Volume Two: Portrait - Chapter 6: The Fascination of Blood

This was the second time that Tai Wei had been called out of the classroom by Fang Mu.

The class was on criminal procedure law. Fang Mu and Meng Fan Zhe sat in the back row. Meng Fan Zhe looked relaxed and pleased with himself, as he had made a deal with Fang Mu: if their names were called, Fang Mu would cover half his mouth and answer for him. Fang Mu didn't mind helping him out, but having to be with him in every class made Fang Mu, who was used to being alone, feel uncomfortable. Furthermore, this was not a fundamental solution to the problem.

As Fang Mu left, he felt Meng Fan Zhe becoming anxious and despondent behind him. He really wanted to comfort him and say that the possibility of Professor Song calling their names again was unlikely, but for Fang Mu, it was Tai Wei's gaze that made him nervous.

In the corridor, Fang Mu asked Tai Wei in a low voice, "What's wrong this time?"

"Well, no one died, but a girl has gone missing."

"That girl shouldn't be very old, right?" Fang Mu blurted out.

Without needing an answer, Tai Wei's eyes had already confirmed it.

At around 10 p.m. last night, the Ba Jian Fang Police Station in the Hong Yuan District received a report that a first-year junior high school girl from the Eighth Middle School in the city had gone missing. According to the person who made the report (the missing girl's parents), the girl's name was Xu Jie, 13 years old. Normally, Xu Jie would go straight home after class and would have arrived home at around 5 p.m. However, yesterday, she still hadn't returned home by around 10 p.m. Frantic with worry, her parents reported her missing after they were unable to find her.

During the investigation, an owner of a barbecue stall by the roadside provided crucial information: at around 4:40 p.m., he had seen a girl who appeared to be Xu Jie talking to a scruffy, thin young man. The police officers at the station thought that the physical characteristics of the man resembled those of the "vampire" in the wanted posters, so they reported it directly to the Municipal Bureau's special task force.

Fang Mu and Tai Wei went to the location where the witness claimed to have seen Xu Jie and the man. Fang Mu looked around, and Tai Wei asked him, "Do you think it's him?"

Fang Mu didn't answer him. Instead, he asked Tai Wei, "Do you have a map of this area?"

"We've already prepared it," Tai Wei said, reaching into the car to take out a map.

He figured it out. Fang Mu smiled.

For the first time in a long time, this guy smiled. Tai Wei thought to himself and reached for the map.

"As you may have noticed, the areas where the perpetrator committed the crimes are very concentrated," Tai Wei pointed out on the map with his finger. "Here, here, and here, all in this area, including the location where this girl went missing, which is also nearby." He looked up at Fang Mu and asked, "According to our usual reconnaissance thinking, if a suspect chooses to commit multiple crimes in one place, it's usually presumed that he is not familiar with the crime scene, meaning that the likelihood of the perpetrator being from out of town is higher. Why do you think he lives nearby?"

"He's different," Fang Mu shook his head. "This person's attacks show a strong element of randomness, meaning that he didn't deliberately choose the victims, but perhaps this time is an exception," he looked up at Tai Wei, "He's starting to target some young people."

"Then, do you think this girl is still alive?" Tai Wei asked.

"It's possible," Fang Mu looked at the calendar on his watch and silently calculated in his mind, "The perpetrator has a pattern of committing a crime roughly every 20 days, and this time, it's only been a week since the last crime. He probably wants to 'nurture' a source of blood and be ready to use it when he needs it."

Despite the bright morning sun, after hearing this, Tai Wei couldn't help but shudder.

To nurture living people and then, when needed, to kill and feed on them, just like slaughtering pigs and sheep.

What kind of person was this?

"Let's go to the mental hospital," Fang Mu got into the car. "If I'm not mistaken, we still have some time, and we must catch him before he feels the need."

Most hospitals in City C have psychiatric departments, but there are only two specialized psychiatric hospitals. Tai Wei arranged for his subordinates to go to other hospitals (emphasizing not to let the chief know), while he and Fang Mu went to the two specialized hospitals.

Fang Mu was looking for people who had consulted or been hospitalized for delusions related to blood in the past five years, especially those related to blood. The first hospital was very cooperative, but unfortunately, they found nothing. When they were investigating at the second hospital, the director suddenly remembered someone.

