There will be a third person.

Lin Wanqing closed the notebook in her hand.

"Technical team, take all the equipment back for complete evidence collection."

"All the paper money, red ropes, wedding dresses, and wedding gifts at the scene have been sealed up."

"Prioritize checking the deceased's mobile phone, call logs, delivery records, and online shopping records."

"Also, contact the Yunjiang City police."

"I need complete information on the second similar case."

"yes!"

The scene came alive again. The atmosphere wasn't as eerie anymore.

Chen Bufan stood in front of the mahogany chair, looking at the red string on Su Man's wrist.

Seven loops of red string.

The dead knot is facing inwards.

My soul is still bound to you.

This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

It was not simply a case of imitation.

From the selection of birth dates and times to the engagement letter, and then to the red wedding dress, red rope, paper money, and wedding money, every step has its own rules.

The murderer didn't intend to kill anyone.

Instead, they were carrying out a ghost marriage.

Or rather, it's about gathering three bows for a deceased person.

Lin Wanqing walked to his side.

"You just said that Su Man is the second one."

Chen Bufan nodded.

"The first one is in Yunjiang."

"And the third one?"

Chen Bufan looked at the black coin with the auspicious symbol of fate.

"You've already been chosen."

"Can you tell who it is?" Lin Wanqing asked.

Chen Bufan pressed his fingertip against the old copper coin.

The copper coin trembled slightly.

After the second layer was opened, he was indeed able to see much deeper.

But the cost is also greater.

He had just consulted his ancestral home about his fate and then received a reading of his mother's finger bone, so his life force hadn't recovered yet.

If forced to conduct a trial, there is a high chance of backlash.

But this case can't wait.

Chen Bufan closed his eyes.

Three red lines appeared before my eyes.

The first one is broken.

The second one is also broken.

The third point is that he is still alive.

But it was obscured by a layer of red mist.

There is a wedding dress in the red mist.

A delivery box.

There was also a woman's hand.

Those hands were young, with neatly trimmed nails and faint needle marks on the fingertips.

People who are in prolonged contact with needles or medical devices.

Chen Bufan opened his eyes, his voice already hoarse. He took the water Lin Wanqing handed him and took a sip.

"The third target has received the goods."

Lin Wanqing immediately asked:

"What is it?"

"Red wedding dress".

Lin Wanqing's eyes sharpened.

"express delivery?"

"Um."

Lin Wanqing immediately turned around.

"check!"

"Has Su Man received any packages recently?"

Did the first victim in Yunjiang receive a similar package?

"Check the courier company, the sender's address, the surveillance footage, and the logistics point—check everything."

The technician responded immediately.

"yes!"

Half an hour later.

The information from the Yunjiang City police was sent over.

The second victim—no, chronologically speaking, she was actually the first.

Name: Meng Yao.

Twenty-six years old.

A native of Yunjiang City.

Occupation: Nurse.

Emergency Department of the Third People's Hospital of Yunjiang City.

Time of death: Late at night, about two weeks ago.

Location of death: An abandoned guesthouse in the suburbs of Yunjiang City.

Circumstances of death: Wearing a red cheongsam, with a red rope wrapped around the wrist, and white paper money with the character for "happiness" scattered at the feet; no obvious external injuries.

Lin Wanqing frowned more and more as she looked at the documents.

"Nurse."

"I'm getting married soon."

"The wedding is at the beginning of next month."

The technical officer next to him added:

"The Yunjiang police said that Meng Yao had already arranged a wedding with her fiancé."

"On the day she went missing, she was supposed to go home to try on her wedding dress after finishing her night shift."

"In the end, the person didn't go back."

"They were found in the abandoned guesthouse the next day."

Lin Wanqing flipped through the photos from the scene.

In the photo, Meng Yao is wearing a red cheongsam and sitting on an old bed.

Two faded "double happiness" characters were pasted above the headboard.

The ground beneath my feet was covered with paper money.

The red string on her wrist was almost identical to that of Su Man.

Chen Bufan only glanced at it.

"It was done by the same person."

Lin Wanqing asked:

"Sure?"

Chen Bufan said:

"The knot of the red string is the same."

"The paper money opens in the same direction."

"Only half of the entrance to the ghost marriage route is open."

"This indicates that the wedding procession was not a complete one."

"It's to accumulate prayers."

Lin Wanqing frowned.

"Save the number of prayers?"

Chen Bufan looked at the photo.

"Three bows for a ghost marriage".

"First bow to Heaven and Earth."

