The Restless Spirit's Father

Fingers drumming against the table created the only noise heard in the small office. Even if it was most likely a storeroom before becoming an office, it was still as organized as a corporate one. The man behind the desk kept on drumming against his desk as he held the report to his face while leaning against his chair.

Song Qixi then looked up at the beautiful woman in front of his desk, who was both frightened and allured by the scene before her. How could a very handsome man hide behind the guise of glasses and a tasteless hairstyle?

However, this man was still their very calculative boss. Even if he wasn't that high in the hierarchy of the prison masters, he was still the one controlling the intelligence and countermeasures of the prison.

"Ms. Chu, are you certain these events happened?" The man's thin lips moved, and his voice was late to register in her head. Chu Youlan then twitched and nodded profusely. "I checked with the Surveillance Group and the prisoners.

"Liu Xiaodan made trips to Cheng Hei's cell before and survived all encounters with him."

"Where is he now?" Song Qixi hummed as he placed the handwritten report on his table. This man didn't want to rely on typewritten and things accessible by the computer for his reports and collated data. He somewhat didn't trust the security of these outdated devices in their prison.

"In his cell, reading a book loudly. He was like reading to the entire floor in a hushed voice."

"And Cheng Hei?"

"Missing along with all those men he brought to the audio-visual room."

The man's eyes flashed as he looked at the printed vidcaps of Cheng Hei's escape from the audio-visual room. The corner of his lips rose in a half-smirk, intoxicating the assistant in front of him unknowingly. "Whoever did this is clever, but they fall short in many aspects. Ms. Chu, I need you to have that background check on Liu Xiaodan ready."

Chu Youlan broke out of reverie after she heard his voice again. "Uhm, it's already here." She handed another report to him. "He seemed to be acting normal until a few months ago.

"It was also around the time when Huang Kun, a student of Ting, died. It also seemed that he and his friends were investigating paranormal claims in their school dorms by then."

The boss received the report and read through it swiftly. "Film and TV Production? The Stimulus of Fear?" He then murmured to himself inaudibly before placing the report down again and raiding his drawers about other reports he stored there somewhere. He pulled out a report about twenty years ago and one from forty years ago.

Song Qixi felt a slight chill running up his spine before leaning back on his chair again and holding onto his forehead. All his actions were actually hypnotizing to Chu Youlan as she watched him.

The department heads had a meeting earlier so Song Qixi had to make himself presentable. He slicked back his hair and made his face a lot cleaner to look at. He also wore contacts so he didn't have to use his glasses. Ah, Chu Youlan wished their boss would be like this all the time.

"Youlan... Chu Youlan!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Make a trip to the Mian Residence tomorrow. Ask the Mian Matriarch about the massacre forty years ago." Song Qixi pulled out a memo paper and scribbled a list on it. "Be sure to get everything I need you to have. Don't be afraid to use my name against her."

"Erm, yes, sir!" Chu Youlan then received the paper and saw the gravity of the list scribbled on the paper. She then looked at her boss. "Boss, occultism? What does this have to do with Liu Xiaodan's case?"

Song Qixi smiled at the girl. "I'll tell you when you have what I needed. Just go and don't let me down, Youlan."

"...YES, SIR!"

...

Sigh. Fu Xing sighed as he scratched his head. He was hoping to chat with Chu Youlan today before starting his shift, but she had already clocked out. Anyway, he climbed to the fifth floor in his slumped posture before noticing something weird.

Liu Xiaodan's voice wasn't echoing on the floor.

Fu Xing proceeded on checking up on his s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e-case inmate and saw him drawing on his drawing pad with a small lamp to help him see in the dark. No matter how dim the lamp was, Liu Xiaodan still managed to draw the smallest details of his scenic concept art.

The man looked up and saw the middle-aged man who was looking at him. Liu Xiaodan only smiled at him. "Uncle Fu, is something wrong?"

"Hey, don't talk so familiar with me. Anyway, it's just ten. Why aren't you reading?" Fu Xing knew he should be reading at this time; however, there he was drawing with a pencil.

"I finished reading earlier. I figured I should finish the concept arts for Librarian Huo. It would be my last day tomorrow so I wanted to give these to him." Liu Xiaodan felt that he could somehow relate to that old man because of their appreciation of art and films. Since the man liked his sketches, he wanted to finish sketching the entire book.

