QT- I’m Almost Died
Chapter 221. Conflict Between Fan Jialuo And His Sect
Although Teacher Fan said checking the surveillance footage was useless, and Dr. Song said waiting for the killer to come to them was useless, Meng Zhong still sent people to try these two clumsy methods, but to no avail. They lay in ambush around the building every day, waiting for the killer. Fan Jialuo would also take the time to come and check. After four consecutive days of coming, he waved to Meng Zhong, “Go back, everyone. The killer won’t come. Just now, that space collapsed.”
Even the space itself collapsed, so the so-called trophies were gone, and the murderer certainly wouldn’t come back. Meng Zhong could only lead his team back, his face so black it could squeeze out a bottle of ink.
Eighteen days later, a third body was found. It was also a shy, introverted woman, her hands stained with blood, her body curled up on the floor, her head slightly tilted back, staring intently at the walkie-talkie. There was no doubt that the killer had communicated with her.
This time, the police still couldn’t find any clues and could only watch helplessly as the victim disappeared in the surveillance video and then reappeared as a corpse.
Although he knew it was futile, Meng Zhong still lay in ambush outside the apartment building, and Fan Jialuo would come to check on him every day. After three consecutive days, he sighed, “You can leave now, the killer’s space has collapsed.”
Meng Zhong kicked the trash can next to him hard, his face full of resentment.
Fifteen days later, as everyone expected, the fourth body appeared, slumped against the corner of the elevator wall, staring unblinkingly at the intercom. Fan Jialuo had visited that day and immediately told the task force members to stop waiting, because that folded space had collapsed the moment the body appeared.
Meng Zhong was on the verge of losing control. Seeing the person disappear from the surveillance video, he almost smashed his tablet. The other officers were also seething with anger, wanting to find a place to vent, but they were helpless.
Beyond their overwhelming rage, their hearts were also filled with an extremely chilling fear.
This serial killer can hide in another space and move freely, unseen and untouchable, yet he can freely monitor, stalk, and even kill anyone. Perhaps he’s watching smugly from the sidelines while the police analyze cases, perhaps he’s lurking around the victims at all times, spying on them as they work, eat, and sleep, before they’re even imprisoned.
He was less like a human and more like a demon, feeding on the fear emanating from humans, taking pleasure in their despair, and then taking their lives without hesitation. If he could be captured and brought to trial, shooting him a hundred times over would be no more than he deserves!
Meng Zhong was furious, anxious, and terrified, clumps of hair began to fall out. Without a doubt, this was the most difficult case he had ever encountered in his life, and the most difficult killer to apprehend. That folded space was enough to allow the perpetrator to evade anyone’s search.
However, before catching him, protecting innocent civilians became an urgent issue. After several discussions, the higher-ups finally decided to announce the existence of the serial killer to the public, but concealed the most bizarre aspect of the case. They only said that the killer’s targets were single women, and that he hid in high-end apartment buildings. They asked people renting in these places to be highly vigilant, and also asked those who knew such women to show them more concern and call them frequently to check on them.
The announcement appeared on television, online, and on social media, reaching a wide audience and having some effect. Six days later, the police received their first call reporting a missing person. The caller was the missing person’s mother. After reading the announcement, she felt that her daughter’s profile closely matched the killer’s target and immediately tried to call her, but the call could not be connected.
After waiting anxiously for over an hour, she grew increasingly uneasy and dialed 110. Normally, the police wouldn’t handle a missing person case that hadn’t been reported for at least 24 hours, but the higher-ups took these cases very seriously and immediately dispatched Meng Zhong’s special task force to investigate.
Xiao Li quickly pulled up the building’s surveillance video and then reported bad news, “Six hours ago, Wang Wan was indeed caught by the killer.”
“We need to find a way to save her quickly, Wang Wan will be in danger in three days.” Meng Zhong stood in front of the empty elevator and called Fan Jialuo and Song Rui.
Half an hour later, the two arrived, looking travel-worn. Without exchanging a single word of greeting, they began to inspect the scene.
“I can’t save her.” Fan Jialuo shook his head and sighed, “I can only sense that space, but I can’t open its door. If I forcefully use my magnetic field to collide with it, Wang Wan will shatter along with the space.”
