Chapter 99 Searching for Lu Mingbian, whose body suddenly disappeared
Lu Mingbian has been working at the law firm for seven years. Due to the nature of her work, she frequently needs to interact with law enforcement officers from the local police station and investigators from the Special Investigations Division.
In her mind, the investigators at the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics were always synonymous with efficiency and rigor. Sometimes, they could even seem a bit cold-hearted because they prioritized solving paranormal cases.
But the two people she met today shattered her 'stereotype' of investigators.
Lu Mingbian glanced at the burly, cat-eared man in the driver's seat, then at the bearded SpongeBob SquarePants in the passenger seat who was spouting cheesy, childish phrases, and silently hugged his briefcase tighter.
She felt she shouldn't be in the car, but under it.
Because his younger sister is very interested in anime, Lu Mingbian would go to anime conventions with her in his spare time.
The atmosphere inside the car made her feel like she wasn't with the two investigators, but rather like she was sharing a ride to a comic convention with two cosplayers.
Before getting on the bus, she repeatedly checked the ID that Captain Hong with cat ears had given her, confirming that it was indeed an ID from the Special Investigations Department.
...It can only be said that the world is full of wonders, and one should not judge a book by its cover.
Lu Mingbian sighed softly, took out a few documents from his briefcase, and used the task of reviewing the case files to distract himself.
The previous rental case is almost finished; we just need to wait for the execution.
The court hearing at noon went smoothly because the person from the supervisory bureau didn't refute much and directly admitted that the previously established conditions for applying for asylum were unreasonable. Therefore, she successfully applied for both medical compensation and monetary compensation for her client.
The next case was one that had been piling up in the law firm. Lu Mingbian had been working on it since he was an intern, but because they hadn't been able to find a client, the lawsuit hadn't been successful.
He had only read the beginning of the document when the tire seemed to have hit a small pebble, and the car jolted. Lu Mingbian subconsciously looked up and looked out the window to check the road conditions.
Upon looking up, Lu Mingbian was immediately stunned.
The scene outside the window exploded in her mind like a muffled thunderclap, and Lu Mingbian almost reflexively held his breath.
—A narrow asphalt road, with waist-high wild grasses of withered yellow and dark green intertwined on both sides, and a winding river flowing into the distance hidden behind the weeds and shadows of trees…
Memories long forgotten deep in my mind slowly resurface, and the scenes in my recollections are constantly overlapping with reality.
Lu Mingbian seemed to have returned to that old white sedan. She had just turned five and was suffering from itchy and painful skin due to allergies. To prevent her from scratching her skin, her parents used three seat belts to secure her to the back seat.
She was crying softly in pain, and her mother could be heard gently comforting her. Her father, who was not good with words, remained silent, but he pressed hard on the accelerator of the old car, trying to get it to the hospital faster.
The sweet aroma of the birthday cake still lingered in the car. Because her parents were by her side, although she felt sad, she also felt at ease.
But not long after, the father's scream suddenly rang out, followed by the dizziness from swerving the steering wheel and a huge crash.
Lu Mingbian felt as if she had been violently thrown out, but because the seatbelt was fastened tightly, she was firmly fixed to the car seat. Under the impact of the two opposing forces, Lu Mingbian felt her vision go black, as if the last breath in her lungs had been squeezed out, and her scream was completely blocked in her throat.
The sweet, creamy smell inside the carriage was replaced by the smells of smoke, gasoline, and a strong stench of blood.
She felt like she had fainted, but she seemed to still be conscious.
A pair of rough, large hands dragged her and her mother out of the deformed carriage...
Lu Mingbian was suddenly jolted awake from her reverie. She calmed the jumbled thoughts in her mind, tried to remain composed, and said clearly and steadily to Hong Zhong, who was driving, "Captain Hong, could you please stop the car?"
"Are you carsick?" Hong Zhong glanced at Lu Mingbian's pale face in the rearview mirror, gently stepped on the brakes, and brought the car to a stop. Since the road was closed, he wasn't worried about being rear-ended by other vehicles.
