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墨書 Inktalez
I patted Gu Chen on the shoulder, and he tucked the half of the newspaper into the pocket of his down jacket, signaling me to relax. Only then did we stop and wait for the others behind us. Seeing that Li Danan hadn’t chased after us, I felt relieved. His actions in the restroom earlier had been quite suspicious.
A few people gathered around, and Guan Zengbin asked, "Why are you all in such a hurry?"
I cleared my throat and looked at the group that had come over. "We’re heading to the fields over there; it’s too open here and easy for someone to spot us."
We walked to the edge of the village, and I continued, "I think it’s unnecessary to involve someone who doesn’t know anything about this. So, it’s better if only we know about this matter. The Old Village Chief probably mentioned something when he called you here; now I’m officially telling you that we’re here to catch the murderer."
"Catching a murderer?" Er couldn’t help but chatter on, "That sounds great! But I need to make it clear that it can’t be like those previous missions. Last time, I was told to keep an eye out for strangers, but there wasn’t a single person around. My eyes were just left staring into nothingness. I swear, I didn’t sleep a wink that night, always worried that someone would come by unnoticed. I got up several times..."
I quickly raised my hand to stop him from rambling. "According to my observations, when the murderer disposes of a body, they often choose a time when heavy snow is falling. Recently, the snow has been coming down at night, and darkness provides the murderer with ample cover."
At this point, the Old Village Chief chimed in, "So after discussing with a few officers, we thought it would be best to set a trap. If the murderer tries to dispose of a body at night, we’ll catch him red-handed. However, looking at the weather tonight, it seems like it won’t snow; we’ll plan something fun for tomorrow night."
Both of them nodded in agreement.
Gu Chen glanced toward the village and said, "There’s only one road in this village. Wu Meng, Captain Zhou, Old Xia, Er, and I will hide on the rooftops of nearby houses at intervals and keep an eye on what’s happening below. In the dead of night, if anyone is wandering around in the village, it must be the murderer."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Guan Zengbin then said, "Hey, why can’t I go? I want to see too."
I lightly tapped Guan Zengbin on the head and replied, "What business do you have getting involved in this? By the way, if anyone really can’t hold out anymore during the night, they can take a nap. It takes time for heavy snow to cover someone’s footprints; after three o'clock in the morning, the murderer will likely not appear since many people in the village get up by five."
The Old Village Chief added, "If it snows, we’ll stay alert; if not, we’ll just stay home. Oh right, bring out any extra blankets from home to spread on the rooftops; it won’t be too cold even if it snows."
Once everything was arranged, Er and the others temporarily stayed at Old Xia's house.
After dark, hunger became unbearable. The Old Village Chief's wife prepared a large feast for us. She patted her chest and assured us that everything was made by her own hands and grown from her own garden. We devoured our food without even thinking about the Human Dumplings anymore.
Gu Chen shook his head and chewed slowly. "You know how it is—when you're really hungry, you don’t care what you eat or what you can’t eat. When you reach your limit of hunger, you'd even eat Human Dumplings if you had to. Just look at me at noon; did I seem hesitant? After throwing up, I picked up my chopsticks and ate anyway."
As Gu Chen became increasingly nauseating, we found ourselves strangely unaffected this time.
Watching as the table full of dishes was devoured by everyone like a whirlwind, we exchanged greetings with Old Village Chief and his elderly wife before heading back to our "home" to sleep.
Walking along the country road, we couldn't help but burp repeatedly.
At that moment, the sound of a text message notification suddenly rang out. It wasn't from any of us three; it was from Captain Zhou. We immediately stopped in our tracks and turned to look at him. Captain Zhou's phone was practically a decoration; it was sad that even scam messages didn't bother him.
But now, someone had actually sent Captain Zhou a message. He pulled out his phone and took a glance. Under the dim glow of the streetlight, we could clearly see a look of terror on Captain Zhou's face, which quickly morphed into sadness and confusion. We leaned in to see, and to our surprise, the sender was Russell Mei.
Russell Mei, the "Mei" that Gu Chen had mentioned, was Captain Zhou's girlfriend. They hadn't been in contact for over a week; why was she suddenly messaging him now? We couldn't tell if she wanted to reconcile or if she intended to sever ties completely.
Even if we were clueless, we knew better than to invade someone else's privacy, so we slowly walked ahead, deliberately creating some distance from Captain Zhou.
After walking about ten meters, Captain Zhou suddenly called out to us: “Wu Meng, Gu Chen, wait! This message… there’s something wrong with this message!”
