Edited by musk
Warning: description of gore
Residential instance world
Yang Meili and Zhai Xiaoyi inspected all of the above floors and even scrupulously knocked on each of the doors, but it seemed that they were rather unlucky this time as no one opened their door for them.
Yang Meili was bored. She let Zhai Xiaoyi try the last couple of doors for her and asked instead, ‘Is this really fine? Where else are we supposed to find anything useful?’
Zhai Xiaoyi hummed, ‘I’m not sure. What, do I look like some professional detective to you?’
‘Didn’t you say that you were a private investigator though? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel inferior, ahah..’ Yang Meili couldn’t help but let out a laugh. ‘I really didn’t..’
‘Uhm.’ Zhai Xiaoyi coughed, ‘It’s not.. I’m a supernatural investigator at most, but it’s nothing more than a hobby.’
‘Ah? And I thought you really were some veteran bigshot.. It turns out to be like that, haha!’
Zhai Xiaoyi could only purse his lips and nod at her words halfheartedly. He could have stood up for himself, but for what? Yang Meili was completely right about what she had said about him. He had no right to refute her.
Wasn’t he just a little person with a big name? Although, that name was enough for his business to support him, and he did manage to solve most of the cases people found him with, but..
In truth he was clearly inferior to most people he knew. Zhai Xiaoyi shook his head as he let out a small smile. But what did that matter? Did he plan on becoming a world-renown ghost hunter? Did he plan to take up his elders’ positions after they retired?
All he had in mind was to get enough income to pay for his necessities. So what did it matter if others had such opinions about him? Were they right? If they were right, there was no reason to refute them. Just leave them be, ah.
Yang Meili had already changed topics while he had fallen deep in thought. She was talking about her own job at the moment.
‘..so even though it’s not a big company, at least it’s the things I make, no? I think that’s still better than working for a big corporation like WQ after all!’
Zhai Xiaoyi had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. He scratched his head and couldn’t help but feel somewhat at a loss. So was he egoistic now too? Too busy with his own thoughts to pay attention to others, huh?
He sighed as he nodded. ‘It’s important to be able to do things your own way if you’ve already chosen a profession that’s based on self expression. In that sense small companies are definitely better than big corporations.’
Yang Meili shook her head as she let out a laugh, ‘No, you’ve misunderstood me. I do this for the money, I don’t care that much about originality. After all, I’ve been in the business long enough, after a couple of years you get used to it..’
‘…….??’ Zhai Xiaoyi was completely confused at this point. Didn’t she just say that she was glad to work for less money just to be able to work with her own designs? ‘What did you mean then?’
‘It indeed is a small company, but we specialise in luxury pieces after all. Didn’t you hear me say that just now?’ Yang Meili jumped over the last three steps as they arrived back to the second floor.
‘…Oh.’ So it was like that.. Some people’s thoughts were really difficult to disentangle. Zhai Xiaoyi didn’t really know what to say to that, so he just nodded. ‘I understand.’
The door to their apartment was still closed, as they had left it. They didn’t bother trying to go inside, but decided to look around on the lower floors too instead.
‘So..’ Zhai Xiaoyi tried hard as he looked for a new topic, ‘What were you doing before you got here?’
‘Nothing much, I was on my way to my mother’s house..’ Yang Meili’s face paled as if she had only then realised something. ‘Right, it can’t be that.. In case of.. ’
‘What are you trying to ask? Speak clearly and let’s see if I know the answer.’
‘I.. No, I, I was on my way to my mother’s house, in my car. It can’t be that it would.. There won’t be an accident, right?’ Yang Meili’s voice was void of all previous emotions and she sounded plainly panicked at the moment.
Zhai Xiaoyi thought about it. ‘I’m not sure, ah. But it’ll probably be taken care of. I can only speak from my own experience, but when I was first pulled in, someone put my bag back in its place. They also fed my cat..’
‘It should be that the Bureau is prepared for stuff like that. Your car might have disappeared with you or even just stopped completely. Maybe it was taken away by field workers. There’s no need to worry.. Too much.’
Yang Meili pressed her lips together as she let out a hum. ‘It’s probably fine then, you’re right. What about you then?’
‘Huh?’ Zhai Xiaoyi was still thinking about the car-issue. He was just about to reply when a door opened a couple metres away from them.
A woman stepped outside, stooping as she pulled a black garbage bag behind herself. The bag seemed heavier than usual in her hands, and she was clearly having a hard time dragging it.
Zhai Xiaoyi and Yang Meili looked at each other, sharing the same thought. Zhai Xiaoyi stepped closer, asking in a friendly voice, ‘Auntie, do you need help?’
The woman turned towards them, still fumbling with the keys in her hands. She smiled at the two, but they couldn’t feel the warmth of that smile at all, instead they felt their blood go cold at the revelation.
