14 crumbling world

Liu Yang called his older brother who worked at the police station, but instead received a stern warning from him.

However, unable to resist his younger brother's pleading, Liu Hai eventually sent a photo to Liu Yang to satisfy his curiosity.

It was a photo transmitted via QQ, utilizing the 'flash photo' feature, where the image appeared pixelated until opened, allowing a five-second view before self-destructing, making it impossible to screenshot and preventing further dissemination of the photo.

Clearly, this photo contained classified information prohibited from being leaked by the police.

At this moment, Zhang Yaoyang had already returned to the dormitory with Liu Yang. Upon seeing the flash photo, Zhang Yaoyang stopped Liu Yang from immediately opening it, instead taking out his phone and aiming it at Liu Yang's screen before nodding to him.

Only then did Liu Yang open the picture, and instantly, an extremely bloody scene unfolded before them!

It was a taxi, or rather, calling it a taxi was already too generous—it resembled a thin, iron disk crushed by some heavy object!

Moreover, there were scattered fragments where the windows and other corresponding areas should be. Not only that, but a large amount of flesh and blood sprayed out in a radial pattern from the windows, with even limbs mixed in!

Seeing this scene, Liu Yang's face turned green. He let go of his phone, causing the photo to be completely destroyed. Thankfully, Zhang Yaoyang had pressed the capture button the moment Liu Yang opened the photo, saving it.

Liu Yang covered his mouth, threw away his phone, and rushed to the toilet outside the dormitory, where he heard intense vomiting. Zhang Yaoyang's mouth twitched beside him. He had seen accident photos online before, but those were just strangers. The one Liu Hai sent was a living, laughing classmate from the day before!

That kind of instant transformation from someone you chatted and laughed with one second to a cold corpse the next, the stark contrast was beyond words!

When Liu Yang returned to the dormitory, his face was pale, with bloodshot eyes filled with tears from vomiting.

"Do you want to see it again?" Zhang Yaoyang raised his phone.

"Yes, why not?" Liu Yang gritted his teeth and sat back next to Zhang Yaoyang, snatching his phone. This time, he was prepared and didn't lose his composure like before.

"Could it be a steamroller?" After a moment of silence, Liu Yang turned to ask.

"Impossible." Zhang Yaoyang shook his head. "Even with the weight of a steamroller, it couldn't crush into this shape. It's already as thin as a pancake, not more than two centimeters thick, and besides..."

"And besides what?" Liu Yang asked.

"And besides, if it were a steamroller, would the police treat it with such solemnity? They wouldn't even dare to release information?"

Only then did Liu Yang nod. He looked again at the second photo taken and noticed a road sign at the end, indicating 'Xining Avenue.'

"You noticed?" Zhang Yaoyang pointed to the sign behind. "Any thoughts?"

"Xining Avenue?" Liu Yang pondered. "Isn't that the road at the southernmost part of the city? It's impossible to turn onto this road from Universal Golden Seat to the school."

"So, that's also strange." Zhang Yaoyang nodded. "The crime scene is usually determined by the discovery location, so the position here represents where Li Jiao and the others' bodies were found. There's no possibility of the police moving them here."

Zhang Yaoyang nodded quietly to himself. At this moment, he finally understood why the police officer had hesitated after he mentioned the Global Golden Seat earlier. Clearly, the officer was also puzzled about why the body ended up on Xining Avenue.

"Raven, this photo?" After a moment of silence, Liu Yang suddenly spoke up. "How about we delete it?"

Zhang Yaoyang gave Liu Yang a deep look, and Liu Yang lowered his head in shame. "This is completely beyond our scope of investigation..."

"You're right," Zhang Yaoyang nodded, and in front of Liu Yang, he pressed the delete key. Instantly, the entire photo was thoroughly deleted.

Liu Yang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Shaking his head, Zhang Yaoyang didn't say much more and left the dormitory.

Walking on the school's paths, Zhang Yaoyang couldn't help but sink into deep thought. He had always viewed the world through a materialistic lens, but it seemed as if the world was intentionally presenting absurdity and incredibility. Ever since he gained that peculiar ability to enter dreams, he had encountered several incomprehensible incidents in succession.

The world seemed to be becoming more dangerous...

This thought popped into his mind, making Zhang Yaoyang's pupils contract. He seemed to have figured something out and turned towards the direction of the school gate.

Stopping a taxi at the school gate, he mentioned 'Jiuning,' an area in Yanzhou City's development zone. Upon reaching his destination, Zhang Yaoyang watched the taxi depart, then changed direction again, heading towards the entrance of a large wholesale market.

Half an hour later, Zhang Yaoyang emerged from the wholesale market, now wearing a blue medical mask that covered most of his face. Even his clothing had changed significantly.

He waited at the roadside for a while, then boarded a bus headed for the city center. The bus continued until it was near the city center, where he got off.

Next, he had a meal at a restaurant near the police station and finally went to an internet cafe. He stayed there until late at night before getting up and walking towards a lane behind the police station.

In today's world, most units have corresponding residential buildings. As a crucial unit like the police station, it was no exception. The original name of this residential complex had long been forgotten, leaving behind a widely known name—Police Residential Area.

This was an area even thieves and burglars dared not visit, the safest neighborhood in the city without question.

Zhang Yaoyang didn't enter through the proper channels; modern residential complexes had strict security measures. Even getting past the gatekeeper at the main entrance was impossible without an access card.

However, this didn't pose a challenge to Zhang Yaoyang. Most of these security measures were designed to deter law-abiding citizens rather than real threats. With a slight climb over a neighboring wall, he easily entered the Police Residential Area.

Inside the residential area, Zhang Yaoyang didn't act immediately. Instead, he looked around, searching for blind spots in surveillance. After some effort, he finally found a blind spot near Building 3.

Cautioned by his surroundings and seeing no one around, he slowly hid in the holly greenery at the base of Building 3, silently waiting.

Yes, he was waiting for Liu Yang's brother, Liu Hai.

He was quite lucky because he had once accompanied Liu Yang to Liu Hai's home, so he knew Liu Hai lived on the ground floor of Building 3 in the Police Residential Area. After numerous experiments, he had almost figured out his dream detection ability, which could sense all dreams within a five-meter radius. Currently, hiding in the holly greenery, he was exactly five meters away from Liu Hai's bedroom.

Fortunately, it was on the ground floor. If it were on a higher floor, Zhang Yaoyang would have been helpless. Modern apartment buildings were completely sealed, requiring passwords or door codes to access floors. Without a password or key, Zhang Yaoyang couldn't even enter the building's main door.