Insights Chapter 53: Warehouse

Chapter 53: Warehouse

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

After finishing their meal, the two returned to the City Bureau. In the afternoon, Deputy Director Dong’s search warrant was approved. Zuo Junming was indeed cunning. Apart from his main residence, there were three other houses. Gu Yanchen marked them one by one.

Lu Ying walked over and asked, “Captain Gu, which one do we go to first?”

Gu Yanchen pointed to one of the houses in Lingmei Garden. “Let’s go here first.”

Lu Ying asked curiously, “Is there anything special about this one?”

Gu Yanchen replied, “I remember the price of this place dropped from over two million to around one million. The housing prices have halved. Since two years ago, this place has been mostly selling less and buying more.”

Zuo Junming wasn’t short of money. The other properties he purchased were all high-end, but this one seemed like a loss-making investment.

Bai Meng understood, “If Zuo Junming is really involved in some shady business, he wouldn’t keep related items in his own home. Lingmei Garden is remote, located in the suburbs, the community isn’t selling well, and the housing prices have been declining year after year. Zuo Junming must have been crazy to buy a house here two years ago.”

Preparations were made, and several people called for evidence collection. Finally, they went downstairs to the medical examiner’s office to pick up Shen Junci. Shen Junci left Qi Yi’an to write the autopsy report and got into the police car himself. The team arranged their equipment, and the police car drove towards the north of the city. After driving for dozens of minutes, they arrived at Lingmei Garden.

The building was old, without an elevator. Zuo Junming’s house was on the eighth floor, requiring a climb up a flight of stairs. Shen Junci carried a slightly heavy investigation box and walked at the back. As he stepped up the stairs, Gu Yanchen caught up with him from behind and quietly took the investigation box from him.

Their fingers intertwined for a moment. Shen Junci felt the warmth of Gu Yanchen’s fingers. He glanced at Gu Yanchen. Gu Yanchen, however, remained unchanged, as if nothing had happened.

As they climbed upstairs, some officers who could unlock doors opened the lock. Gu Yanchen then handed the investigation box to Shen Junci, asking him to stay behind until the detectives confirmed it was safe before entering. Bai Meng and Lu Ying held their guns. As the door opened, several officers entered with their weapons and flashlights.

The room was dark, despite it being daytime, with thick blackout curtains drawn. What was supposed to be the living room was unusually empty, with just a table and two chairs in the dining area, looking particularly simple. As they entered, their footsteps echoed slightly.

Lu Ying whispered, “Empty?”

The room had a dusty smell, the kind that comes from long neglect. Then someone tried the light switch, but the lights didn’t turn on.

“The circuit breaker hasn’t been flipped.”

Obviously, no one had been living here. The master bedroom was also completely empty, with only a single wooden chair placed in the center of the room. Gu Yanchen entered with a flashlight in hand. Before departing, he had looked at the floor plan of the house. It was a three-bedroom unit, and now all three bedroom doors were open, revealing emptiness.

Bai Meng was about to pull open the curtains when Gu Yanchen suddenly noticed something. He turned back and made a silent gesture to the officers. Then he pointed to the chair in the master bedroom and gestured towards the ceiling. There was some dirt on the chair, along with scattered footprints.

Lu Ying immediately understood, shining the flashlight towards the ceiling, revealing an inconspicuous hole hidden in the ceiling. If one didn’t look carefully, it would be impossible to notice. This apartment was on the top floor, indeed hiding an attic above. To ensure no one was upstairs, Gu Yanchen and Lu Ying gestured for a way to ascend without alerting anyone.

Then Gu Yanchen made a gesture to Shen Junci, instructing him to stay in a safe place to avoid accidental injury. Lu Ying stood on the chair and pulled a partition, revealing a crude ladder. He climbed up first, followed by Gu Yanchen, with another assisting officer trailing behind. The attic was only two meters high, somewhat oppressive, but spacious enough, and pitch-black.

Lu Ying noticed a pure white hidden door on the side. He pushed it open carefully, revealing a hidden room in the attic. After seeing the condition of the room, he cursed softly, “Damn.” Then he shouted, “It’s safe, no one’s here!”

Bai Meng and Shen Junci were then brought up. Doctor Shen used a flashlight to inspect the room and found only a wooden shelf holding several round jars. The shape of the jars was distinctive, indicating their contents.

Seeing so many jars, even on a hot summer afternoon, Bai Meng felt her hairs stand on end. She asked, “Could this place be used by Zuo Junming as a spirit hall?”

Graveyard prices were high nowadays, and with many affairs, wealthy people thought of buying houses for their ancestors to use as tombs within residential communities. These people preferred to buy properties in remote, cheap, low-occupancy, and quiet areas, which coincidentally matched the description of this property. This matter had been reported by the media several times, but it wasn’t illegal. Besides moral condemnation, there wasn’t much that could be done.

