Fog City Detective

Chapter 26: Battle in the Haunted House (Part 2)

Liang Xi parked on the roadside, turned the key and circled the house before unlocking the front door and entering.

Inside the house, aside from built-in furniture, there was nothing. Nails, sockets, and drill holes on the walls revealed their previous functions. Liang Xi looked up at a wire protruding from the top side of the front door, not covered with electrician's tape—probably a remnant from the removal of a previously installed surveillance camera by Lily. Walking a few steps to the ground floor, Liang Xi noticed another wire. After completing the ground floor, he discovered at least five such wires.

From this, Liang Xi deduced that Lily was reluctant to part with this house. In several instances of reporting intrusions into her home, she chose not to escape but instead sought to prove her case through surveillance. While anything was possible from a psychiatric perspective, for a detective, it was unlikely for a courageous woman to experience hallucinations. Could it really be due to m*******a? If so, Lily should have stopped using m*******a, so why did she still believe her house was being invaded later on?

The staircase was in the living room, and Liang Xi went upstairs, finding that surveillance cameras had also been installed at the top of the stairs.

On the landing on the second floor, there was a spacious open area of about forty square meters, which served as Lily's personal activity center. At this moment, all the furniture, including sofas, had been moved out, leaving an empty space. In the middle of the vast room, a young man with black hair and blue eyes sat cross-legged. His palms were facing upward, and his eyes were tightly closed, resembling a meditating monk.

"Oh, damn!"

Encountering a ghost didn't frighten Liang Xi at all. After inspecting the house from the outside and the ground floor, he mentally confirmed that there was no one else in the house. Suddenly, this silly-looking bird appeared in such a silly posture, making Liang Xi's heart jump, and he couldn't help but swear.

The silly bird opened his eyes slightly and then closed them slowly.

Liang Xi asked, "Who are you?" The silly bird had shoulder-length black hair and wore a gray, tight-fitting, short-sleeved sweat-absorbing undershirt, with an open, white shirt nearly transparent on the outside. He looked quite spiritual. This guy wasn't handsome; he was beautiful, incredibly beautiful, like a birthday cake. Liang Xi's focus was: that he had no weapons on him.

The silly bird replied calmly, "A medium."

Liang Xi asked, "How did you get in?"

The silly bird answered, "I entered through the open door," pointing to a bunch of keys on the floor beside him.

Damn! The real estate agent dared to let anyone and everyone in.

Liang Xi noticed the wires left by removed surveillance cameras and, looking around, saw that there were four cameras just in the hall. Liang Xi tried to open the windows, but they could only be opened about twenty centimeters and were found to be intentionally nailed shut. Ignoring the medium silly bird, Liang Xi walked toward the corridor, where there were three rooms on each side—one large room on one side and two small rooms on the other. The windows in all three rooms and even at the end of the corridor were nailed shut, allowing for a maximum opening of only twenty centimeters.

With such dense surveillance and tight security, how could someone still infiltrate the house without leaving a trace? Could Lily really have a mental illness?

Liang Xi went up to the third floor, which was an added insulation layer with a height of only 1.8 meters, used for storing miscellaneous items. Even so, like the second floor, the windows were nailed shut, and cameras were installed. Neatly arranged on the third floor were over a dozen cardboard boxes, labeled with tags indicating they were to be given to the next homeowner. Upon inspection, Liang Xi found them to contain low-value items such as books, used keyboards, stuffed animals, half-used nasal saline spray, disassembled standing fans, and so on.

After searching for a while on the third floor, Liang Xi returned to the second floor, where the silly bird was still sitting cross-legged.

Ignoring him, Liang Xi checked each window and attempted to pull out the nails, securing them shut.

The silly bird spoke, "Windows cannot stop the deceased."

Liang Xi paid no attention.

The silly bird continued, "On a rainy night with a new moon, the deceased will descend again tonight."

Liang Xi asked, "What are they here for?"

The silly bird replied, "That is also my question, so I am here."

Liang Xi went to the ground floor, having ruled out the possibility of intruders entering through the windows. Liang Xi believed there were only two possible answers now. The first answer: the intruder was hiding inside the house and left after hearing Lily's alarm, opening the door from the inside. The second answer: the intruder unlocked the door and entered the house through the front or back door. However, these two answers still did not address the issue of surveillance. How did the intruder avoid the cameras? Did Lily disconnect the surveillance during the day when she went to work?

This was a possibility because Lily reported feeling invaded during workdays. However, it indirectly indicated that Lily had mental issues, as the stress during weekdays resulted in her getting less than seven hours of sleep per day. On weekends, Lily could sleep in until noon.

The logic of Lily voluntarily disconnecting the surveillance didn't make sense, so how did the intruder avoid it? Liang Xi identified three problems. The first problem: there were at least twenty cameras throughout the house. How could Lily manage to watch them all? How could she go through the footage of 20 cameras? The second problem: Lily had never personally witnessed the intruder, so how did the intruder know when Lily was asleep? The third problem: Was the intruder a mind reader? How did he know when Lily would wake up to use the bathroom?

Liang Xi returned to the large room on the second floor, which should had been Lily's bedroom. The intruder hadn't taken anything, indicating that Lily was likely the target. Liang Xi studied the windows for a while, then opened the door to the bedroom's balcony. It was evident that a transparent anti-theft net had recently been installed on the balcony. This anti-theft net used high-strength steel wires instead of the common stainless steel and aluminum alloy. In theory, each wire could be disassembled and installed, but it required tools and would make a loud noise.

Liang Xi found no signs of the wires being dismantled.

He called the real estate agent, who refused to disclose Lily's contact information. The agent mentioned that if Liang Xi had any opinions or thoughts, he could tell him, and he would record it to share with Lily. Alternatively, Liang Xi could directly record his thoughts for the agent to pass on to Lily. Liang Xi was curious about why the real estate agent mentioned recording. The agent informed Liang Xi that he was the thirteenth investigator to look into the haunted house. All previous investigators, upon returning the keys, had left behind conclusions of varying lengths.

Liang Xi asked, "What conclusions?"

The real estate agent replied, "Most investigators believe that Lily has mental issues."

Liang Xi inquired, "What about the minority?"

The real estate agent responded with some helplessness, "They believe in the existence of ghosts, which is why my house remains unsold."

Liang Xi hung up the phone, and walked to the second-floor hall, where the silly bird was still sitting cross-legged. The difference now was that he had a phone in his hand, though it was unclear what he was looking at. Liang Xi watched for a while, then turned and went downstairs. Suddenly, the silly bird spoke, "I'm sure the spirits will come again tonight."

Liang Xi halted and asked, "Who are you?"

The silly bird pocketed his phone, gazing at Liang Xi with intertwined fingers for a while. "Why are you asking who I am?"

Liang Xi was baffled; did he encounter a ghost in broad daylight? Why did he think so? Because the silly bird's counter-question lacked basic logic. Liang Xi cautiously replied, "Just talk to me first."

After observing Liang Xi for five seconds, the silly bird said, "I'm on a call."

Liang Xi didn't see a phone line, and the silly bird pulled a Bluetooth earpiece from his long hair. "High-tech, thank you."

Damn you and your jungle tactics!