Chapter 10: The Curse Appears

  When I and Zhang Meng held hands and ran out of the hellish cemetery, twenty or thirty ink-souled beasts attacked the fierce beast's carriage, its paint job was completely destroyed, and the tires were pitiful.

  "Damn it! You're asking for death!" I roared, and twenty or thirty Ink Soul Beasts were frightened into a frantic retreat.

  Look at those people in the car again, they all have a resentful look on their faces, staring over with discontent.

  "Chuan Jie, you little rascal, hurry up and get on the car, I'm going to chase them down!" Wang Da Lei's loud voice came, his fists clenched and palms rubbed together, eager to try.

  What are they chasing after? This group of Ink Soul Beasts is really cowardly, knowing I'm around they all ran far away, hiding in the dark and refusing to come out, allowing Wang Da Lei to scold and shout as he pleases. We won't give you a chance for revenge.

  "Never mind~" I patted him on the shoulder: "Dalei, the car just scratched some paint, go back and change a tire, the organization will reimburse it. Oh, right, there's also meal tickets and gas money, not one can be missing, these are all my advances."

  Wu Xing showed disdain: "You little brat has been through the gates of life and death, yet you still attach so much importance to external wealth. You are truly a rotten wood that cannot be carved."

  "No." Zhang Meng hastily said: "Chuan Jie is very capable, he's in the 18th level of hell and yet he knows you're in danger, he's really formidable."

  "Chop, chop, chop~~~" A group of police colleagues burst out laughing: "He's not here, those Ink Soul Beasts will definitely come, and starting the heavy machine gun requires fingerprint additional password, we can't use it, of course, we'll be attacked, what kind of skill is this? It's just that he's deceiving you with a pure heart like a 'girl'."

  "Oh no! You bad guy cheated me again!"

  "I am innocent!"

  Hehe, on the way back, since the task was already completed, everyone relaxed and chatted.

  Zhang Meng was very angry and suddenly told me all the tricks he used when I chased her.

  "It was this bad guy, he took me out to eat and ordered 400 yuan worth of food in one breath. After we finished eating, he actually said he had no money. I only had a total of 420 yuan, and because of him, my manuscript fee was also suspended for a month. Then I couldn't even scrape together 30 yuan to take the bus back home, so I was stuck with no place to go and ended up being kept by him."

  "Haha, Chuan Jie, you're so bad! You actually used this method to deceive a 'girl' and attack her weak point. We really despise you!" The brothers laughed with their heads thrown back.

  *Sigh*... I was going to tell them that this case might have a symbiotic parasitism theory, but I couldn't quite put my finger on the exact words to describe it, it's just a feeling. Probably nobody would believe me anyway, so I just shut up and stapled my expense report, hmm... time to go back and get reimbursed first.

  Before returning to Chuanbei, I sent off Wang Daler, Cao Ganxun, Zhang Meng and Wu Xing. I didn't want them to get involved in this mess, besides the organization wouldn't allow it either.

  Just before the girl was about to leave, the two brothers reminded me that Zhang Mian is said to have many pursuers in the police school, and there are not a few good conditions - a lot!

  I didn't take it seriously and that night I carefully planted a circle of small plum blossoms on the snowy white neck of the 'girl'.

  Later I heard that no one fought for my 'female' ticket again...

  Back to the northern suburbs of the river, the heavy case group camp is working with peace of mind. Yu Xiao Tian and Shen Feng went back to report, Lin Zhen's eyebrows were tightly locked looking at the recent development of the case, while I was holding a small ticket to find Wang Ye Zhong, deputy director of the bureau, to reimburse the travel expenses.

  "Quite detailed indeed." Wang Yezhong flipped through it with a smile and said, "Your salary, except for Zhao Yong and Lao Luo, is the third highest in the fourth group. See how much money was paid out this month?"

  "Without realizing it, my salary card is with my 'girlfriend'. I'm a bit stunned. I earn more than Lin Ruoyin and Jiang Yi, but how come Cheng Long earns even less than me?"

  Wang Ye Zhong burst out laughing: "You little guy is really funny, Chuan Jie ah, the organization attaches great importance to you, and may increase the intensity of your cultivation. Remember not to take the wrong path, if there's anything you need, just tell this old brother, got it?"

  "Leader, why are you suddenly saying this, has something happened?" I noticed that the leader's expression was somewhat gloomy.

  Wang Ye clenched his steel teeth and muttered: "Lu Chao from the 7th group, when escorting the funds back, he secretly pocketed several tens of thousands of yuan in the car's hidden compartment. The major crimes unit was also taken down for corruption again. I really want to slap that kid a few times. You're talking about just 600,000 yuan, who in our bureau lacks that kind of money? Housing, cars, medical care, and pensions are all taken care of, you don't have to worry about them. To put it bluntly, your salary is enough for you to go whoring every day, why do you have to get involved in corruption?"

  Haha ~ I awkwardly smiled: "Boss, you shouldn't be afraid that I'll embezzle funds, so give me a higher salary, right? After all, Cheng Long should get more than me."

  Wang Ye Zhong waved his hand and said, "You've been doing well lately, and the bureau also wants to give you four young men a bit of packaging, intimidate those criminals, try to scare a few more to death, haha!"

  Changing the subject, I hastily said: "Leader, to be honest, I don't have any worries, but it's been twenty-seven years for Cheng Long, and when the unit distributes houses again, give him a suite. Whatever merits I have will all be credited to him."

