Just as Wayne was lying in bed, tossing and turning and worrying about various problems.

The Rujia Hotel opposite the gate of Wanling College has a solemn atmosphere.

"Squeak!"

The car stopped steadily, Zhang Zheng rubbed the corners of his reddened eyes and yawned inconspicuously.

"Team Zhang." Xiao Li, who was wearing a raincoat, walked to the car door and opened an umbrella.

"Well, how's it going? Is the identity of the deceased clear? ”

Zhang Zheng opened the car door and got out of the car, took two steps, and the two deep nasolabial folds under his nose trembled slightly.

The hotel is low, this kind of heavy rainy day, the water in front of the door is heavy, Zhang Zheng just stepped on it, the rain soaked the socks, the soles of the feet stepped on the leather insole, like stepping on a snake, slippery and greasy is extremely uncomfortable.

"The deceased, Xu Guangming, 20 years old, male, a sophomore at Wanling College, a local, and his parents ran a real estate company in Wanling."

"What about the cause of death?"

"Cause of death...... The cause of death initially identified by the medical examiner was cardiac palsy, that is, ...... Deyang. Xiao Li's tone was a little unnatural when he said this.

"Heart palsy? Deyang? Zhang Zheng frowned and glanced at Xiao Li, only then did he realize that he had been taking him for 6 years, and he had always been a refreshed "apprentice", with his neck shrunk, his eyes fluttering, and his face looked extremely pale.

But he didn't ask anything, just slowly sank his face.

If it was just a simple death of the yang, there would be no need to pull himself, the captain of the criminal investigation serious crime team, out of the bed in the middle of the night, and it would be impossible for a man like Xiao Li, who once dared to rush into the drug den single-handedly, show such an expression.

Without asking any more questions all the way, Zhang Zheng stepped on the slippery soles of his shoes and walked into the hotel, until he got on the elevator, Xiao Li suddenly asked coldly:

"Team Zhang, you say, are there really ghosts in the world?"

"Ghosts?"

Zhang Zheng was stunned for a moment, his brows suddenly furrowed, and with his sunken eye sockets and square and tough face, his already rigid and stern appearance became more and more majestic: ", Li Lang, have you read books for so many years?!" This kind of old feudal superstition, you a people's policeman asked it, are you ashamed?! ”

Xiao Li subconsciously shrunk his neck and didn't dare to say anything more.

"Ding."

The elevator door opened, Zhang Zheng strode out, and several policemen gathered in front of the door of room 404 at the scene of the crime subconsciously straightened up.

"Team Zhang"

"Team Zhang"

Zhang Zheng glanced at the faces of his subordinates, who were also a little abnormal, put on latex gloves with a calm face, and pushed the door directly.

He wants to see what kind of scene can scare all criminal investigation veterans like this!

The next second, turn the hallway.

Gaze freezes.

Zhang Zheng paused, and subconsciously held his breath.

On the white round bed, a naked and stiff male corpse lay in the filth of incontinence, the flesh and bones were shriveled, as if the fat had been drained from the body, and the wrinkled skin like old bark hung loosely on the body.

Raised high on his neck, one lip split and upturned to the limit, the masseter muscles turned outward and tore apart, and the bloodshot red eyes almost protruded from their sockets.

The whole body, at a glance, looks like a hideous skeleton mummy.

But on the contrary, you can see a kind of excitement and joy on this hideous and terrifying face, as if you have attained the ultimate expression of ascending to immortality.

This strange way of dying, Zhang Zheng, who has been a police officer for many years, also feels cold in his heart at first glance.

"This ...... Really died of heart palsy?! ”

Zhang Zheng couldn't help but look at the forensic doctor behind him.

"Yes...... Yes. ”

The forensic doctor glanced at the strange corpse on the bed: "Team Zhang, after receiving the report, Xiao Li and I rushed to the scene as soon as possible.

At that time, although the skin of the corpse was a little loose, it was still very normal, and it was not the appearance of a skeleton mummy now, I did a detailed examination, and the deceased did die of heart palsy, which is called deyang in traditional Chinese medicine, and the result was ...... Results ......"

"The result?"

The forensic doctor swallowed his saliva a little nervously: "As a result, just ten minutes ago, the fat of the deceased's whole body suddenly disappeared inexplicably, the skin was also rapidly dehydrated and aged, and various visceral organs also atrophied and decayed at the same time, and the entire body function looked like ...... It's like aging for decades in an instant......"

"Did you record it?"

