Chen Ling stopped where he was, squinted his eyes, and nodded his chin in the direction of the car: "Guess what's in that big bag?"
"It's a human-shaped statue." Wu Weiwei pointed to the protruding part on the top of the black bag. "The one on top should be the head."
Chen Ling: “I think it should be a female clay sculpture.”
If it was a stone sculpture, Ding Junyuan's skinny body would not be able to move such a big thing. As for why it was said to be a female clay sculpture, it was because the position where Ding Junyuan's hands were hugging was too slender, probably the waist position.
Ding Junyuan moved the things into the utility room, and when he came out he saw two more people at the front desk.
As the younger brother, Wu Weiwei certainly couldn't let his elder brother introduce himself. He stepped forward and handed over his business card: "Mr. Ding, we are the staff who are here to help you deal with the problem."
Because he had no sect or Taoist certificate, and had never been ordained or given a Taoist ordination certificate, he did not have the nerve to call himself a Heavenly Master.
Ding Junyuan held the business card and stared at Chen Ling's face for a long time, then suddenly remembered: "We just met yesterday."
"Yes, I came to see Master Sun yesterday." said Chen Ling.
Mr. Ding put his business card in his pocket and took the initiative to extend his hand to introduce himself: "My last name is Ding, Ding Junyuan, I believe you already know my situation."
"Yeah." Chen Ling reached out and touched him, "But I don't think it has anything to do with Feng Shui. I need to investigate the specific reasons that caused the problems in your business."
The young man had a delicate appearance and was young, but he spoke very calmly. Ding Junyuan nodded unconsciously: "Let's go to the office to talk."
The boss's office is at the innermost part of the carving room. Next to it is the cramped storage room where Master Sun stores stone tablets. The two spaces are separated by a wall, but they give people completely different feelings.
Ding Junyuan's office faces the street. He can see the street and a row of sycamore trees by opening the window. The light is bright, but the area near the corner is a little damp.
After Chen Ling entered, he first carefully observed the interior layout.
It's quite standard, without any inappropriate displays or fortune-attracting ornaments.
Business owners who want to make money usually place items such as Pixiu and golden toads in their offices to attract money and increase their fortune. Ding Junyuan's office is tidy, with only documents and books and albums.
This means that this person’s desire for money is probably not that strong, and he doesn’t believe in ghosts and gods that much.
Chen Ling sat down at Ding Junyuan's invitation, and a glass of water was placed in front of him. Holding the warm cup of water, he thanked him and asked, "Mr. Ding didn't believe in ghosts and gods before, so why did you attribute the business of the carving studio to the issue of Feng Shui?"
"I really didn't believe it before." Ding Junyuan didn't expect to be seen through, and explained with a little embarrassment: "I think Mr. Chen must have done some simple research on my carving studio before coming here, and knew that there was a problem with my business."
Chen Ling nodded: "Generally speaking, if a business cannot be continued, it will be transferred."
"I tried," Ding Junyuan said, "but everyone who showed interest in the carving studio would refuse after one day, or two or three days."
Chen Ling frowned: "Did they tell you the reason?"
Ding Junyuan: "No, but one of them said... that it was a spooky place, and it was probably because of the Feng Shui, so he asked me to find someone to take a look."
Chen Ling walked around the office, then went out and visited all the classrooms and utility rooms in the carving room.
It is undeniable that it is indeed very gloomy here, and the bursting sunlight outside cannot penetrate in at all.
Some corners of the wall looked especially dirty, with dark green mold. The mold gathered in a ball at the bottom, and gradually became less and less as it went up, and finally disappeared on the snow-white wall.
Chen Ling walked closer, half squatted down, and was just about to reach out to touch the dirt accumulated in the corner when he suddenly heard a shout from the corridor not far behind him.
The girl at the front desk was frightened and screamed, "Ah!" Then she stopped him and said, "You can't go in!"
"Why can't I go in?" The arrogant answer came from a middle-aged woman.
The woman was dressed in ordinary clothes, with messy hair tied behind her head. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, and her fingers were tightly grasping the slender arm of the receptionist.
Chen Ling was the closest and arrived at the reception desk first: "What happened?"
The girl quickly explained: "We haven't officially started business yet, but this lady insisted that her daughter was in our carving studio and that her daughter was kidnapped by a teacher."
