Chapter 56: Retirement Day 56: Shut up and don't bother me...
Kong Xingyan's gaze met Yan Jingrui's. Seeing the fatigue and complexity hidden in the other's eyes, his heart sank. He walked to the sofa and put his finger on the side of Qi Hongkai's neck.
The skin under the fingertips was slightly colder than that of ordinary people, and there was no sense of pulse beating.
Before coming to the Yan family, at Xiao Xiao's suggestion, he'd followed Tang Yingjun, an adventure blogger on the Lizi live streaming platform. He'd also learned that Sang Qiqi had left Jingbei in the middle of the night to provide him with an emergency. But when Tang Yingjun posted a photo of himself, Sang Qiqi, and several others on social media, offering a highly inconclusive explanation for the sudden shutdown of the livestream the previous night, Kong Xingyan sensed something was amiss.
It’s nothing, Sang Qiqi looks too relaxed and casual in the photo.
Knowing that there was an evil ghost in Jingbei who was always watching Yan Jingrui, given Sang Qiqi's personality, she would definitely not stay in Haishi for long after dealing with the emergency.
But she stayed, which was enough to prove that she had other plans.
Kong Xingyan began to suspect whether she left Jingbei on purpose, deliberately doing it for Meng Zhengxiang to see, in order to lure Meng Zhengxiang to appear.
But isn’t this behavior a bit too high-profile and deliberate? Will Meng Zhengxiang really be fooled?
And now, seeing that Qi Hongkai, who had greeted him with a smile in the morning, had now become a lifeless corpse, Kong Xingyan thought that he might have found the answer.
He pointed at Qi Hongkai and asked, "Miss Sang deliberately left Jingbei in the middle of the night just to lure Meng Zhengxiang out. Is this Mr. Qi Meng Zhengxiang?"
This speculation is completely tenable.
As soon as Sang Qiqi left, Qi Hongkai appeared.
In the eyes of these criminal police, such coincidences are enough to raise the alarm.
Yan Jingrui propped his face up with his hands, trying to wipe away the fatigue. He spoke in a hoarse voice, "Pretty much. Old Qi is probably possessed by Meng Zhengxiang, just like the old man. After you and I left, he came back here to see your mistress and told her about his revenge plan. But before he could carry it out, he was taken away by Miss Sang who arrived."
really.
Kong Xingyan said in his heart.
He calculated the time. According to his master's wife, Sang Qiqi should have said goodbye to her and left Jingbei more than half an hour ago, but he only saw a photo of Sang Qiqi having dinner with others on the social platform twenty minutes ago.
Kong Xingyan: “…”
He is indeed not an ordinary person. Anyone who sees his time management will have to praise him as awesome.
After sighing, he glanced around and returned his gaze to Qi Hongkai, asking, "What should we do now?"
Yan Jingrui was silent.
To be honest, even he, a criminal policeman with many years of experience, was a little overwhelmed by the current mess.
A broken home, a dead childhood friend, and I don’t know where to start.
Rubbing his swollen brow, Yan Jingrui sighed and said, "Let's ask Miss Sang when she comes back."
Around three o'clock in the afternoon.
The three people, sitting in silence in the living room, finally heard the pickup truck stall. Sang Qiqi slammed the car door shut and strode forward to knock on the tightly closed Yan family door. She didn't use much force, but the sound of the door swayed, along with the crumbling exterior wall. The wall only lasted two seconds before it fell to the ground at Sang Qiqi's feet with a thud.
Sang Qiqi: “…”
She took a step back, raised her head and looked at the small western-style building, and a bad feeling arose in her heart.
This house won't become a dangerous building, right?
When Kong Xingyan opened the door, he saw Sang Qiqi staring at the small western-style building with a complicated and heavy look in her eyes. The bitter and resentful expression made Kong Xingyan a little confused: "What are you looking at?"
Sang Qiqi: "Look at my wallet that's about to be emptied."
Kong Xingyan: “…”
Sang Qiqi didn't really want to talk about such a sad thing, so she decisively chose to turn a blind eye and walked into the living room of the small western-style building. But once she walked in, she realized that her brief escape had been exchanged for deeper despair. Everywhere she looked, there were only tattered furniture.
Especially when she was about to say hello to Yan Jingrui, there was a "clang" sound of something falling from the kitchen.
Aside from Sang Qiqi, the other three were clearly used to it. Seeing Sang Qiqi looking towards the kitchen, Sister Yan even tried to comfort her, "It's okay. The wall paint must have fallen off, and whatever was hanging on it fell off with it."
