Chapter 25
The competition came on too fast, just like a tornado.
Who could have thought that Su Jiao going to the police station would turn into a battle of stealing jobs from the SuZhou City reaper within the blink of an eye.
Lian Xi and Su Jiao looked dumbfounded, but Lord Black Reaper had cold eyes and sneered from the corners of his lips. He stretched out his hand: “Give me something related to the job.”
Su Jiao: “Huh?”
Lie Chen’s long eyes narrowed, and his thin lips opened slightly: “The job.”
Su Jiao: “What job?”
On one side, Lian Xi couldn’t take it anymore : “That girl, Sun Yan.”
Su Jiao: “…”
What the heck, a job! Doesn’t she have a name?!
Also, she might not actually be dead!
As if hearing Su Jiao curse him inside his head, Lie Chen glanced at him faintly: “She’s dead.”
Lian Xi frowned: “She’s really dead?”
Lie Chen: “Dead.”
Su Jiao didn’t respond immediately. After some time he whispered in a small voice: “So, I still couldn’t save her…”
The person was gone but he could still find the body.
Su Jiao took out his mobile phone from his pocket, pulled off the phone case and handed it over: “So, something related to the job… no, to Sun Yan right? Although I don’t know what you’re going to do, this phone case is related to her. Last month she held a welcome party for me. This is the meeting gift she gave me that night.”
Thinking of this, Su Jiao felt a bit regretful, “That girl was really nice, very warmhearted. She was really great at chatting.”
Lian Xi: “You have a good impression of her?”
Su Jiao: “It’s definitely not bad.”
Lian Xi nodded slightly: “Oh, I almost forgot that you seem to be her boyfriend.”
Su Jiao: “…”
In the next second, the young man raised his finger to the sky: “I swear, Sun Yan and I didn’t have that kind of relationship!”
….
All the way until now, there was something that Su Jiao couldn’t figure out: “Why do you think Sun Yan said that I was her boyfriend?”
Lian Xi: “Why do you think?”
Su Jiao looked dumbfounded: “I don’t know ah!”
Su Jiao’s head really hurt over this matter, he really didn’t understand.
He and Sun Yan can be said to be friends but at best they were ordinary friends. The two of them added each other on WeChat and every two or three days they’d chat. But don’t mention being boy and girl friends, they can’t even be counted close friends.
There is not much overlap between graduate and undergraduate students, and Su Jiao has been living off campus by himself for a month since the beginning of school. The only undergraduate he knew was Sun Yan and the only graduate student he knew was Xie Ze who was in the same dormitory. He hadn’t even exchanged many words with the person who lived in the dormitory next door.
Su Jiao touched his chin and suddenly had a flash of inspiration: “Do you think she thought that I’m super handsome so she wanted to show off to her classmates by saying that she’s my girlfriend? Yes, that’s the only possibility!”
Lian Xi: “…”
Su Jiao: “What’s with that look in your eyes!”
Lian Xi smiled slightly: “Nothing.”
As long as you’re happy.
Actually Lian Xi really felt that his housemate thought too highly of himself but after considering it he said, “It’s actually not impossible.”
Su Jiao immediately became spirited: “Yeah, right? Lian Xi, you think so too! Otherwise, why would she say that I am her boyfriend? She must think that I’m handsome and that it’s worthwhile to fall in love with me. Let me tell you, sometimes when people stay beside people with strange aesthetics for too long, they become unable to distinguish beauty from ugliness. Just like that agent Xiao Liu! A handsome guy like me is here but she doesn’t blink, instead she actually likes that….” Su Jiao indicated the back of President Lie with his eyes. “That type, you know. Don’t you think Xiao Liu has an aesthetic problem?”
Xiao Liu, who just came home from work after a busy day: “A-choo!”
President Lie glanced at Su Jiao lazily and didn’t bother with him.
Unlike Su Jiao, who had wanted to call Sun Yan’s soul and so had to wait until the yin energy was at its peak and also had to find a good spot for calling to the soul, Lie Chen’s method was much simpler. He simply held Sun Yan’s phone and tossed it lightly into the air. An evening breeze blew and the man’s low voice sounded along with it–
“The world of the living has its pathway, and the world of the dead has no doorway…”
“Destroy!”
