Chapter 4 I gave him a breath of air.

Dali City, Dream East Villa.

Two officers approached, each carrying a hammer.

Lei Ming took the retrieval tongs from the officer beside him and used them to pick up the devil-faced doll on the ground, placing it in the evidence bag held by Zhang Donglei. He said, "Lao Zhang, do not underestimate anything at the crime scene."

Zhang Donglei casually responded, "I know, I know. Don't underestimate anything at the crime scene. Hmm? What's wrong with you?"

Examining the devil-faced doll inside the evidence bag, Lei Ming remarked, "Lao Zhang, this thing doesn't seem to be electric. No battery compartment, no charging port."

"That means it might have a hidden battery or button cell inside. There are many toys like this nowadays; my son has one!" Zhang Donglei didn't think much of Lei Ming's words.

Lei Ming stared into his eyes without saying a word, making Zhang Donglei feel uneasy. "Captain Lei, what do you mean?" he asked.

Lei Ming inquired, "Your son has one?"

Zhang Donglei nodded, "Yes, my son has one, and I bought it for him."

A displeased expression appeared on Lei Ming's face, "So, let me ask you, this thing appeared in the victim's bedroom. The victim, a man in his fifties living alone, would he enjoy playing with such a toy like your son?"

Zhang Donglei hesitated, "..."

After giving Zhang Donglei a stern look, Lei Ming handed the evidence bag containing the devil-faced doll to an officer behind him, saying, "Investigate the manufacturer of this toy."

"Yes, sir!"

Soon after, another police car stopped outside the villa, and the forensic examiner arrived.

The forensic examiner, Wang Lan, a woman in her fifties with rich experience, greeted Lei Ming and Zhang Donglei, saying, "Captain Lei, Officer Zhang!"

"I can see that your colleagues don't seem quite well. Is the situation particularly grim?"

Grim?

Lei Ming and Zhang Donglei exchanged a glance, uncertain whether to use this word to describe the scene in the bedroom upstairs.

Seeing their expressions, Wang Lan playfully said, "It's okay, I've seen all sorts of scenes in my line of work. Disassembled bodies, I've seen quite a few. Tell me about it!"

Zhang Donglei remained silent, lowering his head. Lei Ming pointed upstairs, saying, "Wang Sister, go take a look for yourself."

Wang Lan nodded, "Alright, I'll go upstairs first."

As she walked away, Lei Ming hesitated for a moment, reminding her, "Uh, Sister Wang, there's a bucket prepared upstairs."

Wang Lan waved her hand, "Don't worry, I won't need that. You guys are still too young."

As she finished speaking, Wang Lan reached the second-floor master bedroom.

Upon seeing the dismembered "living cut person," one second, two seconds, three seconds...

Forensic examiner or not, Wang Lan's face changed slightly. Downstairs, Lei Ming and Zhang Donglei suddenly felt uneasy.

Upstairs, Wang Lan examined the victim. Downstairs, two officers swung large hammers, smashing the floor.

Bang!

"Eighty!"

Bang!

"Eighty!"

Bang!

"Eighty!"

After a few hits, with a resounding crash, shattered debris flew, and a sealed basement appeared before everyone!

Simultaneously, a strong putrid smell assaulted their noses!

They brought a ladder, two officers donned masks, and with flashlights, cautiously descended.

The pitch-black basement had no light; it was so dark that one couldn't see their own fingers. Only the flashlights of the two officers provided the sole source of illumination.

The furnishings were rudimentary, with some worn-out tables and chairs. Several pots were placed on the ground, and there were two buckets in the corner.

Due to the unbearable stench, the officers, even with masks on, found it difficult. They cautiously explored inside, covering their noses and mouths.

Suddenly, one officer shuddered. In the light of his flashlight, he saw a set of bones!

"Zhang Yang! I've got something here!"

The other officer turned around immediately. Both slowly approached the skeletal remains.

It was a set of human bones, completely devoid of flesh. The skeleton was small, approximately the size of a six or seven-year-old child.

As they got closer, snap!

Officer named Zhang Yang accidentally kicked something. When illuminated, it turned out to be a notebook.

Taking the notebook with them, the two officers approached the tiny skeleton. At this point, they discovered four more similarly sized skeletons next to it!

One of them was slightly larger, around eight or nine years old.

The five small skeletons were huddled together, indicating that these five children must have experienced intense fear before their deaths.

The two officers were momentarily speechless. They found it hard to imagine the despair these five children had gone through.

After a thorough inspection of the basement, finding nothing else, they returned to the first floor of the villa.

"How is it?"

Faced with Lei Ming's question, both officers remained silent. Zhang Yang handed over the notebook they found to Lei Ming.

Observing their expressions, Lei Ming seemed to grasp something. He opened the notebook, revealing names, phone numbers, addresses, and amounts. Some names were marked with "buy," some with "sell," and others had only addresses marked with "abduct."

There were a total of forty-seven "buy" or "abduct" entries and forty-two "sell" entries.

Continuing to flip through the notebook, Lei Ming noticed that the handwriting at the end became twisted and filled with numerous spelling mistakes, even some strange symbols. It required a bit of imaginative effort to translate it into understandable content.

