Chapter 14

Red Crow 2, one by one

"Maybe it's just some student who saw the original and decided to draw it because it looked nice." Mo Fei put away his camera and said to Anger, "It doesn't necessarily mean there's any real summoning spell."

Anger got back into the car and buckled up, nodding, "A student skilled in Hebrew and demonic literature."

Mo Fei laughed, "Maybe someone as talented as you?"

Anger glanced at Mo Fei, and seeing a hint of mischief in his eyes, felt inexplicably uneasy, as if his thoughts had been read. Mo Fei had sharp eyes.

On the way back, they stopped at a roadside diner for a meal, a simple stall that Mo Fei, with his years of experience eating at such places, believed to be good. Indeed, the braised dishes and fried rice were delicious. Anger seemed still preoccupied with the graffiti they had seen on the wall, sharing devilish tales with Mo Fei, who was convinced he'd have nightmares that night.

Finally, they drove back to the gallery, arriving at half-past ten. Mo Fei got out of the car and shut the door. Suddenly, he saw a shadow on the ground at the corner... it flickered, then vanished back around the corner.

Mo Fei frowned slightly, while Anger had already reached the gallery's entrance and was waving at him, "Mo Fei, come open the door."

Mo Fei nodded and said, "Okay," turning towards the gallery entrance, but his eyes still fixed on the corner of the street. Anger's attention was also drawn in the same direction, only to see a dark human-like shadow flicker on the already dimly lit ground.

Anger and Mo Fei exchanged a glance... Clearly, someone was lurking suspiciously at the entrance of the alley.

Mo Fei gestured for Anger to stay put while he tiptoed to the wall, moving stealthily along it to the alley's entrance, then suddenly burst out.

A hoarse scream echoed from the alley entrance, unmistakably male, sounding startled. Anger descended the steps to the alley, finding Mo Fei standing there beside a gaunt middle-aged man squatting against the wall. The man looked disheveled, with a scruffy beard, black hair flecked with white, dark skin creased with prominent wrinkles, fearfully looking up at Mo Fei.

Mo Fei frowned, turning to Anger, "Do you recognize him?"

Anger shook his head blankly, staring at the man, "He has a strange scent about him."

The man, seeing that the two before him didn't seem intent on harming him, relaxed slightly. He sniffed at his own brown, dirt-stained, old-fashioned jacket and said timidly, "I came in my work clothes... that's why there's a smell."

"Who are you?" Mo Fei asked, "Why are you skulking about?"

The man waved his hand, "I'm looking for a man named Anger."

"That's me," Anger said, looking at him, "What do you want with me?"

"I'm in trouble. A fortune teller named Xia Fan gave me your address," the middle-aged man explained, "He said you're the only one who can help me."

Anger nodded, "Then let's go inside and talk."

Mo Fei also reached out to help him up, asking, "So why were you lurking around?"

The man apologized, "I've been waiting here for a long time. First, I fell asleep in the doorway, and then I heard a car... and thought I'd check if it was you."

Mo Fei opened the gallery's main door, turned on the lights, and invited the man inside.

In the bright light, Anger and Mo Fei finally got a clear look at the tense man – a rugged individual, not actually unkempt, just appearing so due to his extremely dirty so-called "work clothes."

Mo Fei took Anger's coat to hang up and went to the kitchen to make two cups of tea. When he returned, he found the man standing uneasily in the living room, eyeing the paintings. Mo Fei offered him a cup, saying, "Please, take a seat."

The man nodded, gingerly removed his grubby work clothes, folded them neatly on his lap, and then sat down on the sofa.

Mo Fei served Anger his favorite black tea and, seeing the man holding his clothes, offered, "Shall I hang up your clothes for you?"

"No, no, no," the man quickly waved his hands, "This jacket, I can't just leave it anywhere."

Mo Fei and Anger exchanged a glance. Anger asked, "How should we address you?"

"Uh, my name is Wang Zhong," the man replied. He glanced at Mofei, who had sat down on the sofa, and then turned back to Anger, saying, "I work in furnace operations."

"Furnace operator?" Mo Fei pondered, "You mean, like operating a boiler?"

Wang Zhong hesitated, "Uh..."

Anger nodded, "I see, you cremate the deceased."

The man was taken aback, then nodded, "I work at a crematorium in the hills on the outskirts of S City. Been doing it for over a decade."

Mo Fei touched his neck thoughtfully, musing that he'd done various jobs, but never this one; it seemed quite thrilling.

"This job isn't as dreadful as outsiders say," the man said, looking at the clothes in his arms, "The pay is good, though it can be tough."

Anger nodded, asking, "What trouble have you encountered?"

"Well," Wang Zhong sighed softly, "Recently, a prison sent us a body, a man in his thirties. He reportedly fell ill and died suddenly in prison. The coroner issued a death certificate, and since the body was unclaimed in our morgue for a few days, it was scheduled for cremation and placement in an urn."

