Chapter 102 Bath Center
Tu Lanxun went upstairs and knocked on the door. A few minutes later, after looking through the peephole, the door opened.
Standing in front of her was Song Siyu. Different from the youthful ponytail in her high school profile and the smart and capable professional photos on the Internet, Song Siyu was now wearing a simple white shirt and wide-leg pants, her hair casually tied with a shark clip, and her face was slightly tired.
"Excuse me, who are you looking for?"
Tu Lanxun pressed down Xiao Zhang's hand, which was about to show his ID, and said, "I'm the doctor who treated Mr. Nan Shaochen before. I have something I want to discuss with you."
Song Siyu watched them warily, not noticing any signs of plainclothes reporters until she heard an innocent voice from behind: "Are you a doctor? Come in."
"We met Mr. Nan at Anding Hospital," Tu Lanxun sighed. "He wasn't awake yet, and his uncle was accompanying him. We also visited his home..."
Song Siyu said quickly: "Okay, please come in."
They got two pairs of old slippers, and Song Siyu led them to Nan Shaochen's former bedroom. He was sitting at the desk, writing furiously on an A4 paper, probably writing a song.
Tu Lanxun didn't know how much Song Siyu knew about the cause of Nan Shaochen's accident. She was also looking at this woman carefully. She was not wearing any makeup and had a faint sense of fatigue on her face, which was unique to professional women. It might also be partly due to Nan Shaochen's current condition.
"I heard from Shao Chen's mother that two female police officers visited her home." Song Siyu pondered, "Is there something wrong with Shao Chen's follow-up examination?"
Tu Lanxun: "His condition is different from before. I'm sure you can notice it."
Song Siyu's eyes shifted as she suddenly realized, "It was that weird..."
Unexpectedly, she reacted so quickly, and was so receptive to strange events. Tu Lanxun guessed that the Tang City Police Department might have given Song Siyu some kind of hint. Tu Lanxun asked, "Can we go to the balcony to talk?"
Xiao Zhang nodded in agreement: "Yeah, you guys go ahead. I'll stay here and watch Xiao Nan. Hey, what song did you write? It sounds pretty good when you hum it."
The night window was slightly opened, and the dry and cold air mixed with the last smell of grass and trees rushed in, making people feel refreshed.
Song Siyu lit a cigarette, took a puff, and held it in her hand, letting it burn slowly. She was very perceptive, "Your real target, isn't it me?"
As an agent, Song Siyu was very wary of outside inquiries. Tu Lanxun decided to get straight to the point: "I'm from Lucheng."
Another tentative question, Song Siyu lowered her eyes and said, "I grew up in Western Province, studied and worked in the capital, and have never been to Lucheng."
Tu Lanxun observed her face and smiled, "It's best not to go. It's not a good place."
N suddenly appeared next to Tu Lanxun, frowned slightly, and said with his lips moving, "There are still ghosts around Nan Shaochen, but they all ran away when we arrived."
Tu Lanxun was warned in his heart. Sure enough, if someone targeted Nan Shaochen, sending a madman like Qingcha would not be effective.
There is a back-up plan.
Wait, since Qingcha is a lunatic, then is the victim originally planned really Nan Shaochen himself?
While Tu Lanxun was thinking, Song Siyu suddenly broke the silence and said something surprising: "I always have a feeling. I feel like you know my sister."
Song Siyu is an only child in her adoptive family in Li County, so the only person she can refer to as "sister" is Teacher Nie.
"Have you ever acknowledged me as your sworn sister?" Tu Lanxun dodged the question.
Song Siyu glanced over, then turned back to the boundless night, dusting off the ash from her cigarette, "My dear sister."
Tu Lanxun then said, "You are talking about Teacher Nie, right?"
Teacher Nie's real name is Nie Qianling, and she's also a well-known figure. Song Siyu gave Tu Lanxun a strange look, then smiled: "As expected."
Song Siyu had known about Teacher Nie much earlier than Tu Lanxun had expected. In fact, it was after her family moved to Western Province when she was young that her adoptive mother and father, while watching TV, recognized the beautiful woman singing ballads. She was the young woman who once sold snacks at a street stall in a neighboring county.
