American Zombie Detective

Chapter 220 The Story of Qin and Jin

In the dead silence, an indescribable rage rose in Qin Jin's chest!

His eyes, which were always half-closed and carried a hint of laziness and casualness, suddenly opened, revealing a terrifying blood red in their depths!

His upper and lower jaws opened slightly, revealing gleaming white fangs that protruded from his lips, gleaming with a deadly cold light. His fingernails grew longer and sharper at a speed visible to the naked eye, like blades!

A terrifying cold wave erupted and spread without restraint, centered on Qin Jin's location!

"Click—click-clack—"

'

The frost, like a white tidal wave, instantly engulfed his small cubicle and roared towards the main living room! Wherever it passed, everything froze, solidifying into a static picture of extreme cold and eeriness!

Qin Jin's bloodshot eyes swept over the paper filled with stories in his hand, then he slammed it down on the now-frozen table, turned, and walked towards the living room.

step.

Two steps. Three steps —

Just as he took his third step, he suddenly turned around!

Qin Jin had already sensed something was amiss in the house, so he used a little trick: he pretended to leave, then suddenly turned back—

His gaze swept across the entire room in an instant, taking in everything inside.

In the instant he turned around, he noticed a slight tremor between the strokes on the paper, as if a word was trying to move out of the lines, to escape, to avoid the cold pages!

This counterattack was as fast as lightning; it was entirely due to anticipating the opponent's prediction!

Almost as soon as he turned around, Qin Jin's frost-covered right hand stretched out, reaching for the crumpled paper with a series of "clicks!"

A series of crisp, rapid freezing sounds exploded!

Those few sheets of A4 paper, along with that strange blob of ink that was trying to escape, and the large area of ​​air around them, were instantly frozen by an irresistible force of extreme cold!

A cluster of jagged, sharp icicles bloomed on the tabletop, like icy thorns bursting forth in an instant, freezing the dark mass firmly within the crystal-clear ice, capturing the moment it tried to escape.

Qin Jin stepped forward and pried the cold creation off the table.

He adjusted the angle of the icicle, and through the crystal-clear ice, he finally saw clearly—

The thing frozen in the core is a black Chinese character formed from countless letters!

"bully!"

The brushstrokes are withered and dry, as if written with endless despair.

Looking at those sheets of paper again, many letters were missing parts and had become incomplete.

Qin Jin held the cluster of icicles, no longer looking at the partition, and strode towards other areas of the house. The upstairs bedroom and study were empty, with only furniture covered in frost.

He eventually went to the basement.

The air in the basement was stuffy and cold, mixed with dust and an indescribable, faint smell of decay.

Qin Jin's bloodthirsty eyes swept across the cluttered space: piles of old furniture, discarded gardening tools, sealed cardboard boxes, and huge handicrafts—finally, his gaze locked onto the corner of the wall.

It was a small, separate room with a lock on the door, just like a typical storage room.

As usual, just lift your foot.

"Bang!"

The first thing you see when you enter is an old table on the right, next to which is a shelf with a lot of things scattered on it: various bottles and jars of cosmetics, wigs of different colors, makeup remover pads, and some medicines and syringes.

Qin Jin stepped forward and ran his fingers across the table. There was no dust on it, indicating that it was frequently used.

He sniffed, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes, then went over and picked up the medicine bottle—

Anyone would assume that drugs had been placed in the bottle, but Qin Jin couldn't smell anything, so he went up and picked up the medicine bottle to take a look.

The chemical names on the label were too complicated for Qin Jin to recognize, so he simply put them in his pocket.

I've looked at the other bottles too; the labels definitely indicate they're cosmetics, with various products claiming to conceal, whiten, lift, and correct.

Qin Jin ignored him and instead focused his attention on the other end of the small room.

There was something out of place in the surroundings—a jar about half a person's height, with a large belly and a small mouth. The mouth of the jar was tightly sealed with oiled paper, and the edges were coated with a waxy substance to ensure airtightness. The jar faintly exuded an old smell.

He kicked it directly.

