16 hours ago, Meihua Community.
A new hot pot restaurant opened in the community, open 24 hours a day, with good food and low prices, and you have to wait for an hour or two to get a table. Zhao Hu sat outside with a few friends, drinking some wine and eating some beef, mutton, duck intestines and brains, and before they knew it, it was already early morning.
The brothers were all slightly tipsy, with red faces and necks.
Zhao Hu was not full, so he waved to the waiter and said, "Hey, your brains are pretty good. Give me another plate."
The waiter responded and went back into the store.
Just as Zhao Hu was about to light a cigarette, his brother next to him said with a thick tongue: "Brother Hu, Brother Hu, your alcohol tolerance today is really not good enough."
"You're the only one who talks too much." Zhao Hu smiled and slapped him. "Come on, let's fill our glasses up again! Whoever doesn't finish is a bastard!"
After another round of drinking, he got even drunker, leaning back in his chair and talking nonsense. Zhao Hu had a good alcohol tolerance, and in his drunken state, he remembered that the dish of brain flower had not been served yet.
—The waiter must have forgotten.
He cursed under his breath and waved his hands vigorously, cursing at everyone he caught: "Where's the food?! Why hasn't my brain been served yet!"
The passerby was puzzled: "I'm not a waiter."
Zhao Hu got even angrier: "Why don't you become a waiter? If you don't become a waiter, will brains fall from the sky?!"
Bang!!
Suddenly there was a loud noise.
Before Zhao Hu could react, he heard the screams of the people next to him! !
He had never heard such a terrible scream before. He sobered up half way from the alcohol and turned around. The table had collapsed, the hot pot had overturned, and a body was lying straight in the middle, with large patches of red and white spread out, and blood and brains all over the table.
Zhao Hu: “…”
…
Chu Banyang put down the phone, propped up his head, and said despite his drunkenness: "Something happened in Meihua Community, I need to go there. You guys take your time eating."
His eyes were still drifting towards the diamond ring on the table.
Just as Lu Yingjiu was about to speak, he saw Xiao Li skillfully take out a piece of talisman paper and slap it on his master's head.
The effect was immediate.
The blush on Chu Banyang's face immediately faded, and he sobered up. The confusion in his eyes faded away, and after a few seconds, his brain restarted.
The ears are still red.
—That's obviously not the effect of alcohol.
"Meihua Community..." Xiao Li muttered, "I remember that there were several cases of homeless people going missing nearby before, and it was even reported in the news. How come all these bad things happen there? The feng shui must be so bad."
Lu Yingjiu called Chu Banyang and said, "Let's go together."
The event that could specifically notify Chu Banyang must be something extraordinary.
Chu Banyang looked at Lu Yingjiu and said calmly, "Why do you want to go with me? I don't need your help."
Well, the usual Chu Banyang is back.
"Okay," Lu Yingjiu said, "I won't go then."
Upon hearing this, Chu Banyang's face showed three parts of hesitation, three parts of forced arrogance, and three parts of unbearable curiosity - a total of twelve parts of emotions made that handsome face like a sculpture look somewhat... a little tangled.
After a few seconds, he said arrogantly: "If you really want to go, I won't stop you."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
He ignored Chu Banyang's awkwardness and asked, "You didn't notice anything wrong with the diamond ring just now, did you?"
Chu Banyang asked curiously: "What diamond ring?"
Judging from his expression, he probably doesn't remember what nonsense he just said.
Okay.
Otherwise, given his thin skin, he would probably remember it for the rest of his life, and it would automatically replay every night.
Lu Yingjiu showed him the diamond ring again. Chu Banyang looked at it for a while and said, "It's just an ordinary diamond ring. It doesn't have any Yin energy. Why do you carry the diamond ring with you when you go out?" His expression was a little complicated. "... Are you going to propose?"
"No. It's hard to explain. I'll explain it to you when I have a chance."
Chu Banyang hesitated to speak, and wanted to reach out to take the diamond ring and carefully examine it to see if there was anything wrong with it. As soon as he stretched out his hand—
clatter!
There was a very slight sound, but the velvet diamond ring box closed tightly.
