Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Huang Ping shot Old Wu a dissatisfied glare, furrowing his brow as he spoke, "Old Wu, call the colleagues in the Information Department right away and have them investigate Wang Hongtao and his shop. This Wang Hongtao has business dealings with the city's funeral home, which gives him plenty of opportunities to come into contact with corpses. Even if he isn't the one behind this case, it's highly likely that someone from his shop is involved."
After assigning Old Wu to make the call, Huang Ping led the others into the shop. Wang Hongtao had already been inside for two or three minutes; if he was indeed the mastermind, he would have had time to let any accomplices escape. To prevent that from happening, Huang Ping hurriedly brought his team into the shop.
Upon entering, Huang Ping's first action was to quickly scan the entire shop. He noticed that aside from the main entrance, there were no other exits, not even a window that could provide ventilation.
Huang Ping spotted Wang Hongtao sitting at a table inside the shop, with a young woman in a red cheongsam standing behind him. The woman wore heavy makeup, making her face appear exceptionally pale and bright.
Seeing that Wang Hongtao had not fled eased Huang Ping's mind. However, his gaze shifted to the woman beside him, and he began to suspect that she might be the true mastermind behind everything.
Wang Hongtao noticed Huang Ping's vigilant expression and couldn't help but smile. He reached out to embrace the woman and said cheerfully, "Officer Huang Ping, let me introduce you to my partner, Wu Chun."
Huang Ping was momentarily taken aback by the situation and struggled to process it. Wang Hongtao appeared to be in his eighties, while the woman in the cheongsam looked no older than thirty-seven or thirty-eight. The age difference was quite significant; initially, Huang Ping thought she might just be Wang Hongtao's daughter or a shop assistant.
Though confused, Huang Ping quickly regained his composure. He cleared his throat and looked into Wang Hongtao's eyes as he asked, "Mr. Wang, besides the two of you, are there any other staff members in this shop?"
Wang Hongtao shook his head and replied with a smile, "Officer Huang Ping, this is our family business; we can't afford employees. Everything in this shop is managed by us. It's a bit tiring, but we manage to get by."
At this point, Wang Hongtao reached out and patted Wu Chun's thigh before saying, "Wu Chun, our esteemed guests are here; why don't you go fetch some tea for them?"
Wu Chun jumped up from Wang Hongtao's embrace and playfully punched him on the chest. With a charming tone, she said, "Oh dear Old Man, there are so many people watching; can't you keep your hands to yourself?"
She shot Wang Hongtao an annoyed glance before turning back to Huang Ping and his team with a smile. "Please wait a moment; I'll bring you some tea right away."
Wu Chun walked behind the counter of the shop and began to boil water for tea.
At that moment, Huang Ping finally had time to examine the items in the store. He noticed that there were indeed many neatly folded funeral garments and some printed paper money around him. In one corner of the shop, there was even a large paper villa. These items were all meant for burning as offerings to the deceased, but Huang Ping didn’t find it particularly strange.
Suddenly, Huang Ping's gaze fell on the white paper lantern hanging outside the shop. His brow furrowed as he asked, "Mr. Wang, I remember you specifically extinguished the lantern at the entrance when you came in. Why is that?"
Wang Hongtao smiled and took a bite of fruit from the table, casually asking, "Officer Huang Ping, do you believe in ghosts?"
Huang Ping felt an odd familiarity with Wang Hongtao's question. Just within the last couple of hours, he had heard Wu Jie ask it, and he himself had posed the same question. Now Wang Hongtao was the third person to ask him this. Furrowing his brow tighter, Huang Ping remained silent for a moment before nodding and saying, "Mr. Wang, I believe that ghosts exist in this world, but what does that have to do with the white paper lantern outside?"
Wang Hongtao looked at Huang Ping with some surprise but quickly regained his composure. He pointed to the pitch-black outside and said seriously, "Officer Huang Ping, my shop doesn’t just cater to the living; I also conduct business for the dead. In the mornings, I close up shop and deliver goods to the funeral home in town. At night, I light the lantern to signal wandering souls that they can come into my shop to make purchases. To avoid disturbing my living customers, I extinguish the white paper lantern and temporarily cease business."
Just as Wang Hongtao finished speaking, a loud noise came from outside the shop, accompanied by a sudden gust of cold wind that swept into the store. Huang Ping and his companions shivered in fear, thinking a ghost had entered. He instinctively stood up and looked toward the door, feeling goosebumps rise all over his body.
Seeing this scene, Wang Hongtao burst into laughter and teased, "Haha, comrades, you’re all so easily frightened! This is truly hilarious."
Huang Ping and his group soon recognized that it was Old Wu who had made the noise while on a phone call outside; it wasn’t a ghost after all.
Once they realized this, they shot Old Wu an annoyed glare since they had just lost face in front of Wang Hongtao.
Old Wu glanced into the shop and upon seeing Wang Hongtao sitting there eating fruit and Wu Chun brewing tea behind the counter, his face turned pale instantly as beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
Noticing Old Wu's demeanor, Huang Ping and his companions sensed something was off. They didn’t have time to scold Old Wu; instead, Huang Ping exchanged glances with everyone and pulled Old Wu outside. Once outside, Huang Ping patted Old Wu on the shoulder and said, "Old Wu, don’t be nervous. Take a few deep breaths and calm down."
Old Wu nodded. He had been in the field for a long time, and with so many experiences under his belt, his mental resilience was quite strong. He took three or four deep breaths to calm himself down. Then, he pulled out his phone and handed it to Huang Ping, saying, "Yellow Team, this is the information that the department's information technology team has gathered. Wang Hongtao has been dead for two months now, and his shop has been abandoned for quite some time."
Comment 0 Comment Count