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墨書 Inktalez
The identity of the body in the jar remains unknown, but the extent of its decay suggests a violent end. The murderer knocked the victim unconscious and, fearing he might wake up, struck his head repeatedly with a hammer, resulting in a fatal skull fracture.
Unbeknownst to her, Liu, the wife, was busy at their home near the town's main road. She was engaged in making Western Pants, which required a storefront. A strong-willed woman, she was competitive by nature. Her husband, soft-spoken and suspicious, felt increasingly pressured by her capabilities rather than reassured.
While Liu thrived in her business and earned widespread praise, her husband, a Mason, returned home covered in dust and grime to find an empty kitchen and had to cook for himself most nights.
Gradually, he became withdrawn and stopped communicating with her. Liu remained oblivious to his silence as the large old house echoed with loneliness, his once vacant gaze turning increasingly menacing. She continued her business until one day she returned home with scraps of fabric and discovered her husband baking something.
"What are you doing?" Liu rushed to the balcony to extinguish the flames and was horrified to see him holding a severed human arm. The arm dripped blood and yellowish body fat under the intense heat of the fire, filling the balcony with a nauseating stench that nearly made her faint.
Instead of being alarmed, her husband grinned foolishly at her shock. It dawned on Liu that he had lost his mind, and she felt guilty for having contributed to his state. Overwhelmed with self-reproach and guilt, she tried to calm him down before wrapping the bloody female corpse in a burlap sack and sneaking it to Pomelo Grove School in an attempt to disguise it as a ghostly murder.
In her ignorance and naivety, Liu had no idea that her foolish husband had assaulted a mentally ill woman. As she anxiously awaited news about the case from the school, she repeatedly inquired about its developments.
Liu understood the severity of schizophrenia but felt ashamed and didn't want others to mock her husband. Thus, she secretly sought medical help and prayed fervently... Her actions inadvertently led to another murder.
As May arrived, business for Western Pants boomed. Liu thought her husband had settled down and wouldn’t cause trouble again. However, upon returning home after a busy day, she found bloodstains all over the floor. Her heart sank; she knew he must have done something terrible.
Liu searched everywhere but couldn’t find where he had hidden the body. Frustrated and fearful, she fought with him multiple times but could not extract any information about its whereabouts.
Everything changed when Sun Meng was ambushed. Liu happened to be sneaking back home when she witnessed it unfold and intervened just in time to prevent a bloody massacre. She dragged Sun Meng into the Storage Room filled with scraps of fabric, intending to wait until she woke up to clarify things before sending her back. Sun Meng should have recognized her; after all, she had bought clothes from Liu before. However, as a seller dealing with numerous customers, Liu knew it was unlikely Sun Meng would remember her.
Anxiety gnawed at Liu as she struggled to find peace of mind. In search of reassurance, she sought out deities for guidance. When she visited Zhiqing's mom for rice, Zhiqing's mom spun wild tales that convinced Liu of their truth. Believing wholeheartedly in what she heard, Liu burned Ghost Money at Huangguoshu. As the deadline approached for this ritual burning, she was caught red-handed by Ziya during one last session.
Ziya followed closely behind Liu, unaware that the lock on the Side Door had been deliberately broken by her, intending to make her comings and goings more convenient. She hadn’t paid attention to such trivial matters at school.
Ziya trailed Liu all the way to the Moso Bamboo Forest. The barking of dogs startled Liu, who was only worried about Sun Meng in the Storage Room and didn’t return to the shop. Instead, after burning the Ghost Money, she went directly to the old house, wanting to see what her husband was doing. The dogs' barking startled her; she wondered who could provoke them. She knew her own dog never barked unnecessarily. As she leaned out to look, she saw her husband dragging something. Upon closer inspection, Liu was taken aback—one person inside was still unconscious while another had been knocked out by her husband.
Without hesitation, Liu tried to stop her husband from taking two young lives. They argued and struggled, which led to Ziya waking up and kicking Sun Meng awake.
The body was taken back to the station and digitally reconstructed, resulting in a complete human form. Photos were made for identification at school with Ziya and Sun Meng.
Ziya was startled awake by a series of urgent knocks on the door. Blinking sleepily, she leaned forward to look at the door, not yet wanting to get up. “Who is it?”
“Cough cough, we are from the Public Security Bureau. We need your help identifying this person. Do you know them?” The person outside deliberately cleared their throat and spoke loudly.
Upon hearing it was the police, Ziya immediately jumped up and rushed to shake Sun Meng awake. “Mengmeng… get up! There’s something going on!”
Sun Meng lazily opened her eyes and reluctantly looked at Ziya. “Ugh! I wanted to sleep more. Can’t you just handle it? Please let me sleep a little longer.”
“No way, dear… get up quickly! They’re waiting for us outside.” Ziya pulled Sun Meng up to sit and quickly grabbed a damp towel from a shelf against the wall, hastily wiping it across Sun Meng's face.
“Ugh! So annoying… fine, I’m getting up,” Sun Meng grumbled as she climbed out of bed, casually running her fingers through her short hair.
Ziya went over and opened the door. Three people stood outside: two in uniforms from the Public Security Bureau and one guard.
“Hello, students. We came here because… it’s not convenient to talk here! How about we go to your classroom?” After hesitating for a moment, they still didn’t reveal their purpose but suggested moving to the classroom instead.
"Well, fine! Can you just go do your thing?" Ziya realized that the newcomer seemed to have something important to discuss, otherwise they wouldn't have made such a request.
"Alright, I'll get to it. You all take your time." With that, the person walked towards the door.
"Sun Meng, are you ready?"
"Yes." As Sun Meng spoke, he stepped out, awkwardly nodding at the two male officers from the police station in greeting.
Once they reached the classroom, the four of them sat down. The newcomer took a brown envelope out of their briefcase, and Ziya's eyes were glued to their hands as they pulled out a stack of photographs.
"Do you recognize this person?" The newcomer placed the photos in front of Sun Meng and Ziya.
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