Chapter 548: Chapter 518 The Secret Beneath the Island Platform_1
On the wall were boards with holes, neatly arranged with various tools, varying in utility and size, resembling the standard layout of a surgical theater.
But, the assortment of items on them sent a chill up one’s spine with just one glance.
There were knives, saws, pliers, dilators, whips, prostheses of all sizes; just the prostheses and various electronic toys took up an entire wall, beneath which were tidy boxes containing compatible chargers, all marked with various codes similar to those in a toy store.
Zhou Ning took a few steps closer and found neatly arranged plastic boxes on a table next to the wall. To his surprise, they were labeled "sterile," containing IV equipment, syringes of various sizes, tourniquets, urinary catheters, gauzes, orthopedic hooks, and speculums.
Mr. Zhao may not have recognized other tools, but a shiver ran down his spine at the sight of the speculum.
"Damn, I didn’t notice before, but there’s a whole world inside this box? Are you telling me these items are even sterilized?"
Zhou Ning just nodded without a word and continued to open the remaining boxes, one after another revealing oddities that no longer surprised them, like whips and bondage ropes.
It wasn’t until they opened the last box that Zhou Ning paused because it contained two objects he had never seen before, each sealed in a separate plastic bag.
One was a black plastic object about 25 centimeters long, with small balls spaced every three centimeters, and it seemed to have a handle at the bottom.
The other was a small machine resembling an electroacupuncture device, but instead of clamps on its positive and negative poles, there were two slender needles with blunt tips, made of a metal that was easily bendable and highly elastic.
Zhou Ning looked at Mr. Zhao, who also shook his head. After taking photos and searching for them online, Mr. Zhao’s mouth agape at the search results.
"Holy shit, for men? I’ve watched plenty of action movies, but I’ve never seen this gizmo before. How on earth do you use such bizarre stuff? Could there be male victims?"
Zhou Ning’s brows furrowed deeply.
"According to Shen Caijun, the first time Liu Tiesong invited her to dinner, he gave her more than three hundred thousand, and although she felt that her performance was energetic, Liu Tiesong didn’t touch her, right?"
Mr. Zhao nodded.
"Yeah, I found it surprising when she was telling that part. Even watching has to have some reaction, right? But there was none at all, that’s weird. Plus, Liu Tiesong has an ex-wife and a son, wait..."
Mr. Zhao paused, his eyes widening before he finally said:
"Could it be that he is indifferent to the normal process, and only feels stimulated by either what we see here or if the other party is in a state of death? Damn, isn’t that necrophilia?"
Although Mr. Zhao might seem simple-minded, he had hit the nail on the head today.
"Necrophilia is a sexual perversion that can appear alone or be associated with many other sexual disorders, like masochism. With these tools in mind, they must belong to the associated category. Of course, there are subtypes within necrophilia as well. For example, those who have lost loved ones and preserve their bodies, turning them into mummies to sleep with or carrying parts of them around—this romantic type of necrophilia. Then there’s animal necrophilia, gaining pleasure from abusing animal corpses, and homicidal necrophilia, which likely applies to them."
Mr. Zhao was so shocked he couldn’t speak. It took him a while to recover, leaning on the stainless-steel island in the middle of the chamber. As he gripped it, a snap echoed from the island.
Zhou Ning turned his head and noticed the island, faintly hearing a buzzing sound from within. He squatted down and saw that Mr. Zhao’s collision had just triggered a lock on the side of the island, with a lock hanging from it.
Mr. Zhao also bent down to look and, visibly panicked, turned to Zhou Ning.
"Zhou Xiaozhou, there’s a lock under this island. Could it be hollow, or could there be something inside?"
Zhou Ning nodded.
"Find the pliers, let’s cut it open and have a look. I think it’s about the size of a freezer."
Upon hearing the word "freezer," Mr. Zhao shuddered, accidentally banging his camera against the metal surface of the island, making a sharp noise.
"I’ll find the pliers. You sure you’ll be okay here on your own?"
Zhou Ning waved his hand. To tell the truth, this room was quite frightening, especially with all its various objects. It was inaccurate to call it a utility room; it resembled an operating room, one designed for torturing people.
Once Mr. Zhao left, the room fell silent. In such quiet, the roaring hum of electrical currents coming from beneath the island was even more palpable.
The wait wasn’t long before Sun Gaotie rushed back with Mr. Zhao, his head covered in sweat. Upon seeing the contents of the secret chamber, his jaw nearly dropped, and Mr. Zhao nudged him.
"If you’re scared, stand out of the way and don’t block me."
Sun Gaotie quickly stepped aside, and Mr. Zhao went forward, using pliers to cut the lock open.
From the direction of the stairs came the sound of footsteps once more. Mr. Zhao glanced over and saw Liu Yongxin and Mr. Wang approaching, with Mr. Wang carrying a transport box and a large number of evidence bags of various sizes.
