Chapter 51: Retiring from the Circle, Fifty-first Day I Have Experience of Scaring People as a Ghost...
After leaving Yan's house, Kong Xingyan was responsible for sending Sang Qiqi back to the funeral service.
Ever since he learned about the connection between the six cases in the study, Kong Xingyan had been somewhat silent. He hesitated for a long time before asking Sang Qiqi, "Do you think the evil spirit possessing the old man could be Meng Zhengxiang?"
Sang Qiqi was also thinking about this issue.
Meng Zhengxiang harbored a grudge against the victim over such a trivial incident in the restaurant, remaining visibly angry even after seeing him days later, and resorting to murder. This clearly demonstrates his pettiness. Furthermore, considering Yan Jingrui, the detective who initially pursued him and the one responsible for demanding his immediate execution, it's entirely logical that Meng Zhengxiang would harbor such a grudge to this day, and choose to target Mr. Yan first.
"Meng Zhengxiang was often beaten and scolded by his father as a child, and he chose to kill cats and abuse dogs to vent his anger. When he was arrested, he even claimed that the people in the restaurant looked down on him, otherwise they wouldn't have accused him and argued with him over a sanitation worker. He's a bit of a sociopath. If he really took the old man's ghost away..."
The old man's condition is indeed not good.
Thinking of this, Kong Xingyan tightened his grip on the steering wheel slightly.
But at this moment, no matter how much we speculate, it will be of no use. We can only wait until the evil ghost is caught and then interrogate him.
After bidding farewell to Kong Xingyan at the funeral home, Sang Qiqi returned to the underworld and asked Lin Yanluo for the soul-capturing list for the five deceased on the day of their deaths. It was blank, with no indication of any ghost officials heading to Kunnan or Yangyuan to capture souls. She also looked at the list for the day of the five "murderers"' deaths, which was also blank.
After hearing what had happened, Lin Yanluo frowned and concluded, "It seems that the detective's guess was correct. The ghosts of these ten people haven't returned to the underworld. Most likely, evil spirits possessed them, killed them, and devoured their souls."
Whether it is a living soul or a ghost after death, it is an excellent tonic for evil spirits.
So, look at it this way——
"These five cases occurred within a period of no more than three months, and that evil ghost has devoured no fewer than ten ghosts. I imagine its power should not be underestimated. If it's not caught quickly, it's likely to wreak havoc on the world."
Sang Qiqi thought so too.
But she couldn't help but add a few more words: "Isn't the ghost catcher in our underworld really that powerful? People die, their souls are eaten by evil spirits, and there's not even a report on the matter. Is that right?"
Lin Yanluo: "There are only a few ghost messengers in the entire underworld. How can they cover all parts of the country and be comprehensive? Even if they stare at the Book of Life and Death all day long, it is not realistic. There are so many volumes that ten large halls cannot hold them all. It is a bit difficult for ghosts to accurately find the names and identities of the dying or the recently deceased. Moreover..."
Lin Yanluo paused, glanced at Sang Qiqi, and raised his eyebrows: "Among the ghost messengers, there are many people like Yu Peng."
When Sang Qiqi heard the name Yu Peng, she couldn't help but curl her lips.
Lin Yanluo had originally been disgusted with Yu Peng's exploitation of his family to get by in the underworld, so he kicked him out and went after Sang Qiqi. Later, when Sang Qiqi took over as an employee of the First Hall of the Underworld, she and Yu Peng had a few encounters. Perhaps resentful of Sang Qiqi for having "taken" his job, Yu Peng was always sarcastic and mocking when he saw Sang Qiqi.
Fortunately, Sang Qiqi is also a person who gets angry easily. She will not tolerate being ridiculed at all. If Yu Peng dares to scold her, she will hit him.
Yu Peng asked his uncle to avenge him, so Sang Qiqi hanged herself on the road that countless ghosts had to take to reincarnate, howling like the King of Hell, using her status to pressure people. Her voice was as loud as a 3D surround sound system, making Yu Peng and his uncle turn around and run away when they saw Sang Qiqi, like mice seeing a cat.