Su Jiao poked Lian Xi’s arm: “Actually you ghost official’s spells are actually pretty good, it’s much cooler than mine.”
Lian Xi: “…”
You really don’t know how to not put your foot in it.
Lord Black Reaper’s made up spells were full of bells and whistles but they didn’t affect his output in the slightest.
In the dark night, the transparent mobile phone case leaped into the air. At the moment when it reached the highest point, with the man’s extremely cold “Destroy!”, a golden flame ignited out of thin air and the raging fire swallowed the small mobile phone case.
In the blink of an eye, this phone case was burnt to crisp!
Soon, the golden flames gradually dissipated and in the center of the flames, a golden light shot out suddenly with a swish, pointing to the north.
Lian Xi reacted extremely quickly and he ducked his head to avoid letting the golden light hit his face.
Lian Xi: “What is this?”
Lie Chen: “The vitality of a living person, it points to the person who was last in contact with the job.”
Su Jiao was surprised: “Isn’t that the murderer?”
Lian Xi added: “It is, if she was killed.”
Without further ado, the three of them set off immediately, following the direction pointed by the golden light and chased it quickly.
Quickly they left the community and passed three roads.
Five minutes later, they came to the gate of the North Campus of SuZhou City University. Here, the three stopped.
Quietly looking at the dormitory building pointed out by the golden light, Lian Xi was silent for a moment, then turned to ask his housemate: “I only have a bachelor degree at SuZhou University so I don’t recognize this place. Is this the…. graduate student dormitory?”
Su Jiao didn’t reply, instead he opened his mouth wide and stared blankly at where the golden light pointed.
Lian Xi noticed something wrong: “Su Jiao?”
Lie Chen glanced at Su Jiao who was standing stupidly. He was about to walk towards the school gate but when Su Jiao saw the school gate, which had no one at this time of the night, he finally moved. He slowly turned around and looked at Lian Xi and Lie Chen. After a few seconds, his expression was complicated and he said: “It.. it seems to be my dormitory.”
***
One o’clock in the morning, North Campus of SuZhou City University.
The school guard was woken up to help open the door. Looking at the three young people in front of him, he complained: “It’s so late, come back earlier next time!”
Su Jiao thanked him repeatedly and put away his student ID.
The graduate dormitory building was very close to the school gate and a golden light invisible to mortals shot straight from the ground to the third floor, through the glass, and into the fourth room from the left.
The three followed the golden light and walked into this graduate dormitory building.
When he went up the stairs, Su Jiao was in a complicated mood. He said to Lian Xi: “No way, I live in my dormitory with Xie Ze. I’ve never seen Sun Yan here before. Could Xie Ze be the last person Sun Yan saw? But I haven’t heard of them being in a relationship.”
Lian Xi asked, “What kind of person is Xie Ze?”
Su Jiao: “We are both from ShanDong. He’s very enthusiastic and helpful. When I just got here, he came downstairs to help me with my luggage. There wasn’t any problem.”
Lian Xi: “Are you sure you know him well?”
Su Jiao: “… Ah well… this is my dorm, here it is.”
In the narrow and cold hallway of the dormitory, three big men stood side by side in front of the No. 304 dormitory.
Su Jiao stood in the middle, Lian Xi stood on the left and Lie Chen stood on the right.
A white light shone from behind the three, reflecting three black shadows on the metal door.
Su Jiao took a deep breath and took out the key.
“Then… I’ll open the door.”
The door opened after hearing a crisp click.
Su Jiao held the doorknob. He first turned his head nervously and glanced at Lian Xi, then subconsciously turned his head to the right. However, before he could even see the other person clearly, the handsome and tall man directly stretched out his hand and pushed it open the door.
Su Jiao: “Fuck?!”
The door opened and hit the wall with a clatter.
Su Jiao hurried to turn on the light: “Lao… Lao Xie, I came back to get something. I brought two of my friends, sorry to disturb you while you’re sleeping…” The next second, when the light turned on, Su Jiao said exclaimed surprise: “Hey, he’s not here?”