"Clang! Plop!" The ceramic jar shattered instantly!

A strong, rotten stench that had been building up for countless years suddenly burst forth, filling the entire basement. Even Qin Jin subconsciously squinted.

In the middle of the broken pottery shards, there was a shriveled, blackened mass.

Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that it was the mummified corpse of a black cat, its fur clinging to the bones, shriveled up in a ball. The cat's abdomen was strangely swollen, as if something was stuffed inside.

Scattered around the cat's corpse were many small bird bones, the nature of which was unclear.

A bizarre jar made from the carcasses of a black cat and birds.

Qin Jin bent down and picked up the light, dried cat corpse. He then stretched out two fingers and pulled the hard object out of the corpse's belly.

"This is----"

A wooden plaque, slightly smaller than the palm of a hand, appeared, its surface engraved with a six-pointed star and some unrecognizable characters, resembling some kind of demonic language or strange Yabrai script.

At the very center of this rune, in the most prominent position, is deeply engraved a name: Darvins.

Qin Jin stared at the wooden plaque, caught in a strange logical impasse—each deduction seemed to contradict what he was seeing; in other words, the logic was inconsistent.

He needs more clues; the information he has now is not enough for him to make a judgment!

He suppressed the turbulent thoughts in his mind, and with a snap, he crushed the ice shard in his hand. Sure enough, the character "欺" shattered into countless pieces. Qin Jin put it into a crystal bottle, along with the characters that Aresa had crushed.

Then, Qin Jin used his phone to carefully take photos and a short video of the broken jar, the cat's corpse, the wooden sign, and the medicine bottle. Judging from the current situation, this is the most correct approach and can be implemented first.

Qin Jin returned to the first floor and dialed Catherine's number: "Catherine, there are two things I need you and John to confirm for me."

"First, in the photo I sent you, there are several medicine bottles. I need you to immediately contact a forensic specialist or a reliable friend at a hospital to confirm what kind of medicine is inside, its specific ingredients, and its effects."

"Secondly, there's a picture of a wooden sign with pictures and words on it. Have John take a look, or ask his friend Beaman for help, to see what the words are and, if possible, what they mean, understand?"

"Understood, I'll handle it immediately."

After hanging up the phone, Qin Jin slowly walked to the sofa in the living room. The bloodshot in his eyes and the fangs in his mouth had long since disappeared; the sudden rage had receded like a tide, and he needed to calm down now.

Qin Jin sat on the sofa in the living room, his gaze unconsciously sweeping over the coffee table beside him. On it was an ordinary spiral sketchbook, which seemed to be where the homeowner jots down his inspirations.

An inexplicable intuition compelled Qin Jin to reach out, take the notebook, and casually flip through it.

The first few pages contained scattered plot fragments, character descriptions, and records of daily life, written in elegant and steady handwriting, befitting a professional writer. He flipped through the pages faster and faster until he was nearing the end of the book.

Suddenly, he stopped moving.

The familiar title came into view again—"The Visitor".

Below the title, there is a small but enough note to freeze Qin Jin's blood: (II).

[—The monster policeman picked up the sheets of paper filled with stories. His superhuman senses finally detected the anomaly within the papers, a struggle to escape. He pretended to leave, but suddenly turned back and froze them with his terrifying power—]

[—He believed he had grasped the tail end of the truth and began searching for the female writer Lana. Finding nothing in the upstairs bedroom and study, he finally went to the basement—]

He discovered the cosmetics and the medicines. He had a gut feeling that these chemical concoctions might be one of the key clues.

[—He found the jar, and after violently destroying it, he discovered the cat's corpse and the wooden plaque engraved with a name, which seemed to indicate that the truth was just around the corner—]

[—Now, he returned to the living room, sent the crucial evidence he had discovered to his colleague, and sat on the sofa, awaiting feedback. His emotions gradually calmed, and he believed the investigation was about to break through——just then, he saw the notebook on the coffee table—]

That's all for now.

Qin Jin's fingers tightened slightly as he held the draft notebook.

I've already eliminated that word, but the story continues—