The Same Fate Awaits All Sins Chapter 19

Worship – 04

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Gu Yanta retrieved the long-sealed archived case files, and a series of gruesome crime scene photographs appeared on the large screen.

1998.4.9 Victim Chen, aged twenty-three, murdered in her home. Lower body unclothed, neck slashed.

1998.5.23 Victim Yang, aged twenty-six, murdered in her workplace dormitory. Neck slashed, eighteen knife wounds on her upper body.

1998.6.12 Victim Jin, aged twenty-nine, murdered in the storeroom of her clothing shop. Entire body unclothed, neck slashed, semen detected in her vagina.

1998.7.5 Victim Wang, aged twenty-five. Time of death uncertain. Body discovered in an abandoned field in the suburbs, highly decomposed. Cause of death, neck slashed.

1998.7.20 Victim Yu, aged nineteen, disappeared while returning home to visit family. On July twenty-second, her body was found in an abandoned cement pipe in the suburbs. Neck slashed, a thirty by twenty-five-centimetre section of flesh missing from her back, semen detected in her vagina.

1998.12.15 Victim Li, aged twenty-two, murdered in her home. Neck slashed, twenty stab wounds on her upper body, both hands and breasts missing.

Nine victims! Nine close-up photographs of their feet were particularly shocking. Each victim's left ankle bore a crudely carved "米".

1999.4.15 The police rescued two victims, aged seven, from an abandoned warehouse in the suburbs. Both children were in a state of confusion. Fingerprints found at the scene matched those from the 1998 series of serial murders.

Gu Yanta clicked on the final photograph. On the ankle of a female child in the image was the unmistakable knife-carved "米" symbol.

"Aren't there supposed to be two children?" Chen Chen asked. "Why is there only a picture of one girl?"

"The boy didn't have the marking on his ankle. After the incident, he was deeply traumatised. I heard his family has some influence, they took him out of town under the pretext of treatment, and the police have very little information about him." Gu Yanta said.

"Boss!" Liang Shan burst through the door, handing over a file to Gu Yanta. "The autopsy report and crime scene findings are here!"

Gu Yanta took the file, carefully reviewed it, and then, frowning, handed it to Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng casually flipped through it, then suddenly set it down, rubbing his temples. "It's a copycat crime."

Whenever he encountered a tricky problem, he had a habit of pressing his temples to relieve stress. After a moment, he met the questioning gazes of his colleagues and continued, "There are no obvious signs of a struggle at the scene, suggesting the victim had no reason to be on guard against the killer. If this were the same killer from twenty years ago, he would now be over forty. The victim was walking home alone at night, it's impossible that she would have let her guard down around an older, suspicious man. The killer was either someone familiar to her or someone who appeared non-threatening. The victim's throat was slit with a single, decisive cut, indicating the killer had considerable physical strength, perhaps even more than twenty years ago. If it were the same person, they wouldn't be able to maintain such strength as they aged. Moreover, the lack of fingerprints suggests this killer was more meticulous and calculating than before. From the footprints at the scene, the perpetrator was taller than the original 'Rice Killer'. As for how the killer learnt about the symbol, this remains to be investigated."

"So, someone is imitating the 'Rice Killer' from twenty years ago! And we can't rule out the possibility that it's someone familiar with Li Wenli," Gu Yanta declared decisively.

"Right," Lu Zheng nodded, "provided that no other similar cases occur."

"Start investigating recent missing persons cases right away, focusing on young women aged twenty to thirty!"

Chen Chen quickly typed on the keyboard. Before long, filtered information on missing persons appeared on the large screen.

"Hou Rong, female, twenty-six years old, a migrant worker who came from elsewhere. She was reported missing by the owner of the restaurant where she worked because she had been absent for a week without completing any formalities and could not be reached by phone," Chen Chen reported cautiously. "The first two victims back then were found in their homes. Could Hou Rong..."

"For now, all suspicious missing persons will be treated as key investigation targets. Everyone, split up and start investigating!" Gu Yanta ordered. "Old Jiang and Liang Shan, take team two to the restaurant where Hou Rong worked. Chen Chen, Consultant Lu, and I will head to Hou Rong's residence!"

"Hou Rong didn't register an address," Chen Chen said as he scrolled through her records.

"Then we'll find it!" Gu Yanta slammed the table, his anger apparent. His long-standing hatred for the 'Rice Killer,' stemming from his youth, made him especially furious about these new murders. Who was imitating the devil and trying to unleash another reign of terror? This time, you'll be brought to justice!

"Yes, Boss!"

———

Gu Yanta pulled up in his battered Jeep in front of Lu Zheng and Chen Chen. The vehicle's paint was so chipped that its original colour was unrecognisable, and the front bumper was heavily rusted. Chen Chen couldn't resist commenting, "Boss, you've been on leave for so long, couldn't you have taken a bit of time to maintain this heap of scrap metal?"

