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墨書 Inktalez
I looked at the sharp fragment that had fallen at my feet, a surge of impulse coursing through me as I imagined that white shard piercing the Murderer's neck, bright red blood splattering out and staining my vision. My heart raced, pounding in my chest, and all I could see were two things: the weapon and the dead.
In that moment, I suddenly felt that everything in the world was meaningless, that everything existed only to march toward destruction. If it weren't for my slow reaction, if I had discovered the Murderer sooner, then the Nine People would not have died. Those Nine People were essentially killed by me.
Yes, I had already killed Nine People; I didn't care about killing this one more.
By some strange twist of fate, I had picked up the shard and was stepping toward the Murderer. He still had his back to me, gazing into the distance at a few flickering lights, waiting for Liu and his team to arrive. Closer now, I could see the delicate veins on the Murderer's neck.
Though I wasn't a professional forensic expert, after spending over a year with Guan Zengbin, I had a rough understanding of human anatomy. The shard in my hand was sharp; with just one thrust, it would pierce through the Murderer's skin and then into the superficial fascia. These two layers protect us from bacterial infection and shield us from external harm.
And these two layers would not withstand my forceful stab.
Next came the deep cervical fascia, which housed the Esophagus, Trachea, and Veins within its sheath formed by three layers: superficial, middle, and deep. The sharp blade would instantly sever the Murderer's Esophagus and Trachea; he wouldn't even have time to speak. He would only feel all the air rushing out from that wound.
At that moment, he would feel a warmth in his neck as venous blood first flowed out—a purplish-red—followed by a gushing of arterial blood—a bright red. He would bleed excessively within half a minute.
Finally, there was a layer of Muscle and Skeleton. With my strength, I could only penetrate half an inch into the Muscle; there was no way to sever his entire neck with this fragment. But that was enough; as long as it was quick, he wouldn't be able to utter a word upon being stabbed. Then he would collapse to the ground, convulsing uncontrollably. Within a minute, he would fall into unconsciousness.
Although I didn't know exactly where I was, based on my calculations before losing consciousness, this place was at least half an hour away from the hospital. And within five minutes, he would be dead for sure. No matter what secrets he held, they would remain trapped inside him.
As long as I completed this task before Liu arrived, Liu Yi would surely choose to believe me rather than this Murderer.
With determination in my heart, I thrust downwards.
"Wu Meng!" A beam of light shone directly into my eyes; the brightness blinded me momentarily. My hand instinctively recoiled, and the shard sliced through the air without feeling it pierce my skin. I released it. The fragment clattered to the ground with a metallic "ding."
The Murderer had no idea what had just happened but turned to look at me upon hearing the sound.
Before he could say anything further, Liu and his team rushed in front of us. Several police officers pinned the Murderer to the ground as he shouted, "I surrender! I'm not resisting."
Liu holstered his gun and shone a flashlight into my eyes. Under its harsh glare, I could see nothing and instinctively pushed Liu's flashlight away. Liu glanced at me before turning to look at the other officers behind him; I saw him staring at me as if contemplating something.
I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples but spoke first to Liu Dao: "How did you find this place?"
I wasn't sure if Liu had seen my earlier action; however, it was indeed after being blinded by the flashlight that I instinctively withdrew my hand. So it was possible one of the police officers noticed my movement; whether it was Liu or not remained uncertain.
I opened my eyes and looked at the seven or eight police officers in this underground space. Liu Zheng stood beside me, watching me. Three officers were pinning the Murderer to the ground, searching for weapons and other items on him. The remaining four officers were scouring the wider area for traces of others.
I had no idea which of the eight officers had shone a flashlight on me. They were all busy with their own tasks, and from their expressions, I could see no signs of anything unusual. It was as calm as a still surface of water, but I had no way of knowing how many undercurrents were swirling beneath that calm exterior.
After Liu checked my body and found no injuries, he took off his coat and draped it over me. "Team Leader Li put a Tracker in the bowl. We followed the Tracker to this vicinity. But when we got close, we lost the signal."
