Chapter 402: Five Elements to Open the Path, Seven Stars to Sustain Life 

Crime Scene.

“All community and Skynet surveillance footage from the past week has been thoroughly reviewed…”

One day later, Wang Dong looked at Xiao Yu, who stood frozen in place, staring up at the ceiling of the room.

His sharp instincts immediately sensed something was off.

“Mm.”

Xiao Yu returned to himself, his gaze cold as he turned to Wang Dong.

“You remember the massacre five years ago? Why were the two victims hanged and disemboweled? And the strangest part, why were they both wearing red clothes?”

The look Xiao Yu gave him sent a chill through Wang Dong’s heart.

“How would I know that? You’re the cop. Shouldn’t this be your area of expertise?”

“…”

To be the top dog only to get scolded by the king of comebacks… this feeling was weirdly frustrating.

Xiao Yu turned to a nearby Group Two team member. “Bring me the case file from that family massacre five years ago.”

The team member handed him a tablet.

Xiao Yu began flipping through the file. He skipped past the notes detailing the investigation process and went straight to the crime scene photos of the bodies, focusing on the two particular victims:

The woman of the household and a child.

They were dressed in red. Both had their arms suspended, torsos slit open, entrails spilling out. Heavy iron weights were tied to their feet.

One question after another surfaced in Xiao Yu’s mind.

Why were they wearing red?

Why were the knots binding their limbs so precisely tied?

Why were there weights tied to their legs?

There were too many suspicious details in this so-called family massacre. The case file had no clear explanation. Everything about it was off.

The more Xiao Yu looked at the photos, the more unnerved he felt.

It didn’t feel like execution.

It didn’t feel like torture.

The method of death felt deeply unnatural. Almost like—

His head suddenly snapped up. He remembered in his previous life, Xiao Yu had solved a bizarre ritual murder case. It had taken place during Qingming Festival, also known as Ancestor Worship Day, rooted in ancient traditions of ancestral reverence and spring rituals.

So, what is a sacrifice?

A ceremonial tribute to honor the deceased.

In ancient times, the ritual slaughter of livestock or living beings to appease deities or spirits.

What counts as sacrificial livestock?

Domesticated animals.

In ancient terminology, anything offered in ritual, such as cattle, sheep, or pigs. Or… humans.

Humans, as sacrificial offerings?

In certain periods of ancient feudal society, human sacrifices were real. Used in some rituals to “satisfy the gods” and fulfill the worshipper’s twisted desires.

If praying to ghosts really worked, wouldn’t someone smarter and richer have done it already?

You wouldn’t need to kill someone for it. But there are always people who believe. People so deep in their delusions that they’d murder in the name of faith.

Looking again at the tablet’s photo of the two murdered victims, Xiao Yu’s eyes narrowed.

A human sacrifice.

He searched online, digging into ancient sacrificial rituals, particularly forbidden or esoteric practices.

And he found it.

A book documenting ancient rituals.

It described various ceremonial types, and among them, some that could only be classified as evil.

One such ritual had an eerie name: Five Elements to Open the Path, Red Robes to Prolong Life… the Life-Extending Sacrifice.

Its method was as follows:

Hang from a beam – Wood.

Slit the abdomen, blood-sacrifice the five organs – Water.

Dress in red robes – Fire.

Weights tied to limbs – Metal.

Suspended toward the earth – Earth.

Wood, water, fire, metal, earth—The five elements.

The intent was unmistakable.

Hang the victims from a beam. Slit them open. Dress them in red. Make them gaze down at the earth. Complete the sacrificial rite.

This was a mimicry of an ancient magical technique: The Seven Stars Life Extension Ritual. A sinister method that traded two lives for one.

“The killer was trying to extend his own life.” Xiao Yu’s voice turned icy, sharp as winter wind.

Wang Dong shivered at his words. “You’re saying someone sacrificed living people to prolong their life?”

“Not certain. But it’s highly likely.” Xiao Yu’s voice was frigid. “If the family’s patriarch from five years ago really murdered his wife and child in a ritual, then the goal would have been longevity. But if that’s the case, why would he go on to maim himself, cut off his legs and left hand, before killing himself?”

“Life extension means wanting to live longer, right?” Wang Dong frowned, then shook his head. “If your theory’s right, then why would he die right after? Unless…”

The two locked eyes.

They both saw the same answer written on the other’s face.

The real killer wasn’t the man of the house.

And now, five years later, another homicide occurred in the very same house.

This time, six victims.

And the manner of death was just as grotesque.

Seemingly a game of “Plate Spirit” gone wrong. But the truth? They were brutally murdered.

Same house. Same bizarre method. Two horrific cases.

Still want to say it’s just a coincidence?

“No, not six victims,” Xiao Yu murmured, “Seven.”

He suddenly realized something.

“Che Yu is also dead. Is it possible… that on the day of the crime, seven people were supposed to die? Seven-star life extension? Could it be that Che Yu discovered something that night and tried to flee? He wasn’t running from us. He was running from the killer? But even after hiding, Che Yu realized the killer would still find him. Knowing he was doomed, terrified of the torture he’d face… He chose suicide?

“No, that might not be it either. What if… his suicide was a final act of revenge?  What if… by killing himself, he prevented the killer from completing the ritual? If I’m going to die anyway, why let the killer get what he wants?”

As a dawning realization lit his face, Xiao Yu’s eyes gleamed with a chilling light.

“Damn,” Wang Dong muttered, horrified.

“What else?” Xiao Yu sneered. “If it were you, doomed either way, would you hand the killer your life like a gift?”

“I’d kill him first.” Wang Dong scowled.

“What if you couldn’t?”

A strange gleam flickered in Xiao Yu’s eyes.

“Choosing death without fighting back means one thing. The killer was stronger. And don’t forget, Che Yu was good at Muay Thai. He started a martial arts club in his sophomore year, became president of the Muay Thai Society. For someone like that to not resist at all…

It means he knew the killer well. They must’ve spent time together. Been close.”

Or maybe…

The killer was the one who taught him Muay Thai.