Sang Qiqi covered her face.
Seeing her like this, Yan Jingrui, who had been wearing a stern face until now, relaxed a little. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, Miss Sang. You helped us solve a big problem and saved my wife's life, and me too. Compared to lives, this house is just a small problem. If it can be repaired, we can repair it. If not, we can tear it down and rebuild. Anyway, we have a place to live, and we have nowhere to spend the money we have saved over the years."
Sang Qiqi stroked her chin, her mind racing for a long time. She clasped her hands together and immediately said, "It's okay. I'll ask my boss for some money when the time comes."
After all, the underworld is also directly responsible for this matter.
If the ghost catcher had not taken Meng Zhengxiang back to the underworld, so many murders would not have happened five years later.
"Do you have a leader above you?" Kong Xingyan was a little curious because of what Sang Qiqi said.
"Yes, we have a very clear division of labor in the underworld. Different departments are responsible for different things, and there are big and small leaders. It's pretty much the same as in the living world." Sang Qiqi didn't need to hide her identity and the existence of the underworld, and said frankly, "So I'm now preparing to work hard to promote my funeral business, and then kick them all out."
It is bound to turn the tables and become the master.
When Kong Xingyan heard the word "Underworld", he was stunned at first, but then he understood why he bought Sang Qiqi's paper-made figurines and dreamed of Zhang Bo that night.
I see.
Kong Xingyan looked at Sang Qiqi with a bit of enthusiasm.
Yan Jingrui and Mrs. Yan looked at each other, and there was some fluctuation in their eyes.
After a brief discussion about the renovation of the small Western-style building, Sang Qiqi brought up the main purpose of her visit to the Yan family: "I've already brought Meng Zhengxiang back to the underworld. A special person will be responsible for interrogating Meng Zhengxiang. However, before that, I also briefly questioned him. He was indeed responsible for the five home invasions and throat-slitting incidents. You can contact Ms. Gong Wan of the Beijing North Bureau for the final handling of these cases."
"Deputy Director Gong?" Kong Xingyan was a little surprised. "Is she also from your underworld?"
"No, but she is very experienced in handling supernatural events. It seems that she has cooperated with some Taoist temples before." This was also revealed by Lin Yanluo. Lin Yanluo meant that the General Administration's say is always greater than Yan Jingrui's, so that Yan Jingrui doesn't have to go to Yangyuan and Kunnan to argue with the other party for a long time.
However, these are minor issues.
What is really difficult is how to explain the five cases of home invasions and throat slitting.
"Fortunately, the local police stations all felt that there were inconsistencies in the case. Although they were under pressure from the victims' families, the investigation results were temporarily suppressed in front of the public. Regardless of whether they believe in the existence of evil spirits or not, we will explain clearly to the families of the ten victims." Yan Jingrui said in a deep voice.
"It's a pity that the souls of the ten victims were eaten by Meng Zhengxiang. Otherwise, they could have sent a message to their families in their dreams." Sang Qiqi frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "Or we could just take Meng Zhengxiang over directly."
Sang Qiqi felt that since she hadn't seen the real murderer, it would be useless for the police to just say anything.
"Then I'll have to trouble you again."
"It's not a problem. This is what we should do." Sang Qiqi waved her hand. "Oh, there's one more thing. Meng Zhengxiang said that the old man's soul and Qi Hongkai's soul are both there, but he's hiding them. I'll tell you where they are after the interrogation results come out."
The moment the words fell, Yan Jingrui and Kong Xingyan stood up from the sofa at the same time.
Yan Jingrui's eyes suddenly lit up, and even a little watery, and he asked in disbelief, "Miss Sang, are you saying that my father and his souls weren't eaten by Meng Zhengxiang?"
Sang Qiqi explained Meng Zhengxiang's plan in a few words. After listening to it, Yan Jingrui and his group's stiff and tense bodies suddenly relaxed. This usually serious and solemn man covered his eyes and choked softly.
His mother died young, and he was raised by his father, who taught him many lessons. Later, he attended police academy and became a criminal police officer. He was often away from home, feeling guilty. In the end, his father comforted him, saying that family comes first, and that he had to work diligently to live up to his uniform.
When he learned that his father was targeted by Meng Zhengxiang because of him, the feeling of guilt reached its peak, almost drowning him and leaving him no chance to breathe.
