21: Chapter 21 Transcript

[ Tianhai City Serial Jumping Case ]

Evidence: Inquiry Statement, Body-worn Camera

Number of Jumpers: 7

Date of First Jumping Case Recorded: July 15th

Recently, multiple jumping cases have been discovered across Tianhai City, and all the locations were different.

According to the Public Security Bureau's visits and investigations, it was discovered that all jumpers shared the following common characteristics:

1. Seven days before their deaths, all jumpers had large, unexplained sums of money deposited into their accounts.

2. According to surveillance footage from the scenes, all deceased fell feet-first, and the time of death was between 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM.

3. All deceased had intact faces, but their apparent age was severely inconsistent with their recent photos, showing signs of severe aging.

...

Jucai Subdistrict, Tianhai City, Jucai Residential Area.

A Public Security Bureau patrol car stopped in the residential area, and two Public Security Officers stepped out.

They walked into the stairwell, arrived in front of door 703, and knocked on the door.

Not long after, the door opened, and a young man with a pale face and a dazed expression appeared behind it.

After glancing at the Public Security uniforms worn by the two people outside, he invited them in.

Sitting on the sofa, a Public Security Officer began to speak.

"Mr. Chen, hello! We are from the Jucai Subdistrict Public Security Bureau. Regarding the jumping case of your friend, Duan Yitian, we have some doubts and need you to cooperate with our investigation."

"Oh! Okay, okay!" The man nodded, then raised his finger, pointing at something flashing with a red light on their shoulders.

He asked, "What is this?"

"This is a body-worn camera. All recordings are only used as evidence and will not be used for any other purpose. Please rest assured, Mr. Chen."

"I see... Sorry, this is my first time facing this kind of situation, I'm a bit nervous!"

"It's okay, Mr. Chen. Can we continue?"

"Yes!"

"Good!"

"We found the deceased Duan Yitian's personal mobile phone on him. From his contact list, we discovered that the last person Duan Yitian contacted before his death was you, Mr. Chen."

"Furthermore, upon checking Duan Yitian's chat history, we discovered that on the night Duan Yitian jumped, he had gone out to gather with you."

"We would like to ask, why did Duan Yitian take the initiative to contact you after separating from you before he jumped, and what exactly did he tell you over the phone?"

"Comrade Public Security Officer, I don't know if you will believe this, but in this world, there are... unclean things that exist..."

"Unclean things? Mr. Chen, are you trying to say that before Duan Yitian died, he mentioned to you that someone was following him?"

"Yes! No, that's not right... No!"

"Mr. Chen, please relax and take your time."

"Okay... Okay."

"*Gulp*"

"That day, Duan Yitian did indeed mention to me on the phone that something was following him, but he said that the thing following him was not a person... It is not a person... It... It is... a ghost..."

"A ghost? Mr. Chen, please continue."

"Okay... Okay! You are Public Security Officers, you should be able to find the information about how Duan Yitian suddenly won the lottery a week before he died, right!"

"Won the lottery? Mr. Chen, are you saying that the large sum of money that suddenly appeared in Duan Yitian's account was from winning the lottery? But according to our investigation, there is no lottery in all of Jiuzhou with an amount equal to this money."

"You definitely won't be able to find it, because that money wasn't given by a living person, but... *huff*... it was life-claiming money given by a ghost... *huff*"

"Life-claiming money? What exactly happened that day? Please tell us the truth, Mr. Chen!"

"That day, Duan Yitian suddenly sent us a message saying he had struck it rich and wanted to treat us to a night out. We didn't refuse, so we went out. I noticed that Duan Yitian had aged a lot, but he didn't mention it to us, so we didn't feel comfortable asking. Later, we went to a restaurant to eat, then went to KTV to sing, and finally, we went to a foot massage parlor. We didn't... mess around. We went to that kind of... legitimate foot massage parlor, just the kind for simple foot massages."

"Alright, we understand. Please continue."

"When we were getting our feet massaged, we noticed that Duan Yitian seemed a bit off. He kept hitting his head from time to time. He is usually a person with a very good temper, but that day, he scolded the new foot massage girl until she cried for no reason. After the massage, we parted ways at the parlor. Since I was going in the same direction as Duan Yitian, he gave me a ride for a while. In the car, his expression was very abnormal. He kept emphasizing to me that there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world, telling me to be down-to-earth and not to buy lottery tickets or anything like that..."

"And then? What happened?"

"Later, not long after I returned home, Duan Yitian called me. I remember very clearly that his tone was very panicked at the time, and I could feel that he was very scared. He seemed to be running away at that moment; he must have been constantly climbing stairs. I could clearly hear his footsteps and panting. He kept muttering something... It's here... It has been following me, it is right behind me. There is no free lunch in this world; what I won wasn't a prize, but life-buying money..."

"Following? Life-buying money? Mr. Chen, are you saying that someone paid to hire a killer to buy Duan Yitian's life? But why would that person give Duan Yitian so much money?"

"No! You don't understand, that... it... it is not a person... it is a ghost... That money is the price the ghost paid to buy his life. When he started spending that money, he had already agreed to sell his own life... He sold his own lifespan. He only had seven days left to live. When the time is up, it will come to collect the goods it purchased... Hahaha... Duan Yitian is dead, and I will die too... Hahaha..."

"Mr. Chen, please calm down! Please calm down!"

"Hahaha... Come on! Come and take my life! You don't need to wait another three days, I can hand over my life early... Hahaha..."

"Ah~ Ugh~"

"Sorry, Mr. Chen. Given your current mental state, for the sake of your safety, we must use coercive measures on you."

"Hahaha... It's useless... That thing is simply not human... No matter what you do, I will still die in three days... Hahaha..."

...

"Grandpa! Your grandson is calling you!"

"Grandpa! Your grandson is calling you!"

"..."

In the middle of the day.

Having Cultivated all night, Lu Siye, who had just crawled out of bed and was washing his face, received a call.

He picked up his phone. The caller was Officer Zheng Hai, whom he had met twice before. They had previously exchanged phone numbers next door.

Quickly drying the water on his hands, Lu Siye picked up the phone and chose to answer.

Before Lu Siye could even speak, the solemn voice of Officer Zheng Hai rang out.

"Comrade Xiao Lu, something has happened. I need your help over here!"