"Maintain it? I haven't even had time to take care of myself! What? You think it's broken? If you think it's too shabby, don't get in. Consultant Lu, hop in!" Gu Yanta opened the passenger door and motioned to Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng lifted a leg, got into the passenger seat, and casually twisted open a bottle of water to take a drink.

"Look at Consultant Lu, he drives a luxury car and doesn't mind my Jeep. You, on the other hand, take the route 11 bus to work every day, what right do you have to criticise?" As he spoke, Gu Yanta reached back to lock the rear doors manually, a reminder of just how old and rundown the Jeep was. (Angel: Route 11 bus is an internet term used to refer to walking.)

"We're taking the car, you, walk," Gu Yanta said, ready to floor the gas pedal and drive off.

This time Chen Chen panicked. Workers like Hou Rong, who couldn't afford proper housing, typically lived in the old city's shanty town areas. Without a clear destination, they'd have no idea where to start.

"Wait, Boss, I didn't mean it, I wasn't complaining!" Chen Chen slapped the car door anxiously. "Really, I wasn't! Boss! Consultant Lu, say something!"

"Why are you always messing with him?" Lu Zheng took another sip of water and replied indifferently.

"Always going on and on!" Gu Yanta slammed the door lock and gestured to Chen Chen. "I'll spare you this time, but if you dare insult my Little Green again, I won't let you ride in it anymore!"

"Little Green..." Lu Zheng couldn't help but chuckle at the childish name. He didn't know why, but Gu Yanta's rough-and-ready demeanour always struck him as amusing. Since meeting him, his life had indeed gained a bit of light-hearted entertainment. Had his sense of humour become lower? He smoothed the corners of his mouth, which had started to curl upward.

Chen Chen hurriedly climbed into the back seat, too afraid to mock the manually locked "heap of scrap metal" any further.

Meanwhile, Jiang Ziyu and Liang Shan had arrived at the restaurant where Hou Rong worked. It was a small diner, less than forty square metres in size, with a greasy curtain hanging at the entrance. In the centre of the room stood a stove made of sheet metal. The outdated iron-barred windows displayed handwritten signs on white paper, proclaiming "Sesame Oil for Sale" in awkwardly scrawled characters, clearly the work of someone with little education.

"Harbour City Hotel, what an ambitious name!" Jiang Ziyu couldn't help but sigh, "Guess you still have to dream big..."

The owner and chef quickly closed the shop upon hearing that the police had arrived. Jiang Ziyu observed him, a man in his fifties, plainly dressed, with weathered skin and cracked hands that betrayed his rural roots. This small eatery was likely his way of supporting his family.

"Did you report Hou Rong missing?" Jiang Ziyu flipped open his notebook.

"Yes, officer. Hou Rong was introduced to me by a fellow villager to work here. She's a diligent, hard-working girl. Then, without saying a word, she stopped coming to work. Look at my small business, I can't just find someone to replace her at the drop of a hat. Now I'm left running the front and the kitchen on my own," the owner explained, wiping his hands on his apron. "This girl has no relatives here, she's been gone for days, and no one's even asked after her. I couldn't just ignore it, so I reported her missing, it's all I could do for her."

"Doesn't she have any family back home? Could she have returned there?" Jiang Ziyu asked.

"No, I heard her parents passed away, and she doesn't seem to have contact with any other relatives. She's been working here for two years, and I've never seen her family reach out to her," the owner clearly knew nothing about Hou Rong's background.

"Didn't you say she was introduced to you by a fellow villager? Would that person know anything about her family?"

"I doubt it. My friend also runs a restaurant, Hou Rong worked for him before, but when he shut down his place, he recommended her to me."

"She's been working here for two years, and you don't know where she lives? Didn't you try looking for her at her residence after she disappeared?"

"Officer, as you can see, I'm the only one in this restaurant right now, this restaurant is my family's only means of survival, I don't have time for such things. Honestly, I only reported it because she's a good girl and I was worried about her. If it were someone else, I probably wouldn't have bothered, even if I did know something," the owner muttered nervously, clearly worried about getting involved in trouble.

It was a candid admission. Ordinary people just wanted a peaceful life and avoided getting entangled in messy situations, especially those involving the police. Most would steer clear if they could.

Jiang Ziyu sighed, knowing there was little more to gain from the conversation. Still, he clung to the last glimmer of hope. "Do you have any idea which area she might have been living in?"

"I remember once she was late and complained about bus 129, she probably takes that route."

"Got it." Jiang Ziyu snapped his notebook shut. "Thank you for your cooperation. Liang Shan, notify Old Gu immediately, we need to conduct a search along the 129 bus route!

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: December 1, 2024 by Angel

Edited: January 12, 2025 by Angel