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墨書 Inktalez
We three arrived in Wuxi, and according to the address provided by the police, we came to a village called Luodong Village.
As our car entered the village, we saw a group of people wielding iron shovels and pitchforks, chasing after a man and a woman. The woman was only wrapped in a blanket, and as she ran, most of her body was exposed. The man was carrying a large camera and was fleeing in a panic.
There were two police officers in the car, and they couldn't ignore such a scene. We stopped the vehicle, and then Chen Shan jumped out. Before he could say anything, the man and woman leaped onto our car. The man shouted, "Hurry... hurry, drive! If you don't drive, someone will get hurt!"
Chen Shan frowned. He walked over to stop the villagers and took out his police badge. "You all stop! What’s going on here? Why is there such a commotion? What year is it? You still take matters into your own hands and fight like this?"
The foremost villager was an old man. He glanced at Chen Shan's police badge and spat on the ground. "Comrade Officer, don’t blame us for beating them. Just look at what those two scoundrels are doing! Oh my, it’s truly disgraceful!"
Chen Shan asked, "What exactly happened? If they broke the law, I will take them away."
"Break the law? If that were the case, it would be good! They... hey, you big white one! They were out in the fields, completely naked, taking photos like it’s nothing! It’s immoral! They’re not just embarrassing themselves; they’ve corrupted the children of our village! I’m telling you, Luo Hui, don’t even think about stepping foot in Luodong Village again. If you dare come back, I’ll break your legs!" The old man finished speaking without acknowledging Chen Shan further and waved his hand as he led the others away.
I understood then that these two were taking artistic photos.
In the car, the man kept stroking his camera. "Art! Do you understand art? It’s really impossible to communicate with you people!"
The woman tightly wrapped her coat around herself. Initially panicked, she pointed at the man once the villagers left. "You! One thousand isn’t enough! After all this fright I’ve been through, you must compensate me three thousand for emotional distress, plus the one thousand we agreed upon for modeling fees. Hurry up with the money!"
I turned to Luo Hui and asked, "Are you Luo Hui?"
Luo Hui nodded dejectedly.
"That... Death Disk was taken by you?" I continued to inquire.
As soon as Luo Hui heard my words, he perked up. "You’ve seen my work, right? You’re here to find me, aren’t you? You must be drawn in by my artistic techniques and camera work! I know, I know that my creations will eventually catch someone’s eye!"
"Catch someone’s eye? Your discs are killing people!" Chen Shan stepped forward, jumped into the car, slammed the door shut, and then sternly addressed the woman, "Put your clothes back on! What are you doing?"
The female model didn’t dare to protest; she huddled in her seat and put her clothes back on.
Luo Hui was startled by Chen Shan’s words. "I... I haven’t killed anyone! Everything I filmed is fake; it’s all expressed through a special artistic technique. I used a unique three-dimensional filming method that creates an immersive experience..."
"Why did you film those things? And why are you selling the Death Disk online, claiming that anyone who watches it will die?" Chen Shan ignored Luo Hui's lofty ideals and frowned as he questioned him.
Luo Hui shrank back under Chen Shan's gaze. Who was Chen Shan? A seasoned detective with countless criminals under his belt; just one look from him was enough to instill fear.
Luo Hui pulled his neck in and spoke softly, "I... I just wanted some attention. You see, I’m an artist, but now I’m broke and living in this rundown house with a bunch of uncultured people who have no appreciation for art. I wanted to get noticed, so... um, I created this kind of work, hoping to attract the eye of someone discerning..."
After hearing this, I realized that Luo Hui was merely trying to hype himself up. His filming of the Death Disk was just a publicity stunt; now he was shooting nude substitute photos for the same reason. It seemed that becoming a successful photographer was quite difficult—he had completely abandoned any sense of integrity.
I turned to Chen Shan and said, "Brother Chen, there’s no need to investigate further; this lead won’t pan out. I believe the murderer is still among those two roommates. Even if there are ghostly occurrences, they’re happening in the dormitory, not related to the discs."
Chen Shan nodded. "Then let’s head back."
We pushed Luo Hui out of the car. As he got out, the female model started shouting at him for money. Luo Hui had none, and they began arguing again.
The three of us couldn’t be bothered with their drama as we drove back to Donghai City. By the time we arrived in Donghai City, it was already evening. Chen Shan planned to summon Wang Cuihua and Tang Yi for questioning again.
Just as we reached Donghai City and hadn’t even gotten out of the car yet, Chen Shan’s phone suddenly rang. He answered it with a quick response: "What! Okay, we’ll be there right away!"
Chen Shan put down his phone, his face darkened.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Tang Yi and Wang Cuihua are in trouble. They were staying at a hotel, and it turns out Tang Yi drowned in the toilet while Wang Cuihua was nearly strangled. The staff heard the commotion and burst in to save Wang Cuihua. Also... it seems like there really are vengeful spirits; that staff member saw them with her own eyes. We should leave," Chen Shan whispered.
