N-M Chapter 158 Blood Curse Elixir
Chapter 158 Blood Curse Elixir
Chapter 158 Blood Curse Elixir
Because there were many people at dinner, Li Jiuhe didn't notice these details.
On the contrary, Mali is much more sensitive to matters of men and women. Her whole life has been about survival and reproduction. As for human life and enjoyment, they only began to appear after she evolved into a Sequencer.
Therefore, she mostly retains this instinctive perception of contact with the opposite sex.
"Actually, when you express your emotions in the future, you can be a little more subtle, like a human being, you don't have to be so straightforward," Li Jiuhe said.
"Isn't being straightforward better?" Malice looked at him in surprise. "If you like someone, you just need to be honest with each other. What I hate is that the maid is clearly hiding someone in her room, yet she's still thinking about the good people outside—"
Li Jiuhe interrupted her: "How do you know there's someone in her room?"
"We found it when we were taking a walk after dinner and passing by her house," Ma Li explained.
"Have we met this person before?" Li Jiuhe asked.
Ma Li shook her head: "Probably not."
Li Jiuhe pursed his lips and exhaled two breaths from his nostrils: "Ma Li, guess why I brought you to the Rubik's Cube Haunted House?"
""
Ma Li said, "I'll help you out. I'll take care of everything you ask me to do."
Li Jiuhe looked at her and solemnly reminded her, "Your perception is stronger than mine. You should take the initiative to tell me about things that I can't see or observe."
Ma Li realized, "I understand. I always thought you had precognitive abilities and already knew about these things."
Li Jiuhe shook his head: "Some things you know, some things you don't know, so whatever you discover, even if it seems ordinary to you, you must tell me."
"Okay." Ma Li nodded emphatically.
Li Jiuhe looked out the window and glanced in the direction of the maid and cook's house. "The person in the maid's room is a man?"
""
"Yes, it's a man."
""
"Older or younger?"
"I don't know."
Li Jiuhe hesitated for a moment, then said, "We won't go over there yet. You control your swarm of black ants to check over there, and also investigate the maid's and cook's rooms. Hurry up, it's almost dawn."
Ma Li immediately opened the window and released some of her ant larvae out from there.
The ant swarm scurried down the outer wall and headed quickly toward the row of houses at the corner of the backyard.
Further away, Li Jiuhe could no longer see the ants; only Ma Li was still sensing and controlling them.
"Don't alert them; observe them discreetly," Li Jiuhe advised.
It was almost dawn, and it was unclear whether Lin Shouye was still in the other room or had already returned to his bedroom.
After a short while, Ma Li spoke up: "We've entered the chef's room, but there's no one there."
"Go check the maid's room next door," Li Jiuhe said. "I suspect the man you mentioned is the missing man Lin Siyu told me she knew."
Ma Li suddenly realized, "Is it that guy who has feelings for Lin Siyu? Oh right, how come I didn't think of that?"
Then he added, "The ant larvae on the other side have now entered the maid's room next door. They're reluctant to go in because there's a faint, unpleasant smell of blood."
Li Jiuhe didn't speak, but listened quietly.
"Oh my god!" Ma Li suddenly exclaimed.
Li Jiuhe exclaimed in surprise, "What did you see? Is Lin Shouye inside?"
Ma Li shook her head: "No, it was the maid and the cook sleeping in bed. Just as I guessed, they were hugging each other tightly."
Li Jiuhe reminded everyone: "Focus on the key points."
"Okay, confirmed. The maid isn't wearing any clothes, the cook is, but it seems like he's not wearing anything underneath—"
"Stop! That's not the point." Li Jiuhe felt his patience was running out. "Let's check other places. Is there anything else suspicious?"
"Oh." Malice shifted her attention. "There's another room inside. The chef's room is more spacious than the maid's."
Oh my god!
Li Jiuhe asked, "What are you doing? Is there another bed inside? And two people lying on it?"
Ma Li shook her head: "No, it was a large water vat, one of those very rare large vats, with an adult submerged inside!"
"Continue to observe and tell me the details," Li Jiuhe said with concern.
"Hmm, it seems the water in the tank isn't water, but blood. The ant larvae saw it when they climbed up to the ceiling, but they don't want to go near it because the tank makes them very uncomfortable."
"Who's soaking in there?"
