Xue Donglai and Fu Ning arrived at the address of Ji Linlin's family in an urban village in the northern part of Green City in the afternoon.
This urban village, known as the "Little Hong Kong", used to be quite large. There were more than 300,000 people living on a piece of land within a radius of one kilometer.
Ji Linlin's family was said to be among the original residents of the village. They had an eight - story self - built house, and her parents made a living by collecting rent.
Now the whole village had turned into a large expanse of rubble and ruins. Only one relatively intact small building showed faint signs of habitation.
Xue Donglai and Fu Ning followed a cement road almost overgrown with weeds and reached this eight - story building with light - yellow tiled walls.
There were several broken sofas in front of the building's entrance. Two or three elderly people were sitting in the afterglow of the setting sun, making everything look even more desolate and dilapidated.
"Sir, may I ask if Ji Weiguo used to live here?"
Xue Donglai was very good at interacting with people. He had special skills when chatting with others and could easily obtain useful information.
"Which Ji Weiguo?" asked the old man sitting on the broken sofa. His white hair fluttered in the gentle breeze like silver threads.
"Hey! It's that Ji Weiguo! His daughter was involved in drug smuggling and was executed by firing squad two years ago!" A grandmother sitting on another sofa, who was picking vegetables, took over the conversation.
Xue Donglai quickly nodded. "Yes, that's his family."
"Right, this is their house," the old woman pointed at the building behind her and said. "However, I heard that their whole family has left. They no longer stay in Green City. The village committee bought this building and uses it as a temporary resettlement house for us old folks who either don't have money or don't want to rent a place outside."
"Got it!"
Xue Donglai felt that he had obtained the information effortlessly. He immediately stepped closer and continued to ask the talkative old woman, "Auntie, do you know which floor the Ji family used to live on? We're from the Public Security Bureau. We're here to investigate an old case."
"What's going on? Did the Ji family get involved in drug dealing again?" The old woman was old but had a strong gossipy heart. She quickly grabbed Xue Donglai's sleeve and whispered, "They lived on the second floor. Landlords here usually live on the second floor..."
After a pause, the old woman continued, "No one lives on the second floor now. It's because Ji Linlin's mother couldn't bear the blow and hanged herself on the lintel. So, since most of the people living here are old folks, we usually take the elevator instead of using the stairs. The second floor has been sealed off and no one has lived there ever since!"
"I see!"
Xue Donglai looked back at Fu Ning. Fu Ning didn't think much of it and felt that this trip might be in vain.
"Kid, I asked you. What happened to their family?" The old woman had said so much but only got a simple "I see" from Xue Donglai. She was not satisfied and asked again, "Only Ji Weiguo is left in the Ji family. Did he break the law again?"
"No, auntie. It's just that Ji Linlin left some things at the police station and no family member has come to claim them. So we came here to check," Xue Donglai made up an excuse casually. Then he stood up, pointed at the golden - yellow glass windows on the second floor illuminated by the setting sun, and asked, "Can we go up and take a look now?"
"Hey, you're not very old. Why aren't you afraid of death?"
The old man beside the old woman finally got a chance to speak. "We old folks are living here because we don't have many years left. What are you two young guys going there for? Others try to avoid such an inauspicious place!"
"We're police officers. We don't believe in such things!"
Fu Ning was young and hot - tempered. Hearing the old man's words, he stiffened his neck and said, "It's just a house where someone died. What's there to be afraid of!"
The old man and the old woman shook their heads. "You really... don't know the danger. Even we old folks don't want to go there. Alas! I advise you not to go!"
"Hehe, we know you two mean well!"
Xue Donglai said with a smile to smooth things over. "That's why we came during the day! The sun hasn't set yet. We'll just go up and take a look and then leave."
"Hey hey hey... There's nothing to see... It's like a graveyard for the dead..."
The two white - haired old people, hunched over, watched Xue Donglai and Fu Ning enter the building.
Self - built buildings in the urban village didn't pay much attention to lighting or the layout of the house like those in a residential community.
The main idea of these self - built buildings was to build as many rooms as possible with the limited area.
So there was only one simple elevator that could accommodate six people in the eight - story building. There were small single rooms on both sides of a long corridor. The toilets were right next to the elevator, covered with white cloth curtains, and the words "Men" and "Women" were written on the lintels.
Xue Donglai and Fu Ning first entered the elevator on the first floor and pressed the button for the second floor. Just as the two old people outside had said, there was no response at all.
"Let's go. It's just the second floor," said Fu Ning. In order to show that he wasn't afraid of such supernatural things, he took the lead and quickly walked towards the stairwell.
"Xiao Fu..."
Xue Donglai, who was following behind, called out. When Fu Ning turned around, he hesitated for a moment and asked, "Don't lose the thing I gave you!"
"I... I haven't lost it!"
Fu Ning subconsciously covered his chest. He had been carrying that talisman with him in case his master asked for it and he could take it out in time.
"That's good."
Xue Donglai also took out a string of bracelets from his pocket and put it on his wrist.
Police officers were not allowed to wear accessories. Fu Ning knew that Xue Donglai had a string of bracelets made of peach pits, which had been polished to a shiny finish. Usually, he just casually stuffed it into his trouser pocket and had never seen him wear it.
Fu Ning suddenly felt a bit nervous.
The stairwell of the self - built building was dark and cramped.
To save space, there was not a single window in the whole eight - story stairwell. The only light source was the indicator lights on each floor's wall showing the floor number.
Fu Ning walked in front and Xue Donglai followed behind. The two carefully stepped on the dusty stairs and reached the second floor.
"Ugh... What's this smell?"
Fu Ning had a sharp nose. As soon as he reached the stairwell on the second floor, he smelled a strange, sweet and greasy odor.
"The smell of the dead!"
Xue Donglai said concisely.
This kind of smell usually appeared in places like the morgue of a hospital or the cremation room of a crematorium.
Experienced old masters said that it was a sweet fragrance mixed with the smell of candles and human fat. It wasn't unpleasant but it made people feel scared.
"Master, don't try to scare me. I'm not afraid!" Fu Ning deliberately said loudly. "There are people living up and down here. Why don't they think it's the smell of the dead?"
"Um!"
Xue Donglai didn't answer Fu Ning. He just squinted his eyes and sized up this long - uninhabited space by the light of the number - display lamp in the elevator hall.
The layout here was the same as that on the first floor.
The elevator hall and the stairwell were at the end of the corridor, which was where they were standing. Behind them were the men's and women's toilets, which was also the only place where a bit of natural light could come in.
There were closed - door rooms on both sides of the long corridor. At the end of the corridor, there seemed to be two dim red dots flickering on and off...