"Okay, I understand. Send me the file."

Zhang Qiang hung up the phone, looked at us, and his voice was a little hoarse.

"The old case has been solved. Fifteen years ago, a murder occurred in the library. A night shift administrator was stabbed in the duty room with a box cutter. The murderer was never found and it became a cold case."

It's not unusual for there to be murders, but why did Zhang Qiang make that expression just now?

This puzzles me.

In my memory, Zhang Qiang has always been quite calm.

But could a murder case from many years ago really cause him to show such a horrified expression? I don't believe it!

He quickly answered my question.

"The deceased was a 50-year-old male. Since the murderer has not actually been found, the murder weapon is actually a speculation, a sharp object similar to a box cutter."

"Most importantly, the records show that when the deceased was found, in addition to the fatal chest wound, his left hand was also missing and was not found at the scene!"

My left hand is gone too?

This detail struck me like a bolt of lightning!

A paper cutter, a missing left hand, Zhang Wei's vanished head...

I suddenly looked at Zhang Qiang and said:

"Check the murder cases in this city; find those where the bodies were missing after the death!"

Zhang Qiang immediately realized, "You think there's a connection between these murders?"

"About 90% chance."

I said with certainty.

"I'll go check right now." Hearing me say that, a glint of light flashed in Zhang Xiang's eyes. He turned to return to the police station, but suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He saw the paper cutter in my hand, and his eyes were filled with unease and fear:

"This thing is a bit strange, it's best to handle it properly, or put it in a special place."

"really."

I tightened my grip on the evidence bag; the chilling feeling was still palpable even through the bag.

"Indeed, we should find a safe place to seal it up first, and it would be best to use some talisman. Does your police station have a special place to store these kinds of evil things?"

Luo Tianhe also spoke up.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Qiang's expression immediately became somewhat awkward. He scratched his head and said somewhat embarrassedly:

"As far as I know, there are indeed similar places in the police station. I remember when I first found out, I thought the police station was feudal and superstitious. Now it seems that I was really too naive back then."

I pinched my chin:

"It would be a bit of a hassle to leave it in that kind of place, so we have spares in the car."

When we went to Heishui Village before, we prepared a lot of things in the trunk, but we haven't used most of them yet. Now we can make the most of them.

Because he needed to buy things like lime, which weren't very clean, Luo Tianhe drove his van there when he went to the funeral market.

They've come in a van now, so there's no need to go back to get it.

Director Li, who was standing to the side, was already dumbfounded.

He wanted to speak, but remained silent for a long time. I glanced at him and said meaningfully:

"Some things are best kept to yourself. As long as you don't spread them, it's fine. But if you do spread them and cause any negative consequences, well..."

Upon hearing this, Director Li shuddered and waved his hands repeatedly, saying:

"Don't worry, don't worry, I absolutely won't tell anyone. I'll pretend I didn't see anything today. No, not pretend, I really didn't see anything!"

Zhang Qiang couldn't say these things because he was a policeman, but it was natural for me to say them.

We nodded in satisfaction, waved to him, and left the library.

Then we quickly went to the parking lot.

I took an inconspicuous black metal toolbox from the trunk. Inside, there were compartments containing small cloth bags filled with various items, including saltpeter powder, cinnabar, iron filings, and a whole bunch of other items meant to ward off evil.

I took out a small bag of saltpeter powder, and mixed a small handful of cinnabar and iron filings. I drew a simple warding-off-evil array, and then inserted the paper cutter into it.

I wrapped the outside of the black metal box with cinnabar thread several times.

After making sure everything was in order, I put the small black box back into the hidden compartment in the trunk.

"Let's go to the police station, I need to check some information."

Zhang Qiang took a deep breath and said somewhat anxiously.

We had no objections, so we followed him to his office.

He retrieved information on the computer, entered a series of passwords, and then his fingers flew across the keyboard, his expression focused.

As he continued to investigate old cases, his expression gradually became serious.

He turned the computer screen towards us and began to speak:

"I retrieved data on all unnatural deaths in the city over the past 30 years, including cases where parts of the body were missing. I removed those that were left undiscovered, leading to decomposition or animal damage,"

At this point, Zhang Qiang couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"Besides those, including Zhang Wei's case, there are a total of six!"

I glanced at the screen, where Zhang Qiang had listed a brief table.

The first case occurred 32 years ago in the dormitory of the old cotton mill in Xicheng District, where a female worker, Liu, disappeared on her way to her night shift.

Three days later, the body was found in an abandoned boiler room. The heart was missing, there was no murder weapon at the scene, and there were no witnesses, making it an unsolved case.

In the second case, 29 years ago, Wang, a temporary worker at the city library, was found unconscious outside the rare book room during his night shift, and his right hand was missing!

After regaining consciousness, he exhibited abnormal behavior and refused to mention the disappearance of his right hand. He later died under suspicious circumstances in a mental hospital, and the case remains unsolved.

The third case, which occurred five years after the previous one, took place at a construction site in the eastern suburbs, where a migrant worker surnamed Zhao fell to his death from a height.

The left leg was missing, and the wound was smooth. It was initially thought that it had been cut off by something sharp during the fall.

However, during the subsequent investigation, it was discovered that there was nothing like that along the path he fell, and the reason for his leg disappearance remains a mystery.

Next is the incident from fifteen years ago at Beibin Park, where an elderly man surnamed Sun drowned while exercising in the morning. After his body was pulled ashore, it was discovered that his right leg was missing.

The injury is suspected to have been caused by a sharp object in the water, but a matching object has not been found.

Besides Zhang Wei, the most recent case is:

Eight years ago, a freelancer died suddenly in his rented apartment in the High-tech Zone. He was later found to have lost his kidneys!

There were no signs of a struggle at the scene, and the cause of death was acute myocardial infarction.

Neighbors reported that he behaved strangely in the days leading up to his death, often talking to himself.

The sixth case involved Zhang Wei, whose head went missing.

Upon seeing this truly shocking list, the office fell into a deathly silence.

The six cases spanned 32 years, involving victims of different identities and with different methods of death.

However, they all have one thing in common: a specific part of their body mysteriously disappears.

Heart! Right hand! Left leg! Right leg! Kidneys! Skull!