Chapter 8
“How dare you raise your head? You, keep your head down!”
The Wu Men Police Station in Su City at three in the morning was noisy and bustling.
Those who had been drinking and fighting and those who had crashed their rookies were still there and making a lot of noise.
In the corner, Lian Xi and Su Jiao held their heads, head down, honestly squatting.
Face, wall, think, pass {face the wall and ponder about one’s misdeeds!}.
The old police officer crossed his arms, paced back and forth behind them both, walked two steps, saw Su Jiao raised his head again, and immediately glared with both eyes, “Still dare to raise?!”
Su Jiao: “….”
Oooooooooh, what the hell is going on here!
Beside him, Lian Xi silently held his head: you can not see me, you can not see me…
The old civilian police stared at the back of the head of the two young boys, looked for a long time, grunted and laughed: “You guys think police officers are fools ah? Also netizen suicide, you just tell me, you, this netizen is who? Which software do you use to know the online friend ah? WeChat, QQ, or tan tan, momo ah?”
Lian Xi froze, subconsciously turned back: “You also know tan tan, Momo [GPS-based app for messaging and potentially meeting up with other Momo users (typically, strangers) in one’s vicinity, launched in 2011]?”
The old police officer stared straight: “How dare you speak? Keep your head down!”
Lian Xi: “….”
The old police officer grunted, “What is it that we don’t know nowadays, every month people come to the police after being cheated of their money and being tricked into having sex on these messy whatever social software! Netizens committing suicide? Thanks to you guys for thinking of it! Which netizen, where does it say suicide ah? You just give us Dou Ya’s live ID and let us go look for it? You said suicide then it’s suicide?
[Dou Ya : app similar to Tik tok]
“There’s no chat logs, no phone records.”
“How did the person tell you guys that he wants to kill himself?”
“Dream (appear in one’s dream and make a request), huh?”
Two Fools: “….”
“Okay, okay, it’s the middle of the night. Old Li, what’s going on.” The old policeman in plainclothes came over and pulled his colleague with a smile, “It’s probably just two kids playing a prank. You see these two lads don’t look like bad guys, they are both students of the University of Su City, one is still studying.” With that, he said to Lian Xi and Su Jiao, “Alright, stand up, you know your mistakes, then it’s fine.”
The two slowly stood up.
The old policeman looked them up and down, his gaze was kind and his tone was very intimate, “As for him, it’s normal for him to suspect you guys. First, you guys don’t have any friend records. Second, you guys don’t have any chat records. You just have a call record ah. The empty words that a person on the Internet said that he wants to commit suicide, this… who can believe it? If you tell us now that Andy Lau is going to commit suicide, then do we have to run to Hong Kong for your words?”
The old police officer who was pulled was quite dissatisfied, “Hey, Old Wu, why are you pulling me. These two kids came to the police station in the middle of the night to play a prank, I can’t scold them? I think these guys just owe lessons!”
Old Wu smiled and said, “Why don’t you all apologize and say you won’t dare to do it again?”
Lian Xi and Su Jiao behaved well, “We were wrong, and will never dare to do it again.”
After writing down the pledge, the two were sent out of the local police station by the old police officer and the plainclothes policeman.
When they walked to the door, the old plainclothes policeman smiled and asked in a casual tone, “You guys, why don’t you sleep properly in the middle of the night? Why do you guys run to the police station to play pranks?”
Su Jiao was about to open his mouth when Lian Xi stopped him.
Lian Xi looked at the kind old policeman in front of him, he looked at him calmly for two seconds, and in the next second, pointed at Su Jiao, “Actually, it’s this friend of mine, who has a crush on this person with the ID called Liu Lang. I heard that he is also from Su City, so I wanted to see if there was a chance I could meet him. We are all students of the University of Suzhou City, we really didn’t have any bad intentions. Tonight we drank some wine to strengthen our guts, and only then did we think of such a dim trick.”
