The Ghost Lips' Unforgettable Kiss

Chapter 10

The wooden door was smashed open, leaving a large hole. The shadow of the girl in red in the corridor instantly darkened, and an even more terrifying scene unfolded before my eyes. My cousin and Qi Silong, hand in hand, retreated backward into the depths of the corridor, becoming transparent. In the light, they seemed to transform into a photograph, their eyes still rolling upward, smiling at me… But then a shadow fell, and at the edge of the hole in the door, a dark mass appeared.

"bell!"

Just then, the phone in the office rang.

I shuddered, my mind reeling, and hesitated, too afraid to answer. The automatic recording phone then captured the caller's voice. After the red light went out, I ran over like a frightened wolf, first barricading the door with a chair to guard against the approaching embroidered shoe, then running to the telephone and pressing the answer button, but there was no sound!

Damn it!

The ghost of death has tolled the doomsday bell. I stared blankly at the phone, the monotonous, heavy footsteps shaking my very bones, revealing my decaying cowardice. My courage couldn't withstand the ripples of fear welling up in my eyes. I trembled slightly, my mind blankly trying to figure out why there was no audio on the other end. I mustered my courage and dialed 0001644004. To my surprise, a woman's sobbing voice answered. It felt extremely eerie, the echoing sound loud, as if coming from a network of waterways, a sewer, or some open space. The faint sobbing slowly drifted up, accompanied by a song with monotonous lyrics and a strange melody—a song I had never heard before.

"The medicine peddler's carriage and horses number sixteen, the old man passed away amidst the gentle breeze and smoke, the two bridges are forever covered with millet and sorghum, east of the Bian River, who remembers those bygone days..."

Her voice was so real and mournful, accompanied by the faint sobbing sounds around her! Those eerie chords sent chills down my spine. What did those lyrics mean? What did they foreshadow? My curiosity was reignited by that familiar, subtle sound—the background noise I'd deciphered when Captain Ji first showed me the videotape! That sound, and the woman's singing, seemed to penetrate my spine, pierce my arms and heart, leaving me cold and numb! When I came to my senses, I realized that the white clothes outside the door were growing larger and larger, almost two-fifths of them now visible!

By this time, he was covered in cold sweat.

Chapter Thirty-Two: Suona and Colorful Bells

I suspected that the call was from Captain Ji, so I used Ning Yu's phone to call his cell phone back. Just as I expected, the captain answered the phone, shouting in a mix of panic and anger:

"Is this Ningyu? I couldn't get through to you on the phone. I'm at the command center. Could you bring your camera to Chuxiu Palace? We just received a report that Qi Silong's body was found in the same toilet. He had been shot in the left chest with a 9mm police bullet. There was also an incomplete female corpse and an infant. The pregnant woman's child also had a bullet in its body! The preliminary diagnosis is murder! Is he awake? Keep a close eye on him. The criminal investigation team is on their way. Make sure to keep the suspect calm."

What?! My head was buzzing. Without even analyzing it, I could conclude that the captain's words, "You need to keep a close eye on him," clearly implied I was a suspect! So quickly, I was a suspect? I hung up the phone, instantly snapping out of my shock. I had indeed been framed! "Qi Silong shot," the 9mm bullet—that referred to the one I lost. The bullet in the pregnant woman's body by the well must have been one I accidentally fired in the dark. They were framing me; their methods were incredibly clever! They placed a corpse in a position that terrified me, then induced me to fire in self-defense, finally using the bullet from my gun as evidence to kill me!

That's ruthless! Such a sophisticated and vicious trap is on par with the devil's unpredictability. I used to be so passionate about my work as a police officer, but now I've been innocently thrown into a maze of death. I'm really going crazy. Everything I've experienced before was a complete trap. They took advantage of my enthusiasm and logical reasoning, and they also took advantage of the gun the captain gave me.

