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Capítulo 7

“As expected…” Zheng Zhihao leaned closer to take a look, then said softly, “Just as I expected.”

"You can see it, right? What kind of thing?" Li Hong asked quickly.

"Let me take a look at the other parts."

Helpless, Li Hong had no choice but to sit on the bed and pull up her pants to show him her calves.

"Don't you have any body hair?" Zheng Zhihao asked suddenly after looking at him for a while.

"Huh?" Li Hong was taken aback, then nodded. "I have very little body hair, you can barely see it. I showed you the mark, not the body hair!" She raised her fist, speaking with a hint of threat.

“Yes, yes, I look at the marks, not the hairs,” Zheng Zhihao quickly replied.

"Haven't you seen enough yet?" Li Hong felt her face burning red. "Tell me what happened quickly." As she spoke, she pulled down her trouser leg.

Zheng Zhihao sat down opposite her. He subconsciously reached for a cigarette, but then realized that this was not his own room, so he put the cigarette back.

"You smoke, I'll open the window," Li Hong said. "Tell me what happened."

"Thank you." Zheng Zhihao lit a cigarette. After exhaling a puff, he looked at the sky outside. It was about 6:30, and it was still quite bright, but it would be almost dark in an hour.

“Alright, I’ll tell you some things I know about this mark,” Zheng Zhihao said. “But it’s just a legend. Although the outcome is bad, you might not end up like the legend says.”

"Don't try to comfort me. Just tell me, is this mark life-threatening?" Li Hong expressed her concerns.

“To be honest, this mark is life-threatening. It will eventually spread all over your body like a disease.” Seeing Li Hong’s dejected look after hearing this bad news, he immediately continued, “But I also want to tell you that ordinary people—which should include you—cannot see this mark. The fact that you can see it now means that there is hope, and it also means that you have had a ghost experience before. Your eyes are not ordinary eyes.”

"What's the meaning?"

"That means your eyes can receive the invisible rays emitted by ghosts and form images," Zheng Zhihao paused for a moment, "Do you understand? You have a higher chance of seeing ghosts than others. Your eyes are the legendary Yin-Yang eyes."

"The ability to see ghosts?"

"Yes. It's the ability to see ghosts. Some people are born with it; their most distinctive feature is that they have no body hair. And you are one of them."

"You mean to say that I can see ghosts?" Li Hong asked, somewhat incredulous. "But I've never seen one before, and besides, the witnesses to your previous ghost stories were all ordinary people."

“Yes. You must have seen them before, maybe you didn’t realize it at the time. The ghosts that ordinary people see are those ghosts that they want others to see, but your eyes can see them no matter how well a ghost hides itself,” Zheng Zhihao said, with a hint of excitement in his voice.

“I still can’t see any ghosts!” Li Hong said. “You said that there are spirits and ghosts everywhere in the world, so I should be able to see one or two by now!”

"Do you really want to see it?" Zheng Zhihao said mischievously. "I just need to unleash your potential."

27. Division of labor

Li Hong tilted her head and thought for a moment. She wondered when she had ever seen a ghost before, and then she thought that if she really had that ability, she would be able to see the whole room filled with ghosts as soon as she opened her eyes. She guessed that scene wouldn't be pleasant.

“Forget it,” she shook her head. “I don’t want that. I’d rather be a normal person. Okay, let’s not get off topic. Keep telling me about the mark. Can you remove the mark from my body?”

Zheng Zhihao seemed a little disappointed, but he didn't press the matter further. "I can't help it. The only solution now is to eliminate the witch, and the mark will disappear on its own."

"Are you sure?" Li Hong thought it was unlikely. Could this strange mark be removed so easily?

“I’m 90% sure,” Zheng Zhihao said. “The black cat is the witch’s servant. Once the witch disappears, the contract between the black cat and the witch will become invalid. In addition, I think this mark may be a curse left by the witch. Once the witch disappears, the curse will naturally become invalid.”

“A curse…” Li Hong sighed. “Alright, I’ll listen to you then.”

Li Hong inquired about other aspects of the mark, such as whether it would truly summon the witch's ghost, whether others could genuinely not see it, and how long it would take for the mark to cover the entire body. Zheng Zhihao's answers reassured her. The mark could only allow the witch to sense the presence of the cursed person, but it would still take time for the witch to find her. Furthermore, others truly couldn't see it unless that person was not an ordinary person. If the mark was ignored, it would take approximately a year to reach a fatal stage.

"Alright, I'm much more relieved." Li Hong said with a sigh of relief. If nothing unexpected happens, they should be able to take down that witch within a year. "As long as we take down the witch, that's all that matters. And you said you'd leave it to me."

Zheng Zhihao gave a wry smile: "Do you think it's that simple? I also need your help."