If Chu Banyang hadn't reacted quickly, his finger would have been pinched. Looking at the aura of the box, it was so resolute and angry that it seemed like it could break his finger bones.
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Chu Banyang: “…”
Lu Yingjiu said, "You see, it's hard to explain what I said."
Ye Feng and Xiao Li next to them didn't notice this at all.
When I paid the bill and left, Xiao Li came over and said, "Master, what imported milk powder brand were you talking about? My aunt just had a baby and I want to buy some."
“…Imported milk powder?” Chu Banyang managed to get his mind off the diamond ring and looked at him in confusion. “What milk powder? Why would I mention milk powder? You can even mishear your master talking. You’re too distracted. Go back and copy the books.”
Xiao Li:
Chu Banyang drove here, and the black Bentley was parked on the street.
Five minutes later, the four stood beside the car, looking at each other.
Chu Banyang said: "I'm drunk."
Lu Yingjiu: "Me too."
Xiao Li said: "I drank two or three sips... I guess it's not working anymore."
The three people's eyes fell on Ye Feng.
Ye Feng: "Ah... I've only had my driver's license for two days, and it's hard for me to park. Do you really want me to drive?"
Chu Banyang said: "I won't ask you to pay if I hit it. This is the cheapest car in my family. I bought it just to be hit by someone."
Xiao Li said: "Brother Ye Feng, the fact that you have a driver's license means you are capable, there is really no need to worry about it."
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
He had a bad feeling.
They got in the car, Ye Feng fastened his seat belt and gripped the steering wheel guiltily.
He was really scared.
Lu Yingjiu and Chu Banyang together make up at least half of the exorcists south of the Huai River, if not the entire country.
Now he is very afraid that he will ruin Jiangshan.
Chu Banyang said in the back seat: "On the 18th, that is, yesterday, someone in the community called the police and said there was a falling sound at 2 o'clock in the morning, and it almost hit a table of guests eating hot pot. We have to hurry...
Bang!!
Everyone leaned forward and Xiao Li's head hit the front of his head hard, making him dizzy.
When I looked up again, I saw a van lying across the middle of the road.
Half of the ghost-exorcising world finally crashed into it, leaving a huge dent.
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Chu Banyang: “…”
Five minutes later, Ye Feng decided to stay alone and wait for the traffic police, while the other three took a taxi.
Chu Banyang briefly explained the case in the car. Xiao Li nodded beside him, and Lu Yingjiu didn't say anything for a long time.
He turned around and saw Lu Yingjiu with her head tilted towards the window. He could only see her beautiful jawline and a section of her slender neck at the collar.
I didn’t sleep well, so I started to make up for it.
Xiao Li also took a look and suddenly heard Chu Banyang ask: "What are you looking at?"
"No, no, nothing," Xiao Li stuttered, "Master, please continue! I'm listening carefully!"
"Go back and copy some more books." Chu Banyang said calmly.
The taxi was speeding along the road, carrying Xiao Li's wailing voice. It finally braked suddenly and stopped at the gate of Meihua Community.
Red and blue police lights were flashing, and several police cars blocked the gate of the community. Several police officers were inside the community, evacuating the remaining people.
So a bunch of people gathered at the main entrance of the community, blocking the way. It was hot in the summer, and when people got excited, their heads were covered with beads of sweat. Old men in sweatshirts, aunties in flowery shirts, young people with angry faces... Looking around, it was a sea of people, it was hot just by looking at them, and the smell of sweat filled the air.
"Why did you kick me out?!"
"What the hell is going on now! I want to complain!"
"No one fucking explained the situation?"
"Is it illegal for me to go home?"
Lu Yingjiu quickly glanced at the scene. This time the news was tightly blocked and reporters did not swarm over like flies smelling rotten meat, otherwise it would have given him a headache.
Several of them stepped forward.
When the police saw them approaching, they quickly said, "The community is blocked, no one is allowed to approach!"
Chu Banyang took out a black leather ID and showed it to them - the Qingdeng Society had a long-term cooperation with the police. In the past two years, the police had just set up a special department to deal with exorcists. If they encountered a supernatural incident, they just had to say hello and the people in the society would have no problem getting in.
