Chapter Three: The Corpse

This villa had only two stories; the ground floor comprised the living room and kitchen, with bedrooms upstairs. Lin Ran ascended to the second floor. As soon as he reached the landing, he was confronted by a corpse covered in mottled spots. Judging by the appearance, the man had been dead for quite some time, the body marred by livor mortis, and a swarm of flies buzzing over him.

A wave of stench hit Lin Ran as he approached the corpse. He forced himself to suppress the nausea and conducted a brief examination. This, he surmised, must be the villa’s master. He found no obvious wounds on the body; the true cause of death would have to await the forensic examiner’s report.

Carefully stepping over the corpse, Lin Ran moved toward the bedroom door. Suddenly, something pasted on the door made his heart skip a beat—a yellow talisman paper, covered in chaotic, indecipherable symbols. The sight sent a chill through him, recalling the villa’s haunted reputation. The coincidence of the talisman on the door unsettled him deeply—could the family’s death truly be linked to supernatural causes?

Suppressing his unease, Lin Ran pushed into the room. On the floor lay two more bodies, those of children around ten years old—a boy and a girl. The blanket was strewn haphazardly, and it seemed the two had struggled desperately before death. Like the man outside, neither child bore any visible wounds.

The last body was discovered in another bedroom—a woman, likely the mistress of the house. What startled Lin Ran most was that this bedroom door also bore a yellow talisman, and the woman was still dressed in her nightclothes. It led him to wonder if the family had been killed in their sleep.

Besides these two bedrooms, there was another room upstairs. Its door was tightly shut, with no talisman affixed. For some reason, the sight of this closed door made Lin Ran’s heart race with inexplicable dread. He couldn’t understand why he felt such sudden fear.

He approached the door, heart thundering, and reached out with a trembling hand—perhaps from nerves, as his fingers visibly shook.

Then, out of nowhere, a woman’s scream pierced the air. Lin Ran recoiled in shock, snatching his hand back and stumbling several steps away.

Fixing his gaze on the door, he realized the scream hadn’t come from within the room, and relief flooded him. Suddenly, a thought struck him and his face changed. He turned and dashed outside.

In the yard, he found Guo Ting, who had accompanied him, curled up beneath a tree, muttering incoherently and shrinking away as if something terrifying were approaching her.

“Guo Ting! Guo Ting! What’s wrong?” Lin Ran ran to her, wrapping his arms around her in an attempt to calm her down.

“No! Don’t come near! Don’t come near me! Ah!” No matter what Lin Ran said, Guo Ting could not be soothed.

“It’s me, Guo Ting! I’m Lin Ran! Tell me, what did you see?” Lin Ran’s anxiety mounted at her state. Perhaps driven by instinct, he suddenly shouted at her.

The shout seemed to jolt Guo Ting back to herself. Her gaze cleared a little, though confusion lingered in her eyes.

“Tell me, what did you see?” Lin Ran pressed, seeing her come to.

“A ghost. There’s a ghost! Don’t let it come near!” Guo Ting whispered, staring fixedly at a spot in the yard.

“A ghost? Where?” Lin Ran asked, bewildered. Was there really a ghost in the yard?

“Hanging from the tree right behind you!” Guo Ting blurted without thinking.

At that very moment, a strange noise came from the branches behind Lin Ran.

Creak, creak.

The sound made Lin Ran’s heart pound, goosebumps prickling along his back. He spun around—there was no ghost, only a few crows perched on the branches. He breathed a deep sigh of relief, only then realizing his back was drenched in sweat.

“Guo Ting? Guo Ting?” he called softly. At some point, Guo Ting had fainted.

Glancing back at the eerie villa, Lin Ran lifted Guo Ting and carried her to the police car, driving her straight to the station. He had wanted to search further for clues, but with Guo Ting unconscious, he felt uneasy and decided to return and report the case first.

In a rush, Lin Ran delivered Guo Ting to the hospital and hurried back to the station, immediately calling his superior, Captain Wang Changhai, who led both the detective squad and the serious crimes unit. Wang Changhai was an experienced officer who had solved many major cases—a good policeman by any measure.

Wang responded to Lin Ran’s call at once, summoning all off-duty officers who could come in. A case involving so many deaths demanded the utmost attention. Once everyone had assembled, Wang had Lin Ran lead the team to the crime scene. Seven or eight police cars sped through the streets toward the villa. Officers from the detective unit, forensic examiners, and evidence collection specialists all arrived. Seeing the twenty-odd police officers bustling about, Lin Ran felt a surge of righteousness. Not all police were as bad as their reputation; there were good ones, too.

“By the way, you weren’t the one on duty at the station today, were you?” Wang asked suddenly as they rode in the same car.

“Captain Wang, it was Guo Ting,” Lin Ran replied. For some reason, Wang Changhai radiated a quiet authority that inspired his subordinates to work hard—perhaps the innate charisma of an old-school detective, Lin Ran thought.

Wang was as straightforward as he appeared, acting with decisive speed. Orders flew from his lips, and within minutes, he had mobilized all twenty officers.

Strangely, this time Lin Ran didn’t feel the chilling dread that had seized him before; even the crows that had circled the villa’s trees had vanished.

Wang Changhai surveyed the scene, his brows furrowed in deep thought.

Knowing he was only a trainee, Lin Ran didn’t expect to be tasked with evidence collection. Instead, he headed upstairs, camera in hand, to snap a few photos—particularly of the talisman papers on the doors. Somehow, he had a strong sense that these talismans were closely linked to the case.