Chapter 94 Does your family have a history of hereditary mental illness...?
Chu Ci looked at her up close, his gaze unexpectedly meeting hers.
In an instant, countless fragments flooded my mind.
Her legs went weak, and Wu Xiushan, who was holding her collar, was also pulled down to her knees.
Seeing her face turn pale and she look like she's about to faint, Wu Xiushan was so angry she ground her teeth.
"Don't try that on me! Don't think I'll let you off just because you're playing dead!"
She gripped Chu Ci's collar tightly, trying to pull him up, but she couldn't budge him.
What are you doing?!
Seeing Chu Ci being grabbed by the collar by a strange woman, Bai Shengtian quickly ran over and pushed her away.
She steadied Chu Ci, who seemed unwell, and glared at Wu Xiushan.
"What did you do to the master?!"
Wu Xiushan coughed twice, covering her mouth, her eyes fixed on Bai Shengtian, and she gave a cold smile.
"Trying to frame someone when you can't even lie?"
Her voice was hoarse as she released Chu Ci and grabbed Bai Shengtian by the collar.
"Then I'll take care of you too!"
Her eyes suddenly hardened, and she swung her fist at Bai Shengtian's face.
Bai Shengtian's pupils constricted, and he subconsciously closed his eyes.
However, the imagined pain did not come.
She followed the hand and looked over, "Master!"
"Master, are you alright?"
Bai Shengtian rushed to Chu Ci's side, looking at her with concern.
Chu Ci shook his head, his face still somewhat pale.
She looked Bai Shengtian up and down, then glanced at her business attire.
"If you want to do charity work, you'd better learn some martial arts."
"You'll encounter all sorts of weirdos in the future; if you can't beat them, you'll have to be able to run away."
Bai Shengtian felt that the "messy people" she was referring to were Wu Xiushan in front of him.
She nodded emphatically, recalling the fist that had just been thrown at her.
"I understand, Master. I'll go back and sign up for a martial arts class!"
Seeing the two of them talking to themselves as if no one else was around, Wu Xiushan angrily withdrew her hand.
"Gone with the pretense?" he asked mockingly.
Bai Shengtian turned his gaze to Wu Xiushan, and pulled out his mobile phone from his bag to call the police.
"You assaulted someone in the street, and you're still so self-righteous?!"
"I'll call the police right now and have them arrest you!"
As she spoke, she was about to dial a number.
Chu Ci held him down, saying, "Wait a minute."
She looked at Wu Xiushan, who looked haggard, and asked, "Can we talk?"
Wu Xiushan chuckled and turned away, then couldn't help coughing twice.
Her eyes were now covered in the same bluish-black color as her sister's.
"We have nothing to talk about."
She waved to the two men with her back to them and swaggered away.
"I can't leave until I've finished my sister's funeral. If you need to call the police, please do so as soon as possible!"
"You!" Bai Shengtian's eyes widened, his lips trembling with anger. "Too arrogant!"
She angrily picked up her mobile phone, intending to call the police, when she suddenly heard Chu Ci speak:
"Your sister wasn't killed by a ghost; she was killed by a person, a living person."
Wu Xiushan stopped in her tracks and turned around abruptly.
His sinister gaze fell on Chu Ci's pale face. "What did you say?"
“I said the one who killed your sister was a living person, not a ghost.”
Wu Xiushan stared at her for a long time.
Seeing that Chu Ci didn't seem to be lying, she lowered her eyes and pondered for a moment.
Pointing outside the funeral home, he said, "There's a food stall over there. Let's talk after I've dealt with my sister's matter."
Chu Ci nodded and first led Bai Shengtian to the food stalls outside.
Bai Shengtian comes from a wealthy family and rarely comes to places like this.
Looking at the not-so-clean plastic stools at the food stall, I hesitated for a long time before finally sitting down.
Seeing her conflicted expression, Chu Ci suggested, "Why don't you go back first?"
Bai Shengtian pursed his lips. "Master, is she one of the sisters you mentioned before?"
"Um."
Chu Ci nodded and lowered her eyes.
"But as you just saw, her sister is gone. So..."
“It’s okay. There are so many people in the world who need help. I can just find more.”
Bai Shengtian glanced at the plastic stool again, took out a few tissues from his bag, spread them on it, and sat down.
She will mostly be dealing with people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds in the future, so she should get used to it sooner rather than later.
Seeing that she didn't object, Chu Ci asked the shop owner for two glass bottles of iced cola.
He handed one of the bottles to Bai Shengtian, saying, "Let's wait a bit. Wu Xiushan won't be here too soon."
