Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Water West Gate V

The contractor who arrived was named Zhou Dafu.

He kept pulling out his handkerchief to wipe his sweat, his expression a mix of terror and resignation. The scorching sun made his bald head shine brightly.

Ming Yue weighed the bag of bones in her hand and whispered to her two roommates:

"I think I've seen this person before."

"When my family’s old house was being repaired a few years ago because of a leak, I think Uncle Zhou contacted the construction team we were considering—he was the contact for each team. I’ve seen him before."

Who is Uncle Zhou?

Your family isn’t that poor, right? How could the house be in such a state that it "leaks"?

The two roommates raised eyebrows, but the questions they asked were completely different:

Bai Linlang: "The subway is a government project, why would your family need to hire a team like this just to repair a house?"

An Xueru: "So, in the end, was it not his team that repaired your house?"

Ming Yue made a “secret” hand gesture at An Xueru: "My family’s house is quite particular and not easy to repair."

"If it’s not maintained properly, those house-guarding spirits might make a mess."

"We definitely didn’t choose this team."

"Uncle Zhou—he's my family’s housekeeper. He checked the man’s resume before."

"His team used to do rough work like building houses and laying land, and their methods of making offerings to ghosts during house renovations aren’t exactly well-known. We were afraid they’d bring trouble to my family, so we didn’t pick them."

Roommates: "....."

Bai Linlang slapped her chest and took a deep breath: "Enough, enough, I really can't listen to this anymore."

"Someone with years of experience handling major land projects, working on subway construction, and you're saying your family thought it was ‘too rough’?"

"Ming Yue, where do you live? The Jade Emperor’s Heavenly Palace?"

"Do you want to go to heaven?"

Ming Yue scratched her head and laughed: "Don’t be like that, Room Leader."

"Next time there's a holiday, I can invite you guys to come visit my house."The three of them were exchanging banter when Ming Yue stepped forward and interrupted Zhao’s brief questioning of the contractor.

"!"

Zhao instinctively tried to close his notebook, but then he realized this wasn’t the usual curious girl, but a genuine professional. "What’s going on?"

Ming Yue, recalling how forensic doctors spoke in police dramas, replied in a firm, businesslike tone: "Report, Captain Zhao. A female human corpse’s skeletal remains were found in the first riverbed to the left under the old bridge on the west side."

She then carefully revealed the pelvis from the evidence bag.

The bones were cleaned by the river water, and as they caught the sunlight, they gleamed with a chilling white light.

Zhao paused, stunned.

Zhou Dafu, standing nearby, screamed upon seeing this and almost fainted.

Ming Yue quickly assessed him: "Uncle, are you very nervous?"

Zhou Dafu closed his eyes and frantically drew some prayer symbols over his chest—neither resembling the cross nor the Amitabha Buddha—just a chaotic mess: "Sin, sin!"

Zhao's expression turned serious, and he immediately waved for the forensic team to come and collect the evidence.

The young forensic doctor, wearing a mask, expertly handled the bones and even found time to smile at Ming Yue: "You guys are pretty good."

"You didn’t just throw the pelvis in a regular plastic bag."

"Quite professional."

Ming Yue raised her hand to respond: "Before we came to Water West Gate at noon, we specifically went to the medical school’s forensic department to ask our senior where to get this!"

"Food safety grade quality, guaranteed not to damage the evidence."

"I originally thought... there’d be some blood or hair or something, but didn’t expect..." Ming Yue's gaze lingered on the rather large pelvis.

Food safety grade.

The young forensic doctor couldn’t help but laugh.

Well, now this was an issue.

The bones from the riverbed meant that the double homicide at Water West Gate was at least turning into a triple homicide. Whether to combine them into one case would have to be decided later.Now, Ming Yue and the other two were the first witnesses in the riverbed skeleton case, so a round of questioning was inevitable.

The three of them answered every question.

Captain Zhao was taking notes.

He knew well that these students had clean backgrounds and were definitely not related to the woman who had tragically died in the river.

However, the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

So, the three students, along with Zhou Dafu, were taken to the police station.

The three students from the Institute of Spiritual Sciences were all reasonable and understanding kids, well aware of the police's difficulties and the legitimacy of the procedures. After all, they had been involved in the case and were more than happy to follow along to the police station and listen to Zhou Dafu's interrogation.

