As the sun sets, the factory becomes increasingly dark. The window behind Brother Peng gradually turns dark, and with his flat head, he looks like a monster actor in a haunted house.
The head is not so realistic, but a living body is forcibly attached underneath.
There was a twisted smile with eight teeth painted on the head, and the eyeballs were wet and bloodshot.
Brother Peng seemed to want to sit down or fall forward. His body was swaying back and forth, but unfortunately his feet were not obedient and stuck firmly to the ground, turning him into a little clown dangling back and forth in a scary box.
That's not an action a living person can perform.
“Haha.” He uttered the words intermittently, his voice almost mournful, “Haha…!”
Seeing this extremely unusual scene, several policemen were a little nervous, but no one backed away. They looked at Zhong Cheng with concern, ready to rush to rescue people at the slightest sign of trouble.
Shaking and swaying, he moved the distance of less than two meters in just a few steps.
He stopped in front of Zhong Chengshuo, face to face, and repeated the same words over and over again. His voice was high and low, hoarse and distorted, like a broken repeater.
"Haha, you jerk, you're here and you want to go back? Haha..."
"The police just left," he said timidly.
Two minutes later, the three thugs were taken into the police car one by one.
On the night Wu Tao died, Qian Zhicheng was indeed in the closed area, but they did not act together.
Yin Ren couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Hey, Brother Zhong, what do you think of that person?"
Sure enough, after hearing this suggestion, Zhong Chengshuo turned back silently: "Okay."
Like a black panther hunting, Zhong Chengshuo's sense of pressure exploded instantly, and the whole set of attacks was completed in the blink of an eye. Peng Ge was kicked in the knee pit, and he let out an extremely sharp "Ha!" sound. The unknown force was unable to support his body this time - Zhong Chengshuo's capture made him kneel directly on his knees.
The Ghost King did not suppress himself and laughed out loud with a gloating look on his face. Zhong Cheng glared at him in reproach and turned his back silently.
"The focus of our inquiry is slightly different from that of the police." Yin Ren smiled warmly.
Peng was restrained and sent to Haigu People's Hospital by 120. There must be someone in the hospital who knew An. The medical staff who came to pick him up scanned his flat face and looked unusually calm.
Yin Ren didn't care: "How about we try some mung bean shaved ice? It's just a few steps away and is said to be very healthy."
At the same time, Lu Xiaohe's rapid-fire messages came out of the headset: "The concentration of evil energy around the target is 0.24~0.28fR, and the strong pollution continues. No signs of evil energy spreading were detected. It was initially determined to be a non-infectious abnormality. Scientific personnel can approach normally."
Yin Ren: "They left alone without you?"
The orange-headed man is Qian Zhicheng, 19 years old. He finished secondary school in a daze and now works in the kitchen of a hotel.
He had never tried this kind of life before. Now he was busy in the fireworks, without worrying about food and clothing, and even so close to others.
It was a while past mealtime, and Zhong Cheng was obviously hungry, so he ate faster than usual. This man seemed to be afraid of being scalded, because he suddenly froze while eating and began to gasp for air.
"No, he would definitely go and do that. Wu Tao thinks we are too young and is afraid that the police would ask us something and ruin their business."
Officer Sun suddenly realized and gave instructions quickly: "Go up and help! Did you hear me? The environment is unsanitary. Everyone, be careful."
The whole process was completed before it was completely dark.
According to Qian Zhicheng, he had “not been in society for long” and was still at the initial stage of thinking that doing nothing was “fashionable” and being led astray by Wu Tao. Now that this had happened, Qian Zhicheng was too lazy to even style his hair. He let his orange hair stick to his scalp, and he looked like a Pomeranian dog that had been soaked by rain.
After confirming the problem, Qian Zhicheng wrapped himself in a blanket and began to speak haltingly.
Seeing that overly beautiful smiling face, Qian Zhicheng froze for a while, and said with a bit of tongue twisters: "Okay, okay, you guys ask."
He stopped talking and froze in place, seemingly not knowing how to react.
The buns were crispy and the meat was fragrant, while the bacon juice burst out with delicious flavor. As the food went down his throat while still hot, Yin Ren's remaining unhappiness was completely dispelled by the night wind.
