Военный советник и принцесса

Глава 18

"Teacher Li? What brings you here? You got here so quickly!" He stepped forward and extended his hand.

Li Hong shook hands with him and smiled, "I was just passing by and thought I'd drop by." She peeked into the gate, then pretended not to know anything and asked, "What happened? Aren't you from the Haidian branch? What are you doing here?"

"Hey, don't even mention it." Xiao Jia lit a cigarette. "Old Fang's wife is in the hospital, she's having surgery tomorrow. It's been two weeks, and Old Fang hasn't visited her once. He's only going to see her tonight. The Xicheng branch doesn't have any emergency personnel. There was no other way, so the accident investigation team transferred me here." Then he pointed to the scene behind him and said, "Elevator accident, a woman fell to her death."

"From how high did you fall?" Li Hong asked.

"He fell from the 17th floor into the elevator shaft. 999 people are still missing; the scene is horrific."

Li Hong gasped. Falling from such a height, especially in an elevator shaft, the scene must have been horrific.

"Why are even the criminal police here?" Li Hong asked.

"Oh, the property management reported it. They initially thought the woman had been pushed. Would you like to go in and check on her now?"

Li Hong hesitated for a moment. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to see inside. If it was just an elevator accident, it wasn't her business. She was essentially an outsider, without the authority to intervene in the investigation. She could only formally appear when her superiors requested her assistance.

"Let's go in and take a look! There's still some residual information inside," Zheng Zhihao suddenly said, clearly wanting to get to the scene as soon as possible.

"Is it appropriate?" Li Hong didn't answer Zheng Zhihao, but asked Xiao Jia instead.

“If you want to see the scene, there’s nothing wrong with it, but 999 is still inside, and there’s not enough room for so many people in the elevator shaft. However, the family members will be arriving soon, and there will be even more people at the scene in a while, so you won’t be able to see it even if you want to,” Xiao Jia said.

"Alright then, I'll go in and take a look."

"Be careful, there's blood all over the ground, don't slip," Xiao Jia warned.

Li Hong nodded gratefully to him and then walked into the office building lobby.

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

Led by a security guard, Li Hong descended to the elevator maintenance corridor on the third basement level. A number of people were gathered there—police officers, paramedics, property management staff, and security guards—all speaking in hushed tones. Li Hong saw the body had already been carried out, covered with a white sheet and placed to one side, the sheet now stained crimson with blood. Blood was still dripping from the stretcher holding the body. A 999 medical worker was filling out some forms, while two others had large blood stains on their sleeves. An elevator maintenance worker from the office building's property management was squatting against the wall near the entrance, smoking one cigarette after another, leaving behind a trail of ash and cigarette butts on the ground.

Now she could only catch a glimpse of the scene from afar: the filthy elevator shaft was covered in blood and various colored pieces of corpse debris, like it had been smeared with copious amounts of fermented bean curd and peanut butter. It was difficult to distinguish the various pieces of equipment; debris clung to the buffers, and the guide rails were stained with red blood and black lubricant. Two policemen were constantly taking pictures—the accident scene was truly nauseating.

"There's nothing much to see here, let's go to the 17th floor," Zheng Zhihao said.

"Really?" Li Hong asked softly, "Don't we need to look at this part anymore?"

"Yes. This girl was killed by the collision between the elevator's steel cables and guide rails before she fell to the ground. Her death was horribly tragic."

Li Hong looked up. She saw that along the seemingly endless elevator shaft, there was a light every few meters, illuminating this dark and terrifying space. The elevator counterweight was hanging to one side, and the traction steel cable was still trembling slightly. She squinted and saw that a large amount of blood was splattered on one of the guide rails.

Li Hong turned away, no longer looking. She didn't intend to look at the body again, but instead walked directly out of the maintenance corridor. All the elevators were out of service; the only way to get to the 17th floor was by taking the stairs.

