An infinite journey starting from paradise

The train is still moving.

Lin Shangren closed Xu Hai Wenzhi's investigation notes.

Seeing that the pensive Lin Shangren finally responded, Xu Hai Wenzhi hurriedly asked, "Mr. Lin, do you have any new ideas?"

Lin Shangren shook his head.

Seeing this, Xu Hai Wenzhi was a little disappointed. But he could understand. After all, the forensic doctor across from him wasn't a god. It was impossible for him to confirm the murderer's identity based solely on the information in the notes.

"Inspector Xu Hai, is the Doll Village going to hold the Son of Heaven Festival in five days?" asked Lin Shangren.

"Yes, I'm worried that the murder case from more than ten years ago will happen again, so I want to rush back."

"That's good." Lin Shangren smiled.

"Ah? You mean, you want to go to the Doll Village too?"

"I was originally traveling with my fiancée and sister to Yamagata City, and we could stop by to visit an ancient village like Ningyo Village. And..."

Lin Shangren opened the notebook again and selected a black-and-white photo. It was a photo of a young man and woman, including the young Inu Hai Bunji, the head of the Hinagami family, Hinagami Akizuru, who had been crushed to death by Madoka Komada, his late wife, Dr. Kuroya Yuzuru of the Kuroya Hospital, and a pair of siblings who looked very melancholy.

Lin Shangren pointed at the brother and sister and said, "These two are called Fumi and Chizuru, right?"

"Yes, they were the Kuroya family's expressions, like siblings. I remember that at that time, my sister, Kuroya Chizuru, was seriously ill and came to the Doll Village to recuperate for a few months." Inuhai Bunji recalled the situation back then, "Mr. Lin knows them?"

"Well, they're in Tokyo now, and they've changed their last name to Kuchiki. So, if you really count them, I'm kind of related to them. Since the Kuchiki family's hometown is also in Ningyo Village, I should go over and take a look."

"Ah, that's great. Mr. Lin, are we going together? Or...?"

"Oh, my family still has some debts to collect in Yamagata City, so we need to settle the debt collection there now. It will probably take a day or two. After that, our family will set off for the Doll Village."

……

The debt to be collected is naturally the debt owed to Hinami Pharmaceutical.

Let's not even talk about Hinagami Pharmaceutical's collusion with the devil, secretly using innocent civilians for various human experiments. Just look at its relationship with the Japanese military government during World War II. Hinagami Pharmaceutical was able to expand from this small town to Tokyo because it continued to provide medical supplies to the Japanese army after the July 7 Incident. Later on, the company even had intricate ties with the "Black Sun Force." (This is the original setting.)

To Lin Shangren, this kind of enterprise can be summed up in two words: slaughter.

"It's so deserted."

This was Dongzi’s first impression of Yamagata City.

The Yamagata City in 1956 was certainly not as good as it was later when it was incorporated into the Nagoya metropolitan area, but it should not be as desolate as it is now. In the train station, which should be a gathering place for people, there are hardly any pedestrians.

"Something's wrong."

Lin Shangren glanced around, and then he found that most of the staff on the train platform were wearing masks, and the few who were not wearing masks had tampons stuffed in their noses.

"Strange. Could it be that some infectious disease has broken out?"

Thinking about this, Lin Shangren took Fuyuko and Yura out of the station. When he passed by a newsstand, he bought a local newspaper. Through the newspaper, Lin Shangren learned that a strange disease had indeed broken out in Yamagata City recently:

Since a week ago, many citizens have started to experience inexplicable body pain, and some have even suffered from epilepsy, hemiplegia, and even sudden blindness.

Until now, the government has not determined the cause of the disease, and does not even know whether it is an infectious disease or how to prevent it.

"This symptom...is it water retention?" Lin Shangren pondered. "Yes, it's 1956, which is when water retention broke out."