"Brother Peng is young, not as brave as Brother Tao... ahem, not as brave as Wu Tao." Qian Zhicheng said with a bitter face, "That night, Wu Tao said he wanted to take Brother Peng to 'experience some excitement and open his eyes', and also said that he had targeted someone who was clean and had few problems."
Brother Peng's whole body was twitching, his joints were twisting, his head was shaking fast and slow, and his struggle was weird and disgusting. Zhong Cheng ignored his reasoning and just held him firmly in place. Brother Peng was about 1.8 meters tall and had a strong body. I don't know where Zhong Cheng got such strength.
"Brother Peng"'s real name is Wu Pengpeng, and he has some blood relationship with Wu Tao. In terms of seniority, he is Wu Tao's nephew. The uncle and nephew are well-known hooligans in Wanxing Street, and in a sense, they are also "partners".
After a night of treatment, Orange Head finally regained some sanity. Seeing Yin Ren and Zhong Cheng coming to the door, he subconsciously shrank to the corner of the wall, but at least he managed to hold on and not escape.
"Also, please don't swear." He added belatedly.
Zhong Cheng said without moving: "I think I will go home after get off work in half an hour."
"I don't see anything wrong," said Zhong Cheng. "If you feel something is wrong, there may be hallucinogenic gas or mold nearby."
As soon as Lu Xiaohe finished speaking, Zhong Chengshuo appeared in a flash.
"He's about 20 years old, and his complexion is particularly bad. He looks a bit dehydrated. It's best to send him to the hospital for fluid replacement as soon as possible." Zhong Cheng made a realistic assessment.
Brother Peng: “…”
The next day, Haigu People’s Hospital, Zhian Area.
Miss Walnut sincerely recommends it. She said that she often ate there when she was losing weight. Zhong Cheng said that people who are calorie-control freaks will not resist it.
Officer Sun hesitated to speak: "This man's face..."
Zhong Cheng said that he got off work on time as he wished, while Yin Ren bought some meat dumplings recommended by a local geek. The two of them each held one and found a quiet corner on Wanxing Street to have dinner face to face.
"Send it directly to the security area." He ignored the frantic Peng brother and made a prompt decision. After that, he also specially disinfected it, and the operation was smooth and skilled.
He seemed unable to see the abnormality on Brother Peng's face.
When the incident happened, only Brother Peng was with Wu Tao.
It was quite fresh and good. The ghost king, who only cared about food but not about fighting, was quite satisfied and decided to buy two more meat dumplings as a midnight snack.
"Which one is 'that'?"
"I told the police! He was just looking for a girl to hang out with, and I wasn't there, so I was just guessing. I don't know anything else, I really don't know!"
Qian Zhicheng hesitated, feeling a little excited. As if he remembered something, he began to tremble violently again.
"In the middle of the night, Peng came back alone. You saw how horrible he looked. Who the hell dared to approach him to question him? We tried to run away, but we always ended up back near the factory... There was only some food and drink left in the factory, so we stayed there and tried to stay away from him. Then the police came."
He scratched his hair hard, his eyes started rolling around again, and he muttered frantically, "I know nothing" and "Why aren't you afraid?" and so on.
If he saw how Wu Tao died, he might collapse immediately.
"That's enough." Zhong Cheng stood up and spoke in a serious tone, "You should have a good rest and drink more hot water."
Qian Zhicheng: “?”
Yin Ren knew that this person's illness had relapsed. He looked at Qian Zhicheng with sympathy and dragged Zhong Cheng out of the ward.
Living next door to Qian Zhicheng is "Brother Peng" Wu Pengpeng.
Wu Pengpeng was fixed on a special patient restraint bed, and several bottles of water were hung on the IV stand. In Yin Ren's eyes, his facial features were still flat, and this "strange disease" even had a tendency to spread - Wu Pengpeng's nails also became flat, just like "painting" on his fingertips.
There was also a nurse with a cold look in his ward, and her badge had an extra black mark compared to the other nurses.
"Fifteen minutes." She waved her hand at them. "This man's evil spirit shows no signs of weakening. He is very weak and not suitable for long-term questioning."
Wu Pengpeng turned his head with difficulty, moving his fingers: "... Ha..."
Zhong Cheng said: "His reading and writing ability...?"
