Ghost Says - Chapter 4.1

Lin Xian did not restrict his freedom. In fact, their living arrangement was more like two tenants sharing a roof.

The house was quite nice. It was an apartment located in an upscale residential complex, on a high floor with a beautiful night view. The complex’s security was excellent. Unfamiliar faces were required to show identification upon entry, visits lasting over three hours had to be registered in advance, and security guards patrolled every night, ensuring a very high level of safety.

Even to Qiao Gang, who wasn’t particularly knowledgeable about such things, the interior decor and furnishings were clearly very tasteful. His understanding of the word “tasteful” was simply—it cost a lot of money.

Overall, this house didn’t seem like a place the police would use for protection or surveillance. Lin Xian also frankly admitted that this was his private residence, saying he wasn’t used to living elsewhere.

Qiao Gang found this somewhat incomprehensible. Would an ordinary person, for this reason, allow someone who could be considered a suspect to live with them? Or was he just overly confident in himself?

Lin Xian was a person who demanded high quality of life. The house was kept very clean, not because he liked tidying up, but because he hired a part-time cleaner.

He liked everything to be in order. Books he had read would be returned to their original places, used water glasses would be washed clean and put back in the cabinet, and clothes he had changed out of would be folded neatly and placed in the laundry basket in the bathroom.

Even for the auntie who came regularly to clean and cook, his requirements were very strict.

Lin Xian usually had his breakfast and lunch outside, but for dinner, he required it to be served promptly at 6 o’clock. It had to be three dishes and a soup, without repeating dishes within a week. The taste was needless to say, and the nutritional balance had to be healthy. The house had to be cleaned once a day, windows washed once a week, and the bathroom cleaned every two days.

He had a piece of jade, green and translucent in color. He liked to fiddle with it often, and wouldn’t let anyone else touch it. He didn’t even take it off when he bathed.

There were many such things that Qiao Gang found fussy. He now realized how happy he had been living with Jian Xia.

This guy was definitely the worst choice for a roommate!

To someone as easygoing as Qiao Gang, Lin Xian was like an alien.

Whenever he wandered around the living room wearing only boxers, he could feel the ice-cold, lethal gaze shooting at him from behind.

Qiao Gang was very unhappy. Isn’t this how a man should be? Why did freaks like Lin Xian exist?

The two of them were like two different species living on the same planet. Apart from speaking the same language, they had virtually nothing in common.

One would think that with Lin Xian’s personality, he should be very impatient about sharing his personal space. But judging solely from his facial expressions, it was impossible to analyze what he was thinking.

As usual, Qiao Gang came out after his shower, wearing only a pair of bright red beach shorts. As soon as he entered the living room, he was immediately subjected to Lin Xian’s laser-like gaze. Qiao Gang had no choice but to put on a T-shirt over his shorts.

Lin Xian withdrew his gaze and continued with his crossword puzzle.

Qiao Gang glanced at it, found it boring, and picked up a nearby newspaper to look at the job advertisements.

After living here for a week, Qiao Gang felt he couldn’t take it anymore. Although the house was nice and rent-free, which was hard to come by, he still felt very uncomfortable.

He needed a job to divert his increasingly irritable mood.

Over the past week, nothing unusual had happened.

Lin Xian’s investigation hadn’t turned up anything either. No one on the list he provided had any motive or means to commit a crime.

Xiaoyu and Jian Xia, his best friend and girlfriend. Their faces kept appearing in his mind.

If the killer was really after him, why hadn’t they appeared yet?

Did “he” want to kill everyone around him? Who would be next? If “his” goal was to kill those closest to him, would Lin Xian, who was now living with him, be in danger?

Knowing this, why did Lin Xian insist on living together with him?

Was it curiosity about these strange cases?

Qiao Gang believed that the change in the case’s supervisor wasn’t coincidental. Police were human too, and sometimes they were helpless against entities that transcended the law.

What use were the police against targets that couldn’t be subdued by numerical advantage or violent means?

Perhaps calling a few monks to chant some sutras would be more effective.

After filling in the last letter, Lin Xian put down the magazine he was holding. Only then did Qiao Gang realize that what he had been looking at was an English magazine.

