The night passed in the blink of an eye.
Cock-a-doodle-doo!
Roosters crowed.
The sky shifted from black to blue, gradually brightening.
By the time the morning light settled over the mountain hollow, it was around eight.
The villagers were early risers. By now, smoke was rising from chimneys across the village, and the occasional crow of a rooster or bark of a dog could be heard.
In the courtyard closest to Xue Hai's house, a young man with dyed-blond hair came out the door with a cigarette in his mouth, ready to ride his old motorcycle into town for a look around.
The moment he looked up, he spotted the black sedan parked by the stone road not far away.
"Huh? Xue Wu's back?"
The blond young man's eyes lit up. He casually tossed his finished cigarette onto the ground and ground it out with his foot.
Xue Wu was a legend in Wulin Village.
He had always been bright in school, and later word got around that he'd started a company in the city and become a big shot. Whenever parents in the village scolded their kids, he was the "other people's kid" they always brought up.
The blond young man rubbed his hands together. He and Xue Wu had been playmates when they were little.
Now was the perfect chance to get chummy. Maybe Xue Wu could find him a job in the city. It had to be better than scraping by in this mountain backwater.
He strode over to the iron gate of Xue Hai's house and called out, "Uncle Xue, are you up yet?"
As he spoke, he raised a hand to knock, only to realize the gate was ajar. It hadn't been closed at all.
"Why isn't the gate even shut...?"
The blond muttered, but thought nothing of it and pushed his way in.
The moment he stepped into the courtyard, a smell hit his nostrils.
It wasn't the usual smell of manure or firewood in a farmhouse courtyard. It was thick and cloying, with a rusty, sweet tang.
He knew that smell. Every year around the twelfth lunar month, when they slaughtered pigs for the New Year, hot blood poured into a wooden basin and smelled just like this.
"Slaughtering a pig this early? Are they that happy their son's home?"
The blond scratched his head, sensing that something was off.
The next second, he froze in place.
His eyes were fixed on the concrete at his feet.
A dark, blackish-red streak of blood lay there, already half-dried. It looked like an ugly earthworm, stretching from the middle of the courtyard to the main room, where it had pooled into a filthy smear by the threshold.
The blond's throat tightened. He swallowed, only then realizing his palms were covered in cold sweat.
He crept up to the main room and reached out with a trembling hand to gently push open the wooden door, which stood ajar.
Creeeak—
The door opened a crack.
In the dim light of the main room, three indistinct shapes lay across the floor.
Their clothes were soaked dark and stuck to the ground. It was impossible to tell what colors they had once been.
More horrifying still were the great pools of red splashed across the concrete floor and table legs, even spattered on the walls and congealed into foul blotches.
For an instant, time seemed to stop.
The blond young man's mouth hung open, but no sound came out. His legs went weak, and he staggered backward.
He landed hard on his backside on the concrete courtyard with a thud.
His face was pale, and his whole body trembled uncontrollably.
After several seconds of dead silence,
a shriek so piercing it broke into a rasp burst from his mouth.
"Ah! Somebody, help! There are dead people!"
He scrambled toward the courtyard gate.
Half an hour later, Wulin Village.
A dense ring of police cars surrounded the Xue family courtyard.
Yellow police tape had been strung up to keep back the villagers trying to get a closer look.
In the middle of the main room,
Criminal Investigation Team Captain Xiao Guoli's face was dark with anger.
On the wall, dark reddish-brown characters in blood twisted grotesquely. They clearly listed the many crimes committed by Xue Hai and his wife, Liu—among them, though not limited to, kidnapping, imprisonment, and torture to death.
"Captain,"
a young officer reported in a low voice, his throat tight.
"The three victims have been identified: the head of the household, Xue Hai; his wife, Liu Jinhua; and their only son, Xue Wu.
All three died from blows to the skull with a heavy blunt object. We believe a piece of discarded rebar was used to strike them repeatedly. They died on the spot.
The murder weapon was found in a corner of the courtyard. The killer must have worn gloves; there are no fingerprints on it.
There are no signs that the belongings inside the house were disturbed, so robbery can be ruled out."
Xiao Guoli gave a quiet "Mm," but his gaze never left the wall.
If it wasn't about money, perhaps it was revenge—a blood feud between sworn enemies.
"Captain! We found something!"
A hurried shout came from the kitchen.
Xiao Guoli strode over, and a rotten, moldy stench mixed with an indescribably foul odor hit him.
A heavy iron plate had been pried open in the kitchen floor, revealing a pitch-black opening like the gaping mouth of a beast.
They descended the stairs, their flashlight beams piercing the cellar's thick darkness.
The moment the scene came into view, even several seasoned criminal investigators instinctively took half a step back and gasped.
The reason was simple.
In the middle of the cellar, twenty-six skeletons had been deliberately arranged in a bizarre concentric circle.
Thirteen slender skeletons formed the outer ring.
Thirteen smaller ones formed the inner ring.
Every skeleton was twisted into a contorted, struggling pose, as if they had endured unimaginable agony until the very last moment of their lives.
The stark white bones were covered in dense cracks, hollows, and irregular breaks.
Several forensic pathologists who had come with them crouched down and began their examination with gloved hands.
After a while,
a female pathologist looked up. Her eyes were bloodshot behind her glasses, and her voice was hoarse.
"Thirteen adult female remains and thirteen child remains.
Every victim suffered prolonged, severe physical abuse in multiple forms before death. The bone injuries are complex... Most fatal injuries were to the skull and spine.
Some bones show signs of repeated blows and even gouging with a blunt instrument. All of them died when iron nails were driven through their skulls..."
She paused and took a deep breath, as if trying to suppress the turmoil inside her.
"This was torture to death—extremely cruel, deliberate torture."
"Animals! That whole family were animals who deserved to die!"
In the corner, the young officer who had first given the report finally couldn't hold back. He forced out a curse through clenched teeth, his fists cracking as he balled them up.
Xiao Guoli remained silent, his gaze slowly shifting from the skeletons to the faint daylight filtering down through the cellar entrance.
Yes, Xue Hai and his family were guilty of heinous crimes. They deserved no pity.
But meeting violence with violence and taking the law into one's own hands was still wrong.
The person who had executed the entire Xue family and written those words in blood on the wall—
whatever their reasons, whatever their grievance, they had crossed the line of the law.
They had to be arrested all the same.
With that in mind,
Xiao Guoli spoke in a low voice.
"Photograph and document the scene. Examine every trace carefully, and carefully collect the remains for testing.
"Also notify headquarters and send more people. Thoroughly investigate Xue Hai's social connections, especially his financial dealings and the movement of people over the years. And..."
As he said this, his eyes sharpened like blades.
"Focus on anyone from outside the village who entered in the past few days!"
Just then, the phone in his pocket rang.
He pulled it out and saw that the call was from his superiors.
Xiao Guoli didn't hesitate for long before answering.
Whoever was on the other end said something.
His expression shifted several times.
Finally, he took a deep breath.
"Okay. I understand."
He put away the phone.
Then he looked around at everyone present.
"Headquarters has just issued instructions. From now on, an investigation team from above will take over this case directly."