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Capítulo 17

"Oh. So, you've been using his identity all this time?" Li Hong said, taking out the forged ID card of Zheng Zhihao. The photo on the ID card had been changed. "I'll continue to call you Zheng Zhihao; the name Yang Yunhui is too unfamiliar to me."

"Okay. I'll use his identity as a way of commemorating this good brother."

"So now that you're... like this, are you able to see your brother?"

"I can't see him. I couldn't sense his presence after the car accident. It's as if his soul has been scattered and destroyed by the female demon's soul."

"Then... what are you going to do about it?" Li Hong asked, frowning. She couldn't believe that this fake Zheng Zhihao would treat his brother so badly.

“Of course not,” Zheng Zhihao said. “I’ve been tracking down the female demon’s soul, but every time I’m about to catch her, she escapes. Do you know who she was in her previous life?”

"Is she a witch too?"

“No. She was a spirit hunter in her previous life,” Zheng Zhihao said, his voice trembling. “So she was familiar with all my methods and knew all my secrets.”

An image of a woman appeared in Li Hong's mind, with shiny straight hair and a captivating face. The image vanished in an instant.

"Do you know her?" Li Hong asked. With a woman's intuition, Li Hong felt that her relationship with Zheng Zhihao wasn't so simple.

“Yes, I know her,” Zheng Zhihao said in a low voice.

"And then?" Li Hong pressed.

"There's nothing more!" Zheng Zhihao suddenly became angry. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. The person is dead, what else is there to say?"

Li Hong pursed her lips and put away her ID card. She had already sorted out quite a few of Zheng Zhihao's belongings, packed them up, and set them aside. She didn't know whether to take them back to her dormitory or leave them here. Actually, she only wanted to take one notebook, Zheng Zhihao's Spirit Hunter's Notebook, which recorded important events during his lifetime. In the end, she decided to take only this notebook.

"It's almost time, I have to go," Li Hong said. She glanced at the tidy room again and nodded in satisfaction—she had gone out to take out the trash a total of seventeen times.

Zheng Zhihao didn't say anything, as if he had disappeared.

"What a child, still sulking with me," Li Hong muttered to herself. She picked up her notebook, took one last look at the room, locked the door, and left.

*********************

Zheng Zhihao had no relatives during his lifetime, so Li Hong handled all his funeral arrangements. Whenever government officials inquired about her relationship with Zheng Zhihao, she had to say she was his girlfriend. However, the officials didn't seem to believe her, perhaps because she didn't show any grief on her face. After about two weeks of work, Zheng Zhihao's ashes were placed in Babaoshan Cemetery, while the property in Xisanqi left by his parents remained vacant. Although Li Hong reluctantly accepted the property as a gift from Zheng Zhihao (his spirit could easily sign his name with Li Hong's right hand), she still refused to rent it out as Zheng Zhihao had requested. She felt it still held sentimental value.

Now that all this has been done, Zheng Zhihao (Yang Yunhui) has completely disappeared from society and from life.

2.03 Accident

July 13, 2007

Beijing's weekend evening rush hour is always a headache, and this Friday, with a light drizzle, the traffic was even worse. From 4 PM onwards, main roads, side streets, and alleyways were completely jammed with cars of all sizes. Passengers in cars anxiously craned their necks, waiting for the car in front to crawl along; bus passengers were dozing off, arms hanging from the handrails, swaying with each acceleration and braking; pedestrians with umbrellas weaved through the parking lot-like streets, startled by sudden horns or scrambling to avoid splashes of water; those without umbrellas huddled under overpasses and in front of shops, desperately searching for empty taxis, further exacerbating the congestion. The air was filled with the sounds of rain, car engines, horns, pedestrians, bicycle bells, and the bus's warning, "Vehicle leaving the station, please be careful."

The chaotic situation didn't ease up much until around 9 or 10 p.m. However, as soon as the rain stopped, couples who had finished their dates, young couples who had finished their meals, businessmen who had finished their business deals, and students who had finished singing karaoke all flocked to the streets, once again paralyzing traffic.

