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墨書 Inktalez
My Tenant is a Female Ghost
"I am twenty-four years old this year..."
"If I don't dress a bit more maturely, in this ruthless society, who knows when I'll be devoured until not even bones are left!"
"If Master has any physiological needs in the future, you can come find me on Silver Horse Street..."
For Bai Zhuo, there was little connection between him and Li Yue; she might just be a fleeting passerby in his life. But when he saw her lifeless body, he realized that the girl's frail yet strong silhouette and her weathered face had long been etched into his mind.
"This girl... she's only twenty-four!" Bai Zhuo clenched his fists, as if murmuring to himself or perhaps addressing everyone around him.
Everyone present knew about Li Yue's profession. Although they were curious about Bai Zhuo's relationship with her, they understood that now was not the time to dwell on that.
Captain Li Tao felt deeply moved. "Li Yue, from the Northwest, has a younger brother who just started middle school. Her mother has been bedridden for years, and her father is a farmer... She sends money home every month and is essentially the pillar of her family. So... among the deceased, she is the only one whose family has not yet been informed."
Bai Zhuo slowly sat down and said, "Everyone, I know I have many shortcomings compared to my master, but I can assure you that I, Bai Zhuo, will put in even more effort than my master in this matter!"
His voice was not loud, but one could hear the determination in his words! The detectives present were momentarily stunned; Director Hu Fei led the applause, and soon all the detectives joined in enthusiastically, acknowledging Bai Zhuo.
As the applause gradually faded, the room fell silent. Li Tao paused for a moment before speaking. "What’s most terrifying is that since early September until now, these victims have been dying in batches; some even died at the same time. It's simply unbelievable. They all died in identical ways. We have initially determined it to be a case of group murder, likely perpetrated by some cult. However, based on the surveillance footage we obtained later, all our previous deductions seem to be flawed!"
Li Tao clicked on a video on the computer.
The video was somewhat dimly lit, showing a timestamp of around 1 AM on September 8th. After five seconds, a woman dressed in white work clothes walked across the screen. Just as she was about to leave the frame, suddenly the video flickered as if interrupted by an electrical disturbance; the woman abruptly stopped as if encountering someone. There was no one else around her in the footage; she pointed at something at the street corner as if talking to someone. After about half a minute, she seemed to be greatly startled and threw her bag forward before turning to run away, clearly terrified!
Before long, she ran out of view of the surveillance camera; it remained unclear what had happened to her at that moment. Once the video ended, Li Tao shook his head. "Like you all, I'm very curious about what happened outside of the camera's view. Unfortunately, our team has scoured through all available footage there and found only this precious clip!"
"It’s evident that at that time this woman was conversing with one or two suspects before being frightened and fleeing after discarding her handbag." Li Tao picked up a black handbag from beside him. "This is that woman's handbag; inside are her ID card, cosmetics, and even three thousand yuan—all untouched. The victim died not far away in an alley. Strangely enough, despite being so terrified at that moment, the deceased's facial expression was remarkably serene after death—it's truly baffling."
"Same as always, feel free to watch this video and this case file. Let's brainstorm based on the clues we've gathered before. Share any insights you have, regardless of whether they seem right or wrong, no matter how bizarre they may be!"
The female detective, Lu, was the first to raise her hand. "Li Team, I think this must be the work of a vampire! Just like what was shown in the video, the woman didn't seem scared at first; instead, she initiated a conversation. It was only after the suspect revealed their terrifying fangs that she panicked... As for the lack of injuries on the victim, I can't think of a better explanation."
Li Tao nodded. "Good, let's note that down. Who's next? Wang Jiang, you."
"Li Team, could it be that a ghost is behind this? Did the woman in the video see a ghost and that's why she was so frightened?"
Deputy Director Hu Fei, without much pretense, responded after hearing this. "That's quite a bold idea, Wang Jiang. However, I've interacted with some mediums before, and generally speaking, ghosts cannot directly harm humans; they can only affect them through third-party objects—people or things. So it's unlikely that a ghost would directly suck blood and take a human's uterus. But since we're brainstorming, let's write that down too."
