The world begins with refining skills

Chapter 480 Hmph~ (Seeking monthly votes)
“Detective Zhou Zheng, these two are the officers who handled the report at the time.”

Upon seeing Zhou Zheng emerge, Captain Zhang quickly led two police officers forward.

Zhou Zheng glanced at the two policemen, one old and one young, and immediately asked about the situation at the time.

"Coins?"

"That explains the origin of those wounds."

Upon learning that the deceased had reported the incident because of a coin that couldn't be lost, he immediately fell into deep thought.

"Detective Zhou, is this information useful? Can you confirm it?"

Seeing Zhou Zheng's thoughtful expression, Captain Zhang assumed he had discovered something and quickly asked.

In the past few days, more than ten similar cases have occurred in Dawu City.

At first, the police thought it was a case of a deranged murder.

It wasn't until similar cases became more and more numerous, yet no information about the murderer could be found at any of the crime scenes, that things continued to escalate.

The police then realized that this was very likely related to a paranormal event, which is why Zhou Zheng came to investigate.

However, considering the presence of the mentor and apprentice police officers beside him, Captain Zhang only finished speaking halfway.

"Ok!"

Zhou Zheng nodded: "It's pretty much confirmed. I'll take over this case, but I'll still need your assistance."

Upon hearing Zhou Zheng's answer, Captain Zhang was taken aback, realizing that this matter was indeed related to those things.

Then he breathed a sigh of relief. Since it was related to those things, these murder cases wouldn't count towards their assessment.

"Of course! Detective Zhou, whatever you need, we will do our best to support you!"

Captain Zhang responded repeatedly, partly because Zhou Zheng had taken on a huge burden for them.

Furthermore, as an Interpol officer, Zhou Zheng naturally had the authority to mobilize the city's police force.

"Please send me a map showing the activity patterns of the deceased in the relevant cases before their deaths as soon as possible!"

Zhou Zheng didn't stand on ceremony and gave the order directly.

After giving Captain Zhang a few more instructions, he left with a heavy heart.

This problem is very serious. If it's not handled properly, the entire Dawu City will be in trouble.

After Zhou Zheng left, Captain Zhang also left quickly.

"Hey, Master!"

The young policeman nudged the older officer next to him with his elbow: "What are the two of them talking about so mysteriously, Captain Zhang?"

"And who exactly is this Detective Zhou Zheng? His uniform is so cool, but his outfit is so strange."

"Could it be the legendary Dragon Group?"

The old policeman glanced speechlessly at his excited young apprentice and said, somewhat exasperatedly, "Dragon Group? Don't you feel ashamed? These days, novels don't even use that kind of name anymore."

"Huh? Master, you know this meme?"

The young policeman looked at the older policeman with suspicion: "You don't read online novels, do you, sir?"

The old policeman said expressionlessly, "Stop with the nonsense, go inside and help!"

After saying that, the old policeman walked into the room to help with the on-site investigation.

"Don't go! Master, please tell me, what kind of novels do you usually read? Urban, fantasy, or romance?"

The young policeman quickly followed and asked, "I'm currently looking for something to read, could you recommend a few?"

The young policeman grumbled as he chased after them inside, but soon rushed out again, covering his mouth.

"Ugh~ Yue~"

Upon witnessing Yang Biyuan's death without warning, the young policeman instantly had a physical reaction to the horrific scene.

That's too cruel! That's too bloody!

Although he had prepared himself mentally, the young policeman felt his scalp tingle and his liver and gallbladder tremble when he saw the bizarre corpse.

That's...that's terrifying!

Is this why Captain Zhang and his team are so secretive about it?

The extraordinary world he had imagined was actually so cruel and terrifying!
The young policeman's aspirations and expectations vanished in an instant.

Three days later, based on the trajectory map drawn by the police, Zhou Zheng identified several suspicious locations.

"Hopefully we can find something here!"

Standing in front of a shopping mall at the crossroads, Zhou Zheng gazed at the five-story building and muttered to himself.

This was the last location he inspected.

If there is no gain here either, then it means that his previous judgment was wrong.

It's fine if they made a mistake, but the problem is they don't have time.

In the past three days, the death toll from the ghost coin paranormal incident has surged from thirteen to over one hundred.

Zhou Zheng felt a chill run down his spine just thinking about what this exponential growth meant.

