Treasure of the Museum

"It's not hard to see. Anyone with a bit of psychological knowledge could tell, upon closer observation, that your condition isn't sleepwalking but rather dissociative identity disorder. The reason you haven't been discovered is simply because you haven't done anything too strange to draw attention," Xu Mo said. "Now, tell me, why did you kill?"

After hearing Xu Mo's words, Old Ding nodded.

The medical staff at the institution hadn't paid much attention to him, simply attributing his nighttime reading habits to sleepwalking.

"Last night, when I got up to write, I happened to run into that lunatic trying to escape. When he realized I had seen him, he charged at me with a brick. To defend myself, I hit him hard with a flashlight. Who knew he'd die from just one hit?"

"After killing him, I was a bit scared. I thought about running, but then I remembered the security camera at the entrance had broken a couple of days ago, so it didn't capture the moment I killed him. Besides... there was no way you could catch me. The more I thought about it, the more excited I got. So, I decided to go all the way and dispose of the body. In my excitement, I even left a note at the scene, just to see if anyone could figure it out."

Xu Mo was slightly surprised upon hearing this.

"So, you didn't tamper with the security camera?"

Originally, Xu Mo had assumed that the broken camera was the work of Old Ding's alternate personality, intended to avoid being caught on tape during the murder.

But according to Old Ding's account, it seemed he hadn't intended to kill; it was an accident. The broken camera had nothing to do with him.

"No," Old Ding shook his head. "The camera broke two days ago. I didn't do it. It has nothing to do with me."

Xu Mo nodded. Although the case didn't align perfectly with his initial assumptions, it was close enough.

At the very least, he hadn't mistaken the identity of the culprit.

"Where did you hide the body?" Han Fei asked Old Ding.

"I tied a rock to it and sank it in the pond."

...

Following Old Ding's directions, the police officers indeed found the remaining body in the pond behind the artificial hill in the psychiatric hospital.

The murder weapon, the body, and the killer—all were accounted for. With Old Ding confessing to the crime, the case was officially closed.

The officers took Old Ding, along with the body and some evidence, back to the police station.

On the way back, Xu Mo curiously flipped through Old Ding's notebook.

Earlier, he had been too focused on comparing the handwriting to the note found at the crime scene, neglecting the actual content of the notebook.

The first page of the notebook clearly read: *Dream of the Red Chamber*, Chapter 81.

After a quick glance, Xu Mo realized that Old Ding had attempted to complete the missing last forty chapters of *Dream of the Red Chamber*.

No wonder the book was so worn out—he had been trying to complete *Dream of the Red Chamber*... Xu Mo set the notebook aside.

Xu Mo was somewhat familiar with *Dream of the Red Chamber*.

As one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, *Dream of the Red Chamber* is an incomplete work. Cao Xueqin only wrote the first eighty chapters, while the last forty chapters were lost. The version people read today was completed by Gao E.

Many have tried to complete the missing chapters, but without exception, their attempts fell short.

If someone could truly complete the last forty chapters of *Dream of the Red Chamber* with the same quality as the original, it would undoubtedly cause a seismic shift in the literary world. The experts in "Redology" (the study of *Dream of the Red Chamber*) would likely flock to see the completed work.

At that moment, a notification sound echoed in Xu Mo's mind.

"You have successfully apprehended the criminal. Reward received—*Dream of the Red Chamber*, the last forty chapters."

Upon hearing this, Xu Mo immediately sat up straight.

The system hadn't rewarded him with some later-completed version—it was Cao Xueqin's original manuscript!

Even in its incomplete form, *Dream of the Red Chamber* was considered one of the Four Great Classical Novels. Now, with the complete version, the impact would be unimaginable.

To say the least, the Redology experts would go absolutely wild over this.

Noticing Xu Mo's unusual reaction, Han Fei, who was driving, instinctively asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Xu Mo shook his head, choosing not to reveal that he now possessed the original manuscript of the last forty chapters of *Dream of the Red Chamber*. Instead, he pointed to Old Ding's notebook.

"Have you read the contents of Old Ding's notebook?"

"Yeah, the handwriting matches the note left at the crime scene. Why?"

"Not the handwriting, I mean the content. He was trying to complete the last forty chapters of *Dream of the Red Chamber*. Look."

Han Fei glanced at the notebook's contents, then chuckled and turned his attention back to the road.

"Completing *Dream of the Red Chamber*? He sure has lofty ambitions. Even scholars and experts can't do it. How could someone who taught himself to read and write pull it off... But who knows, maybe he's a genius. How's Old Ding's version? If it's decent, I might show it to my father-in-law."

"Your father-in-law is interested in *Dream of the Red Chamber*?" Xu Mo asked.

"Interested? He's more than interested. Do you know about Redology? My father-in-law is a Redology expert. Those folks care more about completing *Dream of the Red Chamber* than they do about their own children. His lifelong dream is to see the complete version, but I doubt it'll happen. If he's lucky, he might get to see a decent attempt by someone in the future before he dies."

No, no, it won't be a problem. Your father-in-law's lifelong dream is about to come true. I have the complete version of *Dream of the Red Chamber* right here... But Xu Mo didn't say anything, just smiled.

As it happened, he owned a private museum.

That museum didn't have any particularly remarkable artifacts and was lacking a centerpiece.

Xu Mo decided to place the original manuscript of the last forty chapters of *Dream of the Red Chamber* in the museum as its crown jewel.

...

Once back home, Xu Mo eagerly retrieved the reward from the system—the original manuscript of the last forty chapters of *Dream of the Red Chamber*.

The manuscript was housed in an antique-looking box.

Xu Mo opened the box and took out a stack of slightly yellowed rice paper. Despite its age, the paper was in good condition.

The ancient method of making rice paper was different from modern papermaking techniques. The paper was thick and durable; high-quality rice paper could last for thousands of years without deteriorating.

Xu Mo didn't focus on the paper itself but on the content written on it—the last forty chapters of *Dream of the Red Chamber*, Cao Xueqin's original manuscript!