Chapter 29, Fifth Victim

Everyone looked in the direction Chen Yun was pointing.

It was a half-collapsed hunter's cabin, with a broken roof and moss-covered wooden walls.

"Go take a look, but be careful," Qin Feng, a veteran demon slayer, said in a deep voice.

The group cautiously approached the hunter's cabin.

Qin Feng instructed Li Hu and Chen Yun to stand guard outside, while he led Shen Lian forward with his knife, pushing open the dilapidated wooden door.

The furnishings inside the house were very simple.

A broken wooden bed, an extinguished hearth, several overturned earthenware pots, and a thick layer of dust in the room clearly indicate that no one lives there.

Shen Lian searched the house, his gaze falling on the fire pit where there were a few drops of dried blood. He squatted down to examine them carefully.

On the other side, Qin Feng found a blood-stained piece of cloth in the room. The cloth was crudely made and the same color as the piece of cloth found in Liu San's house.

"The killer may have stayed here briefly again," Qin Feng analyzed. "The bloodstains dried for a while, so this piece of cloth must have been left here by the killer."

He put the rags into the evidence bag and looked around: "This place has a wide view, is close to the water source, and is very secluded. It is indeed an ideal stronghold. But we are a step too late, otherwise we might have been able to catch the murderer in the heart-ripping case."

Just then, a whistle suddenly blew.

It was Zhou Wu who sent the signal, indicating that something was wrong.

Qin Feng and Shen Lian immediately rushed out of the wooden house, along with Chen Yun and Li Hu, and sped off in the direction of the whistle.

After passing through a dense forest, Zhou Wu and the others were gathered at the entrance of a mine.

The mine was deep and dark, and the weeds at the entrance showed signs of being trampled. A faint smell of blood wafted out from inside the mine.

"There might be something going on inside the cave," Zhou Wu said gravely. "I'll go first, you all follow, and be extremely careful."

Zhou Wu lit the tinderbox and was the first to step into the mine.

Shen Lian, Chen Yun, and others followed with knives in hand.

The cave was damp and cold, with jagged rocks on the walls.

After walking about twenty feet, the stench of blood grew stronger. After turning a corner, the scene before them made everyone's scalp tingle.

On the open ground inside the cave, a strange circular magic circle was drawn with blood, and in the center of the magic circle were five blackened and shrunken hearts.

A corpse lay beside the magic circle.

The deceased was a middle-aged man dressed plainly, but his chest had also been cut open and his heart was missing.

"The fifth victim..." Chen Yun said, her voice trembling.

Zhou Wu squatted down to examine the body on the ground: "The body is still warm, so the time of death should not have been more than two hours ago. The murderer should have just left."

Wang Lin inhaled and said, "I can't believe another person has been murdered. What is the purpose of the other side taking their hearts?"

Li Hu said, "This formation looks like some kind of ritual."

Shen Lian said in a deep voice, "These hearts have all been drained. It's possible that this was caused by the other party practicing evil arts."

Five hearts were placed in the center, all of them drained, which looked quite gruesome.

It makes it impossible for people to guess what the other party did.

Zhou Wu stood up and ordered, "Qin Feng, take two men and collect all these hearts. Transport the corpse back to the Demon Suppression Division and find out his identity. The rest of you stay and continue the search to see if you can find any useful information."

"yes!"

Qin Feng immediately selected two newly appointed Demon Suppression Envoys to collect the five shriveled hearts from the ground. The corpse was also wrapped up and sent to the Demon Suppression Division.

Shen Lian activated the [Combat Power Detection] and surveyed the mine. There were no high-combat-power targets, indicating that the murderer had already left.

Zhou Wu led his men to search the entire mine, inside and out, but found nothing of value.

"It seems the other party is very cautious; it will be difficult to catch him," Chen Yun said.

Zhou Wu said with his hands behind his back, "He dared to commit the crime of digging out hearts in Qinghe County. No matter what his purpose was, we, as the Demon Suppressors, must arrest him and bring him to justice."

After a fruitless search, Zhou Wu led Shen Lian and the others back to the Demon Suppression Division.

The Demon Suppression Division.

Many demon-suppressing envoys gathered, with Zhao Shan at the head.

In front of them lay a corpse and five shriveled hearts, the very corpse and hearts that Zhou Wu and his men had found inside the mine.

The atmosphere at the scene was very oppressive.

"The fifth body, five hearts..." Zhao Shan said in a deep voice, "The murderer killed five people in just a few days; he's no ordinary madman. Have there been any other discoveries?"

Zhou Wu clasped his hands and said, "Commander, besides the heart and corpse found inside the cave, there was only an unknown formation and a few blurry footprints. The murderer acted extremely cautiously and did not leave any suspicious personal belongings."

Zhao Shan frowned; things were getting increasingly complicated.

Three cases of heart-ripping resulted in the deaths of five people.

Everyone had their heart removed, as if it were part of some kind of ritual.

Soon, the deceased was identified as a woodcutter living alone in the western suburbs. Like the previous four victims, he had simple social relationships and no enemies.

After studying the rubbings of the formation, Mr. Zhou immediately sought out Zhao Shan.

"The formation set up by the murderer is called the Five Yin Gathering Fiend Formation," Mr. Zhou said in a deep voice.

"The Five Yin Gathering Formation?" Zhao Shan frowned. "So, the murderer killed these five people and used their hearts to set up the formation, most likely to enhance his own strength?"

"Exactly." Mr. Zhou nodded. "This formation is extremely insidious. It requires the absorption of the heart's essence and vital energy to enhance one's strength. These five hearts have already been drained, leaving only remnants and empty shells. I'm afraid the opponent's power has greatly increased."

Upon hearing this, all the demon-suppressing envoys present gasped in shock.

It's unbelievable that someone would cultivate such an evil technique to enhance their own strength.

Zhou Wu couldn't help but ask, "Does this formation require a specific type of heart?"

"Yes," Mr. Zhou affirmed. "According to the case file, it requires the heart of a person whose five elements or five directions are compatible. The deceased must be alive to have the heart removed, and the time interval between deaths cannot exceed seven days in order to gather the evil energy."

Wang Laosi belongs to the Water element, Liu San belongs to the Earth element, his wife belongs to the Wood element, his son belongs to the Fire element, and the woodcutter, who lives in the mountains and forests and makes a living by cutting down trees, can be classified as Metal or Wood.

While these individuals don't perfectly correspond to the traditional Five Elements, they do represent the five directions of malevolent influences, which is barely acceptable. This killer didn't commit murder randomly; rather, they selectively chose their victims.

Shen Lian suddenly asked, "Mr. Zhou, is the power enhancement from this formation permanent or temporary?"

Mr. Zhou looked at Shen Lian with an approving gaze: "This formation is upgraded to temporarily stimulate potential, and the enhanced strength has a limited duration."

Once one begins using this method, it is often difficult to extricate oneself, requiring a constant search for new sacrifices to maintain greater power.

This murderer has now embarked on a path of no return.

Zhao Shan pondered, "In that case, he will definitely not give up so easily. In fact, because of his increased strength, he may act even more recklessly."

The many demon-suppressing envoys present looked at Zhao Shan, awaiting further instructions.

Zhao Shan looked to the side and said, "Zhou Wu and Chen Biao, you two immediately sort out the social relationships of the five victims, focusing on investigating suspicious persons who were last in contact with them before their deaths, especially those who could access their family and residence information."

"yes!"