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墨書 Inktalez
Online streaming has become a popular interactive medium in recent years, covering various content such as sports, gaming, and entertainment. As Mary sat on the train heading to the scene of the incident, she casually opened a streaming platform. It was already eleven o'clock at night, yet there were still many people broadcasting live.
The streams were diverse, with various online and console games dominating the platform. Following that were chat, socializing, and singing streams, where girls dressed in revealing outfits posed and waved, while the comments section erupted with cheers, leaving Mary feeling dazzled.
After clicking around a bit, Mary found a category and randomly selected a stream. The screen opened to show several young people who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old. They appeared to be in an abandoned school-like setting, engaging in what they called "Ghost Hunting." One of the boys shouted, "Ghost! Come out and let us see you!"
Yan Junde scoffed and said, "Wandering around at this hour instead of going home? What spirits are there to investigate in this world? At such a young age, they're more superstitious than old folks!"
Mary frowned and pouted her lips before responding, "That's not quite right. Just because we don't understand something doesn't mean we can label it as unscientific or superstitious. That's rather hasty. There have been numerous strange phenomena involving 'ghosts' and 'spirits' in this world. Even the U.S. government has acknowledged a supernatural murder case—the Bell Witch Murder Case!"
Juan Juan chimed in, "I think Ghost Hunting is probably just a gimmick; it's merely the vanity of children at play..."
"I can't say for certain whether ghosts exist or not, but I can affirm that murderers definitely do," I said as I stretched my shoulders. "Mary, could you briefly introduce the case we're here to solve?"
Mary nodded and pulled up the case details sent to us by A-Bao. "The victims are two women: Streamer Sister Qi and her best friend Xiao Xiao. Around ten o'clock last night, they were live streaming their adventure in Abandoned Village. At that time, over thirty thousand viewers were watching live. By midnight, Sister Qi let out a scream, followed by the camera shaking and then going dark. The stream was cut off five minutes later..."
"So over thirty thousand people witnessed the last moments of Victim?" I asked.
"That seems to be the case!" Mary adjusted her hat and continued. "The authorities quickly sealed off this information. Most people believe it was just a stunt by the Streamer to attract attention. Notably, just five minutes before the stream ended, the number of viewers had already surpassed one hundred thousand."
"That's outrageous!" Yan Junde exclaimed.
Mary shrugged and shot Yan Junde a disdainful glance. "That's the current situation; we'll learn more once we reach the town..."
Everyone nodded in agreement. The train was moving quickly, and it wouldn't be long before we arrived at the town. I suggested that everyone take a rest, but it seemed no one was in the mood for sleep as they sat on their bunks lost in thought. Given that, I turned back to Mary and said, "It looks like everyone isn't ready to rest yet. Could you pull up the video of Victim's live stream before her death?"
Mary snapped her fingers and replied, "No problem!"
Her fingers danced swiftly across the keyboard like she was playing a piano. Before long, a video appeared on screen; she set her laptop on the table for us four to gather around and watch.
The video showed Streamer Sister Qi and her friend Xiao Xiao arriving at the small village by car. They parked their vehicle securely before starting their adventure in Abandoned Village. The surroundings quickly fell into darkness, illuminated only by their flashlights and tablet screens as silence enveloped them except for faint insect chirps.
Xiao Xiao, my best friend, seemed to be a timid person. The streamer, Sister Qi, occasionally pointed the camera at Xiao Xiao, capturing her trembling figure. Sister Qi's voice echoed as she interacted with the viewers watching the video, and the two of them chatted while walking deeper into the village.
From the video, it was evident that this village had been abandoned for several years. In our country, there were many such desolate villages in small towns, as more and more villagers had moved to live in the town or city, leading to the natural decay of these places.
All around them were abandoned houses. Sister Qi approached each one to check inside, directing the camera towards the interiors. She instructed Xiao Xiao to hold the tablet while she went ahead, repeatedly smashing locks and windows in an attempt to enter and see what was inside. The abandoned houses were empty, yet this only prompted more screams from Xiao Xiao.
The first two hours of the video passed in this eerie atmosphere. Due to Sister Qi's relentless efforts to break locks and knock on windows, they hadn't traveled far after over an hour. I remarked, "It's been more than an hour since we started watching; in twenty minutes, they should encounter danger."
Several people widened their eyes at my words.