Standing on the 17th-floor window, Zou Shunqing looked down at the road reddened by brake lights and irritably put down her teacup. Working overtime until 11 PM, while avoiding the chaotic rush hour, had resulted in nearly 14 consecutive hours of work, coupled with a barely edible overtime meal, making her increasingly anxious. A mountain of unfinished work completely disrupted her mood, ruining her plans to catch up on work Friday night and then go out for a break on Saturday and Sunday. Now, all she wanted was to fly home immediately, cuddle her adorable puppy, and make her boss's fierce face disappear from the face of the earth.

She sighed and returned to her workstation—she had to accept the fact that she would have to come back to work overtime tomorrow. However, this actually made her feel a little better; at least she wouldn't have to push herself so hard tonight. She decided to pack her things; she was going to be back tomorrow anyway, and staying here would only make her feel worse.

Her fiancé had called three times already, patiently asking when Zou Shunqing would be home, which warmed her heart. Thinking of his stubble and strong arms, a smile appeared on Zou Shunqing's face. She picked up her small bag, glanced one last time at the empty office, turned off the lights, and walked out of the company gate.

Three of the four elevators in the office building were out of service, leaving only one on the first floor. Zou Shunqing went to the corridor, pressed the elevator button, and then looked at her watch: it was already 11:48 PM. She yawned, listlessly looking at the elevator's floor numbers, thinking that she would have to take a taxi home now.

The only working elevator had been stopped on the first floor, but after Zou Shunqing pressed the switch, it didn't come up immediately. Instead, it went down to the third basement level and stopped once, which annoyed her. Coincidentally, someone downstairs also called for the elevator. A little anxious, she pressed the switch again and saw the numbers slowly jump up from "-3".

The elevator went straight up to the 17th floor and stopped without stopping in between. This struck Zou Shunqing as odd, because the elevator went down first and then up, indicating that someone had taken it from the third basement level. Since the elevator didn't stop, this passenger must have gone directly to the 17th floor. Although there was still the top floor, the 18th, above, the elevator didn't continue ascending. Could someone have gone directly from the third basement level to the 17th? But no one should be coming to the office at this time.

With a "ding," the elevator doors slowly opened. Zou Shunqing saw that the small, pale-lit car was empty. She hesitated for a moment, looking around. Why was no one there? If no one pressed the button, why did the elevator circle around to the third basement level? There must be something wrong. She stopped wondering, took the handrail, stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button for the first floor.

The elevator doors closed.

To Zou Shunqing's surprise, the elevator didn't immediately descend; instead, it stopped there. She frowned and said in astonishment, "No way!"

Her voice echoed muffledly in the enclosed space of the elevator car, before silence returned. Zou Shunqing didn't hear the slight hum of the elevator running; she could only hear the sound of the fan on the ceiling. The fan blew a gentle breeze that made her head feel cool.

"What's going on!" Zou Shunqing became impatient. She pressed the button for the first floor again and looked up to see if the elevator was responding. But the elevator remained stuck on the 17th floor, no longer responding to the passengers' commands.

"Damn elevator!" Zou Shunqing kicked the elevator door, the loud noise startling her. Reluctantly, she pressed the open button—having no other option, she had to take the stairs. Good heavens, the 17th floor!

However, the elevator doors did not open.

Zou Shunqing slammed the door open button again. The elevator still didn't respond; it was like a dead elevator, unresponsive no matter how hard you kicked it.

"Boss!" Zou Shunqing called out, "There's no power outage, you can open the door!"

Her voice was absorbed by the sound-absorbing material inside the elevator car again, and the surroundings became quiet once more. This suddenly filled her with fear, making her feel as if she were isolated in an unusual space within the elevator. This fear brought with it a particularly bad premonition, which made her somewhat flustered.

Just then, whether she heard it with her ears or sensed it in her heart, a familiar sigh came from behind her.

The sigh sounded very familiar, as if she had heard it before, but she couldn't quite place where she had heard it. She could tell that the sound was coming from behind her, so clearly, as if someone were standing behind her. But she knew perfectly well that there was no one else in the elevator, only her.

