Ghost Stories - Chapter 9
Lin Feng said, "Thank you!" After getting out of the car, he looked around and sure enough, there was a "Passionate Style" Western restaurant across the street. Although the storefront was not large, it was decorated very elegantly.
Lin Feng glanced at his watch; it was only 6:40, but he still decided to go in. Making a lady wait on a date is extremely impolite, and although Lin Feng wasn't exactly a gentleman, he certainly wouldn't embarrass his friend.
Lin Feng entered the Western restaurant and found a seat by the window. A short while later, Xiao Jie Jie and a female companion dressed elegantly came in together.
After sitting down opposite Lin Feng, the three of them ordered food and a bottle of red wine. Xiao Jiejie then boasted to Lin Feng, "I bought a beautiful dress today, you'll never guess what it is!"
Lin Feng casually sipped the blood-red wine in his glass and said, "You're so quirky, who would have thought!"
Xiao Jie Jie took out a piece of clothing, unfolded it, and asked, "Does it look good?"
Lin Feng felt dizzy upon seeing it; Xiao Jie Jie had taken out a floral sleeveless tank top.
Seeing Lin Feng's face turn very pale, Xiao Jiejie quickly put away the clothes and said, "What's wrong? I told you you were sick, but you wouldn't admit it. You look so pale."
Lin Feng forced a smile and said, "It's nothing. Aren't you going to introduce your good friend to me?"
Xiao Jie said, "People come specifically to see you because of your reputation!"
Xiao Jie's friend generously extended her hand and said, "Hello, I'm Qi Qi!"
Lin Feng shook hands with Qi Qi and said, "Hello!"
Lin Feng absentmindedly cut the steak on his plate. The delicious steak didn't whet his appetite at all; it tasted like chewing wax. His mind was preoccupied with Xiao Jie Jie's sleeveless floral tank top. Was Xiao Jie Jie really the woman from his dream? Who was that man with chopsticks stuck in his eyes? It couldn't be him, could it? Lin Feng felt a surge of nervousness.
As Qiqi ate her steak politely, she said to Lin Feng, "I heard you have quite a bit of experience with some strange things?"
Lin Feng looked up and said, "Huh? Don't listen to Xiao Jie Jie's nonsense!"
Xiao Jiejie looked wronged and said, "What? That's true! If it weren't for you and Old Man Zhang, I might not be sitting here right now!"
Lin Feng laughed and said, "I ended up in the hospital and almost lost my life!"
Kiki opened her beautiful big eyes and asked, "Do you believe in dreams?"
Lin Feng's heart skipped a beat, and he said, "I don't believe it completely!"
Kiki said thoughtfully, "Really?"
"Such a familiar tone!" Lin Feng thought to himself, startled. It sounded eight-tenths similar to the woman in his dream. Could she be the woman in his dream? Lin Feng racked his brains.
Kiki said quietly, "I keep having the same dream lately!"
Lin Feng looked at Xiao Jie Jie in surprise and asked, "How many days has it been?"
Qiqi tilted her head and thought for a moment before saying, "It's been three days now, and it's been so torturous that I haven't been able to sleep well at all!"
Lin Feng thought to himself: This must be a coincidence. He had been having strange dreams for three days, and she had been having strange dreams for three days. So he said, "Dreams are a reflection of a person's mind during the day. Most dreams express a different meaning than what you see in your dreams."
Kiki used her fork to pick up a piece of bloody steak and put it in her mouth, her rosy lips moving constantly. A trace of blood lingered on her lips, making them look even more alluring. But Lin Feng found it strange, even a little terrifying. If it weren't for that dream constantly on his mind, Lin Feng would have been quite happy to admire the sexy lips of this beautiful woman.
Kiki said, "I keep dreaming that I kill someone!"
Lin Feng interjected, "To be precise, you didn't kill him. You left him in the bathroom and suffocated him with all sorts of seasonings."
Qiqi looked at Lin Feng in surprise and said, "How did you know?"
Lin Feng secretly regretted letting it slip and wanted to slap himself. He quickly said, "Ah, I was just guessing. Dreams are usually quite absurd and exaggerated."
Qiqi clearly didn't believe Lin Feng's explanation, but she didn't press him for details. She just kept eating the food on her plate.
