Chapter 402: Path of the Five Elements and Seven Stars Rebirth

Chapter 402: Path of the Five Elements, Seven Stars Rebirth (Update 1)

The crime scene.

“Within one week, every piece of surveillance in the residential complex – even the Tianyan Surveillance Camera – has been thoroughly checked…”

A day later, Wang Dong stared at Xiao Yu across the room.

He noticed his younger partner gazing blankly at the ceiling.

Wang Dong’s keen intuition instantly detected something was off.

“Hmm.”

Coming back to himself, Xiao Yu’s eyes turned cold as he fixed Wang Dong with a look. “Tell me, regarding that grisly case from five years ago – why were the two victims hanged, disemboweled? And, unusually, why were both of them dressed in red?”

Watching his junior’s searching gaze, Wang Dong felt a chill. “How am I supposed to know? You’re the cop – isn’t this exactly your area of expertise?”

“…”

Though known as the strongest in his field, even the verbally formidable Wang Dong found himself at a loss. Feeling uneasy, Xiao Yu turned to a member of Team Two. “Bring me the file on the mass murder incident from five years ago.”

The team member handed over a tablet.

Xiao Yu began to flip through the case file.

Ignoring the detailed annotations of the on-site investigation, he focused on a few photos taken at the crime scene, capturing the victims’ corpses.

His attention centered on the two key victims.

The mistress of the house and a child.

They wore red clothes; both had their arms bound, their torsos viciously cut open with organs spilling out, and heavy weights shackled around both feet…

Questions began to swarm Xiao Yu’s mind.

Why were both victims wearing red at the time of their murder?

Why were the knots on their limbs tied with such professional precision?

And why were weights hung from their feet during the killings?

This massacre case was riddled with too many anomalies.

The file offered no clear answers—it was all very strange.

After examining the photos several times, Xiao Yu became even more puzzled.

It was neither a legal execution nor pure torture.

The manner of death felt eerily abnormal.

It was as if… Xiao Yu suddenly lifted his head in realization.

He knew what it was!

In his past life, Xiao Yu had cracked a bizarre sacrificial case.

The incident had taken place during the Qingming Festival.

Also known as the Ancestor Worship Festival, it originated from ancient ancestral beliefs and springtime rites.

What is a ‘sacrifice’?

Firstly, a ceremony to mourn the dead.

Secondly, in ancient times, it sometimes involved slaughtering livestock to appease spirits.

And what is meant by ‘livestock’?

It could refer to domestic animals.

Or, in ancient sacrificial rituals, it was the term used for the offerings.

Such as cattle, sheep, pigs – the three primary sacrifices.

Or perhaps… living beings!

People as offerings?

During feudal times, some sacrificial rites did indeed require live humans as offerings.

In that past case, the murderer mimicked a particularly sinister sacrificial ritual.

He used live human sacrifices to try and appease deities to fulfill his perverse desires.

Every sane person knows better.

There’s no such thing as ghosts or deities in this world, right?

And if appeasing spirits actually worked, mightier individuals would have done it long ago.

It certainly wasn’t a case where you’d simply commit murder in the name of a ritual.

Yet there were always those who fell prey to such superstitions.

Some even became fanatical, engaging in ghost worship and deity-calling, not hesitating to kill in their fervor.

Staring at the gruesome photos of the victims on the tablet,

Xiao Yu’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“A live sacrifice?!”

Soon after, he went online to search for similar sacrificial rituals.

He dug into records of ancient sacrifices and noted accounts of other unholy rites.

And eventually… he found something!

It was a book on ancient sacrificial rituals.

The text cataloged various rites practiced by our ancestors.

It even described some particularly malevolent rituals…

One such ritual carried a bizarre name.

“Path of the Five Elements, Red Clothes Rebirth… Rebirth Sacrifice!”

The method involved: suspending from a crossbeam, disemboweling the sacrificial animal, binding the soul-locking garment, using a weight to sever the soul, and a final ancestral inspection.

The suspended crossbeam symbolized wood.

The blood sacrifice of internal organs represented water.

The red garments and blazing flames signified fire.

The weighing scale served as a symbol of metal.

And the act of hanging suspended overhead, bowing to the earth, embodied earth.

Through this sacrificial process, the murderer’s intent became clear.

By hanging the two victims, disemboweling them, using red as an auxiliary element, the way they were suspended and their bodies cast down to the ground… the ritual was complete.

This sacrificial act mimicked an ancient spell known as the Seven Stars Rebirth Technique.

But it was perverted—a dark art of exchanging lives.

Two lives for one!

“The murderer… was using the ritual to extend his own life!”

A chill ran through Xiao Yu’s gaze, his voice as cold as a winter wind.

Listening to his junior’s words and meeting his eyes, Wang Dong shuddered, half in disbelief. “Using live sacrifices to extend life?!”

“Though I’m not entirely sure, it seems highly likely.”

Xiao Yu’s tone turned icy. “Assume that in the five-year-old case, the male head of the family intended to use the ritual to murder his wife and child. His real aim should have been life extension. So why then did he mutilate himself—severing his own feet and left hand—before finally taking his own life?”

“Life extension is supposed to help you live longer, isn’t it?”

Wang Dong furrowed his brows and shook his head. “If that were the case, how could he choose suicide unless…”

The two exchanged a glance.

They both saw the same answer reflected on the other’s face.

There was another culprit behind the murders!

And now, five years later,

another death had occurred in this same room.

This time, six victims had been discovered.

The method of death was just as bizarre, resembling a game of Disc Spirit.

Yet they were killed with an oddly brutal method.

In the very same room,

a case that was chillingly mysterious unfolded.

Two cases… both shrouded in mystery.

To call it a coincidence would require an absurdly low IQ.

“Wait—that’s not six victims, but… seven!”

A possibility dawned on Xiao Yu. “The suspect, Che Yu, is also dead… Could it be that on the day of the incident, seven people were fated to die? A 390 Sacrifice? Seven Stars Rebirth?”

“Maybe Che Yu discovered something and tried to flee?”

“Perhaps he wasn’t trying to escape from us or National Security; he was evading the murderer?”

“And even if he hid, the murderer would still come after him?”

“Maybe, knowing he was doomed and unable to escape, he chose suicide to avoid some unspeakable torment?”

“No, that can’t be right. Could his suicide have been an act of revenge?”

“If Che Yu killed himself, then the murderer could not complete the ritual?”

“After all, if everyone’s destined to die, how can the murderer have things his way?”

A look of sudden understanding slowly spread across Xiao Yu’s face as a steely glint appeared in his eyes.

“Could it be this ruthless?” Wang Dong asked, his voice trembling with unease.

“What else could it be?”

Xiao Yu scoffed. “If you were in Che Yu’s shoes, would you allow the murderer to have his way without fighting back?”

Wang Dong retorted disdainfully, “Why shouldn’t I try to take him down?”

“But what if you can’t beat him?”

A strange light flickered in Xiao Yu’s eyes again. “If you’re so resigned to death that you don’t even attempt to resist, it only means that the murderer is far superior. Remember, Che Yu was quite skilled in Muay Thai. Back in his sophomore year he even founded a Muay Thai club and became its president. For someone to overpower him without instilling fear, they must have worked so closely with him for a long time—perhaps even trained him in Muay Thai?”

“Or something else entirely…”