Las lágrimas de Guanyin

Capítulo 4

Outside, the sky was overcast, and a light drizzle had been falling since morning; sunny days had been rare since winter began. Outside the window stood an old loquat tree, its bare branches appearing solemn in the cold wind. When the wind blew, the branches emitted a mournful wail, sounding as if someone were crying in the wind.

The police station is located on Jiefang Street in the old town of H City. Jiefang Street is the oldest street in H City, and it features many historic arcade buildings in the Nanyang style. These arcade buildings are mostly three or four stories high, with the upper floors of the shops facing the street protruding and covering the sidewalk, as if "riding" on the sidewalk, hence the name "arcade buildings." The arcade buildings are the most precious historical buildings in H City, drawing on the essence of Chinese and Western architecture, embodying the vicissitudes of history, and exuding cultural charm.

Chen Feng leaned lazily against his office chair, his desk piled high with case files and documents. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling, and he slowly exhaled smoke, which swirled and dissipated into the air.

This is his habit; whenever he encounters a difficult case, he always unconsciously adopts this unique posture while thinking about a solution.

Lin Wangchou has been mysteriously missing for more than ten days, and there has been no news of him. All his relatives and friends have been asked, but there is no news of him. Missing person notices have been placed in newspapers and on television, but there is still no news.

Chen Feng recalled the series of strange events Lin Wangchou had encountered before his disappearance: the mysterious phone call, the woman's crying, and the terrifying blue skull. What did these things mean? What was their connection to Lin Wangchou's disappearance? He increasingly felt that this case was somewhat bizarre, perhaps not an ordinary missing person case, and that some terrible secret might be hidden behind it.

Chen Feng was still unable to sort out his chaotic thoughts; his mind was a jumbled mess, and he felt somewhat irritable. This was the most troublesome case he, the youngest and most capable criminal investigation captain in H City, known as a brilliant detective, had ever encountered in his life. He exhaled a heavy puff of smoke, stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray, got up, and walked to the window. Outside, a gloomy, oppressive atmosphere hung in the air. His thoughts, like the drizzling rain, were continuous yet chaotic, causing unease and a sense of oppression. The ancient arcade buildings were hidden in the misty rain, their gray walls appearing serene yet with a hint of inexplicable eeriness from afar.

Chen Feng glanced at the clock on the wall; it was already past four in the afternoon. His brow, which had been furrowed all along, furrowed even more deeply. A rare sense of unease welled up inside him, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He lit another cigarette and paced anxiously back and forth in his office.

Suddenly, the phone on my desk rang urgently.

He decisively grabbed the microphone:

"What did you say? Another mysterious disappearance?!"

"Yes, the location is No. 53, Lane 27, Binhai Community, Hebin Road."

"Okay, I'll be right there!"

About half an hour later, Chen Feng arrived at the scene of the crime. His assistant, Xiao Yang, and several police officers were questioning the missing person's family.

The missing person's surname is Zheng, and his given name is Zheng Ansheng. He is 30 years old and works as a physics teacher at a middle school in H City. He has been married for two years and has a daughter who is about one year old. According to the investigation, his father committed suicide mysteriously on a winter night two years ago. Although his mother, who is in her fifties, is still alive, she has been living a depressed life.

Chen Feng noticed his assistant, Xiao Yang, looked very serious, as if the case was quite grave. He pulled him aside and whispered, "..."

"What exactly happened?"

"It's the Blue Skull again, along with a mysterious phone call and a woman's crying," Xiao Yang said slowly, his voice heavy.

Chen Feng's heart sank, and his face immediately turned serious. So, Zheng Ansheng and Lin Wangchou's disappearances were due to the same circumstances.

After listening to Xiao Yang's report, Chen Feng carefully inspected the Zheng family's house and its surroundings. He then asked Zheng Ansheng's wife a few questions before hurriedly leaving and driving back to the police station.

Just then, his phone rang. After answering the call, his expression changed drastically. He quickly turned the car around and sped off towards the suburbs...

What's in the coffin in section four?

In the fading twilight, a jeep sped along the road to the outskirts of H City. Inside, Chen Feng's brow was furrowed, his resolute face seemingly frozen in frost, giving him an unusually cold and stern expression. He had just received a call from Lin Qiu, a reporter from the *Metropolis Express*, who said that Lin Wangchou's grave had been discovered and that he was currently waiting for him at Lin Wangchou's home in Wenhao Village.

Lin Wangchou is dead and buried. Who killed him? And who buried him? If the murderer killed him, buried him, and even erected a tombstone, that's truly unbelievable!

A series of perplexing questions flashed through Chen Feng's mind, and no matter how he reasoned, he could not arrive at a reasonable answer.

Before long, the car drove into Wenhao Village.

When Chen Feng arrived at Lin Wangchou's house, he suddenly realized that the atmosphere in the house was much more strange than before. In addition to the deathly atmosphere, there was also a chilling eeriness, as if a murderous shadow was looming over it.