Bai Shengtian took the drink and nodded.
After a moment of silence, she couldn't help but ask:
"Master, you just said that her... Wu Xiushan's sister was murdered?"
"right."
Chu Ci then gave her a more detailed introduction to the two sisters' situation.
"Three days ago, when the two sisters came to me, they said they were being haunted by their mother's ghost."
"More than ten years ago, their mother had an unhappy marriage and was unwilling to divorce. In order to punish their father, she wanted to commit suicide with the two sisters using gas."
"But because the older sister helped her younger sister climb to the door, in the end only the mother died."
"More than ten years have passed, and recently my sister also wanted a divorce. Just then, they smelled that gas odor again."
"So the two of them suspected that their mother didn't want their older sister to get a divorce, and that's why she was bothering them."
Bai Shengtian frowned but didn't comment on the strange ideas of the two people's parents.
Chu Ci asked, "So, actually, the two of them weren't haunted by their mother's ghost, and the gas smell and all that were man-made?"
"Yes and no." Chu Ci nodded.
Bai Shengtian thought for a moment, "Master, I remember hearing her say that her sister was scared to death."
She frowned in confusion and looked at Chu Ci, "What's going on?"
Chu Ci didn't answer her, but pointed to the mobile phone in her hand.
"Please call the police first and have Officer Kwai King-tung from Kwun Tong Police Station come over here."
Bai Shengtian paused for a moment, then subconsciously looked in the direction of the funeral home.
Chu Ci laughed: "What are you thinking? When I called the police, I wanted them to arrest the murderer, not Wu Xiushan."
Bai Shengtian chuckled awkwardly and handed the mobile phone to Chu Ci.
"Master, please come."
Chu Ci took out her phone book and dialed Ji Jingtong's number.
She gave Ji Jingtong a few instructions over the phone, returned the cell phone to Bai Shengtian, and the two continued to wait.
Ji Jingtong quickly arrived from Kwun Tong Police Station, accompanied by Shen Xiuhe, whose face was now turning bluish.
Seeing that the two of them looked like they hadn't slept for a long time, Chu Ci was surprised.
"What big case has the police station encountered this time?"
Shen Xiuhe asked the food stall owner for two bottles of beer, gave one to Ji Jingtong, and took one for himself.
He took a sip of his drink, sat down on the stool, hunched his shoulders, and sighed.
"There are no new cases, it's still that same murder-for-exchange case."
He clicked his tongue, his face full of annoyance.
"We've arrested everyone who should be arrested and investigated everything that should be investigated, but we still can't find the two most crucial murder weapons."
"That murderer was also stubborn and refused to confess no matter what."
He pointed to Ji Jingtong, who also looked exhausted, and said, "We've been interrogating the murderer for two days straight for this case, but we just can't get him to talk."
Ji Jingtong took a sip of wine. "Not only could we not get him to talk, but we also had to let him go because we had no evidence."
The two of them let out a deep sigh, looking utterly weathered.
After a brief moment of frustration, their eyes fell on Bai Shengtian.
"And this is...?"
Chu Ci introduced Bai Shengtian to the two of them: "Bai Shengtian is a public interest legal aid worker."
She pointed to Ji Jingtong and Shen Xiuhe: "Miss Bai, this is Ji Jingtong, and this is Shen Xiuhe, both of whom are elites of the Kwun Tong Police Station's Serious Crimes Unit."
Shen Xiuhe confidently accepted the title of "elite" and also asked for Bai Shengtian's business card.
But looking at Bai Shengtian's face, he seemed to remember something and asked:
"Miss Bai, does your father work for a multinational corporation?"
Bai Shengtian nodded and gave a company name.
Shen Xiuhe suddenly realized, "No wonder you look so familiar. Isn't your father named Bai Qu? Did you live abroad before?"
Bai Shengtian nodded quickly, then looked at Shen Xiuhe with a puzzled expression, "Sir Shen, who are you...?"
Shen Xiuhe smiled and straightened his clothes, only replying, "Don't forget, my surname is Shen."
Bai Shengtian was taken aback, then suddenly realized.
Chu Ci picked it up, and Ji Jingtong reminded her, "That company belongs to Shen Xiuhe's family."
Chu Ci: "A multinational corporation in this era? Are Shen Xiu and his family that rich?"
Ji Jingtong nodded in deep agreement, a hint of heartache showing on his usually composed face.
"Capitalists are all quite wealthy."
The two looked at each other, then sighed and shook their heads in unison.
