novelraw Chapter 157 - 139: Unity Knot
Chapter 157 - 139: Unity Knot
A jolt went through Manager Wang at Chen Chuan’s command. He immediately had the driver stop the car, then leaned out the window to shout orders, pointing at the bald man who was passing by.
The security team members instantly grew excited. They had been getting frustrated driving around for so long, and now they finally had a target. They scrambled out of their vehicles and rushed forward, pinning the man to the ground.
The bald man was shocked and angry. He struggled and yelled, "What are you doing? What are you doing? Who are you? Let me go!"
A member of the security team said viciously, "You don’t know what you’ve done?"
The bald man looked bewildered.
Seeing this, Chen Chuan said to Manager Wang, "No need to be so rough. He’s probably just someone afflicted with the butterfly tattoo, not the target we’re actually looking for."
At that moment, the fading of his Second Self was very slight, so this person couldn’t be the source.
But Manager Wang was still uneasy. "Well, Expert Chen..." He looked outside and asked tentatively, "Will these people..."
Chen Chuan said, "Don’t be afraid. A supernatural phenomenon like this isn’t transmitted through conventional means of infection. Otherwise, a county this large would have been overrun long ago. It wouldn’t have waited until now."
In fact, his failure to find anyone like this after circling the area was actually a good thing. It indicated the supernatural phenomenon hadn’t spread widely. This meant the people who acquired the tattoos did so for a specific reason.
Only then did Manager Wang relax. However, he still didn’t get out of the car. He said to the security team members, "Drag him into the vehicle and check if he has a tattoo."
The security team members immediately dragged the bald man into their vehicle to check him. When they saw a colorful butterfly on his back, they were all shocked. A team member ran over and said, "Manager Wang, he has one! He really has one!"
Manager Wang quickly looked at Chen Chuan.
Chen Chuan said, "Ask him where he just came from and where he’s been in the last two days."
Manager Wang immediately repeated the instructions to the team member, then said to Chen Chuan, "Don’t worry, Expert Chen. These guys from the Security Bureau are experts at interrogation."
Chen Chuan grunted in acknowledgment. "Make sure it’s the truth."
Manager Wang coughed. "Yes, it will definitely be the truth." After a moment’s thought, he still felt a bit worried and said, somewhat awkwardly, "I’ll go take a look myself."
After a short while, Manager Wang returned. "Expert Chen, we’ve questioned him." Knowing Chen Chuan was unfamiliar with the local roads, he held up a map with several locations specially marked on it. "Please take a look, Expert Chen. The man has recently been to these places..."
Chen Chuan looked at it, then took out the previous map to compare it with the routes taken by the other people who had developed butterfly tattoos. Of course, this was only limited to the last few days; anything earlier was impossible to trace.
He circled the area where their routes overlapped and tapped it with his pen. "Let’s go check this area."
Manager Wang looked, and his expression suddenly changed. He had noticed a station in the center of the circled area. He said worriedly, "Could those people have come from somewhere else?"
If that were the case, the scope of the investigation would be much larger.
Chen Chuan said, "Not necessarily. Let’s get closer and take a look first."
"What about the man we just caught?"
Chen Chuan said, "Bring him along for now."
Normally, once the source of a supernatural phenomenon was dealt with, the remaining people would most likely be fine. However, they would still be affected to some degree. That was something he couldn’t control. All he could do was find and eliminate the root cause as quickly as possible to prevent more people from being afflicted.
"Alright."
Manager Wang got back in the car and told the driver to head over there. The Security Bureau vehicles followed behind, carrying the bald man.
The location wasn’t far, so they arrived in less than a few minutes.
This time, Chen Chuan had a new discovery as soon as they arrived. The phantom on his Second Self had clearly changed again. He looked at a middle-aged man standing on the side of the road, holding a briefcase and about to unfold a newspaper. "That man."
This time, Manager Wang didn’t need any special instructions. He immediately got out of the car and ordered the security team to grab that man as well. The man seemed to struggle violently, but in the end, he was hauled into a vehicle by his collar.
After a short while, Manager Wang returned, looking somewhat puzzled. "We’ve checked him, Mr. Chen, but he doesn’t seem to have that butterfly tattoo."
Chen Chuan said, "Just because it’s not on his skin doesn’t mean it’s not in his organs."
Manager Wang shivered involuntarily at that. "I’ll go ask him again then."
Chen Chuan thought for a moment and said, "I’ll go with you." He got out of the car as well and was about to walk toward the back, but after just two steps, his pace suddenly slowed.
He glanced at his Second Self and noticed another faint instance of fading had appeared.
’Wait, there’s more!’
He looked around. The Security Bureau’s actions had scared away many of the passersby. Now, besides their own group, there was no one else around.
He glanced up. There were no tall buildings nearby, only a few flying birds. His gaze then fell, sweeping over the street before finally fixing on a manhole cover. ’So, it’s... underground.’
He walked over and said a few words to Manager Wang. The latter was taken aback. "Are you sure, Expert Chen?"
Chen Chuan nodded.
Manager Wang hesitated for a moment. "Alright, I’ll make the arrangements." He looked around, found a shop by the street with a telephone, and made a call.
In just over half an hour, a maintenance crew from the municipal works department arrived. They opened the manhole cover and went inside to investigate. Another hour or so later, they used a tool to hook and pull up a swollen, decaying, blackish-green corpse. Maggots could be seen squirming on it.
