Chapter 265: A Night Visit to Luo Ding

2022-05-20

A bizarre video played before us—several people gouging out their own eyes. Was it really as Luo Ding claimed? Could this all be the work of vengeful spirits? If everyone who saw Lü Zhiqiu’s corpse was doomed, does that put Zhao Mingkun and me in danger too?

I’ve always been a firm atheist, convinced there’s no such thing as ghosts. But after watching this video, it’s hard not to question my beliefs. If it wasn’t a spirit, then what on earth could make Xing Yafang do something so horrifying in an empty elevator?

Whether I believed it or not, the facts were right in front of us.

Zhao Mingkun spoke up. “What if it’s hypnosis? In the right circumstances, under the right triggers, maybe people are compelled to gouge out their own eyes.”

Her words suddenly reminded me of that old man locked up in Dongxing Psychiatric Hospital—the one who could hypnotize people without them realizing. But the old man’s still inside. Could his disciple—Wu Zui—have come back to seek revenge?

“Anyone capable of that is either locked up in the institution or being kept under close watch. How many people in Dongxing City could really pull something like this off?” I turned to Zhao Mingkun.

We both said it at the same time. “Wu Zui.”

I shook my head, hesitating. “But would Wu Zui really do something like this?”

Zhao Mingkun shook her head too. “I don’t know. If it’s not hypnosis, and it’s not a ghost, I’m out of ideas. So many people saw this go down—there’s no way all of us are mistaken, right? It’s just like with Liu Ruijie before. The elevator was a locked room.”

I frowned, asking, “If I told you to gouge out your own eyes, under what circumstances would you actually do it?”

Zhao Mingkun waved her hand. “Only if someone told me it was the only way to survive. Maybe then, instinct might take over. Otherwise, no normal person could go through with it.”

I kept my eyes on the video, playing in a loop with no sound, and muttered, “Could someone survive after gouging out their own eyes?”

Zhao Mingkun glanced at the screen. “Not likely. There are lots of muscles and nerves around the eye. You’d damage nerves and bleed out—probably a lot.”

I clicked my tongue. “All these people died, every single one of them, and almost all of them died within minutes.”

Zhao Mingkun replied, “That’ll need to be confirmed.”

With that, Zhao Mingkun turned to the security team leader. “We need to take all footage from today’s surveillance. Wipe your records so nothing leaks and causes panic, understood?”

The team leader nodded, then asked, “Why not just take the part showing the deaths?”

Zhao Mingkun shook her head. “We need to carefully check every suspicious person. Got it?”

“That means we’ll need to shut down the surveillance for a bit.” The leader nodded. “It’ll take a while to copy everything.”

Almost an hour passed before the security leader finally transferred hundreds of gigabytes of surveillance onto my phone.

Zhao Mingkun asked, sounding casual, “How long does it take to restart the surveillance?”

“Five minutes or so,” the leader answered.

Zhao Mingkun nodded. “Thanks for your help.”

With that, she pulled me out the door.

Watching Zhao Mingkun rush ahead, I couldn’t help but ask, “What’s the hurry?”

She pointed at a nearby camera. “These things will be back on in five minutes. If you don’t want us to be caught on tape, we’d better get a move on. You think we really wanted that footage to look for suspects? Tonight, we’re probably the most suspicious ones of all.”

Suddenly, it all clicked.

Noticing my look, Zhao Mingkun shook her head. “You have to remember who you are, or you’ll end up paying the price.”

She had a point, though it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I pulled out my phone, deleting most of the useless video files from earlier. Only the footage from our entrance until the camera rebooted remained. Zhao Mingkun started her motorbike, and I watched the videos from the passenger seat.

Honestly, this job just isn’t for me. Going through surveillance footage for clues is like laying the foundation at a construction site—the most basic part of any investigation. Everything else builds on it. For cases without footage, it’s all down to interviews and checking local cameras for suspects.

But for someone like me who dreads a dull routine, this is pure torture. Still, maybe I’ll catch something useful, so I forced myself to focus.

From the videos, I could see the Huangjia Garden Hotel was pretty busy—a steady stream of people coming and going. But eventually, I managed to spot Xing Yafang among the crowd.

With so many cameras in the hotel, each storing their own footage, I was glad those files were labeled by camera location. Otherwise I never would’ve been able to follow Xing Yafang’s path through all that footage.

One thing was clear: Xing Yafang came alone. She only chatted with her old university classmates, and didn’t meet anyone suspicious, aside from hotel staff like cleaners, security, bartenders, and chefs. The rest were all there for the reunion.

In all the surveillance, from the moment Xing Yafang entered the hotel to when her body fell from the elevator, I never saw anyone suspicious show up. After the old woman led thirteen people into that room, nobody else was seen outside—not even a cleaner.

So it seemed Xing Yafang entered the hotel and left in a huff, with no suspicious contact in between. She seemed totally normal the entire time. I just couldn’t figure out why someone like her would act so bizarre out of nowhere.

The one period when we couldn’t see her was when she spent two minutes in the bathroom. At most, she probably just washed her hands or face. Did a ghost find her in the bathroom?

After a moment’s thought, I stuffed my phone back in my pocket.

Creepy. Way too creepy.

Maybe sensing my restlessness, Zhao Mingkun glanced back. “See anything handy?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. Xing Yafang never interacted with anyone suspicious. This case is beyond weird. I’ve never seen anything like this—how did the killer pull it off?”

Zhao Mingkun asked, “You still think it was a person?”

I spoke without thinking, “No doubt about it. Even if this freaks me out sometimes, I still believe people are behind all of it.”

That seemed to strike a nerve with Zhao Mingkun. She focused on riding, silent.

I realized I might’ve said too much, but it was too late to take it back, so I kept my eyes on the road.

After a while, I noticed we were on a road I’d never seen before. “Where are we even going?” I asked.

“We’re going to see Luo Ding,” Zhao Mingkun said. “He didn’t get to finish telling us everything earlier. And we don’t know when he’ll snap for good. Better ask him now, before he ends up like Jiang Xiaochun.”

Her words made me think of something. “It’s strange—Hu Pei died of fright, Liu Ruijie died after gouging out their eyes, and both Hu Xiaoxue and Xing Yafang also died the same way. Now Luo Ding’s scared out of his mind. At this rate, he might really die of terror.”

“So tell me,” I said, watching the cars go by, “how does the killer pick their victims? Why do they use different methods on different people?”

Zhao Mingkun was quiet for a moment before saying, “Maybe the killer knows each person’s personality. Maybe some people believe in ghosts, and some don’t. If I’m right, that means the killer knows them personally and has a motive—revenge for Lü Zhiqiu!”

“Lü Zhiqiu’s younger brother?” I asked.

Zhao Mingkun twisted the throttle, speeding up. “Every new student, their advisor gets their information. I know where Lü Zhiqiu’s family lived back then, but seven years is a long time—maybe they’ve moved. Lü Zhiqiu’s family got a million yuan compensation then. Seven years ago, that could buy two apartments.”

“We should check it out tomorrow,” I told Zhao Mingkun.

“See that apartment complex up ahead?” Zhao Mingkun pointed. “That’s where Luo Ding lives.”

Most of the lights in the apartments were out by now. Luo Ding’s place was dark too.

Zhao Mingkun killed the engine. “Think Luo Ding never went home after fleeing the hotel?”

I shook my head. “Doesn’t look like he has anywhere else to go. Judging by his appearance, he hasn’t slept in ages. He can’t hold out much longer.”