In the living room, Lin Qiu, Lin Yongfu, and Zhang Yuling sat silently, each lost in their own thoughts. Chen Feng stopped at the doorway and glanced at the three people inside. Meeting Chen Feng's piercing gaze, Lin Yongfu's expression changed, and his lips seemed to tremble slightly. He glanced at Chen Feng and quickly avoided his gaze, appearing somewhat flustered and uneasy.

Chen Feng sat down on a sofa, seemingly lost in thought. He lit a cigarette, slowly exhaled a puff of smoke, and then stared at Lin Qiu, asking:

"Reporter Lin, when did you discover Lin Wangchou's grave?"

The night before last.

How did you find out?

Lin Qiu gave a brief account of what happened that night, but he omitted the part about Lin Yongfu's attempt to murder Zhang Yuling.

Chen Feng pondered for a moment, then asked Lin Yongfu:

"Uncle Lin, do you know who buried your son?"

No, I don't know.

Lin Yongfu's voice trembled slightly, and an overwhelming sense of sorrow and pain welled up on his aged and haggard face. Yesterday afternoon, Lin Qiu had taken him and Zhang Yuling to the cemetery to see his son's grave. At that time, Lin Qiu noticed that the expression on his face when he saw his son's grave was unusually complex and strange, making it difficult to understand.

Chen Feng took out his phone and called his assistant, Xiao Yang, ordering him to bring several police officers and a forensic doctor to Wenhao Village immediately. He planned to exhume the body for an autopsy.

At 6:30 p.m., Chen Feng, along with a group of police officers and forensic doctors, set off for the cemetery west of Wenhao Village, led by Lin Qiu.

By now, it was almost completely dark, a gray haze hanging over the world, and a light drizzle continued to fall. Lin Qiu walked along the desolate mountain path, a deep sense of fear still lingering in his heart; the terrifying events of the night before were still vivid in his mind. Suddenly, he had a strange feeling; he seemed to sense that the terrifying blue-clad female ghost was lurking nearby, perhaps hidden in the roadside weeds, coldly watching him. The thought sent a chill down his spine.

Soon, they arrived at the cemetery. The police officers turned on all their flashlights, illuminating the surrounding scenery clearly. Lin Qiu led them to Lin Wangchou's grave. Chen Feng noticed that the three characters "Lin Wangchou" on the tall tombstone looked very strange; the blood-red ink was twisted and distorted, and at first glance, the three characters seemed to be grinning maliciously, giving a terrifying feeling. The grave was new, piled high, without a single weed, and a piece of joss paper was placed on top of the grave with a clod of earth.

Looking at the pointed top of the grave, Chen Feng had an idea. He took a flashlight from a police officer, lifted the clod of earth on the grave, and removed the paper money for the dead. Strangely, despite the rain, the paper hadn't rotted. Chen Feng carefully shone the strange, waxy yellow paper with the flashlight. The front was plain, without any writing or pictures. Just as Chen Feng turned the paper over, Lin Qiu, standing next to him, suddenly changed his expression and cried out in surprise, "Ah!"

Chen Feng was taken aback. Upon closer inspection, he was also greatly surprised!

Everyone saw it clearly: on the back of the joss paper was a hideous and terrifying blue skull! Looking at the eerie blue skull on the paper, everyone felt an inexplicable sense of fear.

Chen Feng pondered for a moment, then folded the joss paper and put it in his pocket before directing the police officers to begin digging the grave.

Three or four police officers wielded shovels, scraping away clods of soil from the grave. Soon, the entire grave was leveled, the soil beneath was removed, revealing the coffin. Everyone stopped, staring at the dark, ominous coffin, a sense of dread creeping into their hearts.

After a while, Chen Feng decisively gave the order: "Open the coffin!"

The moment the coffin lid was lifted, everyone was stunned and stood frozen in place.

The next one in the fifth quarter is you.

Several police officers slowly lifted the heavy coffin lid, and everyone's eyes rushed to the inside. Surprisingly, Lin Wangchou's body was not inside. Instead, they discovered a white cloth at the bottom of the coffin, on which were written five strange, blood-red characters: "Next is you."

The moment Lin Qiu's gaze fell upon those five eerie, blood-red characters, it was as if he had been struck violently by a heavy object, and his head instantly felt dizzy. In a daze, he seemed to hear a woman's voice coming from the darkness:

"You're next—"

The sound was drawn out, unusually deep and terrifying, and incredibly real and clear, as if it had pierced through his eardrums and drilled directly into his mind, echoing for a long time.

Although it was dark, Chen Feng still noticed the subtle change in Lin Qiu's expression. He gave Lin Qiu a cold stare, then silently bent down to examine the five strange characters inside the coffin. The incredibly bizarre handwriting revealed that these five characters and the inscription on the tombstone were from the same hand. These mysterious, blood-red characters undoubtedly conveyed one message—the next person to die was one of them.

Without a doubt, this was Death's public decree of death issued to one of them.

Chen Feng carefully examined the area around the grave but found no other clues. He thought he had found a breakthrough in the case, but unexpectedly, there was no body in Lin Wangchou's grave. Now, not only could he not find a breakthrough, but the case became even more mysterious and complicated.

With the coffin opened, the fact that Lin Wangchou was dead was completely overturned. Before his body was found, it could not be confirmed that he was dead. Whether Lin Wangchou was dead or alive remains a mystery to this day.

