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墨書 Inktalez
Hearing Zhao Mingkun's speculation, I bent down to examine a corpse closely. In the face of sudden circumstances, no matter how professionally trained a person is, the fleeting micro-expressions that arise in that moment cannot be trained. For instance, when someone feels fear, their first reaction is to widen their eyes, their pupils constrict, their mouth opens, and their facial expression becomes rigid.
This is the expression of a person experiencing fear in an instant. However, after this momentary expression, individuals react differently to fear due to their unique physiological responses. Most people would instinctively run away to avoid danger. Some, however, become paralyzed with fear, their limbs stiffening and their minds going blank. A few bold individuals might even take action to fight back.
Regardless of how this person reacted, at the moment fear arises, the brain triggers the adrenal glands to release a surge of adrenaline. This causes blood circulation to increase, supplying the body with a significant amount of blood and causing the muscles to contract, preparing for immediate response.
The deceased clearly belonged to the latter group.
With his arms wrapped around himself, this posture in psychology indicates fear and a desire for self-protection, even a refusal to accept the sudden situation. Looking at his face, the muscle contractions caused by adrenaline left his expression forever frozen at the moment of death.
Guan Zengbin had told me many times that this phenomenon is known as cadaveric spasm.
I spoke up: "In a psychology book I read before, it mentioned that during moments of extreme tension, when subjected to strong external stimuli—ideally something shocking—blood can surge through the body like a flood breaking through a dam, tearing apart myocardial fibers and causing the heart to start bleeding."
I glanced at Zhao Mingkun and continued, "This can lead to sudden cardiac arrest and death."
"So," Zhao Mingkun said, "this can indeed happen in medical terms?"
I nodded and replied, "Research shows that when a person is continuously subjected to intimidation, adrenaline accumulates in the body. Once it reaches a certain level, it can damage heart cells, leading to conditions like roseola and ultimately resulting in death due to qualitative changes from quantitative accumulation."
"Slowly scared to death?" Zhao Mingkun squatted beside the corpse and began searching through its clothes.
I nodded slowly and said, "That can certainly be one way to understand it."
Zhao Mingkun pulled out a wallet and checked the ID inside. "We can confirm this is Hu Pei. However, someone has gotten ahead of us. Clearly, someone does not want us to find your girlfriend's whereabouts."
I frowned as I watched Zhao Mingkun continue rummaging through Hu Pei's clothes. "That's right. From the moment Guan Zengbin was captured, the murderer must have already started plotting this. So doesn't that mean anyone who knows about this will be silenced?"
Zhao Mingkun nodded, but then shook her head and said, "But if you think it was those people, why would they kill Hu Pei in this way? Wu Zui must be up to some grand conspiracy right now; I doubt he has the mood to personally kill someone."
After a moment of silence, I spoke again, "But isn't Wu Zui exactly that kind of person? He enjoys watching others suffer, loves to manipulate people, and doesn't like to kill in conventional ways. He revels in the process of killing, doesn't he?"
Zhao Mingkun nodded and pulled out a phone. She scrolled through it and said, "Look here."
I leaned down to see the phone. It was a 5.5-inch device, and the screen protector displayed an image of a temple. The temple was surrounded by a golden glow, resembling the radiance of Buddha. In the center of the temple stood a large golden Buddha, with a kind expression that brought a sense of peace.
"You," Zhao Mingkun said, "why would someone use such a large Buddha as their screen protector?"
I looked at the Buddha and replied, "Either they are not a Buddhist or they are afraid of something."
Zhao Mingkun snapped her fingers and said, "Exactly. Now look back at the doorframe and see what you find."
I turned my head and noticed a yellow talisman on the doorframe. Written in vermilion ink were characters that exuded an air of authority. This was indeed a talisman used in Taoism, likely placed there for protection.
Zhao Mingkun then pulled out a cross from her pocket and said, "Made of silver."
