Chapter 208: Masked Man
The sky gradually darkened, the aroma of charred roasted meat drifting around the bonfire. The students gathered near the bonfire, listening intently to the story from the past.
Lin Ye's voice was very steady and devoid of excess emotion, creating an immersive illusion for the listeners.
"The number of missing persons gradually increased. Investigators found some human remains in a nearby lake; these remains were very small in volume and bore traces of polishing."
"The investigators began patrolling the camp. However, even after deploying a large number of personnel and setting up a tight patrol network, people continued to disappear. The missing tourists seemed to vanish into thin air; no one knew how they left the camp. So, the investigators dubbed the perpetrator of this case: The Ghost."
"Some investigators even began to suspect that these disappearances were caused by some kind of supernatural force, not human actions. But most investigators still diligently searched for clues."
"As more and more people disappeared, the number of investigators with such thoughts also increased. Because no key clues were found, the higher-ups began leaning towards completely closing the camp and investigating the disappearances slowly afterwards."
"Right at this moment, an investigator named Li Ze witnessed the crime scene."
"Li Ze was Li Xiyue's cousin and also the first person to report her missing. He had lived with his cousin since childhood. During this holiday, they had arranged to visit the ruins together. They stayed overnight in a cabin at the camp, but the next morning, Li Ze discovered his cousin was missing."
"As a city security management officer and a person related to the case, Li Ze applied to join the investigation team. He hoped to find the culprit quickly, believing that was the only way to have hope of rescuing Li Xiyue."
"But no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find any clues related to the culprit. It was just like that night; he was lying right next door, yet he could do nothing." "Hearing that the higher-ups planned to close the camp, Li Ze felt desperate. He knew very well this wasn't some supernatural phenomenon, but that a brutal, meticulous killer was freely hunting prey. If the camp was closed, the killer would disappear completely, and any hope of rescuing his cousin would be utterly lost."
"Li Ze would not allow this to happen. So, before the camp was closed, he found a prostitute, gave her a sum of money, and had her stay overnight at the camp."
"The person wasn't chosen randomly. Li Ze carefully studied all the cases and finally discovered that the killer seemed to prefer a certain type of young woman. He found the prostitute based on these characteristics."
"Li Ze then found a location where disappearances were most likely to occur, booked a cabin with two rooms, stayed in the other room himself, and drilled a small hole in the partition wall between the two rooms with an electric drill."
"This was undoubtedly immoral, but at that time, Li Ze could no longer care about that. He just wanted his cousin back, no matter the cost."
"That night, Li Ze successfully witnessed the entire process of the killer's crime. The culprit actually climbed out from under the bed."
"It was a man wearing a blood-red smiling face mask. He skillfully knocked the woman unconscious and stuffed her under the bed. By the time Li Ze rushed into the room, the killer had already disappeared with the woman."
"Li Ze hurriedly moved the wooden bed aside. Under the bed, he found several loose floorboards. Lifting them revealed a dark opening beneath."
"Li Ze quickly notified the other investigators and jumped into the hole. The opening connected to a pitch-black tunnel. Without any lighting equipment, Li Ze had to temporarily return to the surface to regroup with the others."
"After obtaining lighting equipment, a large number of investigators entered the underground tunnel. The long, futile patrols had built up a simmering anger within them."
"Li Ze, even more anxious, walked at the very front. But they didn't notice that as they entered the tunnel, the nearby walls moved."
"After walking along the tunnel for a while, the investigators encountered a curtain door made of bones and skin. Thereafter, every stretch they walked, they would encounter a similar curtain door. They had finally found the missing people."
"Furious, Li Ze passed through curtain after curtain. Li Xiyue had been missing for some time; he didn't want to believe his lovely cousin was already dead. But the cold reality shattered his illusions. His anger transformed into killing intent, making him unconsciously quicken his pace."
"But he didn't notice that the investigators behind him were becoming fewer and fewer. This tunnel was like a demon's den, devouring everyone who entered."
"After a while, Li Ze finally noticed something was wrong because there was no one left behind him."
"By then, he could no turn back. He could only press forward until he found the killer or was swallowed by the demon's den."
"Li Ze finally encountered the killer in a room covered with strange, bloody patterns. This wasn't due to luck, of course, but because the killer had intentionally let him into the sacrificial chamber."
"The sacrificial chamber was where the rituals were held, and tied to the altar was none other than Li Ze's cousin, Li Xiyue."
"Seeing his cousin was unharmed, Li Ze breathed a sigh of relief. But he knew clearly that if he didn't deal with the killer, they would both die there."
"So, without hesitation, Li Ze drew his pistol and emptied the entire magazine at the killer. All the bullets hit their target. The killer stood there, neither dodging nor trying to stop Li Ze from firing. The killer fell to the ground, making muffled sounds, bright red blood gushing out and soaking the ground."
"The process of killing the killer was too smooth, which made Li Ze feel very uneasy. He nervously changed magazines but failed to notice that a figure had already appeared behind him."
"The person he had attacked wasn't the killer, but the prostitute who had been dressed in a loose coat, gagged, and made to wear the mask."
"The killer, hiding in the shadows, easily subdued Li Ze, who was in the middle of changing magazines, and then tied him up next to Li Xiyue."
At this point, Lin Ye stopped his narration and picked up his cup to take a drink.
"Teacher, what happened next?" a student asked.
"If this were a story, what should happen next is that Li Ze finds an opportunity to turn the tables and kill the killer. But unfortunately, this isn't a story, so I don't know what happened next. The outcome was that everyone disappeared except for two lucky investigators. Those two surviving investigators both went insane. People could only piece together the truth of the event from their fragmented words."
"The new investigation team didn't find that opening, nor did they excavate any tunnel, because the disappearances stopped happening. Later, the matter was just left unresolved."
"Because the killer was never caught, the incident wasn't widely reported. But if you can find newspapers from twenty years ago, you'll definitely find missing person notices in them. Even now, there are still families of the missing who refuse to give up and continue searching."
Glancing at the time, Lin Ye ended this story that sounded plausible but was actually completely fabricated by him.