The policeman heaved a sigh of relief when he saw them: "You guys are finally here." He turned around and yelled, "Old Liu! They're here!"
He stepped aside to make room and opened the iron gate of the community. Inside the community, an old policeman came up to him, the back of his blue uniform completely wet with sweat.
He lifted his hat to get some fresh air, wiped his sweat, and said, "Come with me, just call me Lao Liu."
Lu Yingjiu followed Lao Liu and looked around as he walked through the neighborhood.
The community structure is quite ordinary, with a small garden in the center, and most people have been evacuated from the community. When encountering such a bad supernatural incident, the police are still very cautious.
Lao Liu led them along a small path, through the gaps between buildings, and to the farthest corner of the community, where there was a small vacant lot with a newly opened hot pot restaurant and several round tables around it.
Before he got close, Lu Yingjiu smelled a foul odor.
It was like a rotten egg left out for three days in the middle of summer, but even more disgusting. Flies were buzzing around. Several policemen and medical examiners were standing at the scene, and a large yellow cordon was stretched out.
Lu Yingjiu walked over and saw two corpses lying shoulder to shoulder in the middle of the long grass, covered with white cloth.
Lu Yingjiu said, "Look at the body."
Old Liu went over and uncovered the white cloth. A foul smell filled the air, and Xiao Li retched and held onto the wall.
Lu Yingjiu squatted down beside the corpse.
A man and a woman, wearing ordinary clothes.
The man had jumped from the top floor, the seventh floor, and his legs were broken, with white bones exposed. The female corpse was very intact, with no external injuries. She was lying on her back, with her eyes closed peacefully, her skin was delicate, and her lips were rosy, as if she had just fallen into a deep sleep.
Lao Liu explained: "We received a call in the early morning and there was only a male body when we arrived at the scene. We didn't have time to deal with it. We first moved the table he had smashed away, but in the blink of an eye, there was a girl lying next to him. Who would dare to continue dealing with this situation?"
Lu Yingjiu asked: "What are the situations of the two of them?"
Lao Liu said: "The male deceased was named Zhong Aiguo, 35 years old, an employee of an insurance company, and just resigned three days ago. We contacted friends and family members, and they all said that Zhong Aiguo did not show any intention of committing suicide. The female deceased was named Ji Cai, 28 years old, and was a teacher." He hesitated for a few seconds, "She was confirmed dead a year ago."
Lu Yingjiu glanced at the body and asked, "What was the cause of death? Why wasn't her body cremated?"
"The autopsy yielded no results and could not find the cause of death," said Lao Liu. "Without a conclusion, no one dared to burn her, so she was just kept in the morgue. We suspected it was a supernatural case and invited an exorcist, but to no avail." He looked at the corpse again and shuddered. "She came here on her own now. It's fucking weird."
Lu Yingjiu looked at the corpse carefully.
There was no negative energy, and nothing unusual could be seen. Looking up again, the buildings around me were against the blue sky.
This is an old neighborhood, the walls of the buildings are peeling off, mottled in large patches, and the security windows are covered with reddish-brown rust. But the view from the top floor is great, if you look at the blue sky falling from above, maybe for a moment, you will feel like a flying bird.
Lu Yingjiu retracted her gaze and asked, "In which hospital's morgue was the female corpse placed?"
Old Liu replied: "Municipal Second Hospital."
"Check all the suicide cases in the city in the past eight months, focusing on those who fell to death and those who were near the Second Municipal Hospital." Lu Yingjiu stood up. "There are too many people outside the community now. Tell them to evacuate and leave no one behind. Check the community surveillance for us."
Several more exorcists from the Qingdeng Society came to the scene, and Chu Banyang arranged for them to post runes on the scene.
Ten minutes later, Lu Yingjiu was already sitting in the monitoring room of the residential complex, with a notebook with snow-white pages spread out on the table.
On the screen, the video footage from the past three days was playing at 3 times the speed. The quality of the surveillance video in the community was not good, and staring at it for a long time really hurt the eyes. As the images changed, his brown pupils trembled slightly, without any emotion, like cold amber, or some kind of cat hunting.
