Chapter 1: Strange Phenomena in the Underworld

  Chen Zhenhua listened to the old policeman's account of the dead person in the abandoned factory, and he had already begun working, silently analyzing the case like Sherlock Holmes: a woman, without any injuries on her body, no signs of struggle on the ground, her clothes were intact and not disheveled at all, it was clear that she was not raped, so the possibility of rape could be ruled out. Then, why would a woman come to this desolate and cold place in the middle of the night? It's worth noting that this area around the abandoned factory is usually deserted!

  He worked quietly in front of the old policeman and in the crowd, working silently, his brain rapidly analyzing the case and various possibilities, but he couldn't make sense of it!

  The police carefully investigated the scene, hoping to find clues that would help crack the case. After a long time, they seemed to have gained nothing and left, and the body was also taken away, apparently to be handed over to forensic experts for autopsy.

  Chen Zhenhua saw two police officers carrying a stretcher with the body from the ruins, covered in white cloth, unable to see who the deceased was. He stared at the white cloth covering the body, as if he could see through it and see the body underneath, his eyes following the two police officers carrying the body, his expression tense, as if his soul had also been taken away.

  But unfortunately, he never saw the corpse!

  He couldn't see the body clearly, and Chen Zhenhua felt a little anxious. He really wanted to rush up and lift the white cloth covering the body to take a look at who it was, but could he do that? Would the police understand his abnormal behavior? It's possible that as soon as he rushed up, the police would immediately grab him and lock him up as a suspect, because right now they didn't have any leads.

  He struggled to restrain himself from being too impulsive, his two hands tightly clasped together, with sweat seeping out of his palms, and his long fingernails, filled with black mud, deeply embedded in the flesh on the back of his hand, his teeth clenched, he restrained himself like this.

  At last, the police all left, and the onlookers who had gathered to watch the commotion also dispersed, satisfied. Perhaps for them, after a while, they would forget that they had witnessed a bizarre murder case in this abandoned place today, and each would continue to hustle and bustle with their own lives.

  But there is one person who may never forget this day, and that is Chen Zhenhua. He likes to crack cases and fantasizes about being as clever and handsome as the actors playing police officers on TV. As long as the case remains unsolved for a single day, he will not give up and will constantly think about the case; if he finds clues or catches the killer, he will often bring it up in conversation, telling everyone he meets to show off his unparalleled wisdom.

  So he will never forget this day.

  The crowd had dispersed, and he too was preoccupied with the case as he walked home in a gloomy mood. Judging from his worried expression, the deceased seemed like one of his own family members.

  He went into the house and was still thinking about why this woman was killed, why there were no clues on her body, or why nothing could be found at the scene.

  At noon, he had to go to work and had already taken a day off. If he didn't go to the office again, his leader would be unhappy.

  The section he swept was near the police station.

  At the police station entrance, he couldn't help but peek in, and if someone didn't know him, they would have thought he was a thief.

  Two police officers were chatting as they walked out of the police station, laughing and talking. He heard one of them mention the female corpse, and more importantly, he heard that the woman's body was being kept in a temporary morgue at the police station, waiting for an autopsy by a forensic doctor.

  Upon hearing the news, he was overcome with excitement, and his strong desire to know the answer made him feel like bursting into the police station several times. With the broom grasped in his hand, he suddenly felt it had transformed into a long gun, just like those used by the police, and this gun would allow him to freely enter the police station.

  However, a ringing sound brought him back to reality. One of his colleagues was pushing a trash cart and shaking a bell as if driving away zombies, coming towards him. The two sat down at the corner of the police station's courtyard wall to chat. He could only sigh that he was born in the wrong time, and lamented his bad luck. He had no mood to chat with his colleague, so he just kept nodding while his colleague complained about the hardships of work and low wages, but he didn't hear a word.

  After work, he returned to the dormitory in the late afternoon, lying on the bed and sighing. He had been thinking about the murder case that happened yesterday all day without stopping for a moment.

  He finally decided to go take a look at the ruins, he wanted to check the scene himself, whether it was because the police couldn't find the answer due to negligence or the police were careless and couldn't find any clues. Not all police officers are trustworthy, he thought.

  He changed into a clean set of clothes, washed his face, and then quietly went to the ruins.

  The sky gradually darkened, the night slowly dimmed, and all around was quiet. The mountains were a vast expanse of deathly stillness, and the icy mountain wind made a mournful "whoooo" sound. The entire dark night seemed to envelop him like a huge demon.

  He was a little scared, and even the occasional bird call could make him break out in a cold sweat. If it weren't for his curiosity driving him forward, he would have turned back long ago.

  When he arrived at the ruins, he cautiously peeked inside with a thief's air, his heart racing. The broken doors and windows of the ruins stared at him like the black eye sockets of a demon, as if ghosts and monsters would burst out from them at any moment and swallow him whole.

  A gentle breeze blows, and the fallen leaves on the mountain rustle softly.

  The police tape was still wrapped around the ruins, and it seemed unlikely that anyone else would be as interested in the recent murder case as he was. Only he came, and he also believed that only he had the qualifications to come, because not everyone possessed unparalleled wisdom, nor did everyone have a detective mind.

  After wandering around the ruins for a while, he finally made up his mind to step into the ruins and came to what he thought was the scene of the crime. Then he took out the flashlight that had been prepared long ago and searched "carpet-style" in the ruins.

  He is indeed serious, slowly and carefully searching on the ground, not even willing to miss a speck of dust. Every single nail he picks up and examines for half a day, every stone he carefully ponders, every pile of dirt he seriously analyzes the shape, in short, he really looks like a policeman.

