Chapter 172 Jinjiang Debut
Just as Jiang Xiaoping was about to leave, Bai Mian grabbed her wrist and said, "Don't go."
Jiang Xiaoping turned around with a strange look on her face: "Master, what's wrong?"
Bai Mian raised his eyebrows at her: "I know what you want to do. Don't forget, I took your pulse."
Jiang Xiaoping shrugged: "What can I do? I can only call the police."
Bai Mian shook his head: "No, you plan to die with them."
"What?" Xia Mang exclaimed and rushed over to grab Jiang Xiaoping.
"That's right," Bai Mian said, "If she is allowed to leave like this, she will go back to seek revenge on Wang Erlai. At first, she will pretend to believe Wang Erlai's lies and move into his house. Then, she will turn on the gas stove and let the gas leak. When the gas fills the whole house, she will press the lighter."
"How could you do this?" Xia Mang shook Jiang Xiaoping's shoulders frantically. "You are so confused! Wouldn't you also be killed if you did this?"
Lu Xue sighed: "A woman with no strength wants to take revenge on a family of criminals. It seems that this is the only way she can do it. But it's not worth it. All their lives combined are not worth your life. It's not worth it."
Jiang Xiaoping, who was exposed, no longer pretended. She gritted her teeth, tears welling up in her eyes. Everyone came up to persuade her, but she pushed them away:
"What do you know? How can you understand my feelings? The one who died was my relative, not yours. He was my brother, the one I grew up with! He is my only relative in the world. Once he dies, I will be completely homeless!"
"Originally I was still holding out hope and was planning on finding a way to save him, but he's already dead. Now that he's dead, I don't want to live anymore. What's there to be afraid of if we both perish together? At most I'll sacrifice my own life, as long as I can kill that bastard's family! I may be powerless, but don't underestimate me. As long as I risk my life, they'll be the ones to be afraid!"
Bai Mian patted her shoulder and said, "No one looks down on you. You are only eighteen years old. It is amazing that you can face all this on your own. But I must stop you today because I want to protect your safety. You are my patron today, not your brother."
Bai Mian's words touched a soft spot in Jiang Xiaoping's heart. It had been a long time since her parents left and no one had cared about her so much. Jiang Xiaoping's temper softened and her body was no longer so stiff. She said tremblingly:
"In the beginning, I could accept it. I was mentally prepared. After all, my brother had been missing for so long, and he probably met with an accident. But later, when I found out what happened, I couldn't stand it anymore. I didn't want the police to handle this matter. I had to avenge my brother myself!"
"Those organs... They plucked them from my brother's body one by one, just like picking fruits. How painful it must be for my brother! How could they do this? They simply treated humans like animals. It really infuriated me. Are they still human?!"
Jiang Xiaoping stamped her feet in anger as she spoke. Bai Mian hugged her gently, which made her feel better. She tried to calm down again and prepared to say goodbye to Bai Mian: "Master, thank you for caring about me so much, but I have made up my mind about this matter. I must do it, even if it means losing my life, I will avenge my brother!"
"But you can't completely avenge yourself by doing this," Bai Mian said seriously, "Wang Erlai was the culprit who lured your brother to Country Y, but those people from Country Y were the real murderers of your brother. Even if you kill Wang Erlai, it won't affect the people of Country Y. Does this count as revenge?"
Jiang Xiaoping hesitated: "Master, do you want me to kill more people?"
Bai Mian held Jiang Xiaoping's hand and said, "Those people deserve to die, but it shouldn't be you who should deal with them. The police should deal with them. Your hands will be of great use in the future."
"But my brother is gone, and I..." Jiang Xiaoping fell into her own thoughts again.
Bai Mian corrected her: "Your brother is gone, but you are not without relatives in this world. Aren't the adoptive parents who raised you considered your relatives? And you studied hard for three years to get into the university, don't you want to go and take a look?"
"The most important thing is your brother's last words." Bai Mian whispered softly beside her.
