Uncanny Valley - Chapter 2
"Exhausted mentally?" Luo Fei muttered to himself, somewhat puzzled. In all his years as a police officer, this was the first time he'd seen those four words on an autopsy report.
Zhang Yu anticipated his doubts and explained earnestly, "To put it simply, this person died from running. After graduating from the university of science and technology, he was in a state of near-frantic running without stopping until his heart could no longer bear the load, and he finally collapsed and died suddenly."
"You mean, he ran more than ten kilometers in less than forty minutes?" Luo Fei grinned incredulously.
Zhang Yu nodded: "That's right. This kind of exercise load completely exceeded his physical limits, which ultimately led to his death. It's not surprising."
"But how could a perfectly healthy person die from running themselves to death?"
Zhang Yu helplessly spread his hands: "Answering this question is your job."
Luo Fei stood there blankly, his mind a complete mess.
Why was Yu Ziqiang running like that? He couldn't think of a reasonable answer.
Could it be true, as Xu Ting said, that there is an incredibly terrifying demon chasing after him?
Part Two: The Fearful Ostrich
The wedding held at the Jinhua Hotel this afternoon was somewhat special.
The newlyweds were a young couple of Korean ethnicity, so the wedding ceremony was imbued with rich ethnic customs. The two tables of immediate family members seated at the front of the hall were all dressed in matching Korean traditional clothing, a striking display of red and green.
After a few rounds of drinks, the atmosphere in the hall became lively. Encouraged by the guests, the bride and groom went to the front of the room and danced hand in hand with their relatives and friends, singing along. The singing and dancing seemed to have a powerful infectious quality; soon, several other couples from the same clan rose from their tables and danced beside the newlyweds. A joyful mood spread, filling the entire hall.
The Han Chinese guests, accustomed to vulgar wedding games and pranks, naturally felt a sense of joy in this wedding atmosphere. Although they weren't as skilled in singing and dancing as the Korean men and women, they drank and chatted happily, enjoying themselves immensely.
Everyone was very happy; their physical and mental state seemed to have never been better than today.
People were singing, dancing, laughing, and drinking; everyone was indulging in joy, except for Chen Bin.
This was a young man, not yet thirty, who was the groom's college classmate. He had come to Longzhou on a business trip and happened to arrive at this banquet. At this moment, he was looking around at the crowd with a strange expression, his breathing rapid and irregular.
He hadn't drunk much, but for some reason, he felt a sense of oppression in his chest. This feeling was gradually intensifying, and he was starting to lose control of his emotions.
Staying any longer might lead to an embarrassing situation. Chen Bin propped himself up and quickly walked towards the bathroom.
The people attending the wedding banquet were not very familiar with each other, and in such a noisy atmosphere, no one paid attention to Chen Bin's departure, nor did anyone wonder why he had not returned.
Two hours later, the wedding banquet ended and the guests left. It was only when the hotel staff were cleaning the restrooms that they discovered Chen Bin again; by then, he was a cold corpse.
When Luo Fei received the report from Jinhua Hotel, he was staring blankly at the photos of Yu Ziqiang's death scene in his office. Upon hearing that another bizarre death had occurred, Luo Fei immediately gathered Zhang Yu and others, and they rushed to the scene without stopping.
The hotel manager was already anxiously waiting for the police to arrive outside the restroom. Upon seeing Luo Fei and his group, he rushed forward, exclaiming, "How could such a thing happen? This is so strange, so very strange!"
He shook his large head repeatedly, looking incredulous.
Luo Fei didn't need to waste words with him. He simply nodded politely and then asked directly, "Who was the first eyewitness?"
"Me," a middle-aged man dressed as a cleaner replied.
"Come in with us, the rest of you wait outside," Luo Fei said as he led the way into the restroom.
The cleaner followed at the back, pointing to a cubicle at the very end and saying, "The person is in there. You can see for yourselves. It's quite creepy."
Luo Fei stepped forward and gently pulled open the slightly ajar wooden door, revealing a bizarre scene before him.
A man was kneeling in front of the toilet in the stall, his hands tightly gripping the edge of the toilet, his joints and muscles tense, as if he was using all his strength to accomplish something.
