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墨書 Inktalez
According to the prison report, Chen Lin only had the right conditions for digging at night. Moreover, the power was cut off in the prison, so Chen Lin had to work in the dark without waking anyone else. Such boldness combined with meticulousness is no wonder the kidnappers chose him for this task.
Now that we knew Chen Lin's identity, we needed to use him as a breakthrough point to locate him and, consequently, find the kidnappers.
As a transgender individual, it was reasonable for Chen Lin to have used Liu Fei'er’s lipstick. However, the blood on his lips was less justifiable. Having spent a night under Liu Fei'er’s bed without eating anything, the blood on his lips must have come from before he infiltrated.
"Find a place with a lot of Stray Dogs and almost no residents," I said slowly.
As soon as I finished speaking, Gu Chen and I exchanged glances. I knew we were thinking of the same location. Almost simultaneously, we exclaimed, "That abandoned building that has been shut down for so long!"
Indeed, it was the site of the unfinished building that Old Zhang had guarded before his escape. There were hardly any passersby there; it had practically become a haven for stray dogs and cats. The most dangerous places are often the safest; if I were a kidnapper looking for a less populated area in such a large city, this would undoubtedly be the best choice.
"Let's go!"
About an hour later, we drove to the site. It looked almost unchanged from six months ago; revitalizing this abandoned building was clearly not a quick task. The construction site's gate stood wide open, with weeds growing abundantly on the ground and graffiti covering the walls in various languages.
Six months ago, Zhang Mingliang had fallen from this building. Now that I returned here, despite not much time having passed, it felt like stepping into another world.
"This is it; let's search," I told the police officers who accompanied us. "Thank you for your hard work."
"Follow me," we said.
Half a year ago, I had discussed matters with Old Zhang and remembered the sight of dog carcasses hanging from wires outside his makeshift wooden hut and a barrel emitting a strong stench of dog blood.
Upon returning here, I realized my suspicions were correct.
In front of the wooden hut lay a pool of blood that had completely congealed. Guan Zengbin was the first to approach; she put on gloves and touched the bloodstain on the ground before bringing it to her nose. Frowning, she said, "It's not human blood; it should be dog blood. But we need to take it back for further identification to be sure."
Looking at Guan Zengbin, I couldn't help but say, "How come you're acting just like Wang Er Gou? Is your nose as sensitive as his? Why can't we just find Wang Er Gou, the guy whose nose is sharper than a dog's? Wait, where's that dog?"
Thinking of this, I immediately sent a text to Captain Shao, asking him to bring Wang Er Gou over.
Guan Zengbin stood up and said, "The blood here has only been congealed for a short while. Someone must have been here before dawn. So, Chen Lin likely came into contact with the blood here?"
I tugged at my hair and slowly replied, "Given the current situation, it seems that way. This kidnapper must include Old Zhang, Lai San, and Chen Lin."
All these individuals shared a common trait—they were all fugitives. A group of kidnappers made up of fugitives wouldn’t hesitate to kill again. Suddenly, a chilling thought crossed my mind: what if Liu Fei'er had already been brutally dealt with from the start? After all, these people were capable of anything.
But among these individuals, who orchestrated the entire affair? Was it Lai San, who once aspired to be the greatest in the martial world? Was it Old Zhang, who had tasted human blood and valued dog blood just as much? Or was it Chen Lin, who still didn’t know why he was alive? Or perhaps there were others pulling the strings behind the scenes?
So how many people were in this team? What exactly did they want to achieve?
Everything remained a mystery.
"Over here! We found a body!" a police officer suddenly shouted.
A body?
We exchanged glances and hurried toward the location of the body. Sure enough, we saw a corpse lying in the grass. From its appearance, it looked like a woman. My heart raced—could it be Liu Fei'er? But as I got closer, I realized it wasn’t Liu Fei'er; instead, it was someone even more unexpected.
The person was none other than Chen Lin.
From the outside, it was indeed Chen Lin, but she didn't look as beautiful as in her photos. At that moment, her face was marred with various blemishes, and her skin appeared not delicate and fair but rather grayish-yellow. I couldn't understand how someone who was only twenty-eight could look so aged.
