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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
Ding dong.
The doorbell rang with a clear and lingering sound.
After a moment, a lazy voice came from behind the door: "Who is it?"
"We are from the Management Office. There has been a Fall Incident in this building, and we need to check the safety measures in your home," I casually replied.
"A fall? Did someone jump?" The woman's voice suddenly sounded panicked. The door opened, revealing a graceful woman in a beautiful nightgown. Since I had activated my Yin-Yang Eye, I could tell at a glance that she was just an ordinary person. My tense nerves immediately relaxed a lot, and I glanced inside the door; there were no red footprints inside.
Seeing me and Ding Fatty, a hint of suspicion crossed her eyes: "Why do you two look so unfamiliar?"
I smiled and fabricated an explanation: "There was an unexpected situation just now. The Public Security Bureau's Fire Department ordered the Management Office to immediately register the safety measures of all residents. The Management Office doesn't have enough staff, so they entrusted us from the Homeowners Committee. I'm Hu Gao, the vice-chairman of the Homeowners Committee, living in Jupiter Pavilion 10."
"When did the Management Office become so efficient?" The woman raised her hand to cover her mouth as she yawned. "How should I cooperate with you?"
"We just need to check if your windows have protective bars and register that," I said, pretending to be serious as I waved at Ding Fatty and walked straight inside. Fatty followed me with a serious expression while carrying a box.
The room had three bedrooms and two living areas. Upon entering, there was a dining area and an open kitchen. Judging by the cleanliness of the pots and pans in the kitchen, it seemed that the woman had never cooked at home. The living room connected to the balcony, where underwear was hanging; among them were two pairs of men's underwear, which I assumed belonged to Jin Xinghua.
There were three rooms; two were a study and a guest room, both with their doors open and showing no abnormalities. I cleared my throat: "Madam, could you please open this bedroom door?"
Since I didn't know her surname, I could only refer to her vaguely. It had to be quick; she didn't seem to notice and simply smiled: "This is my bedroom; there are some things that are not convenient for you to see. I can assure you that there are security bars installed inside."
As she said this, a hint of panic flickered in her eyes. I thought to myself that something was off; Jin Yang was probably locked inside.
I winked at Fatty, who understood and said, "Sister, please don't hinder us from doing our work; this is for everyone's safety in the area." With that, he stepped forward to twist the doorknob.
The woman turned pale and wanted to step forward to stop Fatty, saying, "I have it, how can you do this?"
The more flustered she became, the more suspicious it seemed. I could almost envision Jin Yang tied up on the ground, struggling and waiting for us to come in and rescue him.
"Sister, please be quiet!" I stepped forward and placed two fingers on the woman's shoulder. I was well aware that the strength of my two fingers could easily render her immobile.
Amidst the woman's screams, Ding Fatty twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open.
The scene inside the room was much like we had imagined; indeed, someone was bound. However, it wasn't Jin Yang.
A middle-aged man in his forties was tied to the bed, his body resembling a sack of meat that could rival Ding Fatty's. From his astonished expression and the way he was tied up, it was clear that this kind of binding was purely a lifestyle choice. Have you ever seen someone tied up with red ribbons and a bow? Moreover, there were props like whips and candles by the head of the bed; one could easily guess what kind of activities were involved.
Furthermore, this middle-aged man looked very familiar—not someone we often saw but rather someone we frequently watched on television. This person turned out to be Xu Qingyu, the Executive Vice Mayor of Star City.
Damn! I quickly signaled for Fatty to leave.
Fatty stood there in a daze, saying, "Isn't that... Xu..."
I kicked him and shouted, "You’re mistaken! Get out, get out!"
As we exited, I apologized to the woman. She blushed and seemed lost in thought before slamming the door shut with a bang.
Only then did Fatty ask, "Wasn't that...?"
"Yes, but don't talk about this casually!" I sternly warned Ding Fatty. I certainly didn't want him to end up in trouble or worse. An Executive Vice Mayor of a provincial capital city wielding power is not something to be taken lightly.
Fatty shrugged it off and laughed while looking around.
"By the way, who lives in Room 4 where that Real Estate Agent was?" I asked Fatty while looking at the door of Room 4.
"It seems to be empty," Fatty said.
Empty?
I no longer considered 1, as the direction in which the peach fell from upstairs could only be towards 4.
There was an apple and a pear on the table; if I ate the apple, what remained would definitely be the pear. The situation before me was similar; having been ruled out, only 4 remained.
Regardless of whether it was empty or not, I pressed the doorbell first.
Ding dong! Ding dong! Ding dong!
The doorbell rang for a long time, but no one inside responded.
"Should we just kick it open?" Fatty suggested violently.
I scoffed, "This Security Door opens outward; how are you going to kick it?"