He took off his glasses. Qiao Gang knew he had mild myopia.

Lin Xian looked at Qiao Gang, who had just finished his shower and whose hair was still damp. His expression was characteristically devoid of humanity.

“Based on the list you provided, after investigation, all the subjects lack the motive and conditions to commit the crime. Of course, this judgment is made under the assumption of ‘ordinary people’, so we can now try to expand the range of suspects.”

Qiao Gang began to take it seriously. Dissatisfied with the progress of the police investigation, if he hadn’t been completely clueless about what had happened, he would have gone to search for clues on his own long ago.

“Can you think back carefully, was there anything unusual that happened before these events?” Lin Xian thought for a moment and added, “Anything at all, whatever you can remember, even if it’s very minor, you can mention it.”

Qiao Gang pondered carefully. The beginning of the events was Wen Dayong’s death. Before that, he had a fight with Wen Dayong, and they hadn’t spoken since. What happened before that?

Almost immediately, Qiao Gang recalled that somewhat bizarre funeral invitation.

It was like a curse, opening the gates of hell after receiving it.

“I don’t know if this counts, but a few days before Wen Dayong died, I attended a high school classmate’s funeral. But only I… received an invitation.”

In fact, sending invitations for a funeral was extremely strange in itself. Chinese custom was not to directly send obituary cards to people. To let everyone come and pay respects, they would usually just post obituary notices.

Everyone had received wedding invitations before. But invitations to attend a dead person’s funeral were indeed unheard of.

Moreover…this was an invitation from the deceased.

“Do you still have that invitation?”

Qiao Gang shook his head and said with a wry smile, “I felt it was too inauspicious, so I threw it away on my way home.”

Lin Xian sighed almost inaudibly, then asked, “What was his name?”

“…Song Yuan. Song as in the Song Dynasty, Yuan as in far away.”

Lin Xian found Song Yuan’s image in the only high school graduation photo that Qiao Gang had managed to dig out.

He frowned. This was a rare occurrence for him.

“I can’t see his face. Is there a clearer one?”

In the photo, the man’s long bangs almost covered half of his face. It was hard to imagine that such a hairstyle was within the tolerance range of a high school homeroom teacher.

He was standing just behind and to the left of Qiao Gang. His eyes were hidden, so his gaze couldn’t be seen, but his visible lips were clearly not smiling. Among the other classmates who were smiling either openly or subtly, he stood out as gloomy and somber.

Qiao Gang in the foreground, his young face still carrying a hint of childishness, was smiling brightly. He seemed particularly blessed under the sun, as if all the sunlight had been crushed and sprinkled on his face.

When people looked at this photo, their eyes would surely be drawn to him first, even though he wasn’t standing in the center of the group.

Even Lin Xian was the same.

Some people are born with the ability to attract others’ attention, radiating a dazzling light.

“I barely have any impression of him. We hardly spoke during the three years of high school. I only remember that he was very good at studying. Whether it was regular tests or final exams, he was always in the top three. But during classes, he never listened to the teachers, always reading his own books or sleeping. I once glanced at the book he was reading, but I’ve forgotten the title. It wasn’t a textbook, anyway.”

“Strangely, the teachers never said anything to him. I guess as long as your grades are good, anything can be forgiven.”

Hearing the slightly sour tone in Qiao Gang’s voice, it was clear what opinion he had held of Song Yuan back then.

An eccentric, teacher’s pet honor student and a student who wasn’t great at studying but excelled in sports and was popular – even if they weren’t in opposition, they certainly wouldn’t have gotten along.

“The well water does not intrude into the river water ” was probably the best description of their relationship.

If not for that funeral, Qiao Gang might not have even remembered Song Yuan’s name.

So, to say all this was related to him, wouldn’t that be too far-fetched?

However, Lin Xian felt this lead was worth investigating. Since all these cases were beyond common sense, what was wrong with investigating a dead person?

Qiao Gang thought about it and agreed. There were no other leads anyway, so they might as well give it a try.

Moreover, Lin Xian wasn’t like other police officers. He even allowed Qiao Gang to participate in the investigation.

This action group seemed to consist of just the two of them.

