The old man trembled violently upon hearing the word "piece together" and suddenly looked up at me.
I saw pain in his eyes.
"I don't want to hurt anyone either..."
The old man murmured, his voice hoarse.
But suddenly, he shouted.
"I just want my best friend to come back to life. She's so young and so sweet. It's my fault for not taking good care of her!"
He was incoherent, tears streaming down his face, and he pounded his chest with his fists, making a series of dull thuds.
Looking at his emaciated appearance, I was afraid he would punch himself to death.
"Your daughter?"
Luo Tianhe caught the key words and looked puzzled. Zhang Wei couldn't possibly be his daughter, but he kept repeating that.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck me.
There were clearly seven victims, but we only found six missing organs!
Only the first one, the female worker whose heart was removed thirty-two years ago, did not have her heart found here...
So, the female worker is the old man's daughter?
I hesitated for a moment.
The main issue is that the victim was a female factory worker, but the old man claimed that his daughter was so young and well-behaved, which made it impossible for me to associate her with the word "female factory worker."
Suddenly, I slapped my forehead. Thirty-two years ago, there was no child labor protection law. Girls as young as fifteen or sixteen could start working as factory workers!
I felt it was pretty much true, so I whispered to Luo Tianhe and the other two that I was right.
"So, the first victim wasn't actually killed by him, and he's considered a victim's family member?!"
Zhang Qiang's eyes widened in surprise.
"What kind of logic is this? Is he taking revenge on society? Just because others treated his daughter like that, he wants to treat others the same way?!"
I shook my head and said, "I'm afraid not. What I think he means is that he wants to resurrect his daughter, so he's scavenging people's organs everywhere!"
After punching himself hard, the old man seemed to have all his strength drained away, and he slumped against the stone wall, his eyes unfocused.
"My name is Zhou Fuquan. I am an old craftsman. My ancestors knew some unorthodox paper-making, pasting, and some basic repair techniques."
The old man suddenly spoke, and we all immediately stopped discussing. It seemed that the truth of the matter was about to be revealed!
However, this old man should also be considered a member of the underworld.
The so-called paper-making, pasting, and repair techniques are not as simple as they appear on the surface!
It is probably a folk tradition similar to that of the cobbler.
Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain how he managed to commit such a shocking crime single-handedly in the days that followed.
"More than forty years ago, I had my first daughter, and I named her Zhou Wenxiu. She was smart and clever from a young age and was the apple of my eye."
Now we were facing off, and Zhang Qiang and I exchanged a glance.
We both read the case file carefully and learned the name of each victim.
The first female victim was none other than Zhou Wenxiu!
No wonder the old man called his daughter Xiuxiu; it's a very reasonable nickname.
“My daughter started working at an old cotton mill in Xicheng District when she was sixteen. It was summer, and on her way home, Xiuxiu died in an accident because I didn’t pick her up.”
As the old man spoke, a pained expression appeared on his face, and he clutched his heart area as if a constant stabbing pain was shooting from there.
“If it were just an ordinary accidental death, I could accept it, but my daughter, her heart was ripped out while she was still alive!”
“At first, I pinned my hopes on the police, but those incompetent people couldn’t find any clues at all, which made this a cold case! Since the police are incompetent, I can only try to avenge my daughter in my own way!”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Qiang couldn't help but show an embarrassed expression.
It can only be said that the person who committed the crime was extremely ruthless, deliberately choosing a time when there were no pedestrians on the road at night.
There were no surveillance cameras at that time, so the police were powerless to do anything.
"Even if you're seeking revenge, you can't target these people who came later. They have no grudge against your daughter!"
Li Huai couldn't help but speak up. In his opinion, the old man was simply desperate. What kind of revenge is this?!
Anyway, he didn't believe that the later temporary workers or old teachers were the murderers.
Before the old man could even speak after hearing Li Huai's words, I shook my head.
"The real killer is indeed someone else, but he should have found the real killer!"
Upon hearing my words, the old man, who had just wanted to refute Li Huai, suddenly showed a look of satisfaction on his face.
"That's right, I found the killer through some friends in the underworld and my day and night search."
"But how did you guess?"
"Isn't it simple? There must have been a reason why that person took your daughter's heart! After all, the police must have investigated people who had a grudge against you, and they had no reason to kill in revenge. Otherwise, it wouldn't have become an unsolved case."
"And then you learned this method of mutilation and dismemberment, the so-called method of resurrecting loved ones. Who did you learn it from? It's quite obvious!"
Upon hearing this, Li Huai and Luo Tianhe immediately showed expressions of sudden realization. I paused for a moment, then continued:
"That person probably wanted to resurrect his friends or relatives, which is why he targeted your daughter, and you've ended up on the same path as him!"
“That’s right, I went down the same path as him. I found him, tortured him severely, and then ended his life with my own hands. In his room, I found the specific method for performing the Life-Gathering and Severing Technique.”
As expected, I nodded silently.
When will this cycle of revenge end?
This man killed his daughter in an attempt to resurrect his loved ones.
Then, for the sake of his daughter, he followed the same path.
If among the people he kills later are those who know something about the business, and they come looking for him, won't he just fall into another cycle?
"After killing the first person, I regretted it and knew I was too paranoid, but what's done is done, and I could only continue."
"Otherwise, he would have died in vain!"
At this point, a hint of regret appeared on the old man's face.
He knew, of course, that what he was doing was against all reason and morality, but he was desperate to find his daughter.
I didn't say anything, but Luo Tianhe spoke directly.
He crossed his arms and gave a cold snort:
"Hehe, you really are a good father!"
The old man ignored Luo Tianhe's sarcasm and continued:
"I lived in anonymity, making a living with my meager skills and odd jobs, while secretly studying the incomplete manual I had obtained."
"I was too impulsive at the time and didn't ask clearly how to select suitable organs! So I could only slowly search and select based on my vague understanding of birth date and time."
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