S.C.I. (Volume I) - Case 4: Chapter 5

The Non-Human Killer 05 - Totem

Standing before the computer and watching the live video stream, everyone felt as though they were watching some sort of disaster film. They were all stunned into speechlessness.

"Jiang Ping!" Zhan Zhao was the first to snap back to his senses. "Quickly check if anyone else is connected to this Tusi civilization, preferably involving some kind of death!"

Hearing Zhan Zhao's words, the others also recovered from their daze. Lu Fang hurriedly placed a call to summon an ambulance, while Bai Yutang instructed Gongsun to take Ma Han and Zhao Hu and rush straight to the scene ahead of time.

Jiang Ping rapidly browsed through the web pages while asking Zhan Zhao, "Doctor, could you give me a few relevant clues to help narrow this down? Searching like this is so difficult."

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment and said, "Search for totem, auction, creation, death... entries related to these in connection with the Tusi tribe."

"Ah!" Jiang Ping's search quickly yielded results. "Got it, got it!" He clicked open two webpages and said, "There are two entries here."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao leaned in close to look: one was news concerning the auction of an ancient Tusi totem—the "Eagle King." It was said that this Eagle King totem was the Tusi tribe's god of wrath, and its meaning was—death. The other was a report on a novelist who had died mysteriously at home.

"A novelist died at home?" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao exchanged glances. "Are there records of this at the police department?!"

"Yes, the cause of death was suicide." Jiang Ping searched the internal police network. "The time was... half a month ago."

"Did she die in City S?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"There's relevant news coverage right here." Jiang Ping quickly printed out the information. Bai Yutang pulled it up and read: "Xiao Lu... travel writer, once wrote a related documentary novel about the Tusi tribe massacre titled - Extinction of Sin. Because of its unconventional and subversive perspective, the piece caused a massive uproar in the literary world. The novel detailed the tragic life of a Tusi tribal girl who ultimately drowned herself in the sacred river to achieve final liberation... One year after the publication of the novel, Xiao Lu was found dead in her home, having drowned in her bathtub while taking a bath, with her masterwork Extinction of Sin placed right beside her... Various circles offered differing opinions on her death. After extensive multi-party investigations and a thorough autopsy, the police found no signs whatsoever of foul play or homicide, thus ruling it suicide. However, according to close friends of the deceased, she had mentioned multiple times prior to her death that she might fall victim to an ancient and mysterious Tusi curse."

After finishing the report, Zhan Zhao furrowed his brows deeply. "In that case... it's highly likely that Xiao Lu was actually the first victim of this entire incident?!"

"You mean... she didn't commit suicide?" Bai Yutang asked.

At that moment, a phone rang. Bai Yutang answered it. "Ma Han, have you guys arrived at the scene?"

"Yes, Chief. The fire is out, but the person is dead as well," Ma Han reported. "Chief, we inspected the scene, and something feels off!"

"What feels off?" Bai Yutang switched the phone to speaker mode so everyone could hear Ma Han's voice.

"There are no stools or ladders at the scene!" Ma Han continued. "The ceiling beam is at least four meters off the ground, and the position where the deceased was hanged is at least two meters above the ground."

"What?" Everyone on this end of the phone looked at one another in bewilderment.

"Then how did she get up there?" Bai Chi couldn't help asking.

"It looks as though she hoisted herself up." As Ma Han spoke, he shouted toward the distance, "Gongsun? How is it?"

Gongsun had presumably climbed up a ladder to examine the details of the corpse. His voice floated over: "...She killed herself by her own hand."

"Chief, aren't you guys coming over to take a look at the scene?" Jiang Ping asked Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.

"No—there's no time—" Both of them shook their heads simultaneously.

Zhan Zhao said, "The murderer has been leading us by the nose the entire time!"

"That's right!" Bai Yutang nodded. "He's been watching from the shadows. The moment we head to a crime scene, he goes off to prepare the next case!"

"Therefore, we must stay a step ahead of him and approach the next potential victim," Zhan Zhao said. "If that Xiao Lu is already dead, then... the remaining one is—"

"The owner of the Eagle King totem," everyone chorused in unison.

"Jiang Ping, check the information on that auction house."

Quickly pulling up the auction house's webpage, Jiang Ping grinned as soon as he looked at it. "Chief, it's an acquaintance!"

"What acquaintance?!" Bai Yutang was puzzled.

"This auction house belongs to Shang Luo!"

"What?!" Disgust flashed across everyone's faces. "Again with him?!"

"What about the buyer? Who is it?" Zhan Zhao asked anxiously.

"Uh..." Jiang Ping twitched the corner of his mouth. "The buyer's information is kept confidential."

Bai Yutang glared at him. "Why are you pretending to be a law-abiding citizen? Hack into their system!"