The waterlogging incident was one of the eight major public health disasters in the world in the 20th century. When Hayashi Shangren wiped out Abe Keisuke's entire family, he mentioned this incident.

The "Sui-Sou" in "Sui-Sou" refers to a place name, referring to a small fishing town on the Shiranui Sea. In 1956, a strange disease was discovered near Minamata Bay. This disease, first reported in cats, became known as "cat chorea." Affected cats exhibited an unsteady gait, convulsions, paralysis, and even suicide by jumping into the sea, earning them the nickname "suicidal cats."

Soon after, people with the same condition were discovered in the area. The symptoms were similar to those described above, as the central and peripheral nerves of the brain were affected. At the time, the disease was called a "mysterious disease" because its cause was unknown.

Shuitao disease is actually methylmercury poisoning - the local nitrogen fertilizer plant discharged untreated nuclear wastewater...er...mercury catalyst wastewater directly into Shuitao Bay, damaging the ecological environment and causing large-scale methylmercury poisoning.

The Shuitao disease incident broke out in 1956, and the contaminated sludge in Shuitao Bay wasn't cleaned up until 2003. As for accountability, it hasn't been completed to this day. As for today's nuclear wastewater... well, it's hard to say.

Let’s get back to the story.

After reading the newspaper description, Lin Shangren's first thought was water-soaked disease. Could it be that the strange disease in the mountainous county and city was also related to illegal sewage discharge by local enterprises?

At this moment, the voice of Ashrose suddenly sounded in Lin Shangren's mind.

[Ding~ New task detected.]

Chapter 135: Case of the Broken Eye Demon

[Target: "I'm just a detective passing by" (4/5 activated)]

"Hey, hey, is there another murder case right after we got off the bus?"

As the prompt tone ended, the shadow under Lin Shangren's feet also began to emit microwaves, continuously detecting the surroundings.

There were not many pedestrians near the train station. Apart from them and the station staff, Lin Shangren only saw a few passers-by carrying luggage and walking towards the station.

"What's wrong?"

Shangyue Yura, who was holding Lin Shangren's arm, asked in awkward Chinese. She felt Lin Shangren's sudden change of mood and became alert because of Lin Shangren's vigilance.

"What happened?" Dongzi also asked.

"Blood...the smell of blood..."

Kamitsuki Yura suddenly pointed to a street not far from the train station.

"There's... a lot of blood... people are dead."

Having undergone human experiments by the Japanese army and been locked up in a dark basement for nearly ten years, Yura Kamitsuki's senses, especially her sense of smell and hearing, far exceed the limits of an ordinary human body.

"there?"

"Well... a lot of people... some people died."

"Mr. Lin, what happened?"

Originally, Xu Hai Wenzhi was ready to go to the humanoid village first, but after seeing Lin Shangren's unusual behavior, he also approached curiously.

"It seems like there's been a murder over there."

Lin Shangren did not hide the fact that having a policeman around at this time and place could save him a lot of unnecessary trouble.

"Inspector Xu Hai, do you want to go over and take a look?"

"Ah? Ah! Then let's go over there quickly!"

Xu Hai Wenzhi did not ask Lin Shangren how he knew about the murder over there. At this time, he had become path-dependent on Lin Shangren's reasoning ability, just like Yuzumi Kazo and the young policeman under Yuzumi.

……

Fujiwara Inn is a hotel located near the train station in Yamagata City.

Although it was called an inn, the Fujiwara Inn also conducted some "import and export trade between strangers." In short, it provided a place for prostitutes to engage in prostitution.

This wasn't a new business back then, or even now. Train stations have a large flow of people, and everyone comes from all walks of life. So, a small hotel nearby offering specialized services is a good way to capitalize on its locational advantages.

Inside the Fujiwara Inn, Officer Takayama Shishin, who had just been promoted to Inspector, was "praying." With his head bowed, he repeatedly made the sign of the cross on his chest and muttered something.