A chill ran through her body, raising goosebumps all over her shoulders. She stood frozen in surprise, wanting to hear what else might be coming from behind her. But after the sigh, there were no more unusual sounds.

What's that behind me?!

Zou Shunqing thought nervously, why did that sigh sound so familiar? Encountering something like this in an empty building in the dead of night was terrifying. She wanted to turn around and look, but she didn't dare. She felt her hands begin to tremble; she tried to take her phone out of her bag to call her fiancé to pick her up, but she couldn't find it in her small bag no matter how many times she tried.

A desire arose within her to turn around and look, to confirm that there was nothing behind her and that it was only her own imagination that was making her feel this way, so that she could break free from this almost unbearable state.

Before she could turn around, Zou Shunqing suddenly felt as if someone had grabbed her heart. An unseen, enormous hand pierced through her body from behind, forcefully grasping her pounding heart and then slowly manipulating it. She felt a little breathless and pressed her hand to her heart. Now she understood that something unusual was indeed happening behind her.

A damp draft began to flow through the elevator, like water suddenly entering a small boat, icy and whipping against her bare legs. Even more terrifying, Zou Shunqing felt a cold hand slowly rest on her shoulder and touch her neck.

"Ah!" she cried out, shaking her shoulders violently, trying to shake off the terrifying hand. But no matter how hard she tried, the hand wouldn't let go and pulled her backward.

Just then, as if by magic, the elevator began to ascend, and the doors suddenly opened, revealing the familiar 17th-floor corridor. Zou Shunqing, as if seeing a savior, immediately screamed and tried to escape this terrifying space. However, the moment she stepped out of the elevator, a strong force pulled her on the shoulder. This force, combined with the ascending elevator, caused her to be struck by the elevator door sill and tumble to the ground, then slide down the slippery floor into the deep elevator shaft…

2.04 Sensing

July 13, 2007, 23:55

Li Hong was half asleep when she suddenly heard someone softly calling her name. She hummed in response, turned over, and tried to go back to sleep. But the calling didn't stop; it continued to echo in her ears. She lay on her side, vaguely realizing that there was no one else in her room. Who was calling her from such close range?

She barely opened her eyes and saw a bluish-green face in front of her, expressionless, softly calling her name.

She screamed and tumbled off the bed, landing on the floor. Ignoring her pain, she desperately searched for that face in the darkness.

"Hey, don't be nervous, it's me." Zheng Zhihao's voice echoed clearly in her mind. Li Hong saw a dim shadow standing at the head of her bed, looking down at her; it was Zheng Zhihao.

"Boss! You scared me to death!" Li Hong scrambled to her feet and shouted at Zheng Zhihao. She had indeed been startled, because she hadn't expected this bastard to be standing right in front of her, so close.

"I'm sorry. I've been calling you for ages," Zheng Zhihao said.

"Then don't get so close to me!" Li Hong was suddenly startled awake, fuming with nowhere to vent her anger. "Can't a person get any sleep? I have class tomorrow! How did you get out here?"

“I’ll be out every night, you just don’t know it,” Zheng Zhihao said. Seeing her furious expression, he felt a little apologetic, but the matter was urgent, and he had to wake her up. “Hurry up and wash your face, we need to go out.”

"Going out now? I'm not going." Li Hong sat on the bed with her back to the ghostly figure, yawning as she said, "You're already out, go by yourself."

"If I could go, I definitely wouldn't wake you up." Zheng Zhihao floated in front of Li Hong. "Be good, listen to me, let's go together."

"Don't give me that. What happened?" Li Hong asked, frowning. "I won't go out unless someone dies."

“Someone’s already dead…” Zheng Zhihao said in a low voice, “I can feel the soul field that killed my assistant. She’s started harming people again.”

“You mean…” Li Hong raised her eyebrows, but she didn’t know the name of the ghost Zheng Zhihao was referring to, so she hesitated and didn’t continue.

"It's that female spirit hunter I mentioned to you that afternoon. I sensed her presence."

"What's her name?" Li Hong asked.

"Wash your face and change your clothes, I'll tell you on the way."

"Okay, okay. No peeking."