Jiang Ping chuckled. "Director Bao just warned me a couple of days ago that if I hack into anyone else's website without authorization again, he'll send me to clean toilets!"

"If you don't hack it, I'll send you to clean toilets right now!" Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow. "What are you afraid of? If anything goes wrong, the Cat will take the blame!"

"Um... what?" Before Zhan Zhao had even finished reacting, Jiang Ping was already hard at work. Consequently, the rest of S.C.I. watched Jiang Ping hack into someone else's website while Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stepped aside and began bickering with each other.

Fifteen minutes later, both sides wrapped up their respective battles and returned to the computer screen.

"Found it." Jiang Ping pulled up the profile. "Grand collector—Fu Yishan."

"That sounds familiar." Bai Yutang picked up his jacket. "Never mind that, Cat'er. Let's go meet him first."

"Bai Chi!" Zhan Zhao suddenly called out. "Go and thoroughly gather all available information regarding Tusi culture!"

"Wang Chao, Zhang Long, the two of you go and retrieve all the case files on Xiao Lu, and then pay a visit to her close friends," Bai Yutang instructed as he turned back to give orders to Xu Qing. "Xu Qing, go contact Han Zhang and keep an eye on those gangs. Something might go down soon."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the others were slightly startled, but Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had already rushed out the door without looking back.

Driving to Fu Yishan's mansion, because Lu Fang had already contacted Fu Yishan in advance and received a very cooperative response, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were welcomed right in by the waiting assistant, Qiu Yu, the moment they arrived at the entrance.

Inside the collection room, the two met Fu Yishan, who was over seventy years old, white-haired, but full of vigor and vitality.

After exchanging polite greetings, the three of them sat down and cut straight to the chase.

Before Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao could even speak, Fu Yishan took the initiative: "The rumors about the Tusi curse have been making a huge fuss lately. I've caught wind of it as well. Even if you hadn't come to find me, I would have come looking for you."

"Oh..." The two of them paused briefly, then fell silent, quietly waiting for the old man to continue.

"First of all, I must share some bad news with the two of you. That Eagle King totem sculpture has been stolen."

"…!" Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were startled.

"This is a photograph of the totem; I still have it kept here." With that, Fu Yishan produced a stack of photographs.

In the photos was a reddish-brown wood carving. A cylindrical totem with the body of a man and the head of an eagle stood upright on the ground, towering to the height of an average person. What drew the eye most was that the totem's hands were raised before its chest, spread wide open toward the front in the shape of eagle talons—a posture that looked precisely as though it was about to pounce upon its prey.

"When was it stolen?" Bai Yutang asked. "Was it a burglary of the entire estate, or did someone specifically target this single item?"

"Haha..." Fu Yishan chuckled. "Captain Bai is truly sharp... Indeed, the incident happened a month ago. Only this single totem was missing, while everything else remained untouched... and they're all still right here in this room."

Fu Yishan's words prompted Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao to look up and survey the collection room.

Electronic surveillance eyes, anti-theft alarms, and the large contingent of security personnel they had seen upon entering... Bai Yutang smiled. "With a security system this comprehensive here, even a fly would find it difficult to fly out, let alone such a conspicuous piece."

"Heh..." Fu Yishan nodded. "Indeed so..."

Seeing that the old man seemed somewhat troubled, Zhan Zhao asked, "Why didn't you report it to the police? Was there something supernatural or beyond reason that happened?"

"…?…" Fu Yishan stared at Zhan Zhao in utter astonishment for a moment, then nodded, drew a deep breath, and said, "Actually, I claim it was stolen... but... in truth, that totem... walked away on its own."

"Walked away on its own?" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were momentarily at a loss for how to interpret the old man's words, and could only repeat the statement with wide eyes.

"Sigh..." Fu Yishan shook his head and stood up, looking somewhat agitated. "I can't explain it clearly myself. You two can just come and take a look with me."

With that, the two followed Fu Yishan out of the collection room and arrived at the door of a sealed chamber.

Qiu Yu pulled out a key to unlock the door, revealing a monitoring room covered in a layer of dust.

"This is the monitoring room. Ever since that incident happened, the security guard in charge was frightened out of his wits, and no one has used this equipment ever since," Fu Yishan said, nodding toward Qiu Yu. Qiu Yu turned on the machine, inserted a disc, and said, "This is the surveillance footage from that night... Have a look for yourselves."

The location shown in the footage was the exact collection room where they had just been. Because it was nighttime, the lighting was rather dim... yet the totem sculpture could still be distinguished at a single glance. It had been placed right in the center of the room, making it extremely conspicuous. Because the camera was mounted on the ceiling of the room, everyone was looking down at the totem from an overhead angle—giving them a feeling of... how should one put it...

Zhan Zhao glanced back at Bai Yutang, who also nodded back at him. The intersection of their gazes conveyed the exact same message—the feeling this totem gave off was... indescribably eerie and evil!