It was also the poor child who asked someone to bring Song Siyu, who could not even walk yet, into their home, and the figure that disappeared at the end of the street after just a glance.
They recognized her, but didn't dare to say anything. They didn't have any illusions about hooking up with a rich man. Instead, they were afraid that now that Teacher Nie had become famous and rich, he would take their only daughter back.
This secret was written in the diary of Song Siyu's adoptive mother. She swallowed it every day with noodles and porridge at the breakfast table surrounded by white mist, buried in her eyes with faint worry.
It was not until the old couple passed away one after another and Song Siyu was sorting out their belongings that she read about this event in their diary.
"I never thought of looking for her." Song Siyu put out her cigarette, her expression dark and unclear. "In fact, when I found out, she had already disappeared. I checked the news and she must have passed away."
Tu Lanxun was a little shocked. She looked at Song Siyu and asked tentatively, "Has anyone mentioned Tianguo Group to you recently?"
Song Siyu's eyes trembled, and Tu Lanxun secretly said something was wrong. Song Siyu said, "Yes, just before I returned to Western Province from the capital. Someone met me in a coffee shop. It should be an actor who wanted to sign a contract. He talked to me about this matter."
Tu Lanxun: "What's his name? What does he look like?"
"I gave her a stage name." Song Siyu turned around and leaned against the windowsill. "She has a distinctive look, shoulder-length hair, and a nice figure."
It's morning glory again.
Qianniu had contacted Song Siyu in the capital, but for some reason he didn't make a move, probably because Song Siyu was interrupted by her trip back to Xi Province with Nan Shaochen.
If they want to make a move, their second stronghold, Western Province, is much cheaper than the capital.
"You mean, my sister was murdered?" Song Siyu seemed to have heard some rumors, "And what happened to Shao Chen wasn't an accident? The real target was me?"
People who have experienced ups and downs tend to accept new things faster. Tu Lanxun felt that he could communicate with her efficiently, so he simply opened up and asked, "Where were you on Nan Shaochen's birthday party?"
"That day was the eighth anniversary of my father's death." Song Siyu said, "I didn't accompany Shao Chen and drove to the Li County Cemetery to pay my respects."
So that's how it is. It's assumed that Qingcha's original target was Song Siyu, but he was a madman. He couldn't resist taking action on the day when Nan Shaochen was the center of attention, so there was a shocking scene at the birthday party.
"Have you had any unusual experiences recently, such as hearing inexplicable noises or suddenly encountering a car accident on the road?" Tu Lanxun asked.
Song Siyu was confused for a moment, then replied, "Indeed. I was woken up several times in the middle of the night. I used to sleep well. I always felt like someone was watching me, but when I turned on the flashlight, there was nothing."
Tu Lanxun asked: "Where does this kind of situation happen?"
"It happened after I returned to Tang City from Li County." Song Siyu thought for a moment and said, "Shao Chen refused to return to the villa, and I also felt that... I will stay with him in this house to recuperate for a while..."
It seems that this place has been targeted, and the reason why those weird things failed to succeed may be related to the fact that Nan Shaochen had just been "cured" by Tu Lanxun and N.
But Song Siyu and Nan Shaochen's situation is by no means safe.
Tu Lanxun turned on his phone and reported the matter to Wenchong. Wenchong quickly replied: "Zhao Kuanqiao is on a business trip in a province next to yours. Do you really not need me to transfer her over to help you? Can you handle this on your own?"
Tu Lanxun replied: Yes, I have help.
The first half of the sentence was said by N, and the second half was added by Tu Lanxun himself.
Wen Chong couldn't persuade her and had to agree, but asked Tu Lanxun to report any changes in the situation at any time.
He also added: If you have any harvest, remember to feed the Black and White Impermanence.
"Then I'll stay here tonight." said Tu Lanxun.
Xiao Zhang and Tu Lanxun went downstairs together, but only Xiao Zhang and Mikhail, who was responsible for protecting her, drove away. Tu Lanxun, under the cover of N's aura, quietly returned to the old house.
