Although the old man's words were not particularly favorable compared with the evidence from the scene, they might still carry insufficient weight if everything was measured by importance.
But without a doubt, they had opened another perspective for Han Yiming.
Faced with such ironclad evidence, could there really be hidden circumstances left to uncover in this case?
The old man's words clearly weren't something he had blurted out recklessly, and it could basically be ruled out that he was an acquaintance of Sun Bin's. Taking a step back, even if he had been an acquaintance, he couldn't possibly have told such an enormous lie for him. The consequences would have been far too serious.
Even between father and son, someone might tell such an enormous lie for his child, but for every detail to fit together so perfectly without the slightest flaw was basically impossible.
After so many years in the police force, Han Yiming still possessed enough discernment to tell the difference.
"Old Han, stunned, huh? Incredible, right? Whatever you do, don't wrong an innocent person and let the real culprit escape justice. Think it over slowly. I have to head home."
"Don't you usually live at school?"
"I haven't been staying there lately. There's a pile of things to deal with at home, too. Tonight will definitely be another terrifying night. Hopefully, we'll know the truth after tonight..."
Now, whenever night fell, Jiang Yue felt as if the terrifying world were unveiling its prelude, with countless unseen horrors crawling out from the corners.
"You mean that ghost will come out again tonight? The body has already been taken away by Director Luo. You've been to that place of his. Who could get in?"
"If we'd done this last night, the matter would basically have been over. Unfortunately, that ghost has already killed someone, and no one can guarantee that her abilities haven't evolved. If she evolves to the point where she can independently form evil energy and bring disaster upon others, then how the corpse is dealt with probably won't be decisive anymore."
This was only Jiang Yue's guess. They would have to see what happened tonight.
Tonight would be the night everything was settled.
Jiang Yue already had several plans in mind.
It wasn't that he was being reckless. Rather, Jiang Yue knew very clearly that this matter couldn't be dragged out.
Instead of sitting around and waiting for the ghost to keep evolving, it was better to confront her early and take her down before she became too powerful to defeat!
After calling home, Jiang Ying and the others had already finished dinner. San Gou was accompanying Xiao Yi's family outside, watching people dance in the square.
Although two murders had occurred in succession in the residential compound, life still had to go on, didn't it?
Jiang Yue soon appeared in front of San Gou and the others.
When they saw Jiang Yue, Uncle Ye's worried family finally showed a little more spirit.
"Let's go back."
How could Uncle Ye's family have been in the mood to watch square dancing? The only reason they had stayed outside was to follow Jiang Yue's instructions and gather in a crowded place as much as possible, borrowing the vitality of the crowd.
With enough human presence, ghosts couldn't get close.
When Jiang Yue called them home, they were naturally more than willing.
A small gate had been opened beside the residential compound's main entrance for pedestrians. It wasn't even eight yet, and quite a few people were coming and going.
As they passed one another, San Gou suddenly stopped and took several more looks at the back of someone who had just walked out.
"What is it?"
San Gou scratched his head. "I saw that person outside just now."
"What's so strange about that? Maybe he went into the compound to get something and then left. Isn't that normal?"
"No, that's not right! Just two or three minutes ago, I clearly saw him heading that way, in the opposite direction from us. There's no reason for us to have just returned to the compound while he was coming out. Unless he can fly."
"Maybe you saw wrong?"
"Impossible! It wasn't days or months ago. It was only two or three minutes—there's no way I got it wrong. The clothes, pants, and shoes were all the same. But seeing him again just now, something seemed a little off."
"What was wrong?" Jiang Yue stopped, faintly feeling a spark of inspiration flash through his mind.
"It was the same person, but his air felt different. The second time, his whole body seemed a little gloomy. It was as if there were a faint mass of black energy around him. It was dark out, so I don't know if I imagined it."
San Gou's words gave Jiang Yue a tremendous shock. He grabbed San Gou and chased after the man.
By the time they ran out of the gate, the man's trace had already vanished amid the dense crowd.
At first, San Gou had been the one making a fuss. Now, Jiang Yue's behavior seemed even more exaggerated.
"Did you see him?" Jiang Yue pressed.
"He disappeared."
Jiang Yue stood forlornly in the crowd, as if he had missed something.
Uncle Ye's family now treated Jiang Yue like a deity. Seeing that he seemed a little dejected, they didn't dare urge him.
After all, they were only neighbors, not his family's bodyguards. His helping them was a favor; not helping was only natural.
When they returned to Uncle Ye's home, the handprint the ghost had left on the door was still perfectly clear, making everyone feel increasingly oppressed.
Aunt Zhang took Xiao Yi into the inner room, while Uncle Ye hemmed and hawed before pulling out a bank card.
"Xiao Yue, we feel terrible about having you accompany us every day like this. There are fifty thousand yuan here. How about Uncle Ye hires you..."
Uncle Ye, of course, knew that all of Jiang Yue's adults were gone and that his family's financial circumstances were probably average.
Offering some compensation in money would make them feel a little better.
"Uncle Ye, what are you talking about? Xiao Yi calls me brother. Since I've run into this matter, how could I just ignore it?"
San Gou coughed repeatedly from the side.
Fifty thousand yuan! That was life-saving money. Second Brother was really pretending to be generous. There was no reason not to accept free money.
Friendship was friendship, business was business.
"Xiao Yue, that's not what Uncle Ye meant. You siblings have it hard, too. Just take this as Uncle Ye giving you some extra nourishment. You're about to take the college entrance exams, aren't you?"
"Second Brother..."
"San Gou, shut up."