Anger and Mo Fei nodded in understanding; such procedures were indeed common.

"A week ago, in the afternoon, my colleague and I were responsible for placing the deceased in the furnace," Wang Zhong scratched his head, "We moved the body from the morgue to the furnace, shut the door, everything was routine. But just as we were about to press the button to start the cremation in the control room, both my colleague and I heard someone speaking."

Mo Fei and Anger exchanged a puzzled glance, asking him, "What was said?"

"It was a faint, distant voice," Wang Zhong seemed to recall, "A man's voice, saying, 'Wait a little longer.'"

"Wait a little longer?" Mo Fei exclaimed, "To delay the ignition?"

"Yes!" Wang Zhong nodded earnestly.

"And then?" Anger inquired, "Did you wait?"

Wang Zhong shook his head, "Nowadays, it's all automated. The technician in the control room proceeded as scheduled... And then, we heard a scream."

"A scream?" Angler asked, "The voice that just asked you all to wait?"

"Yes," Wang Zhong nodded, "That scream... it had a vengeful feel to it."

"Could it be a mishearing?" Mo Fei felt that something was uncanny.

"But both my buddy and I heard it, and besides..." Wang Zhong said, touching the rough knuckles on his fingers, whispering, "In our line of work, who hasn't encountered some strange things? Plus, that guy was delivered from prison with shackles on his feet and handcuffs on his hands, clearly a serious offender."

Angler seemed intrigued by Wang Zhong's narrative and asked, "So your trouble, is it this scream?"

"No," Wang Zhong shook his head, "The strange part is, after we extracted the ashes and stored them in the box at the hall, a girl came."

"A girl?" Mo Fei listened, a bit confused, not understanding the connection.

"The girl claimed the man was her husband and wanted to claim his body," said Wang Zhong, "We gave her the ashes since she had proof from the prison, but a few days later, an old man came claiming he was the deceased's father, wanting the ashes. We told him his daughter-in-law already took them, but the old man said his son was never married, didn't even have a girlfriend before he went to prison, and had been inside for years. We later realized the prison proof the woman provided was forged."

After listening, Angler nodded, "Indeed, that's quite odd, but as a crematorium technician, this dispute shouldn't really concern you, right?"

"It does," Wang Zhong shook his head, "Our funeral home has four crematorium technicians working shifts. Apart from me, the other three are dead."

"What?" Angler and Mo Fei were both shocked, asking, "How did they die?"

Wang Zhong pulled out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket and handed it to Anger, "They were killed with a knife. Beside their bodies, a face was drawn with their blood."

"A face?" Angler took the paper and saw it was a ballpoint pen drawing by Wang Zhong.

After a long look, Angler asked, "Won't you seek the local police for a solution?"

Wang Zhong nodded, "We did report it, and they investigated, but later they told me... this matter is mysterious."

"What's so mysterious about it?" Mo Fei didn't quite understand.

"One by one," Angler suddenly said.

"What do you mean 'one by one'?" Mo Fei was puzzled, "Like, one after another?"

Angler looked up at Wang Zhong, "Do you remember the name of that serious offender you cremated?"

"Um... I think his surname was Xu, I didn't really pay attention," Wang Zhong said, "I did glance at the death certificate though."

"He must have been Xu Kelo," Angler handed the paper to Mo Fei, "This pattern is his habitual mark left after killings, the two eyes are 'o's, the nose is a 'b', together they form 'obo' — one by one. He was caught three years ago, killed eleven people, and was sentenced to life imprisonment."

Mo Fei's eyes widened in shock, "A traditional sense psychopathic killer?"

"You could say that," Angler nodded, looking at Wang Zhong, "I indeed heard he recently died in prison of heart disease."

"Why wasn't such a person sentenced to death?" Mo Fei looked at Angler, puzzled.

"Because he was mentally ill," Angler replied.

Mo Fei nodded in understanding and asked Wang Zhong, "And your trouble is?"

"You're worried you might be next, right?" Angler asked.

Wang Zhong nodded, "The officer handling the case told me that after the killer murders someone, the next target is always the first person to discover the crime scene... That's why it's called 'one by one'."

Angler nodded, "So, you were the first to find those bodies?"

"Yes!" Wang Zhong nodded, "That's why I'm scared... And there's another bizarre thing."

"Lately, you've always felt like someone is watching you, haven't you?" Angler asked.

"Hah..." Wang Zhong inhaled sharply, "How did you know? It's true... I thought maybe the guy I cremated has returned as a vengeful ghost. So I consulted a renowned fortune teller, and he said a malevolent spirit is indeed after me... and advised me to seek you out."

Angler looked down, lost in thought.

Unable to hold back, Mo Fei asked, "Angler, how do you know so much about this killer?"

Angler glanced at Mo Fei and replied nonchalantly, "Three years ago, I was the one who sent him to prison."