Chapter 7: Another Murder Case

  Xie Ping'an's house stood in the darkness, not a single glimmer of light could be seen. The security guard saw us and was like seeing an old friend, he immediately grabbed my hand.

  Ge Lei looked around and saw that apart from the security guards they had met before, there were three middle-aged security guards, and the captain who had appeared in the morning was also present. These people hid far away, not even daring to glance at Xie Ping'an's house.

  "What's going on?" I asked.

  "Let me tell you!" the captain said, "We changed shifts at 12 o'clock, and the security guard on duty made a routine patrol. When he arrived at this place, he found several suspicious people lurking around. After they were discovered, they ran into the house, and the security guard called for support. By the time we arrived, we heard very mournful cries coming from inside. We were afraid of disturbing the scene, so we didn't dare go in. After a while, there was no more movement, and then you all came."

  Is it a thief? I think it's a bit too coincidental, the Xie family just had an accident and then a thief came.

  No matter who it is, we have to go back into this haunted house again.

  "Give us two flashlights and the room key." I picked out the two brightest flashlights, and went into Xie Ping'an's house with Ge Lei.

  As I got closer to the house, I realized it wasn't an illusion. There was indeed something like a mist floating in the air around the house.

  Walked to the door of the house, shone with a flashlight, and saw that a large hole was broken in the glass of the living room window. The fragments were on the ground, and the technique was quite professional. The thief first stuck tape on the glass, then used a soft thick cloth pad, and when breaking the glass, only a very small sound would be made.

  A gust of wind blew by, and the curtains hanging on the window swayed with the wind. The moonlight shone in, making the room brighten and darken suddenly.

  "It looks like it's still done by an old hand!" Grey said.

  All we can see from the window is a corner of the living room, no sign of the thief, but we still have to go in.

  I walked to the door with the key in hand, and as soon as my hand touched the iron gate, a chill ran down my spine. I shone my flashlight on it and only then did I see that the door was covered in a thick layer of dew droplets.

  There's a bad premonition in my heart, something bad must have happened in the room. Neither I nor Ge Lei wanted to go in, but since we put on our police uniforms and became members of Team Zero, we had no choice but to enter.

  I turned the key and the lock clicked open with a soft sound, the door opened!

  A chill ran down my spine as a cold breath swept across my face, and I subconsciously took a few steps back. The bright light emitted by the flashlight pierced through the darkness like a sharp blade. Although the light was very bright, it could only illuminate a small area, and outside of its range, something seemed to be lurking in the darkness.

  I exchanged a glance with Gray and we stepped into the house together. It had only been a few hours, but it felt different already.

  The room was as quiet as death, the temperature at least five degrees lower than outside, and the hairs on my body stood up instantly. A chill ran down the back of my neck.

  It was too quiet, I couldn't hear any sound at all. The silence made me feel a bit panicked in my heart. I shouted loudly: "Is anyone there?"

  The sound grew fainter and fainter, but no one replied.

  "This situation is not too good," said Gray.

  We walked along the wall to the living room door, and there were clear footprints on the floor. The thief broke into the living room and went straight upstairs. The footprints bypassed the shelves where antiques were placed, and it seemed that the intruder had a strong purpose.

  The thief rushed into the bedroom, which was simply courting death. The master bedroom on the second floor was the most terrifying and eerie room in this gloomy mansion.

  It wasn't long before our guess was confirmed. Halfway up the stairs, I caught a whiff of blood, faint but unmistakable.

  Moving to the bedroom door, a strange smell wafted through the air, a smell that shouldn't be present at a murder scene - the aroma of cooked meat. Grey also caught the scent and after taking a deep breath, he started salivating.

  I'm still a bit uncertain and asked: "Do you smell the meat fragrance too?"

  Grey nodded and pointed a finger at the bedroom door: "The smell is coming from the bedroom! Is it a thief cooking meat?"

  It's obviously impossible that there would be such a stupid thief in the world, and besides, it's also impossible for there to be a pot in the bedroom! Something must have happened in the bedroom!

  We strode up to the bedroom door, and Gray knocked first, saying: "The person inside listen, we are police..."

  Cough!

  Gale hadn't finished speaking when the bedroom door opened!

  I shone my flashlight inside, and two corpses fell at the door of the bedroom. The heads of the corpses were gone. Although I had mentally prepared myself, I was still startled by the gruesome sight.

  Grey shone his flashlight around the room, but didn't see any suspects or murder weapons. The bedroom was empty and there was nothing in it!

  I shone my flashlight on the corpse, and the wound on its neck was very strange, as if it had been directly torn apart by a huge force. The broken blood vessels were still oozing out blood, and the white spinal column was exposed to the air. I initially estimated that the time of death should not have exceeded one hour.

