Chapter Fifteen: The Nonexistent Man and the Maiden

Chen Qing ignored the words spoken beside him, and paid no heed to the woman lying on the floor. He turned around and addressed the couple behind him, “Would it be possible for the two of us to speak with your daughter alone? There are some matters I wish to inquire about.”

The couple exchanged a glance, their faces filled with hesitation. “Yes… yes, of course.” They left reluctantly, glancing back at Jiang Wan as they descended the stairs.

If there’s trouble… surely Officer Jiang can handle it.

They muttered anxiously, supporting each other as they went downstairs.

Once the couple had left the second floor, Chen Qing’s expression became peculiar. His smile hovered between amusement and seriousness as he stared at the girl on the ground.

“Weren’t you going to ask her something?” Jiang Wan looked at his face with curiosity.

“I am. Why wouldn’t I?” But he turned his head, still just smiling at the girl.

He stared at her oddly, grinning for a long while.

This strange tableau persisted until Jiang Wan could no longer hold back and spoke. The girl on the floor slowly withdrew her hand and gazed at Chen Qing.

“Aren’t you going to ask me your questions? Go ahead, ask.”

“Oh? You’ve recovered? Back to your usual self?” Chen Qing crouched, observing her form.

Though she was filthy, the trunk of her body remained clean. Her hands were stained, but on closer inspection, most of the color came from bright red paint.

“What… what are you talking about, recovered? What do you mean?” She looked at Chen Qing’s eyes, evasive.

“What have you done? What did you ‘find’ on your way home from school that day?”

She turned her head away and shouted downstairs, “Hey! Hey! Old fools! Are you trying to get someone to assault me? I’ll call the police, you hear me!”

Downstairs, the couple’s shoulders trembled at her words.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Chen Qing naturally reached into Jiang Wan’s pocket.

“Hey!”

Before Jiang Wan could stop him, Chen Qing had already pulled out an official document.

He waved it twice and tossed the badge before the girl.

“Hey! That’s filthy!” Jiang Wan gritted her teeth, seeing the paint smeared on the badge, feeling a headache forming.

Chen Qing ignored her, looking at the girl on the ground, speaking in a voice only the three of them could hear, “Would you kindly close the door?”

Jiang Wan frowned, but complied, closing the door as requested.

With the door sealing the three of them inside, the girl’s composure faltered.

“Are you crazy? Let me tell you, if you don’t kill me today, I guarantee you’ll be on the news tomorrow!”

Chen Qing let out a cold laugh, “Threatening me? I’m underage.”

Before the girl could react, Chen Qing closed his eyes, and the vertical pupil on his brow opened.

His view of the world shifted; all color drained away, leaving only black and white. Blood lost its hue.

He looked around; the girl’s desk gradually began to radiate a pink glow.

“What are you?!”

She saw Chen Qing’s face contort, tiny tendrils of flesh sprouting from his pores like tentacles. She retreated two steps, now unconcerned with hiding anything.

Following Chen Qing’s gaze, her eyes met his at the filthy chair.

Chen Qing looked at her; in his vision, she was rendered in black and white. He opened his mouth, his tone eerily calm, “What did you bring back?”

He didn’t notice how his voice had grown so composed, nor that nearly all desire within him had faded.

Only one remained—only that dreadful hunger for knowledge lingered in his heart.

The girl stepped back twice, her fingers resting on her desk.

At the same time, a violent knocking sounded at the door behind Chen Qing. The noise was urgent and agitated.

A series of loud bangs echoed through the house.

“Who?!” Jiang Wan shouted angrily; the pounding was so close, it couldn’t be from the Zhang couple.

It was as if the sound came from inside the door, moving outward.

As the banging continued, the Zhang couple hurried upstairs.

But as their footsteps approached, Chen Qing’s voice rang out, “Don’t come in. I’ve encountered the ‘extra person’ you spoke of. Please don’t be alarmed. Whatever happens next, whatever you hear, I ask you to ignore it.”

His calm tone gave them some confidence; a person unperturbed by the supernatural could surely be trusted.

