IWBL: Chapter 259

The old TV in the room was playing an outdated idol drama. The hero held the heroine and refused to let her go, expressing his thoughts affectionately. Xiao Li sat cross-legged on the sofa and Shen Chenzhi hugged him from behind.

The doll was hanging from the withered hanging orchid in the room. Tan Li was holding the remote control and changed channels from time to time. However, they were all variety shows and dramas from five years ago. There wasn’t the latest hot show.

Outside the window, there were changes in the light and dark of the sky but the window couldn’t be opened. The entire building was fixed at a point in time. Dust flew in the light like a group of moths that didn’t know life or death.

Xiao Li was actually a bit sleepy. The speed at which his upper and lower eyelids met was significantly increased. Shen Chenzhi lowered his head and kissed Xiao Li’s eyelids. “Go to bed?”

Xiao Li shook his head. He grasped the last trace of clarity in his mind and held the other person’s arm to change to a sitting posture. He left the embrace of the young man behind him and gradually woke up.

The next-door neighbours had been quiet for a long time but Xiao Li always felt that something was going to happen. It was his intuition that had been exercised throughout the year.

Around the time when the clock pointed to midnight, the change suddenly emerged. There was the sound of a heavy object being dragged next door. The sound clearly entered his ears like the wall blocking them wasn’t made of cement but a piece of thin paper. It didn’t provide any sound insulation.

Xiao Li could even make up what the person next door was doing. It could be a man or a woman dragging something forward. The location was close to the door. Then…

The dragging sound stopped abruptly and was replaced by a chopping sound. It was a dull sound one after another. Occasionally, the sharp weapon used to chop something would get stuck. Then the next second, the sound became louder like the person chopping the object had increased their strength.

The person next door chopped for a long time. If it was a piece of meat then it should’ve been turned into mince.

It stood to reason that the chopping sound was so loud the baby next door should’ve awakened. Yet at this time, the baby was completely silent. There was only this chopping sound and not of the baby crying. Was it dead or fainted?

If this was the memory of the unnamed female corpse, was she the one killed and her husband was chopping things? So what type of role did the ‘neighbours’ play, listening to the sound coming from next door every night…

Xiao Li listened quietly before turning his head to look at the door. He opened the door and found Wang Huai and the others standing there.

Due to the poor soundproofing, they all tacitly made no sound. Wang Huai followed Xiao Li’s gaze and typed in his mobile phone before raising it. [The sound insulation is too bad. All of us were staying upstairs and we heard it clearly.]

Xiao Li read the words on Wang Huai’s phone and didn’t respond. He paused for three seconds before going straight next door and knocking. “Is anyone there?”

He moved too abruptly, especially in this quiet night. Gong Mingming hadn’t worked with him too much and was startled. The moment there was a knock on the door, the sound in the house stopped. It brought an invisible sense of deterrence and people couldn’t help thinking of the scene inside:

A person holding a kitchen knife heard a knock on the door. The kitchen knife froze in the air and they slowly turned their head…

“Is there anyone?” Xiao Li saw there was no reply and knocked again.

This time there was finally movement. The door was opened. A long-haired woman timidly hid behind the door, her straw-like hair covering most of her face and revealing only a pair of dull eyes. “W-What is it?”

The door wasn’t pulled wide open. The gap was covered by the woman and they couldn’t see the specific situation inside.

“It isn’t a big deal. The soundproofing here is so poor. I just heard chopping inside your house?” Xiao Li asked directly.

The woman glanced back into the room. Then she turned her head and admitted it with a smile. “Yes, I’m chopping something. I’m a bit hungry and I’m preparing to make fried crispy pork.”

“Fried.” Xiao Li spoke while observing her expression. He found that the woman looked refreshed. As she moved, there were a few hot burns caused by oil on the places covered by her hair but she didn’t seem to feel the slightest pain. “What about your husband? Does he like eating this too?”

The woman froze for a moment. Then the cheerfulness in her eyes became stronger and she replied in a meaningful manner, “Yes, he likes it. He likes it the most.”

“I’m a bit hungry too. Shall I go in and eat together? It is also good to chat.”

“It isn’t very convenient. I will invite you to eat tomorrow, tomorrow.” The woman said. “Even if you didn’t say anything, I was going to invite you tomorrow night. The meat has to be marinated to get rid of the smell in the bones. It is delicious.”

She repeated ‘it is delicious’ several times. Madness filled her cloudy eyes and she ignored Xiao Li in front of her. She turned around and prepared to close the door.

