The Labyrinth of the Monsters

"Huh, here it comes!" Wang Zikai rolled up his sleeves and walked towards the door. "Watch me beat it to death!"

"Hold on..." Gao Yang grabbed Wang Zikai and covered his mouth.

Chubby Jun dared not make a sound and quickly hid behind Qing Ling. Officer Huang made a hand gesture, and everyone immediately took cover on both sides of the door, pressing their bodies against the walls.

Officer Huang pulled out his gun, aimed it at the door, and shouted, "Who's there?"

"I was wondering why there was light in this house. So it's Officer Huang." A voice from outside the house said.

Gao Yang recognized it as the old man who herded geese during the day. He gestured to Officer Huang, indicating that it was safe. Officer Huang put his gun back in his waist and went to open the door.

The person standing outside the door was indeed the old man who herded geese during the day. The villagers called him Old Master Gu. Old Master Gu had a withered pipe in his mouth and a face full of wrinkles when he smiled. "Oh, everyone is here. Investigating a case?"

Officer Huang smiled ambiguously. "Yes, afraid of missing any clues, so we came to investigate again."

"You police officers really work hard. It's so late, and you still have to work overtime," the old man took off his pipe and scratched his back. "I saw the lights on in this house, and I thought I saw a ghost."

"Then why did you dare to come and knock on the door? Aren't you afraid of ghosts?" Wang Zikai retorted, but his remark was quite skillful, and Gao Yang was about to ask as well.

"Hehe," the old man smiled openly. "I'm not afraid. I have a good relationship with Hua's family. Even if they become ghosts, they won't harm me."

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"I see." Officer Huang concentrated and became more attentive. "Old Master Gu, why don't you tell me about Hua's family?"

"Sure, but it's not convenient here. My house is over there. Why don't you come to my place?" Old Master Gu suggested.@@novelbin@@

"Sorry for the trouble."

...

Five minutes later, the five of them arrived at Old Master Gu's house. Old Master Gu lived alone. His adobe house was much smaller than Hua's family's, with a mountain behind it and a large courtyard surrounded by geese, which honked from time to time.

Everyone sat around the table, but no one drank the tea that Old Master Gu brewed.

Old Master Gu didn't mind and chattered on while smoking. "Hua's father is a very honest and hardworking person. Unfortunately, he stutters and couldn't find anyone to marry until he was almost forty. His wife is from the neighboring village and has a slight disability in her legs, but she is good in other aspects."

"After they got married, they had three chubby boys. After their mother gave birth to the third child, she passed away not long after. Hua's father couldn't support the three sons by farming, so he had to go out to work and send money back every year. He entrusted me to take care of Hua and his two younger brothers. They come to my house to eat every three days. I treat them like my own grandchildren..."

Everyone listened silently, and Officer Huang asked, "Old Master Gu, do you think the murderer could be someone from the village?"

Old Master Gu was taken aback and smiled meaningfully. "Officer Huang, I won't be legally responsible for what I'm about to say, right? I don't understand the law..."

"No, it's just a casual chat. You can say whatever you want."

Old Master Gu nodded. "Then I'll say it. I think the murderer must be someone from our village."

"Why?"

"There are several families in the village that raise dogs. Not to mention dogs, even my dozens of geese would honk when a stranger passes by the door."

"Hua's family was dismembered, and the bodies were scattered everywhere. If it were someone from another village, it would be impossible not to alarm the dogs," Gao Yang said.

"Exactly." Old Master Gu glanced at Gao Yang. "Young man, you're sharp."

"In that case," Officer Huang further asked, "who in the village do you think has a motive?"

"I really don't know." Old Master Gu took a sip of tea. "That family is known for being honest and decent. The three children are also very sensible. I've never seen them have any conflicts with anyone. To dismember their whole family, the grudge must be huge."

"Could the problem lie with the wife who married into the family?" Officer Huang changed the topic.

"Um..." Old Master Gu fell into deep thought. "I think it's possible. After all, they haven't found her head yet, right? Maybe the killer targeted her. Moreover, it happened on the day she entered the family. What a coincidence."

"Have you seen the bride?" Officer Huang asked.

"She was carried in a big sedan chair. I took a look when she got off. She was a beauty."

Old Master Gu glanced at Qing Ling. "Just like you, she was lively and beautiful, with long black hair, like a fairy descending to earth... Everyone envied her and thought that Hua must have accumulated a lot of good karma in his past life."

"I got it!" Wang Zikai slapped the table, startling everyone. "Have you all seen 'The Sesame Official of the Tenth Rank'?"

"Yes, I have," Chubby Jun weakly replied. "What are you trying to say...? Are you suggesting it was Chang Wei who did it?"

"That's right! It must be some pervert in the village who got interested in the bride, went to commit adultery in the middle of the night, got caught, and in a fit of anger, killed their whole family..."

"But there's no need to dismember them," Chubby Jun muttered.

"Hmph! Little brother, you don't understand. Let me analyze it for you!" Wang Zikai stroked his chin, pretending to be mysterious. Gao Yang felt like the background music of 'Detective Mo Ke' was about to play in the next second.

"This is called doing the opposite! Who would have thought that just going to rob a woman would result in killing the whole family and dismembering them? The police wouldn't even think in this direction. It's a perfect way to wash away the crime!"

Gao Yang was stunned for a moment and actually felt that Wang Zikai's nonsense made some sense. But upon careful consideration, it was completely untenable. Just because of a momentary lust, they dismembered an entire family. The cost of committing such a crime was too high. Moreover, there were no signs of struggle or resistance in Hua's family's yard. The incident must have happened there.Chubby Jun thought for a while, then shook his head, "Brother Kai, I still feel something is off... If you were that pervert, would you do such a thing?"

"You're the pervert! Your whole family are perverts!" Wang Zikai was annoyed, "Can a pervert's thought process be the same as a normal person's?"

"Brother Kai, your thought process is also quite unique. If even you wouldn't do it, I don't think the pervert would either..."

"What did you just say, you fatso? Dare to say it again!"

"I may be fat, but don't curse me to die, it's so inauspicious at this late hour..."

The two idiots started to bicker, and Gao Yang's head began to ache again. Suddenly, he noticed that Officer Huang and Qing Ling's faces were very pale, their eyes flashing with a cold murderous intent, and they were staring intently at Old Master Gu across the table.

Gao Yang glanced sideways, and instantly felt a chill down his spine!

Old Master Gu was drinking tea as usual, but his arm was quietly growing semi-transparent, scale-like keratin. His rough, wrinkled back of the hand was gradually changing into the texture of lizard skin, becoming moist and slippery. His fingernails were also growing, until they turned into two-centimeter-long, grey-brown claws.

Then came Old Master Gu's eyes. The whites of his eyes gradually turned yellow with tiny specks, and his black pupils were squeezed by some invisible force from both sides, turning into a narrow black slit. In a matter of seconds, human eyes turned into lizard eyes, like two cold and intricate glass beads.

At this moment, Old Master Gu's body was undergoing a partial "Beast Transformation", right in front of four Awakened Beings and one lost Beast.

But Old Master Gu did not launch an attack. He just sat there, leisurely drinking his tea.