  "Alright, I've taken note of this matter. Once this case is closed, we can discuss anything." Wang Ye handed over a stack of reimbursement receipts.

  Just then, Lin Zhen suddenly rushed in: "Director Wang, I'm sorry to trouble you, but can you arrange a car for me? I want to go take a look at the murder scene."

  I counted the banknotes and raised my head: "Haven't you seen the murder scene before? What else are you going to look at? Those are all fake phenomena, don't bother looking."

  "Huh? You don't know yet?" Wang Yezhong was taken aback: "Another person died at the murder scene, and the deceased is Shen Qiming, the boss of Longjia Real Estate. We haven't even had time to clean up after him, and he's already killed himself. Lin Ju and the others have all gone to check it out."

  Before long, I continued driving that powerful beast with a flower pattern, and Lin Zhen was naturally sitting in the passenger seat.

  "You said you're not even a roommate, I'm telling you, we took the university entrance exam together, and you refused to give Coach a pack of cigarettes. Now, forget about the ticket, you didn't even pass the nine subjects, did you?" My heart aches for the car, I want to hurry up and fix it, but disassembling the machine gun and bullets is such a hassle, afraid it's going to be delayed.

  "We are police officers and should resolutely resist bribery."

  Really have nothing to talk about with him, arrived at the scene, each busy with their own things.

  In the four groups, only two girls were present. Lin Ruoyin was very busy, while Jiang Yi was relaxed and told me about the murder case: "In the past two days since you left, another person died on the 6th floor of this building. He was Shen Chiming, the chairman of Longjia Real Estate. He died on a copper pillar with strange carvings, scalded to death!"

  "Copper rod, scorched to death, how is this done?" My heart moved, the sixth layer of hell, copper pillar hell, malicious arson or destruction of evidence, revenge, arson murder, after death, thrown into the copper pillar hell!

  Jiang Yu's helpless hands spread out: "No one knows, this building shouldn't be the primary crime scene for murder. To heat up that copper pillar to a scorching temperature that can kill someone requires a huge flame, but no signs of burning were found at the scene. As for the body, you're the forensic doctor, go take a look. I've heard three to five different accounts and can't figure out what's true or false."

  After receiving the initial case, I started investigating from the scene of the crime. The sixth floor was an office of a fine arts publishing house. The boss of this suspended publishing house expressed extreme incomprehension. We rented the sixth floor of the bank as our office, but we didn't know this very famous CEO, and there were no business dealings between us. How did he end up dead in our office? None of our employees have been to work these days!

  After investigating the scene, there were no traces of any kind, no footprints, smell, fingerprints, or human relationships. None of the evidence that should have been present was found.

  I went to the morgue to take a look and there were many people at the scene, hundreds, too many, including family members, staff, and more who came from all walks of life to settle accounts.

  "Return the money~ Return the money~ Long Jia return the money~"

  "Check-out ~ Check-out ~ Long Jia check-out ~"

  "The house is like an ice cellar, the quality is chaotic and messy, debts are not repaid, heaven's justice cannot tolerate it..."

  A real estate mogul who was once full of vigor and glory in his lifetime ended up like this after death, which is truly heartbreaking.

  "Hey, Chuan Jie, you're here too?" Suddenly, Wang Cheng appeared in front of me. This crippled legged tile worker brother, is he also here to pan for gold?

  "I'm here on a case, Wang, what are you doing here? Have you been working in northern Sichuan recently?" I asked with some curiosity, thinking that there should be plenty of work in the provincial capital too.

  Wang Cheng sighed with a bitter smile: "Alas, we were too greedy. Long Jia said one day's wages would be 1,000 yuan, so we all came over. As it turned out, we ran into this situation. Fortunately, I didn't lead the team to do small packages, or else my brothers would have complained me to death. No big deal, just a couple of months' less pay."

  I'm leaving. The migrant workers earn more than me, of course I don't have their skills: "I won't interfere with your salary matters, if you're having a hard time living just give me a call, it's just one phone call."

  "It's nothing, it's nothing. You go ahead and do your thing." Wang Cheng chuckled and then seemed to remember something: "Oh yeah, we went to Shen Chenming's office yesterday to cause some trouble, and found that the window of his office was a bit off...it was like...I don't know how to describe it, you should go take a look when you have time."

  "Uh-huh, I see."

  Then I went to the morgue and took a look. Shen Chi's burns started from the left side of his face, all the way down to his neck, chest, abdomen, thighs, and feet, almost covering one entire side of his body!

  The clothes were burnt, and there were minor burns all over the body, but no signs of being tied up.

  The most likely possibility is that he was killed by someone and disguised as this death, but the autopsy only showed burns causing death, with no other injuries.

  If Liu Haibin's death was due to his upbringing in Fenglong Village, believing in such legends and having a certain purpose in mind, he chose that kind of suicide, and at the time of his death, as long as he climbed up by himself, he would no longer struggle.

  But this copper pillar is scalding to death, and I just can't figure it out. From a physiological point of view, how can a person scald himself to death? It's unbearable.

  In the end, he died like this, and there was a high possibility of mobility at the crime scene.

  After taking pictures of the bronze pillars, I slipped away.

  No leads, completely clueless.

  I then wanted to hear Wang Cheng's words, so I went to the office of the old general manager of Longjia Real Estate to take a look. However, as soon as I looked, I was shocked to find that the two buildings were facing each other, separated only by a long street...