Lu Mingbian shook his head: "I'm not carsick. I want to get out of the car and take a look. I'm somewhat familiar with this place. This might be the location where my family of three had a car accident many years ago. My father died in the accident, but my mother was kidnapped by a man. The man who kidnapped my mother should live nearby. I want to see if there are any clues around here."
Hearing her say that, Hong Zhong picked up a detection device and got out of the car with Hu Feng.
According to the information provided by the landlord, Lu Mingbian's mother has become a ghost in the apartment room.
The ghosts in the apartment are all dangerous, and if this area is connected to her mother, it could very well become a dangerous haunted area.
Although he is the only one who will pass through this blocked road at present, it is better to deal with it in time in order to prevent any accidents.
As soon as he got out of the car, Hong Zhong's years of investigative experience immediately made him realize that something was wrong.
Although more than 20 years have passed, and the weeds and mud on both sides of the road are no longer visible, the asphalt road has never been repaired, and some traces on the road surface are still very obvious.
Not far from where they parked, there were several charred, irregular tire scratches and a slightly darker area... clearly a car accident scene.
The road markings were not obvious from a distance, and since there was no one around, no one would deliberately park there, so it went unnoticed.
Hong Zhong took out the detection device and scanned the ground.
...There is indeed a faint supernatural power.
As the detection device swept across the cracked asphalt road, dark red bloodstains appeared out of thin air. Then, the bloodstains slowly transformed into a bright red rope, spreading deep into the grass, seemingly extending all the way to the river in the distance.
"Come with me." Hong Zhong waved to Lu Mingbian, then quickly grabbed Hu Feng, who was about to rush out, and pulled him by the waistband towards the river.
Hu Feng grunted and didn't struggle.
When the three arrived at the riverbank, Hu Feng suddenly shouted, "I smell murder—" He pointed to a tree by the river, "There's only one truth!"
Hong Zhong's expression turned serious.
Before he became like this, Hu Feng was known in the bureau for his strong intuition; he was the one who sensed the router incident was about to erupt.
Although he's a bit mentally confused right now, his inspiration should still be there...
Hong Zhong glanced at the red markers that had spread into the river and ultimately chose to trust Hu Feng first.
He squatted down where Hu Feng pointed and began to dig at the soil with his hands.
Because of the cat demon, Hong Zhong not only grew a pair of cat ears on his head, but his hands also changed. His finger bones extended out from his fingertips like claws... They were very sharp and practical, and were even better for digging than a portable shovel.
Before long, Hong Zhong dug out a corpse.
It was a curled-up, charred corpse. The body was almost completely carbonized, but there were no signs of decay, as if it had just been burned yesterday, and one could still faintly smell the scorching, burnt odor.
"Judging from the state of the pelvis, she should be a woman who has given birth." Hong Zhong switched the mode of the detection device in his hand and pressed it against the charred corpse's arm.
The detection device's miniature display screen shows that biological samples have been automatically extracted and are being rapidly compared with the databases of the supervisory bureau and the public security station.
Looking at the name and numbers displayed on the screen, Hong Zhong said to Lu Mingbian, "Lawyer Lu, it can be confirmed that this is your mother's body... Please accept my condolences."
Upon hearing that the charred corpse was his mother, Lu Mingbian thought he would collapse and burst into tears... but nothing happened.
She felt a strange peace within her, a tranquility that enveloped her.
Lu Mingbian felt as if a thick layer of soundproof glass separated her from the world. She was looking at the corpse as if it were an artifact unrelated to her.
Perhaps it was because the charred corpse in front of her was completely different from the mother she remembered... She dared not imagine what kind of torture this corpse had suffered before its death, nor dared to equate this corpse with her mother.
When Lu Mingbian met Hong Zhonggang, he learned from him that his mother was now living in Liwan Apartment.
I thought my mother was still alive, but I never expected to find her body.
And Liwan Apartments is a notorious ghost building...