His posture made it easy to guess what he wanted to do, but the answer was incomprehensible.
Luo Fei couldn't help but turn to look at Zhang Yu beside him, and found that the other's eyes were also full of doubt.
"Could it be...could it be that he wants to crawl into the toilet?" Zhang Yu murmured to herself after a moment.
Zhang Yu's words sounded utterly absurd, yet that was indeed the first impression everyone present had.
The man was bent over with his buttocks raised high and his head deeply embedded in the toilet. Although his muscles were already stiff, it was clear that until his last moment before death, he was still trying to push his head even deeper!
At this point, the cleaner began to recount how he discovered the deceased: "Around 2 PM, the wedding guests left, and I came over to clean. The door to this small room was locked from the inside, so I assumed someone was using it. After cleaning the rest of the room, I waited at the door. But more than half an hour passed, and no one came out. I was a little puzzled, so I tried knocking, but no one answered. I then peered through the door and saw a person kneeling motionless on the floor. I knew something was wrong, so I quickly kicked the door open. The person was in the same position as he was now. I tried to pull him up, but he was tucked in tightly, and I couldn't move him by myself. Later, our manager came over and said to me: 'Don't try to pull him up, he's already dead. You should call the police!'"
While the cleaner was speaking, Luo Fei remained silent, but his eyes were keenly scanning his surroundings. His first focus was on the latch on the cubicle door. It was a common bolt lock, meaning it could only be opened and closed from the inside. The partition around the cubicle was over a meter high, and there were no footholds nearby, making it seem difficult to climb. Based on these observations and the cleaner's description, it was possible to rule out the possibility of other people being inside the cubicle at the time of the incident.
Without waiting for instructions, assistant Xiao Liu had already carefully taken photos of the scene. After this step was completed, Luo Fei and Zhang Yu entered the bathroom and went to the deceased's side.
The victim's head was completely embedded in the toilet bowl, so the only part of his body exposed was his hands. Those hands alone were enough to leave a lasting impression!
Although the skin was already ice-cold and the blood had stopped flowing, those ten fingers were still tightly gripping the edge of the toilet. The knuckles on the back of the hand were prominent, and the veins were bulging; the power they held seemed capable of crushing anything in them!
In fact, not only his hands, but his entire body was filled with a terrifying power. Even though he had been dead for a long time, that power had not disappeared. It kept the deceased's body firmly connected to the hard toilet seat, making it difficult to separate them.
Not to mention the cleaner, it took Luo Fei and Zhang Yuhe, working up a sweat, to finally loosen the stiff body a little.
Slowly, slowly, as the body turned over, the deceased's head gradually came into view.
Because the body had been submerged in the water at the bottom of the toilet for a long time, the deceased's facial skin had turned a sickly pale white, making his wide-open eyes appear exceptionally blood red!
The extremely protruding, bloodshot eyes recorded the deceased's last emotions left in the world. The sewage from the toilet slid down the hairline from the forehead and across the eye sockets, giving the illusion that the deceased was crying.
Luo Fei's gaze lingered on the face for a long time. He seemed to be able to faintly hear the dying sobs of the deceased, a non-human sound filled with despair and fear.
While Luo Fei was having an emotional exchange with the deceased, Zhang Yu was conducting a preliminary examination of the cause of death.
When they first received the report, Luo Fei and Zhang Yu speculated whether it was an accident caused by intoxication. Given the location and the surrounding environment, this was indeed the most likely hypothesis. Therefore, Zhang Yu had brought a portable breathalyzer, which came in handy at this point.
Tests revealed that the deceased's blood alcohol content was 12 mg/100 mL, equivalent to a person with a normal alcohol tolerance drinking a glass of beer or about eight qian (approximately 40 ml) of baijiu (Chinese liquor). Clearly, this amount of alcohol is far from enough to cause intoxication.
However, the cause of death was not difficult to determine. There were mushroom-shaped bubbles around the deceased's mouth and nose, and pinpoint hemorrhages under the conjunctiva of the eyes. Based on the situation at the scene, Zhang Yu gave a preliminary conclusion: "This person drowned."
“Drowning?” This was clearly unexpected for Luo Fei.
