Chapter 70
Chapter 70
On the surveillance footage, we saw Du Yuwei again.
She was the one who had placed the Ashes Urns and the funeral portraits inside my cabinet.
However, the footage didn’t show exactly how she did it. Both cameras in the shop had malfunctioned simultaneously the moment she arrived at the storefront.
“What is she trying to do?”
Meng Yifan closed the laptop, speaking with lingering fear. “Didn’t she come looking for you before, demanding you return the Ashes Urns to her? Now she’s proactively giving them to you. Does she not want to be resurrected anymore?”
I sat blankly in my chair, a cigarette between my fingers that I hadn’t lit for a long time.
Du Yuwei’s logic was completely beyond our understanding. Moreover, she was a ghost now; we couldn’t even begin to speculate what was going through her mind.
Previously, after I had fled the villa with these two Ashes Urns and stayed at a hotel for the night, Du Yuwei had come to me specifically to get these two items back.
At the time, I thought she was working with Du Ruhai, and since Du Ruhai could use the Seven Deaths for Life Exchange to resurrect her, she had to get the Ashes Urns back.
But ever since I read her diary last night, I had a rough idea of how she had lived all these years and what her mental journey had been like.
In reality, she had never developed any feelings for Du Ruhai. She didn’t have Stockholm Syndrome, as Song Xiaotian had suggested. From beginning to end, she simply had no way to resist Du Ruhai and could only comply.
Now that she was dead, her childhood memories had returned, and she knew that Du Ruhai was her enemy.
Having broken ties with Du Ruhai so resolutely and escaped the villa that imprisoned her, it was no longer possible for Du Ruhai to resurrect her using the Seven Deaths for Life Exchange.
Since she had lost the chance at resurrection, what meaning did the Ashes Urns still hold for her?
“She didn’t just leave the Ashes Urns; she left the funeral portraits too…”
I looked at Meng Yifan and said, “Could she want us to return the Ashes Urns to the families of the deceased?”
After all, those two funeral portraits essentially told us the identities of the two victims.
Meng Yifan was skeptical. “Is she really that kind-hearted? Didn’t you say she was influenced by Du Ruhai and had become psychologically warped? How can someone like that be so helpful?”
To be honest, I also felt it was unlikely she was being altruistic.
After all, someone who would try to run someone over just because she couldn’t get what she wanted wouldn’t be this considerate of others.
I always felt there was something very strange about Du Yuwei, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what that strange point was.
For instance, why was she caught on surveillance both times?
And that night I was buried alive and she came to save me-she had left behind a bottle of water, a piece of bread, and a cell phone.
If she was a ghost, how did she give those physical objects to me?
“Do you think there might be a shop logo on the portrait frames?” I asked Meng Yifan.
Meng Yifan replied, “We’ll know if we go take another look.”
The two of us went back to the office and took the funeral portraits out of the cabinet again.
These portraits were mounted in frames. Generally, when ordering a funeral portrait, the frame comes from a funeral parlor. Some funeral parlors specialize in customizing these, as well as tombstones.
We inspected the portraits and, sure enough, found a logo on the back of the frames. The words ‘Lihetang’ were engraved on it.
It was clearly the name of a shop.
“It’s actually there!”
Meng Yifan and I conferred and decided to head to this shop to investigate.
The person who ordered these two funeral portraits was either Du Yuwei or someone backing her.
In any case, the people at the shop would definitely have an impression of that person.
Not long after, Xie Peng returned from his meal. We planned to take the Ashes Urns back to my place first; after all, keeping such things in the shop was bad luck.
As we were leaving, Meng Yifan asked Xie Peng if he had found a new job yet.
To our surprise, Xie Peng had no intention of resigning. Neither he nor Li Xingyang planned to leave.
“Boss, I want to stay.”
“I feel like leaving at a time like this would be a bit disloyal… Besides, if everyone leaves and you have to hire all new people, it’ll have a huge impact on the shop’s business.”
His words actually moved me.
To be honest, young people these days really are loyal. Even knowing the business was struggling, he wanted to stay for the sake of their bond.
Meng Yifan was naturally moved beyond words. He patted Xie Peng on the shoulder. “Alright. From now on, as long as I don’t go bankrupt, if I have a bite to eat, you’ll have one too.”
“My Second-in-Command and I have things to take care of lately, so I’m leaving the shop to you and Xingyang. Thanks for the hard work.”
After leaving the shop, we first returned to my rental apartment to put away the Ashes Urn.
Once that was done, we drove out to find the shop called ‘Lihetang.’
It wasn’t hard to find; it popped right up on a map search.
There was only one in all of Lanjiang City. About half an hour later, we arrived at the shop.
The place was indeed specialized in custom funeral portraits and tombstones. When we arrived, there were no customers, only two carvers and the owner.
“What can I do for you two?”
“Boss, I wanted to ask, were these two funeral portraits custom-made here?”
I pulled the portraits out directly.
The owner took them, looked them over, and nodded. “These frames are ours. And I remember these two deceased individuals. Not long ago, I personally mounted these portraits.”
Meng Yifan and I were instantly energized. We quickly asked the owner if the person who came to order them was a man or a woman.
“It was a woman, a very young girl,” the owner said.
I swallowed hard and asked, “Can you describe her appearance or what she was wearing?”
The owner thought back. “That girl was quite pretty, with long hair. At the time… she was wearing a long black dress.”
Oh, crap!
It was Du Yuwei again!
These two funeral portraits had actually been ordered by Du Yuwei herself!
A ghost ordering funeral portraits for two people who were already dead-if the shop owner knew the truth, I doubt he’d even want to keep his shop open.
“Boss, roughly when did she come to order these two portraits?” I asked again.
The owner replied, “I don’t remember exactly. Business has been pretty good lately, so there’ve been a lot of customers coming and going. It was recently, anyway. She came in the evening, just as I was about to close up.”
“She also came by a few nights ago to pick up these two portraits.”
I thought to myself: *Of course she could only come at night; she can’t come out during the day.*
“Oh, right, I almost forgot something.”
As the owner spoke, he suddenly ducked into the back storage area and brought out a black package.
“Are you two Mr. Chen and Mr. Meng?”
Meng Yifan and I froze for a moment, then nodded quickly. “Yes, my surname is Chen, and his is Meng. How did you know?”
The owner handed the black package directly to me. “The girl who ordered the portraits actually ordered three. When she came to pick them up a few days ago, she only took these two and left one behind.”
“She said someone would come for this one in a few days-a Mr. Chen and a Mr. Meng. I assume that’s you two.”