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墨書 Inktalez
As soon as we boarded the train, we all dozed off in the swaying motion. Since arriving at Magic City by plane, we hadn't had a proper sleep until three in the morning, and fatigue was starting to set in. I don't know how much time passed before someone nudged me awake.
"We've arrived!" Yan Junde said.
We hurriedly got off the train. The Detective Captain had already contacted the local police, and as soon as we disembarked, we hopped into a police car heading to the crime scene. Zhao Yu had been attacked by a mysterious force at a hotel located some distance from the city center. It seemed that Zhao Yu had deliberately chosen this place to evade pursuit, but unfortunately, his counter-surveillance skills were quite poor, leading him to make a wrong choice, which is why the Detective Captain found him so quickly.
When we arrived at the hotel, the local police and the hotel boss were already gathered there. The Detective Captain's eyes were bloodshot, indicating he hadn't rested at all. I teased him, "Captain, your eyes are so red you could pass for a rabbit."
"Haha." The Detective Captain patted my shoulder and replied, "You're not any better; if your dark circles get any darker, you'll look like a panda."
We all laughed. For detectives, especially criminal investigators, getting even one good night's sleep is a rare luxury. I asked, "What's the situation now? Zhao Yu was attacked by a mysterious force, and that piece of jade has disappeared too, right?"
The Detective Captain nodded. As he led us toward the crime scene, he explained, "That's right. Let's go check it out; the hotel's surveillance recorded some strange events. This hotel isn't large; it was converted from a courtyard house with windows and doors facing the courtyard. If someone were to leave, they would have to pass through the courtyard. However, the boss only saw the jade but didn't see anyone..."
I furrowed my brow. It was now almost certain that the mysterious force was targeting this piece of jade. However, that wasn't the crux of the problem; the key issue was what this mysterious force actually was and why it attacked those who possessed this jade. Who was behind this mysterious force?
As we spoke, we entered what resembled a courtyard house through the front door. The building had two stories with four rooms on the first floor, meaning it could accommodate a maximum of eight households. I asked, "How many people are currently staying in this hotel? Have their situations been investigated?"
"When the incident occurred, everyone else was asleep," the Detective Captain replied. "They all have alibis and it's almost certain that it was done by this mysterious force; these people saw nothing and have already gone to the local police station to give statements. They should be unaware of anything."
I nodded; it seemed that the Detective Captain had already gathered enough information on these matters. As we spoke, we entered Zhao Yu's room. The Detective Captain said, "By the time we got here, officers from the local police station had already arrived. The boss reported that a stone broke a window and flew out while the person inside vanished without a trace..."
Upon entering the room, I noticed it wasn't large but was well-equipped with essentials: a bathroom, toiletries, computer, and television were all present. Clothes were scattered on the floor—layered on top of each other—consistent with how someone might be attacked by a mysterious force. The computer was on and in standby mode.
Mary shook the mouse and the computer screen lit up. We saw that a game window was still open and music played from it; QQ and other messaging software kept flashing in the bottom right corner. His Chinese input method was active with two words displayed: "kc."
"Brother Shao," Mary said, "it looks like he was playing a game before this happened." She continued, "This game belongs to ARPG genre—action role-playing games—which are closely related to player operations like mouse clicks. Such games cannot be paused or stopped easily; however, he brought up the input method and typed 'KC,' which must mean he wanted to tell us something."
I nodded and said, "Mary, follow this lead and see what he wanted to convey to us. Juan Juan, remember to use those talismans I gave you; apply them after being soaked in potassium nitrate liquid—it reacted strangely when we were in the elevator earlier. Captain, let's check out that surveillance footage."
Everyone nodded and split up according to my instructions. The hotel boss led us to his monitoring room where he pulled up previous surveillance recordings. There were three cameras in total: one outside monitoring street activity while two others monitored inside—the first one covering downstairs and another upstairs.
The incident occurred around one o'clock in the morning, a time when we were supposed to be watching the old master catch demons.
The video was not long, initially showing everything as normal. Then, we saw a piece of black jade smash through the fragile glass and fly out. That piece of black jade was what Yang Shuai had referred to earlier as Hetian Black Jade. After it flew out of the window, many rooms lit up, seemingly awakened by the noise.
