At 5:58 AM, tension filled the live stream chatrooms as millions of viewers eagerly awaited the next grim murder announcement. Even the hosts had stopped bothering to sell their products, tidying up their belongings and joining the crowd in watching their own live streams.
As the clock struck 6:00, the screen flashed, and once again, red text on a black background delivered the anticipated murder warning across 100 of the most popular streams. But this time, the warning lasted only 30 seconds. What followed was a chilling new scene.
The screen transitioned to a dark, cramped room. A man was tied to a cross, his face twisted in terror and despair. In front of him sat a young girl dressed in a pink puffer jacket and white pants. It was unmistakable — the girl was Wang Rui, the one who was supposed to be dead! Pointing to her empty pant leg, she tilted her head and asked:
"Zhao Ba, where did my leg go?"
Millions of viewers flooded into the stream, causing a frenzy in the comment section. Meanwhile, Zhao Ba's father, Zhao Lisheng, only just realized that his son, who had been supposedly safe and protected in their heavily-guarded capital mansion, had been abducted!
Under immense pressure from Zhao Lisheng, the police scrambled to trace the signal and successfully located the IP address in the fourth minute of the broadcast. In the police station, the technical officer sighed with relief. But just then, Wang Rui turned around in the live feed, revealing her face to the camera for the first time.
What should have been a delicate and beautiful face was instead covered in purplish bruises. Her eye sockets were empty, oozing thick, sticky blood. She opened her pale lips and softly asked:
"Zhao Lisheng, do you recognize me?"
Standing before the massive screen, Zhao Lisheng's face turned ashen, his gaze locked onto the hollow eye sockets, unable to move.
"On February 4, 2024, your wife told you that your son accidentally killed a little girl. She asked you what to do. Zhao Lisheng, do you remember your answer?"
February 4, 2024, was the day Wang Rui died at Xinnai Art School. Her grandmother found her body and wept in despair, cradling her on the street. Videos of her grief quickly went viral, bringing immense pressure onto Zhao Ba and his family. Zhao's wife feared provoking her powerful husband, worried she'd be blamed for "failing to discipline" their son.
And Zhao Lisheng? He barely remembered the dead girl. Xu something? Or was it Li something? It didn't matter. To him, she was just trouble. Dead or alive, it was all the same — just another mess for him to clean up.
Until today — when that "trouble" stood before him, alive through the screen, staring at him with her hollow eyes.
She smiled and said, "Zhao Lisheng, let's play a game. Every stream will have a voting button that will decide your son's fate. The law said your son was mentally ill and acquitted him. But this time, I'll let the people be the judges."
She looked down at her watch, expressionless, and said to the camera, "There are five hours and forty minutes left until the verdict."
Click. The stream ended. The screen reverted back to lively entertainment broadcasts. But in the lower left corner, a stubborn voting button remained, silently declaring that the death poll, held in the hands of millions of viewers, was very real.