Volume 1, Path of Vengeful Spirits, Chapter 21: Nightmare (3)
Qiqi didn't tell anyone about her dream, because discussing it during a meal would be too disgusting. Xiao Jie didn't notice anything amiss with Qiqi and continued chatting and laughing. But Lin Feng felt uneasy; he was afraid to face Qiqi, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why. Perhaps it was because of the dream, but he wasn't sure if Qiqi was the woman from his dream. If she was, that would be terrifying. Should he stop her? What did Zhang Daoshi mean by "letting nature take its course"? Did he mean he should ignore it? Thinking of Zhang Daoshi, Lin Feng decided to go see him tomorrow and ask; perhaps he could offer some advice.
Lin Feng was bewildered by countless questions, feeling as if he were turning into a walking encyclopedia of whys.
As the three were finishing their meal, Xiao Jie's phone rang. It was Li Mingsheng calling, naturally asking if Lin Feng was there. Xiao Jie handed the phone to Lin Feng, who replied with a "Hello," "What's wrong with you? I left you a message but couldn't get through, and when I called your phone, it was off!"
The person on the other end of the phone said, "Impossible, my phone has been on the whole time!"
"Nonsense! I saw your message this morning and called you, but your phone was switched off. My phone has always been on and never switched off!"
"What happened?"
"Who knows!"
Where are you?
"We're eating cow carcasses in the development zone!" As he spoke, Lin Feng glanced at the two beautiful women opposite him. Xiao Jie was glaring at him with murderous intent, while Qi Qi frowned and put down her knife and fork.
"Where? I'll drive to pick you up, I need to talk to you urgently!" Li Mingsheng seemed a little impatient.
"In the 'passionate' category?"
Before Lin Feng could finish speaking, Li Mingsheng said, "I'm coming right now," and hung up. Lin Feng stared at the phone, puzzled. What could have made Li Mingsheng so anxious?
Li Mingsheng arrived at the location quickly. Xiao Jie introduced Qiqi to him, and Li Mingsheng simply nodded before immediately asking Lin Feng, "Come with me to the bureau! I need your help!"
Lin Feng asked, "What's wrong?"
Li Mingsheng glanced at Xiao Jie Jie and Qi Qi and said, "You'll see when you get there!"
After dropping Xiaojie and Qiqi off at home, Li Mingsheng's expression was grave in the car. Lin Feng said, "They're gone now, can we talk about it?"
Li Mingsheng said, "There are three corpses. Take a look. The deaths are a bit strange."
Lin Feng asked, "What's so strange about it?"
Li Mingsheng didn't answer Lin Feng, but simply said, "You'll know when you see it!"
The two men and the forensic doctor entered the morgue, where three bodies were laid out side by side.
As Li Mingsheng lifted the white cloth, the first corpse's eyes glared angrily, as if it were raging. Lin Feng felt a chill run down his spine; this expression, this look, seemed familiar.
Seeing Lin Feng's strange expression, Li Mingsheng asked, "What's wrong? Is there really something wrong with this corpse?"
Lin Feng suddenly remembered that the middle one of the three people sitting on the bus today looked exactly like the person lying down now. Looking at the two behind him, he was right, it was the three of them.
Lin Feng tried to calm himself down, but even though he was usually quite brave, he was still terrified and asked, "When did they die?!"
Li Mingsheng said, "It's been 48 hours now!"
Lin Feng was completely bewildered. How could this be? These were people who were supposed to be dead, yet he had been sitting on the same bus with them not long ago. Lin Feng gasped for breath and said, "I saw them on the bus just today!"
Li Mingsheng and the forensic doctor exclaimed in unison, "How is that possible?"
Lin Feng felt his legs go weak and said, "But it's true, I absolutely can't be mistaken, and it's definitely not my hallucination!"
Li Mingsheng was a little better off, but the forensic doctor kept shaking his head. Although he had witnessed a "resurrection" with his own eyes last time, he still couldn't accept things that were beyond the scope of science.
Lin Feng calmed himself down and asked, "How did they die?" He couldn't see any wounds on the bodies.
The forensic doctor pointed to the first angry-looking corpse and said, "He was watching TV with his family at home, then went to the bathroom and didn't come out for a long time. His family members saw that he hadn't come out for so long, so they called him from the door, but he didn't respond. When they broke down the door, they found his head submerged in the toilet, and he had been dead for half a day. According to our examination, his cause of death was a myocardial infarction, but he had no history of heart disease before, and it was sudden."
"What about these two people?" Lin Feng asked, pointing to the two corpses behind him.
