Lightning flashed and thunder rolled. The shadows were dim and indistinct.
Although the atmosphere was clearly frightening, Jian Jing did not feel afraid at all. Her attention was completely captivated by Xie Wei. He had a strange aura about him that drew her in.
"You've already done your best, so why blame yourself?" she asked.
Xie Wei gave a self-mocking laugh and sighed, "It's true, I did try my best. I told myself that as well. But fate was not on my side, and this situation has gone on for ten whole years."
A person's best years are no more than ten or so.
He had acted in several TV shows. Sometimes the show was popular but he wasn't, and sometimes neither the show nor he became popular. Over time, people felt he was jinxed, and refused to even give him a chance to act anymore.
"Director Huang still remembers me from a movie I acted in eight years ago. He is loyal to old relationships," Xie Wei said absentmindedly. "Many directors in the industry are afraid I'll jinx their works, only he is still willing to give me a chance."
For a moment, Jian Jing wondered if he was trying to play the sympathy card.
But she quickly dismissed that idea.
"I don't know if I should keep trying or not, I'm already..." Xie Wei sighed slightly, his brows knitted with gloom, "I'm exhausted."
Jian Jing said, "Perhaps you could switch professions."
Xie Wei smiled.
When he smiled, he gave off a special charm that made people involuntarily bask in his glow.
"I was born for the screen," he said. "I will only do this one thing in my life."
Jian Jing didn't say anything more.
The wind and rain battered the roof tiles, dripping down steadily.
The short-haired cat had come back from who knows where, its fur all wet. It wanted to slip inside to get out of the rain, but when it saw Xie Wei, it suddenly arched its back, fur standing on end, looking guarded and tense. It kept hissing at something behind his back.
Xie Wei turned to look behind him, speaking strangely, "What is it looking at?"
"It must have been scared by the shadow," Jian Jing replied.
Xie Wei didn't say anything.
After a while, the cat stuck close to the wall and darted away swiftly.
"I should get going," Xie Wei said. "Anything else you want to ask?"
Jian Jing thought for a moment, laying the groundwork, "You've been in the industry for so long, do you know anyone who had a grudge against Shao Meng?"
Xie Wei was startled, then smiled with flickering eyes, "Miss Jian, do you know how many students graduate from drama schools every year? How many people work at the film and TV studios? And all those kids who couldn't even finish high school but rushed to join the industry... Every one of them is a potential enemy. "
He lowered his voice, "Every opportunity Shao Meng got was from stepping on others to climb up. He had too many enemies, including me."
"What about just within the people at this inn?"
Xie Wei looked at her and asked, "Why are you so concerned with Shao Meng's death?"
"A person has died, there should be an explanation," Jian Jing replied.
"I see," Xie Wei said calmly. "Unfortunately I have no way to answer you."
That was meaningless.
Jian Jing was still unwilling to give up and wanted to say something more, but a muffled thud suddenly sounded from overhead, as if something had fallen to the ground.
Then a shrill scream erupted from the second floor.
Jian Jing immediately headed upstairs, straight for the source of the commotion - Tao Actress's room. Through the door, she could vaguely hear cries of "Don't come over!" and "Help!" interspersed with the sounds of things shattering as they fell to the floor.
Jian Jing was anxious, afraid Tao Actress was being attacked. Without even thinking to get the landlady, she raised her leg and kicked hard.
The effectiveness of her strength and explosive power cards were nothing to scoff at. The door frame let out a creaking sound of unbearable stress and gave way.
There was only Tao Actress alone in the room.
She was wearing pajamas, her hair was a mess, and her expression was ferocious. She grabbed whatever was nearby and hurled it around, yelling, "Get out, get out, all of you get out!"
Jian Jing nimbly dodged her chaotic attacks, lightly leaping onto the bed. Watching for the right moment, she suddenly flung the blanket over Tao Actress, wrapping her up in it.
A woman like Tao Actress who was always dieting and starving herself had no chance against Jian Jing's strength. No matter how she struggled, she couldn't break free of the restraint and only tired herself out.
"What's going on?" Hearing the commotion, the others ran upstairs one after another.
Jian Jing jumped off the bed and lifted the blanket. Tao Actress was panting heavily, alternating between fright and gnashing her teeth. Her hair was a tangled mess. When she saw people she would lash out, looking utterly deranged.
Director Huang's expression was shocked, "Is this a psychotic break?"
"The rumors were true?" Xu Scriptwriter craned his neck to look.
Jian Jing pressed down on Tao Actress's back and said helplessly, "Can someone come help hold her down?"
The men all hesitated. Tao Actress was wearing rather revealing pajamas, making it inappropriate for them to touch her. In the end, it was Zhang Hongchun who came in, rummaged through Tao Actress's luggage, and said, "There's medicine here."
Jian Jing held out her hand, "Give it to me."
The medication was lurasidone, a psychiatric drug that could be used to treat depression, anxiety, mania, and schizophrenia.
She made Tao Actress swallow two pills and drink a few mouthfuls of water.
Tao Actress gradually calmed down.
Looking at her swollen face, Zhang Hongchun's expression was complex. "If I had known it would come to this, why did I agree from the start?"
Jian Jing glanced at her in surprise.
But Zhang Hongchun did not seem inclined to explain further. She turned and left indifferently.
Outside the door, Xue Xiaosheng asked the others, "Isn't there something off about this place? First Brother Shao, now Sister Tao. Could it be... haunted?"
Xu Scriptwriter reacted strongly, "This place has only been open for a little over two years, the fengshui is excellent, how could there be ghosts?"
"I don't mean that kind," Xue Xiaosheng lowered his voice, seeming afraid of disturbing something. "I mean that kind."
Jian Jing: ??? What kind?
