S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 4 Chapter 45

Ghost Ship Murderer 11 – Possessed by a Ghost

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Jiang Nan's sudden appearance seemed reasonable in theory, and it could not be said that she was much of a suspect, but equally it could not be said that she was not suspected at all, because everything was too coincidental.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang borrowed a less conspicuous black car and quietly followed Jiang Nan's car.

Zhao Zhen and Bai Chi followed along, while the others went back to the SCI headquarters.

Zhao Zhen yawned and dozed off in the back seat, so Xiao Bai Chi asked Zhan Zhao, "Brother, do you have suspicions about Jiang Nan?"

Feeling amused, Zhan Zhao turned around and asked Bai Chi, "You like Jiang Nan so much?"

Bai Chi pursed his lips, seemingly caught up in some sort of memory.

"She brought back certain memories for you?" As soon as Zhan Zhao saw that there was a mental journey to explore, he pursued the question with interest.

“Mhmm, didn't I say earlier that I liked her role as a granny in 'Grey City'?" Bai Chi asked.

Zhan Zhao tilted his face up and thought about it, "Grey City? I've never heard of such a movie."

"It's a low budget movie, I saw it in a small cinema during my summer vacation to France the year I finished the police academy." When Bai Chi remembered this, he seemed to be a bit emotional, "I was so unhappy after I passed the police academy that year, I felt like I couldn't get excited about anything, and it was such a coincidence that I saw that movie."

"What's the movie about?" Zhan Zhao was curious, "Listening to the name, is it a very obscure kind of literary film?"

"On the contrary, it's an absurd comedy. It's called Grey City because the volcano around that city erupted not long ago and the ash covered the whole city. As people flee, a granny accidentally loses the only thing her dead partner left for her, a small pocket watch. When she went back to look for it, she found a lot of ash covering the whole city. At that time, those representatives of the parliament and the people started to meet in the city hall regarding how to clean up the ash, how many people were needed to clean it up, how to cover the cost of cleaning it up, whether to wait for help or to do it themselves, what to do if someone got sick from the ash, how to pay for the damage, how to calculate the insurance... and so on."

Zhao Zhen, who had seemed to be asleep, heard this and laughed softly, "It's really absurd and literary."

"When the whole city was arguing, that granny ran into the city by herself, not to sweep up the ash, but to search for the lost pocket watch. As she searched, she removed the ash little by little and found many stories beneath it. For example, there were children's toys buried in the ash, graffiti on the walls, dead beggars who didn't have time to run away, and a family of kittens hiding... Although it seems that her pocket watch wasn't found in the end... The story has no end, but I felt less sad after watching it." Bai Chi touched his chin, "Jiang Nan played the granny, her eyes were full of stories, very quiet, with the feeling of the world. Every time I was sad and thought of her eyes, I would be a little calmer."

Zhan Zhao nodded and asked, "So how did you feel after seeing her in person today?"

"Well, it was just like, an actor is an actor. In reality, she feels completely different from that granny, like she's a different person."

Hearing what Bai Chi said, Zhan Zhao tapped his fingertips on his knees as if he was thinking about something and did not say much.

At this time, Bai Yutang's car stopped and hid behind a flower bed.

Just ahead, Jiang Nan's car drove into a villa area, there were no security personnel at the entrance, but there should be cameras.

Bai Yutang didn't approach in a hurry, prepared to survey the situation first.

"Does anyone live here?" Zhan Zhao looked around curiously, "It's quite secluded, but I always thought that no one bought any of the villas here before.

"They can't be sold." Zhao Zhen said, "The feng shui of this area is not very good."

Zhan Zhen and Bai Yutang looked at him together, "You believe in feng shui?"

"Even if you don't believe in it, it doesn't change the fact that the feng shui of this place is not good. Those who buy villas either invest or live in them, those who invest are afraid of losing money, and those who live in them are afraid of losing their lives, so of course they can't sell them. And I think Jiang Nan might be renting it to live in."

