Flowers of the Departed Souls - Chapter 3

Detective Guangming and his assistant, Kelou, drove for over an hour to reach this remote seaside village. This place was still within their jurisdiction.

According to the preliminary forensic examination, the victim died by suicide. The blood under his fingernails and the fingerprints on the dagger were his own. Furthermore, his room was tightly closed, with no one else inside. No one could have entered to cause this tragedy.

Although Guangming had encountered all sorts of strange and terrifying deaths, the gruesome state of Xia Yimin’s death still shocked him. The extreme chaos and brutality of the scene indicated the sheer breakdown, the frantic struggle the victim must have endured before self-mutilating to end his life. Yet, this entire sequence of events was completed in a very short amount of time.

Guangming watched as Xia Yimin’s remains were wrapped in plastic sheeting, then lifted onto a stretcher. He turned to Kelou and said, “Let’s go take a look around the village first. We can check later if Xia Yimin had any history of mental illness.”

Kelou nodded. “Why do you think this Xia Yimin traveled all the way from Fujian to come here alone? And this season isn’t exactly peak tourist season. Coming to the seaside in the middle of winter, I think something’s strange about this. Also, I got the guest information from the inn’s attendant. A writer named Chi Ziming is also staying here; when she was cleaning his room, she found a bottle of tranquilizers, indicating suicidal tendencies. There’s also a couple, from a neighboring county, who came here for a vacation to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary. They say they had a wonderful time here when they first fell in love, and this trip is meant to be a commemoration. When Xia Yimin screamed, they all ran out at the same time.”

“Hmm, we should pay attention to that Chi Ziming. From the looks of him, he might be disheartened and heartbroken. Has this place become a haven for suicides? Xia Yimin’s death is undoubtedly suicide, but why would he commit suicide? And the attendant said he was always in good spirits, neat, and very cheerful. This morning, he even told her a joke from his hometown. Someone like that shouldn’t commit suicide. What’s even stranger is, even if he did commit suicide, why would he gouge out his own eyes? Eyes? Could it be?”

Kelou picked up the thread. “Eyes are for seeing. And to gouge out one’s own eyes, I think – he must not have wanted to see this world. Or perhaps, he saw something he shouldn’t have, which led to a mental breakdown, self-mutilation, and then suicide.”

“The other guests and the female attendant all ran over when they heard his scream, and there was no one else in the room, so they shouldn’t be involved. It seems highly likely that it was a mental delusion, hallucinations caused by extreme depression or schizophrenia, leading to suicide.”

At this moment, they arrived at the seaside. The sun was pleasant. Although the wind by the sea was a bit strong, it wasn’t very cold. Looking out, the clear blue sea, blue sky, and bright sun, with two small islands resembling turtle shells floating on the water to the left and right, along with the crisp air, filled them with cheer.

Kelou suddenly thought of something. “I remember an incident that happened many years ago, in 1950, in a small county called Xionger, also a small seaside fishing village. The people there liked to raise cats, and one day, they found all their cats had disappeared. Later, they found them on a mountain by the sea. They were gathered together, trembling and convulsing. Some were tearing at each other like mad, and finally, one by one, these cats jumped off the cliff. People initially thought these cats were possessed by evil spirits. Later, after extensive investigation by medical personnel, it was determined that a nitrogen fertilizer company there was using a low-cost mercury catalyst process to produce vinyl chloride and vinyl acetate. The wastewater contained heavy metal mercury, which was discharged into the sea. Through biochemical reactions, it converted into methylmercury, accumulating in fish, shrimp, and shellfish through the food chain. Humans or animals consuming it for a long time would be poisoned. Patients, due to damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, would exhibit symptoms such as headaches, tinnitus, coma, convulsions, and disorientation during onset. In severe cases, they would suffer nervous disorders, full-body spasms, or fall into deep sleep, or become so excited that their bodies would arch and they would scream loudly until death.”

“Hmm, let’s test his blood for high levels of mercury or other heavy metals.” At this moment, Guangming stopped. He saw a small crab peek its tiny head out of a hole, then quickly retreat. Guangming smiled. “I think the possibility of this kind of poisoning isn’t very high. Of course, it can’t be ruled out either.”

He checked the time. “That’s probably it. The most likely scenario is that he had a history of mental illness or suffered from hallucinations caused by metal poisoning, leading to suicide. Let’s go back.”

Kelou nodded, and the two then left Luoyang Village. Meanwhile, Chi Ziming was still wandering around the village.

Throughout the village, only a few fish were seen drying on the ground and walls in the sun, along with some seaweed, nori, and dried shrimp. This fishing village didn’t seem to have a strong fishing atmosphere. The houses were all very old and simple. Only one seemed to be a slightly more luxurious Western-style house, and Chi Ziming didn’t know who lived inside. Other than that, the inn by the sea seemed to be the newest. The tiles on the roofs of the houses here were weighted down with stones and some sandbags, apparently to guard against typhoons during the summer, as those tiles certainly couldn’t withstand strong typhoons.

The village was mostly populated by elderly people and some honest, unsophisticated middle-aged fishermen who seemed to have grown up here. It appeared that the younger generation was no longer interested in this traditional, primitive way of life, living off the mountains and the sea. This was because the transportation here was too isolated, too far from the city, and no one had come to develop better tourism resources. So, even though it had both mountains and sea and decent scenery, it couldn’t retain young people. Many who left here were unwilling to return.