"I hope I'm not that unlucky!"

Zhou Zheng tightened his uniform and strode towards the mall entrance.

Before he arrived, the area had already been cleared out by the police under the pretext of a natural gas leak.

At this moment, Zhou Zheng was the only person in the mall.

"What's Daddy's dad called? Daddy's dad is called Grandpa!"

"What are Daddy's mom's names? What are Daddy's mom's names?"

Several children's rocking cars were still in operation in front of the shops on the first floor.

The childlike voice sounded somewhat eerie in the empty shopping mall.

Zhou Zheng carefully stepped forward to examine the area.

These rocking horses are coin-operated, and anything related to coins is his main focus of observation.

This is a rocking horse shaped like a pig. The body is made of sheet metal with bright paint colors, and a few traces of rust are showing.

This discovery made Zhou Zheng even more cautious; in such a large shopping mall, these rocking horses seemed rather old.

Could this be the place?

Zhou Zheng stepped forward and stood quietly beside the rocking horse.

A few minutes later.

"What's Daddy's sister called? Daddy's sister is called Auntie!"

"What's Daddy's brother's name? Daddy's brother's name is..."

Some brainwashing messages were still ringing out, and nothing happened in the mall except for Zhou Zheng's arrival.

Zhou Zheng frowned and thought for a while, then took out a coin from his pocket and dropped it in.

"Ding! Ding-dong!"

After the coin was inserted, the rocking horse immediately started to swing back and forth.

The catchy songs continue.

After observing for a few more minutes, Zhou Zheng finally gave up on this spot and went to check other places.

He did consider sitting on it and trying it out himself, but he felt that it would probably be pointless.

On the other hand, if these kiddie rides are actually defective, this behavior would be too dangerous.

'Check the other areas first. If there are no problems elsewhere, then try again!'

After making up his mind, Zhou Zheng began to inspect each and every one of them.

The first floor was mostly filled with gold and silver jewelry shops, while the second floor consisted of clothing stores. Zhou Zheng quickly finished his inspection.

The third floor houses a children's activity center, as well as shops selling toys, dolls, and other small items.

Following his usual practice, Zhou Zheng inspected each shop from left to right.

It took half an hour to complete the initial inspection of this floor.

No problems have been found on the third floor so far.

Zhou Zheng frowned even more. If they didn't find anything on the fourth and fifth floors, he would have no choice but to report to headquarters and request support.

While the ghost coin may not be very lethal, it is extremely contagious!
Anyone who has studied mathematics knows about the concept of exponential explosion!

"Let's rule out the fourth and fifth floors first. If we still don't find anything, let's try the rocking horses on the first floor!" Zhou Zheng was still somewhat suspicious of those rocking horses.

With this in mind, Zhou Zheng took the escalator to the fourth floor.

Just a few minutes after he left, a ceramic piggy bank in a toy store's glass display case suddenly came to life.

"Hmph~"

The pig grunted a few times, skillfully pushed open the glass with its nose, and jumped out of the display case.

"boom!"

"Jingle Bell!"

As the pig moved, a crisp thumping sound could be heard from its body.

Its chubby body wiggles and wriggles, making it look especially cute.

Soon, the ceramic pig arrived on the first floor, next to the rocking cars.

"Hmph~"

The ceramic pig circled around several rocking cars a few times before jumping into a rocking car that was also shaped like a pig.

"Jingle Bell!"

After jumping onto the rocking horse, the ceramic pig's body began to shake.

With a crisp clinking sound, a coin fell out of the coin slot behind the pig's head.

The coin rolled along the car and went straight into the coin slot of the rocking horse.

"Click, click, click!"

What is Mom's mother's name? What is Mom's mother's name?

The rocking horse swayed back and forth, and the ceramic pig happily ran around inside the seat.

If someone were to listen closely, they would hear someone singing catchy rocking horse songs inside the ceramic pig's body.

The voice was strange, though—deep, sharp, hoarse, and clear, as if it wasn't just one person singing, but rather a chorus of many people.

"What's Daddy's dad called? Daddy's dad is called Uncle!"

"What are Daddy's mom's names? Daddy's mom's name is Sister."

Not only were the sounds eerie, but the content of the songs was also chaotic, as if they were telling an ethical story.

Ten minutes later, the rocking horse stopped.

The coin that had been tossed in rolled back out again.