"It's all wrong. Now he can't understand words or pictures, let alone write on his own initiative."
The nurse frowned slightly.
"He responds to sounds, but he only says the same thing. You should be careful. The patient is emotionally unstable and cannot stand too much stimulation."
She skillfully changed the bag of liquid medicine and took back the empty soft bag. She plugged the earphone in her right ear, and Yin Ren could hear the call from inside: [1103, 1103, Guo Laifu in ward 4 suddenly showed self-harm behavior, please deal with it immediately...]
"I'll be away for a while and will be back in fifteen minutes." The nurse pushed the nursing cart with a cold look.
She left quickly, leaving only the beeping of the bedside machine and the smell of medicine in the ward becoming slightly lighter.
"I have a few questions for you. Can you understand my questions?" Zhong Cheng said as he opened the notepad on his phone.
Wu Pengpeng moved his neck, looking as if he was about to nod, but the movement ended up being a weird twitch. He tried to blink again, but his "flat eyelids" didn't work.
“… Ha… Ha… Bitch…” Wu Pengpeng’s voice was filled with despair.
Zhong Cheng said he was not moved by the tragic scene. He continued calmly: "It seems that you can still make a sound, so one 'ha' means yes, and two 'ha's mean no. I will ask again, can you understand my question?"
Wu Pengpeng: “…”
Wu Pengpeng: “Ha.”
"Are you twelve years old this year?"
"Ha ha."
"Very good." Zhong Cheng nodded. "In the early morning of July 13, were you and Wu Tao walking around in the closed area?"
"ha-"
"Are you planning to attack women? From what we know, Wu Tao claimed to have targeted a 'clean and less troublesome' person." Zhong Cheng asked directly, "Wu Pengpeng, you'd better not lie. I think you should know which is worse, 'going to jail' or 'maintaining the status quo'."
Wu Pengpeng's lips trembled twice: "Ha..."
"You were with Wu Tao the whole time?"
"ha."
"Have you reached Wu Tao's target?"
"… ha."
"There were no other traces at the scene. Wu Tao's attack must have been unsuccessful. Let me ask you another question. Did you witness the scene of Wu Tao's death—"
"Wait, don't—" Yin Ren didn't have time to cover Zhong Cheng's mouth.
Hearing the words "the scene of Wu Tao's death", Wu Pengpeng was shocked and then struggled frantically.
Wu Pengpeng was shaking so fast in the restraints that his shadow was almost visible. He let out intermittent, consistent gurgling sounds from his throat, as if someone had wound him up. The heavy bed was moved by Wu Pengpeng, and it made a loud thumping sound on the floor.
“Hahahahahaha!” His mouth widened wider and wider, and he laughed wildly towards the ceiling, “Hahahahahaha, you jerk!”
The evil energy around Wu Pengpeng became obviously chaotic.
"Okay, no need to ask." Yin Ren sighed, "Didn't the nurse say that he can't stand stimulation?"
Zhong Cheng blinked doubtfully, "But I didn't provoke him." Yin Ren glanced at him, his eyes full of regret. He shook his head and walked to the bedside.
Swish.
With a loud cracking sound, Wu Pengpeng's hospital gown was torn open by Yin Ren.
Zhong Cheng was extremely shocked: "?!"
Even the frantic Wu Pengpeng was stunned by this behavior. He lay naked on the hospital bed, as if someone had pressed the pause button on him.
Yin Ren didn't care. He loosened the restraints on one side of Wu Pengpeng, bent down, and carefully observed Wu Pengpeng's back.
"I'll hold him down, and you take a picture of what's behind him." He made a pinky promise to Zhong Cheng.
Zhong Cheng said: "... How do you know there is something there?"
Yin Ren: "Observe the flow of evil spirits, the first chapter of the teaching material of the ghost master An An. This man just went crazy, and something is gathering behind his waist. Move quickly, this thing might disappear."
Zhong Cheng said he hurried forward and took dozens of photos.
Yin Ren’s judgment was correct.
There was a strange palm-sized mark on Wu Pengpeng's back. As Wu Pengpeng calmed down, it was fading rapidly.
One of them held Wu Pengpeng down, while the other took photos crazily. At this critical moment, the cold-eyed nurse opened the door.
Nurse: “…” This seems to be different from the “inquiry” she imagined.
