Girl, you form the head.

Chapter 24 I will strike in knight form (5k)

"Senior?" Xia Tian looked at Bai Chi, who had crossed the police line, with great surprise. "What brings you here?"

Bai Chi paused for a moment, somewhat puzzled: "What kind of question is that? Have I already been dismissed from the police force?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant." Xia Tian waved his hands repeatedly. "What I meant was, you're already at this level, why would you personally... Ah, that's not what I meant either... Never mind, please come in."

Summer gave up on explaining.

Bai Chi was promoted to police inspector, a fact that the officers at the Han Guang Precinct naturally knew. However, the sudden rise of a previously unpopular colleague to the precinct's third-highest-ranking official, their nominal leader, created a rather complex situation.

Therefore, the police officers looked at Bai Chi with complicated expressions, but they didn't say much. They simply nodded to Bai Chi as a greeting.

Summer's thoughts differed from the other officers'; her ideas were more complex.

For example, questions like, "How did my senior suddenly become a leader?", "Can he still be considered my senior?", and "Now that he's a leader, won't he have even less of a chance to refuse the unspoken rules he's subjected to, like those in those stories..."

Pshaw, what weird things are you thinking about now, Summer!
Xia Tian's pretty face flushed slightly, but she quickly concealed it and then asked Bai Chi, "So, how should I address you from now on?"

Generally speaking, police officers address each other according to their job title, not their rank. For example, Chief Lei Hu is called Chief by everyone, not Inspector.

However, Bai Chi's position has not been finalized yet. After all, he was promoted to police rank yesterday, and a major case occurred in Hanguang District today. It is not yet time for him to start work. Xia Tian originally thought that Bai Chi was still in Shouxin District and had not returned, so she was so surprised when she saw Bai Chi.

"Just keep calling me senior."

Bai Chi didn't seem to care much about how he was addressed. While answering Xia Tian, ​​he glanced at the onlookers outside the police line.

Ruri blended in among them, wearing a white baseball cap, looking like a tomboy. After sensing Bai Chi's gaze, she lowered the brim of her cap slightly to make sure no one could tell her identity.

This was also Bai Chi's arrangement. Although he had prepared an identity for Liuli Hui, there was no need to use it unless absolutely necessary. It was enough to have her wait outside to ensure that she could merge with him immediately in case of an accident.

"Alright." Bai Chi withdrew his gaze. "Tell me the situation."

Seeing that Bai Chi still asked her to address him as "senior," Xia Tian felt a surge of pleasure, but she quickly turned her attention back to the case itself.

"It's a bit complicated," Xia Tian said with a strange expression. "Why don't you come up here and take a look?"

Bai Chi nodded and followed Xia Tian.

They were currently in an old-style seaside residential area, built thirty years ago.

The environment here is better than in Happiness Alley, but not by much. The occupancy rate of the entire community is only about 40%, and most of the residents are elderly.

However, today's deceased were a relatively young couple and their eleven-year-old son.

"The incident occurred on the fourth floor," Xia Tian said, leading the way. "The first witness was an elderly man living alone on the fifth floor. He went downstairs to buy groceries at five in the morning and noticed that the door to this apartment was open, so he peeked inside, and then..."

Summer paused for a moment.

"He was also quite frightened. If he hadn't been carrying his heart medication with him, there probably would have been one more death."

As they spoke, the two arrived at the fourth floor of the crime scene and entered the room.

The house wasn't large; you could see the entire layout from the doorway. Bai Chi's gaze immediately fell on the sofa in the living room, opposite which was a television.

The body has been removed, and the remaining police officers are conducting further investigations at the scene.

But Xia Tian showed Bai Chi the photos taken immediately by the forensic team. Bai Chi glanced at them and found that, just as he had thought, the three deceased family members were all sitting on the sofa. Their faces were extremely horrified, as if they had seen something terrible.

Because the sofa was facing the door, looking in from the outside would directly meet those three faces, which explains why the old man was so frightened.

"What was the cause of death?" Although he had already heard the general outline before coming, Bai Chi still wanted to confirm it.

"There were no external injuries; the cause of death was determined to be shock."

"A family of three scared to death at the same time?" Bai Chi said. "It sounds like murder, murder by a superhuman."

"That was our initial stance."

"At the beginning?"

“Yes. Because after further testing, we discovered some other issues.” Xia Tian led Bai Chi to the TV cabinet and then opened a drawer. “Take a look at this.”

Bai Chi looked down and raised an eyebrow slightly: "This is..."

"Horror movie."

Yes, there was a thick stack of horror movie DVDs in the drawer, at least a dozen of them.

“The deceased’s family loved to get together and watch horror movies,” Xia Tian said. “And according to their neighbors, the family wasn’t very brave. They often heard their wailing and howling at night… Wailing and howling is their version of what they said, I’m just repeating it. And last night, the family was doing the same thing.”

“I understand,” Bai Chi said. “You think that the family was scared to death in a horror movie.”

