Chapter 20 List Abnormal Death Management Bureau
The next day, Chang Xile and several others were summoned to the police station to cooperate with the investigation. Fang Xinai was absent due to health reasons, while Yang Guisi and Chang Xile were merely witnesses to the case, with no direct involvement. They were allowed to leave after a brief questioning.
However, just as they stood up to leave, Chang Xile suddenly received a call. She checked the incoming caller's IP address—it was in Shancheng. Based on Chang Xile's experience, the chances of a call from a local IP address being a scam were slim. After some thought, she answered the call anyway.
The voice on the other end of the phone was clear, and they asked, "Hello, is this Chang Xile? Were you hospitalized at Blue Mountain Hospital with food poisoning a while ago?"
"Yes." Chang Xile nodded. "What's wrong?"
"Look, my name is Li Chuanliu, and I'm affiliated with the Abnormal Death Management Bureau. There are some things I need to investigate with you. Do you have time now?" He asked politely after accurately reporting Chang Xile's ID number.
Abnormal Death Management Bureau? Unheard of. Sure enough, they're scammers...? Her tone grew colder. "I'm at the police station right now. If you're trying to scam me, I don't mind calling the police right there and then."
"Ms. Xile, although we are not public officials, we are definitely not an illegal organization." Li Chuanliu's voice suddenly came from far away, as if it was ringing next to him.
Chang Xile looked up and saw a tall man striding in from the doorway. He took off his sunglasses in one hand and held a phone in the other. He put the phone down only after he reached Chang Xile. At this moment, the voices on the phone and in reality gradually overlapped:
"No need to call the police, we're here to pick you up."
Chang Xile put down her phone in disbelief. She asked cautiously, "How did you know I was here?"
The man didn't answer her directly, but instead showed her an ID. This ID contained the information he had just introduced himself on the phone, as well as an official seal from their country, Country C, which meant that the organization was certified.
When he saw Chang Xile's expression, he knew that half of the task was accomplished. He smiled, revealing his white teeth: "Let me introduce myself again. My name is Li Chuanliu, and I'm affiliated with the Abnormal Death Management Bureau."
Chang Xile touched the seal on the document and politely asked a passing police officer, "Excuse me, is this seal authentic?"
Li Chuanliu smiled helplessly. He would not walk into a trap by using false evidence.
After receiving a positive answer, Chang Xile hesitantly believed Li Chuanliu's words.
She said to Yang Guisi, who was still waiting for her, "You should go back to school first."
When Chang Xile followed Li Chuanliu to the police station entrance, they saw a car parked not far away. A short-haired woman in a suit got out and opened the door for Chang Xile, saying, "Hello, my name is Xia Lai."
When Chang Xile followed them to a bustling building, he found that they were going down in the elevator. Li Chuanliu pressed some button and the elevator went down to the fifth floor underground.
Chang Xile glanced at the elevator button, which showed that the lowest floor was only the second floor below ground.
"Sorry, our work requires confidentiality, so we chose this location." Li Chuanliu saw her confusion and smiled at her.
As the elevator doors slowly opened, an entire office floor appeared before me. Dozens of uniformed people were working in an orderly manner. As I passed them on my way to their offices, I could hear greetings like, "Hello, Captain Li!" and "Hello, Captain Xia!"
After entering the soundproof office, Li Chuanliu pulled out a chair for Chang Xile, while Xia Lai took out a piece of paper from the materials she brought with her and pushed it in front of Chang Xile with one hand: "This is a confidentiality agreement. I hope you will not disclose any information about this place when you leave today."
"We will include a sum of money in exchange for confidentiality." Li Chuanliu, who was standing beside him, quickly added, noticing Xia Lai's stiff tone.
"I don't need money. But I hope you really have something to ask me, and don't waste my time." After Chang Xile glanced at the general content of the confidentiality agreement, he signed it directly without even glancing at the considerable amount.
Xia Lai continued to pull out a piece of paper and pushed it to Chang Xile: "This is a piece of paper we found in the ward where you stayed. It's your handwriting, right? We compared it with your signature in the hospital, and the results show that it matches."
