The next day around noon, Lazy Three who still had a headache from his hangover was dragged to the basent by Sis Wang. She needed to grab sothing there but as a woman from the countryside, she was superstitious and firmly believed an evil spirit had been responsible for the case. Therefore, she didnt dare go by herself despite it being the middle of the day.
As she put it: n have more abundant yang energy.
Lazy Three had no choice but to accompany her to the basent. But the closer they got, the more his hairs stood up. He wanted to leave imdiately but did not. He didnt want others to say he wasnt even a man. More importantly, he had lived in this place for half his life. There had never been any supernatural occurrences. He refused to believe sothing ghoulish would appear for no reason. This place was also his ans of living and nothing could happen to it. Even if sothing did happen, he had to deal with it right away.
There had been a light in the hallway to the basent, but it hadnt been replaced after it broke. However, it was a sunny day so it was only a little murky.
Crash! A loud noise suddenly rang out, seeming even more startling in the emptiness. Lazy Three suffered a huge shock. Sis Wang who was walking in front also stumbled to a halt, making Lazy Three practically collide against her.
What happened? Lazy Three was a little annoyed. He realized the noise had co from Sis Wang dropping the ring of keys onto the floor. Really, people get frightened to death by other people, not ghosts!
Door.door. Sis Wang pointed straight ahead. She only said two words, her voice trembling. Her feet no longer moved.
Lazy Three looked over and saw that the door was open. There were a few pieces of joss paper scattered on the floor.
Ever since the police had investigated the scene and given the place back to him, he had kept this place locked. It was locked with several locks. Otherwise, Sis Wang wouldnt have needed such a large chain of keys. However, the door was currently open without any marks of forced entry. The joss paper was even more inexplicable. His parents had passed away early and no one had died here in two decades.1 Where did the joss paper co from?
As he stood frozen, Sis Wang suddenly yelled out in understanding. She turned and ran, actually sending Lazy Three staggering and almost falling.
For an instant he also wanted to run after her. Strangely however, he didnt do so. It wasnt clear what he was thinking. Perhaps it was an inexplicable attraction that made him slowly approach.
He had just reached the door when he sensed sothing shadowy swaying there. A slow creaking could be heard, making Lazy Threes legs grow weak. He almost sank to the floor.
Cold sweat dripped and he didnt know whether he should run or go inside to take a proper look. He remained frozen there for a long while. The shadow and the sound echoed persistently within the room, rhythmically, steadily, unhurriedly. It didnt seem like it would stop and nothing scary ca out. His curiosity got the better of him.
There cant be a ghost in the middle of the day!
Lazy Three kept this thought in mind as he slowly stuck his head out for a look.
The light from outside shone in from the old, narrow little window. Because it passed through the dirty patterned glass, the light that ca in was extrely dim, giving the room a musty air. A ray of light happened to shine upon the bed were the murder occurred. Soone was lying there at this mont covered in the thick blankets, unmoving. Only the head was exposed and as still as the dead.
Or perhaps it was truly the dead.
Furthermore, the rooms sturdy, outdated ceiling fan was actually turned on in the middle of winter. It spun slowly, and was the source of the swaying shadow and creaking.
Or rather, the source was the naked girl hanging upon the fan.
When Lazy Three looked up, the girl hanging there happened to revolve around so she was facing him. He imdiately recognized the girl he had encountered by the stairs last night.
At this mont, her face was bruised and blackened. She bled from her seven apertures and her tongue was extended. Her eyes bulged as they glared at the person who had co!
Lazy Three sucked in a cold breath and scrambled out. He no longer cared about his manly image or his inns reputation. He scread loudly: Theres been another murder! Soone has died again!
This ti the police arrived at noon so there were even more spectators. However, no one could get any information. They only saw Lazy Three sitting sluggishly on the bench in front of the small flowerbed muttering to himself. What good buddies did I provoke? Why are they harming so? Theyre purposefully cutting off my ans of living! What a tragedywhat a tragedy It wasnt clear if he was referring to himself or the victims.
No matter what, his inn wouldnt be open for a while. The police now had another pressing case on their hands. The investigation into the closed-room murder had gone nowhere. Although the setup wasnt as skillful this ti, there was still no evidence left behind.
The girl this ti had also engaged in sexual activity prior to her death. It was also not rape, but rather with her boyfriend. However, she was also naked when she died and her body was covered with bruises in the shape of small, irregular handprints. She had died from suffocation and terror as before. The process of suffocation was clearer than the last case. She had been hanged alive.
The boy lying in bed was covered by the blanket. Although they figured the scene underneath would be horrifying and disgusting, they still didnt expect to see what they found: the boy had been dissected. His entire chest had been opened up and his organs were completely rearranged. He had been bled dry, his blood soaking the thick mattress.