"A man, who looks to be around thirty years old, with an unfamiliar face." Ma Li realized, "This person—should be the boy Lin Siyu likes."
"It's most likely him," Li Jiuhe nodded.
"There's a pile of clothes in the corner, probably this boy's," Ma Li observed carefully. "He's very handsome—"
At this point, he turned to look at Li Jiuhe and said, "Yeah, but he's still not as handsome as you."
Li Jiuhe ignored her irrelevant remarks and asked, "Is this person dead or not?"
"I don't know. The ants are too afraid to come near, and he doesn't move at all."
At this point, Ant Li made a new discovery: "The ant larvae found a bracelet in that pile of clothes that was the same style as Lin Siyu's, and something was buried underneath it. Hmm, it was a jar, one of those earthenware jars for pickling radishes, with a very tight lid."
"Can you open it?" Li Jiuhe asked.
"Can."
Mali controlled the swarm of black ants to work in the same direction, slowly twisting the lid until it loosened, and then lifting it little by little.
No sound was made during the process.
Soon after, Ma Li's expression froze, then she showed disgust and said, "The jar is open. Inside are internal organs, probably human internal organs, and broken bones."
Li Jiuhe nodded slowly: "The man soaking in the vat should be dead. These internal organs and bones are his."
Ma Li felt a chill run down her spine: "So his body has been hollowed out, with only his head and a whole skin soaking in a large vat?"
What exactly is going on here?
"It might be a ritual of the blood curse," Li Jiuhe speculated, then reminded him, "Check again for any trace of Lin Shouye."
After a short while, Ma Li shook her head: "No, we've checked all the nearby rooms, and we've also looked at the gardener's place. Everything else is normal."
"You can come back now," Li Jiuhe instructed.
He was certain that Lin Shouye had returned to his bedroom before dawn.
The fact that this old man was there suggests that he not only knew about the blood vat incident, but might also have been the mastermind behind it.
Furthermore, the little boy also said that he was killed by his father, Lin Jianguo, in such a way, so the Lin family father and son might be birds of a feather.
First, we need to find out who reported the case; at least for now, the person who reported it is trustworthy.
As for the other members of the Lin family, except for those who are too young, almost everyone else could be considered a suspect.
Soon a faint red line appeared on the horizon, indicating that the darkness before dawn was about to pass.
However, in the eyes of Li Jiuhe and Ma Li, this scene was very unreal, with a hazy sense of illusion.
During this time, Li Jiuhe took another nap, and Ma Li curled up in a ball at his feet and quickly fell asleep.
Because it was dawn, she felt a strange sense of security, and she wasn't afraid even if she didn't have to hold Li Jiuhe to sleep.
I slept for more than four hours, and when I woke up it was already past 10 a.m.
After Li Jiuhe got up, Ma Li immediately followed suit.
She originally wanted to sleep a little longer, but the thought of someone having hanged themselves in this room made her sleepiness vanish.
After leaving the room one after the other with Li Jiuhe, they tidied up in the bathroom on the third floor and then went to the rooftop to check the area around the haunted house scene.
The view was excellent at the moment, but all that could be seen was this villa. Beyond the outer wall, everything was blurry and nothing could be clearly seen.
"If we abandon this scene now and do nothing but run out, won't we get stuck in those places and not be able to find our way out?" Ma Li asked, pointing ahead.
"I don't know." Li Jiuhe shook his head. "Actually, we don't even need to try to know that we might not be able to get out until the scenario mission is completed."
The two arrived on the first floor, where the Lin family had already prepared food for them.
Li Jiuhe first had Ma Li check the food for any problems. Only after confirming that there were no problems did they begin to eat.
Not knowing whether it was breakfast or lunch, Lin Shouye ate a little and then, leaning on his cane, went to the dining table.
"Detectives, did you find any clues last night?"
Li Jiuhe shook his head: "It's very complicated. Not only did we have no clues, but we almost died at the hands of those ghosts."
"Oh, what should we do?" Lin Shouye asked worriedly.
There's no good solution for now.
"Is there anything we need to do?"
"No need, let's investigate for another day. Tonight, just like last night, don't go out, otherwise you might get hurt," Li Jiuhe instructed.
Lin Shouye frowned, seemingly lost in thought, but still nodded.