There was no one in the clean and tidy dormitory.
Lian Xi walked to one of the messy beds. Su Jiao said, “This is my bed.”
Lian Xi walked to another neatly stacked bed. Su Jiao said, “This is Xie Ze’s.”
Lian Xi: “He hasn’t come back at all?”
Su Jiao: “No way, Xie Ze rarely stays out at night. Don’t judge him because he’s a big and thickset man, in fact he’s a big homebody and all he does is read books all day long.”
Lian Xi: “Try and call him?”
Su Jiao immediately dialed the housemate’s phone, but…: “He didn’t answer.”
“Something’s wrong.” Lian Xi’s eyes blinked and he looked up at Lie Chen. “Lord Black Reaper, I remember you said that this golden light points to the person Sun Yan had contact with last and not the place where she last appeared right?”
Lie Chen nodded, “That’s right.”
Lian Xi’s face suddenly sank: “So… Xie Ze is still in this room?”
After his voice fell, a biting chill came up from the floor and Su Jiao trembled in horror.
Not only him but in the entire room, except for a calm and impassive Black Reaper, even Lian Xi felt his back go cold.
He has seen many ghosts since he was a child, but in this situation, no one can calm down.
Su Jiao tremblingly walked to Lian Xi’s side: “No way, where is Xie Ze? I can’t see him. Can he really be inside the dorm? It’s impossible.”
Lian Xi pursed his lips. “Let’s look carefully.”
“No need.”
Hearing this, Lian Xi and Su Jiao turned their heads and looked at the man who didn’t change his expression.
Lie Chen wrote lightly: “Bend down, bow your heads.”
The two followed his words, bent down and bowed their heads.
Lie Chen: “Then look up.”
Lian Xi raised his head slightly. When he saw the corpse clinging to the bottom of the bed with its eyes wide open, his eyes widened suddenly and the sound of an exclamation got stuck in his throat. The short housemate beside him was not so calm, Su Jiao screamed and sat down on the ground.
“He, why is he lying under my bed!”
…
Su Jiao immediately took out his phone to call the police.
Lie Chen: “Wait.”
Su Jiao stared straight: “What wait? We can’t wait anymore! Someone’s dead! If we don’t call the police, what if they arrest me and interrogate me again! I’m innocent, you guys have to testify for me.”
Lian Xi: “You really need to wait.”
Su Jiao: “???”
You’re actually on his side again!
This time, Lian Xi finally understood what his housemate meant. He explained: “First of all, Xie Ze died suddenly. I remember that you called him yesterday evening so why did he suddenly die? I think this matter may be related to Sun Yan’s death. Secondly…” He raised his head to look at Lie Chen, “You said before that golden light pointed to the last person Sun Yan had contact with, right?”
Lie Chen looked down at Lian Xi. His eyes moved slightly: “Yes.”
Lian Xi: “So, is it a living person… or a dead person?”
Lie Chen smiled. He knew that the young man in front of him understood what he meant.
“Living.”
Su Jiao was stunned.
Lian Xi looked back at his housemate: “Now, do you understand? The golden light will only point to living people so perhaps Xie Ze was not dead before we entered the school and even when we came upstairs. But after we entered the room, he was already dead. Did you see anyone on the way here?”
Su Jiao opened his mouth and said in a daze: “No…”
Lian Xi nodded: “Yes, don’t talk about people, we haven’t even seen a single ghost. So, whether it is a ghost or a person who killed Xie Ze, he is either still hiding here or…” After a pause, Lian Xi asked, “Are there any people living in the dormitory next door?”
Su Jiao “Yes! 305 is unoccupied, but 303 is occupied.”
Lian Xi looked to the balcony: “Judging by the height of the railing, a college student who is fit should have no problem jumping over it. Do the two students living next door 303 usually work out?”
Su Jiao clenched his fingers and tried to breathe slowly to restore his sense of calm. his calm breathing, try to restore calm. “Let’s directly go and talk to him ba.”
Lian Xi looked at him.
Su Jiao said slowly: “There is only one person living next door at 303. His name is Liu Hao and he was the basketball captain of the school when he was an undergraduate.”
