Flowers of the Departed Souls

To Guangming’s surprise, Xia Yimin was an investor who had come to Luoyang Village for an inspection. He was originally here for development, as the village had excellent tourism resources and sufficient projects to develop. However, the biggest drawback was the inconvenient transportation. Situated deep in remote mountains, the journey was long, and while mountain roads could accommodate cars, they were bumpy and uneven. When it rained, they became muddy and impassable for most small cars. Furthermore, the mountain people were quite reclusive. The village boats were primarily used for fishing, not for transportation. Therefore, implementation still presented certain difficulties, unless the long, long road was fully constructed.

Even more surprising to Guangming was that Xia Yimin had no prior history of mental illness, and his blood and gastric fluid tests were normal, with no toxins. The forensic doctor’s final鉴定 (jiàndìng – assessment/diagnosis) also confirmed he died by suicide, which made it seem even stranger.

The forensic doctor analyzed, “This could be due to external causes. For example, extreme terror could lead to mental breakdown, frenzy, and loss of self-control, causing his heart to expand, his eyeballs to burst, and then him to gouge out his own eyes. However, we cannot rule out a sudden onset of mental illness. Certain triggers could activate long-latent mental hysteria, and if he had a hereditary mental illness that had not previously manifested, it could suddenly erupt at a specific time.”

“You’re saying extreme terror could cause this kind of irrational suicide?”

The forensic doctor nodded. Guangming recalled the victims in “The Curse of Sodom” who had their internal organs gouged out by werewolves, and the driver dragged into the swamp by the priestess, whose eyes also held extreme terror. But clearly, the homicide theory in this case was not holding up, and no special evidence was found. Although Guangming harbored doubts, the case was closed.

Xia Yimin’s body was transported back by his family. Xia Yimin’s wife said something Guangming found unforgettable: “Even if Yimin committed suicide, he would never have done so without reason, nor willingly. He once said that suicide is a foolish act, and the souls of those who commit suicide cannot enter heaven. He was a believer. I hope you can give me the truth while I’m still alive.”

Her words cast a shadow in Guangming’s heart. Indeed, Guangming also wanted to know why he committed suicide. However, no clues indicating his intention to commit suicide were left at the scene, including a suicide note. The tool was a very common dagger, the kind people carry for self-defense. But he understood that anyone would be heartbroken, distressed, and find it difficult to accept the death of their loved one; he could empathize with that.

What was bothering him now were several series of murder cases. The victims were all young men and women between twenty and twenty-eight years old. Three incidents had already occurred: two men and one woman. They were classified as a series because the victims all had the same tattoo on the inside of their forearms: a red bird-headed human tattoo. Guangming suspected a serial killer was at work. The victims were all stabbed from behind with similar weapons, piercing the cardiac artery, leading to fatal blood vessel rupture. He thought there would likely be a fourth, and a fifth incident. Such cases, without a doubt, were targeting this group, this group marked by the bird-headed human tattoo.

What kind of group was the Bird-Headed Human Tattoo Research Society? And this tattoo must have its own worshipped belief or specific meaning.

They investigated information regarding bird-headed humans and summarized the following points:

Related to Japanese Kappa: Kappa are also bird-headed humans, wearing turtle shells, with a bowl-shaped indentation on their heads filled with water, which is their life source; without water, they die. Their arms can extend and contract, and they can fly by the power of their farts. They are recorded in folklore books such as “Hyakki Yagyō,” “Mononoke Zushi,” “Banki Roku,” and “Yōkai Monogatari.” There is a small lake near the Inagawa Shrine in Japan called Kyūshin-ko (Lake of Saving Lives), where Kappa often appear. Originally, Kappa were water spirits, worshipped by the public as river gods. There is also a saying that Kappa are the dead of water gods, transformed from frost sent down by the water god.