Next to Wang Jiang, an older detective with stubble raised his hand. "Director, could it be that both ghosts and humans are involved in the crime? There are two possibilities: one is that a person controls a ghost; the other is that a ghost controls a person. This could explain why so many similar murder cases have occurred in such a short time!"
Director Hu Fei and Captain Li Tao exchanged glances and fell silent. The detectives in the room also pondered in silence. The room was quiet as the projector repeatedly played the video of the White-Clad Woman before her death.
Suddenly, the door creaked open and Cai Wenbin walked in.
He glanced at the video projected onto the white screen. "Ha! A person controlling a ghost? A ghost controlling a person? What nonsense! Instead of wasting time discussing these supernatural tales here, we should be out looking for the murderer! Those mediums... what a bunch of..."
Cai Wenbin's words trailed off, but his collective mockery certainly included Bai Zhuo.
However, Bai Zhuo paid him no mind. Since childhood, he had endured countless eye rolls; such meaningless taunts had no effect on him. He was now staring blankly at the video, his mind filled with images of Li Yue's tragic state after death.
The video continued to play on repeat, with occasional murmurs from officers speculating and Cai Wenbin's objections echoing alongside Director Hu Fei's reprimands.
Bai Zhuo seemed lost in thought; he didn't know how much time had passed when he suddenly stood up again, startling those nearby. He shouted, "Li Team, pause!"
The room fell silent instantly. Captain Li Tao asked in confusion, "Pause? What for?" Bai Zhuo anxiously pointed at the projector. "The video! Pause the video!"
Li Tao reacted quickly, pausing the video just in time to hear Cai Wenbin mumble beside Bai Zhuo, "I've watched this more than a hundred times. What can an outsider like you possibly discern?"
"Li Team, move forward a bit more," Bai Zhuo instructed.
"Here?"
"Three seconds back. Good! Right here!" Bai Zhuo called out excitedly, freezing the frame at the moment the woman ran out of the surveillance camera's view. The footage appeared normal, with no suspicious elements; after all, it was recorded by a security camera. Even with the Yin-Yang Eye, one couldn't see ghosts through such cameras, so this segment seemed perfectly ordinary to everyone. Bai Zhuo understood that the scene was normal, but he was focused not on any supernatural entities but rather on a grayish-white dot in the video.
Bai Zhuo rubbed his temples and stared at the paused frame in silence, while no one dared to interrupt his train of thought. The room was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Suddenly, Bai Zhuo spoke in a low voice, "Can we zoom in on the lower right corner?"
"I'll do it!" A young man stood up in front of Bai Zhuo. Li Tao said, "You're better at handling these gadgets, Zhang Hui. Come on up."
Zhang Hui, the technician, opened some software and with a few clicks, enlarged the lower right corner of the video by two times.
"Zoom in more!"
As the video was magnified further, everyone noticed the grayish dot in the footage. However, with the enlargement came distortion, making it impossible to clearly identify what it was—only a vague impression of an ordinary flying insect could be discerned.
"Can we make it clearer?"
Zhang Hui shook his head. "There's no way to enhance it further. The original video isn't very high quality. I estimate that only America has that kind of technology right now; we can't achieve that domestically."
Bai Zhuo frowned and sighed, sitting down helplessly.
Director Hu Fei asked, "Bai Zhuo, this looks like just an insect. It's autumn now; seeing a few flying bugs isn't surprising, is it?"
Bai Zhuo shook his head. "While that may be true... I have a gut feeling this could be the breakthrough point for our case!"
Hearing this from Bai Zhuo made Hu Fei's expression turn serious. After pondering for a moment, he asked, "Zhang Hui, is there really no way at all?"
Technician Zhang Hui hesitated for a moment, "Director, I know a few friends overseas who have been working on this technology. They had some good results a few months ago, but..."
"But what?" Hu Fei asked.
"But the price we might have to pay could be a bit high."
