MTL - He Became a Salted Fish After Inheriting Millions of Secret Arts-Chapter 39 crime map

Duan Feizhuo knew that he was concerned about his health, but the most urgent task was to investigate the serial murder case. Moreover, his sudden pain had nothing to do with overwork, and he couldn't recover from bed rest at all.

"But you can't read the file." Duan Feizhuo said awkwardly, "What should we do if the investigation has not progressed? Speaking of which, without me, how are you going to investigate the case alone?"

"Do you look down on me?" Z said angrily.

"I didn't mean to belittle you. But you...you also know that you can't see yourself."

"If it's not for you, I'll bring Xenophon with me," Z said. "If you're down, I'll send Scotland Yard for reinforcements."

Too. When Duan Feizhuo met Z before, he was always inseparable from Xenophon. The two can be said to cooperate seamlessly. Xenophon is proficient in occult techniques, Z is powerful in combat, and the two of them will definitely be invincible as a partner.

If it were Duan Feizhuo himself, it would be so useless... He is really jealous of Xenophon, he can transform and heal, and as a mystic, he will never be disgusted by Z. He really wanted to switch identities with Xenophon, he would be Z's partner and let Xenophon run that **** trading house.

"You should give me the file." Duan Feizhuo insisted, "I will pay attention to my body. If I feel uncomfortable, I will stop. Is that okay?" He thought for a while and added, "Please From now on, I will listen to you in everything."

His tone was almost begging and flattering, and when it came to this, Z had no choice but to agree.

He picked up the file on the table and threw it to Duan Feizhuo.

I studied the file again, but still couldn't find any clues. The next day was Ruth's funeral, and Duan Feizhuo planned to go to the Aberdeen Police Station after the funeral to see if he could find clues from other evidence.

It rained again the next morning. Although it is not big, it is always annoying when it rains for many days.

Duan Feizhuo changed into the black dress that Al had chosen for him, shared an umbrella with Z, and came to St. Andrew's Church. Many people have gathered here waiting for the funeral to begin. Most of them were residents of Mud Street, Duan Feizhuo had sharp eyes, and saw Doctor Stone and body restorer Duncan McLean.

Among Ruth's family, her mother and brother came, but her father was still missing.

"That guy was making shoes early in the morning." Mrs. Roberts was wearing a black mourning dress, telling Duan Feizhuo while wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, "Today is his daughter's funeral. I didn't expect him to be such a heartless person... "

She turned her face away and said nothing.

The funeral is officiated by the priest of the church. He first read a passage of the Bible according to the scriptures, said a few words in praise of the noble character of the deceased, and then let the people who came to the funeral take turns to present flowers.

Ruth's coffin rests under the chancel cross, surrounded by flowers. The people in the church looked at each other in blank dismay, no one wanted to be the first to go forward. They all knew that Ruth had died in a brutal murder, and they had heard about the state of the body. They were afraid of witnessing some horrible scenes while presenting flowers, so they held back.

But Duan Feizhuo knew that the body had already been repaired. Although I don't know what Duncan McLean's skills are, at least it won't be more terrifying than Duan Feizhuo's appearance on the day of the autopsy, right?

Duan Feizhuo and Z were the first to walk up to the altar. Ruth's mother and brother stood by the coffin, watching them in horror.

Duan Feizhuo lowered his head and stared at the girl lying in the coffin. For a moment, he thought he had made a mistake. Ruth hadn't died, she had just slept peacefully, for the girl in the coffin was so beautiful—serene, ruddy, and undamaged—that it was nothing like the battered body he had seen last time. huge difference.

But when he put the bouquet into the coffin, he realized that the girl had indeed lost her breath. What lay there was a lifeless body, but its blemishes had been concealed with a masterful make-up.

"Our whole family is grateful to you, doctor." Mrs. Roberts choked up, "Thanks to you, Ruth can become so beautiful...I can't believe she can change back to the way she used to be..."

"It's the restorer who is highly skilled." Duan Feizhuo said in a low voice.

After presenting the flowers, Duan Feizhuo took out a small hardcover book from his pocket, with "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" written on the cover in beautiful gold-plated fonts. It was a gift he bought specially for Ruth in Charing Cross Road. Ruth likes to read, but because of her poor family, she often cannot afford books. Duan Feizhuo planned to give her a copy as a Christmas present. But Ruth would never receive this gift again.

