IWBL: Chapter 187
Qingye Bar was a retro-styled building. It wasn’t as tall as ordinary buildings. Instead, it was deliberately decorated like a retro building. The second floor had a glass skylight that was large enough for one person to get through after it was opened. The glass was pasted with a matcha green sticker and then painted in red and yellow pigments, with an image of the Virgin Mary holding children.
The door was tightly closed with a seal and an old lock was hung on it. The entire building exuded the smell of disrepair and the vines of the creeper were wrapped around the brick wall on the left.
Park Jiming parked the car on the side of the road and walked up the steps with Xiao Li.
Needless to say, the doll’s hair quietly extends from his pocket and into the lock. At the same time, Xiao Li carefully lifted the seal from the upper right corner and opened the door at an angle that wouldn’t damage the seal.
Pan Jiming instinctively stood outside the door and hesitated for a moment. The Moriarty in front of him acted differently from ordinary people, making him feel fearful. However, as he was feeling worried, he looked up.
The leaves of the creeper blocked almost all light. They were densely packed together but they avoided the stained glass on the skylight, surrounding it like stars surrounding the moon. Behind the old stained glass, behind the head of the Virgin Mary, Pan Jiming faintly saw a pair of blood-red eyes, just like the eyes at the door of the KTV box.
He immediately made a decision. He held his stomach and learned from Xiao Li’s posture just now, entering to catch up with Xiao Li.
The moon overhead was very round and hung unusually bright above the city sky. The bright moonlight shed a halo over the wide-opened bar door, forming a distinct line of light and dark. It had been a long time since anyone had entered the bar. It could be seen that it was sealed up after the murder and the inside was still the same as before.
The tables, chairs and benches had fallen casually, the broken wine glasses on the side of the bar, the black mucus on the floor and the wine bottles squeezed down when the crowd was in a panic—everything was frozen in that time and space.
On the side of the bar, there were a few small steps. Above the steps was a miniature stage with the red velvet background dyed with an unknown amount of dust. A microphone and sound system were placed on it.
Pan Jiming tried to press the switch but the chandelier above his head didn’t respond. The electricity here had probably been cut off a long time ago.
The light ghost originally wanted to take advantage of its injuries to be a salted fish for a while. However, the doll grabbed it with her hair, pulled it out of Xiao Li’s pocket and smashed it toward the wall.
The light bulb, which had been restored to its round shape, flickered lazily in the air. Then it jumped directly to the chandelier and illuminated the surroundings.
Xiao Li crossed the bar and walked to the private room mentioned in the report. In this deeper place, the messy footprints were more obvious. Inside were private rooms, some of which were open and some which were closed.
Pan Jiming couldn’t help wondering, “Master Moriarty, is that ghost really going to be here?”
Xiao Li still trusted Meiyou’s ability and the ghost had talked about ‘bleeding eyes’ when singing. Thus, he gave a positive answer. Pan Jiming wanted to ask something but before he could open his mouth to make a sound, Xiao Li noticed something strange on the wall.
It was a dark brown liquid. It was unknown when it had stained the wall. It looked like dust in the light but in Xiao Li’s eyes, it was a blood stain. He quickened his pace and approached the blood stain.
The further he went inside, the darker the light. Even if the light ghost was following above them, the two people still couldn’t see beyond one metre in front of them. At the same time, the feeling of something shrouding the light became stronger and stronger.
Xiao Li could detect someone peeping behind him. The KTV ghost should be hiding somewhere and observing them.
At first, there were sporadic blood stains on the wall. This was followed by the constant blood stains and then turned into half bloody handprints in front of one of the closed doors. Yes, half. It was a bloody mark left by holding the corner of the wall.
Xiao Li tried to stimulate the scene in his mind. Due to something, the resident singer dug out his eyes. He covered his eyes with one hand and held onto the wall with the other because he couldn’t stand firm…
“Under what circumstances would a person dig out their own eyes… mental illness, a hallucination?” Xiao Li spoke to himself.
