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墨書 Inktalez
The Yumu River is neither long nor wide, but it can easily drown a person. However, it is winter now, and the surface of the river is frozen. If someone could drown in this, they would truly be unfortunate. Given this situation, it is highly likely that this is not the original crime scene.
When we arrived here, the area was packed with people, making it feel less like a crime scene and more like a tourist attraction. They buzzed with discussions, but we couldn't make out what they were saying. Everyone seemed to be taking photos with their phones, as if something significant had been unearthed.
Upon seeing the police cars, a swarm of reporters rushed over.
"Isn't this body the young man from the murder video?" one asked.
"What is your department's take on this? What is Zhang Bin doing right now?" another pressed.
"Is it true that Zhang Bin lured that person into drug use and raped his own sister?"
Gu Chen spread his arms to block them from getting closer, but the reporters continued to push forward relentlessly. They felt as if they were clinging to us, much like sparrows chirping on a wire outside. We moved forward and finally crossed the police line.
On the ice surface, four or five officers were discussing how to retrieve the body.
The ice on the river was quite solid; we didn’t feel any tremors as we walked on it. Although the ice grew thinner toward the center of the river, it was still stable enough to walk on. Unless someone forcefully smashed through the ice, which was exactly what had happened—a circular hole had appeared in the ice.
This hole was perfectly round and could not have formed naturally; it was man-made. In northern regions, winter swimmers often cut circular holes in the ice to dive in for a swim. Such holes are typically spaced about ten meters apart so that swimmers can surface for air.
Winter swimmers know that the water beneath is much warmer than the air above.
We could imagine that when Du Ziguo confronted Zhang Bin, Du Ziguo stood no chance against him. In their struggle, both fought fiercely. To save himself from being killed by Du Ziguo, Zhang Bin had no choice but to kill him instead. Thus, Du Ziguo died at Zhang Bin's hands.
Fearing discovery, Zhang Bin disposed of the body in the ice hole. He thought no one would find it—but someone did.
"Where's the body?" I asked, as I noticed there was no body in sight.
A police officer pointed at my feet and said, "The body is right beneath you..."
I felt a chill run down my spine at his words and quickly took a step back. Looking down, I wished I hadn't; the sight nearly made me shudder.
A large white face appeared beneath the Ice Surface I had just stepped on. The face was enormous and pale, its features distorted by the water. The eyelids were slightly open, revealing the dark pupils within. His head was elongated, gently swaying with the current. Clear marks of strangulation were visible on his neck, though they weren't very deep.
He wore no clothes, floating naked in the water. From his swollen belly and limbs, it seemed he had been submerged for quite some time. If not for his stomach pressing tightly against the other side of the Ice Surface, this body might have drifted downstream.
If that had happened, we might not have discovered the body for a long time, and it wouldn't have been impossible for it to float out of Yumu City.
However, this body was currently in an awkward position, caught between two ice holes, at a distance from either one. The police were brainstorming ways to retrieve it. But this was no easy task; unless they were willing to break through the Ice Surface.
To break through the Ice Surface, they needed to consider how large of a hole to make so that we wouldn't fall in while trying to pull the body up.
Gu Chen was impatient. "No need to drag this out. I'll go down and get him."
We all turned to Gu Chen, who was already preparing for his descent into the water.
"I'll get him up; it won't take long, and it's not that cold right now," Gu Chen said.
The others handed him a Towel Blanket while Gu Chen stripped down to just his shorts. A chorus of female screams erupted around us; Gu Chen's muscular physique was quite striking to them. Amidst their shouts and cheers, Gu Chen jumped into the icy hole.
Before long, a hand emerged on the other side of the Ice Surface. Gu Chen was holding Du Ziguo's neck as he slowly swam back. He pushed Du Ziguo's neck upward, causing Du Ziguo's head to surface from one of the ice holes. We quickly grabbed Du Ziguo's shoulders and pulled with all our might.
However, the body's belly got stuck at the edge of the hole.
The corpse's belly was swollen, and just by looking at its appearance, it was clear that it had been submerged in water for a long time. During this time, gases had accumulated inside the body, and if it were to be squeezed even slightly, the gases would burst forth, enough to fill a jug.
I was about to tell everyone to slow down so we wouldn't end up with an explosion of the corpse.
