Chapter 142: The Corpse

2022-05-20

As he spoke, Erxiao walked over to a shelf and gave it a hard shove. The shelf slid aside. Then he crouched down and pried up a large floor tile with his hands. Only then did I see—a long ladder appeared right in front of me.

Erxiao was the first to grab the ladder and climb down, with me following right after. Behind us came Old Xia and Li Danan. Uncle Li and Sun Kangning’s father stayed above, watching over the still-unconscious Gu Chen and Captain Zhou.

Erxiao flipped on the lights, and the whole underground storeroom brightened up.

I slowly scanned the underground storeroom. It wasn’t very big, probably only half the size of the ground floor. Large crates were stacked along the walls. In the center of the storeroom, there was a conspicuous pool of blood, already dried and dark. Following the trail, I saw a body lying right there.

Since it was winter, the body had barely begun to rot, and the cold down here kept most of the smell at bay. Though Luo Sumei had been dead for four days, her corpse looked almost lifelike, as if she might simply open her eyes at any moment.

She was slumped against a crate.

It was a severely mutilated body.

My eyes traveled upward. Her head was still attached, but a deep ligature mark circled her neck, perfectly parallel with her throat. Judging by the way the skin was pulled, the force had been yanked backward. I could picture it—someone looping a rope around Luo Sumei’s neck, then jerking hard from behind.

I pressed my hand gently against the mark and discovered something else beneath that long indentation—a thinner line, like it had been cut by wire. Hidden just under the wide ligature, the smaller groove would be easy to miss unless you looked closely.

Two strangulation marks—one wide, one narrow. The thinner one had tiny blood spots beneath it. This made it clear not just one kind of rope was used.

Luo Sumei’s eyes were open. Her twisted expression seemed frozen at the moment of death. Guan Zengbin once told me this is called cadaveric spasm. When death comes, the muscles seize up, preserving the final look on a person’s face.

Staring at this battered corpse, those wide, angry eyes, the terror still etched into every line, I shivered uncontrollably. Rage boiled up inside me.

Just by looking, I could imagine the hopelessness Luo Sumei must have felt as she died. I saw how cruel these people had been. But what kind of reason would it take for ordinary folks—people who’d never dare kill a chicken—to raise a butcher’s knife against another human being?

I started to believe that everyone had a monster lurking inside. And when circumstances were right, even the shyest, most harmless person could let it out. Like Li Danan, who’d always seemed so timid, had helped do something so terrible. Or someone who’d go as far as killing just to protect a fantasy for their child.

Maybe Luo Sumei was greedy, but she never deserved to die like this.

Swallowing my fury, I forced myself to keep examining the body.

Erxiao leaned against the wall, staring at the corpse. He murmured, “Sometimes, all it takes is one wrong step and everything after just gets worse. The more you try to hide it, the harder it is to bury the truth. Honestly, when this all started, I never planned to kill her.”

I was so furious my mind felt strangely clear—maybe I was past anger and somewhere colder.

“But even killing doesn’t have to be this cruel,” I said, staring at Erxiao, forcing each word out. “You tortured an innocent woman just to cover up the truth? How did Luo Sumei end up with those strangulation marks on her neck?”

Erxiao spoke quietly, “I did it. That was the most terrifying moment of my life.”

All three men wore pained expressions, like they’d just remembered something they wished they could forget forever.

Erxiao’s voice trembled as he spoke: “I’ll never forget it—four days ago, 2:40 in the afternoon. That’s a day I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

Needing to calm himself, Erxiao lit a cigarette. “She suddenly sat up. Can you imagine it? You think someone’s dead, and then the corpse suddenly sits up.”

“Luo Sumei sat upright out of nowhere. All five of us just froze,” Erxiao said, recalling the scene. “And then she started screaming. She struggled like crazy.”

“I was terrified. Absolutely terrified.” Erxiao took a long drag and kept going. “There’s hardly anyone who comes to the east gate, and with fresh snow on the ground, there weren’t even cars out on the highway. Still, I was scared. I was afraid someone would hear her screams.”

He kept smoking, then pointed to Li Danan, signaling him to continue.

Li Danan nodded, looked at me, and said, “Old Xia was startled. Maybe because of the pain, Luo Sumei screamed even louder. Old Xia pinned her down, and the rest of us held her arms and legs.”

He glanced at Erxiao, then continued, “That’s when Erxiao panicked. He grabbed a rope from the crates. Well, not really a rope—a packing strap from one of the boxes.”

I nodded. The wider, flatter mark on Luo Sumei’s neck matched the kind of groove a hard plastic strap would leave. But the thin, sharp mark—there’s no way that came from the packing strap. Where did that mark come from?

Li Danan went on, “Erxiao yanked off the strap and looped it around her head. We pinned her down while he kept pulling tighter and tighter. It went on for three minutes. Her face turned red, and she finally stopped fighting.”

By then, Erxiao had finished his cigarette. He patted Li Danan’s shoulder. “I never thought she’d survive that. I never wanted things to go this way. I know she went through hell before she died—she must have hated us all. I was just so scared. I wanted it to end.”

They’re still lying about something. No one had mentioned the thinner ligature mark. My own suspicion only grew. This case is nowhere near as simple as it looks.

Seeing me frown, lost in thought, Erxiao spoke again. “This time, she was really dead. She was never going to get back up, but my fear didn’t go away at all. I knew that if Luo Sumei went missing, someone would eventually come looking for her in Tougouzi Village.”

“That’s right,” I said seriously.

Erxiao continued, “Li Luo told me—never dump the limbs all at once. That’s too risky. He said we should each toss out an arm and a leg, one by one. The more confused they are, the safer we’ll be.”

“Is that so?” I shook my head. “Do you still think you’re safe now?”

Erxiao shook his head. “We thought about burying her where no one would ever find her.”

“Exactly.” I locked eyes with Erxiao. “Why didn’t you? Find a place on the mountain, and who knows—she might never be discovered. But you didn’t do that. You even called the police yourselves. Why? What was your reason?”

Erxiao sighed. “The most dangerous place is often the safest, that’s how I see it. We’re just ordinary people. No one would ever think villagers could do something like this.”

“But you were found out anyway.” Erxiao sounded defeated. “After we tossed out Luo Sumei’s head, I tried to divert suspicion—just said I saw someone running down the highway. Didn’t matter. We were this close to pulling it off. When you got too near the truth, Li Danan was ready to take the fall for all of us.”

Li Danan looked at Erxiao. “I don’t have many friends. I wasn’t going to live much longer anyway. If I could do something for them before I go, I would. But… I guess we’ll never get that chance.”