In order to divert his attention, Pan Jiming tried to answer Xiao Li. “Too much pressure? He was a resident singer and unpopular. The housing prices in this city are the most expensive in the country. It might be the difference between reality and dreams.”
“That alone shouldn’t be enough.” Xiao Li touched his right eye. “If it is really because of money, it is faster to cut your wrist then to dig out your eyes. It is also easier to think of.”
The eyes were one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body. Few people would think of punishing themselves by ‘digging out their eyes’ unless…
Something was in their eyes.
Xiao Li wanted to reach out and pull the doorknob of the door. Before his fingers could touch the doorknob, countless bloodied hands slapped the door panel, leaving handprints one after another. The air was full of a bloody smell.
It was like a warning.
Pan Jiming was frightened and backed away to a certain distance. “I don’t think we should go inside? Looking at this reaction, it must be very dangerous…”
In addition, he was just an ordinary businessman! Why did he follow? What was this Moriarty’s magic?
Xiao Li didn’t agree. “When a beast is desperate and has nowhere to go, what will it do if it encounters an enemy that wants to enter its nest?”
“Um…” Pan Jiming gulped and replied hesitantly, “It should be impossible to fight back so it will roar..?”
The claws of the beast couldn’t be used but it still had a voice.
“Yes, if this ghost could do anything then it would’ve done so in your KTV. It didn’t need to wait for me to come here to start.” Xiao Li stated. “Although it is possible that this is caused by another cause, the likelihood isn’t very high. The biggest possibility is that it is trying to frighten me.”
He pushed open the door. Inside was a small private room for the resident singers to rest and change clothes. It could barely be called a backstage. There was a row of mirrors. On the table in front of the mirror, all types of makeup removers and cosmetics were cluttered which had long since expired.
The thing that set this room apart was the font on the mirror. Every mirror was filled with crooked words. At first, it was written with lipstick but later it became blood.
[Itchy, itchy, itchy.]
[Why are my eyes so itchy? How can I stop the itch in my eyes?]
[I can sing. Don’t do this. It’s okay if my eyes are red. I can wear cosmetic contact lens to cover it. I can go on stage. Let me go on stage. I love singing.]
[Why don’t you let me go on the stage? Because of these eyes? I’m going to the hospital.]
[I don’t have conjunctivitis or trachoma. I can’t find the cause and eyedrops are useless. I’m itching and uncomfortable.]
[The doctor asked me when it started. I don’t know but when I think about it, I think it was that day… I went to the graffiti corner of the park that day. When I came back, my eyes started to hurt.]
[I went there again. The graffiti has been replaced and there isn’t anything special. Was I infected with some bacteria?]
[What is this ultimatum? Isn’t it just my eyes? Due to this, he isn’t letting me continue singing? I knew this bad man must be deliberately embarrassing me!]
[No, I can’t give up. I must sing. I still have a few original songs that I haven’t sung! I don’t want to do other work. I have to sing.]
[…I have it. Just dig it out and won’t it be okay?]
[This way, it won’t itch.]
[Dig it out!]
[I feel comfortable. It finally doesn’t itch but it hurts…]
After the last sentence was a simple and extremely small pattern. It was of two triangles connected by four lines on the right side. It was a pattern that Xiao Li had never seen before. In this room, Xiao Li didn’t see the shadow of the KTV ghost but he knew it must be here. Xiao Li stroked the writing on these mirrors with his hand. “I know you are here. I have no malice against you. On the contrary, I want to help you.”
In the instance world, the first thing ghosts thought about was how to kill. This killing intent controlled the mind and only a small part of it retained reason. Xiao Li didn’t know if this was the case in reality and wanted to give it a try.
Xiao Li added, “I want to hear your story.”
No one answered.
