Chapter 155 Serial Murder (ETL)
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Chapter 155 A Bizarre Death
After reading the message, Gu Ye let out a groan in Yu Ze’s office. Then he went and requested a caramel milk tea from Secretary Liu’s assistant. He got up, sipping his tea while intently studying the diagram. The more Gu Ye looked, the more serious his expression became. He replied: [This magic circle seems to be some kind of ritual. It’s not fully depicted here; it looks like only a part of it. Where did you see it? Don’t move. Don’t keep staring at it. I’ll come find you. I’ll ask someone about it after I’ve finished checking it.]
Mu Jingfei sent Gu Ye an address. After receiving the information, Gu Ye told Yu Ze about it, grabbed his car keys, and left. On the way, he called Xie Cheng, “I have a job. Go to the address I sent you.”
Xie Cheng first confirmed, “This is the task you found, right? If it’s poisonous, don’t blame me.”
Gu Ye laughed, “Okay, I won’t blame you this time. Come on.”
Xie Cheng cheerfully replied, “You go first, I’ll take the subway.”
Gu Ye hung up the phone with a smile. Silly boy, so naive.
The crime scene was a hotel where the victim worked as a chef. It was in the accommodation that the hotel had provided for him. Gu Ye and Xie Cheng arrived almost simultaneously. Seeing the bustling crowd, they exchanged a glance and laughed. “Is the killer crazy? How did he get into a place with so many people coming and going?”
Xie Cheng shrugged. “We’ll try to summon the victim’s spirit later.”
“This time, we might not even be able to summon the spirit.”
“What?”
Gu Ye clicked his tongue. “We’ll know once we go in. I have a feeling this killer isn’t an ordinary person.”
The two went upstairs, and as soon as they stepped out of the elevator, they heard someone crying. The hallway was already full of people. A middle-aged woman, supported by two people, was crying so hard she couldn’t stand up; she was clearly a relative of the deceased. However, the unexpected part was the people around them. Judging by their clothing, there were men and women from all walks of life, but their expressions didn’t suggest they were relatives. Moreover, there were many people inside with video cameras, filming the interior. Gu Ye and Xie Cheng frowned. Had the reporters arrived?
Gu Ye took out a mask and put it on. He glanced at Xie Cheng and handed him one with a smile, “Did my spare mask come in handy?”
Xie Cheng took it speechlessly and put it on. In this situation, masks were indeed better for concealing their identities.
Gu Ye and Xie Cheng squeezed through the crowd. 2 policewomen were comforting the deceased’s family. Seeing Gu Ye, they gestured for him to go inside quickly. It was too chaotic outside. Those present mistook Gu Ye and Xie Cheng for plainclothes officers and didn’t ask any questions. After Gu Ye went inside, he closed the door. “What’s the deal with these people?”
“You’ve finally arrived,” Mu Jingfei said, exasperated. “I don’t know how the news got out, but the reporters are already here. They were faster than you are.”
Xiao Wang added, “This person is very famous online. Many of the people outside are his fans. The news spread so fast, it’s unbelievable.”
At this moment, a surge of resentful energy came from outside the door. Gu Ye frowned, feeling that something was very strange about this matter.
Xie Cheng also sensed something was wrong. “The fact that they’ve gathered so much resentment here reminds me of Xiao Hui.”
[Banana: Apologies for the break of immersion. In case anyone forgot about Xiao Hui, refer to Chapter 128. The case was about a fictional character from an old movie which gained sentience from the belief/prayer from the viewers]
“It’s still unclear what is happening at the moment.” Although Gu Ye said this, he still had a bad feeling. It was obvious that someone was behind this.
Gu Ye and Xie Cheng examined the symbols on the table where the human head was displayed, but being unfamiliar with such matters, both of them were baffled. However, they were certain that they were indeed symbols used in mystic arts. Gu Ye took a picture of it before heading to the kitchen. Upon seeing the magic circle on the wall, Gu Ye felt a wave of dizziness.