With more people arriving, Mr. Zhao mustered his courage, removed the cut lock, and tossed it into the evidence bag prepared by Sun Gaotie, then pulled back the shackle, took a deep breath, and looked at everyone around him.
"Don’t start screaming, I’m opening it," he said.
With that, he lifted forcefully, and the countertop of the island was flipped open. Only upon touching it did he realize that it contained hydraulic assistance. After opening, the lid was supported by hydraulic brackets on both sides, preventing it from falling back. He glanced down slightly and saw a large freezer appear before him.
Sun Gaotie stepped forward, about to reach out, but Mr. Zhao slapped his hand away.
"Step aside, I’ll collect the fingerprints first."
Mr. Zhao said and quickly took photographs, then, together with Sun Gaotie, started to collect fingerprints. Liu Yongxin helped on the side, and the pace was quite swift—they finished collecting the dozens of fingerprints left on one side of the freezer.
Mr. Zhao opened the freezer, a blast of cold air rushing out, revealing a series of small organizing boxes with numbers and English letters written on them. Zhou Ning looked over them and noticed a pattern.
"These appear to be dates and names, some in English and some in Pinyin," he said.
As he spoke, Zhou Ning pulled out a box. The freezer hadn’t been defrosted in a long time, so thick frost covered each organizing box, concealing the contents within, but the boxes were not heavy.
Zhou Ning wiped the side of one box and saw a piece of irregularly shaped flesh, seemingly with some hair on it. A suspicion made Zhou Ning shudder. He placed the organizing box on the side table, opened the clasps on all four sides, and Mr. Zhao’s camera moved in to take photos.
"What the hell is this?"
After taking the photographs, Mr. Zhao looked puzzled, because such a piece of flesh was curved and not immediately recognizable. Zhou Ning glanced at him.
"Have you heard of female genital mutilation in Central Africa? This is a piece of skin from the external female genitalia. Despite being frozen, this tissue has been very well preserved. Based on the edge traces, there are clear signs of vital response, and with hair and blood stuck to the cut surface, this was excised while the victim was still alive."
Mr. Zhao shuddered and quickly shut his mouth.
Liu Yongxin leaned in, closely examining it under the strong flashlight Mr. Zhao held up, and could hardly hide the shock on his face.
"In all my years on the force, I have never heard of someone in Hua Country being mutilated like this while still alive. This is different from the ritual circumcisions in Central Africa. This tissue is not merely the labia minora; it carries a part of the vestibular glands with it, and there’s the labia majora, several wounds, and the clitoris included. Such pain is inhumane."
Zhou Ning didn’t say anything as Mr. Zhao patted Liu Yongxin’s arm, asking the elder to try to remain calm, given his weak heart.
"Mr. Liu, let’s not rush. The more evidence we collect now, the better for the investigation. Besides, given the looks of it, there seems to be a lot inside the freezer."
Liu Yongxin nodded, took a deep breath, and when he exhaled, it was with a tremble, not out of fear but an anger that came from deep within.
Zhou Ning gestured for Sun Gaotie to place all the organizing boxes from the freezer onto the large evidence bag Mr. Wang had laid out. Even from the dates on the boxes, Zhou Ning narrowed his eyes.
"Mr. Zhao, take photos. These seem to be dates; record them in sequence. By the way, what’s the name of that missing person from Jingkou District, and when did they disappear?"
"The girl’s name is Luo Chenying, 20 years old. She was reported missing on February 15, 2013; she left her home on February 14, 2013. Are you suspecting that the organizing box we just saw at the top... that it contains... a part of Luo Chenying?
"That’s not right, though. If we follow your analysis, Fang Shengping and Liu Tiesong are those kinds of psychopaths, with both necrophilia and the thrill of killing, and considering all the organizing boxes on the ground, at least parts of six people have been excised, then what part was taken from Shen Shuyi?"
Zhou Ning pondered for a moment, then raised his finger as if having an epiphany.
"The ’R’ on the left side, that was the part bitten off post-mortem. After all, Shen Shuyi suffocated to death because her mouth and nose were covered. The event was very brief, and she even lacked time to resist, so it’s unrealistic to think of cutting off a piece of her tissues while alive."
Mr. Zhao fell silent, but Zhou Ning’s reasoning made sense. He observed Zhou Ning examining each organizing box, with Mr. Zhao holding up a high-beam flashlight as well and leaning in, deliberately averting his gaze from the upsetting contents.
Zhou Ning opened each organizing box, not rushing to act, looking at the first box marked 130214LUO. The rest were marked similarly, the pattern clear and obvious.
Based on this analysis, the earliest was marked 100901MAY, indicating a death date of September 1, 2010, and that the name of the deceased was May or contained the relevant letters.
Zhou Ning opened that box, inside of which was a hand—long fingers, slim nails without nail polish, beautifully maintained, extend about two millimeters beyond the edge of the finger.
However, it seemed to have been frozen for too long and was partially desiccated, letting him conclude that the recorded dates were, indeed, accurate—long-term freezing can cause dehydration after all, as this was not a temperature-controlled cabinet.
