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墨書 Inktalez
Guan Zengbin gently wiped the blood from my face before speaking, "Go wash up in the kitchen. With your condition, you should get a Rabies Vaccine when you go back."
I nodded and walked to the kitchen, washing my face and hands while asking Guan Zengbin, "Did you find anything?"
Guan Zengbin replied, "There are still no traces of the murderer in the house. However, there are marks on the balcony railing that suggest it was tied with a rope. The body must have been taken down that way. Even so, there's nothing useful. The murderer seems very cunning; I think to catch someone like this, we can only interpret their story."
He continued, "Finding clues about the murderer will be difficult. By the way, where is everyone else?"
I briefly told Guan Zengbin about my encounter in that hole. After hearing it, he couldn't help but express his surprise, especially regarding how the murderer remained calm in the dark and seemed to see everything.
Guan Zengbin looked at me with a serious expression. "As a non-nocturnal animal, humans are essentially blind in complete darkness. Animals generally have a reflective layer in their eyes that allows them to see clearly in dark environments. If he can see well too, his eyes might be green..."
I shook my head and said, "I don't know."
Guan Zengbin rested his hand on his chin and remarked, "At least this murderer must have lived in dark environments for a long time."
I sighed, unsure of what else to say.
As I watched the clouds drift from one side to the other, Gu Chen finally returned my call. Unfortunately, the content of our conversation was somewhat disappointing. Gu Chen informed me that after searching for a long time, they still hadn't found anyone dressed in black, regardless of gender.
I closed my eyes and pinched my nose; when I could no longer hold my breath, I released my grip and took deep breaths of fresh air.
"What are you doing?" Guan Zengbin asked.
"I'm trying something," I replied. "Someone once said that perhaps when the brain is deprived of oxygen, it can think more clearly. I'm giving it a try."
Before long, Gu Chen returned with a large group of people. Unfortunately, they had not captured the murderer. I felt frustrated; if my first reaction upon touching that hand had been to grab tightly, perhaps the murderer wouldn't have escaped. This might have been the closest I ever got to him, and now that opportunity had vanished before me.
"Dammit, I didn't know that was a dead end. Otherwise, we would have definitely caught him," Gu Chen said.
I sighed and replied slowly, "Perhaps the Murderer used that to escape. Never mind, let's not dwell on that. Have the bodies been brought out? It's getting dark, and if we don't hurry, it will be even more troublesome."
Gu Chen said, "Liu went inside. That police officer told us there are a total of Three Corpses, right?"
I nodded.
About half an hour later, all Three Corpses were brought out, carried by Liu alone. When the last body was finally taken out, Liu collapsed onto the ground. I noticed his face was pale; he seemed quite shaken. Guan Zengbin stepped forward and handed him a piece of cloth to wipe his sweat, and Liu smiled faintly.
He said, "I've never experienced anything like this before. Knowing our people are outside is one thing, but once I went in, it felt like another world entirely. It was as if I was the only person left in existence; it was truly terrifying."
I chuckled lightly; I knew Liu was never particularly brave. During the Liu Yinyan case, his willingness to go in alone for Gu Chen showed his courage. However, knowing there were corpses present lessened the fear of the unknown significantly compared to my own initial terror when I first entered.
But Liu had his reasons for saying this; he clearly wanted to demonstrate his value in front of everyone, and I wouldn't expose that.
Looking at the Three Corpses lying in the middle of the road made everyone feel a deep sadness. I felt an overwhelming sense of helplessness; letting the Murderer escape meant there could be another story unfolding—at least one more person might die—and all of this stemmed from my momentary fear.
Especially the girl before me; I couldn't bear to look at her body. She appeared no older than thirteen, and just as she was about to see the outside world, she was brutally murdered. Moreover, there were English letters carved into her stomach—anyone who saw it couldn't help but feel anger and sorrow.
Gu Chen cursed, "Damn Murderer! Not even sparing a girl in her teens and using such cruel methods—it's truly unforgivable! He deserves to be executed a thousand times over!"
Captain Shao looked at the Three Corpses, pressing his hands against his face. After a long moment, he said, "The best way to honor the dead is to catch the Murderer. And in order to catch him, an Autopsy is an essential step. Let's go; may the deceased rest in peace. I, Shao Shilin, swear before these Three Corpses that I will not rest until we capture the Murderer!"
