Chapter 84 Yin Peach Blossom (14) To be precise, it was about Xie Tan...
The shop assistant said that when the truck was unloading at the uphill section, the driver felt extremely tired and dizzy. He even borrowed a cigarette to smoke. After unloading, he stopped by the roadside for a while longer.
The shop assistant noticed he wasn't feeling well and suggested he call to have someone else drive if he was really unwell, to which the driver agreed.
Police said the autopsy results indicated that the driver died suddenly, and that the time of death was earlier than the time of the impact.
He had undiagnosed cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, and it was very likely that the combined effects of long-term fatigue and lack of sleep would cause him to suffer a sudden cardiac death. At the time of the attack, the vehicle was accidentally touched, resulting in it being parked in an unsafe state.
But actually, when the store clerk went out to move things, he glanced at the truck again and saw that it was still parked properly. The driver was slumped in his seat. He thought the driver was taking a short nap and waiting for the replacement, so he didn't disturb him. Considering the time of the incident, the next ten minutes or so were fine.
Looking at the surveillance footage, the car started driving itself and headed straight down the slope.
“Actually, this is the key focus of my investigation.” Xu Jinbo’s soul seemed to have left his body as he mentioned his work. It was as if his life had finally slid from hell to purgatory. Just now, Lu Jinzhao had congratulated him on finding a new job. Only he knew why he had been hired. “This matter has already been classified as a ghost internally. I’m here to investigate whether this ghost is randomly killing people, or if this girl is just unlucky, or if this is a ghost that was summoned by their family’s karma.”
This is another unique feature of Fiddler City. Given how often Fiddler City is haunted, if so many people actually bought insurance, all the insurance companies would have gone bankrupt long ago.
Insurance companies aren't easily fooled. They've hired many "industry insiders" to investigate. If the policyholders or insured individuals brought this upon themselves, or if they were entangled in their own karmic sins, the insurance companies won't pay out.
Being killed by a ghost also depends on an accident and a grudge.
Therefore, there are special insurance investigators who are specifically responsible for this aspect.
That sounds like a really tough life.
This job is dangerous and the pay isn't much, so nobody wants to do it. They usually send a special insurance investigator and hire a professional to give guidance, but all the money goes to hiring a "master".
"Waaah, but that master said they have a team building event going on recently and can't come, so he told me to look it up myself first... I guess I was just being dismissed, waaaah." Xu Jinbo wiped away his tears.
Xie Tan: "..." The cult, huh?
It was just in time for the religious assembly; what good luck!
"We've investigated everything else we could, but we just can't find this family. We can't move forward..."
Xia Wujin poured him another glass of juice, patted his shoulder, and silently comforted him. Lu Jinzhao also came over and, like a gentle guide, asked him what he planned to do.
After being comforted by his children, who were more than ten years younger than him, Xu Jinbo gradually calmed down and was able to sort out his thoughts a little. He then looked at Xie Tan: "602..."
He still remembered Xie Tan's words, "the ghost of 602".
Lu Jinzhao's smile remained unchanged: "What's wrong with 602?"
Xu Jinbo shivered as he met Xie Tan's gaze. He thought to himself that those dark eyes were truly terrifying, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.
Xie Tanxian said, "No matter what the situation, we have to knock on the door of 602 first. This matter depends on Jinzhao." He looked at Lu Jinzhao.
After all, Lu Jinzhao was the most familiar with the people downstairs, and had even helped them find their daughter. He was more likely to receive a friendly welcome than the insurance company investigator and the neighborhood committee auntie who made them remove the mourning tent.
Lu Jinzhao just grinned foolishly. Ever since Xie Tan called him by his name, he had developed this conditioned reflex, as if it was something worth being happy about again and again.
Every call is proof that they are getting closer.
They couldn't get anyone to open the door in the afternoon, so the transmigrator who was deeply immersed in the world of horror comics and the three natives who had grown up here had a sudden idea and knocked on the door of 602 again late at night.
