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墨書 Inktalez
We all stood at the doorway, stunned into silence. No wonder Wang Fa-Yi would say such things; this corpse was truly a sight to behold. What kind of hatred could drive someone to commit such an act? It seemed that Ha Li Min had never shown any mercy towards these children who might have once abused her son.
I shook my head, the strong smell of blood overwhelming me as I approached the body, slowly observing it. Circling around Guo Li's corpse, I noticed that there was hardly a single intact piece of flesh on her. The girl was covered in wounds.
From the condition of the wounds, it was clear they were made by a long whip. The tip of the whip appeared very narrow yet incredibly resilient. Among the dense array of wounds, it was evident that they were deeper on the outside and shallower on the inside, with each long wound overlapping another.
The flesh around these wounds was turned outward and had already turned pale. It was apparent that Ha Li Min had not held back when she struck; the sharpness of the whip was akin to that of a blade. This is why we saw such a multitude of wounds on Guo Li's body. The gaps between the wounds were minimal, resembling a mesh fishing net.
From a distance, these numerous wounds looked like scales of fish, sending chills down my spine.
The ground was soaked with pools of blood, which had gathered in the depressions of the floor and had now congealed. The stench of blood mixed with the odor of decay created an oppressive atmosphere, making it feel as if we had stepped into a steam room. Even Chen Bo could not bear this foul mixture and quickly retreated to the courtyard.
In the sweltering summer heat, such a bloody scent attracted swarms of flies.
As we moved about, the flies scattered throughout the room. Wherever they landed, they carried traces of blood with them. Upon closer inspection, one could see tiny blood spots on the walls and cabinets. However, there were no footprints visible in the blood on the floor.
Similarly, it seemed that the murderer had cleaned up after themselves before leaving, erasing any trace.
From this crime scene, we could imagine a vivid picture. Last night, while interrogating Zhang Zijun, Ha Li Min had driven the unconscious Guo Li to this place. After binding Guo Li tightly, she began to lash out with her whip mercilessly.
During this beating, Guo Li awoke from her stupor due to the pain coursing through her body. In the following hours, she would alternate between consciousness and unconsciousness. Ha Li Min had gagged her to prevent her from making any sound. The whip did not discriminate; likewise, blood did not choose its path.
With each strike of the whip, where the blood splattered was beyond Ha Li Min's control; thus, she must have gotten a significant amount of Guo Li's blood on herself. Naturally, there would be blood on her shoes as well, leaving behind footprints.
But there were none.
The murderer left no footprints at all. Was this truly something Ha Li Min could accomplish?
Wang Fa-Yi spoke up, "From the condition of these wounds, some are severely oxidized while others show less oxidation. By comparing the most severe to the least, we can conclude that the Murderer's abuse lasted for over four hours."
Gu Chen frowned, "Four hours of whipping, and no one around reacted?"
I interjected, "This clearly indicates that the Murderer timed their actions perfectly. It was late at night in summer, and we know that the Old Ladies living here go out to dance in the square every evening and return quite late..."
"You mean..." Mary grasped my implication.
I nodded heavily, "Just as you imagined. Not long after we left, Ha Li Min drove here. The most dangerous place is often the safest; she must have anticipated that we wouldn't return a second time. So during those following hours, this place was the safest. Meanwhile, we were monitoring Zhang Zijun; no one would suspect anything happening here."
"Zhang Zijun's arrival also served to buy time," I continued. "While all our attention was focused on Zhang Zijun, Ha Li Min completed everything in the shadows. By deliberately getting caught by us, Zhang Zijun allowed Ha Li Min to safely take Hu Ningning and Guo Li away."
I pressed my fingers against my temple and said, "But could such a meticulous plan really have been devised by just the two of them?"
"Enough of that," I shook my head. "Let's first see what happened with Guo Li's body."
At this point, Wang Fa-Yi had begun examining the corpse. He gently pinched one of Guo Li's wounds while explaining to us, "Based on the rigor mortis and livor mortis observed on the body, it has been dead for about six hours. Flies have already started laying eggs in these foul wounds."
Wang Fa-Yi squeezed one of the wounds, and I saw several white particles only a few millimeters in size appear before us. We all covered our mouths and noses, realizing these were fly eggs.