Now she was alone in the dark stairwell, the motion-activated lights always a step too late to turn on. Li Hong's heavy footsteps echoed in the stairwell, making her feel as if she were walking in a 16th-century castle.

"You're saying Liu Yun killed this girl?" Li Hong asked as she climbed the stairs.

"Pretty much. Liu Yun caused this accident," Zheng Zhihao said.

"How did she do it? Did she lure the girl into jumping into the elevator shaft herself?"

"It shouldn't be. I sensed Liu Yun's evil aura at the time, which was like an explosion that flashed by in an instant. Then I used my mental power to check where it happened and saw this building. I know this office building, so I was able to locate it immediately."

"You only sensed a brief burst of Liu Yun's evil aura?"

"Yes, it happened in an instant, but the energy released was enormous. I reckon Liu Yun pushed the girl. You know, ordinary soul field energy can't produce a physical effect; it requires too much energy. Like me right now, I can't even touch you. But the energy Liu Yun released in that instant was enough to push this girl into the deep well."

Li Hong shuddered. If that's the case, then they really should check the 17th floor.

"How do the elevator doors open?" Li Hong asked.

“This is not a difficult task for Liu Yun. For electromechanical devices like elevators, the soul field can easily cause some of the components to malfunction.”

“I understand.” Li Hong said, a little out of breath, “This girl was waiting for the elevator, and then Liu Yun opened the elevator door and gave her a push. Is that it?” She looked up and saw that she had climbed to the 11th floor, and plopped down: “Ouch, I can’t go on, I need to rest for a bit.”

"Okay, let's take a break," Zheng Zhihao said. "But I don't think it'll be that simple. You should be able to see the accident investigation report, right?"

“You can still see it if you want to,” Li Hong said, smoothing her hair. “But it will probably be about two months before you can see it. What are your current investigation priorities? What should I look for when I go up there?”

"I want to know why Liu Yun chose this girl, so I can find out who else she might target. Then we can lie in wait, catch her, and avenge my brother."

"Who's going to arrest you? You're going to arrest me?" Li Hong asked in surprise. "Are you alright in this state?"

“I still have you!” Zheng Zhihao said. “Now we’re one.”

“I can’t do this!” Li Hong quickly said.

"There's no reason why you can't do it. Just listen to me when the time comes."

"Don't count on me," Li Hong said, standing up. "I can't even climb the stairs anymore. There are still six floors left!"

2.06 finger bones

The stairwell on the 17th floor was empty, but the lights were on. Before Li Hong even reached the corridor, she could hear voices. It seemed that someone had already come to this floor to investigate. She glanced at the stairwell, which only had a large trash can, and finding nothing noteworthy, pushed open the partition door and entered the corridor elevator hall.

The elevator lobby was luxuriously decorated. Although the ceiling was low, making it feel slightly cramped, it was no different in terms of luxury from a five-star hotel. The gleaming black marble floor with its patterns, the bright and ornate chandeliers, and the crystal-clear wall lamps, all bathed in warm, beige light, gave the elevator lobby a comfortable and cozy feel—it was hard to imagine that an accident had just occurred here.

Li Hong saw that the outer door of the elevator involved in the accident was wide open, revealing a dark shaft that looked completely out of place in the elevator lobby. The elevator car was still stuck on the 18th floor, with only the safety brake at the bottom of the car visible. Three people were squatting beside the elevator door, carefully inspecting the switch and the car door, which had been disconnected and had a tangled mess of wires exposed. They were occasionally discussing technical issues with each other. When one of the young men saw Li Hong approaching, he asked her what was wrong, and after learning that she was also an investigator, he continued with his work.

It turned out the police hadn't arrived yet; only the accident investigation team's technicians were conducting their inspection. Perhaps the police had already reviewed the elevator lobby's security footage from the time of the accident and, finding no one else present, focused their investigation on the third basement level. Li Hong became the first police officer to reach the 17th floor. After curiously observing the technicians' work, she began searching the elevator lobby for other clues. She looked around and even went to the entrance of the deceased's company.

