Impersonation

Chapter 32: Impersonation

Meanwhile, at the Ruyi Inn, Bai Yanliang had just learned the news.

"They're staying in Room 406?"

"Yes, sir. Another gentleman just came by to ask about them. Are you friends with him?"

Bai Yanliang nodded. "More or less. Could you tell me... how long ago he left?"

The receptionist glanced at the clock on the wall. "Almost an hour ago."

Almost an hour...

This is bad.

Bai Yanliang thanked the receptionist and was about to leave when another receptionist, who had been answering a call, suddenly stood up and looked around before calling out, "Excuse me... is Mr. Xu, Ms. Jiang, Mr. Bai, or Mr. Feng here?"

Bai Yanliang's attention sharpened. He walked over and said, "I'm Bai Yanliang. Please give it to me."

The receptionist hurriedly handed him the phone, eyeing him uncertainly. After all, the call had come from the police station.

"Hello?" Bai Yanliang asked as he took the phone.

"Bai Yanliang?"

"Yes."

There was a brief silence on the other end. Then Li Yuejun's voice came through.

"I just found out that the owner of the Ruyi Inn, Ding Lei, and his younger brother, Ding Peng, are twins!"

Bai Yanliang raised an eyebrow. The doubts that had been knotted in his mind suddenly began to unravel.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"I understand..." Bai Yanliang fell silent for a moment, then said, "Stay at the police station. I'll take care of everything here."

On the other end, Li Yuejun looked a little strange. Bai Yanliang had already hung up, and he had told her to stay put.

Was he really that confident?

What a strange man.

Though she was still wondering about it, Li Yuejun couldn't deny that this man, who was still practically a stranger, made her feel strongly protected. It was as if... with him around, even ghosts didn't seem so frightening.

Feng Xinghan was in trouble. Bai Yanliang was certain of it.

He looked up at the ceiling, his gaze seemingly piercing through the floors above.

Jiang Li and Xu Zhi'an were still hiding on the rooftop. Two badly decomposed corpses lay in the water tank there, but... that might well have been the safest place.

As for Li Yuejun, she hadn't investigated much and didn't know the details of many things. The fact that she had sensed something might be wrong with Ding Lei and Ding Peng being twins had already been a great help.

In fact, even Bai Yanliang had overlooked that detail. It had been one of the things he couldn't make sense of.

Zhang Wen had gotten Ding Peng to help her kill Li Yuhua with nothing more than a verbal promise that wasn't remotely credible.

Even someone blinded by greed wouldn't believe such a stupid, crazy promise. And yet... Ding Peng had really worked with Zhang Wen.

That was what Bai Yanliang couldn't understand at all.

Why?

Why had Ding Peng been so sure that he would get a huge amount of money after killing Li Yuhua?

It wasn't until Li Yuejun's call that he finally understood everything.

Ding Peng had agreed to help Zhang Wen because he had a plan of his own!

Bai Yanliang had now pieced together the whole story. He glanced at the receptionist and said, "Please call Mr. Ding. Tell him the police will be coming tonight and ask him to cooperate with the investigation into his sister-in-law, Zhang Qiao's disappearance."

The receptionist's eyes widened. She stared at Bai Yanliang, confused and unsure what to do.

"Sir... may I ask who you are?"

Bai Yanliang looked at her sternly. "A detective. Badge number 015386. I hope you'll cooperate."

The receptionist was clearly frightened. She nodded quickly and began calling Ding Lei.

Bai Yanliang paid her no further attention. Instead, he looked toward the fourth floor, hidden behind layer upon layer of ceilings. He hadn't come down for an hour... Feng Xinghan might never come down again.

"Help... somebody help me!"

A terrified scream came from nearby.

The receptionists and Bai Yanliang all turned toward the sound. A short, skinny male employee came rushing out, his face deathly pale.

"Wang Sheng? What's wrong?" The receptionist at the counter looked at him and asked in confusion.

"D-dead! Brother Jiang is dead!" His eyes were full of terror. Even in the brightly lit lobby, he couldn't stop trembling.

"Ah!"

Several women covered their mouths and cried out. They were at a loss, looking at one another in panic.

Fortunately, Bai Yanliang had just impersonated Yang Wanlong and borrowed his badge number. Now he stepped forward and looked at Wang Sheng. "I'm a detective. Take me to the scene."

Wang Sheng looked at the other receptionists, his expression torn between fear and suspicion.

Only after seeing the women nod repeatedly did he finally make up his mind.

"He... he's in the bathroom."

Led by Wang Sheng, Bai Yanliang stepped into the staff break area again. The narrow passage seemed... even narrower than before.

The bathroom was at the end of the corridor, dimly lit. Wang Sheng was extremely reluctant to go back inside, but he didn't dare leave the "detective" alone.

After dawdling for a long while, the two finally entered the bathroom.

The sight before them filled Wang Sheng with terror. He gagged repeatedly, unable to look for long. Bai Yanliang, however, remained silent, simply gazing at the corpse in front of him.

At the dead male employee.

He was still wearing the Ruyi Inn uniform, his limbs twisted into a grotesque, horrifying position.

But the most terrifying thing was his hands. Blood still dripped from the fingernails of Jiang Chaojie's fingers.

Bai Yanliang didn't ask Wang Sheng what had happened. Even if he did, the man—who was practically scared out of his wits—wouldn't be able to answer.

Besides, Bai Yanliang was certain this hadn't been the work of a human. It was a ghost.

"Where's Jiang Chaojie's room? Take me there."

Bai Yanliang fixed his gaze on Wang Sheng. His voice was stern and composed, and Wang Sheng, already completely at a loss, nodded repeatedly.

After leading Bai Yanliang to Jiang Chaojie's door, Wang Sheng seemed unable to sit still.

"Go on. Don't let anyone into the staff area until your boss gets here," Bai Yanliang ordered.

Wang Sheng nodded quickly and hurried off.

Bai Yanliang watched him go. After Wang Sheng left, the surroundings seemed much colder.

He kicked open the door and looked around Jiang Chaojie's room.

Jiang Chaojie and Wang Sheng had witnessed the scene where the bodies were hidden, but they'd chosen to keep quiet in exchange for hush money.

Bai Yanliang didn't think a little hush money could settle something like that. Ding Peng had already killed one person. Killing two more wouldn't have been a big deal. After all, only the dead could keep a secret forever.

But... Ding Peng really hadn't touched him.

Bai Yanliang stepped into Jiang Chaojie's room and began searching.

He stopped only after finding an agreement deep inside the wardrobe.

Everything finally made sense.

The first story would end tomorrow.