Therefore, it is very likely that the ghost in the Liwan Apartment is her mother's ghost.
...Death is not the end; she will meet her mother again.
Although he was calm inside, Lu Mingbian's tears still fell uncontrollably.
She crouched down, as if to test whether the scene before her was an illusion, and gently touched the corpse.
Just as Hong Zhong was about to stop it, the charred corpse suddenly opened its eyes.
At the same time, the detection instrument suddenly emitted a sharp alarm sound.
The charred corpse's bloodshot crimson eyes stared intently at Lu Mingbian, then its charred, curled-up finger suddenly opened and grabbed Lu Mingbian's arm.
The next instant, Lu Mingbian's figure and the charred corpse in the pit disappeared at the same time.
Hong Zhong was stunned for a moment, and quickly took out his phone to call Zhou Fangdong.
*
When Hong Zhong and his group drove to Liwan Apartments, Zhou Fangdong was on the second floor packing up the spoils he had just stolen from the resort.
The hidden room on the second floor has now become a junkyard, filled with ghostly items and corpses, leaving almost no room to step.
Zhou Fangdong only managed to tidy up a small area before losing patience and giving up.
Cleaning is such a hassle; thankfully, these things aren't in my room.
The apartment cleaners all disliked the hidden room on the second floor and refused to come in to clean it.
While looking at the pile of garbage in the room and feeling troubled, Zhou Fangdong suddenly remembered that he had used a fully automatic storage tool when he cleaned room 103.
I wonder if the store has any storage tools for storing ghostly items.
Zhou Fangdong opened the system store and searched around, and actually found one.
[Intermediate Fully Automatic Storage Tool]
Price: 180 Ghost Coins
(Applicable area: 100 square meters; usage time: one hour)
Item Description: This item can help organize and store clutter in the room, as well as tidy up messy ghostly items, separating useful items from trash (it only has organizing function, not cleaning function).
Zhou Fangdong decisively bought one.
While organizing his room with storage tools, he opened the [Linjiang City Map] and took a look.
Hong Zhong and Hu Feng suddenly stopped for some reason and were walking towards a small river.
It looked like they would have to wait a while before arriving at the apartment. Seeing this, Zhou Fangdong opened the rental preview interface and checked Miao Zheng's current status.
In room 109, a pixelated figure with Miao Zheng's name on its head is chopping vegetables under the guidance of the dismemberment ghost, holding a kitchen knife.
Large beads of sweat kept popping out of the pixelated figure's head, and the cutting board was full of oddly shaped chunks, while the recipe picture in front of her was shredded potatoes.
Zhou Fangdong paused for a moment, then gave up on teleporting over.
It would be bad if he suddenly appeared in the room and startled Miao Zheng so much that he cut his hand.
He took out his phone, edited a message, and sent it to Miao Zheng, asking him to make a promotional video for the Liwan Apartment online store when he had time. The message included a picture of a lamp oil pendant and the store page.
On the newly unlocked apartment e-commerce page, the system has already given the online store a name, which is very straightforward: 'Liwan Apartment'.
They were displayed openly and honestly in front of everyone, without any attempt to conceal them.
Zhou Fangdong originally wanted to change the name of his online store, but the name change card cost 10,000 ghost coins each time.
...This system is really going too far, Vision's pay-to-win game.
With this name, it's really unlikely anyone will buy it. The only hope is that Miao Zheng's fans' trust in her can offset the negative reputation of Liwan Apartment... After all, Miao Zheng is a paranormal streamer certified by the Supervision Bureau. People who like her videos should buy the things she recommends, right?
If all else fails, we'll have to sell them to the inspection bureau to boost sales.
Shortly after Zhou Fangdong sent a message to Miao Zheng, he was staring at the e-commerce page trying to figure out how to sell the [lamp oil pendant] when he suddenly received a call from Hong Zhong.
As soon as he answered the phone, he heard Hong Zhong say anxiously on the other end: "Lu Mingbian has disappeared!"
