SFTD -Chapter 92 Man in the Wall (Part 2)

Zhou Hai’s hesitation lay exactly here—an indistinct shadow on the wall and a faint stench could not serve as evidence. It seemed he would have to head home for now.

At that moment, commotion broke out on the dance floor.

Several men, apparently heavily drunk, got into an argument after some physical contact. Fueled by alcohol, they started fighting. More and more people joined in, and the weaker side scattered in all directions to flee.

A young man with a small braid tied on top of his head and shaved sides, dark circles under his eyes, stepped onto the wooden rail between the booths. He crossed right over Zhou Hai’s table area and dashed straight toward the restroom.

It was clear he was very familiar with the layout of the building. Next to the restroom was a locked corridor door—the fire safety passage. If he could reach it and kick the door open, he could escape the pursuit.

But the people behind him were not about to let him go. In an instant, they surged over like dumplings being dropped into boiling water, rushing across the booths and chasing after him.

With so many people, some tripped and fell. One person crashed directly behind Zhou Hai’s booth, knocking over a row of fire extinguishers. Like a domino effect, several extinguishers toppled forward and smashed ahead.

The front-most extinguisher cylinder hit the corner of the wall hard and instantly burst out a cloud of white powder. The cylinder itself bounced wildly and struck a section of the wall that had previously been burned.

The troublemakers were also choked by the white powder, making the chaos even worse.

As the dust slowly settled, a sharp scream came from near the restroom.

Zhou Hai and the others quickly moved toward the sound. It turned out the fire extinguisher cylinder had smashed a hole into the wall—a dark, gaping opening. Inside, a faint shadow could be seen. As the dust cleared, it appeared before everyone’s eyes.

Then a strong stench of decay filled the entire hall.

Zhou Hai patted Xiao Liang, who was still somewhat stunned.

“We’re not leaving. Xiao Liang, call the command center. Xu Biao, identify yourself and maintain order. Fengzi, go with me to check.”

At that moment, many bar security guards rushed over, reaching out to push the crowd back. Xu Biao raised his police ID; the guards froze and released him. The manager hurried over.

“Officer, hello! I’m the manager of this bar, Liu Changyong. Let’s step aside and talk.”

Xu Biao glanced at him and pushed away the business card he was offering.

“If I were you, the only thing you should be doing now is stopping those who were fighting and protecting the scene. Who the hell has a wall that suddenly gets smashed open to reveal a big hole—and something rotten inside?”

The man thought for a moment and realized Xu Biao was right. The building was leased, and the investment was huge. Whatever was inside the wall, even if unrelated to them, would definitely impact future business.

It was better to minimize the spread of the incident now and avoid irreversible losses. After thinking it through, he turned around and ordered all security guards to maintain order and block off the area. He also instructed the host to announce the show’s immediate end and that all fees would be waived.

Although some customers were dissatisfied, the earlier chaos caused by the fire extinguisher had been frightening enough, and they began to leave one after another.

The two groups of fighters had already fled toward the fire escape next to the restroom, but the door was locked. Holding out until the police arrived shouldn’t be a problem.

Ten minutes later, Chu Menghan arrived at the scene with her team, looking puzzled at the four of them. Since they had been seated near the incident, all four were now covered in white powder.

“What happened to you all?”

Zhou Hai glanced at her. The command center must have already contacted her.

“There’s a body inside the wall. Arrange for personnel to clear the scene immediately.”

Chu Menghan knew Zhou Hai never lied in such matters and waved her hand.

“Captain Wang, take the team and clear the scene. Xiao Liang, follow him and learn the procedure.”

Soon, the scene quieted down. The lights were fully turned on. Fengzi went downstairs to retrieve the forensic kit from Zhou Hai’s car and brought it up, muttering:

“This thing is always in the car… the captain’s taste is really strange.”

Xu Biao had already climbed over to examine the hole. Although it was dark inside, he could still make out a large plastic bag tightly wrapped within the wall.

The surrounding concrete was almost seamlessly fixed around the top of the bag. The part where the extinguisher struck was a looser section in the middle of the packaging—likely because the wall there was thinner and got broken through.

“Boss Hai, what do we do? The bag can’t be pulled out. We’ll have to widen the opening.”

Zhou Hai picked up a piece of chalk and marked the approximate position of the bag inside the wall, outlining its shape.

“Break it. Remove this entire section.”

Xu Biao’s cheeks twitched. He pointed at himself.

“I’m doing the smashing? We don’t even have proper tools.”

The bar manager rushed over.

“Please wait! I’ll have someone bring an electric jackhammer. We just finished renovation—many tools are still stored on the seventh floor.”

Shortly after, several men came running with electric jackhammers.

A harsh, piercing sound filled the air as the solid concrete was cut along Zhou Hai’s marked lines.

The entire wall section collapsed toward a pile of rubble. Police and security rushed forward and carefully lowered it.

However, the stench in the bar intensified again, and many security guards began squatting and retching.

Zhou Hai crouched beside the bag, examining it with a strong flashlight.

The bag had turned black and opaque. From its shape, it was clearly a corpse that had been sealed inside this wall for a long time.

Neck, torso, and legs were all tightly bound with red copper wires. Each knot was wrapped multiple times, and there were horizontal marks suggesting they had been tightened with pliers.

The entire package was airtight. The top was folded over and tied with two more copper wires, sealed with extreme care.

Zhou Hai scraped off a piece of concrete stuck to the bag and placed it into an evidence pouch, then collected several more pieces that were not directly in contact with the body.

He stood up and looked at Chu Menghan.

“Has the transport vehicle been arranged?”

Chu Menghan nodded.

“Yes, but… is there only one body? Didn’t Xiao Liang say the entire wall was filled with bodies? So I arranged six transport vehicles.”

Zhou Hai frowned and looked at Xiao Liang.

“Have you been watching too many supernatural films? A wall full of bodies? What is this, Auschwitz?”

Xu Biao crouched behind Zhou Hai and let out a pig-like laugh. Realizing everyone was staring at him, he awkwardly rubbed his nose and stood up, holding his temple.

“Uh… continue, I think the chemicals in the corpse odor are affecting my brain. Don’t mind me.”

Footsteps sounded behind them. Wang Man arrived with his team, bringing the people involved in the fight from the corridor. All of them had lost their earlier arrogance and now crouched obediently like quails against the wall.

Their outfits were strange and colorful, with dyed hair in every shade. Some even wore eye makeup. The only common feature was that they all had ear piercings with odd earrings.

Xu Biao’s jaw trembled as he looked at them.

Chu Menghan’s boots clicked sharply as she scanned the group.

“Captain Wang, take them back to the station. Hand them over to the public order division. Question all of them thoroughly and check if they are connected to today’s incident.”

Wang Man led the group away. The bar manager, who had been standing nearby, stepped forward with a forced smile.

“Leader, can we clean up here? We still need to open tomorrow.”

Chu Menghan looked back at him.

“Open for business? The scene is temporarily sealed. Come with Captain Wang and give a statement about the property lease.”

The manager’s eyes widened.

“What?! You’re sealing the entire scene?”