“Yes. He desperately tried to crawl into the toilet, his entire face submerged in water, and ultimately he suffocated to death,” Zhang Yu said, shaking his head slightly. He knew very well that the scene he was describing could only be described as “absurd.”
However, the circumstances at the crime scene truly brought this absurd scene back to life for everyone.
"What exactly is he trying to do?" Zhang Yu muttered to herself, then gave a self-deprecating bitter laugh, "Is there gold in this toilet seat?"
Luo Fei lowered his head slightly, his brows furrowed in a deep frown. His left arm was crossed in front of his chest, his right elbow rested on his left wrist, and his right index finger and thumb were spread in an "8" shape, lightly pinching his chin. Those familiar with Luo Fei knew that this indicated he was deep in thought.
Zhang Yu, Xiao Liu, and the others all remained silent, afraid of disturbing his train of thought. In the ensuing silence, everyone waited anxiously.
After a long while, Luo Fei finally raised his head, his gaze returning to the face of the deceased, and then he uttered a single word slowly but solemnly: "Ostrich."
"What?" Zhang Yu wondered if she had misheard.
"Ostrich," Luo Fei emphasized again, "a fearful ostrich!"
The others in the room looked at each other, still unable to understand Luo Fei's meaning.
“When danger comes and there is no way to avoid it, an ostrich buries its head in the sand. This method of self-preservation is undoubtedly full of sorrow and despair.” Luo Fei sighed softly and returned to the main point, “This person is like a fearful ostrich.”
Zhang Yu understood Luo Fei's meaning: "You mean, he encountered something terrifying, and with nowhere to escape, extreme fear caused him to bury his head in the toilet?"
"If he could, he would crawl his whole body inside," Luo Fei said calmly. His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a deep chill.
A chill ran down the spines of everyone present. Before them, the face of the deceased was contorted, and an eerie and terrifying atmosphere emanated from his wide-open eyes, seeping into the hearts of each person.
"But what exactly is he afraid of?" Zhang Yu looked around blankly.
This is also the question Luo Fei is pondering. What kind of horrific scene unfolded in this confined space that made a young man suffocate to death without daring to expose his head?
Apart from the corpse, there seemed to be nothing strange or unusual in the bathroom. Yet, the eerie and terrifying atmosphere was so real, permeating every corner of the space!
Part Three: The Devil's Feet
After leaving the Jinhua Hotel, Zhang Yu and his assistant took the deceased's body back to the forensic center to further determine the details of the death. Luo Fei, Xiao Liu, and others split up to interview the guests who had sat at the same table as Chen Bin at the wedding banquet, hoping to find some valuable clues from them.
But the result was disappointing:
"Chen Bin? I don't know him... Oh, you mean that young man with the buzz cut? I haven't really paid attention to him, I only drank with him once at the beginning of the banquet, we clinked glasses once. What happened to him?"
“Yes, he was sitting next to me, and we chatted for a bit. He’s not a local. I don’t know when he left, but he left early. Was there anything unusual? It shouldn’t be like that, right? Everyone was so happy at the time.”
"Chen...Chen Bin? Do you...do you know him or not? We're all...we're all buddies! Call him over...let's have a few more drinks...who's drunk? You...you're the one who's drunk!"
...
Among the guests at that table, not one was familiar with Chen Bin before, nor did anyone notice when or why he left the banquet. Everyone was immersed in the joyful atmosphere of the wedding banquet, and even when Luo Fei found them, their faces were still filled with uncontrollable joy and excitement.
Luo Fei's condition was completely opposite to theirs. A whole day of fruitless running around had left him exhausted, both physically and mentally. After dinner, he took a short nap, which helped him recover some of his energy and spirit. He began to try to figure out the two strange events that had occurred that day, but he couldn't find any clues, which made him somewhat irritable and frustrated.
Realizing he was in a bad state, Luo Fei decided to put the case aside for now and calm down to clear his head. He opened the window and felt the fresh evening breeze, which lifted his spirits considerably. Then, with his hands behind his back, he strolled leisurely around the room.
Completely subconsciously, he finally stopped in front of the bookshelf in the corner of the room. Among the dazzling array of books, a large copy of "The Complete Sherlock Holmes" stood out.