Chen Feng ordered the police officers to hastily rebury the coffin that was exposed above ground, and then led everyone down the mountain.

Lin Qiu walked behind the group, his heart pounding with anxiety and unease. After a while, he couldn't help but glance back at the mysterious tomb. As the beam of his flashlight shone through the tombstone and onto the road ahead, the figure of a woman in blue instantly came into his view! He shuddered, his legs trembling with fear, and blurted out:

"There's a ghost!"

Everyone was startled and stopped in their tracks. All their flashlights shone behind them, but they saw nothing but Lin Qiu's pale face, which had turned deathly pale with fear.

"Reporter Lin, what did you see?"

Chen Feng stared at Lin Qiu's pale face with suspicion, and found that his eyes were filled with a deep fear.

"Just now, I saw it by chance. I saw a woman's figure. She was standing behind Lin Wangchou's tombstone with her back to us. The woman was wearing a blue dress."

Although Lin Qiu's voice trembled slightly, his tone was very certain and left no room for doubt.

No woman would dare to go up this terrifying cemetery alone in the middle of the night. Could there really be ghosts in this world?

"Reporter Lin, are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"Perhaps you're too nervous and are hallucinating."

"How could a woman come up here in the middle of the night in this desolate wilderness? You must be mistaken."

Everyone looked at Lin Qiu with puzzled expressions.

"Please believe me, everyone. I'm absolutely certain that I didn't see wrong. There really was a woman in blue standing behind Lin Wangchou's tombstone just now."

When Lin Qiu uttered those words with absolute certainty, everyone felt a chill run down their spines. They nervously shone their flashlights around, but saw nothing but eerie, dark graves everywhere.

"Don't be afraid, everyone. Let's go down the mountain first."

After pondering for a while, Chen Feng seemed to have thought of something. He called out to everyone and then strode steadily down the mountain. The others followed behind him with uneasy feelings.

It was already 11 p.m. when we got back to Wenhao Village.

Neither Lin Yongfu nor Zhang Yuling slept; they were waiting for news of Lin Wangchou. They lacked the courage to go up the mountain, fearing the immense shock of seeing Lin Wangchou's body.

Chen Feng briefly recounted the process of digging up the grave and opening the coffin to them. When they learned that Lin Wangchou's body was not found in the grave, they were all stunned.

Chen Feng comforted them, explained some things to them, and then led everyone back.

Lin Qiu also rode in Chen Feng's car back to the city.

Throughout the journey, Chen Feng drove with complete concentration, while Lin Qiu sat in the back seat, remaining silent, seemingly lost in thought. When he recalled the five mysterious and strange blood-red characters inside the coffin, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine, a deep sense of dread washing over him.

"Reporter Lin, what are you thinking about?"

After a while, Chen Feng finally broke the silence.

"Oh, I've been wondering, where exactly is Lin Wangchou? I wonder if he's still alive?"

Lin Qiu responded slowly, her voice seemingly tinged with a hint of desolation.

Chen Feng vaguely felt that Lin Qiu seemed to be hiding something.

"Lin Wangchou's disappearance remains a mystery to this day, and no one knows where he is." Chen Feng paused, then slowly said, "Yesterday, another disappearance occurred."

"Another missing person case?!" Lin Qiu's heart skipped a beat, and he asked in surprise, "Who is the missing person?"

"He is a middle school teacher named Zheng Ansheng."

As soon as Chen Feng finished speaking, Lin Qiu was so shocked that his mouth dropped open, and he couldn't speak for a long time. The three words "Zheng Ansheng" were like three awls stabbing into his heart, and he felt a sharp pain in his chest.

"Reporter Lin, what's wrong?" Chen Feng clearly noticed Lin Qiu's change and asked in surprise, "You... know Zheng Ansheng?"

After a long while, Lin Qiu nodded slightly and slowly said:

"Yes, he was my childhood friend."

The next day, Chen Feng arrived at the police station early. He locked himself in his office, took out the yellowish-brown joss paper he'd brought back from the cemetery the night before, and examined the strange blue skull again. The skull's eyeless eyes were dark and unfathomable, like a bottomless abyss, eerily mysterious and profound. This hideous blue skull was an ominous creature; every appearance it made brought disaster, and everyone who saw it mysteriously disappeared.

As Chen Feng watched, he suddenly had a strange feeling. He felt his body and mind sinking deeper and deeper, as if an unseen and terrifying force was luring him step by step toward the abyss of death. Although his mind was clear, and he knew that there was an abyss ahead and that one more step would mean certain death, he could not resist the temptation of that mysterious force and still unconsciously walked forward step by step...

Just then, a knock on the door startled him awake. He hurriedly folded the somewhat eerie joss paper, stuffed it into the drawer, and got up to open the door. His assistant, Xiao Yang, walked in.

"Is there something you need?" Chen Feng lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and asked.

"I've noticed something," Xiao Yang said, suddenly noticing that Chen Feng's expression was a bit off. He was quite surprised. Although he hadn't followed Chen Feng for very long, he knew his superior very well; he was definitely not the kind of person who could be easily conquered.