At the riverbank, several officers set up black warning tape and arranged for personnel to stay behind.

Ming Yue had one foot on the police car but hesitated for a moment before stepping back. She called out to Captain Zhao, who was still directing the scene protection.

"Uncle, can I talk to you about something?"

Captain Zhao had a good impression of this bold, honest girl. "Sure, go ahead."

"Anything is fine, but this trip to the police station is a must."

Ming Yue quickly shook her head. "No, no, we'll definitely go."

"It's just that when I went into the river earlier..." Ming Yue hesitated, trying to make her reckless behavior sound a bit more artistic. "...I wanted to explore the riverbed a bit."

"These are small tributaries of a big river, not very deep, but the feeling of walking on the riverbed was quite strange."

"It's not like the smooth feel of pebbles." Stones that have been washed in flowing water for a long time become smooth and rounded.

But in the five minutes Ming Yue spent in the river, her feet didn’t feel smooth at all.

Of course, it was also possible that someone had recently violated the rules and dumped industrial solid waste into the river, so those debris hadn't been smoothed out yet.

Captain Zhao looked up at her. "What are you trying to imply?"

"Is it the layer of human bones at the riverbed?"

Ming Yue: "It's just a bold thought.""Maybe it's just a brick. The Xixi Gate station is still under construction, so having brick fairies is normal."

"...??!!"

Captain Zhao laughed. "What brick fairies..."

"Alright, I got your information."

"I guarantee I'll arrange for someone to inspect the riverbed. Is that okay?"

Xixi Gate Police Station.

To everyone's surprise, Zhou Dafu, upon entering the dark and cramped interrogation room at the police station, relaxed like he was back in his mother's womb. His expression softened, and he started blabbering the truth, his words bursting out like firecrackers—crackling and popping.

The three students sat obediently to the side, exchanging glances.

It turns out, all those police dramas were lying.

This is quite the honest citizen.

Zhou Dafu's life was just as An Xueru had assessed it earlier—he had the appearance of modest wealth, but no murderous karma.

He was a timid yet quick-witted person.

He had been in business for many years, a bit slippery, but not inherently bad.

With a low education level in his early years, he muddled through life for over a decade. It wasn’t until he was discovered by a big industry leader that he jumped into the real estate wave that was sweeping through China.

Zhou Dafu wasn't greedy. While others in the industry fought for land to develop, he had no interest. He was content with his small fortune, just doing his job as a contractor—building houses and managing construction sites, enough to ensure three generations of his family wouldn't have to worry about food or drink.

It turned out, Zhou Dafu had made the right bet.

In the past decade, real estate in China had grown into a towering industry.

He honed his skills and management, becoming a well-known contractor in the surrounding cities.

As the real estate market slowed down, he pivoted, becoming a semi-government-connected businessman.

Now, regarding the Xijiang Metro Station expansion, about one-tenth of the stations were being handled by Zhou Dafu's team.This was a legitimate and lucrative job.

But the ill-fitting red-cap businessman hat made Zhou Dafu feel both tough and guilty.

Having worked in construction for many years, he was already quite experienced and wasn’t afraid of any kind of engineering challenges.

The construction industry often dealt with land and mountain spirits, and Zhou Dafu understood the importance of respecting gods and performing sacrifices with three animals and six livestock.

However, government projects were definitely not easy to handle.

There was plenty of money, but also plenty of trouble, and everything had to be strictly in accordance with regulations.

For example, the customary incense-burning ritual during the opening of a project had been forcefully stopped this time. The official document stated that it was not in compliance with the rules, and the request was rejected.

This really made Master Zhou feel a bit uneasy.

More than six months ago, before the construction even began, Zhou Dafu had visited all the stations under his charge and asked around.

The same went for Xixi Gate.

People said strange things had been happening around Xixi Gate, and Zhou Dafu kept that in mind.

He wasn’t afraid of old city walls. Given enough time, he could definitely calm the ancient souls there.

He didn’t mind the dark rivers and drainage systems either, as he was skilled at handling environmental regulations.

As long as there weren’t particularly bizarre supernatural occurrences, he was confident he could handle everything.

But the area around Xixi Gate really did feel strange—an eerie, abnormal kind of strangeness.

