witchcraft

Chapter 4

Feng Qi placed the cooked instant noodles on the desk and said, "So you found out just like that, it's no secret."

The steam from the food hit Mo Ran's face, making her smile seem somewhat dazed.

"That person... has always believed."

He asked casually, "Who?"

She had regained her usual expression: "The person you're most interested in."

"Ran Anhui?"

“I remember when I first transferred to Zhicheng Middle School, An Hui pointed to those two trees and told me they were twin trees. Legend has it that they were planted by a couple who couldn’t be together at the end of the Qing Dynasty. They eloped but were caught and committed suicide together under the trees. Their souls are immortal, attached to the trees, and have been entangled for a hundred years.” She told the story with a mocking tone, and finally asked him, “Did you ever believe it?”

"I don't believe it, I'm an atheist."

"There are so many unknowns, how can you be so sure?"

Feng Qi hugged Feixue tightly, his fingers lingering on her warm body. He glanced at Mo Ran, who was slowly eating instant noodles: "I've never met her, so I don't believe it."

"You've always attended Zhicheng Middle School? What about elementary school? Where did you go?" Mo Ran changed the subject, beginning to show interest in Feng Qi.

"Affiliated Primary School".

"Where are your parents? I think I've seen you before. Do you remember me?" Mo Ran pressed on, asking with a smile. Eventually, she put down her bowl and squeezed closer to Feng Qi.

She was the daughter of a prominent figure in the city; how could he possibly know her? If he did, he would definitely remember her. "It's so hot, don't push my way in," Feng Qi repeatedly backed away, insisting he didn't know her before she finally gave up.

Chapter Four: Diary

Chapter Four

After seeing Mo Ran off, Feng Qi lay back on the bed, recalling all the details of Ran An Hui's fall. First, at 5:50 AM, the newspaper received an anonymous tip-off call. Feng Qi later asked Wang Qingyun, who answered the phone, about it. Wang Qingyun told him that the caller was a young woman with a very gentle voice. From receiving the call to arriving at the scene, it took a total of half an hour.

However, residents who reported the incident to the police stated that Ran Anhui fell from the roof at 6:00 AM. The reason for this precise accuracy is that the clock in the nearby recreational square had just struck, and residents around the building witnessed a young girl falling from the sky. Prior to this, none of them had noticed a girl standing on the roof who might fall. Among the surrounding two-story houses, the eight-story building where Ran Anhui fell was particularly conspicuous. The roof of the eight-story building was not visible from any of the surrounding two-story houses. This at least indicates that someone witnessed the girl's fall, and that person was in that building.

Finding witnesses wasn't difficult; the building was already facing demolition, and only three or four families lived in the eight-story building. These families were mainly elderly, with only one family having a daughter in her twenties who worked in another city and didn't come back often.

“It’s possible that someone else came here, but what was she doing there? Does she know Ran Anhui? Why did she disappear afterwards? That phone number is a public phone; we can’t find that person at all.” Feng Qi closed his eyes and muttered to himself, while Fei Xue obediently buried her head in his neck.

Little Black was still afraid of the flying snow and cowered in the corner.

"No one can help but doubt Mo Ran, can't they, Fei Xue?"

Hearing its owner call, Feixue raised its head and looked at Feng Qi, who still had his eyes closed, and meowed softly.

“That old man… is absolutely right.”

Cao Xiangui stopped on the street and glanced to his right rear.

A poor tracker.

He walked slowly and silently, then suddenly closed in quickly behind the wall where the man was hiding, grabbing the person who had been following him all along.

"Ouch! It hurts!" The girl who was caught scrunched up her face and kept crying out in pain.

It really is Mao Tingting.

Cao Xiangui released his grip, revealing a smug smile: "Why are you following me?"

Mao Tingting rubbed her wrist, almost crying with anxiety: "Grandpa, why did you hit me so hard!"

"You haven't answered my question yet."

"Sir, are you a police officer?"

"Girl, don't change the subject."

Mao Tingting looked aggrieved: "I need to know if you're a police officer first before I can tell you why I'm following you!"

Yes and no.

"So what exactly is it?"

Cao Xiangui glared at Mao Tingting, which frightened the girl into shrinking back.

"I...followed you because I wanted you to find the murderer who harmed Huihui!"