Officer Nagato Izo beside him was not surprised by this. Since five years ago, the Tenkei Society and its respected members have been working together to form a unified government.

While Takayama Shishin was praying, Nagato Izo had already begun examining the corpse in front of him.

Lying on the ground was a female corpse. The extremely unnatural twisted posture of the corpse and the scattered bedding clearly showed that she had put up a fierce resistance when she was killed.

The deceased's crimson long undergarment was rolled up to her waist, her long, white legs stretched out on the tatami, their elasticity lost. Her toes were pointed upwards as if pulled, but only her right big toe was strangely pressed downwards. It felt incredibly voluptuous, as if only that part of her body were a cut-and-paste pattern, completely out of place with the surrounding scenery.

"The victim is definitely not a decent woman. Judging from the situation at the scene and her clothes, she must be a prostitute. Even if not, since she was killed in a prostitution box, there must be some unspeakable secret." Nagato Izo made a reasonable judgment.

His gaze slowly moved upward from the corpse's toes. From the waist to the chest, then to the neck and face. The loose, open mouth revealed small teeth. A beautifully shaped nose, and... eyes.

The victim's eyes were taken away.

Two holes had opened where the eyeballs should have been. The skin had changed color, shrunk, and bulged, and blood had congealed into a black mass, clinging to the surrounding area. It was impossible to discern the original appearance.

"Eye-gouging and murder... him again?"

The "him" Nagato Izou was thinking of was a serial killer known as "The Broken Eye Demon." Since the beginning of the year, not counting this case, he had committed five crimes in total, and he had yet to be apprehended.

The victims of the Eye-Broken Demon case were all women. Three of them worked in the "body retail" industry, one was a housewife, and the third was a female student. All died from mechanical asphyxiation, their eyes gouged out posthumously. There were no eyewitnesses in any of the five cases, and the police found no clues at the scene other than the bodies.

None of the victims had been sexually assaulted, and no personal belongings were missing. Police investigated the interpersonal relationships of the five victims and determined that, while three had complex relationships, the other two had good reputations within their respective social circles and no enemies. Furthermore, the five of them had no connections with each other. Therefore, police determined the killer was a psychopathic serial killer who selected his targets at random.

"Aside from being women, there's really not much else these victims have in common. If the killer were a psychopath, repeatedly attacking the same type of women, that's understandable. But if he's the one who kills anyone, it's truly baffling.

Also, digging out the eyes...why did the murderer do that?"

Nagato Izo thought about it.

"Have you checked? Has the deceased been violated this time?" asked the veteran policeman Kuki Ryozo who led the team.

"It's red and swollen, but there's no residue," Nagato Izo replied. "We can't confirm if it was the murderer's doing. After all, she's a prostitute."

As he said this, Nagato Izou tried to pull the deceased's skirt back to her waist.

"Are you an idiot? If the murderer didn't do it, why did he pull up the victim's skirt?" Kuki Ryozou scolded.

"But the murderer didn't leave any semen behind. If they'd killed someone, why would they clean up after them? As for condoms, thanks to Americans, they're ridiculously expensive these days. The price of a single condom is almost enough for a prostitute. If the murderer was planning to kill someone, there was no need for them to wear them, right?"

Since DNA technology had not yet been invented at that time, sex offenders at that time did not have the habit of destroying recovered biological samples.

"Couldn't the deceased have asked the murderer to wear it?" Gao Shanzhixin said beside him, after he had finished reciting the prayer.

"Those soliciting clients in places like this are all about volume. They're unlikely to force clients to use condoms. Of course, if the deceased wasn't a prostitute, that's another story."

As he spoke, Nagato Izo stood up, walked to the window with curtains drawn, and pulled them open.

Dirty walls, cheap mirrors, clothes belts casually hung on clothes hangers and screens, scattered toilet paper beside the pillow - under the vulgar warm lighting of the bulbs, these things can still bring about lewd fantasies, but once exposed to sunlight, it is as if the magic is lifted, and they become dirty, unclean and disgusting.

