Free Web Novel"Name?"
"Lu Yibei."
"How old?"
"Al... almost nineteen."
In the interrogation room of the Peony Street Police Station, the expressionless young woman behind the desk, after answering the Officer's questions, couldn't help but have some strange thoughts pop into her mind.
Hasn't this kind of situation been a bit too frequent in the past one or two months?
She had already been to the hospital, the police station, and a mysterious organization. She wondered who would be next...
Bah! What kind of crazy thought is this? This is the last time! Lu Yibei thought.
Why is this kid talking so weirdly? It feels like she's trying to pull some strange stunt. After hearing Lu Yibei's answer, the Officer's face darkened, and he slapped the table.
"Bang!"
"Be serious! Stop messing around with me. If you cooperate and explain the situation properly, we can let you go sooner. Of course, if you want to stay longer, you can continue with that arrogant attitude."
I wish I could mess around, but I really can't!
Lu Yibei grumbled inwardly, straightened up, and said seriously, "Not arrogant, not arrogant. I was just thinking, since we're all like family, police and citizens, a more relaxed attitude makes things easier for everyone, right? Please, continue, please continue."
In that situation, I came out of the attic honestly, wasn't it because I wanted to explain everything properly and go home early? I wonder if I'll still have time to make dinner. Lu Yibei thought.
The Officer, "..." This young woman, she looks quite delicate, but why is she so talkative?
The Officer thought, glared at Lu Yibei, and continued to ask, "Tell me? What were you trying to do when you entered Mr. Wu's frozen food store between approximately 3:15 PM and 3:45 PM?"
"I..."
...
Half an hour ago, 96 Cai Market, frozen food store, inside the attic.
When Lu Yibei began chasing the ugly, bizarre-looking calico cat, she realized how difficult it was for a human to catch a cat deliberately trying to evade them without using tools.
Even with her current body, whose strength and speed surpassed that of a normal human, while chasing that calico cat, there were only two or three times when her fingertips barely touched its body.
When she found a moment to shoot with the Poker Pistol, the calico cat easily dodged it.
Upon sensing someone entering the shop downstairs, Lu Yibei originally intended to stop chasing the calico cat, hide in the attic, see what was happening, or wait for those people to leave before continuing.
However, that cat was maliciously clever. As soon as she stopped, it started scratching its claws on the floor, making grating sounds that set teeth on edge, as if deliberately trying to attract the attention of the people downstairs.
Then I'll just have to finish this quickly! Lu Yibei thought, taking large strides forward and charging towards that strange calico cat.
...
"Meow—!"
After dodging Lu Yibei once again, the calico cat leaped up and landed steadily on the ice coffin, letting out a soft meow. Its clear eyes looked at Lu Yibei meaningfully, with a hint of provocation, as if saying, "Smelly Girl, you're no good!"
Lu Yibei, "..." Did I ♦ just get mocked by a cat?
Damn it! This cat is definitely problematic. If I don't catch you and take you to the Night Watch today, I'm not a man!
This is what you chose! A perfectly good cat, instead of developing assassin talents, you put points into the taunt skill?
Lu Yibei thought, her gaze sharpening. She pushed off with her feet, and with a forward leap, covered a distance of three or four meters, closing in on the ice coffin.
Just as Lu Yibei was about to reach out and grab the calico cat, she saw a hint of mischief flash in its eyes.
The next moment, its figure flickered with astonishing speed and vanished from Lu Yibei's sight, as if its body had instantly evaporated.
When the calico cat reappeared, it was already in the gap between the ice coffin and the wall, its front paws braced against the wall, its hind paws on the side of the ice coffin. It arched its body slightly and then pushed with sudden force...
Lu Yibei wasn't sure how strong a cat was, but she felt that an ordinary cat shouldn't be able to easily push over an ice coffin weighing hundreds of pounds.
When the ice coffin tilted towards her, she was momentarily stunned and instinctively jumped back a distance.
"Dong—!"
The ice coffin crashed onto the attic floor with a muffled thud. It was this thud that immediately attracted the attention of the vendor and the patrol Officer in the shop downstairs.
"Who's there? Get out, get out!"
Hearing the patrol Officer shouting downstairs, Lu Yibei remained silent, turning her head to look at that damned cat. The sight that met her eyes, however, made her freeze.
She saw that the calico cat's mouth was curved up to its ears, forming an exaggerated arc, revealing stark white, sharp teeth.
It was smiling, silently letting out a crazy and contemptuous sneer. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
It retreated little by little, letting the dark shadow swallow its small body. Without any wind, the mottled fur on its body moved on its own, growing rapidly, giving rise to chaotic shadows, like tiny hands struggling and waving in pain.
An ominous aura spread, like a swarm of ants crawling over Lu Yibei's body, and her eyes began to burn intensely.
As the calico cat retreated little by little into the darkest corner of the attic, a series of eerie and twisted shadows suddenly appeared behind it.
