The Restless Spirit's Father

Liu Xiaodan and his buddies were watching from the windows of the floor lobbies. Most students talked about the case, but the father was kept silent. He knew something was wrong with this picture. Li Feng could never kill a person, judging from his lack of conviction; more when it was a friend of his. The horseman swam through the crowd to get to the fifth floor where the crime happened. There were still officers in the wing where it happened. Liu Xiaodan took a deep breath and walked along to get to the front of Li Feng"s dorm.

His son once mentioned that he could copy the things the ghost child could do. He tried walking past people without anyone noticing, unless they were looking his way. His footsteps were next to inaudible, and even though he almost brushed against them, the people failed to notice him pa.s.s. The investigators were busy checking out the room for more clues.

"This feels a little wrong." Officer Bai scratched his head. He turned to the detective who was searching Li Feng"s bed. "Detective Hung, something feels so out of place in here."

"Yeah, the body is." Detective Hung hummed as he tossed the b.l.o.o.d.y blanket back to where it was. "They said they saw Li Feng stabbing Jiang Hou, but no one saw Jiang Hou enter the room. It also improbable that Li Feng was keeping a knife in his-" He squinted his eyes at the direction of the door. "What are you doing here? How did you go past the others?"

Officer Bai turned to the man by the door, recalling him as someone he had talked to before. He went to the door and cleared his throat. "Are you involved with this?"

It was too late for Liu Xiaodan to realize he was already seen by the two. He looked at the direction of the others who had not realized the situation just yet. He looked back at the officer before him. "...I, uh, I know Li Feng, and... there"s no way he can do this. Did he say anything when he was being arrested?"

"It should be me who"s asking you here, but okay, I"ll answer that." Officer Bai raised a brow. "He didn"t say anything. He was just keeping his gaze away from anyone. The only reaction I saw from him was staring out that window." He gestured to the one at the end of the hall. "He stared at it the entire time he was being walked along the hallway."

"Thank you." Liu Xiaodan bowed and motioned to see the window closer. However, he was stopped by the officer with a word.

"Hey." He watched the father turned to him again. "You"re... Liu Xiaodan, right? That guy whose name Huang Kun used to taunt Chuan Nayi."

"Ah, yes. Are there developments in the case? You"re not going after Chuan Nayi, right?"

"That whole suicide video was weird and confusing. Seeing another murder in your school with you and that girl involved with the players again makes it really suspicious to me." He glared at the student. "You said you know Li Feng, right? Do you also know that he tried to go out with Chuan Nayi as well? Jiang Hou was like Huang Kun, too. They both went out with Chuan Nayi for a short while.

"Is there something you are not telling us? You know, it would help reduce Li Feng"s punishment." Officer Bai stroked at his chin, examining Liu Xiaodan with his keen eye.

The father only stammered. He then rubbed his neck. "I really have no idea how I fit in the equation, Officer Bai. Are you saying I made them fight?"

Officer Bai hummed and twitched at a thought. He smiled meaningfully at him. "Liu Xiaodan, would you like to a.s.sist us on this one? Li Feng wouldn"t talk to us, so maybe you could make him." He leaned closer to whisper to the father, "I think he doesn"t trust his peers these days, because both Huang Kun and Jiang Hou belonged in that group."

Liu Xiaodan stared at the man and then turned to the window Li Feng was said to look at earlier. He could see a person peering from the side as if hiding from view. There was no place for anyone to stand there to gossip, and so Liu Xiaodan knew whoever that is was a ghost. He turned to the officer again and nodded. "I"ll help out, but please, don"t let the school know."

After that, the morning cla.s.ses continued. Liu Xiaodan escaped from his bros to get to the police station. He was aching to tell Chuan Nayi, but he felt it was not good to do so. He entered the station and asked for Officer Bai. Since he was still out, he was asked to wait in the reception.