"I recorded it, and the SD card for the law enforcement video is right here with me, and most of it was filmed by the camera."

Zhang Zheng pursed his lips and didn't ask the forensic doctor again, and walked forward directly, not caring about the stinking filth, and carefully examined the corpse on the bed from top to bottom.

The deceased's skin was saggy, his muscles and fat were severely atrophied, no external injuries could be found, and his hair was dry and yellow, which could be pulled out and torn off with a slight force......

Could it be that it's really something unclean......

Zhang Zheng put a broken hair in two into the evidence bag, and couldn't help but have an outrageous guess in his heart, but in an instant he smiled self-deprecatingly.

As a people's policeman, as the captain and backbone of the serious case team of the Wanling City Criminal Investigation Department, if even he thinks so, then this case will not need to be handled.

"Notify the city bureau to come, send the body back to the autopsy department, conduct a further examination, and let the hotel protect the scene, and leave one of you here tonight to watch!"

Zhang Zheng exhaled softly, lifted his spirits, and gave an order as he walked out of the door, his voice as powerful and confident as ever.

"And, Xiao Li?"

Listening to the brief and orderly order of the head of the family, Xiao Li also raised his spirit: "Team Zhang, I'm here." ”

"Is there any other person's identity information in the deceased's house opening record? Have you seen the hotel's surveillance footage? ”

"No, the hotel staff at the front desk said that the deceased Xu Guangming came to open the room alone at 21:58 today, and after opening the room, he went to room 404 alone and never came out, only made a front desk call at 23:52 and asked him to send three bottles of red wine.

At around 24 o'clock, the waiter who delivered the wine found that Xu Guangming's door was not closed, and after entering, he found that the deceased had died.

The hotel staff said that no one had registered with him from the front desk, but ......"

Xiao Li paused when he said this, and said a little strangely: "But when we checked the hotel surveillance video, we found that at 23:58, there were nine ...... person, who entered the room of the deceased Xu Guangming. ”

"Nine?" Zhang Zheng's brows were twisted, and he asked unconsciously.

"Yes." Xiao Li swallowed, and his voice trembled slightly: "Nine women with long hair who couldn't see their faces clearly and dressed in white entered the deceased's room in turn from 23:58 to 24:00 and never came out again.

But...... I checked the cameras at all the other entrances and exits of the hotel, the lobby, the elevator, and the fire escape, and I couldn't find these nine people entering and leaving the hotel at all, only on the 4th floor, I saw their figures, huh...... Team Zhang, this is the camera. ”

Xiao Li stopped and pointed to the camera with a red light above the two of them.

Zhang Zheng raised his head and looked around carefully, and his two thick eyebrows suddenly wrinkled tightly.

The location of this camera is located directly above the elevator at the end of the corridor on the 4th floor, and on the left is the staircase of the fire escape and the corridor window with window screens, which can just see the corridor in front of room 404.

And there are cameras inside the elevator and on the stairs up and down the 4th floor, so that all the entrances and exits on the 4th floor can be seamlessly monitored, how can there be no trace of nine big living people?

Could it be that it came out of nowhere?

"I didn't see the nine women in white inside the elevator or on the stairs?" Zhang Zheng twisted his eyebrows and asked, "Is it possible that these nine people came to the fourth floor in advance and hid in the blind spot of monitoring in the corner?" ”

"This ......" Xiao Li and the others looked at each other, as if they didn't know how to speak.

In the end, one of them whispered helplessly: "Team Zhang, we have also thought about this problem if someone is hiding in advance, but it is just ...... I'm sure you'll understand it if you've seen the surveillance. ”

“……”

Zhang Zheng glanced at his ugly subordinates, his face sank, and he turned his head directly and walked into the elevator: "Let's go, go and watch the surveillance video again." ”

Leaving two people to continue to watch the scene to prevent outsiders from approaching, the other group walked quickly to the monitoring room.

There were no hotel staff here, but a police officer was waiting here in advance.

"Adjust the surveillance footage of the corridor on the fourth floor to 23:50." Xiao Li was the last to walk in the door, closed the door, and whispered.

Soon, on the screen, the corridor on the fourth floor in the surveillance video appeared in front of Zhang Zheng.

Under the lights, the corridor in the middle of the night is extremely clear.

Although the hotel is close to several nearby universities, it is not a weekend, and there are fewer people who open the room.

It wasn't until 23:58 that a white figure with a cloak suddenly appeared in the lower left corner of the video, and then the second, third, and fourth......

