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墨書 Inktalez
We parked the car at the entrance of the hospital and then hid in a spot with a clear view, yet one that was concealed from the enemy. This way, if they showed up, we would have the advantage to attack them from behind and wipe them out completely. However, that scenario never unfolded. We waited for a full half hour, but these people never appeared. Lying there, my body began to feel stiff.
Even if we were to go to the back door, that route was unavoidable. We had already considered this possibility earlier; there was no way they could arrive at the hospital without us noticing. But since half an hour had passed without any sign of them, it indicated that they were not coming here at all. This meant they had abandoned their comrade. Or perhaps the impact had killed him on the spot.
Moreover, it was likely they guessed we would reach the hospital before them and set up an ambush along the way. Their ability to counter us in the "Red-Light District" showed that their intelligence was certainly on par with my mother's. To avoid losing their entire team, they chose to sacrifice one teammate's life. It seemed that once they entered this game, winning was their only goal, even if it meant losing a few lives along the way.
I rubbed my temples and said, "I think they definitely won't come anymore; there's no need to wait. It's been half an hour already; if they were coming, they would have arrived by now. If they're not coming, waiting here is pointless."
Zhao Mingkun nodded in agreement, straightening up as he said, "That's right; they won't come. I didn't expect that after just one encounter, we would each lose a teammate. I wonder how intense and thrilling this game will get in the future. Now, let's find a place to bury him."
In a suburban area near a small mountain.
"Although I don't know you well, rest in peace," I said as a small mound appeared before me; this was the grave of Jia Xinyuan, devoid of a tombstone or paper offerings—nothing at all. Even his remains wouldn't be returned home; he would forever remain in this foreign land. I shook my head lightly and stepped aside.
"Well, may you be well below," Poplar said succinctly as he used three fingers as incense sticks and bowed three times earnestly at the small mound.
"I still stand by what I said: being human is tough; don't be human in your next life," Yang Yang remarked. It seemed that Yang Yang held a decidedly negative view on being human; in his eyes, being able to come back as a dog in the next life would be considered good fortune from a previous life, and if one could return as a cat, it would mean their ancestors were truly blessed. To him, being human was the worst fate one could have.
Zhao Mingkun stepped forward and sprinkled the last handful of dirt onto the grave before saying, "The money has already been sent; don't worry. Your family will live well."
With that, Zhao Mingkun turned to us and said, "Right now we only know what two of them look like; we haven't seen the other three at all. From this perspective, we've been put at a disadvantage. The chances of us encountering them again are slim. For now, let's find the first body."
Saying this, Zhao Mingkun took out his phone and added, "I've set things up beforehand; if any cases arise, we'll be notified first. Now we just need to wait for news of where a murder has occurred."
If Mary were here right now, I bet she could find out about any murder case online before anyone else. But for us at this moment, waiting felt too passive. Just as we were pondering this, Zhao Mingkun raised his phone with a smile and said, "The first case has already emerged; the police sent me a text saying it's not far from our location. Let's head over immediately."
As he spoke, Yang Yang had already started the car, and we jumped in right away. In the city, Yang Yang drove like he was flying an airplane—he could almost sprout wings and take off into the sky. But what surprised me was Zhao Mingkun; it seemed he had done a lot behind the scenes without drawing attention to himself. The fact that I hadn't noticed anything meant he had prepared extensively before my arrival. It appeared that Zhao Mingkun had involved others in ways that might violate the rules.
I didn't ask any questions; it seemed that since Zhao Mingkun dared to act this way, there must be reasons behind it—reasons that would allow him to remain calm even if discovered.
In less than twenty minutes, we arrived at the crime scene. After getting out of the car, we didn't dare rush straight into the scene. Given our current situation, if we encountered another group there, it would lead to another shootout—a mutually destructive outcome that wasn't worth it—so we had to proceed with caution.
We cautiously arrived at the crime scene, only to find that the other party seemed to have not yet arrived. I immediately rushed inside while Yang Yang kept watch outside. The three of us quickly made our way to the scene. As we began to investigate, we noticed that the area around the body had already been marked with chalk.
From the characteristics of the corpse, it appeared that the neck had been directly snapped. I gently lifted the person's head and confirmed that the neck was indeed limp, suggesting that the bones had been broken. Aside from that, there were no other visible injuries on the body; it seemed that the neck wound was the fatal one.