***
Chapter 25
The competition came on too fast, just like a tornado.
Who could have thought that Su Jiao going to the police station would turn into a battle of stealing jobs from the SuZhou City reaper within the blink of an eye.
Lian Xi and Su Jiao looked dumbfounded, but Lord Black Reaper had cold eyes and sneered from the corners of his lips. He stretched out his hand: “Give me something related to the job.”
Su Jiao: “Huh?”
Lie Chen’s long eyes narrowed, and his thin lips opened slightly: “The job.”
Su Jiao: “What job?”
On one side, Lian Xi couldn’t take it anymore : “That girl, Sun Yan.”
Su Jiao: “…”
What the heck, a job! Doesn’t she have a name?!
Also, she might not actually be dead!
As if hearing Su Jiao curse him inside his head, Lie Chen glanced at him faintly: “She’s dead.”
Lian Xi frowned: “She’s really dead?”
Lie Chen: “Dead.”
Su Jiao didn’t respond immediately. After some time he whispered in a small voice: “So, I still couldn’t save her…”
The person was gone but he could still find the body.
Su Jiao took out his mobile phone from his pocket, pulled off the phone case and handed it over: “So, something related to the job… no, to Sun Yan right? Although I don’t know what you’re going to do, this phone case is related to her. Last month she held a welcome party for me. This is the meeting gift she gave me that night.”
Thinking of this, Su Jiao felt a bit regretful, “That girl was really nice, very warmhearted. She was really great at chatting.”
Lian Xi: “You have a good impression of her?”
Su Jiao: “It’s definitely not bad.”
Lian Xi nodded slightly: “Oh, I almost forgot that you seem to be her boyfriend.”
Su Jiao: “…”
In the next second, the young man raised his finger to the sky: “I swear, Sun Yan and I didn’t have that kind of relationship!”
….
All the way until now, there was something that Su Jiao couldn’t figure out: “Why do you think Sun Yan said that I was her boyfriend?”
Lian Xi: “Why do you think?”
Su Jiao looked dumbfounded: “I don’t know ah!”
Su Jiao’s head really hurt over this matter, he really didn’t understand.
He and Sun Yan can be said to be friends but at best they were ordinary friends. The two of them added each other on WeChat and every two or three days they’d chat. But don’t mention being boy and girl friends, they can’t even be counted close friends.
There is not much overlap between graduate and undergraduate students, and Su Jiao has been living off campus by himself for a month since the beginning of school. The only undergraduate he knew was Sun Yan and the only graduate student he knew was Xie Ze who was in the same dormitory. He hadn’t even exchanged many words with the person who lived in the dormitory next door.
Su Jiao touched his chin and suddenly had a flash of inspiration: “Do you think she thought that I’m super handsome so she wanted to show off to her classmates by saying that she’s my girlfriend? Yes, that’s the only possibility!”
Lian Xi: “…”
Su Jiao: “What’s with that look in your eyes!”
Lian Xi smiled slightly: “Nothing.”
As long as you’re happy.
Actually Lian Xi really felt that his housemate thought too highly of himself but after considering it he said, “It’s actually not impossible.”
Su Jiao immediately became spirited: “Yeah, right? Lian Xi, you think so too! Otherwise, why would she say that I am her boyfriend? She must think that I’m handsome and that it’s worthwhile to fall in love with me. Let me tell you, sometimes when people stay beside people with strange aesthetics for too long, they become unable to distinguish beauty from ugliness. Just like that agent Xiao Liu! A handsome guy like me is here but she doesn’t blink, instead she actually likes that….” Su Jiao indicated the back of President Lie with his eyes. “That type, you know. Don’t you think Xiao Liu has an aesthetic problem?”
Xiao Liu, who just came home from work after a busy day: “A-choo!”
President Lie glanced at Su Jiao lazily and didn’t bother with him.
Unlike Su Jiao, who had wanted to call Sun Yan’s soul and so had to wait until the yin energy was at its peak and also had to find a good spot for calling to the soul, Lie Chen’s method was much simpler. He simply held Sun Yan’s phone and tossed it lightly into the air. An evening breeze blew and the man’s low voice sounded along with it–
“The world of the living has its pathway, and the world of the dead has no doorway…”
“Destroy!”