The wooden window's glass was broken, patched with newspaper, making it difficult to open. Even after forcing it open, the only thing on the other side was the neighbor's wall. An adult couldn't squeeze in.

"Or a secret room?"

According to the proprietress who discovered the body, the door of the room was locked from the inside, and the key to the room was placed in the deceased's cloth bag. Unless there was a spare key from the hotel, it would be impossible to enter or exit the room without destroying the door.

"What's the point of setting this place up as a secret room?" Nagato Izo thought puzzledly.

"A murder in a locked room!" Gao Shanzhixin also noticed this and became very excited. "It's just like a novel."

"Why are you so happy, you beast?!" Kuki Ryozo slapped Takayama Zhixin on the head.

Normally, even for a Japanese boss, such frequent beatings and scolding of subordinates would be considered inappropriate. However, Takayama Shishin didn't take it personally. After all, Kuki Ryozo was his uncle. They both came from Ningyo Village, and he had originally been a resident officer at the village police station. He had been transferred to the city because of connections with the Hinagami family.

"Sorry, uncle. I've been reading too many detective novels."

"Hehe, don't read those unrealistic things. We are the police! Those nonsense written by outsiders are of no help to real cases." Kuki Ryozo said.

Next, according to the case handling procedures of the Yamagata City police, they should carry the body away and then perform a large-scale memory recovery technique on the relevant personnel of the hotel to see if they can find eyewitnesses or other clues.

"Recorder, have you recorded the scene? Prepare to carry the body away."

Cameras were rare in those days, so it was impossible to take detailed photos and videos of crime scenes as we do today. Instead, dedicated recorders would write down the crime scene. Police stations with the necessary resources would only use cameras to take a few photos of corpses.

"Oh, a detective novel." Nagato Izo sneered, "How could a genius detective suddenly appear and help the police solve the case?"

Nagato Izo shook his head and prepared to carry the body onto a stretcher with several other policemen.

At this moment, a voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Wait a minute!"

Then I heard a male voice nagging: "Every time you Japanese police use extremely unprofessional operations, it makes people feel dizzy.

How can I get to the bottom of this case with a bunch of bugs like you?!"

Chapter 136: Push your big toe downward and your other toes upward

The one who started to mock without even seeing the situation on the scene was naturally Lin Shangren.

That's a bit of a stretch; while he hadn't "seen" the scene, he had already "touched" it with his shadow touch. If Nagato Izo hadn't suddenly opened the curtains to let in the sunlight, Hayashi Naoto wouldn't even have needed to physically visit the scene to complete a rough profile of the murderer.

"Hayashi Naoto, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's specially appointed forensic consultant. The person next to him is Inui Bunji."

Before the police on the scene questioned Lin Shangren's identity, he first explained his identity in an extremely arrogant tone.

"A forensic doctor from Tokyo? Even if you are a forensic doctor, you..."

"idiot!"

Nagato Izang originally wanted to confirm Lin Shangren's identity first, but was forced to retort by his angry curse.

"you…"

"You even miscalculated the deceased's identity, and you still think you're idiots? She's not just an ordinary prostitute!"

"How do you know we judged her to be?" Gao Shanzhixin asked in confusion.

Seeing the police officer across from him actively shift the conversation from his own identity to the case, Lin Shangren let out a barely perceptible smile. It seemed he'd managed to fool them for the time being: the world is a vast, makeshift organization. Individuals might be brilliant, but once integrated into a group, they easily become a "mob." As long as one appeared confident and justified, it was easy to fool others. Especially in the days before the internet.

Of course, it didn't matter if he couldn't bluff them. If his rhetoric didn't work, Lin Shangren also knew a bit about physical skills. His goal was to solve the case, and if it wasn't too much trouble, he wouldn't mind taking down the police first and then investigating on his own.