Chapter Six: The Plaster Statue

"So, it sounds like there’s quite a group of informants?" Kang Ge smiled at Qi Tianhua and nodded.

"Indeed. A few photography enthusiasts. They said they came out here to take pictures. I can't wrap my head around it—this is a desolate wilderness, and it’s a bad time of year. It’s barren, not a leaf or blade of grass in sight. What is there to photograph?" Qi Tianhua was a serious and low-key man. His strength was his grounded nature, but his weakness was perhaps a lack of flair or artistic sensibilities, hence his current look of utter confusion.

"That’s where you’re missing the point. They’re likely after that sense of bleakness, imperfection, and decay!" Kang Ge enlightened him. "Aren't there abandoned amusement rides here? A few months back, someone even came here to stage some sort of performance art. They brought in a batch of discarded mannequin parts from somewhere else—broken, missing limbs—and arranged them on these rusted rides to take a series of black-and-white photos."

As he spoke, he pulled out his phone to show Qi Tianhua and Yan Xue the news photos from that time. "Look, this made quite a splash back then. Some people saw it as an expression of art, while others thought it promoted a negative, defeatist mood and was unacceptable. It generated a lot of discussion for a while, which I suppose was exactly the effect the performance artist wanted."

Yan Xue had never paid attention to that news before, so this was her first time seeing it. She couldn't quite appreciate that gloomy style herself, but she had to admit, it certainly possessed that maverick quality inherent to the word "art."

The photos were all in black and white. Despite the lack of color, one could still clearly see the mottled rust on the amusement equipment. Under a dim, overcast sky where layers of dark clouds were vaguely visible, a mannequin was placed on an abandoned swing set; its face was shattered, revealing a dark, gaping hole that added a touch of eeriness.

There was another photo with an even more exaggerated effect: an abandoned carousel. The ride looked quite old—nothing like the flashy, modern styles seen in parks today. It was mostly sheet metal, naturally covered in rust. The angle of the shot was tricky; it didn't capture the whole carousel, just a section. The broken wooden horses were staggered, and each one bore a mannequin—also tattered, missing either an arm or a leg. However, there was something different about this one.

"This person..." Yan Xue pointed to a spot on the photo. "That’s not a mannequin, is it?"

Qi Tianhua and Kang Ge both looked where she was pointing. There was a "mannequin" there that looked whiter than all the others, its posture somewhat stiffer. The biggest difference between it and the other mannequins was that this one had no defects or damage; it was completely snow-white, with only two black holes where the eyes should be.

"You’ve got a sharp eye!" Kang Ge pointed to the "mannequin" Yan Xue had noticed. "That was the performance artist himself. Otherwise, it would just be photography, not performance art! The guy dressed himself up like a mannequin and blended in with the others to be captured in the shot. I can’t quite remember what kind of artistic philosophy he was trying to express, but it’s definitely not something us ordinary folk can grasp."

"No wonder those photography enthusiasts came all the way out here," Qi Tianhua realized. "So, what looks like a wasteland to us is actually a place with quite the artistic atmosphere in their circles!"

On the other side of the cordoned-off area, huddled under a large tree, were four young people—three men and one woman. The three men had cameras hanging around their necks, and one was clutching a tripod. The girl held a dog in her arms. All four looked dejected, except for the little dog, which was full of energy; it seemed completely unwilling to be restrained, twisting and turning, trying to jump down.

Seeing the three officers approach, the young people immediately grew nervous and hurried to greet them.

"Hello, may I ask when we can leave?" the tallest one asked first. "It’s starting to snow, and it’s freezing. My girlfriend is scared..."

Yan Xue then noticed that the girl holding the dog seemed to have been crying. Her face had been decorated with the heavy, artistic makeup suitable for a photoshoot, but the tears had washed it away, leaving two distinct tracks on her delicate cheeks.

"Very soon. We’ll just get the details, take your statements, and then you can go, alright? The weather really is terrible today, and with all this happening, you didn't even get your photos, did you?" Kang Ge said in a friendly tone.

"Tell me about it, what a bad omen!" a bespectacled man nearby chimed in with a complaint. "I said before this place was pointless and creepy. The photos come out looking just like what that other person did—it’s like eating someone else’s leftovers!"

"Enough, we’re already here, why say that now!" The tall man glared at him. "Did I tie you up and drag you here? Your legs are your own. If you really didn't want to come, who could have stopped you? You were happy enough to tag along! What’s the point of these backseat comments now?"

"Alright, alright, why argue about this? Just cooperate with the police so we can get this over with and go home," another companion quickly urged them not to act on impulse.

The two finally stopped arguing, though neither was willing to say anything else. The girl remained silent, clutching her dog. In the end, the peacemaker had to explain what had happened.

They were students from a university in W City. Because of their love for photography, they had organized a small club. The tall man was their president, and the girl was their model—and the president's girlfriend.

