Ling Lie nodded, cupping his hands in a formal greeting, “Hello, old gentleman.”

However, the old gentleman looked displeased, “Are you really a policeman?”

Ling Lie took out his ID, “Fair trade, no deception.”

Dan Yuntu looked at the ID but was still half-doubting, muttering: “Why is a policeman so cheeky and sneaky?”

Ling Lie didn’t care at all about others’ opinions of him, “Old Dan, I can help you straighten this plaque.”

Dan Yuntu was stunned by this “Old Dan”, quickly saying: “No straightening, no straightening! My plaque must be crooked; straightening it affects the luck!”

So Ling Lie didn’t straighten it, jumping down, “So it’s a crooked wind and evil influence.” (Pun on crooked plaque)

Dan Yuntu: “…Is Old Dan something you can call?”

Ling Lie was unconcerned, “You can also call me Old Ling, what does it matter?”

There was a strong smell of incense in “Fengshi Ju”. Ling Lie lectured Old Dan that burning incense in a residential building required caution; a moment of carelessness could cause a fire and bankrupt him with compensation.

Old Dan wasn’t happy. What kind of person came? Spoke nicely about asking for feng shui advice, but started finding fault as soon as he arrived, talking more than the fire department. Old Dan wanted to chase the guest away, but Ling Lie had already gone to the kitchen, “Bought quite a lot of vegetables.”

Old Dan said grumpily, “A friend is coming to visit tonight.”

Ling Lie looked at the vegetables in the bag, “Only vegetarian dishes. You use vegetarian dishes to entertain your friend?”

Old Dan looked at his nose and heart, “I don’t know how to cook meat. I’ll go buy a goose from the braised food stall later.”

Ling Lie said righteously, “That’s too insincere. How about this, write down what you want to eat. After we discuss Rongmei’s layout, I’ll cook for you.”

Old Dan didn’t believe it, “Just you?”

Ling Lie smiled: “Have you had breakfast? Shall I make you a bowl of noodles?”

A quarter of an hour later, Ling Lie brought out two bowls of cold noodles with perfect color, smell, and taste. After one bite, Old Dan gobbled it up. If Ling Lie wasn’t also a competitive eater, his food might have been snatched by Old Dan.

Old Dan patted his belly, “This is the best cold noodles I’ve ever eaten.”

Ling Lie: “What a coincidence, me too.”

Old Dan was fed and his mood improved, “Let’s go, take a look at the building you mentioned.”

Although Chaoxia County was outside the main city, driving directly there didn’t take much time. On the way, Ling Lie chatted with Old Dan, “What treasure is hanging around your neck?”

When he first saw Old Dan, he noticed Old Dan wearing a silver chain. But the bottom of the silver chain wasn’t a pendant, but a small silk pouch. Usually, children wore silk pouches; how could someone this old wear one? Old Dan was a charlatan; maybe what the charlatan wore was some “magic weapon”.

Hearing this, Old Dan froze, his expression becoming vigilant, subconsciously covering the silk pouch and stuffing it into his clothes, “This is none of your business.”

Ling Lie smiled: “I don’t care for it either.”

Arriving at Chaoxia County, Ling Lie clearly noticed that there were much fewer people in Rongmei than the time he accompanied Ji Chenjiao for medical treatment, but there were still many streamers and reporters, only this group was blocked outside the hospital.

He was dressed strangely, and Old Dan was muttering; neither looked more like good people than the streamers and reporters. Fortunately, he had his ID and the city bureau pass. The young policeman checked for a long time before letting them in half-doubtingly.

Old Dan complained: “You people just have too many rules, hindering me (Laozi) from saving the common people.”

Ling Lie: “Laozi?” (Old Master/I)

Old Dan: “This Great Master.”

Ling Lie: “…Let’s stick to Laozi.”

Rongmei Rehabilitation Center occupied a large area. Besides the south and north districts, there was a large green area, called a small green lung. Old Dan wandered around under the scorching sun, Ling Lie following behind. After seeing the buildings in the South District, Old Dan’s expression became a bit wrong, saying “Huh” several times. Then went to the North District, looking even more confused.

Finally, Old Dan asked where the core area of the fire was. Ling Lie pointed to the outpatient building in the South District and said: “That tallest building.”

Old Dan frowned: “Something’s wrong.”

Ling Lie: “If it were right, I wouldn’t ask you to look. Is this structure very ominous?”