They hurried back downstairs, but the commotion inside grew louder.

The girl opened her drawer; inside lay a doll bristling with silver needles.

When she took it out, the vivid colors on the desk grew even stronger.

“Oh? There’s something wrong…”

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Wan had already aimed her pistol at the doll.

He glanced sideways; whispers and muttering began to fill his ears. “At this distance, can you hit the doll in her hand?”

Jiang Wan nodded, seeing the vertical eye on Chen Qing’s brow close, a smile appearing on his face.

“Pretty accurate. Then I’m not worried.” He paused, pointing toward the desk. “Shoot the desk.”

“Hm?” She hesitated, but her hands did not. As the barrel swung left, a powerful force surged from the gun.

The force was as strong as an adult’s full-strength blow, but it couldn’t wrest the gun from the investigator’s grasp.

Her grip tightened, knuckles white, keeping the gun steady.

“Who!”

She shouted, her incredulous gaze falling on the girl.

Her brow furrowed, thumb flicking off the gun’s safety.

“So this is… the nonexistent person in their home?”

Chen Qing shook his head, moving to stand beside Jiang Wan. “You’re not the real one, are you? Or perhaps… it’s some negative effect of a relic?”

The girl looked confused, staring at the doll, unable to understand why it had failed.

“What relic… what are you talking about? If you want the doll, just take it!”

Jiang Wan frowned; the girl tossed the doll toward her, landing at her feet.

Maintaining her aim, Jiang Wan freed one hand, preparing to kneel and pick it up, but Chen Qing stopped her.

“What’s wrong?” She watched as Chen Qing shook his head and released her arm.

He stood, approaching the girl step by step.

“You’ve done well. Truly, very well.”

He reached the desk, touching the clean mirror surface.

“But your actions were too rushed. Perhaps the eye on my brow startled you, made you too eager to present the doll. That only confirms my suspicions.”

She watched his fingers glide over the mirror, her face pale, body trembling. She was flustered, blood welling on her lips where she’d bitten them.

“I… I don’t understand what you’re saying!”

“You were too hasty. According to your parents, your memories don’t overlap—so why do you recall what the doll is?

But you were too quick. Out of fear, you offered the doll.

Too quick—just as she aimed her gun at the desk, or rather, the mirror, you couldn’t hold back.

Second: the timing of the ‘nonexistent person’ appearing was too perfect.

After you took out the doll; after you discarded it.

It’s all too logical. I have to reconsider whether all this was orchestrated.

You were too hasty.”

He touched the mirror; the world within changed abruptly.

Growing more serious, he adjusted his height to match the girl’s, shifting to where she had stood.

From this vantage, he saw a completely different world.

The chaotic, filthy fluids smeared throughout the room converged, forming a layered pattern resembling a ritual array.

Within the mirrored image, at the center of the room, stood the so-called nonexistent person.

“Is it… you?”

Chen Qing shifted so that both figures in the mirror stood to one side.

This time, he could clearly see their faces were identical.

“Zhang…”

“Zhang Lan,” Jiang Wan supplied.

“Very well… Miss Zhang Lan, can you explain the current situation?” Chen Qing looked at her nervous expression, smiling.

Even though his features had returned to normal, even though the strange tendrils had vanished, Zhang Lan remained tense.

She stammered, retreating, “I don’t know… I don’t know…”

She muttered, and suddenly, the mirror on the desk emitted a thunderous crash.

Turning to look, they saw pen and paper moving on their own atop the desk.

“Who are you?”

The handwriting was elegant, befitting a high school student.

“I am someone who can help you,” Chen Qing replied after a pause. “But you must tell me the truth.”

At that, Zhang Lan’s face grew paler. She cried out, “How can you trust her? She’s a ghost! She’s a ghost! She wants to kill me! Protect me!”

He tilted his head; the girl’s panic was genuine.

Her fingers still trembled; not everyone could control such minute movements, and clearly, this girl was not among them.

Turning back, he saw a second line written on the paper: “Why should I believe you can help me?”