The police station in the morning was a bit pleasant. There were no loud people, only those who were filing reports of lost items. There was also a couple who were robbed on their way to the mall. There soon came a suspicious man in a long coat. He walked slowly towards the chairs and stood next to a lady who was sitting in a rather sloppy position. She was waiting for someone, judging from her impatient gestures. However, the man in a long coat continued to stand next to her.

"It"s his seat..."

Liu Xiaodan turned to his side and saw a kid kneeling on the next seat. He had a helicopter hat and a collection of band-aids along his arms. He was holding the back of the seat, peering behind them where the woman was.

"Get off of his seat already, old hag." The child, who was around twelve, pouted. He then rocked the bench in madness. "Get off! Get off!"

"Hey, knock it off." Liu Xiaodan grabbed the back of the seat the child was. He watched the kid turn to him, soon realizing that he was a ghost... judging from the wrecked state of his head.

"Oh, he can see me. Scary!" The child got off and ran away. He went to the man in a long coat and hid under it. The man still had no reaction.

The sound of clicking heels took Liu Xiaodan"s attention away from the ghosts. He turned to the direction it came from, only to see a young policewoman coming his way. She twitched and smiled at him. She almost pranced going to him. His eyes almost locked at her as he mused at her pretty face and figure. The woman looked more mature than Chuan Nayi, but it did not mean he was switching all of a sudden.

"Ah, Liu Xiaodan? Officer Bai is looking for you." She gestured to the side. "Please come with me." She waited for Liu Xiaodan to get up and walk with her. "I heard something happened again at Ting. My little brother schools there so I"m a little worried. Officer Bai won"t say anything to me."

"There are people getting killed in the university." Liu Xiaodan chatted in a hesitant voice. He was not sure if she was a ghost or not, judging from her natural movement. Then again, she called the university with its nickname so she must be familiar with it.

"Murders in the university, huh." She sighed.

"Officer Yu! Have you seen Officer Yu? No? Officer Yu!" Officer Bai"s voice came around the corner. He walked into sight with a cup of coffee. He paused a little and glared at them. "Officer Yu, what did I say about meddling with my case?"

"I"m not meddling. I was just helping out!" Officer Yu puffed her cheeks. "What is this about anyway? Why can"t I hear about this?"

"It doesn"t matter. Liu Xiaodan, come with me." Officer Bai took him away from her with a slight tug. He walked him away from her reach easily. He looked behind him and saw Officer Yu go away with a puff. He let Liu Xiaodan go and ran his arm on the sleeves to clear the creases. "Sorry, don"t let her know about the murders. She"s really protective with her little brother. If she finds out he was close to the people involved, she would get in the way."

"I see." Liu Xiaodan could ask further, but he felt he would be side-tracked if he did.

They went inside a room next to the interrogation room. He could see Li Feng through the window, cuffed to the table like he was already convicted. His wrists had reddened from resistance, and he was burying his face against his hands. It was a weird stance for the police officers, but Liu Xiaodan sure knew what was going on. There were three spirits inside the room, and they were mumbling incoherently. One even stood behind him and had been shaking his shoulders.

The father looked next to him, not seeing Liu Guangru for a long time. It seemed that he chose to stay behind than go with his father to the station. He turned to the window, only to be shocked by the ghost who was pressing its face against the one-way mirror. It started scratching, but it was too weak to make a mark.

"Little Liu, this is how this goes." The detective in charge, Detective Hung, chuckled at the student. "You go in there and ask about what happened. You"re not getting out without him saying anything close to "I did it" or "this person did it," okay?"

"I"ll try." The father took a deep breath and hesitated to enter the room with malicious spirits. However, he felt like the result of the interrogation was the key to get the eyes off of him and Chuan Nayi. A mistake would mean heavier pressure. He went inside the room, attracting the gaze of Li Feng. "Hi, Li Feng... I heard what happened..."

Li Feng only stared at him. He then murmured under his breath. "Why did you leave Chuan Nayi alone...?"