Su Jiao brushed his head and turned to look at Lian Xi, “???”
F*ck?
Old Wu sized up Lian Xi after a while, “And also drinking?” His nose twitched, “No alcohol breath ah. Haha, okay, go home early!”
“We’re young, liver function is good, and alcohol is digested quickly.” Lian Xi nodded, “Thank you, we are leaving.”
Looking at the back of the two young people’s back figures who were far away, the old police officer came over, “Lieutenant Wu, what are you looking at?”
Su City Criminal Police Brigade Vice Captain Wu Fang retracted his sight and looked at his old colleague, “I didn’t expect to come across such a strange thing when I passed your place here after handling a case tonight.”
The old police officer laughed: “Your old man went to the criminal police brigade, of course you can’t touch these neighbourhood oddballs. I tell you, this life ah, chicken feathers and garlic skins [trifles; trivialities], plenty of foul atmosphere matters! What, just now you sing red face {red face here, face painting in Beijing opera, etc., traditionally for the heroic or the honest] and I sing white face [white face—face painting in Beijing opera, etc., traditionally for the villain parts]. Harness into what?”
“No.”
“Okay, don’t think too much, I think these two boys are drunk, messing around! The wine is strong and courageous. I just let my colleagues check, two people have no record, they are completely clean, moreover they are brilliant University students. If you really don’t feel at ease then tomorrow I will let someone go to the University of Suzhou. They have a person who is still in graduate school.”
Old Wu thought for a moment, “That won’t be necessary, they’re not bad people.”
“How do you know?”
“The intuition of an old criminal police officer.” Old Wu took a finger and nodded his head, “Right, the one called Wandering {Liu Lang}, you and I will go to his house right away and look for him.”
Old Civilian Police: “Ah, what’s wrong?”
Old Wu: “I always feel that those two lads aren’t lying. At least, it doesn’t look like a mere prank.”
……
The conversation in front of the police station, Lian Xi and Su Jiao naturally did not know.
When they got home and the door closed, Su Jiao was instantly enraged.
“F*ck? Crush on that guy? I fucking love girls! Soft girls! The long black straight kind!”
Lian Xi faintly swept him a glance and said soothingly, “I was just perfunctorily talking to that old cop.”
Su Jiao froze: “Ah?”
Lian Xi: “The two of them echo each other, it looks like they’re sending us away, but if we say anything we shouldn’t, we might be arrested in front of the police station.”
Upon hearing this, the dropship driver sitting in the front row looked up at the two.
Su Jiao wasn’t stupid, and when he said that, he understood.
But …
“Why should I say I have a crush on who? Can’t you have a crush?”
Lian Xi rightfully said, “You lost the guessing game.”
Su Jiao: “….”
Fuck?
Play the finger-guessing game once and you count as you play it twice?
Be a person!!!
***
When Lian Xi came up with this idea, he had long held the intention that there was a 90% chance of being scolded by the police, and a 10% chance that the policeman on duty would not be in his right mind in the middle of the night, and would really do it to them.
Of course, he had also thought about the outcome of being scolded by the police and then the police going to look for Liu Lang on their own. But the likelihood is not very high, that is, if they really go, it also has nothing to do with them, so he did not continue to think.
And the fact is, after the two left, Wu and Lao Li really rode in the police car, went to Liu Lang’s place.
In today’s world, trying to find someone may seem difficult, but for the police, it was easy as pie.
It only took a few minutes for the old police officer to network and find Wandering’s current address.
It was already four in the morning when the two men came to the door.
Stray’s real name was Xu Lang, and he lived in an upscale flat in the Suzhou City Park. The property prices here are said to be in the tens of millions, and ordinary people simply can’t afford to live here.
While driving, Old Li said, “This thing called the internet, it’s really scary. It’s been more than ten years since then, and I still remember what happened to that female college student.”
Team Wu looked at his old colleague, “You mean the one in Sichuan Province?”