The old man's eyes lit up, and he smiled: "Do you know who it is?"

"Of course not, why would I be asking you if I knew!" Mao Tingting pouted, dissatisfied. "I told the police who came to investigate that Huihui wouldn't commit suicide. But they didn't believe me at all!"

"How can you be so sure that Ran Anhui won't commit suicide?"

Mao Tingting raised her head and looked at Cao Xiangui with a resolute gaze: "Because Huihui is a devout Catholic. Do you know what suicide means to a Catholic?"

"A Catholic so young? Only 16, right?" Cao Xiangui took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled the smoke. "I thought all the Catholics in Zhicheng were old people in their seventies or eighties. Ran Anhui is a Catholic too?"

Mao Tingting looked at Cao Xiangui strangely: "Uncle Ran is a Catholic, so it's not surprising that Huihui is too."

"Go on, I was just venting."

"Moreover, the night before Huihui passed away, she excitedly told me that the person she loved had finally kissed her. She said that although that person had not yet fallen in love with her, she had decided to love that person and wait for that person for the rest of her life. I believe that Huihui, who made such a decision, would not have had suicidal thoughts overnight."

"The person you're talking about, is it Xie Siyan?" The old man's mind flashed back to the "last will and testament" written in tomato sauce on the rooftop.

“No…” Mao Tingting’s eyes darkened: “Xie Siyan is not the person Huihui loves.”

Cao Xiangui looked meaningfully at Mao Tingting's somewhat unnatural expression: "The version I heard is not like this."

Xie Siyan, fickle as ever, abandoned his childhood sweetheart Ran An Hui and got together with Ran An Hui's older sister. This is the most common version of the story at Zhicheng Middle School.

"Xie Siyan and Huihui were childhood sweethearts, with a very close relationship. Especially Xie Siyan, although he was very outstanding, he was really good to Huihui." At this point, Mao Tingting gave a bitter smile: "Huihui was also very dependent on Xie Siyan, always clinging to him and playing around, until Mo Ran came to the Ran family and became our classmate. How should I put it, Mo Ran, on the surface she seems very gentle, but in reality she is a withdrawn and cold person. I don't know why, but Huihui liked Mo Ran, whom none of us liked very much. Because of Mo Ran, Huihui and I became quite distant. Until one day, Huihui told me that she had someone she liked."

That person is not Xie Siyan.

The person, whom even Mao Tingting didn't know, was so mysterious that it seemed as if he never existed, yet he truly occupied Ran Anhui's heart.

"Around that time, rumors started circulating at school that Xie Siyan dumped Huihui and started dating Mo Ran." Mao Tingting said in a low voice, her eyes red. "Now everyone is saying that Huihui committed suicide because Xie Siyan abandoned her. This is not only an insult to Huihui, but also unfair to Xie Siyan. He has no reason to bear the slander of a heartless person because of Huihui's death."

Suddenly, Cao Xiangui started coughing loudly, startling Mao Tingting who was speaking. He coughed incessantly, his face quickly turning red. Mao Tingting stared blankly at the elderly man leaning against the wall, looking distressed, at a loss for what to do.

"Pfft!" After spitting out a mouthful of phlegm, the old man leaned against the wall, closed his eyes to rest for a while, and then opened them again, saying to Mao Tingting with a slightly apologetic tone, "Were you frightened?"

"No...no."

Cao Xiangui snorted: "It's just that he was choked by the smoke."

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going now," Mao Tingting glanced at Cao Xiangui, "I hope you can help Huihui find the real murderer." Then she quickly left.

"Hey, girl, I haven't finished asking yet." Cao Xiangui sighed, withdrawing her gaze and reverting to her cold, stern expression. Whether she was doing it for Ran An Hui or Xie Si Yan was irrelevant. What mattered was that her words had deepened Cao Xiangui's suspicions about Xie Si Yan. If Ran An Hui loved someone else, and if Xie Si Yan truly treated Ran An Hui well as Mao Tingting claimed, then Xie Si Yan had a motive to kill Ran An Hui. What she didn't understand was why Yi Lan would close the case so hastily, given how many suspicious points it was.

"Every life is precious and cannot be taken lightly. Yi Lan, have you forgotten what I said?" In the secluded street corner, no one saw an old man who looked even older from exhaustion.

...

