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墨書 Inktalez
Wang Chao looked through the glass at the bustling street outside, but there was no sign of Jiang He anywhere.
Wang Chao felt a surge of emotions; Jiang He was truly a man like the wind, coming and going without a trace, leaving nothing behind. However, what infuriated Wang Chao was that Jiang He had swindled him out of three hundred yuan just before leaving. But Wang Chao knew that if he just did a little digging, he would find out which police station Jiang He worked at, and then he would definitely make Jiang He treat him to a meal.
So where exactly was Jiang He?
At that moment, Jiang He was at Chengshun Street Intersection.
After leaving the Public Security Bureau, Jiang He took a taxi straight to this location. He lifted his head, his eyes scanning like a scanner. After observing for a while, he spotted something. It was a surveillance camera, and Jiang He nodded in satisfaction. The spot where he stood was precisely where Li Weiyi had stood not long ago.
Jiang He walked along the road toward Li Weiyi's home, keeping his head up and not looking at his feet. Several times, he narrowly brushed past cars on the motor vehicle lane, startling the drivers who cursed him under their breath. However, it seemed that Jiang He could filter out those sounds; at that moment, he heard nothing of the drivers' shouts or the honking of horns.
Typically, surveillance cameras have a monitoring angle of about one hundred twenty degrees. As Jiang He kept his head up and mentally recorded all the cameras he saw, his mind began to sketch a route. Thanks to his condition, he could remember every single camera's position without fail and would never forget it in his lifetime.
His brain mapped out a reasonable route to avoid the cameras' monitoring range. Keeping his gaze on the cameras, Jiang He soon arrived at the area where Li Weiyi lived. At this point, he had perfectly evaded all the cameras. Reflecting on the path he had taken, he was amazed to discover that as long as he walked along the base of the walls, the cameras generally couldn't capture him.
It was summer, and pedestrians had a seventy percent chance of choosing the same path as Jiang He because it was the coolest option available. This also meant that if Li Weiyi had returned home before, it wasn't necessarily because he was deliberately avoiding the cameras.
"Excuse me, coming through!" a voice called out beside Jiang He.
Jiang He opened his eyes and turned toward the sound to see a Sanitation Worker. Only then did he realize he was standing next to a row of trash bins. It was already seven in the evening, but it wasn't dark yet; the sun still hung low in the west, radiating its residual heat.
The air remained stiflingly hot; if only there could be a downpour right now.
The Sanitation Worker wiped sweat from his brow as he dumped bucket after bucket of garbage into the truck.
"Wow, what a big bouquet of roses! And they're still fresh. People in the city really know how to have fun," one Sanitation Worker said to another. "Come on, let's split it. You take half, and I'll take half to give to my Wife. It'll make her happy."
"You sure are fancy. My wife wouldn't want them. She'd just scold me for being frivolous, always bringing home these flowery things. I'd rather not give them to her than get yelled at."
"Oh, come on! Women are all like that, you know? They might scold you on the surface, but deep down, they care about you."
"Really?"
"Why would I lie to you? That's just how women are. You're just too young to see through it yet. If you bring those home, your wife will definitely be overjoyed..."
While the two continued chatting as they disposed of trash, Jiang He had already walked quite a distance away. However, he clearly heard their conversation and noted the card attached to the roses that read: Ruili Flower Shop.
Jiang He had lived this long without ever having been in a romantic relationship or even having spoken more than ten sentences with any woman—no more than five, in fact.
But he couldn't understand why people chose to be together. Jiang He believed that rather than spending a lot of time with someone else, it was far more interesting to conduct experiments. If it was just about releasing sexual desires, using one's hands would suffice.
These people must lead such boring lives that they build their existence around interactions with others, Jiang He thought.
As he pondered these questions, Jiang He arrived at the security room. To be honest, if this open area didn't have these security guards around, the numerous escape routes would surely attract a lot of thieves looking to "work." When Jiang He pushed open the door to the security room, he found three or four people inside playing cards, drinking, and watching TV.
Jiang He glanced at them and immediately recognized the former head of security.
It took the head of security a moment before he realized that the person in front of him was Jiang He.
"Oh, you're that officer," the head of security said. "Officer, how's it going? Have you found out who the Murderer is?"
"Not yet," Jiang He said, noticing a security guard nearby, wrapped in a blanket and shivering. "What's wrong with Two Donkeys?"
