Todesanzeige 2 Schicksal

Kapitel 11

Mo Han was somewhat unwilling to give up, so she quietly walked to the desk and, under the dim light of the flashlight, began to look through the things on the desk.

Besides a computer, there wasn't anything particularly special on the table—just a pen holder, an elegant clock, a few magazines, and some newspapers. Mo Han picked them up and looked at them.

"Hey, aren't these newspapers from the newspaper Zheng Qi works for? Could this office be...?"

Thinking of this, Mo Han bent down and quickly pulled open a drawer in her desk to rummage through it. Luckily, the drawer wasn't locked. Besides some documents and drafts, Mo Han also found some personnel information forms inside.

"That's right, I am indeed in the newspaper office where Zheng Qi works. Moreover, I can confirm that this office is the office of the cold and almost inhuman Director Wang that Zheng Qi described."

Thinking of this, Mo Han became somewhat excited. He sat up with satisfaction and tapped his slightly sore back. Then, he picked up the flashlight again and carefully shone it around, his gaze suddenly stopping on a bookshelf against the wall.

It was a medium-sized bookcase standing against the wall.

The bookcase was a deep, dark red, over two meters tall, with sliding glass doors. The glass frames were crafted from high-quality aerospace-grade aluminum alloy, and the silver metal frames were currently considered very fashionable. Mo Han examined it closely and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The foreign portrait painting, paired with this modern bookcase, and the European-style sofa and coffee table in the corner—all of this revealed that the owner of this office had quite avant-garde and fashionable taste.

Mo Han gently opened the glass door of the bookcase, her two bright, intelligent black eyes quickly scanning the bookcase.

Apart from some books and folders, there was nothing particularly special on the bookshelf.

Suddenly, his gaze fell on a corner of the bottom shelf of the bookcase.

Mo Han turned the flashlight in her hand up a little and carefully shone it into that corner.

In the corner of the bookcase sat an exquisite antique wooden box, dark red in color and meticulously crafted.

The old wooden box looked quite old, rounded and with a nice sheen.

At this moment, the ancient wooden box, exuding a strong sense of antiquity and mystery, was displayed before Mo Han's eyes.

Mo Han squatted down and carefully examined the ancient wooden box.

The wooden box was about thirty centimeters long, twenty centimeters wide, and ten centimeters high. The entire box appeared to be made from a single piece of deep red mahogany. Around the box, strange, talisman-like images were carved in an exquisite yet unusual style. These symbolic reliefs seemed similar to Buddhist and Taoist talismans, but upon closer inspection, they didn't quite resemble them.

Mo Han believed he had seen many talismanic images since childhood, but he had never seen such a strange talismanic image before! Could it be a talismanic image passed down from ancient Egypt or ancient Native Americans?

Thinking of this, Mo Han frowned and examined it carefully again, but still felt that she couldn't understand it.

After pondering for a while, Mo Han looked away from examining the box and turned back to check the lid.

On the lid of the ancient wooden box was a small image of an ancient beauty, pieced together from mahogany pieces. The woman was graceful and elegant, with a full figure. Judging from her attire, she was a beautiful woman from the ancient East.

Seeing this, Mo Han narrowed his eyes and pondered for a while before reaching out to take the ancient wooden box.

Suddenly, the box emitted a purple light, which violently bounced him against the tightly closed office door. If it weren't for the door blocking his way, Mo Han thought he might have been thrown several feet outside the door long ago.

Mo Han got up from the ground, rubbing his sore back. He quickly sat down to meditate and circulate his energy, and it took him a while to recover. He was both relieved that he had some magical power protecting him and secretly scolded himself for being so careless, opening the ancient wooden box without any warning. If his master were here, he would be blamed for his carelessness.

