Chapter 184: Thirteen Living Corpses (2/2)

“Alright then!” chirped Xiaotao.

Dali was already in bed, so I woke him up and told him we had stuff to do. I took a map of Nanjiang City that I bought not too long ago, picked up my bag of tools and went outside.

We found an empty classroom where I could comfortably get to work. We couldn’t turn on the lights because the security guards might see us. It was almost winter too, so it was very chilly.

“Why must you always do things at night, dude?” Dali complained as he shivered from the cold.

“I’m sorry. It’s just more effective at night.”

It wasn’t just a joke. The best time for the divination technique was during midday or midnight.

I burnt an incense stick and spread out the map on the table. I marked Xu Gang’s house and the crime scenes on the map. I asked Dali to stand on guard and warn me when the incense was completely burnt out. Before that happened, I warned him not to disturb me under any circumstances.

I held a compass in one hand and began the process. I factored in the characteristics of the killer into the hexagrams and calculated the possible actions that he could take. My mind was so focused on the task that I hardly noticed the time. The next thing I knew, someone was shaking me and calling my name.

I woke up from the daze and saw Dali’s worried face.

“Dude! Song Yang! Were you possessed by the devil or something? The incense is completely burnt out now!”

I stared at him blankly, which worried Dali even more since it was his first time seeing me going through this process.

“I was watching you the whole time, dude,” he said. “You looked like you were totally possessed! I think your eyes even rolled to the back of your head! I was dead worried! By the way, did you figure out anything?”

I drew a large-ish circle on the map. Because it wasn’t a straightforward homicide, I only managed to calculate an approximate range where Xu Gang could be found. Dali blinked incredulously as he stared at the circle.

“Is that where the murderer is, dude?” he asked with wonder. “But how did you figure that out? Was it through magic or something?”

“I’ve only done it once before,” I explained, mentally exhausted by that point. “But it worked out fine last time…”

I looked at the circle on the map. The range was a bit too wide for my liking, to be honest. If Xu Gang realized that the police were closing in on him, he might decide to run and hide, and in that case, I feared that we might be looking for a needle in a haystack.

Dali and I packed up our things and went to the college gate to wait for Xiaotao. Soon, two police cars arrived. It was Xiaotao and Yuanchao. Xiaotao told us to get in the car, and once we got inside, I asked her, “Why is it just you and Yuanchao?”

“The officers have been working non-stop for the last twenty-four hours,” she explained. “I didn’t have the heart to drag them along anymore. The four of us will do for tonight.”

I told her about my results, which showed that Xu Gang might be hiding near a candy factory. When she heard that, Xiaotao’s eyes rounded to the size of saucers.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “Why are you startled?”

“God!” she exclaimed. “Why didn’t I think of that? We found out that Xu Gang’s wife used to work in a candy factory, but we completely forgot to search the area! I’m sure he’s hiding there, Song Yang! Looks like your method has been incredibly helpful again!”

I was immensely relieved. It seemed that the scope could be narrowed to a reasonable size now.

I asked Xiaotao about Xu Gang’s wife, and she replied with a sigh.

“She died a year ago,” she added. “From what we found, it seems that she contracted a terminal illness and was euthanized.”

“Euthanized?” I was stunned. “But isn’t that illegal in China?”

“She was euthanized abroad,” Xiaotao clarified. “You know, I’ve thought about this myself. If I ever get terminally ill, I wouldn’t want to suffer a slow and agonizing death. I’d probably go to Sweden or Finland where I can die peacefully…”

I wasn’t listening to Xiaotao at all. My mind was drawn to the fact that the development of the hibernation drug also started a year ago. Could it be that this case was crucially related to Xu Gang’s wife?

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