This person's name was Feng Kai, male. Two years ago, when he was 26 years old, he suffered from severe depression due to the successive deaths of his father and brother within a year. After being admitted to the hospital, Feng Kai was relatively cooperative in his treatment, and it seemed that his depression was gradually improving. However, one day, a nurse found him catching a bird and drinking its blood while strolling outdoors. Subsequently, he requested a blood transfusion from the hospital because he believed he suffered from severe anemia. After a detailed examination, the hospital found that the amount of red blood cells in his blood was completely normal. But Feng Kai did not accept this fact and insisted that he was severely anemic. As a result, the hospital determined that he also suffered from delusions. After treating his delusions for a period of time, Feng Kai suddenly disappeared without saying goodbye.

In the doctors' and nurses' impressions, Feng Kai was 173cm tall, thin, and unkempt. His ward was always in a mess. Feng Kai did not like to interact with people, and no one had come to visit him. After he disappeared, the hospital went to look for him, only to find that the address he registered at the hospital was fake.

This clue excited Fang Mu and Tai Wei. Considering that Feng Kai could very well be a fake name, Fang Mu suggested that Tai Wei immediately investigate the father and son who died of blood diseases two years ago, and search for this person named Feng Kai throughout the city, especially in the Hong Yuan District.

Two days later, the investigation results finally came out. There were a total of 1244 people named Feng Kai in City C, and none of them met the search criteria. However, there was a father and son with the surname Ma who died of aplastic anemia in 1998 and 1999, respectively. The father, Ma Xiangwen, was widowed early, and he died in 1998 due to aplastic anemia. Ma Xiangwen had two sons. His eldest son, Ma Tao, died a year after his father due to acute aplastic anemia. His younger son, Ma Kai, inherited a set of properties left by his father, which was located at 83-4 Changqing North Street, Hong Yuan District. This location was within 5 kilometers of all five crime scenes.

"It's him!"

In the household registration room of the Changqing North Street Police Station, Fang Mu looked at a photo on the computer screen and said decisively.

Despite Ma Kai looking neat and having a serene expression in the photo, Fang Mu still saw deep anxiety and despair in his slightly vacant eyes.

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At this moment, Tai Wei appeared very cautious. He found the two eyewitnesses of the cases of Yao Xiaoyang, Tong Hui, and Xu Jie's disappearance and brought them to the police station. The witness of Xu Jie's disappearance could not confirm that Ma Kai was the person he saw that day. However, the eyewitnesses of the murders of Yao Xiaoyang and Tong Hui were very certain that Ma Kai was the person who had gone to their convenience store to buy mineral water that day.

"There's no mistake, he may look a bit thinner than in the photo, but it's definitely him!"

There was no more room for hesitation. Tai Wei immediately applied to the bureau to gather personnel to apprehend Ma Kai. As he was about to leave, Tai Wei asked Fang Mu whether he should wait there or go back to school.

Fang Mu quickly said he would wait at the police station for news. Tai Wei instructed his colleagues at the police station to take care of Fang Mu, turned to leave, but was stopped when Fang Mu grabbed his arm.

"Be careful. This person is very dangerous."

At 8:22 p.m.

This was a building that had been standing for at least 20 years. Upon investigation, it was a staff residential building of the Hong Guang Tractor Manufacturing Factory. Tai Wei looked up at the windows on the third floor, the deep blue curtains blocking the windows tightly, and a faint orange light could be seen from inside.

Nine police officers participated in the operation. Tai Wei divided them into an attack team, a support team, and a blockade team. The attack team was responsible for subduing the suspect after entering the room, the support team was responsible for rescuing the victim (if the victim was still alive), and the blockade team was responsible for sealing off the corridor and the outside of the window to prevent the suspect from escaping.

To ensure the success of the operation, in the afternoon, Tai Wei and another police officer disguised themselves as employees of a gas company and surveyed a resident on the first floor. The layout of this residence was similar to that of Ma Kai's on the third floor, both being two-bedroom apartments. Tai Wei analyzed that the victim was very likely to be held in the small northern bedroom. He instructed the support team to enter the room as soon as possible, regardless of whether the suspect was immediately subdued, and to find an opportunity to enter the northern bedroom to rescue the victim.

At 8:25 p.m., the rescue operation began on time.

