Ba ethnic group's bewitching charm - the executioner - Chapter 39
The small boat paddled onto the beach. Qin Ge hesitated for a moment, but still abandoned Chu Yan in the boat and hurried towards the back mountain. On the way, he encountered uniformed staff. He first showed his police ID from a distance, then handed them his business card and loudly urged them to call the police immediately.
The staff member was a bit slow-witted, but eventually took out his phone and made a call.
Qin Ge climbed the mountain from the foot of the bathing area, and although he was exhausted, he still ran as fast as he could. After about 20 minutes, he could finally see Xingxiu Terrace. Qin Ge's legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground. After getting up, he didn't have time to think and continued running forward. There was no one below Xingxiu Terrace, and Qin Ge had a vague feeling that something was wrong. If Ma Nan was still on the cliff, he would definitely have seen him row the small boat to the bathing area. Even if he didn't go down the mountain immediately, he wouldn't have stayed there.
Upon reaching the Starry Sky Platform, he found it deserted and empty. Ma Nan was nowhere to be seen on the cliff edge ahead. Qin Ge's taut nerves finally gave way, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud. Only then did he realize his legs felt heavier than lead, and his right leg burned with pain. Lifting his wet trouser leg, he saw tiny specks of blood seeping from it.
Where did Ma Nan go?
Qin Ge still held a sliver of hope. If Ma Nan went down the mountain to the bathhouse, he might have gotten separated from him on the way. When Ma Nan arrived at the bathhouse, he would surely find the small boat and Chu Yan on it. Perhaps he would be waiting for Qin Ge to return there.
Qin Ge was exhausted. He tried to stand up, but his legs trembled and he finally collapsed to the ground. Just then, he noticed some light on another observatory opposite him.
It's important to understand that although the sun had already risen, there was a low wall on the seaward side of the observatory, and the rising sun, due to its angle, couldn't yet illuminate all corners. The light Qin Ge saw came from the ground of another observatory.
Qin Ge felt puzzled, but he rested for a while before slowly standing up, descending the steps, walking through the passageway, and heading towards the observatory. From afar, he could already see the glowing object on the ground; it was actually a laptop computer.
He and Ma Nan had just been there, so the computer must have appeared after he jumped off the cliff. That means someone else was on this observatory while he was swimming towards the boat in the sea.
It's not surprising that people come; every city has its share of people with excess energy, and watching the sunrise is a romantic and fashionable activity among young people. But no matter who it is, they wouldn't leave their laptop here.
As Qin Ge pondered this, she slowly climbed the steps of the observatory.
When he reached the computer and bent down, he had no more doubts about what had happened.
The laptop was already open, with a video window on the desktop. In the window, a man was bound to a chair, a black cloth bag over his head. Qin Ge's blood boiled at the sight; he already knew what was about to happen.
The Ba people have been here, so Manan's disappearance must be related to them.
They left the laptop so that he could witness another killing.
Having been a police officer for so many years, Qin Ge had never seen such an arrogant murderer before. Not only did he commit a series of crimes, but he also filmed the process and sent the videos to the criminal investigation team. Now, he had even gone so far as to have a police officer watch the murder process.
Qin Ge's chest heaved, his anger making him almost unable to control himself. If the stories Ma Nan told him about the Ba people had given him some sympathy for them, now he only wanted to take them all down.
The laptop has a wireless network card plugged in, and it's clearly receiving remote video feeds. Perhaps due to network speed issues, the video is slightly delayed and appears choppy.
At this moment, the masked "executioner" finally appeared on screen.
He stood behind the bound man, unsure whether he was hesitating or waiting for something. Qin Ge stared nervously at the screen, knowing what a police officer should do at this moment, but he could only watch helplessly.
He felt ashamed.
The executioner in the scene finally began his killing spree. This time, he held a chisel upright above the victim's head, and then suddenly swung a hammer, smashing it down on the chisel. The bound man convulsed for a moment, then became still.
Qin Ge's heart raced, and she could clearly hear her own heavy breathing.
Killing someone is actually a very simple thing, but for most people, it is a chasm they can hardly cross in their lifetime. Because the burden of murder is too heavy. However, once you break free of those burdens, killing becomes easy, it becomes a habit. Most serial killers go through a painful decision-making process when they commit their first murder. Their horror lies in their ability to quickly, or after some time, discard that guilt and find peace of mind.