Ji Jingtong: "Miss Chu, you said on the phone that you had a case?"
"Yes, but we still have to wait for someone."
Not long after, Wu Xiushan, dressed in all black, came over.
Seeing that Chu Ci and his group had two more men with them, he couldn't help but frown.
"Come and sit down," Chu Ci said, pointing to an empty seat.
But Wu Xiushan didn't move, looking at Ji Jingtong and Shen Xiuhe with some wariness.
Ji Jingtong took out his police ID and said, "Don't be afraid, we are police officers."
Wu Xiushan frowned and looked at Chu Ci, waiting for an explanation.
Chu Ci: "Your sister was murdered, of course you should call the police."
Hearing her say that, Wu Xiushan finally sat down in the empty seat.
He simply crossed his arms over his chest, still a defensive posture.
Her gaze swept around the table before finally settling on Chu Ci's face.
"Since there are police officers here, let's start talking about my sister."
She posed the question, "First, answer me why you say that my sister and I weren't possessed by ghosts."
Chu Ci countered, "Why are you so certain that your sister was scared to death by a ghost?"
Wu Xiushan snorted, but still answered her question honestly.
"My sister died of cardiac arrest, and her expression at the time of her death was one of terror."
“I have a friend who is a doctor, and I asked her. She said my sister may have seen something terrifying before she died.”
"Because of excessive fear, the heart beats too fast and the blood pressure rises sharply, which causes myocardial ischemia and ultimately leads to cardiac arrest."
After speaking, Wu Xiushan paused for a moment, then looked up at Chu Ci.
"And...she called me before she died."
Thinking of that phone call, she lowered her eyes and tightened her arms around her chest.
He unconsciously swallowed, a flicker of fear crossing his eyes.
"She told me that my mother had come looking for her and was even holding a knife and threatening to kill her."
"It was chaotic on the other end of the phone. She was crying as she spoke to me, and in the background, there were sounds of vases and bowls breaking."
"Finally, she seemed to fall down, and kept telling me to run away quickly and never come back."
"After I screamed, I called her name on the phone again, but she didn't answer me."
Wu Xiushan crossed her arms, her hands unconsciously rubbing her cold shoulders.
"I was worried that something had happened to her, so I rushed to her house and called the police at the same time."
"But by the time I arrived, the police had already arrived, and my sister was being carried out on a stretcher."
"The police told me that my sister had no vital signs..."
After she finished speaking, everyone at the table remained silent for a long while.
Ji Jingtong and Shen Xiuhe had seen ghosts, but they still wanted to analyze them from a scientific perspective.
Ji Jingtong: "Your sister probably didn't see a ghost, she just mistook light and shadow for a ghost."
“Or perhaps,” he boldly guessed, “your sister is just hallucinating.”
Chu Ci glanced at him.
Ji Jingtong continued, "Are you sure it's a ghost on the other end of the phone?"
"Or rather, when your sister made her last phone call to you, did you hear anything besides your sister's voice?"
Wu Xiushan stared at him, and then nodded under Ji Jingtong's expectant gaze.
“I heard you.”
"I heard my mother's voice on the phone."
"..."
Bai Shengtian instinctively held his breath and nervously took a sip of his drink.
He moved the stool he was on closer to Chu Ci.
Ji Jingtong was stunned, glanced at Chu Ci, and then frowned.
Are you sure you didn't mishear?
Wu Xiushan rubbed her face with a wry smile, her voice muffled.
"I was already ten years old when my mother wanted to die with my sister and me."
"I will never forget my mother's voice when my sister dragged me from inside the house to the door and opened the door to try to crawl me outside."
"She told us to come back, and that none of us could leave..."
"For more than ten years, every time I have a nightmare, I will hear her voice and dream that she will take me back."
"I dreamt that my sister and I finally managed to push open the door, but she closed it again."
"Then she dragged us back into the house, and the three of us died together in the gas..."
Ji Jingtong: "..."
He caught a glimpse of the pain in Wu Xiushan's eyes, whispered an apology, and looked at Chu Ci.
Wu Xiushan shook her head and looked at Chu Ci as well.
"I've answered your question. Now it's your turn to answer mine."
She stared intently at the expression on Chu Ci's face, not missing a single detail.
"Why do you say my sister was murdered? Who murdered her?"
Chu Ci didn't answer her, but instead asked, "Your brother-in-law is having an affair. Do you know where she lives?"
Wu Xiushan, slightly impatient, coughed twice in response.
"Of course I investigated that mistress who was being supported by someone else."