Xie Cheng had a similar expression after looking at it. “Too bloody!”
Xiao Wang said, “Teacher Zhen also said it’s too bloody.”
“Teacher Zhen?”
“Our psychology expert said this thing contains something particularly bloody. I didn’t understand what she was saying either, but it seemed she was not talking about the surface-level bloodiness, but about the feeling it evoked—it was too bloody.”
Gu Ye endured his headache to finish looking at the circle. He recorded it on his phone and planned to ask for help in the group chat later. Xie Cheng drew the curtains, intending to summon the spirits.
Gu Ye pursed his lips. “It probably won’t work.”
“We’ll have to try anyway.” So Xie Cheng tried to summon the soul, and as they expected, “The soul is indeed gone.”
“The murderer must be a Master from the mystic arts. How could he possibly leave his soul behind?” Gu Ye finished photographing all the clues related to mystic arts and added with a smile, “If it were me, I would have dispersed the victim’s soul.”
Looking at Gu Ye’s smiling face and hearing his seemingly joking words, Xiao Wang felt a chill run down his spine. With Gu Ye’s intelligence, if he used mystic arts to commit a crime, it would be impossible to find any evidence against him. But Mu Jingfei overheard this. She walked over and grabbed Gu Ye’s ear. “If you talk nonsense again, I’ll hit you.”
“I was wrong!” Gu Ye gasped in pain and quickly admitted his mistake. Oh no, now another person was keeping an eye on him. Mu Jingfei glared at him warningly, and Gu Ye smiled back ingratiatingly. He was just saying that randomly; he didn’t understand why Sister Mu was so angry.
The scene had been searched, and Gu Ye and Xie Cheng found no clues. They put on masks, said goodbye to Mu Jingfei and the others, and went home. When they left, there were even more people at the entrance than before. Hotel security helped the police drive them out, but the reporters wouldn’t leave. The death of an internet celebrity had swarmed them like flies smelling sweetness. All of them were eyeing this lucrative opportunity, hoping to capture explosive news to post online and attract everyone’s attention.
After some time, Gu Ye and Xie Cheng finally managed to squeeze out of the crowd. Xie Cheng went online to check the news and cursed, “These idiots don’t give the police any time to investigate at all. They made the whole internet know about the murder; even the victim’s fans know he’s dead, and they’re all urging the police to solve it. The killer is probably hiding somewhere, secretly gloating.”
Gu Ye said in a deep voice, “For the reporters to know about the murder so quickly, someone must have told them. Otherwise, the news wouldn’t have spread so fast.”
“The fans online are all crying; they’re so heartbroken. They’re saying that with his death, the culinary world has lost a genius, and food will never taste good again. While there’s some exaggeration involved, it’s clear that many people genuinely loved the deceased, and now the resentment will only grow stronger.”
“That’s the effect the killer wanted. There will definitely be more to come. The bad feeling I get from this case is getting stronger.” Gu Ye pinched his temples. “What do you think of that magic circle?”
Xie Cheng said wearily, “Hard to say. That magic circle gave me a very bloodied and dark feeling.”
Gu Ye Ye simply opened the group chat and posted the pictures: [Everyone, please help me figure out what this magic circle is for.]
As soon as the message was sent, someone in the group said: [It looks like a very ancient magic circle. We don’t use such complicated things anymore.]
[Find Fan Xiao; he specializes in this. @WhaleBubbleGululu]
After Fan Xiao came to the chat, he replied: [I feel like I’ve seen this magic circle somewhere before.]
Gu Ye asked excitedly: [Where? What’s it for?]
WhaleBubbleGululu: [Brother, wait a minute. I’ll go back and check some ancient books; I’ll tell you tonight.]
Everyone in the group urged Fan Xiao: [Go check now! Wait your a$s! kicks]
The responses made Gu Ye sigh wearily. He had to pin his hopes on a clueless fool. He could only go back and wait for news. Gu Ye saw Xie Cheng off at the station. Back home, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. He finally took out his divination board and did a reading.