Old Dan’s reaction was somewhat unexpected to Ling Lie. He shook his head vigorously, “No, there is no structure here at all!”

Ling Lie raised his eyebrows, “Hmm?”

Old Dan said that when he learned that the original site of Rongmei was a grocery market destroyed by fire and the developer did not perform any religious services, his first thought was that the developer wanted to use this fire and the people who died in the fire to trap the vengeful spirits in this place, using evil spirits to reversely nourish the new business.

This is an extremely vicious practice, but to achieve this step, the architectural form has high requirements. However, both districts of Rongmei are of the most ordinary structure; there is no magic array at all. It neither traps anyone nor appeases anyone. In other words, whether it is benevolent or malevolent in feng shui, it has nothing to do with Rongmei. This is a complex built without considering feng shui at all.

Ling Lie was silent. Was his thinking wrong? But it was very illogical for the Yu Group not to consider luck when investing in such a large project.

“But I think it shouldn’t be like this.” Old Dan frowned tightly, “For most of my life, I have dealt with many rich people and large enterprises. Even for a very small matter, they like to ask me to calculate. If something goes slightly wrong, they think about changing the structure of the house. And the richer they are, the stronger this tendency. The Yu Group shouldn’t be the kind of enterprise that casually builds a building. The less structure there is here, the bigger the problem might be. It’s just that my learning is shallow and I can’t see the trick.”

Ling Lie knew Dan Yuntu was definitely not shallow in learning. Although this person seemed shabby, he was not an ordinary charlatan, otherwise he wouldn’t have come to him. What could be basically confirmed now was that Rongmei had problems, but even the famous “Master” couldn’t interpret its problems.

Ling Lie suddenly asked: “Did you calculate for the Yu Group before?”

Old Dan’s expression changed slightly, waving his hand, “No.”

Ling Lie found it strange, “What, you checked for many large enterprises, but never for the Yu Group?”

Old Dan rolled his eyes and said: “I calculated; I clash with the Yu Group. I am not suitable to deal with them.”

“Then you are willing to deal with them this time?”

Old Dan was a bit impatient, “Not dealing directly. Besides, you are the police; what can I, a small commoner, do?”

After arguing for a while, this issue was passed over. Old Dan seemed depressed about not being able to figure out Rongmei.

Seeing Old Dan looking dejected, Ling Lie smiled: “It’s okay, just came to take a look. Think about it when you go back. If you figure out anything, contact me in time.”

Old Dan blinked, “Then…”

Ling Lie: “Hmm?”

Old Dan: “Then will you still cook today’s meal?”

Ling Lie: “Of course not.”

Old Dan wilted.

Coming to Chaoxia County, Ling Lie wasn’t in a hurry to go back, wandering around Rongmei. A group of laborer-looking people were playing Chinese chess under the shade of trees, pieces slamming onto the board loudly enough to pierce eardrums. Those watching chess were distracted, discussing Rongmei while watching. Ling Lie heard someone say: “I even built buildings here back then!”

The others urged him to continue.

“At that time, I just came to work, didn’t know the builder was a big enterprise. Building and building, suddenly stopped. Stopped for more than half a year. I was scared, thinking the developer was going to leave it unfinished and run away! I hadn’t even got my wages!”

“As a result, the foreman paid us and let us continue working on the site. Hey! The money was quite a lot! After rebuilding that time, the speed was fast, more workers too. Whiz, the South District was built. Once paid, I immediately went back to get a wife!”

Someone asked: “Then why stop work for more than half a year?”

This person said: “How would I know? Maybe the boss didn’t have enough money? Later raised the money.”

Ling Lie squeezed in and asked: “When did it stop?”

“About this time, anyway very hot. After more than half a year, started work again after the Spring Festival.”

Another suspicious point appeared.

On the way back to the city, Ling Lie pondered why Rongmei stopped halfway. It definitely wasn’t because the Yu Group didn’t have enough money. The fire was nine years ago. A year later, Yu Group got the land, built buildings, but suddenly stopped halfway, continuing only after the Spring Festival of the next year. What happened in between?

Ling Lie sent Old Dan back to “Fengshi Ju”. Old Dan looked mournful: “You really won’t help me cook?”

Ling Lie laughed upon seeing this. Where were Old Dan’s squeezed-out two tears? Clearly drool from craving.

What he said before was just to tease Old Dan. Staying to cook a dish wasn’t troublesome, “Let’s go, buy meat.”

Old Dan followed happily, very active in buying meat and paying, insisting Ling Lie stay to eat together.