"Rent..." Zhan Zhao smiled, "You want to say that Jiang Nan deliberately rented a ghost house to experience it?"

"It makes sense, look at how she's acting rather oddly." Zhao Zhen pointed to his head, "It's called dedication to the spirit of art."

Bai Chi narrowed his eyes at him, "Sour."

Zhao Zhen laughed out loud, "Yeah, it's sour! I want to eat sweet and sour pork ribs."

Bai Chi smiled, "I'll make them for you when we get back, there are ribs in the fridge."

Zhao Zhen seemed to be in a better mood, and in the front seat, Zhan Zhao suddenly spoke seriously to Bai Yutang who was dialling the phone, "I want to eat sweet and sour pork ribs too, I've not eaten meat for days, I want to eat meat."

Bai Yutang looked at him speechlessly, "Didn't you just eat a piece of lamb shoulder and half a chicken leg at the banquet, and you even said that their chicken legs were not good, that the chickens that rich people buy must be genetically modified from ducks..."

Zhan Zhao looked straight at him, showing no fear or shame.

Bai Yutang was immediately defeated, "I'll make it for you when we get back..."

At this point, the car that had brought Jiang Nan was seen leaving, seemingly having delivered the person.

Dialling the phone, Bai Yutang asked Jiang Ping to help him check the ownership of this villa area, as well as Jiang Nan's personal property and financial situation.

Not long after, Jiang Ping replied.

It was similar to Zhao Zhen's estimation, Jiang Nan did not work very hard to make money, of course, she was financially well off and her investments were rational and reasonable, but she was not very rich. The villa area, which belonged to a real estate company, had been built a long time ago and was not selling well, mainly because it was haunted.

The area was reasonably well located and should have fetched a good price, so competition was fierce when the land was first purchased. However, after the land was purchased, from the start of construction to completion, something happened almost every day and several people died, which was bizarre and unusual. In the end, the developer was quite superstitious and found a feng shui master to look at the site. The feng shui master said that the site used to be a cemetery, a place of great evil, and building towers and living with dead people was not a solution.

This could be fatal. The developer sold the building at a reduced price, however, just after moving in a house, their dog died on the first day, and the owner said that at night the lights did not come on, the water pipes spouted water, they had a series of nightmares and were extremely frightened, so they fled overnight, and in the process, they complained to the newspapers, which caused a lot of trouble in the city, so everyone talked about the building, which has remained empty here for several years.

Jiang Nan had recently rented in this area and seemed to have really come to experience life.

Bai Yutang asked Jiang Ping to investigate Jiang Nan again.

The result was this – Jiang Nan, forty-two years old this year, from a poor family, married once when she was in her twenties, then seemed to have divorced, no children, lives alone all the time and has few friends.

The above information was obtained from gossip reports, the credibility of which remains to be verified

"However, it is said that Jiang Nan has a characteristic." Bai Yutang pressed the speakerphone button, and the crowd listened to Jiang Ping's gossip.

Zhan Zhao interjected and asked, "Is there someone else next to you?"

"Hehe."

On the other end of the phone, Old Yang's laughter sounded.

The crowd glanced at each other, it seemed that Jiang Ping's first-hand information came from Old Yang, who was notoriously a lover of movie gossip, it was most appropriate to ask him in this regard.

"Every time Jiang Nan portrays a certain character, she has to get into the role a month early, and ah, the weirdest thing is that she finds someone similar to the character to live with. It's even better if the character has a prototype, she will go live with those prototypes, regardless of whether they are male or female, good or bad. It is said that once she had to play a murderer, she even went to the prison every day to pick up some folk customs." Old Yang was so excited to talk about the gossip that Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang could imagine him now holding a coffee cup and eating chocolate.

Zhan Zhao couldn't help but interject, "Watch your blood pressure and blood sugar!"

Old Yang choked on a mouthful of coffee.

"Looking for a prototype..." Zhao Zhen frowned, "This time the prototype is a ghost, who is she living with? I haven't seen her go to the funeral home to collect customs."