After Duan Feizhuo, Z also presented a bouquet. He had nothing to do with Ruth, he just came to accompany Duan Feizhuo, and he left the altar soon after presenting flowers.

When other guests heard that Ruth's body had been restored, they flocked to lay flowers. Everyone admired from the bottom of their hearts when they saw the girl's remains.

After everyone had offered flowers, the pastor called the coffin bearers, who were going to nail nine-inch nails on the coffin and carry it to the cemetery for burial.

At this moment, the church door was suddenly pushed open.

All eyes turned to the door.

A middle-aged man with a disheveled beard limped in with a cane. His right leg was amputated from the knee down and replaced with a wooden leg.

He was carrying a small package, and his bloodshot eyes sternly scanned the crowd.

The people immediately made way for him like Moses divided the Red Sea.

"Mr. Roberts?" Duan Feizhuo raised his eyebrows.

Ruth's father staggered to his daughter's coffin and knelt down with difficulty. He opened the small package he had brought, and took out a pair of fine leather shoes from it.

Mrs. Roberts looked at the shoes and covered her mouth.

"I made them for Ruth," said Mr. Roberts hoarsely. "She's been on the road all day, and her shoes are worn out. I asked her to get a new pair, but she refused, saying the old ones would still work." Wear. She made a lot of money, but she was reluctant to spend a penny for herself. She always said... always said that she would save money to buy me a mechanical prosthesis. So I wanted to make a pair of shoes for that child. But I didn’t wait Well done, she'll..."

Tears slid down the cheeks of the middle-aged man, sinking into his messy beard that hadn't been trimmed for several days.

"I stayed up for a few nights and it finally caught up to me."

He bent down, lifted his daughter's feet, and put on those exquisite little leather shoes.

Duan Feizhuo understood why every time he visited Ruth's house, Mr. Roberts always stayed in the studio. He just wanted to catch his daughter's funeral and let her wear the shoes he made himself.

Mrs. Roberts uttered a loud wail, and rushed forward to embrace her husband.

Ruth's coffin was crucified amidst the family's cries. Several young men of the same age as Ruth from Mud Street acted as coffin bearers, carrying the coffin into the cemetery and putting it into the deep pit that had been dug long ago.

While the pastor recited the eulogy, the coffin bearers filled the pit with soil. Soon a small grave was piled up on the spot. The lively and kind girl was buried forever under six feet of soil.

The people who attended the funeral gradually dispersed, and only Ruth's family members still stood in front of the grave to mourn silently.

Z tugged at Duan Feizhuo's sleeve, and motioned for the gate of the cemetery, implying that it was time for him to leave.

Duan Feizhuo said goodbye to the Roberts family, and walked out of the cemetery with the others.

After leaving the painful funeral scene, people couldn't help talking more. The housewives chatted about today's vegetable prices and cooking recipes, and the men exchanged their views on news headlines and national events.

Because he was very satisfied with the results of the restoration of the body, Duan Feizhuo paid the balance to Duncan McLean. Dr. Stone seemed to have sensed some kind of business opportunity, grabbed Duncan McLean, and spared no effort to get close to him.

"Your repair technique is really superb, Mr. McLean! Where did you learn it? Self-taught? It's amazing! This reminds me of when I was serving in India, there was a cholera outbreak there, and I relied on self-taught knowledge to contain it the spread of disease…”

Duan Feizhuo looked coldly at the boastful Dr. Stone, and sympathized with the body restorer who was pestered by him.

Suddenly, a flash of light flashed through Duan Feizhuo's mind.

"Z! Z!" He called to the man beside him.

"What's wrong?" Z was puzzled.

"Map! I need a map of Aberdeen!"

Of course there are no maps in the cemetery, but Quay Street is not far from here, and there are often newsboys selling maps on the pier to people who come to Aberdeen by boat.

So they went straight to Dock Street, bought a map from the first newsboy they met, and hurried back to the hotel.

Duan Feizhuo spread the map on the table and opened the police files.

"What did you find?" Z asked anxiously.