Several policemen and security guards were behind him, each holding their breath. Lao Liu was outside making a phone call, requesting data on suicide cases - in fact, not everyone could command these people so easily.
After all, exorcists are only collaborators. There are bound to be people with ulterior motives, there are bound to be counterfeit goods, and there are bound to be counterfeit goods with ulterior motives... Therefore, many confidential documents will not be leaked to them at will. They need to be reviewed and cannot be obtained by just talking.
This time, the welcoming wine was brought in by Chu Banyang, and the others assumed that he was also a member of the Qingdeng Society—in fact, just a few days ago, he was indeed a member, and he was at the level of the boss...
Moreover, Lu Yingjiu walked to that station casually, but the sharpness between his brows could not be concealed, like a knife just out of its sheath, shining with snow.
That kind of confidence is engraved in my bones.
No one will question it.
Xiao Li had just finished vomiting and his face was frighteningly pale.
He leaned against the wall in the corner and said weakly: "Has Brother Lu always been so powerful..."
"Yeah." Chu Banyang replied, "Since I met him, he is still a little worse than me."
Xiao Li: “… Mm-m-m-m-m, Master, you are right.”
Chu Banyang glared at him.
Xiao Li: "Master, you are right!!"
The video has finished playing.
Lu Yingjiu wrote 9:15 on the notebook, drew a circle, and asked, "Does Zhong Aiguo have obsessive-compulsive disorder? For example, he must finish something at a certain time."
The police replied: "His relatives and friends have not mentioned it."
The community security guard also shook his head and said, "I don't think so."
Lu Yingjiu tapped the page with the tip of his pen. "During the past three days, Zhong Aiguo arrived at the gate of the community at 9:15, started walking the dog at 9:45, and then showed up again at 10:10 to take out the trash. The time deviation was no more than half a minute each time. If we only look at this, it might be explained as a habit, but his previous behavior, such as going to work or returning home at noon, was irregular. And look at this action."
He switched the surveillance footage to the one at the entrance of Zhongai National Park.
The camera's angle was just enough to capture the front door of Unit 3. It was two nights ago, at 9:30, Zhong Aiguo was standing downstairs at home, making a phone call. He held the phone in his left hand, and suddenly raised his right hand, trying to touch something near his head, but he touched nothing and put it down again.
He made the call for ten minutes, repeating this action three or four times.
A policeman asked, "What is he trying to touch?" He felt his hands and feet were cold, "It can't be his shoulder, there must be some ghost lying on it."
“No.” Lu Yingjiu shook his head. “Most ghosts will be captured by cameras. Besides, this is more like a habitual action.”
"Get used to what?"
"Lift your hair." Lu Yingjiu said, "Long hair."
"Zhong Aiguo took a new ID photo half a month ago, with short hair. His employment photo six months ago also had short hair."
"It's not that Zhong Aiguo had long hair, it's not 'him'. That kind of obsessive-compulsive disorder-like work and rest schedule is not 'him' either." Lu Yingjiu put down the pen, "At that time, he was already possessed by ghosts every night."
As soon as these words came out, the temperature seemed to drop a few degrees.
The people in the room looked at each other, feeling a chill.
Lu Yingjiu folded his fingers loosely, leaned back in his chair, and said, "Have you retrieved the data on suicide cases? I want to see if there is any connection between the victims."
"Old Liu is still outside asking questions," the policeman said immediately, "I'll go out and ask."
He was about to push the door when it suddenly slammed open, almost hitting his nose.
Lao Liu rushed in and said in a panic: "They sent me a photo!"
He turned his phone screen towards the crowd.
The photo was sent by a colleague who stayed behind. It was a little blurry, as if it was taken in a panic.
Took pictures of the two bodies.
Ji Cai's appearance was different from before. She opened her eyes, tilted her head, and stared at the camera with her dark pupils.
"Oh my god—" The policeman took a half step back, his scalp tingling, "This is really—"
Lu Yingjiu said: "Give me the phone, I'll go there."