Zhai Xiaoyi turned back towards Yang Meili and he glared at her with wide eyes. This.. Wasn’t this the same old lady who had come to their apartment earlier that day?
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Tjcu Zflil kjr fdejiis raeccfv, yea rtf gfujlcfv tfg gjalbcjilas delmxis. Po la kjr atf rjwf qfgrbc, ktja atfc? Ktja pera wfjca atja atfs olcjiis tjv j ifjv.
Ktf kbwjc kjr rbwfktja ribk ab gfqis. Vtf kjr ralii rwlilcu jr rtf rjlv, ‘Rb, atjcx sbe. P’ii ajxf mjgf bo la wsrfio.’
Zhai Xiaoyi nodded understandingly, ‘After all it is healthy to move around, isn’t it? But really, auntie, if you need our help..’
He was looking at the bag intently. As the old woman dragged it outside, it accidentally bumped into the edge of the wall, and a small hole got pulled wider.
Something red touched the wall through the hole, and even though the woman just happened to step in front of it, the stain still appeared extremely conspicuous.
Yang Meili saw it too. She also smiled at the woman, ‘I’d like to ask you about something.. And in the meantime my friend here can help you take the trash out in turn.’
The woman furrowed her brows slightly, and her gaze grew a bit distant for a moment, but she nodded in the end. She handed the bag to Zhai Xiaoyi, and looked at the two, ‘Of course, if it’s convenient, both of you can come in for a cup of tea.’
‘Yes, that would be perfect! We don’t mean to bother you at all, it’s just that we’ve only moved here yesterday and we’re still quite new to the area. If you could just tell us about a couple of sights that are worth visiting..’ Yang Meili took the woman by the arm and led her back towards the apartment.
She looked back at Zhai Xiaoyi as the two of them stepped inside, raising her eyebrows and nodding towards the staircase.
He pulled a corner of his mouth into a half-smile and took the bag to go downstairs. It wasn’t as heavy as it seemed in the woman’s hands.
Of course, initially he didn’t plan on taking it all the way down to the garbage cans. Then he thought about it, and realised that it would be hard to get rid of whatever was inside otherwise.. It seemed that the old woman’s method was indeed the most efficient.
The garbage cans stood in the inner court of the residential building, in the plain sight of anyone who stepped outside their door. It was a rather inconvenient place to inspect whatever was in the bag.
Zhai Xiaoyi looked around before simply dumping the entire thing inside a garbage can. He thought that what he was doing was somewhat disrespectful towards whoever emptied the cans, but he really didn’t have another method to see what was inside without seeming suspicious.
Ah, to look suspicious or like an asshole, that decision really is difficult to make.
The garbage fell inside, and he shook the bag out to make sure that nothing was left inside. The things that fell out seemed like everyday items, nothing like what he had expected.
There were a few tissues steeped in red wine. It was apparent that someone had accidentally spilled it and used the paper tissues to clean it up.
Zhai Xiaoyi, ‘……..’ No, he didn’t even know what to say. Now he really wasn’t anything more than an asshole who dumped the trash into the can without even a bag for no apparent reason!
He reflected on his actions as he stood in front of the garbage can and stared down blankly. Soon the sound of footsteps sounded from the atrium, and he took a step backwards guiltily as he looked over to distract himself.
The two people walking towards the stairwell looked familiar. After staring at their backs for a couple of seconds, Zhai Xiaoyi realised that it would have been strange if they didn’t seem familiar; these were precisely Wei Cai and Yu Qinyan.
He felt conflicted for a moment, but ended up hurrying after them. Wei Cai had just coincidentally looked back, and made Yu Qinyan stop after noticing him.
The two waited for him to reach them and only then did Wei Cai ask, ‘And you? How come you’re here?’
Zhai Xiaoyi let out a breath as he slowed down, ‘We’ve already checked most floors. I came down to take out the garbage..’
Well, technically that was true.
Yu Qinyan wondered, ‘We had trash? Did those investigators even get any proper food?’
Zhai Xiaoyi scratched his head as he pondered on how exactly to explain why he was taking out someone else’s trash, ‘..It’s not ours.’
Wei Cai arched his eyebrows and was about to ask something when an abrupt ‘ding’ sounded.
Yu Qinyan, whose pocket started to buzz without the intention to stop, ‘………..’
He tapped along the khaki shorts he woke up in and soon found an ancient-looking mobile phone. He pressed a couple of buttons offhandedly, and the buzzing came to an abrupt halt.
He stared at the messages on the screen and his eyebrows rose gradually. By the time he finished reading what seemed like more than ten messages, his expression had long become unfathomable.
Wei Cai looked at him as he asked, ‘What is it? Did you get a clue?’
Yu Qinyan only shook his head without answering. His lips followed the shape of the words in his mind, but nothing came out in the end.
