The Eyes (II)

After discovering that the bloodshot eyeball had vanished, Shen Xing felt a powerful sense of unease rising within him.

He withdrew his hand and thought back carefully.

It seemed that just as he had approached this spot, the Mange Dog that had rubbed filth all over his pants had been near Lin Wanru's corpse. It had even let out a howl.

Could there be some connection between them?

Crash!

Just then, a second-floor bathroom window flew open, and a resident leaned his head out.

The alley usually stank so badly that the windows facing it were kept tightly shut. Unless someone heard a strange noise, nobody would open one to look.

After the man at the window saw Lin Wanru lying on the ground, he noticed Shen Xing looking up at him. The poor fellow shuddered in fright, hurriedly pulled his head back, and shut the window.

He probably thought he had just witnessed the shocking murder of a drunken bar patron by the midnight butcher, a case that would stun all of Yungu City.

Shen Xing jumped, but fortunately he had kept the Arc Blade completely concealed in his hand. If someone had seen him holding a "murder weapon," it would have been hard to explain.

After a moment's thought, he quickly stood up and left the alley.

At the entrance, he looked both ways. The streetlights were on and visibility was good, but the Mange Dog that had run out earlier was nowhere to be seen.

There was nothing he could do. He hurried back to the residential complex and returned to his fourth-floor apartment.

He switched on every light in the apartment. Without moving anything, he changed out of his dirty pants and tossed them into the washing machine, then sat on the living-room sofa to wait for the security officers.

Five minutes later, the first group of officers arrived—but Xiong Wei wasn't among them. They had come after receiving a report from a resident downstairs.

When Xiong Wei finally arrived with seven or eight people, the first group explained the situation and handed the case over to them before leaving.

Among those Xiong Wei had brought were the female officer who had been with him that afternoon, two other colleagues, a medical examiner, and a morgue attendant.

Everyone got to work. Some examined the scene, while others went downstairs to seal off the alley. Shen Xing gave Xiong Wei and the female officer a detailed account of what had happened, but left out the fact that he had taken the Arc Blade with him when he went downstairs to investigate.

Now that it had happened—and everything was so bizarre—Shen Xing didn't believe he could fool these seasoned officers from the Public Security Bureau Homicide Division with some hastily made-up story.

The damaged doorframe and bathroom window had been broken during the struggle. And according to Shen Xing, Lin Wanru's corpse had been unusually strong, so they didn't suspect him.

Xiong Wei asked, "Mr. Shen, are you hurt?"

Shen Xing shook his head. "Thankfully, she only tore my collar when Lin Wanru bit me. She didn't touch my skin."

"That's good," Xiong Wei said. "Some of our other colleagues will come later to take over the case. They may have more questions for you, so please cooperate with them."

Shen Xing nodded, somewhat surprised, and asked, "Can I know what caused Lin Wanru's death?"

Xiong Wei exchanged a glance with the female officer. "According to the medical examiner's preliminary findings, the main cause of death was a blow to the back of the head with a blunt object."

"So it's confirmed as murder?" Shen Xing nodded to himself.

The sunken spot he had seen on the back of Lin Wanru's head must have been the fatal injury caused by a blunt object.

The two officers didn't answer, but clearly accepted his conclusion.

Shen Xing wondered: Since Lin Wanru had been murdered, why had that Blood Pupil appeared? And how had it been able to control her corpse?

What exactly was behind the appearance of the Blood Pupil?

These questions were bizarre, and for now, there seemed to be no way to explain them.

Xiong Wei and the female officer didn't offer much explanation for why Lin Wanru's corpse had moved and returned to the alley. They only said someone else would take over the case and asked Shen Xing to cooperate.

About an hour later, Xiong Wei and the other officers left. Lin Wanru's corpse was taken away from the alley downstairs once more, and the building fell quiet again.

But Shen Xing couldn't understand why they hadn't sealed off the scene—or his home.

He thought about it for a long time. Perhaps the case was unusual in some way.

That was just as well. Otherwise, he would have had to stay in a cheap hotel for a couple of nights. It would cost him money, and he wouldn't be able to use his workbench or carve Wooden Carvings. It would be a real inconvenience.

As for the other group of officers who would soon come to inspect the place, Shen Xing suspected they were specially assigned to handle cases like this.

Perhaps they could tell him some secrets about the Blood Pupil, or even Fake Hong Bin.

He had already guessed that all of this might have something to do with the ghosts of this world, but he needed confirmation.

Of course, Shen Xing couldn't let anyone know that he could investigate the secrets of these ghosts.

He glanced out the window. Dawn had broken.

Although nobody lived in the apartment next door, an older woman with the surname Shen lived upstairs. Since their families had supposedly been one family five hundred years ago, she would always stop for a friendly chat whenever she ran into Shen Xing.

At that moment, Auntie Shen was leaning over the stair railing, peering in his direction.

"Auntie Shen."

After seeing the officers off, Shen Xing had left the living-room door open. He forced a smile and called out to her.

Concern immediately showed on Auntie Shen's face. She came over, glanced around the apartment, and asked, "Xiao Shen, are you all right? What happened last night? They said someone fell from upstairs."

"A female thief fell into the alley behind the building while stealing from my place. The officers have already taken her to the hospital."

Shen Xing made up a harmless lie on the spot. If he said that Lin Wanru—the woman who had died on the third floor that afternoon—had come back last night, Auntie Shen might have dropped dead on the spot.

It had been very dark, so even if someone had seen Lin Wanru fall, they wouldn't have been able to make out her face.

Besides, Lin Wanru had been wearing a floral dress during the day. The woman who had returned that night had been dressed in the morgue's standard uniform, and her hair had been loose. She looked completely different.

"Oh, you were robbed! You weren't hurt, were you?" Auntie Shen cried in alarm. "No wonder so many officers came by."

"I'm fine," Shen Xing said, shaking his head.

Auntie Shen said, "I'm going to the morning market to buy some fresh vegetables and breakfast. What would you like? I can get some for you too."

"No, thank you, Auntie!" Shen Xing stretched. "I was woken up in the middle of the night, and now I want to catch up on some sleep."

Auntie Shen nodded. "As long as you're all right. Get some rest. I'm making dough-drop soup at noon. Come upstairs if you want some."

With that, she turned and went downstairs.

Shen Xing closed the door and returned to the bedroom. The bedroom door had been damaged and wouldn't shut properly.

He tidied up the Wooden Carvings and tools on the workbench, his left hand absently squeezing the Buddha statue he had made before bed last night.

He glanced at Hong Bin's half-length Wooden Carving. After fighting Lin Wanru's corpse and then experiencing a drop in his Mental Antibody level, Shen Xing really wanted to restore the level by staring at the Wooden Carving of Hong Bin.

But the image of that Blood Pupil kept surfacing in his mind, impossible to shake.

Almost unconsciously, he glanced at Hong Bin's Wooden Carving nearby. With the Blood Pupil filling his thoughts, Shen Xing began rummaging through the neatly stacked wood beside his workbench, as if possessed.

Come on, hit me in the face with your recommendation tickets!