Chapter 14: 14

Chapter 14: Mr. Rose

“I’m Lin Bei. You are?”

The woman took off her sunglasses and gave them a reluctant smile. She had a beautiful face, but her eyes were bloodshot, and the bags under them were so heavy that she couldn’t cover them up. Without the sunglasses, she suddenly looked a lot more haggard.

She had a jade Buddha hanging around her neck that looked extremely valuable, but it didn’t match her fashionable attire.

“We are security investigators from a formal third party that is assisting the police in their investigation.”

Yin Ren solemnly showed his work ID. He had been secretly practicing what to say in his heart for a while now.

Lin Bei looked at Yin Ren up and down. “If it weren’t for the unsuitable situation, I would want to poach you.”

What does “poach” mean? Yin Ren, who had just drilled himself out of the ground, was suddenly alert*.

*Clarity: The term Lin Bei is using is “dig you”, which is a reference to “dig a corner” (挖墙脚), which is a metaphor referring to corporate espionage and poaching (digging out the technology of companies or personnel (poaching) of competitors as to maximize your benefits). It can also be used in relationships (as in this case), where it’s a term used to pursue someone who is already in a relationship (dig you out from your gf/bf); given his appearance, she’s probably assuming he already has an SO. Yin Ren, not understanding modern usage, is confused and scared because he literally unburied himself from the ground when his seal was broken (that’s the joke).

Fortunately, his partner relieved him in time. Zhong Chengshuo turned on the phone and pressed the record button. “Miss Lin, what is your occupation?”

“I have a self-publishing studio that does local advertising and delivers goods.” Lin Bei leaned back in her chair wearily. “However, given that Haigu is a first-tier city, you can imagine how business is. Wait, it’s starting already?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s order something first. I want a soymilk ice latte. What do you two want to drink?”

“I agree,” Yin Ren happily interjected. “I want this waffle chocolate deluxe sundae. What about Zhong Ge?”

“A glass of hot milk, no sugar.”

Lin Bei: “…” Why did she feel as if that was out of place? If she had known this in advance, she wouldn’t have made an appointment at a café that specialized in cold drinks.

Yin Ren wasn’t surprised. He had most likely figured out Zhong Chengshuo’s eating style by now.

Whether it was the Shian canteen or here, Zhong Chengshuo always ate a light and balanced diet—not too little and not too full. He was quite restrained in his food choices and didn’t like to touch fatty foods like fried chicken or cakes.

It was no wonder why his body was so healthy. He never grabbed what people usually love to eat.

There was plenty of light during the day, which made it quite conspicuous how clear Zhong Chengshuo’s skin was compared to Lin Bei’s, who had makeup on. It was the height of summer, but unlike the men around them, who smelled like sweat and smoke, Zhong Chengshuo’s scent was like a breath of fresh air.

Lin Bei’s attention gradually shifted to Zhong Chengshuo. Perhaps what she needed right now was this gentle and non-irritating reassurance.

“To thank you for your cooperation, Shian will pay for this meal.” After ordering, Zhong Chengshuo quickly returned to the topic. “Miss Lin, what’s your relationship with Gao Mengyu…?”

Lin Bei subconsciously glanced out the window and rubbed the corner of her napkin nervously. We went to middle and high school together, but at that time we weren’t familiar with each other. I took the university exam and didn’t start to talk to her until I started working.”

Then, without waiting for Zhong Chengshuo to ask, she continued on her own.

“About a few years ago, we happened to meet at the pet hospital. My cat was sick, and she happened to be taking her cat in for a physical. After that, we talked about cats and our life… Well, you can consider us friends.”

Zhong Chengshuo stopped sipping on his milk while Yin Ren still had a spoonful of ice cream in his mouth.

Lin Bei seemed to be aware of the doubt they had and felt a bit helpless. “Mengyu is very introverted. Even though we’re in the same city, she’s rarely willing to come out. We mainly chatted on WeChat and hardly ever met up in person.”

Yin Ren sniffed the fresh ghost around her body and put down his spoon. “You took the initiative to find us… Do you have any conjectures about Gao Mengyu’s disappearance?”

