Heavenly Eyes 4: The Haunted Building

CHAPTER 5

22.

The thing the worker found was Jiang Mingyue's remains.

 

More than thirty years had passed, and Jiang Mingyue's bones had long since decayed, far from complete; only the skull was relatively intact. The red dress she was wearing, however, hadn't decayed; its color was still vibrant.

 

Many of the onlookers were terrified.

 

“There's a dead body down there? Oh my god, I'm scared to death!”

 

“No wonder the elevator always malfunctions, it's haunted!”

 

“I want to move out! I'm not staying here anymore!”

 

As the security guard of this building, and having taken Fu Ziming's money, I have an obligation to help the residents overcome their psychological trauma.

“Everyone, uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters, finding bones in the foundation is quite normal!

 

We will handle this properly, hire a professional to conduct a ceremony to appease the departed soul, and then pray for everyone's good fortune and to ward off bad luck.

 

Don't worry, you can continue to live here!”

 

Someone started to waver. “Xiao Shen, are you sure it's alright?”

 

Because I often ‘tamed’ the elevator for everyone, the residents trusted me.

 

After all, they still believe I'm a descending god. If a god says something, you have to believe it!

 

I gave them a reassuring look. “No problem, absolutely no problem!”

 

I called Master Xiao Bai, settled my previous debt at his shop, and bought a bunch of sacrificial items.

As for the ceremony to appease the spirits, Master Xiao Bai handled it as a side job.

 

Once the altar was set up, he donned his Daoist robe, wielded a peach wood sword, and sprinkled yellow talismans and paper money.

 

The professional atmosphere instantly filled the air!

 

Fu Ziming watched from the side, exclaiming in delight, “Tongtong, the master you found looks very professional!”

 

Of course! Formalism is eternal!

 

Under Master Xiao Bai's ceremony, the residents regained their sense of security.

 

“This Daoist looks quite young.”

 

“Oh, what do you know? Nowadays, it's all about being young and accomplished.”

 

“Daoist, I'm still scared. Is there anything I can do?”

 

Master Xiao Bai, being very considerate, offered each of them a ‘Jiu Hua Mountain’ talisman that had been consecrated!

 

“Only 380 yuan each!”

 

The cost was at most 38 cents, making a profit of 379.62 yuan.

When it came time to settle the bill, Master Xiao Bai couldn't stop smiling. He patted my shoulder, full of praise. 

“Xiao Shen, you did a great job with this. Next time you have this kind of work, remember to call me! Come by the shop often, I'll give you credit!”

 

Looking at Master Xiao Bai's money-obsessed expression, I twitched the corner of my mouth. “Thank you.”

23.

With the ceremony finished, it was time to collect Jiang Mingyue's remains.

 

Master Xiao Bai, wearing gloves, went down to retrieve Jiang Mingyue's bones.

 

Master Xiao Bai is truly a multifaceted talent; he handles anything related to the dead.

 

He carefully lifted Jiang Mingyue's skull from the earth and brushed it gently with a small brush.

 

Then he suddenly asked me, “Did you call the police?”

 

Holding the skull, Master Xiao Bai showed us: “This person was murdered.”

 

Fu Ziming and I looked at each other, then at the fracture on the skull.

“How do you know?”

 

Master Xiao Bai rolled his eyes. “Did you forget what my sister does? She's a forensic pathologist!”

 

“Did she hit the back of her head so many times that it made all these dents?”

 

I forgot that besides the family's ancestral funeral supplies shop, the Bai family also produced forensic pathologists generation after generation.  

Master Xiao Bai's older sister is the director of the forensic department of the city's criminal investigation team.

 

Fu Ziming and I nodded repeatedly.

“Call the police! We have to call the police!”

 

“We are law-abiding good citizens!”

 

The city's criminal investigation team arrived at the scene quickly, and the forensic pathologist who came was Master Xiao Bai's sister, Bai Ruowei.

 

A stern-looking, tough police officer questioned us.

 

“I'm Liu Hao, captain of the city's criminal investigation team. Did you report this? How did you discover this body?”

 

Fu Ziming and I had already rehearsed our story, and we told them everything except what we couldn't say.

 

“Hello, officer. I'm the owner of this building, and I only recently inherited the property.

 

I heard the elevator here is always breaking down, so I wanted to replace it for everyone. Unexpectedly, when we dug down, we found human bones.

I thought it was the kind of old bones that have been around for hundreds of years, so we just needed a security guard to find someone to perform a ceremony and appease the spirits.

 

I didn't expect that he is the brother of your forensic director, who says these bones are only a few decades old and that the person was murdered!