But at that moment, an old policeman from the police station shouted, "Come on, put some effort into it, comrades!"
As everyone exerted themselves, a loud "puff" echoed as a strong stench erupted from the corpse's belly, instantly clouding the water and making it hard to see. Finally, the body was pulled out and collapsed onto the ice surface.
One officer exclaimed, "Wow, incredible! This dead person can still fart!"
I found myself both amused and exasperated by the old policeman's comment. However, after waiting for a while, I noticed that Gu Chen had not surfaced. A wave of fear and anxiety washed over me. I called out for Gu Chen several times but received no response. The water below was still disturbed by the foul gases, making it impossible to see where Gu Chen was.
I pressed my eyes against the ice surface and could see the gases swirling beneath; clearly, someone was down there. If those gases were inhaled, dizziness would be inevitable. It was possible that Gu Chen had been caught off guard by the foul air and hadn’t managed to hold his breath…
Thinking of this, I didn’t waste any more time and quickly stripped off my clothes.
With a splash, I felt my entire body go cold. It felt as if I were swimming naked in a refrigerator; my arms and legs felt stiff. Squinting my eyes, I could already feel some pain. Meanwhile, Gu Chen was slowly sinking to the riverbed, so I hurriedly swam down after him.
I grabbed Gu Chen's arm with one hand and kicked hard against the water to swim upwards.
Unlike Gu Chen, I felt like my lungs were about to explode; my limbs were already numb from the cold. My head spun as I swam toward the light above. Finally, I managed to grasp the ice surface with one hand. Someone pulled me up with one hand while my other hand clung tightly to Gu Chen.
When I reached the ice surface, I felt as if my entire body had fallen apart.
A towel blanket was laid over me just as Gu Chen was also pulled up from the water.
Gu Chen lay on the Ice Surface with his eyes closed, completely exposed.
Seeing Gu Chen like this made me anxious, and at that moment, only Guan Zengbin could be considered a doctor.
Guan Zengbin quickly laid Gu Chen flat on the Ice Surface and began performing CPR, but there were no signs of Gu Chen waking up. He placed his mouth over Gu Chen's and slowly blew air into him. This continued repeatedly, yet Gu Chen remained unresponsive.
I silently prayed that Gu Chen would be okay.
A few short minutes felt like a century, but finally, I heard Gu Chen cough.
Guan Zengbin hurriedly turned Gu Chen's head to the side. Gu Chen coughed several times, expelling some water and vomit.
I quickly draped a Towel Blanket over Gu Chen and hastily put my clothes back on.
I said deliberately, "Did you get your eyes pecked out while hunting eagles for years?"
Gu Chen, wrapped in the Towel Blanket, replied, "I was just about to push the body up when that bastard splashed me in the face. I wasn't prepared at all and choked on a few mouthfuls of water, then lost consciousness."
The people around us stifled their laughter; what a relief it was to have a false alarm. I truly couldn't imagine how I would feel if Gu Chen had left us for good.
Gu Chen wiped the water off his body and said, "When I was underwater just now, I noticed there were many grooves on the Ice Surface."
"What grooves?" I asked.
Gu Chen explained, "They looked like scratches made by fingernails. The body didn't sink because it got caught in those grooves."
"What's this groove?"
I furrowed my brow. I had previously thought that the corpse's belly was just too large, pressed against the Ice Surface, but I didn't expect there to be something underneath. If it weren't for Gu Chen going down to retrieve the body, we probably wouldn't have noticed this detail. This makes the disposal of the body quite intriguing; who would want us to see the corpse?
I frowned and asked, "Who discovered the body first?"
The police officer pointed to an elderly man standing in the distance. "It was this old man; he's from the Winter Swimming Team. He saw a face under the Ice Surface and was startled, so he called the police."
I nodded and said, "Bring him over; I have some questions to ask."
Guan Zengbin said, "There are too many people here; let's go back and perform the autopsy on the body."
The old man approached. He looked to be at least sixty years old, but he was quite robust and spirited, in better shape than many younger folks.
I asked, "Were you the one who discovered the body first?"
The old man nodded.
I continued, "How did you find it?"
He replied, "I'm from the Winter Swimming Team. Just a little while ago, we had just cut a swimming hole here. Before swimming, we must consider safety issues, so I came over first and that's when I discovered the body..."
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