Chapter 1822 - Special Case

The case was not only reported to Mu Min's desk but also directly communicated to Liu Xiang and Wen Desi. Less than an hour after the report went up, even Ran Yao in distant Lingao knew of it.

He immediately made a phone call. Thus Su Wan, sprawled naked and sleeping soundly in her dormitory, was roused from bed by her secretary and informed: "Bring your tools. Take the earliest boat to Guangzhou for assignment—emergency mission."

At the same time, Liu San, already in Guangzhou, had no choice but to pick up his bag and serve as forensic examiner at the scene.

At this moment, neither Gao Chongjiu nor Li Ziyu had adequately estimated the waves that the case they had inadvertently uncovered while tracking Mingnu would cause. But even by their standards, this case would have shocked the entire court even under the Ming.

The entire Guangzhou Municipal Police Bureau's work seemed to instantly revolve around this scene. Li Ziyu watched as even Mu Min arrived. He knew this had become a major case. Amid his nervousness, he could not help but feel secretly excited.

Mu Min surveyed the scene. The sight before her reminded her of the "Shaanxi Dragon Case" that her instructor had lectured on during her advanced training at the Public Security University. But the "Dragon Case" had been mainly about robbery and murder, perhaps also involving some pathological personality disorder. It had nothing to do with cults. This case bore the distinct characteristics of sorcery and black magic crimes.

The urgent priority was to determine exactly what the criminals had been doing here—and why they had so brazenly operated on such a scale, contrary to all normal patterns. But these details could only be clarified by relying on the old constables.

The burial pit had been cleared. The corpses had been stacked three layers deep—eighteen bodies in total. According to the preliminary examination by the coroners present, all the victims were women and children, predominantly children. Like "Corpse No. 1" excavated from beneath Room Three of the Heavenly Character wing, the bodies had all suffered varying degrees of deliberate mutilation. Not only were facial features universally missing, but there were also deficiencies in internal organs, limbs, genitals, and muscle tissue. The victims' horrific state was difficult even for veteran coroners to view directly.

Mu Min directed the coroners to log the discovery location and assign numbers to each corpse. The coroners sprayed the bodies with alcohol, placed them in straw bags serving as body bags, and removed them one by one from the scene. Incense was lit, and the police present could finally remove their masks and catch their breath.

Though the number of murder cases discovered in Guangzhou—nameless corpses found on the streets or fished from the water—would exceed this figure within two or three days, for a murder case occurring in such a small area, this already qualified as an extraordinarily major case.

Mu Min ordered an expanded search. National Army soldiers lined up across the entire inn, thrusting long spears into the ground to probe for other burial sites.

Soon the soldiers discovered "Pit No. 2" beneath the front office.

"Pit No. 2" was located beneath the west wing of the front office, similar in shape to "Pit No. 1" and oriented north-south. Two remains were excavated, neatly arranged—a boy and girl pair, around four or five years old. Unlike "Pit No. 1," the bodies were completely intact and clothed.

Next, "Pit No. 3" was discovered in the east wing, yielding another nine bodies. Their condition was essentially the same as those in "Pit No. 1."

Even as the investigation proceeded, news spread like wildfire through the populace, shaking Guangzhou city like an earthquake. People surged toward the area outside Zhenhai Gate in a tide. Though the National Army and Coast Guard had already sealed off the surrounding area from both water and land and strictly forbade residents outside Zhenhai Gate from leaving their homes, the walls of Zhenhai Gate and the rooftops of buildings were still packed with curious onlookers. Some simply hired boats to watch from the river. Outside the Coast Guard's cordon line, vessels of all sizes crowded densely together. The clamor of voices was audible even to the police at the scene.

Li Ziyu remained extremely tense throughout the entire excavation. Each time a body was brought out, he disregarded the stench and his fear, insisting on looking closely to see if the victim was Mingnu. However, most bodies had decomposed too severely to identify their faces. Gao Chongjiu consoled him: "These have all been buried for some time. Mingnu's only been missing a few days. Don't worry."

Li Ziyu nodded. He knew Gao Chongjiu was right. But there was no guarantee that somewhere in this inn lay freshly buried bodies. What if Mingnu had also fallen victim to them? How could he face Zeng Juan?

The scene-clearing work continued until nightfall. No new bodies were discovered. Mu Min ordered the scene sealed and the clearing suspended. She set off to return to the municipal bureau and ordered a special task force to be formed, designated "The June 5th Mao Family Inn Mass Murder Case." The investigation would begin that night.

The task force would naturally be led by her personally, with Wu Xiang as deputy leader. Besides the detectives from Lingao, several old hands were drafted from the retained constable personnel, Gao Chongjiu naturally among them.

"All suspects in the special case are to be sent to the former Guangzhou Prefectural Yamen prison. All other prisoners in the prison are to be cleared out. Prisoners are to be held in solitary confinement, shackled, and gagged. Strictly prevent suicide!"

