Chapter 2: Homicide  

Luo Jian studied the gun without too much consideration because, in the end, he refused to use it. He was afraid of such a weapon, so he solemnly and carefully placed the gun back on the desk, and soon after, he picked up another item from the drawer, the awl.

An awl was normally used to repair shoes. It could drill holes, and in all, it was a very sharp instrument. Luo Jian held it in his hand, examining it from all sides, then he placed it on top of the desk as well. He placed everything he found inside the drawers on top of the desk, but none of these items seemed to be of any use. Perhaps he could use the gun to shoot directly at the door handle, but doing so was somewhat dangerous, as he’d never used a gun before; besides, he still held some reservations regarding his own accuracy. In particular, there was only one bullet in the gun. If Luo Jian were to be slightly careless, he would never get a second chance.

Which is why he had to think of other ways to open the door.

Maybe I should see if there’s anything inside this locked drawer? Luo Jian narrowed in on the very top drawer of the four drawers.

He had tried opening it before, but it was locked. However, this lock seems much easier to pry open than that impenetrable door.

But reality proved that Luo Jian was no lock-picking genius. He used an awl, a wire, some scissors, he used everything he could find, but he still couldn’t open the damned lock! Luo Jian was furious, he simply stopped tinkering with the locked drawer, and instead, directly went to pry open the locked door. But doing that wasn’t any better. The keyhole was surely trying to oppose him and pick a fight with him; it was just the worst!

Nevertheless, Luo Jian also discovered that the keyhole to this door was not quite similar to ordinary ones. The dark, round keyhole was rather large, meaning that the corresponding key capable of opening this door should also be just as large.

Luo Jian half-knelt on the floor and looked through the inside of the huge keyhole. As expected, he couldn’t see anything, but the dark hole gave Luo Jian the creeps. He stood up and took a step back, carefully scrutinizing the door once again. The crimson painted door looked rather odd in this cramped room. The iron door handle was rusted and tarnished, as if someone had used this door for a long time.

Luo Jian’s first impression about this door was that it was old, but the wooden door had no marks on it; it was smooth and flawless. So, he thought about it for a moment; he took up the awl in his hands and began to scratch at the door, trying to create marks on it. But something unexpected happened to Luo Jian; no matter how hard the sharp awl in his hand scraped at the door, it wasn’t able to leave a single mark on it, not even a tiny scratch.

What kind of strange magic has been put on this damned door? Was there any kind of special material Luo Jian hasn’t heard of?

Luo Jian bit his lip and flung the awl in his hand far away. That tool couldn’t do anything for him, so he stepped back, directly lifted his foot up, and aggressively kicked at the door in front! He didn’t pause for one moment; instead, he kept alternating his legs and continued attacking the door, constantly generating a loud noise from the impact.

However, the door remained untouched. Luo Jian felt that his feet were numb.

“Fuck! Fuck this!1” Luo Jian finally couldn’t resist using profanity. What exactly is this fucking thing that’s so strong? He repeatedly hit it for such a long time, but it didn’t even have any cracks; is it even made of wood?!

Luo Jian suddenly became excited! No! Maybe he suddenly became terrified! The narrow, locked room was so quiet, he could clearly hear the sound of his own heartbeat. The fear in his heart was like a serpent that finally woke up after being dormant for so long; its cold, boneless body slowly glided across the apex of Luo Jian’s heart, stimulating the trembling of his teeth.

This sudden rise in terror made Luo Jian feel afraid, but it also made him feel bold. He directly took the gun on the desk, and copying what he learned from those police officers holding guns on television, he aimed the muzzle at the crimson wooden door. But soon after, Luo Jian abandoned this mindless and dangerous action.

There was only one reason for his giving up. If the door was so sturdy to the point that bullets couldn’t even penetrate it, there’s a high probability that the bullet would ricochet in this small room, and then the bullet would most likely bounce back and create a large hole in Luo Jian’s body, which would make him die for a ridiculous reason, and Luo Jian didn’t want that kind of thing to happen.

Luo Jian gripped his gun and sat down on the ground. He paused for a moment, then all of a sudden, he subconsciously looked at the alarm clock on the writing desk. The hour and minute hands visibly marked 12:22.

The note with the purple flower pattern explicitly gave him a time limit of one hour, and so far, Luo Jian did not know whether someone was simply playing a prank on him. But if it really was a joke, it was going too far. Luo Jian weighed the gun in his hand. This was definitely genuine.

Although Luo Jian had never used a firearm, a munitions enthusiast that Luo Jian knew had eagerly introduced him to many collectibles. They were all either models or simulation guns, moreover, Luo Jian also did not listen carefully to the munitions fan; nevertheless, he still learned how to distinguish between a genuine and a fake. There were distinct differences between the loading and unloading of magazines, the quality, and the mass and weight.

Luo Jian was troubled for a moment. He glumly put the pistol back on the desk, then squatted down to search for the note with the purple flower pattern, the note that he threw down on the ground after reading. Very soon, he found it near the foot of the bed; he picked it up and re-read the beautifully written cursive words. There weren’t any peculiarities. He carefully scrutinized the purple flower marked on the lower right-hand corner of the note. The flower pattern resembled an Equinox Flower, namely the Manjusaka2, the legendary Flower of Hell.

