A single chip rchant being killed can be understood as a matter of profit, but if two are killed, it implies a conspiracy. When three chip rchants, all listed individuals, are murdered, it is not a simple conspiracy. Luo Zheng imdiately realized the gravity of the situation, his face heavy as frost. After a mont, he quickly said, "The second victim was in another province, right? Arrange to go there imdiately. For now, let's go see the latest victim."
"The victim also died last night. This morning, when he didn't get up for a long ti, his maid beca suspicious, checked on him, discovered the situation, and reported it to the police. The district-level police station is handling it. If we hadn't acted quickly, it might have been two hours before a report reached us. The major cris unit has already taken over," Shi Feng hastily explained.
"Let's go have a look," Luo Zheng said seriously.
Shi Feng agreed, and everyone got up, driving straight to the cri scene. The successive assassinations left Luo Zheng furious. Was the killer murdering for profit, or was there so other motive? What was the motive? If the military of Yin Country was behind it, then they needed a serious lesson. If it was just the personal actions of so powerful individual, what exactly were they after?
Luo Zheng arrived at a villa area with countless doubts and thoughts. After getting out of the car, he saw that a villa had already been cordoned off. Nurous police officers were examining the scene, with a cordon line set up, and soone was taking statents from locals. Shi Feng led everyone forward, and the person in charge at the scene ca out to greet him, leading the way into the villa.
In the villa living room, a female detective from the major cris unit was questioning the maid. Upon seeing Shi Feng arrive, she imdiately stood up. Shi Feng glanced at the maid, a woman in her fifties who looked honest and earnest. He then looked at the female detective, who shook her head subtly. Shi Feng gestured for her to continue, and under the guidance of the person in charge, they went to the master bedroom.
In the master bedroom, court officials were gathering evidence and taking photographs. Everyone went in. Luo Zheng saw a man in his sixties lying on the bed, looking scholarly, with his eyes slightly closed as if sleeping. There was no visible cause of death, and Luo Zheng stepped forward curiously, looking at Shi Feng and asking, "Is it alright to lift the blanket?"
Shi Feng looked at the person in charge, who didn't know Luo Zheng's identity but couldn't ignore Shi Feng's question, and nodded, "The bed has been examined for evidence already, so it's fine to check."
Luo Zheng lifted the blanket. The deceased was wearing silk pajamas, which seed loose and soft. Luo Zheng's eyes were sharp as he carefully examined the body, hoping to find bite marks. Unfortunately, there were no visible wounds. Shi Feng understood Luo Zheng's intent and ca to help, both of them carefully checking the body, even unbuttoning the deceased's clothes and pants.
After checking the front, they turned the body over, an act disrespectful to the dead but necessary for the investigation. There were no visible bite marks on the back either. They carefully inspected the nose, ears, mouth, head, and even between the toes but found no clues. This result left Luo Zheng surprised.
There should be fang marks from a snakebite, but there were none, and the body showed no signs of poisoning. Could it be that it wasn't a snake? If not a snake, what killed him? How to explain the discovered snake? Luo Zheng, thinking this, quickly surveyed the surroundings. The door would have been closed at bedti, with no opening wide enough for a snake to slip through. The master bedroom was on the second floor, the window was open; could the snake have entered through the window?
The previous victim's villa was of Arican style, with a sloped roof. This villa had a touch of Chinese style, with a flat roof. Luo Zheng went up to the roof and found it covered with potted bonsai trees, all ornantal Lohan pines, the tallest about a ter, and the shortest almost half a foot tall, each uniquely shaped, their leaves fluttering in the wind.
With the experience from last ti, everyone started searching without needing instructions from Luo Zheng. Each person had received special training in observation and knew what to do, examining everything ticulously. Luo Zheng did not start searching imdiately, calmly observing the environnt. Lohan pines love sunlight, while snakes prefer shade; a snake might not be near the bonsai. Searching carefully, Luo Zheng soon noticed a corner where so water had accumulated.
Luo Zheng approached, squatting down to examine the dust-covered wet ground, noticing a track slithering forward, disappearing into a drain. His face shifted slightly, carefully examining the faint track, which was discernible, and he focused on the drain entrance.
The drain utilized a plastic pipe with an even opening, covered by a round tal filter for debris, which had been pushed aside. Luo Zheng, suspicious, took a step closer, bent down to examine it, picked up a stick to nudge away the tal cover, finding a triangular scale underneath, likely dislodged from a snake scrapped by the tal. Luo Zheng was taken aback, quickly picking up the scale, comparing it with what they had found before.
"Co here, quickly," Luo Zheng called out, standing up loudly.
Everybody gathered around, their expressions changing upon seeing the scale in Luo Zheng's hand; they understood what it ant. Shi Feng took out his phone and went aside to make a call. Lan Xue, seeing this for the first ti, curiously took the scale for a closer look. Mountain Eagle and Snow Leopard also leaned in to observe. anwhile, Luo Zheng contemplated, focusing on the drainage channel.
How was the drain's debris cover pushed aside? Snakes have no hands to move things. The round tal cover was the size of two palms put together, weighing more than a pound, perfectly fitting the drain entrance. A snake shouldn't have been able to push it open. Did it co up from the drain, forcing the cover open?
This explanation seed more plausible: using the drainage pipe to avoid detection, launching an attack from the rooftop. The window, a known blind spot for caras, ensured no one would see the snake's departure. But this speculation was a bit far-fetched. A snake isn't omniscient; how could it precisely locate a drain, accurately target a victim, and then return as if nothing happened?
Reflecting on this, Luo Zheng's expression grew more severe. At this mont, Shi Feng returned quietly, saying, "The analysis of the previous scale concluded. Based on the data, it's confird as a snake scale, but the species is rare, and no one has seen such a snake before, making it impossible to draw definitive conclusions."
"Understood, as long as the results are reasonably certain, it's enough. I saw this type of snake once when I was thirteen, and it's indelible. It can't be wrong," Luo Zheng said sternly, then lowered his voice to tell the others, "Let's have this scale analyzed too, to see if it's from the sa snake. If it's two snakes, we're in bigger trouble."
"Understood, and this is too bizarre to be disclosed," Shi Feng reminded quietly.
"Yes, get that analysis result as soon as possible," Luo Zheng said softly, looking around with a grave expression, his eyes burning with anger.
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