Plague Doctor

It was on the 9th day of the autopsy that Gu Jun got the bad news. Yesterday, there were 5 murder cases that were suspected to be related to supernatural forces. All 5 cases happened within a group of friends, colleagues and students. Based on the autopsy report and crime scene investigation, the victims died from heavy bashing to the heads. The mo was extremely brutal. The victims' heads were all caved in and their faces made unrecognizable. The case with the largest number of victims occurred at Stone Cave Mountain, the suspect was Tan Jinming. All the 5 suspects were on the run.

Before Tan Jinming disappeared, he messaged his parents. The investigators found his phone on the hiking trail. Since there were a pair of bloody handprint left on the rails, the investigators suspected Tan Jinming committed suicide. But his body was not found in the valley and there was no sign of anything falling down the hill either. Even the Zoogs found nothing, or perhaps they were too afraid to actually find anything. The Zoogs commented that there was a thick lingering dark energy presence at the scene.

The murder scene was not far from a mountain stream. The MP Team and the One sent some members over there to check. The two male bodies were soaked under the water. Their skulls were misshapen. One of the rocks was dyed red with blood and brain matter. The two female victims were found slightly further away from the stream. They died from a smash to the back of their heads with a rock. The bloody murder weapon was left beside the two bodies. The back of their heads was cracked but their faces were unharmed. The fear and pain they experienced were fresh on their faces. Their lifeless eyes glanced down the stream.

The hikers who found them all suffered from trauma. The symptoms of trauma were numerous and could manifest in different ways. Most patients would suffer from dissociation, where they shut down and were unable to respond to outside stimulus. In some cases, they might mumble incoherently to themselves. Some of the hikers were found in this state. They did not respond to the questions. They stood there dumbly, in a serious stuporous state. They did not answer to calling or nudging. They lacked expression and refused food and water.

It was wise to not expose them with the incident that caused their trauma. Interaction with it would cause further exacerbation of their conditions like heart palpitation, shaking, rashes and so on. If this continued for 4 weeks, they would be diagnosed as having PTSD. There were middle-aged people, young kids and students among the hikers. There was no similarity between them.

The cause of the trauma was not only because they had been spooked by what they saw, it was suspected that they were corrupted by dark energy as well. Among them, there was a high-schooler named Peng Hui that did not enter a stuporous state. It was Peng Hui who called the police. Even though he too was scared and had symptoms like racing heartbeat, he still had autonomy as well as a clear mind. He told the investigators. "It has to be that fatman… We ran into him when we came up the trails. His body was soaked and he had blood on him, it has to be him…"

Based on the Spell Department's assessment, Peng Hui had high spirituality. If he was willing, he could enrol in Phecda University. In a few years, he could be a Spell Department member, but for now, he was just a frightened student.

Yu Chi, Feng Peiqian and Deng Ximei all recorded traces of dark activity at the crime scene. The energy was thickest on the stone that was splattered with blood. It was like a strange object that jutted out from the abyss. Clearly, Tan Jinming was corrupted by darkness… It was why the honest man would commit such an atrocious crime and confess to his parents.

"These people…" Gu Jun looked through the investigation report inside the morgue. He scanned the pictures of the suspects. Tan Jinming turned his head away from the camera, he.

To be continued, please go to 𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍.𝚌𝚘𝚖 to read the full chapter.