“Yeah. These two kids tonight remind me of that case again. You said that a young girl in her prime who had just started college was suddenly gone like that. I remember that girl was the same age as my girl, born in the same year.”
Wu Fang did not say anything, and after a long time, he sighed softly.
The case of the female college student in Sichuan Province who was killed by a man.
Sixteen years ago, someone posted on the internet that he had a terminal illness and wanted to see his ex-girlfriend who had heartlessly abandoned him one last time. This ex-girlfriend’s family is very poor. She can go to school, all rely on him to work outside to earn money. The result is that now the girl who went to college disliked his own uneducatedness, so she kicked him out. He has no other idea, just wants to meet her before he dies.
When this post came out, the netizens immediately exploded.
This girl is still a thing?
In a few days, the girl’s home address, university information, QQ, mailbox, and even dormitory number were fleshed out.
I was expecting a story of righteous indignation condemning the white-eyed wolf aka thankless wretch but who knew that after the man went to the girl’s door, he unexpectedly stabbed the college girl to death!
It turned out that he has no terminal illness, and did not work to earn money for his girlfriend to go to school, everything is just made up, in order for him to see the breakup girlfriend one last time.
At that time, the Internet was not as developed as it is now, nor was it as complicated.
None of them ever thought it would end up like this.
Lao Li: “Here it is, high-class neighbourhood!”
The police car drove into the neighbourhood, the two policemen got out of the car and quickly went up the lift to find the flat where Xu Lang lived.
Maintaining his professional habit, Team Wu’s hand pressed on the ammunition clip at his waist.
Lao Li stepped forward and rang the doorbell.
It didn’t take long for the door to clatter open.
The harsh entrance light shone down from the inside, and the two cops squinted.
After adjusting to the light, they got a good look at the person standing inside the door.
His face was white and his eyes were numb, but there was no doubt that it was the same person they had seen in the police station’s intranet profile.
Old Li held out his officer’s badge, “From the police station, someone downstairs from you called the police to report a burglary at their home. Are you the owner?”
The man in the suit slowly lowered his head, and after a few seconds, he opened his mouth, his voice stiff, and said word for word, “Hn, I’m the…. owner, the owner.”
Old Li frowned, he looked inside the house for a few moments, it was dark and he didn’t see a second person. He retracted his sight, his eyes fell on Xu Lang’s forehead wound that had already scarred and solidified, “What’s going on with this head of yours?”
“Two days ago, I was bumped and injured.”
Team Wu suddenly spoke, “You’re home alone in the middle of the night, why are you dressed so neatly?”
Xu Lang crunched his head and turned his head to look at Team Wu. After a few more seconds, he replied, “Just went home, working….”
Team Wu: “Mind if we go in and take a look?”
At this time, suddenly, the door behind Xu Lang was pulled open.
Old Li and Team Wu immediately opened their eyes wide and pressed their weapons.
Only to see a young man with dyed yellow hair walk out of the room, originally sleepy, suddenly seeing the police, he instantly woke up and opened his eyes wide, “F*ck, what’s going on, Brother Lang, what’s wrong?” He ran over, “Erm, Uncle Cop, is everything alright? What happened?”
Old Li: “A burglar was reported downstairs, we came to the door to ask.”
Yellow Hair: “Huh? A thief?”
Team Wu: “What kind of person or status are you to this owner?”
Yellow Hair froze and obediently answered, “I’m an anchor, Lang Ge is the owner, he’s my agent. I came to Suzhou City for a few days to play, and I’m staying at his house.”
Team Wu took out his mobile phone and asked, “What’s your name?”
Yellow Hair: “Er… Do you have to ask so carefully?”
Wu’s team raised his eyes, “Eh?”
Yellow hair hurriedly raised his hands: “Wang Qiqing, my online name is Hydrogen, if you do not believe it, police uncle you go to check, I am really an anchor, but also quite famous, I did not lie.”