"But why are you asking this?" Her eyes turned serious. "Was she the one who killed my sister?"
"She's never even met your sister, how could she have killed her?" Chu Ci shook his head.
But Wu Xiushan reacted quickly.
“You wouldn’t ask this question so casually. Even if she didn’t kill him, she’s still involved.”
"Right?"
Seeing Chu Ci nod, she slapped the table and stood up.
His eyes flashed with malice: "It's that bastard, my brother-in-law! It must be him!"
She didn't care about the reason at all; she just wanted an outlet for her frustration.
She grabbed a handy stone from the side of her feet and headed to find her brother-in-law.
Ji Jingtong was worried that she might do something extreme, so he quickly grabbed her arm.
"Ms. Wu, please calm down."
"Calm down? What calm down!"
Wu Xiushan flung his hand away, her eyes instantly turning red.
"Your sister, who you depend on for survival, has been murdered. Can you calm down?!"
She got so excited that she started coughing uncontrollably.
His face turned bright red, and his eyes welled up with tears, as if he were about to cough up his entire lungs.
The food stall owner had been listening for quite a while.
But because it was too terrifying, and the Ghost Festival had just passed, she really didn't dare to interrupt.
Seeing that Wu Xiushan was coughing so badly, she couldn't help but pour her a glass of water.
"Miss, would you like some water?"
Wu Xiushan took the water, drank a sip, and said thank you.
Seeing that she had calmed down considerably, Ji Jingtong quickly took the opportunity to comfort her.
"What you're saying are all speculations, and there's no evidence..."
Wu Xiushan's voice, which had just calmed down, suddenly became excited.
"But he was the most motivated!"
"My sister wants to divorce him, but he doesn't want to. However, he also wants to live with his mistress."
"If he kills my sister, he'll naturally achieve his goal!"
Ji Jingtong: "Then how do you explain hearing your mother's voice on the phone?"
Wu Xiushan was taken aback, and her excited emotions gradually calmed down.
The coughing grew more and more intense.
She put down the stone in her hand and looked at Chu Ci.
He coughed as he asked, "How do you explain the voice on the phone that was my mother's?"
Her cough worsened, and she even felt a slight urge to vomit.
I ran to the roadside and dry heaved for a long time, but nothing came out.
His face was flushed from coughing, and the bruises under his eyes were becoming more and more obvious.
Seeing that she looked exactly like her sister, Chu Ci frowned.
“I remember you and your sister had the same cough when you came to see me last time.”
Wu Xiushan rinsed her mouth with water, coughing until tears streamed down her face.
He gave her a vague answer: "My sister and I both have pneumonia; it's hereditary."
She frowned and stared at Chu Ci: "You still haven't answered me. I heard my mother's voice on the phone. How do you explain that?"
Chu Ci: "Does your family have a history of hereditary mental illness?"
Wu Xiushan was taken aback. "A history of mental illness?"
Shen Xiuhe's eyes widened: "Master, do you think seeing her mother was just a hallucination of the two sisters?"
Chu Ci remained silent, waiting for Wu Xiushan's reply.
Bai Shengtian glanced at Wu Xiushan and analyzed the situation carefully.
"Judging from Ms. Wu's mother's condition, her desire to take her two daughters with her to die indicates that her mental state is indeed unstable."
Wu Xiushan shook her head. "My mother does have a mental illness, but I don't know if it's hereditary."
She lowered her eyes, her cough gradually subsided, but her tone became more irritable.
“My mother eloped with my father. I have never met my maternal grandparents and do not know if they have mental illness.”
Ji Jingtong asked, "What about your parents' side?"
Wu Xiushan scoffed, "Then I have even less to say. As far back as I can remember, I've never met any of the elders above me."
After answering all the questions, Wu Xiushan looked at Chu Ci again.
"Even if it's a hallucination, it's impossible for my sister and I to have the same hallucination at the same time, right?"
"Not necessarily." Chu Ci stood up.
"You just said that you can't forget how terrifying your mother was. If you can't forget her, your sister certainly can't either."
“Your mother is the thing that you two sisters fear the most. There is a high chance that you will see your mother when you have hallucinations.”
As she spoke, she walked to Bai Shengtian's car.
"As for the evidence, it should still be kept at your sister's house."
She glanced at her watch. "If we go now, we should be able to get there sooner."
Without saying a word, Bai Shengtian went to drive the car, and Ji Jingtong and Shen Xiuhe also got in.
Wu Xiushan hesitated for a moment, then got into Bai Shengtian's car.