From their outlines, they were all cats with physical disabilities: some missing an ear, some missing a leg, some even only half a body.
These shadows were piled together as if merged into one, or perhaps they were the phantom of a graveyard specifically for cats, projected into this not-so-large attic space.
Pairs of glowing cat eyes opened in the extremely deep darkness, looking at Lu Yibei with malice, indifference, or curiosity.
Lu Yibei seemed to be affected by the complex negative energy contained within those pairs of cat eyes. Her ears were buzzing, filled with nothing but mournful screams.
The ominous shadow fell like a cloak, enveloping the calico cat. It melted into the darkness and vanished.
Then.
The bizarre scene before her eyes dissipated, the maddening cat calls in her ears faded away, and Lu Yibei stood in the empty attic, hearing the patrol Officer's urging from downstairs.
"Did you hear me? Come out immediately and surrender, otherwise I will..."
...
"..."
"Uncle Police, that's how it happened. I was really chasing a stray cat into that store. As for why I was in the attic, it was completely because that stray cat ran up there first, and I climbed up out of curiosity to take a look," Lu Yibei said.
"As for why there was a funeral altar in that store and an ice coffin in the attic, I really don't know! Honestly, I was terrified at the time. I was originally going to call the police, but before I could, that patrol Officer arrived."
"Oh, right, I even acted bravely recently. You can check it out if you don't believe me! I'm definitely a warm-hearted good citizen, how could I possibly do something sneaky like theft?"
After listening to Lu Yibei's statement, the Officer in charge of questioning her fell silent, his gaze scanning back and forth across her face.
"..."
She didn't seem to be lying, and her attitude was very sincere. It looked like there really wasn't any problem?
After pondering for a few seconds, the Officer got up and said to Lu Yibei, "Wait here for a moment." Then he left the interrogation room.
...
That Officer turned left out of the door and went to the police station's household registration office. He found his colleague in charge of household registration management, checked Lu Yibei's information, and quickly returned to the interrogation room.
It must be said that Jiang Li did a very reliable job of forging Lu Yibei's information. Not only were the documents she provided real, but she also had someone add a dramatic, significant entry to her household registration file.
Returning to the interrogation room, the Officer's attitude towards Lu Yibei was noticeably much softer, and a slight smile appeared on his face. "Young woman, you're quite something! Eighteen stab wounds, tsk tsk! You're really tenacious."
"Y-yeah? I think so too. But, surviving a great disaster means there will be good fortune later," Lu Yibei responded somewhat awkwardly.
The Officer nodded noncommittally upon hearing this, and sighed lightly, "Alright, you can wait in the temporary detention room for now. Once we contact your family and they come to pick you up, you can leave."
There was no evidence to suggest that Lu Yibei had snuck into the frozen food store, which had been closed for a long time, with the intention of stealing. Based on the current situation, it was at most disturbing public order.
As for why she didn't run after seeing the strange scene in the frozen food store, that was also easy to explain. Perhaps it was simply because she was genuinely brave.
A young woman who was stabbed eighteen times while acting bravely, how could she not be brave?
"Wait a minute, Uncle Police!"
"What is it? Is there anything else?" The Officer turned to look at Lu Yibei.
"Um..." Lu Yibei hesitated for a moment and said, "There's no one else in my family, so..."
The Officer was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. He had indeed seen in Lu Yibei's file at the household registration office that both her parents were listed as "deceased", but he hadn't expected that she didn't even have any other relatives.
"Then you don't have anyone else, uh, I mean someone relatively close you can contact? According to regulations, if you want to leave, someone must come to pick you up. Otherwise, you can only leave after twenty-four hours."
"This..." Lu Yibei's mind raced for a moment, and the people she could contact flashed through her mind one by one.
Ju Meng was definitely not an option. Professor Ma was recovering and shouldn't be disturbed. As for Shui Ge...
She hadn't heard anything from him recently and didn't know «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» where he had gone off to mess around. Perhaps he had gone on a business trip with some rich older woman again? He had done this kind of thing before.
It looks like I can only find Jiang Li.
"There's someone, uh, I guess she's my Leader? Can the Leader come?" Lu Yibei said.
If Jiang Li comes to pick her up, there shouldn't be any problem, right? She could also take the opportunity to tell her about what she saw in the frozen food store. Lu Yibei thought.
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Ten minutes later, Huacheng Folk Culture Research Administration, Office V.
Jiang Li was sitting at her desk, not playing mahjong, but seriously reviewing the case files of over twenty urban legend incidents resolved by Office V in the past month. The phone on her desk suddenly rang.
She furrowed her brows slightly and answered the phone, "Hello, this is the Huacheng Folk Culture Research Administration."
"He was arrested by you? Why?"
"Trespassing... chasing a cat?" Jiang Li's mouth twitched uncontrollably. After a few seconds of contemplation, she said calmly, "I understand. I'll be there later."
