American Zombie Detective

Inside a coffee shop in Westwood, Qin Jin and his two companions met Ryan.

This was a handsome young man who, despite trying his best to appear mature, could not hide his nervousness.

Qin Jin cut to the chase: "Ryan, tell me about your interview."

Ryan spoke very quickly, but sometimes he would stutter, clearly indicating he hadn't come prepared.

"It was the final interview for the summer internship at Vertex Financial. I thought I had no chance, but I was surprised to receive a notification. I had been preparing for this interview for a long time, and it was scheduled for the third day after they left. I can provide the interviewer's contact information."

Catherine wrote in her notebook: "Ace Financial, the time is Sunday, we will verify."

Qin Jin nodded and continued to ask:

"Very good. So, after Lina and the others arrived at the holiday home, did she contact you? By phone or text? Did she mention anything strange? Or was there anything unusual between them?"

Ryan recalled:

"They arrived on the same day they left, and Lina called me to let me know they were safe. The signal was bad, it was intermittent. She said... she said the town near the holiday home felt eerie, almost deserted, with many empty houses, and the sound of the wind blowing through the streets was a bit scary. She said she wanted to come back then, feeling uncomfortable in that place. But..."

He paused, his tone tinged with helplessness:

"Amy was very insistent. She mainly wanted to photograph a type of bird around the holiday home. Sarah, her boyfriend Ethan, and Mark were all encouraging her, saying it would be a shame to leave so soon. Lina is a bit soft-hearted, so she ended up staying... We sometimes leave messages or call, but... we haven't been able to contact her for three or four days."

The situation matched Congressman Michael's description, and Qin Jin nodded, changing the subject:

"What's the relationship like between Amy, Sarah, and Lina? Are there any conflicts or disagreements, especially before this trip?"

Ryan answered very confidently this time:

"As far as I know, no! They get along very well, and they each want different things. Amy comes from a wealthy family and needs attention, so she mainly focuses on her bird research; Sarah is a dancer and doesn't have many demands besides performing; and finally, there's Lina, she... she doesn't want anything, so there's absolutely no conflict."

Next, Qin Jin inquired about the two boys, including their reputation at school. Constanze interjected, asking if they were playboys and if they had violent tendencies.

Finally, there was the preparation before the three set off, and whether there were any unusual events, including receiving any strange phone calls, discovering that someone was following them, or anything strange happening. Ryan recalled what she had heard from Lina, and there was nothing particularly special about it:

"What you're talking about... Lina hasn't mentioned any of that. She seems perfectly normal; she's just preparing travel supplies and studying route maps... Oh, right!"

He seemed to recall something, "The day before they left, they went to get hair treatments and beauty treatments together. Amy even seemed to have gotten hair extensions."

"Hair at the head?" Qin Jin asked. "Tell me more about it."

"Amy has never been satisfied with her hair. She feels that her hair is not thick enough and that it is prone to split ends when it grows long. She has always wanted to have beautiful long hair extensions, but she has tried many places without very satisfactory results."

"Before they left, they found a newly opened hair extension salon online. They said it was amazing, so Amy went and got her hair done, wanting to look gorgeous on her vacation. We even had dinner together the night they got their hair done," Ryan recalled.

"Indeed, Amy has long blonde hair extensions, and she looks very beautiful. You can't tell at all that she has extensions, and she's very happy about it."

Hair extensions... Qin Jin lazily picked up his coffee, took a sip, and continued:

"Where is the store? Do you know?"

Ryan tried hard to recall:

"The name... I don't think Lina mentioned the name before. She did mention the location though, it's... it's on Pine Forest Street? Near the intersection of Maple Leaf Avenue? Lina mentioned it briefly, saying that the place is quite remote, not like a proper hair extension shop, and there's a really strange graffiti on the door, like a ghost face, it looks pretty scary."

"Making a face?" Qin Jin repeated, then nodded.

"Mr. Ryan, thank you for your cooperation. If you recall any other details, please contact Detective Catherine immediately."

Qin Jin immediately stood up: "Let's go!"

The area near the intersection of Pinewood Street and Maple Avenue is a typical low-income, high-crime neighborhood in Los Angeles, with dilapidated apartment buildings, dirty streets, and graffiti covering the walls.