Chang Xile carefully examined the paper and found it was indeed her handwriting. She had torn the paper from the notebook she had been carrying with her while in the hospital, using it to record her dreams.
It contained the names of the characters in her dream that she could remember at the time, as well as the specific times that followed the names.
"I wrote it, is there any problem?" she asked.
Xia Lai didn't answer her, but continued to ask: "You wrote down so many people's names, are these people you know?"
Chang Xile shook his head: "I know some of them, but I don't."
"Which ones do you recognize?"
She pointed to the two names on the paper truthfully: one was Dai Shanyan and the other was Xu Wanjia.
The two people across from her exchanged glances, and Li Chuanliu told her, "Except for the two names you mentioned, everyone else died at the time you wrote."
"What?" Chang Xile was stunned.
"If you didn't know them at all, how could you write their names so accurately?" Xia Lai tapped the page, this point particularly puzzling her. In fact, the causes of death of these people were different, but none of them were homicides, so there was nothing to investigate.
However, with Chang Xile's piece of paper, things became strange because she had actually written down the names of everyone who had died within half a day and their nearly accurate time of death.
But after multiple investigations, it was found that Chang Xile's life trajectory had almost no intersection with these deceased people.
"I dreamed about it." Chang Xile could tell from their expressions that they were not satisfied with her answer. However, she was telling the truth.
"Dream?" Xia Lai's expression clearly showed disbelief, but he couldn't find any reason to refute her.
Li Chuanliu on the other side took over the conversation: "I heard from your nurse Xu that you saved both Dai Shanyan and Xu Wanjia?"
"Yes."
"After checking the surveillance footage, we found that the time you rescued them matched the time you wrote on the paper." Xia Lai didn't give Chang Xile any time to breathe and continued to ask, "Is this a coincidence? Or did you know something in advance that allowed you to provide timely assistance?"
Was this a coincidence? Those days, Chang Xile kept asking herself, could such precise times and names really just be a coincidence? However, she had no way of knowing the other names written on the paper, and the number of cases was too small, so she had no way of verifying their accuracy.
Seeing Chang Xile's silence, Xia Lai continued, "Even though you saved them, Xu Wanjia still died in an accident, and Dai Shanyan suddenly became seriously ill and has been in the ICU for treatment."
Hearing this, Chang Xile could no longer remain calm. She asked, "How is Dai Shanyan now?"
They both looked up, carefully observing her expression, as if hesitating whether to tell her. After a long pause, Li Chuanliu finally said, "She was critically ill a few days ago, but after you visited her, her condition suddenly improved."
"So far, Dai Shanyan is the only person on the list you wrote who is still alive. You have helped her and Xu Wanjia many times. If you want her to survive, please be sure to tell us everything you know." Xia Lai lightly touched Dai Shanyan's name with the tip of the black pen.
"Or, is this list complete? If there are any names that are not included, please be sure to tell us." Li Chuanliu added.
This list was like a death sentence; no one written on it would survive. But Dai Shanyan was still alive, and if possible, they hoped she could stay alive forever.
If someone's time of death could be known in advance, there would be a way to prevent it. This was information the Abnormal Death Management Bureau couldn't miss.
At this moment, Chang Xile really hopes that she knows some clues to a serial murder case so that she can catch the culprit or prevent an accident. Then, they can immediately prevent the deaths of many lives.
But in reality, this was just a dream of Chang Xile. What else could she say? She couldn't even remember a more complete list.
"I don't know... This really was just a dream." Chang Xile pondered, but the names she had memorized a few days ago were already the limit of her memory, not to mention the thrilling few days she had gone through. She simply couldn't think of any new information, and she held her forehead with her hand in agony.
Her expression wasn't fake; she looked extremely distressed, and it seemed she couldn't utter any useful information. The two of them exchanged glances, hesitating whether to continue questioning.
Li Chuanliu poured a cup of hot water and handed it to Chang Xile. After she took the paper cup, she let the hot steam fill her eyes. Her eyes were red as she recalled the sad afternoon a few days ago.
"Since you have investigated so much, can I ask how Wanjia died?" she asked.
"Don't you know?" Li Chuanliu was a little surprised.
