Chapter 58: Difficulties

"What difficulties?" Qi Fei asked immediately.

"At that time, everyone said this apartment building was a dangerous building. They said that once it was identified as a dangerous building, we would have to move out. We didn't want to move. If the matter of Lao Lin's family's gas leak was exposed, we were afraid that the matter of the dangerous building would become a foregone conclusion. And..." Wang Dakang looked at Zhong Kui, "Did Lao Lin really say his little daughter was still alive? Chen Liangdi, who just died, used to be in the pharmacy. We checked all four people and confirmed they were dead before we..."

"You just said Lao Lin was picking on you alone, so none of the others in the building encountered similar situations?" Zhong Kui didn't answer Wang Dakang's question directly, turning to say.

Wang Dakang said: "This matter, I've told everyone in the building, but they don't believe it."

"Lao Lin's accident back then wasn't a good thing after all. Everyone avoided talking about it. I see that people are annoyed when I talk about it, so I don't mention it much later."

"You didn't go upstairs to take a look?" Qi Fei asked.

"Sigh! When we handled Lao Lin's funeral back then, everyone was in a mess. The whole family was cremated, and the door to 301 was closed, and the matter was turned over. Two years ago, I wanted to go upstairs to see the situation, but I asked a few people in the building, and they all said that Lao Lin's key wasn't taken by them, and they didn't know where it went. My theory of the haunting doesn't hold water either. You say there's no key, so there's no need to pry the lock."

As they were speaking, the door behind them was knocked.

After opening the door, Zhou Li from downstairs appeared at the door. She was surprised to see Qi Fei and the others, then thought of something and said: "This, I saw the fire downstairs was extinguished, it should... not be serious, right?"

Zhao Xiaozhen saw Zhou Li and immediately said: "Oh my, I forgot about this!" As she spoke, she ran to the kitchen and took out a knife after a while, which actually gave Qi Fei a big jump. He kept his distance and said: "What are you doing?"

Zhao Xiaozhen hurriedly explained: "Don't misunderstand, I borrowed Zhou Li's knife, and I'm returning it to her."

"Right, right, I'm here to get the knife. I remembered it was at Xiao Zhen's when I was cutting fruit." Zhou Li said, having already taken the knife from Zhao Xiaozhen and run downstairs.

Wang Dakang started scolding again from the side: "Confused all day long, even a kitchen knife can go missing. You have time for superstition, but you don't have time to buy a new one."

"This knife has been used for over ten years. Recently, I've been so troubled by the things in the building that I don't have the heart to do anything. It's really strange. I clearly remember putting it back on the knife rack, but it disappeared." Zhao Xiaozhen muttered.

Zhong Kui's brow sank when she heard this, feeling that this matter was not simple.

Leaving Room 201, Qi Fei looked at the door number of Room 202 opposite. Now no one lived inside, and he couldn't help but sigh.

When they reached the stairwell, Zhou Li had already changed into her sportswear and set off for her run. It seemed that the things in the building didn't affect her much.

Qi Fei and Zhong Kui followed Zhou Li's running route, walked across the bridge over the small river at the north gate, and said: "You say the thing about Lao Lin's little daughter was made up?"

"Hmph, still the same sentence: if you don't do anything wrong during the day, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking at the door at night. Looking at their guilty appearance, they are mostly involved in something shady upstairs. It seems that for the sake of the house, they let Lao Lin's family miss the opportunity for rescue," Zhong Kui said.

"They didn't call the police, so we don't have the first-hand scene data from back then. It's very difficult to infer whether Lao Lin's family's death was carbon monoxide poisoning or caused by their delay," Qi Fei said with much emotion. "You say..." He stopped here suddenly.

Because Zhong Kui stuffed something into his mouth.

A fresh, sweet, and sour taste rushed directly into Qi Fei's nasal cavity. It turned out to be a candy.

"Lemon candy, it's very effective when you're in a bad mood," Zhong Kui said. "The scent of citrus fruits like lemons is one of the few that can have a two-way regulatory effect on people's emotions. When you're unhappy, it makes you happy, and when you can't calm down, it can help you recover your calm."

Qi Fei's mood was indeed much better, not because of any lemon scent, but because of Zhong Kui's action of feeding him the candy.

"You interrupted my train of thought," he chewed the candy, his mouth saying one thing while his heart felt another.

"Your train of thought, is it worth interrupting? Isn't it just wanting to say, what you've seen and heard at Guiyue Apartment recently, is it the baseness of the people in this building, or is human nature originally like this?"

Looking at Qi Fei's incredible eyes, Zhong Kui knew that what she said was not much different from the questions in his mind, and then her tone turned low. "Qi Fei, promise me, don't ask these questions again."

"Hmm?" Qi Fei didn't understand Zhong Kui's sudden depth. "Why?"

"Your choice of this job is destined to walk in the dark mud. You must always stare at the truth ahead, cutting through thorns and thistles, killing gods if gods block you, killing Buddhas if Buddhas block you. Once you stop to question human nature, you will be swallowed by this darkness." In the dim night, the pale street lamp light couldn't light up Zhong Kui's eyes, as if the darkness in those pupils was deep and endless, issuing a warning to Qi Fei from hell.

Qi Fei was a bit dazed. He always felt that no matter how many intimate actions Zhong Kui had toward him, at this moment, it couldn't be counted as love; it was more like protection.

"Zhong Kui, why exactly are you approaching me? You..." Qi Fei didn't say that sentence after all.

Zhong Kui looked at the building behind Qi Fei: "There aren't many lights on now."

Qi Fei looked back. Indeed, there were eight households in Guiyue Apartment. Yue Fengsheng in 401, Lao Lin's family in 301, and Chen Liangdi in 202 were all dead, but the light in 402 wasn't on either. Now only half of the households were still living there.

"The cephalosporin Chen Liangdi lost became the poison that killed Yue Fengsheng," Zhong Kui stared at the building and continued. "Then what about this time? Was Zhao Xiaozhen's knife really lost by herself?"

Qi Fei was startled by Zhong Kui's words, and the rosy sentiment just now dissipated.

Zhong Kui was truly a master at countering sentimentality.

As they were speaking, someone was vaguely seen walking toward them under the street lamp in the distance. It turned out to be He Zhixin, who lived in Room 101.

Seeing Qi Fei and Zhong Kui, he took the initiative to come forward and greet them.

"Two police officers, you've worked hard, it's so late and you're still here," He Zhixin said politely.

"She is a consultant, not a police officer," Qi Fei was truly persistent in clarifying.

Zhong Kui didn't care and smiled at He Zhixin as usual: "What are you doing here so late?"

He Zhixin said embarrassedly: "These things recently have made people feel panicked. My wife insists on going out for a run, so I'm here waiting for her..." ===== CHAPTER 59 =====