Chapter Two: The Crime Occurs

"Mom, why does that Third Aunt seem so strange to me?" Lin Ran couldn't help but ask as he came out. In his eyes, this "Third Aunt" was simply too odd. Why would a perfectly normal man refer to himself as Third Aunt? And as for that little girl's foot, how on earth was it healed?

"Shut your mouth! Don't you dare talk about Third Aunt like that! I'm telling you, if you ever show her any disrespect, don't blame me for not letting you into this house," his mother scolded, glaring at him.

"I was just saying," Lin Ran muttered, shrinking his head, unable to fathom why his mother was so angry.

"That's not allowed either!" his mother snapped as she got into the car.

"Alright, alright, I won't say anything anymore, okay? Honestly, is there any need to lose your temper like that?" Seeing his mother was truly upset, Lin Ran dared not utter another word and just shook his head helplessly. Although his mother was getting on in years, her temper could flare up like a child's. Lin Ran quietly decided that once his father returned, he’d ask him about this Third Aunt; perhaps his father would know more.

"Put this on! And don't take it off!" his mother said, handing him something.

"Okay," Lin Ran replied, nodding as he looked at the item in his mother's hand—it was the piece of black jade that Third Aunt had given him. He put it around his neck, guessing that if he didn't, his mother might not even let him have lunch. He knew her temper well: once she made up her mind, no one could object. His father often disagreed with her, but it was this very stubborn woman who held half the family together.

After he and his mother returned, they had lunch with his father, who had just come home. Then, in the afternoon, Lin Ran went back to the police station. Because it was a holiday, only a few people were on duty. There was a female officer from his police academy class, a prison guard, and the gatekeeper. Lin Ran remembered the female officer was named Guo Ting, from the Major Crimes Unit.

"Xiao Lin, why are you back so early? Isn't there another day left in the holiday?" The guard, Old Wang, was a kindly man in his fifties who liked to chat with the young graduates.

"Well, it's the holidays, and there aren’t many people on duty. I thought I’d come back and help out, just in case something unexpected happens," Lin Ran replied with a smile. He had a good impression of Old Wang.

"Good lad! That's the spirit of youth," Old Wang chuckled, returning to his post. Lin Ran walked towards his office. He’d heard from colleagues that Old Wang had once taken down two knife-wielding criminals barehanded—his skills were formidable.

Lin Ran had barely warmed his seat when someone burst into the office in a flurry. He saw it was Guo Ting from Major Crimes, who was on duty.

"What happened?" Lin Ran asked, seeing her breathless and anxious—he had an uneasy feeling.

"We just got a call—there's been a murder in the south of the city. An entire family of four is dead!" Guo Ting gasped, looking at Lin Ran as if he were her savior. She’d just graduated, had no experience, and didn’t know what to do in such a crisis. The station was nearly empty, and seeing Lin Ran felt like finding an anchor.

"What, all four dead?" Lin Ran was shocked—this was the biggest case he’d encountered in his half-year at the station.

"Don't panic. Let's go to the scene and take a look," Lin Ran steadied himself, knowing he couldn’t lose his composure now. His training at the academy had given him a psychological resilience beyond the average person—he’d studied criminal investigation and even taken sniper training as an elective.

At this moment, Guo Ting saw Lin Ran as her rock, so she followed his lead. Lin Ran grabbed his standard police gear and hurried off to the scene with her. Standard issue for trainees was just a stun baton and evidence collection tools—no firearms, only full officers were issued guns.

When they arrived at the scene in the south of the city, both were struck with a chill—the murder had taken place in the city's infamous "haunted house." The place was notorious for strange happenings and had gradually earned its eerie reputation, though no one could say for certain if it was truly haunted.

As a detective, Lin Ran naturally didn’t believe in ghosts or spirits, but standing before this so-called haunted house, he couldn’t help but feel a shiver.

The house was an ancient villa, likely built in the seventies or eighties. Time and weather had stripped patches of plaster from its walls, and the front gate, an old steel structure, was rusted and worn. In the yard, several dead trees stood, crows circling above and letting out mournful cries. The whole place exuded an air of desolation and decay, even a sinister chill. Lin Ran couldn't fathom how anyone still lived there.

"Lin Ran, I'm a little scared," Guo Ting admitted, her hand instinctively grabbing his arm.

"Don't be afraid. Tell you what, you wait outside, and I'll go in first. Meanwhile, you can use these seals to cordon off the scene, alright?" Lin Ran comforted her, figuring it was too much to ask a young woman to go inside with him.

Guo Ting nodded, taking the seals and heading to the entrance, while Lin Ran approached the villa. The door was tightly shut, suggesting no one had left or entered recently. As he opened it, a nauseating stench of decomposing bodies assaulted him, making him retch.

He quickly donned a mask and put on medical gloves to avoid contaminating evidence, then stepped inside.

Inside, the room was in disarray, objects scattered haphazardly across the floor, as if they'd been dropped in a hurry. Lin Ran's first thought was a burglary, but he soon dismissed it—despite the mess, wallets, phones, and valuables in drawers and wardrobes remained untouched. That suggested it wasn’t a robbery.

For some reason, after entering the house, Lin Ran felt an unnatural chill. It was the height of summer, the heat oppressive outside, yet inside it was as cold as if an air conditioner had been left running—far colder than it should have been.