Episode 8: The Truth in the Ashes

Night cloaked the entire uptown district. In the grey, starry sky, the North Star flickered faintly, shining over this broken city, pointing people toward a direction to tell their way — yet people seemed to have forgotten the ancient method, recording the course of human history. Between neon-lit high-rises, office workers toiled for survival, nine to five, and after a busy day still chose to go on living humbly, while between people hid countless laughter and secrets, and across this stretch of night sky hung a cold, fearful colour.

Situ Hengyi sat in his car, his fingertips tapping lightly on the steering wheel, his gaze fixed on the film company building ahead. Its exterior looked exquisitely carved, and outside the building hung the large characters "Tianze Entertainment," along with a butterfly-shaped mark — Tianze's logo, signifying glamour and polish, shaping one dazzling top star after another, like butterflies metamorphosing into shining new stars.

This was the company Yu Mengge had signed with before his death — Tianze Entertainment.

Three years ago, it was here that he had signed his final "confidentiality agreement." After he fell to his death, Tianze Entertainment offered no apology whatsoever, as if erasing a person's history from existence, deliberately trying to conceal something. Several recent murder cases in the entertainment industry had not drawn much attention within the industry either; instead, all kinds of means were used to suppress them, even to control public opinion. What were they afraid of?

He took a deep breath and picked up the voice recorder. Inside was an audio file sent by an anonymous email: a distorted male voice speaking slowly, "Your 'stars' are merely commodities. They sign away their souls in exchange for applause. If they break their contracts, they should be taken back."

The voice stopped abruptly, followed by a suffocating gasp and the sound of metal scraping — as if someone was struggling, yet being dragged into the dark.

Situ Hengyi switched off the recorder. This had arrived in an anonymous email a few days earlier. At first he had thought it was another prank, but one thing after another had happened, and to sort out the threads he had no choice but to come to the entrance of Tianze Entertainment — yet he could not get in, having no reason at all to search for any evidence.

He calmly pushed open the car door. Fan Shiqi had gone mad, suffering hallucinations, and this had also cost him his reputation, with the advertisements he had signed being cancelled one after another; his agency also intended to put him on ice. For him, this was a heavy blow.

Fang Jin's tragic death, however, had been silenced by all the media. Many media outlets had been present at the scene that day, yet none of the major platforms reported it. The reporters on the spot had all taken photographs and images of the scene, yet they collectively fell silent. The reporters had all received gag orders, and rumours had circulated online, but within seconds the related posts were deleted, some accounts were banned, even shut down...

Clearly, someone did not want the public to know the relevant content, nor to desire to seek the truth.

As Situ Hengyi investigated this case, he made no progress at all; instead, someone was unwilling for him to find any information. All the cases seemed to return to square one. Where exactly was the breakthrough? Even witnesses to the related cases he found had mysteriously disappeared, or flatly denied what they had seen happen that day.

Regarding the case from three years ago, he had also received related reports: Yu Mengge's fans had sent letters to the bureau. At the time he was still an intern officer, unable to get involved in the case, and his mentor had never mentioned anything about this case in front of him. Now his mentor had been transferred elsewhere; he had called many times, and whenever he tried to ask, his mentor deliberately avoided the subject —

But whenever a case reached a crucial moment, the people involved would go missing, or be made to look like suicides, while the official assessment report said it was an accidental fall. At that time he had just been transferred here to take up his post. As a newcomer, acting on professional ethics, he felt this case was full of suspicious points. He once remembered some fans coming to the police station to report someone missing, saying Yu Mengge could not possibly have killed himself — he had a concert the day after tomorrow, how could he kill himself? — but the case had already been closed, and even the body had long been cremated, leaving no way to investigate at all.

At the entrance of Tianze Entertainment, a grand promotional event was being held. A red carpet was rolled out, camera flashes rose and fell, spectators in the crowd held up placards for their favourite idols, cheering excitedly. Many media outlets had also been invited, so that they could give exposure to their artists, along with some first-line stars; all of Tianze's artists had come to take part in this event.

Situ Hengyi moved through the crowd, as if slipping into another world, where every smiling face was flawless and everyone was performing.

Xia Zilan stood with both hands in his pockets, listlessly watching the cheering crowd. He turned to look at the media reporters and asked the assistant beside him, "When will this promotional event end?"

The assistant replied, "It's just arranged by the company, my little ancestor. You're a rising traffic star now; you can't miss this opportunity!"