This book has been with Luo Fei since his middle school days, for over ten years now. It could even be said that the stories in this book sparked Luo Fei's fascination with criminal investigation, ultimately leading him to apply to police academy and embark on his later career path. At this moment, Luo Fei pulled the complete collection from a row of books and gently stroked the cover in his hands.
His movements were incredibly gentle, showing how much he cherished the book; and his expression was so focused, as if he were having some kind of timeless conversation with the legendary character in the book.
Suddenly, his brows furrowed slightly, and his hands stopped moving. Then he turned his head, and his previously relaxed thought process began to spin rapidly again.
Clearly, he had thought of something, and a moment later, he called Zhang Yu and asked her to come to his office immediately.
Although Zhang Yu hadn't worked with Luo Fei for long, he was already used to Luo Fei's way of doing things. Half an hour later, he arrived, and Luo Fei was already sitting at his desk waiting for him.
Luo Fei gestured for Zhang Yu to sit down opposite him. Then he got straight to the point and asked, "Any updates from your side?"
"Basically, it's still the same. Chen Bin's cause of death can be confirmed as drowning, and as you said, like Yu Ziqiang, he suffered a great shock before he died."
"Hmm." Luo Fei nodded, and after a moment of silence, he asked again, "So what are your thoughts now?"
"I believe these two deaths can be investigated together."
“From a forensic perspective, it is indeed possible.” Luo Fei initially expressed some agreement, but then changed the subject, “However, from a criminal investigation perspective, merging the cases presents too many problems. First, the two victims, one a student from the Polytechnic Institute and the other a business traveler from out of town, have no similarities or connections in terms of social roles or personal networks; secondly, the crime scenes at the Polytechnic Institute and the Jinhua Hotel are completely different, and they are also very far apart; and the motive? That’s even more perplexing to me. You could say that the only connection between the two cases is what you just mentioned: both victims had experienced trauma before their deaths.”
“But this is precisely the most perplexing part.” Zhang Yu shook his head with a wry smile. “I’ve been a forensic doctor for so many years, what kind of terrifying scenes haven’t I seen? I really can’t think of anything that could scare a living person like that.”
“It’s really hard to imagine.” Luo Fei looked up, stroking the stubble on his chin as he pondered something. Then he suddenly asked a question that seemed completely unrelated to the case, “Do you read Sherlock Holmes?”
“Sherlock Holmes?” Zhang Yu was slightly taken aback. “You’ve read some of it, but not the whole thing.”
Luo Fei leaned forward, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the other man: "Do you remember the eighth story in 'The Complete Sherlock Holmes Stories'—'The Last Bow'?"
Zhang Yu smiled awkwardly and then shook her head.
Luo Fei raised his eyebrows, revealing a disappointed expression. Then he leaned back in his chair, organized his thoughts, and began to explain to the other person some of the plot points that had appeared in that famous work.
"In Conan Doyle's novels, the 'devil's foot' is a peculiar plant that grows in Africa. Its root is half human foot and half sheep's foot, hence its strange name. Of course, its horror doesn't stem from its name. When burned, this plant releases a poisonous fumes that can induce terrifying hallucinations in those who inhale it. In the novels, the murderer uses this to terrify his victim to death."
"Hallucination?" Zhang Yu realized something. "You think the two victims in the case were also experiencing hallucinations because they were surprised?"
"Besides that, I really can't find a better explanation." Luo Fei's tone revealed a hint of helplessness.
"What caused the hallucinations? The Devil's Foot? That's just a plot in a novel." Zhang Yu's thoughts were sparked, and various questions arose one after another. "If someone deliberately caused it, what was the motive? And there were many people present at the time, why were they the only ones experiencing terrifying hallucinations?"
Faced with Zhang Yu's series of questions, Luo Fei laughed frankly and replied, "I don't know either. In fact, I invited you here because I wanted your help. After all, you're a medical student. Think about it carefully: could the plots in the novel possibly happen in reality? If so, what methods would be used, what drugs would be used, and what would be the psychiatric mechanism behind hallucinations? These are all things I urgently want to know."
Zhang Yu spread his hands: "I'm not capable of answering these questions for you." But after pondering for a moment, he said, "I do think of someone; perhaps you should consult him."