Eye Pupils (2)

The realization that the bloodshot eyeball had vanished filled Shen Xing with a sense of intense unease.

He pulled his hand back, carefully retracing his steps.

It seemed that when he had approached the area earlier, that Mange Dog—the one that had rubbed its filth all over his trousers—had been right near Lin Wanru's corpse, and it had even let out a mournful howl.

Could there be some connection between the two?

Clatter!

Just then, a second-floor bathroom window slid open, and a resident poked their head out.

Because the alleyway usually reeked, the windows facing this side were typically kept tightly shut; no one would have opened them unless they had heard something unusual.

The man in the window caught sight of Lin Wanru lying on the ground, then spotted Shen Xing, who happened to be looking up at him. The man shivered in terror, immediately retracting his head and slamming the window shut.

In his mind, he had likely just witnessed a late-night murder that would shock all of Yungu City: a butcher killing a woman who had been drinking at a bar.

Shen Xing was startled. Fortunately, he had kept a firm grip on the Arc Blade in his hand, keeping it hidden; had he been seen holding a "murder weapon," he would never have been able to explain himself.

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

He stood at the mouth of the alley and looked left and right. Although the streetlights were on and visibility was good, he saw no sign of the Mange Dog that had run off earlier.

With no other choice, he hurried back to his apartment complex and returned to his room on the fourth floor.

He turned on every light in the apartment. He didn't move a single item, simply changing out of his soiled trousers and tossing them into the washing machine before sitting on the living room sofa to await the arrival of the public security officers.

Five minutes later, the first wave of officers to arrive was not Xiong Wei's team, but rather those who had responded to the report from the downstairs resident.

When Xiong Wei finally arrived with seven or eight others, the first team briefed them on the situation, handed over the case, and departed.

Among those Xiong Wei brought were the female officer from earlier that day, two other colleagues, a forensic examiner, and staff from the morgue.

Everyone began their work. Some inspected the scene while others went down to seal off the alley. Shen Xing recounted the events to Xiong Wei and the female officer in full detail, though he omitted the fact that he had been carrying an Arc Blade when he went downstairs to investigate.

The incident had already occurred, and everything about it was so bizarre that Shen Xing didn't believe he could fool these experienced personnel from the Public Security Bureau Homicide Division with a fabricated story.

As for the damaged door frame and the bathroom window, since they had been damaged during the struggle and Shen Xing had described the corpse of Lin Wanru as having immense strength, they did not suspect him.

Xiong Wei asked, "Mr. Shen, you weren't injured yourself, were you?"

Shen Xing shook his head. "Fortunately, no. My collar was torn by Lin Wanru, but she didn't break the skin."

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

Shen Xing nodded, looking somewhat stunned. "May I ask, what was the cause of Lin Wanru's death?"

Xiong Wei and the female officer exchanged a glance before replying, "According to the forensic examiner's current findings, the primary cause of death was a blunt force trauma to the back of the head."

So, it is confirmed to be homicide! Shen Xing nodded to himself.

The indentation he had seen on the back of Lin Wanru's head must have been the fatal blow from that blunt object.

The two officers didn't answer, but their silence clearly confirmed his conclusion.

Shen Xing, however, pondered: if Lin Wanru had been murdered, why had that Blood Pupil manifested? And how could it control her corpse?

What exactly was the origin of this Blood Pupil?

These questions were truly bizarre, and for now, they seemed impossible to explain.

Regarding why Lin Wanru's corpse had moved and returned to this location, Xiong Wei and the female officer offered no explanation, merely reiterating that others would take over the case and that he should remain cooperative.

About an hour later, Xiong Wei and the other officers departed, and Lin Wanru's body was hauled away once more. The building returned to a state of calm.

Shen Xing found it strange that they hadn't sealed off the scene—or rather, they hadn't sealed off his home.

He thought about it for a long time; perhaps this case possessed a certain level of peculiarity.

That was fine by him. Otherwise, he would have had to stay in a cheap motel for a few days, which would not only cost money but also prevent him from using his workbench to carve his Wooden Carving, which would be highly inconvenient.

As for the other team of officers coming to investigate, Shen Xing suspected they might be specialists tasked with handling these types of cases.

Perhaps he could learn some secrets about the Blood Pupil, or even the Fake Hong Bin, from them.

Even though he had already guessed that all of this might be related to the ghosts of this world, that theory needed to be confirmed.

Of course, Shen Xing could not reveal to anyone his secret ability to detect these ghosts.

He looked out the window; the sky was already beginning to brighten.

Although the apartment next to his was vacant, an auntie lived upstairs who also shared the surname Shen. Because they were technically "from the same family" five hundred years ago, she would always chat with him warmly when they crossed paths.

At this moment, Auntie Shen was leaning over the stair railing, peering toward his unit.

"Auntie Shen."

After seeing the officers off, Shen Xing hadn't closed his living room door. He squeezed out a faint smile and called out to her.

Auntie Shen immediately wore a look of concern. She walked over to peer into the room before asking, "Little Shen, are you alright? What happened last night? They said someone fell from upstairs."

"A female thief. She accidentally fell into the alley behind the building while trying to steal things from my place. The officers have already sent her to the hospital."

Shen Xing improvised a white lie. If he told her that Lin Wanru, who had died on the third floor that day, had come running back last night, Auntie Shen would likely drop dead on the spot.

In any case, it had been very dark; even if someone had seen Lin Wanru fall, they wouldn't have been able to see her face clearly.

Lin Wanru, who had been wearing a floral dress during the day, had returned that evening dressed in a standard-issue morgue uniform, her hair let loose; her entire appearance had been transformed.

"Ah, you've been robbed! Are you hurt?" Auntie Shen asked, her face pale with shock. "No wonder so many officers came by earlier."

"I'm fine," Shen Xing shook his head.

Auntie Shen said, "I'm heading to the morning market for fresh vegetables and breakfast. What would you like? I'll pick it up for you."

"No need, thank you, Auntie!" Shen Xing stretched his back. "I was woken up in the middle of the night, so I'm planning to catch up on some sleep now."

Auntie Shen nodded. "As long as you're alright. Get some rest, then. I'm making dough drop soup for lunch; come upstairs if you want some."

With that, she turned and headed downstairs.

Shen Xing closed his apartment door and returned to his bedroom, only to find the door had been damaged and could no longer be shut tight.

He tidied up the wood carvings and tools on his workbench, his left hand unconsciously kneading the Buddha statue he had crafted before bed the previous night.

He glanced at the bust of Hong Bin. After battling Lin Wanru's corpse and suffering a decline in his Mental Antibody level, Shen Xing desperately wanted to restore his rank by gazing at the Hong Bin Wood Carving.

Yet, the image of that Blood Pupil kept flashing through his mind, refusing to fade away.

Subconsciously looking toward the Hong Bin Wood Carving not far away, Shen Xing, his head filled with the shadow of the Blood Pupil, found himself inexplicably rummaging through the neatly stacked wood scraps beside his workbench.

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