The two discussed for a long time that night, planning to work separately but cooperatively. Qiao Gang would visit Song Yuan’s family to see if he could find out anything, while Lin Xian would be responsible for investigating the cause of Song Yuan’s death.

Strangely enough, Qiao Gang didn’t know the cause of Song Yuan’s death and hadn’t asked about it at the funeral.

Given Lin Xian’s position, he was naturally more suited for this task.

If it was an unnatural death, there would surely be a forensic autopsy report. If he died from illness, the hospital would have relevant records.

The next morning, Qiao Gang woke up at seven o’clock.

Lin Xian lived a very regular life, waking up promptly at six every morning. He had already made coffee and was sitting at the dining table, with sliced bread bought from the supermarket yesterday in front of him.

When Qiao Gang came out, he looked like he hadn’t slept enough and was rubbing his shoulder.

Seeing his stiff movements, Lin Xian asked curiously, “What’s wrong?”

Qiao Gang frowned and said, “I might have slept in a bad position these past few days. Every morning when I wake up, my muscles are very sore.”

“Oh, I have some medicine in my room. You can use it later if you want.”

Qiao Gang shook his head, “It’s fine, it’ll get better soon.”

Lin Xian said no more. After finishing breakfast, he left, agreeing with Qiao Gang to contact each other by phone if anything came up.

Qiao Gang went to the bathroom to wash up. Later, when he was changing clothes, he unexpectedly found some redness on his arm. The red areas looked somewhat like fingerprints.

Could sleeping leave such marks?

Qiao Gang found it a bit strange, but when he touched it, it didn’t hurt. It was like the marks left from sleeping pressure, which would disappear on their own after a while.

He didn’t pay much attention to it. After cooking and eating something simple, he tucked the note with Song Yuan’s home address that Lin Xian had found last night into his pocket and left.

Following the address on the note, Qiao Gang found Song Yuan’s home.

Although he knew their family was wealthy, he didn’t expect their house to be this big.

Qiao Gang stood in front of a two-story house, marveling.

Song Yuan’s neighborhood was quite tranquil, with few people moving about even during the day. The house showed signs of history but was well-maintained, with clean windows visible from the outside, giving it an elegant and graceful appearance.

After knocking, Qiao Gang waited for a long time, but no one came to open the door. He wondered silently if no one was home.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, the door suddenly opened. The clear sound of the iron gate opening rang out behind him.

The one who pushed open the door was a man’s hand.

In the shadow of the door, that hand appeared unusually pale.

The owner of the hand stood behind the door, quietly watching him.

It was a very young man, dressed in a simple white shirt and trousers. Although such attire would typically seem hot in this weather, he showed no signs of discomfort from the heat.

Moreover, this person’s appearance…Qiao Gang suddenly felt it was somewhat familiar.

“Who are you looking for?” the man asked.

His voice wasn’t particularly pleasant, but there was an inexplicable desire to keep listening to it.

Qiao Gang hurriedly explained that he was Song Yuan’s classmate and had come specially to visit his uncle and aunt.

The man looked a bit troubled and explained that Song Yuan’s father was ill and hospitalized. His mother had taken their daughter to the hospital to accompany him and probably wouldn’t be back until very late.

Seeing Qiao Gang frown, the man smiled again and said he could wait here, as they might return soon.

Qiao Gang thought this made sense and accepted the invitation to enter the house.

The man went to the kitchen to get drinks, telling Qiao Gang to sit and wait for a moment. Having walked for so long, Qiao Gang was indeed a bit thirsty and didn’t know how long he’d have to wait, so he didn’t stand on ceremony and just said ice water would be fine.

After drinking a glass of water, he instantly felt refreshed. Because he drank too quickly, some water spilled on him. Noticing the man’s gaze, Qiao Gang smiled a bit embarrassedly.

“It’s too hot outside. The weather forecast said it would be 36 degrees today.”

The man nodded, seemingly unaffected by the heat outside, and just asked if he wanted another glass.

Qiao Gang shook his head, saying what he had drunk was enough.

They chatted for a while longer, and after some questions, Qiao Gang learned that this young man was Song Yuan’s cousin.