Meng Zhong’s bright eyes dimmed, and the hopeful police officers’ eyes reddened. They knew where the victim was, and they knew that deadly danger was approaching her, but they were powerless to save her. What’s worse, they had to stay here every moment, waiting for her body to appear. Such an experience was undoubtedly a sharp knife, leaving wounds on their hearts that would never heal.
“This is too cruel!” Hu Wenwen and Liao Fang collapsed to the ground, hand in hand, tears streaming uncontrollably down their faces.
“What kind of person could be so cold-blooded!” Sun Zhengqi pounded on the wall, his face contorted with hatred.
Zhuang Zhen and Liu Tao were both veteran police officers, and their mentality was more stable than theirs, but their eyes were filled with anger.
Only Song Rui took out a notebook and silently flipped through it, occasionally jotting down a few notes.
Just like the previous five times, the killer left no trace, and the surveillance video only captured the moment Wang Wan disappeared. The police couldn’t save her or catch the killer, and could only stand outside the elevator waiting. They stared intently at the ever-open elevator with bloodshot eyes, taking turns, one shift after another, none of them willing to leave.
The person who was replaced didn’t go home, instead, he wrapped himself in a military overcoat and lay down in the stairwell to rest.
They waited from afternoon until evening, and from evening until the next morning. Before they knew it, a day and a night had passed. In the absence of food and water, every minute that passed meant the passing of life. What was Wang Wan doing at that moment? Perhaps she was frantically scratching at the door, or perhaps she was shouting for help, but no one could hear her cries, and no one could see her.
But it is precisely because one cannot hear or see, and can only imagine in one’s mind, that feeling was even more unbearable.
Hu Wenwen and Liao Fang cried several times. Sometimes, just looking at the open elevator doors would bring tears to their eyes without them even realizing it. The male police officers didn’t show their emotions as much, but they all looked haggard and had red eyes.
Of all the people, Fan Jialuo was the one closest to Wang Wan. He could hear the cries for help that others couldn’t hear, and he could see the struggles that others couldn’t see. So he didn’t close his eyes for almost the entire night, but stood straight at the elevator entrance, staring at the void with a dark gaze.
Song Rui hadn’t slept all night either, and the notebook in his hand was almost worn out from being used so much. As dawn broke, he suddenly said, “Why would a murderer have the urge to trap and kill a woman in an elevator? There must be a trigger, right? Every serial murder case has an initial point that triggers the killer’s murderous intent. What was the trigger in this case? If we find that point, will we be able to uncover the killer’s real-world identity? After all, he wasn’t nearly as mature back then as he is now, he couldn’t have done something so flawless.”
Song Rui’s words attracted everyone’s attention, even Fan Jialuo, who was staring intently at the void, turned to look at him.
“Before Jiang Keke’s body was discovered, the murderer must have committed similar crimes, otherwise he wouldn’t be so skilled. Murder methods are also developed through practice, so what was his practice? So-called practice means immaturity, and immaturity means leaving clues.” After a day and a night without rest, Song Rui’s voice had become very hoarse.
Meng Zhong slapped his forehead and hurriedly shouted, “Xiao Li, go and check if there were any similar cases in Beijing before Jiang Keke’s body was discovered!”
Song Rui pointed out, “The keywords are elevator, woman, trapped.”
Xiao Li quickly opened his laptop, accessed the police database, and entered keywords. The results came back quickly. Before Jiang Keke’s body was discovered, there had indeed been two similar cases in Beijing. The victim in the earliest case was a woman who went to look at apartments in an unfinished building alone, without any sales staff accompanying her.
The building’s elevator was newly installed and had not undergone quality or safety inspections. It was clearly stated that it was not allowed to be used, but she took a chance and pressed the button for her floor, only to get stuck halfway out.
There were no residents in the building, and she was completely helpless. She dialed the emergency intercom, but no one answered. Her phone was also dead, leaving her to die in the elevator. Fortunately, she had told her husband about her plans before leaving, and when he found out she hadn’t returned home all night, he brought the police to rescue her. They barely managed to pull her out of the elevator, as she was on the verge of unconsciousness.
The building was unfinished, the property management hadn’t moved in, and there were no staff on duty in the monitoring room, so it was normal that emergency calls couldn’t be made. All the problems stemmed from the resident’s unauthorized trespassing, but even so, the developer dismissed all the security guards on duty that day after the incident.
