Empreinte de main en sang

Chapitre 65

“Li Qinglin didn’t concern himself with anything about the company, but after that incident, he received a large sum of money, which secured his and his son’s livelihood for the rest of their lives. When we found him, he had no idea what had happened, and he knew nothing about the situation at the Duguang Building.”

Qin Ge sighed and continued, "We asked who the person who sponsored him back then was, but he couldn't even say the name. He could only describe what the person looked like. He said he hadn't seen that person for many years, but he would always remember what that person looked like. He simply couldn't believe that such a kind person would use his name to do bad things."

Qin Ge called Ma Nan, asking him to come to the team. Experts had already drawn a portrait of the person based on Li Qinglin's description. Ma Nan knew why he needed to go; the person who sponsored Li Qinglin was very likely his adoptive father, Ba Rong.

When Manan saw the portrait, his suspicions became confirmed. Although the portrait was somewhat different from Barong's, Manan recognized it at a glance.

The fact that Ba Rong was the mastermind behind the Duguang Group was actually something Qin Ge had anticipated. They simply wanted to find Han Shan through this method, but the result clearly disappointed the police.

Within the Duguang Group, no one knew of Han Shan's existence, not even their top leaders. The general manager, a southerner, knew only that the company's business involved operating this hotel and guesthouse. After visiting the octagonal altar on the 8th floor of the Duguang Building, he was astonished. He had only been with the company for two years and had no idea that such a secret was hidden within the building.

All he knew was that the 8th floor of the building was the company's CEO's private area, so no one had set foot there in the past two years.

Finding Han Shan through the Duguang Group is clearly no longer feasible. Ba Rong has been extremely cautious; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to successfully kill Batu. Judging from the series of events Han Shan orchestrated, his cunning seems to be no less than Ba Rong's. When these two work together, they are naturally meticulous in their actions, leaving no trace for the police.

Qin Ge had something else to tell Ma Nan: the body of the Ba ethnic minority man was found in a dark room in the Duguang Building. The forensic doctor determined that he died shortly after he slipped away from the altar that night. This led to the conclusion that the Ba man, taking advantage of the chaos, stole Ba Qi's Fuxi Ram Horn Pillar and rushed to deliver it to Han Shan, only to be killed by Han Shan to silence him.

Han Shan must have still been in the Duguang Building at that time. So, when the police arrived and sealed off the building, they questioned everyone inside. In other words, Han Shan must have been among those people.

In fact, the investigation into these individuals yielded no results.

These people were either hotel guests or hotel staff. A great deal of time and effort was spent investigating them, but no suspects were found. Of course, the possibility that Han Shan was among them couldn't be ruled out, but the key question was how to find him.

There are three more people in this matter who need to be addressed.

First was Zhang Shanren. After being taken away by the police, he quickly returned to normal. His mental state was due to a drug forced upon him by the police. Now, he had no recollection of how he was brought to the Duguang Building, or even anything that happened at the altar. However, faced with irrefutable evidence, he had to admit that over the past few years, he had killed at least 20 teenagers in the seaside building, ranging in age from twelve or thirteen to seventeen or eighteen. He himself couldn't even remember the exact number.

Zhang Shanren is a typical pedophile. He uses the internet and material inducements to lure teenagers to his seaside villa, where he first drugges them before committing his crimes.

He is now in detention, awaiting the judge's sentencing to end his sinful life.

In addition, among those captured by Han Shan and taken to the Bagua room, there were two survivors: the household registration police officer and Yang Mei. Yang Mei did not appear at the altar because she was trapped in a separate room. Han Shan clearly did not intend to hide her, so the police easily found her while searching the building.

Upon learning of Yang Zheng's death, she was speechless, as if struck by a heavy blow, and became completely dazed. After a long while, tears began to well up in her eyes, and they flowed uncontrollably.

Her appearance made the police officers nearby worry about her.

Qin Ge accompanied her to pack up Yang Zheng's belongings. Yang Mei stood under the plum tree in the yard. The wind blew, and the plum blossoms on the tree fluttered down. The petals swirled around Yang Mei, like the sadness on her face, beautiful and poignant.

What happened next left Qin Ge somewhat confused.

That night, Ma Nan told Qin Ge in detail about his experience. One detail was that in the gossip room where he was imprisoned, he saw a video playing on the TV. The video was related to Yang Mei and the household registration police officer Ge Hua.

—Ge Hua raped Yang Mei.

Even though Ge Hua was also a victim in the criminal investigator's case, his rape of Yang Mei was still a crime. Later, after Ge Hua was rescued, Qin Ge specifically asked him about this matter. He remained silent, only repeatedly saying at the end that he liked Yang Mei and truly loved her, so how could he have done those things to hurt her?

But Qin Ge could tell from his tone and expression that he was terrified.

Ge Huacheng's denial is irrelevant; what matters is Yang Mei's accusations against him.

But Yang Mei's behavior surprised Qin Ge; she actually denied that Ge Hua had raped her.

