Case No. 091: Ghost Face in the Water (2)

July 4, 2015. Went to the suburban Forest Park to investigate and interviewed park staff and visitors. Audio file 09120150704.wav.

Rustle...

"...That lake? I've never heard of anyone dying there."

Rustle...

"...The lake isn't very deep, and there are always people around. If someone really jumped in, they'd be spotted and pulled out quickly. I've been fishing here for years and never heard of anyone dying. Kids have fallen in before, but they were rescued."

Rustle...

"...No suicides. This park has been here for decades. It used to be People's Park, then it became Forest Park. No one ever killed themselves here. This lake was dug after it became Forest Park. Its source is the Luoqu River beside it. If anyone died, it'd be over there, right? It's only a few steps away. They definitely wouldn't kill themselves here, haha."

"Then what about accidents? Have there been any?"

"No, no. Which newspaper did you say you were a reporter for?"

Rustle... Rustle...

"Young man, you're here asking about people dying in this lake, aren't you?"

"Yes. Ma'am, have you heard anything about someone dying in the lake?"

"Not dead people. There are... ghosts here! I'm telling you this quietly—the place is terribly cursed! Don't go poking your nose into things. Hurry home!"

"Ma'am, I'm here for work. I can't exactly leave empty-handed, can I? If I get nothing today, I'll have to come back tomorrow and the day after. If you know something, why not tell me? That way I won't keep coming here without knowing what's what and end up truly offending some taboo."

"Ah... this matter..."

"Ma'am, let's sit over there and talk."

"Oh."

Tap, tap, tap...

"Ma'am, go ahead."

"Ah, I really don't know where to begin..."

"Just tell me what you know."

"I know plenty. Ah... I'm from around here. I grew up here. This used to be farmland, then it was converted into a factory. Back then, the park was tiny as hell. It was Red Star Factory's factory park, but they gave it the fancy name People's Park. I worked at Red Star Factory when I was young. The factory was doing well then. It had a hospital and a school, and they even built a park... ah..."

"And then?"

"Then things went bad. The hospital and school closed, and nobody managed the park anymore. Back then, people from our factory, and the families living nearby, all liked to court in that park. And some people... well, you know..."

"Mm, I understand what you mean."

"It was a real mess, anyway. It was lively every night. In the pitch dark, you could run into someone just by walking around."

"And after that?"

"After that, the factory shut down. Went bankrupt. The government took back the land. There happened to be some sort of campaign going on then, I think. Anyway, the government wanted to build a park, so they tore down the factory and turned it into one. They changed the name to Forest Park too."

"So what about this ghost you mentioned?"

"..."

"Ma'am, could you tell me about the ghost?"

"This ghost... actually... I don't know much either. I was working at the factory then, and I heard... heard that someone saw a ghost in the woods of the park! It was pitch-black, and then suddenly, there was a ghost's face on the leaves! A white face, hair hanging loose, just dangling from the leaves like that! Scared people half to death!"

"A white face and black hair? Appearing on the leaves?"

"Yes! People saw it after dark! Just think, it was dark out and there weren't any lights. Suddenly seeing a patch of white—wouldn't that scare you to death?"

"Did anyone get scared to death?"

"Oh... oh, not exactly. They were just scared half to death, and then... well, they got scared while doing that, and afterward they couldn't do it anymore..."

"I see. Did no one investigate? Maybe it was a prank—someone deliberately put something there to scare people?"

"How could no one investigate? Captain Li was scared so badly he nearly lost the family line. Wouldn't he have gone to investigate? Ah, ah... well, the person who got scared went to investigate..."

"The"

"result?"

"There was no result! Later, more people got scared, so everyone said it was a ghost. Some people also said... uh, they said... that person was already no good to begin with and deliberately found an excuse... But I think it really was a ghost! It couldn't be that so many people were all no good, could it?"

"Many people?"

"Two or three, I suppose. It happened just before the factory went bankrupt. After the factory closed down, the workers all scattered, and no one came anymore. I found a new job and moved away then. Now I'm retired and have moved back here. I come here every day to exercise."

"Aren't you afraid?"

"What am I afraid of? The ones who saw that thing were all men. I'm a woman, so there's nothing for me to fear. Hey, I think it was a female ghost, like those fox spirits in movies, specializing in harming men."

"Haha, that's very possible!"

Rustle... Rustle...

July 4, 2015. Investigated the history of Forest Park.

According to archival records, prior to 1973, the site of Forest Park was farmland owned by Jiaoxian Rural Commune. In 1973, following reforms, the city government and the commune jointly funded the establishment of Red Star Factory. In 1979, Red Star Factory expanded its grounds and opened People's Park. In 1984, Red Star Factory entered a state of partial shutdown. In 1992, Red Star Factory officially closed. In 1993, the city government funded the conversion of Red Star Factory into Forest Park. Construction was completed in 1994, and it opened for business. The lake in Forest Park was excavated in 1993 and completed in 1994. No deaths were reported during the construction of Forest Park. Before that, neither Jiaoxian Rural Commune nor Red Star Factory had any reported cases.

Attachment: Photocopies of archival materials.

July 5, 2015. Investigated the Luoqu River and Red Star Factory's "Captain Li."

There were three cases along the Luoqu River within Jiao County, involving two male victims and one female victim. All cases had been solved. All three had short hair, so they were temporarily ruled out as suspects.

Attachment: Photocopies of investigation reports for the three cases.

Confirmed that Red Star Factory's "Captain Li" was Li Aihua, male, born in 1952 and deceased in 1993. He died by suicide from wrist-cutting. His body was discovered at home.

Li Aihua's younger brother, Li Aimin, was still alive. A meeting with Li Aimin had been arranged.

July 8, 2015. Met with Li Aimin. Audio file 09120150708.wav.

"My brother's matter happened a long time ago, but I still remember it to this day. I never told anyone else about it. If you hadn't come looking, I probably would've taken it with me into the grave..."

"According to what we've learned, your brother once saw a ghost in People's Park?"

"Yes. He said he saw a ghost."

"What were the circumstances?"

"This... is somewhat hard to talk about. Heh... At the time, he was courting a girl from the factory. The young people at the factory all liked meeting in that park to do that sort of thing. He did too. That day, he left after dinner without saying where he was going, but we all knew he was going to the park to meet his girl. Usually, he wouldn't come back until after ten. But that day, he came home unusually early, around seven or eight. His face looked terrible, and he was covered in cold sweat. We thought he was sick and asked him about it, but he wouldn't say a thing... Looking back now, the way he looked then was exactly how someone looked after seeing a ghost."