Was the captain intentionally trying to harm me? We were complete strangers before, and besides, if it were him, it wouldn't match his surprised and anxious tone on the phone earlier. But what kind of absurd thing is this? A police officer who had been missing for a month was shot dead inexplicably, and by accident, in that almost abandoned toilet in the Forbidden City late at night. I can't believe he was still alive then. His blank stare, and how his massive body could fall into the toilet after I shot him—these are all mysteries. And the other victim, I didn't even know her. That poor pregnant woman was almost mangled beyond recognition when I shot her; how could she still be alive?

Tricks, all conspiracies and schemes. If the boundary between humans and ghosts has disappeared in this world, I alone cannot cross the gates of hell. My appeals after being arrested will likely be futile. Since they can frame me in this way, they can also send me to the guillotine. Perhaps the forensic doctor will eventually prove my innocence, but who can guarantee that the forensic doctor in charge of my case isn't a ghost, or a devilish doctor bribed by a ghost?

I will not surrender! I must see Tang Yuqing immediately and, through her, use the most advanced technology and methods of the Ministry of State Security to investigate the terrifying mastermind behind this mystery. Even now, I don't completely believe that those who harmed me are all devils; perhaps there are also those scheming conspirators! They are manipulating everything in the dark, but I am not yet fully aware of their insidious motives.

At that moment, I had long since disregarded life and death. I slammed down the phone, faced the approaching sound of leather shoes down the corridor, and took a step forward. People say that evil is not good, and I was going to fight that one-legged ghost that hadn't shown itself to the death! What kind of elevator or embroidered shoes? I wasn't afraid. Anyway, I either died at the hands of a ghost or went to a criminal court and even the guillotine!

"Listen up, you ghosts outside! Don't try to scare me by standing on tiptoe. If I take a step back, I'm not a man! Come on! I'm number forty-four. Before I die, bring out your ghost bride!"

My voice was like a suppressed, silent lightning bolt in the air, echoing on the walls and all around, yet there was still no answer from outside, and the corridor suddenly became eerily quiet.

"Come on! Haha!...Are you scared? Huh?"

I roared madly, and when no one answered, I couldn't help but burst into laughter. But after the laughter subsided, something surprising happened again: my hysterical shouting and thrashing had no effect. The monotonous clatter of the bouncy shoes seemed to ignore my words and continued to bounce forward rhythmically.

Even the most valiant hero cannot dispel the unseen terror and deadly reaper with mere self-deception. Besides, my courage is not exceptionally great. I originally intended to intimidate the gloomy corridor with my shouts and scare the ghosts, but now I've lost confidence. Behind the roar is a cowardly tremor. The arrogance in my heart no longer has the courage to swell. Like an eggplant trapped in a hot pan, excessive exaggeration and enthusiasm have shrunk to nothing but cowardice.

I foolishly waited for the ghost to appear, but just as I was gripped by terror, the sound of the one-legged hop gradually faded away. My tense nerves relaxed a little, and I thought the embroidered shoe had been scared away. But then, on the wall by the door, I saw a white edge, like the white of a white lab coat, slowly moving toward my gaze...

"bell!"

Suddenly, the eerie phone rang again. This time, unlike the previous beeping, it played a suona melody like a ringtone, exactly the same music that played when the cover of China National Geographic magazine appeared on TV. It made my hair stand on end—it was pure folk funeral music! It seemed this phone call was up to something again. Maybe the ghosts were up to something new. With that thought, I steeled myself, strode forward, and grabbed the receiver without hesitation. My fate was at stake; I was determined to walk towards death to hear the ghost's curse.

I thought there would be no sound again, but to my surprise, the other party spoke. Although there was a lot of static on the phone, I could make out that it was a woman's anxious voice:

"Yu Ling! You're in danger, run away!"

The voice sounded so familiar. After a moment of recognition, I finally recognized Tang Yuqing's voice. It was a muffled voice, as if coming from a distant underwater place, with a clattering sound and a deep, muffled quality. My senses went numb instantly. No matter where she was calling from, I could finally hear a voice calling for help. I was incredibly excited, even though I couldn't tell if my soul was alive or dead. The repeated paranormal calls I received had instilled in me a fear of those I couldn't see through telescopes, but the concern from my once most beautiful friend almost brought tears to my eyes.

But... the fact that she could reach me through a publicly listed phone number means she knows my situation inside and out. How did she know I'm in trouble? Was that call from the Ministry of State Security?...