  He was now in the innermost room of the ruins, with walls on all sides that were crumbling and covered in spider webs. In one corner, a spider's thread hung down from the center of the ceiling, with a spider dangling at the end, swaying back and forth.

  He first "examined" the broken walls on all four sides, but found no clues that could help with the case. Then he lowered his head and squatted on the ground, simulating in his mind the scene of the woman's death.

  Why did the woman come to this desolate and eerie ruin in the dead of night? Was she kidnapped and brought here? But if she was, when would the perpetrator have done so? Although it's quiet and secluded in these mountains, this area is still relatively lively with people coming and going at all times. Moreover, there are streetlights nearby that stay on throughout the night, making it unlikely for someone to carry a person on their shoulders without drawing attention. Even if no one else saw them, the woman would have screamed and struggled. So, it's impossible that she was carried here in such a manner. If she was stuffed into a large sack and carried here, where is the sack? And wouldn't a living person struggle before being harmed? Even a weak and timid woman would put up some resistance, but there are no signs of struggle here. Since neither of these possibilities seems likely, did the woman come here of her own accord? Why would she do that? Is it possible that she had an illicit relationship with someone? This is the only reason that seems plausible - perhaps she was having an affair and arranged to meet her lover here, but they got into a dispute and he ended up killing her in a fit of rage. However, even if this were true, wouldn't she have struggled unless she didn't expect her lover to turn on her?

  He searched for clues while analyzing the various possibilities of the woman's misfortune, his eyes wide with fear of missing a single important thread.

  But he still didn't gain anything.

  "Oh God, after thinking so much, is this really the first scene? His brain suddenly produced such a question. He sat on the ground pondering this question."

  But in an instant, he overturned this idea again, the reason is that he clearly heard the scream, how sharp and clear the sound was.

  It was late at night, and he felt a bit tired. The ruins now looked more like a solitary grave, and even he himself felt as if he had been buried in this "grave" too. So, he gave up the idea of continuing to search for clues in the ruins and walked out of the ruins towards his dormitory.

  He passed by the police station again, and he couldn't help but glance at the gate of the police station once more, and his feet also stopped involuntarily.

  He stood still for a long time, and then he actually walked around the wall of the police station several times. Finally, he stopped outside the temporary morgue wall. He knew that where he was standing was just outside the morgue wall. A policeman had once asked him to come to the police station to clean up, so he remembered that the morgue was inside this wall.

  That's the morgue, and the woman's body is inside, he was very sure.

  It would be great if I could take a look at the corpse, there must be something valuable on it! He sighed and muttered to himself.

  Go take a look?!

  He thought of these words and suddenly a bold and almost foolish idea flashed through his mind - he wanted to sneak into the police station's morgue.

  He thought of sneaking in, and even he himself was almost surprised, but what people fear is that they have curiosity, let alone him not only having curiosity, but more importantly, he really wanted to crack the case, and had already become obsessed.

  Once he has all these, he dares to rush into the police station, let alone the underworld.

  He then looked for ways to sneak into the police station.

  He paced back and forth outside the courtyard walls, walking like a ghost, his eyes scanning all around, waiting for an opportunity to strike like a thief.

  At last, his chance had come. The wall of the police station had a short section that was lower than the rest, which he could easily climb over. What's more, as he stood in front of this low wall, he could clearly see that one of the windows on the inner wall was old and worn out. The railing on the window was almost falling off, hanging crookedly on the wall, making a monotonous and tired "creaking" sound in the wind. It looked like it would fall off with just a slight pull.

  This is what heaven has ordained, he thought.

  Then he immediately took action, first looking around to see if anyone was nearby, and after confirming that there was no problem, he grasped the courtyard wall with both hands, rubbed his feet against the wall a few times, and slipped in with a flash of movement. The movements were quite agile and neat.

  He slipped inside the courtyard wall and crept stealthily towards the window.

  He gently tried it with his hand, the railing was loose, and mud and sand rolled down. So he pulled hard, and the railing really left the cold wall of the police station, being put in the corner of the courtyard by him mercilessly.

  He finally crawled into the house, which happened to be a morgue. No wonder the police station's doors and windows were broken and they didn't care. They thought who would dare to break into the police station, even if someone dared to come and steal, it wouldn't be stupid enough to steal a corpse.

  However, the police did not expect that someone would really sneak into the police station, and the purpose was the corpse.

  The mortuary was filled with the stench of formalin and was very cold, so cold that Chen Zhenhua's upper and lower teeth were chattering. He put his hands to his mouth and blew a few breaths to warm them up. Then he started "working", searching for the woman's corpse.

  It was fortunate that there were only two corpses in the morgue at the moment, one male and one female. The people who died in the ruins all said it was a woman, so he determined that the female corpse in the morgue was the one he was looking for.

  He lifted the white cloth covering the corpse, which was still intact on a platform. The forensic doctor had not dissected it yet.

  "This is how the police handle things? Dragging their feet." He sneered and began examining the corpse.

  The woman's corpse was not wearing clothes, lying naked on the table. Chen Zhenhua had never seen a woman's body before, and now that he did, his cheeks turned bright red, his heart racing, and his blood rushing up.

  However, this was just a brief moment, he shook his head to clear his mind and then carefully examined it.

  The woman's body didn't show any signs of trauma, only her eyes were wide open, as if she had seen something terrifying before she died. He let out a sigh and was about to give up.

  But little did he expect that just as he was about to cover it with a white cloth and leave, he saw something that finally gave him a thrilling clue.