After all, you can't win by fighting, and you can't get over the crazy one, so you can only suffer losses.
Sang Qiqi lamented that the underworld was indeed full of incompetents. In the end, she could only pat Lin Yanluo on the shoulder and console him, "How about this? Next time, see if there are any ghosts among the ghost catchers who are good at computers, and have them upgrade our underworld's office system. How about changing the Book of Life and Death into a Cyber Book of Life and Death?"
As she spoke, she felt a flood of ideas forming in her head, and her eyes lit up. "The simplest idea is to make a table. When a living person's lifespan expires, the computer will beep and sound an alarm. Wouldn't that allow the ghost officer to immediately find the deceased's soul according to the information in the Book of Life and Death?"
If this cannot be found, it only proves that the ghost either ran away on its own or met with an accident. After recording it, the underworld will also pay attention to it.
The more Sang Qiqi thought about it, the more she felt that this was a great idea.
She decisively boasted about herself: "I am simply a genius."
Lin Yanluo: "...Then I'll leave the task of finding a kid who's good at computers to you."
Sang Qiqi: "You want to leave all this to me? Why don't you just look through the Book of Life and Death and see if there's anyone with computer skills whose lifespan is about to end? Then wait for him to die and bring him back, right?"
Lin Yanluo: “…”
It makes sense, but it sounds really horrible.
He exhaled, threw the gavel at Sang Qiqi's forehead, and urged: "Stop nagging and do your work."
Sang Qiqi raised her hand and threw the gavel back. The gavel landed on Lin Yanluo's trial table with a clang and smashed a hole with another bang.
Lin Yanluo was silent for two seconds, then roared, "You little bitch, pay me back!"
Sang Qiqi, who had already run away, covered her ears and refused to listen. It was just a turtle chanting.
-
Yan family.
After Mr. Yan's funeral, Yan Jingrui took a week off. He stood quietly before the old man's portrait, staring at it for a long time before returning to his study to continue reading information about Meng Zhengxiang.
Five years ago, Meng Zhengxiang was shot dead, and the case was closed. Yan Jingrui had completely forgotten about him. But now, knowing that Meng Zhengxiang's ghost was suspected of still causing trouble, Yan Jingrui wanted to study him again, hoping to find some clues.
Time passed by second by second, and Yan Jingrui's attention gradually focused on the information of Meng's father.
Meng Zhengxiang's mother died early, and without her protection, Meng Zhengxiang was often beaten and scolded by his father. According to the neighbors, they could hear the banging and banging sounds coming from the Meng family's house every other day, as well as the screams and wails of children. Later, Meng Zhengxiang grew up and became stronger, so his father dared not provoke him anymore. However, Meng's father was addicted to alcohol, and when he drank too much, he would uncontrollably curse at Meng Zhengxiang, saying that Meng Zhengxiang was a waste, a useless person, and could not provide others with a good life.
Whenever Meng Zhengxiang got annoyed by the nagging, he would smash Meng's father's wine bottle with one hand and point the sharp end at Meng's father's eyes, just like he did that day in the restaurant.
Most of the time, Father Meng would sense the impending danger and naturally stop talking. But sometimes, the alcohol completely filled his brain, soaking his nerves, making him unable to distinguish between day and night, let alone stop at the brink. Then, the sharp broken bottle would pierce his thigh like crazy.
Because of this kind of thing, Meng's father went to the hospital several times.
But he didn't remember the beating and always cried to his fellow patients in the hospital ward, saying that his son had violent tendencies, did not respect his parents, could not make money, and was a typical loser.
This was heard by Meng Zhengxiang, who was pretending to visit Meng's father in the hospital. The patient didn't know why, but felt that it was unacceptable for Meng Zhengxiang, as a child, to attack his own father, so he gave Meng Zhengxiang a lecture. Meng Zhengxiang just smiled at him, then punched Meng's father in the nose. Blood spurted out a meter away, staining the entire quilt red. The patient was so frightened that he called the police with trembling hands.
