"It's fine. If I'm not mistaken, Huang Yaxian must also have such a handprint on her!"
We checked again and found the handprint on Huang Yaxian's right leg. I suddenly noticed a problem. After combining the handprint positions of all the deceased and comparing them on the photos, I pieced together a new pattern based on all the handprint locations.
"This looks like a symbol!" Xie Chuchu said.
I pondered for a moment. I had the same thought initially, but after observing carefully, I immediately denied it: "No, this isn't a symbol, it should be an oracle bone inscription!"
"Oracle bone inscription?" Everyone looked at me curiously.
I quickly explained: "Oracle bone inscriptions are an ancient Chinese script, also known as 'inscriptions on tortoise shells and animal bones,' 'oracle bone inscriptions,' or 'Nipponese inscriptions.' The earliest mature Chinese characters we can see are mainly inscribed on tortoise shells or animal bones by the royal family during the late Shang Dynasty for divination and record-keeping. They are the earliest known complete system of Shang Dynasty writing in China and East Asia."
"No, senior, we naturally know that, but why would the killer combine an oracle bone inscription? What is the meaning behind this? What does this oracle bone inscription signify?"
As soon as Xie Chuchu finished speaking, Zhang Keying cleverly said: "That should be the modern character for 'bull'!"
"Yes, it is indeed the character for 'bull.' He Xin, investigate if there are any places in Fuming City related to bulls..."
At this moment, I noticed that He Xin was not here at all and felt a trace of embarrassment.
I coughed, and Xie Chuchu didn't laugh at me. Instead, she said, "Let me go notify her. You guys continue!"
With that, she left the laboratory.
Actually, I had no desire to continue the investigation here anymore. Since most of the discoverable items had already been examined, I didn't think much and went to find He Xin. As I rushed out, I happened to catch up with Xie Chuchu, who saw me coming out and asked, "Aren't you going to investigate anymore?"
"It's completed. The conclusion drawn from the two corpses is that, there's no need to waste time."
Upon arriving at the forensic department, Xie Chuchu and I immediately stood behind He Xin. In fact, I had already sent her a message.
"Found it, but there are quite a few. Fuming City has Niujia Village, Niuhuang Village, Niuda Village, and also a bull oil factory."
"Uh, is there a Niunai Village?" I was amused and speechless by these names. It seemed the character didn't represent a place.
"Don't joke, Dad. What is all this? I thought you wanted to drink milk."
"Ah, sometimes I wonder if this is really the character for 'bull.' If not, our direction is completely wrong."
"But it looks like the character for 'bull' to me. Since you messaged me, I've compared it with several software programs, and it can only be the character for 'bull,' unless, unless we try other countries' languages."
He Xin's remark immediately piqued my interest. I asked her to experiment again. She opened a strange software, one I couldn't understand. Soon, dozens of languages from different countries appeared. She quickly imported the strange "bull" character for comparison. It took about a minute, but the result showed no match. He Xin didn't believe it and entered it again. As she pressed Enter, the progress bar started reading data again. We watched the percentage anxiously.
When it reached one hundred percent, a matching character was found on the screen. It was the Japanese character for "bull." I quickly said, "No, the meaning of the Japanese character for 'bull' is the same as the Chinese character, and the writing is also the same. But many Japanese characters look the same as Chinese characters, yet their meanings are completely different. I remember when I was studying Japanese, my teacher told us that this situation was the most difficult because ordinary Japanese is expressed in a style similar to symbols. But like this character, in Japanese it becomes '私' (watashi). This way of writing, and this '私' has many meanings from a Chinese perspective.
People with low Japanese proficiency can easily be confused.
I remember I didn't pass my Japanese exam, but it wasn't a strict requirement in the forensic medicine department in China, so I still graduated smoothly.
"Senior, if it refers to Japanese, then could the killer be Japanese, or what does it mean?" Xie Chuchu guessed from the side.
"This is just a superficial meaning. So far, we can say we haven't figured out the meaning behind it. Let's find a handwriting analysis expert and see what their opinion is."
With that, I stopped bothering. I planned to go find the victims' families again to inquire about some information. I contacted the family of Liu Yuning's cousin, Liu Shuhua. I had helped her in the case of the "Red Ribbon Mystery" and even found the killer. At that time, I had a police dog named Feihu, but it died later. I didn't mention it before. Now I have Da Hei, and Xiao Niu is on standby at the provincial department.
This time, I tidied up some belongings in my courtyard. It was rare to be in Fuming City, so I naturally had to come back and take a look. I invited Liu Shuhua's parents over.
Seeing me again, Liu Shuhua's mother said politely, "Officer He, we haven't seen each other for a long time since the last incident."
"Yes, it seems you have also moved on from the last event?"
"It's okay, at least it's not as oppressive as it was then. Officer He, we also know about Yuning's matter. Alas, how pitiful. How could they have been murdered? Who was that damned criminal?" Liu Shuhua's mother said.
Liu Shuhua's father also sighed at this moment. I saw that their complexions had become much thinner than before. It was estimated that they had been living in grief since Liu Shuhua's death. The impact on the victims' families was significant. I once heard of a case where the police did not catch the killer, and at most, they lost some commission. But for the victims' families, they would be immersed in the past forever, unable to extricate themselves, with an unshakeable sadness clinging to them, unable to be washed away for a lifetime.
After comforting them a few words, I continued: "So, before Yuning's accident, did she say anything to you? Did you meet?"
I remembered that Liu Yuning had told me that she had a very good relationship with her cousin and her parents, which was why I had found Liu Shuhua's parents.
"She called us and asked us to attend the wedding on time, but before we could set off, we received notification that her family had an accident," Liu Shuhua's father said.
"Was everything alright the night before her accident?"