"Hey, over there, in that corner, there's something." Zheng Zhihao suddenly spoke, startling Li Hong. She looked up at a corner opposite the elevator door, where a beautifully designed, gleaming trash can stood, topped with a bowl-shaped ashtray, though it was tilted slightly. She took a few steps forward and found a delicate little leather bag in the shadows of the trash can. It seemed the deceased had flung the bag out before dying, knocking the ashtray askew before it fell into the shadows. The bag was gray; it wouldn't be easily spotted without careful observation.

“It’s this bag that has an evil aura,” Zheng Zhihao said. “A very faint evil aura, but it’s definitely Liu Yun’s scent.”

"Is there still any trace of Liu Yun's scent?" Li Hong asked softly. She first took out her small camera and snapped a picture, then put on her gloves and slowly took out her purse.

“It’s really strange. Apart from this bag, there’s no trace of Liu Yun here. There’s only the scent of the deceased lingering around—she wasn’t pushed down,” Zheng Zhihao said slowly. “I’ll show you.”

As Zheng Zhihao's voice faded, images appeared in Li Hong's mind: in the dimly lit elevator lobby, a blurry figure emerged, still bearing afterimages—the deceased was leaving the company. The perspective was tilted downwards, obscuring the view inside the elevator. Li Hong saw that the deceased had long, curly hair draped over her shoulders, but due to insufficient residual information and the blurry image, her clothing was indistinguishable. The image then abruptly cut off, jumping to the deceased about to run out of the ascending elevator, but seemingly pulled by someone inside, spun halfway around, stumbled, and fell backward. A black object flew out, followed by the deceased being struck by the elevator door sill and tumbling to the ground before sliding into the elevator shaft. The image slowly faded to black.

Li Hong got goosebumps all over. She trembled slightly as she put her purse on the ground and hugged her shoulders. The scene, which resembled a part of what she had witnessed, made her feel very uncomfortable. She couldn't imagine that what she saw was actually happening.

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Zheng Zhihao asked with concern.

Li Hong shook her head, trying to calm herself. She glanced back at the elevator door and the three busy people, feeling much more at ease. Then she looked down at the gray leather bag, thinking that this was the last item the deceased had come into contact with. However, her eyes couldn't leave the bag; she could only stare at it blankly, suddenly feeling as if the bag was scrutinizing her. She even imagined the bag looking at her from below. She took a step back, shaking her head in surprise.

“Hey, there’s something wrong with this bag, I see it,” Zheng Zhihao said.

"What did you see?" Li Hong asked.

"You can see it's looking at you."

Li Hong got goosebumps again. She disliked this feeling intensely, as if her thoughts were being controlled by this damned handbag. She took a deep breath and squatted down. "I'll see what's wrong with this handbag," she said, reaching out to pick it up and place it in a brighter spot in the corridor. Then she began to sort through the contents of the bag one by one.

The first thing she took out was the deceased's cell phone. It wasn't big, and she didn't know what model it was, but the many small trinkets hanging from it immediately caught her eye. Her right hand held the pile of cat and dog figurines, and she suddenly pinched a white cylindrical object buried among them.

"This is it!" Zheng Zhihao exclaimed excitedly. "This is the thing!"

Li Hong held the cylindrical object close to her eyes, examined it closely, and then said in a deep voice, "It's a proximal phalanx of the right hand; it's not a replica."

"What is that?" Zheng Zhihao asked. "Is it human bones?"

"Yes, the proximal phalanx of the right hand, which is the third phalanx of the finger, but it is impossible to tell which finger it belongs to. It should be the index or middle finger."

"Ah! So that's how it is. No wonder it has Liu Yun's scent; this finger bone belongs to Liu Yun."

"What? It's Liu Yun's finger bone?" Li Hong asked in surprise. "How can you be sure?"