After carefully observing the Security Door, I noticed that the edge alignment of the lock wasn't particularly tight. It would definitely work to insert an ID card or credit card. An idea struck me; I knocked on 1's door and asked the Young Man who did online shopping for a sturdier piece of cardboard. He should have such materials for packaging, right?
The Young Man was very enthusiastic when he heard I was the vice-chairman of the Homeowners Committee and found a long PVC Sheet for me. "Will this work?" he asked. I was overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly, also borrowing scissors to cut the plastic sheet into a hook shape.
After the Young Man closed his door, I inserted the plastic sheet through the gap in the door, attempting to hook onto the lock. If this Security Door wasn't deadbolted, I could potentially unlock it.
Fatty watched with hopeful eyes and whispered, "Should I shout 'Open Sesame'?"
Before Fatty finished speaking, there was a click and the door opened.
"Ghost Brother, you did it!" Fatty exclaimed in admiration.
I was somewhat surprised because the door was not opened by me, but rather by someone from the inside. I said to Fatty, "Step back!"
The door swung open, and standing at the entrance was a woman in a white qipao, no, a ghost.
I never imagined I would be face to face with a ghost, so I had never thought about what my first words to her should be. "Hi, have you eaten? Is it stressful being a ghost? Do you trade stocks in the Underworld? After being stuck in a bad investment, do you suddenly find yourself sleeping like a baby, waking up in the middle of the night to cry for a bit before going back to sleep?"
I should have been terrified or at least hesitant, but I wasn't; I felt completely normal. I wasn't afraid of the ghost in front of me. I didn't understand why—perhaps it was my unique disposition? Or maybe it was because she looked just like a human?
The ghost was extremely beautiful. A beauty like hers was something I had only seen on websites. The woman from earlier was already quite attractive, but compared to this Qipao Ghost, she was on an entirely different level.
The Qipao Ghost said softly, "What do you want?" Her voice was gentle, but her tone was very cold.
It seemed she didn't realize that I saw through her facade, so she repeated the excuse from earlier.
The ghost coldly remarked, "So you plan to sneak in?"
Her words were harsh and left me feeling embarrassed. If it weren't for her being such a beautiful ghost, I would have been furious by now. I smiled and asked, "Can we go in?"
"No!" The ghost flatly refused and then moved to pull the door closed.
"Wait!" I shouted and then blurted out, "Actually, I'm one of Jin Xinghua's subordinates!"
The ghost paused for a moment, her hand frozen in mid-air as she looked at me with flickering eyes and an odd expression on her face.
In my haste, I couldn't worry too much about how unusual it was for a subordinate to call their boss by name. Fortunately, this ghost didn't seem very worldly and didn't suspect me.
Seeing her stunned reaction, I decided to take another gamble and continued my fabrication: "That woman just fell down; Jin Xinghua went down to check and hurriedly called us over here because it's not safe!" Meanwhile, I observed the ghost's expression closely.
After hesitating for quite some time, the ghost finally said, "What does Xinghua want?" She waved her hand to let us enter and then closed the door behind us.
"He needs to change places!" I said. My eyes scanned the area; this layout was the same as the four-room model, also three bedrooms and two living rooms, with all the doors tightly shut. I had no idea which room Jin Yang was in.
"What else is he doing?" The woman in the qipao sat on the sofa, pointing at one of the rooms. "How long does he plan to keep Jin Yang locked up? I hope he doesn't jump off and commit suicide again!"
I exchanged glances with Fatty. It seemed Jin Yang was indeed in this house. Tsk tsk, is this ghost an idiot? Clearly lacking common sense, she could be fooled so easily.
"Don't we need to change places? Just hand Jin Yang over to us!" I smiled and turned to look at Fatty, who was leering at Qipao Woman, completely unaware that she was a ghost.
"Yeah, that works. Looking at him gives me a headache!" Qipao Woman stood up, and I noticed the sofa cushion slowly returning to its shape. I wondered if this ghost had taken over someone else's body. How could her every word and action be indistinguishable from a normal person? If I hadn't activated my Yin-Yang Eye, I wouldn't believe Fatty when he said she was a ghost.
"Beautiful lady, what should I call you?" Fatty suddenly blurted out. I cursed in my heart; this was Fatty's usual tactic, and soon he would ask her for her QQ number or WeChat ID...
"Beautiful lady? ...My name is Qing Qiu!" Qipao Woman paused for a moment before answering. She seemed to recall something and stood at the door, staring blankly. Fatty and I exchanged astonished glances; what was this?
After about two or three minutes of daze, she finally snapped back to reality and was about to open the door when a voice suddenly rang out: "Qing Qiu sis, don't trust them!"
The voice sounded like that of a seven or eight-year-old child, but it came from outside the balcony window, which surprised us. This was the fifth-floor balcony! How could anyone be outside the window?
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