Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Livestream Unbanned

[What the fuck, it got banned! I was just getting to the good part! The stream just got banned like that?]

[I was all settled in, and this is what I get?! No, that’s not what I mean. I’m saying the case isn’t solved yet! Where’s the master? The streamer?! Come back and finish the story, give us the full version!]

[The streamer’s channel got banned, what do we do now?]

[Damn, will I ever get to see the follow-up?]

[The streamer doesn’t even have any backing, so it’s normal for her channel to get banned.]

Cries of despair echoed across the internet.

Shen Zhiyao gazed at her black phone screen, not a hint of surprise on her face.

She sat upright at her desk, lightly pinching her fingers together in a quick divination. A faint smile touched her lips.

’No need to rush. The real show is just beginning.’

Inside the office, smoke hung thick in the air. The captain and vice-captain, their eyes bloodshot, stared intently at the case analysis board on the wall.

The seven men on the board had all been murdered by “Hell’s Den.”

Nearly half a year had passed since the incidents began, yet they had made no progress whatsoever.

Panic was spreading across the country, and their superiors had issued a strict deadline to solve the case.

But the killer was cunning and deceitful, like a phantom, often assuming others’ identities and even changing their fingerprints. They couldn’t find a single clue.

The entire team was under immense pressure.

“Fuck!” The captain ran a frustrated hand through his hair and lit another cigarette. Just then, the office door burst open.

A young officer, phone in hand, ran in, panting. “Captain! Captain! There’s a breakthrough in the Hell’s Den case!”

The captain’s head snapped up, a glimmer of light appearing in his bloodshot eyes. “Spit it out!”

“It’s a female streamer, a fortune-telling streamer! She divined the location where the eighth victim’s body was dumped, and someone has already dug up the body following her directions!”

The young officer was so excited he was rambling. The captain’s brow furrowed deeply. “Fortune-telling? A streamer?”

The hope that had just ignited within him was instantly doused with cold water. “Nonsense! What time is it for this superstitious crap? You’re just making more trouble for me! Now get the hell out!”

The young officer grew frantic. “No, Captain, it’s real! Tens of thousands of people were watching! The ones who found it are on their way to report it now. The location is the Sealed Door Factory.”

Just as the captain was about to lose his temper, the red phone on his desk began to ring shrilly. It was the direct line to the command center. He took a deep breath and answered, “Hello, this is the captain of the Criminal Investigation Division.”

The urgent voice of the command center came from the other end. “Captain, we’ve received a public report. A body with its organs hollowed out has been discovered under the third workshop of the Sealed Door Factory. The caller suspects it to be the eighth victim of the Hell’s Den case from Myanmar.”

BOOM!

It felt as if something had just exploded inside the captain’s mind.

Clutching the phone, he stood frozen to the spot.

What the command center reported was exactly what the young officer had said. He shot to his feet and grabbed his jacket. “Everyone, to the scene, now!”

「Ten minutes later.」

At the Sealed Door Factory, police tape had been set up. The piercing glare of police lights illuminated the desolate area as if it were daytime. The medical examiner was performing a preliminary examination of the body. “Captain, the deceased is a 26-year-old male. Cause of death was the removal of both kidneys without anesthetic; he died from the pain. His other organs were removed post-mortem. The killer also made a final cut to his throat, likely to cover their tracks. Preliminary time of death is seven months ago, identical to the other organ removal cases.”

Listening to the medical examiner’s report, the captain’s face grew so dark it could have dripped ink. ’Hell’s Den again.’

’That lunatic has claimed another vibrant life.’

The captain found the two people who made the report: Granny Xunzi and Chopped Dead Scum.

Granny Xunzi had cried herself to the point of collapse and could barely walk, supported by two people. Chopped Dead Scum’s emotions hadn’t settled either, but they still managed to recount the entire sequence of events with clarity.

“’One thousand for one divination, Xiao Shen tells fortunes…’” The captain kept repeating that phrase.

He still couldn’t believe that a shocking case that had plagued the Criminal Investigation Division for so long had been solved by an internet streamer using fortune-telling.

Back at the station, the captain created a burner account and logged into the Douyin Live Stream platform.