They had originally planned to go to a park, but the girl had found the news about that performance art and insisted she wanted to take similar photos. To please her, the president changed the plans on a whim. The four of them drove out here in a car the bespectacled man had borrowed from his father.

When they arrived, they found the place deserted, the old rides still standing, and the mannequins mostly in their original spots, though they had become even more tattered from the wind and rain.

The president and his girlfriend didn't mind; that was the aesthetic they were after, so they were quite pleased. They discussed the composition and had just started shooting when the girl's dog suddenly broke free and ran off. They chased after it, terrified it would get lost in the wilderness.

They ended up near the carousel, where they noticed the dog acting strangely. It had been running around happily, but once it reached the carousel, it started circling a mannequin mounted on one of the horses, refusing to leave and sniffing incessantly.

At first, they joked that the old saying about dogs having certain habits must be true, suggesting there might actually be feces under the mannequin's feet, which was why the dog was so reluctant to leave.

The girl went over to pick up the dog and called the others over, saying the mannequin looked "off." Its texture was completely different from the others; while the rest looked like standard department store mannequins, this one looked like a plaster statue and was perfectly intact from head to toe.

The president, feeling mischievous, thought it was odd that this one stood out so much. He wanted to help it "fit in," so he grabbed a large rock from the ground and struck the mannequin's head.

Plaster is only so durable. Cracks soon appeared, and as a chunk fell away, it revealed gauze underneath. They were stunned to find that this "plaster statue" was solid—something unheard of.

The president’s curiosity was piqued; he had to know what was wrapped inside. The bespectacled man had egged him on, joking that he should be careful, lest it turn out to be a dead body.

They never expected that his words would prove to be a chilling prophecy.

Upon discovering the corpse, the group was nearly frightened out of their wits. They dropped everything and fled, only regaining their composure after running a long distance, at which point they pulled out their phones and called the police.

"Did you see what was inside clearly? Was your curiosity satisfied?" Kang Ge asked the tall man with a smile.

The man waved his hands frantically. "I didn't see it clearly! I only saw an eye and the bridge of the nose. I was too scared to look at anything else! I never imagined it would be that kind of thing. If I had known, not even all the guts in the world could have made me hit that plaster with a rock! No, even if you gave me two lives, I wouldn't have come out here!"

He fell silent, looking thoroughly annoyed. The girl holding the dog, being more observant, thought of another issue: "We hit that plaster with a rock and picked at the gauze inside. Does that count as us tampering with the crime scene? We left our fingerprints on it. Will we be able to explain that?"

Only after she asked did the tall man realize the danger, his annoyance replaced by worry.

"Don't worry. We don't consider everyone whose fingerprints we find to be a murderer," Yan Xue said, shaking her head to reassure her. "Besides, if you hadn't broken that plaster open today, we wouldn't have known when we’d discover this case. So, of course, you won't be charged with tampering with the scene."

Hearing this, the girl finally let out a sigh of relief.

"Did you say you took a few test shots? May I see them?" Kang Ge asked.

The bespectacled man quickly took off his camera and handed it over. "We didn't take many. They’re all in here. Take a look."

Kang Ge took it and pulled up the photos. They were actually quite good; it was clear they were trying to mimic the performance artist's style, though the photos were in color and hadn't been edited.

Kang Ge signaled for Yan Xue and Qi Tianhua to take a look. Yan Xue immediately noticed the obvious difference between these photos and the original artist's work: the mannequins in these photos were wearing clothes.

They were dressed in various floral dresses. The colors were bright, and against the tattered mannequins and the gloomy sky, they created a striking contrast.

"Did you put these clothes on the mannequins?" Qi Tianhua also noticed the discrepancy.

The bespectacled man quickly denied it. "No! These clothes were already on the mannequins when we got here! Aside from taking photos and hitting that plaster, we didn't touch anything else!"

"That's right!" the tall man added. "We’re students. We only have so much living allowance a month, and we have to save some for photography expenses. We don’t have the spare cash to buy all these dresses for the mannequins here!"

"Leave your contact information. Please send these photos to me later," Kang Ge said after snapping pictures of the camera's screen with his phone.

The group readily agreed, exchanged contact info with Kang Ge, and promised to send the original files as soon as they got home. Kang Ge confirmed with Yan Xue that she had finished her notes, then gave them permission to leave.

The four young people looked as if they had been granted a pardon. They scrambled away, stumbling over the uneven ground; it was clear they didn't want to stay for even a second longer.

Watching them leave, Kang Ge and the others turned back to the crime scene. The photography and evidence collection were mostly finished, so they didn't have to worry about disturbing the scene and could step over the cordon to take a closer look.

As they reached the carousel, Yan Xue instinctively held her breath.

As someone who had worked in the field since graduation, she no longer considered herself a novice. But having handled all sorts of cases, this crime scene was the most bizarre she had ever seen—a scene that was, in its own strange way, inexplicably dreamlike.

The dress on the "plaster person" fixed to the wooden horse was, quite simply, far too magnificent.