She had a blank expression on her face, said nothing, and cracked her finger joints.
The next moment, Zhong Chengshuo and Yin Ren's necks were tightened, and the world was spinning in front of their eyes. The slender nurse grabbed them by the collar and threw them out of the ward. They fell to the ground one after the other, and before they could open their mouths to explain, the door of the ward slammed shut in front of them.
Yin Ren looked up at the ceiling and slowly spread his limbs: "As expected of you, you are the Black Seal of An, you are quite capable."
"We have to send the images to Lu Xiaohe," said Zhong Cheng, who tried to get up.
"No hurry." Lord Ghost King stood up slowly, "Let's check some other things and submit them together before leaving get off work. It just so happens that I have something to ask you for help."
Five minutes later, in an empty ward.
Zhong Cheng said, standing at attention in a standard posture, his voice a little awkward: "...How can I help you?"
In front of Zhong Cheng, Yin Ren was sitting on the hospital bed. He had already unbuttoned his shirt and was speaking with his back to Zhong Cheng.
After the Gao Mengyu incident, Yin Ren began to like loose black shirts. But the way he took off his clothes was slightly different from that of ordinary people. At this moment, Yin Ren did not take off his shirt completely, he only took off one sleeve, and the black clothes were piled up loosely, diagonally covering his skin.
A large area of his back was exposed, and the white skin was shimmering in the sunlight. Yin Ren's back had beautiful lines, and the muscles were just right, with a delicate and smooth flow like a swimming fish.
In order to ensure that her back was exposed, Yin Ren lifted her long hair in front of her shoulders, revealing a section of her slender neck.
That intoxicating fragrance reappeared, even more pronounced than last time.
Zhong Cheng said he held his breath and asked again: "... What do you want me to do for you?"
"Help me poke the mark just now." Yin Ren said carelessly, "Seeing is one thing, feeling is another."
“… what do you feel this for?”
"Study the flow of evil energy when he goes crazy." Yin Ren said this from the bottom of his heart, "Since I was kicked out, I can only analyze myself."
Wu Pengpeng was tall and had short legs, so his proportions were very poor, so Yin Ren couldn't copy the mark. And since everyone around him knew about security, it was inconvenient for him to use an extra arm to poke.
The Ghost King does not want to bring work home, so his partners should ask for help when necessary and not lose face.
Zhong Cheng pursed his lips and walked over slowly. He stretched out his index finger, hesitated for a few seconds, and lightly touched a spot on Yin Ren's lower back.
"Wu Pengpeng's mark is at this location."
Yin Ren's skin was obviously warm, but Zhong Cheng said that he felt his fingertips were burning and had a subtle tingling sensation.
"It's a little off." Yin Ren hummed twice, calculating the direction of the evil spirit in his mind, "Move slightly to the lower left, move slowly, and try to follow the direction of the muscle."
“…Okay.” Zhong Cheng said with his fingers moving imperceptibly.
His fingertips moved slowly downward, as lightly as a drop of warm water.
The room was very quiet. A few strands of long hair were visible on Yin Ren's back, and they were swaying slightly with his movements.
"In fact, we have asked a lot of questions." Zhong Cheng said suddenly.
Yin Ren paid some attention: "What do you mean?"
"The murderer's behavior is somewhat inappropriate." Zhong Cheng said in a low voice, "Wu Tao was nearly killed by insect corpses. This was done by the corpse servant. But looking at the scene of Wu Tao's death, this murder has a strong sense of ritual, and the body was handled very carefully."
“That’s true.”
"Assuming that Wu Pengpeng's tip-off was correct, Wu Tao attacked a woman that night. But the police checked the surveillance records and found nothing."
"If she was just a victim, there would be no need for her to avoid surveillance... The possibility that she was silenced by the murderer is also low. After all, she is also an eyewitness and Wu Pengpeng is still alive."
"I know what you want to say." Yin Ren chuckled, "If she is the corpse servant, this doesn't make sense."
Zhong Cheng said with his eyes twinkling: "Yes."
"Let me think about it. If she was really attacked unexpectedly, it would be understandable for her to fight back with the worm corpse. But her first reaction should be to run away, not to stay there and cut human meat."