"Of course I'll help you." Li Hong was a little dejected again. "Now I can't run away. I should be begging you. You can just abandon me."

Zheng Zhihao didn't speak, only glancing at Li Hong before him. She looked even paler after her bath, her wet hair plastered to her forehead, and her pitiful expression made him realize he couldn't possibly abandon her. Ever since meeting Li Hong at the hotel, he'd been drawn to her. Zheng Zhihao admitted it might be because he liked her, but he hadn't forgotten his purpose for being there. The witch's ghost held a powerful attraction for him; he had to obtain it, not only to help her but also to help himself. However, failure wouldn't be a significant loss for him, but it would be disastrous for Li Hong—the mark would kill her within a week, not the year he'd lied to her about.

"Don't you have any confidence?" Li Hong asked him, sitting on the bed with her knees drawn up, seeing him remain silent and lost in thought. Could it be that he's thinking of some kind of reward? Li Hong wondered, what if he wants something in return, making unreasonable demands? This thought made her a little uneasy, and she shifted her body slightly. If she really couldn't get rid of the witch and lost her life here, then any reward would be useless. Sigh, was this her fate?

“Now let’s assign tasks,” Zheng Zhihao suddenly said, looking up. “After all this time, we’re still stuck. We need to speed up the investigation.”

“Okay, go ahead and say it. I’ll listen to you now,” Li Hong said. “Although I’m a little reluctant. If you had said these things to me yesterday, I would have definitely sent you to a mental hospital.”

"Alright," Zheng Zhihao interrupted her. "I know you regret it now, but I reminded you this afternoon. Let's not dwell on this anymore. You just have to grit your teeth and keep going."

"Okay, okay, just tell me what you want me to do."

"Our current clue is the check-in log. We must find out who the witch who lives here is, when she checked in, when she died, and where she died."

"Then what?"

"Find her body, subdue her soul, and end all of this."

"Give me the check-in logbook; I'll start checking tomorrow," Li Hong said. With her police officer status, this small matter wouldn't be too difficult. If there were any real problems, she could ask the local police for help. In short, having connections with the police would make things much easier.

"Alright, I'll start with the black cat to understand the origins of this black magic and whether there are any other ways to break it."

“OK. I’m hungry.” Li Hong said, holding out her hand.

Zheng Zhihao stared at her, momentarily confused.

"What's wrong? I'm hungry, I want something to eat, give me a steamed bun," Li Hong said.

"Oh, okay." Zheng Zhihao turned around to get her a steamed bun. This is what women are like, he thought to himself.

28. Mysterious Dreams (1)

After Zheng Zhihao left, Li Hong was left alone in the room. She stretched lazily, munching on a steamed bun, and walked to the window to look out. She had been here for two days, but hadn't stepped out of the hotel yet. Looking at the tourists downstairs drinking beer and chatting, Li Hong felt a sense of déjà vu. Things had turned out this way, completely unexpectedly, and now she couldn't leave even if she wanted to. Normally at this time, she would have already finished eating in the cafeteria. If she had work to do, she would stay in the lab; if not, she would return to her single dormitory to study, listen to music, and sleep. She didn't like watching TV, especially dramas. She always felt she had too much work to do and too much data to review—before Li Hong came here, she had a case to close. The victim's identity had been confirmed as an elderly woman in her fifties, and the murderer had been caught. All she had to do was sign the case closure report. But she wondered how her students were doing; she missed them quite a bit after two days apart.

She choked. Li Hong searched everywhere for water. Sigh, she thought, "Let's hurry up and finish things here, so we don't end up not even able to find water."

*******************

It got dark.

Li Hong drew the curtains and turned on the television. She looked up and saw the decorative painting on the wall; she'd only noticed it now after living there for so long. The painting depicted a woman with a great figure, sitting by the river with her long hair hanging down, posing as if washing her hair. She didn't know much about art, but felt she'd seen this scene somewhere before; it was probably one of the same prints, cheap enough that the hotel also had one hanging there.

She suddenly found herself restless, unable to concentrate on her thoughts. This feeling was as agonizing as waiting for her middle school final exam results at home. Just as she didn't know how well she would do on the exam, Li Hong now had no idea what the future held. Could they find out about the witch? Would the witch come after her? Could the mark be removed?

She flipped through all the TV channels but couldn't find anything good to watch; they were all just gala shows with songs and dances. She tossed the remote aside, completely at a loss for what to do. She felt an urge to run outside, to let out all the pent-up frustration, and to see the sea and hear the sound of its waves.

Forget it! Just stay put!

************************

Li Hong knew she was having a nightmare. She was walking in a sparse grove of trees, the ground covered with withered yellow leaves, soft and slippery underfoot—it must have just rained. She looked around, but couldn't make out her surroundings; all she could see were tangled branches and messy leaves, and even through the gaps in the trees, she couldn't see anything. Wondering how she had gotten there, she pushed through the branches and leaves to find her way.

