Eye Pupils (4)

The living room door was already shut. Not long after Li Naijing sat on the sofa, Shen Xing shuffled out in his slippers, though he didn't head toward the sofa, opting to visit the bathroom first.

He came over to sit by the sofa only after exiting the bathroom. He had been wearing pajamas when he slept last night and hadn't changed, though he had already placed the wooden carving of the eyeball on his bed.

Before entering Shen Xing's room, Li Naijing had already scouted the alley behind the building. She had also examined Lin Wanru's corpse, paying particular attention to the eye socket where the eyeball was missing.

Because of this, she didn't beat around the bush when speaking to Shen Xing, instead getting straight to the point: "After you encountered Lin Wanru's corpse last night, how was she moving?"

Shen Xing didn't hide anything. He thought for a moment and said, "It was as if her head was being pulled forward by something, and her limbs didn't seem to be using much force."

"Did you notice anything unusual about her body?" Li Naijing kept her gaze fixed on Shen Xing as she asked.

Shen Xing replied, "Her eyes. One of her eyes was blood-red and wide open; it looked terrifying."

"Is that the same shape as the wooden carving you were holding earlier?" Li Naijing asked suddenly.

Shen Xing paused, then answered truthfully, "Yes. Perhaps due to my profession, I naturally want to express things that leave a deep impression on me through wood carving."

Li Naijing nodded, signaling her understanding, and continued, "After Lin Wanru's corpse fell, why did you run downstairs?"

"I was worried other residents who didn't know the situation might get close. Since I had seen Lin Wanru's corpse with my own eyes, I assumed she was a reanimated corpse. If someone had approached out of curiosity at that time, it would have been very dangerous," Shen Xing bluffed.

"Someone upstairs saw you crouching in front of the corpse, seemingly checking something," Li Naijing asked again, her gaze carrying a hint of scrutiny.

Shen Xing nodded, his expression remaining unchanged, and replied calmly, "Because I discovered that her blood-red eyeball was missing."

"Did you lift her eyelid to find that?" Li Naijing asked.

Shen Xing wasn't a fool; he certainly couldn't answer yes, or she would surely suspect his actions.

"No, I wouldn't dare do that. When I got close, the woman's eyelids were already open, but I only had to glance at her to see that her left eyeball was gone."

"When you arrived in the alley, did you notice any other abnormalities?" Li Naijing didn't seem suspicious and continued her questioning.

Shen Xing recalled the dog: "That alley is usually filthy. Aside from a few stray dogs, very few people go there. It was so late, but there was a dog there at the time. However, it seemed to run off when I arrived."

Li Naijing nodded; it matched the information she had gathered, and she stopped asking further questions.

Shen Xing figured that if the disappearance of the eyeball was related to that Mange Dog—meaning if that creature had eaten it—then it had nothing to do with him.

Judging by Li Naijing's current line of questioning, including the state of Lin Wanru's corpse and the bloodshot eyeball, it seemed that to others, these sights had caused a strong visual shock for Shen Xing. That was why he had noticed the eyeball and crafted the wooden carving.

This was just a normal reaction for an ordinary person dealing with something terrifying.

But if Shen Xing showed too much interest in that eyeball, or an unimaginably excessive level of concern, this Investigation Team officer would definitely suspect he was hiding some secret.

Li Naijing pondered for a moment, took out her phone, and called Shen Xing. After one ring, she hung up and said, "Save my number. If there are any more abnormalities around you in the next two days, contact me immediately."

Shen Xing didn't know how she had his number, but his phone was still in the bedroom. He couldn't help but ask, "Does your Investigation Team specialize in handling special cases like reanimated corpses?"

Li Naijing didn't answer him directly. She stood up and said, "Compared to the officers you usually see, our Investigation Team is always short-staffed. As for what kind of cases we handle, it is currently inconvenient to disclose."

With that, Li Naijing walked to the living room door and opened it. A young man wearing a black short-sleeved T-shirt was standing right outside the door.

Upon seeing Li Naijing emerge, the man stepped back two paces to the rear right to make room for her, clearly having been waiting outside the whole time.

Meanwhile, toward the stairwell leading to the fifth floor, the back of a man disappeared around the corner, as if he were just heading upstairs.

Li Naijing pointed toward the man's retreating figure and asked the young man waiting for her, "Who is that?"

The young man glanced toward the stairwell leading to the fifth floor: "He should be a resident from upstairs. He was carrying a supermarket shopping bag and just passed by."

Li Naijing stopped asking. She turned to Shen Xing, who was following behind her, and said, "There is a reason why Lin Wanru approached you. We will continue to track this case. During this time, if you discover anything suspicious, do not act alone and go downstairs like you did last night. You must notify us first."

Shen Xing didn't speak, merely nodding.

After watching Li Naijing and her colleague head downstairs, he slowly closed the door, hearing the rustle of a plastic shopping bag from upstairs as he did so.

"There is a reason why Lin Wanru approached me?"

Shen Xing silently repeated Li Naijing's words, frowning in thought for a moment, but he still had no clues as to why Lin Wanru had come looking for him.

Just then, his stomach gave a sudden growl.

Shen Xing realized he hadn't eaten in a long time.

Checking the time, he saw it was nearly dinner. Thinking he had been cooped up at home for too long and wanted to get out and stretch his legs, he didn't order takeout. Instead, he showered, changed his clothes, locked the door, and left.

As he emerged from the first-floor stairwell, Shen Xing happened to see Old Man Wang, who lived on the first floor and was known for his fiery temper, cursing away while holding a dirty shovel covered in filth.

"Old Man Wang, what's this... who made you angry again?" Shen Xing asked with a smile.

Old Man Wang was wearing a white undershirt and loose shorts. He raised the shovel in his hand, pointed to a spot in the corner of the stairwell that still had traces of something, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I don't know what kind of bad luck this neighborhood has had these past two days. Yesterday, the Lin girl upstairs passed away, and at night, I heard there was a thief in the building. Today, there's suddenly a dead dog here at the stairwell. I just shoveled the damn thing out and cleaned the place up. So unlucky!"

There was a reason he was so angry; the spot where the dead dog had been lying was right across from his front door.

It looked like Old Man Wang didn't even want the iron shovel anymore.

"A dead dog?" Shen Xing paused and asked, "Where did you throw it?"

"Where else? The trash bin behind the street!"

"I happen to be heading that way. Old Man, your shovel is dirty too—do you still want it? If not, I can toss it for you," Shen Xing said.

Old Man Wang shoved it into his hands: "I forgot to throw it away just now. Thanks for the trouble, Little Shen!"