Behind it, there was a residential area called Yuehai Yuting, where domestic violence had been reported repeatedly. Yet, the newlywed brides still flowed into the place like water, with people going in but never coming out.

Zhou Dafu: ...???

Strange, isn’t this supposed to be a social issue?

Digging deeper, the strange area was commonly called the “Domestic Violence Village” by many locals.

In the past two years, its bad reputation had only grown, and odd events kept happening.

Every now and then, people would claim to hear blood-curdling screams from the neighborhood late at night.A few months later, people started saying that the number of residents in the community was decreasing year by year.

Zhou Dafu found it strange.

He had a happy marriage and couldn’t quite understand how the issue of “Domestic Violence Village” came about—

Marriage between a man and a woman is a combination of material and emotional bonds. If it doesn't work out, they can just separate; why hurt each other? What kind of man would be so shameless?

What was even more bizarre was that in a place with such a bad reputation, why were there still so many beautiful young women marrying into it?

Finally, the term "decreasing number of residents in the community"—was it an exaggerated expression or just a statement of fact?

Zhou Dafu thought about getting to the bottom of things. If not, he wouldn’t sleep soundly at night, and what if his men got caught in it?

But time wasn’t waiting for him. While the unprofessional Taoist priest he hired was still fooling around with money, the Ministry of Transport had already ordered the project to begin.

Now this was a problem. The project team for the entire province had started working in full swing.

Zhou Dafu didn’t have full control over the Jinling subway project. If he couldn’t handle Xixi Gate, other areas would be starting construction, and he couldn’t afford to delay.

So, he had no choice but to organize manpower and begin work.

However, the fraud-prone Taoist priest he had hired suddenly opened his tired eyes before leaving and warned Zhou Dafu, saying that if he didn’t handle the disaster properly and was rushing to make money, there would definitely be a bloodshed disaster.

Zhou Dafu was also feeling guilty.

But there was nothing he could do—the situation was stronger than him.

To be on the safe side, Zhou Dafu prepared various accident insurances for each of the workers at Xixi Gate, provided them with quality safety equipment, and made sure that they didn’t overwork—everything was even more punctual than a white-collar worker clocking out.

In the first month, the underground work was smooth, and everything went on without issue. Zhou Dafu let out a sigh of relief.

In the second month, they dug up a sinkhole, and occasionally, one could see the remnants of plant roots that old farmers hadn’t fully cleared. The white bones in the mud shimmered under the flashlight’s beam, and everyone present was solemn.

At that moment, Zhou Dafu, who had come down to check the situation, stumbled and fell face-first into the dark earth.

Xixi Gate wasn’t working—it really needed to be taken care of.

Zhou Dafu dialed 110, his back drenched in cold sweat.

The police arrived quickly, took away the female remains, and Zhou Dafu stayed up all night to prepare a report and application, hoping that the location of the Xixi Gate station could be moved to a less sinister spot.As a result, the notice from the Ministry of Transport finally arrived—an underground station was to be changed to an above-ground one.

“……”

Zhou Dafu was so shocked that he nearly wet himself.

The underground souls cannot rest, and you still dare to dig on their heads?

Aren’t you afraid of the corpses and disasters?!

Who gave you the courage?!

But no matter how much Zhou Dafu cursed, it couldn’t stop the giant urban machine that had already started rolling.

Across the country, it was the same. Major cities, both tier-one and tier-two, were like massive ancient beasts, swallowing history and old customs, shaping new civilizations in steel and concrete.

All the remains and old cases couldn’t compare to the benefits and welfare that the living people in the city could enjoy.

Last month, two of his brothers had an accident.

A perfectly good construction roof suddenly collapsed halfway, and the two brothers were crushed under it.

They died instantly, which wasn’t painful.

When they were dragged out, it was discovered that the safety helmets and protective clothing, which were previously fastened securely, had somehow become loose. After checking the surveillance footage, no one had approached these two victims in the past two hours.

... Surely, these two brothers didn’t help each other take off their safety gear, right?

Zhou Dafu didn’t dare to report the incident.

The last time they found the female remains, that incident still haunted him like a nightmare.

It was as if the spirits hadn’t been cleared and had come back to claim the lives of his brothers! Zhou Dafu was filled with fear and sorrow.

