Chapter 5 Chapter Four

After Luo Xianmei saw me, she was a little surprised, and then smiled and complained: "Why did it take me so long to come, we are all waiting for you!" I was wondering what she meant by this, but when I entered the door, I could smell the aroma of vegetables. There were several home-cooked dishes on the table in the living room, and it seemed that I hadn’t touched the chopsticks. A middle-aged man was sitting on the sofa watching TV. I smiled at him and said excuse me. The man smiled back politely, and continued to stare at the TV, as if he was watching the news. Luo Xianmei pulled me to the table and sat down, and said, "I knew you hadn't had dinner, so I'm waiting for you, eat with us!" Turning around, she greeted the man, "Damn old man, why are you still watching TV? Hurry up and eat!"

The man responded, but didn't sit down, while Luo Xianmei went to the kitchen to serve dinner. Right now, I'm sitting in the living room with this man, I'm thinking about something, I don't know what to say to this man.The man didn't seem to feel embarrassed, he just watched TV on his own, and didn't sit at the table until Luo Xianmei served the rice. I casually said a few words and was about to inquire about 702, but Luo Xianmei spoke first. "Xiao He, are you having conflicts with your Xiaojie recently? I haven't seen her for several days." "Oh, she's gone on a trip. I'm sorry, I didn't say hello to you before she left, haha" I lied again.

Luo Xianmei smiled, and then casually asked: "Is that so, did she go somewhere you can't find?" I was startled, because what she said was so strange that I couldn't grasp it for a while.Could it be that she knew about Xin Jie's disappearance?Or just a very simple joke?But no matter what it means, I think it's unnecessary to deliberately conceal things about Xin Jie, and it will make Luo Xianmei distrust me more and more.So, I put down my chopsticks, restored my usual expression, then sighed, and said, "Sister Mei, to tell you the truth, Xiaojie is missing." After I finished speaking, I looked at her expression, She looked very surprised, opened her mouth wide and asked, "What? You said, Xiaojie is missing?"

I didn't expect her reaction to be so big. It seems that what she said earlier was really just a joke.I nodded heavily, "It's been half a month." Snapped!Luo Xianmei pressed the rice bowl in her hand onto the table, "You young couple are fine, one says that the other is suspicious, and the other says that this one has been missing for half a month, what are you doing?" Hearing this sentence, I almost jumped up, and hurriedly asked: "Sister Mei, you mean, Xiaojie said I was suspicious? When did she tell you?" Luo Xianmei frowned, and said impatiently: "Didn't it be two or three days ago, you told me that she was going to leave for a few days, and you don't cook by yourself, so let me take care of you! Look, I'll ask you to come over today Have you eaten!" "Did you see her two or three days ago?! What else did she tell you?" "It seems to be the day before yesterday. She told me to take care of you, but she didn't say anything else. I said, Why are you so nervous? Did she get into trouble with you and ran away from home?"

"About that, Sister Mei, what time did Xiaojie tell you exactly two or three days ago? Where did she go after she finished talking?" "It was about two or three o'clock in the afternoon. After I finished speaking, I went upstairs and went back." "Did you see her come down?" "I didn't notice that" I said that I haven't seen her for half a month, and I've been looking for her, so I'd like to trouble Sister Mei to think about where she went after the last conversation. Luo Xianmei lowered her head and thought for a while, but still couldn't come up with anything, then she changed her tone and said, "She didn't really run away from home, did she? You young couple, why are you fighting so hard? I'm going to talk about you now, Xiao He, you are really serious, you are mad at such a good girl as Xiao Jie, what have you done? Could it be that there is someone out there?"

I said how is this possible, I am not that kind of person, but something strange happened when she left half a month ago, and strange things have been happening recently, I feel that Xiaojie may have been scared away . "What strange thing? How did she get scared away?" "To tell you the truth, since you didn't let me go upstairs to see it last time, I think this matter really has something to do with upstairs..." boom!There was a sudden slap on the table, and the man beside me who hadn't spoken suddenly stood up, glared at me, his face was terribly gloomy, turned around and walked towards the bedroom.

