Merchant of the Underworld

"The reporter was the landlord of this room and lived across the street. According to her, she was watching TV in the room when she suddenly heard a heartbreaking scream coming from the room opposite. She thought something had happened. Just knock on the door quickly.”

"After knocking on the door for a long time but not hearing anything, she was afraid that something might happen, so she quickly opened the door with the key. As soon as she entered, she found..."

"Can you find nearby image data?" Zhang Xiaoai turned around and asked.

"Yunhai Lane is an old city, and the surveillance facilities are still very imperfect. It is impossible to retrieve any images in the alley." The policeman continued: "The victim was fully clothed, with no signs of being violated, and there was no sign of struggle before his death. . In addition, the deceased wore a lot of expensive jewelry such as earrings, necklaces, rings, etc. It is impossible to speculate on the murderer’s motive.”

"There is also a cause of death...forgive us that there is really nothing we can do."

There is no need for him to defend this point, everyone can see it clearly.

There was not a single wound on the body of the deceased, but all the bones, flesh, and internal organs were missing. Not even a drop of blood was left. Everything seemed to evaporate out of thin air and disappeared without a trace. This cannot be explained by common sense!

"What was the deceased's identity during his lifetime?" I suddenly asked.

"Zhai Rumeng works for Blue Ocean Trading Co., Ltd. and is the assistant to the general manager."

"That's a bit strange!" I pointed to the human skin on the ground and said, "The deceased's jewelry and underwear are all from big brands. It can be seen that her living conditions are relatively superior. But this red rope seems a bit nondescript! "

There is a red string tied around Zhai Rumeng's ankle. It has no decoration and is very rough in workmanship. It is made of ordinary red thread. There are still some black marks on the red rope. At first glance, it looks like something dirty has been rubbed on it.

But human skin is extremely clean everywhere: not a trace of dust can be seen on the skin, nails, and hair.

There is just a stain on the red rope, which is so strange...

I untied the red rope, held it in my hand and looked at it carefully, then turned to Zhang Xiaoai and said, "Bring me a bowl of salt water."

Zhang Xiaoai knew what I might have discovered, so she immediately got into the kitchen and brought out a bowl of salt water.

I pinched some cinnabar and mixed it in, and then soaked the red rope in it.

As soon as the red rope entered the water, it immediately started to stir, like a living earthworm, flipping up and down on the water.

Soon, a wisp of black smoke gradually emerged from the churning water, and then spread to the entire water surface. In just a short moment, the bowl of water turned black, like ink!

I poured the bowl of black water towards the human skin, but it all slid to the ground like water over oil.

wisps of black smoke rose from the human skin, emitting a foul odor, as if it were a rotten corpse that had been aged for many years.

The black water that fell to the ground also condensed strangely, forming a human figure.

The outline of the human figure was completely different from the human skin on the ground. It was slightly rolled up, as if it was leaning on something.

Zhang Xiaoai and the forensic doctors all looked at me in great surprise, as if asking: "What's going on?"

"Is the person who rented this house among the missing persons?" I asked aloud without answering their doubts.

"Gao Shuang didn't report missing - but according to the landlord, he hadn't seen her for a long time. He thought she had moved away without saying hello, but the rent hadn't expired yet, so..." the police thought. thought.

"Take me to Zhai Rumeng's house immediately!" I interrupted him and said urgently.

Zhai Rumeng is a senior white-collar worker in the company and lives in a high-end residential area in Qingjiang City. We arrived at our destination all the way.

The accompanying policeman opened the door, and I hurriedly stepped in. Sure enough, I found another human skin on the sofa in the living room!

This human skin looks slightly slender and darker. She is wearing a cheap flowered nightgown. Her long, slightly curly light yellow hair is pulled into a ponytail. It looks like a realistic oil painting spread softly on the skin. on the sofa.

"It's Gao Shuang." The policeman recognized it at just one glance, and then explained: "Gao Shuang is a stage lady. We arrested her during an anti-pornography and illegal operation. At that time, she refused to admit it and made a big fuss. She shouted that we had arrested the wrong person, and even injured the police officer handling the case. It was such a shame! So I have a very good impression of her."

I nodded, strode over, pointed at her ankle and said, "Look, there is a red rope here too."

Gao Shuang's ankle was also tied with an identical red rope, but the black mark on it was deeper.

I asked Zhang Xiaoai to bring another bowl of salt water and put the red rope found in the rental house into it. After the water turned black, I poured it over the human skin curled up on the sofa.

This time, all the black water soaked into the skin, and the human skin swelled strangely, as if someone was constantly blowing air into it.

Soon, the human skin stood up, like a lifelike inflatable doll!

Under the extremely surprised gazes of all the police officers, I called Zhang Xiaoai into another room. After closing the door, I said solemnly: "It seems that this is another supernatural case. The murderer is using witchcraft." Harm people.”

As I spoke, I shook the two red ropes in my hands and explained: "This is called a sacrificial red rope! Once this thing is wrapped around the target, the target will be like a tribute placed on the table and may be taken away at any time. use."

"I just don't know if it was the murderer's negligence? The two red ropes were placed in the wrong position when sacrificing. That's why Gao Shuang died in Zhai Rumeng's home, but Zhai Rumeng died in front of Gao Shuang's house."

"It seems that the missing girls have all been brutally murdered. Now I need to check everyone's information so that I can find out what they have in common and identify the real culprit as soon as possible!"

"Okay!" Zhang Xiaoai nodded, turned around and went out, taking me directly back to the police station.

There are a total of eight missing girls these days, and all the files are placed in front of me.

These people have different professions, different hobbies, and different identities and backgrounds. They have almost no intersection during their lives... The only thing they have in common is that they are all very young, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four. It is the age of a flower.

The reporter could not tell the specific time and place of their disappearance.

Only one case is special.

The victim in this case is named Wang Xiuxiu, a senior high school student.

She went out from home with her schoolbag on her back, but did not arrive at school. She just disappeared halfway. Compared with other cases, the time and place are easier to distinguish, and the scope that needs to be searched is also very small.

I immediately proposed to check all the surveillance cameras on the road where she disappeared.

Zhang Xiaoai shook her head and said: "We have checked it many times. There are straight avenues all around, without any obstruction. But it's like someone cut off the camera. One second she was walking fine, the next He disappeared in a blink of an eye..."