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墨書 Inktalez
Looking at the crimson Fire Hook, he said calmly, "Are you implying that we killed Russell Mei?"
I held the bottle of Carbonated Drink tightly and nodded earnestly. "I should trust my instincts. Someone has been here before. No matter how impossible it seems, once all impossibilities are eliminated, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, is the truth."
I pointed at Old Xia and said, "Old Xia is the butcher. I suspected you from the start. You used a dull knife to chop off Russell Mei's left leg and then tossed it onto the snow. After that, you notified Li Danan to call the police. Thus began the first body disposal."
Then I pointed at him. "You are the hunter because you acted simultaneously with Old Xia. When the victim died, you both happened to chop off the victim's left leg and right arm and let your dog bite off a piece. I haven't seen your German Shepherd in person, but I've seen photos."
As I recalled, I continued, "Your dog is entirely black, but there are some brown hairs around its neck. Such dogs rarely shed fur, but they do shed a little. We found a short brown hair on her leg; although we haven't confirmed it yet, I suspect it came from your dog."
He pondered for a moment and then said, "You guessed well."
I shook my head. "I only heard from Old Village Chief that you've had this dog for a long time. What a loyal dog it must be; I imagine you must have killed it with tears in your eyes."
Despite being such a talkative person, he fell silent upon hearing my words.
I continued, "But I was still wrong because I thought having two murderers was already too many. In reality, I overlooked a few more. Yes, if there could be two murderers, then having more people involved wouldn't be surprising at all."
"Hmm?" His words became increasingly sparse.
I cleared my throat. "One of you was guarding the West Village Entrance while the other was at the Second Market; neither had time to make dumplings or chop meat. Because of this, I relaxed my suspicions about you both and inadvertently allowed two murderers to join in on the plan to catch the culprit."
"And that's how you managed to lead us here," I said as I looked at both of them.
Waving my hand dismissively, I added, "But what I'm really curious about is who the third person involved in body disposal is. If I'm not mistaken, it's Uncle Li from East of the Village. He's blind, and I've never seen him myself. But I know he has excellent knife skills and plenty of time on his hands."
His brow furrowed deeply.
Seeing his expression made me realize I was close to the truth: "Because he's blind, it doesn't matter whether the meat on the cutting board is pork, beef, or human flesh. Sun Kangning told me that Uncle Li is quite skilled and can cook for himself."
I sighed softly and said gently, "In truth, none of you are perverts nor do you have any desire to torture your victims. Over all these years, perhaps you've never killed a cow, a dog, or even a chicken. Faced with a living person, it's likely that you find it very difficult to act."
I looked at the three of them, their expressions becoming quite interesting. They all wore long faces, each one silent. Li Danan had blood smeared at the corners of his mouth, with drops of blood dripping steadily onto the floor.
I glanced outside the window, where heavy snow was falling, while inside the room, there was a warm feeling.
Yet our conversation felt colder than the weather outside.
Killing someone has never been an easy task. In television dramas, we see murder as simply swinging a knife or pulling a trigger. But in real life, it is not that simple. It is a matter of taking a life, accompanied by terrifying wounds and a strong smell of blood; it is the rawness of death and extreme inner turmoil.
"Chopping someone up to make dumplings," I shook my head. "I don't think any of you could do it, or even if you could see it done, you wouldn't be able to handle it."
"I wonder if you've heard this story," I continued. "A gentleman towards a beast feels pity when seeing it alive but cannot bear to see it die; he hears its cries but cannot bear to eat its flesh. Since Uncle Li sees nothing, he is the most suitable person for this task. And when we mention Uncle Li, we naturally have to bring up his good friend, Sun Kangning's Father."
I stated firmly, "It was you five who conspired in secret against the villagers. Isn't that right?"
After that, I had nothing more to say.
The three fell into a brief silence, exchanging glances before one finally spoke up: "Wu Meng, you're just overthinking things. Your intentions are good, but what evidence do you have?"
I replied slowly, "I don't have any evidence, but you all abandoned Li Danan—what more evidence do you need? Did you Gu Chen and Captain Zhou run towards the National Highway? When I arrived, aside from the City Gate, there were no footprints around."
"Can they fly?" I scoffed. "I'm right here in your hands; what is there for you to deny?"
Silence again.