I froze for a moment, and turned to look at Luo Xianmei, her face also became very ugly, as if my words touched their taboo.But if you think about it, all four members of the upstairs family died, and the house is still haunted. If it is not necessary, no one wants to mention it. But in any case, the reaction of Luo Xianmei's husband seemed a bit too much.I hurriedly apologized to Luo Xianmei, and then pretended not to understand and asked inwardly, "Sister Mei, what's wrong with your lover? Why is he suddenly angry? Did I say something wrong?" The corner of Luo Xianmei's mouth twitched suddenly, but soon her expression recovered, she poked her head over the table, almost close to my face, and said in a very low voice, "I don't know about the matter about the top floor." I can tell you too much. It’s normal for strange things to happen. Just act as if nothing happened. Don’t worry about it and don’t think about it! Besides, I’m not talking sarcasticly. If you are financially capable, I think You'd better find another house..."

What she said was actually very euphemistic, but I understood the meaning. Because of the haunted thing on the top floor, she advised me to move.I said in my heart that it is not a question of whether to move or not, but a question of not being able to find Xinjie. Even if I want to move, I have to wait until I find Xinjie. As for whether there is really a ghost in this world, whether it is upstairs in my house, or how fierce the disturbance is, I don’t want to care about it, but if it is really the ghost that caused Xin Jie’s mysterious disappearance, then it has offended me, and I No matter what method you think of, you will fight it to the end, until you die!

Of course, it is impossible for me to share my thoughts with a woman who is so taboo on the top floor, and seeing the current situation, I don’t need to mention the idea of ​​letting the couple accompany me upstairs, so I responded casually: "Sister Mei, you are right, I will find a way after I find Xin Jie..." Luo Xianmei looked at me sympathetically, sighed, and told me to eat more. After eating, before going out, Luo Xianmei said earnestly: "Xiao He, listen to me, sister Mei, don't bother with the affairs of the top floor, after you find your Xiaojie, find a way to move! Also, In the past few days, if Xiaojie comes to see me again, I will definitely persuade her to stop playing hide and seek with you!"

I nodded approvingly, turned around and wanted to leave, but she grabbed me again, and added in my ear: "I forgot to tell you, the couple who lived in your room before were also young couples, one was crazy, the other disappeared." Her supplementary sentence immediately made me realize that I seemed to have caught some key clues, so I suddenly turned around and asked anxiously: "Sister Mei, is what you said true? That young couple is now where?" "Didn't I tell you, one is missing, the other is crazy, it's been several years, how could I know!" "Then what are their names?"

