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墨書 Inktalez
In search of clues, Jiang He did not allow anyone to drive.
They exited through the back door of the Sponge Factory and walked onto Qingchun Road. It seemed that when Qingchun Road was built, the issue of accommodating vehicles was not considered; the road could only fit one car at a time. If two cars met, one would have to veer into the adjacent fields. However, those fields appeared to be abandoned, with no crops being grown.
The concrete surface in the middle had cracked over time, with numerous wide and narrow fissures crisscrossing the road, indicating that it had not been maintained for a long while. From their vantage point, they could even see the blurred outline of a crematorium wall in the distance.
Although it was midday, there was not a soul in sight on the road. Occasionally, yellow paper used for honoring the dead could be seen scattered in the fields; some were already decayed while others looked quite new. There were also white flags made from sorghum stalks planted at intervals along the field's edge.
“There’s a reason why no one dares to walk here,” Yuan Jun remarked as he looked at these items. “When I lived in the suburbs, I could always hear cries coming from the crematorium. At night, I would see people placing white flags by the roadside and burning yellow paper; sometimes, I even witnessed individuals kneeling at village crossroads to guide spirits.”
Old Shao glanced at Yuan Jun, aware that he came from a village but surprised to learn about this experience. No wonder Yuan Jun seemed quite bold most of the time, yet felt uneasy when it came to ghosts and spirits.
“These items are still quite new,” Jiang He said as he picked up a few sheets of yellow paper. “From the color of the paper, it’s clear that it hasn’t faded much; it must have been left here within the last week or two.”
“A week or two?” Yuan Jun replied. “This crematorium has been abandoned for years. Didn’t Zhang De tell us that it hasn’t operated for almost four or five years? Moreover, these are unclaimed bodies; if no one is claiming them, it’s unlikely anyone would burn paper for them.”
Upon hearing Yuan Jun's words, Old Shao nodded and said, “Then someone must have burned yellow paper for these people. Who do you think it could be?”
“Old Wei,” Jiang He answered. “Based on the information we have now, I’m eighty percent sure it’s Old Wei.”
Old Shao fell silent for a moment before saying, “That’s possible. But this road doesn’t even have streetlights; at night it must be pitch dark here. If someone were driving by, they could pass the crematorium in just a few minutes. But if Old Wei were to walk here unsteadily, it would take at least an hour. For him to wander away from the Guardhouse and come here to scatter paper money alone takes quite a bit of courage.”
Yuan Jun suggested, “What if at night a Corpse Robber is hiding in these fields? But Old Wei wouldn’t be of interest to a Corpse Robber.”
“Yet he might be,” Xu Yiman said slowly. “A Corpse Robber could potentially torture men.”
Even though it was midday, Yuan Jun shivered inexplicably upon hearing Xu Yiman's words.
The cold wind of late autumn rustled the bare branches, producing a sound that resembled a woman softly weeping. There was not a soul in sight, and the absence of any voices created an unimaginable sense of desolation in the heart of a bustling city.
It felt empty, filled with an inexplicable loneliness and void.
Walking down this street, it seemed that even conversations had diminished significantly.
It was still bright, but one could only wonder how terrifying it would be here at night.
A few people continued walking forward until they reached the middle of the road, where two long skid marks appeared in the center. These marks stretched nearly a meter long, angled sharply to the right, indicating that the driver had swerved violently while braking, almost driving into the fields.
"This skid mark is unusual," Jiang He crouched down, gently sniffing the ground where the mark was.
"There’s still a smell of rubber," Jiang He said. "This happened not long ago."
At that moment, Yuan Jun also crouched down. He measured the width of the tire marks with his hand and examined the tread pattern closely.
"Van!" Yuan Jun declared decisively.
"A van?" Old Shao looked at the tire marks on the ground, puzzled.
Yuan Jun nodded seriously. "During my time with the armed police, I drove all sorts of vehicles, including ordinary vans. We practiced braking under various conditions, including rain and snow. From the width of the tires, it's clear these aren’t typical car tires. The tread pattern and spacing match those of a van."
Old Shao nodded heavily. "It seems we now know why Li Dabiao was late that night three days ago. Such deep skid marks indicate he must have encountered some emergency situation and couldn’t avoid it in time."