Suddenly, one of them kicked over the shelf in the back row with a loud crash that made me instinctively cover my ears.
His face flushed red as he exclaimed, "Wu Meng, we've cooperated with your act like this—why do you have to push us to the edge? You've gotten what you wanted; we've gotten what we wanted—why can't we just leave it at that? You go back to being your detective self while we live our ordinary lives in this village."
He seemed on the verge of tears: "I wanted to sell my shop two years ago but held on until now. What are we both after? I'm such a fool; I've already bought a house in Dongxing City—what are we really after?"
Er was suddenly crying loudly, sitting on the ground without a care for his image.
Old Xia shouted, "Damn."
The voice echoed like thunder throughout the city.
Then, Old Xia expressionlessly untied Li Danan. Li Danan sighed, wiped the blood from his face, and then sat blankly in a chair.
He returned to that shy and uneasy demeanor, which left me puzzled about who the real Li Danan was—the fierce and intimidating one from earlier or this awkward and timid version. Perhaps both were true, or perhaps neither. Sometimes, even a person struggles to understand who they are, let alone others.
A few of us sat quietly in the city.
Er sat on the ground, having stopped crying. Old Xia stood beside a shelf, not saying a word. Li Danan sat across from me, quietly.
But no one seemed inclined to come and finish me off; perhaps my earlier preparations were in vain.
I grabbed a bag of chips. This was easy to ignite and made for a good weapon; once a burning plastic bag stuck to someone, it would catch fire immediately. The preserved plums were slippery and could easily cause someone to fall. And the shaken carbonated drink had enough force to shoot toward the electrical panel, causing a short circuit and blackout in the entire room.
I sighed and said slowly, "The ground beneath that shelf is hollow; there should be a warehouse below. I think Uncle Li and Sun Kangning's father are down there guarding Captain Zhou and Gu Chen right now."
Upon hearing my words, Er tapped on the nearby shelf with a makeshift method.
Before long, four people walked in from outside—specifically, two dragging two others. One of them was likely Uncle Li, while the other was Sun Kangning's father. Gu Chen and Captain Zhou were both unconscious at that moment; it was unclear whether they had been drugged or knocked out with a blow.
Although Uncle Li was blind, he seemed very familiar with the surroundings, which did not hinder his movements at all. This indicated that their relationships ran deep.
Sun Kangning's father saw me and gave me a bitter smile.
Er wiped away his tears and said, "That's right; you guessed correctly. I brought goods back from the city. I found Russell Mei in the village. At that time, she seemed to have been abandoned here; she stood helplessly in the snow. I couldn't control myself and... assaulted her."
"Afterwards," Er spoke slowly, "Russell Mei was crying heavily. Even though it was snowing hard and there wasn't a soul on the road, I was still terrified, absolutely terrified. I felt a murderous intent, but I didn't know what to do. After thinking for a while, I threw her into the cargo hold of my truck."
Li Danan, with tears streaming down his face, added, "It was around one o'clock in the afternoon when I arrived at the East of the Village entrance, about half past one. I thought and thought, if I let Russell Mei go, my life would be over; it would be ruined forever. With that thought in mind, I called my best friend in the village."
Er looked around before continuing, "These four friends are the only ones I interact with in the village. We've been together for a full ten years. They also believed that if we let Russell Mei go, something bad would eventually happen."
"But none of us knew how to kill someone," Er said with a bitter smile. "You're right; none of us have even killed a chicken. How could we possibly know how to kill a person?"
Uncle Li shyly said, "At that moment, I remembered there was an article in my bathroom about how to commit murder. So, I went home and tore off that half of the newspaper. Each of us silently chose a method for killing and dismembering—five times in total for the limbs and head combined."
"That way," Uncle Li continued, "all five of us would be involved in the murder; no one could escape."
Er went on, "So, I ordered my dog to bite off her arm while Old Xia found a dull knife and started chopping off her legs."
"I," Uncle Li raised his hand, "cut off the flesh from her other leg to make dumplings and even intentionally chopped off one of her nipples to show you all."
Li Danan added, "I used a saw to cut off her other arm."
Sun Kangning's father glanced at me and said, "I didn't get a chance to..."
Er pointed to the ground. "Let's go; all the evidence you need is in the warehouse. This is where we dismembered her."
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