"So, what's the purpose for calling me here?" Chu Nuan asked while reverting back to a careless demeanor of speech. She stretched her muscles with a lazy yawn before leaning back on the chair with a comfortable sigh.
Legs crossed and chin resting on the palm of her hand, obsidian irises narrow with an indolent glint.
The three disciples gave each other a knowing glance before one of them stepped forward with a light cough.
"Please take a look at the information presented inside." Man Tingshu gave Chu Nuan a manila folder, "inside are details regarding a recent case."
"A haunted building?" Chu Nuan muttered with a raised brow while browsing through the information provided in the documents.
Rong Cheng nodded his head while opening a bag of chips he had procured when no one was looking. "A woman named Xu Qianqian jumped off the top of an office building located in the busiest parts of the business district. It happened recently, around a week or two ago."
Chu Nuan turned the page to Xu Qianqian's profiled information:
Name: Xu Qianqian
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Time of death: In the early mornings around six to seven am.
Cause of death: Death was instantaneous, caused by impact on the ground when the victim's head fell from the building face down. Around a hundred and fifty-six of the bones were fractured upon the collision.
Information: Died two weeks ago when victim Xu Qianqian jumped off an office building located at XXX business district.
No signs of struggle nor clues that suggested possible murder. Workers inside the building and around have been questioned. But there were very few people inside the building during that time, no one had seen her.
Nor were they aware of how someone who does not work at this establishment was able to enter without being stopped.
Has a fiance named Xiao Ming that works in the same building. On the day of the crime, he was attending a meeting at B city till 1pm. When questioned, he informed us that he has no idea why Xu Qianqian would choose to jump off of their work building.
The boyfriend was not surprise to hear that his girlfriend's death might be a suicide but seemingly confused as to the location she chose to jump from.
Apparently as a freelancer, Xu Qianqian was living quite a stressed lifestyle in worry over monetary problems with her parents which led to light depression. She has no other relatives in the city nor close friends which is why the boyfriend was not surprised she killed herself.
"... …"
Looking at the profile picture of Xu Qianqian, Chu Nuan could tell that this is a rather honest young lady. Clear round eyes, refreshing bobbed-cut hair and sunny smile, doesn't look like a person who would commit suicide.
"So?" Chu Nuan raised her sights to look at Man Tingshu meaningfully, "this shouldn't be the reason you have me looking at this."
Nodding his head in acknowledgement, the stoic man handed the young woman another folder. "There have been strange activities occurring within the office building these past few days."
"Corpses of rats have been found lying around the building entrance with their necks cut open. Stomachs peeled apart and blood mixed with intestines of rats were then used to smear on the walls."
"Of course, that was only what happened a week ago."
Opening the file upon hearing these sentences, Chu Nuan could indeed see a few pictures inside. One is of the entranceway where corpses of dead rats are littered on the ground.
Their necks ripped open to let the blood flow out as bones are seen sticking from the wounds on the broken neck.
Another photo showed the walls inside the office building.
Chilling words mixed with bits of dried meat stuck on the walls that wrote in eerie squiggles of two people's names [Xiao Ming] and [Su Ya].
Even more disturbing than those crimson words are the last two photos of bloody dolls left on top of a desk.
One has the name [Su Ya] sewed on it while the other has [Xiao Ming] embroidered in scarlet thread.
The red lips of the Su Ya doll have been sewn shut with black threads in the design of ongoing X's. Both of its arms are mangled to the point of barely hanging onto the rest of the body. Its stomach has been cut open as red strips of cloth spill out from within.
In comparison to the Su Ya doll, the Xiao Ming doll is in a much better condition.
Long needles are embedded deep into the body of the doll from head to toe with the eyes taken care of especially. The space between its short legs are torn apart with equally red strips of cloth dangling from that small fracture.
"... …"
Just by observing these four photos, Chu Nuan already has an inkling of the story between these three people.
Placing the files on the table next to her, the young woman took a leisure sip of tea while pondering on the details of the case.
Feeling a bit impatient from the wait, Rong Cheng leaned forward from his chair in anticipation. "So? What do you think?"
Sliding down the chair slightly while switching to cross her other leg, the young lady answered in a dull tone. "A typical case of an unfilial man trying to steer two boats at the same time. What's there to investigate?"
"Su Ya should be the third person to this relationship but there were barely any mentions of her during the interviews. I suspect that she either has a direct involvement in Xu Qianqian's death or has knowledge of what happened."
"But I don't think that's what we should be worried about right now."
Chu Nuan rested her chin on her left hand while her right index finger pointed at Xu Qianqian's profile picture. "The most urgent problem we have now is her."
Man Tingshu nodded with a gratified smile to Chu Nuan's accurate conclusion. "That's correct, as you can see, the threats made here are clearly aimed at Xiao Ming and Su Ya who both work at the same company."
"We don't know when the ghost of Xu Qianqian will start making her move. But we must stop her before the situation gets any worse."
"The next time she creates trouble, it won't end with simply spreading carcasses of dead animals around the building."
At this moment, Fu Xi took a step forward in order to direct their attention towards the real reason Chu Nuan was called here today. "And to insure our rate of success, if possible, we would like to procure the help of Envoy Chu to settle this affair."
"Oh?" Chu Nuan answered indifferently to this call for cooperation. Her dispassionate expression seems to say in wordless articulation of the words, "so troublesome," to everyone in the room.
Seeing her bored expression that does not bear even the slightest bit of interest, Man Tingshu reached into his pocket to pull out a badge.
Introducing himself once again, the man explained, "Envoy Chu, I am the captain of M.O.I.U (Metaphysical Occurrences Investigation Unit)."
"A secret division that specializes in dealing with cases that could not be scientifically explained."
"With me as a middleman, I work with other divisions to provide unexplainable cases to our Dark Moon Sect to solve. In return with the completion of each case, a certain amount of monetary reward is given to us."
"Other than the reward money, there are many benefits we are given like the right to lead in cases of emergencies. As well as having a bigger voice towards certain decisions whereas others cannot."
Man Tingshu explained in a slow tone of voice while trying to remember what other things there are to include.
"So?" Chu Nuan answered, using her eyes to urge the man further from curiosity.
Instead of his second senior brother, it was Xie Luochen who continued the conversation. "So, if possible, we would like to hire you for this case."
Chu Nuan turned towards the young man.
Xie Luochen raised his sights in turn to look seriously into the young woman's eyes.
"Xu Qianqian is turning into a malicious spirit with each passing second. In order to ensure the safety of everyone in that area, we must be cautious and deal with the problem as quickly as possible."
Chu Nuan: "So you want me to tag along?"
Xie Luochen: "... …"
The youth lowered his eyes in hesitation for a split moment before locking sight with the young woman again. Struggling for a little longer, a faint flush of red colored the youth's cheeks as he nodded his head with a grave expression.
"En…"
Thin lips quiver in slight motion whilst a quick flash of unease flickered in the young man's dark irises. It was swift to the point that others who were not paying attention could not detect before a newfound determination set on his face.
Pale thin lips pinched together into a line before it opens to murmur in an almost inaudible tone of pleading.
"Please help us… mother…"
The area around the hall fell into a sudden awkward silence.
Everyone else: Mother!??
Chu Nuan: "... …"The young woman's face turned stiff in an instant before pale lips gave an unnatural twitch at this plea. "...I'll help only if you stop calling me that."