Jiang Xiaoping didn't quite believe it: "My brother died in that kind of place, how could he leave a will? Master, are you lying to me?"
Bai Mian: "He didn't leave any verbal will, but his actions themselves are a kind of will. He would rather be tortured to death than reveal your contact information because he doesn't want you to be affected by this incident. He hopes that you can continue to live a stable life."
"If you act on impulse and use your life to avenge Wang Erlai, then what is the meaning of everything your brother has endured? Isn't the torture he endured in Country Y's campus in vain?"
"I..." Jiang Xiaoping was speechless. Bai Mian's words touched her. Although her adoptive parents were not very close to her, they still gave her enough material security. She had excellent results in the college entrance examination and was admitted to her first choice. She was about to study journalism. If it weren't for this incident, she originally wanted to become a righteous reporter.
And my brother, if he could see this, he would definitely not want me to take revenge.
After thinking it over again and again, Jiang Xiaoping finally sighed, lowered his shoulders, and gave up the idea of revenge.
In front of Bai Mian, she personally called the police in her hometown, and the police arrested Wang Erlai immediately. Only after confirming that Wang Erlai was arrested did Bai Mian let her go.
Looking at Jiang Xiaoping's departing figure, Xia Mang asked curiously, "Since the police have intervened, can Jiang Qingyun's body be transported back to China?"
Bai Mian shook his head: "His body has long been ground into bone mud and no longer exists. Not to mention the body, even the ashes can't be found. If Jiang Xiaoping wants to pay tribute, she can only worship across the sea."
Xia Mang smacked his lips repeatedly: "Too tragic, but he was originally planning to go out and buy people. This is a dog-eat-dog situation. The most hateful one is Wang Erlai. It's not enough for him to sell the brother of this family. He even wants to sell the sister. He wants to silence the whole family!"
Bai Mian: "Most people who make money from evil ways are engaged in this kind of business. Wang Erlai has killed many people. His end will not be easy. The police will focus on interrogating him after they catch him. This guy is a paper tiger. Although he looks powerful, he will tell everything he knows once the police scare him."
"With the clues he provided, the police there will work with the border police to launch a surprise operation to crack down on the fraud park set up by our compatriots in Country Y and rescue all our trapped compatriots."
"Wang Erlai revealed so many clues that the fraud industry in Country Y suffered a serious blow. Naturally, the people of Country Y will not let him go. Wang Erlai will probably be sentenced to 20 years in prison, but he won't be able to serve that long because he will die in the fourth year of his imprisonment."
"How did he die?" Xia Mang asked.
"An unexpected incident." Bai Mian said calmly.
Xia Mang covered her mouth and laughed: "Hahaha, an accident happened. Was it caused by the people from Country Y?"
Lu Xue frowned and said, "I am a little worried about the girl who just left. After all, she is only eighteen years old. Facing such a cruel thing, I think she will be left with a big psychological trauma. I hope she can get over it soon."
"She will never get over it. The death of her loved ones will scar her for life," Bai Mian said calmly, "but she will carry this scar and move on. She studied journalism, and she will study hard in college and get into a prestigious university. When she enters society, she will become an excellent journalist and devote her life to anti-fraud propaganda."
"Wow, this girl is really good," Xia Mang exclaimed, "a flower blooming among the bones."
After the second divination, Bai Mian waited for a while. The third client still hadn't entered the store. An aunt in gray clothes who was watching from the side raised her hand in front of Bai Mian and said cautiously:
"Master Bai, since the third client hasn't come yet, can I tell you about my situation? I have something on my mind recently and I really want to ask you for help, but I still haven't gotten a number, so I want to tell you now."
Bai Mian glanced at the time. It was still early. The third client hadn't arrived yet anyway, so he was free anyway. The live broadcast room also needed topics to maintain its popularity, so Bai Mian nodded and agreed.
