Chapter 41

Chen He recently spoke with editor Xiao Yuan, who explained that Qi'an City police had called the company and demanded the comics be removed from shelves, citing their negative social impact.

The boss was quite stubborn. He replied that the work itself hadn't violated any rules, and that it was the criminals, not the work itself, that had caused the negative social impact. The police weren't going after the criminals, but were instead harassing a small company with a small comic strip. Isn't that a bit of a misalignment?

The other party was a bit embarrassed by the criticism. They will probably contact the relevant departments to put more pressure on the company.

But the company is in the capital, and the Qi'an City police can't reach it for a while, so the boss can still hold on. Please update as soon as possible, Chen He, you will make money if you update.

So Chen He is already drawing a new episode of "Prophecy from the Other Shore".

The character being drawn on the hand-drawn screen is Yu Aiai during her student days. In the comics, her name is "Yu Er".

Chen He reached over and dragged a whiteboard to the side. On the character relationship diagram on the whiteboard, "Xu San" was already crossed out.

She tapped the words "Yu Er" on the picture with her pen, hesitant.

There were some things she was still unsure about, and she hadn't figured out how to deal with "Yu Er".

I simply put down my pen and leaned back in my ergonomic chair to read the comments section.

A week has passed since the alleyway corpse burning incident, and the comic's popularity has risen, not subsided, with a heated discussion. Some believe the author is the murderer, some believe it's a ghost seeking revenge, and others simply applaud.

Chen He was equally confused. The one who killed Xu Candong wasn't Qin Xiuzhu, Zou Li, or herself. So who did it?

Did a reader read the comic and then help the people get rid of the evil?

Could the murderer be hidden in these comments? She flipped through the comments until she was dizzy, but she couldn't find a clue.

My finger paused, resting on one of the comments: [Why did the author draw it in black and white? It would be much better to draw it in color.]

There are already some fans who are trying to protect their children retorting in the comments:

[Black and white comics are not inferior to color comics, but they test the artist's skills even more.]

[You don’t understand, after abandoning color, black and white images can better convey emotions.]

[When color disappears, truth emerges.]

Chen He slowly typed out a reply and sent it out:

[I am color blind.]

This is the first time the author interacts with the readers.

The comments section fell silent, as if reflecting everyone's shocked and speechless faces. Then it exploded again.

[Oh my god, color-blind cartoonists!]

[It turns out that color blind people can also draw]

[I'm afraid he's not a genius]

…

Chen He sighed softly. She wasn't born color blind.

She loves the colors of the world and has a natural sensitivity to them. She was once so obsessed with expressing emotions with paint that she thought she would become a great oil painter in the future, but then...

The flashing of the phone screen interrupted her thoughts. A call came in. It was Yu Aiai.

Chen He stared at the caller ID for a while before picking up the phone.

Yu Aiai's voice on the phone was low and furtive: "I'm on the first floor of your house. Should I go upstairs to find you, or should you come down?"

What you wish for comes true, the characters come in person to push the plot forward.

Chen He's lips curled up slightly, but his voice was cold: "Wait downstairs." Then he hung up the phone directly.

She didn't want someone she disliked to dirty her door. She cleaned up slowly, and after twenty minutes, she slipped on her slippers and walked leisurely to the side hall on the first floor.

Yu Aiai was so exhausted from waiting that she huddled in the corner booth and even forgot to get her free coffee.

Chen He sat down opposite.

"Chen He..." Yu Aiai leaned forward with her elbows on the table, "What happened? Why did Xu Candong die?"

"How should I know?" Chen He leaned on the cushion, a ray of sunlight fell on her face, making her pupils light in color, making her look even colder.

"How could you not know? The way he died was exactly the same as in your comics!"

"Oh. In my comics, he was being pursued by Mr. Feng's ghost. Maybe ghosts really do exist in this world."

"Stop talking, it's creepy!" Yu Aiai shrank her shoulders and looked around in fear.

Chen He smiled: "Why are you so scared? If you don't do anything wrong, you don't have to worry about ghosts knocking on your door."

Yu Aiai didn't say anything, her face was a little stiff, and the fear in her eyes deepened.

Chen He raised his eyebrows slightly and looked at her: "Why? Have you done anything wrong?"

Yu Aiai stomped her high heels under the table and said angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about!"

"No? You didn't lie?"

Yu Aiai's face turned pale: "What lie did I tell?"

Chen He lowered her voice and asked word by word, "Did you really see Qiu Yue leave the dormitory alone on the night she disappeared?"

Yu Aiai stiffened her neck: "Of course!"

Chen He sneered: "I'm afraid you were the one who called her out."

Yu Aiai shuddered all over: "Don't... don't talk nonsense!"

Painters, especially those who often paint portraits, are very good at capturing and depicting people's micro-expressions.

People like Yu Aiai, who have low IQ, easily show what's in their heart on their face, and Chen He can easily see whether what they say is true or false.

For years, Chen He had been skeptical, but she hadn't pressed the issue. If she'd exposed the truth too early, it would only put her opponent on guard.

Now is the time to strike.

She ignored Yu Aiai's denial and took advantage of her distraction to ask, "I know. He was the one who asked you to call Qiu Yue out that night."

Yu Aiai was shocked: "How did you know?"

Then he saw Chen He's mysterious smile and said angrily, "You cheated me!"

Chen He's face turned cold: "Who is he?"

“No… no one!”

"Is it Xu Candong?"

Yu Aiai said irritably, "I told you there's no one!"

Chen He read the answer from her reaction - it was not Xu Candong.

Chen He was very disappointed that he failed to trick the man's name, which was only a half-win.

If it’s not Xu Candong, then who could it be?

Even someone as selfish as Yu Ai Ai would want to cover up for it, and there are two reasons for this: one is being in love, and the other is being coerced.

Judging from the pink complexion and fearful look on Yu Aiai's face, it was probably both.

A string of names crossed her mind. Yu Aiai, back when she was a student at the base, was just like now, flirting with multiple boys simultaneously, choosing wisely, hoping to snag a "high-quality guy" with a good family background and promising future.

But just like now, I didn't catch any fish, and someone took advantage of me.

Chen He didn't bother to be polite with her and said, "I know, it's one of the boys you're obsessed with."

Yu Aiai was startled and looked at Chen He with strange eyes. She couldn't believe that these were the words she could say.

"Chen He, when did you become so dirty?"

Chen He tilted her head slightly in the sunlight, her eyes sharp. "It's better to say dirty words than to do dirty things. If you don't want to hear dirty words, then listen to the truth. Yu Aiai, you must have played a role in Qiu Yue's murder."

Yu Aiai was horrified: "What nonsense are you talking about? I didn't do anything!"

"You just admitted it was you who called her out. You must have hit her, right? Tell me, did you stab her or strangle her?"

Yu Aiai was so frightened that her face turned pale: "Don't talk nonsense! I took her to the first floor and then went back to the dormitory. I have no idea what happened afterwards..."

"Oh... So you did lie to the police." Chen He leaned back in his chair and spoke in a long and meaningful voice.