Chapter 40

Chapter 40 3. panic room-14

The factory building facing the courtyard gate used a courtyard-surrounding architectural layout.

Entering through the main gate led to a corridor. About five meters ahead, passing through a glass security door, was the main area for fabric dyeing, with a corridor on either side leading to the second floor.

Qi Shanyu led Liu Yi through the glass door, turning on his phone’s flashlight to illuminate the interior.

The factory space was large, rectangular, estimated at over a thousand square meters. For production safety and loading purposes, the ceiling was four stories high, supported by symmetrical cross-shaped beams. Large machines had been moved out, leaving only broken furniture like table frames, desks, and office chairs.

Except for the wall facing the main gate, all other walls had windows. But the interior was so vast that areas untouched by sunlight remained dark, where objects could barely be discerned without light. The factory’s power had long been cut off, so they relied on phone flashlights for illumination.

The second, third, and fourth floors had corridors running around the factory’s upper space, with glass walls embedded in the railings, allowing a view of most of the factory floor—originally designed for management to oversee production.

“What’s on the fourth and fifth floors?”

Liu Yi also turned on his phone light, scanning around as he asked.

“Fifth floor has three warehouses, sixth floor is offices and meeting rooms. There are two elevators at the back, one big and one small, but both are out of power. The big one even had its cabin removed.”

Qi Shanyu answered quickly. Although he had only walked through once, he remembered the building layout very clearly.

Liu Yi thought for a moment and asked, “Does this factory have a basement?”

“No, I’ve seen the floor plan from the agent. Only these two buildings.”

Qi Shanyu replied confidently, “Their parking lot is in the back yard. The nine-story red-brick building behind is the employee dormitory. Each floor has eight rooms, plus a public toilet and washroom. Our people checked every room—there’s still lots of leftover furniture and miscellaneous items, but clearly no one could be hiding there.”

Liu Yi nodded, walked around the first floor, then, still unconvinced, climbed the stairs to circle the second, third, and fourth-floor corridors, roughly inspecting each room, finally checking the fifth-floor warehouses and sixth-floor offices. He had to admit: even if the few kidnappers had once hidden here, they had certainly left. And his only clue pointing here—the rash on the deceased Chang Yuxing’s feet—wasn’t enough.

“Do you want to check the dormitory building behind?”

Qi Shanyu accompanied Liu Yi out the main door, pointing to the nine-story building behind.

Liu Yi shook his head and walked toward the iron gate.

Although the factory had been idle for over a year, because Nancheng Dyeing had entrusted the property to a real estate agent for resale, intermediaries came in and out from time to time. With leftover clutter from the move, plus a police sweep the night before, the factory was a mess in the morning light. Collecting evidence from footprints or fingerprints would be difficult and time-consuming, and the factory’s size made it impossible for him to handle alone.

Yet, despite knowing it might be meaningless to linger, last night’s dream had left a deep impression. A vague, inexplicable “sixth sense” kept telling him that some corner of this factory had been overlooked…

“Ah, you finally came out.”

The auxiliary officer standing dutifully at the gate peeked toward the factory. Seeing them, he visibly relaxed.

Though he didn’t understand why they needed to look again at the empty factory, sending them off early was always a relief.

“Yes, we’re leaving now.”

Qi Shanyu said, mounting his motorcycle and gesturing to Liu Yi to ride behind him.

But Liu Yi didn’t move. He turned his face left, staring in a fixed direction.

Following Liu Yi’s gaze, Qi Shanyu saw a small vegetable stall across the street. The vendor was a middle-aged woman dressed as a villager, with a preschool-aged daughter, both staring at them.

Liu Yi patted Qi Shanyu’s shoulder. “Wait for me a moment.”

He crossed the street, heading straight for the vegetable stall. Qi Shanyu dismounted and followed in a few steps.

“Hello, ma’am.”

Liu Yi squatted at the stall, smiling warmly at the mother and daughter.

“I noticed you and your daughter were looking that way…”

He pointed to the white wall of the old Nancheng Dyeing factory. “Is there a problem with that factory?”

The middle-aged woman first looked curious, then instinctively glanced at her daughter before fixing her gaze on Liu Yi for two seconds, then drifting to Qi Shanyu. She hesitated, then asked: “Are you… police?”

“Yes.”

Liu Yi replied ambiguously, unconcerned: “We’re from the police.”

“Oh…”

The woman didn’t fully grasp his words, nervously twisting her dirty, wet plastic apron, repeatedly checking the police emblem on the motorcycle.

“That factory…”

She carefully pointed toward the factory. “It’s been empty for a while… did something happen?”

Liu Yi smiled gently. “Why do you think that?”

“Ah…”

The woman covered her mouth, startled, then glanced around. Seeing no passerby paying attention, she leaned closer to Liu Yi, lowering her voice: “I know you can’t tell me… did someone get killed?”

The words “killed” were whispered lightly, but both Qi Shanyu and Liu Yi’s expressions changed immediately.

“Ma’am, what do you mean?”

Liu Yi restrained his smile, eyes narrowing, and asked slowly: “Why do you think someone was killed in there?”

“Well… ah… how do I say it…”

Like most ordinary people, she had a natural respect for the police.

Though one of them was tall and handsome but young, the other model-like, neither looked like a typical police officer. Yet seeing him switch from smiling to serious made her nervous.

“It wasn’t me…”

She patted her daughter hiding behind her, “It was my daughter who said the place is haunted…”

“Haunted?”

Liu Yi repeated the word, looking at the little girl with the mushroom haircut.

The girl shrank closer to her mother’s round arm, only her large eyes peeking out, timidly looking at the two attractive strangers.

“Ah, my mouth is clumsy! I’m all mixed up!”

The vendor pointed to herself. “We live in the neighboring village, just behind this industrial area. You know it?”

Seeing Qi Shanyu and Liu Yi nod, she continued: “I usually sell some vegetables here every morning, been doing this for almost three years, so I’m familiar with the factory.”

She tugged at her apron.

“From my home I can see the factory buildings. Since it emptied, nights have been pitch dark… but… but…”

She hesitated, struggling for words. “Just the night before last, my daughter came crying at midnight. She said she saw a ghost in the factory from the window… I didn’t believe her at first, thinking she was just a child… but…”

She swallowed hard, pointing at the factory. “Seeing you now, I think something really happened inside… and if someone can see a ghost, it’s probably a dead person, right?”

Qi Shanyu and Liu Yi exchanged a glance, both perplexed.

“Little one.”

Liu Yi extended his hand, gently holding the girl’s small hand, softening his voice. “Can you tell uncle how you knew it was a ghost that night?”

He emphasized “ghost,” and the girl visibly shrank, showing fear.

“I just knew… it… it was a ghost…”

The girl hesitated, until her large eyes filled with mist, and in a tiny, mosquito-like voice, she finally managed to say a very strange sentence:

“Because… he… was hanging upside down…”