"I'm marking the place where the deceased was killed on the map." Duan Feizhuo explained while drawing dots on the map, "Have you heard of John Snow?"

"Knows a thing or two." Z replied, "He is a doctor, right? When cholera broke out in London, it was he who found out the source of cholera and curbed the spread of the disease."

"That's right. When John Snow was looking for the source of infection, he used spatial statistics to mark the locations of all the patients on the map. The denser the patients, the closer to the source of infection."

"Well, I roughly understand the principle." Z nodded, "What does this have to do with the serial murder case?"

"The same method can also be used in criminal cases. Mark the location of the murderer, and you can roughly infer the range of the murderer's activities. If you think about it, the murderer has committed five consecutive murders without witnesses, which shows that he is very familiar with the scene of the crime. The surrounding environment is very familiar, knowing when the area is empty and suitable for attack. And the area that the murderer knows very well is often the place where he often moves—his place of residence or place of work!"

Z is blind in both eyes, so he is very insensitive to things like maps and graphics. Even if he knew where the five deceased were killed, he might not be able to connect them in his mind to form a complete picture.

But Duan Feizhuo is different. He quickly marked five dots on the map, then straightened his waist, and observed the entire map from a more macro perspective.

Of the five dots, one was by the sea—that was Ruth, who was murdered near Dock Street. The other four are evenly distributed around it in a fan shape, like stars and moons.

The distances from where the first four victims were killed to where Ruth was killed are almost equal.

Duan Feizhuo had a terrible idea that maybe the murderer lived or worked near the place where Ruth was killed.

"Why don't you speak?" Z's eager voice interrupted Duan Feizhuo's thoughts, "What did you find out?"

"I may know who the murderer is." Duan Feizhuo said in a deep voice, "but I'm not sure yet. There is something I need to confirm. Can you run for me?"

"What do you want to confirm?"

"Dr. Stone has a son, the one who was crippled. Do you remember? I wonder what school he went to."

Z went to grammar school and came back soon. With the privilege of a Scotland Yard detective, he had no trouble getting the school roll.

"The principal told me that Dr. Stone's son is indeed a graduate of their school." Z threw the roster in front of Duan Feizhuo, "and the fourth deceased, that teacher, used to be his German teacher."

Duan Feizhuo picked up the roster, and one page was folded. He found the name "Alexander Stone" on that page.

Z folded his arms, leaned on the table, and said in surprise, "How did you find out?"

"When we visited Stone's clinic yesterday, I saw many photos of his family on Dr. Stone's desk." Duan Feizhuo explained, "One of them is his son's graduation photo. His son is wearing a public school So I wondered if the chap went to the same grammar school where the fourth dead man worked."

"Since his son was studying in that school, it is only natural that he knew the fourth deceased." Z thought, "Could it be that you think Dr. Stone is a serial killer?"

"Isn't it a coincidence that two of the five deceased had social relations with him?" Duan Feizhuo said, "And the murderer was able to kill five people cleanly and then disembowel them, which shows that the murderer has certain abilities Medical knowledge. Didn’t the London police also believe that Jack had medical knowledge when they were investigating the Jack the Ripper case?”

"Jack the Ripper did study medicine." Z said, "But what is Doctor Stone's motive for killing? Do you think he is the escaped mystic from the Scarlet Feast?"

"It's possible." Duan Feizhuo thought of the statues in Dr. Stone's study that exuded the brilliance of secret arts. Perhaps they were not mementos Dr. Stone brought back from India "accidentally" at all, but purchased specifically for his study of esoteric philosophy.

Of course, he dared not confess his discovery to Z, otherwise he would reveal his identity as a mystic.

"The murderer doesn't have to be a mystic." Duan Feizhuo added, "It could be an ordinary person. If Stone is the murderer, I can think of two motives. The first is ABC murder. Stone only wants to murder That teacher, but he was worried that killing only one person would expose his identity, so he killed a few more people to clear himself of suspicion. The second motive was that his son was disabled and he was hit hard, so Decided to take revenge on society. And Ruth, poor Ruth, she may have found evidence of Dr. Stone's crime, but he silenced her."

Z frowned more and more tightly, and his expression became more and more dignified.

Duan Feizhuo looked anxiously at the handsome white-haired night policeman, waiting for him to refute himself and find out the loopholes in his reasoning.