This exaggerated and outrageous thing finally came to an end after Meng Zhengxiang's death.
When Mr. Meng learned of his son's death, he kept smiling every day. The villagers couldn't help but marvel at his appearance.
Rare, very rare.
The first time I saw my son die, I wanted to set off fireworks to celebrate.
But this good time did not last long.
Yan Jingrui's gaze moved to the far right side of the document, which recorded the time of Meng's father's death, which was a rainy night four months ago.
That evening, Meng's father died on the way home from drinking with his friends. The next morning, a village worker who was responsible for taking out the garbage discovered his body and called the police.
Yan Jingrui called the local police. When they heard the name 'Meng Zhixue,' the caller was stunned, clearly having forgotten it. However, as Yan Jingrui revealed more and more information, the police officer suddenly said, "Oh, you know him? I remember him, I remember. At first, we all thought Meng Zhixue died because he was drunk and slipped and fell in the rain. Later, we retrieved nearby surveillance footage and found that this was not the case at all."
"Can I have the surveillance?"
"This...may require me to file a report to the higher-ups."
"certainly."
Despite the formalities of filing a report, Yan Jingrui didn't have to wait long; he had the surveillance video within an hour. Local police said the road where Meng Zhixue died had just been renovated two months prior, with new streetlights, surveillance cameras, and other safety features. Therefore, the video capturing Meng Zhixue was relatively clear.
The bright street lights seemed a little hazy and blurred because of the heavy rain in the evening. Meng Zhixue walked slowly on the roadside with an umbrella. He seemed to be in a good mood, but his steps were a little unsteady, probably because he drank too much.
Suddenly, he seemed to hear some strange sound, and turned his head sharply, and the umbrella above his head was pressed back, trying to open up more vision to find the source of the sound.
But it didn't work.
He frowned and put the umbrella back above his head, turned around, and quickened his pace.
Less than a minute later, he nervously turned around, pressed down his parachute, and looked around.
At that moment, his gaze fixed on a point in the northeast. Then, his pupils gradually dilated, and his expression became terrified. With a snap, the umbrella in his hand was carelessly discarded to the ground. He took off, running towards the corner ahead at a breakneck speed, as if pursued by a wolf.
But his luck was really bad.
Just as he was about to reach the corner, he stepped on a stone. Then, Meng Zhixue's body fell backward uncontrollably. With a thud, the back of his head hit the ground, hitting the corner of the ditch beside the road. Blood flowed out from the gaping hole in the back of his head, and was quickly washed into the ditch by the rain.
Not long after, Meng Zhixue fell silent.
Yan Jingrui watched the video several times before sending it to Sang Qiqi, asking, "Is he possessed by evil spirits?"
Sang Qiqi replied: "It's about the same. Either he drank too much and was hallucinating, or he saw a ghost. I personally lean towards the latter."
Yan Jingrui actually leaned towards the latter, but he asked an extra question: "Why?"
Sang Qiqi: "Because I have experience."
Yan Jingrui: “?”
The girl's voice sounded quite natural through the microphone. She said, "When I scare people like a ghost, they react just like Meng Zhixue."
Yan Jingrui: “…”
Wait, did you just say something you shouldn't have?
For a moment, Yan Jingrui didn't know whether he should be shocked by the words "I'm a ghost" or by Sang Qiqi's great achievements in scaring people.
After calming down, Yan Jingrui tried to turn his attention back to Meng Zhixue and Meng Zhengxiang. "If it's the latter, I have reason to suspect Meng Zhixue was frightened by Meng Zhengxiang's ghost. And if it's Meng Zhengxiang's ghost that haunted his father and frightened him to death, it shows how vengeful he is. I suspect those in the restaurant that day also met with a bad end."
Sang Qiqi was stunned and had a bad feeling in her heart.
Yan Jingrui's concerns are entirely possible.
"I'll check it out first and contact you then."
"OK."
