Chapter 7: Stripping Away the Truth 2

  "King, do you want to go up?"

  Wang Yanan shook her head and whispered: "Let's wait a little longer."

  The car stopped downstairs and didn't turn off the engine. The door opened, and a man came out of the car. However, it was strange that on such a hot day, the man wore a hat, sunglasses, long-sleeved clothes, and gloves, as if he was extremely afraid that the morning sun would burn his skin.

  "Quick, it's him." Seeing this strange getup, Wang Ya Nan suddenly opened the left car door and rushed out. Two subordinates also closely followed behind him.

  "Huang Zhigang. We are police."

  He had just revealed his identity. The sudden commotion startled the man who was only a few steps away from the van. He didn't have time to think, and immediately pushed open the police officer who was already standing next to him. He quickly turned around and jumped into his own van. Since the engine hadn't been turned off earlier, he stepped on the accelerator and spun the steering wheel. The car rapidly reversed for over ten meters, turned onto the community's green belt, ran over a flowerbed, and sped towards the community's main gate. Along the way, people scrambled to get out of the way.

  "Hurry, can't let him get away." At this time, Zhao Yun, who had just heard the noise from upstairs running down, had already gotten into the car parked not far away and started it, closely following the yellow bread truck that was speeding away.

  Wang Yanan stomped her foot anxiously and quickly took out her phone, dialed the bureau's switchboard, and requested that they intercept the van along the way.

  It was rush hour in Tianchang City, and the vehicles on the main road soon formed a long queue. However, by the time Wang Ya Nan and his subordinates arrived at the entrance, the police car and van had already disappeared without a trace.

  The congested traffic added a lot of difficulty to the police's pursuit. However, despite this, the yellow bread car driven by Huang Zhigang was like a fish being driven towards the net, about to be forced to stop on the outer ring road in the suburbs. But the yellow bread car still refused to give up, making a left and right dash, trying to break free from the police's gradually tightening encirclement.

  At this moment, Zhao Yun's police car, which had been left behind for several parking spaces, suddenly accelerated and rushed onto the roadside isolation green belt. At the moment it surpassed the van, he made a sharp turn of the steering wheel and rushed down.

  A loud crash. The van was finally stopped with a solid blow to the waist. The police car had tightly wedged itself against the body of the van.

  In the van, the man wearing sunglasses closed his eyes in despair.

  Huang Zhigang was arrested and has not spoken since. This is also within Wang Yan's expectations. After obtaining his latest residential address through the local police station, she took Zhang Tong and a team of on-site technical investigators to go together.

  This is an old residential house located in the old residential area of Chengnan, Tianchang City. Due to the nearby demolition, the surrounding residents have moved away one after another. Occasionally, I saw one or two small dogs and cats abandoned by their owners on the way.

  Huang Zhigang rented a basement room. The landlord said the basement had an old-fashioned boiler, which was previously used to provide heating for the surrounding area. He didn't understand why this tenant specifically wanted to rent this basement with a boiler. Normally, people wouldn't want a big boiler in their bedroom. But this tenant seemed very happy about it. The landlord repeatedly expressed that if he hadn't seen the tenant paying rent on time every month, he would have kicked him out long ago. Because the tenant's strange skin made him feel uncomfortable all over.

  After taking out the key and opening the heavy door of the basement, the landlord quickly disappeared into the night behind him.

  Wang Yanan and Zhang Tong walked into the basement one after another.

  The space is very large. The light is dim. There is a strange smell, somewhat like the disinfectant of a hospital mixed with the stench of rotting things.

  In a corner of the basement, a row of large iron cages covered with thick rain cloths were neatly arranged. Opposite them was that old boiler.

  The two of them exchanged a glance, then walked towards the row of large iron cages. Wang Yan stretched out her hand and pulled open the rain cover. As the dust fell away, a terrifying scene appeared before their eyes. Inside the large iron cage was embedded with a layer of glass, just like an exhibit window in a museum. Row upon row of human skulls were displayed behind the glass, their dark eye sockets staring at the people who had uncovered them.

  This eerie silence makes people feel a chill down their spine.

  "Ah-Nan, you asked me to look up that chemical product. It's an acid. The specimen preparation technician uses it to dissolve the remaining organic matter on the skeleton." Zhang Tong pointed at the skeleton in front of him and muttered softly, "This matches perfectly."

  Sweat gathered on Wang Yan's eyebrows, stinging her eyes. Yet despite this, Wang Yan still stared unwaveringly at the terrifying collection in front of her.

  "Can you identify the production time and gender of these skeletons?"

  Zhang Tong nodded and adjusted the brightness of the emergency light in his hand. Starting from the first display cabinet, he identified each one: "Female, aged between 35 and 38 years old. Has given birth. Judging from the glossiness of the skeleton, it should be around 5 to 10 years ago..." Yan Nan, I found a line of text." Zhang Tong bent down and carefully examined the ankle area of the skeleton. "This was made in 2002..." Zhang Tong suddenly turned around, his face solemn. "Yan Nan, this has the words 'mother' written on it. I think this is likely Huang Zhi Gang's mother. Look, among all the skeletons, only this one is sitting down, placed very carefully, even with artificial flowers..."

  "My goodness! No wonder Professor Ding said that after his sister passed away, she was never heard from again. It turns out she was made into...” She let out a deep sigh and looked up at the special skeleton, unable to say anything for a while.

  There were a total of seven skeletons in the storage cabinet. The meticulous suspect had even labeled each skeleton with the deceased's name and age. Looking at the remaining three empty cabinets that hadn't been filled yet, everyone present understood what it meant.