Luo Xianmei seemed to think for a while, then patted her head, and said apologetically: "Hey, look at my brain, I am getting old, and my memory is getting worse and worse, I really can't remember it." I also wanted to inquire about the situation of the previous couple, but after thinking about it for a while, there was nothing to ask, so I thanked Luo Xianmei, went upstairs and went back to the house, and reorganized all the clues I just got. According to Luo Xianmei, Xin Jie appeared at least three days ago. From this point of view, if her words are true, then Xin Jie didn't disappear mysteriously, but wanted to avoid me on purpose? But I really can't figure it out, how did she manage to stage the disappearance scene in such an extremely bizarre way on the day of the incident?And in the past half a month, I haven't seen her once, even Ling Zhijie and all the people related to her can't find her, but just let me through a neighbor who lives downstairs Knowing she wasn't missing, how on earth did she do it? Let's ignore Guan Xinjie's ability to do it, and simply analyze her motives for doing so, there are too many doubts in it. Based on what I have known about her for more than 30 years, I can tell what she is thinking as soon as she raises her hand with a glance.From the era of playing mud together in crotch pants, to going through all kinds of things later, her trust in me can even be said to have surpassed her own.She will not leave me for no reason, and she will not try to avoid me. In this situation, I would rather believe that she was forced, and there was something forcing her to do that. I suddenly remembered before she disappeared The look in the end was full of reluctance and helplessness, as well as the inexhaustible love from the bottom of her heart... Everything showed that she had no motive for doing this, nor did she have the conditions to do so.Suddenly I recalled a detail that Luo Xianmei said-Xin Jie complained to her that I was suspicious recently. Although I can't completely reproduce the scene when Xin Jie found Luo Xianmei to talk, I found two very contradictory problems from this detail, that is: 1. Xin Jie talked to Luo Xianmei in the form of complaints, and Luo Xianmei didn't seem to have a particularly deep impression on her expression and tone at that time, as if it was a very common and homely complaint, which disappeared with Xin Jie That expression at the time didn't match at all. Second, the content of the complaint is even more contradictory, saying "He Ning is suspicious".This content seems to be saying that she has been living with me, and then she sees me looking for her every day, so she thinks that I am "suspicious" Imagine this state, if this is true, then I am not just paranoid, I am absolutely crazy: I can clearly see a person in my house, but I am still looking for that person ! Thinking of this, I even began to doubt my mental state a little bit, so I rubbed my eyes hard, stood up and walked around the room, looking at the wooden dining table that had been left unattended for so long that even the wooden dining table was moldy and overgrown. Mao's house, I'm sure I'm not crazy, and I can't be selectively blind enough to not see a person who already exists. I thought about these two contradictions carefully, and found that they were still the same, and there was no way to make sense at all, but I always felt that something was wrong, and this wrong place was the source of the contradiction. After thinking about it for a while, I thought about it. If you don't come out, your heart becomes quite impatient. I beat my head hard, and after realizing my current state, I decided to wash my face to sober up. Walking into the bathroom, I suddenly saw another thing on the washstand - a watch. I hurriedly pulled a tissue, carefully wrapped one end of the watch chain, and then picked it up to look at it.This is an old-fashioned watch, not big, with the word "Shanghai" on the dial, and the font on the back is stamped: "Shanghai Watch Factory Waterproof 972". I looked at the watch chain again. It was the kind of domestic watch chain that was common in the 1970s and 1980s. It had a zoom function, but it was relatively narrower. Then I realized that it was a women's watch, because watches in that era were not like Now there are also very obvious male and female characteristics, the only difference is the size of the dial and the degree of fit. So far, there have been three things that have appeared inexplicably: long hair, lipstick, and ladies' watches from the 1970s and 1980s. Under normal circumstances, these three things, plus the ghosts in the room that are always unclear, what do people usually think of?A woman, a woman who does not belong to our time, she has been wandering in this room, making you feel her presence, but you can never find her. So more precisely, she is a female ghost. However, for me, the appearance of these three things made me immediately think of a professional vocabulary-aggressive psychological suggestion, which is commonly known as malicious hypnosis. Of course, the malicious hypnosis I am talking about cannot be as exaggerated as shown in the movie, but in real life, hypnosis is indeed everywhere, and it uses the conditioned reflex of human beings on the psychological level. We all know the knee jerk reaction, which is a conditioned reflex on the physiological level, and the conditioned reflex on the psychological level is similar.To give a very simple example, we usually play: I pretend to hit you in the eye, but I won't hit you in the eye, but you will still close your eyes uncontrollably. This is a self-protection instinct gradually formed by human beings in the process