We were struggling with what to do when my uncle suddenly said strangely, "Let's go back upstairs, we can't stay here!"
"Why? Going back won't help! Let's find a way to break down the door!" I asked him, looking surprised.
"Listen to me, go back!" My uncle's attitude became very firm, as if he would forcibly drag us upstairs if we didn't comply.
At that moment, he was the first to turn and run upstairs. Liu Yuning and I exchanged glances and immediately followed him, sensing that he seemed to have something to tell us.
The moment we reached the upper floor, the previously quiet building was suddenly filled with that voice again: "Haha, I told you, you can't catch me. Now you've all been tricked into coming here. You're all so stupid. The first time it was two police officers, and this time it's so many of you, all unable to contact the outside world!"
Hearing the voice exactly like Du Yuting's, both my uncle and I knew it was a man's voice.
"Did he use a voice changer? Why does it sound like that?" Liu Yuning asked.
"That's right, he's still here. No wonder you didn't run into him," I said. My uncle suddenly started moving again. Just as I was about to ask where he was going, he had already rushed upstairs. We followed him to the third floor, and the voice reappeared: "That's right, that's right! He Zhiming (my uncle) is the one who did this."
"I can see you've reached the third floor. The real challenge begins now. Let me explain: I've installed hydrogen cyanide sprayers on this third floor. I believe everyone here understands what this chemical substance is. I'm giving you 30 minutes to find the five-elemental bone fragments in the funeral home and then bring them to the rooftop to assemble them in the grooves on the ground. Oh, and there are many morgues here. You might find one of the bone fragments inside. You need to be fast, because if you exceed 30 minutes, even if you find all the bone fragments, you will still be poisoned by the gas."
"Alright, the game's countdown officially begins now. Get to work!"
My uncle gritted his teeth and said, "Try impersonating Du Yuting again! You pervert!"
"Haha, you've seen through me. That's right, I'm impersonating her, so what? Do you think you can see our Lord Changyue that easily? Do you know what you are?"
Lord Changyue?
This term appeared in our minds for the first time. After leaving this sentence, the person never answered again. We only heard the sound of the countdown. After it had already been two minutes, Liu Yuning urged, "Stop dwelling on it and get to work! We have to find those bone fragments and make him admit defeat!"
Under her command, everyone perked up and split into over a dozen groups to search for the five-elemental bone fragments.
I paired up with a police officer. I glanced at him and realized he was the one who had negotiated so skillfully in the cave last time. I asked him his name, "What's your name?"
"Reporting, Team Leader He, I'm Lu Chusheng, police number 432424..."
"Officer Lu, excellent. Your negotiation skills are outstanding. I'll let you join our team if there's a chance!"
"Really? Team Leader He, I've heard of your Punishment of Sin team for a long time. You are simply a miracle in the police force!"
"You flatter me. Let's go, Chusheng. I seem to recall you have some kind of Forensic Investigator of Strange Cases team. Aren't you the leader?"
"Ahaha, compared to your Punishment of Sin team, we are nothing!"
"You're too modest. Good! Let's go search!"
Lu Chusheng and I searched diligently near the morgues on the third floor, using our keen eyesight. At this moment, I suddenly noticed that Lu Chusheng's eyesight was also very good. After I had surveyed the area, he had already grasped the surrounding situation almost completely.
This guy was about 25 years old, with curly dark brown messy hair, wearing a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. His teeth were snow-white and flawless, his eyes were a bit small and squinted, and he wore his upright police uniform very well. His thick arms suggested strength. His intelligent eyes were like two scanners, meticulously inspecting everything around them.
His sharp eyes seemed to pierce through every detail in the world, penetrating the walls and reaching deep into the morgues.
When I came out of a morgue and shook my head, he also emerged, precisely at the same time. We searched through over a dozen morgues, but found no bone fragments. However, five minutes had already passed.
Watching the time fly by, we became increasingly nervous, but the more we encountered such situations, the calmer we had to be.
As we walked, Lu Chusheng suddenly said, "Could it be that the bone fragments are not in the morgues at all, Team Leader He!"
"This..." Lu Chusheng's words made my eyes suddenly light up. I scanned the walls in the corridor. I inadvertently noticed that one of the walls was painted blue and showed signs of being loose. I asked Lu Chusheng to come with me. When I got there, he also noticed something and we both stepped back a few feet, and then rammed into it hard with our shoulders!
With a loud bang, the wall indeed came loose, and countless sand and debris collapsed. A vertebra fell out. I picked it up and saw it was a bone near the kidney.
In the five elements, the kidney represents water, so this should be the bone representing the water element.
Although I didn't say it out loud, judging by Lu Chusheng's expression, I knew he was thinking the same thing.
"We finally found the water-element bone fragment, Team Leader He. Could the walls be hints? The color blue is consistent with the color of water!"
"That's right. Let's ask everyone to search according to this method!"
I quickly took out my phone to send a message, but there was no signal. The message couldn't be sent. Lu Chusheng turned on Bluetooth and said, "Use this method!"
This guy was quite clever. After I turned on Bluetooth, I did send a message: "Everyone, observe the walls. We just found a blue, water-element bone fragment!"
With my message, Liu Yuning and the others would definitely understand. Sure enough, they quickly replied with a "Good" and also used Bluetooth.
Lu Chusheng and I continued to work hard, hoping to find more bone fragments. We searched the entire third floor but found nothing else. Thinking there were none, we continued upstairs, as Liu Yuning and the others were responsible for the lower floors.
On the fourth floor, there were no dense morgues, but rather spacious lobbies scattered around. Lu Chusheng told me that this part of the funeral home was likely used by families to handle business. I saw many service windows lined up on the walls. Inside the offices, there were still some printers, water dispensers, file cabinets, and other items. We came to a door in front and tried to twist it forcefully, but found it wouldn't open at all.