Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Gu Chen stood still, lifting Wu Xiufen behind him as he looked at me.
I explained, "There is a village near Dongxing City called Wanghu Village. In Wanghu Village, people who die a natural death are honored with yellow paper, while those who die unjustly are honored with black paper. However, I think you all noticed a detail: when Wu Xiufen left her home, she burned yellow paper all the way, and only later did she burn black paper."
Wu Xiufen's body continued to fall, and Guan Zengbin supported her as he said to me, "I did notice that too, but perhaps Wu Xiufen was trying to avoid drawing attention. She burned yellow paper on the way to avoid being seen by villagers, and once she reached the mountain and knew no one was around, she burned black paper."
I looked at Wu Xiufen behind Gu Chen and slowly spoke, "That is indeed a possibility. But have you considered another possibility? Perhaps she is mourning two people—one who died naturally and another who died unnaturally."
"You mean two people are dead?" Gu Chen asked. "But if two people died, who is the other one?"
I sighed, looking at Wu Xiufen behind Gu Chen. "I don't know. However, this matter might be related to the case we are investigating. Of course, we will need to put in a lot of effort to investigate this. Unless Wu Xiufen suddenly speaks up and reveals the truth."
My poor joke failed to elicit laughter from either of them and instead created an awkward atmosphere.
Guan Zengbin said irritably, "Don't you think that joke is too cold for this atmosphere? If Wu Xiufen were to speak, I wouldn't be surprised if you scared yourself silly."
"I'm not afraid of the living; I'm afraid of the dead..."
Just as I was about to continue Guan Zengbin's thought, we suddenly heard a woman's cough. The cough was faint and made me feel as though someone was watching us from the dark forest. Gu Chen clearly heard it too; after exchanging glances with me, we both turned our attention to Guan Zengbin.
"What do you mean? It wasn't me," Guan Zengbin said, standing still.
We all heard that cough, and it was unmistakably a woman's voice. Yet here we were on this dark mountain with only the three of us—no, accurately speaking, only the four of us present. If that cough did not come from Guan Zengbin...
At that moment, Wu Xiufen's head rested on Gu Chen's shoulder; he could easily turn his head for an intimate encounter with her corpse. We all stopped in our tracks, trying to listen carefully to determine where that cough had come from and whether it had originated from Wu Xiufen behind Gu Chen.
Could it be that Wu Xiufen had truly come back to life?
Silently, we could almost feel each other's breaths.
One cough followed by another gradually transformed into sharp laughter.
The laughter, reminiscent of someone being tickled, gradually transformed into the sound of a spatula scraping against the bottom of a pot. The noise rose in pitch, each sound sharper than the last. Clearly, this sound did not come from Wu Xiufen.
I immediately raised my flashlight, scanning the surroundings to locate the source of the sound.
I had heard this laughter before; it was the signature laugh of the Murderer who had slipped through my fingers multiple times. The sound sent chills down my spine, but as I shone the flashlight around, I saw no one.
“Murderer!” I shouted.
Upon hearing this, Gu Chen quickly untied the rope that bound Wu Xiufen's corpse to his chest and laid her body flat on the ground.
The laughter was at times piercing and at others faint, drifting in a way that made it hard to pinpoint its exact location.
“This way!” While I was still searching with my flashlight, I heard Gu Chen's shout. Following his voice, he dashed off in a direction. Guan Zengbin and I immediately followed him. As we ran, I could still hear that sharp laughter echoing behind us.
However, the laughter grew fainter as we moved further away.
I didn’t understand why the Murderer was here or what connection he had with Wu Xiufen. All I knew was that if I could catch the Murderer, everything would be resolved. But the Murderer was always someone who could move swiftly at night, unaffected by light.
And I was nowhere near capable of that.
In just a few minutes, amidst the flickering light of my flashlight, I lost sight of Guan Zengbin and Gu Chen. Leaning against a tree, I gasped for breath, feeling as if my lungs were about to cough up blood. Shining my flashlight around me revealed tall trees with fresh sprouts emerging from their branches.
Under the beam of light, the towering branches appeared like monstrous claws ready to pounce.
