Chapter Nine, the Wheel of Reincarnation Eight

Li Qian's voice had already become hoarse, and she slowly crouched down, curling into a ball, her hands clutching her head.

Zhao Yunlan leaned back, crossed his legs, intertwined his hands around his knees, and looked up at Li Qian: "Why are you so agitated? If the death of the deceased has nothing to do with you, and you didn't know her before, why are you afraid now? Why did you take a detour last night? What is it that makes you prefer to take the long way around rather than walk that small path?"

After speaking, he went to the school hospital's pharmacy to get a small bottle of medicine and quickly rushed out

Li Qian forcefully shook off his hand, and the violent struggle caused the hospital bed in the school clinic to shift slightly. The iron frame of the bed scraped against the floor, producing a hoarse grinding sound

Shen Wei glanced at Li Qian, who seemed lost in thought and showed no reaction to Zhao Yunlan's words

When Zhao Yunlan went out with a cigarette in his mouth, Shen Wei gently asked Li Qian, "Are you hungry? I can go to the cafeteria and buy you something to eat soon."

Li Qian detected his goodwill and finally managed to force a smile at him: "Thank you, teacher, but really, it's not necessary."

"Please be careful, everyone." Shen Wei couldn't help but remind them from the side. He picked up a broom from the corner and swept the glass shards on the ground to the side. After hesitating for a moment, he proactively asked, "Should I step aside? How about I go pour you another cup of water instead?"

Zhao Yunlan forcefully grabbed her wrist and, in a voice filled with an overwhelming sense of pressure, asked: "Avoiding this is futile, look at me, tell me what exactly you saw?"

Shen Wei lowered his eyes and said, "Forget it, you should take care of yourself."

Zhao Yunlan did not respond, but took out a small notebook and a signature pen from his pocket: "Describe to me what 'it' looks like"

She brushed past me, and I saw the cultural shirt she was wearing, realizing she was a classmate. Although we did not know each other, I still greeted her. She said, "Excuse me," and hurriedly walked past me. At that moment... Li Qian raised her eyes, which were filled with bloodshot veins, and she shuddered violently. "In the instant I lowered my head, I saw her shadow... she had more than one shadow."

Li Qian nodded

"... ... shadow." Li Qian suddenly spoke up

Having finished speaking, Zhao Yunlan turned around, and in the blink of an eye, he concealed his displeased expression. The old rogue transformed into a cultured youth in a second, saying gently and politely: "Please stay, please stay, Professor Shen is truly too courteous."

Zhao Yunlan presented his work ID right under his nose, and without further ado, reached out to close the door, blocking the school doctor outside: "Sorry, the police are asking questions, please give me five more minutes, thank you."

"Your campus is not large," Zhao Yunlan said in a lowered voice, "Perhaps one day, while you were having breakfast at school, you brushed past her, or you coincidentally used the same study room, borrowed the same book... Do you want to know how she died? When we found her, her body was lying alone in a small alley, her abdomen torn open by a sharp object, and most of her internal organs were missing, their whereabouts still unknown. Due to the bite marks found on a piece of intestine at the scene, I personally deduce that her internal organs were likely eaten by the murderer. The blood was... Ah, it was everywhere, and even now the stains cannot be cleaned up. And do you know...? When we found her, her body was lying alone in a small alley, her abdomen torn open by a sharp object, and most of her internal organs were missing, their whereabouts still unknown. Due to the bite marks found on a piece of intestine at the scene, I personally deduce that her internal organs were likely eaten by the murderer. The blood was... Ah, it was everywhere, and even now the stains cannot be cleaned up. And do you know...?"

Zhao Yunlan furrowed his brows: "Hmm, understood, I will reply now. In the meantime, help me with a few things— the place where the dead are is directly opposite University Road, and I remember there should be surveillance at the intersection over there, it might have captured something. First, pull that footage; then, look into a person named Li Qian from the first year of the Foreign Language Department at Longcheng University. Also, by the way, inquire with 'over there' about the old sundial engraved with the Wheel of Reincarnation, what exactly is that object.

Li Qian lowered her head and said, "Then I just ran away"

Li Qian suddenly let out a short, sharp scream, collapsing to the ground, her fingers tangled in her hair as she tightly covered her face

The ward was momentarily eerily quiet, and Li Qian was almost trembling her bones apart. Shen Wei paused for a moment, bent down, and gently patted her head with a hint of reassurance: "Classmate, please try to remain calm."

Zhao Yunlan was still in the hallway when he received a phone call

As Zhao Yunlan left, the oppressive atmosphere he brought with him suddenly eased. Li Qian seemed to immediately breathe a sigh of relief, feeling significantly drained, and weakly shook her head upon hearing those words

Shen Wei looked at her and sighed, appearing to hesitate before finally saying, "Classmate, some lies are intentional, while others are unintentional. The former deceives others, while the latter deceives oneself... Regardless, both are quite tragic"

Li Qian was taken aback

I inquired thoroughly, and it turns out that this time it is not an issue on our end, but rather something that occurred on 'that side.' The voice on the other end of the phone was a woman, different from Wang Zheng. She spoke with a prolonged intonation, somewhat deliberate, carrying a hint of intentional provocation. 'Last night, when the gates of hell opened, more than a dozen souls registered in the underworld went missing. However, most of them were newly deceased who had not yet completed their mourning period. Firstly, they are still quite attached to the mortal realm, and secondly, they do not understand the rules. This is not a significant problem, as they cannot stir up much trouble. The most troublesome part is that, reportedly, amidst the chaos, a starving ghost managed to escape.'

