Chapter 713: Moving Wax Figures
Xie Ling took out a string of illumination props.
Behind the wax figures was the main venue, but the first room that appeared was likely only a part of it, covering no more than a hundred square meters. Wax figures in various walking poses were evenly distributed throughout the room, differing in age and attire, though some were covered with white cloth.
Xu Ruosi reached out and pulled off a piece of white cloth, inspected it, and said, "No different from the other wax figures."
Xu Huo and the others also examined the wax figures in this room, dismantling what needed to be dismantled. There was no possibility of hidden corpses.
Next, they moved to the second room. Like the previous one, only a few small lamps of various colors were arranged in the corners, making the lighting feel oppressive. However, when Xie Ling shone her prop on it, the entire room became bright again.
As before, the room was filled with wax figures of various styles, but this time they were either kneeling or lying prone, their limb movements and expressions appearing pained. Some had broken arms and legs scattered on the ground.
"Have you noticed that these wax figures are the same as the ones in the previous room?" Xie Ling swallowed nervously. "The clothing and numbers match."
"Not just that," Xu Ruosi said. "The broken wax figures in this room are the ones we smashed earlier."
The wax figures were hollow, and most could be judged by weight alone to contain nothing inside, so they hadn't dismantled all of them.
But who would have thought that the figures they broke in the previous room would be broken here too, and in the exact same spots?
Long Aotian crushed one underfoot. "There's no sensing device inside."
"Then how did the wax figures break?" Xie Ling looked at the others with unease. "Could there be a ghost in the wax museum?"
The group gave her a speechless look. Bai Wenxian said, "Instead of worrying about ghosts, it's better to consider whether there are other players here. Just because we didn't run into anyone when we came in doesn't mean no one arrived first."
"I have a question," Long Aotian said. "Even if there are players hiding here to scare us, they'd have to know which wax figures we damaged. No one approached us earlier."
"It might not be a person." Xu Huo walked to the wall and inspected it, then pried open the baseboard to find the wiring inside. Based on the distribution, the wires seemed to connect to the bases of the wax figures.
He lifted a wax figure in the corner—one half-crouching with an arm raised as if begging for help—and set it aside. The displaced figure immediately slid along the gaps between the other figures, moving to the broken ones and tapping them with its raised arm.
"The feet of the wax figures are likely connected to sensing devices under the floor," Xu Huo said. "When we break a figure in the previous room, the wax figures here automatically break the corresponding ones. The positions look identical, but they're only approximate."
"The beauty of this method is that it's hard to detect. In theory, only one wax figure needs to move."
"But judging by the amount of wiring underneath, other figures should be able to move too."
"If there's wiring under the floor, could the bodies be buried below?" Bai Wenxian pried open the floorboards with a tool and inserted a thermometer-like device into the painted wiring channel. After a moment, the prop beeped twice, and he stood up, shaking his head.
"There are wires everywhere down there. Such small gaps couldn't hide a body." Long Aotian walked over. "Can that thing of yours detect underground? Maybe the bodies were buried in the soil during renovations."
"That's unlikely," Xu Ruosi said. "The disappearances didn't happen all at once but gradually over time. If someone buried bodies during construction, the target would be too obvious. Besides, the Museum City can't have renovation sites year-round, let alone excavation work. Those places would be the first to be searched."
"Actually, I've been thinking—disappearances don't necessarily mean there are bodies," Xie Ling said.
There were too many ways to dispose of a body.
"No bodies means the methods of death could vary widely. And with such a high frequency of disappearances, it's unlikely to be the work of a single serial killer," Xu Ruosi said.
"Possible," Long Aotian agreed. "The person who built the Museum City had a genetic disease, so his son likely has it too. If the father dared to conduct human experiments, why wouldn't the son? He just wouldn't be as blatant."
"In that case, the bodies would be concentrated in one place, not scattered across the city," Bai Wenxian said. "Otherwise, it would be too easy to expose."
"What if there really are no bodies?" Xie Ling said. "I think, if it were me, with a precedent like that, I'd find a way to prevent anyone from finding evidence."
"What do you think?" Bai Wenxian asked Xu Huo, who had remained silent.
"I think both are possible," Xu Huo said. "Whether there are bodies or whether they're hidden in the Museum City is uncertain. The Museum City allows entry and exit when open, so moving bodies out wouldn't be difficult."
"Instead of searching for bodies, we could focus on the cause of the disappearances."
"The main cause should be human experiments," Xie Ling said. "With the genetic disease background, it's not strange for the son to follow in his father's footsteps. Using live subjects for experiments is possible. But the mystery of the disappearances doesn't seem to point to that."
"The cause of the disappearances is worth digging into, but I don't think it's necessarily the work of one person," Xu Ruosi offered his opinion. "Frequent disappearances would inevitably catch someone's attention. This place, under the protection of a big boss, a tourist destination with high personnel turnover, is very deceptive. It's not impossible for criminals to choose this spot."
"The clearance mission's mystery of the disappearances might involve multiple factors."
"If that's the case, we might actually find bodies," Xie Ling said.
"Regardless, bodies provide the most direct evidence. Let's keep searching and pay attention to other clues along the way," Bai Wenxian said.
"I think the Strange Tales Night Talk is next to the Wax Museum. After we finish here, we'll check that out, and then search the shops when we leave," Long Aotian said.
The group exchanged a few more brief analyses before heading to the next room. The third room was similar to the first two, but all the wax figures were in a "death" state—each lying on the ground covered with white cloth. When lifted, the bodies even had detailed livor mortis.
"So realistic," Xie Ling said, crouching down to look.
To be safe, they inspected every wax figure before moving on.
Unexpectedly, the next room was directly arranged as a funeral hall. Dozens of coffins were neatly lined up, each containing a wax figure with a smiling face and rosy cheeks, all wearing uniform burial clothes and hats. Nearby were wax wreaths and other funeral items.
The air conditioner hummed loudly, and cold wind blew up from the floor.