---
The room was silent except for the soft rustle of papers and the faint tapping of fingers on a laptop keyboard.
The tension between Mo Yuwei, Chen Linfei, Lin Yue, and Mr. Ou was thick enough to suffocate.
Lin Yue sat frozen, her eyes scanning the contents of the thick file in her hands.
Screenshot after screenshot of CCTV footage— images of Fang Zemin with girls.
But these weren't the glossy, willing smiles of starlets eager for fame.
The faces were pale. Eyes glassy. Postures stiff.
Some looked terrified. Others, resigned. None of them… willing.
Beside her, Mo Yuwei's own file revealed damning screenshots. It was no better. If anything, it was worse.
Gu Yanchuan. Fang Zemin. Su Xiao.
Together. With girls.
And again… the expressions were... Wrong?
Then Chen Linfei's gaze shifted to his own evidence on the MacBook.
The first image froze his breath — a photograph of a cemetery.
A cemetery?!?
The grass was overgrown, the tombstones lined, pale and cracked.
"What is this?" Chen Linfei's voice was barely audible, edged with shock and confusion as he turned to Mr. Ou.
Lin Yue and Mo Yuwei exchanged a glance, then stepped forward, then set down their files and moved to stand behind Chen Linfei, eyes locked on the image.
Mr. Ou's brows knit tightly as he leaned forward. "That cemetery belongs to Fang Zemin."
Mo Yuwei blinked, struggling to connect the dots. "But... what does it have to do with all this? The investigation... Yan Qingsi?"
—
Mr. Ou set his cup of tea on the table with a soft clink and met their eyes seriously.
"Do you think Yan Qingsi was the first?"
Their faces blank, all of them struggled to grasp what he meant.
Chen Linfei felt a cold sinking feeling in his gut. This wasn't going to be simple.
"That," Mr. Ou said, leaning forward, "is where all those girls are buried."
"…What girls?" Mo Yuwei's voice was little more than a whisper.
"The ones who were killed," Mr. Ou replied flatly. "Young girls. Ones who refused the men... Like Yan Qingsi refused them… and Xu Jiaqi… The ones who wouldn't submit. They were… forced... To death. Then buried there. Privately. Quietly."
"I don't understand," Mo Yuwei breathed out. "You mean… they—?"
"Yes," Mr. Ou cut in. "Let me tell you everything."
He sat straighter, the weight of what he was about to reveal pulling every ounce of warmth from the air.
---
Five years ago…
Fang Zemin. Gu Yanchuan. Su Xiao.
Three men bound by more than friendship—bound by secrets, greed, and lust.
They had known each other for nearly a decade.
Su Xiao, the prestigious Su family's son. The other two, from ordinary beginnings, clawed their way up alongside him.
Together, they built Starlight Media into an empire.
They shared everything. Business deals. Nights out. Women.
Especially young girls.
—
And then— she appeared.
Li Na appeared.
She was… luminous.
Twenty-one, fresh from a small town, carrying dreams larger than the city itself.
She had a sick mother and younger brother whose hospital bills stacked higher than rent.
Acting wasn't her passion—it was her survival.
She was breathtaking — beauty and talent combined — a face so beautiful it seemed to bend the world around her.
Her debut film, directed by Gu Yanchuan, funded by Su Xiao, and promoted by Fang Zemin's Starlight Media, exploded at the box office.
Talent. Beauty. Grace.
She was everything the industry craved.
Her beauty, paired with a raw, unpolished talent, captured the nation.
Everyone in the entertainment industry loved her.
The public adored her.
And captured the attention of all three men.
They fell madly in love with her — or rather, lusted her — Fang Zemin, Gu Yanchuan, and Su Xiao.
All married men, but none of that stopped their desires.
"She refused them all," Mr. Ou said quietly. "Li Na said she had a family to support — a sick younger brother and mother. She just wanted to work and earn money."
The three men's frustration grew. Their obsession deepened. The refusal burned in their pride like acid.
And prideful men—especially men like them—never accepted no.
So they planned.
—
It was supposed to be a "celebration." Director Gu Yanchuan's new film had broken records.
Investors and actors filled the private dining hall.
Laughter. Wine.
Li Na was there, but she sensed something wrong.
She knew their eyes were on her.
She knew she had to keep her distance so she kept close to the other actresses, wary and guarded.
But distance meant nothing when the predators controlled the room.
The three men had other plans.
They got the guests drunk — until the actors, actresses, and investors were too intoxicated to think straight.
By midnight, most of the guests were drunk.
Their assistants and managers ushered them away.
—
Li Na was about to leave too, but her manager approached her.