There were nine big living people, there was no verbal communication, no superfluous body movements shaking their heads, they lined up silently, their upper bodies did not move, their heads were lowered and they walked the same to the same pace, and entered Room 404 in turn.

The whole picture is lifeless, and it doesn't look like a living person, but more like a row of stiff ...... Corpse?!

Zhang Zheng shook his head and dispelled the outrageous thought that popped up in his heart.

In his mind, the terrain of the 4th floor, which he had carefully browsed just now, clearly emerged.

After careful comparison, Zhang Zheng finally knew why when he asked if it would be hidden in advance, Xiao Li and they were silent.

In the surveillance, the location where the woman in white appeared was indeed a blind spot for monitoring, but it was on the left side of the elevator entrance, opposite the entrance of the fire escape stairs.

There was only one wall inlaid with porch windows in that location, which was a dead end, and there was simply no place for nine large living people to hide......

Could it be a window? Coming in from the outside?

lit a cigarette, monitored this video, and carefully replayed it several times.

Zhang Zheng exhaled heavily, extinguished the cigarette butt, and stood up from the chair with a bang: "Let's go, let's go to the fourth floor again." ”

The group returned to the 4th floor again, and this time, Zhang Zheng got out of the elevator and went straight to the corner of the wall in the surveillance video on the left.

The translucent window screens were lifted, revealing low windows more than a meter wide and filled with anti-theft steel bars outside.

Zhang Zheng pushed the window hard, but could only push open a gap that could barely hold half of a person's head.

"Team Zhang, in order to prevent the danger of guests falling from the window, the hotel used steel bars and cement to directly block the grooves in the back half of all windows, and only opened a small gap of 15CM."

Xiao Li's tone was helpless: "This window in the corridor on the 4th floor, because it faces the wasteland and mountainous areas, prevents some raccoon cats and birds from getting in, and a layer of 5CM interval anti-theft fence has been specially installed in the outside world, and we have also checked that these things have no signs of damage." ”

"Hmm!"

Zhang Zheng nodded sullenly and looked through the window at the scene of heavy rain outside.

The window was facing the undeveloped wasteland of the university town, overgrown with weeds, and a small hill not far away.

In fact, he also knew in his heart that it was unlikely that he would find anything here.

Xiao Li, an apprentice who has been taken by himself for 6 years, after watching the surveillance video, it is impossible to ignore this window, if there is really anything to find, he must have said it early in the morning.

It's just that......

Unwilling......

With so many years of police experience, he has handled hundreds of large and small cases.

However, this case made the common sense experience that Zhang Zheng was proud of in the past useless, but repeatedly impacted the worldview he had formed over the past 40 years.

A strange way to die...... The corpse is transformed into a mummified corpse...... The nine women in white who were obviously photographed by the surveillance, but could not find any origins, footprints, and fingerprints......

This case is a bit evil......

"Hoo ......"

Icy rain poured down the open window on your face.

Zhang Zheng woke up from his contemplation and barely bothered to brace his spirits.

However, just as he was about to turn around and leave, his eyes subconsciously skimmed, but he found that the window edge on the inside of the corridor window seemed to have a faint mark.

"One, two, three, four...... Five-toed? This is...... Cat footprints? ”

Zhang Zheng tilted his head slightly sideways and squinted, and by the light, he could see a very faint and mutilated plum blossom-shaped mark on the window edge.

At first glance, it looks a bit similar to his cat's paw prints.

"What's wrong, Team Zhang?"

"Huh? It's nothing. ”

Zhang Zheng straightened up, narrowed his eyes slightly, pondered for a while, and then turned his head and began to order the following matters.

"Xiao Li, when the deceased Xu Guangming's body changed, were the hotel staff present?"

"No, we let the staff out when we cordoned off the scene in the first place."

"Well, I will inform the director that this case, including the parents of the deceased, do not let them see the body of the deceased, and the unified external statement is that he died of cardiac paralysis, and in addition, after all the surveillance footage of the hotel within seven days is backed up and brought back to the police station, the backup of the hotel monitoring room will be deleted......"

"Yes, Team Zhang!"

……

……

[If you really don't know how to enter the state of meditation, then, the left hand and the right hand crystal cucumber electric cucumber together to perform the Five Dragons Holding Pillar and Five Dragons Scratching Bao Dafa together, carry out a set of violent and elegant output, and after a period of convulsions, you will almost enter a meditative state! 】

—From Wayne's Essay on Everyday Magical Experiments