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墨書 Inktalez
The other two also heard the sound. Gu Chen reached out to stop us, and the three of us stood in front of the child, frozen in place, trying to discern where the sound was coming from. The scene was truly unsettling: a child was suspended by fishing line from a branch about three meters high, hanging in a position that made it look as if he had fallen from the sky.
At that moment, the child on the tree began to move slightly, and this action startled us greatly. Especially Chen Bo, who took several steps back.
Gu Chen, however, slowly approached, looking at the struggling child. He stood directly beneath him and lifted his head as if trying to meet the child's gaze. The scene became even stranger; there was still about a meter between Gu Chen and the child, who continued to sway.
After a moment, Gu Chen spoke, "Come closer; this child should already be dead."
Hearing Gu Chen's words, a weight lifted from my heart, but then I thought how wonderful it would be if the child were not dead. People can be so conflicted.
Gu Chen continued slowly, "The fishing line has gradually tightened into the branch, changing the force applied to it, which is why the child is moving slightly. That sound we heard earlier must have been the line digging into the branch. Listen."
We fell silent, and indeed we could still hear that creaking sound.
Gu Chen stepped away from beneath the child and said, "I'll go up and see how to get this fishing line down."
I nodded and took his place. Looking up, I finally got a clear view of the child's face. The first thing that struck me was his facial features; there were no visible wounds. His eyes were tightly shut, and due to the sunlight not reaching his face, I couldn't make out many details. However, I could see spots of livor mortis beginning to appear on his face.
The reason for livor mortis is that after death, blood circulation stops. Consequently, blood ceases to flow and gathers in lower parts of the body due to gravity. It collects in the subcutaneous venous blood vessels and small capillaries, resulting in dark red or even blackish-red spots. Initially, these spots spread widely but eventually form distinct dots; this is livor mortis.
It is normal for a body lying in such a position to show livor mortis on its face. If one were to remove his outer clothing at this moment, they would likely find similar spots on his chest and abdomen as well. However, I couldn't confidently determine how long he had been dead.
Yet one question loomed large in my mind: why did the murderer leave this body like this? Was this boy hung from the tree after he died or before? Either scenario is cruel; of course, the latter is far more brutal.
The child wore a white jacket and red three-quarter pants; from what I could see on the outside, there were no visible injuries.
At that moment, Gu Chen had already climbed up the tree. I glanced at the nearby large tree, noticing that it had more branches with hollows above, making it not particularly difficult to climb.
Gu Chen was standing on a branch where the child was hanging. He looked around and said, "There are fish line ends all over up here, probably at least fifty."
At this point, Gu Chen suddenly fell silent. From below, I could see his serious expression and pale face, as if he had witnessed something horrifying.
Chen Bo clearly noticed this too and shouted up to Gu Chen, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Gu Chen shook his head, seemingly at a loss for words. Looking down at us from his elevated position, he said, "I don't know how to explain it. You should come up and see for yourselves; it's not hard to climb up."
I couldn't help but wonder what Gu Chen had seen that left him in such a state. With that thought in mind, I began to climb the tree. As Gu Chen had mentioned, this tree was quite large, and climbing it wasn't particularly challenging; it was like scaling a rock wall with plenty of footholds and handholds.
Before long, I reached the branch where he was. The branch was thick and long enough for Gu Chen to grab another branch and shift it aside to make room for me. At that moment, I found myself on the trunk where the child was tied. From below, I hadn’t seen any wounds on the child’s body, but from this vantage point, I was taken aback and struggled to recover from the shock. No wonder Gu Chen had looked so distressed earlier.
We already knew that the boy's corpse was hanging from this branch by fish lines, but we didn't understand how those lines were secured to him. My previous assumption was that the fish line wrapped around his body, lifting him up before being tied to the branch to keep him in place.
However, when I saw the boy's back, I realized my earlier thoughts were far too naive. I should have known that the murderer was someone devoid of compassion and would show no mercy.
A single fish line had multiple hooks attached beneath it. These hooks pierced through the boy's clothing and into his flesh, directly embedding themselves into his skin and even fat. It resembled what we see at a market stall selling pork, where various hooks hang pig heads and bodies in mid-air.
The boy before me looked like meat hanging in front of a butcher's stall.
With at least fifty fish lines—meaning there were at least fifty hooks—these hooks were evenly distributed across his back, legs, and arms in a symmetrical arrangement that suspended him aloft. We could see the skin bulging around the hooks, knowing that beneath those protrusions lay the curved parts of the hooks.
The U-shaped hooks pierced into his fatty tissue; some were buried deep within while others had their tips breaking through the skin due to gravity. The boy's back was riddled with hook tips, with bulges of flesh everywhere.
Blood had nearly stained the boy's back, yet when we were on the ground, there was not a trace of blood to be seen. This indicated that the murderer had cleaned up the blood, just like with Li Jun's body last time. If we hadn't come up here to look, we would never have realized how horrific this child's death truly was.
From the extensive bleeding, it was clear that these wounds had signs of life; in other words, they were inflicted while the boy was still alive.
What kind of hatred could drive a murderer to commit such an act? Was the murderer truly a complete psychopath with a strong tendency for child abuse?
So who was this child?
Gu Chen glanced at the fishing lines and slowly asked, "How do we handle this?"
I looked around and said, "To avoid damaging the body, we can't pull him up. That would only cause the hooks to dig deeper into the boy's flesh. I'll cut the fishing lines with my dagger, and you can catch him from below. How does that sound?"
Gu Chen looked at me and nodded. Then he jumped down from the three-meter-high branch, making me gasp in fear.
Brushing off the dirt from his clothes, Gu Chen said, "Come on, I can catch him."
I nodded and drew my dagger, swiftly cutting through several fishing lines. If I had been any slower, some lines might have torn through the skin of the corpse, causing further damage. Gu Chen moved quickly; in almost an instant, he caught the boy's body.
Chen Bo helped Gu Chen lay the boy flat on the ground, still face down. Although the fishing lines on his back were severed, the hooks remained embedded in his flesh. I certainly couldn't jump down from three meters like Gu Chen without a care; I had to make my way back down carefully.
As I climbed down, I heard Chen Bo say, "This is too brutal. To be so cruel to a child... this murderer is truly heartless."
"Check if there's a note inside his clothes," I sighed and said slowly. "The murderer must have left us some clues."
Chen Bo nodded and reached into the boy's clothing pocket. Before long, a piece of paper appeared in his hand. "Found it."
I nodded, "What does it say on the note?"
Chen Bo glanced at the paper and said, "The second task is to find another one."
"Find another one?" Gu Chen asked, "What does that mean?"
I shook my head and replied, "I don't know, but the Murderer hasn't left us an unsolvable riddle. I believe, just like with the previous incident involving Li Jun, we'll be able to figure it out during our investigation. Right now, our priority is to get the body back and determine when this boy died."
Gu Chen nodded and said, "Alright, help me lift the body into the car. We're going to the police station."
Chen Bo made a sound of agreement and he and Gu Chen began to lift the body. At that moment, my eyes caught sight of something beneath the boy's neck—his white coat was slightly open, revealing a short-sleeved shirt underneath. It was a light-colored short sleeve. On the chest of the shirt, I faintly saw two characters that were very familiar to me.
"Wait!" I called out.
With that, I lifted the boy's coat aside.
After taking a look, I furrowed my brows deeply; logically speaking, these two characters shouldn't appear here.
Seeing my strange expression, Gu Chen asked, "What's wrong? Is something off?"
I glanced at Gu Chen and then at Chen Bo before saying, "These two characters really shouldn't be here. But why are they showing up?"
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