The police from Huixiang were worked up, but they hadn't all run off.
Captain Zhu stayed behind, along with two other officers, gathered around the police car.
I saw five people lying on the ground. They were probably the five officers who had gone to call for backup, but their faces were so bruised and swollen that they were unrecognizable.
A few other officers remained, tending to the gunshot wounds of the injured people on the ground.
Then there were the criminals who'd been shot. They were all sprawled on the ground, groaning, and no one was paying them any attention. I couldn't tell whether they were moaning because they were hurt or because they'd seen a ghost and lost their minds, screaming uncontrollably.
Zhuang Huai hadn't left either. He stood in the road, still looking a little dazed.
Jingle... jingle...
I could barely spare a thought for the others. The headless ghost had already come right up to me.
I gritted my teeth and didn't dodge. Just like the one I'd seen yesterday, he vanished, and the bells rang behind me.
I turned around and looked at the headless ghost's back, then at Zhuang Huai and the others.
Lu Qiaolan was the first to notice something was wrong with me. The backpack on her back shifted, too.
"It..." Lu Qiaolan spoke as if someone were choking her. She managed one syllable, then fell silent.
"I'll follow it and take a look. You stay here," I said.
I felt that my line of thinking might have been wrong.
This ghost wasn't just showing us the way.
When I said that, Zhuang Huai looked over. Captain Zhu seemed to glance our way as well.
Lu Qiaolan grabbed my arm. "I'm coming with you."
She sounded resolute and swung her backpack around