“Yes!” They didn’t know why but Lin Bei suddenly became excited. “It must be Xie Chao! He’s just a pervert, but even when he’s dead, he’s still harming people!”

She coughed because she got too riled up and took several sips of her latte. After taking a deep breath, Lin Bei took out a medicine bottle from her purse and swallowed a few pills.

“I told the police, but they didn’t believe me. You must check on Xie Chao.”

Zhong Chengshuo, Yin Blade: “…”

It was understandable that the police didn’t believe it. The police were basically good comrades comparable to the people in the science post, and the suspect, Xie Chao, had already been cremated.

“Continue,” Yin Ren said.

Lin Bei’s body was covered in evil spirits that emitted a strong aura full of malice. Regardless of whether the situation was related to Gao Mengyu’s disappearance or not, he could catch some of these ghosts and find out more.

This was an act that was basically spoon feeding him! Yin Ren continued to happily stuff the sundae into his mouth, full of vigor.

“In high school, she and Xie Chao were very famous. They were already dating then and seemed to have a good relationship. Mengyu’s grade was above average, but Xie Chao was dead last. He could barely speak properly.”

After Lin Bei finished taking her medicine, she continued to rub her napkin nervously.

“Mengyu could have gone on to a good college, but she stayed in Haigu for Xie Chao. She mentioned to me last year that she regretted this a bit.”

“The housing market has been good over the years, so Xie Chao made a small killing from his work. Mengyu was only a teller, so she only made no more than four thousand a month. They lived together for two years, and Xie Chao basically made her his caretaker… Though Mengyu earned less, her work wasn’t easy. It looks like she had no way out, and Xie Chao kept looking down on her.”

Zhong Chengshuo clearly understood this point.

In the WeChat history, the two quarreled over this matter. Even if Xie Chao was idle at home, his ten fingers would not touch spring water*. However, whenever Gao Mengyu dared to raise this point, their arguments always ended with “You only make a few dollars. Are you blind not to see who supports this household?” or “You don’t have time to work but have time to play with cats?”.

*(十指不沾阳春水) Metaphor referring to a pampered person who doesn’t need to do housework.

In the end, Gao Mengyu could only be silent.

“Later, Xie Chao lost a ton of money trading stocks, and they quarreled for three days straight. Then that happened immediately afterwards… Xie Chao strangled Qiqi to death. Oh, Qiqi is Mengyu’s cat. She adopted it when she was just in college, and they have a really deep relationship. Mengyu thought about calling the police, but a cat was worthless, and she had no evidence…”

“Miss Lin, we know all this,” Zhong Chengshuo interrupted Lin Bei’s chatter. “Let’s talk about the abnormal situation first.”

Lin Bei choked.

Wow. Yin Ren was amazed. Zhong Chengshuo really gave him a sense of security on all fronts—not only was his spiritual value zero, but his worldly knowledge was even worse than a ghost that was just unearthed. Whether it was a ghost or him pretending to be human, it would be difficult to expose his feet* in front of this person.

*Exposing the horse’s feet (露马脚) Metaphor referring to showing flaws and exposing the truth (aka Let the cat out of the bag).

He wanted to keep this partnership with Zhong Chengshuo. This man was full of reassurance and trust.

Yin Ren smiled brightly. “What Zhong Ge wants to say is that we have a clear understanding of Miss Gao’s situation. You look very tired. If we can get to the main points, you can retire earlier and get some rest.”

Lin Bei turned to stare at Yin Ren with slightly moist eyes. “Okay.”

“Xie Chao had been pestering Mengyu before, so she would talk to me every so often about it. She sounded like she was in pain, but when I asked what Xie Chao had done, she wouldn’t tell me anything. It’s not the kind of avoidance where someone doesn’t want to say something, but rather ‘dare not say’.”

This was exactly what they found suspicious.

Zheng Chengshuo regained his vigor. He drank his milk in one gulp and listened attentively. As for Yin Ren, his giant sundae had long since been emptied, and there was only at thin layer of cream at the bottom of the cup.

God knew how he managed to eat all that so gracefully. Even Lin Bei, who was sitting opposite didn’t notice anything off.