We turned back to see Captain Zhou frowning deeply, his features seemingly twisted in distress. It looked like something serious had happened.
We hurried back to him as he handed me his phone. I took it and read the content of the message. After passing it around among us, each of our faces reflected shock and unease. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that despite the cold night air, beads of sweat were forming on Captain Zhou's forehead.
How anxious could one be to sweat in sub-zero temperatures?
The message read:
“Captain Zhou, have you not seen Mei for a long time? I’m a bit confused; you’ve been together for over two years now. Have you never made love? Did you not know that there’s a black mole on the thumb of Russell Mei’s left foot?”
Guan Zengbin suddenly muttered, “When I examined that leg during the autopsy, no one looked more closely than I did. There is indeed a black mole on that foot's thumb.”
Gu Chen replied, “But that doesn’t mean the deceased is Russell Mei. Captain Zhou, does she have a black mole on her thumb?”
Standing there, Captain Zhou appeared flustered; this forty-year-old man had lost his composure in front of us, looking like a child unsure of what to do. He stuttered as he spoke: “I… I didn’t examine that leg closely before, but… but Russell Mei does indeed have a black mole on her foot.”
"If only we could connect the dots," Captain Zhou suddenly collapsed onto the snow, saying, "Then this person would be Russell Mei, my girlfriend. But this doesn't make sense; it can't be true."
Gu Chen and Guan Zengbin hurried to help the fallen Captain Zhou.
Looking at Captain Zhou sitting on the ground, I felt an unusual sensation rising within me.
I spoke up, "Captain Zhou, is this number Russell Mei's phone number?"
Captain Zhou nodded and said, "Yes, that's her phone number."
As I looked at Captain Zhou's phone, I sent a text to Mary from my own phone. I forwarded Russell Mei's phone number to her, asking Mary to check Russell Mei's identity and find out where she was. Just as I was about to put my phone away, I thought for a moment and added another message.
It turned out that the deceased was indeed Russell Mei, Captain Zhou's girlfriend. However, Captain Zhou hadn't heard from her in a week. Could it be that during this time, Russell Mei had been held captive? Based on the time of death, Russell Mei had died around noon three days ago, yet it was only now that we confirmed her identity.
This was truly hard to accept; the victim we had been desperately trying to identify turned out to be Captain Zhou's girlfriend, Russell Mei. It might be understandable that Captain Zhou couldn't recognize her arm and leg based solely on those remains. But he had previously managed to view this case objectively; now, if it were me in his position, I would likely be falling apart.
So did the murderer have a grudge against Captain Zhou? Was the motive behind this case one of revenge?
It was very possible.
In Yumu City, whenever there was a homicide case, Captain Zhou would definitely be involved in the investigation. What could be more heartbreaking than discovering halfway through an investigation that the victim was his own girlfriend?
Moreover, the murderer had no way of knowing whether we had finished off that plate of dumplings.
If we had indeed devoured them without realizing it, then Captain Zhou's girlfriend, Russell Mei, would already be inside us.
Thinking of this made me feel nauseous again, and I vomited on the ground.
Soon after, Guan Zengbin and Captain Zhou also began to retch.
I figured they understood the kidnapper's intentions as well.
Only Gu Chen stood there, not understanding why we suddenly started to vomit. Sometimes, having a slower thought process can indeed shield one from unnecessary harm.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Captain Zhou vomiting uncontrollably while tears streamed down his face.
Tonight would surely be a sleepless night for Captain Zhou.
I quietly pondered what grudge the Murderer held against Captain Zhou that compelled such cruelty.
In ancient times, there were three great grievances: the grievance of a fallen nation, the grievance of a murdered father, and the grievance of a stolen wife. The Murderer chose not to kill Captain Zhou outright but instead opted for a more brutal method. Just how deep was this hatred? Had Captain Zhou killed someone’s father or stolen someone’s wife?
I thought that only Captain Zhou knew the answer to this.
Gu Chen said, "It's too cold outside. Whatever it is, let’s deal with it later. Damn it, if I catch the Murderer, I’ll make sure he pays dearly."
With that, the two helped Captain Zhou move forward.
I glanced over and saw that Captain Zhou's tears had even begun to freeze on his face, a clear sign of his utter despair.
I followed behind them, repeatedly tugging at my own hair. The more we investigated this case, the more complicated it became; the more we looked into it, the more people got involved.
What hidden conspiracy lay behind all this? What untold stories were waiting to be uncovered?
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