82 Terrifying Wax Figure

A conspiracy that had begun taking shape three years earlier.

Xiu Luo’s single sentence drew my full attention at once, because this was the crucial part, and I could not miss a single detail. I only wondered whether Fang Qinghe could still overhear our conversation from his end.

Neither Bai Ye nor I asked Xiu Luo anything, and he soon went on. “The Dawn Organization has carried out many insane studies in the field of medicine, and has even solved many problems that stumped the world. But that has little to do with this mission. What I need to tell you is about one of their studies from three years ago: human body cosmetics. Because such cosmetics come from the human body itself, they are highly absorbable and are easily taken in by the body. If they can be produced, they would be very popular.”

I already knew about this. Before, Jin Ze and the others had discovered that the Dawn members were all using cosmetics made from corpse oil. So I did not think that was the key point. The real question was why dogs died after eating the mixed human organs, while nothing happened when they ate them separately.

Sure enough, Xiu Luo soon continued. “Using human organs to make cosmetics is already insane enough, but for the Dawn Organization, that is nothing. They are conducting an even crazier study: mixed viruses. Three years ago, they implanted immature source pathogens into different members. These viruses can only survive in human organs, lying dormant inside the body. But the pathogen by itself is not harmful, and unless you use a specialized screening test aimed specifically at it, similar to an HIV test, it would never be detected at all. These pathogens basically reside in the human brain and liver. Now that the incubation period is over, Dawn is preparing to continue the experiment. And once they succeed, they will mass-produce organs carrying these pathogens. In other words, they will kill many people. These pathogens are extremely resilient. By then, if they use organs carrying the pathogen to make cosmetics, the products they produce will be terrifying beyond measure. This is not as simple as poisoning a dog. Dawn’s goal is not merely to kill people this way. A pathogen that can kill dogs is only one of the ingredients. Different cosmetics will be mixed with different things, and after being absorbed by the human body they will produce different effects. Some may be fatal. Others may cause dependency, like drug addiction, or numb the nervous system, or induce hallucinations, or lead to all sorts of chronic illnesses... In short, this is one of Dawn’s disgusting and perverse studies, and we absolutely cannot let them succeed. The research base for this virus-cosmetics project is in City X. We have already killed several of their virus carriers and a few researchers involved in the project, which has only slowed their progress; it has not completely destroyed the project. So after the killing game, I will announce your final mission in City X: hunt down the chief person in charge of this project.”

After hearing Xiu Luo’s words, I was utterly shocked. I had not expected Dawn to be carrying out such monstrous research. They truly deserved death. I only wondered what exactly this so-called Avengers Alliance was about. Could it be founded by one of Dawn’s victims?

Still, whatever the case, after hearing Xiu Luo, I suddenly felt that the Avengers Alliance was not quite as dark as I had thought. At the very least, they had not yet turned their knives on ordinary people. They were simply waging a mad campaign of revenge against Dawn.

As I was thinking this, Xiu Luo went on. “As for the chief person in charge of this project, our headquarters has just confirmed his identity. His name is Kong Yu, and he is the vice president of the First Hospital in City X. All you need to do now is kill him. Then this killing game will be completely over, and after that you can leave City X and receive the reward from headquarters.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the image on the screen suddenly blurred, and then Xiu Luo disappeared. The signal was cut off.

Bai Ye turned to me immediately. “A Mu, what do you think we should do now?”

I said directly, “Go back to City X and kill Kong Yu.”

Bai Ye smiled knowingly, and we left at once, boarding the train back to City X.

Along the way, I kept wondering why such a message had to be relayed to us only after we had gone nearly a thousand kilometers away from our own city. But how could I dare ask Bai Ye? That would have been suicide. I guessed this place must be one of the organization’s bases, so I quietly memorized its location.

When we reached City X, Bai Ye arranged a place for me to stay. He said I had only just recovered and still needed plenty of rest, then went out by himself to gather information about Kong Yu.

In truth, this was a perfect opportunity for me. I could immediately contact Fang Qinghe and report everything I had learned while undercover.

But I had a nagging feeling that Bai Ye was deliberately testing me. He might be hiding somewhere, watching every move I made in secret. So I absolutely could not rush or act rashly.

Thus I pretended to get into bed and sleep. Since we were now in City X, I felt the bugging device would surely work, so I deliberately muttered to myself, “Kong Yu, you are dead. This is my final mission after recovery, and I will personally kill you, you bastard who makes virus cosmetics!”

Though my words sounded like a threat, I believed that if Fang Qinghe’s side heard them, they would definitely understand my real intention. Then, if they sent people to secretly watch Kong Yu and set up a trap when Bai Ye and I went to kill him, it would be the perfect outcome. They could catch Bai Ye and also dismantle one of Dawn’s branches. As for the cunning Xiu Luo of the Avengers Alliance, that could wait until later.

Then I kept sleeping. I slept all the way until the next day, and I still had not seen Bai Ye. I even began to suspect that he had left me behind and gone to act alone.

But around noon he returned. Bai Ye was incredibly efficient. He said he had already figured out Kong Yu’s several important residences, as well as his basic habits.

However, we did not kill Kong Yu immediately. The timing was still not right. We needed to observe for two more days. We had to choose the best place and the most suitable moment to strike, because the goal was not only to kill him, but also to uncover the secret base where Kong Yu was studying corpse cosmetics.

On the third day, we made our move. We did not use guns, but the most primitive method of all: assassination.

That night, Kong Yu went alone to a single-story house in the suburbs. Bai Ye said he came to this house once every day and stayed for a long time, but did not live there. And since Kong Yu had no entanglement with women, they suspected the secret base was hidden there.

Since we had already decided to act, there was no need for hesitation. After Kong Yu entered the house, we quickly followed. Bai Ye, who was extremely familiar with the place, quietly opened the front door, and we were ready to catch the turtle in its own jar.

The moment I stepped into the house, I froze. Though the light was poor, I could see that there were many people inside.

My first instinct was that Kong Yu had already learned we were coming to kill him and had arranged for a group of people here to ambush us.

But when I looked more closely, I froze again, because I recognized every one of those people. They were all dead, and all had been killed by Bai Ye and me: members of Dawn!

I nearly wet myself on the spot, but soon realized they were not real people. They were wax figures. Yet they had been made with such startling realism that they looked almost alive.

I guessed these wax figures were Kong Yu’s way of memorializing the fallen members of Dawn. While I was still mulling it over, Bai Ye told me to stand guard at the door and hold the entrance, then immediately rushed into another room himself. Since this single-story house had only two rooms, and there was no way out through the windows, Kong Yu was likely in the other room.

But Bai Ye soon charged back out of that room and immediately told me, “A Mu, behead them. Cut off every single wax figure!”

I instantly understood what he meant. Kong Yu might be hiding inside one of the wax figures. So I immediately used the long blade I had prepared in advance and struck the head of the wax figure beside me. It was the wax figure of Forensic Doctor Zheng Wei, and I severed his head in one blow.

What shocked me was that when I cut off the head, a great spray of blood burst out from the neck at once. I was stunned. Could this not be a wax figure at all, but a real person?

While I was still wondering, the wax figure suddenly shattered.

Then I saw a blood-soaked figure burst out from inside it. The figure rushed to my side at once, and only then did I recognize her. It was Xia Tian, who had been missing for many days.

Xia Tian shoved something into my hand, then suddenly ran off.