A patch of bright red blood clung to a leaf not far away, still swaying as if someone had just walked by. Perhaps someone was injured, she thought. The blood was still fresh; the injured person had left in a hurry and hadn't even noticed how serious their injury was, with blood splattering everywhere.

She quickened her pace, hoping to catch up with the injured man and help him. If he continued to bleed, he would soon die. She crossed the thicket.

Suddenly, the view opened up, revealing a fairly large clearing behind the bushes. Li Hong saw a dark figure hunched over, panting heavily, as if he had traveled a long way. In front of the figure lay a bloodied corpse, an axe chopping at the neck, blood gushing from the wound.

Li Hong was startled by the sudden sight and shuddered. She quickly crouched down, covering her mouth to avoid making a sound that might alert the shadowy figure. However, the figure seemed oblivious to her presence, simply crouching down slowly. The creature first examined the corpse, then looked around as if checking for anyone. Li Hong wanted to turn and run, but her body wouldn't obey; she remained crouched there, frozen in place.

The shadowy figure didn't notice her. After confirming that no one was around, he dragged the corpse aside, then took a shovel from a small bag on the ground and began digging a hole. It seemed he intended to bury the body.

Li Hong couldn't see the shadowy figure's face at all, just like the shadowy figure she saw of Li Li at her bedside that night—it was completely a silhouette. She tentatively waved to the shadowy figure and slowly walked towards him.

The dark figure was diligently digging a pit, occasionally stopping to wipe his sweat and check his surroundings. He seemed very anxious, trying to bury the body as quickly as possible. However, he remained completely unaware of Li Hong approaching him.

What was going on? Li Hong was filled with questions. Had she witnessed a case in her dream? Was the killer this shadowy figure? And who was the victim?

She had approached the shadowy figure and was getting closer to the corpse. She slowly bent down, trying to see the figure's face directly, but it was clearly futile. She could only look at the body instead.

The deceased was a woman, wearing a pink nightgown, which had been torn open and was wrinkled. She was not wearing underwear underneath, and her underwear had been pulled down below her knees. It is clear that she may have been raped, engaged in a violent struggle, and ultimately murdered.

Li Hong suppressed her excitement and continued to examine the corpse.

The deceased had long, flowing hair that obscured her face, which made Li Hong's heart skip a beat—because it looked so much like the ghost she had sensed in room 104. However, Li Hong had never actually seen the ghost's face, so she wanted to find out who this deceased person was.

Li Hong was extremely nervous, her heart pounding, her whole body trembling with each beat. She felt she wasn't dreaming; it was all happening right now. She reached out to brush aside the long hair obscuring the deceased's face, but then hesitated, afraid of waking the blood-soaked woman. She stopped and turned to look at the shadowy figure. The figure continued its work, completely oblivious to Li Hong's presence.

Li Hong's hand was getting closer and closer to the corpse's head...

She slowly extended her index finger, bringing it closer to the face hidden by long hair...

The hair was finally pulled aside, revealing a bluish face. It was a face Li Hong didn't recognize. Having struggled before death, the victim's face remained contorted in pain; her mouth was wide open, dislocated due to her fractured jaw, her chin tilted to one side, revealing a mouth missing several teeth, filled with withered branches and leaves. The victim's eyes were wide open, staring blankly into the distance. Her entire face was covered in abrasions, suggesting she had been dragged face-first for some distance.

Just as Li Hong was about to continue examining the wound on the corpse's neck, she suddenly felt as if the dead man's eyes had moved slightly. Li Hong shifted her gaze from the wound to the deceased's face, and before she could react, she was horrified to find the dead man's eyes fixed intently on her…

29. A Mysterious Dream (2)

Li Hong woke up with a start.

It was just a dream. Li Hong opened her eyes to complete darkness. She gasped for breath, struggling to sit up, but her body felt utterly exhausted, her arms too weak to support her. She lay back down, reaching out to fumble for the bedside lamp switch, but after searching for a while, she couldn't find it. Li Hong wearily let her arm fall limply, giving up the attempt.

She still vividly remembered the eyes of the woman who had died tragically in her dream—eyes filled with resentment, staring intently at her. Coupled with that lifeless, terrifying face, it sent chills down Li Hong's spine. She shook her head, lay in the darkness, and slowly regulated her breathing to calm herself. Soon, she felt her strength return and sat up in bed. She reached for the light switch, but after several clicks, it wouldn't turn on. Li Hong then remembered that she hadn't turned off the lights when she went to sleep, and that the television had been on, which had allowed her to fall asleep peacefully. But now, there was probably a problem with the room's electrical system; all the appliances had stopped working, even the air conditioner was no longer humming. The room felt rather stuffy.