On the afternoon he returned home with the old man's ashes, he lay in bed tossing and turning in bed after three days without sleep.
He asked himself over and over again whether the choices he made when he was young were wrong.
That's right, he thought.
The old man would also say that it is correct.
But he just couldn't forgive the old man for not having an afterlife because of him.
Fortunately, at this moment Sang Qiqi brought good news.
Yan Jingrui shielded his eyes and rested on the sofa for a few minutes before going to the bathroom to wash his face. When he returned, his eyes were only slightly red. He thanked Sang Qiqi repeatedly and then turned his gaze to Qi Hongkai. "Before you came, I contacted Lao Qi's family. Miss Sang, Lao Qi's condition..."
"Explain the situation truthfully to Mr. Qi's family. Don't rush to bury him. Mr. Qi's condition is not very clear yet. I think his body is well preserved and he doesn't have any fatal injuries. If Meng Zhengxiang forcibly extracted Mr. Qi's soul from his body, then took over his body, found Mr. Qi's soul, and put it back, Mr. Qi could still live for a while."
This assumption is valid, but it will only last for a period of time.
And by then Qi Hongkai’s situation... probably won’t be much better.
After all, the damage to the soul is irreversible, so the underworld strictly prohibits them from possessing living people.
But Sang Qiqi's hypothesis obviously gave Yan Jingrui and his group a big surprise, and the three of them nodded in agreement.
After finishing her business, Sang Qiqi prepared to leave. But before she left, the Yan couple walked her to the door, as if they had something to say. Seeing their hesitation, Sang Qiqi blinked and asked, "Do you have any other questions? Don't worry, I will definitely help you get the money for the house repairs."
Yan Jingrui quickly waved his hands: "That's not it. We want to ask... since the underworld really exists, is our son okay now?"
Sang Qiqi remembered that the old couple's son had died in the line of duty, so she answered truthfully, "He's been reincarnated. If you want to know about his situation, I can steal my leader's book and look for it for you."
When Yan Jingrui heard the word 'steal', the corner of his mouth twitched, and he waved his hand again: "It's okay, we're just a little worried that he's all alone down there. Now that he's gone to reincarnate, let's not bother him anymore."
Sister Yan also nodded with red eyes: "Yes, I won't disturb him. As long as he lives peacefully in his next life, that's all."
Sang Qiqi curled her eyes and said, "Don't worry, he's a hero. Everything will turn out well."
-
Watching Sang Qiqi leave, Yan Jingrui and his wife held each other's hands and smiled at each other.
Afterwards, Yan Jingrui and Kong Xingyan carefully moved Qi Hongkai into the guest bedroom.
Not long after, Qi Hongkai's wife came to Yan's house with their son.
Qi Hongkai's wife looked very thin. She hadn't always been like this, but after being pushed by Qi Hongkai's stepmother and having a miscarriage, her health had been poor, especially after giving birth. Perhaps she had guessed something by now, as her face was even paler, and the worry between her eyebrows was so thick that it made one feel like she would collapse at any moment.
Sitting on the sofa and listening to the entire story, Qi Hongkai's wife clenched her son's hand and said in a hoarse voice, almost inaudible, "Actually, I noticed something was wrong with Old Qi some time ago. I've lived with him for so long, and I've noticed his unusual behavior."
However, she thought of many possibilities, but she never thought that Qi Hongkai had a new core in his body.
"Lao Qi has a good temper. He's never lost his temper in all the years we've been married. But recently, whenever I spoke a little louder, he'd get really angry. Sometimes he'd even mutter to himself something I couldn't understand. Whenever he saw me looking at him, he'd ask me with a stern face if I was tired of staring at him like that."
In short, Qi Hongkai during that period was completely different from the Qi Hongkai in her memory, and was completely unrecognizable.
Exhaling, she looked at Yan Jingrui and his wife and said softly, "I want to go see him."
Underworld.
When Sang Qiqi arrived at the first hall, she heard Meng Zhengxiang's heart-wrenching screams from inside.
She was a little surprised. Hearing the screams at this level, it was most likely that Meng Zhengxiang was holding back on certain issues and refused to confess, so Lin Yanluo tortured him on the spot.
But...it's been quite a while since she brought Meng Zhengxiang to the underworld, right? In other words, has Meng Zhengxiang been stubborn for that long?
With this curiosity in mind, she stepped into the first hall.
When I looked towards the center of the hall, I found that there was another familiar person in the hall, Jingyu.
