tkworld #553 - Investigation site
#553 - Investigation site
“It's not certain yet, it might be Qian Jin.” Before Tang Yin finished speaking, a tall figure slowly emerged from the morning mist.
“Looking for me?” Qian Jin's voice still carried that casual laziness, as if he didn't care about everything happening around him. He was wearing a dark gray jacket, with his hands in his pockets, but his eyes were unusually sharp.
Tang Yin looked at this familiar figure and sighed inwardly: …knew you were still alive. Sure enough, everyone in this strange village is hiding secrets unknown to others.
“Is Hualu okay?” Qian Jin suddenly asked, his voice revealing a hint of concern that was hard to detect.
“Knew you’d say that…” Tang Yin narrowed his eyes slightly, “She should be okay, but she hasn't come out yet. What's wrong?”
Qian Jin's eyes flickered: “…I have a bad feeling, I hope it’s just you being overly worried.” He paused, “So, the deceased is Granny Rong?”
“Granny Rong is still alive.” Gao Mei suddenly interjected, her tone impatient.
“Really?” A relaxed smile appeared on Qian Jin's face, as if he had heard good news.
How can he be so optimistic. Tang Yin thought, being able to laugh in this situation, either he is overly naive, or he is hiding something.
“Xiaomei, take Xiaomei to the cafeteria.” Tang Yin decisively gave instructions, then looked at Qian Jin, “Qian Jin, let's go.”
“…” Qian Jin hesitated, the expression on his face flickering. Tang Yin knew that he must have also discovered that the trustworthy man—Zhao Gang—had had an accident.
The two walked through the village road shrouded in morning mist and came to Zhao Gang's residence. Sure enough, the door was not locked. A strong smell of blood seeped out from the crack in the door, making it particularly pungent in the morning air.
Although he had prepared himself mentally, Tang Yin felt a strong sense of nausea the moment he pushed the door open. This scene was much worse than he had imagined.
Including the two corpses found on the first day, as well as the corpses of Gao Zhijie and Qin Yi, they were all in terrible conditions, almost unrecognizable. But those scenes, on the contrary, gave people a sense of unreality because they were too bloody. The corpses of Tong Xiaoliang and Grandpa Wolf, on the other hand, seemed unusually “clean”, with no damage except for the fatal wounds in their abdomens.
But Zhao Gang was different.
His body lay on the old wooden floor, and the entire hut was covered with blood and messy bloody footprints. Brain matter, brain pulp, and bone fragments were mixed with eyeballs and scattered in every corner of the floor. About 60% of his head had been completely shattered. This degree of destruction was neither a completely unorganized venting of anger, nor an overly restrained execution, but a just right kind of cruelty.
The most striking thing was that a rifle lay quietly beside the body. This was the first time the murderer had left a murder weapon at the scene, and it was a firearm. Was it a momentary oversight, or was it intentional? Or was the murderer trying to convey some message through this gun?
Tang Yin's eyes swept across the bloody scene, and countless possibilities flashed through his mind. The development of this case seemed to be heading in a more complex direction. But one thing was certain, the murderer's style was changing, and behind this change, there must be some important clue hidden.
Qian Jin, who was standing at the door, remained silent, but Tang Yin could feel that his breathing had become a little rapid. The sunlight shone in through the window, casting mottled shadows on the bloodstains on the ground, and the entire room was filled with the aura of death.
What was even more heartbreaking was that Zhao Gang's corpse clearly retained the traces of pain in the last moments of his life. On that half of his remaining face, the expression of pain and fear was clearly visible, like a frozen painting of despair. His hands were raised stiffly, not as if he was instinctively protecting his face, but rather as if he wanted to confirm how serious the fatal wound was.
Tang Yin's eyes fell on those hands, and a sense of unspeakable shock surged in his heart—Zhao Gang had died while covering his broken brain matter. What amazing physical strength and willpower did it take to allow a person to complete this almost impossible action after suffering such a severe blow? In the end, he seemed to have accepted this cruel reality, and this despair was forever frozen on his expression.
At this moment, Tang Yin seemed to feel Zhao Gang's despair at the time of his death. The resonance of that emotion made him unable to restrain himself any longer, and he turned around and threw up again outside the door.