"Pay attention here!" Qiu Yu suddenly spoke up to alert them.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao reined in their wandering thoughts and focused intently on the screen. They watched as, in the empty room, the totem suddenly gave a slight twitch by itself.

…!…

Following that, it actually slowly shifted forward a little bit. Then, an even more bizarre thing happened—that totem, as though it possessed life of its own, hopped forward at a slow, rhythmic pace, going "clack... clack..." and almost mechanically repeating the movement, hopping step by step toward the door. Everyone held their breath; this stiff posture and jumping rhythm gave the distinct sensation of... a hopping corpse...

At that moment, the security guard on duty seemed to have realized something was wrong. He zoomed the camera in, gradually magnifying the image until it slowly transitioned into a full-body shot of the totem... then a half-body shot... and finally, a close-up of its face.

Just as the image zoomed into a tight close-up, the totem suddenly whipped its head around with a fierce jerk. That menacing eagle head turned a full 180 degrees straight back, and a pair of hollow, empty eye sockets stared unblinkingly right into the lens! Immediately afterward, the screen dissolved into a flurry of static snow... Everyone present couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath of cold air.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao could vividly imagine what kind of terror the security guard must have felt, sitting alone in the dead of night and witnessing this scene.

Qiu Yu's hand trembled slightly as he reached out to switch off the video, offering a bitter smile. "No matter how many times you watch it, it still sends a chill down your spine!"

"Was there nothing more after that?" Bai Yutang asked.

"Nothing..." Qiu Yu shook his head. "The guard was too terrified. He said he was afraid that totem would crawl right out of the screen, so he pulled the main power switch!"

"Can you really blame him under those circumstances?" Fu Yishan remarked. "I'm told he is still undergoing psychological therapy to this day, and he never dares to go near a television or display monitor again, nor can he bear to stay alone in a confined space."

Zhan Zhao furrowed his brows as he finished watching, turned to Fu Yishan, and asked, "Is that why you chose not to call the police?"

"Sigh..." Fu Yishan shook his head. "That's not the half of it... This thing is truly an ominous object! So I figured, if it was lost, then let it be lost."

"In what way is it ominous?" Bai Yutang pressed on.

"I live alone," Fu Yishan recounted slowly. "My old partner passed away many years ago, and my children are all living away in other places... Life has always been very quiet, but..." He pulled over a stool to sit down and continued, "Ever since I bought that totem, I haven't had a single moment of peace."

"How so?!" Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were puzzled.

"In the beginning, I frequently heard 'clack... clack...' sounds at night," Fu Yishan said with a bitter expression. "At first, I honestly had no idea what it was. Later on, I discovered that this totem would actually move around on its own—at first it would just move forward a little bit, and then it started getting more and more outrageous! First it would inexplicably show up in the hallway, then make its way to the living room, and the most bizarre time of all..." He patted his chest. "I woke up from sleep, and it was actually standing right beside my bed. It nearly scared the old life right out of me... It was because of that incident that I installed this equipment, but I never expected that after using it for just a few days, it would nearly scare a security guard to death!"

"When did you purchase that totem?" Zhan Zhao asked. "During this period, did anyone else approach you offering to buy it?"

"I bought it two months ago," the old man recalled. "Now that you mention it... there really was someone who wanted to buy this thing from me, but back when I first got it, the totem hadn't shown any abnormalities yet... I had also looked into some relevant background on the Tusi tribe and knew it was a rare commodity, so I kept refusing to sell."

"Then, after these bizarre events started happening, did that person come back again?!" Bai Yutang asked.

"They did!" The old man nodded.

"Then why didn't you resell it to him?" Bai Yutang was curious.

"Young man... what kind of person do you take this old man for?" Fu Yishan shook his head. "Back in the day, when Xu Shou advised Liu Bei against keeping the Dilu horse because it was said to bring misfortune to its master, Liu Bei stubbornly refused to sell it, saying that since he knew it harmed its master, how could he possibly sell it off to harm someone else? I knew this thing was wicked; how could I possibly dare sell it to someone else? I won't earn such conscience money."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao both chuckled to themselves, thinking that despite the old man's mystical talk, his character was actually quite decent.

"What was that person's name?" Zhan Zhao asked.

"Oh... he claimed his surname was Luo," Qiu Yu said. "He didn't mention anything else, only emphasizing that he wanted to buy it and would pay any price."

"Let's do this..." Bai Yutang said to Qiu Yu. "Would you be able to make a trip down to the police station and help put together a composite sketch?"

"No problem!" Qiu Yu agreed. "My memory is very good!"

Just at that moment, Bai Yutang's phone rang. When he checked the caller ID, it was Jiang Ping.

"Chief, that Akasha is making another prophecy... This time, she announced that the location where the curse will strike is right where you guys went—Fu Yishan's mansion!!"