Empreinte de main en sang

Chapitre 24

Yang Zheng and Luo Bin stood there, somewhat bewildered.

Then they heard some hissing sounds. Looking in the direction of the sound, they saw that the television was now displaying static, and then a picture appeared – presumably someone was controlling the television from somewhere else.

Yang Zheng and Luo Bin knew that the images on the television would surely resolve their doubts, so they watched intently.

The screen displays a grid-shaped partition, somewhat like the small spaces divided by partitions in a large office, only the partitions are much higher. The shot is taken from a high angle, so you can see one person in each of the four partitions.

Four people – two wearing masks and two tied to chairs.

The camera was trying to capture all four people, and the angle was from above, making it impossible to clearly see their faces. But at that moment, Yang Zheng and Luo Bin both had a strange feeling. They stared nervously at the television screen, neither of them able to utter a word.

They were familiar with this scene; they had seen two masked men on their laptop screens in their room at the Duguang Hotel.

Wearing the mask, they became executioners, whose mission was to kill. But this didn't seem to be the only reason for Yang Zheng and Luo Bin's tension. They couldn't even explain it themselves; they just felt something was off, as if a conspiracy was quietly approaching them.

There was no sound, neither from the television nor from the narrow room.

The four people in the video remained motionless for a while. After an unknown amount of time, one of them slowly turned around, pushed open a door, and entered another cubicle. In that cubicle, a man was tied to a chair.

The camera slowly pans towards the cubicle, revealing the face of the bound man. The man is terrified and struggles desperately, but his hands and feet are bound, and his mouth is taped shut, rendering him completely immobile.

The masked man suddenly held something in his hand; upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a bow.

A bow, a weapon used for shooting arrows or projectiles, is a type of ancient cold weapon. In modern times, it has long since disappeared from the historical stage, only remaining in some sporting activities. The masked man then pulls out a bow; does he intend to use it to shoot the bound man? But having a bow without arrows, this assumption is clearly incorrect.

Fortunately, the masked man didn't keep Yang Zheng and Luo Bin waiting; he put the bowstring around the man's neck.

Yang Zheng and Luo Bin stared wide-eyed, neither understanding the purpose of this action. The current situation on the screen was that the bowstring was pressed against the neck of the bound man, and the bow handle was held in the hand of the masked man.

The bow handle slowly rotated, the bowstring crossed behind the man's neck, and slowly tightened.

The man struggled even more fiercely, but to no avail. The bow handle spun slower and slower, while the bowstring around the man's neck tightened more and more. In no time, the man's head finally drooped, and he could no longer move.

Witnessing a murder again, and in such a bizarre way, both Yang Zheng and Luo Bin felt a rush of blood to their heads, as if some force was rising to their throats.

They were all wondering what the executioner's purpose was in showing them these images.

The mystery was soon solved. After strangling the man with a bowstring, the masked man stood there motionless. A few minutes later, as if suddenly receiving some command, he slowly removed the mask from his head.

The camera then zoomed in, giving him a close-up.

Suddenly, Luo Bin let out a piercing scream from inside the closed room, and Yang Zheng beside him couldn't help but tremble. They both saw the man's face almost simultaneously.

He was actually Luo Bin.

Chapter 16

Hanging!

When the masked man placed the bowstring around the man's neck, the word immediately popped into Ma Nan's mind. Hanging was an ancient form of punishment, codified in the legal code from the Northern Wei Dynasty onwards, and included as a capital offense in the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. There were many methods of hanging, but using a bowstring to strangle someone was most prevalent in the Song Dynasty, exemplified by the Southern Song general Yue Fei, who fought against the Jin Dynasty. This general, who had killed countless enemies and vowed to strike at the heart of the Jin, did not die on the battlefield but was recalled by the Song emperor with twelve imperial edicts, ultimately dying tragically at Fengbo Pavilion. Yue Fei, being a general, was expected to die with a complete body, hence the use of hanging as the chosen method.

In the internet cafe, Ma Nan seemed to have no time to ponder why the detective would choose such a method to kill. He only knew that he had saved Chu Yan that night, but had caused the death of another person.

Because of his choice, the masked man placed the bowstring around the man's neck, and watched as the man struggled for a moment before stopping.

The scent of death lingers in the online world.

"Are you satisfied now? Let Chu Yan go." Ma Nan suppressed his anger and typed the message.

“The game has just begun,” the executioner replied. “I just hope you’ll have this much luck every time.”

"What else do you want to do next?"

"You'll find out soon enough. Today's business is over. If I were you, I'd rush home, get a good night's sleep, and recharge. Maybe tomorrow, there'll be a lot more to do."

Ma Nan had a terrible headache; he had a premonition that more deaths were to come.

“Maybe I’ll change my mind. Killing someone else is no different from killing Chu Yan or my family.” Ma Nan hesitated for a moment before tentatively saying, “Maybe I should focus my energy on how to protect my family.”

"You want to rely on the police?" the detective said. "That's right, our strength is no match for the police, but have you thought about it? The police can't protect you and your family forever, and no one in this world can kill our entire clan."

Ma Nan sighed inwardly, understanding the meaning behind the executioner's words. As long as the last Ba person remained in the world, his family would never escape the shadows. Unless the Ba people voluntarily let them go.

“You already know that it was Balong who truly killed your people.” Manan’s tone softened.

"Revenge may not be our primary objective."

"Then why did you kill these innocent people?"

“You’ll find out soon enough,” the executioner said. “This game won’t last long. When it ends, you’ll know the answer.”

“But I don’t want to help you kill anymore,” Ma Nan said angrily.

“Whether you are here or not, those who are going to die will die,” the executioner said. “You’ve just made this whole thing a little more interesting. At the same time, I’m giving Chu Yan a chance—if you can find her, she might live a long time.”

"The world is so big, how am I supposed to find her?" Ma Nan knew he had hit the nail on the head.

"Don't worry, you'll get the clue I'm giving you tomorrow."

Just as Ma Nan was about to ask something else, the detective sent another message: "Tomorrow you will meet the third victim. If you are careful enough and can find the mystery in the death, you will be able to find clues about Chu Yan."

"The third victim?" Ma Nan was shocked.

"I forgot to tell you, there was another death today," the detective said. "If you want to know the whole story, just go see your police friend tomorrow, and he'll tell you."

The police officer friend the detective mentioned was of course Qin Ge. Ma Nan hadn't originally planned to ask the police for help, but now the detective had proactively pushed him to the police. Either he was meticulously planning and fearless, or there was a bigger conspiracy behind this.

"Why must you kill someone? You can tell me the clues directly," Ma Nan said.