Chapter 43: Duhuang City Serial Murder Case (Part 3)
Dongfang Cheng stood beside the body, carefully lowered by police and covered with a white sheet. Even through the fabric, the stench of blood painted a grim picture of the horror beneath. The air was thick with it, carrying the victim’s final struggles and resentment, silently flooding the alley.
“Dumb cat, sense anything here?” Dongfang asked mentally.
“Kinda familiar, meow,” the black cat’s voice echoed in his mind, unusually serious. “Lemme analyze, meow…”
As the sheet was lifted slightly, Huang Yu Tong, at his side, glimpsed the body and whipped her head away, face ashen, hands trembling into fists. Her nails dug into her palms, but it couldn’t quell the nausea surging within.
Dongfang crouched, studying the mangled corpse under Huang Qi Lin’s surprised gaze. He noted the deep chain marks gouged into the brick walls. The alley was tall, sunlight barely reaching half its height.
The victim had been pierced through the shoulders and thighs by chains, hoisted off the ground, and left to die in slow, excruciating pain. The chains’ angles and wall scratches screamed a torturous, deliberate cruelty.
“No one nearby heard anything?” Dongfang stood, turning to Huang Qi Lin. “Chain impacts, wall gouging, screams—those should’ve been audible.”
Huang Qi Lin shook her head, brows furrowed. “That’s the strangest part. This is the only site near dense residential buildings, where witnesses were most likely. But we canvassed every resident—not one heard or saw anything that night.”
Dongfang glanced at Huang Yu Tong, still pale, and pondered. A perception filter like magical girls’? Does the killer have that too?
Huang Qi Lin noticed his suspicion but didn’t pry, adding, “The victim was a 37-year-old male, freelance, lived alone, minimal social ties, no close family or friends. From his belongings and online activity, his ‘hobby’ was killing stray cats and posting videos on obscure forums for attention.”
Dongfang’s eyes chilled, his lips curling into a cold smirk. “The first victim was a habitual thief, unrepentant. Both had moral stains, but not death-worthy… Heh, so the killer’s a vigilante swordmaster with superhuman strength, hoisting people with chains. Definitely not a normal human.”
Huang Qi Lin nodded noncommittally, then her tone grew heavy. “The third case involves your school, Saint Flower Saint Love Academy.”
“What?” Dongfang and Huang Yu Tong gasped in unison, their shared shock hanging in the air.
“The victim was a student,” Huang Qi Lin said softly. “Male, second-year, Class 1.”
Huang Yu Tong’s face drained, lips trembling, silent.
Just then, the black cat’s excited voice burst in Dongfang’s mind: “Got it, meow! The killer’s magic is deliberately mimicking a magical girl’s, and it’s damn close—enough to fool detection gear! Those idiot association members didn’t react, thinking it’s a glitch, meow!”
Dongfang’s eyes flickered. Critical info.
“Good cat, nice work.”
“Of course, meow! I’m the best—”
He cut the cat off.
Huang Qi Lin rubbed her temples, weary. “The problem is, we can’t predict the killer’s next target or pattern. Even knowing they target ‘sinners,’ monitoring everyone in Duhuang with a record would take triple our current manpower—impossible. And some ‘crimes,’ like this guy’s, aren’t legally punishable, making prevention harder.”
Dongfang frowned, deep in thought.
“Mom…” Huang Yu Tong’s voice quivered. “What did our classmate do?”
Huang Qi Lin sighed, glancing at her daughter. “Preliminary investigation shows he’d been under heavy academic stress, possibly mentally unstable. Every one to two weeks, he’d sneak to abandoned districts at night, setting fires to empty houses or junked cars to vent.”
“He kept the fires controlled, choosing spots unlikely to spread or harm anyone. A patrol officer caught him once, gave a verbal warning, but since he was a minor with minimal damage, and only a rookie followed up, it was dropped.”
Dongfang’s eyes lit up, catching a lead.
“Chief Huang, I just remembered something urgent. Gotta go.”
Without waiting for a reply, he bolted out of the alley.
“Dongfang?!” Huang Yu Tong called, bewildered. Huang Qi Lin’s eyes narrowed, watching his retreating figure, thoughtful. He’s onto something but isn’t sharing.
A faint smile tugged at her lips as she called after him, “Be safe, Dongfang. If you find anything, contact Yu Tong.”
She was growing fond of this supposed delinquent—sharp, decisive, far more perceptive than her cheerful, airheaded daughter.
Dusk fell at Lin Feng’s rented apartment.
“Gasoline, lighter, cotton rope… A-Cheng, you turning terrorist? Blowing up the school?”
Lin Feng leaned against the door, watching Dongfang pack the items into a duffel bag, lips twitching.
“Mind your business. I’m doing a science teacher’s experiment. You handle your computer stuff; I’ll be back soon.”
Dongfang had no intention of involving Lin Feng. As an ordinary guy, he’d only be in danger if they faced the killer. Causing a scene to lure them out was a job for him alone.
As for failing? Dongfang didn’t entertain the thought. Most enemies he’d faced were small fry, crushed by his speed and strength. Only that flashy armored guy was trickier.
Lin Feng, naturally, didn’t buy the “science experiment” excuse. Mixing up his shopping list with an arsonist’s?
But Ouroboros had a meeting tonight, and as a senior tech, he was summoned to report on new magical weaponry. No skipping that. He could only hope A-Cheng’s target didn’t end up as charcoal.