When the four arrived and stood outside an apartnt unit on the seventeenth floor, the door opened to reveal a woman in her late thirties, holding a baby boy in her arms. She looked at them with a slight smile on her face. However, it was obvious that she hadn't been faring well these days, given how pale her face looked.
The mont the mother welcod them, a scream only Shen Minyao, Jiang Chen, and Li Fei'er heard ca from the inside. They were greeted by a heavy atmosphere that almost suffocated Li Fei'er, so much that she needed to dry-heave and stood behind Shen Minyao.
"Miss Xia, thank you for accepting our request for the interview," Jiang Chen said in a professional tone. "These are my assistant, Lu Anqi, and my fellow consultants, Miss Shen and Miss Li."
"I didn't expect that your team would consist of young people," the woman called Miss Xia spoke, looking at the three won wearing the sa school uniform her deceased daughter used to wear.
"Miss Xia, although they are young, they are capable," Jiang Chen nonchalantly explained, "For instance, Miss Li here ca from a long line of a shaman family that is known to protect Jiang City for generations, while Miss Shen here has the ability to distinguish demons and spirits and can drive them away."
"Oh, dear . Forgive for doubting you. Please co inside. You must be feeling cold with this bad weather," Miss Xia said and allowed them to get inside. She then led them to the small living area.
As they entered Bai Xinran's apartnt, the intense hatred they sensed beca more prominent. Jiang Chen, Li Fei'er, and Lu Anqi sat with Miss Xia; while Shen Minyao looked around. Then, her eyes stopped at the closed bedroom door, the room where she assud Bai Xinran took her own life.
"Should we start the interview?" Miss Xia asked, looking worriedly at her son who chose to play on his own on the floor with his toys.
Although her relationship with her deceased daughter hadn't been good, Bai Xinran adored her little half-brother and tried to spoil him whenever she and her son paid her daughter a visit.
Lu Anqi set up a video recorder on top of the glass coffee table and hit the recording button. This ti, it would be Jiang Chen who would conduct the interview.
"Miss Xia, could you tell us what kind of daughter Bai Xinran was?"
"Ranran was a happy child, full of sunshine when she was growing up. She loved making friends, and she always excelled in school even at a young age. However, when she found out the truth… that my marriage with her father is fake, she started to distance herself from us. She refused to talk to and to her father, giving us a cold shoulder."
By this ti, Miss Xia broke into tears as she rembered the past. As much as she loved her daughter, she felt like she had failed Bai Xinran when she was still alive. If it wasn't for Miss Xia's guilt and grief over her daughter's death, she wouldn't consider accepting Jiang Chen's interview.
Jiang Chen introduced himself as a paranormal investigator who stumbled upon the cursed webnovel case, the material known to kill its readers around the world.
When she heard from him that it was her deceased daughter that wrote the said webnovel, Miss Xia was in disbelief. She refused to believe that her daughter would think of bringing harm to others, no matter how upset Ranran was.
"When her father and I decided to separate three years ago, Ranran refused to live with either of us. That was why we decided to buy this apartnt and allowed her to live on her own, but I made sure to visit her every three days to check if she was faring well. Then, I got married to my new husband and gave birth to Ranran's brother."
"What do you know about her writing hobby, Miss Xia? Did Bai Xinran ntion anything to you?" Jiang Chen asked, but his eyes followed Shen Minyao who had been checking every nook of the apartnt shalessly.
What was the demon up to? He wondered, but he pushed this thought aside in favor of focusing on the interview with Bai Xinran's mother.
"I'm actually surprised when you told our Ranran is the author of that cursed webnovel. She never told about it," Miss Xia answered truthfully, "Wait… I think Ranran said that Xiao Si is the one writing novels online, not her. I rember her telling she wanted to ask Xiao Si for a signed copy of her book."
"Miss Xia, do you an Liang Sisi? Bai Xinran's childhood friend?" Lu Anqi asked in shock. She then turned to face Li Fei'er who had the sa reaction as her.
How co Liang Sisi never told them this piece of information earlier? Did she hide it purposely? They wondered.
"Yes, that's her. Ranran and Xiao Si have known each other since fourth grade. I actually feel bad for that child. It must be traumatic for her to see our Ranran hanging from the ceiling." Miss Xia wiped her tears dry and smiled when she felt her son touch her knee.
"I'm fine, darling," she murmured to the child and kissed the top of his head. "I'm just missing your Jiejie terribly."
Jiang Chen hardened his jaws. His eyes then t Shen Minyao's, the girl looking at him with understanding. He knew from the police record that it was indeed Liang Sisi who found Bai Xinran's body first. She also called Miss Xia to inform the mother of what she had seen.
However, the fact that Liang Sisi purposely hid so details during their interview made them very suspicious of her right now.
"Mr.. Jiang, did Miss Bai's body get an autopsy?" Shen Minyao asked and pushed the bedroom door open with a slight creaking sound.
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