Three Ghosts of the City

Chapter 12

Written: Loose lips sink ships!

"Hehe, not at all!" I carefully pried Li Hai's hand away and changed the subject: "What brings you here?"

"Oh, I'd like you to come with me to the Black Forest Bar one more time."

"Tonight?" I asked.

"No, not now." Li Hai shook his head.

"But it's my work hours now!" I pointed to my watch.

"Okay!" Li Hai smiled at me, a smile that sent chills down my spine and gave me goosebumps all over.

"Then I'm off to find the beautiful Miss Fang! A lone man and a lone woman, don't regret it later if anything happens!" Li Hai

It winked at me.

Therefore, don't judge a book by its cover. Li Hai seemed quite gentlemanly, but I never expected him to be so... *#•??~...I

He immediately mentally sent his regards to everyone in his family.

Forcing a smile, I waved fiercely at Li Hai and said, "Let's go!"

Li Hai was so happy he felt like he was floating on air. Who said he and Li Yang were fundamentally different? Twins are twins!

I saw Li Yang celebrating his victory.

※ ※ ※

At this moment, Li Hai was standing blankly at the entrance of the Black Forest Bar. I could tell he was practically drooling to show his infatuation.

I was stunned. I took a step back, trying to keep my distance from him, hoping that others wouldn't categorize me as one of them.

"Comrade, you've been standing here for ten minutes already! Aren't you going in?" I rubbed my nose and urged.

"I can't believe I managed to get into this bar last night!" Li Hai sighed.

"What's wrong?" I asked curiously. Is it not allowed to go into this bar?

"No wonder people keep dying here!" Li Hai pointed at the bar's entrance and said, "This setup is seriously flawed!"

There's a problem? What problem? I looked at the bar's door; perhaps due to the location, the bar's door was a step-down entrance.

There are two small floor-to-ceiling windows on either side, a screen wall in front, and protective walls on both sides. The walls are deliberately roughened, giving it a very modern feel.

It looks like that.

"Don't you think this door looks like something?" Li Hai asked.

"What?!" I racked my brains but couldn't see anything wrong with it.

Li Hai glared at me helplessly and said, "Another ancestral secret technique of our Maoshan School is Feng Shui."

"So what?" I asked Li Hai, puzzled.

"How is it?" Judging from Li Hai's expression, he's probably about to pounce on me and strangle me. "This is basically just a tomb decoration."

ah!"

"Huh?" I gasped, my mouth agape. I looked at the door closely, and now that he mentioned it, it really did look a bit like it! How strange.

Does the bar owner have some kind of peculiar fetish, or is this simply a small mistake during the renovation?

"Looks like there's something fishy about this boss!" Li Hai muttered to himself, then strode towards the bar. I stood...

He grabbed him.

"What are you doing?" Li Hai was clearly very unhappy with my actions.

I quickly said, "Better safe than sorry. You just recklessly barged in like that?"

Li Hai didn't argue with me anymore. After thinking for a while, he nodded and said, "So what are you going to do?"

As expected of the older brother, he is very composed. If it were Li Yang, even eight horses couldn't pull him back.

I let out a long sigh of relief. Now is not the time to act rashly. So many people have died; there needs to be a pause.

Alright.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. My phone rang again, and it was Xiao Ren calling once more. I sighed deeply, lamenting how unfortunate life could be.

profit!

"Whose call was it?" Li Hai asked.

I gripped the phone in my hand, my eyes twitching violently again, so I shoved the phone into Li Hai's hand and said, "You help..."

I answered. It was a call from the police station; someone might have died again!

Li Hai glanced at me, then at his phone, his face grave. His master had said before he set off: This time, the...

Extremely dangerous, please be careful! Before arriving here, Fang Lei had already given a brief account of the Heart Lake murder case. She hadn't expected the events leading up to this...

Before the case was solved, another one followed.