"………………"

************************

"Fuxingmen," Li Hong said after getting into the taxi. The driver didn't speak, turned the steering wheel and drove away from the roadside, the meter beeping. Li Hong glanced back at the empty street in front of the school, feeling a little unfamiliar. However, she didn't look out the window again, but took out her phone and pretended to make a call, preparing to continue asking Zheng Zhihao about the female spirit hunter.

“Okay, continue telling me,” Li Hong said, holding her phone—it sounded awkward, but it wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

"You're talking to me? What are you going to say next?" Zheng Zhihao asked.

"That woman's name."

“Oh…” Zheng Zhihao pondered, as if considering how to tell the story. Li Hong waited patiently.

After a pause, Zheng Zhihao said in a steady voice, "Her name was Liu Yun. She died in 2005 at the age of 27, six months before I entered this industry. I met her in 2003 when we were both investigating a spirit field near a railway. We ended up meeting each other and that's how we got to know each other."

Another pause.

"And then?" Li Hong urged. She saw that there were few cars on the highway at night, and the taxi was moving very fast, so she estimated that it wouldn't be long before they arrived at Fuxingmen.

"That's it?" Zheng Zhihao said, feigning surprise.

"What's wrong with you!" Li Hong couldn't help but get annoyed. "If you're so hesitant and don't want to talk, then fine, I don't care. And you're running around aimlessly in the middle of the night."

"Oh dear, I don't know what you want to know," Zheng Zhihao quickly said. "So many things have happened between us, how am I supposed to explain?"

“Just tell me how she died,” Li Hong said. At that moment, she noticed the driver glancing at her uneasily in the rearview mirror. “By the way, first tell me exactly where in Fuxingmen it was,” she asked Zheng Zhihao.

“Northwest corner of Fuxingmen Bridge, head north from Nanlishi Road.”

Li Hong repeated what she had said to the driver. She saw the driver speed up. Perhaps because it was night, the scenery around her rushed past against the black background, making the car seem to be going very fast.

“Go on,” she said into the phone again.

"We'll be there soon, I'll tell you properly when I have time," Zheng Zhihao said.

"You're so boring," Li Hong said, pretending to hang up. She wondered if she should check that Spirit Hunter's Notebook. It seemed like getting information about Liu Yun from Zheng Zhihao was like squeezing toothpaste—it would take forever. He definitely had some special relationship with Liu Yun, or something unspeakable had happened between them. What could it be?

"Are you angry?" Zheng Zhihao asked softly.

Li Hong ignored him. By then, the taxi had already left Chang'an Avenue and turned right onto Nanlishi Road to the north. Just as she rounded the bend, she could see several police cars and an ambulance parked in the distance beneath a luxurious office building on the east side of the road. The flashing lights on the roofs of the vehicles were particularly glaring under the orange streetlights, casting dappled shadows on the purple sign of the Everbright Bank on the side of the road. Li Hong knew they had arrived at the scene.

"Something happened?" the driver asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Just stop right next to the police car," Li Hong told the driver.

"Oh. You're a reporter?" the driver asked curiously, lifting the meter.

“No, I’m a doctor,” Li Hong said, taking out her wallet.

"Oh, haha, no wonder. Have a safe trip," the driver said.

Li Hong climbed out of the car and looked up at the office building.

“She’s gone,” Zheng Zhihao suddenly said. “She’s succeeded again.”

2.05 Fall

This is a luxurious office building with a retro style, standing out prominently among the surrounding low-rise buildings, especially its imposing tall arched entrance. Three police cars are parked in a small parking lot next to the green belt in front of the entrance. Li Hong noticed that these are criminal police vehicles, not ordinary police cars. A 999 ambulance is parked on the auxiliary road, its back door wide open, without any paramedics or stretcher in sight. Several police officers and security guards are gathered at the main entrance, talking about something. There are no pedestrians watching, and no police tape or barriers; only passing vehicles occasionally slow down and glance in their direction. To the south of the main entrance is a 24-hour self-service bank; the small room is lit up but empty.

Li Hong walked towards the gate and took out her identification. To her surprise, Li Hong recognized Xiao Jia among the group of police officers, and he also saw Li Hong, clearly quite surprised.