Wu team: “Let me see your ID card.” After a pause, he said to Xu Lang: “Your ID card also, Let me see.”
Hydrogen: “I’ll go, I’ll go, I know where it is.”
Hydrogen hurriedly brought over both of their ID cards.
After checking to make sure it was correct, Team Wu handed the ID cards back.
Hydrogen cautiously asked, “Uncle cop, there’s nothing wrong, right? We’re both good citizens, we never do anything like stealing chickens and dogs!”
Team Wu swept him a glance, “Go into the room and take a look.”
Only after entering the rooms and checking around to make sure that there was no third person in the house or anything unusual, did Team Wu and Old Li actually leave.
Before leaving, Team Wu looked towards Xu Lang, who had a stiff face, and said, “Rest early and lock the doors and windows.”
Xu Lang slowly raised his eyes to look at him, his dark pupils shrouded by the shadow of the light.
He gave a muffled and quiet “En.”
The door shut.
But the two old policemen went downstairs, both felt a bad taste in their hearts.
Team Wu sat on the passenger side, silent for half a day.
“Tomorrow I’ll be on leave, I’ll accompany you here during the day to take a look!”
Old Li nodded: “Okay, I’m free in the afternoon, come along.”
Finally sending off the two policemen.
Hydrogen breathed a sigh of relief.
He had never seen this situation before. He was a high school dropout who ran away from home, and if he hadn’t done a live broadcast and become famous, he might still be washing dishes in the back kitchen of whichever hotel.
Hydrogen palpitated: “Brother Lang, scared me to death, how the police came, I thought something had happened.”
Xu Lang did not reply to him, he turned around and walked towards the study room step by step.
Hydrogen looked at his straight walk and swallowed his saliva, but he didn’t know what to say. He could only say, “Brother Lang, you haven’t stopped working since yesterday, you’re injured, it’s better to go to bed early and sleep!”
Xu Lang still ignored him.
However, halfway there, Xu Lang suddenly stopped, he slowly opened his mouth, as if he was being choked to catch his breath, and began to breathe loudly.
Hydrogen heard the sound and walked over, “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”
As soon as he approached, Xu Lang returned to normal.
Xu Lang looked at him, “No, what?”
Hydrogen: “….”
Touching the goosebumps on his arms, the yellow-haired guy said, “So, I’ll go back to my room first? Erm, Brother Lang, I’ve already bought a ticket and will return to Nanjing tomorrow.”
“Oh … good…”
“I will go back to my room ….”
After finally escaping back to his room, Hydrogen was relieved.
He didn’t expect that Wandering, who seemed quite normal online, was actually so eccentric in reality.
He came for two days, and Xu Lang worked for two days!
“Doesn’t he have to sleep?” Muttering under his breath, Hydrogen yawned and lay back on the bed.
Outside the door, there was a wall.
Hydrogen didn’t know that Xu Lang hadn’t gone to the study to work.
He stood at the door of Hydrogen’s room, his head moving to the left and swaying to the right. The wound on his forehead had long since stopped bleeding, but his lips were getting whiter and whiter, and his breathing was getting more and more rapid. In the darkness, only his neck seemed to be pinched by a pair of invisible hands, gradually changing shape and strangling the shape of a finger.
Dark clouds swept by, and moonlight spilled into the room, illuminating Xu Lang, and the girl riding on his neck.
The girl’s wrists were covered in blood, and she was bent over, like she was juggling a toy, choking Xu Lang.
Let go.
Choke.
Let go again.
Choke again.
“Hee hee hee hee …”
“Why are you…?”
“Want to break me and Ah Qing up ah…?”
“He loves me ah.”
“I know, I know hee hee hee hee …”
The ethereal and treacherous laughter echoed incessantly in the high-class flat at four in the morning.
***
The Underworld, the Yellow Spring of Forgetfulness.
It was a long and dark road.