The executioner must be that kind of person; if he isn't found in time, he will surely kill even more people.
Qin Ge thought the video was over and was about to close his laptop when suddenly, his eyes widened. The masked executioner did something that surprised him greatly—he actually ripped off his mask.
The image was slightly blurry and not very clear, but Qin Ge still recognized him at a glance.
He was Yang Zheng, the photographer from that photography studio in the back alley. Qin Ge had met him not long ago because he recognized the first victim in the Detective's series of murders.
The executioner was actually him? Qin Ge was somewhat surprised, but the facts left him no room for doubt, as he had just witnessed the entire murder. However, Qin Ge wondered, why did Yang Zheng tear off his mask at the end?
The scene hadn't ended yet. Yang Zheng's next action was to untie the rope around the deceased's neck and remove the cloth bag from his head. In the footage, Yang Zheng appears stunned, then turns his face towards the camera, his expression turning extremely angry. He seems to be shouting something, but Qin Ge can't hear anything.
Why is Yang Zheng so angry after killing someone? His expression is as if he has been fooled.
Qin Ge vaguely recognized the man who was killed, but couldn't quite place where she had seen him before.
Qin Ge was utterly perplexed, realizing that there must be some other conspiracy hidden behind this. The Detective's Murder Case differed from other serial murder cases; the Detective came from an ancient tribe, and besides the killings, they bore another, more important mission: to retrieve the tribe's stolen sacred artifact. Although Qin Ge couldn't yet connect the murders with the treasure hunt, the fact that their opponents were the Ba people themselves meant he couldn't afford to be careless.
The faint sound of police sirens could be heard from down the mountain, clearly indicating that the staff of the bathhouse had called the police.
Qin Ge sighed, feeling that this night had truly been long.
At that moment, the screen on the laptop stopped displaying images. Qin Ge wearily leaned against the low wall and sat down, his head drooping, his eyes slowly closing involuntarily. He knew he definitely wouldn't be able to sleep, but his eyelids just wouldn't close.
His consciousness was somewhat hazy when suddenly he heard someone call his name. He opened his eyes and saw Helan.
Didn't Helan go back to her hometown for the Spring Festival? How did she end up on this Starry Sky Platform? Qin Ge wondered if he was hallucinating from exhaustion, until Helan came up and grabbed his arm, calling his name urgently over and over again.
Qin Ge forced a smile and said, "I'm fine, I'm sleepy, I want to go to sleep."
Helan visibly breathed a sigh of relief, as if Qin Ge's earlier appearance had frightened her, and now that Qin Ge was unharmed, she finally felt relieved.
As his comrades arrived one after another, Qin Ge rallied and briefly recounted the events of the night. He Lan told him that the woman in the small boat was still unconscious and had been taken to the hospital for treatment. Qin Ge asked He Lan to take the laptop back and ask the comrades in the network department to help search for clues. He also instructed the other comrades in the team to survey the area around Xingxiutai to see if they could find any clues about Ma Nan.
Following the others down the mountain, and back in the car, Qin Ge felt there was still something he hadn't done.
As the car started moving, he racked his brains and finally came up with an idea. He asked Helan for her phone and called the folklore expert named Gao Wei. Gao Wei was woken up by his call in the early morning and hadn't gone back to sleep. When he received another call from Qin Ge, he immediately asked him what he was doing at Xingxiutai in the middle of the night.
“This is hard to explain over the phone. Please take a day off today and come to Xingxiutai. We have a case here, but the leads just go cold at Xingxiutai. Come and take a look and see if you can find anything.”
“I’ve been to Xingxiutai at least eight times. I have complete records at home, including photos and pictures of the murals.” The folklore expert hesitated.
"When was the last time you went there?" Qin Ge asked.
"About two years ago."
"That's why I asked you to come and see if there's anything different about the Star Platform now compared to before." Qin Ge paused for a moment and said, "I believe the clues are on the Star Platform. I didn't need to trouble you to make this trip, but something unexpected happened."
The folklore expert sensed the somber tone in Qin Ge's words, so he said nothing more and agreed to take leave immediately to go to Xingxiutai.