He knew the police couldn’t handle this.

And he couldn’t let the two brothers rot in the wilderness. So, he thought of the "bone pile" method.

Human bones could be used to create a "ghost-fixing needle," to subdue the restless underground souls. Using the dead for a living purpose—why not?

The important thing was, if he could protect the remaining brothers from any more accidents, Zhou Dafu was willing to do this cursed, lightning-struck thing.……

……

"All the mistakes are my fault."

"It was my foolishness, I caused the bone pile."

After saying these words, Zhou Dafu stopped shaking his shoulders, lowered his head, wiped his tears, and said:

"It has nothing to do with the brothers working under me."

"Comrades, please don't make things difficult for them."

Strange.

Humans are truly multifaceted; good and evil can't be easily evaluated on a single dimension.

If you say Zhou Dafu is a bad person, well, he isn't. He cares about his brothers and is responsible toward them.

If you say Zhou Dafu is a good person, well, making a bone pile is pretty malicious. Two restless souls, after dying, were trapped at the foundation of the subway station, their eyes wide open day and night, watching countless living people trample over them.

The three students exchanged glances and sighed.

Captain Zhao knocked on his notebook, reminding him, "Whether it's difficult for them, that's not for you to decide."

"Be honest," he said. Then, noticing the three students' unusual expressions, he signaled to them—if you have questions, ask.

Ming Yue thought of that light red, dissipating causality chain, and after some consideration, asked, "Uncle, did you give the families of the two deceased very generous compensation?"

Zhou Dafu gave a bitter smile, "What generous compensation? Their lives are gone, what good is money?"

"They also had wives and children. Who would work on a construction site if they had money? It's hard work, it's tiring."

"I've calculated the living expenses for their remaining family members, enough to last until their children get married and have kids."

Ming Yue pressed further, "How much did you give each family?"

Zhou Dafu sighed, "I gave five million to each family."

At this, the entire room was stunned.Captain Zhao stopped twirling his pen.

The three students exchanged wide-eyed stares, sparks flying between their gazes:

‘No wonder the vengeful spirits could forgive him. My goodness, and he's still mostly a victim of unforeseen misfortune.’

‘Five million... according to our country's laws, intentional murder doesn't even guarantee a sentence that matches one-fifth of that money.’

‘Wow, Zhou Dafu seems so low-key, but for him, a hundred million is just a small target!’

‘...Ming, for your family, a hundred million is indeed a small target.’

‘Why are you dragging me into this? Five million really isn’t small!’

‘Exactly, money can even push ghosts around...’

‘Right! What’s a causal chain to that! Pay enough, and they'll break it for you in a minute!’

Captain Zhao noticed the subtle exchanges of glances between the students, shaking his head inwardly. He had no idea that one of these girls had such a powerful family background that she could easily fund subway construction. He no longer left the lead role to the students, but began questioning Zhou Dafu himself, preparing to later have him detained.

The interrogation continued.

Ming Yue listened carefully, suddenly realizing a vague point in Zhou Dafu's testimony:

From the whole conversation, all she felt was his fear of the Water West Gate area, which led him to take a series of remedial actions. But in the end, he couldn't remedy the situation and lost two of his brothers.

However, logically speaking, this shouldn’t be the case.

Zhou Dafu had been an experienced construction foreman for nearly twenty years.

By the time he was putting in hard work and muscle, Ming Yue was still a baby.

How could someone like him, after so many years of experience, be so scared out of his wits by rumors about “domestic violence” and “strange sounds in the neighborhood” around Water West Gate, or even a mere threat from an old Taoist?

Emotionally and logically, it didn’t make sense.

If that were true, Zhou Dafu wouldn’t have made it this far as a red-capped businessman.

There’s something hidden.

What has Zhou Dafu been concealing?Thinking this over, Ming Yue looked at Zhou Dafu's pained expression again, and the more she looked, the more fake it seemed.

Humans...

Why is everyone like this?

Living people judge actions by earthly laws, not by hearts—that's true.

But now, you’re facing the spirits of the dead. If you’re not honest, it’s like tainting your own soul, and you’ll face retribution after death.

Thinking this, Ming Yue felt a bit of sadness in her heart.