Chapter 224: As Dead As Can Be

Xiao Yu and his team followed a small path up the hill toward the courtyard they had spotted earlier. It took them a good twenty minutes to reach the courtyard located midway up the hill.

The courtyard was quite large, and the buildings inside resembled a manor. The structure was three stories tall, covering around 200 to 300 square meters.

Standing at the entrance gate was a middle-aged man. The same man who had been observing Xiao Yu with binoculars earlier.

“Who are you?” the man asked, his expression unfriendly. “Don’t you know this is a private island?”

What did it mean when something is private? 

It was just like your home—the property was entirely yours. If any outsiders entered, you had the right to kick them out, or even take more drastic measures.

However…

“Police,” Guo Qiang said, flashing his badge.

Li Xin and Liu Hongqiao began surveying the area.

Xiao Yu’s eyes fixed on the iron rod the middle-aged man was holding in his hand. The sharp sense of smell from his Monarch Buterfly’s Nose ability picked up a faint scent of blood—human blood. 

Had they found the right place?

“What?” The middle-aged man’s expression shifted slightly, but his once cold face softened into a smile. “Oh, the police! Welcome, welcome.”

“Are you the owner of the island?” Xiao Yu asked calmly, looking at the man.

“No, no. I’m just the night watchman,” the man replied with a smile.

“And where’s the owner?” Xiao Yu continued to ask.

“They haven’t been here in a long time,” the man said casually.

“Mind if we take a look inside?” Xiao Yu pointed towards the courtyard and the three-story building inside.

“That’s… a bit inconvenient,” the man said, looking troubled.

Without saying a word, Guo Qiang pulled out a piece of paper from his briefcase. It was a search warrant, something they had prepared ahead of time.

The middle-aged man’s face changed. He went silent.

“Let’s go.” 

Giving Guo Qiang a quick signal, Xiao Yu walked toward the gate. Li Xin and Liu Hongqiao followed closely behind. Guo Qiang approached the middle-aged man and said in a low voice, “Let’s take a look together.” 

The man’s expression flickered for a moment but, without a word, he entered the courtyard, with Guo Qiang walking beside him.

The spacious yard had two vegetable plots and a visible water storage tank. Xiao Yu walked slowly, taking in the surroundings. 

Suddenly, he stopped. His gaze fixed on a distant spot in the courtyard—a well.

To most people, nothing would seem out of the ordinary. But with Xiao Yu’s heightened sense of smell, enhanced by his Monarch Buterfly’s nose, he could detect faint traces of the stench of a corpse.

His heart sank as he realized the odor was coming from the well. 

He withdrew his gaze, suppressing his unease, and continued toward the three-story building ahead. 

No need to rush. First, he needed to confirm if this was the place. If it was, they had to locate the basement and see if there were any survivors.

Pushing open the door, they entered a simple, unremarkable lobby.

Xiao Yu gestured with his hand, “Unlock your safeties.”

Li Xin and Liu Hongqiao’s expressions turned serious. Both drew their guns, switched off the safeties, and began to search the first floor.

At this moment, Guo Qiang entered the lobby with the middle-aged man in tow.

“Anyone else here?” Xiao Yu asked coldly, turning to the man.

“No, just me,” the man replied.

From the man’s eyes, Xiao Yu could see he was lying. 

His tone turned icy, “Handcuff him.”

Guo Qiang hesitated for a second, but quickly complied, pulling out handcuffs and moving towards the man.

“What have I done wrong, officer?” 

The man’s expression changed as he stepped back, trying to evade.

Bang!

In the blink of an eye, Xiao Yu retracted his leg, having just kicked the man unconscious to the ground. He glanced coldly at the motionless figure.

“You’re talking way too much crap,” he muttered.

Guo Qiang, “…”

‘The boss is still as hot-tempered as ever.’

Anyone who knew Xiao Yu was aware that he was not the sunny, easy-going guy he appeared to be on the surface. In fact, he had a ruthless streak.

Guo Qiang vividly remembered the first time he went on a case with Xiao Yu, investigating a corpse smuggling ring. They happened to run into a fugitive. Xiao Yu took down seven or eight muscle-bound guys on his own—three of them were seriously injured. His moves were as brutal as they come.

“Handcuff him!”

Xiao Yu pointed at the unconscious middle-aged man, gave Guo Qiang a glance, and headed for the second floor. 

Guo Qiang wasn’t slow to catch on. If Xiao Yu made a move and told him to cuff the guy, then there was definitely something wrong with this island. As he cuffed the man, a thought struck him—could they have stumbled upon the place they were looking for?

Xiao Yu couldn’t be entirely sure just yet, but one thing was certain: there was a body in the well outside. Even if it wasn’t related to their current investigation, something shady was going on. But odds were high—probably around 90%—that they had found the right place.

Xiao Yu searched the second and third floors but found nothing. The search was just to ensure no one else was hiding inside. After all, the basement wouldn’t be upstairs. 

When he came back down, Li Xin and Liu Hongqiao had finished their search as well and gave him a shake of the head—nothing found.

Could it be hidden this well? 

Xiao Yu frowned and decided to check again himself. After a thorough search, it was clear—nothing unusual in the house.

That meant it must be somewhere outside.

With Liu Hongqiao watching the middle-aged man, the rest of them stepped out into the yard.

“The well doesn’t seem to be the entrance,” Xiao Yu muttered to himself as he scanned the courtyard, continuing his search. “Then where’s the entrance… huh?”

Suddenly, Xiao Yu’s gaze locked onto a large iron plate near the sidewall of the three-story building. It looked like a manhole cover for a septic tank, but something about it seemed off. Normally, a septic tank is something no one touches, at least not regularly, so it should be covered in dust. However, the handle on this iron plate was shiny, like it was regularly used.

Xiao Yu stepped closer, bent down, and grabbed the handle.

The iron plate creaked as he lifted it.

Suddenly, a sharp sense of danger hit Xiao Yu, and he immediately jumped back.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out. A bullet whizzed past Xiao Yu. It hit the wall behind him and sparking on impact.

Guo Qiang and Li Xin were momentarily stunned by the gunshot. When they snapped out of it, they saw Xiao Yu not retreating, but diving straight down into the hole below.

They quickly followed.

Crunch, crunch!

The sound of bones breaking, followed by a scream that was abruptly cut off, echoed from the dark pit below.

Guo Qiang and Li Xin exchanged a glance before rushing over, guns in hand.

“Boss, are you okay?” Guo Qiang shouted anxiously.

But the hole under the iron plate was pitch black.

“No worries, just keep watch up there,” Xiao Yu’s voice called up from below. “Here, catch this!”

Suddenly, a figure flew up from the hole and landed with a thud in front of Guo Qiang and Li Xin.

When they saw it was a person, they both sucked in a breath.

The man was dead. Not only was he dead, but both his arms were twisted unnaturally, and his head was bizarrely twisted around, the skull pressed against his back.

He was dead beyond a doubt.