Being Targeted by a Female Ghost [Criminal Investigation] - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Hanging Upside Down from the Ceiling…

Qiu Chi walked quickly, never looking back. She navigated through a series of twists and turns until she found a secluded alleyway and finally came to a halt.

She had already turned off Zhang Zhuo’s phone on the way. The police wouldn’t be able to find her location for the time being. Now, she could slowly process what had just happened.

She opened her palm. The black line had vanished.

This was the first time that after using her ability, absolutely nothing was left behind.

That’s right, she thought with a smile, human skin can be the canvas too. Why hadn’t she thought of that before?

Without hesitation, she used the pen to draw another mark, this time on the back of her hand. In the blink of an eye, she was at the mouth of the alley. The ink left by the ballpoint pen was gone again; the black line seemed to have been absorbed by her body, disappearing completely.

She tried again, this time drawing on her arm. She blinked, looked around, and realized she was back in Zhang Zhuo’s living room.

Zhang Zhuo wasn’t there. Qiu Chi guessed the detective was out searching for her.

Excellent.

A smile curled her lips. It was now clear that the ability had nothing to do with what she drew—whether it was a black line or a circle, she could successfully reach her destination. She was certain that the trigger for the ability was directly linked to using the pen.

She sat on the sofa, pulled the ink refill out of the ballpoint pen, and used the empty shell to draw a line on her fingertip.

Nothing. No change. No success.

She picked up the refill, pulled out a piece of paper, and wrote: Ink.

Then, she blackened her finger with ink, drew a mark on her other hand, and looked around. Still no change. The ink didn’t even disappear.

She nodded in understanding, crossed out the word “Ink,” and wrote next to it: A pen with ink.

For the next while, she drew various patterns and teleported all over Zhang Zhuo’s house. After her experimentation, she leaned over the table to write down her final conclusions. As she finished, the pen tip hovered in the air, hesitant to make the final mark. After a moment of thought, she added one last line at the bottom.

This last point was a conclusion she had reached by reflecting on her recent experiences.

• September 20: First trigger. Traveled to the scene of the third victim.

• September 25: Second trigger. Traveled to the scene of the fourth victim.

• October 8: Third trigger. Fifth case.

• October 17: Fourth trigger. Sixth case. On the same day, she also teleported to Zhang Zhuo’s house.

Assuming the police were telling the truth and she had appeared at the scenes of the first two cases, it meant she had this ability before the car accident and her subsequent amnesia. This would explain why she frequently appeared at crime scenes.

She had known who the next victim would be before she lost her memory.

Qiu Chi tapped the pen tip and drew a circle around the word “Known.”

Therefore, the “pre-amnesia” her very likely knew who the killer was.

Wait.

Qiu Chi put the pen down and looked around. If she knew the killer and the next victim, why did she know where Zhang Zhuo lived? Based on her observations over the last two days, Zhang Zhuo clearly despised her. If Captain Gu hadn’t arrived in time, Qiu Chi might not be sitting here piecing together clues right now.

She picked up the pen and wrote a fourth line.

The doctor had said her amnesia might be psychologically induced. From what was happening, her memories hadn’t vanished; they were merely hidden. Although she couldn’t remember the past, her subconscious was triggering her ability.

In other words: her mind didn’t remember, but her body did. It remembered where she needed to go and what she needed to do, which was why she kept being sent to crime scenes. Before the accident, she was likely trying to stop the killer. Unfortunately, she had been too late every time.

Six people, six cases. Would there be a seventh?

No matter how she looked at it, she had to catch the killer. That might be the key to unlocking her memory. And that hit-and-run driver—she needed to find them and ask exactly what happened that night.

On the other side of town, Zhang Zhuo hung up the phone and started her car, heading toward the hospital. Qiu Chi’s appearance was no accident; she knew that better than anyone. But with the phone off and the GPS signal gone, she couldn’t find her location immediately. Besides, she had more important things to do.

By mid-afternoon, the hospital crowds had thinned out. Zhang Zhuo parked, contacted the colleagues on guard duty, and found the room number.

The nurse was on an IV drip. She jumped when Zhang Zhuo entered, immediately asking who she was. Zhang Zhuo gave her name and sat by the bed, but the nurse continued to stare with wide eyes.

Seeing the nurse’s shock, Zhang Zhuo realized the reason and explained: “The woman you saw wasn’t a cop. You were tricked. Tell me what you talked about, and why she called an ambulance for you.”

The nurse didn’t answer immediately, instead peeking toward the door. Knowing she was still suspicious, Zhang Zhuo called in the officer waiting outside the ward to verify her identity. Only then did the nurse relax and recount everything.

“Have you seen her before?” Zhang Zhuo asked.

The nurse shook her head, then nodded. “I haven’t seen her, but I’ve seen that dress.”