The second case occurred in a senior living apartment. The victim was an elderly woman in her seventies who died of a heart attack after being trapped for only three or four hours. Before she died, she dialed the emergency intercom, but no one answered, and she missed the best time for rescue.
Both cases involve women trapped in elevators, isolated and helpless, and no answer on the intercom. These two cases seem so similar to those of Jiang Keke and others, yet both were classified as accidents by the police and not filed. Are there any undiscovered details? Are there any commonalities? Are there any recurring suspicious individuals?
After a moment’s thought, Meng Zhong made the decision, “Go and investigate immediately!”
The officers readily agreed, looking quite energetic, it was impossible to tell that they had barely slept all night.
However, before they could split up, a high ranking official led four people dressed in Taoist robes into the apartment building. Two of them were familiar to everyone, namely Lin Nian’en and Lin Nianci from before. The other two middle-aged men seemed to be their elders, walking with their heads held high and exuding an imposing aura.
Meng Zhong immediately went up to him and reported the details of the case.
Senior Officer encouraged them, “Good, we can’t overlook any clues, go and investigate.”
“They are?” Meng Zhong looked at the four Taoist priests with suspicion in his eyes.
“These are experts from the Taoist Association, they have a way to rescue Wang Wan.” As the leader spoke, two middle-aged men strode to the elevator and ordered, “Have someone close the elevator doors, we need to draw a formation.” They turned around, their cold gazes fixed on Fan Jialuo’s face, their pupils burning with hatred, yet also with restraint and suppression. Before their grandmaster arrived, they had promised him they wouldn’t act rashly.
Fan Jialuo nodded to them with an air of elegance.
They gritted their teeth and could only look away.
Senior Officer immediately ordered the technicians to close the elevator doors. The two men took out cinnabar, chicken blood, ink lines, a compass, and other materials and began to draw an array on the door, explaining, “This is the Qiankun Shifting Array, which has been passed down from ancient times by our Tianshui Sect. It can connect Yin and Yang, and naturally it can also open up an alternate dimension to rescue people.”
The leader nodded repeatedly, showing a great deal of trust in them.
Fan Jialuo raised an eyebrow and said, “How come I don’t know about the formations that have been passed down from the Tianshui Sect since ancient times?”
Chang Sheng and Chang Zhen responded with a cold laugh.
Fan Jialuo pondered for a moment and understood, shaking his head and remaining silent. He didn’t know the Tianshui Sect possessed such a formation because his master had never taught it to him. Why didn’t he teach it? Naturally, it was because he had never considered this disciple as the true successor of the Tianshui Sect. He had kept it a secret.
No one can force everyone to like them, but if you don’t like someone, you can say so, refuse, or even kick them out. So why accept them on one hand and suppress them on the other, treating them differently in every way? Is he really that repulsive?
Fan Jialuo gazed into the void, his eyes flickering and shifting. Recalling the past was torture for him, so he never allowed his thoughts to dwell on it. Feeling Dr. Song’s hand gently brushing his back, he immediately suppressed some unpleasant memories and looked back at Chang Zhen and Chang Sheng.
Song Rui asked in a deep voice, “How long will it take you to rescue them?”
“About an hour,” Chang Sheng replied proudly.
“No.” Song Rui said decisively, “Can you wait three hours before rescuing her? We’ve just found some clues, and we might be able to catch the killer by following them. If you break through his spatial barrier, he’ll sense it and escape immediately, making it difficult for us to catch him again.”
“Can you guarantee you’ll catch the murderer within three hours? What if you can’t? Wang Wan has been trapped for over thirty hours. If she were even slightly weaker, she might already be on the verge of death. Can you take responsibility for her life? We desperately want to rescue her as quickly as possible, yet you’re asking us to wait another three hours. What are you thinking? Are you treating human life like a game?” Chang Sheng angrily accused Song Rui, his eyes fixed on Fan Jialuo.
Fan Jialuo stepped forward and slowly said, “I can guarantee that Wang Wan will not be in any danger for the next three hours because I can see her. But can you guarantee that saving her won’t kill more people? Your impatience is pushing things in the worst possible direction.”
Chang Sheng sneered dismissively, “Saving someone is saving someone, why all this nonsense! We just met with Wang Wan’s parents, and we’ve assured them that we’ll take Wang Wan home in an hour. People like you can’t understand the pain of losing a loved one.”
