Thriller Night Talk

Chapter 11: I still can’t guess Mr. A’s identity

Translator- Rhapsodite

Editor-PerpetualMreow, Proofreader-Ghostie

Wei Fuyuan was silent for a long time.

It took him an entire span of three minutes to digest and accept this information that had completely subverted his worldview.

“For the time being, I will believe that there is such a thing as ‘ghost’… ” Young Master Wei raised his hand and rubbed his temple, “But it’s ridiculous for me to believe that they can manipulate their hosts to kill people.”

“But it did happen.” Bei Quan said with a smile, “Think of the deceased Wu Qingping, Liu Fei, Meng Lichang and Lin Xue.”

Wei Fuyuan: “…”

He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

“So, what the hell is going on?”

Young Master Wei finally gave in. “The four dead people, what is the connection between them?”

“While you were taking a bath, Zhu Ling called me and told me what she had found.”

.

Bei Quan waved to Wei Fuyuan and motioned for him to sit beside him.

“Combined with the information you’ve helped to investigate in the past two days, I’ve figured out the general process.”

Wei Fuyuan “hummed” and slowly moved over to Bei Quan’s side.

Bei Quan took out a paper and pen——he seemed to be more accustomed to analyzing and sorting out his thoughts in the traditional way: by writing it down.

“The cause of all this is a tragic coincidence.”

He folded the white paper in half and arranged it vertically according to the order in which they had died. He wrote the names of four people: Wu Qingping, Liu Fei, Meng Lichang, and Lin Xue. Then, Bei Quan wrote “Ye Jia” on the right side of the paper.

“At 1:30 a.m. on September 28 last year, a serious fire broke out at 44 Jinyuan Road. Ye Jia, who lived in room 402 on the fourth floor, ended up becoming the only victim of the fire.”

Wei Fuyuan nodded. “That’s right.”

“The first person to die, Wu Qingping, was the boss of the private company where Ye Jia worked.”

Bei Quan told Wei Fuyuan the clues Zhu Ling had found, “Wu Qingping is said to have been a very unpleasant boss. He pursued the principle of talking business at the wine table. He also liked to force young and beautiful female employees in the company to accompany him and give him ‘support’ while they drank and chatted with him.”

With that, he added two remarks: “boss” and “forcing female subordinates” beside Wu Qingping’s name.

“At that time, Ye Jia, who was a new employee, was often seen accompanying Wu Qingping because she was beautiful and weak. But she had a low tolerance for alcoholic drinks. She got drunk every time and had to be carried home like a pool of mud. All these were the news Zhu Ling heard from Ye Jia’s former colleagues. “

“Fuck!”

Wei Fuyuan frowned upon hearing this, “This surname Wu really knows how to bully a woman!”

“On the day of the fire, Ye Jia was taken to dinner by Wu Qingping. She was drunk and fell unconscious. Later, her colleagues kindly sent her home. It’s said that it was already midnight when they got home. ”

“I see.”

Wei Fuyuan touched his chin, “Ye Jia was drunk that day, so when the fire broke out, she was not awakened by the noise outside the door, and consequently, did not manage to escape in time.”

Bei Quan nodded, “That should be how it went.”

“If the dog boss surnamed Wu didn’t force Ye Jia to participate in the dinner, Ye Jia would not have gotten drunk, and if she hadn’t gotten drunk, she might have escaped the building before the fire spread out of control.”

Wei Fuyuan analyzed, “Can we say Wu Qingping is indirectly responsible for Ye Jia’s death?”

Bei Quan smiled and moved the pen tip to the second line.

“The second victim, Liu Fei, was living in Room 201, 44 Jinyuan Road at the time of his death.”

He gently poked the word ‘Liu Fei’.

“Zhu Ling inquired his acquaintances. Liu Fei is apparently very homely and addicted to animation. He was in his thirties and had no serious job. His only source of income was his parents’ help and game training. He often stayed in his apartment for long periods of time and lived off of online shopping and takeout.”

Wei Fuyuan, “This is the stereotypical otaku!”

Bei Quan wrote “otaku” next to Liu Fei’s name.

“Later, when investigating the cause of the fire, residents of the building suspected that the garbage piled up in the corridor on the first floor belonged to Liu Fei. However, everything was burnt out, so there was no evidence, and Liu Fei refused to admit it, so the police had to let him go.”

Wei Fuyuan clenched his fist and knocked on the table, “I see! It was Meng Mouchang, who often threw cigarette butts around, had accidentally ignited Liu Fei’s garbage in the corridor——which led to the fire! ”

“Based on what we currently know, that should be it.”

Bei Quan added the words “garbage in the corridor” and raised his head to smile at Wei Fuyuan.

“According to the information you read from Meng Mouchang yesterday, he passed by No. 44, Jinyuan Road in the early morning of September 28 last year, smoked a cigarette and threw the cigarette butt on the garbage, which caused the fire.”

Wei Fuyuan thought of yesterday’s frightening experience of “watching” and “feeling” in the Hutong when “he” was pushed by a car and slammed into the iron spike fence, which pierced through his chest. He felt a cold chill run down his spine.