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Tragedy of the White-Clad Warriors

I remained silent for a moment, trying to decipher this illogical and strange phone call, but then Xiaoqing's decisive words rang out again, anxious and concerned:

"Is that you? Please believe me, they are trying to frame you. The bodies of Qi Silong and another pregnant woman have been found and ballistic trace analysis has been performed. The forensic laboratory has also issued a report. Those two bullets were from your gun, and there are only your fingerprints on the gun. You are the prime suspect. The Forbidden City is now under martial law, and the armed police are about to be deployed to arrest you!"

"Why would you want to harm me! I would never harm him, that's basic common sense. Qi Silong has been missing for a long time, he's been dead for days, and I only saw his ghost yesterday, how could I have killed him!"

"The autopsy results show that they died after being shot!"

"What? This is impossible!"

"Stop arguing, just get out of here!"

"Where can I go? The corridor outside is a ghost town, and the elevator is a ghost elevator! Plus, I'm a murder suspect!"

"You are currently in the most deserted old building in the Forbidden City. There are no surveillance cameras around. Look back, there is an exhaust window at the back of the room. You can run out in twenty seconds! Go north through three hutongs and you will be on the main street. Run towards the area with fewer tourists. You will see girls dressed as palace maids pointing the way. Just keep running wherever there are lanterns hanging."

"Hey! ...Is that palace maid a human or a ghost?"

"Hello!"

The call abruptly ended, and instead of the busy tone, there was complete silence, indicating the phone line had been cut. I stood there, receiver in a daze for a few seconds, then heard a few sobs outside the door. A chilling gust of wind suddenly swept in from all directions. The white border around the doorway grew wider and wider, and then, the singing began:

"The medicine cart and horse are at sixteen points."

The old man passed away peacefully.

The two bridges are always covered with fields of millet and sorghum.

Who recognizes those days east of the Bian River…?

A mournful song drifted down from the corridor, startling me so much that my ears perked up! I was certain that the singer was the woman in the embroidered shoes who hopped on one leg, and she must be here to kill me, because I was the only living person in the entire building. Would I be skinned alive?

Suddenly, I reappeared on the television screen in front of me, and behind "me" was a slender woman. She really appeared, wearing a white dress, with long white hair reaching her waist, like a girl in legends, wearing only one embroidered shoe. Her face was obscured by her long hair, casting black shadows on her features. Her white dress was stained with blood, especially her limbs, which were almost completely dismembered, exposing the broken bones. She stood in the doorway on only one leg, and in her remaining hand, she held seven rings. Her fingers and movements... I suddenly realized that this ghost was my "bride" from the ghost wedding photo. In the previous image, because she was embracing me from the side, I hadn't noticed whether she had legs, but now, she was right behind me. I finally saw clearly again that she really did only have one leg.

I was fully aware that she had really come. Perhaps in the final moments of my life, I would finally see Death, the ghost who controlled all these strange phenomena. She finally revealed her true face and appeared in my clear vision.

"You killed all those couples who had ghost marriages, didn't you? This room is the execution chamber. Those hooks on the walls are for hanging people. You took advantage of the couples' heightened sexual desire. When they were at their peak of lovemaking and their bodies were fully engorged with blood, you used the hooks to hang them up and then skinned them. And that girl in the sewer, you did all of that, didn't you? Now what do you want to do to me?"

With my back to the white-clad ghost, I posed my final question based on my observations of the logic of death, and prepared myself for it. A chill ran down my spine. I closed my eyes, waiting for the imagined iron rings to fasten around my ankles and wrists, and for me to receive the most painful execution in the world.

“Everyone is subjected to intense exercise before they die, the purpose of which is to make them sweat profusely, and then take advantage of the cold pores to bind the victim’s hands and feet, and then peel off their skin. You like cruelty, you like toying with lovers to the point of life and death, and then let the two people who love each other the most die the most cruelly under your clutches, listening to the howls and pleas of the skinned person. You think you can vent your resentment, am I right?” After saying that, I tore off my shirt button, exposing my chest.