Tai Wei quietly led the attack and support teams up to the third floor, stopping in front of the right door. There was no peephole on the door. After the attack team took up positions on both sides of the door, Tai Wei raised his hand and knocked on the door.

No response. But Tai Wei noticed faint footsteps inside, and the light under the door was blocked.

Tai Wei knocked on the door three more times, but there was still no response.

Tai Wei loudly said, "No one's home here, let's go to the opposite side."

Turning around, Tai Wei knocked on the door of the neighbor, and a woman's voice quickly responded, "Who is it?"

"We are from Pharmaceutical Factory Three. We've recently developed a new product called Blood Supplement, specifically designed to treat various types of blood deficiency and anemia. To show our gratitude to our consumers, we're conducting a million-drug giveaway today. We're here to deliver medicine to you free of charge."

"Really? Wait a moment."

The door opened, and a middle-aged woman with disheveled hair appeared. "Is it really free?"

At almost the same time, the door across the hall suddenly opened.

The police officers from the attack team leaped up and suddenly rushed at the person opening the door, catching him off guard and knocking him down.

Tai Wei left the bewildered middle-aged woman and quickly rushed into Room 302.

The person was pinned to the ground by several police officers, and one of them grabbed his hair. "What's your name?"

As he passed by, Tai Wei looked at him and confirmed that he was indeed Ma Kai. He didn't hesitate and followed the support team straight to the door of the northern bedroom.

The door was closed. A member of the support team kicked the door open, and Tai Wei aimed his gun into the room.

The room was dark, and a person could vaguely be seen lying on a large bed. Other police officers entered the room to search, and Tai Wei went straight to the bed, shining a flashlight to reveal a girl tied in a "大" shape on the bed, with her hands and feet bound to the head and foot railings of the bed. Her hair was messy, her eyes closed tightly, and her mouth was taped shut. Tai Wei recognized her as the missing Xu Jie.

Was she still alive?

Tai Wei put his hand under the girl's nose and felt warmth, and a stone in his heart finally fell.

His colleagues confirmed that there was no one else in the room, and Tai Wei instructed them to untie the unconscious girl, while also notifying the blockade team downstairs to call an ambulance.

The ambulance that had been parked at the entrance of the community arrived quickly and took the girl to the hospital for examination.

The suspect was already handcuffed, lying face down in the living room, with two police officers pointing their guns at his head.

Tai Wei grabbed his hair, feeling uncomfortable with the greasy sensation on his hand. He looked at Ma Kai's face, pale, emaciated, with scabs around his mouth, crusts in the corners of his eyes, and probably a broken nose from the recent blow, with dark red blood flowing. Ma Kai's body kept writhing, and he mumbled, "Blood... stop it..."

"Is your name Ma Kai?" Tai Wei asked loudly.

Ma Kai slightly opened his eyes, glanced at Tai Wei, then closed his eyes and continued muttering, "Blood... blood... stop it."

Tai Wei suddenly wanted to fiercely hit him in the face with the butt of his gun, but he restrained himself in time. He stood up, waved his hand in disgust, and said, "Take him away!"

The duty police officers at Changqing North Street Police Station occasionally glanced curiously at this strange young man.

For the whole evening, he didn't say a word, didn't smoke, just stared ahead in a daze, not touching the meal in front of him.

The phone rang, and the duty officer answered it, then turned to ask, "Is your name Fang Mu?"

The young man suddenly turned his head, and his eyes flashed with an intimidating light.

"It's for you."

Fang Mu stood up. Possibly because he had been sitting for too long, his feet were a bit stiff, and in the few meters he walked over, the table and chairs made a clattering sound.

"Hello?"

The receiver was noisy, with loud shouts and shrill sirens. Tai Wei's voice was urgent but filled with excitement:

"We got him, it's him!"

"What about the girl?"

"She's okay, she's in the hospital now. I just called to confirm, the doctor said apart from being scared and malnourished, there's nothing serious."

Fang Mu closed his eyes.

After hanging up the phone, Fang Mu felt the pain from where he had knocked against the table and chairs.

He returned to the table and sat down, silent for a moment, then opened the meal in front of him.

"Sorry."

The duty police officer saw the weak smile on Fang Mu's face, as if a great burden had been lifted.

"Can you get me a glass of water?"