He shivered involuntarily.

“But what’s the matter with Lin Xue?”

Wei Fuyuan tried to recall his experience on the glass trestle just now.

“By the way, before she died, Lin Xue once said that she didn’t mean it. She was just afraid of thieves coming in…”

Bei Quan asked, frowning a little, “Oh? Did Lin Xue say that before she died?”

Bei Quan slightly pondered and whispered to himself, “That’s right.”

He wrote a note next to the name of the fourth dead Lin Xue: neighbors on the same floor.

“Judging from the investigation results of the fire, Ye Jia’s place of death was not in her own house, but on the north side of the corridor on the fourth floor.”

Wei Fuyuan, “So Ye Jia noticed the fire and ran out of the house?”

“Yes.” Bei Quan continued to explain, “In fact, the north side of each floor of No. 44 Jinyuan Road faces the road. Although the anti-theft net was installed, there are safety windows that can be opened on the anti-theft net, so that residents can escape from the safety window in case of an accident.”

“In principle, the fourth floor is not high. If Ye Jia opened the safety window and ventured to jump down, she might have had a chance of life. I think she had planned to escape to the north side of the corridor at that time.”

Wei Fuyuan frowned, “Then why didn’t she do it?”

“Because the safety window was locked without permission, Ye Jia couldn’t open it.”

Bei Quan sighed, “Later, police also investigated who locked the safety window, but without the residents’ testimony, they could not be held responsible.”

Wei Fuyuan suddenly realized, “Now it seems that Lin Xue is the one who locked the window, right? She is a girl who lives on her own. She may have been afraid that a thief would come in from the corridor in the middle of the night, so she locked the safety window without permission. Unexpectedly, Ye Jia, her neighbor, couldn’t escape from the fire because of it!”

No wonder Bei Quan said the accident was ‘a tragic coincidence’.

Ye Jia was so young when she was buried in the sea of fire, but her sad death was caused by Wu Qingping, Liu Fei, Meng Mouchang and Lin Xue.

Subjectively, none of the four people had the idea of killing a person, but in fact, their selfishness or immorality was the cause of Ye Jia’s death. Moreover, all four people covered up their faults and were unwilling to bear even half of the responsibility.

“Tsk!”

Wei Fuyuan, “It’s no wonder that Ye Jia died a painful death and wanted to take revenge herself!”

“Well, it’s Ye Jia, who died with resentment and injustice, that made her perfect for a Hui Gui to corrupt her soul.”

Bei Quan also agreed with Wei Fuyuan.

“Now I’m 90% sure that the ghost we’re looking for should be attached to Ye Jia’s ghost. The angry ghost gains more negative emotions by avenging her so that it becomes stronger and stronger.”

Wei Fuyuan gawked at Bei Quan and said “It’s you who wants to find the ghost. Don’t use “we” to drag me into the water, OK?!”

“However, since Ye Jia wanted to kill all the people who killed her…”

Young Master Wei frowned deeply.

“Well, who is Mr. A? What does he have to do with Ye Jia’s death?”

“Good question.”

Bei Quan laughed.

According to the information they had, the spirit linked to Ye Jia’s soul would pick people who directly or indirectly contributed to her death as the targets for her vengeance, and kill them using different unfathomable and cruel means.

On the hotline, Mr. A told Bei Quan and Wei Fuyuan that there were five cages in his dream. The “Executioner” of the ghost incarnation would open the cages one by one in the order that led to Ye Jia’s death and killed the ones inside ‘Prison’.

Four have died now, so Ye Jia, or the “Executioner”, should soon go find Mr. A.

But the question now was, who was this Mr. A, and what role did he play in Ye Jia’s death before being selected by Hui Gui as the fifth death prisoner?

“I still can’t guess the identity of Mr. A.”

Bei Quan put his chin on one hand and glanced at Wei Fuyuan with a smile.

“I’m counting on you to help me solve it.”

Young Master Wei felt that the detective hat was quite comfy.

The corners of his mouth curved up, and the corners of his brows and eyes couldn’t help but show some color.

“Well, I’ll help you figure it out…”Wei Fuyuan pretended and sighed, “After all, you are my boss.”

Bei Quan smiled secretly.

He felt that this Young Master surnamed Wei, regardless of his usual temperament, often angered himself and became a pufferfish at every turn, but in fact, he was quite straightforward and softened on coaxing. As long as he was told a few more good things and patted on the head, he could easily be subdued.

Of course, it was fun to occasionally watch him explode.

Naturally, Wei Fuyuan would not know what Bei Quan was thinking, otherwise, he would be so angry that he would not talk to him tonight.

“Well, I’ll think about it for you.”

Young Master Wei began to ponder it seriously.

“Since two of the first four deceased are Ye Jia’s neighbors, then I think Mr. A may also be a neighbor.”

A moment later, he made his guess, “According to the voice, Mr. A should be a fairly young man, in his early twenties… Is there anybody else his age among his surviving neighbors?”