Chapter 660 It's Our Phone Problem!

Upon waking, everyone's attention was focused on the dining hall, and no one noticed who was absent. It wasn't until the old woman mentioned Watanabe Yumi was missing that we paid any mind. Did this mean Watanabe Yumi didn't return to her room after last night, and was then attacked by the killer? But she died only an hour ago. This implies that after leaving my room last night, she must have returned to rest and met her fate this morning.

If it was just an hour ago, at most 7 AM. Even with a margin of error, it wouldn't be far off. You see, Xie Chuchu and I arrived at the same conclusion. As for the cause of death, this time it wasn't like the retired soldier, whose entire head was gone. We personally witnessed his demise. This time, Watanabe Yumi had no visible injuries, but her mouth seemed to be the issue. Without a mouth gag, we had to forcibly pry open the deceased's mouth with our hands. The moment we did, blood gushed out uncontrollably, splattering onto my rubber gloves.

The deceased's tongue had been cut out!

There was already blood in her mouth, but there was a layer of superglue on her lips. It took all my strength to open her mouth, and then the blood poured out. The killer was despicable, using such an adhesive on the deceased's lips.

The bleeding continued for several minutes. Once the situation stabilized, I noticed that the cut at the base of the deceased's tongue was very clean. The killer likely pulled out Watanabe Yumi's tongue, stretched it out, and then severed it at the root. Based on the anatomy of the tongue, it's an organ composed of skeletal muscle, located at the bottom of the oral cavity, covered by a mucous membrane. It's filled with mucus and its muscles are arranged in three different directions, allowing for flexible movement.

It is a muscular organ within the oral cavity, covered by a mucous membrane, with raised areas called the dorsal surface of the tongue. The tongue can be divided into the root, body, and tip. The mucous membrane of the tongue's root has many small nodular protrusions called lingual tonsils. The mucous membrane of the tongue's body has numerous papillae of varying sizes, called lingual papillae. Some of these papillae contain taste buds, which are responsible for sensing taste. Under normal circumstances, the epithelium undergoes slight keratinization and shedding. The keratinized epithelium, along with shed epithelial cells filling the spaces between papillae, saliva, food debris, and leukocytes, form the normal thin, whitish tongue coating.

The killer was able to target the area with the densest capillaries in the tongue, suggesting a certain level of medical knowledge. Watanabe Yumi must have been in excruciating pain, yet we heard no screams, which is highly unusual.

I examined the deceased's neck. Without instruments, nothing was apparent. However, after using the yellow wine, I discovered fingerprints on the deceased's lips. Based on the direction of the fingerprints, the killer was left-handed and likely covered the deceased's mouth and nose with their hand. This could be because they used a sedative. Once unconscious, Watanabe Yumi wouldn't have reacted even if her tongue was cut out.

This is the only plausible explanation. Apart from these findings, Xiahou suddenly discovered something in a corner of the hot spring and called us over. Behind the hot spring signpost, on the concrete floor, we found some red characters. I squatted down and sniffed with my keen sense of smell; it was human blood.

But I found no injuries on the deceased's fingers during the autopsy. Could this be blood from her mouth?

Written on the ground were the words: "Yes, I was also involved in what happened 13 years ago. I shouldn't have been a gossip, talking about others this and that, so I deserve to die! I should have my tongue removed and die! I have finally atoned for my sins. I am Watanabe Yumi!"

Similar to the retired soldier, another suggestive clue was found, linking them both to an unknown event 13 years ago. Now, only the timeframe is known, but not even the location. Even if He Xin investigated now, she likely wouldn't find anything. However, He Xin, with her persistent spirit, searched online for the timeframe and the names of the two deceased. Naturally, nothing came up, except to confirm that mobile phones could still connect to the internet and make calls.

At this point, the old woman suddenly became anxious. "I won't! We must leave here now, or I truly fear the killer will murder everyone here. First the soldier, now this Japanese girl. I can't stay here anymore!"

The old woman was shouting hysterically, as if her mind had been shattered by these murders. If she didn't leave, she would go mad. Liu Yuning comforted her, and after we took photos, everyone contacted the provincial authorities again, but it was still no use.

We took the body to the cold storage and left Xiao Yuande in charge. Xiahou would temporarily accompany us to scout the island's surroundings. We had seen some docks earlier, but the boats we used had already departed. Thinking about the boats, when we first came out, we intended to leave by boat, but for some reason, all the boats were gone.

I grabbed Zhou Zijuan and anxiously asked her, "Where are our boats?"

"Did you come via Gaogang Pier?"

"That's right!"

"Those were likely water buses. They don't exclusively serve this area. They probably left after dropping you off."

"Then what do we do now?"

"We also wanted to call the police, but the calls were useless!"

"Ours work!"

At this, Zhou Zijuan took out her phone and dialed in front of us, but her phone indicated no signal!

Only then did I realize something astonishing. I quickly grabbed my phone and tried to make a call, but every number was turned off!

Now I finally understand. There's no signal at all. But the problem is, I heard Li Fan and Zhao Xiong's voices earlier? The members of the Punishment Group, who understood my implication, were terrified.

As everyone frantically tested their phones again, He Xin had already reached a conclusion. "It seems our phones are being jammed. There's no signal here at all. Female painter, what about your phone?"

The female painter picked hers up, and the old woman was also fiddling with hers. After a moment, the female painter said, "I noticed my phone wasn't working yesterday. Didn't you know?"

"Ours are turned off, yours have no signal!"

"That's strange?"

The female painter handed her phone to He Xin, who examined it with surprise. "Were your phones hacked? That's so strange. Why is it only you guys? I understand. Could it be that the killer knew you were police officers and therefore targeted your phones, making you believe that backup would arrive?"