“It’s not us, it’s what they think. It has nothing to do with me!” Xia Tian waved his hands repeatedly, seemingly unwilling to be excluded by Bai Chi. “They think this family is naturally timid and just happened to see the scariest DVD.”

"Why is that door open?" Bai Chi asked. "Was it opened by a ghost?"

"Forensic analysis suggests that the family didn't lock the door properly last night. Then, in the most crucial part of the story, the door was blown open by the wind, and under this double shock, they..."

Xia Tian didn't finish speaking, but Bai Chi already understood what she meant.

Could a family of timid people be scared to death by chance while watching a horror movie?
It sounds a bit far-fetched, but you have to admit it's actually possible.

But only Bai Chi knew that it was most likely that thing that was behind this.

So, is that thing called the monster a special being? If so, what is its special ability?
Bai Chi fell into deep thought.

Seeing that Bai Chi hadn't spoken for a long time, Xia Tian cautiously asked, "So, what are your thoughts, senior?"

"I'm not sure yet." Bai Chi couldn't tell Xia Tian about his suspicions about the New World Society, so he could only ask, "So they plan to treat it as an accident? And not investigate?"

“We can’t just not investigate, this is a family of three.” Xia Tian glanced again at the empty sofa, as if he could still see the tragically murdered family of three. “But how to investigate is another matter. If we can confirm that it was a crime committed by someone with special abilities, then we should request assistance from headquarters for officers with special abilities. But if we can’t confirm it, I don’t know what we ordinary police officers can find out, after all, there aren’t even any wounds… Ah, this isn’t my opinion, it’s what I just heard from the forensic team.”

Bai Chi wasn't surprised by Xia Tian's words, after all, he had become a policeman a year earlier than Xia Tian and knew very well the nature of Han Guang District.

Unless it can be definitively determined that the crime was committed by a person with special abilities, the General Administration will not send the Special Abilities Division to assist.

But how can we definitively say that it was done by someone with special abilities?

Then we'll have to have another family of three like that.

“I understand.” Bai Chi nodded. “Which movie did that family watch last?”

"It seems to be called 'The Vengeful Ghost'," Xia Tian said, "but the forensic team has already taken it away."

Bai Chi searched it on his phone and found it was just an ordinary ghost movie, the kind with mediocre reviews. The ghost was nothing more than a freak covered in pus, offering no real sense of fear to Bai Chi. This further convinced Bai Chi that the family of three hadn't been scared to death by this horror film.

But they were indeed scared to death.

"Senior, the director has asked us to go back." Xia Tian said to Bai Chi after receiving a phone call. "He wants us to go back for a case discussion and to announce your new position."

Bai Chi nodded: "Understood."

The two then went downstairs together, and the remaining police officers removed the cordon after sealing off the door of the house.

This is, after all, a residential building with dozens of families still living here; they can't keep it sealed off indefinitely.

Just as Bai Chi was about to get into the car, he suddenly "thought" of something and said to Xia Tian, ​​"I think I left something at the crime scene. I'll go back and get it. You guys go ahead."

"Oh? Aren't we supposed to wait for you?"

"No need, I'll leave on my own." Bai Chi turned and left.

But he didn't actually leave anything at the crime scene; he just brought Ruri-e, who was waiting downstairs, inside.

Ruri was puzzled: "Why did you bring me here? I don't know how to solve cases."

"I asked you to come and take a look," Bai Chi said. "Can you sense the peculiar aura of the 'Ominous' element?"

Upon hearing the words "ominous anomaly," Liuli Hui's face turned deathly pale, her legs trembling, and she almost ran away. "Don't worry, there's no one else here," Bai Chi said. "Besides, I only have some suspicions; I can't be sure."

Bai Chi then told Liu Li Hui about the deceased's condition. After listening, Liu Li Hui rolled her eyes at Bai Chi, saying, "Next time, please explain in advance if something happens. Don't do this all of a sudden."

After complaining, Ruri began her analysis: "Judging from your description, it doesn't seem like an ominous anomaly."

"Isn't being scared to death by a ghost bad enough?"

"If it's truly an ominous sign, then it must have been killed by a demon," Ruri said irritably.

Bai Chi thought about it and realized that it did seem to be true.

Nanluo defines ominous special abilities as "forbidden powers that do not belong to the world of the living," just like Ruri's Shadow Mist, which can actually summon a bunch of evil spirits to fight.

If it's not an ominous type of special ability, then it must be a mental type, similar to Kou Ito's.

However, most psychic abilities require a medium to exert influence, just like Ito Kou needed leaflets for indirect contact. If that monster also possessed such an ability, then what was it using to exert its influence?

Bai Chi naturally thought of the discs that the forensic department had taken away. After thinking for a moment, he said to Liu Li Hui, "Let's watch a movie together tonight."

"what?"

Afterwards, Bai Chi returned to the police station, participated in the pointless case discussion, and accepted the chief's appointment order to become the director of the archives of the Hanguang Precinct, truly the number one person in the archives.