Ling Lie asked: “Is the friend you mentioned a friend from your ‘path’?”

Old Dan was proud: “Of course! My忘年交 (friend despite age difference), just came back from abroad.”

Ling Lie didn’t ask further, went back and made Shaobai (steamed pork with preserved vegetables), Mouth-watering Chicken, and Squirrel Mandarin Fish. When dinner time arrived, Old Dan’s friend came. A young man, about thirty, wearing glasses, shirt and trousers, looking refined, having nothing to do with this line of work.

Old Dan introduced him as Tu Wang, from Country N.

Ling Lie almost laughed out loud. Such a handsome guy, why is the name so funny? (Tu Wang sounds like Rabbit King/Prosperous Rabbit)

Tu Wang learned a mouthful of Xiarong dialect from Old Dan, also knew his name translated had a comedic effect, happily greeted Ling Lie. After moving chopsticks, he quickly bowed under Ling Lie’s apron.

During the meal, Old Dan and Tu Wang exchanged academic issues. Ling Lie calmly led the topic to Rongmei. Old Dan spoke heartbreakingly about his lack of skill. Tu Wang was interested and wanted to see Rongmei’s layout plan. Ling Lie handed him the phone. After looking, his eyes were also a bit blank.

Old Dan: “Any thoughts?”

Tu Wang: “This… is indeed different from what we usually study. But it can’t be said completely unrelated to supernatural powers.”

Ling Lie: “How so?”

Tu Wang: “I am fascinated by your country’s culture and study the same things as Old Dan. But I have also been to many countries. Every country has different folk customs, some very strange, even I can’t understand. Is there a possibility that Rongmei’s structure looks like a sheet of loose sand to us, but in some country’s culture, it is a vicious curse?”

Old Dan gasped, “That’s really possible!”

Ling Lie said: “Could I trouble you to help me find out which country’s culture it is?”

Having eaten someone’s food, Old Dan and Tu Wang immediately agreed. Old Dan thought about it and added a condition: “Next time I want to eat roasted rabbit legs.”

Ling Lie: “No problem.”

Tu Wang was shy, “I don’t want to eat anything else. Next time I still want to eat Shaobai.”

Ling Lie returned to the family compound after nine o’clock. Looking from a distance at the Criminal Investigation Detachment building, the serious crime squad’s office lights were still on.

Something happened?

Ling Lie didn’t go home, planning to go around the city bureau. If Xiao Ji was still there, he could also carry forward the boyfriend’s excellent style and pick Xiao Ji up from work.

As a result, just as Ling Lie went upstairs, he heard footsteps. Ji Chenjiao and everyone from the serious crime squad walked towards him, expressions on their faces somewhat solemn.

Ji Chenjiao was planning to call Ling Lie, didn’t expect Ling Lie to come himself.

Ling Lie: “A case?”

Ji Chenjiao: “Someone else died in Rongmei.”

Ling Lie’s pupils shrank slightly. He and Old Dan left Chaoxia County after three in the afternoon; hadn’t heard about an accident in Rongmei then.

The social attention on Chaoxia County was getting higher and higher. The County Bureau had tried its best to find clues. A new victim made it difficult for the County Bureau to control the situation. After a meeting discussion just now, the serious crime squad officially intervened.

Although it was night, Ji Chenjiao didn’t want to delay time, deciding to set off immediately. Ling Lie naturally didn’t go home either, following onto the car.

The police car drove into the night. Ji Chenjiao said: “I wanted to call you, saying I won’t go home tonight, you rest by yourself.”

Ling Lie: “That won’t do. Boyfriend staying out all night, I’m coming to catch adultery.”

Ji Chenjiao: “…”

Ling Lie felt for Ji Chenjiao’s tablet, looking at the case details sent by the County Bureau.

The deceased was named Mou Ying, female, twenty-nine years old, also a patient living in the North District. At 6:20 this evening, she was found dead by a nurse in a locked bathroom. The cause of death was excessive blood loss caused by the wrist artery being cut by a sharp weapon. A sharp glass piece was found at the scene, suspected to be the weapon. No signs of struggle, but the deceased had multiple cuts on her body. The wrist wound was very irregular. The forensic doctor preliminarily judged it as suicide. Before cutting her wrist, Mou Ying had tried multiple times on other parts of her body.

Ling Lie: “Actually homicide cannot be ruled out.”

