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墨書 Inktalez
Ye Chenfeng took a step back, tilting his head to look up at the second floor.
It was still shrouded in darkness; the windows seemed tightly shut, and there was no one inside. How could there be any noise? Just then, a loud bang echoed in his ears. This time, it was undeniably real, not an illusion.
Following the sound, Ye Chenfeng realized it seemed to be coming from the first floor.
There had to be an entrance on the first floor. The source of the noise could either be a thief or something else entirely.
Ye Chenfeng had come prepared this time. He immediately took out his compass to search for any unclean entities. If there were any, the needle would shake violently. However, to his surprise, when he pulled out the compass, the needle remained perfectly still.
It was indeed clean here.
Reluctantly, Ye Chenfeng put away the compass and made his way toward the back of the house.
The house wasn't old but was located in a damp area where moss covered the walls. Ye Chenfeng cautiously raised his mini flashlight to take a look but quickly turned it off again. He continued forward, noticing what appeared to be an open window ahead.
He had come here during the day with Ding Li.
There were no open windows; it seemed that a thief had indeed broken in.
The owner of the house had moved out without disposing of it, which was already unusual, and now it had been targeted by thieves. He wondered what valuable items might have attracted them; petty theft was quite common in rural areas.
Most thieves would scout during the day and return at night with accomplices to loot anything they found appealing.
Beneath the open window, a flickering red light caught his attention.
Startled, Ye Chenfeng quickly crouched down to hide.
It appeared that someone was squatting beneath the open window; there had been no movement before, but now they were smoking, likely craving a cigarette.
The flickering red dot was the glowing tip of a cigarette.
Just as Ye Chenfeng settled into his hiding spot, voices drifted in from outside the window.
"There's plenty of valuable stuff here, we're going to get rich," the thief's delighted voice echoed as he tossed a dark object out of the window. The person squatting below caught it perfectly, and then several more items were thrown down.
Ye Chenfeng realized that this couldn't go on; if they stole everything inside, the homeowner would suffer significant losses.
With that thought, he forgot his earlier suspicion that the White-Clad Woman might be the homeowner and pretended to discover the thieves. He shouted loudly, "Catch the thief! Catch the thief..."
Hearing the shout and the footsteps that Ye Chenfeng made sound like many people approaching, the thieves were frightened. Without a second thought, they jumped down from the window, grabbed the stolen goods they had thrown down earlier, and fled in a panic.
Once the thieves were gone, Ye Chenfeng boldly climbed through the window.
The beam of his flashlight illuminated a room filled with dust and swaying spider webs. It felt as if the homeowner hadn't just left two weeks ago but had been gone for a long time without taking care of the place. The floor was cluttered with all sorts of items.
Dirty clothes, cardboard boxes, electrical appliances, sofas, and more.
It looked like the homeowner was in the process of moving but hadn't managed to take these things away.
Ye Chenfeng walked slowly through the room, his heart racing with various guesses and speculations swirling in his mind.
Some of this mess was undoubtedly the work of the thieves, but there was another possibility: perhaps the homeowner had been cleaning up.
Cleaning up for what?
If they were moving out, why hadn't they taken all these things with them?
Ye Chenfeng reached the staircase leading to the basement and paused. He shone his flashlight down; it was dark below. The steps were also covered in dust, and spider webs hung from the doorframe leading to the stairs.
After observing the intact spider webs, it seemed that the thieves hadn't had time to go to the basement.
In rural areas, this kind of basement is referred to as a storage room.
Typically, storage rooms are used for storing food items like rice, sweet potatoes, and other crops.
The farmers with a good harvest accumulate the surplus grain from one year to the next, and when it becomes too much to consume, they sell part of it.
The homeowner is not a rural person; she is wealthy enough to come to the countryside for leisure and to enjoy the fresh air.
Therefore, her storage room likely does not contain many crops but is instead filled with old furniture and discarded items.
As he descended the stairs, a musty odor assaulted Ye Chenfeng's senses, causing him to cover his mouth and nose and cough a few times. Upon reaching the last step and firmly planting his feet on the ground, he faintly detected another smell.
It was the stench of decay.
In the corner of the basement lay a pile of junk.
Upon closer inspection, however, it was not just junk but some furniture and empty flower pots. They were covered in spider webs and dust, making them appear like mere trash from a distance.
The foul odor emanated from this pile of items.
Ye Chenfeng looked around, spotting what seemed to be a crowbar. He picked it up; it had a decent weight and felt comfortable in his hands as he began to pry open the accumulated debris.
With a loud crash, everything toppled over.
In the collapsed area, Ye Chenfeng discovered a skeleton wrapped in clothing.
He was startled and shook his flashlight for a better look.
The skull had long hair, and the slender figure with an especially tiny waist suggested it belonged to a woman.
