"And Rodriguez... Schiller Rodriguez!"
"A damned murderer, a pervert!"
"You damned agent! Weren't you always looking for the original killer? I can tell you, the murderer is Rodriguez, he killed two people! He even dismembered one of them! I saw it with my own eyes!!!"
As Lionel pronounced the name Rodriguez, a flood of negative emotions gushed from between his teeth.
It was the first time that Benjamin felt, human emotions could truly turn into a substantial knife, putting people on tenterhooks.
If hatred could indeed materialize, then perhaps Lionel possessed the sharpest weapon in the world, but unfortunately, such a thing was impossible.
So, all he could do was clench his fists in the meeting room, repeatedly stamping his feet, and vent all sorts of negative emotions towards Schiller as a victim, to Benjamin.
When Benjamin heard Lionel say "Schiller has killed at least two people," his brows deeply furrowed.
At this moment, the snow outside the window was getting heavier. Through the swirling snowflakes, the warm spotlights lit up again, and the Mayor's mansion mirroring the present time appeared amidst the heavy snowfall, time travelled back two years before.
This time, the brilliant lights dimmed, the blood stain in the living room was yet to be cleaned, the deputy mayor's corpse lay in a corner of the hall, covered with a white cloth, all the doors in the Mayor's mansion were tightly closed, everyone kept their lights off, hiding in their bedrooms silently.
That's because just recently, there were two murders. Even the police couldn't maintain order, and everyone could only hastily retreat to their small rooms like rats chased by a cat, hoping to gain some sense of security.
The violent blizzard encircled the mansion, transforming it into a common person's prison, and at the same time, it became the hunting ground of the serial killer.
In the pitch-black corridor, only a faint light was visible from a room at the end. The light seeping from the bottom of the door was like a sharp knife, cutting the end of the corridor into another cold and gloomy space.
Lionel tiptoed his way down the corridor, coming to the door with the seeping light, he stopped, then held his breath. He heard a cold voice coming from the room:
"...Looks like this is the last one... Unfortunately, I still haven't found what I'm looking for."
Lionel heard the hair-raising sound akin to chopping meat from the room, followed by some water sound, and the "tap tap" sound of shoes pacing on the floor. All of this made him feel immensely terrified, but he stifled these feelings and kept listening.
"Such a huge treasure... thump, thump... It seems, I need to leave here, but before that..."
The voice from the room was intermittent, Lionel continued to hold his breath, trying to hear more clearly, but soon, the sounds within the room ceased, Lionel's body began to tremble.
Just as he calmed himself down with deep breaths, stood up, and was about to leave, a "squeak" came through, the door was opened.
A figure in a suit, standing in the light projected from the room, was like a black hole that swallowed all light. It was Schiller Rodriguez.
Lionel sat down on the floor, he struggled to move his body, backing away a few steps, gasping for breath, he managed to said, "Professor Rodriguez..."
"Did you see it?" Schiller asked him expressionlessly.
"No, I didn't, I didn't see anything!"
"You saw me kill Nelson." Schiller spoke affirmatively. He said, "You saw me approach him, ask him those questions, then kill him, and throw him down from upstairs. So, you followed me here, trying to hear what exactly I'm looking for."
Lionel forced himself to roll over and get up from the ground, his hands clasped together, he hunched and replied, "No, no, Mr. Professor, I haven't seen anything, I can keep a secret, really..."
"Then why are you here?"
The evil tone was tinged with a chilling icy sensation, Lionel didn't even know how to answer. He managed a forced laugh, and Schiller responded with a smile, only that his smile looked terrifyingly creepy.
"Uh... Actually, I came to you because I wanted to get my son treated by you. He is suffering from autism, I've consulted many experts, but I don't think their expertise is on par with yours…"
"Where is he?"
Lionel didn't expect Schiller to ask this directly, he showed a very hesitant and troubled expression, he replied, "Now it's late, and…"
"If it's not for that reason, then you really saw something..."
Accompanied with Schiller's words, Lionel saw traces of blood seeping from under the door, he swallowed hard, struggling to conceal the fear on his face. In the end, to save his own life, he said, "…No, I'm serious. If you think so, then please come with me…"
Lionel and Schiller navigated through the pitch-black corridor, ascended the spiral staircase, and went upstairs, until they reached the meeting room.