"He must have hit something," Yuan Jun stood up, looking around. "The previous Fat Lady and us—Li Dabiao preferred this road because there are no cameras or radars here; he could drive as fast as he wanted. If he was going sixty kilometers per hour and needed to brake suddenly, his stopping distance would be at least fifteen meters."
As Yuan Jun spoke, he continued to observe the skid marks. "One can imagine that his speed must have been quite high when he came from the direction of the crematorium towards Sponge Factory. He was likely driving at fifty or sixty kilometers per hour. It’s evident that something appeared in front of him unexpectedly; he slammed on the brakes, but due to his high speed and long stopping distance, he had no choice but to swerve."
"Due to the protective mechanisms of life, drivers instinctively tend to steer left. From the brake marks at the scene, it’s fortunate that his car was heavy at the back; otherwise, it would have definitely flipped over," Yuan Jun stated decisively.
Yuan Jun had likely driven more cars than these people had ever seen, and in this regard, he was not mistaken.
At that moment, Jiang He stood up and said, "Bloodstains! There are bloodstains on the road!"
Jiang He pointed to a large clump of dirt near the brake marks and added, "Someone deliberately covered up the bloodstains with dirt."
Xu Yiman widened her eyes and said, "Wait a minute, my Forensic Toolbox is in the back of the car. Guan Deng, can you help me get it? We'll be right back."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Images from that night three days ago began to form in Jiang He's mind:
A van with its high beams on turned onto this dark road from the crematorium. There was no light on this road, nor was there a single person. The evening breeze rustled the branches, making a haunting "woo" sound, as if ghosts were weeping. To make matters worse, there was an abandoned crematorium nearby, equally shrouded in darkness.
Li Dabiao felt uneasy but had no choice but to drive through here. If he were to detour to the main entrance of Sponge Factory, it would take over an hour. However, taking this route would only take about ten minutes. Out of fear, he drove quickly. In reality, Li Dabiao had no reason to scare himself since he had been using this road for four or five years.
Yet people always fear the darkness; even in a home they’ve lived in their entire lives, they are afraid of what might lurk in the corners when the lights go out. This was especially true near the crematorium where yellow paper littered the fields along the road. He accelerated to sixty miles per hour, speeding down this uneven road.
Suddenly, Li Dabiao saw something appear on the road and immediately slammed on the brakes. However, due to his high speed and long braking distance on that unclear night, by the time he noticed what it was, it was already too late to stop.
The accident happened in an instant; as Li Dabiao realized he was about to crash into whatever it was, he had no choice but to swerve. The front of his vehicle managed to avoid it, but the body of the car crashed heavily into it, sending whatever it was flying. Still shaken, Li Dabiao got out of the car to check.
He either dragged that thing away or tossed it into the field or buried it directly.
He pretended as if nothing had happened and tidied up his van's Entrails before continuing to deliver goods to Fat Lady. During this time, Fat Lady called him numerous times. To avoid raising her suspicions, he acted as if everything was normal.
"This Li Dabiao must have a problem," Jiang He said. "Is his phone unreachable?"
Old Shao nodded and replied, "Just now, Guan Deng sent me a message saying that Li Dabiao's phone is turned off. We can't reach him at the moment, so it seems we need to head to the meat processing plant."
Yuan Jun added, "But what if Li Dabiao hit something? And what about Entrails? Could it be that the Fat Lady has been selling human meat Entrails all these years?"
Jiang He responded, "To answer your first question, Li Dabiao hit a person. If he had hit some cat or dog, he wouldn't be this nervous, nor would he have covered up the blood with dirt. Besides, I didn't see any animal fur on the ground. I'm ninety percent sure that Li Dabiao hit a person."
"As for the connection between Li Dabiao and Entrails, I still don't know," Jiang He shook his head.
At that moment, Jiang He looked around the fields.
"When the incident happened, Li Dabiao only had two choices," Jiang He continued. "One was to ignore it, and the other was to deal with the person. From Li Dabiao's actions afterward, it seems he didn't take the person to the hospital, which means this person is likely already dead. There might be tools for handling Entrails in Li Dabiao's car. It's possible that after dismembering this person, he hid the body parts and sold the Entrails as ingredients to the Fat Lady."
Old Shao nodded in agreement. "That's very likely."
At this point, Xu Yiman had arrived at the scene. After conducting her chemical tests, she confirmed what Jiang He had said: the ground was indeed covered in blood...
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