Chapter 105: Prayers and Offerings

The research team arrived quite quickly.

The three of them reached the earthen building and immediately, unable to contain their eagerness, went straight to Grandma Zhuoma’s room.

Among these people, the one Li Tianque was most concerned about was Bai Ruixue.

Although last night when the murderer struck again, Lu Zuzhi, Su Wei, and Bai Ruixue were all at the hotel and hadn’t left, effectively ruling them out as suspects for the latest crime, this did not mean they were free of suspicion in the first murder case.

Especially Bai Ruixue—whether considering the motive for murder or the inconsistencies in her statements—she was the prime suspect.

Li Tianque focused his attention on Bai Ruixue, but her gaze was fixed on the black beetle inside the glass container.

At that moment, the black tiger beetle inside the glass tank still curled up in a corner, struggling painfully.

Liang Zhichao and Su Wei nodded slightly at Li Tianque. Liang Zhichao pointed to the altar on the wooden table and said,

“Here it is—the ‘Emperor Tiger Beetle’ I mentioned before. We’re incredibly lucky this time; this is probably the first time in nearly 200 years that a live one has been found.”

“Emperor Tiger Beetle? Is it related to the Amazon Tiger Beetle?” Li Tianque inquired.

“It is, more like a cousin species. The Emperor Tiger Beetle is actually a subspecies of the Royal Tiger Beetle, extremely rare. To date, there are only twelve specimens worldwide.

There are many legends about this beetle; many Amazonian natives even worship it as a deity,” Su Wei explained.

As the three conversed, Bai Ruixue briskly approached the glass tank.

Ignoring the police present, she stared intently at the glass glowing faintly red.

Soon, a gleam of excitement blossomed in her cold, beautiful eyes.

She eagerly put on gloves, seemingly ready to reach in and grab the black tiger beetle.

Before she could act, Zhu Chunguang immediately stopped her, saying,

“This is a crime scene. You may look, but don’t touch anything. You might damage the evidence.”

“Damage the evidence? If we don’t act soon, there might be no evidence left at all,” Bai Ruixue said sternly.

Zhu Chunguang was puzzled and about to argue, but Li Tianque quickly grasped what Bai Ruixue meant.

In fact, upon seeing the state of the black beetle in the tank, Li Tianque had a similar suspicion.

The scraps of paper beside the beetle were probably not there to aerate the soil, but rather remnants expelled by the beetle.

“What do you mean?” Zhu Chunguang's gaze sharpened.

“Officer, do you see those paper scraps around the Emperor Tiger Beetle? They appear to be food remnants the beetle has spit out.

Typically, after feeding, this beetle will deposit leftover food debris around the entrance of its burrow,” Su Wei promptly explained.

Zhu Chunguang’s eyes lit up as he said,

“So, this creature has been eating some kind of paper?”

“Exactly. The content of that paper could be a crucial clue,” Su Wei responded.

“Strangely, I didn’t notice these paper scraps here before. The area has been sealed off since then, so the murderer shouldn’t have had a chance to place any paper inside,” Liang Zhichao said, puzzled.

“Let’s take a look and find out,” Bai Ruixue said, disregarding Zhu Chunguang’s protest as she took the Emperor Tiger Beetle out of the glass tank.

Holding the hefty beetle, she flipped it over so its mouthparts faced her.

Skilled, she retrieved a dissecting needle and curved tweezers from her toolbox, pressing the tweezers beneath the mouthparts and preparing to probe inside with the needle.

Though Zhu Chunguang wanted to stop her, he seemed persuaded by Bai Ruixue’s earlier assertion and chose to trust her.

The cold steel needle probed into the beetle’s mouthparts, stirring about. Then Bai Ruixue used the tweezers to extract some sticky paper fragments.

The fragments were mixed with black, glossy chitin pieces, resembling Oreo crumbs sprinkled on ice cream.

Gradually, Bai Ruixue extracted four more clusters of the same viscous material, neatly laying them out on the table before carefully returning the beetle to its enclosure.

Liang Zhichao donned gloves, picked up one cluster, and examined it. He said,

“So these paper scraps were hidden inside cockroach bodies and then fed to the beetle, which explains why they went unnoticed.”

“The Emperor Tiger Beetle ate cockroaches mixed with paper scraps. It couldn’t distinguish the paper from the exoskeleton, causing the indigestible chitin to accumulate inside it during digestion,” Bai Ruixue added.

After returning the beetle, Bai Ruixue reconnected the tubes supplying nutrient solution.

The beetle’s condition visibly improved; it began to move slightly, emitting faint hissing sounds, and slowly expelled some remaining black chitin fragments from its mouth.

“But what’s the use of this? The paper must have been shredded and stuffed into the cockroach, then fed to the beetle. There’s no way to clearly read what was written,” Liang Zhichao said.

“Then what was written on the paper? Could it really be a clue about the murderer?” Su Wei asked with interest.

“Unlikely. I think it’s more probably some kind of ritual,” Li Tianque speculated.

“Ritual?”

“Yes, perhaps some kind of prayer or incantation. If these fragments were left by Zhuoma, she might have used the cockroach as an offering, crushing the paper bearing her wishes and sacrificing it to this so-called insect deity,” Li Tianque explained.

Zhu Chunguang agreed and said to a nearby assistant,

“Could be. Xiao Liu, quickly collect these paper scraps and the sticky material. We’ll send them to forensics this afternoon.”

Watching the Emperor Tiger Beetle gradually recover, Li Tianque suddenly raised a question,

“Wait, what liquid are those tubes connected to on the beetle?”

“Nutrient solution. This beetle is at least three years old.

From a human perspective, three years isn’t long, but for insects, that’s considered very old.

Just feeding isn’t enough to meet its nutritional needs; it requires...”

Before Liang Zhichao could finish, realization dawned on him.

He swallowed nervously and exclaimed,

“This is strange! Really strange!”

“What’s strange?” Su Wei looked at him, puzzled by his outburst.

“This nutrient solution here is odd. Grandma Zhuoma couldn’t possibly have the technology to supply this for the beetle. So who did it?” Liang Zhichao quickly explained.

Li Tianque and Zhu Chunguang scrutinized the three entomologists in the room, hoping to detect some clue from their expressions.

“This is outrageous. Since we arrived, Grandma Zhuoma has been hostile toward us. We usually avoid her; how could anyone among us have contact with her?” Su Wei was equally surprised.

Realizing this, Bai Ruixue’s expression changed, and she said with some confusion,

“We didn’t bring much nutrient solution; Professor Lu has been keeping it.”

“So that means one of you secretly had contact with Zhuoma, and that person might be linked to the murderer,” Zhu Chunguang pressed.

“Has Professor Lu ever met with Zhuoma alone?” Li Tianque asked.

“No. Grandma Zhuoma even threatened and intimidated the professor. He wouldn’t help her,” Liang Zhichao answered.

“Then who could it be? We’re almost always together. It’s nearly impossible for someone to secretly contact Grandma Zhuoma without us knowing,” Su Wei said, bewildered.

“Ah... I can’t figure it out either. If only we could restore these paper scraps; maybe we’d find some clues,” Liang Zhichao sighed.

“Yes, even if the paper were intact, it would be hard to piece it back together, let alone now that it’s all mush,” Su Wei said helplessly.

Zhu Chunguang frowned thoughtfully but clearly had no solution either.

At that moment, Li Tianque suddenly had an idea and smiled,

“Heh, although the paper can’t be restored, that doesn’t mean we have no way of knowing what was written on it!”