She took out her phone and pulled up her chat history with Gao Mengyu. Looking at the time stamp, it wasn’t long after Xie Chao’s death.

[“Feather Cat” withdrew a message.]

[LadyBud: It’s fine. No need to withdraw it, right?]

[“Feather Cat” withdrew a message.]

[LadyBud: Don’t force it. Just follow your habits.]

[Feather Cat: I dare not go out. It’s so cold outside, and there’s the smell of roses everywhere.]

[Feather Cat: I’m a little scared. Do you have time lately?]

This was the content of their last conversation.

“I was busy at work at that time, so I didn’t reply to her, and she never contacted me again after that. I thought…”

Lin Bei shook her head.

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“Forget it. No point talking about that now. The two messages she withdrew, one was telling me Xie Chao had died and the other saying she felt Xie Chao wasn’t dead yet and she didn’t want any records mentioning him to be kept.”

Seeing that the two of them were listening intently, Lin Bei half cried, and half smiled. “As for why I said it must be Xie Chao… I know it’s ridiculous, but I have evidence. Can you accompany me somewhere?”

“Of course.”

“No problem.” They both spoke in unison.

Unlike Yin Ren’s expectations, Lin Bei didn’t go far. She just asked Zhong Chengshuo and Yin Ren to follow her for about 20 meters. When they left the store, they turned to an alley near a shopping center.

The alley was a dead end with only the backdoor to small shops at the front. The shop buildings were uneven, and the surroundings were dirty with a poor view.

Lin Ben walked to the end of the alley and stopped, as if she was waiting for something.

The two stopped and hid behind a protruding corner of the alley.

Yin Ren narrowed his eyes.

The air around Lin Bei gradually distorted, and a ghost in a suit with a bouquet in his hand appeared.

The ghost’s suit was poorly tailored, and it could be seen that it was something cheap. The ghost was wearing a pair of overly white gloves, a similar overly white, close-fitting mask, and a top hat that tightly covered its hair.

It had no eyes, nose, or mouth through the hole in the mask; only emptiness filled the area. At the same time, it also held a large bouquet of rose-like things.

Beautiful cellophane tied with ribbons was wrapped with rotten and broken entrails. They were dried and cracked, looking like flowers from a distance.

The fragrance of roses was instantly overwhelming as they forcibly invaded their nasal cavity, almost turning into some kind of stench. The dark red ghosts were like drops of blood, splashing and jumping above the bouquet, like drizzles falling in the wrong direction.

The ghost stopped in the deepest part of the shadow, only a few steps away from Lin Bei. It emitted evil spirits and malice unreservedly. Despite it being noon and summer, the air in the alley was getting colder.

[It’s so cold outside, and there’s the smell of roses everywhere.]

The current situation was exactly like Gao Mengyu’s description. Even Zhong Chengshuo was affected. “It’s pretty cold here.”

Yin Ren was a bit impressed. This was a powerful ghost that was suitable for eating after a chocolate sundae.

But considering that he had to continue his performance, Yin Ren had to pressed back the idea of having a side dish.

Lin Bei trembled. She hugged her arms under the sunlight as if it were unbearably cold.

“Can you smell it?” She gritted her teeth loudly. “It smells like roses. It’s cold around here, and there’s even a dark shadow! See… As long as I walk to a place where there are a few people, it’ll come out…”

Lin Bei rolled her eyes wildly. Her lips turned blue, and the water vapor she exhaled didn’t turn into white vapor. Her voice wasn’t very loud—close to murmuring—but Yin Ren could hear it very clearly.

“It’s been four or five days that I haven’t slept well… I told others, and they all thought I was crazy. I’m not crazy. I’m not. I just want to rest…”

It seemed that she couldn’t see the ghost clearly, but only a vague figure.

The ghost completely ignored Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo. It was dead set on Lin Bei. There was an inaudible whisper emanating from its throat. The bundle of visceral “roses” kept spewing evil qi, getting closer and closer to Lin Bei’s face.

Lin Bei’s voice became smaller, and she shook twice in place and almost fell over.