Zhou Fangdong was stunned, somewhat doubting his own ears.
They're only a few minutes' drive from Liwan Apartments, right? How could something like this happen at a time like this... and of all times, it had to be Lu Mingbian who got into trouble.
Lu Mingbian was not an apartment tenant, so he could not use the [Linjiang City Map] to see her current location.
On the other end of the phone, Hong Zhong quickly recounted the whole story.
"I understand. Keep an eye on Hu Feng. Go back to the car and wait for my call." After giving his instructions, Zhou Fangdong quickly hung up the phone and ran up to the third floor.
Upon hearing Hong Zhong say that Lu Mingbian suddenly disappeared after encountering the charred corpse, his first thought was that Lu Mingbian might have been teleported to Room 301.
After all, that corpse belonged to the vengeful ghost in room 301, and that ghost would never harm its own daughter.
However, when he rushed into room 301, the room was still a raging inferno, with no area where any living person could survive.
The situation was urgent, and Zhou Fangdong couldn't care less about anything else. He took out a kerosene lamp and forcibly dispelled the ghost realm once again.
The original appearance of Room 301 was revealed to him.
After quickly searching around and confirming that Lu Mingbian could not be found, Zhou Fangdong put away the kerosene lamp.
The flames raged even more fiercely than before, and at the same time, a charred corpse slowly emerged from the depths of the flames.
It looked at Zhou Fangdong and sneered, "As expected... all men are the same... all the same, they break their promises... Is this your answer to me? Where is my daughter?"
The vengeful spirit's fury manifested as raging flames in the room, the scorching heat distorting the very air.
The ghost's voice grew colder and clearer: "I know you are very strong and can do whatever you want with me... Whether you want to eliminate my ghost domain or eliminate me, please do as you please, but I will never obediently follow your orders."
Even without using the [Heavenly Eye] skill, Zhou Fangdong knew that this ghost's affection for him was absolutely 0. If affection could also be negative, its affection for him would probably be as low as -999, the same as the reputation with Liwan Apartment.
His actions just now essentially made the vengeful ghost in room 301 relive the feeling of being deceived before its death, and it was even deceived by its daughter again.
But Lu Mingbian's sudden disappearance was too unexpected, and he had to confirm whether she had been moved to the Liwan Apartment by the charred corpse.
"Let me explain first..." Zhou Fangdong sighed, "I found your daughter, but something went wrong. She disappeared after touching your body."
"Can you sense your own corpse now? Do you know the current state of your corpse?"
Zhou Fangdong suspected that someone might have tampered with the ghost's corpse.
He had read its memories and knew that it went through a period of confusion after it died and became a vengeful ghost—its memory was blank from the time it died until it returned to the Liwan Apartment as a vengeful ghost.
During this period, someone may have tampered with the corpse, which led to the accident that happened to Lu Mingbian when he touched it.
Upon hearing Zhou Fangdong's words, the vengeful ghost in the sea of fire let out another cold laugh. Just as it was about to make a few more sarcastic remarks, it suddenly froze.
Zhou Fangdong could see a look of surprise and uncertainty on that unrecognizable face.
Just then, the system's electronic voice suddenly sounded:
[Urgent Mission: Search for the Body (3-hour countdown)]
[Quest Hint: The Mirror World, the Sandalwood Memorial Tablet]
[104 Convenience Store is temporarily closed. Room 201 protection mechanism activated. Room 301 protection mechanism activated. Room 401... Room 401 has not been activated. Please contact the ghost in Room 401 as soon as possible.]
Task requirements:
①Find the corpses of the 104 Convenience Store clerk, the wedding dress ghost, and the long-tongued ghost.
②Find the corpse of the sick ghost in room 201
③Find the corpse of the vengeful ghost in room 301.
④ The ghostly corpse in room 401 was found.
⑤ Bring Lu Mingbian out of the mirror world alive.
During the mission, the host may carry the ghosts from the above rooms with them; these ghost rooms will be kept safe by the system.
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