"Hello, who is this?" Li Hai answered the phone. "Oh, you're looking for Lin Xiao? He had to run off for something. What is it?"

You've already told me.

I looked at Li Hai's face, which was growing increasingly serious. It seemed there really was another case! I sighed, rubbed my temples; my head was throbbing.

His bad habit has started again.

"Okay, I understand. I'll tell him. Goodbye!" Li Hai hung up the phone and handed it back to me. (From Xinhu)

"It's a murder case; they want you to come over as soon as possible!"

"Is it another dead woman?" I asked.

"He didn't say anything, he just told you to hurry up and get there!" Li Hai said, shrugging.

I didn't speak, I just nodded. Looking at the bustling crowds on the street, I suddenly felt a sense of unreality, as if this...

All the evil was just a nightmare, waiting for me to wake up. The pedestrians on the street remained the same; they didn't know...

I was filled with fear and anxiety, unaware that the city was gradually being shrouded in evil.

Driving alone towards the lake of my heart, I couldn't help but wonder, for ordinary people, is ignorance truly happiness?

Or is it ignorance?

Chapter Twenty-One: Pure Illusion

My hands gripping the steering wheel grew colder and colder, not because of the slightly chilly weather, but because of a growing sense of fear. I had never known that the rustling of trees in the wind could be so terrifying. Glancing out the window, I saw the trees lining the road swaying wildly in the wind. A cold light pierced through the gaps in the leaves, the flickering light resembling countless grotesque skulls. The shadows cast on the ground looked like the faces of demons, their mouths gaping open in a sinister grin. Suddenly, I realized there wasn't a single other car on the road; I was driving alone on this long, seemingly endless road.

Perhaps it's psychological, but I always feel like there are pairs of eyes watching me from under some shady tree. To be honest, I don't like long roads or corridors; they always make me feel oppressed. This might be due to the inherent human fear of the unknown future.

I floored the gas pedal, hoping to reach that damned lake of my heart as quickly as possible. The wind whistled past my ears, and the scenery outside the window flashed by. Suddenly, something seemed to dart out in front of me. Startled, I slammed on the brakes. A screeching sound of tires screeching against the pavement sent shivers down my spine. The car finally came to a stop. I felt as if I'd hit something, and looking closer, I saw a person lying face down on the ground. A cold sweat instantly soaked my clothes; my heart pounded, and my hands trembled uncontrollably as I gripped the steering wheel.

A short while, or perhaps a long time, passed before I reluctantly got off the bus. After all, running away wasn't something I could do. Taking a deep breath, I walked over to the person and crouched down. Thankfully, I didn't see any blood, so I figured it shouldn't be anything serious, I reassured myself.

"Are you alright?" I patted the man and turned him over. He was a pale-faced man. Just then, his eyes suddenly twitched violently; I even thought his eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets. Reacting instinctively to the impending danger, I immediately released my grip on the man and fell backward with a thud. A bright flash appeared before my eyes, and I saw the man open his eyes and swiftly draw a knife from behind him.

I never imagined what it would feel like to have a knife pierce my heart. I thought it would hurt terribly, but actually, I didn't feel much; it was just cool. Everything went black, but strangely, my other senses remained sharp. I could feel the wind on my face, the rustling of the wind, and the blood flowing from my heart. Then, my senses gradually blurred, a feeling of floating on air, my soul seemingly leaving my body. Next came an intense, excruciating pain, pain throughout my entire body. Is this hell? My whole body felt burning hot, even my bones felt like they were turning to ash. God, if this is hell, please let it all end quickly!

※※※

Li Hai circled the entrance of the Black Forest Bar more than ten times, causing passersby to think he'd encountered a madman. In the end, he didn't knock, because Lin Xiao had warned him to be careful before leaving. But as a descendant of the Maoshan sect, he was utterly baffled. Who would design their door like this? Even if it wasn't the owner's intention, the person who designed this door deserves to go to the deepest hell. From a feng shui perspective, the north-facing location was excellent, but the design of the door was the problem—a tomb-like layout, a path to certain death!

