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墨書 Inktalez
On May 26th, heavy rain fell, and it seemed that something unhappy was brewing. It started with a downpour lasting several minutes, followed by a persistent drizzle that cast a gray shadow over the land. The rain filled every possible space, causing the drains to overflow and the underpasses to become flooded, making it impossible for vehicles to pass.
In the northwestern corner of Dongxing City lay Zhi Li Village. Although part of Dongxing City, it was far removed from the city center, which was a considerable distance away. Compared to Dongxing City, it was closer to other cities, rendering it a relatively neglected area where development lagged behind other places.
The heavy rain turned the village's dirt roads into muddy quagmires. Under such conditions, the villagers were unable to venture outside and could only stay home playing Mahjong or chess. By seven in the evening, five-year-old Gu Hui had not returned home. Villagers braved the rain to search for him throughout the night but found no trace of Gu Hui.
The village children were accustomed to roaming freely; their families were not overly concerned since the village was small and everyone knew each other. There were rarely any outsiders, so parents did not worry about their children being abducted. Typically, if a child wandered off, they would return after calling out a few times. However, Gu Hui did not come back.
His family did not know when he had left or who he might have gone to play with. After asking other children, they learned that no one had played with Gu Hui that afternoon. Most kids stayed indoors due to the rain; even if some had gone out, their families likely did not notice.
After a fruitless night of searching, Gu Hui's family reported his disappearance to the police. Once a case was opened, officers began searching for him. Despite deploying significant resources in the village and surrounding hills for an extended period, there were still no leads. The village lacked surveillance cameras, and his family could not recall when he had left or if anyone had seen him that afternoon.
Some speculated that he might have been abducted; however, the muddy roads made it impossible for vehicles to enter Zhi Li Village. Police had to park their cars on Asphalt Road and walk two hours to reach the village.
On May 27th, a team of police arrived in Zhi Li Village but found no clues regarding Gu Hui's whereabouts as darkness began to fall. They decided to retreat back to the Police Station. Just as everyone prepared to leave, a sharp-eyed young officer noticed something black and thread-like floating on the surface of a puddle in a muddy area.
At that moment, raindrops fell into the puddle, creating ripples on its surface while the black threads swayed with the movement of the water. The group approached the puddle for a closer look and discovered that these threads were actually strands of black hair.
Who would throw strands of hair into this puddle? The young officer crouched down and reached into the water, attempting to retrieve them for inspection. However, when he tried to pull them out, he realized they wouldn’t budge as if something was pressing them down beneath the surface.
He tugged at them forcefully twice, but they remained firmly lodged in place as though they were rooted in the puddle itself.
At that moment, curiosity got the better of him. He reached further down but suddenly shouted and stumbled backward into the mud, landing awkwardly and covering himself in dirt. The fear on his face was evident as he struggled to regain his composure; for a long time, he could not speak.
Finally managing to stutter out his words, he said, "There’s... there’s a face in this puddle..."
Everyone froze in shock as they stared at the rippling water surface. In this small puddle with less than a fifty-centimeter radius, what had happened beneath its calm exterior? What exactly had the young officer touched?
Some began to piece together what might have occurred, but no one dared speak up. The rain continued to fall steadily, each drop resonating deeply within their hearts.
An elderly police officer was the first to speak. He instructed all the onlookers, especially the children, to leave and then asked the villagers nearby to fetch buckets, shovels, and other tools. At that moment, the astute among them began to realize what had happened. The old officer brought a bucket and slowly scooped out the rainwater from the puddle. After just two scoops, a head emerged before everyone.
To be precise, the head was not in the puddle; it was attached to a body beneath it. The crowd looked down from above and saw a dark head submerged in the hole. When there was water, the head floated up. After scooping out the water, the head stuck wetly to the face of the body. Through the gaps in the head, it appeared to be a child; peeling back the hair revealed that it was a girl.
Gu Hui had been found.