Yin Ren adjusted his sitting posture and spoke in a relaxed and casual tone.
"Or she has already targeted Wu Tao and wanted to use his corpse as the backdrop. But in this case, she wouldn't have to use insect corpses, and would have left clues that would expose her identity." We have all entered a new era, isn't the stun gun more appealing
"You sound like you have your own guess." Zhong Cheng said, his fingertips pausing.
"It's probably about the same as you guessed."
Yin Ren turned his head, his eyes glowing red in the sunlight. He narrowed his eyes, smiling with a hint of cunning.
“… There may be two murderers. At least when Wu Tao was killed, there were at least two other people besides Wu Pengpeng at the scene.”
"Hmm." Zhong Cheng said and began to slide his fingertips again. "The woman who was attacked was probably an unregistered serf. She was attacked by Wu Tao, and those insect corpses were her resistance in panic."
"While Wu Tao was struggling, another person intervened and used some method to dismember the body. It is very likely that Wu Pengpeng witnessed all of this and was affected, causing mental abnormalities."
"Then it makes sense that I feel a sense of disconnection. The question is the intention of the person who dismembered the body... Without knowing how the death scene was arranged, I cannot draw any conclusions."
"It's only been two days, don't be anxious." Yin Ren was drowsy from the sun and yawned, "Hey, hey, hey, stop, remember to take a picture of where you're pressing your hand now."
"Huh? Oh, a moment—"
Before Zhong Cheng could say "wait a moment", the door of the ward was opened.
The cold-eyed nurse stared at the two of them expressionlessly.
Yin Ren glanced at his half-naked self and quickly put on a smile: "Well, I can explain..."
Bang, bang.
This time, the two were thrown directly into the elevator.
“… Brother Zhong, we can hand in our work reports now.” Yin Ren pulled up his shirt carelessly and checked the time on his phone.
Zhong Cheng said as he continued to struggle to get up, a trace of grievance finally showing on his face.
That night, in Room 601, Building 4, Ping'an Manor, Zhong Chengshuo's home.
"Night run?" Yin Ren was holding a large bucket of rum ice cream with a spoon in his mouth.
"Well, I run at least three times a week." Zhong Cheng said after changing into his running shoes, "I will be home before 11 o'clock. My dad stewed pork elbow with rock sugar, and I just happened to bring it along on the way."
"Thank uncle for me." Yin Ren's tone was particularly sincere.
"Want to run together?"
"No." The Ghost King climbed back onto the sofa and continued to hug the ice cream bucket. "You go ahead and let me get fat alone."
He was too lazy to move, but he had to do his best. In fact, even if Yin Ren ate everyone in Haigu City, he might not gain a pound.
Zhong Cheng said no more persuasion and went out alone.
It's just that his night run deviated a little from the normal route.
More than an hour later, Zhong Cheng said he was standing in front of the warehouse again.
Zhong Cheng wiped the sweat off his face and went back into the basement. He searched the box on the top shelf, picked up a glass tube with runes carved on it, and took out a can of sample protective agent.
After finishing his preparations, he took a small bag from his pocket.
The bag was similar to the glass tube, and was also covered with dazzling spells. It was not until Zhong Cheng said to open the bag that the true contents inside were revealed.
It was a small tuft of jet-black hair.
Zhong Cheng said to seal them up, then took out a pen and quickly wrote a line of words on the label -
[Yin Ren (), July 13, 20xx]
The strand of broken hair lay quietly in the sample protective agent, as black as the bottom of the abyss.
Zhong Cheng looked at it carefully for a moment and put it in a sample basket on a shelf. Under the bleak light, countless strange specimens floated in the glass tubes.
A shred of meat, a piece of tooth, a piece of skin of a strange color... At a glance, the contents are basically not repeated.
Zhong Cheng said he burned the sample bag that had contained the hair and carefully sorted the glass tubes. He was very efficient and the whole process took no more than fifteen minutes.
However, at the moment of leaving, Zhong Chengshuo's steps were a little hesitant.
After a pause of a few seconds, he returned to the shelf and picked out the hair sample again.
He stared at it silently.
After a long while, Zhong Cheng said with a sigh. He moved it to the computer desk and placed it in the most conspicuous place.
With a snap, the light went out.
Everything sank into darkness again.
(End of this chapter)