Chapter 8: The Cursed Enthusiast X

  When I heard that I could go to Hong Kong, I was so excited that I almost died. In my university days, I watched too many TVB dramas and had long been fascinated by this Oriental Pearl. Moreover, in my senior year, I had already applied for a Hong Kong-Macau pass, but due to various reasons, I never made it there. Now, under the guise of investigating a case, I was going to play in Hong Kong, and I naturally wouldn't let go of this opportunity. At that time, I couldn't have imagined that we would encounter so many strange and bizarre things in Hong Kong.

  It turned out that Chen Qiuyang had found out that He Jiali had indeed returned to Hong Kong and was living in Mong Kok.

  "I asked: 'Chen Qiuyang, don't tell me you also have friends in Hong Kong who are your informants.'"

  Chen Qiuyang smiled slyly and said: "Hehe, whyno, after graduating from police school, I didn't do 42 jobs for nothing."

  Alright, I admit it again, I admire Chen Qiuyang so much that I'm completely won over.

  Three hours later, I, Kui Ruo Lan and Chen Qiu Yang were already standing on the streets of Mong Kok in Hong Kong. My high spirits were thoroughly defeated by this ordinary alley in front of me.

  I raised my hands high and shouted towards the sky: "Where's the Mong Kok gangster I was promised? Where's the Temple Street big shot friend I was promised? There's nothing at all, movies really are deceiving!"

  "Alright alright, thirteen you this countryside boy, we aren't here to watch triad movies, we're here to investigate a case, please don't shout randomly, be careful or Sir will come and catch you."

  Fei Ge, Chen Qiuyang's friend, was a man in his 30s with a hint of triad flavor. His hair was dyed green and styled with gel, standing upright in spikes, resembling Vegeta's hairstyle from Dragon Ball. He wore a silver-studded leather jacket, unzipped to reveal a blue dragon tattoo on his chest.

  He said: "I've been waiting for you for 2 hours already! Why are you so slow?"

  The first time I heard a living person speak Cantonese, it felt quite familiar.

  Chen Qiuyang is a Foshan native, so he can speak Cantonese. He asked Feige: "Thanks, Feige, is He Jiali at home?"

  Fei Ge said: "It's okay, I'll be staying for a few more hours, and then I'll see you out. You're on the 5th floor, room 03, go up yourself, I don't have time to accompany you, I'm going to meet friends."

  Fei Ge took the money Chen Qiuyang gave him and swaggered away.

  It was only then that I carefully observed the old building in front of me, which seemed to be on the verge of collapse. The buildings in this area were densely packed, one stacked tightly against another, without any gaps, and each floor of every building had a billboard erected outside, flashing with colorful neon lights, making it a rather striking feature.

  We went upstairs, the stairs were very narrow and uneven, and were plastered with all sorts of advertisements. What surprised me most was that many of these advertisements were adult in nature, with phrases like "one floor one phoenix" that were full of provocative language, accompanied by a photo of a pure and beautiful young woman who looked coy and charming.

  Chen Qiuyang couldn't help but exclaim: "Hong Kong is truly an open place, a paradise for men."

  "Are you two stinky men looking for me to find a couple of girls for you?"

  We soon arrived at Room 503 on the fifth floor. Things didn't go as smoothly as we had imagined, and the door to Room 503 wasn't locked. We went inside and found that He Jiali was nowhere to be seen, meaning she had escaped right under Fei Ge's nose.

  Room 03 was a very cramped and shabby room, every piece of furniture in it emitted a musty smell: a wooden cabinet with peeling paint, the remaining paint dry and cracked, deep red like dried blood. Next to the cabinet was a rectangular wooden table, on which was placed a plate of bread, and two candles that had been burned down to stumps, like offerings for the dead. On the uneven walls were stuck countless photos printed in color on white paper, all featuring Yang Hong.

  Different places, different occasions, and different times, Yang Hong's photos taken secretly, the photos show Yang Hong eating, shopping in a store, walking out of a hospital, chatting with vendors on the street, dozing off on a bench in a park, even his back when talking to Dr. Ruan at the hospital...

  The three of us stared at the numerous photos of Yang Hong on the wall, all of which were colorful and vibrant. A woman had secretly taken so many pictures of a man, and there was only one reason for this - she had a secret crush on him and was infatuated with him.

  I picked up my phone and took pictures of these photos against the wall, saying: "These photos may provide us with some clues."

  " I really can't think of why He Jiali would be so infatuated with Yang Hong. This information gives us two possibilities: one is that He Jiali isn't the murderer, because she loves Yang Hong too much; two is that He Jiali is indeed the murderer, also because she loves Yang Hong too much."

  "She seems to have known that we were looking for her, so she slipped away secretly. It looks like it's not enough to find her just with our own strength, and we need the help of Officer Dong and others."

  We continued searching inside the room, and I walked over to a wooden cabinet. As soon as I opened it, a strong stench of rot and decay hit me in the face. The cabinet was packed with all sorts of trash: empty yogurt boxes, rolled-up toilet paper, rags, medicine boxes, blue men's underwear...

  In front of me is a pile of trash, I am very sure that these things were all used by Yang Hong and thrown into the trash can, then secretly taken away by He Jiali and brought back home as if they were priceless treasures. I can imagine the scene where He Jiali holds this pile of trash in her arms and gently strokes it with her face.

  This is already a morbid obsession, and this obsession gives me a chilling sense of eeriness.

  We looked around and determined that He Jiali would not be coming back because there were no living supplies left in the house.

  Chen Qiuyang said, "But that's not right. If she really knew we were looking for her, she should have taken all of Yang Hong's treasures with her, instead of taking daily necessities. In He Jiali's mind, these items of Yang Hong are the most precious treasures."

  What Chen Qiuyang said is not unreasonable. What exactly happened to He Jiali that made her only take away daily necessities and abandon the belongings of Yang Hong, whom she loved? Moreover, He Jiali should be relatively wealthy, having bought houses in Baohao Garden and Fuli Building one after another. Why did she live in such a dilapidated rental house?

  We continued to turn around in circles and still didn't get any other clues, so we had no choice but to leave temporarily.

  As we turned around and left, I suddenly saw a very small piece of paper stuck to the top of the iron gate with double-sided tape, on which was written a line of words:

  Please stop investigating Yang Hong's case any further. Yang Hong's death has nothing to do with anyone, it was a curse.

  "Curse? This He Jiali's behavior is indeed strange, and the purpose of leaving us this note shows that she is indeed the murderer of Yang Hong."

  Qiu Yang said with interest: "Lan Lan, you don't believe in curses?"

  "If curses really existed in this world, I believe those corrupt officials would have died long ago. Just this one example is enough to prove that there's no such thing as a curse. She's just trying to intimidate us into stopping our investigation with these words. This kind of 'there's no silver here' tactic is simply foolish!"

  After coming out of the building, we decided to go to a Hong Kong-style tea house to try some Hong Kong cuisine. Investigating the case was important, but filling our stomachs was even more important. Besides, Hong Kong is a food paradise.

  We found a tea restaurant that looked very worth trying in the bustling streets of Mong Kok. After entering, we discovered that the walls were filled with photos, which were taken by Hong Kong celebrities who came to this tea restaurant for dinner and took pictures with the boss. I took a look and found that there were stars like Cheung Yiu-yang and Gigi Leung.

  After we ordered our meal and were waiting for it to be served, we unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance, which led to a huge turn of events.