While they were eating, Lin Jianmin also came over to ask about their investigation.
Li Jiuhe gave the same answer as before.
Just as they finished eating, Lin Jianguo's son, Lin Siyuan, came running over, glancing around every now and then, as if afraid of being seen.
As Lin Siyuan approached them, he immediately asked in a low voice, "Did you investigate my dad last night? Was it as I said?"
Li Jiuhe looked around and replied in a low voice, "There is indeed a problem. We saw your mother hanging herself last night."
Lin Siyuan looked surprised.
Li Jiuhe continued, seemingly oblivious, "She told us that she had been sacrificed and that she was going to take us to that place. She looked terrifying and I was worried it was a trap, so I didn't dare go with her. But she might make the same request again tonight."
These words left not only Lin Siyuan stunned, but also Ma Li completely bewildered.
"Oh, oh, then you guys continue your investigation, be careful." Lin Siyuan tried his best to control his expression and turned to leave.
Li Jiuhe immediately said to Ma Li, "Send your Black Ants to keep an eye on him, and pay special attention to where he's going."
Ma Li then realized what was happening, and immediately a string of ants quickly crawled out and followed her, looking like a faint black line on the ground.
Li Jiuhe immediately stood up: "Let's go see what Lin Siyu is doing?"
The two quickly arrived on the second floor and knocked on Lin Siyu's room door.
A short while later, Lin Siyu opened the door, still clutching the bracelet she had shown to Li Jiuhe and the others yesterday.
Li Jiuhe glanced at the bracelet, then looked away.
Upon seeing them, Lin Siyu immediately asked, "How was last night? That little boy—"
Before she could finish speaking, Li Jiuhe walked into her room and asked, "Do you know that child?"
Seeing that Lin Siyu did not answer, he said directly, "The child has already told me that you are his sister and he is Lin Jianmin's child."
"Ah, it's only been one night, and you—you've already asked him so many questions?" Lin Siyu was incredulous.
But this also shows that she knew the rules of the little boy's hide-and-seek game, otherwise she wouldn't have been so surprised.
Moreover, for some unknown reason, she had not previously revealed that Lin Jianmin and his wife had a deceased son.
Li Jiuhe didn't explain, but continued to ask, "Did you call the police?"
Lin Siyu did not answer, but immediately closed the door.
Meeting Li Jiuhe and Ma Li's gazes, she slowly nodded and whispered, "I called the police. My grandfather, my father, my brother, and my second uncle's family have all started acting strangely. I was worried they were in danger, and the house started to haunt, so I called the police."
"You told me not to hurt the little boy last night, which means you knew who he was. Why didn't you tell me beforehand?" Li Jiuhe asked.
Lin Siyu said, "I dare not say, because I am wary of my grandfather and second uncle. I feel like they are watching me."
Ma Li asked curiously, "So, the boy your grandfather brought back, you didn't know each other before, but only met here?"
Lin Siyu nodded, her face slightly flushed: "I found that we got along well and gradually became more and more familiar with each other."
Ma Li glanced at Li Jiuhe, who shook her head slightly, indicating that she should not tell Lin Siyu about the man's tragic end.
He picked up the conversation and asked, "Then do you know why your grandfather brought this person home?"
Lin Siyu recalled, "I asked him about it before, but he said he had signed a confidentiality agreement with his grandfather and couldn't tell me."
"When did you discover that your grandfather was spying on you?"
"Right after Yin Nan went missing. Yes, Yin Nan is that boy's name."
"But you still don't know what they're collaborating on?"
"have no idea."
After asking a few more questions, they realized that this was all the girl knew, and they couldn't get any more information out of her by asking further.
When Li Jiuhe and Ma Li came out of Lin Siyu's room, they saw Lin Jianguo standing at the top of the stairs on the second floor. He turned his head to look at them and then went to the third floor.
The two exchanged a glance and immediately followed.
Lin Jianguo glanced back at them again before walking into the room where his wife had hanged herself.
After entering the house, Lin Jianguo stood by the door, first observing the commotion outside, before carefully closing the door.
His words surprised Li Jiuhe and Ma Li.
"To be honest, I didn't think either of you would survive last night. I need to make sure you have the ability to solve my family's problems, otherwise I'm prepared to take Siyu away from here today."
"So what else are you hiding from us?" Li Jiuhe asked.