"Librarian Huo, huh..." Fu Xing stared at the concept arts and whistled in admiration. Wow, this kid really had good hands and visualization.

Liu Xiaodan finished a concept art before pausing. He then looked back at Fu Xing again. "Officer Fu, does the name Tang Mingming ring a bell to you?"

The officer thought of leaving to continue his patrol, but he was suddenly drawn to the young man's words. He then stared at Liu Xiaodan for a while before answering. "Everyone who works here probably had heard of that name before.

"You see, Ming was quite a superstar. Hehe, a very pretty male really." Fu Xing didn't know why he was asking, but some newbies had the same question as before as well. "As much as I remember... eight years ago, he was brought here along with another guy.

"Everyone immediately took a liking of him since he was bubbly and very charming. Also very obedient." Fu Xing nodded to himself. "But... he doesn't do well with his co-inmates. If someone picks a fight with him, he would fight them if they got physical.

"Haha, he once kicked that Black Boss in the face... like he literally had his shoe on that guy's mouth.

"He was in for arson. I heard they said he burned down their entire residence. He was also borderline mental, but he was sane enough not to be thrown in the asylum." A sigh then came. "Pity. He just disappeared along with his friend one night. Everyone thought they escaped."

"That friend of his... was it Yi Junhai?"

"Yes... well, the name sounds like that. The other person didn't have much presence. If anything, he was just always with Ming... but he's like you, you know." Fu Xing didn't even filter his tongue. "The friend was also staying here on the fifth floor.

"Aside from arson, it was proven that he murdered all members of the Tang family that night before burning their house with Ming's help. He was in for multiple counts of murder on top of that as well."

Liu Xiaodan twisted his lips. Yeah, they were the same, alright.

He then closed his drawing pad and scooted to face the uncle outside the cell. "Office Fu, you said Ming attacked Cheng Hei. Did he—?"

"Shhh, don't say that name." Fu Xing held his hand up. "Those goons might have escaped, but we wouldn't know when he'd return... or if he really left. Anyway... are you asking about his relationship with Ming?

"It's very violent, really. Though that Black Boss had those kinds of eyes at Ming. That guy had several accounts of s.e.x.u.a.l harassment cases after all."

"Don't you think he could have killed Ming?"

Fu Xing then squatted to get on Liu Xiaodan's eye level. "Look here. That case was eight years ago, and even if I think he did, there's no way I could prove anything. Ming's body never turned up after all. Where do you think—?"

The father got up from his seat and stored his drawing pad. "I don't know... incinerator?"

The guard got up as well before waving his hand. "How could you even think there's an incinerator at this small prison? Why would we have an incinerator? There's no need for one.

"You're studying too many movies." He then noticed the clock and how much time he had spent here with Liu Xiaodan. "Aiya, it's late. Go to sleep. Don't forget to turn off your little lamp."

"I will. Good night, Officer Fu." Liu Xiaodan picked up the lamp and turned it off, leaving the light source solely to be the flashlight. He then climbed to bed and lied comfortably, with his head on the bear's tummy.

Fu Xing only stared at the man before leaving to go on patrol. He still had to check that everyone was in their cells that night. However, there was something that didn't feel comfortable next to him. He felt like someone was tugging on the hem of his uniform.

"Fu Xing, this is Control."

The man almost shrieked at the sudden radio. He then answered the operator. "Yeah, Control. What's up?"

"Fu Xing. Run. Like you have to run."

"What?"

"There's a kid. There's a kid next to you!"

Fu Xing looked at his side and saw nothing. He frowned before trying to radio back, but he halted. It wasn't because there was a kid, but he saw someone standing at the faraway corner of the floor. He then lifted his flashlight at the figure at the distance. "Hey, you! How did you get out of your cell?"

The figure then lifted its head and smiled at the guard. It was about to move, but it froze. Slowly, it stepped back instead and vanished in the shadows. Fu Xing blinked as he didn't believe seeing someone just vanish in thin air.

Then again, when he was about to take a step, he felt a tug on the edge of his uniform.

When he looked down, he felt his entire body shake. A beautiful child was standing next to him and holding on his uniform hem. Moreover, he was looking up at him with a smile.

"Uncle Fu, it's still there. Do you want Guangru to get rid of it for you?"