Qin Hai shivered, "What a powerful ghost! It actually followed them all the way to the hotel. Hey, Song Fei, you can handle this ghost, right?"
I thought for a moment and then nodded, "I should be able to. I have the Peach Wood Sword with me; if that doesn't work, I can call Yang Gou Dan."
The three of us drove straight to a hotel next to Donghai University of Art. By the time we arrived, the police had already cordoned off the scene. We entered the room where Wang Cuihua had already been taken to the hospital for emergency treatment. As for Tang Yi, the wealthy girl, her head was submerged in the toilet—she was beyond saving, with no signs of struggle on her body.
A waitress stood nearby, trembling uncontrollably while a female police officer tried to comfort her.
I approached the waitress and noticed how frightened she was; she was shaking all over.
I handed her a cup of hot water, and after taking a sip, she seemed to calm down a bit.
I asked, "What did you see?"
Upon hearing my question, the waitress lowered her head and whispered, "It was... it was a female student wearing a red nightgown. She... she looked quite young. I don't know who she is; I don't recognize her, but she was floating. It was terrifying."
I observed the waitress and could tell she wasn't lying. "It's okay; it's over now."
Qin Hai came over, pulling me aside and whispering, "So, what do you think? It can't really be... a ghost, right?"
I nodded, "That waitress was really scared. Her reaction seemed genuine. It looks like we need to find that ghost first. We have to go back to the school dormitory and take another look."
Qin Hai glanced around nervously, "Now? It seems a bit dark."
I shot him a look, "Do you really lack this little courage?"
Feeling frustrated, Qin Hai scratched his head and followed me outside.
We drove back to the bottom of the Girls' Dormitory. The Dormitory Matron remembered us from last time. As soon as she saw us, she hurried over, "Comrades, you're here to investigate again."
"Yes, one of the other two girls in that dormitory has died, and the other almost did too. We want to check the dormitory again," I explained. "The waitress mentioned seeing a female ghost in pajamas. Has anything like this happened in this dormitory before?"
Upon hearing this, the Dormitory Matron froze for a moment, then quickly clasped her hands together, "Amitabha, Amitabha, Amitabha! It's all in the past; please don't come back!"
Realizing she knew something, I quickly asked, "Auntie, you know something about this, right? Please tell me what happened."
The Dormitory Matron sighed and leaned against the railing. "This happened over ten years ago! At that time, this university had just moved here and had only recently become a second-tier school. In that dormitory—Room 505—there were four girls. Three of them were quite wealthy, while one came from a rural background. She had to take out loans for her tuition; it was truly unfortunate. The three girls bullied her relentlessly. I also feel guilty; I used to scold those girls for their behavior but their character was really poor. They were all studying art and frankly, they weren't very studious girls back then. The art students of that time were quite different from today's kids who genuinely love art. Back then, many art students were just delinquents."
Seeing that the Dormitory Matron was going off on a tangent, I interjected, "Auntie, we understand the background now. What happened next?"
She continued, "Later on... one of the girls lost her red pajamas and immediately accused the Rural Girl of stealing them. Since the Rural Girl couldn't afford nightgowns, they assumed she must have taken them. This incident escalated quickly; everyone in the class and dormitory knew about it. The three girls were adamant that the Rural Girl had stolen them despite having no evidence; everyone believed them."
Qin Hai and I exchanged concerned glances.
The Dormitory Matron went on, "On the second night, the girl who lost her pajamas found them tucked away at her bedside. The Rural Girl insisted she hadn't stolen them and demanded an apology from the three girls in front of everyone. The girl who found her pajamas certainly wouldn't agree; she threw the pajamas at her and said since you've found them now, you can have them back. After all, it's not like you ever wore such nice pajamas before."
Qin Hai shrank his neck and said, "These three roommates are really... really a bit terrifying. It reminds me of the incident where Maga Jue killed her roommates."
The Dormitory Matron replied, "Who isn't scared? It all happened one night when that Rural Girl, wearing a red nightgown, killed the other two sleeping roommates. The third person heard the noise and tried to escape, but the Rural Girl pushed her onto the windowsill, and she fell to her death. The Rural Girl then skinned the other two girls and ended up committing suicide in her red nightgown..."
After hearing the Dormitory Matron's words, I was a bit stunned. "How could such a big thing happen without us knowing? Why are there still people living in that dormitory?"
The Dormitory Matron explained, "For several years, it was indeed unoccupied. However, later on, there were too many new students enrolling, and once the older students graduated, the new ones were unaware of it. The school leadership decided to let students continue living there. Besides, nothing has happened for so many years; that dormitory has always been peaceful. I meant to tell you about this when you arrived today, but somehow... I just forgot. Sigh."
I nodded and said, "Alright, let's go take a look at the dormitory."
As soon as Qin Hai heard this, he quickly said, "I'm not going up there; the fifth floor is too high for me. I don't have the stamina. You and the Matron can go up."
The Dormitory Matron also seemed a bit scared. "It's so late; I'm afraid of heights too."
I rolled my eyes at both of them, shouldered my bag, and headed toward the fifth floor.
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