Ji Chenjiao agreed, “So I want to see the body as soon as possible.”

The scene was in Inpatient Building No. 1 of the North District, separated by a small garden from Building No. 3 where Jiang Yunduo lived. The bathroom where the incident happened had been cordoned off; the blood inside hadn’t been cleaned yet.

The bathroom had five stalls; Mou Ying was in the innermost one. Every ward had a bathroom, and the medical staff office also had a separate bathroom, so the public bathroom at the end of the corridor was rarely used even normally. And recently because of Jiang Yunduo, security guards worked overtime, not letting irrelevant people in, so even fewer people used the public bathroom.

In the evening during cleaning, the cleaner smelled a strong bloody smell in the bathroom and saw blood in the stall. Knocking got no response, quickly called others, forcibly opened the door, and saw Mou Ying sitting on the toilet lid, cold already.

Now Mou Ying lay on the dissection table of the County Bureau. An Xun worked with the County Bureau forensic doctor.

The glass piece found in the bathroom was confirmed to be from the cup Mou Ying usually used for drinking water, with only her fingerprints on it. Judging from the wound and fingerprints, it was indeed her own wrist cutting. To avoid making noise, she even bit a large piece of gauze in her mouth—not passively gagged, but bitten by herself.

She died on the toilet lid. Blood stains proved she wasn’t moved to the bathroom. There was a trail of her footprints at the scene, and her fingerprints on the stall lock. All clues proved she brought the glass piece herself, walked into the stall, and ended her life.

Mou Ying’s family was in another province and hadn’t arrived yet. The serious crime squad was learning about her from her roommates, nurses, and doctors.

“I don’t believe it. She, she talked to me in the morning, asking if I wanted to go to the cafeteria to eat onsen egg with fatty meat rice, today’s special… I didn’t go. How could this happen?”

Roommate Xiao Liu was scared pale. She had known Mou Ying for more than a month. Since hospitalization, she lived in the same room with Mou Ying. Their room originally had another person. Before Jiang Yunduo’s accident, that person was discharged.

Xiao Liu heard others talk about many haunting things, afraid at night. Mou Ying always comforted her: “How can there be ghosts in this world? Only human hearts are vicious.”

Xiao Liu said Mou Ying was a single item designer, participated in exhibitions. The lamps and decorations she designed, although Xiao Liu couldn’t appreciate them, didn’t stop her from thinking Mou Ying was a talented person. And talented people are inevitably tormented by psychological problems. Mou Ying looked no different from normal people but would suddenly become very depressed, losing the ability to take care of herself.

Not long after the North District began receiving inpatients, Mou Ying moved in. Not staying continuously; when condition was good, she would also be discharged.

Xiao Liu couldn’t imagine why Mou Ying would commit suicide, “Anyway, definitely not because of Jiang Yunduo. She didn’t even seem to care about that matter.”

Mou Ying’s attending physician Ha Junli was called to the hospital, face ashen. When Ji Chenjiao first saw her, he felt her reaction was a bit strange.

Her own patient died, and likely suicide; panic, sadness, and guilt were normal reactions for an attending physician. But besides these, Ji Chenjiao caught a trace of satisfaction in her eyes.

Why satisfaction?

Ji Chenjiao asked: “How long have you been responsible for Mou Ying?”

Ha Junli tugged at her skirt, not meeting Ji Chenjiao’s eyes, “Since February this year. She was hospitalized three times and discharged twice; the person in charge was me.”

“What was her psychological problem?”

“She was actually… healthier than many patients I handled.”

“Hmm?”

“She read a lot of books in this field herself. When I counseled her, she would refute me. I prescribed medicine; she would compare efficacy and question every time.”

“You were somewhat dissatisfied with her?”

Ha Junli tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “How can a doctor be dissatisfied with a patient? I just felt, like her, actually didn’t need hospitalization. Even without guidance, she could adjust herself. Sometimes I felt she didn’t come to the hospital for treatment.”

“Then for what?”

“To contact more patients, real patients, draw inspiration from their ‘whimsical ideas’ for her… works.”

Ji Chenjiao felt Ha Junli’s attitude was very disdainful when mentioning Mou Ying’s works, asking again: “After Jiang Yunduo’s incident, did Mou Ying behave abnormally?”

Ha Junli frowned, “She didn’t care about this matter. The hospital organized us to chat with patients to eliminate Jiang Yunduo’s influence, but when I chatted with her the day before yesterday, I found she didn’t care at all and was unwilling to talk.”

