The villa courtyard was littered with shattered glass, and the stone bricks from the gate to the villa entrance were covered in dense bloodstains, likely left by the police after their initial inspection.
To the left of the courtyard was a flowerbed containing a fish tank and a skylight designed to illuminate the basement.
To the right was the garage, housing two heavy motorcycles and a large pickup truck.
He Li observed the situation in the villa courtyard.
After a brief conversation with the detective captain, Bai Fei, who had also examined the gruesome piles of flesh, returned to He Li’s side, his expression grim. It was clear he, too, had been disgusted by the remains.
Bai Fei frowned and asked, "I've had them retreat fifty meters and evacuated the surrounding civilians. Did you find anything?"
He Li turned his head and looked at Bai Fei seriously. "Brother Fei, I'm scared. Can you go in by yourself?"
Bai Fei didn't even acknowledge He Li's plea. He gave He Li a push on the back, and the two entered the villa.
Lowering his glasses, the overall model of the villa appeared before him.
Bai Fei remarked, "A single-story basement, six-meter ceiling height, three and a half stories above ground, with a sky garden. Hmm? You white-eyed wolf, why are you using 3D modeling too?"
Through the comms channel, Min Liang said, "While I may find 3D modeling old-fashioned, I never said it wasn't useful. For tasks within architecture, 3D modeling is currently the most excellent and effective method. Jiang Jie and I were having an academic discussion, not an argument, so don't blow it out of proportion. Don't try to sow discord between me and Jiang Jie's pure camaraderie."
Bai Fei chuckled after listening. "The camaraderie between technical experts is truly strange."
Min Liang scoffed, "Mortals should not presume to fathom the divine."
Amidst their banter,
He Li and Bai Fei had already entered the villa.
The entire first-floor hall was luxuriously decorated, but bloodstains were present in every corner, as if the entire interior of the house had been painted with fresh blood, presenting a scene of overwhelming crimson.
The pungent smell of blood and decay assaulted their nostrils.
*Creak.*
He Li stopped, looked down, and slowly moved his foot. Underneath was a tooth. He Li glanced at Bai Fei, who pointed in the direction of the elevator.
He Li was startled. A few strands of long black hair were stuck to the elevator's glass, not hanging, but adhered by blood. The bright red blood and the eerie long hair formed a terrifying scene with a distinct Chinese aesthetic.
"Brother Fei, it's now certain that demons did this," He Li stated.
"Oh? Why?" Bai Fei asked.
He Li said earnestly, "Chopping four people into mincemeat and then smearing fresh blood across every corner of the villa – that's a massive undertaking."
Bai Fei blinked, somewhat impressed by He Li's perspective. Was this the viewpoint of a mentally ill person?
However, what he said was quite logical.
The two quickly inspected every room in the villa. Every corner was stained with blood. The sky garden on the top floor was devoid of blood, as was the glass of the basement skylight.
They separated, Bai Fei in the first-floor hall, He Li on the second floor.
He Li stood by the window of a room, looking out. The blood on the glass had not coagulated but was slowly flowing downwards, blurring his view of the outside.
He Li was puzzled as to why the blood hadn't solidified.
From when the police discovered the scene to when they requested support from the Spiritual Management Association, three hours had passed. Their journey to the villa took twenty minutes, and their inspection had already lasted over ten minutes.
This meant that, excluding the time from the crime to the police arrival, from the police's arrival to their own, and their inspection time, a total of at least three and a half hours had elapsed.
For such a long period, the blood had not coagulated, and judging by its color and smell, it appeared as if it had just flowed from a wound.
He Li hesitated, then drew his military knife and reached towards the wall beside him, intending to scrape off some blood to examine it.
"I advise you not to."
The sudden voice made He Li freeze, his knife-wielding hand still.
He Li looked to the side. It was Jin Fang, dressed in a black suit and a white shirt. He stood comically on a blood-covered table, yet exuded an indescribable elegance, as if the table transformed into a stage the moment he stood upon it.
He Li retracted his knife and asked, "Do you have any good suggestions?"
Jin Fang vanished from the table and reappeared upside down on the ceiling. He walked towards He Li, smiling. "Acting rashly before understanding the true situation is extremely foolish. One mistake, and the mission could fail. You know the consequences of mission failure."
He Li shrugged, raised his hand, and pressed his earphone to temporarily mute it. He asked, "Do you know what's going on here?"
Jin Fang landed, standing beside He Li, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I don't. But we can make a hypothesis first."
He Li asked curiously, "What hypothesis?"
Jin Fang said, "Let's hypothesize that this was a demonic killing."
"Of course, I believe it was a demonic killing. Ordinary people wouldn't have the time to smear the victim's blood all over the villa after a murder," He Li said, then felt his statement was incomplete and added, "I mean they wouldn't have the time, not that they aren't perverted enough."
Jin Fang nodded meaningfully, as if he understood. After all, only a pervert could understand another pervert.
Jin Fang continued, "But now, you haven't detected any demonic energy, and yet the villa is so bizarre. You can't see outside, and the surrounding blood hasn't coagulated. Normally, blood coagulates within 4-12 minutes. Even with a large amount of blood, it would solidify within a few hours, unless this blood still has 'vitality'."
Jin Fang's words sent a chill down He Li's spine. He widened his eyes and looked around at the blood-splattered room and the hazy view outside the window.
Jin Fang said, "Hypothetically, this isn't a villa, but rather a space within a bizarre dimension, surrounded by active blood.
And coupled with
the blurred view of the outside,
what could it be?"
As he spoke, Jin Fang raised his hand and lightly waved it at the wall. With a soft *swish*, the wall didn't shatter but opened a gap, and a large amount of blood gushed out from the opening in the wall.
He Li stared at the opening in the wall from which blood was pouring.
Suddenly,
He Li's body tensed. He thought of a terrifying possibility.
That is, this wasn't a murder scene, but a "digestion" scene.
In other words, this wasn't a villa, but inside a demon's body, or perhaps its stomach.
Why couldn't the demonic energy detector detect any demonic energy? Because this wasn't the real world at all, and it was outside the detection range of the demonic energy detector.
"Ha..."
He Li exhaled, his voice deep. "You mean, this is a demon's stomach, and it's going to eat people again?"
Jin Fang smiled and said, "It's already eating."
He Li abruptly looked down at his own feet.