"I know you're hesitant now because you can't untangle a chain of events. You don't know who to target, because this couple is the last pair to be skinned by your vengeful spirit's curse. That is, you've also fallen in love with someone, and you've become one of the last couple. Come on, if my skin can make you stop hating this world and stop killing good people indiscriminately, then let me be the last living person to be slowly tortured!"

I heard a mournful sobbing coming from the doorway, and I turned around abruptly in shock. Before I died, I wanted to see clearly what the person who killed me and loved me looked like! But strangely, there was nothing behind me. The doorway was still half a white cloth, which slowly appeared. I could gradually see that the white cloth was not a woman's skirt, but the curtain of a coffin. Filing cabinet number 1644, that simple coffin, appeared in my sight. A large character for "mourning" announced that this was the final resting place for me and this woman.

I still couldn't see her, so I looked up at the TV. There was indeed a girl in white behind me on the screen. I was full of doubt. I turned around and looked up at the screen again. This time I could see her more clearly. She had started to jump towards me. Her hair was flowing up and down. I still couldn't see her face clearly. Just as I was hesitating to make a judgment, she was less than ten meters away from me!

I knew I was being deceived by the ghost's illusion. She must be not far from me. Yes, this time when I turned around, I saw seven rings in the air, radiating a bright and fierce light. The rings must be tightly held in her demonic hands. Although I can't see her ghost through the television, these slowly swaying ghost rings must be the instruments of torture that torment people to death!

What if she hadn't fallen out of bed? What if my judgment was wrong? Wouldn't I have died for nothing? I had to escape! I had to get out, I was already prepared to risk everything. A fierce sense of defiance surged within me. I glanced sideways at the filing cabinet behind me. Near the innermost shelf, there was an exhaust fan. Although it was still pitch black, I believed Tang Yuqing's accurate description; that was my only escape route. My body involuntarily retreated. In just a few steps, I was about to reach the desk in front of the filing cabinet. Relying on the agility I had honed at the police academy, I leaped onto the desk, then lunged at the back wall filing cabinet in the darkness. I then saw a sliver of light peeking through the fins of the exhaust fan in the shadows.

At that moment, I vaguely saw that white shadow jumping around, also lightly chasing forward. With a powerful side kick, I kicked off the rusty fan cover, moved the exhaust fan, and threw it behind me. A faint ray of light shone on my face, and I knew that there was no longer any obstruction outside. So I leaped and squeezed into the hole in the wall!

The instant I squeezed into the hole in the wall, I felt my foot being gripped tightly by a pair of sharp claws. The icy, bone-chilling pain was incredibly intense. I could imagine the white-dressed girl's ghostly hand already choking my ankle. It was a desperate tug-of-war, like someone grabbing a straw before drowning. It was also like a vengeful ghost trying to kill a healthy body, only to have it escape—a ruthless killing intent. She had to torture him until her prey had nowhere to run. Her nails had already pierced my flesh. Then, a cold sensation came from an iron ring. That ghostly thing was deeply embedded in the back of my foot, but I still desperately tried to squeeze out of the wall until I broke free of that shoe. Only then was my foot finally pulled out of the ring, and my body fell out of the hole in the wall.

Chapter Thirty-Four: Escape

I fell onto the ancient building's rain-soaked platform. Panic and the urge to escape overshadowed my injuries, and I leaped up, then somersaulted down. Only when I felt myself land safely did I glance back at the hellish place I had escaped from. The sky was already turning white, and the Forbidden City was shrouded in a light mist, serene and mysterious. I was grateful for Tang Yuqing's phone call at the crucial moment, which had led me to safety.

This eerie archive building has murdered countless innocent lives. I may never know why it can exist so brazenly. How can this haunted place so brazenly trample on life without anyone seeking justice for the wronged souls? I silently suppressed my anger, preserving the image of this desolate old building deep in my memory. If I have the chance again, I will surely eradicate the demons of this haunted building and restore peace and tranquility to the Forbidden City.

I gazed at it one last time. It really did resemble a sacrificial tower in front of a mausoleum, but I was disoriented and had no idea where I was in the Forbidden City. However, I could see and feel that the surroundings were extremely desolate. A well within the red walls of the ancient tower was its landmark.