"Bowing to the parents twice."

"Three bows to husband and wife."

"The first one opened the Gate of Heaven and Earth."

"Secondly, I have settled my debts with my parents."

"If the third one succeeds, it will be a wedding ceremony for husband and wife."

Lin Wanqing tried to digest this information.

"The ritual is complete once the third person dies?"

"right."

Chen Bufan said:

"At that time, the dead person who is arranged to have a ghost marriage will be able to borrow the life force of the three living brides to complete a marriage between the dead."

A young police officer standing nearby couldn't help but ask:

What's the point of a dead person getting married?

Chen Bufan glanced at him.

"A typical ghost marriage is a marriage between a deceased person and a deceased person."

"This kind of ghost marriage is to prolong the life of the dead."

The young police officer was so frightened that he stopped talking.

Having received so many years of materialistic education, he couldn't accept these ideas in a short time.

"Can the dead be given a second life?"

Chen Bufan's voice was cold:

When a person dies, their life doesn't necessarily end completely.

"Some families refuse to let their dead rest in peace."

"Some people die young, but their resentment lingers."

"There are also some people who shouldn't have stayed in the first place, but some people insist on keeping them."

Lin Wanqing immediately grasped the key point.

"So we need to investigate that dead man."

"right."

Chen Bufan said:

"These three women were all chosen to be his wives."

Lin Wanqing turned to the technician.

"Based on the birth charts of the two victims, we examined their common characteristics."

"Further investigations revealed that the age range for men who died in Haicheng, Yunjiang, and surrounding areas within the past three months was broadened to 25 to 35."

"The focus of the investigation will be on unmarried individuals, newly engaged individuals, wealthy families, individuals with unusual circumstances regarding the handling of remains, individuals whose ashes have not been buried, and individuals whose graves have been disturbed."

The technician quickly took notes.

"clear."

Lin Wanqing asked again:

Did Meng Yao receive a red wedding dress before she disappeared?

The news came back quickly from Yunjiang City.

The technician's expression changed after reading it.

"Team Leader Lin, yes."

"explain."

Three days before Meng Yao disappeared, she received an anonymous package.

"Inside was a red cheongsam and a red invitation card."

"She initially thought the wedding company had sent the wrong item."

"I even took a picture and sent it to my best friend to complain."

"The Yunjiang police have sent the photos."

A screenshot of a chat appeared on the tablet.

In the photo Meng Yao sent to her best friend, a black express delivery box was laid out.

Inside the box was a red cheongsam.

Next to the cheongsam, there was a piece of red paper.

The red paper read:

【Bride, your dress has arrived.】

Lin Wanqing's knuckles tightened little by little.

"Where is Su Man?"

The technician quickly retrieved Su Man's express delivery records.

"Su Man also received an anonymous package three days ago."

"The mailing address is the wedding planning company where she works."

The registered item is clothing.

"I can't contact the courier, and the sender's address is fake."

Lin Wanqing quickly organized her thoughts and said:

"Check all the surveillance footage of the express delivery slips, pickup points, and transfer stations."

"There must be traces of this line."

"yes!"

Chen Bufan looked at the two photos.

A red cheongsam.

A red wedding dress.

Two pieces of red paper.

Two people died.

The third red line in front of him became a little clearer.

"The third person also received her wedding dress."

Lin Wanqing turned her head.

"Now?"

Chen Bufan said:

"today."

Lin Wanqing immediately said:

"Express delivery screening".

"All anonymous orders for red wedding dresses, cheongsams, wedding gowns, and formal wear sent from Haicheng, Yunjiang, and surrounding areas."

"Timeframe: Today."

"Priority female recipients."

The technician looked distressed.

"Team Leader Lin, the area will be quite large."

Lin Wanqing thought for a moment:

"Then shrink it."

"Ages between twenty and thirty."

"unmarried."

"I've been asked about my birth date recently."

"My profession is related to wedding planning, healthcare, live streaming, social media, and the service industry."

"List all those that meet the criteria, one by one."

The technician nodded immediately.

"yes!"

Chen Bufan suddenly said:

"not enough."

Lin Wanqing looked at him.

"What else is needed?"

Chen Bufan said:

"character."

Lin Wanqing frowned.

"It's impossible for us to get everyone's birth chart right away."

Chen Bufan said:

"The murderer can be caught."

This sentence immediately silenced the room.

"You mean, someone has a database of women's birth information?"

Chen Bufan nodded.

"At least one batch."

"And it's not just random screening."