"Fortunately, we arrived early," Wang Fa-Yi continued. "If we had come a few hours later, we would have seen white maggots wriggling and twisting their way out of the wounds. It's interesting how living humans have no effect on surrounding organisms, but once a person dies, a series of chemical reactions can sustain many insects..."
Wang Fa-Yi kept rambling on, but my mind was filled with images of white maggots, which was quite nauseating.
Mary covered her mouth and said irritably, "Do you really have to be so disgusting?"
Wang Fa-Yi shrugged and said, "Actually, we need to look at the overall condition of the body. Although these wounds are numerous, they are all superficial injuries. Being whipped hurts a lot, but unless it hits a vital area, it won't be fatal. These wounds may be many, but they are all shallow; none of them reach the bone. From the marks on the wounds, it's clear that the Murderer must have soaked the whip in water while torturing her, which makes the wounds finer, but..."
I looked at Wang Fa-Yi and said, "But it hurts more."
I stepped closer to examine the wounds and continued, "Typically, the surface of a whip is made of oily fibers, and the inside has an air structure that distributes force over a larger area. When it gets wet, it tightens up and increases friction, making it extremely painful. So what you're saying is that the whipping isn't the cause of death?"
Wang Fa-Yi nodded and replied, "The bloodstains on the ground are too few for a child's blood volume. So the whipping isn't the cause of death; there must be another reason."
However, from examining the rest of the body, aside from these whip marks, there were no other signs. If the cause of death isn't visible externally, then we need to look internally.
Guo Li was bound and completely naked, with only non-fatal wounds on her body.
At that moment, Wang Fa-Yi gently pried open Guo Li's mouth.
We speculated that Guo Li had been gagged earlier; otherwise, she might have cried out in pain due to the threats from the Murderer. There was nothing outside her mouth, indicating that the Murderer likely took whatever had been used to silence her.
Wang Fa-Yi had now managed to pry open Guo Li's mouth, and when we looked inside, we understood.
Wang Fa-Yi glanced at me and said, "Perhaps we know what caused Guo Li's death."
I nodded in agreement.
Inside Guo Li's mouth was a gruesome sight; it was unrecognizable as a normal human mouth. It looked as if someone had stabbed her dozens of times with a knife. Guo Li's tongue, oral cavity, and even her gums were reduced to chunks of flesh, with several teeth already missing.
Yet around Guo Li's mouth, we saw no blood at all, which clearly indicated that the Murderer had wiped away any traces afterward.
What kind of psychology is this? Is there some kind of metaphor behind it?
If hiding the traces of the Murderer is important, it actually isn’t, because there’s no way to expose the traces of the Murderer. Besides the bloodstains on the ground, the wounds on the corpses are pale, indicating that the Murderer had also cleaned the wounds of the victims.
We can see the same issue with the bodies of Li Jun and Liang Zhengyu. The Murderer had similarly tampered with these corpses. The commonality among these Three Corpses is that they were all unable to speak. When the Murderer captured these individuals, they were all drugged into unconsciousness. During the abuse, it seems there was an intention to prevent them from speaking.
In Liang Zhengyu's case, there was not a single person around; the Murderer had no reason to worry about screams attracting attention. However, it seems that the Murderer did not give these individuals a chance to speak. After binding Liang Zhengyu, the Murderer simply left. This means Liang Zhengyu could have said something.
But why didn’t the Murderer give any of them a chance? Did Ha Li Min and Zhang Zijun not want to extract information from these three? Or is there someone who doesn’t want the Murderer to hear anything?
Wang Fa-Yi pinched something out with tweezers, and when I leaned in to look, it turned out to be a corroded half nail.
Wang Fa-Yi presented the nail before me and said, “This is what I pulled out from her throat; in other words, the Murderer made her swallow this nail.”
I shook my head and replied, “If we can see one nail, then there should be many more inside her stomach.”
“Exactly.” Wang Fa-Yi sighed and continued, “These nails aren’t too long, but they’re definitely not short either. We saw Guo Li’s mouth mangled with flesh; I suspect she was forced to swallow many nails. Without an Autopsy, we can’t see what’s inside, but I think…”
At this point, Wang Fa-Yi paused. “Compared to what’s outside her body, it probably isn’t much better; her Trachea or Esophagus must have been cut.”
“It’s only seven-thirty now; let’s go back for an Autopsy,” I said.
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