Headache, dizziness, weakness!
Sang Que woke up gagging, her whole body limp and breaking out in a cold sweat, as if all her energy had been drained.
This feeling was even more exhausting and miserable than running a marathon; she couldn't muster any strength, especially her head, which felt like it was being chiseled.
After taking a few breaths, Sang Que pressed her head and scanned her surroundings, stunned.
["I actually came back!"]
It was still at [Qin Lu's house], the same dark and dirty yard swarming with flies. Sang Que carefully checked herself; she was still in her original state.
Raising her wrist, the malfunctioning fitness bracelet returned to normal, and it was now [1:30 am].
Reaching into her pocket, Sang Que took out the objects to find the money bag she had taken from Ming Zhang and the blue-covered book she had kept in her sleeve, all still there.
The previous experience wasn't a dream, it wasn't fake!
Sang Que's mind went blank for a moment, and then she opened her right hand; the Yansheng coin and red string were gone, but a faint trace remained on her palm, the outline of the Yansheng coin.
Pulling up her sleeve, the black and blue handprint on her wrist had vanished. Had she destroyed the Ghost Child?
Wiping the blood from under her eyes, Sang Que staggered to Qin Lu's room for a glance; the corpse was still there, but the cold, eerie atmosphere of the courtyard had dissipated a lot.
She picked up her phone from the ground; the screen was cracked but still usable.
With trembling hands, Sang Que called the police and waited outside the courtyard.
Sitting on the steps outside the door, her eyes still stung, making her vision somewhat blurry. She rubbed them with her hand, only to suddenly notice an elderly woman with white hair standing across the street.
Once she lowered her hand, no one was there, only the streetlamp flickering with a zizz sound.
The lock on that door was rusty, as if it had been abandoned for years.
Sang Que dared not think more, instinctively keeping herself from overthinking, because the thought of such evil spirits still filled her with uncontainable fear.
The police arrived quickly, and Sang Que was taken to the police station, spending the entire day giving statements.
She was underage, only 16, and she explained her mother's disability to the police, so her mother was not called in for this inquiry; instead, her class teacher was asked to accompany her, as Qin Lu had no other relatives there, only the class teacher could be found.
Qin Lu hadn't died that night, and Sang Que had an alibi; there were surveillance records from her neighborhood to the village.
The only suspicion was [why she reported to the police more than an hour after entering Qin Lu's house just past midnight.]
Sang Que said she fainted from fright; she indeed looked pale with a genuinely poor condition, like someone suffering from hypoglycemia, so no one doubted her account.
...
From [early morning until dusk], Sang Que was [escorted out of the police station by a policewoman named Ai Jing], while the class teacher had to stay, continuing to handle further matters.
"Student Sang Que, thank you for your cooperation today, and please accept our condolences. We will definitely catch the murderer of your classmate and find her father as soon as possible. This matter might not necessarily be her father's doing, so don't jump to conclusions; everything should be based on evidence."
Sang Que said nothing, clenching her fist. If it wasn't that beast, who else could it be?
"Also, we will carefully examine Qin Lu's phone. There will surely be a scientific explanation for the texts you mentioned. Please don't believe in superstitious things."
Sang Que nodded sullenly. All the messages from Qin Lu on her phone had disappeared. The police said Qin Lu's phone had been completely broken on the day of her death, incapable of sending messages.
Furthermore, the story relay group had also left no trace.
"Officer Ai, please also make sure to investigate the matter of the taxi thoroughly."
Sang Que was concerned about this matter. She originally planned to report the taxi and the story relay group issue to the police after meeting Qin Lu, but so many things happened afterward, delaying until now.
Ai Jing nodded, "We will. Any news will be conveyed to your class teacher. Try not to wander around before school starts. If there are new developments, we'll ask you to come back for further assistance in the investigation. After returning home, you'd better discuss today's events with your mother."
"Okay."
Ai Jing watched [Sang Que take a taxi away], her smile gradually fading as her brow furrowed.
The taxi Sang Que mentioned indeed exists; it had left the city last night. There are connections between the driver's whereabouts and a recent missing case of a female high school student, which they are investigating with full efforts.
However, the case had never been made public, so how could she know?
*
The [taxi] drove [on the way home], and Sang Que let out a long sigh of relief, finally able to return home.
The matter of Qin Lu weighed heavily on her mind, but now all she could do was wait for the police to catch the culprit.
Later on, she would spend money to handle Qin Lu's affairs, which was the only thing she could do for Qin Lu.
Sang Que cleared her mind, [leaned her head back on the taxi's rear seat], and closed her eyes to rest.
