Zhang Heng followed the bloodstains in the library all the way to a children's welfare home.
The whole process wasn't easy. Although the shadow's calf was seriously injured, with the help of the pool of black liquid, he didn't need to rely on his legs to escape. However, being sealed inside a concrete wall wasn't a good feeling either. He needed to come out from the wall from time to time to catch his breath.
This left a trail of blood on the ground, and the blood was quite recognizable. It was thicker and darker than the blood of ordinary people, almost black in color, and exuded a rancid smell. Even so, it wasn't an easy task to track a target in such a large city.
Zhang Heng carried the recurve bow on his back, holding a flashlight in one hand and a mobile phone in the other. He opened Gaud's map. Other than tonight's operation, the thing's behavior pattern had been highly consistent. It avoided appearing in crowded places and attacking the vulnerable. Hence, it was rarely seen by witnesses. Now that it was seriously injured, it should be more cautious.
Zhang Heng first used the electronic map to rule out some areas that were still crowded at this time of the day, such as some main roads and food streets that were open until early in the morning. He then selected a few remote routes and ranked them according to the highest probability of finding it. After that, he conducted a comprehensive search until he found the special blood on the ground. Then, he used that as a starting point and continued the previous steps.
This method of searching was quite time-consuming, especially when he was alone.
However, as long as he found five or six bloodstains, he would be able to determine the direction in which the shadow escaped. After that, things would become a lot easier.
Of course, it still took Zhang Heng a lot of time to delineate the last area. He had already searched a boarding school and a hospital nearby. The most likely place left was the children's welfare home in front of him. However, including the time during the day, he hadn't slept for more than 30 hours. Zhang Heng wasn't in a hurry to go in. Instead, he went to the convenience store next door to get a bottle of coffee and left the money on the cashier's table as usual.
After drinking the coffee, Zhang Heng felt a little refreshed. He put on gloves, wiped the saliva on the mouth of the bottle with a tissue, and threw the bottle into a trash can half a street away. After that, he climbed over the iron fence outside the main entrance and entered the children's welfare home.
At this time, most of the staff in the orphanage had already gone home, leaving only the guard on duty, some caregivers, a doctor, and four nurses.
The security guard was playing cards in the on-call room, the doctor was preparing for the psychological consultation exam in the office, the nurse was dozing off, and the other three were playing Honor of Kings. Other than the emergency room and the on-call room, there was also an observation room, a children's cafeteria, a staff cafeteria, and a multi-purpose hall on the first floor, but none of them were occupied.
Zhang Heng did not find anything unusual here, and he soon arrived at the second floor. This floor was the orphanage's dormitory, where all the adopted children lived. Other than that, there was also a nurse's lounge and activity room.
Zhang Heng did not find anything useful in the last two places until he arrived at the dormitory. He noticed a lonely bed in the west corner. The children on the other beds seemed to be afraid of the person on the bed. Even when they were sleeping, none of them wanted to be too close to him. It was as if the bed was isolated from the rest of the world.
It was supposed to be bedtime at the children's welfare home, but the bed was empty. Zhang Heng lifted the back of the bed with his gloved hand and found a roll of medical gauze underneath. It was stained with black blood, which meant he had finally found the person he was looking for.
Zhang Heng put down the quilt in his hand, took half a step back, and looked at the nameplate on the bedside. It belonged to a child named Zhang Jingli. From this name, it was obvious that the staff of the orphanage hoped that Zhang Jingli would grow into a quiet and polite person. Unfortunately, this wish did not come true.
In the photo, Zhang Jingli's face was sullen, his eyes gloomy, and he exuded a murderous aura that did not match his age at all. Compared to the horrible things he had done, however, his face in the photo looked a little cute.
"Got you," Zhang Heng whispered, and at the same time, he took off the photo.
After Zhang Jingli was injured, he fled back to the children's welfare home where he was hiding. He stole gauze from the emergency room and treated his wound. He knew that he had fled in a panic, and he might have left behind a lot of clues. So, he did not dare to stay in bed any longer. However, Zhang Heng speculated that the possibility of him escaping from the children's welfare home was not high.
After all, his leg injury was not light. As the person who shot the arrow, Zhang Heng knew very well how serious the injury was. Therefore, Zhang Heng was not too worried when he did not find Zhang Jingli on the bed. Finally, he found Zhang Jingli in the ultrasound room on the third floor.
The latter hid in the corner behind the ultrasound machine, curled up. Zhang Heng walked over and untied the gauze on his leg. He saw the arrow wound and the black blood on his leg.
At this moment, Zhang Jingli looked more fragile than ever. In a still time, he could no longer control the pool of black liquid to swim between the walls, devouring innocent lives. He could not even move his little finger. Right now, he looked no different from an ordinary evil child.
If Zhang Heng wanted to kill him, he could do it with a utility knife. This was also Zhang Heng's first time killing someone in a still world. After experiencing the baptism of Mannerheim and Black Sail, although Zhang Heng still didn't like the feeling of taking lives, he wouldn't feel too much emotional when he was doing this kind of thing.
What's more, there was a high chance that the person he was going to kill wasn't human. The next moment, however, the utility knife in his hand stopped in front of Zhang Jingli's throat.
Zhang Heng frowned. He could see undisguised hatred for the world in Zhang Jingli's eyes, as well as nervousness and uneasiness. Unlike Li Shengyue, there was no fear in Zhang Jingli's eyes. This meant that he was not coerced. In addition, the wound on his leg and the black blood all pointed to the fact that he was the one who attacked Zhang Heng and Shen Xixi at school not long ago.
However, there was one thing that had always bothered Zhang Heng. According to Li Shengyue, Zhang Jingli arrived at school in the afternoon, which meant that he had left the children's welfare home at that time. For someone like him who could change the shape of the walls, it was certainly not a complicated matter.
However, after he left the children's welfare home, it was not until the evening. It was impossible for no one to notice him. The staff at the welfare home that Zhang Heng met earlier, whether it was the doctor revising for the exam or the nurse playing Honor of Kings of Valor, did not show any sense of urgency when a child went missing.
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