"Starting tomorrow, all leave is canceled. All available mobile police forces will assemble at Zhenhai Gate tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow morning, with National Army support, a door-to-door search of the area outside Zhenhai Gate and the boat people's small craft will be conducted."

She issued a series of orders and assigned tasks. Then she personally spoke with Gao Chongjiu and Li Ziyu, asking in detail about how the case had been discovered.

When she heard the case had originated from tracking a "kidnapping" abduction case, Mu Min nodded approvingly. "It's good that you took such a case to heart. I know in the old days, the yamen generally didn't pay attention to such cases. But such cases are closely connected to the people's lives. Solving them doesn't just restore one family's happiness—more importantly, it gives the broad masses a sense of security."

Gao Chongjiu agreed repeatedly. Li Ziyu was deeply moved. Though their diligent investigation had been entirely driven by personal motives, today's scene had greatly shocked him. It showed him what darkness could lurk behind the yamen's past indifference and tolerance.

"Old Gao, you're a veteran constable of this city. We'll need your efforts on this case." Mu Min fixed her gaze on him. "Our understanding of Guangzhou's underworld is limited. We'll have to rely heavily on your old connections."

Gao Chongjiu hurried to stand and bow. "Chief Mu, you're too kind. It's nothing! Whatever you need Old Nine for, just say the word."

Mu Min asked: "I heard that when the case broke, Gao Tianshi immediately sent someone to ask you to silence the prisoners?"

"That's true." Gao Chongjiu continued: "I know the stakes. What kind of case is this? Never mind that now it's Great Song's realm, where we speak of fairness and integrity. Even under the former Ming, I wouldn't have dared accept his request—a monstrous case of separating families, utterly deranged! Taking bribes and corruption in such a case—even if the authorities didn't see it, Heaven is watching. The heavens wouldn't let it pass."

"Very good." Mu Min did not pursue this matter further. "You're a veteran constable of Guangzhou Prefecture. You've seen much. We'll need your efforts."

"Don't say such things, Chief. One takes the pay, one serves the employer. I'll give my utmost." Gao Chongjiu paused. "For this investigation, I called on a few old brothers to help. This somewhat violates regulations. But these people are quite useful. If the chief could approve..."

Mu Min nodded: "Alright. Draft me a list of the people you need."

Gao Chongjiu hurried to give an awkward attention-salute: "Thank you, Chief Mu!"

Just as they were speaking, someone came to report: Elder Liu had returned from Shuangshan Temple.

Guangzhou's police bureau did not yet have a dedicated morgue. Unclaimed bodies found on streets and rivers, as well as bodies awaiting examination, were all sent to Shuangshan Temple outside the Great North Gate for temporary storage. To preserve the bodies, all the ice blocks stored in the Grand World's icehouse had been transported to Shuangshan Temple.

Liu San had been there working with his apprentices since noon. Returning now, he reeked of disinfectant, his face ashen.

Seeing his state, Gao Chongjiu quickly withdrew. Liu San dropped into a chair. After a long pause he said: "This case is too strange." He shook his head. "Too horrible!"

Mu Min rose, poured him a cup of water, and added a few drops of Xue Ziliang's newly successful Victory Brand gin.

Liu San took it and drained it in one gulp. "From D-Day until now, I've seen my share of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. But this—I've never seen anything like it!"

"What kind of situation?" Mu Min asked softly.

"From my preliminary look, this case has strong cult undertones." Liu San said. "You know, traditional Chinese medicine itself has some yin-yang five elements theories. Though I haven't studied them deeply, some elements are interconnected. The mutilation of the victims' faces and limbs all seems to follow certain rules. These victims were very likely sacrifices for some kind of dark magic."

"The old runners all say this is a corpse-harvesting case..."

"It is indeed corpse-harvesting. But don't forget—corpse-harvesting itself has sorcery overtones." Liu San lowered his voice. "The gourds at the scene—the report says some contain amber. I suspect it's not amber but artificially refined 'corpse pills.' This kind of soul-harvesting dark art—I've heard of it. Besides being used for curses, it also has various uses like changing fate, extending life, and warding off evil. Looking at this inn's scale, their ambitions were probably not small."

"You mean..." Mu Min had worked in the Political Department before and possessed that level of awareness.

"It's very possibly connected to our activities in Guangzhou." Liu San said. "I can also say this: from certain traces, this matter also involves compounding great medicines and pill-refining."

Mu Min had encountered underground cults in the old spacetime but had never truly come into contact with murder cases of this type. Hearing Liu San's assessment, she could not help but draw a sharp breath: "I hadn't thought of that. But scene exploration isn't finished yet. Why don't you go to the scene yourself tomorrow to take a look?"

"Alright. Though I only have a partial understanding myself."

(End of Chapter)