"What's going on?" I asked.
"If Liu Keying hadn't asked me to find you, I wouldn't have known you'd gone out. It's late, why don't you just stay at the hotel and get some sleep? Don't go running around!" Zhao Simeng seemed quite worried.
"Got it." When I saw the sanitary pads in my hand, Zhao Simeng looked rather awkward.
"Oh, these are for Liu Keying."
"I have some high-quality sanitary pads in my bag, why did you run out to get them?"
I didn't know, honestly. But it was fine. After understanding the situation, Director Leng coughed and said, "It's fine, you two should get some rest. Tomorrow, we're heading to the Divination Village."
"Got it." Zhao Simeng and I left to go back to the hotel. Soon, I handed the items to Liu Keying. When she saw me return, she patted my back and said, "Why didn't you answer your phone earlier? I thought something had happened to you."
"I'm fine, just ran into some issues." I didn't tell Liu Keying about the strange masked man I had encountered. Of course, Zhao Simeng didn't know either. I said I was going to rest, and both of them went back to their rooms.
Just as we were about to fall asleep, we suddenly heard a car alarm from downstairs.
I quickly looked out the window and saw that Zhao Simeng's car windshield had been smashed.
"Damn! My car!" I heard Zhao Simeng's shout. I quickly left my room and rushed downstairs. After a while, I reached the first floor, just in time to see another loud bang as the front window of Zhao Simeng's car was smashed again.
Zhao Simeng was cursing downstairs. "You're so bold, even daring to smash a police car! Looking for death!"
I looked up and said, "Why don't you come down?"
"I'm not dressed! I was sleeping! He Sheng, go check who's doing this!"
Hearing her words, I felt a bit speechless. Just then, another window was smashed nearby. I pulled out my weapon and shouted, "Come out now!"
At that moment, I saw several figures running away in the dense forest. Since I had come down too slowly, they managed to escape.
I went to ask Director Leng about the situation, and he said it must be some local thugs causing trouble. "There's nothing we can do. Just stay alert."
I was a little frustrated, but decided to let it go for tonight.
The next day, Liu Keying and I took Zhao Simeng's car to the Divination Village. Fortunately, her car was still functional, and it didn't affect our work. Zhao Simeng was still at the police station, reconstructing the body and didn't come with us.
When we arrived, we found that many people were playing mahjong and poker, with chickens and stray dogs running around, making the place seem lively. There were many mountains and trees nearby, and the atmosphere was very peaceful.
We had already heard that villages like this one were not under police control. They had their own set of rules. Sometimes, when the police came here for investigations, the villagers would surround them or even imprison them for a week before anyone found them.
As the saying goes: "In poor mountains and evil waters, one finds treacherous people; even a strong dragon cannot suppress a local snake."
We had mentally prepared ourselves for this, but with my skills, I wasn't too worried.
At this moment, we noticed a house at the village entrance surrounded by smoke. When we arrived, Liu Keying pouted and said, "I hate places like this that are filled with smoke."
"Yeah, but hearing the sounds of chickens and dogs reminds me of my hometown."
"He Sheng, isn't the New Year coming up? Why don't you come back with me?"
"Are you serious?"
"Of course! I don't want to go home this year anyway."
"Think carefully, my old house is quite scary. It's so deep, and I heard from my grandmother that at night, there are female servants dressed in Qing Dynasty clothes, elderly men passing by with oil lamps, and some family servants kneeling in the courtyard reciting the family's ancestral teachings."
"Ah, are you trying to scare me? He Sheng, you know I'm afraid of ghosts."
"Hehe, I'm not scaring you, it's all true. The He family mansion is extremely deep, our family is not so simple."
"I know, the more you say this, the more I want to go and see. Anyway, I've already told my dad I'm not going back for the New Year. If you don't let me stay, I'll end up being a homeless child."
When Liu Keying said that, I couldn't help but feel a few black lines on my forehead. It seemed like she really intended to stay with me.
I had no choice but to say, "Let's talk about it after we solve the case." I then took a pack of dry cigarettes and walked over to a villager, showing my police badge and saying, "Uncle, we're police officers, and we'd like to ask you some questions!"
When the people around saw we were police officers, they quickly scattered, looking like frightened grandchildren. One of them said, "We didn't do anything. If you're looking for someone, talk to Zhang Ming!"
The crowd quickly dispersed, and a villager named Zhang Ming stood up. When he saw we were police, he said, "What do you want to ask, police officers? The people who were playing mahjong with me just ran away!"
"No, we heard there was a murder here, and we're here to investigate. Have you heard about the female body found in the farmland?"
"Of course, everyone in Divination Village and Tangyuan Town knows about it!"
"Then what do you think happened to her?" I asked deliberately.
"How do you think she died? Everyone's saying it was a female ghost who did it. Let me tell you, police officer, it wasn't a human who killed her; it was definitely that ghost from the alley!"
"A ghost from the alley?" I was surprised as I looked at him. Zhang Ming said, "Yes, come inside, let's talk about it!"
He seemed quite polite, leading us into his house where he served tea and offered cigarettes. I refused the cigarettes since it was still working hours and Liu Keying was there.
I took a sip of tea and said, "Zhang Ming, what is this female ghost from the alley?"
"Police officer, you don't know? This story goes back to the Qing Dynasty. There was a poor family, and they had an incredibly beautiful daughter. When she reached marriageable age, her parents forced her to marry a village chief who was 30 years older than her."
The village chief was obviously happy, but that very night, he had a stroke from drinking too much and became bedridden, never able to touch the girl. The girl cried for two days and nights, her eyes swollen from the tears. But in the end, she took care of the village chief, feeding him, cleaning up after him, and washing his clothes.
One day, the village chief, realizing he wasn't going to survive the night, called the girl to his side and said, "Can you make me some fried buns and milk?"