CH 20

URBAN LEGEND 1032

CODE NAME: MR. RABBIT

THREAT LEVEL: C

FIRST APPEARANCE: MAY 5TH

…

Lu Yibei opened the file bag. A corner of the file was exposed.

He hesitated for a few seconds before pulling the document out.

Since he was involved in this matter, it would be good to understand the situation completely.

[…STANDARD URBAN LEGEND. FORMERLY ASSOCIATED WITH A HIGH-LEVELLED URBAN LEGEND KNOWN AS MISS TWILIGHT. MISS TWILIGHT WAS A WITCH, BUT IS CURRENTLY DORMANT.]

‘A witch? Is she an urban legend as well?’

After reading through Mr. Rabbit’s file, he wanted to search through the [Night Division Records].

[NO. 103201, INTERVIEW 01 WITH VICTIM ZHU LINGLONG’S FATHER.]

Attached to the file was a photo of a beautiful girl with a pristine face. Her skin was porcelain-like, and her big eyes were filled with energy. Thick, black hair flowed down her shoulders like a waterfall. She wore a pure white cotton skirt and a sun hat, smiling underneath the bright sunshine, revealing her dimples.

The girl in the photo reminded Lu Yibei of his crush in high school. Beautiful and pure.

Unfortunately, she’s dead at Mr Rabbit’s hands.

‘[BEGIN LOG]

ZHU MOU: No, my daughter did not commit suicide! She was entangled in your line of work. You need to avenge her.

OPERATOR 027: Mr Zhu, please calm down. When the truth reveals itself, we will bring justice to her. Please calm down and tell us about the situation.

ZHU MOU: Okay. I import goods for my business, and we’ll run into legal grey areas. It’s inevitable, but I do it for my and my daughter’s safety.

OPERATOR 027: I understand. Please continue.

ZHU MOU: You’ll inevitably make enemies in this line of work. My daughter has. However, this time, she received a very strange leaflet. I didn’t think of it at first, but there must be something wrong with that leaflet! After she read that leaflet, she became… paranoid. She would shut herself in the room, close her curtains and hide in the darkness… she would whisper, ‘The rabbit is coming…’ and I am getting so worried for her.

ZHU MOU: I took her to a psychologist the next day, but they prescribed her medicine for anxiety. One day, she got better. Woke up early. Put on the new dress I bought her. Put on a little makeup. Told me she was going on a walk… [silence] I should have stopped her.

[END LOG]

FOLLOWING THE INTERVIEW, ZHU MOU BEGINS CRYING UNCONTROLLABLY. INTERVIEW PAUSED UNTIL EMOTIONS WERE UNDER CONTROL.’

Lu Yibei gulped upon reading the depressing transcript. He didn’t want to continue reading it, but curiosity got the best of him.

‘There’s nothing to be afraid of! I’m in the Night Division, after all…’

‘Wait, don’t jinx it! When a disaster occurs, the headquarters will always be the first to be targeted!’

Lu Yibei shrugged his concerns off and opened the second file.

‘[NO. 103203. INTERVIEW 02 WITH VICTIM ZHU LINGLONG’S FATHER]

NOTES: OPERATOR 027 PERFORMED A SPELL TO CALM ZHU MOU’S EMOTIONS. THE INTERVIEW WAS THEN HELD NORMALLY.

BEGIN LOG

OPERATOR 027: Mr Zhu, are you feeling better?

ZHU MOU: Yes. Much better.

OPERATOR 027: Tell me about the situation when you found her body.

ZHU MOU: Okay… I found that she booked a hotel room under my name at the resort hotel we used to go to. She stayed there whenever she was in a bad mood and…

[silence]

ZHU MOU: She was hanging from the crystal lamp. Her feet were less than ten centimetres from the ground. There was nothing nearby that she could’ve stepped on as if someone else had helped her. A large hole was cut in her stomach, but we couldn’t find any weapons on the scene.

ZHU MOU: The police said she committed suicide, but how is that possible? My daughter is such a good girl… I was the one who killed her; I got her into this mess. My enemy must have used some kind of magic to make her…

[END LOG]

THE INTERVIEW ABRUPTLY ENDS FOLLOWING ANOTHER EMOTIONAL OUTBURST FROM ZHU MOU. THE SPELL FAILS, AND THE INTERVIEW IS CONCLUDED.’

“Hah–!”

Lu Yibei took a deep breath upon realizing that he had been holding his breath the entire time. He felt depressed after reading the file and put it aside but found himself unable to calm down.

In the blink of an eye, his surroundings became dark. He blinked again, and his surroundings became ethereal—impossible shapes and grey fog that extended from his eyes in a formless, ethereal shape.

A bad premonition struck his heart.

He was in An Qing’s office a moment ago, and in another blink, he found himself in a huge hotel room.

The room seemed abandoned; the air was musty, and a layer of dust was present on all the furniture. Cobwebs could be seen in the corners of the room, and the lights flickered.

Creak!

On the ceiling, a crystal lamp swung and shook. A cold and damp air flow could be felt like blades cutting across the skin and penetrating straight into the bone.

Nobody would want to stay here. It was like a rotting tomb.

Lu Yibei gulped hard upon seeing a photo, and his back felt numb and sweaty.

It was a yellowed photo that was neatly cut in half diagonally by something. The other half was gone, but the smiling face of a young girl could be vaguely made out on the remaining half.

He instantly knew where he was.

This was her room, where the girl named Zhu Linglong was violently murdered.