I rubbed my eyes and thought that since I had already lost track of several people, it would be better to return to Wu Xiufen's side and wait. But just as I took about ten steps, a hand suddenly reached out from the darkness and pulled me back. Startled at first, I soon relaxed because the hand felt rough.
“Gu Chen?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”
Gu Chen replied, “I followed the Murderer all the way to near that tombstone, but in an instant, he vanished into the darkness. I searched around for a while but couldn’t find anyone, so I waited for you guys. Where’s Guan Zengbin? Isn’t he with you?”
I furrowed my brow and looked at Gu Chen. "You know my physical condition; I'm always the last to run. But the problem is, isn't Guan Zengbin with you?"
"No, isn't she with you?" Gu Chen replied.
Upon hearing Gu Chen's words, a sense of foreboding suddenly arose within me.
"Call her!" I said.
I quickly dialed Guan Zengbin's number, but when the voice on the line said, "The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable," my heart sank.
"Can't get through?" Gu Chen looked at me, his tone urgent.
"Yes," I replied. "It's temporarily unavailable. Someone must have hung up. If it were Guan Zengbin, she would never hang up on me. I haven't called long enough for the system to think the user won't answer. So there can only be one explanation."
Gu Chen's voice was soft, as if he lacked confidence in his own words. "You mean the call was disconnected by the Murderer?"
I nodded, feeling a tremor run through me. "That means the Murderer likely has control over Guan Zengbin. And the Murderer has always been ruthless. If we don't find Guan Zengbin quickly, she could be in danger..."
"Damn it." Gu Chen punched a tree, causing it to shake violently.
"Where did you lose track of the Murderer?" I asked him.
Gu Chen shone his flashlight into the distance and said, "Near the gravestones. The figure was like a ghost in the darkness. The trees on this mountain are dense; if you don't stick to the path, the branches and stones can catch you off guard and injure you. But the Murderer seemed completely unaffected."
"Is there really someone who can adapt to this dark environment?" I asked. "Humans aren't nocturnal creatures."
Gu Chen replied slowly, "I don't know, but this Murderer definitely seems unaffected. There might be people like that."
At that moment, I finally understood: some people are truly born for darkness. Humans may not be nocturnal animals, but they can transform themselves into creatures of the night.
As I spoke with Gu Chen, my fingers continued to dial Guan Zengbin's number without pause. At first, the calls were simply disconnected, but now it had escalated to the point where his phone was turned off.
"Guan Zengbin may have really been taken by the Murderer," I said.
"What do we do now?" Gu Chen replied. "When you called, we didn't hear any ringing, which clearly means Guan Zengbin is far away from us. The Murderer is likely no longer in this area. This mountain is so vast, just the two of us won't be able to find him."
I felt a surge of anxiety, but reason told me that this was not the time to panic. The more critical the moment, the calmer one must be. If anxiety could solve problems, then those with anxiety disorders would be the best problem solvers in the world. I took several deep breaths, trying to calm my wildly racing heart.
"You're right; the night is the Murderer's best tool for committing crimes. In this environment, we won't be able to catch him. We need to go back and bring more people! Call everyone from the City Bureau; we need to turn this mountain upside down if necessary to find Guan Zengbin!"
I tried to suppress my anger and slowly said to Gu Chen, "We need to carry Wu Xiufen's body down. The villagers are afraid to come up here because they believe it's haunted. It seems that perhaps the Murderer is that ghost. The connection between Wu Xiufen and the Murderer must be significant; investigate it thoroughly."
Gu Chen nodded in agreement.
I continued, "Up until now, Mary hasn't sent me the fourth story, which means the Murderer hasn't had time to act online yet. It's around ten o'clock at night now, and it takes about four hours to drive to Dongxing City, meaning he wouldn't be able to return in time to commit another crime."
After a while, Gu Chen and I finally reached the spot where we had placed Wu Xiufen's body earlier. But now, looking around, there was nothing on the ground—completely empty.
"We left the body here before," Gu Chen said. "How can a dead person just vanish like that? Was it taken away by wild animals?"
I gazed at the barren ground and slowly replied, "What wild animals are left in this mountain? It's the Murderer..."
Comment 0 Comment Count