Had they been murdered at the sa ti or one after the other? Why did none of the five people upstairs hear any cries for help? Why were there no signs of struggle? Why the perverse actions towards the female victim but without any rape? The lock on the door showed no signs of being forced. And what was going on with the joss paper? Was soone purposefully trying to stir the imagination or was there so other aning?
The scene made it seem like this was a serial murder, but there werent any suspects. It also wasnt clear why the murderer chose young couples at this inn as the targets.
These two cases werent just savage, they were perverse!
I feel this is the work of so sociopath. A police officer said during the investigations eting.
But the small size of those handprints must also be considered. It would an the perpetrators strength does not match a normal persons. Another said.
Also, where is the murder weapon for the second case? Why isnt there the slightest evidence? There is no such thing as the perfect murder in this world! Soone else said.
It essentially isnt humanly possible! This was their initial conclusion after considering what they had on hand.
In the end, the case remained once again unresolved. Winter vacation and the New Year ca one after the other but the love motel didnt open again during these two months.
***
After the New Year, Xiao Xia received a new task. One of the citys major corporations, the Everplenty Group, needed so legal affairs handled at their subsidiary in City A. They werent willing to hire a local lawyer whom they felt might be unreliable, and thus asked the Vast Sky law firm to assign a lawyer there for two months as legal representative and consultant.
The Everplenty Group was one of the Vast Sky law firms regular clients. Of course they couldnt be refused. The firms lawyers were all either busy with important cases or had families they couldnt leave behind. Therefore, the solitary marginalized person Yue Xiao Xia undertook this assignnt.
The job is very simple but the pay is pretty good. Youve only been taking criminal cases recently so its a good chance to relax and do so sightseeing. I hear City A has so good natural scenery and cultural places. The director said.
Xiao Xia nodded.
She wasnt against this assignnt. It truly was relatively easy work. Although the others would once again say that the director was being biased towards soone lagging like her, she was prepared to accept it.
She had just wanted to travel abroad to get away from her worries and adjust her emotions. When such a good opportunity fell upon her head, she naturally accepted without hesitation. It wasnt her fault her dumb luck had always been good!
Two months had passed since the events around Christmas. She still felt extrely awkward and didnt dare stop by the Nocturnal Revenant.
How embarrassing!
Only after mustering up her courage and vaguely declaring her feelings did she find out he had always just viewed her as a friend. Being friends was fine. She just had to bury her feelings in her heart. Its just a crush, whats the big deal? Think about it. Liking soone without that person knowing. Isnt it romantic? Just because she liked soone doesnt an that person was obligated to reciprocate. She understood this reasoning, and could also accept it. But that misunderstanding had been too embarrassing. She could only hope he hadnt understood her aning. She would feel better that way.
But he was so smart and sharp. How could he not have understood!?
This thought lingered in Xiao Xias mind, making her avoid everything to do with Ruan Zhan as though she had a guilty conscience. However, she really wanted to see him. She really wanted to see those occasionally distant yet occasionally gentle eyes.
She got ho and was packing the things for her trip when her phone rang. Looking at the number, her heart almost leapt out of her chest. It was the Nocturnal Revenants number.
She anxiously took several deep breaths before picking up, but the voice on the other end made her relax once again.
It was the Nocturnal Revenants servers, Liu Tie and Ni Yang. Due to the winter holidays, they had gone back ho for a period. During this ti, Ruan Zhan had hired so local college students as temporary servers. Once the holiday period was over, he had subbed the two back in.
The mont they returned, they made a fuss about wanting to see big sis Xiao Xia. However, since they had class and Xiao Xia had work during the day, they could only ask her to co to the bar to et them.
Hearing Xiao Xias unconvincing excuses, the glib Ni Yang said: That wont do sis Xiao Xia, you have to co. Ive brought so local specialties from my hotown for you. If you dont co, my poor little hearts going to suffer a blow.
Also, also Liu Tie snatched the phone over. Ive had a crush on sis Xiao Xia for so many years. Shouldnt you at least co soothe my yearning!?
Xiao Xia started laughing. She was really helpless against these two!
Ni Yang had always been talkative. Liu Tie used to be a little shy. After becoming taciturn for a period of ti following the Bloody Mary case, he had beco lively and cheerful for so reason.
Wan Li called it excavating the inner personality.
Unable to withstand their pestering, Xiao Xia finally agreed. In her heart, the person she wanted to go see was soone else. That person who made her unable to sit still. After all, she was going to City A for business and would be so far from him. However, she lied to herself and said she was being forced by those two youngsters.
As Wan Li said: people loved lying to themselves because it was even easier than lying to others.
Well
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