"Believe me, the aura emanating from these finger bones is Liu Yun's. Although it's very faint, I'm very familiar with it."

Li Hong examined the bone fragment closely again. Without a microscope, she could only observe it roughly. The finger bone had been polished before being used as jewelry; the bone itself had fine grooves left by coarse sandpaper. A red thread was tied to the base of the thicker finger bone, firmly binding it to a cell phone chain. The sides of the base of the finger bone were severely worn, indicating that the deceased had likely worn it as jewelry for some time.

"How could she have Liu Yun's things?" Zheng Zhihao said thoughtfully, "and it's even part of her remains."

“Yes, it is indeed puzzling, but it is a powerful clue.” Li Hong also said, “It seems that some people need to explain some things after Liu Yun’s death, where her body is, and why the deceased has her remains.”

“Hey, I don’t know either!” Zheng Zhihao said. “I never saw her body after she died, and I don’t know who handled her funeral arrangements.”

Li Hong struggled to remove the finger bone, along with the wire, from the phone, and carefully placed it into the evidence bag. She looked at the clue with satisfaction and smiled.

"What about the rest?" Zheng Zhihao asked.

She then remembered there should be something else in her purse. However, she figured there wouldn't be anything else noteworthy. She crouched down and continued sorting through the contents of her bag. Sure enough, besides a pile of cosmetics, a large wallet, and a set of keys, there was nothing else.

"Hey, can we take the finger bone away?" Zheng Zhihao said.

“Of course not.” Li Hong answered without even thinking.

"But this thing is useless to the police. At most, it will be returned to her family as a keepsake—there is no living murderer in this case, so they don't need it."

Li Hong stopped what she was doing; the thought of secretly taking the evidence terrified her. However, Zheng Zhihao's argument made sense. Even if the police had this item, they wouldn't be able to proceed with their next steps because they simply wouldn't know who the finger bone belonged to. Li Hong believed that with current technology, even the most advanced technology couldn't directly identify the owner of the finger bone like Zheng Zhihao had. Moreover, the police might not even notice this important clue among the pile of small items hanging on the phone charm.

Thinking of this, Li Hong slowly put the small evidence bag into her pocket.

"Good boy~~~~" Zheng Zhihao said with a smile.

"Wait a minute," Li Hong suddenly said, "Why did we discover this clue so quickly? It's so inconspicuous, but it seems to have jumped out and appeared right in front of us. What a coincidence!"

Zheng Zhihao was silent for a moment, and then slowly said, "We are looking for it, and it is looking for us too."

2.07 Fire

It was past 1 a.m. when Li Hong emerged from the office building, yawning. She felt like she could fall asleep just walking. But upon seeing Xiao Jia, she roused herself and specifically asked him to let her know the progress of the official investigation. Xiao Jia agreed, and only then did she return to school with the small bag of evidence and climb back into her bed.

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

Li Hong slept very restlessly that night, feeling as if she had been involved in something she shouldn't have. Lying in bed, she silently prayed for daylight to come quickly. However, contrary to her wishes, she had another strange dream.

Li Hong didn't understand why she was having dreams that were unrelated to herself but connected to the case, just like when she dreamed of Ya Chaolan's burial site. This was a phenomenon that was completely inexplicable from a scientific perspective. Now she was very clearly aware that she was in a dream and had a premonition that she would see another event, but she couldn't wake herself up.

This was a corridor, dimly lit by tiny, kerosene lamp-like lights overhead, casting long, shadowy shadows. Li Hong looked around, finally confirming that she had never been here before. It was the corridor of an old-fashioned building, very similar to the dormitory she lived in when she was in school. However, it hadn't been cleaned in a long time; dust swirled everywhere, and the once-white walls were covered in black grime, like snowflakes blanketing the uneven surfaces. Every five or six meters or so, there were two wooden doors on either side of the wall, their original color long since obscured, with only the room numbers, seemingly written in congealed blood, still faintly discernible.

