Ancient Mirror Mystery

Chapter 18

"Are you home yet?"

"I arrived a while ago. What about you? Still awake?"

"No, I just went out for a bit!" Ningxia lay down on the bed, looking a little tired.

"Where have you been so late?" Lin Wei asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Oh! They went to find an internet cafe!"

"An internet cafe?" Lin Wei laughed. "What, getting addicted to the internet?"

"No! It's about..." Ningxia was about to mention the photos, but suddenly paused and didn't finish her sentence. "Ah! Yes! Let's see if there are any emails! But there isn't a single internet cafe in this town!"

"Alright! Get some rest! Give me a call before you come back tomorrow, and I'll pick you up at the station!" Lin Wei's voice also sounded tired.

"Okay! You should get some rest too!" Ningxia hung up the phone and lay down on the bed.

This room has the same orientation as the one Su Yun shared a month ago, with windows facing the street, only it's now on the second floor. Since Su Yun's suicide, the owner converted the third-floor room into a storage room to avoid suspicion. When the owner saw Ningxia just now, his gaze was rather strange, as if he was wary of her.

The bright moonlight outside the window quietly spilled into the room, possessing a hypnotic power that gradually made Ningxia's eyelids tingle, and she drifted off to sleep...

The next morning, Ningxia was awakened by Fang Jian's knocking on the door.

"Guess what I found?" Fang Jian asked with a look of surprise as soon as Ningxia opened the door.

"What?" Ningxia looked at her watch; it was only a little past six.

"Quick! Get ready and come to the lobby on the first floor!" Fang Jian ran downstairs happily.

Ningxia quickly washed her face, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and went downstairs.

Downstairs is the so-called lobby of the small hotel, which is only five or six square meters in size. There is a tall platform at the entrance of the corridor, and a wooden door behind the platform.

Fang Jian was standing in front of the wooden door waiting for Ningxia: "Quick! Come in!"

Ningxia followed Fang Jian through the door with a puzzled look. Inside was a small room with a single bed casually placed inside. Next to the bed was a small coffee table, on which sat a laptop. A young man who looked like a student was sitting in front of the laptop.

"This is the boss's son, Xiao Cheng. He's on vacation and helping out at the shop!" Fang Jian said. "I've rented his computer!"

Looking exhausted, Xiao Cheng said to Fang Jian, "You can eat here! I'll head out now!"

"I didn't realize the boss was so generous to his son!" Ningxia felt uncomfortable with the smell in the room, so she opened the window next to the bed, and a blast of cool air blew in.

Fang Jian connected the digital companion to his laptop and opened the folder inside.

One by one, photos of Ming Dynasty buildings in Heizhen appeared on the computer screen. Fang Jian really knows how to take pictures; there were about a hundred photos in this folder.

"Take a look at the last few!" Ningxia suggested.

Fang Jian clicked on the last few photos, and a courtyard of the Wei family mansion slowly appeared on the screen from top to bottom.

"Look at the last few!" Ningxia said anxiously.

"Don't rush!" Fang Jian clicked on the last photo.

Ningxia gasped in surprise. Sure enough, an extremely blurry photo appeared on the screen. The photo had high resolution and occupied the entire computer screen, but perhaps due to Fang Jian's extreme trembling at the time, the image appeared blurry. Nevertheless, the hanging corpse in the center of the room was still roughly visible.

"Hehe! Luckily, there was no memory left!" Fang Jian laughed with relief.

Ningxia flipped through the next few photos, only to find that the body was in the blurry photo in front of her. Moreover, due to the dim lighting, the body was difficult to identify. If it weren't for the swollen head hanging down, at first glance, it would look like a tattered burlap sack hanging from the roof beam.

"How come there's only one photo left?" Ningxia suppressed the waves of discomfort in her stomach.

"Thank goodness there's still one photo left!" Fang Jian couldn't hide his joy and quickly pulled out his phone to make a call: "Hey! Brother-in-law! I found the photo! Okay! Come over quickly! I'll wait for you!"

Ningxia frowned as she watched Fang Jian finish the call, then asked curiously, "Brother-in-law?"

Fang Jian said with some pride, "Yes! My brother-in-law is a policeman!"

Ningxia remained silent, then turned her gaze back to the blurry yet terrifying corpse on the computer screen: "I want to go check out 'Qilin Pavilion' first!"

"Ah!" Fang Jian was a little surprised, but he still agreed, "Okay! Anyway, it'll take my brother-in-law several hours to get here, I'll go with you to take a look!"

At dawn, the town was even sparsely populated than usual. A thick layer of dark clouds had gathered in the sky, making it look like it was going to rain again. The whole town was shrouded in a gray haze, exuding a strange and mysterious atmosphere.