He wanted to see for himself what was so special about this fortune-telling stream, but the search result showed that the channel had been banned for 72 hours for promoting “feudal superstition.”

The young officer beside him quietly reminded him, “Captain, her channel was banned for violating the rules against promoting feudal superstition.”

Undeterred, the captain clicked into a fan group that had been spontaneously created. Thousands of people were waiting in the group. They didn’t believe it was all scripted, nor did they believe the streamer would really be back in three days. They were all waiting for an official follow-up, waiting for the banned channel to go live again.

Watching the messages scroll by in the group chat, the captain fell into deep thought.

He picked up his phone and dialed a number.

The call connected quickly. “Hey, old classmate, it’s me. Do me a favor. On the Douyin platform, unban a stream called ’Fortunes by Xiao Shen’.”

“Reason for unbanning?”

“It’s related to a major criminal case. We need her to assist with the investigation.”

The next second, the black screen of the “Fortunes by Xiao Shen” stream suddenly lit up. Shen Zhiyao’s cool and composed face reappeared, a confident smile on her lips.

[It’s unbanned! Finally unbanned! You guys have no idea how anxious I was during that half hour the stream was banned.]

[Ahhh! We can see the follow-up! I knew Xiao Shen wasn’t promoting superstition!]

[This is the first streamer I’ve ever seen get a three-day ban from the platform, only to be back on air half an hour later. That’s badass!]

[Streamer, hurry up and tell us what happened! Did they find the body?]

The bullet comments flew past like a rushing stream. Shen Zhiyao took an unhurried sip of water. “The body has been found. That police officer has some serious connections. One phone call and I was unbanned.”

“The rules of the stream are three readings a day. Sunshine Stud was the first, Qianqiu was the second, and Granny Xunzi was a follow-up. Now, there’s one last reading left.”

Shen Zhiyao once again opened up connection requests, and viewers rushed to click the button.

[Streamer, me, me, me! Pick me! I really need a reading! Pick me, I’ll even send ten Douyin Number Ones!]

[Everyone stop fighting for it! This reading has to be saved. Let the master divine who and where the killer is directly.]

[Makes sense! I support this! Find that damned woman!]

The viewers were riled up.

Just then, a user named “Anonymous” with a solid black profile picture connected.

The other end was pitch black, their camera off, but a hoarse voice could be heard.

’I don’t even have to ask. The police have connected.’

Still, Shen Zhiyao asked, “What do you wish to have divined?”

Anonymous: “I’m here to ask about Hell’s Den. Help me divine what she looks like and where she is.”

Shen Zhiyao pinched her fingers for a calculation, a frosty look in her eyes. “The one called Hell’s Den is a dealer, the second-in-command at a casino. She is the daughter of a prostitute and a gambling addict.”

As soon as she said this, the entire stream went silent.

So, the name “Hell’s Den” meant the killer was born in a living hell and later created a den of horrors.

The name was actually related to the killer’s own life experience.

She continued without pausing, “For the next couple of days, she’ll be at the underground Joyful Casino in Southern City’s Yinshui Village. Her surname is Wang, and her given name is Zhaodi. She’s five-foot-eight, with a slender figure and striking looks. There’s only one beauty like that in the casino. You’ll see her when you get there.”

Each piece of information was more specific than the last—name, location, and appearance were all described in detail.

This wasn’t fortune-telling anymore; this was doxxing the killer.

On the other end of the connection, “Anonymous’s” breathing grew heavy.

“Don’t just stand there dazed. Today, she just met the parents with a young man. She’s already taken him out tonight. Someone is about to die again.”

Anonymous sent a Douyin Number One, disconnected the call, and snatched the walkie-talkie from his desk. “All units, listen up! The target is Wang Zhaodi at the underground Joyful Casino in Southern City’s Yinshui Village. She has already locked onto her ninth target! We need to get there ASAP! Team One, seal all exits. Make sure the killer can’t escape.”

With the order given, the entire Criminal Investigation Division sprang into action, the pent-up frustration from the last six months instantly released.

They set out for the Joyful Casino.

Meanwhile, the live stream chat erupted once more…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep