Seltsame Geschichten aus Tangdun

Kapitel 7

I looked at Yan Xin, and she looked at me. What we saw in each other's eyes was shock and anger, not fear.

Ah Lei and Zhang Xiaojun seemed to understand something, staring at me, waiting for me to give the result.

"Tell me first, is there any method in magic that can erase memories?"

"Why are you asking this all of a sudden..." Xingyun muttered, but seeing my determined gaze, she answered honestly and bluntly, "Yes, it does, but it usually only erases a short period of memory... I remember the name is something like... A Moment, A Flash. Hmm, let's call it Memory Flash, it's easier to say."

In an instant, in a flash.

So that's how it is. The vengeful spirit used this magic to erase the memories of those who played the murder game that day, but for some reason I remembered it in my dream.

Xiaohui... probably used this method to erase people's memories of her.

I gestured for Yan Xin to speak. Her analytical and reasoning abilities were actually stronger than mine, and although her memory of that period had also been erased, she believed without a doubt what I saw in my dream.

That's something I can never do. I've become accustomed to always erecting a fence of suspicion around anyone or anything, including myself.

"I want to tell you a story, though it's mostly hypothetical... There was a girl named Hanako who had sex with her boyfriend, but he refused to marry her so soon and insisted that Hanako abort the child."

"Hanako couldn't bear to part with her flesh and blood child and resolutely refused until about six months into her pregnancy. For some reason, she ended up on the operating table for an induced abortion—we still don't know why. The doctor who performed the surgery was surnamed Tan, and his assistant was a nurse named Lan Ying. The aborted baby was killed by Dr. Tan, and we don't know why he did it."

Women have a strong maternal instinct. This was evident from the fiery look in Yan Xin's eyes as she stared at me. I quickly explained, "I'm dreaming. It's not me. It has nothing to do with me."

Zhang Xiaojun interjected at the opportune moment: "I've heard of ghosts appearing in dreams, which can make people experience the most unforgettable parts of the ghost's memories in their dreams... In that case, the doctor surnamed Tan should already be dead."

Section Seventeen

Some people have been puzzled as to why Chinese people are so keen to go abroad.

I know one of the reasons, which is that this not-so-vast land accommodates far too many people.

With more people around us, we become indifferent to life. Every day, people may quietly disappear, but apart from their close family and friends who truly care about them, no one pays attention.

Let alone a newborn baby.

According to Yan Xin's deduction, the infant that Hanako gave birth to was eventually steamed and eaten by these people.

This is not purely hypothetical. In Guangdong, there have been cases of infant cannibalism where doctors sold dead premature babies to secret restaurants, which then cooked the infant corpses into dishes for people to eat.

Among those who ate the infant were Liu Huatian, A-Jian, Sangbao, and Haozi. Now, the vengeful spirit of the infant has returned to seek revenge, repaying the cruelty suffered there.

At this point, Yan Xin stopped, her face turning deathly pale.

Seeing such things on television is one thing, but actually experiencing them in real life is quite another.

Zhang Xiaojun's face was ashen, his two large hands clenched tightly together; A Lei's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief and astonishment; Xing Yun suddenly stood up and walked out without saying a word.

"Stop!" Zhang Xiaojun shouted sharply, his voice rising in anger. Xingyun turned around in surprise. The bustling crowd of men and women in Simple Life Bar, who had been completely unaware of what was happening, suddenly fell silent.

Even if they knew all this, how many people would believe it? Once their peaceful lives are disrupted, there probably won't be many left who can still sing the praises of justice and conscience.

"What do you want to do?" Zhang Xiaojun ignored Xingyun, took out a cigarette, lit it with a flick of his lighter, and asked in a calm tone.

"Didn't you hear me? These bastards are absolutely outrageous! How could they do something like this? Today, I, Xingyun, will act on behalf of Heaven and eradicate these evil scoundrels!"

Zhang Xiaojun held the cigarette to the flickering flame, took a deep drag, slowly exhaled, and sneered, "I think you're out of your mind. Look at what era we live in, still trying to act like you're doing justice for Heaven and exorcising demons. If you rush over to find Liu Huatian like that, the police will be here to have you tea in no time. Xiao Wang, you talk to him."

Two waitresses jogged over, but before they could speak, they saw Zhang Xiaojun's identification on the table and discreetly stepped back to maintain order. Xingyun was stunned by the barrage of scolding and obediently returned to the table. Several people were looking at me, waiting for me to speak.

I gave a wry smile: "Xingyun, if you saw a murderer kill someone, what would you do?"

"Call the police," Xingyun replied without hesitation.

“Then, he’s a policeman.” I pointed to Zhang Xiaojun. Xingyun was stunned for a moment, then finally realized what I meant. He smiled sheepishly, muttering under his breath, “Who told him to be so cold-blooded? He’s not like a policeman at all.”

I now understand why Zhang Xiaojun asked me to explain things to Xingyun. It's because this eccentric "fake Taoist priest," although a few years older than me, has always lived in a world of his own making, with an incredibly simplistic way of thinking.

"Police investigations are based on evidence. What evidence do you have to prove that Liu Huatian and his accomplices have eaten people?"

"I... she said it."

Hearing this, the "she" that Xingyun was referring to couldn't help but smile bitterly: "As I said before, all my speculations are just assumptions, and we currently have no evidence to prove that all of this actually happened."

Zhang Xiaojun continued, "That's right, things might not be as Miss Yan reasoned. There might be other explanations. From a case-handling perspective, we can make any assumptions, but we must have evidence to prove that the assumption is correct; otherwise, it's just wishful thinking. Do you want me to tell the judge that a vengeful spirit gave you this testimony?"

Xingyun slumped down, but his eyes lit up again: "I do know a few ways to communicate with ghosts. Why don't we give them a try?"

At first, we all thought it was the widely circulated method of summoning spirits through a pen or oath, but Xingyun's method was completely different. According to him, pen or oath spirits just randomly summon ghosts without any specific target; to summon a specific ghost for dialogue, a unique method must be used.

The method is to sit at your desk around 1 a.m., when the yin energy is at its peak, without turning on the lights. Concentrate and silently recite the name of the ghost you want to summon. When you feel someone behind you, don't speak yet. Throw a pen behind you. If you don't hear the pen hit the ground, you can start asking questions, and the ghost will answer them.

"This method of summoning ghosts is called 'pen-tube copying' in the book, and I've heard it's very effective. Why don't we give it a try?" Xingyun looked serious, not like he was joking, and it sounded like it might work, but... why was Xingyun giving me such a strange look?

"According to Miss Yan's hypothesis, the first ghost we should summon is Dr. Tan, the one who appeared to Xiao Wang in his dream. This person is crucial in the whole incident; if we can summon him, several key questions can be answered immediately. I think it would be best if Xiao Wang were to handle this. What do you all think?"

Xingyun spoke very seriously, and it sounded quite reasonable. Even I thought I should give it a try, but then I realized something was wrong. If you want to summon a ghost, the most straightforward way is to directly invite the vengeful spirit out.

To paraphrase Stephen Chow, "Let's get together, sit down, have a cup of tea, eat a bun, and chat about anything." If a vengeful spirit wanted to harm me, it would have done so long ago, and there would be no need to wait so many days.

That stinky Taoist priest, pretending to ask me to summon a ghost, there's definitely something wrong with him!

I stared at him, saying nothing. This stinking Taoist priest initially feigned composure, but within a minute his eyes began to dart around, avoiding my gaze. I suddenly realized: he wanted to use me as a guinea pig for his ghost-summoning experiments!

Zhang Xiaojun suddenly interjected: "Enough with the talk. Since everyone agrees that Ms. Yan's reasoning makes sense, let's investigate based on it. Ms. Yan and Xiao Zhang, could you please go back to the police station again and check when Liu Huatian, Haozi, Sangbao, and Ajian had close contact? I think there should be two more people involved in this case. I'll call the criminal investigation team and ask them to assist you."

Yan Xin seemed to understand something, and said "Oh" to herself, "Mouse is the left arm, A-Jian is the left leg, Sang Bao is the torso, and the rest are the right hand and right leg. If Liu Huatian is one of them, there should be another one, so how come there are two?"

Zhang Xiaojun put on his police cap, stood up, and said calmly, "The other one is the head. It's said that the brains are the most nourishing." His gaze fell on A Lei: "Xiao Zhang, you'd better stay in the police station and don't come out under any circumstances. If I'm not mistaken, you triggered the vengeful spirit's revenge. The vengeful spirit has already mistaken you for Liu Huatian, and the most terrifying retribution will fall on you sooner or later."

I couldn't help but shudder. I could almost see Ah Lei grinning foolishly, slowly sawing open his own skull with a chainsaw, reaching inside, and pulling out the bloody, red and white brain matter, chewing it in his mouth, and swallowing it.

No, no matter what, I will never let this happen, never!

Section Seventeen

Some people have been puzzled as to why Chinese people are so keen to go abroad.

I know one of the reasons, which is that this not-so-vast land accommodates far too many people.

With more people around us, we become indifferent to life. Every day, people may quietly disappear, but apart from their close family and friends who truly care about them, no one pays attention.

Let alone a newborn baby.

According to Yan Xin's deduction, the infant that Hanako gave birth to was eventually steamed and eaten by these people.

This is not purely hypothetical. In Guangdong, there have been cases of infant cannibalism where doctors sold dead premature babies to secret restaurants, which then cooked the infant corpses into dishes for people to eat.

Among those who ate the infant were Liu Huatian, A-Jian, Sangbao, and Haozi. Now, the vengeful spirit of the infant has returned to seek revenge, repaying the cruelty suffered there.

At this point, Yan Xin stopped, her face turning deathly pale.

Seeing such things on television is one thing, but actually experiencing them in real life is quite another.

Zhang Xiaojun's face was ashen, his two large hands clenched tightly together; A Lei's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief and astonishment; Xing Yun suddenly stood up and walked out without saying a word.

"Stop!" Zhang Xiaojun shouted sharply, his voice rising in anger. Xingyun turned around in surprise. The bustling crowd of men and women in Simple Life Bar, who had been completely unaware of what was happening, suddenly fell silent.

Even if they knew all this, how many people would believe it? Once their peaceful lives are disrupted, there probably won't be many left who can still sing the praises of justice and conscience.

"What do you want to do?" Zhang Xiaojun ignored Xingyun, took out a cigarette, lit it with a flick of his lighter, and asked in a calm tone.

"Didn't you hear me? These bastards are absolutely outrageous! How could they do something like this? Today, I, Xingyun, will act on behalf of Heaven and eradicate these evil scoundrels!"

Zhang Xiaojun held the cigarette to the flickering flame, took a deep drag, slowly exhaled, and sneered, "I think you're out of your mind. Look at what era we live in, still trying to act like you're doing justice for Heaven and exorcising demons. If you rush over to find Liu Huatian like that, the police will be here to have you tea in no time. Xiao Wang, you talk to him."

Two waitresses jogged over, but before they could speak, they saw Zhang Xiaojun's identification on the table and discreetly stepped back to maintain order. Xingyun was stunned by the barrage of scolding and obediently returned to the table. Several people were looking at me, waiting for me to speak.

I gave a wry smile: "Xingyun, if you saw a murderer kill someone, what would you do?"

"Call the police," Xingyun replied without hesitation.

“Then, he’s a policeman.” I pointed to Zhang Xiaojun. Xingyun was stunned for a moment, then finally realized what I meant. He smiled sheepishly, muttering under his breath, “Who told him to be so cold-blooded? He’s not like a policeman at all.”

I now understand why Zhang Xiaojun asked me to explain things to Xingyun. It's because this eccentric "fake Taoist priest," although a few years older than me, has always lived in a world of his own making, with an incredibly simplistic way of thinking.

"Police investigations are based on evidence. What evidence do you have to prove that Liu Huatian and his accomplices have eaten people?"

"I... she said it."

Hearing this, the "she" that Xingyun was referring to couldn't help but smile bitterly: "As I said before, all my speculations are just assumptions, and we currently have no evidence to prove that all of this actually happened."

Zhang Xiaojun continued, "That's right, things might not be as Miss Yan reasoned. There might be other explanations. From a case-handling perspective, we can make any assumptions, but we must have evidence to prove that the assumption is correct; otherwise, it's just wishful thinking. Do you want me to tell the judge that a vengeful spirit gave you this testimony?"

Xingyun slumped down, but his eyes lit up again: "I do know a few ways to communicate with ghosts. Why don't we give them a try?"

At first, we all thought it was the widely circulated method of summoning spirits through a pen or oath, but Xingyun's method was completely different. According to him, pen or oath spirits just randomly summon ghosts without any specific target; to summon a specific ghost for dialogue, a unique method must be used.

The method is to sit at your desk around 1 a.m., when the yin energy is at its peak, without turning on the lights. Concentrate and silently recite the name of the ghost you want to summon. When you feel someone behind you, don't speak yet. Throw a pen behind you. If you don't hear the pen hit the ground, you can start asking questions, and the ghost will answer them.

"This method of summoning ghosts is called 'pen-tube copying' in the book, and I've heard it's very effective. Why don't we give it a try?" Xingyun looked serious, not like he was joking, and it sounded like it might work, but... why was Xingyun giving me such a strange look?

"According to Miss Yan's hypothesis, the first ghost we should summon is Dr. Tan, the one who appeared to Xiao Wang in his dream. This person is crucial in the whole incident; if we can summon him, several key questions can be answered immediately. I think it would be best if Xiao Wang were to handle this. What do you all think?"

Xingyun spoke very seriously, and it sounded quite reasonable. Even I thought I should give it a try, but then I realized something was wrong. If you want to summon a ghost, the most straightforward way is to directly invite the vengeful spirit out.

To paraphrase Stephen Chow, "Let's get together, sit down, have a cup of tea, eat a bun, and chat about anything." If a vengeful spirit wanted to harm me, it would have done so long ago, and there would be no need to wait so many days.

That stinky Taoist priest, pretending to ask me to summon a ghost, there's definitely something wrong with him!

I stared at him, saying nothing. This stinking Taoist priest initially feigned composure, but within a minute his eyes began to dart around, avoiding my gaze. I suddenly realized: he wanted to use me as a guinea pig for his ghost-summoning experiments!

Zhang Xiaojun suddenly interjected: "Enough with the talk. Since everyone agrees that Ms. Yan's reasoning makes sense, let's investigate based on it. Ms. Yan and Xiao Zhang, could you please go back to the police station again and check when Liu Huatian, Haozi, Sangbao, and Ajian had close contact? I think there should be two more people involved in this case. I'll call the criminal investigation team and ask them to assist you."

Yan Xin seemed to understand something, and said "Oh" to herself, "Mouse is the left arm, A-Jian is the left leg, Sang Bao is the torso, and the rest are the right hand and right leg. If Liu Huatian is one of them, there should be another one, so how come there are two?"

Zhang Xiaojun put on his police cap, stood up, and said calmly, "The other one is the head. It's said that the brains are the most nourishing." His gaze fell on A Lei: "Xiao Zhang, you'd better stay in the police station and don't come out under any circumstances. If I'm not mistaken, you triggered the vengeful spirit's revenge. The vengeful spirit has already mistaken you for Liu Huatian, and the most terrifying retribution will fall on you sooner or later."

I couldn't help but shudder. I could almost see Ah Lei grinning foolishly, slowly sawing open his own skull with a chainsaw, reaching inside, and pulling out the bloody, red and white brain matter, chewing it in his mouth, and swallowing it.

No, no matter what, I will never let this happen, never!

Section 18

"The simplest way to dispel the memory flash is to use the corresponding talisman, but unfortunately, although I can draw it, the talisman I draw is completely useless. So I can only use another method, which is to use medicine to dispel it... Leave the medicine preparation to me, each dose is 1,000 RMB, thank you for your patronage."

That damned Taoist priest, even at a time like this, he still can't forget his money-making scheme. The three of us glared at him angrily.

Criminal Investigation Captain Zhang Xiaojun calmly adjusted his service weapon and said coldly, "I think I just heard someone selling banned drugs illegally... Xingyun, was that you?"

Xingyun was startled and took a few steps back, waving his hands frantically: "It wasn't me, it really wasn't me... Okay, I'll take the loss and only charge you five hundred yuan per dose for cost. You think this medicine is easy to make? The prescription calls for seven-year-old rat droppings, three-year-old cockroach urine, and even fly farts..."

As he walked, he muttered to himself, "...Besides, what are a few hundred dollars compared to an important memory?"

His words naturally reached the ears of the others in the Simple Bar, and people began to whisper among themselves, their gazes towards us becoming peculiar. I shook my head and smiled wryly, but privately I quite agreed with his last statement.

“I’m sorry. Without a search warrant approved by the court, I cannot let you in.” Afang, the lobby manager of Changchun Ivy, stood at the door, her face stern, her tone as resolute as an iceberg. Behind her, a whole row of petite maids blocked the path of Zhang Xiaojun and his group of criminal police officers.

This was the first time I'd seen Afang in broad daylight. She was dressed in a simple yet stylish suit, elegant and sophisticated, which perfectly accentuated her beautiful figure. This delicate and frail woman, leading a group of little girls, fearlessly faced those towering detectives. This filled me with admiration.