Guan Zhenglin’s voice was shaking. It could only mean that she had seen something scary. At that moment, Gu Chen walked past us to face the thing which had been tapping my head. Gu Chen said seriously, “Stop hugging. There’s a dead body. You two have seen so many dead bodies already. Stop using this chance to get lovey-dovey!”
Gu Chen’s tone told me the severity of the situation. I let go of Guan Zhenglin and turned around. Guan Zhenglin looked behind me. We saw a dead body hanging on a tree. Her hand was just around my head. Her body was swaying, and it caused her hand to tap repeatedly against my head.
When we saw the body, Guan Zhenglin and I were silent because the dead body was none other than Wu Xiufen. Wu Xiufen’s pants had fallen to the ground, and she was wearing cotton red long johns. I was surprised by this whole thing. I didn’t even expect Wu Xiufen to be hanging here. For some unknown reason, Wu Xiufen was already dead, hanging here when we just saw here alive less than 10 minutes ago.
“Quick.” She shouted. “She hasn’t been up there for long, so she might still be alive.”
I rushed forward to get Wu Xiufen’s legs and pushed up. Gu Chen moved to help. With a few jumps, he reached the top of the trees. He took out a dagger and cut off the rope. The weight landed on my hands. Guan Zhenglin helped to ease the woman down. We placed Wu Xiufen on the ground. Guan Zhenglin went to check on Wu Xiufen, and Gu Chen jumped down from the tree.
Earlier we didn’t use our flashlights just in case Wu Xiufen saw us but that was not a concern anymore. Gu Chen and I switched on our flashlights for Guan Zhenglin. There was a deep ligature mark around the old lady’s chin. The snap that we heard earlier was her jawbone snapping.
Guan Zhenglin touched Wu Xiufen’s neck and chin. She shook her head. “It’s too late. She died instantaneously.”
My flashlight shook. I couldn’t imagine Wu Xiufen would end her life like this. She must have used a lot of effort to climb onto the tree to hang herself. But why?
However, I understood that no matter the reason, it had to do with our arrival. It might be the secret, the reason why Wu Xiufen had lied to us. This was a secret that she needed to bring to her grave. That meant that she had to know something.
Guan Zhenglin stood up and said, “The death happened instantly. Wu Xiufen climbed onto the tree, made a noose, and then placed her head through it. That must have happened when we were talking.” Then she was silent.
A picture painted in my mind. When we were standing around the tombstone, an old lady was preparing to hang herself on the tree. She was very careful like she was playing hide and seek with us. She put her head through the noose and then looked down at us. We had no idea what was going through her mind during the moment of her death. We knew that she killed herself when the three of us were present and didn’t give us any chance to save her.
I knew that my accidental step on the branch had notified Wu Xiufen of our presence. When we retreated, Wu Xiufen climbed up the tree. When Gu Chen went to look, she was on the tree. In other words, if I didn’t make that sound, she might still be alive.
After a moment’s silence, Guan Zhenglin explained, “It’s a confirmed suicide. See the mark on her neck. The jawbone and neck bone have shattered, and the dental beds have loosened. I touched her neck bone, it is snapped as well.”
I turned to examine Wu Xiufen and could see the things Guan Zhenglin said. Guan Zhenglin continued, “Medically speaking, a force over 15 kg is more than enough to snap one’s neck. Wu Xiufen’s only weight plus the kinetic force from jumping is more than that. So the neck-breaking is the fatal wound. Plus the noose is stuck above the throat, it would have pressed on the bulbous caroticus. It would have killed her immediately. I would know more after autopsy.”
I examined the rope severed by Gu Chen. It was a long red cloth, people in the countryside were not used to wearing belts so they used red cloth to tie around their waist. This was why Wu Xiufen’s pants were on the ground. It meant that the secret that the old lady wanted to protect was more important than her own life and her sense of dignity.
I looked at Zhang Qiang’s tombstone and Wu Xiufen who lay beside it. This couple that had married for an unknown reason had gathered after decades. I sighed and told Gu Chen. “Contact the village head. We’re bringing the body back.”
As Gu Chen called the village head, I called Sister Mary. On the phone, I asked her to look into culture where people would burn black paper money for the dead. What did the black paper money mean? Also, I asked her about the 4th story. Mary told me that everyone at the station was waiting for the 4th story to appear. I understood that once the 4th story appeared, we could confirm the killer was killing according to the 12 Chinese Zodiac signs. Sister Mary promised that she’d let me know immediately once there was a new story. My heart was quite heavy after I ended the call.
What did Wu Xiufen’s death represent? Xiao Liu was laying an ambush around Wu Xiufen’s brother’s home. What was the killer’s 4th story? Who were his victims? Why was he killing? It was jumbled chaos in my mind. I couldn’t find the answer and it annoyed me. 20 minutes later, Gu Chen finished his call too.
“Fuck.” Gu Chen cursed. “The villagers said they don’t dare to come up the mountains so late at night because the mountains are haunted. The only exception is Wu Xiufen. But they said Wu Xiufen wasn’t someone normal either. She stayed in her home alone and normally didn’t interact with others.” I frowned. This explained the village head’s behavior earlier. This village had such supernatural rumors. Then again, it was expected that as the village head, he didn’t want to tell such things to us.
Gu Chen looked around. “If we wait for help, it’ll be tomorrow already. I’ll carry the body, and you two help me light the way.”
“Are you sure?” I looked at Wu Xiufen on the ground. Even though we were police, and had less fear of the dead, if you asked me to carry a dead body in the middle of the night down a mountain, I didn’t think my heart can support it. Gu Chen nodded. “What else can we do? Or do you want to volunteer?”
I quickly shook my head. Guan Zhenglin and I helped Gu Chen place Wu Xiufen on his back. We went down the mountain like that. When we reached the foot of the mountain, my phone rang. It was Sister Mary. “There’s a new story?” I asked.
“No.” Mary said, “But I have found info on your black paper culture. I mentioned that I’d visited Dong Xing City a long time ago and I liked to visit the locals. After some online research, I did find out there is a local culture that uses black paper money.”
“What place is this?” I asked.
After a pause, she said, “It’s Wang Hu Village. It’s also at Dong Xing City. At Wang Hu Village, death could be categorized as natural death and unnatural death. If the people died of old age, accident, or illness, then they would burn normal paper money; if the person died of mysterious circumstance or were pushed to their death, then they would burn black paper money. This is because the villagers at Wang Hu Village believe that those who died an unnatural death still linger on earth, and they can’t accept normal paper money.”
“Wang Hu Village?” I glanced at the body on Gu Chen’s back. “Sister Mary, can you help me check where Moulin Rouge Workshop was?”
Mary replied, “I did look around but it is very hard to find. Actually, you should be Wu Xiufen now. Wouldn’t it be easier for you to ask her?”
I shook my head. Wu Xiufen probably won’t be talking already.
“If possible, help me check if Moulin Rouge Workshop was situated at Wang Hu Village.”
“Okay, I’ll update you if I find anything.” Mary hung up. As she did, I was reminded of something. “Sister Mary said that only those who died of unnatural causes would be burnt black paper money…”
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