After hanging up the phone, Sang Qiqi frowned, staring blankly at the paper crafts in the store. Zhang Lin, who was helping pack, saw her absent-minded look and, a little worried, put down his work. He put his hand in front of her and gently shook it. Before he could shake it a second time, Sang Qiqi grabbed his wrist.
She withdrew her thoughts and glared at Zhang Lin: "What?"
Zhang Lin curled his lips and said, "No, I thought your soul had drifted away, so I wanted to take the opportunity to slack off."
Sang Qiqi snorted and didn't take his words seriously.
This guy had just pushed open the door of her funeral service, wearing the body of a stranger, and said, "Boss, give me three thousand yuan worth of paper-made figures," acting like a domineering CEO. But Sang Qiqi took a quick glance and saw a familiar face hiding under the stranger's body.
She didn't expose him right away, but smiled and pointed at the shelves in the store and said, "Pick for yourself."
Zhang Lin muttered to himself, "Why is this woman so unenthusiastic towards a major customer?" He remained impassive as he walked over to the shelf and began to pick and choose. His eyes fixed on a particular urn. At the same time, Sang Qiqi's voice echoed behind him, "This Ultraman urn is from the same series as the one you took last time. How about it? Do you like it? Want to complete the set? How about a 20% discount?"
Zhang Lin: "...When did you figure that out?"
Seeing the kid's face flush, Sang Qiqi clicked her tongue twice: "I saw it the moment you came, you little brat, you want to trick me? Maybe in your next life."
Zhang Lin: “…”
Sang Qiqi circled around him twice and asked curiously, "Where did this body come from? It looks like it just died not long ago. It's still quite fresh."
Zhang Lin thought this sounded strange, but he didn't think much of it. He simply answered truthfully, "It belonged to an orphan who had just reached adulthood at a nearby welfare home. After the ghost officer captured his soul, he found no one to deal with his body, so Lord Lin Yan asked me if I wanted this body."
Of course Zhang Lin wants it.
With a body, I can move freely between the human world and the underworld like Sang Qiqi, and it will be more convenient to visit my parents then.
So he took the orphan's body. In exchange, he would take care of the orphan's food, clothing, housing and transportation during the period of his reincarnation. The three thousand yuan worth of paper-made items were what Zhang Lin planned to burn for the orphan.
"Is that so? Lin Yanluo has pretty good taste. This body looks pretty good." Sang Qiqi nodded with satisfaction and pointed at the paper figurines, saying, "Then you can choose one and burn it yourself."
Then there was this scene before our eyes.
Although Zhang Lin was still only a young boy, his growth rate in the past few days since his death was astonishing. Even tasks like packing were performed with remarkable skill. Sang Qiqi sat cross-legged in front of him, taking in the large villa. She asked curiously, "So, what are Lin Yanluo's plans for you now?"
This is also the second reason why Zhang Lin came to find Sang Qiqi.
He said, "Lord Lin Yan said that your jade is on the way, but you may need a helper, so I came to ask you if you would mind having another helper."
Sang Qiqi: “…”
What does that mean? The guy she wants can't do odd jobs?
The person Lin Yanluo found for her was not a colleague, but a boss, right?
Muttering to herself, Sang Qiqi decided she should find time to ask Lin Yanluo what he meant. But facing Zhang Lin's expectant gaze, Sang Qiqi felt a little embarrassed to refuse. She raised her chin and said, "It's fine to hire someone as a handyman, but you can't be lazy. Besides, there's actually quite a lot of work in my shop. Can you accept that?"
Zhang Lin immediately raised his hand and swore, "I promise to do my job well. If I don't do it well, you can fire me at any time. I will have absolutely no complaints."
Sang Qiqi: "Then try working for a while and don't worry, I'll pay you regardless of whether you do a good job or not."
Yay!
Zhang Lin cheered in his heart, but remained calm on the surface. He nodded maturely and said simply, "Okay."
Sang Qiqi: "Laugh if you want to. You're just a kid, but you still want to act like a domineering CEO."
Zhang Lin: “…”
I don't feel like laughing now.
