The Puzzle Pieces of the Past

The Puzzle Pieces of the Past

Qi Zhiyong was in a foul mood.

Aside from him, He Qiong had been the most valuable member of their group and seemed the most confident. Yet somehow, she had died in that basement.

Only the two sisters, their clothes smeared with mud, had returned to the hostel. Since then, they had clung to each other and wept, adding a mournful note to the bonfire feast.

Their sobbing grated on Qi Zhiyong's nerves. He rapped his knuckles sharply against his plate.

"Enough. Don't waste precious time bawling!"

The two women finally stopped and used tissues to dab at their red, swollen eyes.

At that point, Qi Zhiyong suddenly cut in.

But Wu Xian asked curiously, "What did they have against each other?"

"They only took over Ping'an Hostel two years ago. Before them, it was run by a couple surnamed An."

But the experience he'd gained from their discussions had taught him what the old man was trying to do.

A woman named Zhao Juan had lost her mind after her husband died. Overcome with grief, she killed herself at Ping'an Hostel. She had died in Room 406.

The news article was like a puzzle piece, connecting the clues they'd found so far. The story of what had happened here was gradually becoming clear.

Ten years ago, they'd committed multiple major crimes in the area. Their victims included the hostel's original owners and their family, the Community Canteen owner, and Zhao Juan, the Hanging Wraith.

"The canteen owner's son went missing years ago. By the time he was found, he was already a dried-up corpse. The police suspected he'd been starved to death. Chen Yan was involved."

His instincts told him that figuring out what had happened here might help him survive more than blindly trying to get stronger.

"So that's what happened..."

Wen Chao was like a different person from the day before. Overnight, he seemed to have aged ten years. He didn't look like a university professor at all now, but more like a wandering old man who'd lost his soul.

The evening gathering ended just like that, without much ceremony.

For the sake of his ideals and research, he hadn't touched alcohol in three or four decades.

His ultimate conclusion was that robbing the criminal underworld was the easiest way to get weapons.

Wu Xian returned to his room. After washing up, he lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling, sorting through all the information he'd gathered from the beginning until now.

But it sounded like nothing more than an ordinary case.

Knock, knock, knock!

As a detective, Wu Xian had once discussed what to do if he couldn't obtain weapons through legal channels.

"No one... lied to me!"

Shi Ji described what he'd encountered at the canteen, leaving out the statue. He also added some other information.

The Su sisters kept sobbing, offering no useful information. They muttered that they'd gotten He Qiong killed and didn't want to go on living, and so on. It was all completely pointless.

But today, there was no need to care about any of that.

The hostel owners, Wang Zhiwu and Yu Yinghua, Mr. Wang from Fuxin Garden, and the Starving Ghost from the Community Canteen all belonged to the same criminal gang.

That was also why Wu Xian had encountered a wraith attack right from the start.

Room 406.

That clue ended there.

He already knew what would happen. Even if he stayed awake, there was nothing he could do, and he'd already prepared for any unexpected situation.

Wu Xian's eyes lit up. "What did you say to him?"

"Nothing. I killed him."

"What about you?"

Wu Xian had his legs wrapped around the blanket and was fast asleep, snoring.

The Door-Breaking Wraith let out a roar.

Heavy footsteps echoed through the empty hallway. The Breaking Door Wraith appeared right on time.

"Now that's satisfying!"

The canteen owner had wanted to kidnap Yu Yinghua too, but she'd already disappeared by then, so the next kidnapping had to be called off.

"Hee-hee. Come play, come play."

Wu Xian eyed Wen Chao's bag, deep in thought. Inside were tape, wooden boards, firecrackers, a steel pipe, some bottles and jars, and assorted odds and ends, including electronic components.

"I didn't find much, old as I am. Just picked up a pile of junk."

Whether it was Yu Yinghua knocking or the Wraith smashing through doors, each sound only made him crack his eyes open groggily for a moment.

Qi Zhiyong frowned, then turned to Shi Ji.

The footsteps stopped. A massive figure appeared abruptly at the doorway of Room 408.

"This old man's no simple character!"

The Door-Breaking Wraith raised its huge foot and kicked the door. The sturdy wooden door tore apart like tissue paper. Its enormous, ugly head poked into the room, but it saw nothing.

The footprints entered the rooms occupied by Wu Xian and the others.

He'd found a diary in the canteen's counter. It recorded the whole story.

A news article was printed in the newspaper.

As he spoke, he opened the little bottle and took a hearty swig of Erguotou. Then he choked on the strong liquor and coughed nonstop, his old face turning bright red.

The Starving Ghost was named Chen Yan. He'd come to Fu Yuan City to seek out his relative, Yu Yinghua.

"Let's hear what we found today. The dead are dead, but we still have to figure out how to stay alive."

"I went to the hostel's Dark Room today and found some documents. The owner of Ping'an Hostel was named Wang Zhiwu, and his wife was Yu Yinghua. I'm sure those names ring a bell."

Wu Xian nodded and picked up the thread, sharing what he'd found.

The hostel's Dark Room was the place Wu Xian had visited last that day.

One day, two days, three days...

"Roar!"

The next second, the hallway lights went out. When they came back on, the Breaking Door Wraith had vanished. Rows of tiny footprints were left in the chalk dust on the floor.

Two years ago, the criminal gang had gone straight. The gang leaders, the Wang and Yu couple, had taken over Ping'an Hostel. Mr. Wang had become entangled with Zhao Juan, and the Starving Ghost had been kidnapped. Gradually, they could no longer keep their crimes hidden...

He'd also found a newspaper in the secret room.

How had it become the starting point of the wraith disaster in this world?

Wu Xian was speechless.

Qi Zhiyong only cared about information that could help him get through the night. Wen Chao was a little drunk, and the Su sisters were still crying. No one cared about the story.

Three in the morning.

In the end, Chen Yan had been starved to death in the canteen, surrounded by countless dishes of food!

"Another interesting detail: the couple surnamed An deliberately kept the guest records from a period ten years ago. The names Wang Zhiwu and Yu Yinghua both appear in those records."

It wasn't that they were careless. There was simply no need to be cautious.

When Chen Yan came to eat, the enemy who ran the canteen recognized him. The canteen owner kidnapped him and locked him in the basement during the day, giving him only water and no food. At night, he filled the canteen with food, gagged Chen Yan, and tied him to the pillar in the middle of the room.

"Speaking of which, I ran into a Wandering Wraith today who called himself An Xin. He told me that his daughter went missing ten years ago, and his wife went mad because of it. He was worried that no one would look after her after he died, and asked me to do him a favor."

"A mark... There's one here... A Living Person."

"Hee-hee."

As Wu Xian slept, he suddenly heard a child's voice calling to him.