The forensic doctor said, "In one case, his wife woke up in the morning and found him dead. In the other case, he was slumped over his computer in the office, and a colleague nudged him, and he collapsed, and everyone discovered he was already dead. The cause of death in both cases was sudden myocardial infarction, and neither had a history of heart disease."
Lin Feng gently tapped his head. Strange things happen every year, but today there seem to be more than usual, one after another. Lin Feng vaguely felt that the deaths of these three people were related to him; otherwise, he wouldn't have seen them in the car. Lin Feng unconsciously looked at the red cut line on his hand; it was even redder, as if it was about to drip blood.
Lin Feng glanced at his watch; it was already 9 PM. He said to Li Mingsheng, "Let's go find Zhang the Taoist priest; maybe he can help us!"
After leaving the morgue, Lin Feng took out his phone, found Zhang the Taoist's number, and dialed it.
After a few beeps, a woman's voice rang out, "Hello, who are you looking for?" The woman's voice sounded a bit strange, making Lin Feng feel very uncomfortable.
Lin Feng asked, "Is Taoist Zhang here?"
The woman's voice said, "He's here. Do you want him to answer the phone?"
Lin Feng said, "Oh, no need. Just tell him we need to see him. I'm Lin Feng. May I ask where you live?"
A woman's voice said, "No. 68 Taiping Street!"
Lin Feng said, "Okay! Thank you!" The other end of the phone had already hung up.
Volume 1, Path of Vengeful Spirits, Chapter 22: Nightmare (4)
Lin Feng and Li Mingsheng hurried to Zhang Daoshi's residence.
Upon arriving at Taiping Street, one finds mostly single-story houses, giving it a somewhat desolate and dilapidated appearance compared to other parts of the city. The street was deserted early in the morning, with only a few lights shining from the rows of houses. The owner of a small shop sat in the doorway, enjoying the cool evening air; the lack of business had him dozing off in his chair.
Li Mingsheng parked the car at the street corner and, together with Lin Feng, searched room by room for number 68.
When they found number 68, the two looked into the courtyard and saw that it was pitch black inside, and it didn't seem like there was anyone there.
Lin Feng stepped forward and pounded on the door knocker of the courtyard gate, calling out, "Taoist Zhang, it's me, Lin Feng. Are you home?"
No one answered from inside. Lin Feng called a few more times, but still no one answered. Lin Feng wondered why no one was home when he had called just 20 minutes ago.
I gently pushed the courtyard gate. It wasn't locked and creaked, sounding like an ancient incantation in the darkening sky.
The two reached the door of the house, and Lin Feng gently pushed it open, saying, "Taoist Zhang!"
The house was silent, only Lin Feng's voice echoing softly. Lin Feng reached for the light cord by the door and turned on the light. The house was simply furnished; the living room contained a dining table, a coffee table, and a sofa. The bedroom contained only a bed and a wardrobe. Lin Feng searched the house thoroughly, but sure enough, no one was home.
Li Mingsheng suddenly pointed at the table and said, "Look!"
Lin Feng asked, "What are you looking at?"
Li Mingsheng wiped his hand on the dining table, leaving a gray mark. A thin layer of dust covered the table; if Li Mingsheng hadn't worked as a traffic police officer and possessed keen observation skills, he wouldn't have noticed it at all unless he looked closely.
Li Mingsheng said, "No one has lived here for several days. The table and coffee table are covered in dust."
Lin Feng said in surprise, "No way, when I called just now, a woman answered!"
Li Mingsheng said, "Could you have dialed the wrong number?"
Lin Feng said, "How could that be? She's the one who gave us the address!"
Li Mingsheng also asked suspiciously, "Yes, what's going on?"
Lin Feng took out his phone and dialed Zhang Daoshi's number again. The phone on the bedside table in the bedroom rang with a long, unanswered tone.
The phone number was correct. Li Mingsheng went to the phone and examined it carefully. The screen was covered by a thin layer of ink, indicating it hadn't been touched for several days.
The two were puzzled for a long time. Could it be that a ghost answered the phone?
After leaving the house, the two discussed it briefly and then headed straight for the shop at the street corner.
"Uncle, may I ask if you've seen Taoist Zhang recently?"
"Taoist Zhang! Go to number 68 and look for him." The shopkeeper was clearly unhappy that Lin Feng had disturbed his nap.
"We just went there, no one was home!"
"It's not number 68 here, it's number 68 in Hongshan!"