Mo Han sat quietly for a while, then got up and walked to the bookshelf, squatted down, and quietly examined the ancient wooden box again, thinking to himself:

"Since the figure on the lid of the box is an ancient Eastern woman, the talisman-like images around the box are probably not from ancient Egypt or some ancient Native American tradition. Anyway, I'll try my exorcism and retrieving spells first."

Having made up his mind, Mo Han sat cross-legged on the ground, facing the wooden box, frowning and closing his eyes, muttering incantations. Then, he transformed his right palm into a sword finger and suddenly pointed the sword finger at the ancient wooden box in the corner of the bookcase.

With a click, the lid of the antique wooden box slowly opened automatically.

Suddenly, a burst of light appeared silently, and something was placed steadily in the middle of the wooden box.

It was a thin, expressionless human face.

The hospital was surrounded by a white expanse, and the air was thick with the pungent smell of disinfectant mixed with a strong herbal scent.

"Xiao Zheng, how are you feeling? Are you feeling any better?"

Sister Zheng walked in gracefully, carrying a basket of fruit in one hand and a bouquet of flowers in the other.

"Oh, it's Sister Zheng! I'm so sorry to have troubled you to come see me so late! I'm much better now!"

Zheng Qi kept offering polite words, but secretly he couldn't help but feel pleased.

"Ha, I've been eagerly awaiting your arrival!"

Zheng Qi hurriedly put down the magazine he was reading and sat up.

He could have been discharged immediately, but in order to get those death records out of Sister Zheng and the others, he had to force himself to pretend to be sick and stay in this hospital bed filled with disinfectant and the smell of medicine for a few more days.

At this moment, feeling utterly bored, he was hoping that someone from the company would come and visit him, so that at least his time spent idly in this bleak hospital wouldn't be wasted. Now, seeing Sister Zheng come to visit him, he couldn't help but secretly start making plans.

"What are you saying? Don't be so formal! You're sick, and as your colleagues, it's only right that we come to see you! But unfortunately, Meng Ping and the others are all busy and can't get away, so they had to send me as their representative to come see you! Please don't mind!"

While secretly cursing Meng Ping for being a coward and refusing to come up with her to see Zheng Qi, Sister Zheng pretended to smile and said half-jokingly.

"Not at all! I'm already embarrassed by how much you've cared for me, how could I let you take time out of your busy schedules to see me! It's such a bother to everyone! Sister Zheng, I'm fine, much better! Please tell everyone not to worry about me!"

While speaking politely to Sister Zheng, Zheng Qi couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "In just a few days, I never thought I would learn to be so hypocritical!"

"Xiao Zheng, don't worry, Director Wang said you should rest here. There's no rush to go back to work; you should focus on recovering first!"

As she spoke, Sister Zheng dragged a chair from the window and sat down beside the hospital bed, deftly taking an apple from the fruit basket and peeling it.

On one side, Sister Zheng was intently peeling an apple with her head down, while on the other side, Zheng Qi was quickly calculating how to get the information about the deaths out of her.

"Wow, Sister Zheng, you're really good at peeling apples. You peeled an apple without the peel even breaking off. It seems you must be a good wife at home. Do you often peel apples for your husband?"

As Zheng Qi took the peeled apple from Sister Zheng and put it in his mouth to chew, he casually started a conversation with her.

"Sigh, so clumsy, she's hardly a good wife!"

Sister Zheng blushed and said modestly.

Zheng Qigang was about to continue the conversation when he suddenly heard Sister Zheng say...

"By the way, Xiao Zheng!"

"What's wrong, Sister Zheng?"

Zheng Qi, chewing on an apple, replied indistinctly. He sensed that Sister Zheng had something to ask him.

Sister Zheng didn't continue speaking, and casually picked up another apple from the bedside table next to her and started peeling it.

The ward fell silent for a moment. Sister Zheng remained focused on peeling her apple, head bowed. After a while, without looking up, she asked, seemingly unconsciously,

"Xiao Zheng, yesterday, why did you suddenly faint? Was it because you were too tired from work, or...?"