What surprised Chi Ziming was that in a more central part of the village, there was a pavilion with a very large old-fashioned grandfather clock inside. He and Cai Yilian had visited this village many years ago, and he had no impression of such a pavilion, let alone such a clock. Had it been newly installed in the past two years?

Chi Ziming approached to look closely. The clock’s casing was made of bronze, with exquisite dragon and phoenix totems around it. The pendulum was quite large, hanging straight down and swaying from side to side. It looked like the clock had a long history. Chi Ziming had seen many clocks, but this was the first time he had seen such a large grandfather clock, and it wasn’t the kind of bronze bell struck in temples, but a pendulum clock, which was even stranger. He wondered if it would chime automatically on the hour. But Chi Ziming hadn’t heard it in the past two days. If it chimed automatically, with such a large clock, the sound would be significant, and likely the whole village would hear it. The time seemed quite accurate. Thinking about it, it was probably just for the villagers to check the time.

Chi Ziming suddenly remembered hearing a clock chime last night before Xia Yimin died. Could it have been from this clock? He shook his head. His mind had been in chaos at the time. It could have been an alarm clock in the inn, or perhaps he misheard, mistaking some kind of collision sound for a chime. Collision? Xia Yimin must have struggled violently before he died, so it was normal for him to have bumped into something.

Chi Ziming wandered for a long time but didn’t see the old man. He found it a bit strange. He then walked to a house and saw an old woman hanging clothes in the yard, so he went over. “Madam, do you know where the very thin old man with a slight limp lives?”

“You mean Luo Bozi, right? Why are you looking for him? That old man never does anything proper, just talks nonsense everywhere, acting all mysterious and scaring away the tourists who come here.”

“You mean, nothing he says is credible? Or that the legend about the God of Death is also made up?”

“Our ancestors did have such a legend. In the 1920s, people in the village lived a peaceful life, untouched by the outside world. Although there was turmoil outside, the Northern Expeditionary War didn’t affect the people here. However, everything changed after the villagers rescued a young man in black. The village began to fall into disarray. People would often die mysteriously, and all of them had their hearts gouged out. So, the villagers became panicked and rumors spread that the man in black was a demon who lived by eating human hearts, so they burned him alive. And after his death, people often said they saw his spirit wandering at midnight, with a terrifying, burnt face. He would exact revenge on everyone who had participated in burning him. The three people who personally burned him all died suddenly and mysteriously, so the story became more and more supernatural and has been passed down for generations with slightly different versions. This is also what I heard from my grandfather. I wasn’t even born then. My grandfather’s cousin was one of the people who participated in burning the man in black, and he later died suddenly. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know anymore.”

“Oh, so there really are such rumors.” At this moment, Chi Ziming suddenly remembered the dream he had. The man in black in his dream also had a burnt face. And on the glass window of Xia Yimin’s room, could he have been right? Was it truly that person’s lingering ghost?

“That was a hundred years ago. Why bring up these things? We don’t even know if they’re true.”

During her rambling chat with the old woman, Chi Ziming learned that her eldest son was originally the village head here, but he never wanted to be an official. He preferred business, enjoyed antiques, and also liked traveling and researching all sorts of strange things. He was the only university student from Luoyang Village in earlier years and had made a lot of money. That Western-style house was his, and the inn in the village was also run by him, but he was rarely seen around. However, her eldest son, with his wife, left this place twenty years ago to work and never returned. They left a four-year-old granddaughter with her, whom she raised herself. Chi Ziming unexpectedly discovered that her granddaughter was Luo Xiaofeng.

He suddenly understood why Luo Xiaofeng’s personality seemed a bit strange. It wasn’t just because of the events at the inn that made her cautious and troubled. When he told Luo Xiaofeng’s grandmother that he was staying at the inn, she showed no surprise. She gave him a faint glance and continued hanging the last few clothes. “That inn is run by her uncle. She’s just helping out. It’s winter, and there aren’t many people, so she’s basically running it alone.”

At this point, the old woman took the empty plastic bucket and walked into the house. Chi Ziming followed her. “Can I come in and talk to you for a bit, Madam? I really like this place.” The old woman looked at him but didn’t reply. He realized that this old woman’s temper was exactly like Luo Xiaofeng’s, so he followed her inside. The wind blew through the alleyway, carrying a chilling aura.

What surprised Chi Ziming was that three old portraits hung in the hall. These three paintings were displayed prominently like memorial portraits, and one of them remarkably resembled Luo Xiaofeng.

Chi Ziming pointed at the portraits. “What’s going on here? Are these…?”

“One is the old man, who died at sea during a typhoon. Those two are Xiaofeng’s father and mother. Only people who met with an accident wouldn’t come home for twenty years, wouldn’t come to see this old woman and their own flesh and blood. To this day, there hasn’t been any news. Do you think they’re still alive? If they are truly alive, I’ll pretend I don’t have this son. If my heart is gone, what good is the person?” The old woman said this with a somewhat distracted air.

Before she became annoyed with him, Chi Ziming bid farewell to Xiaofeng’s grandmother. However, he couldn’t shake the feeling that the old woman was a bit strange. Recalling her expression and eyes when she spoke, he noticed her eyes were slightly skewed, set closely together. No wonder she looked a bit odd. Although not very obvious, it was easy to see if you looked closely. Fortunately, Xiaofeng hadn’t inherited this flaw.

As Chi Ziming left, he didn’t notice a carrion vulture that had been circling high in the sky for a long time. At that moment, it suddenly swooped down from the sky and landed on the old woman’s shoulder. In its beak, it clearly held a human hand.