The residents here are mostly immigrants from Southeast Asia, and the environment is chaotic and noisy.

Qin Jin drove his Dodge with Catherine and Constantine, slowly searching along the vague address provided by Ryan, and finally stopped in front of a dilapidated apartment building.

As soon as Qin Jin opened the car door, a group of slovenly-dressed, young Southeast Asian children swarmed around him, their dirty little hands outstretched, chattering in heavily accented English mixed with their native languages:

"Where to? Lead the way and I'll pay! Lead the way and I'll pay!"

A few of the bolder ones even tried to tug at Catherine's clothes.

Catherine was caught off guard and tried to disperse them with a gentle tone, but the children were clearly not afraid and instead surrounded them even more with giggles.

Even Constanze seemed a bit uneasy about this situation, but Qin Jin made a move—

He suddenly stepped in front of Catherine and shouted in a low, cold Vietnamese:

"Get out of my way! Or I'll kill you bastards!"

The language was spoken in a low voice, but the intonation was strange enough and filled with extreme chill—it was the very tone of the rebels during the Civil War.

The children's smiles froze instantly, seized by an instinctive fear. They screamed and scattered like startled rabbits.

However, the trouble was not over!

A dozen or so dark-skinned, lean Southeast Asian men wearing vests or t-shirts emerged from the alleyway and doorway, their faces filled with hostile anger.

One of the men, a scarred man on the face, shouted in broken English:

"Hey! You! Why are you scaring our child?! You're a police officer? Police officers have no right to scare children! Pay up! Pay up now! Compensate! Otherwise, you're not leaving here!"

A dozen people quickly surrounded Qin Jin and his two companions, blocking them beside the car, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.

Constantine tensed up instinctively, his hand quietly reaching behind his waist, while Catherine also clenched her fists nervously.

Qin Jin's face was expressionless, only cold indifference.

He looked at the clamoring crowd with the same gaze he would give a swarm of flies buzzing around rotting flesh, just as the scarred man reached out as if to shove Catherine—

Qin Jin moved! He was as fast as a ghost!

His left hand shot out with lightning speed, precisely grabbing the scarred man's outstretched wrist and twisting it sharply in the opposite direction of the joint!

Click!

A sickeningly sharp crack, accompanied by Scarface's agonizing scream, echoed through the street as his wrist was twisted at an uncanny angle!

This is just the beginning!

Qin Jin's movements did not falter in the slightest, like a tiger charging into a flock of sheep!

His right fist slammed into the nose of another person who was rushing up, accompanied by a whooshing sound, and blood gushed out instantly!

Immediately following a vicious side kick, the third burly man's knee cracked with a terrible sound, and he fell to the ground screaming in agony!

The fourth and fifth people who tried to pounce from the side were grabbed by the hair or collar with his iron-like hands and their heads were slammed together!

Boom!

After a muffled thud, the two collapsed limply.

The whole process happened in the blink of an eye. In less than ten seconds, the five strongest guys were lying on the ground howling in pain, with broken hands, shattered noses, cracked knees, and concussions!

Qin Jin stood among the fallen men, not a single drop of blood on his body.

His cold gaze swept over the remaining people who were stunned and retreating, and he said twice in both Vietnamese and Burmese:

"Listen up! You bunch of rats! I'm on my business right now. If you don't disappear, I'll be back tonight with my men and throw you all into the Pacific Ocean!"

His tone was calm, yet it contained a chilling murderous intent and an indifference that regarded human life as worthless.

Those men who had been so aggressive just moments before now had only boundless fear on their faces. Looking at the miserable state of their companions on the ground and listening to Qin Jin's emotionless voice, they no longer dared to have the slightest thought of resistance.

These people didn't even dare to utter any harsh words. They scrambled to their feet, dragging the injured man from the ground, and hurriedly disappeared into the filthy alley, as if they would have their bones torn apart if they had lingered even a second longer.

"Useless." Qin Jin spat out two words disdainfully, glancing at the still-shaken Catherine and the complex-eyed Constantine:

"Don't bother with this trash. Next time, just shoot!"

They walked along the street for a while, found a landmark building, turned into a low-lying area, and then looked for the door with the picture of a ghost face painted on it.

What Lina thought was a ghost face was actually not a ghost face!

It's a drawing of a Kumanthong!