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墨書 Inktalez
But now I'm not sure, and this issue is indeed difficult to explain. This is ancient times, so I had directly dismissed this possibility back then. There should be no such possibility.
In the case of electrocution, the deceased's body would also show obvious signs of asphyxiation. Thinking back on it, could some of those strange injuries on certain individuals resemble electricity marks?
At that time, it was raining. Yes, in conditions where one is submerged in water, the environment is humid, the air is moist, or the body is sweating profusely, it is possible that electricity marks do not form. Even if there are electricity marks, most of them are atypical.
Even in modern times, determining electrocution during an autopsy is not easy. Under various conditions, one still needs to rule out mechanical asphyxiation, poisoning, and so on before reaching a conclusion.
The atypical nature of electricity marks is not the main issue. The main issue is that this is ancient times! There was no electricity at all!
But this is my intuition, a detective's intuition. Perhaps this is why I dreamt at night. Those vague intuitions, which seem irrelevant at times, can sometimes be more accurate and worthy of attention than anything else.
However, Hongxi mentioned that when the incident occurred, he had smelled a sweet fragrance before fainting. What was this sweet sedative? What connection could it have with electric shocks? How could I smoothly engage in a discussion about currents with the ancient handsome man?
"Night, we passed by a village today, and all the villagers died mysteriously. Do you know about this?"
Night Phantom nodded: "I know, and that's why I'm here."
"Reason? You're here to investigate this matter?"
"No." Night's expression turned serious. "I'm here to protect you."
"Huh?" I found it hard to believe. "I haven't done anything yet; could someone already be blaming me?"
Night shook his head: "Just in case. Because there are vampires nearby."
Ah!!! Vampires! Oh my gosh!
But these are completely two different topics...
I stared at Night Phantom in shock, hoping he would provide me with a reasonable explanation.
"The deaths in that village were caused by this vampire."
Night Phantom concluded directly, and this conclusion completely caught me off guard; it made no sense at all and was not typical of Night's style.
A vampire's method of killing should involve bloodsucking. In my understanding, vampires are Western monsters; could it be that ancient Chinese vampires can suck someone to death by asphyxiation?
One village wiped out in a single sweep; this vampire certainly has a big appetite!
I think my eyes widened even more in shock.
Seeing my expression, Night Phantom couldn't help but laugh. "What are you thinking? It seems I skipped over too much."
"Then how did you, Nie Qiuyuan, come to that conclusion? What exactly was the cause of those people's deaths?" I asked eagerly.
"His thought is..." Night looked at me seriously, as if trying to gauge my level of understanding. "They were struck by lightning."
"Ah!" I couldn't help but exclaim, nearly jumping up.
The judgment of Autumn was that they died from lightning strikes. Indeed, it was electrical damage! Moreover, lightning often causes a phenomenon where metallic objects on a person melt, resulting in burns. Thinking back to the Longevity Lock embedded in that child's flesh, how could I have overlooked this? Yes, my intuition told me that the state resembled an electric shock, but I had been tangled up in the idea that there was no electricity in ancient times—where would the electricity come from? I had forgotten that it was during a thunderstorm. To conclude that they died from lightning strikes in an age without electricity—Nie Qiuyuan's judgment was surprisingly more accurate than mine!
"Previously, we had encountered people who died from being struck by lightning. Because it is rare, we specifically conducted research on it. The condition of those villagers' deaths was largely similar to death by lightning. However, they did not appear to have been directly struck by it since there were no burn marks or charring on the bodies."
That was indeed correct; they seemed more like victims of an electric shock. But what other source of electricity could exist in this era besides lightning?
In my understanding, being struck by lightning was an unfortunate coincidence that only happened to unlucky individuals. For an entire village to be struck simultaneously seemed too unscientific. Moreover, if Night claimed that this was the work of that vampire, what kind of situation was that?
"Is it hard to understand?" Night hesitated for a moment before asking.
"It's not hard to understand; it's exactly what I just thought of!" I cheerfully explained about lightning strike injuries, Electric Shock Injury, Electricity Marks, Wire, Light Bulb, and Night Phantom looked utterly dumbfounded.
"You mean you don't need to light candles at night but instead draw down lightning for light?" Night Phantom's eyes suddenly sparkled with interest.
"Uh... your interpretation is acceptable..." I thought for a moment and found no better way to explain it, so I changed the subject. "But what does this have to do with vampires?"
"Well, since you also believe it was death by lightning, then what could cause so many people to be struck at once?"
I inhaled sharply.
"Could it be a large electric circle?" The image of high-voltage sparks released from a Tesla Coil flashed through my mind.
Having just absorbed knowledge about electricity, Night Phantom immediately understood what I meant and nodded. "It's a Thunder Array."
Oh my goodness! In this era, who could harness such an incredible method to collect lightning energy and accurately create a large discharge area capable of instantly killing so many people? How terrifying! It turns out that even in the Tang Dynasty, there were scientific geniuses!
I immediately thought of the "Iron Thorn" that had pierced the sole of my foot. Above, the treetops were densely populated with such metallic objects, perhaps they were part of the tools used to absorb lightning!
But a remark from Night jolted me back to reality; my thoughts had strayed at that moment.
"Zhenzhen, if it were a Thunder Array, what kind of person do you think would survive in such a thing?"
I was taken aback. Given how all the villagers had perished, it was clear that surviving in this electric circle could not rely on strength or luck. In short, it was impossible.
Then how did Hongxi survive?!
Suddenly, I understood why Nie Qiuyuan had never inquired further about Hongxi regarding the case, why he hadn’t revealed our identities in front of him, and why he hadn’t chosen to stay at the Inn.
Because that child had been lying all along. When the villagers were electrocuted, he wasn’t even in that area. The sweet scent, the fainting—none of it was possible!
If he was lying, then he was likely connected to the case; he could even be... the Murderer?
But he was just a twelve or thirteen-year-old child; how could that be possible!
"Looking at everything together makes me suspect one thing," Night Phantom said thoughtfully. "The deaths of all these villagers could be the result of someone experimenting with this Thunder Array. Designing and preparing such a large-scale Thunder Array would take at least a couple of months. I asked again, and two months just happens to coincide with when the vampires appeared in Lantian County."
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