 

Officer, please hurry and take the bones away!”

 

Upon hearing Fu Ziming's words, Officer Liu Hao frowned, but his reasoning was sound. He simply warned us, “Next time you encounter something like this, you must report it immediately and not handle it privately. My colleagues will be contacting you and the building's tenants to take statements. Please cooperate with the investigation.”

 

We were quite awestruck by the police officer and readily agreed.

 

“Yes, uncle officer! No problem, uncle officer!”

 

The police officer's expression seemed to grow even more stern.

 

“Don't call me uncle! I'm only... only twenty-seven!”

 

“Yes, officer! No problem, officer!”

24.

The discovery of the remains under the elevator shaft—a body that had been in the elevator shaft since the building's construction—was a significant break in the case. Although over thirty years had passed, Jiang Mingyue's clothing was remarkably well-preserved. Using the clothing as a reference, the police performed a skull reconstruction, restoring Jiang Mingyue's appearance, age, height, and weight.

 

They investigated missing persons cases from over thirty years ago. Finally, they made contact with Jiang Mingyue's parents.

 

The elderly couple wept uncontrollably upon seeing their daughter's remains.

 

“Daughter... we told you not to trust that man, but you wouldn't listen…”

 

“All these years, no sign of you alive or dead. I knew deep down you were probably gone. Officer, thank you, thank you for finding my daughter.”

From Jiang Mingyue's parents, the police learned about her relationship with Fu Haisheng, and following that lead, they went to Fu Haisheng's funeral.

 

It was the day of Fu Haisheng's funeral. He had been a successful businessman, a tycoon in the business world, and Fu Ziming's parents were also successful people, so many people attended the funeral. My parents brought Shen Chen and me to the funeral as well.

 

The police's sudden appearance at the funeral didn't seem to surprise Mrs. Fu.

 

Dressed in a black velvet cheongsam, with white flowers in her hair, her eyes were red from crying.

 

“You're here to arrest me, aren't you? Can we finish the funeral before I go with you? I'll tell you everything I know!”

 

After the funeral, Mrs. Fu was taken away in front of everyone.

 

Fu Ziming cried and said to Mrs. Fu, “Grandma, I'm sorry, I dug up the bones.”

 

Mrs. Fu, as if she had known all along, lovingly touched his head.

 

“It's alright, Ziming. You did what you should have done. Now that your grandfather is gone, I have no more attachments. It's time for me to accept the legal consequences.”

 

Because Mrs. Fu essentially turned herself in and behaved well…

Although she was suspected of knowing about the crime and not reporting it, more than thirty years had passed since Jiang Mingyue's case, exceeding the statute of limitations, so she wasn't prosecuted for that crime. She admitted to killing Fu Ziming's grandfather, but an autopsy revealed that while there were signs of strangulation, he ultimately died of a sudden heart attack. There was no direct link between his death and Mrs. Fu.

 

Ultimately, she was sentenced to three years in prison for manslaughter. Because of her chronic illness requiring long-term treatment, she was eventually granted probation.

 

I used the money Fu Ziming gave me to buy gifts for several important people in my family.

Grandma Yueying: “Tsk... a bloody case caused by a scumbag.”

 

Xia Shang seemed to have thought of something and fiercely criticized: “Too many bloody cases caused by scumbags.”

 

Liang Zhen gnawed on a candle: “Aba Aba.”

 

Only Li Zhuangzhuang's voice sent a chill down my spine: “Normal people can't see ghost messengers, unless they're about to die.”

 

If I remember correctly, Fu Ziming saw the black and white impermanence with me that day.

25.Epilogue

That day, I feared the worst for Fu Ziming. 

I tried calling him repeatedly, but couldn't reach him.  

When I went to his house, his neighbors told me his whole family had moved away without leaving contact information.  

I searched for him for over a month with no progress.  

With school about to start, I had no choice but to quit my job and head to campus.

 

Getting off the bus, burdened with so many things Shen Chen and my grandmother had packed for me, my suitcase was so heavy I almost threw my back out.  

Just as I was about to stumble and almost knock someone over, a strong hand steadied my waist from behind, and another hand grabbed the handle of my suitcase, preventing me from falling.

 

I turned around and saw Fu Ziming's familiar yet unfamiliar face.

 

He was smiling at me.

“Shen Tongtong, be careful.”

 

And...

 

“I brought you some delicious roasted sweet potatoes.”

——The End——

T/N: That's Li Zhuangzhuang, right? I'm confused. Did he possess that body after Fu Ziming died? 😅

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