"Grandpa, I have a question for you!" Li Hai grabbed a passerby and asked, "Do you know when this bar opened?"

"You mean this?" The old man glanced at the bar and said, "It appeared out of nowhere about a year and a half ago!"

"Really? Do you know who owns this bar?"

"This?" The old man shook his head. "I have no idea. How could someone my age end up in a place like this?"

"Really?" Li Hai sighed in disappointment, but at least he knew when it opened, so he should at least have gained something!

"Why don't you go ask Old Liu?" The old man seemed to sense Li Hai's disappointment and immediately offered a suggestion.

"Old Liu? Who is that?" Li Hai immediately perked up when he saw that there was another clue.

"This bar used to be a teahouse, and Old Liu was the owner. I was a regular customer at his teahouse! It's a pity that people don't drink tea anymore, so the teahouse couldn't stay in business!" The old man shook his head and sighed.

"Then, where is he now?" Li Hai almost pounced on him. Looking at his sparkling eyes, anyone would think he had received news about his idol!

"A small department store opened in that new village!" The old man pointed behind him.

"Thank you, thank you!" Li Hai was so happy he was almost moved to tears, and he turned and rushed forward.

"Young man, slow down!" the old man shouted at Li Hai. "Why are all the young people these days so reckless?"

※※※

I opened my eyes and found myself lying in the middle of the road, my car behind me. There was no one around, no man who had been hit, and no knife. I looked down at my chest in a panic, but there was no injury, not a drop of blood, and even my clothes were intact.

Am I dreaming? I touched my chest; everything was normal. My heart felt so good, and I let out a long sigh of relief. A hallucination, it must be a hallucination! I told myself it was all just a hallucination, maybe it was because I hadn't been sleeping well lately, maybe it was because of the recent murders, maybe it was because of the stress! But everything just now was so clear—the man, the knife, and the feeling of it piercing my heart—it all felt so real. Could hallucinations be so vivid, could they even have feelings?

I struggled to my feet and climbed back into the car. Sitting there, still dazed, I felt like I was in a dream. Shaking my head, I started the car again. This wasn't the time to be lost in thought; a murder case awaited me at Xinhu Lake, and whether it was good or bad, it was the most important thing right now.

The familiar ringtone sounded again, and when I looked, it was Xiao Ren again.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Forensic Doctor Lin, what are you still dawdling about? Everyone's waiting for you!" Xiao Ren's pleading voice was a little anxious. What could he do when his department was short of forensic doctors? It was good that Fang Lei had come, but unexpectedly, Old Cao was suddenly gone. It was truly a bolt from the blue!

"They're here already. Hasn't Fang Lei arrived yet?" I asked. Am I the only one left in this group?

"We can't find her. She didn't come at all today! I think Captain Chen said she took leave!"

"Oh, really?" How come it's so easy for women to take time off, while it's harder than climbing to heaven for me? This is so discriminatory!

"Stop 'oh,' when are you going to arrive?" Xiao Ren asked anxiously.

"Five minutes!" I yelled back into the phone, slammed down the phone, and floored the gas pedal.

Seriously, is this some kind of death trap? I shook my head and sped up. As for everything that just happened, I could only explain it as a hallucination for now.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Skull

Putting aside all the bizarre murders, Heart Lake is actually a very beautiful place. The trees along the shore are lush and green, swirling around the lake like a green mist. But what lies hidden within this mist? Occasionally, a bird's song or two can be heard from the woods, clear and melodious. Because of the water and trees, it is already cool here, and the overcast sky makes me feel a bone-chilling cold.

"What was found by the lake was a skull," Xiao Ren explained, following behind me.

"What about the other parts?" I asked.

"We haven't found anything yet, but we've sent people to search everywhere," Xiao Ren said, handing me the gloves.