Auntie Gray happily sat down at the table. She pulled her chair closer to Bai Mian, then began to speak excitedly:
"Hey, let me tell you, I've been holding this in my heart for days, and I'm really upset! This is what's going on. I live in the Lishi Haomen community. I don't know if you've heard of it. It's the one where a murder happened last month!"
When she said this, people around her immediately echoed:
"I seem to have some impression of it. Is it the case of a burglar breaking into a house and killing someone? I heard the murderer hasn't been caught yet!"
"Oh my, that girl died tragically. I heard that she was stabbed 18 times by the criminals. Every knife hit her vital parts. The blood flowed like a river!"
"Yes, yes, yes. I have seen the video of the crime scene. It was widely circulated at the time and was everywhere in WeChat groups. After watching it, I didn't eat for the whole day!"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, what grudge do you have that you would stab someone like this..."
"It was probably a murder of passion. What could possibly happen to such a young woman? She must have been flirting with some guy outside and offended him, so he came to their house and killed her!"
"So, this woman should keep herself clean. If she doesn't, she deserves to die!"
Hearing this, the gray-clothed aunt stood up angrily and shouted at the group of old men, "You are a bunch of shameless people. She just died and you are spreading rumors about her. Are you bullying her because she can't talk after she dies? Aren't you afraid that her ghost will come looking for you one day? You are a million miles away from her life, what details can you know?"
"You don't know much, but you feel justified in making up rumors. I think you sell too much prostitution, so it's a conditioned reflex that you think everyone is unclean. You say you want to keep yourself clean, but when you go out to dance in the square, you are often seen hugging and kissing strange old ladies!"
The faces of several old men turned blue and white, and everyone helped to blame them. They also knew that they were in the wrong, so they walked away in shame.
After the old men left, the aunt in gray sat down again. Bai Mian looked at her with admiration. She spoke up so bravely and it could be seen that she was a kind-hearted person in normal times.
"Master, I'm sorry to have embarrassed you," the gray-robed aunt said embarrassedly, "I don't want to quarrel with others, but they are really too much. I can't let them slander an innocent girl!"
"From what you said, you know the girl who was murdered?" Bai Mian asked.
The gray-clothed aunt nodded and said, "I know them, but we're not very familiar with them. I'm their next-door neighbor. I've always lived in Lishi Haomen. The family next door didn't live in the house after they bought it. They've been renting it out. The house has had several tenants, and later the girl and her mother moved in."
"The girl's name was Shen Jing. She and her mother checked in at midnight. I was woken up at three in the morning one day. When I opened the door, I found that they were moving their luggage. That's when I got to know them."
"Chen Jing has a very good personality and usually speaks softly. I like this girl very much and always chat with her. She doesn't find me annoying. That's how I learned a lot about her. She works in a company not far away, in human resources. She usually works from nine to five and has a very regular schedule."
"But there is one thing that I always find strange - they are always sneaky when they move around, like mice."
"For example, every time Shen Jing goes to work or comes home from get off work, she is fully armed, wearing a thick mask from head to toe, just like a big star going out on the street, so people can't see her appearance at all. And her mother is the same. Her mother always goes downstairs to throw away the garbage at two or three in the morning. Tell me, why don't you throw it away during the day?"
"Later I asked them why they were so cautious in their actions. Shen Jing told me that she had recently offended someone. She was the HR of the company, and her boss asked her to fire an employee, so she did it. However, the employee has held a grudge against her ever since, and threatened to retaliate against her one day. That's why Shen Jing and her mother are so sensitive."
"I think this is really outrageous. The boss asked HR to fire the employee. That was the boss's intention. HR was just conveying the message. Why does he hate HR? Why doesn't he hate the boss?!"
"After she told me about it, I didn't take it too seriously. I thought it was just a work dispute and it would be fine after a while. But then, one night, the tragedy happened."
"I went out to square dance that day and got home very late. When I got home, I found that my apartment was surrounded by the police. I heard people say that there was a murder in the building. Then I knew that Shen Jing was in trouble. Although I was anxious, I couldn't help at all. I could only watch from outside."