Money was a good thing, and Jiang Yue naturally liked it.
Accepting the money would be easy, but once he took it, he would have to guarantee their safety. At present, Jiang Yue had no confidence whatsoever to make such a promise.
"Uncle Ye, whether I take your money or not, I'll still do my best. It's just that the bad news has been coming one after another. Things had already improved yesterday, but I didn't expect someone to sabotage them midway."
"Now that ghost has killed another person in the compound. I'm worried that her strength may grow even greater."
"We can't wait any longer! The longer we wait, the stronger she'll become."
"Today, I came up with several plans. We have no other choice. We can only take a risk and try."
"By the way, Uncle Ye, did you buy everything I told you to get over the phone during the day?"
"We bought everything, everything! Besides the white lime, I also bought two roosters and a black dog. Oh, and the surveillance camera at the door has been installed, too, and connected to the television at home."
Roosters and black dogs were both considered evil-repelling objects among the folk.
Black dog blood in particular was said to have an effect on ghosts comparable to sulfuric acid. If a basin of black dog blood was splashed over one, an ordinary ghost could be burned to ashes on the spot.
Something with a similar effect was the urine of a virgin boy.
"Don't rush to kill the black dog yet," Jiang Yue told San Gou. "San Gou, drink more water. The more urine, the better. We'll save it up for use."
Uncle Ye hurriedly said, "We're saving it up, we are! We saved all of it from the daytime."
San Gou resisted deep down.
He recalled walking along the mountain road from Mount Dajin back to town a few days ago, drinking water and urinating all the way. Pulling it out and putting it away repeatedly had left his manhood a little raw.
He had done the same thing again during the day, and would have to continue tonight.
This... this was practically child abuse.
The most infuriating thing was that Second Brother wasn't even paying him for his hard work. Where was the justice in that?
Not long afterward, Jiang Ying also arrived at Uncle Ye's home.
Jiang Yue and San Gou were both away, and it was a lie to say Jiang Ying wasn't frightened being alone at home. They were neighbors, but she couldn't bring herself to call her brothers back.
Fortunately, Uncle Ye had planned things out thoughtfully. He set up several folding camp beds and cleared away all the coffee tables in the living room.
With the sofas and camp beds, they could more or less accommodate everyone.
No matter what, they still had to sleep at night, didn't they?
If they kept forcing themselves to stay awake, they might not be killed by the ghost, but they would eventually be exhausted to death.
White lime was scattered in several circles inside and outside the house. A thin layer of lime powder had also been spread around the elevator entrance and throughout the corridor.
This was a folk belief: even if a ghost was as light as air and weightless, even if mortal eyes couldn't see it, stepping onto white lime would always leave footprints.
As long as there were footprints, there would be traces to follow, no matter how silently it came and went.
Afterward, Jiang Yue made several arrangements and assigned everyone's duties.
Once everything was arranged, Jiang Yue clapped his hands. "Whatever is coming will come. We can't just sit around waiting. Those who should sleep, go to sleep."
Jiang Ying had to go to work every day and manage the household as well, and she was already utterly exhausted. She fell asleep first. Next came Aunt Zhang and Xiao Yi, who were terrified but eventually drifted off as well.
Uncle Ye had wanted to stay awake with them, but at his age he ultimately couldn't outlast the young people. Before he knew it, he was snoring.
San Gou went in and out of the bathroom, urinating several times. Combined with his excitement, he had no desire to sleep at all.
Jiang Yue simply had San Gou keep watch while he closed his eyes and rested for a while.
San Gou had always been carefree. From time to time, he glanced at the surveillance feed connected to the television. Seeing that nothing had happened outside the door, he was instead a little disappointed.
Although many interesting things had happened at Panshi Ridge and in town during his life, all of them combined couldn't compare with how thrilling these past few days had been.
This world actually had ghosts!
What was even more marvelous was that San Gou could actually see these Unclean Things.
This was incredibly exciting!
"Could it be that the ghost is afraid because I, Lord San Gou, am here? That's why she doesn't dare come?" San Gou stared at the surveillance feed for a long while. When nothing happened, he instead felt a little disappointed.
San Gou had never been afraid of things getting out of hand.
Deep down, he was secretly muttering to himself, hoping that the ghost would come soon.
Tap, tap, tap...
Suddenly, San Gou seemed to hear a faint sound.
He hurriedly checked the surveillance feed. There was no reaction outside the door, and the lime on the ground hadn't changed at all.
San Gou thought he had imagined it.
Tap, tap, tap...
Another sound seemed to come from somewhere.
San Gou was a mountain dweller, after all, and possessed the innate vigilance of one. He rose slowly, hunched over, and crept forward on tiptoe, grabbing a handful of lime with one hand.
His eyes flashed sharply like a leopard's as he looked around.
Bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt!
The light outside the corridor suddenly flickered like a candle wavering in the wind, brightening and dimming in turns, eerie and sinister.
The flickering was unnaturally rhythmic, as if the ghost were breathing silently.
Bzzzt, bzzzt, bzzzt!
Bang!
A muffled explosion sounded outside the door.
The corridor light suddenly went out, plunging everything into darkness.
The surveillance camera switched to night-vision mode, and the image immediately became noticeably dimmer!
Darkness was always the best seasoning for terror.
The corridor light had exploded. Darkness had replaced light, meaning that terror was drawing closer step by step...
Compared with known terror, the fear of the unknown was even more unsettling.
San Gou seemed able to hear his own heartbeat.
Seven parts excitement mixed with three parts fear made San Gou exceptionally exhilarated. His eyes were round and gleaming, shining even more brightly in the night.
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