Chapter 229: Tongue Torture (1/2)

The wound on the victim's tongue appeared to have been left by a hook that was used to forcibly pull the entire tongue out of her mouth, which eventually suffocated her to death.

There were ligature marks on the victim’s wrist but not on her ankles. If the murderer had used this sort of torture method on the victim, the victim would have first been bound at the legs so the victim’s ankles should show some degree of chaffing.

The absence of ligature marks on the victim’s ankles meant that at the time, the victim’s hands were tied behind her back but she could still move her feet. The murderer must have pierced a hook through the victim’s tongue and forced her to drag a heavy object using her tongue alone until her entire tongue was finally pulled out from the root...

Beyond a shred of a doubt, this was a kind of torture much like the previous case–an improved version of the ancient tongue-pulling punishment.

These words put a frown on everyone’s faces. Xiaotao clenched her fist and cried, ”The murderer is completely devoid of humanity!”

Just then, an officer interrupted us. ”Chief, we’ve checked the license plate number.”

The owner of the car was a middle-aged woman, a sales elite who had gone missing for a week. ”It's the victim’s car!” I exclaimed.

”That’s indisputable,” sighed Xiaotao. “Are we supposed to just wait for the next victim to show up?”

”The last murder happened just a week ago,” I said after a moment’s reflection. “We can assume that the murderer’s ‘program’ is to be performed once a week.”

”Do you mean to say we have a week left?” asked Xiaotao.

”I'm afraid not,” I bitterly denied. “Perhaps the murderer might record it in advance so I’lll give us six days at most. I can’t help but wonder, since this is a program, who is the audience? After seeing such bloody content, not even one person has the conscience to inform the police? Are they all sickos? Or do they have a strict VIP membership that forbids them from divulging the contents?”

”Can we start by investigating the audience?” asked Bingxin.

”That’s too wide a net,” Xiaotao shook her head. “So it doesn’t make sense for us to start there.”

Without me even noticing, Dali had joined us. He raised his hand, trying to get Xiaotao’s attention. ”Xiaotao-jiejie, there is one detail you missed!” he added mysteriously.

Both Xiaotao and I were surprised and eager to hear what amazing discoveries Dali had found. ”An explosion happens in the matter of an instant,” he started. “To capture the explosion, the murderer would have to use slow shutter speed photography.”

”Thank you for your input,” Xiaotao forced out a smile. “But it doesn’t help us at all.”

However, Dali's words had inadvertently reminded me of something. ”Yes, why didn't I think of it?” I thought out loud.

”I knew I could be useful,” said Dali, his eyes lighting up with a triumphant smile.

”The explosion and murder were done by two different people,” I stressed. “Why do they film the explosion each time? Because the explosion itself is another ‘program’ to entertain the audience. I don't think there were a lot of people watching at the time so it’s most likely a live stream and the murderers are two sadistic streamers who attract the audience’s attention with the allure of novelty!”

Xiaotao immediately ordered, ”Drop everything else when we get back. I want everyone to comb through each and every streaming platform!”

”Chief, do you really think they would stream on popular platforms like Kuaishou and Douyu?” an officer interjected. “Wouldn’t someone have reported it to the police a long time ago?”

”He’s right,” I nodded. “It’s obviously not one of the ordinary streaming platforms. It’s definitely a secret website with a strict membership that outsiders don't even know exists.”