There is no starting point, no end. Narrow and rugged, along the rushing and whistling River of Forgetfulness, sending one numb and tired ghost after another.
Some of the ghosts kept their heads down and didn’t say a word, while others cried out in pain.
But none of them fell backward, just as the yellow spring, which only flowed to the depths of hell, went forward, pair after pair.
Each ghost’s soul theoretically and practically were different.
The souls of the newly dead are so weak that they seem to fall apart at the slightest touch. Those who have been dead for many years before they come to report to hell, their souls are tight and solid, just like a living person.
Chen Jianjun had been dead for twenty-three years, and he stood in this narrow brigade of ghosts, like a confused human who had gone astray.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.
The stiff neck creaked up and looked into the pitch dark sky.
Everyone was moving forward, and if you stopped suddenly, it would seem very abrupt.
The ghosts rushed Chen Jianjun, and he was squeezed and bumped from side to side.
The ghosts that had come to hell had lost most of their consciousness, and Chen Jianjun was bumped around in a bewildered haze, completely unaware of what he was doing.
A few moments later, he was bumped to the edge of the path by the ghostly brigade.
Chen Jianjun looked down and saw a shortcut glowing with golden light.
Dots of broken golden light flashed before his eyes, and suddenly, there was a moment of clarity.
A curious coincidence, he walked onto the small path.
In less than half a day’s work, he crossed the six Yin bridges of gold, silver, jade, stone and wood, and for no reason at all, he stepped into the Wheel of Fortune Hall, which was specially in charge of the good and bad in the lives of the ghosts, and approved their grades, and sent them to be reincarnated!
The two ghost guards at the door were on duty and chatting at the same time.
They looked at the muddled ghosts in front of them.
“Now when did these die?”
“More than twenty years in the Republic of China? Twenty-three or twenty-four.”
“Ooh, there’s quite a few behind them, it’s going to take a long time to line up.”
Chen Jianjun’s scalp tightened as he hurriedly inserted himself into the midst of these ghosts wearing Republic of China clothes.
However, he was still spotted by a ghostly messenger with an official hat on his head who pulled him out. The solemn and ghastly official air pressed Chen Jianjun to the point where he couldn’t breathe, this ghostly messenger frowned: “What’s going on, these clothes aren’t quite right, they look like they died in the last few decades. Cut in line?”
Another ghost messenger took down a tattered book from the wall and flipped through it, “Chen Jianjun, died in 1997…”
“How does this cut in line?”
“Hn? Not considered queue-jumping?”
“What?”
“Look, this kid’s name has already been lined up in the waiting area of the Wheel of Fate Hall, if you don’t go in it’s going to be late!”
“……” The ghost messenger was speechless: “You say the last few years, the elders sent these messy bugs, queue-jumping in, almost every day, whenever they came in, they also didn’t follow the rules ah. I haven’t seen so many of them before.”
The ghostly messenger let go of Chen Jianjun’s collar, and Chen Jianjun was as relieved of the heavy load as if he felt like he had been fished out of the water. If ghosts could sweat, then he must be drenched to the skin right now.
Behind him, the two ghostly messengers were still spouting off about how the registration book of the Wheel of Fortune (Wheel of fate) Hall had been disturbed by ‘BUG’ in recent years.
Into the Wheel of Fortune Hall, Chen Jianjun shivered like a sieve, the hall door on both sides of the standing an evil statue of Luohan [Arhat, arahat, or arahant (a perfected person who has achieved nirvana (涅) and freed himself from the bonds of desire)], the horror of the majestic aura, because the pressure, an ordinary ghost can not raise his head, can only two strands of warily forward and back. Chen Jianjun could only walk forward with his hands in the air. In a trance, he raised his hands and could only look at his fingers.
A little bit of fine golden light spilled out from between his fingers and disappeared into the air.
Chen Jianjun (Commander Chen) was confused.
…. In the end, what’s actually going on?