Z thought for a while, then raised his head, "After you say that, I'm starting to doubt Stone too."

Duan Feizhuo was overjoyed. To get Z's approval, for him, it was a happy event second only to the arrest of the murderer.

"There is a way to verify whether he is the murderer." Z said.

"any solution?"

"The easiest way—alibi."

"You ask me where Ruth was the night she was killed?"

Dr. Stone sat in his office, watching the two uninvited guests vigilantly.

Z casually lifted up his skirt, intentionally or unintentionally revealing the shiny police badge pinned to his waist, as if silently threatening Dr. Stone for dishonesty, and sending you to stay in a barred hotel for free for one night.

Dr. Stone showed an expression as if he had eaten a bitter melon, and slammed the knife at Z. However, Z couldn't look at him, and his eyes turned lonely.

"I remember very clearly that I stayed in the clinic that night." Dr. Stone said in a firm tone, "I always waited for the night shift nurse to go to work before leaving, or to visit friends, or go to the club for entertainment. But Ruth was late that night and I had to stay in the clinic and take care of my son."

"Is there any evidence?" Duan Feizhuo was tough.

"My maid—the nurse on the day shift can attest to that."

"She is a servant of your family, and the testimony may not be credible."

Dr. Stone stared angrily, "What? Do you suspect that I am the murderer? Me? Let me tell you, I am a well-known doctor in Aberdeen! I have been to India and have served the country! Don't you Discredit me!"

Z's expression was indifferent, and he was not intimidated by his momentum at all. "We are here to prove your innocence. As long as you take out an iron-like alibi, no one will suspect you?"

"Who doubts me?!" Dr. Stone's angry eyes turned to Duan Feizhuo, "It's you, right? Why do you always go against me? Not only did you **** away my patient, but you still framed me in front of the police! "

Duan Feizhuo was baffled, what does it mean to rob his patient? Obviously it was him who opened his mouth like a lion and scared away the patients, so is it someone else? That's probably what the so-called villain complains first!

"Besides Miss Ruth, the other deceased in the serial murder case is also your acquaintance. It seems that you didn't tell the police about this information." Duan Feizhuo smiled sarcastically.

Doctor Stone's expression froze for a moment.

He who was still aggressive just now suddenly weakened. "You... how do you know?"

Duan Feizhuo pointed to the graduation photo of Dr. Stone's son on the desk. Stone immediately realized his omission and knocked down the photo frame, but it was too late.

"Even if I know the teacher, so what?" Dr. Stone said with a stiff neck. "There are so many students in the grammar school, and he has taught almost everyone. Doesn't that mean that the parents of every student are suspected of murder?" ?”

"Since you brought up the suspicion of murder yourself," Z lowered his head and poked the police badge on his waist absently, "Then I would like to ask you again. From ten o'clock to twelve o'clock at night on May 2, the fourth Where were you when the deceased was killed?"

Doctor Stone flushed. He was completely cast as a suspect, which made him very angry.

But he also understands that if he refuses to answer, the suspicion will only get worse. He could only suppress his anger, gritted his teeth and said, "I don't remember. I want to see the schedule for the day."

He took a booklet out of a drawer and turned to a page.

"It was a Tuesday and a friend of mine was getting married so I was at the club celebrating him. A lot of friends were there and they could prove I was there!"

"You didn't leave during that time?" Z asked.

"Of course! I'm the host, why should I leave? We celebrated until the early hours of the morning. If you don't believe me, just go to the club and ask!" Dr. Stone raised his head proudly, "I'm not afraid of the shadow slanting. You investigate!"

Z asked where Dr. Stone was when the other three victims were killed. He answered them all. Except for the night of Ruth's death, he had an alibi for the other four days.

While Z was interrogating Stone, Duan Feizhuo was staring at the statue of an Indian **** on the shelf. Like the last time he visited, the idol exuded the unique brilliance of arcane items.

He tried to stare at the statues for a while, expecting to see Stone's remaining memories from them-if only he could see the scene of his crime.

However, he watched for a long time, and only saw a few intermittent scenes of Dr. Stone wandering in the office; Dr. Stone writing medical records at his desk;

Duan Feizhuo blinked to drive away those weird sights.

