What were these people doing here? Lin Fan turned on her flashlight and entered the stairwell. At the corner on the second floor, she indeed saw Liu Piaopiao. Half of her face was a bloody mess, and she stood there motionless. Lin Ze was the first to react and burst into tears.
“Mom!”
Liu Piaopiao looked up and saw Lin Ze, blinking. Lin Ze ran over to her.
“Mom.”
She hugged Lin Ze but kept her eyes on Lin Fan, wary. “What are you doing here? What do you want?”
Lin Fan scanned her surroundings before focusing on Liu Piaopiao. “I came to find you.”
Liu Piaopiao hugged Lin Ze closer and took a step back, realizing she shouldn’t have shown fear. She raised her chin proudly. “Your father is gone, why are you looking for me?”
Lin Fan: “...”
“Mom, are you dead too?” Lin Ze peeked from behind, looking at the terrifying half of her face before quickly averting his eyes. “What happened to your face?”
“My face?” Liu Piaopiao touched it, bringing her hand close to her eyes. Seeing it covered in blood, she froze for a moment before screaming and running upstairs. Lin Ze was nearly thrown against the wall. He and Lin Fan exchanged glances.
“Is my mom dead too?”
“You were both killed by the same person,” Lin Fan said. “The first cut on her must have been to the face, followed by several more. You know what happened to you; otherwise, you wouldn’t have been clutching your head.”
Lin Ze had come to understand the meaning of death over the past few days. His eyes turned red, and he clenched his fingers. “That man looked familiar. I don’t know his name—”
Before he could finish, the woman who had been screaming upstairs came running down again. Lin Fan stepped aside, but she stopped at the corner, trying to grab Lin Fan but missing, falling to the first floor.
She looked up, her bloodshot eyes glaring. “Am I—dead?”
“Yeah.” Lin Fan and Lin Ze stood together.
“So, I’m a ghost now?”
“Yeah.”
“Azhe is dead too?” Liu Piaopiao held her head, staring intently at Lin Ze.
Lin Ze lifted his head, revealing his wound. “Mom, I’m dead too.”
“Ah!”
Liu Piaopiao ran off in a frenzy, leaving Lin Fan and Lin Ze bewildered. Lin Fan’s mouth twitched. Is his mom crazy? So easily startled! Suddenly, loud wailing echoed from afar, heart-wrenching cries that shattered the night.
Lin Ze nudged Lin Fan. “Sis—my mom.” He looked outside. “Does she know who the murderer is?”
“Put your head back on first,” Lin Fan said.
Lin Ze fixed his head back in place and moved his neck. “How long is she going to cry?”
“I don’t know.”
Lin Fan shoved her hands into her pockets; it was quite cold. Her phone rang, and she saw a message from Qin Feng, “Are you okay?”
Lin Fan replied, “I’m fine. I saw Liu Piaopiao.”
After sending the message, Lin Ze ran downstairs, and Lin Fan followed. Liu Piaopiao had lost all semblance of dignity, sitting on the ground, crying uncontrollably, occasionally pounding the floor like a shrew.
Lin Ze stood beside her. “Mom, we’re already dead. Crying won’t help.”
“I had a hundred million in my hands, so much money, and now I’m dead!” Liu Piaopiao cried so hard that one of her eyeballs fell out, a gruesome sight. Lin Fan turned away. “That bastard! After all these years together, he killed me.”
“And your son too,” Lin Fan added.
Liu Piaopiao glared at Lin Fan with anger. “You’re a bad person too!”
Lin Fan sighed. “You made my dad jump off a building and kicked me out. How does that make me the bad one? Who killed you? Where does he live?”
Liu Piaopiao stopped crying, her eyeball back in place, the flesh on her face barely hanging on.
She glared at Lin Fan, pulling Lin Ze close.
“Who is he?”
“Who are you? Are you a ghost hunter? Here to capture us?”
“I’m human,” Lin Fan said. “A friend of mine is handling your case. Until the murderer is caught, you ghosts can’t reincarnate.” Given their intelligence, they probably couldn’t become serious vengeful spirits. As wandering ghosts, they’d likely dissipate in a few decades or centuries.
“Are you after my money?”
Lin Fan closed her eyes, feeling the urge to leave. When she had been under Liu Piaopiao’s roof, she’d suffered plenty. Liu Piaopiao was far from a good person, full of scheming thoughts.