Zhang Zhuo remained expressionless. “Think carefully. Are you sure she was wearing the exact same thing as the killer?”

The nurse pondered for a moment. “It seemed a bit different. Oh, right! Their dresses were the same color, but her hem was shorter, and the fabric seemed different.”

Zhang Zhuo: “So, they aren’t the same person?”

The nurse shook her head. “No.”

Zhang Zhuo hummed. “And was she right? Did the killer really come looking for you after the crime?”

The nurse lowered her head. “I don’t know.”

Zhang Zhuo had asked about her condition before entering. The nurse’s mental state was fragile; chronic sleep deprivation, malnutrition, and symptoms of hallucinations. Her saying “I don’t know” wasn’t surprising.

Zhang Zhuo said patiently, “Your testimony is vital to us. Think again.”

“I’m not joking, I really don’t know,” the nurse said, staring intently. After a pause, she added, “Ever since that man died, I’ve had nightmares every night. I’ve seen it many times in my dreams.”

“Seen what many times?”

“That female ghost.”

Zhang Zhuo tested the waters: “So you haven’t actually seen her? You just dreamed of her?”

The nurse repeated, “I don’t know.” She began picking at a hangnail on her hand. A small bead of blood emerged, swelling until it broke, trailing down into the crevice of her fingernail.

Suddenly, a tissue was offered, gently covering the bleeding spot. The nurse snapped out of it to see Zhang Zhuo wrapping the small wound and stuffing two more tissues into her fingers.

“Crumpling paper is actually quite therapeutic,” Zhang Zhuo said, tearing a small piece of tissue and rolling it into a tiny ball. “You can try it.”

The nurse blinked and mimicked her, rolling a tiny paper ball. Zhang Zhuo waited patiently.

By the fifth ball, the nurse looked up. “Maybe it’s because I’ve had so many nightmares lately. Sometimes I can’t distinguish between the dreams and reality.”

Zhang Zhuo nodded. “I understand. Most witnesses feel this way. It’s normal to be afraid.”

“Normal?” The nurse shook her head. “No, this isn’t normal.”

Zhang Zhuo remained silent, letting her continue.

“I’m a medical student. I’m not afraid of corpses. That body didn’t even have blood; it wasn’t as scary as the dead animals I’ve seen. The reason I have nightmares is that every midnight, I hear footsteps. That sound… it makes my skin crawl. I can’t sleep at all. And even if I do, the ‘Red-Dressed Ghost’ is all over my dreams.”

“Footsteps?” Zhang Zhuo asked. “What kind of footsteps?”

“Very light, very dragging. They only appear when it gets quiet,” the nurse said. “Sometimes she’s in the living room, sometimes in my bedroom, even…”

Zhang Zhuo listened intently as the nurse whispered, “Even on the ceiling.”

“Officer Zhang, have you ever seen a woman walking upside down on the ceiling?” the nurse asked.

Zhang Zhuo swallowed hard and shook her head. “No.”

“I have,” the nurse said, slowly tilting her head back to look at the ceiling. Her eyes were fixed, her entire posture stiff and vacant. “She’s right there…”

Zhang Zhuo followed her gaze upward but saw nothing but the plain white ceiling.

“Staring at me all night long.”

Zhang Zhuo felt goosebumps rising. She cleared her throat and asked, “Then why didn’t you call the police?”

The nurse snapped her head back to glare at her. “Call the police? If calling the police worked, why haven’t you caught the killer yet?”

Zhang Zhuo was speechless.

The nurse looked exhausted. She suddenly turned over and flattened her pillow to lie down. “I’ve told you everything I can. Please leave. Don’t ask any more.”

Zhang Zhuo stood up but didn’t leave immediately. She brought over a cup of warm water, moistened it, and helped the nurse peel away the tissue that had stuck to her finger.

“What are you doing?!” The nurse jumped, pulling her hand back into the covers.

Zhang Zhuo threw the bloodied tissue in the trash, then unhooked a nail clipper from her keychain and placed it on the bedside table. She looked at the nurse and said softly, “The officer outside will protect you. Don’t worry, the killer won’t come for you again.”

The nurse kept her back to her and didn’t answer. Zhang Zhuo added, “If you still trust us, tell her if you remember anything else.”

Zhang Zhuo left the hospital and called Gu Xiao from her car to report her findings. There was a long silence on the other end of the line.

When Zhang Zhuo didn’t hear a response for a long time, she said, “I’m hanging up,” and moved to end the call.

Gu Xiao finally spoke: “The cyber-unit just found new evidence.”

“What kind of evidence?”

Gu Xiao: “Dashcam footage from outside the witness’s building. I’ve sent it to you. Look for yourself.”

Zhang Zhuo hung up and opened the video. In the distance, standing behind a tree, was a woman in a red dress, looking up at the apartment floor.

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