There were still enough beds in the old house. Tu Lanxun and Song Siyu squeezed into the same quilt, and N was driven back into the silver chain to avoid scaring away the invading monsters.
In the middle of the night, Tu Lanxun was half asleep and half awake when she suddenly felt someone pulling her hair. Lu Jiasui whispered in her ear, "Someone's coming."
Tu Lanxun suddenly opened his eyes and found two shadowy figures standing beside his bed: a woman and a man. The woman had dyed blue hair and was dressed very fashionably, with slanted bright blue eyeshadow that made her look a bit like a guppy. The man had an ordinary face, thin and hunched, with a perpetual expression on his face, neither smiling nor laughing.
They sneered at Song Siyu who was lying outside the bed, and were about to reach out their hands when they suddenly felt a chill behind them.
N quietly appeared behind the two ghosts. Just as they were about to disappear, they felt they could not move.
Tu Lanxun jumped out of the quilt and elbowed the two ghosts from the side. They were instantly squeezed against the wall and became as flat as potato chips.
Tu Lanxun stood up. He didn't expect that Song Siyu had such a good mental quality. Although she couldn't see ghosts, she didn't panic when she encountered such an obviously problematic thing. She just hid in the quilt obediently.
The two ghosts returned to their original shape with great resilience and were grabbed by Tu Lanxun. N tied them up and locked them in the bathroom.
"Are you okay? Are you okay?" Song Siyu's voice came from under the quilt.
Tu Lanxun said, "I'm fine, go to sleep."
Next to her, the wall of a large shallow pit was cracked in a spiderweb-like pattern, but at least it did not affect the structural stability.
The two ghosts were taken to the bathroom for interrogation. They answered each question N asked. The female ghost was tough, but she couldn't stand the male ghost's threats and told everything.
They also came from "Gray City Cave", and their roles in the film are the girlfriend and lackey of the "big star" Qingcha, who came to Earth after a mysterious invasion.
Their target was indeed Song Siyu. They came in a group of three, but as soon as they appeared, Qingcha killed themselves, and the remaining two could only look for opportunities on the periphery.
"I'll tell you everything," the lackey screamed. "Our herder isn't here, and he made us do this!"
"A shepherd?" Tu Lanxun asked.
N had never heard of this term before, so Mikhail, who had just returned, explained, "It's a living person. Back in the hospital, they would extract ghosts worth controlling and use them to harm people, but it was only considered appropriate if there was a living person accompanying them and restraining them."
Wan Amei and the snake-shaped ghost are considered to be grazing in both directions. Perhaps their line is under the jurisdiction of Qianniu, and Qianniu is the chief "herder".
"Who is your shepherd?" Tu Lanxun asked.
The female ghost snorted: "Let me tell you, you can't afford to offend the people behind him, don't try to get yourself killed!"
The male ghost whimpered, "Yes... yes..." He was glared at by the female ghost, but he was more afraid of Tu Lanxun's elbow, so he said weakly, "It's Ah Dan."
N was stunned for a moment and said, "I know Ah Dan. He's one of Qianniu's men."
Tu Lanxun didn't care about Ah Dan, but she remembered another thing, "Why are you chasing Song Siyu?"
The female ghost laughed heartily: "We are not only hunting down Song Siyu, but also Nan Shaochen, and many other annoying living people... We are going to show off on the big stage of Earth!"
Tu Lanxun frowned, "Is Nan Shaochen also one of your targets?"
The male ghost said hesitantly, "Yes, Nan Shaochen is the target to be killed, and Song Siyu is the target to be knocked unconscious and brought back. But for some reason, Brother Adan has been unreachable for the past two days, so we can only try it ourselves."
This was beyond Tu Lanxun's expectations. Wasn't the Tianguo Group doing all this to profit? Logically, they should have tried to keep their tails between their legs, but these few incidents were getting louder and louder.
It's like he wants to ride on the public's face and say: Come and see me! Come and see me! There's something fishy going on here!
She smelled an obscure conspiracy.
