Chapter Seventy-Six: The Scene Reconstructed

The young traffic officer looked troubled and said, “Sir, we’ve carefully checked the surveillance footage. The car is parked right at the corner of the camera’s view. Throughout the entire recording, not once did we see the car door open, nor did anyone emerge from inside. Yet when we inspected the vehicle, it was completely empty—no one was inside at all…”

Hearing this, I couldn’t help but take a sharp breath.

“Let’s go, we should examine the area around the vehicle,” I said.

The traffic police immediately escorted us to the scene.

The car was parked at the entrance to a residential complex, right where the traffic lights stood—a corner within the surveillance camera’s range.

Three officers guarded the car.

After stating our identities, we asked them to unlock the vehicle.

Sure enough, it was empty, but the interior was in disarray. Most striking was the seat cover, tangled and messy, and a solar-powered bobble had been carelessly tossed onto the passenger seat. We even spotted a trace of blood on the steering wheel.

It was clear some altercation had taken place there.

Elder Lin suggested we simulate the situation inside.

I nodded and entered with Li Hong and Elder Lin.

Elder Lin said, “I’ll play Old Huo. Li Hong, you’re the military expert assigned to protect them. Xiao Yang, you’re Ah Shan.”

“Li Hong might have bought a bottle of water—the poisoned kind. There are water stains on the steering wheel.”

“After drinking, Li Hong suddenly felt ill, just like the protector did—frothing at the mouth, collapsing unconscious in the driver’s seat.”

Li Hong immediately slumped into the seat, feigning unconsciousness.

“The car’s stopped right at the intersection. At this moment, Old Huo and Ah Shan must be anxious. What’s the first thing they would do?”

Tang Jingjing asked, “Shouldn’t they escape?”

Elder Lin shook his head. “No. In that situation, knowing the enemy could be outside, they wouldn’t risk leaving the car. In fact, they’d likely lock the doors to keep outsiders from breaking in.”

“Then, they’d call the commander for help,” Elder Lin said, pulling out his phone and pretending to dial.

“But just then, the military expert suddenly goes berserk, smashing Old Huo’s phone and attacking the two.”

Li Hong knocked Elder Lin’s phone away and tried to choke Old Mo.

Panicking, I sprang from the back seat and locked Li Hong in a tight hold, pinning him down.

“Old Huo should first try to undo the seatbelt,” Elder Lin said, and began to unbuckle it.

“But the poisoned man would try to stop him—how?”

Li Hong immediately pressed down on the seatbelt.

Elder Lin searched his body for anything useful, trying to free the buckle.

He attempted to crawl out from under the seatbelt, but after squeezing through and returning, he said that wasn’t likely.

“Li Hong, hand me your dagger,” Elder Lin said.

Li Hong promptly gave him the knife.

Elder Lin analyzed, “Old Huo always carries a scalpel for dissections—useful for self-defense.”

He started to cut the seatbelt.

But just as Elder Lin was about to slice through, I stopped him. “Wait, Elder Lin—this spot looks cut already!”

I pointed to Old Mo’s shoulder.

Elder Lin glanced over—the seatbelt had only been half cut.

“That’s right,” Old Mo said. “The military expert desperately tried to stop Old Huo, attempting to seize his scalpel. In the chaos, Old Huo slashed at his opponent, startling him into blocking with his hand.”

Li Hong raised his hand to mimic the block.

Elder Lin drew the blade across Li Hong’s hand.

Li Hong cried out in pain, recoiling and grabbing the steering wheel.

Startled, I thought Elder Lin had actually wounded him, but on closer inspection, Li Hong’s hand was unscathed.

His performance was truly impressive.

“Then, I should knock the attacker unconscious,” I said, scanning for a suitable object. Nothing obvious was at hand.

I quickly opened the back seat, which led to the trunk—surely something useful would be there.

Inside, I found the car jack, carelessly tossed among the clutter. It bore spotted traces of blood. I picked it up and tapped Li Hong lightly on the head. He slumped over, pretending to be knocked out.

“Elder Lin, I’ve found their escape route,” I said. “They crawled out through the rear of the trunk.”

Elder Lin undid the seatbelt and examined the trunk, puzzled. “Why didn’t they just exit through the car doors?”

“There was danger at the doors!” Tang Jingjing exclaimed. “Exactly—there must have been those insects. They wouldn’t dare open the doors.”

Elder Lin nodded and followed me out through the trunk. The trunk door opened, out of sight of surveillance, though a close review might reveal this detail.

The traffic officers weren’t trained investigators, so their oversight was understandable.

Elder Lin insisted we exit through the trunk; I had no choice but to accompany him.

But once outside, we realized things weren’t as simple as we’d thought. Various clues indicated that after crawling out, the trio vanished as if into thin air—no sign of their next move.

Elder Lin checked all four doors, searching for traces.

On the doors, he found patches of sticky residue—clearly left by the insects.

I promptly collected some samples, sealing them in an evidence bag.

Elder Lin circled the car, hoping for more clues, but found nothing further.

“Let’s check the surveillance footage,” Elder Lin said with a wave of his hand.

But the result was disheartening.

The camera in that corner had been struck by lightning during the recent storm, rendering it useless.

It was frustrating, but we did glean one useful fact—the perpetrators were familiar with the area, deliberately parking in the camera’s blind spot.

Elder Lin pondered this thoughtfully.

A new possibility emerged: the insects could exert precise control over humans.

Now, two scenarios presented themselves. The first: the military expert was knocked unconscious and taken away by Old Huo and Ah Shan. The second: the expert coerced Old Huo and Ah Shan into leaving with him.

Comprehensive analysis suggested the second was more likely.

If Old Huo and Ah Shan had left voluntarily, they would have contacted the commander first. Of course, it was possible they were ambushed upon exiting, but there were no signs of struggle at the scene.

More probable was the second scenario: Old Huo and Ah Shan, elderly and young, lacked the strength to resist, while the expert, skilled in martial arts, could easily force them along.

Elder Lin ordered the technical team to come extract footprints. The area was beside a hospital, meticulously cleaned, so no prints were visible. Moreover, it was a remote corner of the hospital, rarely noticed.

I asked, “Elder Lin, do you think parking here was intentional? Could they have entered the hospital?”

Elder Lin nodded, “It’s possible.”

“But what would they do in the hospital?” I pressed.

Elder Lin sighed, “Unclear, but likely nothing good. The hospital needs to be searched urgently.”

These tasks were best left to the technical team and police. Our job was simply to await news.

Though Elder Lin and Old Huo often clashed, Elder Lin was visibly tense after Old Huo’s misfortune—there was a bond between them after all.

Once the technical team arrived, the commander urgently ordered us back—there was a new assignment for us.

Back at headquarters, we finally learned what it was.

First, the identity of the hollow corpse had been confirmed: Tian Longgang from Heilongjiang Province, who ran a small local restaurant. He was its sole employee. He had a daughter studying at the local Petroleum University, but she hadn’t been contacted yet. We were tasked with investigating discreetly, as her behavior was suspicious.

Her father had been missing for nearly two weeks, yet she hadn’t filed a report.

Second, Li Xingchen had identified the small vendor selling the water. But the vendor was uncooperative, insisting he hadn’t committed any crime and refusing to be detained.

Elder Lin said, “Very well, let’s pay that vendor a visit!”