Ancient Tomb Curse One

  "Ding ding ding...." The alarm clock rang, Su Yingzhen hurriedly got out of bed, dressed and made herself up. When she appeared in the dining room, her older brother Su Jingxuan took a look at her and asked: "Are you sure you want to go to work looking like that?"

  "Ah." Su Yingzhen looked at the mirror across from the dinner table, and in it stood a slender girl with a thick head of black hair tied up in a ponytail, full of energy and vitality. Her skin was fair, her eyebrows were shaped like willow leaves, and her eyes sparkled like stars. Her long eyelashes fluttered up and down like two small fans, lively and captivating. Her small nose was like a work of art, her mouth slightly upturned with a hint of a smile. Her legs were long and straight, accentuated by the short black skirt that made them look alluring and sensual. The only flaw was that her chest wasn't well-developed, but it didn't detract from her overall beauty - she was still a little beauty.

  The older brother slightly raised his eyebrows and curled up the corners of his mouth into a faint smile, saying nothing more, pointing to the food, indicating that she should eat, while he himself began reading the newspaper.

  Su Yingzhen reported to the Qinghe Street police station today, where she will serve as a female police officer. Just thinking about it is cool! When she appeared in her assigned criminal investigation team, almost all members looked at her with their jaws dropped.

  There were only four members in total. The one sitting against the wall was called Yang Hao, who was around 40 years old and looked ordinary, but had a very kind gaze, known as Old Yang, and everyone in the group called him Uncle Yang. The team leader, Xue Pinhan, was tall and handsome, with an air of elegance, but his eyes were too sharp, and at this moment he was explaining the case to the team members, seeing her come in, knowing she was a new female police officer, coldly looked her up and down, saying: "Next time don't wear it like that, do you think you're here to be a beauty cop?"

  The other two were smiling secretly, one with a buzz cut and looking like a triad member was called Dong Yiqi, the other was elegant and refined, looking like a teacher, his name was Shen Zhiyuan.

  Su Yingzhen stood there, at a loss for what to do. The joy she had felt when she first arrived had completely disappeared, leaving only unease. Old Yang quickly got up to smooth things over: "Alright, it's okay if you don't understand the rules on your first day here, I'll talk to her." Turning his face to Su Yingzhen, he said: "Come sit with me, my surname is Yang, just call me Uncle Yang from now on."

  Su Yingzhen secretly glanced at Xue Pinhan, who still had a sullen face, as if someone owed him money.

  The first team of detectives had just taken over a serial murder case, but they couldn't find any connection between the two deaths. If you insist on finding a common point, it's that there was an ancient tomb in the local area that was excavated by archaeologists. Both people died after the excavation of the ancient tomb. One of them was named Li Huan, a man in his thirties, whose body had severe dehydration and looked like a mummy when he died. The local forensic doctor couldn't determine the time of death, so they could only start counting from the last person who saw him until the body was found, which was exactly one day. As for why the body became like this, the local forensic doctor also couldn't give an answer, and now the body is being sent to the provincial city for examination.

  Another one was Wang Li, a woman in her twenties who died under strange circumstances, being strangled to death by a washing machine with skin torn and flesh burst. The two victims were from the same village, Huaihua Village. Moreover, one person died per day, and the local police were at a loss, so the superior decided to transfer the case to the Criminal Investigation Team, which was renowned throughout the province for solving difficult cases.

  After analyzing the case, the team leader decided to go to the scene. Before leaving, he looked at Su Yingzhen and said, "You don't have to go today." "Why?" "You're not convenient to move around." "How am I not convenient? I'm not wearing high heels." Su Yingzhen argued, she had always loved watching police dramas since childhood, her dream was to be a majestic female police officer, now that it had come true, how could she bear not being allowed to go?

  Xue Pinhan didn't say a word and got on a van parked in the courtyard, Su Yingzhen followed other team members to get on as well.

  They finally arrived at their destination, a remote mountain village. The group first went to the local police station, which was located in the town. The whole town was quiet and deserted. It was early May, but all the houses were closed, even the shops only had a small crack open. Su Yingzhen secretly found it strange and thought that the customs of this place were quite unusual.

  They were received by Li, the director of the local police station, a man in his late fifties. Although he was advanced in years, he was still sharp and capable, with a mind like a razor. Seeing them, he sighed and said, "These recent deaths have got everyone on edge. The villagers are all saying it's the curse of the ancient tomb, avenging itself by killing people. If we don't crack the case soon, who knows what other rumors will start circulating."

  "If it's a tomb murder, why didn't anything happen in other villages? Why did only Huaihua Village have an incident?" Xue Pinhan said disdainfully.

  "It's precisely because they're all from Huaihua Village that it's even more strange." Director Li said in a low voice.

  Xue Pinhan looked at him deeply and said, "First take us to the crime scene."

  Because the second victim was killed at home, they went to Huaihua Village first. Before entering the village, a faint scent of fragrance wafted from afar, and Su Yingzhen looked up to see that the entire village was surrounded by locust trees, which were in full bloom, with white flowers covering the branches like snow. As they entered the village, due to the lush trees, it was surprisingly cool inside, making a group of people who had walked for half a day feel comfortable.

