Hiromi Collection - Chapter 49
“But I have seen the curse itself, and it doesn’t resemble any kind of spell from foreign pagan religions.”
Luo Lin glanced at Liang Xinyuan, the meaning being: "You clearly know everything about the curse, so why did you ask me just now?"
Realizing that she had blurted out what she had been hiding, Liang Xinyuan wasn't embarrassed at all. She just smiled and said, "I didn't know if you were friends or enemies, so of course I had to test you."
Luo Lin walked to the door without saying a word and opened it.
"Alright, alright, to show my sincerity, shall I be frank?" Liang Xinyuan scratched his head awkwardly and said, "Didn't I just tell you that Liang Qian's father said his death was strange, so I went to the morgue to check it out."
"And then?" Luo Lin leaned against the door, arms crossed, indicating that although she was now very patient to listen to him continue, she could also kick Liang Xinyuan out immediately.
“I sensed a demonic aura on that outfit, which is why I suspected that Hu Qingtong was a demon. That’s why, even though I also found the chat logs on Liang Qian’s computer, I still focused my suspicions on Hu Qingtong. I thought that curse was cast by Hu Qingtong.”
“Qing Tong is also a victim. The curse on him was transferred from me. I was actually the first person to be cursed,” Luo Lin replied, feeling a pang of guilt as she spoke, her brows furrowing as she spoke.
"That's even stranger!" Liang Xinyuan pondered, resting his chin on his hand. "A demon capable of transferring a curse onto itself must be a very powerful demon. How could it be subject to a human's curse?"
“Actually, besides me, Qing Tong, and Liang Qian, there are other people who have received that cursed message.” Luo Lin said, showing Liang Xinyuan the information Qing Tong had given him before and the thoughts he had compiled and pondered over the past few days.
"So, before Liang Qian, none of the cursed people have had their bodies found?" After a long pause, Liang Xinyuan came to a conclusion.
"If nothing unexpected happens, that should be the case." Luo Lin thought for a moment and then added, "Qing Tong is not dead, but he has disappeared. I think he may have gone to some strange place, and the others should be the same."
"Why?"
“Because of Ye Miao.” Luo Lin pointed to the record she had compiled about Ye Miao and Zhang Anqi and said, “I saw Ye Miao’s dead soul next to his girlfriend, but the soul was incomplete.”
"Incomplete?"
"Yes, although that soul was always following Zhang Anqi, it seemed completely unconscious, not at all like a dead soul that stayed in the human world because of obsession. And on this day, July 14th, in the afternoon, before I received Qing Tong's call, I found out that another Ye Miao was chatting with Zhang Anqi through QQ."
Liang Xinyuan stood up with a "whoosh": "Just as I expected!"
"As expected?" This time it was Luo Lin's turn to be puzzled. "As expected what?"
"Sure enough, someone is collecting dead souls through some means."
"?"
“I tried to summon Liang Qian’s soul in the morgue, but I couldn’t find him with the soul-summoning incense, soul-summoning thread, or soul-summoning banner. Judging from this, it’s possible that even the underworld’s soul-summoning order might not be able to catch him.”
At this point, Liang Xinyuan stretched his limbs in a rather strange posture and kicked his legs a couple of times: "Wait for me."
What?
"I'll go down to the underworld and ask if they've caught those people. Uh, can I borrow this piece of paper? I need the list on it."
"Oh, okay." Luo Lin watched as a faint blue light emanated from Liang Xinyuan's body, and the concrete beneath his feet seemed to melt and slowly flow with the light. His body sank deeper and deeper until half of it was submerged in the high-quality granite floor tiles that Qing Tong Agency was so proud of.
After trying hard to banish the horrifying image of Liang Xinyuan with half her body hanging from the ceiling of the company downstairs, Luo Lin suddenly thought of something: "What would happen if the underworld didn't manage to hook her?"
“If I’m not mistaken, these people shouldn’t be facing their end yet.” Liang Xinyuan stopped, only his head showing on the ground, and said, “Those who are cursed to death are usually vengeful ghosts, very dangerous. There’s no reason why the underworld wouldn’t care. If the underworld hasn’t been able to find anyone, it can only prove that the culprit is incredibly powerful…”
"so?"
"So we'll just have to fend for ourselves then." With that, Liang Xinyuan gave a strange smile, and soon the last strand of black hair disappeared into the gleaming floor tiles, leaving only a terrifying reflection of a face on the ground.
"What are you looking at? There's nothing to see!" After a long while, Luo Lin came to her senses and said to the red-clad female ghost in the opposite building who was curiously peeking at them with her terrifying face pressed against the glass window.