I put on gloves and carefully picked up the paperweight. It felt heavy and a little cold to the touch.
Almost the instant I touched it, I felt a distinct stinging sensation in my hand.
At the same time, my vision seemed to blur for a moment, and I vaguely saw extremely fine, eerie dark red lines flash by beneath the dark patina on the paperweight's surface, like dried blood streaks.
"Something's definitely not right with this thing."
I said in a deep voice, casually put the stone back on the table, took out a yellow talisman and a cinnabar pen from my cloth bag, drew a simple talisman to ward off evil and stuck it on.
When I picked it up again, the stinging sensation lessened slightly, but the chilling feeling still lingered.
"Have you found out where the paperweight came from?"
Luo Tianhe, who was standing to the side, looked at the criminal police officer and asked.
The detective knew that Luo Tianhe was Zhang Qiang's friend, and seeing that Zhang Qiang didn't say anything, he naturally spoke freely and without reservation.
“I asked several of the victim’s neighbors, and they all said that he found it at Old Zhou’s scrap yard. After all, he was very happy to show it off to them. According to these neighbors, Mr. Wu really liked this paperweight because he liked to write, and this old item had a good meaning, was well-made, and was cheap.”
"Old Zhou's scrap yard?" Zhang Qiang stroked his chin. "They've already sent people over there?"
"Yes, we've already sent people there, boss. We should have the results soon regarding the source of goods and recent transaction records."
The detective nodded.
Just then, Zhang Qiang's phone rang. It was a call from the criminal police officer who was staying at the police station.
"Captain Zhang, the files of the deceased have been retrieved. Didn't you want their birth dates and times? I've already sent them to you."
Soon, Zhang Qiang chatted for a few minutes, then hung up the phone and showed me the information on his phone.
As I looked at their birth dates and times, I quickly calculated the corresponding Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches in my mind.
At noon on the 23rd day of the fifth month of the Dingmao year! (Female worker, heart disappears)
August 9th, Year of Yihai (1925), Shen hour (3-5 PM)! (Temporary worker, right hand missing)
On the eleventh day of the twelfth lunar month of the year Guiwei (1933), at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM)! (A migrant worker lost his left leg.)
Born on the 18th day of the third month of the Gengyin year, at the hour of Hai (9-11 PM). (Retired elderly man, right leg missing)
At midnight on the 26th day of the 7th month of the Dingyou year! (A freelancer had his kidney removed.)
February 15th, Guimao year, Chou hour! (Zhang Wei, head disappeared)
Seeing that I remained silent, Zhang Qiang nervously asked:
"How's it going? Have you found any clues? Have you made any contact?"
"We're in contact!"
I answered decisively.
Luo Tianhe and Zhang Qiang immediately looked at me.
I explained the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches corresponding to the birth dates of those victims, and they nodded thoughtfully, but I knew that neither of them understood a thing.
But I don't need that. He didn't understand. He just needs to know that there is a connection between the two. I pointed to the first female worker's birth date on Zhang Qiang's phone screen.
"The first victim was the female factory worker whose heart disappeared. Her birth chart was Dingwei, and Ding belongs to Yin Fire. Among the five internal organs, the heart also belongs to Fire. Moreover, she was born at noon, when the Heart Meridian is in power and the Fire energy is at its strongest!"
"The second victim was the temporary worker whose right hand disappeared. His birth chart was Jia Shen, with Shen metal in command. Metal energy is sharp, and the right hand represents decision-making and execution, often corresponding to the hardness and sharpness of metal. He collapsed outside the ancient book room. Ancient books are all books, and books are made of wood. You probably already know this. Metal overcomes wood, which may be an implication."
Luo Tianhe and Zhang Qiang nodded thoughtfully.
The detective stared at me, dumbfounded.
At that moment, I was undoubtedly a very tall figure in his mind, like a hermit sage.
Not only the first two, but I will continue to tell the stories of the third, fourth, and fifth victims, and finally Zhang Wei, based on their birth dates and times!
I finished speaking in one breath, licked my dry lips, picked up the freshly opened bottle of mineral water on the table, and drank it all in one gulp.
A brief, deathly silence fell over the room.
This interpretation, based on birth date and time and physical symbolism, is not a very rigorous set of rules, and it is somewhat far-fetched when taken out of context.
However, when it fits perfectly with all six bizarre murder cases, it highlights a meticulously planned horror.
"you mean,"
Zhang Qiang's Adam's apple bobbed, and he could no longer care about maintaining a cool and aloof demeanor in front of his subordinates.
"The murderer, or rather the thing behind it, specifically selects people with certain attributes based on the victim's birth chart!"
Then, they removed the corresponding parts of his body, like collecting materials according to a distorted recipe—and those materials were human organs!
"That's right!"
Clues are coming together rapidly, and we've discovered some clues to the case.
Thinking about it, I couldn't help but say solemnly:
"This is definitely not a simple case of old objects becoming sentient; it's a massive and meticulously designed scheme to exploit and destroy life! Those old objects are specially crafted bait, scattered out to find people who match specific astrological charts or traits. Once they are in prolonged contact with or gain acceptance..."
I stopped there and didn't say anything more.
And they are well aware of the fate of those who are approached and approved of.
Zhang Qiang's face turned ashen.
This case spanned so many years, and the people behind it didn't pursue efficiency at all. Instead, they adopted the most rudimentary method: letting those old objects contact qualified people on their own. This made our investigation incredibly difficult.
If it's really as I suspect...
These items were all distributed in a unified manner decades ago, so it's impossible for us to find out who's behind them.
Fortunately, if it wasn't a coincidence, Zhang Wei and the old teacher were simply triggered in the last two days.
That means the guy behind it all got impatient. He was eager to complete the ritual, so he intervened.
Otherwise, there's no way to explain why, in the past, there were only a few cases every few years, but this time it was less than a week apart.
Zhang Qiang and I exchanged a glance, clearly having considered this possibility.
He urgently instructed the detective:
"We need to investigate scrap yards, secondhand markets, antique shops, and even online secondhand platforms! The focus should be on finding old items that are quite old, have subtle markings or unusual features, but are priced unusually low, clearly not matching their intrinsic value!"
He paused, then looked at me and Luo Tianhe, his tone more serious than ever before:
"Chen Yan, Luo Tianhe, this matter has gone beyond the scope of an ordinary criminal case, but we cannot mobilize too many manpower. After all, on the surface, we are the police, and there are some things that are inconvenient to do."
I know what he means. After all, he's a policeman, so he can't just openly talk about searching for ghosts or something.
This matter is mainly handled by me and Luo Tianhe; the police can only provide information.
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