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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 460: Human Skin Puppet (Part 23)
I forced a smile and said, "Don't worry, Lao Qin. I don't think this partnership will last long. I might as well return to Ma Wu Funeral Home and do my job as a Mortician. This is too much trouble for you, and it’s thankless work."
"You bastard, that time I didn’t follow your lead. On paper, I'm your boss, but in reality, you're the one calling the shots," Qin Jian snapped angrily. "If you think this isn't working, then make your demands."
"I'm speechless..."
Just then, Qin Jian noticed someone waving at him and quickly whispered, "Something's happened." He then ran with me toward the person who was signaling.
The Branching Stream was lined with pavement, steps, and greenery. The river wasn’t wide, but it wasn’t easy to just wade through either. This Branching Stream served as a flood control channel, so it was about two to three meters deep, with a bottom full of pits and stones mixed with trash from people's lives—definitely the kind of dirty water you wouldn’t want to fall into.
If something fell in, it could easily get stuck or caught on something. I thought the person waving at Qin Jian must have discovered something, so I ran alongside him, feeling really anxious, oppressed, and also somewhat excited.
When we got closer, indeed it was true; the person fishing out something used a Grappling Hook to pull up a large Black Plastic Bag. The bag was tied tightly with thick rope and seemed very sturdy—one you rarely see for sale on the market.
The person retrieving it didn’t dare to open the bag on his own. It wasn’t until Qin Jian and I arrived that he cautiously opened it at our prompting.
As soon as the bag was opened, a foul stench hit us. Then I saw a deformed corpse that had been bloated from soaking in water. The body was so thin that it fit easily into this Black Plastic Bag, which was twice the size of an ordinary plastic bag.
The corpse was contorted, its hands curled like chicken claws as if trying to grasp something.
The person who opened the bag was visibly shaken; his face turned pale as he stammered and asked Qin Jian for a Red Envelope.
Offering a Red Envelope was necessary; those who specialize in retrieving bodies (water ghosts) don’t usually ask families for payment directly after recovering a corpse; instead, they accept Red Envelopes as a token of gratitude. The amount in the Red Envelope depended on the family’s financial situation and how they handled such matters.
When Qin Jian was asked for a Red Envelope, he realized he didn’t have any on him and had no choice but to call Ling Juan to prepare one.
The call connected, and while he set up the perimeter, he instructed Ling Juan to prepare a Red Envelope. He glanced at me, silently asking how much I needed. I held up my fingers to indicate at least this amount (one thousand two). His eyes widened in disbelief, but I nodded firmly, conveying through my gaze that this was an exception; it wasn't a body found within the usual parameters, so we had to increase the amount of the Red Envelope. Otherwise, the person who retrieved the body would be in trouble.
Next, I examined the corpse closely.
The deceased had likely not been a healthy person in life. It was a Male Corpse, somewhat thin, with a face that appeared to be around 20 years old, yet the physique resembled that of a high school student in their teens. Additionally, there were signs of muscle atrophy in the limbs, suggesting this person had been bedridden for an extended period.
The clothing on the corpse was intact. After Qin Jian made a call to the station, he put on gloves and personally checked the pockets of the corpse while waiting for Ling Juan to arrive.
He pulled out something resembling a card from one of the pockets. Great! This card turned out to be the deceased's identification.
Qin Jian laid the ID flat, and I leaned in to take a look.
The ID belonged to a male named Gao Sheng. I didn't have time to check his place of residence before my heart sank. Suddenly, I recalled the Slug inside the Wooden Cabinet. Finding Gao Sheng's body was no ordinary matter; someone had discarded him into the Branching Stream. If his Primordial Spirit was trapped inside that Slug, then finding his Primordial Spirit meant he wouldn't be able to return to life in this state.
I didn't have time to explain anything to Qin Jian; I dashed toward the hotel. As I ran, I heard someone shouting—Qin Jian's voice among others—but I didn't look back and sprinted straight into Room 10.
There, I saw that the hidden Wooden Cabinet had been opened. The floor was littered with empty salt bags, a bath towel tossed aside, and the Slug was nowhere to be found. A puddle of thick liquid remained on the ground along with remnants of what hadn't fully dissolved from the Slug. Anger and helplessness surged within me; it was futile—Gao Sheng was completely dead, and his Primordial Spirit had vanished along with the Slug that had been dissolved by salt.
"I'm sorry; I was supposed to save you..."
I pounded my fist against the wall in frustration, ignoring the pain that shot through my hand. Just then, someone entered from outside and glanced at me: "You crawled into a Wooden Cabinet filled with a slug; we've already dealt with it."
The server who spoke wore heavy makeup that made her look like she had smeared herself with white ash—she became increasingly unattractive as I looked at her. I couldn't be bothered to respond and hurried past her, leaving behind a cold silhouette as I exited the hotel without looking back.
Qin Jian seemed to be searching for me and grabbed my arm when he spotted me: "I saw it! Someone reported seeing something like a Plastic Model moving in the water."
This was undoubtedly good news—the Plastic Model hadn't drifted away; it remained in this area. If that were true, finding it wouldn't be difficult and could even lead us closer to solving the case. In disbelief, I pressed him for confirmation: "Is that true?"
"Absolutely true, but when they called me over, that floating head on the water was gone."
"It’s gone? What are you talking about?" I rushed towards the salvage team, with Qin Jian following closely behind. He still had to be cautious about the body that had been dragged ashore. As a police car whizzed by, he quickly stopped and shouted at me, "Ma Qi, it was that uncle in the rust-colored outfit who saw it. You should go ask him..." Looking at Qin Jian's distant gaze and helpless expression, I knew I must have hit a nerve for him to send me on this errand! Sure enough, he continued firmly, "Even if he’s stubborn as a mule, you have to pry some information out of him."
Damn it, this Qin Jian always leaves the tricky tasks to me. I spotted the uncle in the rust-colored outfit taking a break on the shore. He was smoking Ye Zi Yan; the smell was pungent, and the smoke was thicker than regular cigarettes. When I saw him, he didn’t notice me at first. He puffed away, his dark skin and weathered face etched with the rings of time. He raised his murky old eyes to watch others continue their salvage work.
They weren’t professional salvagers; they were just temporary workers who also did unloading and carried loads around the station. In short, as long as it wasn’t illegal and they could make money, they would do it. Essentially, they were part of the city’s mobile workforce. As for how they acquired these boats, I had no idea.
When the uncle in the rust-colored outfit finally noticed me while smoking Ye Zi Yan, I had already approached him.
His smile was forced; his yellowing eyes had a few blood vessels showing, and his gaze was too complicated with a hint of helplessness. With a cigarette hanging from his lips and looking rather unkempt, he appeared somewhat shabby in every way.
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