“…Are, are you okay…” Qian Jin also looked away, his voice a little trembling. Even he, who was used to seeing life and death, found it difficult to remain calm in the face of such a scene.
“Who…” Tang Yin swallowed, “Who would use a gun, bring someone here—”
Before he could finish speaking, a figure appeared at the door. Tang Yin was stunned: I didn't expect it to be you.
Wang Lina stood there, wearing a neat uniform, her expression serious and earnest. This aura made Tang Yin involuntarily swallow back the rest of his words.
“…Brother Gang…Damn…!” Wang Lina's voice was full of suppressed anger. But soon, she adjusted her emotions and turned her gaze to the murder weapon on the ground.
“This is Old Man Gao Zhijie's rifle.” She bent down, picked up the bloodstained rifle, and examined it professionally, “…All five bullets have been fired, are there any bullet casings on the ground?”
“Look for them.” Tang Yin said, starting to carefully search the ground.
Before long, they found five metal bullet casings stained with blood and flesh in the pool of blood. These casings were concentrated about two meters away from the body. Did the murderer fire from this position? Or did they deliberately put the casings here to create a false impression?
“Look at the position of the grip.” Wang Lina handed the rifle to Tang Yin, signaling him to observe carefully.
Tang Yin took the rifle and immediately noticed the anomaly. The gun was covered in blood, but the grip was carefully wiped clean. “Wiping fingerprints…?” He said thoughtfully.
“Probably.” Wang Lina took the rifle and skillfully struck a shooting pose, the muzzle aimed at Zhao Gang's corpse. The sunlight shone in from the window, casting a sharp ray of light on her upright figure. “The murderer fired from here.”
Her voice was calm and professional, but Tang Yin could feel the anger hidden within it. In the morning light, Wang Lina's profile looked particularly determined.
The smell of blood became stronger and stronger in the confined room, mixed with the burnt smell of gunpowder. Tang Yin's eyes swept back and forth across the scene, trying to find more clues. Why did the murderer use a gun? Why Gao Zhijie's gun? Why deliberately clean the fingerprints? Every detail seemed to be telling a bigger mystery. And the core of this mystery might be hidden on Zhao Gang's face, which was forever frozen in despair.
“How do you know?” Tang Yin frowned, his eyes shifting back and forth between the bloodstained scene and Wang Lina's gun-holding posture.
Wang Lina narrowed her eyes slightly, her slender fingers tracing an arc in the air along the trajectory of the blood spatter. “Look at the direction of the blood spatter, that's the evidence, and the shooting angle is very low.” Her voice was calm and professional, as if she was conducting an ordinary technical analysis.
The morning light shone in through the window, illuminating the dust floating in the air. Wang Lina continued to explain: “Unless it's a close-range shot, an ordinary rifle can't cause such serious injuries.” She paused, her eyes sweeping over the barrel, “And if you put the muzzle against your head and then fire, the muzzle shouldn't be so clean.”
Tang Yin's brain was running rapidly, which meant that the murderer fired from the position of the bullet casings? He couldn't help but shudder, “Is it accurate?”
Wang Lina raised the corner of her mouth in a meaningful smile, “As long as you can aim, and the target doesn't move, you'll definitely hit.” Her tone carried a chilling certainty.
“In other words, the murderer is someone who knows how to use a gun…” Tang Yin muttered to himself, a trace of thought flashing in his eyes.
Wang Lina casually put the rifle on her shoulder, a movement that seemed particularly skilled. “How should I put it, as long as you align the sights, anyone can use a gun to kill someone, it's that convenient.” Her tone was flat, but it sent a chill down one's spine.
“What about loading bullets, ordinary people probably can't do that, right?” Tang Yin continued to ask, hoping to find more clues.
“That's right.” Wang Lina nodded slightly, “But even Granny Rong knows how to use a gun… I should say, you can't find anyone in Wuyin Village who doesn't know how to use a gun, right?”
Wuyin Village was a village that lived by hunting, and the villagers had been with guns for generations. For them, shooting a gun was as natural as breathing. This fact made Tang Yin fall into deep thought—could it be that only Xiaomei's suspicion can be ruled out?