  They arrived at the home of the second deceased, where the large-capacity washing machine that had discovered the body was still in the living room. The lid was opened, and bloodstains could still be seen inside. Xue Pinhan supported his chin with his hand, furrowed his brow, and asked Li Suo: "Are you sure this is the primary crime scene?"

  "Yes. The body didn't have any signs of being moved."

  "This is strange, although it's a large capacity washing machine, it's still impossible to accommodate an adult woman, unless the woman is very small."

  "The deceased's abdomen was very large and also very strong. What you suspect is what we don't understand either. It should be said that it can't hold, but if all the blood flows out, a person would be like a crumpled up piece of clothing with no gaps left."

  "You're saying......"

  Li Shouzhang nodded affirmatively: "The result of our investigation is that the deceased was indeed strangled to death by a washing machine."

  "How much does that woman weigh?" Old Yang interrupted.

  "About 120 catties."

  "A washing machine of this capacity can only hold 35 kilograms in weight. Once exceeded, it is impossible to start, let alone strangle someone to death?"

  "This is also what we can't figure out, and it's been simulated, just as you said, the washing machine automatically stops running when it exceeds 35 kilograms. But the deceased had strangulation injuries on his body, how do you explain that?"

  "Let's go take another look at the body."

  When the mortuary administrator pulled out the corpse from the cold storage drawer, everyone felt like vomiting. Especially Su Yingzhen, whose stomach contents had already surged to her mouth and were swallowed back with great effort. At this moment, she was too weak, and that team leader who looked down on her would probably despise her for the rest of his life.

  The corpse was indeed like a piece of clothing that had been wrung out in the washing machine, twisted into a spiral shape, with its neck twisted several times, and its face turned backwards. The clothes on the body had already been removed by the forensic doctor who performed the autopsy, and not a single patch of skin could be seen on the corpse, just like a skinned pig, even after being frozen, it was still a bloody mess.

  Xue Pinhan furrowed his brow.

  Her stomach churned again, Su Yingzhen couldn't bear it anymore, and she quickly ran out to lean against a tree and vomited until the sky was dark.

  Suddenly, a hand gently patted her back. Turning around, Shen Zhiyuan was smiling at her: "It's always like this the first time, and you'll gradually get used to it afterwards."

  "Uh-huh. You mentioned on the car that your name is Shen Zhiyuan, right? Without calmness, one cannot make his ambition clear; without serenity, one cannot reach far. This name sounds really good."

  "It's time for work! Not a time for romance!" came Xue Pinhan's angry roar from not far away.

  The two of them quickly returned to their team.

  "Why don't you take a look at the first deceased?" Su Yingzhen found it strange that they wanted to leave the morgue.

  Xue Pinhan walked ahead with his head held high and chest out, without even giving her a glance.

  "The body is not here, it has been sent to the provincial capital for examination." Old Yang said in a low voice.

  "Beautiful girl, you'd better not catch his eye here," Dong Yiqi leaned over and said in a low voice: "Otherwise, he'll find fault with you and make you roll out of here in three days."

  "Why? Does he have a grudge against me?"

  "He doesn't have a grudge against you, but against women... no, it should be female police officers. You don't know, his master was the former head of our criminal investigation team, who was dragged to death by his junior sister during a mission. Later, several female police officers came and their quality was too poor, they didn't even have the ability, but still wanted us to divide our attention to take care of them..."

  At this point, Su Yingzhen's eyebrows stood up vigilantly and interrupted his words: "Are you saying that I will become a burden to you, needing your care?"

  Dong Yi Qi smiled mischievously at her and said: "However, taking care of you is something I'm more than happy to do."

  "No need!" Su Yingzhen's face turned gloomy as she walked quickly forward.

  Back at the temporary residence and office arranged by Director Li for them, Xue Pinhan spoke up, "Everyone, please state your opinions."

  "It's possible that it was done by the same person," Shen Zhiyuan spoke first: "Because the deceased were all from the same village, it's likely that they all had a grudge against the murderer."

  "It's impossible! The second victim was killed when her husband was at home. How could the murderer have committed the crime?" Dong Yiqi retorted.

  "One house inside and one house outside."

  "No matter what, I'll still hear some noise."

  "But how did the murderer kill?" Old Yang took over, "The first body will become like a mummy within a day, I've been a policeman for so many years and it's still the first time I've heard of it. As for the second victim, her death is too suspicious. Firstly, how did she get into the washing machine? Was someone else pushing her in? Why wasn't there any sign of struggle? Moreover, her husband was at home, if that's really what happened, then why didn't he hear anything?"

  "It's possible that it was her husband who did it. The report said that at the time, he was the only one at the scene, and he was also the one who discovered the body. We went to his house but he didn't show up. Why didn't he show up? Is he feeling guilty?" Shen Zhiyuan said.

  "It's possible he lured the victim in and then slammed the lid shut and pressed the button." Dong Yiqi added.

  "Provided the washing machine can be started," Old Yang reminded, "and even if her husband really wanted to kill her, he wouldn't use this method, would he? That's too easy for us to suspect him."

  Xue Pinhan looked around and fixed his gaze on Su Yingzhen: "That new guy, aren't you usually quite talkative? Why are you mute now?"