The signature executioner of the Third Hall was removing Meng Zhengxiang's leg bones without changing his expression. All the bones in Meng Zhengxiang's body were shattered by Sang Qiqi's punch, and his legs were full of broken bones. Jingyu took out the bones bit by bit and placed them on the tray next to him.
If you don’t know, you might think they are performing surgery on Meng Zhengxiang.
Sang Qiqi watched with great interest and moved closer to Lin Yanluo to take a look at the interrogation record.
"He didn't tell?"
"He explained part of the story, but when I asked about the whereabouts of Old Man Yan, Qi Hongkai's ghost, and the Taoist priest you mentioned, he kept silent. I guess he wanted to negotiate terms."
Sang Qiqi drew out an "oh" and naturally picked up the interrogation notes on the table.
In addition to confessing to five cases of home invasions and throat slitting and revenge against the innocent victims who spoke up for the sanitation workers in the small restaurant, Meng Zhengxiang also confessed the entire process of possessing Qi Hongkai.
In fact, his meeting Qi Hongkai was completely an accident. Before Qi Hongkai, Meng Zhengxiang had killed all the people he wanted to take revenge on, except Yan Jingrui, Xiao Xiao's girlfriend and her sisters who went abroad.
At this time, he thought about finding a body to stay in.
Anyway, he will stay here in the future, and being able to possess humans will make things easier.
So he wandered the streets, looking for the right person.
At first, he found a wealthy man. When the man returned home, he forcibly pulled the man's soul out of his body and swallowed it. Meng Zhengxiang then entered his body and lived a happy life of eating and drinking every day. Until one evening, while eating at a restaurant, he unexpectedly ran into Qi Hongkai and his family of three. At that time, the three people were sitting behind him. Qi Hongkai and his wife were comforting their son, because they were going to send him to live with his grandparents for a while the next day.
"At the time, the couple had to go on a business trip, and there was no one at home to take care of the child, so they had no choice but to send him to Qi Hongkai's wife's parents' home. But children are always a little disobedient and they just didn't want to go to their grandparents' home. Qi Hongkai and his wife had no choice but to take their son to the amusement park first. After playing, they chose a restaurant for dinner and coaxed him at the table: Don't you like staying at Grandpa Yan's house in Beijing North? When mom and dad come back, I will take you to play with Grandpa Yan, okay?"
When Mr. Yan was mentioned, Qi Hongkai's son immediately agreed.
Qi Hongkai and his wife also took the opportunity to talk about Yan Jingrui.
As a result, Meng Zhengxiang who was standing behind him happened to hear everything clearly. Meng Zhengxiang then realized that Qi Hongkai was Yan Jingrui's childhood friend.
From then on, Meng Zhengxiang set his sights on Qi Hongkai, and that night he entered Qi Hongkai's home, ripped out the living soul, and possessed it with his own. Originally, Meng Zhengxiang wanted to eat Qi Hongkai's soul, just like he had done to the rich man, but then he thought, torturing Qi Hongkai's soul in front of Yan Jingrui would be the real torture for Yan Jingrui, so he deliberately kept Qi Hongkai's soul.
As for Qi Hongkai's wife and son, Meng Zhengxiang decided to let them live a little longer.
After all, if anything happened to these two people, Yan Jingrui, who was Qi Hongkai's childhood friend, would definitely rush to Huxi. If Yan Jingrui became wary at that time, it would be more trouble than gain.
"Meng Zhengxiang has a lot of ideas. Sometimes he pretends to be Qi Hongkai, sometimes he pretends to be the big boss. He's pretty good at managing his time." Sang Qiqi pursed her lips, her eyes cast on the screaming Meng Zhengxiang, and asked Lin Yanluo, "How did he escape the ghost catcher five years ago? What did he do during his four and a half years of disappearance? I still can't get any information."
"The former has an answer, the latter does not."
Lin Yanluo turned a page of the interrogation notes and tapped on it with his finger.
"He said that after he was shot and turned into a ghost, he didn't react at all. He wandered around for a long time and even witnessed the police calming down the hostages and taking his body away. He walked away after everyone around him had dispersed and no ghost officers came to arrest his soul."
Lin Yanluo narrowed his eyes and whispered, "He probably didn't lie. I asked him what happened afterwards, but he refused to tell me. I suspect that what happened later was related to the Taoist priest's phantom you saw. His disappearance of four and a half years was probably also related to that Taoist priest."