Wang Lina suddenly squatted down, her slender fingers gently stroking the wounds on Zhao Gang's body. “Look, some of the bullets missed, one in the ear, two in the chest and shoulder…” Her eyes were suddenly attracted by something on the ground, “Ah, there are bullet holes here too.”
Tang Yin looked in the direction she was pointing, and there was a small round bullet hole in the floor. “Only one shot hit the head?”
“Yes, and he should have been alive when he was shot in the head, until he was shot in the chest…” Wang Lina's voice gradually lowered, a trace of imperceptible sadness flashing in her eyes.
Looking at Wang Lina's professional analysis, Tang Yin couldn't help but ask: “By the way, how are you so professional?”
Wang Lina stood up and patted the non-existent dust on her clothes. “I have a hunting license, and I can use guns, traps, and nets.” Her tone carried a hint of pride.
“And, I often shoot skeet outside, so I'm naturally familiar with this kind of thing.” She added, but her eyes never left Zhao Gang's body. The sunlight shone on her profile, reflecting a faint trace of tears.
The smell of blood in the closed room seemed to be getting stronger, mixed with the burnt smell of gunpowder, making this confined space even more oppressive.
Looking at Wang Lina's skilled movements and professional analysis, Tang Yin couldn't help but sigh: “…Oh my, you're really amazing, it's really unexpected.” His voice carried a hint of sincere admiration, but it also contained a trace of imperceptible probing.
Wang Lina glanced at him casually, “I guess.” Her answer was short and cold, as if she was already used to such praise.
The sunlight shone in through the cracks in the blinds, casting mottled shadows on the floor. Tang Yin leaned against the wall and asked casually: “Are you going back to your hometown to be a hunter after graduation?”
“I just like the feeling of holding a gun.” Wang Lina's answer was unusually indifferent. Her slender fingers gently stroked the barrel of the gun, a glimmer of light flashing in her eyes that was difficult to grasp. That cold tone seemed to lower the temperature of the room by several degrees.
Tang Yin's mind suddenly flashed back to what Qin Ming had said before. Regarding Wang Lina's past, Qin Ming had said meaningfully: “Well, I guess, she almost killed someone.”
Seeming to notice Tang Yin's thoughts, Wang Lina took the initiative to explain: “When I was in middle school, a few older students bullied the students from Wuyin Village, so I beat them up with a baseball bat.” Her tone was terrifyingly calm when she said this, as if she was talking about a very ordinary past event.
Tang Yin's eyes lingered on Wang Lina for a moment. Would a girl who had once caused a violent incident recklessly hurt the people around her? But this was just his guess after all. Although the girl in front of him was indifferent, she exuded the aura of a professional in her gestures.
“…It's almost time to clean up.” Tang Yin said softly, his eyes sweeping over the blood and bullet marks on the ground.
Wang Lina suddenly turned around, her dark eyes staring straight at him: “Tang Yin, is it really okay?”
“Clean it up.” Tang Yin's tone was very firm.
“Did you find anything?” Wang Lina asked, her slender fingers unconsciously stroking the pistol hanging on her waist.
Tang Yin took a deep breath, “I can only be sure that this is a crime committed by humans.”
Shooting, wiping fingerprints, these are all typical human killing methods. If the murderer was really some supernatural being, there would be no need to use guns so painstakingly, they could just use supernatural powers directly.
“Supernatural phenomena that can be achieved through magic tricks must be caused by magic tricks.” This was the basic principle that Tang Yin had summed up over the years through knowledge accumulation and practical experience.
Just like those superpowers that require preparation rituals in a specific order, they are all typical cases. First, a blind spot is created through the preparation ritual, then the blind spot is cleverly hidden with magic tricks, and finally the so-called supernatural phenomenon is achieved with the help of this blind spot.
But the cause of death of this corpse in front of him was definitely not caused by any supernatural power. This was just a crime committed secretly by some human being using some means. Tang Yin was convinced of this.
“Probably.” Wang Lina responded softly, her eyes wandering thoughtfully around the scene.
“You think so too?” Tang Yin turned to look at her and found that she had a strange smile on her lips, as if she had already seen through something. The afterglow of the setting sun shone through the window and cast a layer of ambiguous light on her cold face.