As the woman turned around, Xiao Li stopped her. “What is your name?”

The woman didn’t answer and closed the door heavily. There was the sound of meat being chopped again and it lasted a long time.

The group returned to Xiao Li’s room and Ye Zeqing spoke first. He deliberately lowered his voice and spoke as softly as possible. “She is a ghost. She is very strong and full of resentment.”

Gong Mingming analyzed it according to his words. “If that woman is the unknown body in the Sun family, what is her form during the day? I thought we entered her memory before she was killed but it is obvious she just dismembered Fu Jianlin.”

“During the day, Fu Jianlin domestically abuses her while at night, she kills Fu Jianlin. It is just like how her meat can turn an adult into a baby and then makes them old. There are two states.” Wang Huai took out a piece of paper, drew a building on it and cut it into two seconds with a line. “Then what is the connection between day and night? This is the focus we need to solve.”

Xiao Li glanced at the walkway and knocked on it with his knuckles. “The funeral home worker described the body of a woman with burns on her face. I noticed that her face has a few oil scars but not many.”

“According to her, tomorrow night she will invite her neighbours to taste the fried meat. Then from tomorrow night, she will start the killing.”

“From this point of view, will the scars on her face gradually increase tomorrow night until they completely cover her face?  This means she has completely returned to the state of being a corpse.”

“If that is the case, the world here must have rules. If we solve them, we can get out of here.”

Wang Huai murmured, “Domestic violence. If this is a real  case then these neighbours should’ve been bystanders at the time.”

“Could it be that the nameless body isn’t female at all but male? Were we misled by the funeral home?” Ye Zeqing suddenly raised a point.

“We can’t rule out this possibility. After all, we didn’t see the gender of the corpse with our own eyes.” Xiao Li put this possibility into speculation. “If this is the case…”

“We need to do a test—”

He had just said this when there was a knock on the door. The group’s discussion stopped and the atmosphere became tense. Ye Zeqing was ready to take out an item.

Xiao Li opened the door and found it was the woman knocking on the door. She raised her hand and smiled strangely at Xiao Li. Then she asked shyly, “Do you have any oil? I ran out of oil at home. Can you lend me some?”

Xiao Li didn’t speak and gestured to Ye Zeqing with his eyes. He went to the kitchen to take a look and grabbed a bottle of oil. “There is a bottle of Arowana oil.”

“Lend me this.” The woman took the bottle of oil. “Thank you. Tomorrow night, I will invite you to eat meat.”

She walked back to her room and continued to mince meat.

***

Daytime the next day.

The sound of meat being minced didn’t stop until four in the morning.

Early in the morning, everyone woke up and took a piece of bread from the refrigerator to fill their stomachs. It happened when they just finished eating. The sky had just brightened and there was a stir from the next-door neighbour’s house.

During the night and now the day, there was no time to stop for a while.

This time, it was no longer the sound of chopping meat. The man yelled angrily, “What is this? You didn’t wake me up and at night. I tried to wake you and it was like touching a dead body. I thought you were actually a man!”

“No breakfast. I’m going to work!”

He swore and slammed the door, leaving the house.

Ye Lingshi followed him, watching from a distance. He found that as the man was about to walk out the door of the building, he suddenly disappeared. It wasn’t the type of departure that pushed open a door. He disappeared like he melted.

***

It was noon when Fu Jianlin came back.

It was just like when he left. He suddenly appeared at the bottom of the building and walked upstairs. Once he reached the floor, he kicked the door with his feet. “Won’t you open the door for me? This dead woman!”

There was the crying of the baby through the door. Perhaps it was because she was coaxing the child but the woman opened the door a bit late. Fu Jianlin grabbed her hair and yelled, “What is this? Look at other people’s wives and then look at you! You’re so ugly and not virtuous at all! I was really blind to marry you!”

The baby in the house was still crying and Fu Jianlin kept shouting, “Why cry? This cheap son as well… I really doubt he is my seed!”

“No, no, don’t talk nonsense…” The woman clutched her hair and wept sadly. All types of sounds mixed together and entered everyone’s ears like they were amplified by a microphone.

In the house next door.

“Going or not?” Ye Zeqing asked cautiously.

According to common sense, the first reaction of a normal person when encountering such a thing was to stop the man’s domestic violence. However, the woman’s actions last night caused everyone to hesitate and they didn’t dare to intervene without authorization.

Xiao Li told him, “Try it.”

Ye Zeqing was relieved by Xiao Li’s words.