"My daughter came to your carving studio yesterday and hasn't gone home since. Where else could she be but here?" The middle-aged woman pushed the little girl away and rushed to Chen Ling. "Are you Teacher Ding? That's great. Hand over my daughter!"
"I am Teacher Ding." Ding Junyuan ran out along the sound, dragged Chen Ling behind him, and said gently, "Sister, let's go to the office and sit down and talk slowly."
After catching the person they were looking for, the woman screamed even louder: "You shameless man, it was you who kidnapped our Huihui, let her out, I want to take her home!"
Hearing the word Huihui, Ding Junyuan had an impression: "Are you Zhou Wenhui's mother? But Zhou Wenhui went home after class yesterday."
"Impossible! She didn't even go home!" Mother Zhou pointed at Ding Junyuan's nose and scolded, "Our Huihui has always been very well behaved. She goes to work on weekdays and comes to your studio on weekends. She never hangs around anywhere else. Who else could it be if it wasn't you who hid her?"
"Sister, I really don't have it." Ding Junyuan was helpless. Knowing that the other party would not give up, he stepped aside to make way for her. "If you don't believe me, go in and look for it yourself."
Mother Zhou rushed in angrily.
Because there are many categories of professors, the sculpture room is very large, with three floors upstairs and downstairs. The decoration is all wooden floors, and the walls are covered with wipeable wallpaper. It can be seen that a lot of money must have been spent on the decoration.
The bright classrooms were opened one after another. There was not even a fly, let alone Zhou Wenhui. It was terribly cold and quiet.
Mother Zhou went downstairs in a daze. The moment she saw Ding Junyuan, she grabbed his arm and asked fiercely: "If it's not here, then it must be at your house. Take me to your house to find it!"
Ding Junyuan was helpless and was about to compromise when he suddenly heard a terrified scream coming from the alley behind the studio. Immediately afterwards, he saw a girl with a pale face staggering past the door of the carving room.
The girl was shouting, "Someone's dead! Someone's dead!"
Mother Zhou's heart went empty, and panic spread across her face. The terrible intuition wrapped around her tightly, making her tremble all over, and she almost fell when she ran out of the door.
Because of the shouting, people from nearby shops that were already open came out to see what was happening. They blocked the entrance to the alley, preventing anyone from getting in.
"Make way." Mother Zhou tried her best to squeeze in, and when she saw the pair of legs on the ground, her pupils suddenly shrank.
She clutched the clothes at her chest tightly, gasping for breath, and her feet felt like they were filled with cement, unable to move.
Chen Ling also followed, and seeing that Mother Zhou didn't move, he turned around and walked around behind her, heading towards the trash can in front.
The trash can was very large and squarely placed in the alley. The trash from the nearby small restaurants, flower shops, mobile phone shops, and even the sculpture studio was all thrown here. They piled up into a small hill, just blocking the person lying inside.
"Huihui..." Hearing the choked murmur behind him, Chen Ling took a step forward, not minding the dirt, and reached out to lift up the garbage bag that was covering his body.
The body lying on the ground gradually appeared. Those who were closer only took a look, then covered their mouths and backed away desperately.
"Call the police, call the police quickly!" someone shouted in the crowd.
In order to protect the scene, Chen Ling also retreated to the alley entrance, staring at the pair of legs exposed.
The dead person was a woman, her mouth and eyes were wide open, her body was swollen, her hair was wet and covered her face. Under her fingernails, there was a dark mass, no one knew what it was.
The police arrived quickly, they quickly cordoned off the scene, and had a forensic doctor conduct a preliminary autopsy.
"The deceased must have drowned, and judging by the degree of swelling on the body, he has been dead for at least a week..." the forensic doctor informed the captain of the result.
After hearing this, the captain hissed and called over the subordinate who had just finished questioning Zhou's mother and Ding Junyuan: "You said, Ding Junyuan and the front desk said that they saw Zhou Wenhui go to the carving room to study yesterday and left at 6:30 in the afternoon."
The subordinate was a new employee who was doing internship. Hearing this, he thought he had made a mistake and asked his leader cautiously: "Yes, leader, did I do anything wrong?"
