"You’re ho, aren’t you?" the young female officer, holding a large bunch of keys, stared with her beautiful Phoenix eyes and discontentedly said, "If you’re ho, why didn’t you answer?"
"I...I was sick and just sleeping," Yang Xiao feigned a frail and sickly appearance, as if he would fall over with just a push.
"Why are you opening my door? What do you want to do?" Yang Xiao asked timidly.
"Don’t be nervous, we’re just here to ask a few questions. We’ll leave once we’re done and won’t disturb your rest," the man leading, pale-skinned and charismatic, not old but very steady in deanor, pulled out a photo from his breast pocket, held it up, and showed it to Yang Xiao through the bars, "Have you seen this man recently?"
With just a glance, Yang Xiao’s gaze was captured by the man in the photo—it was the sa policeman who had co to find him not long ago!
No, that’s... that’s a ghost!
Seeing Yang Xiao hesitate for a mont, the man frowned and asked in a low voice, "You’ve seen him, when?"
"About...about half an hour ago, this officer knocked on my door, just... just like you guys," Yang Xiao didn’t alarm them and pretended to try hard to recall.
At these words, all three people outside the door simultaneously stepped back, the youngest male officer’s complexion changed drastically, his hand instinctively reaching into his shoulder bag as he stared at Yang Xiao warily and asked, "Did you... did you open the door for this guy?"
"No, what’s... what’s going on with you?" Playing the part to the hilt, Yang Xiao looked frightened by the three’s aggressive stance, his face pale and ever more feeble.
"It’s nothing; now, please step back, imdiately," said the leading male officer with a serious expression, enunciating every word, obviously not joking.
"What are you going to do?" Yang Xiao was a little panicked, this ti not pretending.
"Please cooperate with our work, step back, imdiately!"
Yang Xiao had no choice but to slowly retreat. As he moved away from the door, the leading man stepped forward, peering at Yang Xiao through the bars on the door. Yang Xiao keenly noticed that the man was not looking at his upper body, but was staring at his legs.
A few seconds later, the man’s slightly furrowed brow relaxed, he nodded slowly, and his tone also softened, "It’s alright now, thank you for your cooperation. What did this person talk to you about?"
"He... he wanted to co in and sit for a while, but my place is really too ssy so I refused. Yes!" Yang Xiao seed to suddenly rember sothing and quickly said, "He also asked how I’ve been sleeping recently, whether I’ve heard any strange noises at night?"
"How did you answer?"
"I just said truthfully that I’ve been sick recently and sleep deeply at night, I haven’t heard anything, and then... then he left." After pausing, Yang Xiao quietly asked, "Officer, is there sothing wrong with this person? When I saw him, I felt... he seed strange."
Hearing this, the man looked at him and nodded, "Your intuition is very accurate. He’s not a police officer; he’s a criminal impersonator. If he cos again, rember never to open the door for him and contact us imdiately after ensuring your safety."
Having finished, another male officer with the shoulder bag stepped forward and, through the bars, handed Yang Xiao a business card, which was blank except for a phone number with the words "Officer Zhang" written beside it.
"Officer Zhang, since the criminal knows where I live, should I move out?" Yang Xiao asked, holding the business card sincerely.
"There’s no need for that. Don’t worry too much. We’re staying in the apartnt for the ti being, in room 8008 of building 4. The room number is on the back. If there’s an ergency, you can find us there, but don’t reveal it to anyone else," the man said seriously.
Flipping over the card, indeed, the back had a line of delicate handwriting: East Asia Mansion, building 4, room 8008.
"Also, one more thing," the man suddenly stated, "Criminals are very averse to people like you. Be extra careful."
"People like ... Officer, I’m a good guy!" Yang Xiao defended himself.
"Is that so?" The young female officer revealed a look of contempt, glanced behind Yang Xiao into his room where a conspicuous pink camisole and flesh-colored stockings were hanging. She didn’t say much, as everything was self-evident.
Explaining would only make things worse, so Yang Xiao chose to keep his mouth shut as he watched the three people leave, each taking an umbrella from beside the wall, a straight-handle black sword umbrella, just as they had co. Instead of using the elevator, they opted for the stairs to go down.
Once the door was closed, Yang Xiao looked down at the business card in his hand and roughly guessed the identities of the trio—they weren’t police officers; they were investigators from the Patrol Defense Office, with the man in the lead being the captain, holding a position identical to Yang Xiao’s own in the real world.
Currently, a supernatural event was unfolding here, and many people had been drawn into it. The guy who had co to the door not long ago, dressed in a police uniform, was a ghost.
Yang Xiao had also picked up so clues from the man’s words, the warning that the ghost held a strong aversion to people like him.
What was his identity?
Looking around the room, his gaze lingered for a mont on the pink camisoles and various high heels, oh, he was gay, and still in the business of selling his ’wares.’
That ant the ghost specifically targeted people like him... no, rather, people who assud the identity he was impersonating.
Could it be... a fellow professional?
"Tap."
"Tap."
"Tap."
Footsteps echoed in the corridor, putting Yang Xiao on high alert. This ti it was just a single person - the leading man of the three had co back. He gave Yang Xiao a piece of advice through the door, "Forget to tell you, no matter what strange noises you hear at night, don’t be curious, don’t move, and certainly don’t take an interest. Wait for the noises to disappear, then call us."
"What... what kind of noises?" Yang Xiao asked carefully.
"I’m not sure how to describe it to you, but you’ve cooked before, haven’t you? It’s very much like the sound of chopping at and bones, a whole piece of at with a bone wrapped inside," the man described.
"Don’t worry, I... I definitely won’t go out looking for trouble, and I certainly won’t open the door to strangers!" Yang Xiao imdiately promised.
After a pause, the man’s voice lowered suddenly, "No, you’re mistaken, that noise... might not be coming from outside."
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao felt a chill, a foreboding feeling surging within him, "Not from outside... what do you an?"
Several seconds later, the man spoke again, "Take so sedatives that make you sleepy at night, don’t be curious. That’s all I can say, call if you have any problems." After that, the footsteps faded away from the door.
Yang Xiao was already anxious, and now he was even more so. How could he sleep now, with the conversation half-finished and more unsettling than helpful?
However, the man’s return did bring new information. It seed that the ghost could enter the room without using the door. If that was the case, things would be seriously complicated, as previously he hadn’t had enough interaction to figure out the ghost’s origin and killing habits.
A more pressing matter needed confirmation now. Yang Xiao quickly walked to the bedside, grabbed the unplugged telephone line, and plugged it back in as fast as possible. As the power light ca on, Yang Xiao dialed the number on the card, and soon enough, a cellphone ring echoed in the corridor.
Only when he heard the ring did Yang Xiao breathe a sigh of relief. Thankfully, the man who had returned alone was human, not a ghost.
Soon after, the man ca back in a rush of footsteps. Yang Xiao opened the inner door, and speaking through the iron lattice door, explained to the man that it had been a wrong dial on his part.
But the man wasn’t so easily fooled and began to eye Yang Xiao strangely, "No, you didn’t dial the wrong number, you were testing . You suspected that the person outside the door wasn’t , but a ghost!"
"You know those things can take on human form. You’re not an ordinary person—who exactly are you?" the man drew his gun, pointing it at Yang Xiao.
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