"Understood!"
We busied ourselves for a while, finding several more sets of footprints, all photographed and measured against a steel ruler. kAnshuWu.ξà
Near a wall, we discovered a palm print. Just as Xiahou was about to take out his steel ruler to measure it, I said directly, "21 centimeters. That's not a handprint, is it? A person's palm is at most 10 centimeters. Even if this person's palm was an exception, it couldn't exceed 15 centimeters, unless they're a freak!"
"Let's assume he's a freak, it's not impossible!"
I nodded, but Xiahou curiously picked up the steel ruler. "How did you know it was 21 centimeters, team leader?"
"Don't you know? The palm is called the second heart. It's said that 21 centimeters can divide yin and yang. The heart is exactly 21 centimeters from the Tianzong acupoint. Once Tianzong is breached, blood will flow backward, returning quickly to the heart chamber."
"So that's how it is, team leader..."
Before Xiahou could finish his sentence, a scream echoed from not far away in the cleaning room!
I immediately cursed under my breath and turned towards the source of the sound, pushing aside a curtain to enter a room within the cleaning facility.
I had seen He Xin enter just now. I didn't expect something bad to happen so quickly. I searched everywhere for He Xin, but found the space very narrow, only about 10 square meters. Bathtubs were placed everywhere, but they were all stained red with blood. Inside each lay a decomposing corpse. I quickly recognized several of them: Mr. A Long from the earlier video, the photographer Watanabe Toshio, and the assistant Sanada Miri. However, the moment I saw Big Almond, a chill ran down my spine!
How could this be? Didn't we see him upstairs just now? How could he be here, and die so horribly?
I quickly touched his skin and moved his joints, determining that he had died very recently. This psychiatric hospital must have more than one staircase. The killer must have taken advantage of our time upstairs and checking the rooms to kill him and then quickly drag the body here.
As I thought, I noticed a bracelet left on the top of the bathtub on the far left.
It was the bracelet He Xin used to operate the drone. I quickly picked it up and compared it with the bracelet on my own wrist. It was indeed the same. Since my and her bracelets were a pair, it was easy to recognize.
At this moment, I twisted the bracelet and pressed the button on it. Soon, Little Bean received the message. Unlike a mobile signal, its wavelength had been modified by He Xin, so it could receive my call at any time.
I didn't know when it would arrive, but I sent a notification, asking it to call Big Black and Little Girl.
Because He Xin was missing!
And Gao Mingqiang had not been found yet.
I had to find them, or it would be dangerous. I didn't know what would happen to them.
Although the others didn't speak, they understood what I had done from my actions. Xiao Yuande suddenly came over to comfort me, "Team Leader He, don't worry. If we can't find them, we won't leave!"
"Thank you all!"
Zhang Keying and Xie Chuchu took out various investigation tools and began to search the walls, taking everything they could collect. Then, they took off their rubber gloves and massaged their sore palms. The group temporarily left the cleaning room because it was too damp and oppressive. Staying there for too long made us all feel suffocated.
Outside, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. I knew that once Little Bean received the distress signal, the provincial department would also send people. The fastest would be the police station near Anxi Town.
We didn't delay and continued upstairs. At the end of the corridor on this side, we found another staircase. Indeed, it was also possible to come up from here. This meant the killer could definitely avoid us and come up from the other side.
Xiahou nodded towards the stairs, shone his flashlight down, and then followed us towards the third floor.
This time, we all proceeded very cautiously. The stairs were normal, so there was no need to delay.
When we reached the third floor, I realized that this floor was a combination of patient rooms and doctor's offices. There was also an elevator near the stairs, but the elevator was long gone, leaving only the exposed elevator shaft.
I glanced into the deep elevator shaft and immediately pulled my head back. It was too terrifying below. As soon as I looked, I felt like I saw many tentacles swaying vigorously.
Even though I knew it was my imagination, I still didn't want to face such a scene. I turned to the corridor, and the others began to search the doctors' offices.
I also entered one of the offices. There were still many files left. One of them was a list of patients, too numerous to count. I had to take photos first. However, when I flipped to the last page of the list, I found that a part of this page had been torn off. That section should have contained the names of three people.
All other lists were intact. I observed the paper's tear marks and found that this part had been torn off recently.
This list seemed problematic. I wondered if there was a record on the computer. I tried to open the computer on the desk, but found there was no power supply. Opening the computer case, I discovered that the hard drive was missing.
It was probably taken by the killer.
The more he did this, the more problematic it became. I searched the office again but found nothing special. I could only retreat for now, wanting to see the results of others' searches.
After coming out, I originally wanted to call Gao Mingqiang and the others, but found that they had disappeared. I asked them one by one in offices and patient rooms, not knowing where they had gone. I couldn't find them no matter how hard I searched. After some time, I realized the seriousness of the situation. It seemed everyone had vanished!
But I was still unwilling to give up and continued searching. If they weren't on this floor, I went up. However, near a water tank on the rooftop, I still couldn't find anyone. They had all disappeared.
I dejectedly came down from the psychiatric hospital. Before I had taken a few steps, I suddenly heard dense footsteps from below the stairs. I shouted downstairs, "He Xin, Xiahou, Chuchu, is that you?"
There was no response from below. I kept chasing the sound of footsteps to the fourth floor, third floor, and second floor. However, all that awaited me were empty walls. At this moment, I heard the wail of police sirens from outside. It seemed reinforcements had arrived.
But the others were nowhere to be found. I thought that with reinforcements, perhaps more people could find them. So, I immediately rushed towards the police. Knowing I was from the provincial department, a police officer from the Anxi Town Police Station showed no deference towards me. Instead, he impatiently said, "Who told you to come here? Don't you know it's very dangerous here? We can't manage any situation that arises. However, I'm very curious, how did you get out?"