I aimlessly scaled the back wall of the small building and ran forward desperately. Following Tang Yuqing's directions over the phone, I counted three streets and alleys and ran north towards the narrow lanes inside the Forbidden City. I knew perfectly well that all the police and armed police in the Forbidden City were now casting a wide net to capture me. As one of the most outstanding members of the police force, I was undoubtedly their most dangerous fugitive "murder suspect," an extremely dangerous target. I could imagine that they had already laid a trap, with plainclothes police, snipers, and armed police officers, each armed with riot guns, lying in ambush wherever I might appear. Now, my only hope was that a palace maid and a lantern might appear and show me the way to escape.

I started running faster. I could gradually see tourists in the alley, which made me more cautious. I kept scanning the road for palace maids and lanterns that might appear. Sure enough, as Tang Yuqing pointed out, several palace maids dressed in ancient costumes appeared on the red wall ahead. They waved their lanterns at me, indicating the direction I was running in. As I ran, I paid attention to the reactions of the people around me. Fortunately, there were no special police teams to surround me. I was able to weave through the not-so-many tourists. One lantern after another, I felt like an angel swordsman wandering between beacon towers in the Warring States period, running tirelessly in the confused moment of being on the run.

Finding the escape route isn't difficult during the day, but what I'm most concerned about now is the time. I arranged to meet Tang Yuqing at eight o'clock; she'll definitely show up. She'll find a way to rescue me. I know her character; in this critical moment, she'll definitely step forward and use the information she has to bring down everyone who framed me.

As I ran, I looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of Tang Yuqing's slender figure. I even targeted the well-built male tourists, hoping she was wearing makeup. It should be eight o'clock by now! Otherwise, how would the tourists get in? But the sun doesn't seem to have risen yet. Why are there so many tourists?

She was an outstanding police academy graduate, the only one from our school selected for the national security department. I figured her appointment should be spotless; no matter where I was, she should be able to find me using advanced technology. I glanced at my watch instinctively; there were only two red marks on my wrist from where the metal rings had been. I then remembered that my watch had gone missing before Ning Yu interrogated me. Now, I had to find a tourist wearing a watch to ask for the time.

Just then, I saw a handsome young man who seemed to be checking his watch. He was carrying a travel bag and strolling leisurely ahead, so I rushed past him from the side and politely asked in a low voice:

"Sir, what time is it?"

He was intently checking his watch when I asked him a question, and he suddenly looked up. My arrival seemed to make him extremely nervous, so he lowered his head and turned to my right.

"Hello! Sir! Excuse me..."

I thought he had misunderstood me as having ulterior motives, so I hurried to meet him, almost bumping into his shoulder. But this man was completely oblivious to everyone around him, walking as if his body was still, walking strangely without looking back, heading straight towards the palace wall. Was he going to run into the wall? What was that clattering thing in his hand? Was he looking down at his watch just now?

His zombie-like, bizarre behavior put me on high alert. I suddenly recalled that in the brief moment we brushed past each other, I felt something was off about the rustling of his clothes. How could a dark yellow suit make such a strange rustling sound? What kind of clothes could produce such a bizarre noise? I caught up with him, about to strike up a conversation, when he turned his head slightly, I caught a glimpse of his white eyes…no pupils? I was startled again, involuntarily looking at his suit. How could it be exactly the same material and style as the yellow suit in the ghost wedding photo on Channel 44? That eerie dark yellow—wasn't that the same color as the paper money used for burning in the underworld? It must be a paper suit… I was certain that the rustling sound he made was from fiddling with the nine-linked rings…

"Vice Captain?"

I recognized him immediately. He was the deputy captain I had only met once when I reported for duty. I didn't even remember his name. He was sitting in the corner of the office then, and he didn't turn around or talk to me. So he really was a ghost! Hearing me call him, he panicked and walked even faster. I had to stop because the deputy captain was walking faster and faster, and suddenly disappeared into the tall, deep red palace walls. I stared blankly at his hurried back, and an ominous cloud of doubt gradually rose before my eyes. His appearance meant that I might see more mysterious ghosts.