Xia Zilan raised his eyes to a large poster, his face full of disappointment, then immediately resumed his sunny smile. "Being paraded around like a monkey — this is clearly just for their benefit. Can't you see that? Don't call me to these boring events anymore."

With that, he turned to leave and accidentally bumped into Situ Hengyi. Turning around, he laughed, "Officer Situ, I know you!"

Situ Hengyi turned back, looked at the male star before him, and said coldly, "You've got the wrong person!"

Xia Zilan stepped forward, his eyes shifting, and laughed, "Last time, I went to your police station for a safety promotion. You had a stern face then, remember? You even said stars are just vases!"

Situ Hengyi looked up at him, a vague impression forming in his mind, and gave a cold laugh. "So it's you! The greenhorn — that vase of a star. Are you an artist under Tianze?"

Xia Zilan shook his head, his expression calm, pouting as he said, "No, just some collaboration, so I'm not an artist under Tianze."

The assistant hurriedly said, "Little ancestor, the event is about to start — it's your turn on stage —"

Xia Zilan nodded, looking disdainful, and replied, "Got it!"

Situ Hengyi gazed, uninterested, at the rot behind the prosperity. He watched the stars, each glamorous on the surface, but what terrible price they had paid behind it, perhaps only they knew in their hearts. To become famous, one had to lose the freedom of one's soul.

Suddenly he had a bold idea: since everything had begun with the Yu Mengge case, then the investigation should start with Tianze Entertainment. Every source pointed here. He would take a risk and, while Tianze Entertainment was holding its promotional event, go and probe around.

— Only late at night does the real story begin.

At midnight, Situ Hengyi slipped into the warehouse beneath the company. He had asked Lin Fan to find Tianze Entertainment's building plans in advance. The whole building had 22 floors, but the warehouse below was off-limits to company staff. He came alone to the basement.

It was piled with discarded props and old clothes, dust and damp mingling into a smell of decay, as if few people ever came here. It was heaped with all kinds of clutter, and few cleaning ladies ever came to tidy up; the floor was a mess, full of discarded junk.

He switched on his flashlight and found a storeroom in the basement. According to what Lin Fan's classmate had said, Tianze Entertainment put files it no longer needed into the basement storeroom, and Yu Mengge's records should also be among that pile of clutter. Following a rust-spotted iron door, he used his practised lock-picking skills to open it. Inside was pitch black. Following the beam of his flashlight, the column of light swept across a row of old cabinets, containing sealed artist files. Each file was marked not with a name, but with a — number.

He found "NO. 0721" — and opened it.

The photograph was of Yu Mengge.

Below the file was an unpublished medical report — on it was written: "Implanted micro-needles found in the body, suspected controlled-drug residue."

Situ Hengyi frowned, his heart tightening. He flipped through several more stacks of files, all of them other artists under Tianze Entertainment, some of whom seemed no longer to be in this world.

This was not an entertainment scandal, but — an experiment.

Just as he was about to take photographs as evidence, his flashlight flickered. In the darkness, there was someone.

"Don't move."

A low voice sounded, and a cold gun muzzle was aimed at him. Situ Hengyi froze in place, not moving at all. "Who are you?"

The man wore a mask, dressed in black covering his face, revealing only a pair of eyes almost devoid of warmth.

"Are you here to punish them too?" the masked man asked coldly. "Or do you think it's not enough?"

Situ Hengyi said nothing, only slowly raising his hands. After a few seconds, seeing that the man had not spoken, he said, "I'm here to find the truth!"

The man gave a cold laugh, his voice hoarse. "Do you think there will be a truth?"

Situ Hengyi went on, "Even if the truth is covered up, the day will come when the truth arrives."

The man sneered, his voice carrying a sob. "These people deserve what they get. The law will not judge them — so I will. They are a pack of demons!"

The next second, he turned and left, leaving only one sentence: "My name is 'the Judge.' We will meet again."

Situ Hengyi stood there dumbfounded, feeling conflict for the first time in his heart. He understood that what that man had done was wrong.

But he knew clearly that those who had been "punished" truly deserved to die.

— Justice and evil have only ever been separated by a thin mist.

At that moment, he received a text message from Lin Fan: Qin Lang had sent some materials, perhaps related to the case, and wanted him to come back and take a look, then plan the next step. He hurriedly photographed these materials; back home he could only study them slowly, and he would have to find a reliable medical expert to look at the case report.