Bai Chi thought about it, "It is said that this place has bad feng shui and is also haunted, but it doesn't seem to be the first day Jiang Nan has lived here, and watching her in the garage of Stephen's house just now, she didn't seem to have found the right feeling."

"Maybe she's not looking for it the right way." Zhan Zhao said nonchalantly.

"Are there any gaps around here that we can slip through?" Bai Yutang asked Jiang Ping.

"Feel free to enter." Jiang Ping said, "This property is haunted, and it's been empty for years, so of course there won't be any cameras or anything like that."

Bai Yutang felt that it would not be difficult to break in, so he prepared to get out of the car.

"I'll go too." Zhan Zhao volunteered.

"I'll go too." Zhao Zhen showed rare enthusiasm

"I'll go too..." Bai Chi also weakly raised his hand, seemingly interested in his idol's creative state.

Bai Yutang sighed, "Let's go together then." After saying that, he opened the car door, and all of them sauntered into the villa area together. There really wasn't anyone there, and there was a gust of gloomy wind.

Zhan Zhao sighed heartily – So dedicated.

"That's candlelight, right?" Zhan Zhao asked Bai Yutang, pointing at the only villa with dim lights.

"Maybe there's no electricity yet." Bai Yutang looked around.

"I don't know if the electricity is on or not, but it's true that Jiang Nan is almost enlightened." Zhao Zhen was a bit confused, "If she's experiencing life like this, why doesn't she just do a lonely island rafting or something?"

Zhao Zhao looked at Bai Chi, "What do you think?"

Bai Chi rubbed the goose bumps on his arms, "I think it's a little bit weird."

Zhan Zhao smiled faintly, "Guess, will she really run into A'Piao?" (Angel: A’Piao is an internet buzzword meaning ghost, they were named that because ghosts float.)

"That kind of thing doesn't exist!" Bai Chi felt creeped out, this kind of behaviour from Jiang Nan could be described as dedicated, but it also seemed a little over the top.

“Let's go check it out." Bai Yutang nudged his lips.

The four of them chose two different directions to walk towards the villa.

At this time, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had already reached the bay windows of the villa... They chose one of the brightest lit bay windows and hid on either side of it, looking in.

The light inside was dim, but there was still light, and the outside was dark, so they could see quite clearly.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang discovered that the window they were standing at was in the kitchen.

It's summer and it's hot, there's no electricity inside so naturally there's no air conditioning. The windows were open and there were two candles lit in the kitchen, both placed next to the sink.

A woman... was cutting something next to the sink.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other – Jiang Nan was cooking?

But, is this person Jiang Nan?

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were not so sure, because she had a petite figure and was wearing a white, simple dress. The key thing was that Jiang Nan had short hair, while this woman had straight black hair, which was waist length, and had bangs that covered her eyebrows, and because the lighting was dark, it was not clear whether or not it was a wig.

From the back view and the movement of the body, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had a thought – Is Jiang Nan hiding a daughter here? She looked like a 17 or 18 year old girl.

The girl was humming a tune at that moment. The tune was quite simple and kept repeating itself. Once again, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at each other, confirming that neither had heard it before.

Zhan Zhao stared at Bai Yutang and kept indicating with his eyes that he should look at the chopping board inside, as if he wanted him, who was an excellent cook, to speculate what kind of food the girl was cooking.

Bai Yutang scratched his head. In this darkness, he saw her cutting and cutting, but it didn't seem to be anything crisp, so it shouldn't be vegetables, it seemed like she was cutting meat, and it looked like she was holding a sharp knife... that was cutting ribs or something like that.

At that moment, they heard some kind of machine go 'beep beep beep' on the side.

The girl straightened up and turned around.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang hurriedly hid behind the window... It seems that there is a microwave oven under the windowsill or something.

But just as the girl turned around, her hair flew up from her face, and Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang could clearly see that this person was Jiang Nan!

Bai Yutang leaned against the wall and looked at the sky, seemingly feeling a little sick to his stomach.

Zhan Zhao frowned with a grim look on his face.