He looked at Lin Nianci and, sure enough, noticed that her eyes were red. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret.
Song Rui’s tone was even colder than Chang Sheng’s, “Do you know the consequences of rescuing Wang Wan before catching the murderer?”
“I know. Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. We are accumulating good karma.” Chang Sheng turned back and continued drawing the array, his speed noticeably increasing.
Knowing full well that these two old fogies wouldn’t listen to reason, Song Rui still finished speaking, “You’re provoking the murderer. Once provoked, he’ll immediately trap another person.”
Fan Jialuo shook his head and said, “It’s not just trapping one person, it’s trapping many people. The speed at which his space is collapsing is getting faster and faster, from four days to three days and then to one day. This is not because his ability is weakening, but on the contrary, it shows that his ability is increasing. He can now freely control the expansion and contraction of space, instead of passively supporting it. The bloodlust in his heart is causing him to mature rapidly, and the absorption of each life is also increasing his power. I suspect that he may have already acquired the power to continuously create space, or even create multiple spaces simultaneously.”
Song Rui immediately added, “In other words, as soon as you rescue someone, he will immediately create another space to trap another victim, or even trap multiple victims at the same time.”
Chang Sheng and Chang Zhen were still drawing the array, completely ignoring the two of them.
Senior Officer waved his hand dismissively, “It’s alright, no matter how many people the murderer has trapped, these masters can rescue them.”
Song Rui immediately retorted, “Can you guarantee that every trapped person will be discovered and reported in a timely manner?”
Fan Jialuo shook his head in denial, “It’s impossible to save them. Although I don’t understand this kind of formation, I do know the commonalities of all formations. A formation with such heaven-defying power requires an enormous amount of spiritual energy to activate even once, it would require draining the cultivation of all of them. In other words, after they save one person, they will be unable to save a second one for at least three months.”
Chang Sheng and Chang Zhen abruptly stopped drawing the array. Lin Nian’en and Lin Nianci instinctively avoided everyone’s gaze, their expressions revealing worry.
It seems that Fan Jialuo really hit the nail on the head.
Song Rui said in a deep voice, “The murderer waited half a month after his first success before committing another crime, but after his second success, excluding the time spent in the spatial collapse, he only waited ten days, then eight days, then five days. His lust is growing infinitely, but his patience is gradually running out, and he is on the verge of complete madness. Once he is provoked, his methods will only become more radical. We have now grasped a strong lead. Giving us three hours to prevent more tragedies from happening is not an unreasonable request, is it?”
“If you rescue Wang Wan without catching the murderer, the consequences will be dire.” Fan Jialuo said with his eyes closed, “I saw death, one after another. The path beneath our feet disappeared into a black mist, and despair filled the air around us.”
With Fan Jialuo’s notoriously accurate prophecies combined with Dr. Song’s well-reasoned deductions, no one could resist being persuaded. Senior Officer, sweating profusely, quickly waved his hand and said, “Then you’d better go investigate immediately. I’ll give you three hours!”
“Thank you, Chief!” Meng Zhong immediately led his team away.
Chang Zhen whispered in Chang Sheng’s ear, “Are we really going to wait for them for three hours?”
Chang Sheng scoffed, “Wait my ass! We’ll rescue her as soon as the formation is finished. Do you think the murderer is so easy to catch? If we wait until the murderer is caught before rescuing her, what if Wang Wan dies? Whose responsibility will that be? We’ve already sworn an oath to Wang Wan’s parents to take on this responsibility. If Wang Wan dies, her family won’t bother the police or Fan Jialuo, they’ll only come after us! So we must bring her back safely.”
“But what they said seems to make some sense.” Chang Zhen looked hesitant.
Chang Sheng’s tone grew increasingly disdainful, “Didn’t you understand? What they’re saying is all speculation, not necessarily accurate, but the fact that we can actually get the people out——that’s what really matters!”
In the midst of their conversation, Wang Wan’s parents suddenly rushed into the apartment building, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing repeatedly. Lin Nian’en and Lin Nianci rushed over to help them up, but they grabbed their legs and begged them relentlessly, their words and actions utterly pitiful.
Chang Zhen and Chang Sheng exchanged a glance and finally made up their minds. They would save the person as soon as the formation was completed, they couldn’t delay any longer.
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