I shrugged and replied, "Interesting. If someone collects so many religious artifacts meant to ward off evil spirits, just think about how fearful they must be inside. So why are they so afraid of ghosts?"
"Those who do not do anything wrong have nothing to fear from ghosts knocking at their door," Zhao Mingkun said. "Sometimes these people are quite amusing. They believe in religion not because they want to do something for their deity but because they want to know what the Creator can do for them. When things go wrong, they pray; when things go well, they cast aside their beliefs."
I shrugged again. "If he's this scared, he must have encountered something bizarre recently; otherwise, he wouldn't be scared to death like this."
Zhao Mingkun mimicked my shrug and said, "Come over here; I want to show you something fun."
I followed Zhao Mingkun into the kitchen, where she found some flour and evenly sprinkled it over the phone screen. Then, she blew on it with force, causing the flour to scatter immediately, but some remained stuck to the phone, leaving irregular circular marks.
Zhao Mingkun unlocked the screen and said, "See these four spots? They are where he frequently touches. It's clear that this person is a phone addict; even when there's nothing going on, he habitually unlocks it. So there are four digits. Do you know how many combinations that makes?"
I shook my head.
"What were you doing in high school?" Zhao Mingkun asked.
"Dating?" I replied with a smile.
"The combinations of four digits is four factorial, which equals twenty-four. I just checked his ID; if it were six digits, his birthday might match, but since his phone unlock code is four digits, it can't be his birthday."
I frowned and said, "I don't know if this type of phone has a lockout limit, but generally, you can only get it wrong twice. Otherwise, we would have to wait a long time before we could try again. Should we take the phone with us?"
Zhao Mingkun shook her head. "We can't keep the phone close; it's the easiest way to expose ourselves. In Xingdong Village, we've already attracted the police's attention; they will definitely intensify their investigation against us."
With that, Zhao Mingkun grabbed the phone and said, "Let's assume this person isn't left-handed and usually holds the phone with his right hand. According to comfortable habits, the first digit should be on the left side. Look, there's only one digit on the left."
She pressed the number seven first.
"There are still six combinations left; that's significantly fewer," Zhao Mingkun noted. She tried once but failed both times, and at that moment, the phone indicated we had only one chance left.
Zhao Mingkun looked at me and said, "It's our last chance. Should we give it a try?"
"Go ahead," I replied.
Zhao Mingkun nodded, giving it one last try.
Moments later, the screen lit up.
But when we saw the photo, we were both taken aback. It was a corpse, a body lying in the distance. From the background of the image, it appeared to be a construction site. The body was far away, and all we could see was that it was dismembered; its limbs seemed to be in pieces, and we couldn't make out its head.
Zhao Mingkun and I stared intently at the image, but just then, a woman's head suddenly appeared up close on the screen, accompanied by a piercing scream.
Both Zhao Mingkun and I jumped in shock. I saw her hand tremble slightly, nearly dropping her phone on the ground. My heart raced, and I felt a tingling sensation on my scalp; my entire body went numb. Just imagine, when you are focused on something and suddenly a terrifying image and sound appear, it felt as if my heart had stopped beating.
"I think I understand how he died now," Zhao Mingkun said. "Looking at that image still gives me chills."
I took a few deep breaths and looked at the image again. From what I could see, the woman had blood all over her face, and her eyes had been gouged out. The two hollow eye sockets looked incredibly deep, leaving an unforgettable impression. It was clear that this was a real head, not some composite image created to scare people.
"No, he wasn't scared to death by the photo on the phone," I said.
"Not?" Zhao Mingkun asked in confusion.
I nodded and looked at the image again. "At that time, his phone was in his pocket. You took his phone out of his pocket. If he had been scared to death by that image, how could he have put the phone back in his pocket? So he wasn't scared to death by this photo. There must have been something else that frightened him."
I continued, "In other words, the murderer set up many frightening things, and even if he wasn't scared to death by one of them, he could still be terrified by this photo. Who could possibly have such a deep grudge against him? And who is the woman with her eyes gouged out in this photo?"
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