Xiao Li wasn’t good at talking, he was accustomed to speaking with actions. Now he could only reluctantly try. “You still don’t intend to talk to me?”
Pan Jiming couldn’t stand it anymore and interjected, “You still have your sense of mind. Do you want to go on like this for the rest of your life? We aren’t going to do anything to you. Don’t you really want to say it?”
There was another long silence. Xiao Li was just about to leave when a voice finally rang out. “…There is nothing to say about my business.”
“Why did you dig out your own eyes?”
“It wouldn’t stop itching.”
The KTV ghost didn’t speak anymore.
Xiao Li stood upright. Finally, he stepped out, closed the door and walked straight back to the bar. He moved two chairs among the messy table and chairs and placed them upright in front of the stage. Then he sat on one. In the bar with only a light and ghosts, he spoke to the empty stage. “Fu Zige.”
Fu Zige, this was the name of the resident singer in the news report.
The teenager’s voice was cold. He had no sympathy or regret. It was more like he was telling a fact. “Today, I will be your audience. I want to hear you sing.”
Xiao Li squinted. “Eyes aren’t important. The pen of the writer, the legs of the dancer and the voice of the singer. The most important thing for you is your voice.”
“I won’t look at you, I will only listen to you sing. You can keep singing as long as you want to sing.”
Due to the closed bar, his voice slightly echoed. Silence followed. It was unknown how much time passed. Xiao Li thought the ghost had disappeared. Pan Jiming was just about to persuade Xiao Li to leave first when a song was slowly heard.
The ghost didn’t appear on the stage. Only the voice appeared. At first, it was just a gentle hum without any accompaniment. Later, the voice gradually became louder and the microphone on the stage was held by emptiness. It was a hoarse, not so mainstream but very distinctive male voice. It gently sang his original song. “You ask me if I want to continue. I say…”
The light ghost disguised as a chandelier flashed along with the melody.
Xiao Li placed his cheek on one hand, lowered his eyes and didn’t look at the stage as his fingers tapped on the chair along with the melody. Pan Jiming, who was still standing at this time, seemed a bit out of place.
He wondered how he was listening to a ghost singing in this long-closed bar when he had asked Moriarty to catch the ghost. Damn it, listening to this, this type of vicissitudes of life still resonated a bit with him?!
Pan JIming was full of question marks before giving up on himself and sitting beside Xiao Li.
“Even if you say no to me, even if the burden of life overwhelms me, I will…”
The ghost finished singing and Xiao Li clapped. Then he drew a cake for the other person. “It is good, the sound of nature. Placed outside, it will definitely be on the song charts.”
There was short applause and then silence. The ghost seemed to be waiting for another person’s evaluation.
Pan Jiming looked at it, thought of the singing and chose to follow Moriarty. He wisely said, “…Yes, one more song!”
He even whistled in order to stir up the heat.
The author has something to say:
@Say it to Moriarty, @Say it to Sherlock, @Say it to Hercule
Wtf, Moriarty is really shameless. In order to get the body of a KTV ghost, he actually did such a terrible thing! This is deception! Not only does he want the body, but he is also greedy for people’s hearts!
Popular comment: [I’m so angry. What is this treatment? When could he talk so well? Why didn’t he use this on me?]
[Oh, does he think he is a psychiatrist?]
[KTV ghost, you wait for me. The next time Moriarty calls me, I will pretend to step on your foot accidentally.]
[Perhaps this is life. Some ghosts are treated like this when they appear and some ghosts will shed tears.]
[It doesn’t have to be so. The KTV ghost was pretty miserable before. There might not be additional harm but he did receive mental pollution.]
[Upstairs person, now it is cured again!]
[Am I the only one who thinks it is because there is no dungeon mission constraint in reality and it can’t be possible to get the host in the old way, so Moriarty is using this roundabout tactic to get the KTV ghost’s heart? If he was in a dungeon, he would definitely change it.]
[That’s right.]
Proofreader: Tofu