Chapter 1067 - I, Chen Ge, Have Returned [2 in 1] (1/2)
Translator: Lonelytree Editor: Millman97
Red Specters’ existence depended on the obsession in their heart, but the life of a person was limited. Chen Ge was worried that his own time on earth was running out, and once that happened, the bunch of workers at the haunted house would end up jobless and homeless again. Therefore, Chen Ge had to start planning for his future that he would be absent from. To be friends with so many Red Specters and lingering spirits, it required the tenacity that was stronger than a normal person. A normal person would probably be scared to death just from hearing this news alone.
Of all the children the Chen Ge knew, Fan Yu was the most suitable candidate to take over Chen Ge’s job. Be it the painter inside the door or Fan Yu outside the door, Chen Ge had a very good impression of the boy. With Chen Ge’s current condition, he was not qualified to adopt any children—according to the law, that was. However, he could register to become their guardian.
Lee Zheng did not understand all this, but when he heard Chen Ge say these things, he was quite touched. He thought that Chen Ge wanted to adopt these children because he pitied Ying Tong. He had no idea about the conundrum that Chen Ge was in. The ghost fetus trial mission had put a lot of pressure on Chen Ge’s shoulders. Behind Ying Tong’s door, he had almost been killed. If he had died inside that door, what about the lingering spirits and the employees at his haunted house?
Honestly, Chen Ge was not confident that he would be able to complete the ghost fetus’ mission, and he had even less confidence that he would be able to walk out from the other side of this ordeal with his life intact. After continuing the conversation with Lee Zheng, Chen Ge prepared to leave. He was not in a great mood. There were two nights left, but he still had zero information about the last candidate selected by the ghost fetus.
“Chen Ge, wait a moment.” Just as Chen Ge was about to leave the room, Lee Zheng suddenly spoke up. He switched off the recorder and quietly took out his phone. “Captain Yan forbade me from telling you about this, but I personally feel like it is better that you are warned about this.”
He switched on his phone and showed Chen Ge the recording from a surveillance camera. That night, Ying Chen returned to his own residential area with a black plastic bag. Not too long after he entered his apartments, the street camera at the corner of the convenience store caught the shadow of a man wearing a large trench coat. The man had most of his head covered with a black cap, shielding his eyes and nose. However, the streetlight did reveal the lower half of his face, which consisted of a mouth that refused to stop smiling.
“A non-smiler?” Chen Ge recognized the person caught on surveillance. He did not expect the non smiler would have intercepted Ying Chen similar to him as well last night.
“Se Xin’s main physician is still in coma. According to the nurse on duty, a similar strange figure has appeared at their hospital that night.” Lee Zheng put away his phone. “Captain Yan seems to know some information about this person. It was after he found out about this person that he decided to take over Ying Chen’s case. The worry and concern on his face was obvious. I tried to ask him many times until he got annoyed by me, but in the end, he only told me one thing. He told me to stay as far away from this person as I can.”
“Captain Yan seems to know the non smiler very well.”
“Yes, I believe it is related to a case from several years ago. When Captain Yan was young, he was once posted in Jiujiang. He was part of a serial killing that targeted young children. The murderer of the case had been caught and killed. Everyone believed that the case could be closed already, but only Captain Yan believed the murderer was still out there. They had gotten the wrong person.
“Unfortunately, at the time, he was too young and too brash; he did not know how to hold his tongue and pick his moment. In the end, he was ordered to move to another city, one that was much smaller than Jiujiang. But to everyone’s surprise, due to his exceptional talent, even at that small location, Captain Yan continued to rise the ranks as his number of closed cases increased until his reputation got him transferred to Xin Hai.”
Lee Zheng respected Captain Yan very much; his every word was laced with admiration.
“Captain Yan has once worked as part of the law enforcement at Xin Hai?”
“Not only that… never mind, it is too hard for you to understand even if I explain it to you. All you need to understand is that at the most optimal point of his career, Captain Yan did not walk the path that others that arranged for him, but he chose to return to Jiujiang.”
“He chose to return here because he wanted to reopen the case on the serial children killings?” Chen Ge was confused. “How many years ago did that case happen?”
“About twenty years ago.”
“Twenty years ago? The non-smiler was present in Jiujiang that long ago?” Chen Ge’s interest toward this case was piqued. He wanted to know more details, but unfortunately, that was all Lee Zheng was willing to share with him.
“In any case, you have to be careful of your own safety. These monsters that won’t stop smiling appear, like they have been following you everywhere you go.”
“I will be careful.” Chen Ge nodded. “Please take good care of Ying Tong and Zhen Zhen. The monster might come after these two kids as well.”
Chen Ge was about to leave the conference room already when Ying Tong, who had been sitting obediently on his chair, suddenly jumped out from his seat. He followed the direction of Chen Ge’s voice and ran to grab at his shirt.
“Ying Tong, you have to cooperate with the doctor. After a while, I promise I will come back to see you.”
“The police officer has taken something… Can you hold on to it for me?” Ying Tong pleaded in a pitiable voice.
“What is it?”
“A mud statuette made from clay. It has my name on it.”
When Ying Tong said that, a weak glint of light crossed Chen Ge’s eyes. The latter turned to look at Lee Zheng. “Brother Zheng, have you seen such a statuette?”
“On the dolls and toys inside Ying Tong’s bedrooms were traces of the victims’ DNA, and they were probably all hand-made by Ying Chen. Through the design of the dolls, we hope that we will be able to predict and speculate the psychological state of Ying Chen.”
“I am afraid there is some misunderstanding. Do you mind letting me take a look at the list of dolls? No matter what, Ying Tong and I are witnesses in this case.”
After getting the permission from Captain Yan, Lee Zheng led Chen Ge into the evidence room. They found the mud statuette that Ying Tong mentioned at the corner of the room.
“Where did you guys find this mud statuette?” Every candidate chosen by the ghost fetus had one of these mud statuettes with them. Before the police arrived, Chen Ge had searched Ying Chen’s house upside-down, but he had failed to find it.
Lee Zheng stood to the side and explained, “Ying Tong was carrying it with him. The boy had been hiding the statuette on his body. We believe that the statuette must be related to his elder brother’s murder cases somehow.”
“No wonder I was unable to find it that night.”
“What did you say?”
“Oh, I believe you guys are overthinking this. The doll is probably an item for the child to vent his emotion. If there is no trace of anything on it. Why not return it to the boy? Perhaps it might come in useful in his psychiatric treatment.”
A whisper of a cat’s call echoed in Chen Ge’s ear. He used Ghost Ear and confirmed that the voice was coming from inside the mud statuette.
“That is not unreasonable. As long as Ying Tong is willing to cooperate, we are willing to hand the statuette back to him.” The forensic doctor and the investigators had done a thorough sweep on the mud statuette, and they did not find any clues on it. If that was the case, why not follow Chen Ge’s suggestion and give the doll back to Ying Tong to try to get Ying Tong to open up and earn his affection?
“Thank you.” Chen Ge held the mud statuette. “Brother Zheng, do you mind giving me some private time with Ying Tong?”
“You sure are one person with a lot of requests. Other people cannot wait to leave the police station, but once you came, it is like you refuse to leave. You really treat this place as your own home.” Even though that was what Lee Zheng said, the man still walked out of the room to give them the privacy.