Just as Feng Qi was about to fall asleep, she received a call from Mo Ran. On the other end of the line, she lowered her voice and said anxiously, "Feng Qi, come downstairs to my apartment building quickly. The address is No. 78 Daoxiang Road, Zhicheng. Hurry up, or it will be too late!"

Feng Qi hung up the phone, checked his watch, and saw it was three in the morning.

what happened?

When he rushed to Mo Ran's building, Mo Ran sat calmly and smiling at the bottom of the stairs under the night sky. He'd been tricked—that was Feng Qi's first reaction upon seeing Mo Ran. He pursed his lips, finally managed a smile, and then turned and left.

Mo Ran grabbed him: "Something really has happened."

"Speak."

"This attitude~" Mo Ran clicked her tongue: "I asked you to come here because I want your help, something that will also give you a reward."

"I'm not in a good mood at night."

"Let's become thieves together."

"Nonsense!" Feng Qi suddenly realized he shouldn't have listened to the girl at all, about getting top-tier materials. She was just bored and wanted a toy.

“I remember An Hui always kept a diary, but I didn’t find it when I was sorting through her belongings. I guess maybe my mom hid it. Let’s go steal that diary!”

Feng Qi looked at Mo Ran, who spoke with an air of entitlement, and felt a headache coming on: "Why me? To be honest, wouldn't it have been easier for you to steal this diary?"

"No, you'd be better off stealing!" Mo Ran innocently pointed to the rooftop: "They usually lock their doors when they sleep, so you can only sneak in through Mo Ran's room next door. You're better suited to do this kind of physical work."

"You!" Feng Qi was getting angry: "I want to become famous, I want to stand out, but I still have some principles."

"If I steal it and give it to you, you're upholding your principles. But if you have to take it yourself, you're raising your principles?" Mo Ran looked coldly at Feng Qi and said, "One word: are you going or not?"

Feeling embarrassed that Mo Ran had guessed his thoughts, Feng Qi still said gently, "It's so late, you should go to sleep early."

She stared at him for a while, then suddenly laughed: "I was just kidding." As she spoke, she pulled a small hardcover notebook from behind her back and tossed it to Feng Qi.

Feng Qi took the notebook but didn't look at it; in the dead of night, he wouldn't be able to see anything. Of course, he wasn't stupid enough not to know what it was. He was just wondering why, since she already had the diary, she had suggested he steal it in the first place. His intuition told him that she wasn't the kind of girl who enjoyed playing pranks.

Seeing that he didn't make any move, Mo Ran raised an eyebrow: "Don't want to?"

Feng Qi tapped the edge of the hardcover notebook lightly with his fingers and smiled, "Of course I want it. But what do you want me to give you?"

"See? Now you've stopped sticking to your principles. Why are people so hypocritical?"

"This diary has been with you from beginning to end, hasn't it?"

"You guessed wrong! I just got this tonight; my mom had been hiding it from me. See how good I am to you? I couldn't wait to give it to you to support your work."

Feng Qi looked at Mo Ran, who spoke so casually, pondered for a long time, and then said seriously, "Give me your sister's diary and let me report on it. What will you get in return?"

Under the soft moonlight, beside the dim streetlights, most of the girl's face was shrouded in darkness, revealing only a clear, cool eye and a slightly upturned corner of her mouth. Her breath was sweet and her voice gentle, her words seemingly possessing a captivating magic.

She said, "Don't you think that family is so hypocritical that it's unbearable to look at?"

She pointed to the top floor, where her home was a suite with a rooftop garden.

Don't you think An Hui died a very unjust death?

Feng Qi's usually gentle and honest face became even calmer.

He didn't know if it were someone else, or under any other circumstances, he would remain so calm. He only knew that this girl was as ethereal as smoke and clouds; everything she did for him, every expression she gave him, was pre-planned. It was like she had blatantly set a trap, just waiting for him to fall into it.

To jump or not to jump.

He decided to take a gamble.

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March 20th, cloudy and rainy

I don't like rain; the dampness makes me uncomfortable.

Today I suddenly have an older sister.

I've never had any siblings growing up, so I envy those older than me because their childhoods weren't as lonely as mine. Even though I had Siyan, who grew up with me, I still felt lonely. I wished I had someone to argue with, fight with, sleep with, and play with. This wish lasted for fifteen years, and it finally came true today.