Outside the venue, a sudden promotional event had been staged to salvage the entertainment turmoil of recent days, yet it had not dispelled the public's doubts; the hope was that through this event, the public would drop such misgivings. Inside Tianze Entertainment, however, contradictions abounded; no one was innocent. When an avalanche comes, no snowflake is innocent.

The city's neon lights flickered at night, immersing people in this cheerful atmosphere. The red carpet unfolded, starlight shone, the fans' screams pierced the quiet of the night sky, and numb people, in the carnival atmosphere, were as excited as if they had taken drugs. Camera flashes cut through the darkness — that was Song Yiyi and Shen Yao's new film premiere.

Under the magnesium lights, they smiled perfectly, like two soulless sculptures. Shen Yao and Song Yiyi walked the red carpet together. Shen Yao's fiery red hair became the highlight of the whole night; his square face had become his signature mark, along with a pair of exaggerated glasses and a high-saturation shirt, strikingly eye-catching in the dark night.

Song Yiyi wore a red gown. Today was the promotion for their new film. Her smile was still fake. Plain-looking, she had entered show business at thirteen and become a veteran of the entertainment world, yet her acting had always been criticised — ordinary acting, unable to become a top star, though she always managed to ride on others' popularity.

Smiling, they answered the questions posed by the audience one by one, the smiles on their faces clearly feigned, yet to salvage the public's doubts about the entertainment industry, they had no choice but to greet everyone with smiles.

Yet once the smiles faded and the car door closed, the glamour in the air instantly collapsed. They immediately dropped their smiles and reverted to their true faces. Song Yiyi took out a mirror and looked at herself in it for a long time, afraid that smiling had given her wrinkles. "Really, smiling has made my face stiff!"

Inside the car, all was silent. Shen Yao loosened his tie, his gaze cold, resuming a cold demeanour. "Have you seen the news about Fan Shiqi?"

Song Yiyi's fingertips trembled as she applied lipstick in front of the mirror, her face flushed, and said coldly, "Don't mention him. He's gone mad... That matter has been suppressed all these years, and now it's blown up online again. I don't want to hear the three words 'Yu Mengge' again."

Shen Yao's eyes shifted, and he sneered, "You think that not mentioning it means it never happened? It's already spreading online that someone is secretly leaking information. Fan Shiqi's breakdown is only the beginning. Someone is playing us."

He opened his phone and handed it over. On the screen was an anonymous post — the fall three years ago was not an accident, and that unreleased song was truly a suicide note.

Song Yiyi's face changed completely. The wine glass in her hand trembled, making a faint tinkling sound. "Impossible... That song was destroyed long ago..."

Shen Yao stared at her coldly. "What you destroyed was your copy. Don't forget — back then he trusted you and put the master tape in your hands too."

"Are you suspecting me?" Song Yiyi looked up, a flash of anger and fear in her eyes. "Weren't you also back then..."

Before she could finish, Shen Yao suddenly laughed, his smile cold. "Don't threaten me with 'back then.' I'm just taking back what should be mine — fame, fortune, resources. You're the same, aren't you? Back then you took part too —"

The car fell into stagnant air. The neon lights outside flickered, like surveillance cameras silently watching them, and the night air still held a stench of decay, as if protesting against this filthy world.

Shen Yao sighed and continued, "All this exposure might be an opportunity. Yu Mengge's death could now become a talking point. We might as well ride the wave and stir it up, letting public opinion work for us —"

"Shen Yao!" Song Yiyi interrupted him, her voice trembling. "Don't forget, you were also one of the murderers back then. None of us is clean."

Shen Yao's smile froze, revealing disdain. After a long moment, he said in a low voice, "In this circle, do you think you're clean? Playing the saint after selling yourself — those resources of yours, didn't they come from pimping? You're ugly and short, tone-deaf, your acting has never improved. In this circle, is it about whether you can play the game?"

He pushed open the car door, and in the moment before getting out, he looked back at her, his eyes as hollow as a black hole. "If anyone still has to bring him up... then let the truth stay buried in lies forever."

Song Yiyi sat alone in the back seat, gazing at the flashes of the crowd outside the car window, her face reflecting countless fragments. At that moment, she finally understood — some lies, once spoken, turn around and devour the person who told them.

But after their conversation had ended, a dark figure had already been watching them, staring fixedly at them. The judgement had begun again.