“Holy crap!” The divination result made Gu Ye jump up in shock, and he accidentally dropped the divination plate on the table. After catching his breath, Gu Ye reluctantly picked up the plate and cast another divination, only to get the exact same result. Gu Ye’s expression turned grave. He suppressed his wildly beating heart and took a deep, serious breath. This was the most serious divination he had ever cast since his rebirth: a sign of great chaos throughout the world!
In his previous life, Gu Ye had also divined such a consequence—the Huai Xin City incident, which cost him his life.
Everything was unknown before him. The dead and the unknown magic circle were just the beginning. Gu Ye couldn’t figure out what the future held. After pondering for a long time, he remembered someone—the shopkeeper from the incense shop.
Gu Ye grabbed the keys and headed straight for the shop to find that unfathomable old man.
…
Mu Jingfei had just taken the chef’s body back for examination when she received another report to the police station. Before Xiao Wang and his team could even catch their breath, they had to rush to the next crime scene. When they arrived, they were stunned; this death was even more bizarre.
Xiao Wang quickly called Mu Jingfei, “Captain Mu, there’s another incomprehensible magic circle here, and that mysterious symbol too. You have to come take a look, this one…” Xiao Wang looked at the corpse, then at the forensic doctor’s expression, and gave a bitter smile, “Is even more bizarre than the last one.”
Upon hearing that, Mu Jingfei rushed over to the crime scene. After seeing the body, she understood why it was said to be even more bizarre than the last one. This time, the deceased was a female doctor, with a rosy complexion and a smile on her face, as if she were asleep and having a sweet dream.
“That expression…” Mu Jingfei forced a smile and asked, “Is she smiling?”
“The key isn’t the expression, it’s this.” The forensic doctor also found it unbelievable. “Her body already had rigor mortis, yet her face looked like this. Her body was even more unbelievable. It was incredibly soft/limp.”
Mu Jingfei crouched down and poked the arm, startled. “How can it be so limp?” Even if the corpse wasn’t stiff, it shouldn’t be as limp as if it had no bones. Mu Jingfei couldn’t help but squeeze the corpse’s wrist. Then her expression grew paler and paler. The corpse was as soft as dough.
The forensic doctor said grimly, “All the bones in her body were shattered; there wasn’t a single spot untouched.”
Mu Jingfei’s eyes widened. What?!
The forensic doctor nodded. “You heard right. Her entire body, including her skull, was shattered, and her limbs were reduced to dust. The amazing thing is that there isn’t a single external wound. Furthermore, I can’t determine her approximate time of death from the rigor mortis.”
Xiao Wang found it increasingly bizarre. “What could cause such a result? Internal energy (qi)?”
Mu Jingfei glared at Xiao Wang. “Don’t talk about such mystical things. What internal energy?”
The forensic doctor turned the body over. “There are many of these runes drawn on her back. I don’t know what they mean.”
Xiao Wang asked quietly, “Was the death caused by this? Where’s our consultant?”
Mu Jingfei replied while feeling a headache, “I’ll call him in a bit. Take pictures of this thing in case it gets rubbed off accidentally.”
If the runes really were the cause of death, Mu Jingfei couldn’t really write this report. Should she report to her superiors that it was caused by this? Wouldn’t that be asking for trouble?
Gu Ye had just arrived at the incense shop when he received the call from Mu Jingfei. “I’m busy right now. I’ll call Xie Cheng and have him come find you.”
Xie Cheng rushed to the scene after receiving the message, only to be startled by the corpse’s appearance. He immediately tried to summon the soul, but to no avail. He even used the tracking talisman Gu Ye had given him, but still couldn’t find any trace of the soul.
Frustrated, Xie Cheng sent a message to Gu Ye: [The other party probably isn’t alone. This time, it’s unlikely we’ll be able to manage by ourselves.]
Gu Ye was hesitating whether to call for help in the group chat when Fan Xiao replied: [Brother Gu! I found out! This is an ancient resurrection ritual!]
Raw word count: 3346
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