Chapter 535: Chapter 463: The Ceiling
After collecting the money, the old man was very efficient in his work. He turned around and locked the small iron gate, quickly walked back to the cement gatehouse to lock the windows, and then led a large black dog. The man and dog led the way in front, "You young folks, tired of the city, love squeezing into this abandoned factory. What’s so fascinating about this broken place?" the old man said without turning his head.
"Old man, it looks like you’ve been at this factory for quite a while?" Yang Xiao tentatively asked.
"I’ve been here since the factory was established. I used to be a machinist—technical work, much better than those doing physical labor." The old man spoke with a hint of pride.
Having been here since the factory was established was good news. Along the way, Yang Xiao took out a newspaper to compare and finally found the location where the woman in the newspaper had hanged herself.
The location was nestled between two clusters of buildings, long overgrown, with dozens of trees of various shapes growing wildly. The ground was covered with weeds, but one could still see the old-fashioned bricks laid on the ground when the weeds were pushed aside.
The two building clusters were divided by a wall of red bricks, with several tall factory buildings on one side and a series of low, connected bungalows on the other. The bungalows were also abandoned, with their doors and windows tightly shut and many of their windowpanes shattered.
According to the gatekeeper, these bungalows were intended for the female workers of the factory, serving as their dormitories.
"Old man, I heard that a woman once hanged herself here. Do you know about that?" Yang Xiao suddenly asked.
The old man turned around, squinting at Yang Xiao, "Young man, you’re not here to stroll around but to dig up information."
"Sort of, I heard someone mention it briefly before and was curious to come and see," Yang Xiao made up an excuse, hoping to dismiss the matter.
Fortunately, the elder didn’t press further but just glanced towards the depths of the shrubbery at the crooked tree, unable to help sighing, "That’s true, the girl who died was one of our factory’s female workers. She hanged herself in this patch of woods."
"Ah, the girl was really nice. Everyone in the factory said she was just unlucky, pregnant by someone who then abandoned her. She couldn’t find him later. Our girl was from a good family, she valued her reputation a lot, and on impulse, she came here and took her own life."
"Her body was discovered by a female worker on the night shift. At first, she thought she was seeing things, but when she looked closer, she was scared half to death." The old man spoke with a tone full of sighs as he recalled the incident.
"Do you know what her name was, where she lived?" Yang Xiao pressed on.
"Her name was Weng Jinzhi. I don’t know where she lived. Those years our factory was a hot spot, with many workers coming from other areas. She was one of them. Later, I heard her body was left unclaimed for a long time before someone from her hometown came to identify it." He paused, then added in a serious and quiet voice, "Everyone said that the unborn child’s spirit is strong with grievance, they call it a maternal menace, so everyone avoided it."
Hanging herself, pregnant before her death; this was practically a backstory tailored for a female ghost. The more Yang Xiao thought, the more he believed it was her, but he still needed further confirmation, "Old man, do you remember what Weng Jinzhi was wearing when she died, what kind of shoes?"
"It was so long ago, I can’t remember," the old man truthfully replied.
"Cud you think a bit harder—was she wearing high-heeled shoes?" Ju Juan also impatiently needed confirmation of the woman’s identity.
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the old man shook his head repeatedly, "That’s impossible. It was the dead of winter then, how could anyone be wearing high heels? Besides, you don’t know, our factory had many rules for safety’s sake, banning female workers from wearing high heels. They had to check personal belongings before entering the factory; she couldn’t have brought them in."
"Do you know who knew this Weng Jinzhi, or who she was close to in the factory?" Yang Xiao inquired further.
"I don’t know about that. Not long after this incident, the factory closed down, and all the workers scattered," the old man explained.
"What about the man who abandoned her, any news about him?" Ju Juan refused to give up and pressed on.
"I do know a bit about that. He also was a migrant worker who did some odd jobs in our factory. He was chased off by our workshop supervisor because he wasn’t honest, and after that... I don’t know what happened."
The old man’s words were almost as good as saying nothing, giving no specific names or whereabouts, leaving Yang Xiao and his companions without a clue on how to find this person.
Staying any longer seemed pointless. Yang Xiao was about to leave, but the continuously silent Monk Wukong stopped them, asking them to wait. He walked alone into the overgrown grass, heading directly to the crooked tree deep inside the thicket. This action surprised the gatekeeper, who hurriedly called after him to come out, but Monk Wukong acted as if he hadn’t heard.
"What... what is he doing?" The gatekeeper became inexplicably nervous.
At that moment, Yang Xiao couldn’t do anything to stop him, so he tried to reassure the old man, "Don’t worry, he’s a monk, a person of compassion. He probably... probably sympathizes with the girl’s plight and wants to recite a sutra to liberate her soul."
Even Yang Xiao didn’t believe what he said. He wasn’t sure what the erratic monk was up to. Could it be... he had stumbled upon a clue?
With this thought, Yang Xiao could not contain himself any longer. He told Ju Juan to keep an eye on the old man and followed Monk Wukong under the pretext of bringing him back. The further he walked, the taller and denser the wild grass became, reaching up to Yang Xiao’s thighs by the time he caught up to the monk.
"Master Wukong, have you discovered anything?" Yang Xiao asked in a low voice.
Monk Wukong shook his head, joining his palms together, facing the long-dead crooked tree. At that moment, Yang Xiao suddenly saw a white plastic lunch box placed under the tree, open with several pieces of cut beef inside.