‘I..’ He choked on his words. In the end he shook his head again before handing over the phone. ‘I do not know what this is supposed to mean.’
Zhai Xiaoyi had never seen him this flustered before so he stepped closer to Wei Cai to read the messages without a second thought. The screen displayed a chat window with a chain of messages.
[The Department of Technological Development introduces Communication Without Borders, the ultimate service for keeping contact for travellers and actors. This is an automatic message. Please do not reply~]
[Please wait a couple of minutes as we are looking for an available operator to connect you to your original world~]
[Connection failed. Currently looking for an operator to help you have a pleasant experience with our system~]
[Operator found. We’re excited to introduce you to Operator KeKe.]
[Hi, this is KeKe. I’ll be helping you connect to your original world today!]
[……….. Uh.]
[This.. This is quite awkward. I won’t make any small talk then, and just connect you straight to your account and number.]
[System notification: the following is an important message from your original world you probably do not want to miss out on.]
[System notification: the sender of the message: LinLin. the content of the message: I’ve been thinking about things between us. I think it’s time to talk about what we should do now.]
Ssystem notification: the sender of the message: LinLin. the content of the message: I want to break up.]
This.. This was really too much to comprehend at once. What Communication Without Borders? What system and what operator..
After coming back to themselves, Zhai Xiaoyi and Wei Cai both stared at Yu Qinyan without uttering a word.
Wasn’t this just being too unlucky? Not only was it his first day in a place where he had just as much of a chance of dying as surviving, but the Bureau went ahead to inform him about his girlfriend wanting to break up with him too?
Too cruel. That was written on the two’s faces, but before they could try to comfort the still speechless Yu Qinyan, the sound of footsteps came from the stairway.
The three of them looked up at the same time, their gazes meeting that of a smiling Yang Meili’s. She frowned as she felt the strange atmosphere surrounding her teammates.
‘Did something happen? Did you guys find something?’ She directed her question mainly at Zhai Xiaoyi who she had personally seen take the bag of trash downstairs.
Zhai Xiaoyi shook his head and tried to ease up the situation by explaining, ‘There wasn’t anything special inside. The red thing was only wine too.. Did she tell you anything?’
Yang Meili saw the other two’s inquiring gazes and decided to explain everything, beginning from the point where they saw the old woman pull the bag outside.
Wei Cai listened attentively, even asking questions from time to time, but Yu Qinyan didn’t even try to seem like he was paying attention. He leant on the wall as he took out the brick-phone from time to time as if he himself wasn’t sure whether to believe the messages or not.
Zhai Xiaoyi looked at the three for a moment before deciding that it was best to try to keep up the harmony of the group, walking over to Yu Qinyan.
He glanced at the phone in his hands as he asked, ‘How is it?’
Yu Qinyan pocketed the phone and shook his head lightly, ‘It’s alright. It’s not like there’s anything to do about it.’
Zhai Xiaoyi ‘ah’-ed and asked, ‘Did the two of you find anything useful?’
‘Maybe.’ Yu Qinyan shrugged, ‘It’s too early to tell. Maybe it’s all key clues or maybe everything we found is completely useless.’
‘The kid that the woman mentioned shouldn’t be the victim though. The landlord said he’s fine and at work right now, in a convenience store on the main street. We might need to check that out.’
Zhai Xiaoyi agreed at once, ‘Yang Meili and I checked before leaving, there is no food in the apartment at all. It would be best if we could buy some basic necessities too.’
Yu Qinyan nodded. ‘Sure. What about you two? Did you find anything on the upper floors?’
‘Nothing.’ Zhai Xiaoyi frowned, ‘No one even opened their door for us. It seems like there is no one else living here other than the woman, the landlord and us. Except..’
‘What?’ This question came from Wei Cai who had just finished discussing the old woman’s situation with Yang Meili. ‘Is there something else?’
‘Right!’ Yang Meili remembered too, ‘There was some teenager trying to cause trouble. He probably lives in the building as well.’
Zhai Xiaoyi agreed, ‘We didn’t think much of it then but if it really is only the three of them as NPCs, he might be someone important.’
‘Could he be the woman’s grandson then?’ Yang Meili thought back to the youth’s strange behaviour from earlier. ‘It should be him, no?’
Wei Cai hummed, but he didn’t give an affirmative answer right away, ‘It’s possible, but didn’t this happen while we were at the landlord’s flat? He said that the kid was already at work by then.’
Yu Qinyan didn’t worry too much about the matter. ‘Let’s go and see. We’ll know after we take a look.’
Zhai Xiaoyi asked, ‘Did you guys ask where the store was or do we need to get a map?’
‘A map? What map has convenience stores on it?’ Yang Meili showed a confused expression before realising something. ‘Right, online maps do, don’t they? Haha, I’m not sure you can find one here.’