The problem is that he was the first person in the archives before, because the Hanguang branch originally did not have an archives director, only Bai Chi as the administrator, so Director Lei Hu can be said to have created a position for Bai Chi out of thin air.

However, Bai Chi had no objections and even thought it was a good thing that he didn't have to leave the archives room, as long as his police rank was raised.

Afterwards, Bai Chi went to the forensic department and replaced the forensic department's disc with the "Ghost" disc he had prepared in advance. Then he left work early and went home with Liu Li Hui.

Seeing Bai Chi draw all the curtains in the room to create a nighttime atmosphere, Liu Li Hui was speechless: "I thought you were kind enough to invite me to a movie, but this is what you're going to watch?"

“This is the fastest way to verify it,” Bai Chi said. “If this disc really is the medium, then we will definitely be affected as well.”

"So, are you committing suicide or murder?" Ruri asked. "If this thing really has a problem, aren't you just dragging me down with you?"

"It's alright, I was prepared." Bai Chi sat cross-legged on the sofa, then patted the area between his legs. "Come on."

Ruri was a little confused: "What's coming?"

“You sit here,” Bai Chi said, “and then I’ll hug you from behind.”

Ruri opened her mouth.

This pervert is sexually harassing me again?!
"Why...why am I sitting on your lap?!"

“Because this way we can merge immediately if we encounter an accident,” Bai Chi said seriously. “I’ve thought about it. Mental attacks often happen in an instant, so our reaction must be fast. This should be the fastest way.”

Then he opened his arms.

"Let's get started without delay."

Ruri was silent for a moment, then asked, "Can I refuse?"

……

Two hours later, it began to get dark.

The horror film, titled "The Vengeful Ghost," is also gradually coming to an end.

"There doesn't seem to be anything unusual," Bai Chi asked Liuli Hui in his arms. "What do you think?"

Ruri-e remained silent.

She was speechless. For the past two hours, her body had been extremely stiff because Bai Chi was holding her tightly, his legs wrapped around hers, his hands on her lower abdomen, and even his chin was touching her forehead, so she could feel Bai Chi's every breath precisely.

Seeing that Liuli Hui didn't react, Bai Chi asked again, "What do you think?"

Ruri-e then came to her senses.

How can I see it? How else can I see it?
I'm sitting on your lap watching this!

She barely remembered anything about the movie; all she knew was that a cheaply dressed demon was killing people everywhere, and that was it.

But she couldn't really say that, so she could only say, "I don't have any particular feelings."

Aren't you scared?

I am quite scared, but it's not the ghosts I'm scared of, it's you!

Ruri took a deep breath and said, "My special ability is a variant of vengeful spirits, how could I be afraid of such things?"

Bai Chi thought about it and realized that made sense.

He wasn't afraid of ghosts, so this cheap ghost movie full of plot holes didn't stir up any emotion in him.

Is that why this horror movie is ineffective against them? Do they have to be afraid of ghosts to trigger this medium?

Or did he misunderstand from the beginning, and this disc wasn't a medium at all, or it could only be used once and is now invalid?
"Can you get up now?" Ruri-e was almost at her limit.

"Oh."

The film had reached the stage of showing the behind-the-scenes staff, so Bai Chi no longer needed to hold on to her. As he pondered what her special abilities were, he raised his hand, intending to let Liu Li Hui out.

However, when I pulled my hand out, I was too quick and accidentally touched some places I shouldn't have.

"Ah!" Ruri-e's body trembled, and she instinctively cried out.

This reaction instantly brought Bai Chi, whose thoughts had been wandering, back to his senses, and his eyes narrowed immediately.

They're here, they've finally come!
The curse was hidden in the final credits!
Ruri-e has been attacked!
So he decisively stopped and pulled Ruri into a tight embrace, as if he wanted to devour her.

"Transform!" Bai Chi uttered these two words.

Then black mist arose, and evil spirits were born.

The black knight descended into the cramped room, his all-seeing crimson eyes fixed intently on the television screen.

However, under Bai Chi's cautious gaze, the ghost movie had completely finished its process and turned into a black screen.

Bai Chi waited for a long time but did not sense any special power.

So Bai Chi turned to the realm of consciousness with some confusion, looking at Liu Li Hui who was about to explode with anger.

Who attacked you?

"What do you think?!"

I said?

Bai Chi didn't understand what Liu Li Hui meant, but at that moment, his sensory system, which was suddenly amplified in his knight form, made him realize something.

He immediately turned his head and looked east, towards the direction of the Hanguang Branch.

Although nothing could be seen, one could still sense an extremely malicious force.

Ruri also sensed it: "That is..."

"It seems we've found him." Bai Chi nodded slightly. "Although the transformation happened a bit early, it doesn't matter."

He slowly bent down.

"Let's go into battle in Rider form."

As soon as he finished speaking, he and the evil spirit vanished from the spot.

(End of this chapter)