of self-evolution. And the aggressive psychological suggestion I am talking about is to use this instinctive characteristic, through some subtle movements, to constantly provoke your nerves, make your psychological defense collapse, and then walk in the direction the aggressor wants to lead. So, when I saw this old-fashioned women's watch, I was not as nervous as I was when I first saw the lipstick. Instead, I felt a little lucky, because the more this kind of thing appears, the better it is for me, and I can get more from these things. clues about the whole thing. As before, I found a fresh-keeping bag, put the watch away, and put it in the freezer of the refrigerator with the lipstick. When I closed the refrigerator door and turned around, I suddenly thought of a question about the time when Luo Xianmei met Xin Jie. She said that it was around two or three o'clock in the afternoon three days ago, and that day I happened to go to the private clinic I opened to pack my things, and the time I was not at home happened to be from one o'clock to three o'clock in the afternoon.Is this too coincidental?Xin Jie came back when I was not there, but how did she know that I was not there at that time? So, who will know that I am not at home at that time?Luo Xianmei?right!And only she will know.She is a housewife, she is always at home, and she has always lived downstairs from us. So, what I have been unable to figure out before, here is a clear clue, and the source of this clue is that Luo Xianmei is lying. Taking a step back, if the proposition "Luo Xianmei is lying" is true, then some doubts can be easily explained.In order to make the lie seem complete, she made up a time period when I was away so that I could not accurately judge.But she couldn't describe well the specific scene when she met Xin Jie three days ago, so that this lie had a flaw. Also, I thought she was joking with me, "Did Xiaojie go somewhere you can't find?" It seems that she was not joking, but she knew where Xinjie went!So where did Xin Jie end up going? 702!The upstairs room has always been "taboo" by Luo Xianmei and tried her best to prevent me from entering it.Xin Jie couldn't do it by herself, and she had no motivation, but someone forced her and "helped" her to do it - she disappeared on the bay window in a strange way that day, and the person who "helped" her seemed to be Luo Xianmei and the others couple!And their purpose of doing these things is temporarily unknown, maybe they hide their ulterior secrets in Room 702.Maybe it has something to do with real estate. In the era of rising housing prices, some people will do anything for money.At this point in my thinking, I suddenly felt that my brain was overheated, and I became so conspiratorial?Because calm down and think about it, a neighbor who lives downstairs, kindly takes care of you, and invites you to their house for dinner, in my speculation, it will turn out to be such a character with a huge conspiracy. This is too dramatic . But no matter what, until my speculation is confirmed, the suspicion of Luo Xianmei and his wife cannot be ruled out for the time being.I have to ask Ling Zhijie to help with the fingerprint identification of those two things as soon as possible.As for the terrifying black shadow in the evening and the matter in room 702, I still need Ling Zhijie to come and help.Just me, I'm not so stupid as to be like the protagonist of a horror movie, just go where the horror and danger are.Looking at the wall clock, I called Ling Zhijie again at a quarter past ten in the evening, and this time he answered quickly.There was the sound of crashing rain, and Ling Zhijie's slightly anxious and high-pitched voice. "I was just about to call you! You said earlier that you have a clue, what did you find?" Seeing him going straight to the point, I stopped detouring, "Didn't you find a very long hair in our bathroom before? Similar things appeared again!" "What?" "A lipstick, and a Shanghai-branded women's watch from the 1970s and 1980s." Ling Zhijie was obviously taken aback, and then asked, "Where did you find it?" "It's still the bathroom." "Have you touched it?" "I grabbed the lipstick, but the watch didn't move." "Okay, you bring those two things to my office tomorrow." "By the way, are you still outside now? A lot happened in the past few days, I know you are very busy, but why don't you tell me?" "What can I tell you? Look at your distraught look, do you still have time to see if I'm busy? "I sighed, "It was true that I completely sank some time ago, but don't worry, I have almost recovered now, and there are still many things to do in the future, I forgot to tell you, someone said that I met Xin Jie three days ago." "What? ?!" Ling Zhijie was obviously more shocked than I was when he heard this, and asked, "Did someone see you three days ago? Who? Who did you talk to?" "The big sister in 502 downstairs, You should have had a face-to-face photo as well." "Her? I don't have any impression tomorrow! You don't have to come over tomorrow, I will try to spare time to go to your place. That's it for today, I have something to do here, hang up first!" As soon as I said "Don't hang up, there is one more thing", I hung up decisively there.Ling Zhijie has always acted swiftly and resolutely, even on the phone. He never cared whether the other party finished speaking or not. This temper can't be changed, and no one can do anything to him. I had to dial again, but I didn't expect that the other side didn't want to answer at all-shut down the phone.It seems that the matter of the terrifying black shadow can only be left to talk about when he comes over tomorrow. I still have some things to prepare for tonight.