The young lady hadn't originally intended to come along, since she didn't know Xu Jinbo and this matter had nothing to do with her; she was afraid of causing trouble.
Xu Jinbo didn't care, because he trusted Lu Jinzhao, and he was sure that Lu's friend was a good person... He also used this idea to reduce his fear of Xie Tan.
Xie Tan, on the contrary, said casually, "There's nothing to do anyway, let's go."
It was actually time for Xia Wujin to rest, but she always stayed up late with her friends, and Xu Jinbo, who was very knowledgeable, said that leaving her alone might be dangerous, so Xia Wujin followed along.
Xie Tan thought to himself, of course he had to keep up. He came back because he believed that 602 was related to Xia Wujin.
The four of them knocked on the door for a long time, but after knocking all afternoon, they had gotten used to it. Lu Jinzhao was not discouraged and still had a cheerful smile and voice.
The door was slightly ajar.
The woman stood behind the crack in the door, staring out with eyes like a dead goldfish, but when she saw Lu Jinzhao's sun-drenched face, she paused for a moment.
Lu Jinzhao found the woman's sinister appearance completely unsettling and enthusiastically explained their purpose to those inside the door.
The woman's terrifying eyes stared at him for a long time before suddenly shifting to the people behind him, or more precisely, to Xie Tan.
Xie Tan's expression remained calm.
The door slowly opened, and a woman's hoarse voice said, "Please come in."
The room was dark, and even after they were allowed in, the woman showed no intention of "turning on the lights and speaking frankly." Xu Jinbo had a vague feeling that the conversation was unlikely to go smoothly.
They sat down, while the woman's husband slept in the room, as if he were dead asleep.
Xiao Lin was hit so badly that his face was unrecognizable. His body had already been cremated, and his ashes were in the mourning hall. Now, no one is guarding it; it's just left there.
With Xia Wujin and Lu Jinzhao flanking him, Xu Jinbo took a deep breath, straightened his back, and adopted a professional attitude as he began to verify the details of the case, supported by their presence.
But as he expected, the woman remained silent, as if she had led them in and they had vanished into thin air, disappearing before her eyes and leaving no sound. She sat there in a daze for a while, then suddenly went back to the kitchen to chop vegetables.
It also shattered the courage that Xu Jinbo had been trying so hard to muster, leaving him unsure how to cope.
Clang clang clang! Clang clang clang clang!
Do they really have to sit in a dark room listening to a cleaver cutting meat? Ugh.
But it's one thing to be comforted by the children in private, but you can't exactly cry to them while you're at work... that's too embarrassing!
Xu Jinbo suddenly paused, raised his voice and asked the woman in the kitchen, his tone surprisingly aggressive: "What concerns did you and your husband have when you bought insurance for your daughter?"
The sound of knives chopping in the kitchen seemed to pause for a moment.
Xie Tan had already gotten up and looked around while the woman was in a daze. The woman treated them like air, so he treated her the same way, looking around as if he were visiting his own home. He even went into Xiao Lin's bedroom, but she didn't react.
He picked up a photo frame from the cabinet. It was a solo photo, probably taken by the couple at the entrance of their high school or university, right in the season when the flowers were falling.
Xiao Lin is the complete opposite of him. He is a sophomore, but his appearance and stature seem to have stopped at seventeen. Seeing him is like seeing the cold rainy season in my memory.
Xiao Lin, who is actually seventeen, appears precocious. Unlike the ethereal feeling he exudes, he possesses a mature and steady demeanor that is rarely seen in high school students. He seems somewhat familiar.
Xie Tan had a deep impression of her.
Among the children in the orphanage, only she had a blank expression and some resistance when she went on stage to whip the puppet. However, children's natural fear of adults in terms of strength is different from that of other children, who, under the clown's guiding encouragement, vented their deep-seated fear.
He didn't care at first because the clown issue was resolved, but looking back now, she might have been a special one among those children.