The funerary shop remained quietly forgotten at the end of the alley. It seemed that the two police officers from yesterday hadn't had time to seal the door properly, and Ningxia and Fang Jian quietly sneaked into the Wei family's desolate manor from there again.

A deathly silence hung over the "Qilin Pavilion," and a light drizzle began to fall again, casting a chilling and somber atmosphere over the entire manor. Enveloped in lush, deep green, the Wei family manor resembled a giant tomb, devoid of any sign of life.

Fang Jian led the way, heading straight to the courtyard where the body was found. They walked up the damp, moldy wooden stairs to the door of the room where the body had first been seen. Looking at the dark, damp environment inside, an inexplicable, strange feeling rose from the depths of Ningxia's heart. As if drawn by something mysterious within, Ningxia unconsciously walked slowly to the beam beneath where the body hung.

"What's wrong?" Fang Jian followed him into the room somewhat nervously, looking around as if he were wary of something suddenly popping out from a corner.

"He's hanging here!" Ningxia suddenly pointed to a spot on the beam, startling Fang Jian.

How did you know?

"There's a mark on it!" Ningxia was able to see the mark peeking out from the thick dust on the beam in the dim, almost lightless environment, which Fang Jian found extremely strange.

"And look at the ground! There are drag marks where something heavy was dragged, all the way to the window!" Ningxia said, walking to the window and looking outside. Suddenly, she frowned and said, "Could it be that he was thrown in?"

"Who? Who was thrown in?" Fang Jian suddenly felt that the whole room was gloomy, and with the drizzling rain outside, Ningxia's tone was like that of a witch.

"Quick! Let's go downstairs and take a look!" Ningxia suddenly grabbed the bewildered Fang Jian and ran out of the room. They walked along the first-floor corridor to a relatively hidden side door and went inside.

This was a small courtyard, not very large, about twenty square meters in size, with the floor piled with messy furniture, broken pieces, and some garbage. Ningxia stood in the center of the courtyard and looked up; the window of the wing room on the second floor was directly facing this courtyard.

Fang Jian looked around at the messy pile of things in the yard. A light rain drizzled down on the murky clutter, and an extremely unpleasant, putrid odor spread out.

Ningxia suddenly climbed onto the pile of junk facing the window and began searching for something.

"What are you doing? Be careful! Get down!" Fang Jian rushed forward to stop her, but Ning Xia stubbornly shook him off and continued to push aside the rubble without saying a word.

"What is that? It stinks!" Fang Jian felt that Ningxia's behavior was very unusual, but he couldn't stop her anymore, so he helped her move the junk aside. After the pile of rotten wood and furniture was moved, a blue stone vat-like object was revealed—it was a well! And the smell of decay was even stronger!

"It's the thing in your photo!" Ningxia replied weakly, not knowing why she had the courage to find the well where the body was hidden.

Fang Jian hurriedly took out his digital camera and took more than a dozen photos of the corpse in the well that had begun to rot and smell bad. Then he dialed "110" to report the crime.

"Now they'll have to believe us!" Fang Jian called Wu Linshan again.

When Wu Linshan arrived at "Qilin Pavilion" with two of his men, the two police officers from Black Town finally arrived, clearly not quite believing Fang Jian's report. They only panicked after seeing the body in the well with their own eyes.

Fang Jian helped the weak Ningxia sit on the spacious threshold of the "Qilin Pavilion," quietly awaiting the results of the police's retrieval of the body. The raindrops in the sky grew larger and larger, and the entire "Qilin Pavilion" was shrouded in a misty rain. A chilling, austere atmosphere seeped out from the surrounding woods, like unseen ghosts wandering among the trees.

Xiao Li, who had come with Wu Linshan, rushed over: "Fang Jian! The team leader wants you to come over!" Fang Jian and Ning Xia looked serious, exchanged a glance, and followed Xiao Li back to the small courtyard.

The body had been retrieved, lying face up, its face turned to one side. Its clothes were tattered and filthy, their original color unrecognizable. The exposed skin was swollen from being submerged in well water, giving it a pale, greenish hue. Another police officer who had come with Wu Linshan, along with the two officers on duty in Heizhen, were examining the scene. Wu Linshan, meanwhile, was squatting beside the body, rummaging through something in a black leather wallet.

Ningxia felt nauseous and turned away, standing under the eaves without approaching. Fang Jian walked over, and Wu Linshan looked up and said a few words to him. Fang Jian's expression seemed to turn very surprised, and he looked up at her. Then, Wu Linshan handed her something, and Fang Jian hesitated for a moment, but still walked towards Ningxia with a heavy expression.