The footage continued to play. About ten minutes later, Xiao Xiao suddenly let out a loud scream that pierced through the quiet night, startling even us outside the screen. Sister Qi asked, "Why are you screaming so loudly? You scared me!"
Xiao Xiao clutched Sister Qi's arm tightly and said, "I think I saw a shadow up ahead..."
Sister Qi immediately shone her flashlight in that direction. It was just an ordinary household flashlight with limited brightness and focus; it illuminated a vague shape that resembled either a tree or a person but was too unclear to identify. After observing for a moment, Sister Qi said, "It seems our viewers want us to check it out. In that case, let's get some flowers and rockets going..."
Xiao Xiao continued to pull on Sister Qi's arm, trying to prevent her from going closer. However, Sister Qi was determined to investigate. She reassured her, saying, "Don't worry; nothing will happen." With that, she dragged a reluctant Xiao Xiao further away. They walked cautiously for a short distance of just a few hundred meters until they discovered a massive Big Scholar Tree standing tall with lush foliage that looked like it had been there for hundreds of years.
As the flashlight beam illuminated it, strange shadows danced on the ground, creating an eerie atmosphere. The two circled around the Big Scholar Tree when suddenly Sister Qi let out a piercing scream. The tablet camera shook violently as it pointed downwards before everything went dark; all we could hear were faint cries followed by silence.
At this point, the livestream had not yet ended, but there was nothing visible or audible until five minutes later when the video concluded—this was when the livestream abruptly stopped. No one knew what had happened afterward. Yan Junde frowned and said, "If she had pointed the camera forward at that moment, maybe we could have seen what the Killer looked like."
I patted Yan Junde on the shoulder and replied, "Not everyone is as fearless as you are. Plus, just because the livestream cut off doesn't mean they were attacked at that moment; they might have seen some wild animal or dog and accidentally broke the computer. In criminal investigation, one must avoid jumping to conclusions based on subjective assumptions."
Mary pouted and took back her computer before saying to me, "But solving cases requires reasoning and guessing!"
"You've been watching too much TV," I shook my finger at Mary. "A subjective guess can take a long time to verify; it's simply too wasteful of time and resources." I continued explaining: "The correct approach is to investigate the scene and find evidence that supports your hypothesis—material conditions determine consciousness after all. Young lady, your thinking process needs some work; otherwise, you'll be in danger..."
Juan Juan shot me an annoyed glance but still didn't speak to me. I shrugged; we would be in the same team from now on—did she think I couldn't handle her? Could a cooked duck still fly away?
In the early hours of the morning, I dozed off until Yan Junde nudged me awake. I noticed that Yan Junde's bed was impeccably tidy and spotless, almost as if it didn't require any cleaning at all. The train had arrived at the small town, and very few people got off at this stop. Colleagues from the County Public Security Bureau were already waiting for us outside the train station.
"This case is truly horrific!" The County Police Chief, a man in his forties with dark skin, approached us without any pleasantries. He spoke in a thick local dialect, "Two girls were found dead in an abandoned village. We have no idea what happened. Our police station's phone is about to explode with calls; people are asking every day if this is true, yet we haven't seen any media coverage. It feels like we might as well set up a hotline!"
He continued with indignation, "It's not just that—yesterday, many people came here wanting to enter the village, but we stopped them. The pressure on us is immense. If this news spreads... well, we wouldn't know what to do. That's why we requested for you to come down."
He was unaware that sixty thousand eyes had witnessed the scene.
I asked, "What’s the status of the bodies? Is the scene secured?"
He nodded heavily and replied, "The bodies are still in the county; the conditions here aren't sufficient for an autopsy—we need to go to the city for that. The scene is secured; a few officers are keeping watch! I don't know if there will be more people trying to enter the village today! By the way, you haven't eaten yet, right? Come to the bureau and grab something to eat."
I glanced at my companions and said, "Eating can wait. Juan Juan, you need to conduct the autopsy immediately. You two, come with me to the scene." Everyone nodded in agreement, and one officer hurriedly helped Yang Xiaojuan with her equipment while we got into another vehicle. An hour later, we arrived at the crime scene—a village named Huang Tree Village, named after a large tree known as the Big Scholar Tree.
At the entrance of the village, several officers were guarding it and preventing a group of young men around seventeen or eighteen years old from entering.
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