"I couldn't go home that night and stayed in a hotel. Two days later, the police checked the scene and let us go home. By then, the house had been cleaned up and I didn't see the crime scene, but I heard a few words from the neighbors."
"They said that a strange man suddenly broke into Shen Jing's home in the middle of the night and stabbed Shen Jing to death in front of her mother. Shen Jing's blood spurted out like a fountain. The scene was really horrible. Shen Jing's mother was also greatly mentally shocked and fainted on the spot. I heard that she is still in the hospital for emergency treatment!"
"As for the criminal, he wore gloves and foot covers, so he left no fingerprints or footprints. However, the police still found a hair that the criminal had lost at the scene. They have begun analyzing the hair follicles. I believe the criminal will be found soon."
"When I heard it, I immediately told the police what I knew. I said it must have been done by the fired employee. It was Shen Jing who fired him personally. He hated Shen Jing, so he wanted to kill Shen Jing. Shen Jing is such a good person, who else would want to kill him? Only this guy has a motive for committing the crime!"
"After receiving my information, the police just said they knew and would investigate, but who knew that there was no follow-up afterwards. We don't know whether the murderer has been caught!"
The gray-clothed lady spread out her hands and said a little frustratedly. Someone next to her said, "Hey, is there any need to think about it? If there is no notice with white text on a blue background on the Internet, then it must be that they haven't caught him!"
"It takes time for the police to solve the case," Bai Mian said softly, "Are you here to ask for clues about the murderer?"
The gray-clothed aunt shook her head. "Alas, catching the murderer is the police's job. I dare not do anything rash. I came to you to ask you something else, a very strange thing."
She hesitated for a while, then spoke: "This news caused quite a stir in Qingshui Town at the time. You all know that no one dared to live in our community for a long time afterwards. Especially since mine and the house across the street were rumored to be haunted houses."
"At first the police put a seal on the door of the house opposite. Later, they probably finished their investigation, so they took it off. But even after that, no one dared to rent that house. The landlord opposite me made a living from renting out the houses. Now that this incident happened, he was furious. When we met on the road that day, he came to complain to me."
"But after a few days, I found that new residents seemed to have moved in next door, because the floor at the door had become noticeably brighter, which should be a sign of frequent movement. There was a layer of dust on the floor before."
"I thought this is not right! Chen Jing died not long ago, and the house opposite has not been rented out yet. Who can live here?"
"So I couldn't help but be curious, so I secretly looked through the peephole at the door opposite. I watched for a long time, and finally at midnight, I saw a person walk out of the elevator."
"The man walked to the door, put his finger on the fingerprint lock at the door, opened the fingerprint lock naturally, and then pushed the door open and walked in."
"She was wearing a thick mask, and her figure was exactly the same as Shen Jing. Although I didn't see her face, I could still be sure that person was Shen Jing!"
The gray-clothed aunt's story was very long-winded, and everyone was a little sleepy. It was not until this point that everyone became interested and started talking about it:
"Aunt, are you saying that the murdered girl is back again?"
"Is it the seventh day? I heard people say that the dead will come back to life on the seventh day."
"That's not right. Counting by the days, this isn't the seventh day. It's already passed the seventh day!"
"I must have seen a ghost. She must have had some obsession in her life, so she is still wandering around in the world after her death."
"Alas, I guess she couldn't let go of her mother. Her mother fainted on the spot and was sent to the hospital. Her life or death is unknown!"
"I once heard that if a person dies a violent death, they are trapped in that scene, repeating what they did in their lifetime."
"It's possible that she was just repeating her daily routine, or it's possible that she didn't even know she was dead..."
Everyone was talking excitedly, leaving only the gray-clothed aunt trembling at the table: "Hey, stop talking, I have goose bumps all over my body, and I have to go home to stay at night! What you said makes my house really become a haunted house!"