Liu glanced around and continued, "There are two possibilities: either the Murderer destroyed the Tracker, or he is in a place that can block signals. If it's the first case, the Murderer would have to break the bowl to get it out, and since he asked us to fix it, he wouldn't destroy it himself."
He then addressed the other officers, "You guys take the Murderer outside and guard this entrance. The Murderer likely has accomplices; I'll send reinforcements shortly."
A few officers nodded and took the Murderer outside.
I looked at Liu. Even now, he believed there must be multiple individuals involved with the Murderer, but the truth was that there was only one person. The others who had seen the Murderer were merely witnessing different personalities using the same body. Their varying genders and ages naturally led to different appearances and behaviors.
However, these matters would likely become clear when the Murderer spoke for himself, and I wasn't in the mood to explain anything to Liu right now.
As Liu led me outside, he said, "So the Murderer must have hidden the bowl in a place that blocks signals. Based on your walking time along the way, we've dispatched officers from nearby police stations to investigate; the Murderer can't have gone far."
If I were in Liu's position, I probably couldn't have arrived here any faster than he did.
I replied, "Because what we found in the sewer indicated that the Murderer is accustomed to darkness and underground spaces, he would likely take me to another underground location."
Liu nodded. "Exactly. We finally captured the Murderer. At Wu Xiufang and Wu Xiufen's husband's house, I found a lot of evidence regarding those events from years ago; it's all in the car now for you to see later. By the way, your clothes and phone are also in the car; you've worked hard."
I asked, "Have you contacted Gu Chen and others? Did they find Guan Zengbin?"
Liu frowned at me and replied, "That question should be for you to answer; didn't you say Guan Zengbin was safe?"
Upon hearing this, I froze in place. Liu's serious expression suggested he wasn't joking with me. Moreover, he certainly wouldn't joke about something like this in this situation. However, I had never told anyone that Guan Zengbin was safe; how did they get that information from me?
Seeing my confused expression, Liu quickly pulled out his phone and opened up his messages for me. I saw a message from a contact named "Wu" that read: Guan Zengbin is safe; come rescue me immediately following the Tracker.
I took Liu's phone and carefully read every word of that message. I had no recollection of ever sending such a text to Liu, but the contact number was indeed mine. Could it be that someone took my belongings from the yard after I left?
The more I thought about it, the more I felt there was a possibility. From the moment I rode my bike until Murderer stopped me on the bridge, it had been less than ten minutes, and that distance could easily be covered on foot. So, could it be that Murderer deliberately gave me a reason to let my guard down and take off my clothes?
After all, having a tracker on me is no different from having one on a bowl. And Murderer, even knowing there was a Tracker on the bowl, didn’t seem angry or panicked, which clearly indicated that Murderer wasn’t too worried about this issue.
With this thought in mind, I immediately asked, “How were my clothes and phone placed at that time? Do you remember?”
Liu pinched his chin, pondering for a moment before replying, “Your clothes were placed to the side of the yard. The pants were at the bottom, then the thermal underwear, followed by your underwear, and then your shirt and jacket stacked neatly. Your phone was in the pocket of your jacket.”
“That sounds about right. Was there any problem?” Liu looked at me.
I stood there in shock for a while before saying, “You know my personality; I wouldn’t stack my clothes so neatly. And do you really think that in that situation, I would have had the leisure to neatly fold my clothes and put my phone away before heading out?”
I watched as Liu’s eyes widened in realization. He slapped his forehead and exclaimed, “I really didn’t think of that at the time! If it weren’t for you Guan Zengbin being safe, I wouldn’t have rushed in while Guan Zengbin was still in their hands!”
“But if it wasn’t you, then who sent me the text?” Liu looked at me, waiting for my answer.
At that moment, my mind was a jumbled mess; I couldn’t understand what was going on. Suddenly, I recalled the scene of Wu Zui that I had seen while unconscious, and even now I couldn’t figure out whether it was just a hallucination or if Wu Zui had truly appeared beside me.
The underground had no signal; anything that needed to be communicated could only be done once we reached the surface.
“Let’s hurry outside,” I said to Liu Dao. “There might be other forces behind this case pulling strings. I believe this matter is definitely not as simple as it seems.”
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