Bai Yutang winked at him, meaning – What's wrong with this woman?

Zhan Zhao naturally knew what Bai Yutang was struggling with. Jiang Nan's state was indeed very strange; usually, if someone who was older took good care of herself and dressed younger, it would be difficult to notice. But dressing young, or pretending to be young as they say, has a certain bottom line. Forty as thirty is okay, thirty as twenty is okay, twenty as a teenager is okay, but forty as a teenager... even if you are a genius at acting like one, there are still physical flaws and it is impossible to achieve it completely, even with the most advanced make-up techniques.

Jiang Nan did put on makeup, painting her face so pale, with a thick base of almost pure white that covered up all the signs of age on her entire face. Her eyes were painted with very dark and clear eyeliner, and what was less perceptible was that she had taken her double eyelids and transformed them into single eyelids, making her whole person feel different. The most important thing was her lips. Usually, school girls would use some light-coloured crystal lipstick in order to give their lips a glowing and energetic look, while some who take the sexy route prefer flaming red lips. Jiang Nan, on the other hand, not only used no lipstick whatsoever, but also used a thick foundation to paint her lips as well, causing a thin layer of hard skin to rise from her dry and cracked lips, outlining the shape of her lips.

Bai Yutang felt an urge to go home and wash his eyes.

At that moment, there were other sounds coming from the room, which seemed to be the clattering of cups and plates.

The two returned to their senses and looked again...

They saw Jiang Nan sitting alone in the dark kitchen, at the front of a small square table for four, starting to eat with a fork and knife.

Zhan Zhao's cat nose worked a bit at this point, he covered his nose and looked at Bai Yutang, which seemed to mean – What a heavy smell of blood.

Bai Yutang had good eyesight and his eyes were very adaptable. After adjusting to the light, he could clearly see what Jiang Nan was eating under the candlelight...

As a person with a cleanliness problem, strong willpower couldn't help Captain Bai overcome the feeling of nausea that surged up from the pit of his stomach.

What Jiang Nan was eating was a raw steak. Bai Yutang could not tell how fresh it was, but the red blood was still clearly discernible.

Zhan Zhao also understood, because Jiang Nan's white lips had blood on them, and there was a line of red running down from the corner of her mouth.

He opened his eyes wide to look at Bai Yutang, as if asking – That was sauce, wasn't it?

Bai Yutang shrugged his shoulders and saw Zhan Zhao looking at him seriously, which seemed to mean – Ribs or whatever, I won't eat them!

Not long after, Jiang Nan finished her meal, put down her fork and knife, grabbed two candles and left the kitchen.

It seemed that Jiang Nan's area of activity was on the ground floor, so Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao followed her halfway around the villa and saw Bai Chi and Zhao Zhen watching from the other side of the window.

Zhao Zhen shushed the two of them, signalling that someone was coming!

The four of them continued to watch.

They saw Jiang Nan walking into the living room and sitting on the sofa, with the red blood still lingering on the corner of her mouth.

Zhao Zhen looked at Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao in confusion – What kind of look is this?

Jiang Nan suddenly reached out, picked up something from the coffee table and cradled it in her arms; it was a melon.

The crowd subconsciously rubbed their eyes and looked again to make sure they saw it correctly, it was the same kind of melon that was round and green with white marks.

Jiang Nan's legs were folded up and she leaned back on the sofa, holding the melon in one hand and gently stroking it with the other. It was like how Gongsun would normally hold Luban while stroking his hair and watching a horror movie.

Just as the crowd was confused, they heard Jiang Nan suddenly speak, "Emilia, Emilia, who's turn is next?"

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned.

After speaking, Jiang Nan laughed heartily, laughing so hard that it made everyone get goosebumps...

Bai Yutang, Zhao Zhen and Bai Chi all looked at Zhan Zhao with confused faces, as if asking – Split personality?

The corners of Zhan Zhao's mouth twitched – I've never seen such a split, it's more like being possessed by a ghost.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: April 14, 2023 by Angel

Edited: May 10, 2023 by Angel