Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Warning; the content might make you a bit uncomfortable…
This voice was very gentle, in inverse proportion to Tan Zhi’s sharp and high-pitched voice.
Jiang Lan even guessed that this voice was Tan Zhi’s original voice.
Seeing that Jiang Lan did not answer, “Tan Zhi” opened her mouth again. Her mouth was already filled with dark red hyphae, and there were even crazily growing red parachute mushrooms popping out their heads. The smooth fungus caps were already the size of a one-yuan coin.
Her mouth was blocked by hyphae, and her eyes filled in horror, but she could only open her mouth so weirdly. The hyphae in her mouth replaced her original tongue, tangled into a ball and squirmed to imitate tongue movements, making a sound: “I’ll tell you the truth, how about you stay out of this matter?”
Jiang Lan looked noncommittal and just said: “I’ll listen first. It’s not up to you to decide whether I would intervene or not. You can’t beat us anyway.”
At the end of the sentence, he made a sharp turn and changed “can’t beat me” to “can’t beat us.”
He even looked back at Ying Qiao guiltily.
Ying Qiao thought he was scared after saying harsh words, so he pushed Chen Hua from behind and asked him to rush out to block the two of them. He then pulled Jiang Lan to his side and comforted him in a low voice: “Don’t be afraid.”
Jiang Lan: …?
I am not afraid.
He looked up at Ying Qiao and saw him pulling him to hide behind Boss Chen, and suddenly felt enlightened.
It turned out that he was afraid.
This red ghost umbrella actually looked a little disgusting and weird, but Jiang Lan didn’t think there was anything scary about it. But that’s because he was Taotie.
And Ying Qiao was just an ordinary snake demon, he was probably scared but too embarrassed to show it.
Jiang Lan suddenly felt a desire to protect him, so he leaned against Ying Qiao, held his hand and comforted him softly: “Don’t be afraid, it’s very weak.”
Ying Qiao looked at the little monster who said “Don’t be afraid” but leaned towards him honestly, looking like a cub actively seeking shelter.
His eyes went soft, and he didn’t pierce the little monster’s self-esteem, he just cooperated: “Well, we are not afraid.”
Chen Hua, who was caught off guard and pushed to the front:???
What bulls**t, are you tm hiding behind me??
The red ghost umbrella probably didn’t expect Jiang Lan to be so uncooperative. The tangled hyphae stretched out from the mouth and faced them provocatively: “Since we can’t reach an agreement, there is no need to continue.”
After saying that, the dark red hyphae suddenly dissipated and turned into a burst of red mist.
Tan Zhi, who had regained control of her body, almost went crazy with fright. She pinched her neck with both hands, and kept clasping her throat with her fingers, making retching sounds.
Chen Hua had no mercy for her. He looked at her indifferently and said, “If you don’t tell us, we will go find Xu Meifang and Xie Guizhen. There will always be someone who is willing to tell.”
“Xu Meifang won’t say it.”
Tan Zhi suddenly raised her head, her eyes had turned red from retching, and her mouth was still stained with hyphae and dark red mucus that she had been forced to vomit, which looked a bit scary.
She smiled nervously: “She was the one who pushed Chen Ruomei into the well. That was murder! How would she dare to say that?!”
The feeling of being sober after being controlled just now seemed to have driven her crazy. Tan Zhi rushed forward to grab the bowl of talisman water without hesitation: “Give me the talisman water first, and I will tell you everything.”
Chen Hua thought about it, threw away half of the talisman water, and handed the remaining half bowl to her: “This amount can only make you more comfortable, but it can’t completely clean up your body. You’d better tell the truth.”
Tan Zhi rushed forward, grabbed the bowl, and drank it voraciously.
She went to the bathroom and vomited for a long time before she came out. Although her face was pale, there was a sickly relieved smile on her lips.
She told the three people from the beginning the story of Chen Ruomei’s death.
On the day Chen Ruomei died, the three of them had just been returning home from square dancing. But it was not like they told the police that they went to rescue Chen Ruomei after hearing her calling for help. But that they happened to have a conflict with Chen Ruomei at the gate of the community.
To be more precise, it was Xu Meifang who had a conflict with Chen Ruomei.
Xu Meifang and Chen Ruomei lived in the same building. Chen Ruomei was young and good-looking, and was a new resident, so it was inevitable that she would attract attention. Xu Meifang was the best matchmaker, and she happened to have a nephew who was not married. Seeing that Chen Ruomei was always alone and seemed to be single, she became interested, and would chat with Chen Ruomei from time to time to get closer.
When the two got acquainted with each other, she took advantage of the opportunity to bring up the matter of introducing the object. Chen Ruomei took it for granted and refused, saying that she didn’t want to find a partner yet.
But Xu Meifang was too thoughtful and she thought that Chen Ruomei looked down on her nephew because of her good looks and wanted to find a rich man to climb high. She complained to the two about this several times.