Su Jiao poked Lian Xi’s arm: “Actually you ghost official’s spells are actually pretty good, it’s much cooler than mine.”
Lian Xi: “…”
You really don’t know how to not put your foot in it.
Lord Black Reaper’s made up spells were full of bells and whistles but they didn’t affect his output in the slightest.
In the dark night, the transparent mobile phone case leaped into the air. At the moment when it reached the highest point, with the man’s extremely cold “Destroy!”, a golden flame ignited out of thin air and the raging fire swallowed the small mobile phone case.
In the blink of an eye, this phone case was burnt to crisp!
Soon, the golden flames gradually dissipated and in the center of the flames, a golden light shot out suddenly with a swish, pointing to the north.
Lian Xi reacted extremely quickly and he ducked his head to avoid letting the golden light hit his face.
Lian Xi: “What is this?”
Lie Chen: “The vitality of a living person, it points to the person who was last in contact with the job.”
Su Jiao was surprised: “Isn’t that the murderer?”
Lian Xi added: “It is, if she was killed.”
Without further ado, the three of them set off immediately, following the direction pointed by the golden light and chased it quickly.
Quickly they left the community and passed three roads.
Five minutes later, they came to the gate of the North Campus of SuZhou City University. Here, the three stopped.
Quietly looking at the dormitory building pointed out by the golden light, Lian Xi was silent for a moment, then turned to ask his housemate: “I only have a bachelor degree at SuZhou University so I don’t recognize this place. Is this the…. graduate student dormitory?”
Su Jiao didn’t reply, instead he opened his mouth wide and stared blankly at where the golden light pointed.
Lian Xi noticed something wrong: “Su Jiao?”
Lie Chen glanced at Su Jiao who was standing stupidly. He was about to walk towards the school gate but when Su Jiao saw the school gate, which had no one at this time of the night, he finally moved. He slowly turned around and looked at Lian Xi and Lie Chen. After a few seconds, his expression was complicated and he said: “It.. it seems to be my dormitory.”
***
One o’clock in the morning, North Campus of SuZhou City University.
The school guard was woken up to help open the door. Looking at the three young people in front of him, he complained: “It’s so late, come back earlier next time!”
Su Jiao thanked him repeatedly and put away his student ID.
The graduate dormitory building was very close to the school gate and a golden light invisible to mortals shot straight from the ground to the third floor, through the glass, and into the fourth room from the left.
The three followed the golden light and walked into this graduate dormitory building.
When he went up the stairs, Su Jiao was in a complicated mood. He said to Lian Xi: “No way, I live in my dormitory with Xie Ze. I’ve never seen Sun Yan here before. Could Xie Ze be the last person Sun Yan saw? But I haven’t heard of them being in a relationship.”
Lian Xi asked, “What kind of person is Xie Ze?”
Su Jiao: “We are both from ShanDong. He’s very enthusiastic and helpful. When I just got here, he came downstairs to help me with my luggage. There wasn’t any problem.”
Lian Xi: “Are you sure you know him well?”
Su Jiao: “… Ah well… this is my dorm, here it is.”
In the narrow and cold hallway of the dormitory, three big men stood side by side in front of the No. 304 dormitory.
Su Jiao stood in the middle, Lian Xi stood on the left and Lie Chen stood on the right.
A white light shone from behind the three, reflecting three black shadows on the metal door.
Su Jiao took a deep breath and took out the key.
“Then… I’ll open the door.”
The door opened after hearing a crisp click.
Su Jiao held the doorknob. He first turned his head nervously and glanced at Lian Xi, then subconsciously turned his head to the right. However, before he could even see the other person clearly, the handsome and tall man directly stretched out his hand and pushed it open the door.
Su Jiao: “Fuck?!”
The door opened and hit the wall with a clatter.
Su Jiao hurried to turn on the light: “Lao… Lao Xie, I came back to get something. I brought two of my friends, sorry to disturb you while you’re sleeping…” The next second, when the light turned on, Su Jiao said exclaimed surprise: “Hey, he’s not here?”