Seeing his strange behavior, Ningxia asked curiously, "What's wrong with you? Why that expression?"

"It was found in a corner near the well!"

Fang Jian's tone was strange, and he handed Ning Xia something with a worried expression. She took it; it was an ID card. Her heart clenched immediately upon seeing the familiar face on it, and then she saw the name below—Ning Kang!

Ningxia suddenly felt a buzzing in her head, and then everything went black...

"It's good that you're awake!" Fang Jian exclaimed in surprise.

Ningxia's face was covered in tears, and she could barely speak. She just stared blankly at the white wall opposite her.

"You've been unconscious for two days! I was almost scared to death!" Fang Jian quickly wiped away her tears.

"That person!" Ningxia said.

"What?"

"Is that person my brother?" Ningxia stared at Fang Jian's eyes through her teary eyes, which were filled with red blood vessels.

Fang Jian lowered his head and remained silent, tacitly agreeing to Ningxia's question.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Fang Jian said, "Come in!"

The door opened, and Lin Wei came in carrying large and small bags.

"Xia! You're awake!" Lin Wei was overjoyed to see Ningxia and put down his things to sit by her bedside.

Ningxia looked at him with a face full of grief, and choked out, "Do you know? The one we saw in the room... was... my brother!"

Lin Wei's expression immediately turned serious. "Fang Jian told me everything!"

Ningxia couldn't stop crying again and stopped talking.

Lin Wei and Fang Jian exchanged glances, unsure how to comfort her, and fell silent for a moment. Only Ningxia's weak sobs echoed in the room.

"Knock knock knock..." Another knock sounded on the door, and this time it was Wu Linshan and Xiao Li who came in.

"Ningxia is awake! Perfect, we need the statements of the three of you!" Wu Linshan sat down on a chair nearby, expressionless.

Ningxia held back her tears and nodded.

"So! None of you saw how Ning Kang's body was pushed into the well in the backyard?" Wu Linshan asked with a deep frown after the three finished recounting what had happened.

All three nodded, their minds also filled with doubt about the question.

"Then, Ningxia! How did you know your brother was in the well?" Wu Linshan suddenly asked.

"I don't know either, I just feel there's something strange about it!"

"Is it really that simple?" Wu Linshan asked somewhat aggressively.

Ningxia nodded.

"It's that simple! Ningxia and I discovered it together! What's wrong with that!" Fang Jian interrupted Wu Linshan when he saw Ningxia at a loss for words after being questioned.

Wu Linshan glared coldly at Fang Jian, said nothing, and stood up: "Alright! You should rest now! It's nothing!" After saying that, he and Xiao Li, who was taking notes, left.

Lin Wei was silent for a moment, then stood up and said, "Xia! I'm going back now! I have things to do at the club! I'll come back tomorrow!" He then hurriedly left.

"When can I be discharged from the hospital?" Ningxia asked Fang Jian, who was still sitting blankly to the side.

"The doctor said you have low blood sugar. You've been taking IV fluids for the past two days and you're fine, but you might need to be observed for a few more days! Lin Wei doesn't have time, so I'll stay with you! Just tell me what you want to eat..."

Ningxia stopped talking and closed her eyes; her nerves had been stretched too thin for the past two days. She drifted off to sleep amidst Fang Jian's rambling words.

Two days later, Lin Wei brought Ningxia back home, and Fang Jian followed him there again.

"I'm leaving now! Call me if anything happens! Please, Fang Jian!" Lin Wei seemed to have something urgent to attend to, and was about to leave before Ning Xia could even settle in.

"What's going on? Are you that busy?" Fang Jian had always been reluctant for Lin Wei to be too close to Ningxia, but seeing Lin Wei in such a hurry, he started to complain again.

"Fang Jian! You should go back and rest now! I'm fine! Thank you so much for these past two days!" Ningxia said gratefully to Fang Jian.

"Really? Okay then! I should go back and take a shower too!" Seeing that Ningxia's expression had returned to normal, Fang Jian left as well.

After tidying up quickly, it was past ten o'clock at night. Ningxia took a shower and went to bed early. Lying in bed, the grief hidden deep in her heart poured out without any concealment. She pulled the covers over her head and cried loudly. She didn't know how long it was before she drifted off to sleep, but soon after falling asleep, an extreme sense of unease woke her up. With her swollen eyes open, she couldn't fall back asleep. She forced herself not to think about what had happened and forced herself to close her eyes, but she couldn't stop the tears from welling up in her eyes, letting them stream down her cheeks and soak the pillow.