What was this, some kind of offering? Yang Xiao was baffled, unable to figure out what the monk was planning.
Ten seconds later, Monk Wukong turned and walked away. Yang Xiao checked around the tree alone and found nothing unusual before following him.
Upon exiting, the gatekeeper scolded them a few times, but seeing that he was a monk with a compassionate heart, he couldn’t help but feel respect.
"Little Master, I see your heart is very sincere. Which temple are you from? I’ll visit to pray to the Buddhas when I’m free." After escorting them to the iron gate, the gatekeeper imitated Monk Wukong, joining his hands together earnestly and asked.
Unexpectedly, Monk Wukong shook his head without even glancing at the gatekeeper, "The poor monk does not worship Bodhisattvas."
"What does a monk worship if not Bodhisattvas?" the old man was startled.
Worried that the monk might blurt out something crazier, Yang Xiao quickly interrupted the gatekeeper, and along with Monk Wukong and Ju Juan, hurriedly left.
Now, Yang Xiao and Ju Juan had no way to handle the monk; Ju Juan found him puzzling. She had encountered odd teammates in missions before, but such a person was a first for her.
"Master Wukong, since you eat meat, do you also have a wife?" As they walked, Ju Juan decided to test the monk’s limits again.
"Good," Monk Wukong clasped his hands together.
Ju Juan frowned, irritated by the monk’s evasive demeanor. She hated those who were deliberately mysterious, "Monk, stop playing riddles with me. Just say yes or no, what does ’good’ even mean?"
"The poor monk sees that a wife, like withered roses beside the pillow, if obsessed like a demon, only adds chaos. It’s better to have like-minded friends from the secular world, a brief encounter, the more the better," Monk Wukong’s handsome face radiated sincerity, and even Yang Xiao had to admit the monk had a transcendent demeanor and a face that easily attracted romantic entanglements.
Hearing this long explanation from Monk Wukong, Ju Juan was even more bewildered. She subconsciously looked at Yang Xiao, and the next second Yang Xiao laughed, "Didn’t understand? He’s saying he won’t marry because a wife would only limit his freedom, become his shackles. As for worldly confidantes and passing flings, he welcomes them, the more the better."
"Amitabha," Monk Wukong raised his head and chanted a Buddhist mantra.
Ju Juan: "..."
Around noon, the three found a small restaurant in the village. Monk Wukong ordered several main dishes and even a platter of cold dishes, showing a hearty appetite.
Ju Juan, however, was gloomy; she was already convinced that the female ghost who killed Yu Dagui was Weng Jinzhi, while Yang Xiao tried to console her not to overthink.
After lunch, they strolled nearby, searching old-fashioned small vendor booths and stalls, hoping for a stroke of luck, but found nothing. Finally, at 1:30 p.m., they caught a passing taxi to take them back to the city hotel.
They returned to the hotel at 2:30 p.m. and went to Room 8018, where Zhang Man and Wen Chongxian were present. Zhang Man looked upset, and Wen Chongxian resembled a wronged wife, huddled in a corner of the bed, barely daring to breathe.
"What’s going on here?" Yang Xiao inquired.
"He’s useless, completely unhelpful," Zhang Man, as if holding back anger, started complaining about Wen Chongxian, "I sent him to ask for directions, and instead, he hid in a convenience store. I couldn’t contact him and thought he had died!"
Facing Zhang Man’s accusations, Wen Chongxian just bowed his head with no response, his eyes filled with despair.
"Who stayed in this room last night?" Yang Xiao looked up at the ceiling and suddenly asked.
"It was him," Zhang Man said resentfully, glancing at Wen Chongxian.
Yang Xiao turned to Wen Chongxian, his voice much softer, "Brother Wen, your room is right under Yu Dagui’s room. Did you hear any strange sounds last night?"
"Like footsteps, or... a tapping sound?" Yang Xiao recalled the high heels he had heard at the Nie Family Teahouse in Xiang Ma Town.
"No, absolutely not," Wen Chongxian shook his head vehemently, "I didn’t sleep a wink all night; it was completely quiet upstairs."
At that moment, the door was pushed open, and another group returned. Now all three groups were together, sharing their findings from the trip.
Zhang Man was responsible for investigating a woman who died from falling off a building. According to her, the woman was named Bai Qian, in her early 20s, a nurse at the city hospital, who out of desperation from debts incurred through her gambling addiction, jumped from the ninth floor of her building.
They had figured out her residence, but since it was quite far, they hadn’t yet visited; they planned to go the next day.
Zhang Man emphasized that Bai Qian had a habit of wearing high heels in her daily life, but whether she wore them on the day she fell remained unclear.
Lian Jinsun’s group investigated a woman who died in a car accident. She was named Fang Qingyun, a bar hostess with a complex background. Due to her job, she dressed provocatively with high heels as her standard attire. That day, she was drunk and failed to dodge in time while crossing the street, getting struck by a speeding van in a horrific scene.
Yang Xiao also shared about Weng Jinzhi, a worker from Red Star Textile Factory. Everyone agreed that none of the three suspects could be ruled out yet.
Yang Xiao hadn’t finished speaking when he suddenly stopped. The rest of the group also became alarmed, looking up simultaneously.
"Tap."
"Tap."
"Tap."
...
A series of high heel sounds echoed from the ceiling, right above their heads.