  Inside the furnace was a thick layer of ash, occasionally mixed with some small bone fragments. It was clear that this was where the suspect had used to dry out the bones. Thinking about the thousands of bones in the cupboard window behind him, all taken out and preserved one by one from here, Zhang Tong's hands couldn't help but tremble slightly.

  Take a closer look at the entire basement. This place is clearly a human hell. Meat hooks hang from the central beam of the room, with faint bloodstains still visible on them. Next to the hooks is a large water tank, emitting a strong bloody smell. The two 20-liter lead buckets beside the tank contain pungent sulfur trioxide, with a thick layer of unknown oily substance floating on the surface. One corner of the basement wall is covered in various knives. No need for testing - the deep bloodstains on their surfaces already reveal that these knives have been used for some terrible things.

  Wang Yan couldn't bear to watch anymore. She took out her phone and dialed the bureau's number: "......Please dispatch a technical team to the scene as soon as possible at No. 38, Bureau Street..."

  Back to the bureau. It's already late at night. But for Zhang Tong, his work has just begun. There are many things to do. Every skeleton brought back from the scene needs to be sorted and identified. Waiting for the DNA test that will arrive soon. The entire autopsy room is busy non-stop. Almost all forensic doctors and assistants have arrived.

  Liu Chunxiao had been lingering at the entrance of the autopsy room for a long time. As soon as he received Zhao Junjie's phone call, he rushed to the bureau. At this moment, he silently gazed through the small transparent glass window on the autopsy room door, watching Zhang Tong's busy back. Recently, whenever Liu Chunxiao had some free time, he would come here and gaze at his beloved woman from a distance. However, he didn't dare get close. Zhang Tong's mental state was still too fragile. Liu Chunxiao feared that his rashness would hurt her. Therefore, he preferred to quietly pay attention from the side.

  Liu Chunxiao's persistence was seen by Zhao Junjie on the side, who shook his head helplessly and thought for a moment before turning back to the criminal police team office.

  "Zhao, you're back so soon." The youngest and most junior member of the criminal police team, Xiao Deng, couldn't help but tease. "Didn't you say you were going to the forensic lab? It's too boring here for you?"

  Zhao Junjie pouted: "Let's go this way instead. There are too many people over there. By the way, haven't you spoken up yet?"

  Xiao Deng shook his head. He spread out both hands: "It's not that easy. Do you think this is a play?"

  "Where is Captain Wang?"

  Still in the interrogation room.

  Wang Yanan was about to lose her patience. Huang Zhigang in front of her had a calm and composed face, no matter what she asked him, he always responded with a disdainful smile.

  "What should we do?" Assistant Zheng Jie whispered into Wang Yan's ear.

  Wang Yanan furrowed her brow, then opened the folder and took out the first photo, pushing it in front of Huang Zhigang: "You should be clearer than us about who she is."

  Huang Zhigang was stunned for a moment, and a hint of panic flashed between his eyebrows. He shifted his gaze away from the photo, still silent.

  "You won't speak up, fine. Let's change the subject then. Tell me about bones. Why do you collect them."

  This question obviously opened Huang Zhigang's mouth. In an instant, his eyes were filled with spirit, and his words became unstoppable.

  "Bones. That's the purest and most precious treasure in the world. It's an incredible substance. As hard as granite, yet lighter than wood. And it has life."

  "Bones have no vitality. You're wrong." Wang Yanan suddenly interrupted him.

  "You're talking nonsense! Bones can make life eternal. They won't rust, they won't rot. It's the continuation of eternal life. Compared to those stinky skin bags that will rot, bones are much more sacred. You don't deserve to talk about bones. You don't understand bones." Huang Zhigang suddenly jumped up like he had been electrocuted, shouting loudly with a hoarse voice. If it weren't for the shiny handcuffs that firmly fixed his hands to the chair, Wang Yanan wouldn't have doubted that Huang Zhigang would angrily rush over to her.

  "Sit down. Be honest." The police officer next to him quickly pushed him back down.

  "So you kept your mother's bones just for this, right?"

  As soon as he heard this, Huang Zhigang's pupils contracted: "Where did you put my mother? You're not allowed to touch her. You're not allowed to touch her..."

  "We can return it to you. However, on one condition. You must tell us why you killed so many innocent women."

  "Alright, I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything. I killed them. The reason is actually very simple. Their bones... were too perfect. Especially at the moment they came out of the oven. Beautiful to the point of being dazzling. You could also say... I gave them eternal life." As he spoke, a faint smile crossed Huang Zhi Gang's lips. His eyes gazed intently ahead.

  Wang Yanan felt a chill run down her spine.

  As she pushed open the door and walked out of the interrogation room, Wang Yanan raised her head to see Zhang Tong and Professor Ding standing in front of her. Her heart sank instantly. This was a moment she least wanted to face.

  "Professor Ya Nan Ding came after receiving the notice to identify the body, which is Huang Zhi Gang's mother. However, before that, he wants to see you first."

  Wang Yan nodded and sighed quietly: "Then come to my office."

  In the evening, Wang Yanan unexpectedly took the initiative to invite Zhang Tong out. In the coffee shop, she didn't speak for half a day and stared blankly with her eyes.

  "Yan, it's been a while since the case was closed. I've never seen you like this before. Are you still upset about what happened with Professor Ding?"

  Wang Ya Nan nodded: "Think about it, my only sister passed away but couldn't rest in peace. Instead, she had to remain in this world in such a special way. Anyone would be unable to understand. Let alone after so many years, I still have to bury my sister's remains with my own hands. And her son became a murderer. Human life is worthless in his eyes. How can an old professor who has dedicated his life to scientific research bear it?" As he spoke, Wang Ya Nan suddenly raised his head and looked at Zhang Tong seriously, asking word by word: "Do you think there are souls in this world?"

  "Your mind moved: "Do you mean..."