Lin Yanluo's guess was similar to Sang Qiqi's idea.
She blinked, suddenly walked towards Jingyu and patted his shoulder.
Jingyu paused what he was doing, raised his eyelids, and looked at her: "What's wrong?"
Sang Qiqi rubbed her hands and said, "Let me do it."
Jingyu: "?"
Seeing Jingyu didn't react immediately, Sang Qiqi pointed at the specially crafted knife in his hand. Every executioner in the underworld had a different knife, as each executioner had a different technique. To better utilize their abilities, they naturally had to choose a more appropriate tool.
Jingyu's knife is a bit like a scalpel. The blade is thin and sharp. A slight scratch can cause a very deep wound.
"I'll be the one to torture the ghosts. Your knife is incredibly sharp, and it sure feels good to cut, but the effect isn't there." Sang Qiqi pulled out the object in her hand, putting on a sweet and beautiful smile as she whispered devilishly, "As the saying goes, a dull knife cuts flesh; it doesn't draw blood, but it's deadly. To deal with this kind of evil ghost, you have to sharpen it bit by bit."
Jingyu paused after hearing her words, and turned his gaze to the thin sheet in her hand. He roughly recognized that it seemed to be a piece of iron.
He asked, “Where did it come from?”
Sang Qiqi pointed her finger at the hall's pillars and said, "Just picked it off."
The pillars were carved with a portrait of Lin Yanluo, and part of them were covered with a layer of iron plates that resembled armor. Sang Qiqi easily removed the iron plates with two scrapes. She pressed the sharp edge of the iron plates against the ground and rubbed it until it became blunt. Then, with lightning speed, she pressed it against Meng Zhengxiang's leg.
Meng Zhengxiang screamed.
But this is just the beginning.
The sound of an old saw cutting a tree rang out in the silent hall. The sound was harsh and tooth-wrenching. Along with Meng Zhengxiang's painful cry, everyone fell silent.
Jingyu stared at Sang Qiqi's hand.
The iron blade was so blunt that it only left a mark when it scraped across Meng Zhengxiang's skin, so Sang Qiqi had to use force. But she was known for her immense strength, and with just a little effort, the iron blade sunk most of the way into Meng Zhengxiang's skin, nearly severing his entire leg.
"Ouch, I used too much force. I'll be gentler." Sang Qiqi muttered while controlling the strength, but her technique was clumsy and she couldn't remove the bone after stirring for a long time.
Jingyu couldn't help but: "...hiss."
Lin Yanluo couldn't help but: "...hiss."
Meng Zhengxiang collapsed and yelled: "Bitch, get out of here! Get out of here——"
Before she could finish her words, Sang Qiqi stuffed a rag into her mouth, and all her sobs, cries and curses disappeared into her ears.
Sang Qiqi glanced at him and said, "Shut your stinky mouth and don't disturb me while I'm working."
Meng Zhengxiang's eyes were filled with hatred.
He didn't understand. With Sang Qiqi's cooking skills, what difference would it make whether he disturbed her or not?
He struggled frantically, whimpering, harder to hold than a pig to be slaughtered during the Spring Festival. Sang Qiqi, unable to bear it any longer, slapped him on the head. Unsuspecting, Meng Zhengxiang's head slammed against the pillar, his vision went black, and he was instantly motionless.
Jingyu: “Hiss.”
Lin Yanluo: “Hiss.”
Sang Qiqi: "Hiss."
While Meng Zhengxiang's actions certainly deserved death, he couldn't just die so casually; otherwise, it would be too easy for him. Sang Qiqi dropped the iron sheet, picked him up, and shook him vigorously. Then, she asked other little ghosts to bring water from the Styx to splash on his face. After a while, Meng Zhengxiang, dazed and with a severe headache, finally opened his eyes again.
Sang Qiqi breathed a sigh of relief and took back the iron sheet to continue gouging Meng Zhengxiang's bones.
Having fainted once, Meng Zhengxiang experienced the pleasant feeling of not feeling pain when unconscious. When the iron sheet pierced his calf again, his eyes bulged out and his face turned red with pain. There was only one thought left in his mind: I might as well die.
But Sang Qiqi no longer gave him the chance to faint.
After suffering like this for only ten minutes, Meng Zhengxiang was twitching with cold sweat, and he mumbled twice incoherently.
Sang Qiqi raised her eyebrows slightly, pulled the rag out of his mouth, and heard the unconscious plea for mercy more clearly: "I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything."
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