Li Hong walked about 20 meters and saw that all the wooden doors were closed. She didn't know what kind of event she was about to face, so she felt uneasy. Although, based on experience, she was invisible in dreams and the person in the dream couldn't see her, she was still worried that she might suddenly see something terrible.

The door on the left, not far ahead, opened silently just as Li Hong approached, as if welcoming her. Li Hong tilted her head, trying to peek behind the door, but the angle was too narrow to see anything. She slowly moved forward, leaning against the right side of the corridor. Now she saw the room number on the door, three crooked digits: 413.

Li Hong took a deep breath and then walked towards the door.

Behind the door was a cluttered room. Aside from a few essential pieces of furniture—a bed and a table—the rest of the space was filled with all sorts of odds and ends. Li Hong saw a woman sitting cross-legged on the large bed against the wall. Her hair was disheveled, obscuring her face. She wore a loose, dark robe of indeterminate style, and swayed from side to side as if she were ill and unable to support herself. About ten candles burned around her, casting a dim light that made the woman on the bed appear even more sinister.

Li Hong didn't go in immediately, but stood at the doorway. She wasn't sure if the woman truly couldn't see her, and feared her sudden appearance might disturb her. However, Li Hong knew that what she was seeing was real, and she began to wonder who this woman was and what she was doing.

The woman on the bed trembled slightly, then reached out her right hand and groped around on the bed. After a moment, Li Hong saw her pick up a piece of yellow paper and casually light it on the nearest candle. The burning yellow paper emitted an orange-red light, illuminating the woman's face. Li Hong saw that she had a beautiful face, but her disheveled hair and the surrounding light and shadow made her face look very eerie. Li Hong felt that she had seen this face before, but she couldn't be sure; there was too much unfamiliarity mixed with familiarity. Now she began to move further into the room, wanting to confirm her judgment more closely.

The yellow paper burned to ashes and fell onto the woman's legs. Some of the ash that hadn't completely burned down drifted down with a light, instantly illuminating a small area in front of the woman's legs. Li Hong saw a black dot there with a red cloth tied around it.

She is Liu Yun! That black dot is the Soul Bottle, an important magical artifact for spirit hunters.

Li Hong's head buzzed, and she felt a little dizzy. She stumbled a step, then steadied herself by holding onto a cardboard box beside her. Why did she dream of her?! When did this happen? What was she doing? Li Hong looked around the small room again, hoping to find some clues. But apart from knowing there was only one room, she had no other clues. Thick newspapers were pasted on the window behind the bed, and the table under the windowsill was filled with strange items: an incense burner piled with ash, messy yellow paper, a bottle with a calligraphy brush stuck in it, and several thread-bound ancient books. Li Hong felt as if she had traveled back to ancient times.

Suddenly, the woman began to emit a ghostly blue light, attracting Li Hong's attention. She saw that the woman now looked just like Zheng Zhihao had when he performed his ritual; the ghostly light covered her entire body, and small flashes of lightning occasionally appeared, outlining a blue silhouette on her body. Then the woman began to tremble violently, and the blue light intensified.

Li Hong quickly took a few steps back, instinctively feeling fear. At that moment, the woman on the bed opened her mouth, as if shouting something, but Li Hong couldn't hear anything. Then, a powerful gust of air began to swirl around the woman, causing the candles to flicker. Li Hong looked up and saw the woman's shadow on the ceiling, trembling like a demon. The air current grew stronger and stronger, and even Li Hong felt she was about to lose her footing. She saw the woman enveloped by the air current, and some eerie blue faces appeared within it, grinning maliciously.

Li Hong pressed her wind-blown hair down, staring wide-eyed at what was happening before her. She saw that the candles, though not extinguished by the airflow, were still burning stubbornly, though several had fallen and ignited the yellow paper placed beside them. The yellow paper burned, its flames intensifying with the help of the airflow, producing a faint smoke. The smoke rose, merging with the swirling air.