It so happened that one time, a middle-aged man driving a BMW asked for Chen Ruomei at the gate of the community, so this idea came into Xu Meifang’s head. Xu Meifang originally already felt that there was something wrong with Chen Ruomei’s job of going out at night and coming back early in the morning. After seeing this, she was sure that the job she was doing was not serious. She was not just sitting on the stage, but also being a lover for a middle-aged wealthy businessman.
She was arrogant and held a grudge against Chen Ruomei. During the chat, she hinted secretly that Chen Ruomei was working as a waitress in a bar.
Everyone was dubious about this, but it didn’t take long for Chen Ruomei to bring the man home and then have a falling out and call the police, claiming that she had been raped. It so happened that Xu Meifang lived in the same building as her. Afterwards, she confused right and wrong and depicted the scene as Chen Ruomei having no nose and eyes, which led many people to believe that Chen Ruomei was a lady sitting on the stage. Occasionally when they met Chen Ruomei in the community, they always walked around her, for fear that she may have a disease.
Chen Ruomei had no relatives or friends here, so naturally no one told her these rumors. She realized something was wrong when the landlord secretly said that she was acting inappropriately and wanted to refund her money and cancel their landlord tenant agreement.
After finally persuading her landlord to allow her to move to a new house, on her way to work, she bumped into Xu Meifang and three others talking about her falling out with her “client” and calling the police.
Although she was taciturn and unsociable, but it was not a sign of weakness. Otherwise, she would not insist on collecting the evidence and calling the police when she was raped.
Being slandered and rumors spread about her like this, she naturally wanted to come forward and argue.
But Xu Meifang was also a sharp-tongued person. During the argument between the two, Xu Meifang couldn’t help but move her hands to push her. Tan Zhi and Xie Guizhen saw that she moved her hands, so they naturally wanted to start a fight. Between the four of them, they pushed and pushed, but they didn’t notice the manhole cover missing at the back.
Chen Ruomei was accidentally pushed down by Xu Meifang.
The entrance to the community was dark, and the manhole was dark and must have been several meters deep. There was a muffled sound when someone fell down, and Chen Ruomei stopped moving at that time.
Only then did the three of them panic. It was Xu Meifang who pushed the person, and she realized that she might have killed someone.
Their first reaction was to run away. Not only were the streetlights broken in the old community, there was also no surveillance in this area, and they might not be caught if they ran away.
But when they hesitated to leave, Chen Ruomei woke up in the well and began to faintly call for help. It was just that the sound sounded like there was more air coming in and less air going out.
Tan Zhi and Xie Guizhen originally wanted to call the police, but Xu Meifang refused and threatened them with the money they owed her and that they were her accomplices and would have to undergo jail time. The panicked two finally managed to get Chen Ruomei up under Xu Meifang’s command.
Chen Ruomei accidentally hit her head when she fell down, and her head and face were covered in blood. So, she died within a short time of getting up.
Xu Meifang originally wanted to get the person up and give her money to keep her secret, but looking at Chen Ruomei who had just died, she suddenly came up with a bold idea…
She, Tan Zhi and Xie Guizhen prepared a confession, took the initiative to call 120, and then called the police. They pretended to be a good Samaritan passing by and covered up the accidental murder incident.
There were no pedestrians and no surveillance. Chen Ruomei’s autopsy report also showed that she died from a head injury caused by a fall. And the three of them had indeed just returned home from square dancing, and they had no grudge against Chen Ruomei… They even lied to the police. From a murderer and her accomplices, they changed into good citizens who were brave enough to do justice.
The three of them became grasshoppers on a rope, gritting their teeth and not revealing a single word.
Except for the midnight dream, no one knew that Chen Ruomei’s death was related to them.
If it hadn’t been for the strange things that happened one after another, Tan Zhi would never have said anything about it in her life.
She twisted her face and looked at Chen Hua: “I told you everything I know, give me the rest of the talisman water!”
Chen Hua looked at her with disgust. Although he had no discrimination against humans, he had to say that when people’s hearts became vicious, they were even worse than monsters.
He said deliberately: “Actually, I just lied to you, I only have that one talisman left.”
Tan Zhi’s eyes widened in disbelief, and his eyes almost jumped out of her sockets. Then she said hysterically: “Impossible! Aren’t you masters? Please save me. I didn’t kill the person. Every wrongdoer has his own debtor. It is Xu Meifang who should die! I didn’t kill anyone!”
“You didn’t kill anyone, but you were an accomplice.”
Jiang Lan should have been angry, but looking at Tan Zhi who was still shirking responsibility without knowing her fault, his anger was strangely gone, leaving only cold disgust.
“We are not masters, we are national civil servants.” Jiang Lan took out the work permit from the street office and showed it to her: “I have recorded what you just said. Do you want to surrender yourself, or do you want me to report you to the police station??”
Tan Zhi stared blankly at the work permit.
