Before Chen Zhao went to the Gates of Hell, he'd heard Blackie mention the Gates of Hell twice.
The first time was when he'd just discovered it. The second time was when the Gates of Hell had changed and someone in town was secretly performing some kind of sacrificial ritual.
Changes to the Gates of Hell meant that someone had been sacrificed.
The fire had happened after Blackie mentioned it for the first time and before the second time.
Eight people died in the fire. Could it be that these eight people were sacrificed for the sake of the sacrifice?
If that was the case, the situation was clear.
Trede Pemton had done the fire himself, or he'd asked Deppler to do it.
He also knew that he'd have to pay a huge sum of money after the fire.
Thus, he'd hidden the winery's operations and transferred his assets.
If he did it properly and applied for bankruptcy protection, he wouldn't have to pay with all his assets.
Deppler wanted to use this to extort money from Trede Pemton, but Trede was so angry that he decided to sacrifice Deppler as well.
Pierce looked at Chen Zhao. "You seem to have thought of something."
Chen Zhao glanced at Pierce and then said to David, "Let's go."
"You're leaving just like that?"
David turned his head and looked at Pierce. "What, do you want us to kill you?"
"Alright, goodbye." Pierce South shrugged.
…
"Chen, did you think of something?"
"Now I think Trede Pemton might really be the murderer."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm not sure, and I don't have any evidence."
"Tell me your analysis."
Chen Zhao began to tell David his thoughts and analysis. David's heart jumped.
"You said that to complete the Gates of Hell, a lot of people need to be sacrificed, right?"
"Yes." Chen Zhao nodded.
"How many lives are needed to complete the sacrifice for Hell's Gate?"
"Thirteen."
"Let's say that the eight victims of the winery fire were sacrificed. Deppler was also sacrificed. That means we're still missing four people. Could it be that the sacrifice had already begun before the winery fire?"
"What do you mean?"
"Were there any other murder cases in Mountain Town before and after the fire? Or a more suspicious one? "
Suddenly, Chen Zhao recalled a case that had happened not long ago.
However, he was an extremely vicious wanted criminal. On the surface, the wanted criminal had committed suicide to escape punishment.
At the time, Chen Zhao had talked to Melson. Melson's guess was that the victim didn't commit suicide.
At the time, Chen Zhao didn't think too much about it. After all, it was a wanted criminal that had nothing to do with him.
However, now that he thought about it, it was very suspicious.
Chen Zhao told David about this. David thought for a moment. "First, we have to confirm if the victim was called to the town or if it was a coincidence."
Chen Zhao's eyes suddenly lit up. "The victim lived in a duplex. A wanted criminal shouldn't be so rich to live in such a big house."
"Do you know the landlord?" David asked.
"I don't know, but Bant definitely knows. Let's go back and ask him."
…
There were only so many people in Mountain Town, so it was not difficult to find the owner of a house.
When Chen Zhao and David returned to town, they went straight to Bant's house.
"Bennett, are you home?"
A while later, Bant opened the door. When he saw Chen Zhao and David, he was very happy.
This was probably the only thing that made him happy after Ken was taken away by the police.
"Chen, David, come in and sit."
"Bant, do you remember the wanted criminal who died in the duplex opposite the outdoor restaurant?"
"Yes, why? Is it related to Deppler's death? "
"We suspect that it's the same person, so we want to know who the owner of the duplex is."
"That house belongs to the old witch in town, Winry Costa."
"Old witch?"
"Yes, an eccentric and antisocial old woman," Bant said. "The entire town doesn't like to interact with her. They think she's scary."
Chen Zhao and David exchanged a look. Hearing the nickname "old witch" would make people feel that it was related to this incident.
"Did she do anything weird?"
"There are always dead animals around her house. The most I remember is when I was very young. I had a dog called Ken."
"Wait … You said you had a dog called Ken?"
"Yes, that's why I named my son Ken. It's to remember my dog."
"Good, let's continue."
"At the time, I was only eight. One day, I realized that Ken was missing, so I looked everywhere. Finally, I found Ken hanging in front of the old witch's house. My parents had a big fight with the old witch because of this."
"If she did it, she wouldn't have hung the dog in front of her house, right?"
"I don't know if she did it, but my parents were very sure. They said that the old witch had a criminal record."
"You're in your forties now, right?"
"Forty-eight."
"In other words, this incident happened forty years ago. Then, the old witch you mentioned should not be young anymore, right?"
"I don't know how old she is, but she's much older than my parents."
"Then your parents …"
"Ken's grandfather is 78 now."
"What does it mean to be much older than your father?"
"I think the old witch was in her sixties then."
Forty years ago, Bant's father was 38. The old witch was almost 30 years older than him. This meant that the old witch might be over 100 years old now.
Both Chen Zhao and David could not help but gasp. Bant looked at them. "Chen, is this related to that old witch?"
"I'm not sure yet," Chen Zhao said. "Does she usually live in the house?"
"No, her house has been empty for a long time. If that person didn't die in her house last time, I wouldn't even know that she rented it out."
"Where does she live now?"
"She lives outside town. Do you want me to take you there?"
"No, just tell us the address. This might be dangerous, so don't get involved."
"No, I can't let you take the risk."
"Bant, don't be impulsive. Don't worry, David and I are good at fighting. Even three to five people with your physique might not be able to defeat the two of us, let alone an old witch who is over a hundred years old."
After leaving Bant's house, David asked, "Chen, is there some kind of spell that can let people live for so long?"
"I don't know. You should find a professional, like Sienna."
"But Sienna isn't as good as you. If you don't know, will she know?"
"Not necessarily. If I don't ask her, how would I know?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