"Is this really Chen Lin?" Liu Yi exclaimed in disbelief. "This looks nothing like the person in the photo! Are people even editing their pictures these days?"
Guan Zengbin stepped forward and said, "I think it's because he hasn't taken estrogen for a long time. In prison, no one is there to administer the hormones. As a result, his estrogen levels have gradually decreased, and he has become increasingly unattractive. At just twenty-eight years old, he looks like he's forty-eight. Unfortunately, this is often the reality for a transgender performer."
As she examined Chen Lin's body, she continued, "In Thailand, transgender individuals generally go through three stages. Before adulthood, they begin taking estrogen while developing various talents. The ages of eighteen to twenty-five are considered their golden years; during this time, they are at their most beautiful and can earn the most money. After twenty-five, they start to decline, and the average lifespan for them is between thirty-five and forty."
Liu shook his head, seemingly regretful. "If that's the case, then it really is a short life."
Guan Zengbin shook her head in response. "For them, such a life is already long enough. Especially in the final stage of life, many transgender individuals choose suicide. Perhaps they are like moths; some know that there is fire ahead but still rush towards it without hesitation."
Her words left me feeling somewhat melancholic. I said, "Perhaps so. Some people live to be a hundred years old and look back on their lives feeling empty, thinking they haven't accomplished anything. Most regrets in life stem from what we didn't do rather than what we did."
"Just like that security guard before," Guan Zengbin remarked as she examined the wounds. "From the outside, there’s only this deep scar on the neck; it can be determined that it was inflicted by the same person. However, we still need to perform an autopsy to be thorough; we might find different clues."
Chen Lin's body was soon transported back to the funeral home while the trace examination team continued to investigate for any evidence left by the murderer at the scene. Gu Chen and Liu remained on-site while Guan Zengbin and I returned to the City Bureau to await her autopsy of Chen Lin's body.
I had seen autopsies performed on male bodies and female bodies before, but this was my first time witnessing an autopsy on a transgender individual. For some reason, I felt an inexplicable sense of anticipation rising within me. I quickly suppressed that feeling; this was not the time for curiosity.
The security guard was dead, Chen Lin was dead—everyone we could trace had died. The kidnappers truly were ruthless, eliminating those who served their purpose once they no longer needed them. This also showed how far they would go to cut off our investigation.
A chill suddenly ran down my spine at the thought: if we continued our investigation, would it provoke the kidnappers into silencing us? This was just the beginning, yet so much had already happened. They had killed two people who worked for us; wouldn't that create distrust among our team?
Was it true that killing one more person meant more money to divide?
Guan Zengbin was preparing to begin the autopsy while I watched from the side. Chen Lin had a decent physique; she still had curves despite her appearance being less than flattering now. If she had been eating something dramatic before her death, would there be remnants in her stomach?
Guan Zengbin held her scalpel steadily; it seemed that every body, regardless of its condition, appeared indistinguishable in her eyes.
"Is it true that forensic professionals view death very lightly?" I asked her.
Guan Zengbin did not turn back, merely stating calmly, "Yes, like all other living beings in the world, we will die and leave behind corpses. My task is to bid farewell to these people, to determine the cause of their death so they can depart in peace."
"If it were me or Gu Chen's corpse you were facing, would you remain this calm?" I asked with a smile.
Guan Zengbin paused for a moment before replying, "I hope it won't come to that."
But then she suddenly changed her tone, "However, if it were you, after the autopsy, I would cut your brother open."
"Hey!" I quickly squeezed my legs together. "That's twisted."
Guan Zengbin had already begun the autopsy when suddenly she let out a scream. I jumped in surprise and hurriedly asked, "What happened?"
"Look!" Guan Zengbin pointed at the body she was examining.
I rushed over and leaned down to take a look. What I saw nearly made me vomit right onto the corpse's viscera. Inside the large intestine of the body was a completely white worm wriggling around. The worm was flat and curved, with only one end visible; most of its body remained hidden within the uncut intestine.
Just from what I could see, it appeared to be over a meter long. How could that not evoke feelings of fear and disgust?
"What is this worm doing inside him? And just how long is it?" I asked, forcing myself to suppress my nausea.
At that moment, Guan Zengbin had regained her composure and slowly replied, "If I estimate it's over four meters long, how does that make you feel?"
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