Zhai Xiaoyi let out a hum and felt that Yang Meili was becoming less and less of someone he wanted to pay attention to. He had a strange feeling, as if he was specifically being targeted.. But no, it was probably just paranoia.
‘We can go and have a look but let’s find the woman before that. There is something I want to ask her.’ Wei Cai decided, and the rest of the group agreed quickly.
They walked towards the old woman’s apartment as Yang Meili asked him, ‘What do you want to ask? I spoke to her for quite a while, I might be able to answer your question.’
Wei Cai shook his head, ‘It has nothing to do with the current situation, it’s only a small thought I’ve had for some time. Maybe I can confirm my suspicions today.’
He raised his palm to hit the door a couple of times, but there was no reply from inside. He knocked properly a couple of times, but still, no answer came.
‘That’s strange, she was still here just now right before I left.’ Yang Meili frowned, but didn’t worry too much about it. She directly called out, ‘Auntie Qi, it’s me. I’m sorry to trouble you but suddenly I remembered another thing I wanted to ask..’
They waited quietly for any type of reply from inside, but the doors didn’t open even after a long time passed.
‘She’s probably gone out. If it won’t open then it won’t open.’ Yu Qinyan tapped Wei Cai’s shoulder, and the other hummed as a response.
‘I was still hoping to ask her though.’ They walked back to the stairway the same way they came. Wei Cai turned to Yang Meili to ask her, ‘Are you sure she didn’t mention going out?’
The woman said something in response, but their voices came from far away and her words were almost impossible to make out.
As the noise of their footsteps faded, the echo of a muffled sound rang through the corridor.
Inside the flat, a pile of items came crashing down.
Qi Zhengli’s powerless hand still held the hem of the table cover, her gaze filled with endless pain and sorrow. Small streaks of blood were trickling from under her hair that hung loosely in disorder.
Half of her glasses was bashed in, and she couldn’t open her left eye because of the shards sticking out from both her skin and her eye itself. She struggled to move away, but the rope around her legs had been bound too skillfully.
Her mouth fell open to scream, but what came out were only some barely audible sounds through the dusting cloth that had been stuffed inside. Her attacker hadn’t moved since the knocking sounded, as if he was still listening for any sounds from outside.
Her hand was still clutching the table cover. She was too panicked to let go, and she didn’t dare move from the excruciating pain that swept all her thoughts away, save for one.
Don’t let him go.
Her hearing aids were on top of her dresser, and all she could hear was a low hum as her uninjured eye jumped from object to object inside the small room.
She tried to pull her other hand out from under the strings too, but it was evident that the tiny, sudden burst of strength from before was long gone.
What to do, what was there to do in such a situation?
The other finally moved. Only his shoes were visible from the angle she saw him from as she lay on the ground limply. The attacker walked over to her slowly, and just as she wanted to shut her eyes for the last few moments she needed to endure in suffering, those shoes stopped.
He was standing a mere metre away from her as he held up the crowbar in his hands to inspect the bloody prints on it before placing it on the table, stroking it absentmindedly as he let go.
He bent down slightly. There had been an adequate amount of silverware on the table, as well as three porcelain plates that had the dishes’ ingredients that Qi Zhengli had been in the process of preparing. Unfortunately all of these fell to the carpet when she pulled the table cover from under them.
The man let out a regretful hum as he inspected the remains of lunch, rummaging through the broken tableware with his own uncovered hands without a second thought.
His fingers glimmered with beads of crimson as he pulled out a boning knife from underneath the sharp pieces of the plates, only sparing the woman on the floor a look after having stood up.
He wiped his hands into a handkerchief he pulled out from his pocket before wiping the blade clean too. His gaze rested on Qi Zhengli’s face as an inexplicable expression appeared on his features.
It was as if the scene inside the room had frozen for a moment. The two stared at each other from such a distance, but neither of them took the initiative to end the drawn out moment before the inevitable ending.
Although it might have felt like long minutes had passed, it was no more than a couple of slow seconds in reality before the woman struggled to move. It seemed that she still hadn’t given up.
The man sighed somewhat regretfully but he didn’t hesitate to step on her free hand that reached for a piece of sharp porcelain, moving the heel of his shoe until a light crack sounded in the room.
Qi Zhengli’s muffled screams filled the air, but the other didn’t seem to care.
‘Sorry, ah. You’ve seen too much.’
The author has something to say:
To anyone who might have been wondering about the title – ‘ashes and dust’ comes from an old hungarian burial sermon. The original words are ‘por ës homou’, and the sermon is the earliest contiguous text in the language. Here‘s a link to the english translation. Although, it is not too interesting of a read, after all it’s just a religious speech. ‘Isa por es homou’ is also the title of a short story by an author I really like. I might translate one of the stories from the same book it was published in since the castle arc was half-inspired by it
not gonna lie, the jump between the other instance and this one threw me off.
who is the killer then?
thanks for the chapter <3