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墨書 Inktalez
In such a picturesque landscape, encountering a corpse was unexpected! Moreover... it was a dismembered body!
Ren Pingsheng's expression was grim. He remained silent for a moment before finally letting out a sigh.
"I thought I had found a decent place to settle down, but now that's out of the question. The official authorities will be here soon, so this is yet another trouble spot."
I secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This was good; I wouldn't have to stay and be trapped by him. I almost thought to myself, "Serves him right," but quickly suppressed that thought with several internal curses.
I stepped forward, but Ren Pingsheng grabbed my sleeve.
"Ah Ying, do you really have to get involved?"
Of course, I had to get involved! Not only that, but I also wanted to escalate the situation! How could I let his plans succeed?
I pulled out a badge from my pocket and shouted confidently, "Dali Temple! Everyone step back!"
Ren Pingsheng paused for a moment, a wry smile appearing on his face.
"Alright, alright. It's not like it matters anymore; go ahead and play."
The crowd gasped at the mention of "Dali Temple." Since so many people had gathered, it was clear that the discovery was recent and had just been reported. The constable likely wouldn't arrive so quickly. Besides, why would it be Dali Temple?
However, my badge from Dali Temple gleamed impressively, exquisitely crafted and quite intimidating (especially since it was genuine). No one dared to raise any objections; they naturally parted ways and created a path.
As a young woman, I strode confidently forward and squatted down near the remains. The crowd erupted in murmurs, even forgetting their fear of the corpse. Ren Pingsheng shook his head with a bitter smile and followed me, squatting beside me.
The scene of the body disposal was hidden within dense grass, making it quite concealed. It seemed that someone had stumbled upon it while cutting grass or gathering firewood. The body was wrapped in two large dark cloth bundles and dismembered into very small pieces.
Who could be so cruel? I had seen dismembered bodies before; in fact, many criminals resorted to dismemberment in desperation to hide their crimes. Some used kitchen knives, others boiled the body or froze it before sawing it apart, but most were quite clumsy about it. However, this particular body was cut into such small and precise pieces—this was indeed rare.
The clean cuts at the joints indicated that whoever did this was an expert—perhaps a martial artist or even a professional butcher.
I took out the gloves and mask from my pocket, ready to begin examining the remains. The crowd behind me erupted in a commotion, but at that moment, another hand grasped mine.
Ren Pingsheng took the gloves and mask from me, smiling as he said, "My lord, there's no need for you to do this yourself; let your subordinate handle it."
Hmm, when did I become "my lord"? He really knows how to play the part!
However, I didn't say much and simply handed the gloves and mask over to him. Aside from our first meeting, I had never seen him investigate a case or examine a corpse in person. Regardless of whether Ren Pingsheng's role in Mirror Gate was that of an assassin or a detective, his investigative skills were undoubtedly impressive.
Three people walking together must have one as a teacher; even if they are an enemy, I was more than willing to observe from the sidelines and learn his methods thoroughly.
Ren Pingsheng showed no intention of concealing his skills in front of me. He calmly put on the gloves and examined the mask, turning it over in his hands. Suddenly, he burst into laughter as if recalling something amusing. After a moment of chuckling, he finally donned the mask.
I thought to myself that this was rather unprofessional. Fortunately, this was ancient times; without smartphones or cameras, otherwise, capturing his smiling face might lead to sensational headlines like "Detective Smiles at Crime Scene," and he might even earn the nickname "Smiling Brother."
In truth, I knew that Ren Pingsheng had equipment far superior to my gloves. The specialized gloves used by Nie Qiuyuan for Mirror Gate were something I had studied closely later on; they were exquisitely crafted and of the highest quality. Those gloves were personally designed and made by Dark One back in the day, but the materials were extremely rare and costly, making it impossible for them to be adopted as official gear by the Tang Dynasty's judicial authorities.
The gloves I held were ordinary ones issued by the Dali Temple—better than nothing but limited in effectiveness. However, Ren Pingsheng clearly preferred not to use anything related to Mirror Gate in public, so he nonchalantly opted for my pair instead.
Equipped with my gloves, Ren Pingsheng began to carefully extract the bones from the cloth bag piece by piece.
I initially thought he would first search for the most distinctive fragments that could indicate the cause of death, but he surprised me by doing something unexpected.
Ren Pingsheng cleared a space beside him and began arranging the broken remains on the ground according to their body parts, starting what looked like a jigsaw puzzle.
"What are you doing?" I couldn't help but ask him.