The black jade flew out from the courtyard wall and disappeared into the vast darkness. Meanwhile, others came out of their rooms to see the hotel boss's figure appear in the video. He knocked on the door, peered inside through the glass, and then took out his phone to call the police.
The entire sequence of events was that simple, yet everyone felt an immense surprise upon watching it. How could this mysterious force have done such a thing? Could it really be a ghost at work?
I frowned and asked, "Did you hear any sounds during the night?"
The hotel boss shook his head and replied, "No, I only heard the sound of the glass breaking. When I went to check, I found that person had vanished, and the door was locked from the inside. It was only when the police arrived that they pried open the door, and there was no one inside. You all saw the video; a living person just disappeared—it's truly eerie!"
At that moment, Juan Juan shouted, "I found something!"
We quickly ran out of the room to where the incident had occurred, and Juan Juan exclaimed, "We discovered a lot of protein on the window!"
"Protein?" I asked.
Juan Juan nodded and said, "You mentioned before that the old master's talisman had been soaked in potassium nitrate. Just now, when I pressed paper against it, I noticed that the area near the window turned yellow. The substances are transparent and very small, so if it weren't for this talisman, we might not have found them."
"Protein turns yellow when it encounters nitric acid!" Juan Juan said excitedly. "Perhaps we can uncover what method the killer used to commit murder! One thing is certain: it definitely wasn't some ghostly presence. Every living organism contains protein, except for some viruses and bacteria."
"What does that mean?" Detective Captain couldn't help but ask.
Juan Juan replied, "If they used some fried insects, they could enter places we can't."
Mary interjected at this point, saying, "Indeed! If that's the case, then Zhao Yu's 'KC' refers to fried insects. In the wild, two hundred beetles can consume an entire wild boar within a day!"
"But what kind of insect could eat a person in just a few hours?" Detective Captain pressed on. "And why would they specifically target someone holding jade?"
Mary furrowed her brow, resting her chin on her hand as she thought for a long time before snapping her fingers excitedly and saying, "Insect Eater! It must be a type of Insect Eater! These fried insects are semi-transparent; regular surveillance wouldn't be able to capture them clearly! They have chewing mouthparts and gnaw like termites; if they gather in large numbers and aren't faced with something like steel, they could devour everything clean!"
"Someone who can control Fried Insects is far more reliable than a haunting!" I said. "The key question is, who is this person controlling the Fried Insects, and what kind of Insect Eater are we dealing with?"
Mary paced back and forth as she spoke. "It definitely isn't something from our country; it's an invasive species. There are over a dozen types of Insect Eaters native to our country, none of which have such great power. Worldwide, there are thousands of known Insect Eaters, and in the depths of the Amazon rainforest and some African savannas, there are even more undiscovered ones!"
I nodded in agreement. "That seems to be the case without a doubt. The surveillance cameras in the elevator and the hotel don't have audio systems, so even if these Fried Insects make noise, we wouldn't hear it. But one person did hear that sound—the old man from the Sun Bikun community!"
The Detective Captain nodded and said, "I've heard of cases like this before. I've heard that some hormones or something can attract these creatures, and then we can catch them all at once!"
Juan Juan shook his head and replied, "This matter isn't as simple as we imagine. Right now, the Killer can control these Insect Eaters; they aren't out of control. But if we use the wrong methods and cause these insects to lose control, then the problem becomes much more serious. If these Insect Eaters start biting indiscriminately outside, the death toll will be much higher!"
Everyone fell into deep thought. I said, "The urgent task is to clarify the origin of this jade stone and its purpose for murder! Because this case involves supernatural elements, our investigation has been passive from the start."
"We've all forgotten a few basic directions for investigative work: to focus on the Killer's motive rather than their methods." I pressed my fingers against my temples and continued, "That piece of black jade must be thoroughly examined! I believe there is something we've overlooked."
The Detective Captain nodded, and I continued, "We need detailed information on Tianyu Company and Yang Shuai—not just surface-level data but hidden information that we can't see. I suspect that the origin of this black jade is anything but simple!"
The Young Man went hunting in the mountains with his grandfather and unexpectedly encountered Mouse Burning Incense and Wild Cat Worships at the Temple—statues made from human corpses. When he returned home late at night, his Biological Mother was chasing him with 'people,' because his grandfather had committed unspeakable acts against her!
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