The captain didn't say anything. He quickly walked back to the body and took a look. He then went to the forensic department to ask carefully whether it was confirmed that the person had been dead for more than seven days.
After receiving a positive answer, he fell into a brief silence, then took out his mobile phone, walked aside and made a call.
The subordinates looked at each other, thinking that their boss was seeking support. But when the other party hung up the phone, they were told, "This case is not under our jurisdiction. Pack up your things. Another team will be here soon."
The superiors have their own arrangements, and the subordinates can only obey orders and not complain or raise questions.
About twenty minutes later, a luxurious black business car stopped on the side of the road outside the alley.
A well-dressed man got out of the car, with a bag slung over one shoulder and a compass in his hand. He had sharp eyes and walked straight to the police camp.
The captain greeted the man politely, as if he knew him: "Mr. Li."
Wu Weiwei, who was next to Chen Ling, suddenly exclaimed "Wow!" and looked at Mr. Li as if he was looking at something strange.
"Do you know him?" Chen Ling asked him.
"I know him, but he doesn't know me." Wu Weiwei took out his cell phone, found a photo and clicked it.
Chen Ling took it and looked at it, and thought it should be a web page profile of a staff member of a certain unit.
Because of the pixels and the original web photo size, everyone's facial features are a little blurry and only vaguely recognizable. The third one is the person who was called by the police. His name is Li Hongyu.
As for other related introductions, the font is too small and I can't make out anything.
"So who is he?"
Chen Ling returned the phone and heard Li Hongyu nodding slightly at the police captain not far away, saying in a very stylish manner: "Leave the rest to me."
The captain nodded repeatedly and asked, "What about the body..."
"Take it away." Li Hongyu waved his hand, looked down at the compass, and walked towards the Starry Carving Room.
"This guy is so arrogant, even more so than me." Wu Weiwei said to his brother Chen, "This guy is the deputy captain of the special investigation team."
"Special Investigation Department?" This was the first time Chen Ling heard of this department.
"You didn't even know!" Wu Weiwei almost broke his voice, attracting a lot of attention.
Chen Ling shook his head honestly.
"The Special Investigation Department is not a regular department. It selects personnel from various magic schools to deal with supernatural events. Of course, there must be people who use connections to get in and want a stable job." Wu Weiwei said and then glanced at Li Hongyu, "The deputy leader of Group 1 has come in person. This matter may not be simple."
Chen Ling glanced at him: "How do you know this?"
Wu Weiwei raised his eyebrows and said proudly, "Of course I learned about it from the group. Although the news in our group is all gossip, it is highly accurate. I plan to develop it into a news network for our Yuhe Cemetery."
Chen Ling sincerely sighed: "You are so dedicated."
Wu Weiwei: "No, no, it's my duty."
On the other side, Ding Junyuan saw a stranger walking straight towards his carving studio. He stepped over cautiously and blocked the door tightly.
"Sir, what can I do for you?"
"Are you the boss?" Li Hongyu's sharp eyes passed over and fell directly on the corridor behind Ding Junyuan, "Your carving room is not clean."
Ding Junyuan's face changed and he subconsciously looked at Chen Ling who was still standing outside the alley.
Chen Ling walked forward, his eyes lowered, and glanced at the compass in the other person's hand. The needle was spinning randomly and never stopped. The closer he got to the carving room, the faster it spun.
Ding Junyuan followed the young man's gaze and asked in surprise, "What's going on?"
Chen Ling explained: "It means there is evil inside, or an unjust death, or an unexpected death."
"Does this thing spinning around mean that it's right next to us?" Wu Weiwei subconsciously looked around. Maybe it was a psychological effect, he suddenly felt cold.
Chen Ling shook his head: "No, the needle keeps spinning, which means that the evil is in this space, but its exact location cannot be determined."
A hint of surprise flashed in Li Hongyu's eyes, and he turned his head to look at the young man who was speaking. He had seen this man standing on the roadside with another person and whispering before, and he thought they were onlookers. Now it seems that they are people of the same kind
He frowned, but took a thorough look at Chen Ling in just three seconds. He had no magic weapon and no work permit, so he should be a fake Taoist priest from outside.
Chen Ling looked back openly: "What's the matter?"
Li Hongyu turned his head away coldly, not even wanting to look at him: "Leave immediately, all outsiders."