-
Considering that Zhang Lin was still young, Sang Qiqi didn't assign him any heavy work. He just did things like sweeping the floor, ordering takeout, packing and labeling.
Zhang Lin really worked hard and did a very good job, which made Sang Qiqi very satisfied.
After work, Zhang Lin pushed open the door of the storage room and planned to sort out the paper-made items piled up inside. Just as he was about to put his idea into action, Yanyan appeared in front of him with some small paper-made items. When she saw Zhang Lin's body, her eyes lit up.
Zhang Lin noticed her envious look, touched her head, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, when there is a suitable body, Lin Yanjun will notify you."
Yanyan nodded and smiled with her eyes curved: "I know."
As they were talking, Sang Qiqi poked her head out from behind the door. Seeing the two ghosts talking, she raised her eyebrows and said, "They're all here. I'm going to have some barbecue. Do you two want some?"
Neither child was interested in barbecue. Sang Qiqi lamented with regret, "To think there are people who don't like barbecue."
Then he happily threw the keys into Zhang Lin's arms, called Jingyu who had already gotten off work next door, and went to a nearby barbecue restaurant to eat barbecue.
"Haven't you been busy these past few days? How do you still have time for barbecue?" Jingyu's eyelids twitched as he looked at the skewers piled up like a mountain in front of him. He pointed at them and asked, "There are so many, can we finish them all?"
Sang Qiqi glanced at him, proving with her actions that she had a healthy appetite, and replied, "I'm just a little busy, so I need to relax. I've got Xiao Hei keeping an eye on the Yan family, just in case that evil spirit recognizes me and sees me and hides like a turtle, never to show up again."
Although they now roughly guessed the identity of the evil ghost, they knew very little about it.
I can only use Yan Jingrui to lure ghosts in an unkind way.
Sang Qiqi held her face up, thought for a moment, and then said, "But to be honest, if Meng Zhengxiang had a brain, he shouldn't have done anything like that recently."
Jingyu: "Then you should pray that he doesn't have a brain."
Sang Qiqi sighed: "Yeah, but it's too unreliable to hope that the other party is an idiot."
I always feel that this time the evil ghost is difficult to catch.
Sang Qiqi ate two more skewers and was about to move on to the third when her phone suddenly rang. Sang Qiqi turned around and saw the name "Yan Jingrui." She guessed the caller must have concluded their investigation, so she answered without hesitation.
"Ms. Sang."
"Has Officer Yan's investigation yielded any results?"
"Yeah." Yan Jingrui sat in his study. It was already dark outside, but the lights inside were exceptionally bright. The light fell on him, casting a shadow on the documents on the table. He looked at the densely packed words, exhaled slowly, and said to Sang Qiqi, "Things are pretty much as we expected. I investigated those young people who showed up at the restaurant that day to speak up for the sanitation workers... In addition to the victims from that year, there were seven other people. Of those seven, five have been killed."
Sang Qiqi suddenly felt that the barbecue with strong cumin and chili flavors in her mouth had lost its taste.
She swallowed the roast beef and asked, "What exactly happened?"
"Of these five, two are still students. One died suddenly in the lab, and another fell off a mountain while climbing; their bodies have yet to be found. The other three are young people already employed, two of them working for the same company. Two months ago, the Didi car they were riding in collided with a loaded truck, killing all three, including the driver, instantly. The remaining one jumped from the 20th floor twenty days ago and was completely shattered."
The voice fell into the ears of Sang Qiqi and Jing Yu. They looked at each other with ugly expressions.
But Yan Jingrui obviously hadn't finished speaking.
He paused for two seconds and then continued, "And the owner and his wife of the small restaurant."
Sang Qiqi frowned: "They didn't escape either?"
Yan Jingrui hummed, and in the silence he revealed a truth that shocked Sang Qiqi even more.
"Four years ago, the restaurant owner had some disagreements with the shop landlord, so he and his wife rented a new shop and, at their son's suggestion, opened a hot pot restaurant." Yan Jingrui said in a deep voice, "It's located right in your funeral service."
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