Lu Xue suggested a possibility: "Could it be someone else? Maybe there is another woman who looks more like Shen Jing and is pretending to be her for some reason."
The gray-clothed auntie categorically denied it: "Impossible, I have lived so much, if I even recognize the wrong person, then I have lived in vain! Believe in my eyesight, that person is definitely Shen Jing!"
"Could they be twins?" Xia Mang's imagination ran wild. "I've been reading detective novels for so many years, and twins are a common plot. Or maybe Shen Jing has a cousin who looks very similar to her and came to avenge her!"
The gray-clothed aunt also denied it: "No, I asked them when they moved in. You know, at my age, I like to ask about family matters. I asked Shen Jing's mother, and the old lady said that she only has this one daughter, and there are no twins. As for the cousins you mentioned, I think, even if there are, they won't look that much alike, right?"
"Oh, there is another key question," the gray-clothed aunt patted her head, "Their house uses a fingerprint lock, and only the fingerprint of the resident can open the lock. Only the fingerprints of Shen Jing and her mother were recorded in the fingerprint lock. No one has touched the fingerprint lock since the incident. The person I saw at night was able to open the fingerprint lock. Is this enough to prove that she is Shen Jing herself?"
Xia Mang was speechless now: "So... you probably really encountered a ghost."
The gray-clothed lady shuddered, "Oh, I'm not sure either. I've been doubting it in my heart, and I couldn't sleep well at night. But I didn't dare to tell anyone because it was too bizarre. I was afraid that others would think I was crazy."
"I'm very sure I'm not crazy, and this is not my hallucination. I saw it not only once, but also several times afterwards. Shen Jing always walked out of the elevator late at night, carrying a briefcase in her hand, and skillfully opened the fingerprint lock, just like she did when she was alive."
"I bumped into her again and again, but I didn't dare to approach her and talk to her. I was afraid she was really a ghost, so I had to pretend I didn't see her."
"I know that there is a Master Bai in Qingshui Town who is very effective in metaphysical matters, so I also wanted to have her diagnose my pulse, but I have been queuing for several days and my turn has never come, so I can only watch in the store. Fortunately, the third patron did not come today, so I took advantage of the opportunity!"
The gray-clothed aunt finally finished speaking her mind. She passed her hand to Bai Mian as if relieved. Bai Mian stretched out his hand and was about to feel her pulse when he suddenly heard a loud shout at the door:
"It's obviously my turn next, do you still have any rules here?"
Everyone looked towards the door and saw a skinny man pushing a movable bed in. On the bed was an old lady with her eyes closed. The old lady's face was pale, and only the slight rise and fall of her abdomen proved that she was still alive.
The gray-clothed lady quickly stood up and apologized: "Ah, you are the third customer, I am very sorry, I didn't mean to cut in line, but you were so late, I thought--"
As she spoke, she looked at the old man on the hospital bed, and then she was stunned.
The thin man scolded rudely: "What excuses are you making? You can't cut in line even if I'm not here, just stay away! And you blame me for being late. I have to push a patient here from the hospital, how can I walk fast?!"
The aunt in gray did not say anything back, but stared at the old lady on the hospital bed without moving. Seeing this, Bai Mian withdrew his hand that was about to take her pulse.
Although the thin man was not well-mannered, he was indeed the third client today. Logically, it should be his turn, so Bai Mian asked politely:
"Hello, do you want to take the pulse, or the one on the bed?"
The man did not answer, but asked Bai Mian a question first: "Let me ask you, if I win your number, will you broadcast my story live?"
Bai Mian replied: "Yes, but if you mind, I can also temporarily turn off the live broadcast."
"No need! I just want you to keep the live broadcast going. No matter what happens today, you are not allowed to turn it off!" The thin man slammed the table, picked up the live broadcast phone and pointed it at the old lady's face on the bed.
"Come on, come on, all you Cixintang fans, open your eyes and take a good look at how your shop owner killed my mother!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
