Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It was a colored tattoo.
However, it was very abstract since it had no concrete shape or any distinguishable picture.
At one glance, however, it looked like a flying eagle…
“Eagle or a vulture?”
“This shape, it looked like a vulture…”
The officers involved in this case were no stranger to vultures.
This was because the location, Vulture’s Mouth, had a shape similar to that of the mouth of a vulture.
Moreover, at the Dark Clan’s base in Vulture’s Mouth, there were also pictures of vultures on the walls.
However, what was puzzling about this was the fact that these Dark Clan members, regardless of those who had died, caught, or surrendered, none of them had such a tattoo on their body…
“Could it be a symbol of the Dark Clan?”
“How could it still be a symbol of the Dark Clan if only this one has it?”
“…”
Silence took over.
Everyone kept quiet and looked at Bai Muchuan instead.
Bai Muchuan kept quiet for a while and looked at Cheng Zheng.
“Able to find out when he had this tattoo done?”
“It’s too difficult!” Cheng Zheng’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. “The only thing we know for sure is that it isn’t a fresh tattoo…”
If so, the possibility that someone else engraved the tattoo on the corpse or just before the death of this man was too low.
Silence took over once again.
The stillness of the surroundings swallowed the noise permeating around them.
The atmosphere was stagnant in the meeting room.
This silence was too heavy.
A good while later, Bai Muchuan opened his mouth. “Tu Liang, talk about our findings!”
Tu Liang cleared his throat and started to present their findings like a spokesperson.
“We’ve run a technical comparison between the deceased against the national list of missing persons. However, we found nothing regarding the identities of the deceased men in question. As of now, we have received no police report from the family of the deceased…”
After that, he gave a soft sigh. “It’s regrettable, but the identity of this person could not be determined for now.”
Someone asked, “Can we confirm that the deceased is a member of the Dark Clan?”
After all, this man had died in that region.
Not to forget the tattoo that looked like a vulture.
The possibility of the deceased being a member of the Dark Clan was high.
However, the more it pointed toward that direction, the more uncertain he was.
Bai Muchuan flicked the documents in front of him with a finger. He then swept a cold glance at everyone and spoke in a tepid tone.
“We shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions!”
Everyone kept quiet!
Bai Muchuan eyeballed each and every one of them.
“As long as the identity of the corpse remains unknown, we could not even relate if his death… is connected to the 121 case!”
As he said this, he looked at Captain Zhang who had been silent for the entire time.
“You’ll talk to the police in Wen Xin Town and make an announcement!”
A man had died.
The conclusion was that he had fallen to his death.
Whether it was murder or an accident, they had not come to a conclusion.
Who was he?
Finding out the identity of the corpse should be their priority.
The Nanmu region was also under the jurisdiction of the Xi City police. Thus, Captain Zhang was the best person to take on the task.
…
After their meeting, they released the news to the mass media in less than half an hour.
“Unidentified corpse found at a remote mountainous region!”
“Donned with a mask and a tattoo: man’s identity remains unknown!”
Headlines like that with approved pictures of the deceased and the enigmatic tattoo popped up on the Internet one after another.
Major police stations also issued notices looking for informants. In addition, they have pasted various notices all over the streets of Wen Xin Town and Nanmu City…
The public was asking, ‘who’s the dead man?’
Once the major accounts in Weibo posted such articles, it would trigger many others to follow by sharing or forwarding the articles with their friends and so forth…
‘Who is this dead man?’ It had become the hottest topic that day.
…
At the end of the corridor outside the office of the Criminal Investigation Unit in Xi City…
That place was airy but few would go there. It was a place most suitable for smoking.
Bai Muchuan stood there, looking out of the window. With a cigarette on hand, he remained still for a while.
Cheng Zheng glanced at him and walked closer from behind. His tidy, white lab coat was a sharp contrast to Bai Muchuan’s somber, black shirt and trousers.
Black and white, front and back.
Both of them stood there without making a sound—
The windows were open and a gust of cold wind swept in.