“I find your money dirty.” Lin Fan tightened her lips and clenched her fists. “Whether you can reincarnate has nothing to do with me. I just feel sorry for Lin Ze.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Liu Piaopiao hugged Lin Ze, whom Lin Fan could touch but not Liu Piaopiao, likely due to their blood relation. Lin Fan looked into Lin Ze’s eyes, feeling pity for him.
“His name is Fu Li.” Liu Piaopiao gritted her teeth for a long time before laughing. “I’m already dead, so there’s no point hiding it. Money is just external.”
She held Lin Ze, trying to press her face to his, but her blurred face made it impossible. “Lin Fan, I did deceive your father. Azhe is his child, but everything else was a lie.”
Liu Piaopiao came from a poor family and had studied a superficial major in college. After graduation, she couldn’t find a job. At that time, she liked a guy named Shen Tong, but he was too poor. Through introductions, Liu Piaopiao met Lin Chengwei, an uneducated, unattractive man much older than her, but he treated her exceptionally well, almost always complying with her wishes.
She soon became pregnant, and they got married. After giving birth, Liu Piaopiao wanted to work. Being a housewife bored her, and she was tired of seeing Lin Chengwei’s old face. Lin Chengwei, being traditional, wanted his wife to stay home, but he couldn’t resist her insistence. She joined the company in a minor role, eventually getting involved with the tall, handsome Fu Li.
Qin Feng’s text came through again, “Confirmed, the murderer is Fu Li. No need to investigate further. Go home and rest.”
Lin Fan put her phone away and looked at Liu Piaopiao, who was smiling for some unknown reason.
“But then things went wrong, and Fu Li and I fell out.”
“You two set up a fake company to scam my dad’s money. Due to a dispute over the spoils, he killed you. Right?” Lin Fan’s expression was neutral, her heart calm. She couldn’t understand how someone could be so wicked, to the point of killing their own partner.
“You know everything? You’re not simple.” Liu Piaopiao’s laugh was tinged with mockery. “I thought a country girl like you wouldn’t understand these things. Why pretend otherwise?”
Lin Fan clenched her fingers, gritting her teeth. “I’m different from you. I’ve never harmed anyone.”
Liu Piaopiao said nothing, biting her crimson lips.
“Mom—” Lin Ze said, “Where is he? Let the police catch him.”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you really not know?” Lin Fan asked. “Are you still protecting him?”
Liu Piaopiao shook her head. Lin Fan said, “Alright then, I’m leaving.”
Lin Ze wanted to follow, but Liu Piaopiao held him back and whispered, “What is she exactly? Human or ghost?”
“Human.”
“Then why can she see us? Are we really dead?”
Lin Ze frowned and thought seriously, “Mom, my head fell off. Can I still be alive?”
---
The next day was overcast. Lin Fan stayed home waiting for Qin Feng, who had helped her take the day off. After finishing an English test paper, Lin Fan still hadn’t heard from Qin Feng, and he hadn’t returned.
She put down her pen and went to the kitchen to cook some noodles. Suddenly, hurried footsteps sounded behind her. Lin Fan grabbed a spatula and turned around to see an anxious Lin Ze. “Sister, my mom found that man.”
Lin Fan turned off the stove and set down the spatula. “Where?”
“Follow me, I’ll take you to him. He’ll run if we don’t hurry.”
“Address?”
“I don’t know. I can’t remember.” Lin Ze was on the verge of tears, hitting his head. “I can’t remember.”
Seeing him about to knock his head off, Lin Fan quickly changed shoes, grabbed her backpack, and headed out, calling Qin Feng. Qin Feng answered quickly.
“Brother Qin, have you caught Fu Li yet?”
“No, why?”
“Lin Ze is with me.” Lin Fan saw the anxious look on Lin Ze’s face as he fidgeted nervously. She looked up at the cloudy sky, relieved it wasn’t sunny. Otherwise, Lin Ze might vanish. “He says Liu Piaopiao has found Fu Li.”
“Address?”
“He doesn’t remember. He’s too young.”
“Ask him to describe the place.”
Lin Fan asked Lin Ze, “You don’t know the address, but you know what the place looks like, right?”
Lin Ze scratched his head. “It’s very dirty, messy, and smelly. Lots of small shops, ugly women, and colorful signs.”
Lin Fan repeated this to Qin Feng, who asked, “Is he in a building or somewhere else?”
“A building. A disgusting place.”
Lin Fan relayed this. Qin Feng said, “Wait at home. I’ll come pick you up.”