The security captain waved his hand dismissively. "It's nothing, just scared. Someone died in that building, and everyone around here knows about it. It's been spreading like wildfire outside. That Wu Guifeng went crazy, hacked his daughter-in-law to pieces with hundreds of blows, nearly turning her into mush, and then he gouged out his own heart."
The captain spoke vividly. "The room was filled with blood, the door was locked from the inside. That poor soul can't be reborn and will turn into a vengeful ghost waiting to claim lives."
Jiang He looked at the trembling Two Donkeys and said, "This is utter nonsense. You’ve seen corpses before; what’s there to be afraid of? Besides, fundamentally, what’s the difference between humans and other animals? If you walk down the street and see a caterpillar squished flat, most people just feel disgusted, not afraid. Look at your table; isn’t that just a dead chicken? Why aren’t you scared?"
Jiang He didn’t quite understand why people felt fear when seeing human corpses but not when encountering animal remains. Both were living beings in this world, and some animals were even larger than humans.
Two Donkeys glanced at Jiang He and replied, "You say that so lightly because you don’t live here."
Jiang He responded, "From now on, I will be living here."
"What?" The security captain seemed puzzled.
Jiang He clarified, "What I mean is that starting today, I will be living in Li Weiyi's house, which is also He Hui Juan's and Wu Guifeng's home."
"Are you crazy?" Two Donkeys couldn’t help but exclaim upon hearing Jiang He's words. "You don’t understand; back in our village, my old folks often told me that for seven days after someone dies, they could come back at any time. If they have grievances, they might turn into vengeful spirits to drag people away. Are you looking for death?"
Jiang He shook his head. "Based on my experience, the chance of ghosts existing in this world is as high as ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent; it’s almost certain there are no ghosts. And even if there’s a zero point zero one percent chance that they do exist, then it clearly implies the existence of past lives and reincarnation."
"In other words, after you die, there’s another life waiting for you; it’s a continuous cycle where you will always exist. So what’s there to be afraid of?" Jiang He looked earnestly at Two Donkeys.
"You make it sound somewhat reasonable," Two Donkeys admitted. "But I’m still scared."
Jiang He was puzzled again. Clearly, he understood the principle; what was there to be afraid of?
He didn't understand. In fact, all fears in the world stem from the unknown. Without experiencing something firsthand, fear would always remain fear, unaltered by a few words from others.
"The door lock is broken, so you can just go in," said the security captain. "That family across from Li Weiyi moved out this afternoon because they were scared or something. We don't even know when they'll be back. If you're here for an investigation or something, you can go right in."
Jiang He nodded and said, "I have two more requests for you to help me with."
The security captain nodded back. "Officer, just say the word. We'll help with whatever we can; it's important when someone has died."
Jiang He was straightforward and took out two hundred yuan from his pocket. "Here’s two hundred yuan. Please help me get some meals delivered while I stay at Li Weiyi's house. I’m not picky about food; anything will do."
The security captain accepted the money and understood that this officer intended to stay at Li Weiyi's place for a while.
"Of course, that's no problem," the security captain nodded. "Do you want some drinks or cigarettes?"
Jiang He waved his hand dismissively. "I don’t smoke or drink; just three meals a day and drinking water will be fine."
"Got it," the security captain replied, nodding again. "Is there anything else?"
Jiang He asked, "You mentioned before that there are often thefts around here, right?"
The security captain nodded. "That's true. Thanks to our security team, there have been fewer thefts. Without us, the hundreds of families living here would probably suffer a lot."
"Do you have any records?" Jiang He asked again.
The security captain nodded and then shook his head. "We've recorded some incidents. Some people reported when they lost something, while others who lost less didn't bother. We're not too clear on the details."
"How many do you have recorded here?" Jiang He asked.
The security captain turned around and pulled out a box from under a bunk bed. He opened the box and rummaged through it until he found a notebook. "It's all recorded in this notebook. There are about seven or eight households."
Jiang He took the notebook and glanced at the entries. The households that had been robbed were not all in the same building; they were quite spread out, and there was even one on the sixth floor.
"How did they manage to steal from the sixth floor?" Jiang He inquired.
The security captain replied, "They just used the stairs. You can see there aren't many households in the area with security doors. Those simple locks can be opened easily if the door isn't deadbolted. I've advised everyone to install security doors for safety, but most of the residents here are long-term tenants. If they haven't been robbed at their own door, who cares?"
"Alright then." Jiang He continued to look at the notebook as he walked out of the security room.
Two Donkeys watched Jiang He's retreating figure and then looked up at the darkening sky, feeling a sense of wonder: how could there be such bold people in this world?
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