"Wait a minute," he said smoothly. "Your ride will come with Qian Qian's assistant. They're almost here."
She trusted him. She waited.
The other actress left.
And then… nothing.
Her head felt heavy.
The wine was getting to her. She blinked, fighting sleep.
Something was wrong, but she couldn't keep her eyes open.
Her manager's shadow lingered by the door, phone to his ear.
Then, nothing.
Sleep took her.
—
In the second private room, Fang Zemin received a quiet signal.
She was asleep.
—
They found her like that—still, unaware, lips parted slightly as her breathing slowed.
Gu Yanchuan closed the door behind them. Fang Zemin's grin was feral.
"Who's first?" Fang's voice was thick with hunger.
"Me," Su Xiao said licking his lips greedily.
What happened after was not human.
It was beastly.
—
Su Xiao stepped forward first. The others followed.
They circled her like wolves.
A hand brushed her hair back. Another traced her jawline. She stirred.
And woke.
Her eyes widened.
Confusion turned to fear.
Fear turned to terror.
She tried to scream—only for a rough hand to clamp over her mouth.
They tied her wrists. Pushed her down.
Her muffled cries filled the room.
And then—
Three men. One girl.
The sound of fabric tearing.
The smell of sweat and liquor and something far darker.
---
Lin Yue's breathing turned shallow.
Mo Yuwei's hands trembled at her sides.
Chen Linfei's knuckles were white around the edge of the desk.
---
She screamed into the palm pressed against her face, her body twisting violently, desperately.
They didn't stop.
The room was filled with the sound of muffled sobs, tearing fabric, ragged breathing.
Gu Yanchuan laughed when she begged.
Fang Zemin muttered something vile against her ear.
Su Xiao's weight crushed her.
—
The three men did the unthinkable — a nightmare of cruelty that left scars no one could heal.
She cried, begged, and screamed.
But they didn't stop.
In fact, it added fuel.
They continued.
Minutes bled into hours.
Dawn bled into the sky.
Until… her voice cracked. Her sobs weakened. And then—
She stopped.
Her breathing slowed.
Her tears dried.
She was gone.
Raped.
To death.
—
They froze.
Fang Zemin shook her shoulder. "Hey. Hey—"
Her head lolled. Her eyes were open, glassy.
Panic hit them like a storm.
"What the hell did we do?!" Gu Yanchuan's voice was shaking now.
"She's dead," Su Xiao hissed, as if saying it aloud would damn them. "We—we can't—"
They looked at one another, minds racing.
What if someone found out?
What if the police came?
If the world knew... death, prison, disgrace — or worse — awaited them.
They were terrified.
They didn't mean to kill her.
They just...
It was...
Not like this...
—
Half an hour passed.
Yet they couldn't come up with a solution.
Nobody should know.
Nobody.
But what should they do?
—
Then Su Xiao suddenly suggested quietly, "We bury her. Nobody will find out."
But how?
Yet they all nod.
But what about the public?
Everyone.
Fang Zemin said, "We say she quit. Since she was under contract, no one will ask questions."
Gu Yanchuan asked, trembling, "Where do we bury her?"
Su Xiao hesitated, then said, "Somewhere no one will find her."
He made a call, "Buy me a land in the outskirts of the city. Somewhere remote. Now."
His man was surprised but did as told and quickly did so.
—
Thirty minutes later, a location arrived in his inbox—a remote plot in the city's outskirts.
Fang Zemin quickly arranged a car.
Then the three men dressed quickly, their faces pale and trembling.
They covered Li Na's body and carried her out to the waiting car, the sheet wrapping her twisted body.
They didn't look at her face. They didn't dare.
—
The car drove to the outskirts of the city. The land was empty. Isolated. No witnesses.
Alone, they began digging with bare hands, as they couldn't find any tool to use.
But they didn't care.
They needed to hurry. Before anybody came. And saw.
Luckily, Fang Zemin found a small hoe in the car's trunk and handed it over.
They dug through the dawn, their hands blistered, dirt under their nails.
But they didn't care.
Quickly.
Desperately.
—
When the hole was deep enough, they didn't dare look at her face as they carried her to the shallow grave.
"One… two… three."
She landed with a soft thud.
Soil followed.
Covering her. Burying her.
Erasing her. Silencing her forever.
---
Mr. Ou's voice was calm when it shouldn't have been. "That cemetery in your file, Mr Chen… She was the first. Li Na. And she was not the last."
No one spoke.
Lin Yue sat frozen, tears threatening to spill.
Mo Yuwei's eyes burned, her throat tight.
Who could do this? Who could be this monstrous?
Chen Linfei's fists clenched.
They deserved death — and even that would be too merciful.
---