“Who would hide ancestors in the attic?” Lu Ying snorted, “And if these are ancestors, then he has quite a lot of them.”

Roughly counting, there were over a dozen jars. Shen Junci separated the crowd and looked at the urns. He now understood what the unidentified powder on Zuo Junming’s shoes was. Each jar had something on top. Shen Junci, wearing gloves, opened one. Inside were a few strands of hair, some fingernails, a few photographs, a small piece of clothing, and a note with the date of birth, height, weight, and measurements, along with a name.

Without exception, all the urns contained the remains of young women. Evil in this world always surpassed people’s imagination.

Gu Yanchen revealed the answer, “Zuo Junming is a ghost mediator.”

The things before them were the warehouse of ashes that made him rich.

.

Suddenly finding so many urns, Shen Junci found himself a bit overwhelmed. Gu Yanchen called the City Bureau again and asked for Wen Wan, who was still on duty. When Wen Wan arrived, the two medical examiners started organizing, recording the information on each urn, labeling them, preparing to take them back for examination.

Lu Ying felt that encountering such a situation here today was rather ominous. He opened his phone, searched online, and downloaded a piece of music, starting to play a Buddhist chant to offer salvation to the departed souls. With rows of urns, the atmosphere became even more solemn. Each person seeing this scene felt a mixture of emotions. Within each urn lay the remains of once vibrant young lives.

Bai Meng remarked, “This morning, I felt a bit sympathetic seeing the corpse. Now I just feel that the man got what he deserved. Abusing his wife and selling urns, he deserves to go to hell.”

Lu Ying, while assisting, sighed, “I’ve heard of people doing this back in my hometown, but I never imagined it was so prevalent in big cities.”

Wen Wan, initially reserved, couldn’t bear it anymore. Pointing to the inscription on one urn, she exclaimed, “Damn! This one is only fifteen! Not even old enough to legally marry, yet they dragged her to be matched with some yin spirit!”

Bai Meng shrugged, “Probably those parents think if they don’t find a yin spouse for their son, they’re being irresponsible.”

Wen Wan retorted, “Selling urns like this, aren’t they afraid of being haunted? I feel like Zuo Junming is getting what he deserves!”

Lu Ying reminded her, “Wen, you’re a medical examiner, don’t indulge in feudal superstition like that.”

Wen Wan replied, “If I think about it, after I’m dead and cremated, if someone sells me off and puts me next to some stranger, I wouldn’t let them off even as a ghost! So according to those people’s logic, they’re spending money to buy a fierce ghost as a daughter-in-law!”

As a medical examiner and a woman, just the thought of such a situation made her tremble with anger.

Gu Yanchen had been silent all along. Now he spoke up, “They call it conducting a ghost marriage. It’s not for the deceased, it’s for the living to feel better.”

Shen Junci glanced at the identified relics. “In a city with so many people, there are always some with warped minds.”

ConsideringZuo Junming’s income, this line of business was quite lucrative, even in high demand. Everyone got back to work, and for a while, no one spoke. The chant of the Buddhist sutra became even more prominent.

Feeling a chill down her spine, Bai Meng exclaimed, “Lu Ying, recite the sutra twice and call it quits. You’re practically offering salvation to me.”

Lu Ying sighed and came over to turn off the chant. He handed Gu Yanchen a cellphone. “Captain Gu, just found this.”

After searching the entire room, besides the urns, Lu Ying found an old cellphone hidden under a shelf. This phone number wasn’t within the range monitored by the police before. Clearly, it was used by Zuo Junming solely for business transactions. The phone was now dead, so Gu Yanchen waited for the forensic team to collect fingerprints before powering it up.

After the phone booted up, Gu Yanchen tried several passwords he had cracked before and gained access to the system. All the apps were logged in automatically, and a string of messages popped up immediately. Among them were inquiries about transaction locations and methods, as well as inquiries from friends.

They finally found Junming’s business phone.

Gu Yanchen went through each message one by one, until he came across one that stood out: “Old Zuo, why can’t I reach you by phone? Don’t scare me.”

He scrolled through the chat history. This person was likely an associate, if not an accomplice. Gu Yanchen instructed the detective team to investigate. After a while, they got back with information.

Dai Xiarong, male, 43 years old, works at the Penang West Shahyang Crematorium. Seeing this information, Gu Yanchen realized that this person was probably one of Zuo Junming’s suppliers.

He stood up. “Bai Meng, you and the medical examiner will go back together later. Lu Ying, take a team with me to the West Shahyang Crematorium.” He paused, then asked Shen Junci, “Doctor Shen, are we almost done here?”

Shen Junci looked up. “Almost done. We’ll transport everything back to the City Bureau and conduct DNA analysis based on the relics.”

Gu Yanchen nodded. “Alright, see you at the City Bureau later.”