Lin Feng understood roughly and said with a smile, "Old sir, is it difficult for the owners here to rent out their houses?"
"Yes, who would dare rent such an evil place?"
"But I heard that some owners, in order to rent out their houses, specially invited ghost house trial sleepers to stay."
"A few trial sleepers came a few days ago, but they were all scared away at night."
"So, kid, hurry up and get your girlfriend out of here. Even if there are no vengeful spirits, there are still maniacal murderers."
The old man recounted.
"Old sir, so many murders have happened in this building, haven't people come to solve the cases?"
Lin Feng was a bit confused. Logically, such cases should have been handled by Yang Ming and his team, and it was unlikely they wouldn't have solved it by now.
"Someone came to investigate, and they searched for several days, but since there were no clues, it was dropped."
The old man patiently explained.
Lin Feng nodded. Seeing the elevator arrive, he took it to the 26th floor, which was the top floor of the building.
Standing in the elevator, Lin Feng felt a chill in the air.
Coupled with the lights in the elevator flickering occasionally, it indeed created a somewhat terrifying atmosphere.
Alas, Lin Feng was not a Taoist practitioner. If Duan Liang and Li Xiang were here, they might have used their Taoist arts to see some vengeful spirits.
Finally, the elevator stopped at the twenty-sixth floor. As the doors opened, they were greeted by paper money strewn everywhere and the ashes of burnt incense.
Lin Feng stepped out of the elevator and found that each floor housed four families.
Unfortunately, except for 2604, the doors of the other three units were all locked, with "For Rent" signs posted on them.
Lin Feng knocked on the door of 2604. After a moment, Xia Xue's lazy voice could be heard.
"You're here so quickly. I was just about to take a nap."
Xia Xue opened the door and yawned.
Lin Feng looked at Xia Xue in her sportswear and couldn't help but say, "You can sleep even in a haunted house? Are you that brave?"
"What's wrong with a haunted house? I'm full of righteousness. Even if there are evil spirits, they'll keep their distance from me."
"Besides, where are so many supernatural phenomena in this world? It's all people scaring each other."
Xia Xue didn't take the rumors about the place seriously at all.
"I don't think you came here for trial sleeping just for fun, do you? You want to investigate the case indirectly?"
Knowing Xia Xue well, Lin Feng understood that even though she was no longer in the Dark Squad, her passion for solving cases was still very much alive.
Xia Xue paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "It seems I can't hide anything from you. That's right, I want to use the trial sleeping in this haunted house to investigate that maniacal murderer."
"Yang Ming and his team are all useless. They investigated for a few days with no results, then gave up."
"What's the point of the Dragon Group keeping these people? Their minds aren't on serving the people at all."
Xia Xue got angry when she brought this up. If she were still the captain of the Dark Squad, she would have solved this case long ago.
"Alright, if you like serving the people, I can arrange for you to join a higher-level department, but only after you've had the baby."
Lin Feng knew Xia Xue had her own passions and gently rubbed her shoulder understandingly.
"Really? Then you better not regret it. If I go back to work, I won't have time to take care of you and the baby."
Xia Xue said, overjoyed.
"You and the baby don't need you to take care of us. We have a big family, and anyone can look after the baby."
"As long as you like it, I will support you unconditionally."
Lin Feng said with a smile.
"Yes, I'm very happy you say that."
"Then stay with me for a while now."
Xia Xue hugged Lin Feng's arm and pulled him into the living room.
When Lin Feng entered the living room, he found the apartment quite clean. The large floor-to-ceiling windows offered a view of the bustling city center of Qingcheng.
The only odd thing was that despite the bright sunlight and excellent lighting, the living room was not warm at all.
This was very counterintuitive.
"Xiao Xue, who used to live in this apartment?"
Lin Feng asked.
"You mean the deceased, right? Here."
Xia Xue pointed to a black and white photo hanging on the wall. It showed a girl in her early twenties.
The girl was very sweet, with dimples on her cheeks when she smiled.
"This girl's name is Huang Zhenzhen. She just graduated from college and started working this year. Five days ago, she was found dead in the apartment after coming home from work. She was dismembered alive."
Xia Xue's voice filled with sadness as she spoke about the girl's situation.
Because the girl was truly pitiful. Her parents were migrant workers, and their family conditions were not good.
The girl, in order to make something of herself, studied hard and finally graduated from college. She wanted to earn money to support her parents, but instead, they were separated by death.
Upon hearing the news, her parents committed suicide by poisoning themselves.
The entire family of three was gone. It was hard for anyone not to feel heartbroken.
This was also the main reason why Xia Xue was determined to find the murderer.
She absolutely could not let this family of three die in vain.
"It is indeed tragic. Do you have any useful clues so far?"
Lin Feng's interest in the case was piqued.
"Not yet. I asked Yang Ming and the others. The killer is likely a repeat offender, similar to several previous home invasion murders. The victims were all dismembered, and no traces were left at the scene."
"This killer is very cautious, targeting solitary young women, and then clearing all fingerprints at the scene."
"The most clever part is that this killer is very good at hiding; none of the surrounding cameras captured him."
Xia Xue said resentfully.
"Were there no traces of the killer left in the victim's body?"
Lin Feng asked.
"What traces would be in the body? What are you thinking?"
Xia Xue was confused.
"I mean, during the home invasion and murder, wasn't there any sexual assault before the killing?"
Lin Feng chuckled awkwardly.
"You're talking about that. Why is your mind so filthy? Do you think everyone is like you, a man who thinks with his lower body?"
"This killer didn't touch the deceased at all, and no valuables were taken from the house, so we've never understood the motive for the murder."
Xia Xue was speechless.
"If what you say is true, then this killer is indeed a maniacal murderer, killing for no reason other than killing, not for money or sex."
Lin Feng fell into thought. No wonder this case was so difficult to solve; they had encountered a master.
"Yes, it's precisely because there are no clues that I thought of coming here to trial sleep."
"To be honest, I really hope there are vengeful spirits in this world, at least then I could ask them who the killer is."
Xia Xue looked at Huang Zhenzhen's black and white photo, feeling a sense of unease.
"Heaven's net is vast and its mesh is fine; don't worry, this guy will surface sooner or later."
Lin Feng noticed Xia Xue was not in good spirits and embraced her petite figure to comfort her.
Just as Lin Feng and Xia Xue were silent, with a bang, the window was suddenly smashed by a stone.
The stone landed in the living room, startling Xia Xue.
"There's a note tied to the stone."
Lin Feng noticed something and walked over to pick up the note tied to the stone.
He opened it and read: "Officer Xia Xue, I know you're here to catch me. Since you want to play with me, I don't mind killing you too. The game has already begun, and it's too late to quit now."
At the end of the note, there was also a wicked smiley face.
"Damn it! This guy is provoking me!"
Xia Xue clenched her fists in anger, feeling the killer's audacity.
"Fine, I didn't want to get involved originally, but since this guy wants to touch you too, then I really must play along with him."
Lin Feng smiled, becoming even more curious about the true identity of the person behind all this.