"Price? How much do they want?" Li Tao couldn't help but ask. Zhang Hui forced a smile, "Li Team, it's not about the money; they don't lack funds at all." "Then what kind of price?"
"They're a group of free-spirited young people who love challenges and new experiences. They've always been interested in our public security network system. If we ask for their help, they are likely to make demands in return. You should understand the implications, Director."
At that moment, Cai Wenbin also spoke up, "Director, we can't jeopardize the safety of our public security network just because of this gut feeling!" Despite many disliking Cai Wenbin, his words carried some weight.
The female detective named Lu felt uneasy after learning that Bai Zhuo knew the streetwalker Li Yue. She chimed in, "Director, Cai Wenbin has a point. We can't risk our public security system based solely on Mr. Bai Zhuo's intuition. Our public security system hasn't been breached in twenty years. If something goes wrong because of this, we'll all be in trouble—not just Hu Bureau, but all of us could face consequences!"
Hu Bureau smiled faintly and sighed, "Lu is exaggerating; it's impossible for anyone to get shot over this. However, we will definitely have to step back... But look at the situation; we have no leads at all! Such a major case has occurred right under our noses in Ningcheng! Over sixty lives lost! If we don't achieve anything, we'll still be replaced with a whole new batch of officers!"
At this point, Hu Fei's expression turned serious. "Even if I don't consider my own position, think about the countless lives lost recently! We don't have any leads! What face do we have left as detectives? What right do we have to mock our colleagues in the public security team? You don’t know how many media outlets I’ve had to hold back connections with! If the media gets wind of this, Ningcheng would be in chaos! Now there's a glimmer of hope before me; whether we advance or retreat, we're doomed either way. Why not seize this chance and take a gamble?"
Hu Fei patted Zhang Hui on the shoulder. "Zhang Hui, contact your friends. If anything happens, I'll take responsibility!"
"Hu Bureau..." Cai Wenbin wanted to say something but was interrupted by Hu Fei raising his hand. Hu Fei continued, "We're all on the same side here. I'll be honest; if something goes wrong, I'll bear it alone. At that time, I'll protect as many as I can. If everyone can work together to get through this crisis, each of you will at least get two promotions!"
Li Tao immediately chimed in without hesitation, "Crisis means danger and opportunity coexist! I was promoted by Hu Bureau myself; I'm with you."
"I am Wang Jiang! Count me in too!" "Me!" "And me!" "..."
The room turned into a scene of solidarity as those who had opposed earlier began to feel moved by the atmosphere and stood up to support Hu Fei—even Cai Wenbin was no exception.
Receiving everyone's approval, Deputy Director Hu Fei instructed Zhang Hui to contact his foreign friends. They readily agreed, but the price was that he would have to allow them to remotely control his computer for five minutes, which he reluctantly accepted.
In the room, everyone was resting with their eyes closed, trying to catch up on sleep. They had been dealing with such a significant case, most of which occurred in the early hours of the morning. The detectives often stayed up late, enduring great hardship.
Hu Fei stood outside the door with Bai Zhuo. He offered a cigarette to Bai Zhuo, who shook his head, indicating that he didn't smoke.
"Ha ha, young people don't smoke; that's a good habit." Hu Fei lit a Zhonghua cigarette and took a deep drag. "To be honest, I'm not worried about it being fake; after all, it concerns my own fate... Do you know why I don't trust those Onmyoji Association people?"
Bai Zhuo shook his head in confusion.
"Those bird people! I don't trust them!"
"But my master is also part of the association."
"Sigh! Your master is not like those bird people!" Hu Fei flicked off some ash. "So, just as I trust Elder Ge, I trust you too! Brother Bai Zhuo, please don't let me down!"
Bai Zhuo was taken aback by the high expectations Hu Fei had for him; he felt flattered. Just then, the door swung open, and Captain Li Tao rushed in with an excited expression. "Director! The images are out! They're out! I've never seen such strange bugs in my life!"
"Those foreigners are impressive; they managed to handle it?"
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