Chapter Forty-Seven: Discussing Ghosts with the Police

The police officer, after a moment of bewilderment, quickly became serious. Perhaps the death of a child made him feel this could be a homicide. I realized this immediately. Chen Qingshan was usually a composed speaker, but the death of Third Grandpa had hit him hard—his concern had clouded his judgment. I hurried forward and said, “Officer, it's not what you think. Could we speak somewhere else? There are too many people here.”

Then I tugged at Chen Qingshan, saying, “Let’s go to the village committee office. Some things shouldn’t be said in front of everyone.”

Chen Qingshan also realized the problem, forcing a smile uglier than a cry. “Let’s go, officer. We’ll talk at the committee.”

The police officer looked at us like we were a pair of fools, but he still gave instructions and followed us to the committee office. Quite a few villagers followed, but Chen Qingshan kept them outside. Once inside, he made tea for the officer, then pointed at me. “Ye Jihuan, our village’s college-educated official. Yezi, you're educated and know how to explain things. Tell the officer what's happened. My head’s a mess right now.”

“Ye Jihuan?” The officer looked at me and grinned. “That’s quite a name—might cause you trouble if you ever go to Hong Kong.”

I smiled, handing him a cigarette. “Officer, may I ask your name?”

“Just call me Xiao Wang. Enough small talk—let’s hear what happened.” He took out a notepad, ready to make a record.

“It’s not easy to explain, Xiao Wang. Do you believe in ghosts?” I asked.

Xiao Wang gave me a puzzled look, then said, “Does this have anything to do with the case? I do often go to temples with my mother.”

“What I’m about to say, you don’t need to write down. It’s just for your reference in solving the case. If anyone else saw this, they’d think our village leaders are all lunatics.” I gave him a helpless smile. After all, talking about ghosts to a police officer was rather strange.

Xiao Wang looked a little exasperated, but he was young and good-natured. He closed his notebook with a smile. “All right, go ahead.”

So I told him everything from the beginning: the death of the fool, Chen Shitou’s midnight autopsy to retrieve the child, and then the fool’s ghost appearing at Han Xue’s window in the dead of night. At first, Xiao Wang listened with a smile, probably thinking I was crazy. But as I continued, his smile faded, and his face turned pale with fright. By the time I finished, we were just staring at each other, both stunned.

“Xiao Wang?” I called his name.

He shuddered, glancing around nervously. “Are you serious? Is all of that true?!”

“The village chief can vouch for me, as can the teachers volunteering here, including this fat man. He’s the Taoist we hired,” I said, pointing at the plump man.

Gradually, Xiao Wang pulled himself together, but his face betrayed his inner conflict about whether to believe me. With a sigh, he said, “No wonder you didn’t want me to write this down. As a public servant, I can’t officially believe you. But personally, I choose to trust what you’ve said. There’s clear cause and effect here—clear motives. Everything we’ve discussed is just between us, but I’ll share it with my colleagues. If it’s a murder, we’ll open a case and investigate. But from what you’ve said, the suspect killed the old man, Chen Wenhai, to get the child. And the main suspect is that female ghost, right?”

“Yes,” I replied. In truth, I thought so too.

“To be honest, officer, I was almost killed by that ghost myself. I saw her with my own eyes—she grabbed my neck and nearly strangled me. But when someone rescued me, I realized I was choking myself. When a ghost kills, it gives you hallucinations. You end up killing yourself. So Third Grandpa’s hanging could very well be a ghost’s doing, even if you find no evidence of foul play. He could have been driven by hallucinations to end his own life,” I explained.

Xiao Wang shuddered and stood up. “If you wrote this as a ghost story, it would be amazing! I can’t listen to any more of this. I’ve been afraid of ghosts since I was little—I can’t even watch horror movies, and I live alone. If I keep listening, I’ll have nightmares for weeks. I’ve heard enough. I’ll be straight with you: if it’s murder, that’s our business. If it’s ghosts, there’s nothing we can do. Once the coroner’s report is back, if there really are no traces of murder, you’d best let your Taoist handle the rest.”

The fact that this officer was willing to listen to all of this was impressive, and his words were fair. I stood up and shook his hand. “Sorry for all the trouble.”

“It’s my duty. But with a name like yours, you really do have guts. If it were me, I’d have run away a long time ago,” Officer Xiao Wang replied with a smile.

— When we returned to the scene, it was clear our conversation with Xiao Wang had made a difference. The police soon entered Han Xue’s dormitory and discovered the Dragon Head Stele in the deep pit inside. Xiao Wang quietly said to me, “Should we keep digging to see if the dead child has been taken?”

The Dragon Head Stele was still there, but a deep pit gaped in the earth. Clearly, someone—or something—had come for the dead child. It made sense to confirm, so I nodded. “Yes, let’s dig and see.”

Chen Qingshan called over a few men with ropes and shovels. They removed the stele, and underneath we discovered a freshly dug, large hole. Xiao Wang gave a wry smile. “Looks like your guess was right.”

We stepped outside. Chen Ergou shot me and the fat Taoist a venomous glare. The fat man, seeing his expression, snapped, “You little punk, looking for a beating? If you glare at me again, I’ll show you what’s what!”

I was also puzzled. Chen Ergou wasn’t even closely related to Third Grandpa—why was he reacting so strongly? His look was one of utter hatred.

Chen Qingshan, now calmer, cleared up my confusion with a single sentence. “He wanted me to approve a house plot for him, but the land he wants is farmland—I couldn’t agree. Third Uncle told me about it. Ergou thought that since Third Uncle spoke for him, it would be settled. Now that Third Uncle’s gone, he’s furious.”

By this time, the police had finished up. Xiao Wang waved us over. “Have Chen Wenhai’s family come to the station for the handover. We’ll be heading out now.”

Third Grandpa had a son working out of town. We’d already notified him, and he was on his way back. I nodded. “Okay. Safe travels.”

Just as Xiao Wang and the others were about to load Third Grandpa’s body into the car, a commotion broke out in the crowd. Someone pointed at the Dragon Head Stele and shouted, “The Dragon Head Stele is showing a sign! It’s a miracle!”

Instantly, a large group of villagers fell to their knees.

I glanced at the stele and was startled. Blood was oozing from the dragon’s eyes—bright red blood.

The uproar immediately drew the attention of the police. Xiao Wang and the others got out of the car and hurried over. “What’s going on now?!” he asked.

“Look,” I pointed at the stele.

Xiao Wang was clearly shaken, but as a police officer, he couldn’t react like the villagers. Besides, the presence of blood suggested there could be another crime. The police quickly surrounded the stele, the coroner already collecting blood samples. Xiao Wang turned to Chen Qingshan. “Village chief, we’ll need to take the stele for investigation.”

Chen Qingshan’s recently regained composure was shattered by this sudden turn. He was visibly stunned, nodding in disbelief.

“You can’t take it! The Dragon Head Stele belongs to the Chen family—no one can take it!” This time, Chen Ergou stood and shouted.

This time, the villagers were united. The miracle of the stele had convinced even the skeptics. They surged forward, surrounding the police.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” I yelled, seeing the villagers nearly come to blows with the officers. In these impoverished and isolated mountains, nothing was impossible.

“This is Chen family business—not yours! You dug the stele out of the feng shui spot, made the dragon’s eyes bleed, and ruined our family’s fortune! We haven’t even settled the score with you!” Chen Ergou shouted.