Doctor Stone praying to a pagan idol? Could it be that his service in India led him to convert to Hinduism?

"Now my suspicion can be ruled out?" Doctor Stone snorted proudly.

"Thank you for your cooperation." Z pulled up his coat expressionlessly to cover his shiny police badge, "We will confirm it with witnesses."

"That's great, I just wanted to ask you not to listen to my one-sided words." Dr. Stone mocked.

"Let's go." Z winked at Duan Feizhuo.

"I won't send it away, you go slowly." Dr. Stone said coldly.

Z pulled Duan Feizhuo out of the office and walked through the corridor of the clinic. The clinic is still deserted and lonely. I am afraid that patients will not dare to come to the clinic in a short time.

"That old fox!" Duan Feizhuo said angrily, "Even if he has an alibi, his suspicion cannot be completely ruled out. If he still has an accomplice, then they can commit the crime separately!"

Z looked dignified, noncommittal.

Duan Feizhuo's heart suddenly turned cold. He rushed to Stone's clinic confidently, intending to expose Stone's true face like a famous detective in a novel, but he ran in vain. Was his reasoning wrong?

Having said that, the crime map is originally a means of assisting criminal investigation, and it is not 100% correct. Even if the scope of the murderer's activities can be roughly determined, there are many people living in that area, not only Dr. Stone, but other people may also be the murderer. The scope of the investigation would be widened.

He watched Z's face carefully "You don't believe me, do you?"

Z blinked and turned his head slightly, "I believe in you."

Duan Feizhuo was stunned, "Really?"

"Dr. Stone's attitude is very suspicious. You may not know it, but I can hear it - when we asked him about his relationship with the fourth deceased, his heart beat very fast."

"Maybe he was just surprised or nervous." Duan Feizhuo was a little uncertain. Anyone who is suspected by the police will probably react like this.

"I think he has something to hide from me. Although it may not necessarily be related to the serial murder case, at least it is something shady and not suitable for the police to know."

It doesn't seem surprising that the old guy, Stone, has an eye for money, and why he did things that violate the law and discipline.

But the most important thing at present is not to find out Stone's fox tail, but to find out the real culprit of the serial murder case.

After leaving Stone's clinic, the two went straight to the club Dr. Stone had mentioned to check his alibi.

According to the club waiter, there was indeed a member who held a farewell banquet here on the night of May 2. And Dr. Stone is the host. They rowed all night. Dr. Stone went to the bathroom on the way, but he only left for five minutes. Such a short time is definitely not enough for him to rush to the other side of the city to kill people, and then rush back, even if he rides a horse or a bicycle.

Of course, the premise is that Stone is an ordinary person. If he is a mystic and possesses the ability to speed up his movements, that would be a different matter.

Seeing that the clues he had finally found were cut off one by one, Duan Feizhuo became more and more disheartened.

It was getting late, so they stopped by this club for dinner. At this point, someone was already drunk. Groups of drunks were making noise in the club, and if they made too much noise, they would be thrown out the door by the waiter.

"Don't throw up at my door!" The waiter yelled at a drunk man, "Go over there and throw up! There's a sewer over there, don't you have eyes?"

Duan Feizhuo turned to look at the waiter and the drunk.

"What's wrong?" Z noticed something unusual about him.

"Sewer." Duan Feizhuo said in a low voice.

The word touched a certain point in his memory.

When they were investigating the scene of Ruth's murder, there was a sewer nearby, and the water had been pouring out.

According to police files, the scene of the murder of the first deceased—a cab driver—also had a sewer opening. The deceased relieved himself there.

Aberdeen is one of the few big cities in Scotland, and the sewers are naturally well-connected. The more densely populated places are, the more developed sewage systems are needed. Especially after the cause of the Great Plague in London was found to be the pollution of drinking water, various cities began to build sewer pipes to prevent drinking water from being polluted by sewage.

Aberdeen's sewers can hold a person walking in them. The crime map indicated the scope of the murderer's activities, but the murderer did not operate on the ground, but underground!

"The murderer may move around through the sewer." Duan Feizhuo quickly explained his sudden inspiration to Z, "That's why there are no witnesses in all the cases. The murderer hid in the sewer before the murder. Hide back immediately after you are done, of course no one will see you!"

