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墨書 Inktalez
Driving away from there, we found a street vendor to grab a quick meal. It was around eight in the morning, and the food stalls were bustling with activity. Many people were eating, some were office workers, while others were students heading to class. We chose a stall to have Soup Dumplings along with a bowl of Meatball Soup.
Everyone knows how clean the food at these stalls can be, yet that doesn't stop the crowd's enthusiasm for such snacks. After all, we are a nation of food lovers, and we are willing to take that little risk. The vendor was a cheerful lady who quickly prepared soup for everyone while happily chatting with her customers.
I remarked, "There are so many students here; business must be good every day."
The vendor smiled and replied, "There are many, but not too many. I see you all dress nicely, and you look like cultured people. Unlike me, I can only do this. Just the other day, I made a fool of myself because I couldn't keep up with modern trends."
"Oh?" I became interested; since we had time to spare, I thought it would be nice to hear her story while we waited. "What happened? Tell me about it."
The lady nodded with a smile and said, "Well, since I'm close to the school, many students come here for breakfast every day. A few days ago, I encountered something interesting. There were two high school girls who looked youthful and cute, but what they were saying made me feel quite embarrassed."
"The thing is, while they were eating, one girl told the other that her boyfriend liked virgins and didn't like her. I was shocked and thought to myself how open high school students are nowadays. If they're not virgins in high school already, what will happen when they enter society?"
She scratched her head and continued, "I tend to be a bit chatty and wanted to say something to them. If I didn't educate them now, who knows what more outrageous things they might do later? But just as I was about to approach them, I heard the other girl say that being a virgin is overrated; it's all about being a Pisces instead."
"At that moment, I realized that what they were talking about wasn't what I had in mind." The vendor served us our Soup Dumplings as she spoke. "Later when I got home, I asked my son and found out they were actually talking about zodiac signs—Virgo and Pisces."
"See? Thankfully I didn't go up to those girls," she continued as she brought us more food. "If I had approached them with my dirty thoughts, it would have been quite embarrassing! If only I had some education; maybe I wouldn't think like that. I've really suffered from my lack of culture throughout my life."
"Time to settle up!" someone shouted.
The vendor smiled at us and called out to another customer, "Got it!"
I chuckled and said, "You know, many times we view others' actions through our own lens without realizing it's just our ignorance... But these Soup Dumplings are really delicious! With so many customers here, it's clearly because of the taste."
As we ate, Mary picked up a Soup Dumpling but didn't take a bite; she stared blankly at it as if lost in thought. Seeing her like this made me smile; I waved my chopsticks in front of her and said, "What are you thinking about? Aren't you going to eat? Are you on a diet?"
But even after waving them around twice, Mary remained silent. I frowned, unsure of what was going on in her mind.
Just then, Mary suddenly slammed her hand on the table and exclaimed, "I got it!"
Her forceful gesture shook the soup in the bowl into a small whirlpool. The surrounding people turned their heads in surprise at Mary's outburst. The previously noisy crowd fell silent as they all stared at her.
Mary remained unfazed by everything around her, seemingly ignoring the people present. We also stopped our movements, staring blankly at Mary. I asked in confusion, "Mary, what do you know?"
Mary slowly replied, "We previously had no idea what methods the Killer used to murder these people or what systems they might have drawn from. We thought the Killer was just randomly killing without any pattern. But just now, the old lady's words enlightened me; I finally understand how the Killer is committing these murders!"
"You mean..." I said, "there's actually a certain pattern and method to the Killer's murders?"
"Exactly!" Mary nodded and said, "The Killer is using the Zodiac Signs to determine their victims."
"The Zodiac Murders?" We all looked puzzled.
Mary explained, "In Western astrology, the Zodiac refers to the positions of celestial bodies at the time of a person's birth, which can indicate their personality traits. In order, they are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. According to Western astrology, each sign corresponds to different aspects of a person."
"Aries represents the head; Taurus corresponds to the neck and throat; Gemini relates to the arms and hands; Cancer pertains to the chest, stomach, uterus, and digestive system; Leo is associated with the heart and spine; Virgo corresponds to the small intestine and abdomen; Libra relates to the waist and kidneys; Scorpio pertains to the reproductive system; Sagittarius corresponds to the thighs and buttocks; Capricorn relates to hair and bones; Aquarius pertains to the calves; Pisces corresponds to the feet and ankles..."
