The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 172 Hanging Murder

"The victim died in autumn, so where did the pine pollen come from?" Qi Fei immediately found something suspicious.

"There's a situation where you can eat pine flower cakes in autumn," Zhong Kui suddenly said. "People in Baijia Village store pine flowers at home. If a child is born that year, they make cakes with the pine flowers stored in the spring and distribute them to the neighbors, wishing the child a happy life and growth as strong as a pine tree."

"Is there such a custom in Baijiazhai? How did you know?" Qi Fei asked.

Zhong Kui lifted her hair, looking a little proud. "I like to collect useless knowledge. Well, this is what I saw on the folklore introduction on the wall of the old house when we went to ask Bai Sanshui questions that day."

Xiao Tao tapped the report lightly and said, "Pine flower powder was only found on the last victim, Zhang Hongxia."

Wu Shanqiu flipped through the victim's information and muttered, "The last victim, Zhang Hongxia, is a native of Jinnan. Her ancestors for three generations have had no connection with Baijiazhai."

"Luckily, the remains were well-preserved. I found some skin tissue stained with the paint, and I found no signs of infiltration or fusion," Xiao Tao said. "This means the paint was applied after Zhang Hongxia's death."

"That means the pine pollen and glutinous rice flour weren't brought by Zhang Hongxia, but by the murderer. Perhaps the container he used to mix the paint had previously been used to hold pine pollen and glutinous rice flour."

"But to be honest, only Zhang Hongxia had white paint on her body. None of the victims in the magic mirror case found this kind of paint," said Xiao Tao.

"Perhaps it's because Zhang Hongxia was the last victim." Zhong Kui took the report from Xiao Tao. The photo of Zhang Hongxia's skeleton on it looked even more terrifying than the other victims because of the white paint. "In Hinduism, there is a branch of the Shaivism sect called the Corpse Eaters who smear ashes all over their bodies, believing that this can purify and accelerate liberation. This murderer mixed various religions and may have absorbed some of the teachings of Hindu sects. But what's interesting is that no matter which one he chose, he was atoning for his sins by harming innocent women. I'm curious, what kind of guilt made him kill so many people in a row?"

Qi Fei remained silent and looked back at the table full of information. It was like a hallucination that he could hear Ye Ming's voice. He couldn't make out the specific words, but he felt that it was calling him.
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When the sky brightened, Wu Shanqiu returned to the office with a rice ball in her mouth, only to see Qi Fei sleeping on his desk.

Hearing the footsteps, Qi Fei opened his eyes with difficulty and stood up.

"Brother Fei, didn't you go home last night?" Wu Shanqiu asked curiously.

"Ah, when did I fall asleep..." Qi Fei scratched his messy hair and looked at the pile of notes he had made, "Oh, right!"

He grabbed a piece of paper with a bunch of data written on it that Wu Shanqiu couldn't understand. "We have to go to the Ocean Research Institute again!" Qi Fei's voice was hoarse, but there was no sleep in his eyes. "I suspect Ye Ming found the original murder scene!"

The police car drove into the compound of the Ocean Research Institute again.

As soon as Qi Fei got out of the car, he went straight to Song Tao's office and handed him the ocean current analysis chart he had drawn that night.

Song Tao was quite surprised when he saw it and asked Qi Fei: "Did you draw this?"

"Well, I analyzed it last night based on the previous data. You are a professional, can you help me see if this is the case?" Song Tao asked Qi Fei for the data he had. After comparing them one by one, he said with approval, "Well, your drawing is better than our graduate students. It's amazing."

"Do you mean that my analysis is correct?" Qi Fei asked expectantly.

Song Tao picked up a pen and sketched on the diagram, "Your analysis is basically correct. Inferring based on the direction of the seawater flow, theoretically, these objects could have drifted from the same place. It's simply because they were thrown at different times that they landed in different locations."

Qi Fei pointed to a red dot he had drawn, which was an area on the coast of Dongji Town. "So, they might all come from this place?"

Song Tao nodded, then asked curiously, "Officer Qi, why are you suddenly interested in this? I remember you were investigating the 'Demon Mirror Case' in Dongji Town. Is this related to the case?"

Before Qi Fei could say anything, Wu Shanqiu looked at the red dot on the map and blurted out, "Huh? Isn't this near the air-raid shelter where Lin Suzhen was found?"

Qi Fei nodded. "This explains why the bodies of the victims were found in different places in Dongji Town, but there were no witnesses related to the murderer. He threw the bodies directly into the sea at the crime scene. Lin Suzhen was the only one who was not thrown directly into the sea. However, in order to conceal his tracks, the murderer could not have carried the body far before dumping it. Therefore, the murder scene was near the air-raid shelter where Lin Suzhen was found."

When Song Tao heard this, he realized: "Ah, you drew the route of the drifting corpse?"

"That's right. I drew it based on Ye Ming's notes from back then. I think when he came to see Teacher Cui Zhan, it was just like me coming to see you now. He had already guessed the approximate location of where the body was dumped."

"Brother Fei, there are a few things that don't make sense..." Wu Shanqiu stroked her chin and looked carefully at the speculated area, "The area near the air-raid shelter where Lin Suzhen was found has been searched several times, and police dogs have been dispatched, but nothing has been found.

Given the extent of the damage to the body, it would be difficult to completely remove the bloodstains at the initial scene.

Also, the place you circled, if I remember correctly, is a cliff with the sea below. Could it be that the murderer killed people while hanging in mid-air?..."

"This is also what I can't figure out, so I came to ask Teacher Song for help. I thought I analyzed it wrong." Qi Fei was also at a loss.

Song Tao seemed to have thought of something, and said to Qi Fei and Wu Shanqiu, "Wait a moment, I'll go find some information." Then he left the office in a hurry. After a while, he came back with several rolls of drawings and placed them all on a conference table next to him.

"The person just now..." Song Tao pointed at Wu Shanqiu, not knowing how to address her for a moment.

"Nancheng Detective Wu Shanqiu, just call me Xiao Wu."

"Mr. Wu's question is very reasonable. If it is a naturally formed landform, it does not make sense. However, don't forget that Dongji Town was man-made." Song Tao unfolded one of the drawings and slid his fingertips along the contour lines.

(End of this chapter)