The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 175 Grandma
At dawn, Zhong Kui appeared in the morning sun of Dongji Town.

She tied her long hair into a bun, put on protective clothing, and followed Qi Fei down to the underground altar.

In that small doorway, the bones were still sitting there, and the skeleton's face was grinning, as if in a sneer.

"Xiao Tao has done a preliminary examination. Judging from the condition of the bones, it is a female, between 30 and 40 years old." Qi Fei said beside her, "But more importantly, you should take a look at this." As he said that, he took out the pocket watch found from the bones, opened the cover, and the black and white photo inside appeared in front of Zhong Kui.

Zhong Kui's brow furrowed slightly, evidently having discovered the same problem as Qi Fei. "Genetics is truly an interesting thing." She then observed the small cave. "Hmm, it's arranged to resemble a uterus. It seems that once we understand the cause of death of Victim Zero, we can finally understand the killer's past and present lives."

"Yes, I think I know why he suddenly stopped killing in 1984. It seems we have to go to Baijiazhai again." Qi Fei said.

"Tell me, does he know that we know it?" Qi Fei and Zhong Kui were speaking in riddles that no one else could understand.
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The spring in Nancheng is changing rapidly. Compared with the last time Zhong Kui and Qi Fei went up the mountain, in just a few days, the pine forest hidden in the mist has been surging with new green, and the air is filled with the fresh aroma of pine resin.

The pine branches are covered with pine flowers, and when the wind blows, a floating golden mist is formed among the mountain mist.

In the square in front of the ancestral home, a long table and a fir wood steamer were set up. Chang Ying, wearing an apron and simple clothes, was making pine flower cakes with the villagers.

Seeing Zhong Kui and Qi Fei coming, she enthusiastically invited them to join.

"Director Chang, we need to talk for a moment." Qi Fei said to her in a somewhat disappointed tone.

Chang Ying noticed the abnormality in the two men's expressions, and nervously took off her apron stained with pine pollen and led them into the ancestral home.

The noise and bustle outside could not dispel the gloom in the ancestral home.

Qi Fei showed Chang Ying the photo inside the pocket watch.

In the black and white photo, the lady had pigtails and was smiling brightly at the camera. Her features were 80% similar to Chang Ying's, and the boy next to her looked exactly like her son.

Chang Ying couldn't help but be surprised when he saw it: "Ah, what is this?"

"Sorry, I checked your personal information. You were born in November 1984, right?" Qi Fei could not hide his heavy mood.

Seeing this, Chang Ying's uneasiness was visibly increasing: "Yes, is the case you are investigating related to me? I..." Her face was innocent and confused, "If you still want to find Bai Sanshui to find out the situation, I can call him over, he is outside..."

“No…” Zhong Kui interrupted her, “We are only looking for you.

The police found an interview with you in which you explained why you gave up your high-paying job and came to Baijiazhai.

"Yes, everyone knows that because my grandmother is from Baijiazhai, a quarter of Bai family blood flows in my veins. I feel that it is my responsibility to bring this place back to life." Chang Ying said immediately.

"I think when you made this decision, you encountered strong opposition from your father, right?" Zhong Kui asked again.

Chang Ying smiled: "I have never blamed my father for this. Any father who loves his children would, like him, hope that I can have a better future. Over the years, I know that he also respects my choice. I have fulfilled the ambitious goals I set for him. He has said many times that he is proud of me." Zhong Kui listened, his mouth slightly raised, a smile on his face, but his tone was particularly cold: "Indeed, he has poured his lifelong love into you, but he may not be so fond of this place."

"What exactly do you want to know?" Chang Ying's eyes moved back and forth between Zhong Kui and Qi Fei, trying to find some answers.

Obviously, the one who wanted the answer more was Qi Fei: "Director Chang, the household registration information back then was limited. We only know that your grandfather Cui Zhan's wife was named Bai Yunzhi, but we have no way of knowing more. Can you tell us what kind of person your grandmother was?"

Chang Ying couldn't help but frown after hearing this. "Grandmother is a very delicate topic in our family. Her first half of life and her second half seem like two completely different people. Much of what I know about her is not from my father. My father gets angry whenever he mentions my grandmother.

We can all understand this.

I was told since I was a child that my grandmother left my grandfather and my father and eloped with another man when my father was very young.

Perhaps, this is a pain that my father will never be able to heal in his lifetime.

Perhaps it was coincidence, or perhaps fate, but when I was in college, one of my research projects was studying the transformation of Baijiazhai, which gave me the opportunity to meet the villagers there. I thought of my grandmother and took the opportunity to ask the elderly about her.

What surprised me was that many people still remembered her vividly.

Because for my grandfather, she broke centuries of tradition and escaped from the Eighteen Gates of the Hidden Mist.

According to the descriptions of the elderly, she was an intelligent and brave woman.

Although my father didn't like to talk about my grandmother much, I could still sense from his few words that she was a good mother before she eloped. I always felt that my father's love for her was deep in his heart, but he just wasn't good at expressing it.

"Perhaps, he mentioned something about the church to you?" Zhong Kui listened quietly to Chang Ying's story and asked questions as if he had already thought of them.

"Are you talking about the old church in Nancheng?" Chang Ying reacted immediately.

"Ah."

"How do you know? Because my grandmother was from Baijia Village. Even though she left the village, it was hard for her to abandon her beliefs. Indeed, I remember my father reminiscing about my grandmother taking him to Nancheng Church when he was a child. It seemed like a rare and beautiful childhood memory."

Qi Fei took a deep breath and said, "After October 1984, we haven't found any victims related to the Demon Mirror Case. I think it's because you were born in November of that year. Your arrival made the murderer give up killing."

Chang Ying was completely stunned after hearing this: "This, this is..." Her eyes fell on the black and white photo again. A cloud of gloom passed through her usually optimistic and bright eyes. Then she shook her head slightly and murmured, "This is impossible."

"Sometimes, the most unlikely idea is the truth." Zhong Kui looked at her.

"We need to collect your DNA sample and compare it with the lady in the photo," Qi Fei said.

(End of this chapter)