He took Lao Liu's phone and quickly walked out of the monitoring room, following behind him were the footsteps of Chu Banyang and Xiao Li.
After coming out of the dim environment, his eyes couldn't adapt to the strong light for a while, and everything around him was white. Lu Yingjiu squinted subconsciously.
By the time his vision fully returned, he had already walked into the alley.
There are high-rise buildings on both sides, and the alley is extremely narrow and cramped, as if it will be squeezed flat in the next second.
Before he knew it, the footsteps behind him disappeared.
Or maybe everything was too quiet.
There was nothing but the rustling of leaves overhead. The footsteps disappeared, the birdsong disappeared, and even the noise outside the community was completely silent.
Looking back, there was no one there.
It was as if he was the only one left in the whole world.
Lu Yingjiu lowered his eyes.
In the photo on the phone, Ji Cai’s dark eyes were looking at him.
Then she slowly raised the corners of her mouth.
She smiled at Lu Yingjiu.
A gust of wind blew by, and the shadows of the trees danced wildly on the ground—a rustling sound was heard, like the syllables squeezed out by a dying person, dry, hoarse, and intermittent.
The yin energy is surging.
It was a group of little devils following him.
The ghost's revenge came earlier than he expected.
Lu Yingjiu looked away.
The sunlight and the shadow of the tall building fell obliquely on him, half of his face was bright and half of his face was gloomy. A strange color flashed across his handsome eyebrows—
It wasn't fear, or impatience.
It is a kind of subtle, heartfelt excitement.
Some spells require blood to work. Lu Yingjiu was carrying a small knife, and at this moment he swung the blade, which flew flexibly between his fingers. Then he held the handle tightly with his backhand and gently cut his index finger.
Bright red blood oozed out from the wound.
But before he took out the talisman, his eyes suddenly blurred.
He heard a chuckle.
There seems to be a... fragrance in the air
A very light, faint, and cold fragrance.
It's hard to describe it with words.
It was as if I suddenly encountered a crescent moon while looking for plum blossoms, and the faint fragrance of the flowers blended into the moonlight.
When he came to his senses again, the sound of footsteps, wind and human voices rushed over and embraced him tightly. The world resumed its normal operation, as if nothing had happened.
The ghost disappeared.
Lu Yingjiu was stunned.
Looking down, I saw that the wound on my index finger had healed, leaving no trace at all.
Xiao Li caught up with him, panting: "Why did you stop here?"
Lu Yingjiu: “…”
Lu Yingjiu said: "Because I encountered some... interesting things."
He did not continue forward, but returned to the alley and searched all the way back.
It was calm and peaceful, without any clues.
Lu Yingjiu stood in the middle of the alley, pondered for a moment, and walked again. This time he did not focus on the Yin Qi, but scanned the walls, the ground, and the green vegetation in the corners...
When we were almost at the end, something in the corner reflected a sparkling light.
Lu Yingjiu squatted beside it, pulled out a piece of talisman paper, flicked it lightly and it started to burn. With the light, he saw a little bit of residual black and red liquid.
It's blood.
Lu Yingjiu narrowed his eyes.
The ground was damaged, so he kicked it gently and kicked away a few broken bricks.
Dark red blood gushed out from the ground, instantly dyeing the ground red. Lu Yingjiu could see clearly what was underneath.
Broken bones, severed limbs and heads.
It was squeezed into a ball with the soil and its original appearance was no longer recognizable.
This was not a human being, but the ghost that had just followed him.
Lu Yingjiu remembered that he had seen a hydraulic press crush something. He was moved by the violence at that time, and now, that scene seemed to appear before his eyes again: bones were broken, heads were shattered, and the residue was thinner than paper.
The moment they wanted to rush up, some strange and terrifying force pressed them alive into the ground and crushed them.
Xiao Li suddenly exclaimed: "Ah! What's that in your hand!"
A bright red flower appeared out of thin air in Lu Yingjiu's hand.
Layer upon layer, so gorgeous and tempting.
A cool breeze blew his hair into a mess, leaving a subtle touch on his forehead.
That's almost—
It was almost like a kiss.