“Did she show suicidal tendencies?”

“No, I said just now, her psychological problem wasn’t serious. I suspect she came to collect material. She was very passionate about her artistic creation; what reason would such a person have to give up life?”

The bathroom where Mou Ying died was in Building No. 1, but Mou Ying’s ward and Jiang Yunduo were both in Building No. 3.

Building No. 3 was now even more panic-stricken.

Ling Lie’s gaze swept over those panicked, silent, dodging, curious faces, arriving at the door of Mou Ying’s room. Xiao Liu had moved out from here. Mou Ying’s personal items were sealed in evidence bags, awaiting further examination.

Ling Lie walked around the room. Xi Wan asked: “What are you looking for?”

Ling Lie said: “Mou Ying didn’t leave a suicide note?”

Xi Wan shook her head: “Haven’t found one yet.”

“Strange.” Ling Lie walked back and forth, “People who commit suicide usually leave something. Is it on the internet?”

At this time, Shen Qi was also searching for Mou Ying’s online traces, finding nothing.

Thinking, Ling Lie squatted down, unexpectedly finding the bed boards of the left and right beds were not symmetrical. The right one warped up a bit; the left one was level.

These wholesale beds should be the same, and the North District started operation not long ago; things were still new.

Ling Lie slapped hard under the right bed twice; the bed board warped even more. The bed board and frame of this bed were separated, but couldn’t be found without careful looking.

Xi Wan walked over, prying up the bed board with Ling Lie. A thin envelope floated down.

Xi Wan: “This is…”

Ling Lie quickly put on gloves, picking up the envelope. The envelope wasn’t sealed, nothing written on the face, but there was an A5 size paper inside.

The handwriting on the paper was flamboyant. Xi Wan recognized at a glance it was the same font as Mou Ying’s daily signature on the treatment log.

“This is Mou Ying’s suicide note!”

From the day she was hospitalized, I started pretending to be a ghost to scare her. We were in the same building. I was very familiar with the surveillance of this building and the time points nurses appeared, and could skillfully avoid them.

Long before she came, I occasionally played ghost to relax due to huge pressure. I didn’t target her, but I indeed harmed her. That day when she appeared in the corridor, I happened to wander there too. She saw me; her horror made me feel joy and satisfaction.

So I followed behind her. I wanted to know what her reaction would be if I blew on the back of her neck. She was really too timid. I was ready for her to scream and run, and me being caught by nurses, but she actually remained motionless, like a stone cursed by Medusa.

Thus, I became addicted to scaring her. I followed her back to her room. Her bed was near the door. As soon as she entered the room, she wrapped herself in the quilt. I quietly approached, looking at her in the quilt.

She lifted the quilt, scared by my face into screaming. I had to slip away, otherwise I would be discovered.

The next day, I didn’t want to continue this game, but I found no one believed her. Even her coach said she was under too much psychological pressure and hallucinated. This is too ridiculous. Why are people like us just not believed?

This stimulated me. I wanted more stimulation. I continued to scare her. Her spirit became listless day by day. Her roommate dared not live with her. Her coach was disappointed in her. I suddenly gained surging inspiration.

When I am discharged, I want to use her as a prototype to create a girl shouting silently in despair!

But, I was wrong. I didn’t expect she would be scared by me into rushing out of the inpatient building and die in that car accident. I thought about chasing out at that time. It was raining so heavily; I worried something would happen to her in her confused state. But I dared not, because once I chased out, the surveillance would capture me. I couldn’t avoid the surveillance there.

I returned to the room with a fluke mind, praying she would return to the ward properly after dawn. I swore never to scare her again, but what I waited for was bad news.

These few days I have been living in guilt and hesitation. I wanted the police to catch me, but the police didn’t even suspect me. Everyone is discussing the fire, ghosts, but I want to tell you, Jiang Yunduo’s death has nothing to do with the fire, it’s all because of me—this crazy artist.

Sorry, since you can’t find me, I can only choose to apologize with death. I killed Jiang Yunduo; I’m going down to accompany her.

Mou Ying.]

Mou Ying’s suicide note was undergoing handwriting analysis. Although the conclusion hadn’t come out yet, it was very likely written by her personally.

At this point, Jiang Yunduo’s car accident suddenly took a big turn. She didn’t hallucinate due to mental disorder or drug effects, nor were there vengeful spirits causing trouble in Rongmei. The one scaring her was a patient living in the same Building No. 3.