Lin Jianguo revealed the truth: "It's like this, my father somehow got hold of a prescription for immortality. He said that as long as you merge the blood and flesh of your parents, children, or lovers into your own body, and combine it with the prescription, you can live for a hundred years. However, it requires some kind of blood transfusion. The day after he got the prescription, my mother's grave was dug up, and her body disappeared."
Lin Jianguo looked terrified. He swallowed hard as he spoke, "Then my younger brother Jianmin's second son also died unexpectedly. That kid had suffered from Kabuki mask syndrome since he was a child, accompanied by growth retardation, intellectual disability, and congenital heart disease. He was very pitiful."
Upon hearing his introduction, Li Jiuhe's mind conjured up the image of the little boy's eerie, laughing face.
Kabuki mask syndrome is a rare congenital disease that is said to be incurable. Its typical characteristics include a distinctive facial appearance, accompanied by the complications mentioned by Lin Jianguo.
Ma Li said, "You mean, your father, Lin Shouye, dug up your mother's corpse as a medicinal ingredient for immortality, while your brother and his accomplices killed their second son and, who knows who, used that as a medicinal ingredient for immortality?"
Lin Jianguo nodded: "I don't know if that's true. Besides, my wife has always had a mild mental disorder and is usually very suspicious. After she found out about these things, she kept asking me if Jianmin and the others' dead child was an illegitimate child, or if they killed the child. She insisted that I find out the truth, and even said that if all else failed, I should just tell my father and let him handle it. I had no choice but to tell her that the formula for immortality existed."
"If you didn't argue, why did she hang herself?" Ma Li asked.
"I don't know either." Lin Jianguo shook his head. "She has a mental disorder, and I don't know what she was thinking during that time. Everyone else in the family changed, and all sorts of strange things started happening. I had no choice but to secretly call you."
"etc!"
"What?"
Li Jiuhe and Ma Li were both taken aback: "Did you report this?"
"Yes," Lin Jianguo said. "Actually, it wasn't exactly a police report. I called my friend, and he reported it for me. Because there was a follow-up phone call to confirm, my family found out about it, but they didn't know who reported it."
Li Jiuhe stroked his chin, feeling that the whole matter was becoming increasingly perplexing.
He originally thought Lin Siyu was trustworthy, but now it seems that Lin Siyu is also lying.
On the contrary, Lin Jianguo's current statement sounds quite truthful, and it matches exactly what his son Lin Siyuan said earlier.
However, Zhou Wenhui's suicide was not so simple. It had little to do with whether she had a mental disorder or not, but was most likely related to her son, Lin Siyuan.
Originally, Li Jiuhe and his team only needed to find the real culprit behind this haunting incident, but now it seems that Lin Shouye has a problem, Lin Siyuan and Lin Siyu, the siblings also have a problem, Lin Jianmin and his wife also have a problem, and Lin Jianguo is temporarily a suspect.
Looking at it this way, could the entire Lin family be the murderers?
Or perhaps only some of the people are the murderers, but they deliberately laid out so many clues, some real and some fake, that the two of them were completely confused and unable to make the right judgment.
After a moment's thought, Li Jiuhe realized that it was impossible to make a judgment based on the existing information alone, so it seemed that the plan for tonight still had to be carried out.
After speaking with Lin Jianguo for a while, Lin Jianguo told them that he felt his family members were being controlled by something, to the point that they had completely lost their rationality and were secretly doing illegal things.
Moreover, he had a premonition that the arrival of the agents might expedite the process for these controlled family members, so it was imperative to find the source and stop them.
Li Jiuhe suddenly asked, "After your wife was buried, did you go to the cemetery to visit her again?"
"What are you looking at?" Lin Jianguo asked in surprise.
"Check if her grave has been dug up, and if her body is still there," Li Jiuhe replied.
Lin Jianguo was stunned.
After a long pause, he hurriedly replied, "No, I haven't been there, so, Detective, you're guessing her grave—"
"Yes, that's possible." Li Jiuhe nodded.
Lin Jianguo hurriedly stood up and said, "I'll go take a look right away, I'll be right there."
Just as his figure disappeared through the doorway, Ma Li whispered to Li Jiuhe, "My ants have made a new discovery in tracking Lin Siyuan; he went to the basement of the villa."
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