Ren Pingsheng didn't answer; I only saw his eyes slightly curve as if he smiled. He focused intently on piecing together those two bags of remains, immersed in an atmosphere of seriousness that felt quite unfamiliar.
At first glance, he appeared just like those around us—Zhang Yang, my friends, and the police instructors—lacking any distinction between good and evil; he was simply a dedicated expert.
Oh my god, I must not let my mind be so easily swayed by him.
I stared intently at the puzzle he was piecing together, which had clearly taken him two or three hours. Some people around us could no longer bear it and drifted away, but most stayed, demonstrating that the human penchant for gossip has persisted throughout history.
"My lord, something doesn't seem right," Ren Pingsheng finally said, twisting a thin bone between his fingers, his brow slightly furrowed. I noticed that a nearly complete human shape had emerged on the ground.
"What? Are all the parts that could reveal the cause of death destroyed?"
Ren Pingsheng shook his head.
"This isn't one person; it's three."
What?! I was astonished. The puzzle was almost complete, and there weren't many bones left—how could it be three people?
"Look here," Ren Pingsheng gestured for me to come closer. "Though they are quite similar, see here? There are two right elbows."
Then he picked up three thin bones to show me.
"The middle fingers of the left hands are of different lengths. Even if they had six fingers, they wouldn't grow in the middle. Moreover, the owners of these three middle fingers are of different ages."
I took a closer look and realized he was right, sending a chill down my spine.
As I approached the scene, I had conducted an overall observation of the remains. At first glance, there was only one skull, and estimating the total weight of the flesh pieces suggested it was roughly equivalent to that of an adult male. Naturally, I assumed it was one person. If I were in charge of this case, I might have overlooked two victims, making it difficult to clear the names of the other two deceased.
As an investigator, how could I make such a mistake?
Suddenly, I understood why police officers go to great lengths to extract samples from every limb in dismemberment cases for DNA testing. Initially, I thought that would just yield a long list of identical data—what use would that be? Now I realized it was precisely to eliminate such extreme possibilities.
And in this moment without DNA technology, Ren Pingsheng had managed to deduce that there was more than one victim simply by piecing together the remains. He even determined their ages based solely on the shapes of their bones.
What meticulous detail! How profound his understanding of human anatomy must be—so thorough that it sent shivers down my spine. I couldn't help but wonder if he had dissected not just one body but several, or perhaps… living people…?
It was terrifying!
"Head injuries like this can be fatal," Ren Pingsheng said, lifting the head with one hand and examining it closely. "However, this state resembles someone who has been crushed by a falling rock. But if it were a rock, why would there be dismemberment? Would a falling rock really kill so many people?"
Ren Pingsheng murmured to himself thoughtfully. Suddenly, it seemed he had made a discovery, and his movements quickened. He sifted through the deceased's hair, scrutinizing the wounds, and his fingertips brushed against something black that he extracted from between the strands. He then picked up the severed fingers from the ground one by one, noticing the same black powder beneath the nails.
I was startled, feeling an inexplicable surge of murderous intent emanating from Ren Pingsheng. The oppressive aura made it hard for me to breathe. That familiar feeling returned—cold, cruel, bloodthirsty—the Ren Pingsheng from the Mirror Gate.
For a moment, I was at a loss about what to do. I worried that if I disturbed him now, he might unleash his fury and kill me with a single strike, endangering the innocent people around us as well. Yet at that moment, his demeanor made me extremely uncomfortable; I did not want to see him like this.
I was surprised to realize that perhaps I subconsciously believed that only the version of him I had seen during our travels was the true Ren Pingsheng. Maybe I didn’t want him to revert back to his former self; perhaps I hoped that if he could maintain that better version of himself forever, then maybe—just maybe—I could forgive him, let him go, and allow him to live his own life.
Perhaps deep down, I had already prayed for his freedom.
I reached out and grasped his wrist, but I couldn’t bring myself to call him "Ren Pingsheng," so instead I called out to him: "Yanyu!"
Ren Pingsheng jolted as if awakening from a dream and looked at me in surprise. He stared at me with astonishment as the murderous aura around him gradually dissipated. His eyes were filled with complex emotions, making it difficult to discern what he was truly thinking; all I knew was that within him there might be a fierce internal struggle taking place.
In the end, however, the murderous intent did not completely fade away; that unique scent of blood once again enveloped him, and his gaze grew cold.
He lowered his head and softly said to me, "Ah Ying, wait for me just one more time; this is the last time. This matter cannot be tolerated; they must be removed like thorns in my side!"
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