After some time, we returned to the City Bureau; it was already dark outside.
Before transporting the bodies to the Autopsy Room, Guan Zengbin first administered a Rabies Vaccine to me. Having been scratched by countless feral cats, I might be the first person in history to experience this; I wasn't sure if it counted as a work-related injury.
Captain Li also dispatched a forensic expert to assist us with the autopsy, which naturally lightened Guan Zengbin's workload. The forensic expert, named Zhang Qinrui, was tall and overweight, and he appeared somewhat shy. They began the autopsy on two adult corpses, which were nearly skeletal.
According to the forensic expert, the most important bone during an autopsy is the pelvis, as it can reveal a lot of basic information such as age and gender. For these two bodies, the muscle, fat, and even viscera were almost completely shattered, as if they had been hit by a car and scattered everywhere.
The skulls of both corpses were remarkably clean; it seemed as though someone had scraped away all the muscle tissue. Aside from the scalp and hair remaining on top, there was hardly any muscle tissue visible. From a distance, it looked like a pair of skulls with fake features, evoking an indescribable sense of strangeness.
Both corpses had gaping wounds in their abdomens. Standing nearby, I could almost smell an indescribable stench emanating from within; the viscera were in disarray, scattered like pieces of watermelon thrown from a second floor. The toes and fingers of the corpses were not spared either, revealing bones beneath.
The lower bodies were even more gruesome, with flesh and blood in a state of severe disarray.
The only relatively intact areas were the arms and thighs; however, "intact" here is relative because there were still pockmarked holes revealing red muscle beneath, while the outer fat was absent. Judging by these missing chunks, it was clear that something had torn them away.
In my mind, I already had an answer.
After some time, Guan Zengbin said, "The cause of death for this female corpse was asphyxiation. Her arms and feet show signs of having been gripped tightly; she struggled before dying. We found black fibers under her nails, indicating that she had come into contact with the murderer! These black fibers likely came from the murderer’s clothing."
Zhang Qinrui added, "The male corpse shows similar signs; however, I found sevoflurane in his blood."
"What?" Gu Chen and I exchanged glances.
Guan Zengbin explained, "It's a component of anesthetics. Generally, if someone ingests this substance, they lose consciousness within five to ten minutes. It has a faint floral scent but is not irritating; it's colorless and transparent, making it difficult to detect. If the murderer prepared this in advance, it would be normal for both individuals not to notice anything."
I nodded and said, "So the murderer first incapacitated the male victim before killing the female victim and then killed the male victim."
Guan Zengbin fell silent for a moment and said, "It should be like this. I found no traces of any narcotic on the female corpse. If that’s the case, the murderer must have some chemical knowledge. This murderer is quite the polymath. They previously hacked into the district's surveillance system, and the story was not tracked by Mary, which indicates they are a computer expert. Now, they have also used this substance to incapacitate the victims, and their methods are very unique!"
Guan Zengbin glanced at Zhang Qinrui, who replied, "Yes, we found paper in both of their mouths."
"Paper?" I asked.
Zhang Qinrui explained, "I don't know if you've heard of Manchu's Ten Tortures. The murderer used wet tissue paper and pressed it against both of their faces, causing them to slowly suffocate due to lack of oxygen. However, the woman was not drugged, so she could still struggle, while the male victim had it much worse."
I shook my head and said, "That's not right. In the murderer's eyes, the male victim was much happier; at least he died in his sleep. The female victim, on the other hand, may have struggled for a long time."
Guan Zengbin added, "It's a pity that the murderer didn't use Mulberry Paper; otherwise, we wouldn't have found even a trace of tissue in their mouths."
"The time of death was around midnight last night. The story was written in the evening, and by nightfall, the murderer had already acted," Guan Zengbin looked at Zhang Qinrui.
Zhang Qinrui confirmed, "The male corpse is the same."
Guan Zengbin continued, "And why did the corpses end up like this? It’s quite eerie but very obvious."
I frowned and asked, "Do cats really eat corpses?"
Both Guan Zengbin and Zhang Qinrui answered in unison, "They do."
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