Mary listed off the Zodiac Signs and their corresponding body parts in one breath. We were left dizzy by this information. Although we didn't fully understand why these correspondences existed, that wasn't the main point. The key was what conclusions we could draw from this system.
Then Mary began counting the seven victims from the start of the case until now: "The first victim was Sun Shouwang; the Killer left us a piece of human skin on his shoulder—he should be a Gemini. The second victim was a Small Workshop Owner; the Killer left behind human bones—he should be a Capricorn. The third victim was Wenlan; the Killer left her buttocks—she should be a Sagittarius."
Pausing for a moment, Mary continued, "The fourth victim was Zhang Zheduo; the Killer left behind his head—he should be an Aries. The fifth victim was Wu Litao; his throat was gouged out—he should be a Taurus. As for the sixth and seventh victims, although we haven't figured out their identities yet, they should follow this pattern as well."
"One left behind Severed Feet—should be Pisces—and one left behind reproductive organs—should be Scorpio," Mary stated decisively.
After hearing Mary's analysis, we all felt it was quite credible. Mary had a solid grasp of folklore and various pseudoscientific theories. If she was so certain about this connection, it meant we were likely on the right track. Thinking of this, I immediately called Captain and asked him to put aside his current work and send me the names and birthdays of the first five victims.
After agreeing, Captain informed me that the search at Five Dragon Mountain had concluded. They had captured three of Twelve People; the others had fled without a trace. Zhao Mingkun and He Pingli were not among those three. At that moment, the Police Department was interrogating those who had been apprehended later but had not yet obtained any useful leads. He promised to notify me immediately if there were any new developments.
As we ate breakfast while waiting for Captain to send over detailed information.
Everyone fell silent; their attention had long since drifted away from the Soup Dumplings. The old lady noticed us and thought her food wasn't tasty enough, repeatedly asking for our opinions. We could only take bites one after another in an effort to finish it all. My phone rang, causing everyone to stop eating and focus on my device.
I wasn't familiar with astrology myself; I only knew I was a Scorpio but had no idea which dates corresponded with which signs. I quickly handed my phone to Mary so she could check if these victims' birthdays matched their respective zodiac signs and aligned with the organs left by the Killer.
Mary slowly scrolled through her phone, and our hearts began to beat in sync with her fingers.
Mary spoke up, "Just as I thought! By comparing the birthdays of the victims, we can indeed match them with the organs left behind. This means that the Killer is using this method to commit murder. So far, there have been seven victims, and aside from the identities of the last two victims which are still unconfirmed, the other five fit perfectly!"
I never expected that casual conversations at the Street Vendor would lead us to such an important clue—the method used by the Killer. Knowing this gives us a significant chance of finding the missing people. The Killer has already murdered seven individuals, and with a total of twelve zodiac signs, this means there can be at most five victims left! We can trace the zodiac signs of these five victims.
"What zodiac signs are left?" I asked.
"The remaining five zodiac signs and their corresponding organs are Cancer—chest, stomach, uterus; Leo—heart, spine; Virgo—abdomen, small intestine; Libra—waist, kidneys; Aquarius—calves, blood circulation," Mary quickly replied. "If there’s only one victim per zodiac sign, we just need to look for missing persons corresponding to these five signs."
I nodded and immediately informed Zhang Xiaoli about the situation, instructing them to filter out Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus, Aries, Sagittarius, and Capricorn while focusing on the remaining five zodiac signs in their search for missing persons.
Zhang Xiaoli has been around long enough in the department to understand that serial killers often have a specific modus operandi. Once we crack this pattern and search for victims accordingly, it will be much easier. This also means we will soon find this Killer.
Just wait; the Killer won’t escape.
A Senior High School Student was kidnapped along with a Leggy School Beauty and a Busty Third-Tier Celebrity trapped in an Abandoned Cabin after mistakenly eating Unknown Wild Fruit, feeling feverish in the middle of the night.
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