Ye Chenfeng immediately called the police.
When the local station arrived, they examined the skeleton and confirmed that it belonged to Huang Xinxiang, the owner of the house.
It was only then that Ye Chenfeng learned that the woman who adopted Xiang'er was named Huang Xinxiang.
The question arises: since the homeowner, Huang Xinxiang, died in her own home, and it does not appear to be a natural death, but rather the result of some inexplicable force that caused her to suffocate, who took Xiang'er away? What is the relationship between the White-Clad Woman mentioned by the landlady and the homeowner?
Local authorities continued their investigation, searching for clues within the house, and an astonishing scene was uncovered.
In the basement of the house, a large number of skeletal remains were discovered, belonging to underage children.
The missing children were found to have been in this den of horrors?
Moreover, according to forensic analysis, Huang Xinxiang had died one or two years ago. This means that during the time she died, there were incidents of missing children that were unrelated to her. Instead, it was this mysterious figure responsible for her death who was also the culprit behind the children's murders.
In an instant, the entire village was engulfed in grief.
The skeletal remains of the children could not be claimed and had to be buried collectively. However, until the murderer was found, the remains would need to be preserved at the funeral home.
Ye Chenfeng also became a suspect in this investigation.
He conducted himself with integrity and remained calm in the face of various forms of interrogation. He understood that this significant case had dealt a heavy blow to local authorities and added pressure on them; they needed to find the murderer and uncover the truth under public scrutiny to restore their reputation and authority.
Given these factors, there was a high possibility of rash and erroneous actions being taken.
Thus, Ye Chenfeng was very cautious about his words and actions, fearing that he might inadvertently become a scapegoat—a Substitute Ghost—worthless as a sacrifice.
Ye Chenfeng was summoned to the local police station, and Ding Li's heart raced with anxiety.
After spending half a day on edge, when she saw Ye Chenfeng return, she rushed into his arms with tears streaming down her face, pounding his chest with her small fists as she exclaimed, "You scared me to death! I was so afraid."
"It's okay. A person with a clear conscience has nothing to fear from shadows. As long as we haven't done anything wrong, we won't fear ghosts knocking at our door at midnight."
"What do we do next?"
"The police station has instructed me not to leave here until they catch the murderer."
"What is this? This is clearly just making things difficult for us. We need to go back; Purple City is our home," Ding Li said, her lips tightly pressed together as she fought back tears.
"It's okay, I'll think of a way," Ye Chenfeng replied as he sat down. His anxiety wasn't due to the police station's request for him to stay; rather, it stemmed from the puzzling absence of any lingering spirits when they unearthed the bones in that house.
Where were the children's souls? Were they trapped by something, unable to escape?
No wonder the compass couldn't locate them; it seemed this place was truly clean, but that didn't appear to be the case.
Ye Chenfeng pinched his brow, feeling a headache coming on.
Ding Li handed him a cup of hot tea.
"I don't want to drink," Ye Chenfeng waved his hand dismissively.
"You have a headache. Why don't you take a nap?"
Indeed, Ye Chenfeng hadn't slept at all last night, which could be the reason for his headache. He often suffered from headaches when he overthought things, burning too many brain cells.
He stood up, swaying slightly, which made Ding Li break out in a cold sweat. Seeing his pale complexion made her heart ache, and tears began to well up in her eyes. "Ye Chenfeng, you don't have to push yourself so hard. Please go rest."
"I'm fine; I'm going to rest now," he said before heading off.
Ding Li sighed in frustration. She picked up his phone and was about to put it away when it rang again. She hurriedly grabbed it, noticing it was an unfamiliar number.
She hesitated to wake Ye Chenfeng but ultimately decided against it.
So, she answered the call.
The person on the other end was a woman.
Her voice sounded familiar, but she still couldn't recall the name of this person.
After listening for a while, Ding Li finally spoke up and asked, "Who are you?"
Upon hearing her voice, the other party seemed quite surprised.
Then, there was silence.
Ding Li found it strange. After thinking for a moment, she decided to put down her phone. She plugged it in to charge, ensuring that the connection wouldn't be interrupted, and switched it to airplane mode.
Ye Chenfeng was deep in sleep.
In his dreams, he heard a voice calling out, "Look here, look here..." He turned to see a child running, seemingly holding something in their arms. As he ran, the child also ran. Eventually, he passed the child and turned around to see that what the child was holding was actually a skull.
Instantly, Ye Chenfeng's body tensed up as he looked at the child in shock.
The child's face was youthful, probably around seven or eight years old, with shiny black eyes and fair skin—a rather cute kid.
Just then, the child opened their mouth wide, and their eyes transformed into dark voids without pupils. Black blood began to flow out, startling Ye Chenfeng so much that he let out a strange cry and woke up from the nightmare.
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