“Stop it. Aren’t you a man? Why hit your wife?”

He was brave and headed straight out of the house. The moment he grabbed the man’s hand to try and stop him—

He didn’t expect that in the next second, the man would directly wave his hand and throw him to the ground. Ye Zeqing frowned with pain.

“What are you doing?” Fu Jianlin found it strange and turned to face the woman. He pushed her against the door more forcibly and asked, “Do you have something with him? Look at your face, the scars on your body and these legs. Is there actually a man who wants you?!”

Ye Lingshi helped Ye Zeqing up from the ground. Wang Huai was taller than Fu Jianlin and he also often worked hard. He grabbed the man’s arm to stop him but it was useless.

There was a gleam of golden light on Wang Huai’s body as he approached Fu Jianlin, but it disappeared when touching Fu Jianlin. Wang Huai staggered when he was pushed and grabbed the railing of the stairs to avoid falling.

“Bunch of crazy people! I am teaching my wife. What does it have to do with you?!” Fu Jianlin cursed and spat to the side. He grabbed the woman and walked into the house, closing the door.

Wang Huai frowned and turned his head. “Fu Jianlin might not be an ordinary person. He was extremely powerful when I came into contact with him, far beyond an ordinary man. My items were also useless against him.”

“Damn, he is like a boxer. He blew me away with one slap.” Ye Zeqing kept stroking his arm. “Is this a man? If he has such brutal strength, shouldn’t he go out and win glory for the country?”

Luo Shan wondered, “Is Fu Jianlin a ghost?”

Ye Zeqing answered, “He has ghost energy but it isn’t as thick as the female ghost last night. It is very light.”

“Then… is the Sun family’s corpse Fu Jianlin or his wife? How can he be so strong?”

“Apart from Fu Jianlin being a ghost, there is another possibility. We are in the memory of the female corpse so he is invincible.” Xiao Li threw a bottle of liquid medicine over. “It isn’t that he is strong. He is just strong here. Yes, the female corpse believes him to be strong.”

“If that is the case, I have a bold idea…”

***

Fu Jianlin ate at home and picked his teeth with a toothpick. He watched the woman busy running around in front of him. Today’s dish was satisfactory so he didn’t hit his wife too much. The baby was still crying. Fu Jianlin glanced over and found that the baby’s face was purple. He spoke impatiently, “Go and quickly see to your son. I’m sick of him crying.”

The woman stopped clearing the table and went to coax the baby. The baby was soothed and the crying subsided. Really annoying.

Fu Jianlin cursed in his heart. He didn’t want to enter the house for a short time so he simply sat in the living room, humming a song and tapping on the edge of the table with his chopsticks. Just then, there was a voice at the door. It belonged to a woman and was as delicate and sweet as honey. “Hello, something of mine rolled under your door. Can you help me pick it up?”

Fu Jianlin immediately walked to the door in his slippers and found there was a small note slipped under the crack of the door. It was just that this piece of paper wasn’t a ball. How could it roll it? Was it stuffed in deliberately?

Fu Jianlin was very interested in the woman outside. He opened the door with interest, bending down to pick up the small piece of paper at the crack of the door. In this posture, he looked out. The lights in the corridor weren’t bright. It was cloudy outside so even though it was obviously afternoon, it looked as dark as night.

The first thing that entered Fu Jianlin’s eyes was a pair of beautiful legs. The owner of the legs wore blood-red heels. She had delicate skin and slim legs.

Fu Jianlin gulped. He gripped the note in his hand and looked up along the beautiful legs. By the time he reached the knees, he found that the owner of the beautiful legs had very good thigh proportions without any fat. He started to imagine how beautiful the owner of these legs would be.

For example, if only he could touch it. He moved on, his gaze going up and then…

It was gone. As Fu Jianlin straightened up, he didn’t see the upper body that a human should have. There were only these legs. Was this… a model? A prank, revenge?

Fu Jianlin stepped back strongly, a sense of fear rising in his heart while still finding excuses for what he saw before him. The thing that happened next broke his mind—

The legs moved. It stepped directly on Fu Jianlin’s foot before lifting its foot, kicking hard between the man’s legs with its high heels. Then it ran down the stairs happily.

Fu Jianlin, “???”

It hurt—

Damn, ghost, ghost!

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The author has something to say:

Legs: Make you want to touch me (I kick)

Turns around and starts writing a contribution: @Say it to Moriarty bot, Moriarty isn’t human. He asked me to sell sex appeal! Moriarty is taking advantage of me!

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Proofreader: Tofu