Upon arriving at Wu Xiushan's sister's building, the group got out of the car together.
Wu Xiushan had a key to her sister's house, so she led everyone upstairs.
As soon as I opened the door to my house, someone suddenly shouted loudly behind me:
"Who are you! What are you doing in my house?!"
Wu Xiushan's eyes sharpened, and she abruptly turned her head away.
Her brother-in-law stood on the stairs with a young woman, staring at her menacingly.
When she saw her turn her head to look at her, the young woman behind her brother-in-law was startled and quickly hid behind the man.
Wu Xiushan took two steps forward, glaring at the two of them.
"Just the two of you? Where's my sister's child?!"
"What do you mean, 'children'? That's my child, what does it have to do with you!"
The man wanted to push her, but hesitated and didn't dare to make a move because there were two other tall and strong men present.
He waved his hand at Wu Xiushan as if shooing away a fly.
"This is my home, you're not welcome here, get out with these people!"
After saying that, he was about to push Wu Xiushan aside and enter the room.
But Wu Xiushan grabbed his collar with her hand.
"Your home? This is clearly my and my sister's home! What does it have to do with you?"
The man shoved her hard, saying, "Your sister and I are husband and wife! Now that she's dead, the house naturally belongs to me!"
He shielded the woman behind him, threatening those present with a menacing look.
"Are you leaving or not? If you don't, I'm calling the police!"
The woman behind him had delicate features and rounded face, and looked harmless.
He frowned and glanced at Wu Xiushan, then gently advised, "Miss Wu, your sister just passed away in this house."
"You don't want to cause a scene here and make your sister's death unbearable, do you?"
Wu Xiushan's gaze was like a knife, piercing straight ahead, focusing entirely on that woman.
He was so angry that he coughed again and mumbled a curse:
"What did you say? Do you even have the right to speak here? A mistress who relies on men to survive, what right do you have to talk!"
The woman wasn't angry; instead, she smiled, a smile that carried the arrogance of a victor.
"Miss Wu, why do you have to be so rude? He and I are so deeply in love that we can't control ourselves."
"As you know, feelings are something that can't be explained."
"Besides, I have a job. What do you mean I can only live by relying on a man?"
After she finished speaking, she suddenly felt someone approaching her.
I turned my head and was startled.
Why are you standing so close to me?!
Chu Ci smiled and took two steps back.
"Miss, do you work at a hospital? Even though you're wearing perfume, I can still smell the disinfectant on you."
The mistress's face immediately darkened, and she bit her lip without answering.
Wu Xiushan's brother-in-law seemed to have been stepped on, and he immediately erupted in anger.
He reached out to shove Chu Ci, shouting, "Who are you?! Who are you all?! Coming to my house and making a scene, I'm calling the police to arrest you!"
"Sir, you don't need to call the police."
Ji Jingtong took out his police officer ID.
"The two of us are police officers."
Shen Xiuhe: "We now suspect that you are involved in the murder of Ms. Wu Xiuying. We need to search your home. Please cooperate."
He bet the burly man didn't understand the importance of a search warrant, and Wu Xiushan's brother-in-law certainly hadn't thought of that either.
He hadn't expected there to be two police officers present, and his lips twitched.
He then feigned innocence, saying, "Officer, my wife committed suicide!"
"Moreover, when she died, my partner and I were drinking outside, and the owner and other diners at the food stall can testify to that."
"How could we possibly have anything to do with her death?!"
Ji Jingtong gave Shen Xiuhe a wink, and Shen Xiuhe led Bai Shengtian and Chu Ci into the house.
Seeing them go inside, the mistress panicked and wanted to follow them in.
Ji Jingtong stopped her, saying, "Miss, please don't interfere with our investigation."
Seeing her flustered appearance, Wu Xiushan's brother-in-law gently tugged at her hand to reassure her.
That thing is hidden so well that it's impossible for it to be discovered.
However, not long after he went in, Shen Xiuhe came out with a yellow medicine bottle.
He looked smug and waved the medicine bottle in front of the two of them.
"You didn't expect that, did you? We found it."
Upon seeing the yellow medicine bottle, the man and his mistress were stunned, as if struck by lightning.
The man's face turned deathly pale, and in an instant, his once clean forehead was covered in cold sweat.
The mistress's legs went weak, and she knelt down on the ground.
Wu Xiushan stared at the medicine bottle, her brows furrowed in confusion.
"This is the medicine my sister and I use to treat our coughs."
She looked at Shen Xiuhe: "Is there something wrong with this medicine?"
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