Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
A mysterious body was discovered at Riverside, a naked female corpse.
However, a once-in-a-century coincidence allowed her, trapped under stones at the riverbed, to resurface.
Just as the police were at a loss for leads, a text message from a runaway revealed layers of mystery.
It was also that mocking remark that completely enraged the man who had loved her for many years, ultimately leading him to plunge into the abyss of death himself.
Time: December 2009.
Location: Wuhu City, Anhui Province.
On this day, the police received a report from local fishermen who, while fishing downstream, found an unidentified female corpse in the shallows at Riverside. The fishermen promptly called the emergency number.
According to the fishermen, while they were fishing and passing through this area, a pile of disordered stones on the riverbank caught their attention. Curiously, they rowed over, only to be startled by the sight of a floating corpse.
The police soon arrived at the scene and conducted an investigation. They found her completely naked, her hands and feet tightly bound, the body submerged in a remote part of the river.
Forensic examination revealed that the deceased was approximately 30 years old and had been dead for over a month. However, it was peculiar that she had originally been buried under heavy stones at the riverbed but had somehow resurfaced.
It turned out that the Yangtze River was experiencing an unprecedented drought, with water levels dropping to historic lows. This rare occurrence allowed the nameless female corpse, which had been submerged for so long, to emerge once again. However, due to prolonged exposure underwater, her face had become unrecognizable, and no clues were found at the scene.
During the subsequent autopsy, no useful evidence was detected by the police. It was confirmed that the cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation, and there were no signs of sexual assault prior to death. This left the police at an impasse; determining the identity of the deceased became crucial to solving the case.
As they received the report close to dusk, this added difficulty to their investigation of the scene. The police decided to conduct a large-scale search of the area for clues at dawn the following day.
Soon after, not far from the scene on a sandy beach beneath a rock, they discovered nine pieces of women's clothing hidden beneath stones. It appeared these garments had also been deliberately weighed down at the riverbed.
Upon examination, it was determined that these clothes matched the size of the deceased perfectly. The police speculated that all these items belonged to her.
The police decided to identify the victim through her belongings. Although it felt like searching for a needle in a haystack, it was the only way to confirm the deceased's identity. Among the nine pieces of clothing, only one outer garment appeared to be quite new, and its brand label was very prominent.
The police focused their investigation on this particular piece of clothing. From its characteristics, they deduced that the victim was likely a woman around 30 years old who had gone missing from a nearby village or town.
After relentless efforts, this seemingly impossible investigation made significant progress. In a clothing store located in a town near the crime scene, the police found an identical garment to the one belonging to the victim.
The store was situated in Tongling County, Song'an Town. According to the shop owner, his store was the only one in several nearby villages that carried this brand, and this particular piece was the latest style of the season with very few sales.
So far, only three pieces had been sold, and the model worn by the victim was the only one of its kind sold.
The shop owner vividly remembered the person who bought this garment. He recalled that it had been purchased over a month ago by a woman in her thirties.
With the owner's description, the police were able to sketch a rough likeness of the woman in order to expedite their investigation...
"Let's meet at the old elementary school at noon today. I'll wait for you." This ambiguous message was the last text received on Chen Hongling's phone before she went missing.
Would Chen Hongling meet this person? What happened afterward? Was this individual responsible for her murder and for sending a fabricated text message to confuse the investigation? All suspicions pointed once again to the sender of that last text message.
Following this lead, the police quickly narrowed down their target. However, unexpectedly, the phone owner was not a man from Northeast China.
When Chen Hongling's husband saw the name of the phone owner, he was taken aback; it belonged to Ruan Xiangqin, an honest and straightforward man from their village. Standing under 1.6 meters tall and hunchbacked, it seemed unbelievable that he could be connected to someone like Chen Hongling.
How could someone as charming as Chen Hongling be involved with such a person? Consequently, the police summoned Ruan Xiangqin for questioning.
Faced with the authorities, Ruan Xiangqin confessed without hesitation to killing Chen Hongling.
He admitted that he had sent the text message and that he was indeed responsible for her death because he loved her too much. He couldn't accept Chen Hongling's unfaithfulness; although he had a wife and children, he remained infatuated with the flirtatious Chen Hongling.
"No matter how good my wife is to me, I can't appreciate it; I don't keep her in my heart. Sometimes when my kids want something or need food, I hesitate to buy it for them. Yet when it comes to her wanting thousands of dollars, I'm more than willing to give it."
Who would have thought that this vain Chen Hongling preferred being with extravagant men? Thus, she treated Ruan Xiangqin—who adored her—as nothing more than an ATM.
According to the suspect's confession, he had previously bought gold rings and a mobile phone for Chen Hongling. He had also given her money repeatedly when she was short on cash, spending over ten thousand yuan on her over the course of three years. For Ruan Xiangqin, a farmer with no direct income, this was a significant amount.
However, for the money-loving Chen Hongling, it was never enough. She looked down on Ruan Xiangqin and wouldn't even let him touch her. Chen Hongling was simply extracting money from Ruan Xiangqin.
As time went on, Ruan Xiangqin's efforts went unrewarded, and he learned that Chen Hongling was using his money to flirt with other lovers.
"I’m willing to support a lover, but you can’t be insincere with me; you can’t deceive me. I lost money playing mahjong and ended up broke. When I have no money left to give you, since I truly like you, I will definitely help you," he recalled.
Reflecting on his past sacrifices that had gone to waste, Ruan Xiangqin realized he could no longer remain passive; he needed to take the initiative.
On the day of the incident, Chen Hongling approached him again for 2,000 yuan, and he readily agreed. He sent her a text message to arrange a meeting.
After they met, Ruan Xiangqin boldly proposed an inappropriate relationship, but Chen Hongling decisively rejected him. She even mocked him as a short hunchback and continued to insult him.
This infuriated Ruan Xiangqin. In a moment of desperation, he accidentally strangled the woman he had loved for many years.
In the dead of night, he carried Chen Hongling’s lifeless body for over two hours to the banks of the Yangtze River and decided to dispose of her in the water.
Fearing that he would leave behind evidence, he stripped her of all her clothes. Worried that her body might float back up, he used several large stones to weigh her down at the bottom of the river and discarded her clothes in a similar manner elsewhere.
However, fate had other plans; that year, the water level of the Yangtze River suddenly dropped, and ultimately, all his crimes would be exposed.
Comment 0 Comment Count