"She has to be matched with that dead man."

In reality, obtaining the names, dates of birth, contact information, and addresses of a group of young women is not entirely impossible.

Wedding planning company.

hospital.

Medical examination institution.

Dating platform.

A fortune-telling and marriage prediction mini-program.

Even some leaked customer data.

If someone gives this information to the people at the Puyin Marriage Bureau, they can accurately screen people.

The case suddenly transformed from a bizarre murder into a series of organized crimes with carefully selected targets.

Lin Wanqing asked:

"Is this related to changing one's fate?"

Chen Bufan picked up the black auspicious coin with the "fate pattern" from the evidence bag.

"The lucky money has a black fate mark on it."

"They can't escape involvement."

Lin Wanqing sneered.

"The Changsheng Foundation was just investigated, and now another death has been caused by its manipulation of vital information."

Chen Bufan said:

"It wasn't just delivered."

"This case started a long time ago."

"This is only the third bow."

Lin Wanqing immediately understood.

"We must find the third victim before she is killed."

Chen Bufan nodded.

"Within seven days."

"But we won't actually wait seven days."

Lin Wanqing frowned.

Why?

Chen Bufan looked at the mahogany chair on the scene.

"The first two were separated by half a month."

"The time will be shorter by the third bow."

"The closer the case gets to completion, the more anxious the killer becomes."

"As early as tonight, at the latest in three days."

Lin Wanqing immediately gave the order:

"Everyone is working overtime."

"We are jointly investigating the case with the Yunjiang police."

"Investigate all four lines together: the express delivery line, the figure-eight line, the relationship line with the deceased, and the source line of the red-clothed person."

"I want the third place."

"The sooner the better."

"yes!"

in the afternoon.

No details were released regarding Su Man's death.

However, the news of the red-clad female corpse found at the abandoned wedding photography base was still secretly spread by the ghost-hunting blogger that morning.

Although the video was quickly taken down, the phrase "Red-Dressed Bride Murder Case" began to spread online.

Some say it's a script.

Some people say it's a paranormal event.

Some people even dug up the red-clad female corpse that had been in Yunjiang for half a month.

The two cases were put together by netizens, instantly causing panic.

Could this be a serial killer?

[Everyone was wearing red, and it was an abandoned place. It was terrifying.]

I told you long ago that abandoned wedding dress rental shops are unclean!

Is there any official announcement?

[Is this some kind of ghost marriage?]

Don't talk nonsense, it's terrifying.

After returning from the scene, Chen Bufan slept for nearly 10 hours.

No dreams, no sound. As if dead.

8 PM.

Chen Bufan's show has started airing.

The number of viewers in the live stream exceeded two million as soon as it started.

This was his first appearance in front of the camera since leaving his ancestral home.

His face was still somewhat pale.

But his gaze was very steady.

The live chat exploded with comments instantly.

[Master, is the case of the bride in red real?]

Is it true that some people online are arranging ghost marriages?

Is this another case of altering one's fate?

[Master, did you go to the site today?]

Is there a third person?

Chen Bufan did not mention any details about the police.

He simply looked at the camera and said:

"Recently, I've received red wedding dresses, cheongsams, wedding gowns, and wedding invitations from people of unknown origin."

"Call the police immediately."

"Don't try them on."

"Don't take photos and post them on WeChat Moments."

"Don't send your birth date and time to strangers."

The live chat exploded instantly.

Holy crap, there really is a third person?!

What does "don't try them on" mean?

I got goosebumps.

My friend works in wedding planning; I've already transferred it to her.

A red wedding dress? That's terrifying.

Chen Bufan continued:

"Especially recently, some people have asked about my birth date under the pretext of weddings, birthday banquets, marriage compatibility analysis, blind dates, or fortune telling."

"Check immediately."

"Something's wrong, call the police."

At that moment, a comment suddenly appeared in the live chat.

Master, I also received a red wedding dress today.

The comments are too fast.

The message flashed by.

Chen Bufan's eyes suddenly narrowed.

"stop."

The chat in the live stream slowed down instantly.

Chen Bufan stared at the screen.

"The one who gives out the red wedding dress."

"come out."

A few seconds later.

That account sent another message.

Master, it is I.

My name is Xu Yao.

I received a red wedding dress this afternoon.

The package has no sender listed.

There was also a piece of red paper inside.

It says above—

The comments section paused for a second.

When the next message popped up, the entire live stream went silent.

Bride, come to the wedding ceremony tomorrow night.