The two evil ghosts were restrained. Tu Lanxun left Mikhail, who kept muttering "I'm not a guard dog", to protect Song Siyu and Nan Shaochen, and he and N set out on the journey to find Adan.
According to the ghostly lackey, Adan's residence was in a bathing center in the bustling area of Tang City. The bathing center was an entire building with golden light and blue waves flowing outside. A stone statue of a sea god and a mermaid stood on both sides. Even late at night, the door was filled with luxury cars.
Tu Lanxun felt something was not right. If he rushed in to look for someone rashly, he might never come back!
N observed for a long time and concluded: "I can't see anything clearly."
"What do you mean I can't see anything clearly?" Tu Lanxun thought he was slacking off.
"The aura in this place is too chaotic, mixed and turbid. Even if someone died in there, or a big ghost was hiding, the corpse and death aura would be trapped inside and couldn't escape unless you walked in and took a closer look."
Then you can only go in.
Tu Lanxun took off her coat. It was inconvenient to wear sunglasses and a hat at night, so she put on a mask. As soon as she entered the hall, she was wrapped in the warm central air-conditioning. The air was moist and fragrant.
The receptionist came over with a smile and said, "Hello, ma'am. Are you here for a bath or a night out?"
"The whole package." Tu Lanxun's eyes turned and he saw the promotional words on the sign behind him. The second row of numbers was 8888. "I want to experience that."
The young man's smile became even brighter. "Sand sea bathing is our most popular health treatment. Please come this way. I'll get you a number plate."
Tu Lanxun paid the money and listened to the receptionist's enthusiastic introduction. He strongly recommended that she change the 8888 sand sea bath in the second row to the volcanic stone bath in the first row, with an extra 1 in front of the price.
"You really understand health preservation." The young man was still smiling: "VIP service and general bathing are two separate channels. No one will disturb you."
After declining the upgrade offer, Tu Lanxun was taken to the elevator by someone. After the introduction, she learned that her wristband could access most floors, including the ordinary bathing areas, audio-visual areas, sauna areas, and dining and entertainment areas on the first to fifth floors; as well as the special suites on the sixth to twelfth floors.
"What's above the thirteenth floor?" Tu Lanxun pretended to be curious.
The waitress in charge of ushering us in smiled and nodded, "This is the exclusive area for top VIP services."
Tu Lanxun was very interested and asked, "If I had just bought the volcanic stone bath for 18888, would I have been able to get there?"
"The 13th floor is open," the waitress replied politely, "but the 14th to 16th floors are private rooms. You need to register a new member and open a membership card to enter."
That was another astronomical figure. Tu Lanxun nodded, and the elevator ascended to the sixth floor. As soon as she entered, two waiters came up to help her with her coat and backpack. She was led deeper into the sixth floor, past layers of screens and large glass tanks filled with colored salt crystals, and a door was swiped open by a wristband.
"Ma'am, this is your exclusive changing room and rest room. After you put on your bathrobe, you can relax and bathe in all the places marked with your wristband number. If you need, I will wait here to plan this project for you." As she spoke, the waitress stood by the door of the changing room with her hands on her waist.
Tu Lanxun smiled and said, "No need. I'm a solitary person. I'll just go shopping by myself."
The waitress smiled and said, "No problem, ma'am. We'll use the self-service mode for you. You can call me anytime through the phone in the locker room. Just swipe your wristband and you'll be fine. I wish you a pleasant experience."
Tu Lanxun was the only one left in the room. She took out a brand new bathrobe from the closet and turned around to look. N's voice came from behind the screen: "Something's wrong with this place."
Tu Lanxun refused to undress in such an unfamiliar environment, threw her bathrobe aside, and asked, "What's wrong?"
N's voice was a little tense: "Something's wrong."
He instantly appeared next to a half-human-height Impressionist oil painting, listening to the movement on the other end, and then, the painting was actually knocked.
This is a hidden door. Tu Lanxun had a bad feeling in his heart and walked over. There was a small button next to the picture frame. After pressing it, the picture frame opened a crack.
There was no one there, only a robot that was commonly used in high-end hotels and technology exhibition centers. The passage inside was only half a person's height. The robot's face was an electronic screen, and a page with a dark red border appeared.
