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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 55: Fateful Path (Part Fourteen)
I had intended to say a few more words, but seeing that Qin Jian had already spoken up, I decided to keep quiet and doze off with my head resting on my hands.
Qin Jian and I were sitting in the back, while Zhang Xian unusually took the passenger seat.
If it were a man driving, the passenger seat would have been reserved for Chi Xinrong. With Zhang Xian sitting there instead, who knows how she might stir things up. After all, the passenger seat is typically for a girlfriend or wife, right? The car moved along, stopping intermittently. I lost track of where we had been, but when we passed by the famous Qingxin Temple in City A, I asked Chi Xinrong to pull over. I quickly walked towards the temple with Qin Jian. As we reached the entrance, a monk stopped us. I pulled out an item, and he quickly smiled and let us in.
"What is that you have?"
"It's a Scent Pouch..."
"Can I see it?" Qin Jian was puzzled; how could a seemingly ordinary Scent Pouch serve as a ticket to enter the temple? Qingxin Temple charged an entrance fee of twenty yuan per person.
"This was given to me by the abbot of Ten-Mile Temple to hold incense ashes. He once told me that this would allow me to pass freely at major temples. I didn't believe it then, but now I do," I said without intending to show the Scent Pouch to Qin Jian.
He shot me a glance and walked ahead in silence. Without needing to ask, I knew he was filled with questions about why we were at a temple. I focused on my task instead of addressing his curiosity. Once inside the temple, I waved the Scent Pouch at a novice who was clearing fallen leaves.
The novice looked surprised and then clasped his hands together in greeting; "Amitabha!" He stepped back respectfully.
I bowed slightly in reverence and then filled the Scent Pouch with incense ashes until it was bulging.
Fortunately, Qin Jian was perceptive; aside from his initial curiosity about the Scent Pouch when we entered, he didn’t say much more. We exited together, and Chi Xinrong and Zhang Xian were already getting impatient outside the car. When they saw us approaching, they didn’t ask what we had been doing in the temple and simply got back into the vehicle.
Once inside, I resumed my nap while listening to Chi Xinrong and Zhang Xian chatting away. I couldn’t catch much of what they were saying; women do love to gossip, and it was probably nothing good. Napping was my greatest pleasure, and I only opened my eyes when the car finally came to a stop.
We had arrived at another residential area—tall buildings that seemed like elevator apartments.
To be honest, I was growing increasingly dissatisfied with being Qin Jian's partner. Running around day and night like this felt aimless; our tasks ranged from trivial matters to nonsensical chores.
It was nothing like my work at Ma Wu Funeral Home.
Handling funeral arrangements was straightforward—a direct line: Funeral, funeral home, cemetery.
As Qin Jian's partner, I had to run around and endure the disdainful looks from others, just like when Chi Xinrong had glared at me in anger before. Without further ado, we got out of the car and headed straight for Hua Lu's apartment building. Zhang Xian, Hua Lu's home was on the fourth floor of unit three, and it was a quick walk up without needing the elevator.
When we reached Hua Lu's building and were about to enter, a loud bang from behind startled everyone into turning around. We saw a pool of blood on the ground and a body convulsing violently. Zhang Xian screamed in terror, turning to cling to Chi Xinrong as she backed away.
I said, "We can't back up any further; we'll hit the wall."
Chi Xinrong held onto her, struggling to control her fear. After a moment, she managed to stop shaking and pointed with trembling fingers at Qin Jian, who was examining the deceased. She wasn't pointing at Qin Jian but rather at the body on the ground. "He... he is Hua Lu."
Hua Lu was dead! The shock left me, Qin Jian, and Chi Xinrong frozen in disbelief. True to his role as a detective, Qin Jian immediately secured the scene with a serious expression that could intimidate anyone. He quickly dialed emergency services.
The sight of someone who had jumped to their death was horrifying; their eyes were wide open in death, pupils dilating as blood trickled from their lips, forming a thin line that slowly dripped down. The body continued to twitch slightly as Qin Jian called for help while looking up at the height from which the deceased had jumped—the eighteenth floor.
Wasn't Hua Lu living on the fourth floor? How did he end up on the eighteenth floor and jump from there? What did this mean? Just as we were grappling with these questions, a dark mist began to rise and gradually took on a human shape.
I shouted, "How dare you take someone's life so casually!" The shadowy figure vanished into thin air at my words.
Alexander—an outright provocation—daring to come in broad daylight to claim souls? I crouched down but had no time to sense anything before the sirens of emergency services wailed nearby. People from the area gathered to see what was happening, but thankfully Qin Jian kept all the onlookers at bay, including Chi Xinrong and Zhang Xian.
Then a woman with disheveled hair came down from the building, crying uncontrollably.
"Hua Lu! Hua Lu! How could you be so cruel? Our child is only over a year old! What am I supposed to do now?" From her tone and sorrowful demeanor, it was clear she was Hua Lu's partner.
Once the police arrived, I had nothing more to do but watch from the sidelines.
Both Qin Jian and I had secret identities; many within the police force knew our true selves but found it strange that we happened to be at the scene of such an incident.
Some things were hard to explain; the more you tried, the more tangled it became.
Qin Jian was speaking with his superior while I stayed with Chi Xinrong and Zhang Xian. The deceased had already been confirmed dead with no signs of life. The poor wife fainted after a few moments of crying; if it weren't for someone bringing their one-year-old son along, who knew how much worse her grief would have been?
Young Hua Lu was dead. Zhang Xian was an associate chief physician in neurology. I hinted that she should check Hua Lu's phone, but she replied, "Hua Lu's wife has always been suspicious; I don't want to go."
"Go give it a try," I encouraged her.
Zhang Xian, Qin Jian, and Chi Xinrong were all urging her on. Reluctantly, she made her way over.
I couldn't tell how Zhang Xian had spoken to Hua Lu's lover, but I heard a furious shout: "You vixen! You drove Hua Lu to his death; what more do you want?"
The shout startled Xian, causing her to pale and stumble back to us, crying, "See! I really can't go ask."
"How about I give it a try?"
"You? Better not!" Chi Xinrong definitely couldn't go; she was an outsider and had no authority to ask for the phone, which was crucial evidence.
The phone was vital for solving the case, so getting access to it was nearly impossible. The investigators were also considering the deceased's phone. If it was confirmed as a suicide and there was nothing suspicious on the phone, then we might have a chance to see it.
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