As they continued to look, it became clear that this was not just a head; it was connected to a neck, with no visible signs of blood. Given the current situation, the police could not see what lay beneath the girl's neck. The hole still contained rainwater, and at that moment, the bucket could not reach deep into the narrow space. The crowd needed to remove all the water from the hole to see what was inside.
However, one thing was certain: Gu Hui was dead.
Her entire face had been soaked for too long in rainwater, causing severe swelling and wrinkles; her skin was as pale as winter snow. Her eyes were swollen like copper bells. For a body to appear this way, it had clearly been submerged for quite some time.
The old officer decisively stated, "Use shovels to dig. I suspect she accidentally stepped into this pit. It's deeper than her height and quite narrow. When this girl fell in, even if she tried to struggle, there would have been no way for her to climb back up; she would have been helpless in this hole."
After a pause, he continued, "Moreover, it was pouring rain at that time with hardly anyone on the road; she couldn't call for help. In that water, she wouldn't have been able to speak. Thus, this girl drowned under such circumstances."
A young villager spoke up, "If she fell in, why are we digging? Can't we just pull her out?"
The old officer replied, "The body has been submerged for too long and is already bloated. Pulling it out of the pit now won't be easy. Let's dig and see what exactly happened."
Fearing damage to the body, the police were careful with their shovels. It took them two full hours before they finally unearthed the body from the pit. At that moment when they pulled her out, everyone was stunned. The corpse was unrecognizable; a five-year-old girl's body appeared grotesquely large. If her family did not examine her closely or look at her clothing, they might not even recognize their own daughter.
Gu Hui's parents were working out of town and had not yet returned home when her grandmother saw the body and collapsed on the ground, never to awaken again.
The village lacked facilities for an autopsy; thus, the body was wrapped in a sack and taken by police to a funeral home that night.
On May 28th, autopsy results indicated that water had accumulated in the girl's lungs; she had drowned. No other injuries were found on her body, nor were there any signs of torn clothing. This suggested that prior to her death, there had likely been no struggle with anyone else.
After the police conducted a comprehensive investigation into the Puddle, they found that its radius was over thirty centimeters and it had an irregular shape, being wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. The narrowest part could barely accommodate an adult's thigh. Gu Hui had fallen into the hole, and in that cramped space, her arms couldn't even move; she couldn't even turn around, let alone climb out.
Following extensive investigations and evidence collection, the police initially concluded that it was likely an Accidental Death. However, the investigation was not yet complete, and no one knew for sure what the final outcome would be. Since the police tentatively classified it as an Accidental Death, only a few officers were assigned to the case.
On May 30th, there was still no progress. Gu Hui's father, Gu Zhi, was convinced that his daughter had been harmed by someone rather than having accidentally fallen into the Puddle. He had his own suspects but lacked any evidence, and the police were unwilling to entertain such baseless accusations.
At this moment, Gu Zhi remembered that his cousin, Gu Chen, was a police officer and hoped he could come to investigate and uncover the truth. Although Gu Chen was no longer a police officer at that time, he agreed to help. After all, Gu Chen and Gu Zhi had grown up together like brothers.
However, Gu Chen had gone on to attend police academy while Gu Zhi stayed in the countryside to marry and start a family early.
Gu Chen wasn't particularly skilled at solving cases compared to making arrests, so he thought of me. Little did he know that I was currently under Zhao Mingkun's captivity and whether I could help him was uncertain.
Thus, I learned about the entire situation.
I told Gu Chen over the phone that I could go but that Zhao Mingkun held some secrets and I would need to return afterward. Zhao Mingkun also had his own matters to attend to, so it was a good opportunity for me to investigate during our separation. Once I finished looking into this matter, I would meet up with him again while he took care of Wu Zui's case in the meantime.
So Gu Chen drove to take me to Zhi Li Village.
In the car, I finally saw Gu Chen again. From his tightly furrowed brows and somber expression, it was clear how seriously he took this matter; after all, the deceased girl was his relative.
The rain began to fall softly again; it seemed this rain would last for quite some time.
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