Bird-headed humans appear in the ancient Guge Buddhist murals in Tibet: Ali is the holy land and activity center for the Bon religion, Tibet’s indigenous religion. It was founded around the 5th century BCE by the ancient Shangshung prince Xinrab Mibo, rooted in a primitive animistic belief system from the early Tibetan communal period. This religion has a creation myth of the Great Roc, “The Great Roc and the Turtle”: The Great Roc hatched from three-colored eggs (white top, black bottom, red middle) and is the embodiment of the three gods—Youth, Dragon, and Praise. These three great gods are the original deities of this religion. When the universe was still unformed and chaotic, the Great Roc and the Turtle separated heaven and earth, making the Great Roc the most sacred symbolic national emblem in the Shangshung Kingdom’s totem worship. The Guge murals feature numerous vivid depictions of the Garuda bird on the top center of Buddhist deity pedestals, with human faces, human arms, bird beaks, feathered bodies, two horns on the head, and a giant snake (dragon) in its mouth, personified. This religion’s mythology also has a legend: The goddess Mase Qagar and the god Wang’ershas Niaogeba copulated. At that time, the male god emitted white fluid, and the goddess emitted red fluid, giving birth to twenty-seven eggs. All the eggs hatched bird-headed human, snake-headed human, and dragon-headed human gods and goddesses. These gods then multiplied into billions of gods, protecting humans and suppressing demons.

Totems in Western and other countries: Prehistoric humans had bird-headed human cave paintings, appearing in totem worship, religion, witchcraft, and divination. The Thunderbird totem painting of the Colombian Indians; in ancient Egypt, the hawk-headed human represented the supreme sun god, and the ibis-headed human represented wisdom and the unfathomable moon god; in ancient Greece, the dove symbolized the goddess of wisdom; in Christianity, the dove symbolized holiness, and the rooster meant vigilance and alertness; the Roman legion’s emblem was the eagle in the hand of the chief god Jupiter. Even now, many countries still use eagles to symbolize bravery, power, and war, swans and doves to symbolize goodness and peace, cranes to symbolize longevity, and mandarin ducks to symbolize fidelity in love.

Kelou looked a bit dizzy and overwhelmed. “This is f***ing complicated. So this little bird-headed human has so many mysteries here. I think this bird head should be the Great Roc’s. Ugh, I just don’t know which one this organization worships.”

Guangming patted his shoulder. “Don’t ignore these things. There’s no harm in learning more. Look, the ancient Egyptian sun god was also a bird-headed human, with the sun on his head and a scepter in his hand. We just don’t know if they lean towards the East or the West. Hmm, if it’s a relatively large group, it might have some primitive worship and religious beliefs embedded within it. This is humanity’s earliest form of reverence, awe, and admiration for certain creatures in nature. A bird-headed human can encompass many things here. Come on, let’s go check the tattoo parlors first.”

So, the two took photos of the bird-headed human tattoo design and immediately visited all the tattoo parlors in Wencheng, searching if their tattoo design catalogs included bird-headed humans. However, all the tattoo artists denied ever tattooing such a design.

Arriving at the last shop, they felt a bit disheartened. Guangming asked the tattoo artist, whose body had no blank spaces, “Then, have you ever seen such a design on anyone’s forearm?”

The tattoo artist thought for a moment. “I think I might have seen a design like that, but I really can’t recall it right now.”

Guangming left him a business card. “Call me immediately if you remember. Thank you for your cooperation.”

Leaving the tattoo parlor, it was already past eight o’clock. Guangming looked worried. “I think they are deliberately concealing it, or perhaps it’s done by a retired artist, someone who no longer owns such a shop, or a specialized tattoo artist specially hired by their group. Therefore, the secrecy is very strong.”

“I think the latter possibility is higher. If it’s truly a tight-knit group, they wouldn’t easily reveal such a symbol. How about this: let’s frequent bars, nightclubs, and other entertainment venues. We’re bound to run into people with such tattoos. I really don’t believe they’re so elusive that they never come out for entertainment.”

“But I think it’s more likely to be people from two rival gangs. Due to certain利益 (lìyì – interests), one faction is being targeted by the other, and the faction with the bird-headed human tattoo is precisely the one the other side wants to completely eliminate. I see that members of this faction are being severely targeted, or perhaps, a killer deeply despises this organization marked by this tattoo and is secretly murdering everyone who has the bird-headed human tattoo. Hmm, but we also can’t rule out the possibility of infighting within the same group. Let’s start taking action tonight. I don’t want these incidents to continue.”

So, the two quickly finished their pig intestine noodles at a noodle shop and drove towards the nearest bar. At that moment, they saw a group of people violently beating a young man.

Guangming sounded the siren, and the two rushed out of the car. They saw the young man lying on the ground, groaning, beaten badly. Kelou instinctively grabbed his forearm and saw a blood-red bird-headed human staring coldly at him.