I had no time to dwell on the horror; I just steeled myself and ran forward, my nerves on edge. Just as I rounded another corner and saw the bright red lanterns, a few girls resting on a bench in the shade of a tree in the distance inadvertently turned their heads, catching my attention again… They smiled and looked back at me, their strange gazes meeting my own utterly devastated stare! A huge question arose in my mind again: How could there be so many beautiful girls in the Forbidden City so early in the morning? How did they get in? Did they stay overnight? Or were the opening hours earlier than usual for the Forbidden City's 80th anniversary celebrations?

In the instant they glanced at me, I noticed each girl was fiddling with a small object. Judging from their movements, it must be a puzzle involving a nine-linked ring. I hesitated. There were many more benches like that ahead, and those sitting on them were most likely ghosts. Looking closer at their faces, oh my god! When they turned around, their heads could easily rotate 180 degrees! Their bodies and postures were stiff and uncoordinated; the terror was palpable. You felt their clothes were merely symbolic human skin, and beneath them might lie eerie bones or rotting corpses. When those ghastly faces smiled at me, I recognized them instantly: they were ghosts, the very same women's heads that had visited my dorm at night! They had no bodies, only the spirits that possessed others!

I dared not ask the tourists for the time again, and could only rely on the rhythm of my run, carefully counting down the seconds until I escaped from the small ancient building. During my police academy's camping and training exercises, I was often a cross-country running champion; no matter how much luggage I carried, my five-step-one-second pace was never off. Now it should be about five minutes and thirty-something seconds past. I ran desperately at that pace: seven minutes and fifty-eight… thirteen minutes and ten seconds, I counted silently in my mind. Several large red lanterns held up by "palace maids" on the walls were occasionally hung high. Following their directions, I finally entered a desolate palace.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Race Against Time

Like a fleeing wild beast, I rushed through the palace, using my keen senses to search for the path to survival that Tang Yuqing had pointed out. My fleeting memories, along with my rapid breathing, turned into fragmented images. My frantic counting down had exhausted all my wisdom, and I was unaware that I had already seen 80 lanterns. The lantern in front of me had changed color, turning into a large white lantern. Did this mean that it was the last ghostly lighthouse I could see?

Looking further ahead, I saw a secluded courtyard with broken bricks and tiles in front of the grass. It was a secluded spot in the Forbidden City awaiting restoration. A familiar scene immediately flashed through my mind: the countdown was about to end, it was about fourteen minutes and fifty seconds. There was one more alley, and in another minute, there would be exactly eighteen alleys, leading to a corner of the courtyard. Then, in another fifty seconds, it would be 16 minutes and... 44 seconds? In 16 minutes and 44 seconds, I would be "saved" and see my beloved "lover"... Wasn't that the final time limit of the mysterious video that Luo Yi had given me?

Without even looking ahead, I already knew: eighteen alleys, eighteen strings of lanterns—these were the signs of the eighteen levels of hell. Ahead lay a corner, then a wall with a door. Suddenly, the wall opened, revealing a deep, dark cave. Then, a frail figure threw herself into my arms—a poignant encounter, perhaps an embrace in the darkness, followed by the sobs of my "lover"!

Next, the exposed crypt will reveal a secret palace, its dimly lit palace lanterns casting a crimson glow, as if leading directly to the bridal chamber of a ghost marriage. Inside is an exquisitely crafted antique bed, beautifully carved, but the dim lighting makes it somewhat eerie… Then I will meet my long-awaited yet endlessly sorrowful “lover,” a reunion that will surely be even more precious than my cousin’s love affair, a woman who can drive me mad. “She” is like a puppet, performing pitiful joy and sorrow, ultimately leading this sentimental man to embrace and kiss her.

Even though she was dead, the utter despair I felt made me lower all expectations and vigilance. Then I might have picked her up and taken her to bed, stripping my beloved naked. But she was covered in wounds, her body no longer had soft skin, but was torn to shreds by the demons, forming a boundary between life and death with my past memories, just like the woman in the 16-minute and 44-second video. Suddenly, a gunshot rang out, and "I" shot myself dead with my own pistol. A once outstanding police officer, now a murder suspect, ended up lying next to a woman's corpse, just like the ending of the movie "The Scarlet Letter".