After ten minutes, Lin Ze suddenly paled. “He’s coming. I have to go.”
Lin Fan said, “Go wait with your mom. I’ll be there soon.”
Lin Ze, looking terrified, nodded and ran off.
A black car screeched to a stop. Qin Feng lowered the window, revealing his stern face. “Get in.”
The back seat held Xiao Wang, who greeted Lin Fan while working on a laptop. “Xiu Street matches the description, but it’s a broad area. How do we narrow it down? Any proof?”
“Catching him will be the proof.”
Lin Fan fastened her seatbelt and studied Qin Feng’s tired face, with dark circles under his eyes. “Did you find the place?”
“Stay in the car when we get there,” Qin Feng said, his voice heavy with fatigue. Lin Fan glanced at him longer, realizing he hadn’t slept all night. “I sent Lin Ze ahead. Maybe he’ll leave me some clues.”
“It’s dangerous.” Qin Feng tapped the steering wheel, his voice deepening. “Don’t act recklessly this time.”
Lin Fan turned to look out the window, not arguing.
They soon reached Xiu Street. Qin Feng got out, and Lin Fan followed from the other side. Xiu Street was deserted at noon. Where had Lin Ze seen so many women?
Xiu Street mostly had nightclubs, empty during the day. After a few steps, Qin Feng turned back to the car. “Wrong place.”
Lin Fan followed, getting in. “Why?”
Qin Feng checked the city map on his phone, quickly locking onto a location. “Chengdong Village.”
Xiao Wang swiftly investigated. Qin Feng’s initial guess of Xiu Street was due to Lin Ze’s mention of many women, which might have been the boy’s simple focus. Fortunately, Chengdong Village was close to Xiu Street. They arrived quickly, finding a bustling village with crowded shops and colorful signs.
The streets were too narrow for the car, so Qin Feng parked. As soon as they stopped, Lin Fan got out, ignoring the stay-in-the-car order. Qin Feng frowned but let it slide, knowing he couldn’t control her. “Is this the place?” Lin Fan asked anxiously.
“Most urban villages have been demolished in recent years. This is the last one in the east.” Unable to control Lin Fan, Qin Feng handed her a police baton, his face stern. “Take this.”
Lin Fan beamed, knowing he’d agree. Qin Feng tapped her shoulder, leading the way into the crowded street. “Don’t talk out loud,” he warned.
“Got it.”
Lin Fan gripped the short baton. Xiao Wang followed. The chaotic, filthy street smelled of food mixed with sewage. Lin Fan kept rubbing her nose, not seeing Lin Ze anywhere.
They walked down the street. Yesterday, they had searched Fu Li’s house, finding a fingerprint matching one at Liu Piaopiao’s.
Lin Fan’s gaze suddenly caught Lin Ze’s figure 200 meters away, ducking into an alley. She chased after him, shouting to Qin Feng, “Don’t follow too closely. I see Lin Ze.”
Lin Ze feared Qin Feng, as did all ghosts.
“Lin Ze!” Lin Fan called. Lin Ze stopped, turning back. He looked transparent and weak. “Sister.”
“Where is he?”
Lin Ze pointed to a large door. “Here.”
“What floor?”
Lin Fan ran to the door, Qin Feng following. Lin Ze vanished. Lin Fan frowned and pointed. “Lin Ze said he’s here.”
Qin Feng scanned the surroundings. The building was four stories high, with windows on all sides. He saw Xiao Wang catching up, out of breath, and signaled, “You guard the outside.”
Without confirmation, they couldn’t bring a large team.
“I’ll notify the others.”
“Okay.”
Qin Feng knocked on the door, Xiao Wang drawing his gun and standing ready.
An elderly woman opened the door, squinting at Qin Feng. “What do you want? No rooms for rent.”
“Police business.” Qin Feng showed his badge and a photo. “Have you seen this man?”
The woman hadn’t responded when Lin Fan squeezed into the courtyard, glancing at the photo. She recognized him from her father’s study.
The courtyard had a grapevine stretching to the second floor. Lin Fan looked up. Qin Feng spoke softly to the slow-speaking, forgetful woman.
Lin Fan suddenly saw a head pop out from the third floor, then disappear.
“Oh, I remember. That man is the boyfriend of someone in 203. He’s been staying here—”
Before she finished, Lin Fan dashed up the stairs, police baton in hand. Qin Feng drew his gun and followed, shouting to the woman, “Get back inside!”