Chapter 235 - 156: A Drastic Escalation! The Special Fifth Bureau Can’t Handle It! Lock Down the City

Zhang Liang spoke coolly, his words carrying an invisible air of authority.

He truly possessed the ability to completely dox someone anytime, anywhere...

And not just your average doxing, either. The kind that could dig up everything on you, down to the color of your underwear!

As for why he was investigating their finances...

Xu Huo had once said something that Zhang Liang thought was spot-on.

’For any premeditated crime committed by a group, only self-interest can bring them together!’

And in this society, self-interest means... money!

In other words, crime is about money. Investigating their finances was the most direct approach, a single strike to the heart of the matter.

"His finances are strange. Multiple large expenditures that clearly exceed his means."

"So, we now suspect that besides the Chen Family and the vet, there’s also..."

"A true mastermind."

Zhang Liang said slowly.

Deductive reasoning wasn’t his forte, but when it came to psychological information, few were better than him.

"And it’s this mastermind who caused this entire case to unfold!"

A mastermind...

Hearing this, everyone’s brows furrowed.

"So, you’re saying a third party is the one who wanted the human skin?" Li Jianye asked.

"And the Chen Family was just the knife he used to achieve his goal?"

"Correct. For now, it doesn’t affect the case. We can proceed with the investigation as usual."

Zhang Liang nodded.

"Let’s search the factory for the murder scene first. We can talk about the rest later."

Xu Huo closed the file and looked up, walking toward the livestock and slaughterhouse facility before them.

The facility was large, but not exceptionally so.

It was partially equipped with machinery, but it didn’t make much of a difference. Butchering the pigs still had to be done by hand.

Below the plant was the livestock farm, filled with various animals that were frantic with hunger, their cries incessant.

The slaughterhouse was located above.

Logically, their positions should have been reversed.

But...

"Boss, we’ve got something!"

As an officer from the Special Fifth Bureau holding a police dog reported in, everyone’s attention was drawn to him.

"In the vet’s office! There’s a secret door here!"

Everyone hurried over.

A slaughterhouse with a veterinarian’s office.

Speaking of which, veterinarians were always in short supply. The work was exhausting, but it paid extremely well.

Of course, this didn’t refer to pet veterinarians—that profession was already oversaturated in his past life—but large animal vets. The ones who dealt with livestock. The environment was harsher, but the pay was better than most, making it a good career path.

The slaughterhouse’s vet office was simple.

A single shelf held various bottles and jars of medicine.

The rest of the room contained a sofa, a computer, and a few documents.

At that moment, a man was standing in front of a cabinet in the office.

The police dog sat obediently before it.

There was only an imperceptible gap between the cabinet and the wall. If you put your nose to the crack and took a sharp sniff, you’d be hit by a powerful stench of blood.

"Push it open," Zhang Liang ordered.

The team swarmed forward and slowly moved the cabinet aside.

The next second...

A door, less than five feet, seven inches tall, was revealed before them!

The door wasn’t locked.

Or rather, it couldn’t be locked.

The handle had been destroyed, smashed to pieces by some kind of tool!

’This must have been...’

’Lin Miao’s doing?’

Xu Huo sniffed the air but didn’t voice his thought, instead focusing his attention on something more important.

He reached out, his hand brushing against the door, and then slowly began to apply pressure.

As he pushed harder, the secret door slowly swung open, the gap widening little by little...

CREAK~

A staircase leading underground appeared.

Xu Huo started slowly down the stairs.

It was pitch-black on the staircase, so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. There might have been a lightbulb, but they couldn’t find the switch right away.

’Joy Eye!’

With a thought, Xu Huo quickened his pace down the stairs. The others followed cautiously behind him, feeling their way along.

TAP, TAP, TAP...

Their footsteps echoed in the gloomy stairwell, until...

TAP.

The footsteps stopped. They had all reached the bottom.

Here, it was still pitch-dark. You wouldn’t notice a person even if their face was pressed right against yours.

The sound of breathing arose.

It was heavy and foul. An extremely thick, metallic stench of blood shot into their nostrils!

The smell was like a thick fluid, pouring backward through their sinuses!

Zhang Liang paused, taking the flashlight someone handed him from behind.

CLICK!

With the sound, a hideous, blood-drenched, skinless head appeared right in front of Zhang Liang’s face!

It was less than five centimeters away from him!!!

Zhang Liang flinched instinctively, stumbling back as he raised the flashlight beam.

The body of a woman, hanging upside down, came into view...

It was drenched in blood, stripped of all its skin, like a flayed pig carcass hanging before him!

The bright red corpse, the shriveled muscles, the dried pools of blood on the floor...

She just hung there, like a bat.

"Who is this?"

"It’s not Lin Miao! Lin Miao isn’t this tall!"

"Where’s the light?"

"Did you find the light switch?"

"Found it!"

"Turn it on!"

BUZZ!

As electricity surged, the lights in the room flickered to life.

The next second, six hanging bodies—masses of bright red, shriveled muscle—appeared before them.

These were...

Six skinless, bloody corpses!

They were all hanging upside down in a row.

Like sides of pork hung up on iron hooks at a butcher’s stall.

Or like a body found hanging from the rafters of a living room after the lights are turned off...

Silence. Utter silence.

Xu Huo rubbed the bridge of his nose and spoke in a low voice:

"Notify the special police task force. We’ve found the murder scene."

"Also..."

"Sweep the scene!"

...

...

The murder scene had been found.