The pages were lined with rows of portraits, all of which were, without a doubt, men of various styles: a pretty boy with earrings, a poet with bangs pretending to be melancholic, and a tough guy with tanned skin.
The atmosphere is very good, but upon closer inspection it is hard to describe. It can be said to be very average, with quite a few flaws.
Tu Lanxun's eyelids twitched, and she guessed that this bath center was a red-light venue.
Not knowing how many people had touched this screen, she stood back a little in disgust, closed the secret door of the picture frame, and rubbed her fingers with the edge of her pants.
N sneered: "No one is satisfied?"
Tu Lanxun didn't even change her bathrobe and kept standing there. When she thought about how the sofas and chairs here had been used by others, she felt disgusted from the bottom of her heart.
"Stop making sarcastic remarks." Tu Lanxun felt the air in the room was filled with viruses. She pulled up her mask and said, "Quickly check if that Ah Dan is here."
Before coming here, Tu Lanxun had contacted Xiao Zhang and asked her to ask Officer Cao to inquire about the seemingly plausible nickname Adan in the gray area between Tang City and Xi Province, but this would take time.
The bad-tempered female ghost and the lackey male ghost have been caught. As soon as Adan got wind of the news, he reported it to his superiors and ran away.
A place like a bath center is very suitable for people like Adan to communicate with his superiors and subordinates. No matter how Tu Lanxun thinks, this place fits in well with the painting style of Adan and Qianniu.
"This is the women's bathing area." N said: "First, Ah Dan wouldn't come here. Second, I can't check here."
Tu Lanxun slapped her head before she realized what was going on. However, it was just a sentence to shut N people up. She contacted the computer ghost, who was staying up late playing games. Within two minutes, the ghost's wooden face emerged from her phone.
"Can you steal the customer files here?" Tu Lanxun asked, "I want the consumption records and create files with their members?"
N added, "I don't know the real name of that A'dan. He was called A'dan because he had a bald, pointy head." He recalled, "He had very little hair, no eyebrows, was a bit chubby, and was about 1.75 meters tall. Maybe over 170 kilograms?"
With this information, the computer ghost used the robot to directly access the back-end customer records of the bath center.
Tu Lanxun stood there waiting until his legs were sore. The computer girl squeezed out from behind the picture frame, also with a disgusted look on her face, "Found it."
Ah Dan's full name is Chu Hui, he's 40 years old, and he's not a member of the bath center. But his information was specially marked by the backend because of his extremely frequent high-spending records.
"The system has records from the past five years. Ah Dan spends a lot of money here for two months every year. We can infer that he comes to Tang City twice a year." Tu Lanxun looked at the document sent back by his phone. "The last time he spent money was... three days ago. He treated this place like a hotel and stayed here for a full two weeks, but left three days ago."
Three days ago, the police cracked a gun smuggling case in Yeshan, and Adan should have been assigned to Wan Amei's case.
Tu Lanxun pondered for a moment, then asked, "Is there any record of Qianniu's spending?"
The computer ghost said, "No, there is no record of Qianniu's real name, nor any record of a male customer with long hair." She took the opportunity to make an offer, "My eyes are dirty, you have to compensate me for mental damages."
Tu Lanxun always felt that this logic of pursuing money was very familiar.
"Ha." N laughed shortly beside him: "Birds of a feather flock together."
"Let's check if anyone from outside visited Ah Dan while he was staying at the bathhouse. We can use the street surveillance." Tu Lanxun glanced at the computer ghost with a gloomy face and said, "Forget it, let the police handle the video review."
The matter ended here. Tu Lanxun walked out the door directly, swiped his wristband to get off the elevator, and took a taxi back to the guesthouse in Tang City.
The driver saw her coming out of the bath center in a depressed mood and looked her up and down. "What's wrong, sister? Didn't you have a good time traveling? I know a better place..."
Tu Lanxun had her phone pressed against her ear when Officer Cao called. She said directly, "Are you asleep? If not, please ask the anti-pornography team to come over."
The driver's voice suddenly became hoarse.
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