The room was dark, which made Li Hong instinctively feel very unsafe. She fumbled for her phone under her pillow and glanced at the time: 1:43 AM. Using the light from the phone screen, she looked around again; everything was the same as before she went to sleep.

She gradually calmed down and adjusted her pillow to make herself comfortable against it. Li Hong felt very energetic and didn't feel sleepy at all, so she sat in the darkness with her eyes wide open.

The images from her dream returned to her mind: bushes, bloodstains, shadows, corpses. The events in her dream were now as clear as if they were happening right before her eyes, down to every single detail.

Was this dream real? Was it something that happened in the past, or something that will happen in the future? She had never been to that jungle before and had no idea where it was. Who was the shadowy figure? Judging from his movements, he was a man. Did he kill that woman? Why couldn't he see me? Who was the deceased? Why did he look so much like the ghost from 104? Was the deceased the witch?

Suddenly, a sharp, needle-like pain shot through her right shoulder, almost making Li Hong cry out. She quickly covered the painful area with her hand, thinking she had been pricked by something on the bed. However, her right arm was perfectly fine, and the pain persisted even with her hand over it. She took out her phone and showed the screen to her right arm. To her astonishment, the painful area was the same mark she had noticed that afternoon, and now the entire mark seemed alive, wriggling and expanding with the stabbing pain. The pain was so intense, it felt as if someone was cutting her flesh with a knife. This caused Li Hong to break out in a sweat and let out a soft groan.

Just when she thought she couldn't hold on any longer, the pain slowly subsided, and the small mark that had initially appeared had expanded considerably, now the size of a palm. The shape of the mark was unremarkable, just randomly formed. Li Hong quickly checked the other marks; thankfully, the remaining three hadn't changed. Perhaps this was what Zheng Zhihao meant when he said it would slowly expand and eventually cover her entire body. But at this rate, it wouldn't even take a year; it might cover her entire body in a month. Was he lying to me?!

Li Hong's mind began to race, carefully considering every word Zheng Zhihao had told her. However, no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure out which words were true and which were false, because in her eyes, it all seemed like a dream, all of it seemed fake.

This is outrageous! I need to know what exactly happened.

She picked up her phone, deciding to call him now—if the mark was truly deadly, it was no joke, and waking him up now wouldn't hurt. Besides, the pain was excruciating; who knew if it would get worse later? Perhaps she would die from the pain before being cursed to death.

The call connected, but no one answered until finally being told, "The number you dialed is temporarily unavailable..." Li Hong was furious. Was this guy sleeping so soundly?

Just as she tossed her phone aside, Li Hong heard a familiar voice coming from the corridor. The voice was so familiar, as if it were completely imprinted in her mind, that even a faint echo from afar sent chills down her spine. It was the sound of those shoes from last night! Clatter, clatter!

30. Walking shoes (1)

Li Hong jumped out of bed in a flash. Without even putting on her shoes, she ran to the door. She carefully checked that the door was locked, then quietly moved a chair behind it. It seemed impossible to push the door open without considerable force; even if someone kicked it, she could hold them off for a while. Only then did she feel slightly relieved, pressing her ear close to the door to listen for any sounds outside.

The sound of footsteps approached, the soles of shoes scraping against the corridor floor, echoing loudly. To Li Hong, it sounded more like they were scraping against her heart. She felt her adrenaline surge, her heart pounding, her eardrums buzzing, and her whole body trembling with tension and fear.

A rustling sound grew closer, moving at the same speed as yesterday. In just a few seconds, it would reach Li Hong's room near the end of the corridor. This couldn't be a hallucination; Li Hong could even tell from the sound that the person walking seemed to have an injured leg, moving more slowly. Could no one else hear this? she wondered. Where were the floor attendants? The sound echoed in the quiet corridor; even light sleepers would be awakened. Could it be that this sound, like a mark, was only audible and visible to me?

The sound grew closer. Li Hong stopped approaching the door and slowly backed away, clearly feeling her legs were so weak and trembling uncontrollably that she could barely stand. "Be strong!" she told herself. How could she run if her legs were so weak? She tried desperately to muster the strength in her thighs, but she couldn't stop the trembling.

Finally, footsteps reached her door.

Li Hong held her breath, remaining completely still, trying her best not to make a sound so that the things at the door would think she was asleep. Her eyes darted back and forth between the doorknob and the crack in the door, afraid that something might happen. The crack in the door was illuminated again, and Li Hong was sure that if she lay down now, she would still be able to see the cloth shoes through the crack.

The sounds at the door ceased, and there was no more movement. Li Hong waited there. She didn't know what she was waiting for. If she were to escape now, there was no other way but to jump out the window. If Zheng Zhihao had already pasted talismans on the door like yesterday, then this guy at the door shouldn't be able to get in—that's what happened yesterday.

"Click..." The door opened softly.