Chapter 150: Love Below Zero

We were all utterly shocked upon hearing this, and I immediately asked Fatty Lu why he claimed the victim had willingly allowed herself to be consumed. This time, Fatty Lu did not stall; instead, he rushed frantically to the crime scene. Normally, he would only arrive after everyone else had finished securing the area.

This clearly indicated that the nature of this case was exceptionally gruesome. Fatty Lu told us we would discuss it once we reached the scene, as he was merely relaying what the crime scene investigators had told him. Over two hours later, we arrived at the location. This time, not only the nature of the crime, but the crime scene itself, was vastly different from the previous cases.

The crime scene was not situated in a remote suburb, but right within the city, even in a bustling downtown area. It was a residential complex, and the homicide had taken place in a seventh-floor apartment. Before we even stepped inside, the police officers at the door informed us that the crime scene was the victim's own home.

As soon as we entered the deceased's apartment, a pungent wave of the smell of blood hit us. A large number of investigators crowded the room. After pushing past them, we laid eyes on the corpse, and my scalp involuntarily began to tingle. The body was completely naked, and apart from the head and face, every other part and organ was in a horrifying, mutilated state.

The blood pooling from the corpse had soaked nearly a quarter of the living room floor. The victim lay atop a rectangular dining table. If one only looked at her face, the woman could be considered quite pretty, but combined with the horrifying state of her body from the neck down, it sent an icy chill straight down one's spine.

Like the previous victims and Hu Yufang, the deceased had short hair, large eyes, small lips, and a pair of dimples.

"Deputy Lu, in the bedroom bed, the living room sofa, the dining table, and the bathtub in the bathroom, we've found viscous fluids suspected to be semen," someone reported to Fatty Lu. "Before her death, the victim appears to have had intercourse with the killer at least four or five times. Seminal residue was left in a total of four locations."

Fatty Lu did not reply, staring fixedly at the corpse. The lower half of the victim's body had been completely carved open, and beside her lay dinner plates, forks, and other cutlery, all stained with blood. Inside the plates were uneaten fragments of flesh and visceral organs like intestines.

It was just as we had deduced: the perpetrator had targeted a living person, and without any cooking whatsoever, had rawly consumed the bloody breasts and intimate parts of the female victim. Frowning, my stomach churned violently. I searched the crime scene, but once again, I found no weapon used in the commission of the crime.

Not only that, although the kitchen was fully equipped with utensils, not a single knife could be found.

The reason was simple: the killer had taken the knives away. I walked back to the living room, where investigators were extracting traces and evidence from the crime scene. I patted Fatty Lu on the shoulder, and he followed me out of the room to the elevator landing, where his hands trembled as he lit a cigarette. He remarked that in all his years handling cases and the countless crime scenes he had witnessed, this was the first time he had ever encountered someone eating human flesh raw.

In the past, the killer had only consumed corpses, a horror Fatty Lu's psychological resilience could still manage, but this time was entirely different.

I told Fatty Lu that this was definitely not the last homicide the killer would commit.

Not only did the murderer leave behind no weapon, but they had also taken the other kitchen knives, clearly preparing for the next crime.

After finishing his cigarette, Fatty Lu summoned the officer in charge of the crime scene and asked him to brief us thoroughly on the situation.

The officer explained that the police were alerted by a couple living in another province—the victim's parents. Reportedly, early this morning, they suddenly received a letter written by the victim. Judging by the postal speed, the letter should have been written two or three days ago, mailed immediately afterward, and finally delivered to the parents today.

The contents of the letter had terrified the parents into calling the police.

In the letter, the victim stated that she was preparing to journey to another world to enjoy a love unaccepted by this realm. She also requested that, after her death, her parents hold no one accountable, not grieve for her, and live out their lives well.

The police had not yet seen the physical letter, but according to the couple, it was unmistakably their daughter's handwriting—neat and composed, showing no signs of having been written under duress. Upon receiving the letter, the couple frantically tried calling their daughter's phone, but it could no longer be reached.

They were currently rushing to Yu City. Over the phone, the couple had been weeping uncontrollably, recalling that a long, long time ago, their daughter had seemingly uttered similar sentiments, though they had never taken them to heart. Based primarily on this, the police on the scene concluded that the victim appeared to have willingly allowed herself to be consumed.

Furthermore, the forensic pathologist examined the victim's oral cavity and cheeks and found no traces of having been gagged or bound prior to death. The victim's eyes were wide open and her facial muscles distorted, proving that she was conscious while the killer carried out the act. The conditions of the residential complex were not particularly luxurious, and the soundproofing was mediocre.

If the victim had screamed for help, someone surely would have heard her; furthermore, many other residents in the building were at home. Yet, no one around had heard any cries for help from the victim. This indicated that the victim had not let out a single cry.

The distortion of the victim's facial muscles indicated excruciating pain, yet she had suppressed it entirely, clearly enduring it deliberately.

Fatty Lu drew a sharp breath. "To have your breasts and lower body carved open while fully conscious—just how much endurance would that take?"

"Perhaps the victim wasn't just willing to be killed and eaten; perhaps she even considered it a form of pleasure," I answered Fatty Lu.

Fatty Lu froze for a moment, asking if I knew something about this. I nodded. "I've heard of it before, but I've never encountered it. From the looks of it now, though, it's almost certainly this."

Anxious, Fatty Lu asked me what on earth was going on. With a solemn expression, I uttered a few words: "This is love below zero, or simply put, Ice Love."

Having spent many years drifting through society, I had seen all sorts of people and heard of numerous bizarre affairs. I had coincidentally learned about Ice Love a few years prior, though I had never run into it myself.

So-called Ice Love, according to legend, originated from ancient maxims: above the ice is yang, below the ice is yin; matters of yin and yang. In reality, however, Ice Love is a distorted fetish and an extremely morbid psychological state. To put it in common parlance, it is a profoundly perverse and aberrant behavior between men and women.

It is said that Ice Love is divided into various levels. The highest level has nothing to do directly with "ice," but is closely tied to "consumption." The objects of Ice Love can be of the opposite sex or the same sex, and between the two participants, one is invariably designated as the "Master" and the other as the "Slave."

After experiencing ecstasy together, the Master consumes the Slave, and the Slave willingly submits to being eaten.

Through this distorted romance intertwined with life and death, both parties attain the exact form of pleasure they pursue.

Normal people cannot possibly comprehend it.

Fatty Lu stood stunned for a moment, his shoulders trembling. "Such a thing actually exists? Damn it, no wonder the victim wrote a letter about going to another world to enjoy an unaccepted love. Who the hell could ever accept something like this?!"

I drew a deep breath, my mind in complete chaos. No matter how bloody a crime scene was, I was always confident I could keep my emotions in check, but this case could no longer be described merely as bloody. Its level of perversion had reached a degree I could no longer tolerate.

The officer in charge of the crime scene also informed us that scattered across the floor of the homicide scene were numerous items of women's clothing. He deduced that before her death, while engaging in ecstasy with the killer, the victim had changed through multiple sets of lingerie, all while soothing music played from a tape recorder in the home.

As he was speaking, another person rushed out from the room, holding the cassette tape extracted from the recorder.

That person shouted to us in a rush, "The tape recorder captured the voices of both the killer and the victim!"

Most tape recorders possess both playback and recording functions; recording simply requires inserting a cassette and pressing the record button. Fatty Lu and I exchanged glances, preparing to head inside the room to listen to the contents of the recording.

Just then, however, Fatty Lu's phone rang. After hanging up, he stared blankly at me and said, "The girl who was with you... she's gone."