In such a season, the wind was cold, and it hits like a razor…
Cheng Zheng cleared his throat and walked closer. He opened his mouth to say something, but Bai Muchuan was faster than him.
“Don’t look at me like that!”
Cheng Zheng pursed his lips; his smile was that of a slight mocking one.
“Those words that I’ve said earlier, was for you.”
When Cheng Zheng was talking about the tattoo at the meeting room, he had especially said: “You should be very familiar with it!”
At that time, no one else thought his words held some other meaning.
They just naturally related it to the Dark Clan since their base was in Vulture’s Mouth.
Only Bai Muchuan knew what Cheng Zheng meant by that word “familiar”.
“What are you trying to say?” Bai Muchuan turned his head and tapped the ashes off the cigarette lazily. “What I’ve said earlier was for you too. Don’t jump to conclusions!”
Cheng Zheng frowned. “I don’t believe that you also feel that the tattoo looks like a vulture.”
“Why not?” Bai Muchuan raised an eyebrow. “Even if it’s the same tattoo, what can it prove?”
“At the very least, it should be someone who could offer some clues!” Cheng Zheng said decisively.
“…” Bai Muchuan’s gaze felt like knives while he looked at him without saying a word.
Cheng Zheng faced his piercing gaze without batting an eyelid. A while later, his line of sight moved toward the cigarette Bai Muchuan was holding.
“You transferred to the police force, then tried ways and means to transfer to Jin City. Isn’t it because of that case?”
“Hur!” Bai Muchuan leered at him. “You’re with the police force. You also tried ways and means to transfer to Jin City. What’s your reason for doing so?”
That retort of his was too strong that the atmosphere was suffocating.
Cheng Zheng was taken aback!
He looked at him for a long time, glued to the spot.
These two men had a tall stature; it seemed so unsuitable for them to stand in such a narrow place.
The suffocating atmosphere between them seemed to make the chilly winds outside the window even colder.
“Do you think that I don’t care about anything at all?”
Cheng Zheng said this in a cold tone and turned away without another word.
His footsteps got further and further away.
Bai Muchuan turned around. He took a deep puff of the cigarette and snuffed it out at the trash bin and left!
…
The news on the unknown male corpse spread far and wide over the Internet.
When Xiang Wan was busy writing her story, she did not notice the news. After she uploaded the latest chapter, she noticed that news in her book reviews and comments page.
A reader asked, “Xiang Gongzi, do you know about the news of an unknown male corpse found in a remote mountainous region? That dead man is not a native but found dead at the foot of the mountain. No one filed a case and nobody claimed the corpse… Actually, I wanted to ask if Xiang Gongzi has any interest to write about this case?”
Xiang Wan squinted her eyes at that thought; she browsed through the rest of the comments before browsing for the news related to the aforementioned corpse.
In her WeChat Moments, some of her contacts were also talking about the case.
However, most of their guesses were unreliable.
They were just spreading rumors…
In just a short period of time, many “Sherlock Holmes” appeared everywhere…
Xiang Wan only laughed at them quietly. She then looked at the time and sent a message to Bai Muchuan.
“Your Excellency, have you finished your work for the day?”
Earlier on, when she was writing her story, Bai Muchuan was also caught up with work. Both of them did not message each other.
She didn’t expect to receive a reply within seconds.
“I’ve arrived at the hotel lobby!”
Uh! Xiang Wan was quite surprised.
“You’re actually back? Is it because… things did not go too smoothly with the case?”
Bai Muchuan kept quiet for a moment. “I missed you.”
Thump!
Nothing could gain more favor in Xiang Wan’s heart other than this sentence.
She felt warm after hearing that sentence. The corners of her lips lifted upwards unknowingly.
“All right, seems like Sir Little Bai’s flirting techniques have gone up another notch! What do you want to eat tonight? My treat?”
“I’ll leave it to you!”
After receiving his reply, in less than a minute, she heard the door knocking sounds.