There was no one in the clean and tidy dormitory.
Lian Xi walked to one of the messy beds. Su Jiao said, “This is my bed.”
Lian Xi walked to another neatly stacked bed. Su Jiao said, “This is Xie Ze’s.”
Lian Xi: “He hasn’t come back at all?”
Su Jiao: “No way, Xie Ze rarely stays out at night. Don’t judge him because he’s a big and thickset man, in fact he’s a big homebody and all he does is read books all day long.”
Lian Xi: “Try and call him?”
Su Jiao immediately dialed the housemate’s phone, but…: “He didn’t answer.”
“Something’s wrong.” Lian Xi’s eyes blinked and he looked up at Lie Chen. “Lord Black Reaper, I remember you said that this golden light points to the person Sun Yan had contact with last and not the place where she last appeared right?”
Lie Chen nodded, “That’s right.”
Lian Xi’s face suddenly sank: “So… Xie Ze is still in this room?”
After his voice fell, a biting chill came up from the floor and Su Jiao trembled in horror.
Not only him but in the entire room, except for a calm and impassive Black Reaper, even Lian Xi felt his back go cold.
He has seen many ghosts since he was a child, but in this situation, no one can calm down.
Su Jiao tremblingly walked to Lian Xi’s side: “No way, where is Xie Ze? I can’t see him. Can he really be inside the dorm? It’s impossible.”
Lian Xi pursed his lips. “Let’s look carefully.”
“No need.”
Hearing this, Lian Xi and Su Jiao turned their heads and looked at the man who didn’t change his expression.
Lie Chen wrote lightly: “Bend down, bow your heads.”
The two followed his words, bent down and bowed their heads.
Lie Chen: “Then look up.”
Lian Xi raised his head slightly. When he saw the corpse clinging to the bottom of the bed with its eyes wide open, his eyes widened suddenly and the sound of an exclamation got stuck in his throat. The short housemate beside him was not so calm, Su Jiao screamed and sat down on the ground.
“He, why is he lying under my bed!”
…
Su Jiao immediately took out his phone to call the police.
Lie Chen: “Wait.”
Su Jiao stared straight: “What wait? We can’t wait anymore! Someone’s dead! If we don’t call the police, what if they arrest me and interrogate me again! I’m innocent, you guys have to testify for me.”
Lian Xi: “You really need to wait.”
Su Jiao: “???”
You’re actually on his side again!
This time, Lian Xi finally understood what his housemate meant. He explained: “First of all, Xie Ze died suddenly. I remember that you called him yesterday evening so why did he suddenly die? I think this matter may be related to Sun Yan’s death. Secondly…” He raised his head to look at Lie Chen, “You said before that golden light pointed to the last person Sun Yan had contact with, right?”
Lie Chen looked down at Lian Xi. His eyes moved slightly: “Yes.”
Lian Xi: “So, is it a living person… or a dead person?”
Lie Chen smiled. He knew that the young man in front of him understood what he meant.
“Living.”
Su Jiao was stunned.
Lian Xi looked back at his housemate: “Now, do you understand? The golden light will only point to living people so perhaps Xie Ze was not dead before we entered the school and even when we came upstairs. But after we entered the room, he was already dead. Did you see anyone on the way here?”
Su Jiao opened his mouth and said in a daze: “No…”
Lian Xi nodded: “Yes, don’t talk about people, we haven’t even seen a single ghost. So, whether it is a ghost or a person who killed Xie Ze, he is either still hiding here or…” After a pause, Lian Xi asked, “Are there any people living in the dormitory next door?”
Su Jiao “Yes! 305 is unoccupied, but 303 is occupied.”
Lian Xi looked to the balcony: “Judging by the height of the railing, a college student who is fit should have no problem jumping over it. Do the two students living next door 303 usually work out?”
Su Jiao clenched his fingers and tried to breathe slowly to restore his sense of calm. his calm breathing, try to restore calm. “Let’s directly go and talk to him ba.”
Lian Xi looked at him.
Su Jiao said slowly: “There is only one person living next door at 303. His name is Liu Hao and he was the basketball captain of the school when he was an undergraduate.”
***
