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墨書 Inktalez
Xiang Ri? The Dream of Xiang Ri? After hanging up the phone, I couldn't help but start to deduce the meaning behind this name. What two characters make up "Xiang Ri"? What does it signify? Is it what I think it is? I never expected that as the case was nearing its conclusion, this scar-faced man would add another mystery. However, now was not the time to ponder this question; we were running out of time.
The winter forest appeared eerie and terrifying even in daylight. Under the cold winter sun, everything looked pale and lifeless. The outstretched branches resembled twisted giant limbs, evoking thoughts of the six bodies sewn together. The strong wind whistled through the branches, producing sounds akin to ghostly wails, further unsettling my mind.
Mary said, "Don't be fooled by the small discrepancy on the map. In reality, the error could be much greater. Finding the exact location of the last body is not a simple task. A one-centimeter straight line could represent the distance between one mountain peak and another..."
I had a deep understanding of searching for people in mountainous forests. In the previous case involving Chuxue, we dispatched armed police to search but couldn't find Spring Bud in the mountains. Now, this area was far larger than that one. Captain Gao said, "No matter how vast this forest is or how high the mountains are, as long as the Killer might appear, we cannot afford to let our guard down. Follow my orders and start searching according to the marked locations. Remember not to venture too deep into the forest to avoid getting lost!"
Our Special Investigation Team was equally determined and joined in the search effort. The saying "a mountain looks close but is far away" was indeed true; although the summit seemed within reach, after an hour of walking, it still lay ahead, which was incredibly frustrating. Noticing everyone growing weary, I said, "Since we're in the forest now, let me pose a question to you."
Upon hearing my words, several pairs of eyes lit up with interest. I continued, "This happened about five or six years ago during a competition in our department. Imagine being stranded on an unknown island with no tools or information—how would you escape?"
Mary asked eagerly, "Nothing at all? No information?"
I nodded.
As everyone pondered while continuing their exploration of the forest, Mary exclaimed, "That's so difficult! Brother Shao, did you manage to escape? You must have! Tell us how you did it; I'm so curious!" The others looked at me with similar expressions of intrigue. I decided not to keep them in suspense any longer and replied, "First, we need to determine whether we're in the Southern Hemisphere or Northern Hemisphere."
"That's easy! In the Northern Hemisphere, you can see Polaris; in the Southern Hemisphere, you can see the Southern Cross!" Juan Juan chimed in.
"Bingo!" I snapped my fingers and said, "Next, we need to establish our approximate latitude and longitude so we can know which direction to escape into the vast ocean."
At that moment, Mary added, "Latitude and longitude... For latitude, you can determine your position by observing Polaris's angle above sea level or by noting the highest point of the sun at noon." I seized on her comment and said, "So on the first day and night while everyone else was thinking about how to survive longer on that island, I spent a day and night observing the sun and stars as well as the direction of ocean currents. I roughly estimated that I should be between the Tropic of Cancer and thirty degrees north latitude."
"And how did you determine your longitude?" Yan Junde asked.
"Longitude is the hardest positional condition to ascertain without any tools," I explained. "I didn't have a watch to use time for judgment." I continued, "Then I started thinking: between the Tropic of Cancer and thirty degrees north latitude lies a lot of land. Since our department told us we could escape from this island, it certainly wouldn't be located in the middle of an ocean; otherwise escaping would be meaningless—we'd just end up being eaten by sharks."
We continued our ascent toward the mountaintop. As I walked, I said, "From this, we can infer that this small island is not far from the mainland, specifically along the eastern coast of the Pacific and the western coast of the Atlantic. More precisely, it would be the east and west coasts of the United States, followed by the East China Sea, and then the western coast of Africa. Given our travel time by boat, it should logically be along the western coast of Africa."
"Near Morocco?" Mary interjected immediately.
"But upon further reflection, that leader was dressed very simply and appeared quite casual. These individuals are usually very particular about etiquette; if they were to collaborate with another country, they would certainly want to showcase their national character. Therefore, I concluded," I said, gazing into the distance, "that the ship never actually left our country's waters. The real reason we weren't allowed to see the sea was that the ship had been circling within our waters all along, creating a false impression for us."