  Grey carefully searched the bedroom, the door and window were intact, the police seal was still there, and there was no sign of forced entry. What's even more bizarre is that we didn't find the heads of the two victims in the room!

  It's easy to infer the truth from the scene, this murder case has no murderer, and there is no trace of a third person left at the scene. Even if it were a professional killer, it would be impossible to kill without leaving any traces. Nor could anyone run out from under our eyelids.

  "What...what is it that killed them?" Gail was nervous, we had entered the haunted house twice already, and no one wanted to lose their head without a reason.

  What I'm thinking is the same as Ge Lei's. I must leave this damn bedroom as soon as possible, or our heads will also have to move house.

  "Let's get out of here first." I turned around and walked towards the door.

  A gust of wind blew by, and with a soft 'pop', the bedroom door closed.

  I glanced at Gail and his face was ashen; I'm sure mine wasn't much better.

  Grey grasped the door handle and pulled with all his might, but the door didn't budge.

  "Whoa!" Grey let out a strange cry and used all his strength, but the door didn't even budge.

  The premonition became a reality, the power that killed the thief refused to let us go. The temperature around us dropped drastically, I opened my mouth and breathed out white air, this was a phenomenon that only occurred in winter.

  Danger is approaching us, I can feel the murderous intent slowly invading us. It has come to a life-and-death juncture, yet we don't even know what our opponent is.

  My heart is pounding wildly, but in times of danger, I must remain calm. I take a deep breath and calm myself down.

  The room fell silent in an instant, so quiet that I could hear my own heavy breathing and the pounding of my heart.

  "What should we do?" Grey asked in a low voice.

  The security guard is still outside. If we can contact the security guard outside, we may have a glimmer of hope. I moved towards the window, with Grey following closely behind me.

  Just a few steps away, the flashlight flickered a few times, and the light it emitted was dimming, as if it was about to go out. As the light changed, the room's darkness and brightness intersected, making the atmosphere even more terrifying, and when the light shone on our faces, it made our faces look somewhat ferocious.

  As I walked quickly to the window, the flashlight gradually went out and the room fell into darkness. I could only continue forward by feeling my way, and when I raised my hand, I touched the curtains.

  Something was approaching us in the darkness, I stretched out my hand to pull open the curtains, and a silver moonlight poured in from the window, instantly filling the entire room.

  The moonlight illuminated the bedroom, making everything visible. Our surroundings seemed normal, but a sense of danger still lingered around us.

  No time to investigate what was threatening us, I looked out of the window and saw the security guards squatting down below smoking.

  "Hey, can you hear me?" I shouted loudly. My throat was almost hoarse from shouting, but the security guard downstairs didn't react at all. It seems that not only can people not get in or out, but even sound can't get through.

  I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone, now there was only a glimmer of hope left, at this point I hoped that Lao Shen Gun would answer the call. As for whether we could hold on until he arrived, it all depended on our luck.

  Beep... Beep...

  The phone actually went through, but it rang for several times and no one answered. This time I'm really done for.

  Gre suddenly slapped me and pointed to the ground with his finger: "Ding! There is a Ding!"

  I looked down and saw a small cauldron on the ground in front of us, only as big as a palm, looking antique and elegant, with a strong sense of ancient charm, it was obviously an antique.

  Grey said: "This tripod is very strange. In the previous second, there was nothing on the ground. I blinked my eyes and the tripod appeared!"

  I believe what he said, recalling Mr. Hu and Jia Liu's words, they both mentioned Ding. However, in my imagination, even the smallest Ding should be several times larger than the one in front of us. Although the Ding in front of us is much smaller, we can't take it lightly.

  I stared intently at the small cauldron, five minutes passed, and nothing happened.

  I slowly walked up to Xiaoding, bent down and tried to pick him up.

  "Be careful!" Grey cautioned me.

  Just as my fingers were about to touch the small tripod, I heard footsteps coming from the corridor outside, someone was coming!

  Just as I was about to speak, a low roar came from outside the door, "Demons, come and break for me!"

  Then came a muffled sound, the bedroom door was knocked open, and a figure stumbled in. Almost tripped over the corpse on the floor.

  The voice I just heard sounds very familiar, and when I look at the figure of the person coming, I tentatively call out: "Director Cui?"

  "It was me!" The old stick scolded immediately: "You two kids, there's a homicide case and you didn't even report it. You came to the scene of the crime alone, are you tired of living?"

  It was our first day at work and we didn't know any of these rules. No one had ever mentioned them to us before.

  "Let's just drop it and take this as a lesson," said Lao Da.

  The old god stick came, and that sense of danger instantly disappeared. Our flashlights flickered a few times and lit up again.

  Gai looked down and let out a cry of surprise, "Where's Xiao Ding?"