Perhaps we'll "get married" in this underground chamber first, then be transferred to a sealed coffin, like in the ending of the film *The Scarlet Letter*, and only be discovered two days and two nights later. What would that be? Something sealed yet discoverable, still in the Forbidden City—isn't it the temperature-controlled display case specially designed for the upcoming public exhibition of *Along the River During the Qingming Festival*? That's it! I've heard long ago that the display case is a top-of-the-line refrigerator, 4 meters long, with a 32-meter-long sealing line, an effective volume of 2.53 cubic meters, and a weight of up to 10 tons. It also has a specially designed nitrogen-filled sealing system, humidity control system, and temperature control system to ensure a constant temperature and oxygen-free environment inside the display case. It's a natural, high-quality coffin! A freezer that can create news and chaos. At that time, all the police in the Forbidden City will be mobilized, surrounding the display case and my death, with all sorts of rumors circulating. Then the whole country will be in an uproar, and the Palace Museum will be on high alert… That day is the 80th anniversary of the Palace Museum, and also "our" ghost wedding anniversary.

A strange imagination—if I guess right, they'll have the chance to carry out their long-planned conspiracy against the first public exhibition of the Chinese masterpiece "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" in thousands of years! A flawless murder, a perfect recreation of "The Scarlet Letter"! I am the real-life version of Inspector Ki-hoon. But why me?

Only now do I truly understand the exact meaning of Luo Yi's "scarlet letter betrayal"—she knew everything. "Scarlet letter betrayal" probably refers to the fact that the scarlet letter emotional game betrayed my life.

But who is this pitiful woman who wants to kill me? How could I love her so deeply, even risking death to be intimate with her, and feel the urge to embrace and possess her when my life is in danger? ... I try to search the depths of my memory for the origin of love. Could she be a girl from reality or a dream whom I once passionately loved but whose love had no happy ending?

In my mind, there is only a faint, twinkling star of love. She is so distant, so indistinct. Could it be her? She is my first pure love in the depths of my heart. She is not my cousin. I have almost forgotten her surname. I only remember that her name is Fengxu. That was a few years ago, when I graduated from junior high school.

She was the prettiest girl in the class. Her long hair always made me daydream during class. She sat in front of me, was not talkative, had no close friends, and always went to and from school alone. None of us had ever seen her family or any relatives. Many boys pursued her and talked about her, but she was a cold beauty, which made those eager handsome guys afraid to approach her.

Perhaps it was because we were so close, but I always tried to find opportunities to talk to her. Every time we met eyes, she would blush and look at me with a shy charm, then ask if I needed help. On the eve of graduation, when we were about to part ways, I couldn't hold back any longer and wrote a love letter, which I tucked inside an art book, knowing she loved painting.

It was an ordinary day. I wanted to secretly put the book with the envelope on it into her schoolbag to avoid the embarrassment of being rejected. But when class started, she wasn't in her seat. I waited for ten hours that day. She still didn't appear the next day. On the third day, when my heart was about to jump out of my chest with anxiety, my homeroom teacher suddenly rushed in and told me the unfortunate news: she had disappeared. To make matters worse, no one knew where she lived; she was an orphan.

This devastating news struck me hard, burying my imagined first love deep in my memory that summer. That most heartbreaking and helpless love letter in the world still remains in my art book, tucked inside my graduation yearbook. Every time I see a graduation photo without her, I feel an overwhelming sadness. As time passed, I gradually forgot about it, and later my cousin's allure replaced her vague memory.

Oh… I think I remember now, Fengxu always seemed to have a fragrance! That was another reason I was so attached to her. Back then, I was like a block of wood, how could I possibly discern what her scent was? Could it have been the scent of locust blossoms?

But is she dead? If she's dead, will she come looking for me? If she does come looking for me, has she fallen into the arms of the devil? ...If she's fallen into the arms of the devil, will she betray my soul?