"That person left his notebook behind, and I've decided to secretly keep it from him. Who let him not feed us enough? Today, that person took Little Ox away, and our group lost another member. That person is so cruel, only allowing us to eat very little every day. But when he brought me here, he clearly said he would give me lots of delicious food. Today, another companion left; it was Hong Hong. I miss my mom, my dad, so much, so much, so much... If my mom were here, she would definitely give me lots of things to eat. Yes, Dad should be able to beat that person. Many days have passed, and only seven companions are left. Cheng Cheng is good; he hid something and secretly gave it to me to eat. When can we go home? I miss home, my mom, my dad... Today, Cheng Cheng got beaten because his crying was too loud. When that person hit him, he hit him hard, and Cheng Cheng cried even louder. That person... Today, Cheng Cheng also left. It's good; he doesn't have to endure beating anymore, but I won't see him again. Only six companions are left. Ling Ling was taken away. When will it be my turn? That person is filling the stairs with soil. But we five are still here. Doesn't he want to let us out anymore? It's so dark; the stairs are blocked. How will he bring us food? Oh, he won't bring us food anymore. I'm so hungry. Hungry. Hungry. Hungry. ..."

The scri

bbled words ended here, with nothing further. Tearful, Lei Ming blinked rapidly, took a deep breath, and tried not to let the tears roll down his cheeks.

It was hard to imagine what the child who had written only the word "hungry" for several days had experienced during that time.

Beside him, Zhang Yang, with red eyes, said, "Captain Lei, we found five sets of skeletal remains of children aged between five to eight years old."

"Completely turned into skeletons, without a trace of flesh."

"No external injuries on the bones. Preliminary judgment: either the five children suffocated or were starved to death while still alive."

Lei Ming couldn't hold back any longer. He slapped the notebook onto Zhang Donglei's chest, turned and walked outside, saying, "I need some air. Don't follow me!"

However, as he took a few steps, suddenly, from the second floor of the villa, there came a woman's weeping!

Lei Ming immediately ran upstairs. In the bedroom where the brutal murder occurred, he found Wang Lan, the seasoned forensic examiner, examining the victim's body. This woman, who had the most experience in Dali City, was kneeling on the ground, seemingly extremely frightened. She was crying continuously!

Rubbing his eyes, Lei Ming asked, "Sister Wang, what's... what's happening?"

Wang Lan turned her head, trembling all over, and said, "Forty-six wounds, forty-seven pieces..."

Forty-six wounds?

Forty-seven pieces!

Lei Ming glanced at the dismembered body, suddenly understanding what Wang Lan meant!

"Haha, hahaha!"

Lei Ming burst into laughter. Two lines of hot tears streamed down his face as he looked at the bloody corpse. With eyes almost spitting fire, he angrily said, "Good!"

"Damn good!"

"Nicely done!"

"Satisfying! Damned son of a bitch!"

Several curses vented his pent-up anger. Lei Ming wiped the tears from his face and asked, "Sister Wang, did you find anything else?"

Wang Lan, still sobbing, suddenly burst into tears. She pointed at the "Wu Tian" in front of her and said, "He... he's not dead!"

"He suffered forty-six wounds, was cut into forty-seven connected pieces, but he's still alive. He didn't die, didn't die!"

By the end of her words, Wang Lan was almost hoarse!

For a moment, Lei Ming stood there dumbfounded!

Following that, the Zhang Donglei, who had just finished reading the notebook and wore an angry expression, rushed up and exclaimed, "What?!"

...

Zhongzhou, Yundu Road Pedestrian Street.

"Hello, everyone! This is Zhongzhou Street Interview!"

"Today, we're at Zhongzhou's most bustling Yundu Road, randomly interviewing the young gentlemen and ladies here!"

"Wow! I see a very cultured handsome guy!"

"Camera! Quick, keep up!"

Dressed in all white, with a white shoulder bag, Yang Ning was strolling leisurely on the pedestrian street. Suddenly, a lively girl with a microphone appeared in front of him, smiling and asking, "Hey handsome, you look so cool! Can we interview you?"

Yang Ning smiled slightly, nodding, "Sure."

The girl, brimming with infatuation, exclaimed, "Wow! You look even better when you smile! Besides being handsome, what do you think is your biggest advantage?"

After saying that, she added, "Apart from being handsome!"

Yang Ning pondered for two seconds, then smiled and said, "I think my biggest advantage is kindness."

"Oh?"

The girl's eyes sparkled, "Can you give an example, handsome?"

Yang Ning lifted his head slightly; the golden wire glasses on his nose gleamed in the sunlight, and his smiling face appeared even more radiant.

"For example, I had a dream. In that dream, I and forty-six children of the same age were abducted."

"Later, we escaped, and the other forty-six kids were eager to take a knife to the human trafficker who had abducted us."

"But I was different. I thought, someone enduring forty-six wounds must be in tremendous pain, right? It could be fatal..."

"I can't bear to witness such a tragedy in real life, so..."

At this point, Yang Ning looked directly into the camera held by the street interview girl's cameraman. He continued to smile brightly.

"So, after he endured forty-six wounds, I helped him catch his breath."

The interviewing girl: "..."

Silence lasted for two seconds. After processing what Yang Ning said, the girl, with a face of embarrassment, said, "Uh, okay, handsome, your joke is quite cold, hahaha!"

She was about to ask something else, but at this moment, Yang Ning slightly bowed towards the camera, smiled, and turned away.

Yang Ning's smile made the girl completely lose her focus. When she came back to her senses and wanted to find Yang Ning's figure in the bustling crowd, all she saw was the crowded Yundu Road.

In the vast sea of people, where was the figure in white?