"Then for two days, I distilled seawater, fished, and built a raft as I paddled eastward." I shrugged and continued, "In just half a day, I encountered our country's ship and returned to shore. That mission was accomplished."
"That's it? Just like that?" Mary seemed somewhat unsatisfied.
I nodded and replied, "Yes, that's exactly how it ended. In fact, if a high school student has a decent grasp of geography, they could easily achieve this. Many others had already thought of it at that time but felt it was too simple and hesitated to take that first step. As a result, very few succeeded in completing the mission."
Mary shook her head and said, "You really are confident."
"My confidence comes from my analysis of information. As long as my reasoning is sound, success is inevitable," I explained. "Sometimes direction is far more useful than effort. For instance, look at us; we've been walking for quite some time now—very tired and thirsty. Killer is even carrying a body on his back. Therefore, there should be a supply point somewhere in this forest. The most likely place would be a simple wooden cabin in the mountains. So our approach of moving upward is definitely correct."
After more than an hour of walking, Yan Junde pointed into the distance. Following his gesture, everyone looked up to see a crude little cabin faintly appearing through the mist on a flat area halfway up the mountain. My heart raced with excitement as I said, "Let's go check it out!"
We hurried up the mountain. I raised my fist to my ear to signal everyone to stop because I clearly saw drag marks on the ground and signs of vegetation being pressed down—these traces were fresh. It looked like someone had just passed through here; apart from forest workers, it was likely Zhao Wei and Wang Kang—the two suspects.
We cautiously approached the cabin and could faintly hear voices inside. A fire was lit within; it seemed they were cooking something. We could make out snippets of their conversation: "What do we do next? Where do we go?" Another voice replied, "He has leverage over you and me; let's just follow his arrangements for now."
I recognized one of the voices—it belonged to Zhao Wei, the leader of Major Crimes Unit Two. I had spoken with him a few times before and could easily identify his voice. I raised two fingers in a "two" gesture and then formed a gun shape with my hand to signal everyone to be cautious.
As we carefully approached the door, something suddenly caught my eye that shocked me deeply. I gently picked it up and was about to examine it closely when I noticed Captain Gao rushing toward me with his team. My heart raced as Captain Gao waved frantically at me.
At that moment, I caught sight of someone inside pouring a canister of white crystalline substance into a pot over the fire while Zhao Wei said as he sprinkled it in, "Is there movement outside? Is that who I think it is? Go check..." Just as he finished speaking, everything around me suddenly brightened up intensely, making me feel dizzy as if the world was spinning around me.
In the blink of an eye, Captain Gao had dashed in front of me, spreading his arms wide to envelop me beneath him. Then, a fierce gust of wind struck. I wanted to say something, but no words came out. Suddenly, everything turned upside down, as if the sky itself was collapsing.
Before me lay darkness, filled with swirling sand and branches. In a blur, I lost track of how many times I rolled before crashing heavily onto the cold stones below. It felt as if my entire body had fallen apart, my insides reduced to mush. All I could hear was a ringing in my ears, and my vision was blurred; it felt like I was on the brink of death.
I don’t know how long it took, but a hand grabbed my arm, and using that support, I slowly managed to get up. Leaning against a large tree, I shook my head vigorously, trying to clear the dizziness. As my eyes focused, I saw Captain Gao leaning against a tree across from me, panting heavily as he looked at me.
I had no idea how badly he was injured; all I knew was that several of my ribs and one of my calf bones were definitely broken. Any slight movement sent waves of pain through me. I surveyed our surroundings and, gritting my teeth against the pain, said, “It looks like we were swept down by the blast. I have no idea which valley we’ve landed in.”
Captain Gao nodded and straightened my leg. He then snapped off a few branches and tore a piece from his tattered clothing to use as a splint for my broken bones. I remained silent, watching him work. “Bite down!” Captain Gao said with a smile. “Looks like you’re going to earn some merit again this time…”
I still didn’t respond.
“What’s wrong?” Captain Gao asked, noticing my silence. He looked up at me with confusion. “Haven’t you recovered from the explosion yet? Haven’t you guys in the Special Investigation Team seen anything like this before?”
I shook my head and tapped my temple with the fingers of my left hand before saying, “Captain Gao, your knot-tying skills are quite impressive; they rival your sewing skills…”
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