Chang Xile shook her head. That day, she had originally planned to visit Xu Wanjia's mother, Zhang Junchan. However, the heartbroken mother had already left the hospital with her daughter's body. She then remembered that she had only given them her phone number, but never their contact information.
Chang Xile had no idea what a little girl like Jia Jia had experienced.
Xia Lai stared into her sorrowful eyes, as if finally confirming something. She tapped the materials on the table to straighten them out and handed her a business card. "This involves other people's privacy, so I can't tell you. This concludes our investigation today, Ms. Chang. If you remember anything else later, please let us know immediately."
Chang Xile lowered his head and said softly, "I understand. I also wish you new progress in your investigation."
To be honest, she was the one who wanted to know what happened the most.
Chang Xile, accompanied by Li Chuanliu, exited the elevator, still in a daze. The only good news now was that Dai Shanyan was out of danger. Chang Xile clasped his hands together, hoping she would be completely out of danger.
However, just as Chang Xile's left foot stepped down the steps at the building's entrance, a sharp brake sound suddenly came from not far away. She looked up and saw a black car swerving towards her.
This moment was divided into frames in Chang Xile's eyes and was seen very clearly. She knew that she should avoid it.
Pull your foot back and run back into the building, quickly!
However, the body refused to obey the brain's command and just froze in place, unable to move as if it was frozen.
Just before the car hit the steps, Chang Xile felt a weight on her shoulders, and then she was dragged and pulled toward the steps. She lost her balance and fell onto the steps with the person behind her.
The car made a sharp turn just before hitting the steps, and its route no longer twisted, but moved forward very quickly.
"I really did!" An angry female voice came from behind. A gust of wind blew past, and in the blink of an eye, Xia Lai was already running in the direction of the car.
"Are you okay?" Chang Xile was still in shock when she heard the man who had fallen on the stairs with her ask her with concern. It was Li Chuanliu, who had escorted her out. He stared at the stopped car, his originally gentle eyes turning serious.
"Mr. Li...was that an accident?" Chang Xile followed his gaze towards the car with a slightly distracted look.
"We may have to wait until the investigation to make a final judgment." Li Chuanliu stood up, dusted off his body, and extended a hand to Chang Xile.
Chang Xile used the strength he gave her to stand up. She suddenly felt panic in her heart. If this was intentional, then the enemy behind her was obviously a level she had no idea about and could not predict.
And if this was really an accident, then as Yang Guisi said, her luck has been getting worse and worse. It took only a few days from a minor fight to a life-threatening situation.
"Chang Xile," Li Chuanliu warned earnestly, "Do you remember the contact information I left for you just now? Be extra careful during this period. If you encounter any danger, please call the police immediately."
Chang Xile nodded.
Seeing that she looked dazed, probably because she was frightened, Li Chuanliu simply said, "Get in the car, I'll take you back to school."
Before leaving, she glanced at the spot where the car had been forced to stop. Traffic police had already arrived to deal with the situation. A man emerged from the driver's seat, staggering and seemingly unconscious.
When Chang Xile returned to the dormitory, everyone was shocked by her expression.
"What's wrong, Xile? You seem to have lost your soul?" Fang Xinai couldn't figure out what was going on, but he also noticed that Chang Xile was no longer as silent as before.
Yang Guisi's sharp eyes immediately noticed the scratches on her wrist from rubbing against the concrete floor. Before she could ask a question, Chang Xile asked in confusion, "What would a notebook look like if it was filled with people's names and the dates of their deaths?"
"The Public Security Bureau handles death registration?" Fang Xinai tilted his head.
"Death Note?" Ren Qing, who had been listening silently and watching anime, turned around and added, "Write the name, cause of death, and time in the notebook, and the person will die in turn."
Chang Xile checked them one by one, but still shook her head. She didn't know the appearance of the people behind the names, and it didn't seem to fit with what Ren Qing had said.
Yang Guisi remained silent, still thinking. Chang Xile followed her direction, his gaze shifting slightly, and suddenly caught sight of a book on her bookshelf.
It is a well-known book:
"Journey to the West".
"Book of Life and Death?" Chang Xile read out the answer that was about to come out.
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