Jiang Lan still felt that it was not enough to relieve his anger, so he added: “Actually, the talisman water just now was also fake. It was a lie to you. Those things are still in your throat. If you don’t believe me, feel it for yourself.”
As expected, Tan Zhi grabbed her own throat in panic.
Until Jiang Lan didn’t say that, she didn’t feel it but now that he said it, she felt very itchy in her throat, as if those disgusting things had grown out of her throat again.
She rushed back into the bathroom, scratched her throat and vomited again.
…
Jiang Lan called Wang Qing. He originally wanted to explain the situation on Tan Zhi’s side, but unexpectedly Wang Qing spoke first: “Xu Meifang is dead.”
Xu Meifang committed suicide. This morning, while her husband was leaving for work, she stabbed herself in the throat with a fruit knife.
Her two children were in school, and her husband worked overtime at night. He just came home not long ago. When Wang Qing came to the door, he was trying to open the door locked by his wife.
After Wang Qing showed his certificate and indicated that he wanted to find Xu Meifang to understand the situation, he had no choice but to explain the situation. Wang Qing and Zhao Heng helped to open the door, only to find Xu Meifang dead on their bed.
Her death did not exceed twenty-four hours, but the body had already started emitting a stench, and the oxidized blood had turned black and red, coagulating on the bed like blood clots, and the damp quilt seemed to be a hotbed, giving birth to clusters of dark red miniature red ghost umbrella.
The scene was eerie and frightening.
Xu Meifang’s husband passed out on the spot. Wang Qing and Zhao Heng quickly called for people to cordon off the scene and sent Xu Meifang’s body for autopsy.
Jiang Lan could only send him Tan Zhi’s recording first and let him listen to it himself. Although this kind of recording could not be used as evidence in court, Jiang Lan still kept a copy.
Tan Zhi had already come out of the bathroom at this time, and she also heard what Jiang Lan just said.
She repeated with dull eyes: “Xu Meifang is dead?”
“Dead.” Jiang Lan no longer had the slightest sympathy for her, and even asked viciously, “Whose turn will it be next? You? Or Xie Guizhen?”
Tan Zhi’s body trembled, and she fell limply to the ground.
Jiang Lan finally said to her: “If you surrender now, you might still be able to stay alive.”
After that, the three of them ignored Tan Zhi and left the Tan house.
After going downstairs, there were indeed two police cars parked in the community. The police were busy cordoning off the scene, and many residents who heard the commotion gathered around to watch the commotion.
Wang Qing and Zhao Heng were not seen in the crowd. They were probably still upstairs.
Jiang Lan looked up and vaguely saw a window shrouded in a thin red mist. Those spores floated and did not disperse, as if they were looking for more parasites.
Ying Qiao patted him on the shoulder and said, “Let’s wait in the car first. It won’t be finished here for a while.”
Jiang Lan nodded, then couldn’t help but sigh, his expression a little downcast.
He looked like a helpless cub seeing the darkness of the human heart for the first time.
Ying Qiao thought that he was so close to humans and would be very disappointed when encountering such a thing, so he raised his hand and rubbed the top of his hair soothingly and said comfortingly: “Human nature is evil. There are too many such things. If you see too much, you won’t be happy. You will only feel disappointed.”
“No.”
Unexpectedly, Jiang Lan shook his head and retorted seriously: “I’m not disappointed, except for people like Tan Zhi, there are always more good people. I just feel bad for Chen Ruomei, she was a good girl.”
He was never disappointed by the darkness in the hearts of wicked people, he just felt sad for Chen Ruomei’s death.
The evil of these people ruined a girl who should have had a good life and should have had a family.
Chen Hua shrugged, thinking that this little monster was so interesting that he would feel sorry for a human being from the bottom of his heart. Even he couldn’t help comforting the one with a sad expression: “Everyone has their own destiny. Although the purpose of the red ghost umbrella is not pure, she has avenged herself.”
His words woke up Jiang Lan.
“You are right. Xu Meifang is dead, but Tan Zhi and Xie Guizhen are still alive. Both of them are accomplices and should be punished by law. And those rumors should also be refuted by the police.”
He cheered up again and said, “I have to find Wang Qing.”
Ying Qiao glanced at the little monster who was lifted up by a sentence, and then at Chen Hua…
…Looked at Chen Hua again.
Ying Qiao:……
Sure enough, he shouldn’t have brought him with him.
The old father suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis in his heart.
The author has something to say:
Longlong: Don’t be afraid, I will protect you.
Jiang Lan: Don’t be afraid, I will protect you.
Longlong & Jiang Lan: Well, we are not afraid.
Chen Hua:???
Knock in the mother, you have no heart.
————————
I saw Hericium erinaceus in the comments hhhh
In fact, I also thought of Hericium erinaceus at first, but it grows only in places that are too sandy so I used the red ghost umbrella. I never thought that I was not the only one who thought of the name of this sand sculpture. The commenters are too talented. 2333
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