Seeing the sight and smelling the stench, the members of the security team went to the side to vomit one by one, even though they had put on masks beforehand.
Chen Chuan asked for a pair of gloves and walked up to it. He calmly observed the corpse for a moment, then reached out and rummaged through its clothes. Finally, he pulled out a waterlogged, discolored knot of rope.
The moment he grasped the object, the fading on his Second Self clearly intensified. He could see it was a symmetrical double-looped knot, one large and one small, resembling a butterfly.
He walked over with it and asked, "Manager Wang, do you recognize this?"
Manager Wang fought back his nausea and took a look. "A Unity Knot?"
Chen Chuan asked, "Are they common?"
Manager Wang thought for a moment. "It’s an old custom from our Qixi Festival. Women would weave these intricate knots as tokens of affection for the festival. But nowadays, nobody young makes them anymore, only some of the older generation." He asked tentatively, "Expert Chen, is this related to the butterfly tattoos?"
Chen Chuan said, "It’s not clear yet. We need to ask more questions. Bring those two men over."
Seeing that he wasn’t going to inspect the corpse any further, Manager Wang breathed a sigh of relief. He immediately called over the two men they had captured and showed them the Unity Knot, asking if they had seen anything similar recently.
The first man they caught, the bald one, took a look and nodded. "Yeah, I’ve seen it. I went to the night market the night before last, and when I got home, this thing was in my pocket. I don’t know who put it there."
Manager Wang immediately asked, "Where is it now?"
The bald man scratched his head. "I just tossed it. I’m a grown man, my son’s almost as tall as I am. What would I need this for?"
The middle-aged man glanced at the bald man, looking like he wanted to say something but held back.
Manager Wang fixed his gaze on him. "What do you want to say?"
The middle-aged man said, "I’ve seen one too. I also found it after coming back from the night market that day. I distinctly remember not buying it, but it just mysteriously appeared in my pocket."
"And where is it?"
The middle-aged man seemed to hesitate before finally saying, "I gave it away."
Manager Wang asked, "Who did you give it to?"
The middle-aged man stammered that he gave it to a friend, but from his expression, Manager Wang could guess what had really happened and sneered.
Seeing this, Chen Chuan had basically formed a conclusion. He said, "Manager Wang, please go ask the others in custody who are confirmed to have the tattoo. Ask if they’ve seen or come into contact with a similar object, and find out what they did with it."
"Alright! Please wait a moment, Expert Chen. It might take some time." Manager Wang also sensed they were finally getting a lead. Full of renewed vigor, he hurried off to make the call.
Chen Chuan, meanwhile, spoke to the company driver who had come with them. The man nodded, went to buy some drinks and cigarettes, and passed them out to the security team members.
Then he took out a tube of Nutrition Paste, ate it, and walked over to chat with the members of the security team.
When they heard he had a relative who was a captain in the Patrol Bureau, the security team members were instantly filled with respect and became much friendlier.
For these Security Bureau members, the title of "Expert" didn’t carry much weight, but the Patrol Bureau’s name certainly did. Nominally, they all belonged to the same administrative department. To become permanent staff, they not only needed the seal of the County Administrative Office but also had to pass an approval process by the Patrol Bureau. Now, they all came over to curry favor, each trying to make sure Chen Chuan would remember them.
Over an hour later, Manager Wang returned, drenched in sweat. He handed a list to Chen Chuan and said excitedly, "Expert Chen, I’ve asked everyone. They’ve all seen this thing. Here are the statements..."
Chen Chuan took the list and flipped through it. Although the individuals had received the Unity Knot at different times, they all shared a common characteristic: they only found it after returning from the night market. Furthermore, the object was either lost or given away in the end.
He pondered for a moment, then said, "After this object was lost, the butterfly tattoo appeared on their bodies... Hmm, it probably wasn’t lost. Rather, the Unity Knot ’arrived’ on them."
Manager Wang was stunned for a moment, then he said in horror, "Then... then the Unity Knot *is* the butterfly tattoo?"
Chen Chuan said, "It’s very likely. Manager Wang, the current number of known deaths from this is eight, with the earliest case dating back ten days, correct?"
"Yes, yes."
Chen Chuan nodded. "In that case, it should be one death per day. This also aligns with certain patterns of supernatural phenomena. If we count from ten days ago, then ten people should have died in succession. That means there are about two more..." He remembered the corpse from earlier. "There is one other person who died but hasn’t been discovered, or hasn’t been reported."
"No, that’s not right." Manager Wang seemed to have thought of something. "Right, that corpse! Expert Chen, the corpse’s flesh..." He gagged. "The flesh is still there! It didn’t turn into butterflies and fly away! And the Unity Knot is still there too!"
Chen Chuan said, "It’s precisely because he was already dead that the Unity Knot remained on his person instead of becoming a butterfly tattoo."
It dawned on Manager Wang. "Expert Chen, are you saying he died from other causes?" He muttered, "Yes, that must be it..."
As for how he died in the sewer... ’Maybe the manhole cover was missing that day, he fell in, and it was put back on later?’ The thought made him deeply uncomfortable, and he quickly pushed it out of his mind. He then asked, "Expert Chen, what do we do next?"
Chen Chuan looked up at the sky before saying, "I’ve been thinking. If my deductions are correct, there might be a way to handle this."
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