Z frowned, "Are you sure?"

"Not sure." Duan Feizhuo admitted honestly, "But I think it's worth investigating."

Z immediately took out his wallet, paid for the dinner, asked the club waiter for a candle, and strode out of the club.

"Where is the nearest crime scene?"

"It's the scene of the fourth dead man, the grammar school teacher..."

"Take me there."

Duan Feizhuo led Z to the scene of the crime based on his memory. This street is a middle-class community in Aberdeen. The townhouses on the roadside are exquisite and luxurious, which is very different from the war-damaged buildings on Mud Street.

More than a week has passed since the incident, and the cordon at the scene has long been removed, but there are several mourning bouquets on the ground. Perhaps it was because the teacher was exceptionally virtuous and respected.

Next to the bouquet is a sewer manhole cover. This further confirmed Duan Feizhuo's conjecture.

"Are you armed?" Z asked.

"Bring it." Ever since he came to Aberdeen, Duan Feizhuo always brought the Sword in the Stone with him whenever he went out. Although it may seem strange to passers-by, safety comes first, and he doesn't care about his image.

Z lifted the manhole cover and jumped into the dark sewer.

Duan Feizhuo rushed to the edge of the well, it was pitch black and he couldn't see anything.

"Are you okay?" he called into the darkness.

"Safe!" Z's voice came from a distant place underground, "Come down!"

Duan Feizhuo looked left and right to make sure that there was no one on the street (he didn't want passers-by to see him digging into the sewer), then he imitated Z and jumped into the well.

As soon as his body flew into the air, Shi Zhongjian screamed, "Why did you jump directly! Isn't there a ladder!"

It was only then that Duan Feizhuo discovered that there was a series of iron ladders nailed on the wall of the well for climbing.

However, it was too late. His body followed the call of gravity and just fell downwards.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" He screamed along with Jian Zhongjian.

Then, he suddenly fell into Z's arms.

Z caught him with perfect precision. The impact made the white-haired nightman unsteady. He knelt down on one knee, and finally withstood Duan Feizhuo's weight.

"When I told you to come down, I meant to ask you to climb down the ladder." Z gritted his teeth.

"...I saw you jumped down directly, I thought it wasn't deep at all." Duan Feizhuo muttered.

He was secretly glad that Z couldn't see his expression. Otherwise, he can only dig a hole in the ground and get in, and he will never come out for the rest of his life.

He jumped out of Z's arms and stepped on the shallow running water with his feet. Presumably it was the sewage in the sewer.

These shoes are useless. Duan Feizhuo thought sadly.

Z took out a candle and a box of matches from his pocket, and gave them to Duan Feizhuo.

"Come on," he said.

The candle was obviously prepared for Duan Feizhuo. Z can walk freely in the dark without lighting—in other words, even if there is lighting, there is no distinction between light and dark in Z's world.

Duan Feizhuo lit the candle, and the flame flickered, far less bright than a lantern, and could only see a short distance ahead.

"Are you okay?" he asked Z.

"It's windy here." Z said, "I can hear it when it's windy."

Duan Feizhuo couldn't hear the wind even if his ears were broken, but the flickering of the candle indicated that there was indeed air flowing in the sewer.

The two walked along the narrow passage. They didn't know how far they walked, and there was no reference on the ground underground, so Duan Feizhuo completely lost the sense of distance.

The channel kept going downwards, the water was getting deeper and deeper, and the foul smell was getting stronger and stronger.

Duan Feizhuo covered his nose, trying not to spit it out. Z's sense of smell is more sensitive than his, and he feels more uncomfortable than him.

"Do you need a handkerchief?" Duan Feizhuo asked in a low voice.

Z shook his head, "I smell a strange smell."

"I think we all smelled a strange smell." Duan Feizhuo complained.

"It's not the smell of sewage and rot, but..." Z hesitated to speak.

Duan Feizhuo was shocked. Talking half-spoken is sometimes scarier than telling the whole story.

"What is it?" he asked timidly.

Z pondered for a moment, then carefully said, "The smell of death."

"Corpse smell?"

"No. Something worse."

Z took off his gloves, and a gleaming blade popped out of his prosthetic hand.

