Chapter 05 Mao'er Ridge

　　I sat on the bed, unable to fall asleep again. I had no idea where Ling's father had gone, and I was alone in the room.

　　That Jiang Taoist priest had ashen-gray pupils. Now that Ling had mentioned it, I remembered it clearly. It was probably those ashen-gray pupils that startled me, causing me to see that terrifying Ghost Realm. After all, we humans all have black eyes with crystal-clear black pupils, and ashen-gray ones are extremely rare. Even a dead-fish eye is black with a touch of white; only a dead person's eyes are ashen gray.

　　The flame of the oil lamp flickered, which made me think of the ghost fire I had once seen. It was my first time witnessing ghost fire, and I would never forget it in my lifetime.

　　Five years ago, I was interning at a rural police station. Not long after I arrived, I encountered a homicide case. A young man had killed his neighbor's family of five and then fled into Mao'er Ridge.

　　Mao'er Ridge was a small hill several hundred meters high in the local area. Because it looked like a crouching cat from a distance, it was called Mao'er Ridge.

　　There were only four people at the police station, one of whom was a female officer in charge of household registration and was naturally left on duty. Chief Yang, Instructor Cui, and I rushed to Mao'er Ridge in the car immediately after receiving the alarm.

　　At the foot of the ridge, nearly a hundred villagers had gathered, including men, women, the elderly, and children. Everyone was holding shovels, fish spears, or other tools. This was a search team organized spontaneously by the village. No one wasn't afraid of such a brutal murderer.

　　After asking about the situation, we learned that the murderer had always been a bit mentally unstable and had killed his neighbor's family of five for some unknown reason. He had fled into the mountains with a watermelon knife.

　　Chief Yang immediately assigned the manpower. He, Instructor Cui, and I each led three physically strong villagers into the mountains, while the others waited on the periphery to prevent the murderer from escaping again.

　　"Jay, take this!" Chief Yang solemnly handed me the only pistol in the station.

　　"Chief, I don't need a gun!" I refused. Chief Yang was more than ten years older than me. If a gun was needed, it should be given to him.

　　"Jay, both Instructor Cui and I are very familiar with Mao'er Ridge. You're new here. If you encounter unimaginable dangers, this gun will come in handy." Chief Yang said earnestly.

　　I had no choice but to reluctantly accept the gun. With a wave of my hand, I led the three villagers into the mountains.

　　By now, it was dusk, and the setting sun hung in the sky like a ball of thick, bright blood. We climbed up the narrow mountain path, carefully observing the terrain as we went. Since it had rained in the morning, the mountain path was a bit muddy, and clear footprints would appear wherever we stepped.

　　Through these footprints, we might be able to find the murderer's hiding place. However, although not many people went up Mao'er Ridge every day, there were still quite a few. It was a meticulous task to distinguish the murderer's footprints from the numerous others.

　　As night fell, our team began searching the mountain with flashlights, slightly hunched over. Several hours passed, and we found nothing. No news came from Chief Yang or Instructor Cui either.

　　Mao'er Ridge wasn't that big. Where could a living person hide? Everyone thought that maybe he had entered Mao'er Ridge and then slipped out again.

　　It was already deep into the night, and we were exhausted. We sat on a dry spot smoking. The flickering cigarette tips looked so eerie in the quiet night. One of the villagers needed to pee and walked behind a large rock to do so. As the sound of water flowed, he suddenly shouted, "Someone!"

　　I immediately jumped up and rushed behind the rock, where I saw a vague black shadow running into the distance. With the gun in my hand, I sprinted after it. Although it was a rugged mountain path, the training I had received at the police academy over the years showed its effectiveness here. I left the three villagers far behind, while the distance between me and the black shadow ahead kept shrinking.

　　By the faint starlight, I could tell that it was a young man in gray clothes of medium height. His clothes were torn in many places, and his hair was disheveled. As he ran, he looked back at me from time to time. His face was covered with dirt, and his eyes were filled with panic and confusion.

　　"Stop running! If you keep running, I'll shoot!" I shouted as I chased the gray-clothed man, who I suspected was the murderer.

　　The gray-clothed man paid no attention and continued to run as fast as he could. I didn't fire the gun. Even if he was the murderer, the best thing to do without any threat was to capture him, and the court would decide what punishment he should receive.

　　"You have the right to remain silent, but anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law!"