Zhao Yunlan was utterly unyielding, showing no signs of being moved, and had no intention of letting her off the hook. He continued speaking to himself: "When her abdomen was opened, she was still alive, watching her liver, kidneys, stomach... one by one being taken away. She listened to the sound of chewing, but what was being consumed were her own internal organs. Can you imagine that feeling?"

Shen Wei gently said: "Unused light sources can create many shadows, perhaps you ... ... "

Shen Wei asked again, "Shall I call the school doctor to keep you company for a while? You can rest here, and when you feel better, you can go back, is that alright?"

After a while, Zhao Yunlan finally let her go. He tore a piece of paper from his notebook and wrote a series of numbers on it: "If you have any clues or remember anything, please contact me as soon as possible. I am available twenty-four hours a day. Thank you for today."

After he finished speaking, he handed the note to Li Qian and stood up

Zhao Yunlan did not speak, but merely scrutinized her

Shen Wei: "I will escort you."

At this point, she seemed to recall Zhao Yunlan's description, suddenly jumped up, pushed Shen Wei aside, and rushed to the corner to vomit

I didn't see it very clearly, but it... it was humanoid. When it stood up from the ground, it was... about this tall," Li Qian gestured with her hand, "It was dark and a bit short, so it looked a bit chubby...

Zhao Yunlan almost doubted that he had misheard: "What on earth just ran away?"

"It is not that kind, it is not like that!" Li Qian interrupted him with a trembling voice, "It is not the kind of shadow you mentioned; it appears out of nowhere in places without light, much deeper than other shadows. Most importantly, that shadow... that shadow does not move in sync with a person's actions!"

No matter how tightly the doors are closed, it cannot prevent the occasional escape. Moreover, look over there; they still have not achieved paperless office operations. Those mountain-dwelling ghosts are still using the management model from the early 20th century. It is precisely these starving ghosts who, after being locked up for so long, have become foolish. If it were me, I might escape eight times in a single day. " The woman on the other end of the phone paused and continued, "Oh, by the way, someone has died this time, and that person has sent a condolence letter. He will probably come in person, so you should come back and take a look. I dare not open his letter."

Is it possible that it is not actually short, but rather that after you saw it, you immediately turned around and ran away, so it didn't have the chance to fully stand up from the ground yet? Zhao Yunlan asked

Zhao Yunlan was immediately infuriated. On the other end of the phone was an old subordinate, so he didn't bother to hold back. He looked around to see no one was nearby, lowered his voice, and began to curse: "What the hell is this chaotic mess? Can even a starving ghost be brought to the human world? Which damn ghost officer doesn't want to work anymore?"

Li Qian nodded

Li Qian was momentarily stunned, her reaction even slower than before. She then lowered her eyes, avoiding Zhao Yunlan's gaze, and nodded once more: "There is... there might be."

Shen Wei cast a somewhat reproachful glance at Zhao Yunlan

Li Qian screamed: "Ahーー"

Li Qian could barely stand, stumbling as she slumped onto the hospital bed with Shen Wei's support, her gaze blankly fixed on Zhao Yunlan: "It has killed people, it will kill me too, I saw it, it won't let me go, right?"

Zhao Yunlan looked at her with a somewhat strange expression: "And then?"

Zhao Yunlan's smile suddenly turned serious as he strode over and squatted down beside Li Qian, asking, "What kind of shadow?"

Zhao Yunlan crossed his arms over his chest, leaned against the door of the hospital room, turned to look at Li Qian, and repeated his question for the third time: "Tell me, what did you see?"

Hungry Ghost

Shen Wei's gaze turned to one of helplessness as he shook his head. He went outside to ask the school doctor, who had been peering in, for a bottle of mineral water, which he gave to Li Qian to rinse her mouth, and then helped her sit up properly

"No, no, there's no need," Zhao Yunlan said, "I'll step outside for a smoke. You chat with her for a bit. I was a bit anxious earlier and may have frightened this young student. I sincerely apologize for that."

"I really saw it, Professor Shen, I really saw it," Li Qian clutched his sleeve and suddenly burst into tears. "I saw it following her all the time. The moment she walked into the alley, it suddenly stood up from the ground, just like a real person. I was terrified and ran away desperately, ran away... I thought I was dreaming, that it was an illusion, do you understand? But you all insisted on asking me, insisted on telling me about that girl... I was terrified and ran away desperately, ran away... I thought I was dreaming, that it was an illusion, do you understand? But you all insisted on asking me, insisted on telling me about that girl... That person, she has already..."

Li Qian's ten fingers were interlocked, the pads of her fingers turned pale.

I don't know!" she screamed hysterically, "I don't know! I don't know! Don't ask me! I don't know!"

Zhao Yunlan waved his hand and said, "No, you are just in time, don't leave yet. I didn't bring a female colleague with me today, and it is against the regulations to ask her questions alone."

Zhao Yunlan paused his pen, furrowing his brow as he retorted, "A bit short and a bit chubby?"

As he spoke, he helped the limp Li Qian to her feet and pulled a pack of tissues from the small table beside him, handing it to her: "What kind of shadow is it? Take your time to explain."

Shen Wei took two steps, recalled something, and turned back: "Do you still have money on you? If not, would you like me to give you some to use for now?"

The school doctor on duty here heard the commotion and quickly walked over, asking, "What happened? What happened?"

Zhao Yunlan rubbed his nose and commented: "Uh, don't worry, her reaction isn't actually that severe. You didn't see it, but this morning at the scene, one of our rookies almost made himself vomit into a sea cucumber."

At that moment, he caught a glimpse of Shen Wei chasing after him and said softly into the phone: "Let's leave it at that for now, I have something to attend to, I'll hang up. Update me whenever there are any developments."