However, I was not a professional forensic expert and could not determine when the person had died or how they had been killed. But these details were not the main focus; what mattered was what clues the Killer would leave for us. Analyzing the rules of this game, it was clear that the Killer could not be a random murderer; otherwise, we would have no way to find them.
For us to continue playing this game, certain conditions needed to be met: first, we must find traces of the Killer on the body; second, the body must be in a place where it can easily be discovered. Only by meeting these two conditions could we continue playing. Otherwise, if we couldn't even find the body after ten days or half a month, what would be the point?
With this thought in mind, I immediately searched for any markings on the body. Sure enough, I found a letter "g" carved into the back of the corpse. This must be a clue left for us by the Killer. Thinking quickly, I used my knife to alter the "g" into a number "8" to confuse another team.
As I continued to observe, I realized that the chalk lines drawn did not match the position of the body at all. This meant that either someone had moved the body or that whoever drew the lines did not follow its outline. As for which point was incorrect, I couldn't analyze it just yet.
Just as I was preparing to continue my observations, I heard someone outside call out softly.
I looked up and saw Yang Yang rushing over. He said, "The police are here."
Zhao Mingkun nodded and said without hesitation, "Let's go!"
Without waiting to see if I had finished examining the body, he grabbed me and ran outside. We crossed paths with local police just as they were arriving; if we had been any slower, we might have been discovered. However, arriving at the crime scene before the police indicated that Zhao Mingkun's information had come in ahead of theirs.
In the car, I asked, "It seems you still have connections with local law enforcement? Do you have people on the inside?"
Zhao Mingkun smiled and replied, "Sometimes, beauty can be quite useful. To be honest, after learning about this competition a month ago, I've made many moves behind their backs. Because of this, I was able to get here before the police did—something another team couldn't manage. But conversely, we need to finish our business before they arrive; time is not on your side."
"You need to speed up," Zhao Mingkun pointed at me and said firmly. "Do you understand?"
"Isn't this against the rules?" I didn't answer her question but instead asked cautiously, "Be careful not to get hunted down."
Zhao Mingkun merely scoffed and said dismissively, "Sometimes you have to learn to adapt. If we always arrive late to a scene and it gets tampered with or false clues are left behind, then we'd be miles away from our target! There's a saying: 'By any means necessary.' We're just following this tradition."
I nodded without speaking further. Zhao Mingkun was cunning; in her words, you could only trust three parts while seven parts remained suspect. I sensed she might be playing a much larger game where even we and our opponents were merely pieces on her chessboard. But whether that was true or not was something only Zhao Mingkun herself knew for sure.
I shook my head, trying to rid my mind of that feeling. No matter how Zhao Mingkun thought or acted, I had to find my own way out; otherwise, I would only fall into a passive situation. Zhao Mingkun was right; even if we were all on the same rope, we were still different species.
If I didn’t keep my guard up, I might not even know how I died in the future. Within the team, there were hidden agendas; we had to fight our own battles while also coming together, which was truly difficult.
Though I thought this in my heart, I maintained a calm exterior and said, “Given the current situation, the only useful clue is a letter found on the corpse, along with the markings on the ground where the body lay. These two points should indicate the Killer's method or serve as a sign for us to find the next Victim.”
“Do you already have an answer in mind?” Zhao Mingkun asked me.
I shook my head and replied, “Not at all. We’ve only just discovered one body. If I could deduce the Killer's intentions from just one corpse, then I wouldn’t be a police officer; I’d be a fortune teller. However, I have left false clues on the body. If another team finds it, they will surely be misled. At least this will give us more time to uncover the truth.”
After I finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement but didn’t say anything else. At that moment, Yang Yang asked, “What should we do next?”
Zhao Mingkun shrugged and said, “After the first body appears, I suspect the second one will follow soon. However, it’s getting late now; even if we discover another body, it will likely be tomorrow. What we need to do now is get some good rest. Tomorrow may bring even more dangerous situations.”
“Yangzi!” Zhao Mingkun called to Yang Yang, who was driving. “Let’s go home.”
On my first trip out to sea, I encountered a well-known Bengal Aid Worker. Young and impulsive, but too poor to really make a move until the First Mate told me that a bag of instant noodles could get me through the night with a group of women…
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