The coin didn't return to the ceramic pig's body; instead, it rolled towards the mall entrance.

"Hmph~"

The ceramic pig bounced on the car seat, seemingly not having had enough fun, and another coin fell out as it shook.

A moment later, the rocking horse started swaying back and forth again.

An hour later, Zhou Zheng returned to the first floor of the mall with a somewhat grim expression.

The search on the fourth and fifth floors still yielded no results.

This was the last suspicious location, and Zhou Zheng was unwilling to leave just like that.

Get on, insert coins, and the rocking horse begins to sway back and forth.

"I haven't detected any supernatural forces, and this place isn't one of them either?"

"Neither the ghost baby nor the shroud is good at searching; we'll have to request support from headquarters!"

As time went on, more and more paranormal events occurred in China, and Zhou Zheng was unsure how much support the headquarters could mobilize.

A few minutes later, the rocking horse stopped.

Zhou Zheng got up to leave, and just as he took one step, he found a coin on the ground next to the rocking horse.

"coin?"

Zhou Zheng immediately became alert: "Were there any coins here before?"

Zhou Zheng wasn't quite sure; the coin and the floor tiles were somewhat similar in color, and he wasn't sure if he had simply missed it.

Regardless, the presence of this coin here was somewhat suspicious, so Zhou Zheng didn't hesitate and bent down to pick it up.

The front has text, and the back has a floral design.

It looks like an ordinary one-yuan coin.

But the moment he touched it, the shroud wrapped around his hand reacted.

Beneath the two-finger-wide shroud, a tiny hand bulged out, the size of an infant's hand clutching the coin.

The shroud's palm was sunken inward, as if it were about to be swallowed by the coin!

"There's a reaction, right here!"

Zhou Zheng was overjoyed. His previous guess was correct; this place was most likely the starting point of the ghost coin incident.

Even if it isn't, it's still deeply connected to it.

"With this coin, we can find the root cause behind this paranormal event!"

The coins continued to sink under the shroud, and Zhou Zheng did not stop them, but let it happen.

Soon, the ghost coin completely disappeared under the shroud and fell into the ghost infant's hands, where it was devoured.

After consuming the ghost coin, the ghost infant established a connection with the ghost coin's original form.

A hand the size of an infant bulged out from Zhou Zheng's belly and pointed diagonally towards the top of Zhou Zheng's head.

"Up there?"

Zhou Zheng was somewhat surprised that the real ghost coin was actually in this shopping mall.

He already checked it once.

"Is it because I didn't trigger the killing pattern? Or is this ghost's ability to hide very well?"

Several thoughts flashed through Zhou Zheng's mind, but he didn't hesitate at all and walked straight upstairs.

Upon reaching the second floor, the baby's hand on her belly was still pointing upwards.

Zhou Zheng continued upstairs, this time finally not pointing upwards with his palm.

"right here!"

Zhou Zheng perked up and, following the guidance of the ghost baby, arrived at the entrance of a toy store.

After pushing open the door and walking in, four rows of shelves appeared in front of Zhou Zheng.

It was filled with all sorts of toys.

Zhou Zheng didn't waste time on the shelves, but went straight to a glass display case.

The cabinet contains some ceramic products, including adorable cartoon dolls and items such as cups.

Zhou Zheng's gaze swept over the ceramic products one by one, and he quickly locked onto several ceramic piggy banks of different shapes.

The only items related to coins on the counter are these piggy banks.

After finding a toy knife about the length of an arm in the store, Zhou Zheng opened the glass door and rummaged through the leftmost piggy bank.

"Bang! Lash!"

The ceramic jar immediately shattered into pieces.

"That's not it!"

Zhou Zheng waited a few seconds and, seeing that nothing supernatural happened, took the toy knife and began to pry open a piggy bank shaped like a puppy.

"Bang! Bang! Crash!"

Two more ceramic piggy banks were smashed to pieces, leaving only three piggy banks in the display case.

Zhou Zheng continued to pry with the toy knife, this time targeting an adorable little piggy bank.

With a flick of the wrist, leveraging the principle of leverage, the piggy bank flew out from behind the counter.

"Huh!?"

The moment he made the shot, Zhou Zheng noticed that this time the feel was heavier than the previous ones.

"Oh!"

There was a dull thud as something heavy fell, but the piggy bank didn't break.

(End of this chapter)