So before that, he asked Xu Jinbo for a photo and inquired about Sun Enze, who also came from the same orphanage.
Sun Enze remembered this child and was deeply impressed by her. She was indeed different from them. From a young age, she could see things that others couldn't, like having the ability to see ghosts.
She always cried and complained that she was being harassed by a strange woman, but no one had ever seen her.
I don’t know if it’s because of this, but her health has always been poor and she is often sick. Those scumbags at the foundation are probably afraid that someone might actually die, so they don’t beat or scold her for their amusement.
But this made her life in the orphanage even more difficult. The other children couldn't see the strange woman in her eyes and thought she was a liar. Since she didn't get beaten, they thought she was deliberately faking illness and lying, so they isolated her.
The girl gradually stopped interacting with anyone and stopped complaining about the strange woman. She just remained silent and stood on the most easily overlooked edge, as if standing on the edge of the world.
Xie Tan flipped to a specimen album of flowers, plants, and leaves. The earliest record was from when she was only ten years old. The leaves had already been broken and disappeared, leaving only her small handprint from that time, like a signature.
There was another large black handprint stuck to the side; he had seen it on the door before, made by a woman.
He flipped through it from beginning to end, over a long period of time, and next to the gradually enlarging small handprint, there was always this strange large handprint.
The eeriness subsided strangely, almost like it was keeping me company... but that only made it more eerie.
Are they waiting for this girl to grow up so they can have a better meal?
Xie Tan put himself in her shoes and concluded: What a patient female ghost.
"She was born weak and wouldn't grow up. She would only live to be five years old at most, so she was sent to an orphanage." Xie Tan was pulled back by the woman's sudden voice. The sound of her chopping vegetables became a mechanical background noise, with no intervals.
With Xu Jinbo's persistence and Lu Jinzhao's gentle coaxing, the woman's mouth was finally pried open. She had been holding back for a long time and wanted to say something.
"But some kind-hearted people couldn't bear it and changed her life; her current birth date is all fake."
"However, there's no such thing as a free lunch. The life I was given was just as dangerous. I was entangled with a female ghost, and I couldn't shake her off. I was always in danger of dying. So, after the people at the orphanage tricked us into adopting her, they suggested we buy insurance under the guise of compensation. That way, even if she died, we would still get some money, and I wouldn't lose out," the woman said coldly.
"Have you seen that female ghost?" Xu Jinbo asked.
"It only appears in front of Xiao Lin, but after living under the same roof for ten years, even a fool could sense it."
Xie Tan, who was in Xiao Lin's bedroom, said, "So, the female ghost has been with her as she grew up."
The woman cleaved with her kitchen knife, her lips twitching: "You're right. How can I be worthy of calling myself her mother? The first time she ran away from home was when she learned about the insurance. She said she'd rather call that haunting female ghost 'Mom' than call me again."
Xu Jinbo frowned: "Then this female ghost is very likely the murderer, we need to..." He trailed off.
The woman suddenly looked into her daughter's bedroom. From this angle, she couldn't see Xie Tan, but she still stared intently: "Since you moved in, it has been much more well-behaved... It seems to really like you. You know, when you open the window, it often lies by the window and looks up at you with fascination. Xiao Lin says it's breathing in fresh air."
"Xiao Lin died, and the female ghost disappeared. You want to investigate it, right? I also want to know what happened. For the sake of all of us... why don't we use your little one to lure her away?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the dark room suddenly turned cold. Xia Wujin, who was closest to the bedroom door, saw the dark handprint crawl in through the door and jumped up in alarm, shouting, "Be careful, Xie Tan!"
The handprint was a "twin flower," with another pitch-black hand emerging from the shadows, as if enraged, grabbing Xia Wuxian's neck.
Xia Wujin's breath hitched, and all he could see was a dizzying darkness. He let out a sob.
The pair of shadowy hands suddenly froze.
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