From a distance, it looked like a man handing a bouquet to his beloved. Lin Bei’s face was splattered with more evil spirits, and they quickly penetrated deeply into her skin, turning into strands of dark red blood.

As a mortal who believed in ghosts and gods and wasn’t in a good mental state, Lin Bei was greatly affected.

Yin Ren took out his cellphone and motioned for Zheng Chengshuo to contact Liang Shan. Then he strode forward and inserted himself very neatly between the human and ghost.

Yin Ren turned his back to the ghost and supported Lin Bei with concern. “Miss Lin, are you okay?”

The bouquet was separated by Yin Ren, and Lin Bei’s breathing became a little smoother. Her eyes looked unfocused as she shook her head very lightly. She grabbed Yin Ren’s arms tightly with one hand.

The ghost let out a vague mocking smile and tried to bypass Yin Ren to continue to attack Lin Bei. In the next moment…

Ghost: “?”

It found itself unable to move.

Yin Ren had stepped on its foot with his heel with great force. Though the ghost couldn’t feel pain, it couldn’t move even half a step.

It slapped Yin Ren on the back of his head angrily with the bouquet, but Yin Ren was unaffected. The evil spirit slashed at him with the bouquet, but it couldn’t hurt this person in the slightest. Yin Ren pretended not to see the ghost and said such nonsense as “We will definitely pay attention to the clues you have given us” and “Go back and drink more hot water and make sure to stay in a well-ventilated space”.

Unfortunately, no matter how indignant the ghost was, there was no hope. Its foot was firmly nailed in place.

When Lin Bei recovered, Yin Ren still refused to let go of its feet.

He stayed where he was and continued conscientiously, “Miss Lin, are you feeling better? I do smell roses, and the temperature nearby is abnormal.”

Ghost: “…” Pretend. You’re still pretending.

Lin Bei was unaware. “Since Mengyu disappeared, it’s been like this when I’m alone… It’s so cold that I can’t sleep, and I feel unlucky when I go out… It must be Xie Chao. It’s not enough to harm Mengyu, but he wants me to die too…”

“Why is he bothering you?”

“I mentioned it before and suggested that Mengyu go to graduate school, and she agreed.”

Lin Bei smiled weakly.

“Xie Chao knew about this, so he specially registered a few numbers on WeChat to scold me and also posted my number on those kinds of websites. The two of them broke up because of Mengyu’s graduate entrance exam. In his opinion, I was probably the source of this.”

Yin Ren paused for a moment before pulling out his cellphone.

“Iron buddy, Rose Ge is really affectionate!”

In the familiar video, the male anchor was wiping away his fake tears. There was a man in the black-and-white image of the video, and the image was exactly the same as this ghost.

The video was newly released in the past two days, and the picture was marked with conspicuous yellow characters: [Donghe District, Mr. Rose unfortunately passed away!]

“Is he Xie Chao?” Yin Ren pointed to the man in the black-and-white picture.

Lin Bei was taken aback. “No! No…”

She paused suddenly for several seconds.

“…I don’t know. I—I…”

Lin Bei’s lips trembled violently. Her eyes widened, and she seemed to be greatly stimulated. Seeing that she was in bad condition, Zhong Chengshuo, who had just finished his call, also leaned in. He was still holding the phone in his right hand.

“Shh, it’s okay. It’s okay. We’ll talk about it later,” Yin Ren comforted her. “Our colleague who’s in charge will be here soon. Zhong—”

Yin Ren turned his head, and his voice abruptly stopped.

In just an instant, someone opened the backdoor of the shop closest to them.

It was a thin, bony man wearing a dirty white shirt. When the door was opened, his movements didn’t stop—

The man quickly crashed into Zhong Chengshuo. His eyes were bulging, and there was a knife in his right hand that glinted with a cold light.

The author has something to say:

Xiao Zhong, danger! (?)

Speaking of the smell of tobacco… In fact, as a non-smoker, I have never been able to understand the writing of “tobacco aroma” in literary works.

I just think the smell of smoke is so smelly. _(:з”))_ Minister Fu, I’m here to criticize and shame you!

Kinky Thoughts:

It looks like the abnormal cases mentioned in chapter 3 are converging.

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