“I think it’s because the police officer in charge of household registration once saved her.” Ma Nan later analyzed to Qin Ge, “That Liu Hongzhong wanted to kill Yang Mei. I arrived first, but I was also knocked to the ground by Liu Hongzhong. Just as Liu Hongzhong raised his knife, the police officer in charge of household registration arrived. In order to save Yang Mei, he was beaten by Liu Hongzhong and was also injured. Yang Mei must be unwilling to testify against Ge Hua because of this incident.”

At this point, Ma Nan suddenly hesitated. He thought about it for a while, but still couldn't figure out the crux of the problem.

No one testified against the police officer in charge of household registration, so the matter was dropped. The officer rested at home for two days before returning to work. He became taciturn, and would silently walk away whenever anyone asked about his experiences. Qin Ge called his police station to inquire about the situation. The station chief told him that the incident had greatly affected him, and he sometimes seemed mentally disoriented, unable to concentrate on his work. The station chief was deeply worried about this.

That evening, for reasons unknown, Ma Nan made an appointment with Qin Ge to go find the household registration police officer together.

Just as the director had said, Ge Hua looked extremely haggard, with dark circles under his eyes and a withered face. More importantly, the expression on his face seemed to show that he had no interest in anything.

It seemed that Ma Nan and Qin Ge's arrival had stirred up his thoughts. He sat silently for a while, and his eyes even turned a little red.

“I called her,” he said.

Ma Nan and Qin Ge certainly knew that "she" here referred to Yang Mei.

“But she didn’t want to see me at all, or even hear my voice,” Ge Hua said. “She just told me that she was leaving the city. Her home wasn’t even here, and she just wanted to forget all that had happened.”

When asked about his future plans, Ge Hua hesitated for a moment, then said emphatically, "Resign."

This decision surprised Ma Nan and Qin Ge.

“I have absolutely no motivation to work right now, not because of Yangmei’s departure. It’s because when I put on this uniform, I feel scared, like there’s a stone weighing on my heart, so heavy that I’m about to break down.”

Ge Hua stared at Qin Ge for a long while before saying, slowly and deliberately, "I really did rape Yang Mei."

Ge Hua left Qin Ge and Ma Nan behind, his back looking particularly lonely. Speaking out about his pain wouldn't lessen it, but at least he no longer had to keep his secret to himself.

Ge Hua submitted her resignation the next day. The director called Qin Ge and told her, and Qin Ge then told Ma Nan.

Ma Nan locked himself in his study all day. Hongmian and Xiaotong knew he was preoccupied, so they didn't disturb him. Ma Nan was used to writing his thoughts down on paper; it was messy, but he could read it clearly.

It has now been confirmed that the deceased with chrysanthemum patterns carved on his face in the gossip room was a teacher, Zhao Sihai with a fleshy face was an assistant administrator of the urban management office, and Liu Hongzhong was a pharmaceutical representative. Thus, a list can be compiled.

The executioner used ancient cruel punishments to kill people. There were seven types of punishments: hanging, beheading, disembowelment, skull fracture, facial tattooing, foot amputation, and nose amputation. These corresponded to seven types of people: lawyers, real estate developers, advertising planners, pyramid scheme operators, teachers, urban management officers, and pharmaceutical representatives.

The following seven professions are all currently quite controversial, especially online, where heated debates rage. Ma Nan doesn't believe there's anything inherently wrong with these professions; they are all part of society. More importantly, nothing in this world is absolute. Perhaps there are some bad apples among those working in these professions, but they don't represent the entire profession. Bad apples can appear in any profession, just as there are kind people among criminals.

Now Ma Nan was thinking about those ancient punishments—the five punishments of the Zhou Dynasty were tattooing, nose amputation, castration, foot amputation, and execution. The executioner chose three of them, namely tattooing, nose amputation, and foot amputation. However, the methods used to kill the four people mentioned earlier—beheading, strangulation, disembowelment, and skull dislocation—could all be considered forms of execution. Therefore, it seems that the executioner had inexplicably overlooked castration among the five punishments of the Zhou Dynasty.

Castration is probably the most well-known form of punishment, and Sima Qian is the most famous person in history to have suffered castration.

This wouldn't normally be surprising, but since the executioner had already used four of the five punishments from the Zhou Dynasty, why would he omit one? Moreover, it wasn't that he didn't have the opportunity. If, as the executioner claims, he did this to warn future generations, then castration would have been the most appropriate punishment for Ge Hua, the household registration officer who raped Yang Mei. Yet, after everyone else had fallen unconscious, Liu Hongzhong chose Yang Mei and tied her to a chair. He must have done this at the executioner's behest, making the executioner's decision rather puzzling.

Ma Nan knew he couldn't find an answer to this question, so he quickly returned his thoughts to the Fuxi Ram Horn Pillar and the Jianmu Doll. Chu Yan had eaten the poisonous herb from the Ba tribe, so she needed to take the Jianmu Doll from Ma Nan. Since the Ba tribesman was dead, the only person who could give her the antidote was Han Shan. The Ba tribesman who took the Fuxi Ram Horn Pillar in the chaos must have been bribed by Han Shan, so Han Shan possessed the antidote for that herb, and the Jianmu Doll Chu Yan obtained must now be in Han Shan's hands.