Chapter 60 Zhou Mo Wants to Go Fishing

Although he had already discovered the problem, Zhou Mo did not make a fuss about it.

Yu Chun led the two of them up to the rooftop terrace, and as soon as the heavy door was opened, both men visibly let out a sigh of relief.

Pointing to a Gothic-style metal cross emblem fixed on the roof structure, Yu Chun told them, "This right here is the murder weapon."

Yu Chun let out a heavy sigh. "This is a masterpiece by Master Li Ying. He hasn't crafted any metal art pieces for many years, but I never expected that one of his greatest works would end up stained with human blood."

Zhang Huai'an chimed in with a shrug, "Three people have died right here, all of them pierced to death by this master's masterpiece. Based on our assessment, something must have hoisted the victims up above this metal sculpture and dropped them onto it."

Glaring at Zhang Huai'an, Yu Chun corrected him angrily, "It's an art piece, not a sculpture!"

Zhou Mo frowned slightly and asked, "Then why haven't you taken this thing down?"

However, Yu Chun stubbornly refused, shaking his head. "First of all, what killed those people wasn't this art piece, but the subconscious monster you keep talking about. Secondly, this art piece is of paramount importance to the art gallery. Over my dead body will anyone ever take it down."

Zhou Mo looked doubtfully from Yu Chun to the cross art piece, falling silent for a long time as he watched the moths fluttering around it.

Zhang Huai'an continued from the side, "You have no idea how gruesome it was. The thief's chest was ripped open, his entrails spilled all over the floor, and to top it all off, a journalist happened to photograph the whole thing..."

"What are you imagining?"

Noticing Zhang Huai'an's curious expression, Zhou Mo gave a slight shake of his head. "I simply don't understand the point of hanging people up so high. But dwelling on that isn't important right now; let's go check out somewhere else."

Puzzled, Zhang Huai'an scratched his head. "Somewhere else? There's nothing else worth seeing. We've already searched everywhere that needs to be searched."

A smile appeared on Zhou Mo's face. "I want to see that locked room."

Due to a subtle shift in his aura, the smile on Zhou Mo's face looked somewhat eerie. Hearing those words, Yu Chun's body visibly stiffened. He forced a smile and said, "That's just a utility room, really nothing to see there..."

Maintaining his smile, Zhou Mo locked his gaze onto Yu Chun. "I want to see it."

At that instant, Yu Chun felt as though he had been targeted by some terrifying monster. He involuntarily took a step back and swallowed hard. "Well... I suppose taking a look wouldn't hurt..."

Zhang Huai'an could not understand why Zhou Mo was suddenly so obsessed with a locked utility room, but since Zhou Mo wanted to see it, he would not stop him. Frankly, he was curious to see what Zhou Mo could possibly dig up.

Yu Chun reluctantly led them back inside the building floor, pulled out a set of keys, and unlocked the heavy iron chains. Pushing the door open, he revealed a room crammed full of miscellaneous clutter.

Undeterred and persistent, Zhou Mo walked straight into the room. The moment the door opened, his eyes were met with countless insect cocoons hanging all around the walls. On one of the walls, a massive moth, easily two meters tall, was clinging motionless.

The patterns on its wings were dazzling and striking. Even though its wings were folded shut, Zhou Mo could still make out a pair of mesmerizing, eerie eyes.

The air was thick with drifting scales that had accumulated on the floor and the piles of debris, making it look as though a sandstorm had just passed through the room.

Though Zhou Mo couldn't fully comprehend what he was looking at, he could sense that those eyes possessed a strange, hypnotic magic.

His canine brain was sounding internal alarms—this moth was extremely dangerous!

If he were to wake this monster up right now, Zhou Mo knew he wouldn't stand a sliver of a chance.

Yu Chun offered a bitter smile. "See? I told you, this is really just a utility room."

Zhang Huai'an opened his mouth, intending to nod and persuade Zhou Mo to look elsewhere, but Zhou Mo pointed at the wall and said, "No, this isn't a utility room. The marks on the wall, along with the arrangement of the furniture, look much more like a dormitory. Furthermore, the clutter here was obviously placed recently."

Frowning, Zhang Huai'an looked around carefully, and a moment later, realization dawned on him. There were faint outlines on the wall where a desk and accumulated dust used to be, and right beside it was a noticeable yellowish-gray patch. Judging by its height, it matched the dimensions of a bed pressed against the wall, formed by people rubbing against it over a long period.

Such wear and tear could frequently be seen on the white-painted walls of older houses.

Yu Chun's expression instantly turned unsightly. With trembling fingertips and a forced smile, he stammered, "Now that you mention it, I suppose it does look like that. This used to be a breakroom for the cleaning staff, but that was many years ago. Surely this has nothing to do with the case, right?"

By this point, even Zhang Huai'an could tell that the curator was hiding something. Could there genuinely be a problem with this room?

And yet, their City Guard team had previously searched the place with meticulous care, inspecting even every single piece of miscellaneous clutter.

There shouldn't have been any issues here.

Had they missed something?

Zhou Mo started to step forward to check if there was anything wrong with the wall where the moth was clinging, but at that exact moment, his canine brain seized control of his visual perception, causing his eyeballs to vibrate violently.

Zhou Mo halted in his tracks. At the same time, the giant moth on the wall slowly turned its head!

To everyone's shock, this giant moth possessed a somewhat deformed human face!

Atop its fuzzy head were two semi-spherical compound insect eyes, and beneath them was a triangular human-like face, though a moth's proboscis protruded directly from the mouth area.

Alarm bells rang wildly in Zhou Mo's heart. He knew full well that this was no time to force a confrontation, so he slowly stepped back, casting a profound, meaningful glance at the curator. "Let's just assume there's nothing here for now. But are there any staff members left who understand the situation here?"

Clearly breathing a sigh of relief and casting aside other concerns, Yu Chun quickly replied, "Yes! There's still one security guard and two cleaners. They're in the lounge outside the gallery."

As Zhou Mo walked out of the room, Yu Chun hurriedly locked the door back up. "Don't find it strange; we're lucky to have even a few employees willing to stay and work under these conditions. If you're interested, you can go downstairs and ask them."

Having secured the door, Yu Chun led the two men back to the elevator. Zhang Huai'an's expression had turned grave.

With a smile, Zhou Mo said, "I'll go talk to them myself. We won't trouble you to tag along."

Yu Chun nodded eagerly. "As it happens, I have some other business to attend to. Whenever you finish questioning them, feel free to find me."

The moment the elevator reached the first floor, Yu Chun bolted away as if fleeing for his life, leaving Zhou Mo and Zhang Huai'an standing by the elevator doors.

Staring at Yu Chun's retreating back with utter bafflement, Zhang Huai'an asked, "Why did you let him go? That guy is obviously hiding something..."

A calm smile played on Zhou Mo's lips as he shook his head slightly. "I did it on purpose. I'm fishing."

Zhang Huai'an was stunned at first, but understanding dawned on him almost immediately. "You're trying to see what his next move is, right? Fishing..."

Zhang Huai'an's expression shifted drastically. He suddenly realized who the fish Zhou Mo was trying to catch might be. Whoever Yu Chun called right now would be that exact fish.

And that person was most likely Xia An.