Once she got home, after eating and drinking her fill and having a good night's sleep, she would have the energy to think through all the bizarre and uncanny events of last night, and review the book and money bag she got from Ming Zhang.
After chanting the spell twice, it was as if all her spirit and strength had been drained, leaving her extremely weary. She only managed to stay awake during the interview by eating three boxed meals and drinking a lot of coffee.
The dusk glow gradually vanished behind the distant mountains, and the night silently descended.
Gusts of cold wind blew over her, and Sang Que rubbed her arms, suddenly realizing something was wrong. The cold wind wasn't coming from outside the window; it was from inside the car, beside her.
Sang Que was startled and sat up, turning her head.
She saw a young man with half his head missing, his face covered in blood, dressed in a bloody suit, holding a tattered briefcase, sitting beside her.
A chill ran from her back straight to her head, and Sang Que's entire body went numb.
Noticing Sang Que's terrified gaze, the blood-covered man in the suit slowly turned his head, emitting a hoarse sound that made one's skin crawl.
"You... can see..."
Sang Que's breathing hitched and she immediately looked past the man in the suit, staring at the car window outside on the other side.
"Sadly, that spicy hotpot place wasn't open, never mind."
Sang Que murmured, leaning back in her seat, pretending to admire the scenery outside the car.
The man in the suit slowly leaned closer, his distorted face almost pressing against Sang Que's face, the heavy scent of blood causing her to clench her fists tightly in her pockets.
She put on a relaxed expression, looking through the front rearview mirror and saw that she was the only one in the back seat.
Sang Que's throat tightened, forcing herself to softly hum a piece of pop music.
Plop!
Half the man's brain fell onto Sang Que's lap.
!!!
The quick-drying summer long pants were very thin, Sang Que could even feel the slippery stickiness and the slight squirming of that half brain.
Squish~ Squish~
"You... can see..."
"......"
Fortunately, in the small city, the roads were never far, after humming a song, the taxi stopped at the entrance of Sang Que's housing complex.
Sang Que 'calmly' took out her cracked phone to pay, got off, and watched the taxi leave from the corner of her eye, the man in the suit did not follow.
Only now did Sang Que's heart begin to pound wildly, her breath growing rapid.
She picked up her phone to call the police, then hesitated, Officer Ai had just warned her not to believe in superstitious things, and she immediately reported encountering something unclean?
Since Qin Lu's house, she had known her world also had evil spirits, just not as many as that other world, but in just one day, she had already encountered two.
Was it because she couldn't see them before, but can now?
She highly suspected that if the man in the suit realized she could see him, he would immediately want her dead.
The key point is, she currently had no means to deal with evil spirits, the Yansheng coin was already gone!
Sang Que stood at the entrance of the complex and looked back, clouds obscuring the moon, the small town at the foot of the mountain seemed engulfed in a massive black shadow, somber, moist, cold, filled with a scent of decay and decay, like twilight dying.
Amidst the constantly moving pedestrian street, there were always hazy shadows flashing by.
Sang Que's heart contracted, she bowed her head and quickly walked home.
In just one night, this peaceful small town was no longer peaceful in her eyes, beneath the quiet night, who knew how many evil spirits she had never seen lurked.
If she had Ming Zhang's Exorcism Talisman, at least she could ensure her mom's safety.
And Ming Zhang's master, were there even more powerful methods?
Her mom's legs were inconvenient, Ming Zhang's family lived on the first floor, she directly returned home from the backyard door, the house was only lit by night lights, a dim yellow light.
Changing shoes, Sang Que worried she might carry something unclean, so she took off her coat and pants and tossed them into an empty flower pot, planning to burn them all later, including the money bag and book from Ming Zhang's possession which were temporarily thrown outside.
Putting on her pajamas, Sang Que couldn't find her mom in the study or master bedroom.
She opened her own bedroom door, seeing her mom in a wheelchair at her desk, back to the door, flipping through her brand-new summer vacation homework on the desk.
Sang Que sighed with relief, her tense nerves relaxed.
No matter what she experienced outside, as long as she returned home and saw her mother, it seemed everything could be healed.
Sang Que entered the bedroom, she just wanted to throw herself into her mom's arms, smell her reassuring scent.
"Mom..."
[Beep — Verification passed, please open the gate]
"Little Que, are you back? I bought you your favorite grilled brain, come out and eat."
The voice from the smart door lock and her mom's voice came from the entrance, Sang Que was struck by lightning, frozen in place.
The mom in front of her, with long hair hanging down, didn't move, a head was awkwardly turning around.
"You... saw... me..."