Duan Feizhuo also pulled out the sword from the stone.

A pale shadow flitted across the edge of the candle's light.

It was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, it sank into the darkness where you couldn't see your fingers.

Duan Feizhuo gasped, "There's something in front! There's something!"

"I know!" Z roared.

He rushed forward with a stride, raising the knife in his hand and dropping it.

A strange roar resounded through the sewer.

It was not like the screams of human beings before dying, but more like the neighing of monsters.

"Z!"

Duan Feizhuo raised the candle high and waded through the sewage to catch up.

"Boy! Watch out for the top of your head!" Shi Zhongjian shouted.

Duan Feizhuo looked up subconsciously.

Then he screamed desperately.

Just above him hangs a pale monster that looks a bit like a skinned monkey, a bit like a Gollum with his foundation on.

The monster's mouth grinned all the way to the ears, revealing two rows of interlaced pointed teeth. A stream of sticky saliva fell from its forked tongue and dripped onto Duan Feizhuo's shoulder.

The sword in the stone immediately took control of his body. He leaped back, and at the same time, the monster leaped down and fell into the sewage.

It hit the ground on all fours and rushed towards Duan Feizhuo quickly.

Duan Feizhuo swung his sword, and the sharp blade swept across the monster's thin arm, creating a deep bone-deep wound like a hot knife cutting butter.

The monster screamed while clutching its injured arm, and backed away on all fours.

There was the sound of treading water in front of the passage. Z came back from killing, and as soon as the monster turned around, it was pierced by Z's sword.

"Are you okay?" Z asked with concern.

"It's okay! What the **** is that?!" Duan Feizhuo was about to cry from nausea.

"Ghoul!" Z roared, "There are more ahead! Run away!"

After finishing speaking, he turned around to face the dark passage, and raised the blade of his sword, as if he wanted to use his own body to cut Duan Feizhuo's back.

A horde of pale monsters surged out of the darkness. They climbed on the walls, on the ceiling, like a tide of corpses.

Duan Feizhuo looked at Z's lonely back, his heart was in his throat.

"I'll help you!" Duan Feizhuo shouted.

"Go away!" Z was angry.

Duan Feizhuo didn't care what he said. No matter what, he couldn't let Z fight alone.

He swung the sword in the stone and cut off the arm of the nearest ghoul. Where the blade crossed, the ghoul's slippery skin instantly turned scorched black, as if scorched by a raging fire.

Seeing that he couldn't be persuaded, Jing gritted his teeth and joined the battle. With their backs facing each other, the two cut through the attacking ghoul while giving their backs to each other for protection.

One after another, the ghouls were repelled, but soon new ones came to fill them up. They seem to be in an endless stream, and they can't be killed no matter how hard they are killed. Duan Feizhuo never knew that there were so many monsters living underground in Aberdeen. If he had heard about this earlier, he might have packed up his belongings and fled overnight, preferring to live in a ravine.

Seeing that they were about to be overwhelmed by the tide of monsters, a star of light suddenly lit up at the end of the dark passage.

The monsters stopped moving one after another to make way.

"Who?!" Z frowned, and his nothingness stared motionlessly at the light in the darkness.

A man came wading through the water with a lantern in his hand.

"Stop! Don't hurt them!" The man stumbled over, his voice full of heartache.

The monsters bowed their heads respectfully, as if saluting that person.

Duan Feizhuo finally saw the face of the lantern bearer clearly.

He was very young, red-haired, blue-eyed, and thin. It was Duncan McLean, the skilled restorer of the coffin shop.

"You...you...it's you!"

Pointing at Duncan, Duan Feizhuo stammered and shouted.

why is he here Why did the ghouls treat him with such respect? Could he be the real culprit of the Aberdeen serial murders?

Z moved slightly, "Who is he?"

"He's a body restorer," Duan Feizhuo replied hoarsely, "he was the one who restored Ruth's body."

Z raised the blade, pointing it directly at Duncan's face.

The surrounding ghouls hissed at the same time, as if they were threatening Z.

Duncan stopped them with his eyes. After being stared at by him, the ghouls instantly fell silent. He spread his arms, standing between Z and the army of ghouls.

"Please don't hurt them!" he said in a pleading tone with tears in his eyes.