But she seemed to be the only one confused. The others all had subtle expressions on their faces. Xu Scriptwriter even rubbed his arms anxiously, withdrawing his peeking head.
"That's right, it's backlash," Xue Xiaosheng said heavily. "I heard there were cases before as well..."
"That's enough," Director Huang interrupted him. "Little Tao is sick, that's why she needs medicine. It's the middle of the night, let's disperse."
Xu Scriptwriter said, "Old Huang, wait for me, let's discuss the script."
"What's there to discuss with the power out?"
"Let's just chat, I still have two cans of beer over there."
Seeing this, Jian Jing understood. Xu Scriptwriter was afraid.
Afraid of ghosts?
Could there really be such things?
Also, what was this "backlash" they mentioned? She seemed to vaguely recall Shao Meng and his assistant talking about "backlash" when she first arrived yesterday.
Jian Jing's gaze fell upon Xue Xiaosheng - "What ghost were you talking about just now?"
Xue Xiaosheng seemed a little nervous. "Just that one."
"Which one is that one?" She stared at him.
Xue Xiaosheng spoke evasively, "Just, a little ghost."
Jian Jing furrowed her brows, perplexed. "Are you talking about the ghost from Thailand?"
"Uh, heh heh," Xue Xiaosheng was a bit embarrassed. "Teacher Jian might not believe it, but there's this saying within the circle. Everyone talks like that, I didn't mean anything else."
Jian Jing pressed, "Someone said she raised a little ghost?"
"No no, I was just talking nonsense," Xue Xiaosheng quickly denied. "Since Sister Tao is fine, I'll head back first."
Before his words faded, he had already slipped back into his own room.
Jian Jing had heard similar rumors before, about celebrities going abroad to bring back little ghosts and raising them like their own children, all to gain popularity and success. But if they could not satisfy the ghost, they would suffer backlash, ranging from financial ruin to death.
Of course those were preposterous tales.
Since Tao Actress had brought her own medication, she had clearly already been diagnosed with a mental illness. Considering what she had been through, it was understandable.
Why did Xue Xiaosheng specifically bring up this?
And Zhang Hongchun, what did she mean by "why did I agree from the start?"
Jian Jing grew suspicious and carefully scrutinized the passed out Tao Actress. A beautiful woman was still stunning even in disarray, and Tao Actress was still very beautiful. Only the mottled bloodstains on her skin detracted from her looks.
There were scratches on her neck, arms, and chest from her nails, the ones on her chest being especially prominent.
Come to think of it, before he died, Shao Meng had also cut his own body with a knife.
A thought struck Jian Jing and she pulled open Tao Actress's clothes.
On the skin of Tao Actress's chest was a tattoo.
A bird.
The tattoo was very small, just a few simple strokes, yet the pattern seemed vividly lifelike, as if it had been inked by a master tattoo artist, looking ready to take flight at any moment. But the scratches on this tattoo were particularly bad, with sharp nails having torn through the top layer of skin, oozing blood.
Jian Jing hesitated for a moment before stealthily snapping a photo of the tattoo.
*
What was it like to be in a room with a corpse at 10 o’clock at night?
To be honest, it was kind of creepy.
But with a new case on her hands, Jian Jing felt like she had a little white rabbit hopping around in her heart, thump thump thumping, keeping her from falling asleep. She had no choice but to keep investigating.
She had just examined Shao Meng's corpse - having straightened him out and stripped his clothes earlier during the autopsy to make him easier to move after rigor mortis set in - which made it convenient now to review the body.
There were around a dozen or so lacerations on Shao Meng's body, none hitting vital organs, with the worst one being on his lower back.
That patch of skin looked like it had been slashed open, appearing quite gruesome, but closer examination of the edges with a magnifying glass revealed traces of a tattoo.
This was very interesting.
Did Shao Meng and Tao Actress have matching tattoos? What did this bird represent? Did they have some unknown connection?
As she was pondering this, creak, the door opened.
A figure appeared silently in the doorway.
Jian Jing jumped in fright and turned to look.
"Teacher Jian," Jiang BaiYan said cautiously, "what are you doing?"
"Examining the c- uh, hmm." Jian Jing suddenly felt awkward.
It was one thing to be with a naked corpse, quite another for someone to walk in on it. She grabbed the bedsheet and covered Shao Meng's body, breezing past it casually. "What's up?"
"I came down to find something to eat," Jiang BaiYan said softly. "I saw the light and came to take a look, you scared me half to death."
Her eyes glinted as she joked, "Aren't you afraid of ghosts? Yet you dared to come here?"
Jiang BaiYan paused before admitting, "I guessed you were here, so I came."
"Did you need me for something?" she asked.
Jiang BaiYan said, "I'm scared and wanted someone to talk to."
"You could've gone to Director Huang or Xu Scriptwriter."
Jiang BaiYan: "......I'm straight."
Jian Jing: "?" "!" "."
"Let's chat then," she said, suppressing laughter. "We can fix up some food, I'm hungry too."
Jiang BaiYan looked mightily relieved.
The hotel restaurant had coffee and snacks.
Jian Jing tore open a pack of biscuits while Jiang BaiYan made coffee with hot water, insisting on frothing some milk.
With no electricity, he frothed by hand, stirring and stirring away.
Jian Jing: "Just pour in some milk."
"No, I know Teacher likes coffee with foam." He kept at it diligently.
After much ado, he finally managed a thin layer of foam and poured it all into her cup.
Jian Jing very graciously took a sip and praised, "The foam is finely textured, good hand speed."
In the flickering candlelight, alone together, Jiang BaiYan's mind grew bold and he said, "Single, you know."
Jian Jing: "Mm."
Him: "......"
Bang, his face crashed hopelessly into the table.
Jian Jing could no longer hold back and burst into muffled laughter.