The bright red color was the symbol of the Red Spider Lily, indicating an ominous separation of blood and death. But on this note, the red Hell Flower became purple.

The Equinox Lily3.

It blossomed for a thousand years, it withered for a thousand years, the flowers and leaves would never meet for all eternity.4

The sentiments were not preordained, but its fate was forever destined for life or death.

The meaning of this flower left Luo Jian’s hair standing on its end. He flipped over the note to see its back in order to check whether there was anything written behind it. Because this closed room was so depressing, he had even forgotten this crucial detail.

Sure enough, there was something written on the back of the note:

【In 1989, a homicide occurred in this chamber. The murderer killed a man in the small apartment he rented. Traces of blood remained, and the window and doors were locked. But the corpse, the weapon, and the killer himself were missing.】

It was short and simple, but Luo Jian knew that these were some so-called clues. He looked up and carefully continued to observe the narrow room he was in. This room was obviously a couple of years old. Many places on the white walls were off-colored, large areas were cracking, exposing red brick underneath, the window was old and painted yellow, the glass was cracked, the corner and the edges were missing a few pieces, but the metal plate outside looked brand-new, tightly sealing the window.

The dark curtains hung on something, dangling down and appearing to fall at any given time. Luo Jian repeatedly yanked at the curtains, then sneezed; the dust was heavy. He squatted down and took a look under the bed; it was also covered in layers of dust. The bed he was just laying down on was clean. The sheets seemed to be newly changed, for they shined a pure white. It felt like one of those monotone beds in the hospital wards.

Luo Jian checked the bed comforters and the pillows for anything, but he found nothing.

The feeling of having gained nothing was truly hard to swallow. He once again focused back on the things he had already shuffled through. He attentively examined the desk; unlike the door, he could easily damage the desk with various tools. Luo Jian glanced at the locked drawer. Since he couldn’t treat that wretched door with violence, then it was always possible to treat the drawer with violence, no?

Thereupon, Luo Jian picked up the scissors and the awl, and he even picked up a ball-point pen; he was that desperate to destroy the lock on the drawer. This lock and the lock on the door were not quite the same, since this one seemed more fragile. Luo Jian almost pulled open the lock from the drawer. At one point, he used the scissors and awl to pick at it, and at another point, he used his feet to kick at it. He completely overturned the writing desk, when at last, he finally opened the damned lock on the drawer!

However, the contents inside the drawer came as a surprise to Luo Jian.

“A hammer?” Luo Jian picked up the large hammer from the drawer. The hammer looked very durable. He weighed it is his hand, it was quite heavy, he could probably break down that wretched door.

Pondering about it, Luo Jian took up the hammer, promptly made a decision, and smashed the hammer on the red door! But the result was still surprising! The power of the hammer nearly made Luo Jian’s hand fly off, but the door still didn’t budge; it was quietly existing there, separating Luo Jian from the outside world.

The corners of Luo Jian’s mouth twitched as he looked back at the door that was safe and sound; maybe he should smash it a few more times.

Yet, after he repeatedly hit it more than a dozen times, Luo Jian just wanted to rage! Even doors that were reinforced with metal plates would most likely leave behind some marks, wouldn’t they?!

Then, Luo Jian took a glance at the tattered window. Although the note stated that he shouldn’t try to escape the place through the window, he couldn’t help but think of this idea. How about trying it? Perhaps the message on the note was completely misleading, deliberately making people avoid the window?

Luo Jian walked over and opened the window. He touched the iron sheet sealing the window from outside, only to find there wasn’t any dust on it.

To be on the safe side, Luo Jian scratched at the iron sheet with the awl, but the result he got was the one he hated the most. The awl didn’t leave any traces or marks on the iron sheet, just like that goddamn door. It was as if it were informing Luo Jian of some facts—that any sort of violence against it was ineffective.

Luo Jian felt goosebumps all over his body; the dim, gloomy light in the room seemed to indicate how he felt. All of a sudden, there was a glinting light; it made the narrow room flash dark then bright, and it made Luo Jian’s back tense with cold sweat.

“Calm down! I need to calm down! What other clues are there? Maybe there’s a key hidden somewhere in this room? If the door isn’t able to be destroyed, then the only way to open it must be with a key. Right! It’s just like a strategy game, there’s only one correct path, I just have to find the clues!”

Luo Jian’s face was pale. Biting anxiously on his lip, he began to think aloud.

“I searched every corner of this room, but I didn’t see a key. Where could the key be? Where are keys generally hidden? In the owner’s pocket? Yeah, that’s a good start. So, who’s the owner of this room?”

Luo Jian looked down at the note, his line of sight was fixed on the last line: The corpse, the weapons, and the killer himself were missing.

“The murderer’s room, the key is naturally in the murderer’s hands.” Luo Jian laughed hysterically. He knew that his mental state wasn’t normal, but in this damned narrow and confined environment, being normal wasn’t any easier than going anywhere!

“As long as I unravel the mystery of this secret room, I can naturally find the key to leave.” Luo Jian glanced at the note, a chilling smile floated on to his lips, “You wanted to convey something to me, is that right?”

Then, the most bizarre thing happened!

The very moment Luo Jian finished his sentence, a sentence slowly emerged on a blank space on the note:

【Indeed, that is the case. Well, I still wish you good luck.】

As if he were electrocuted, Luo Jian threw down the piece of paper in his hand; his face was a white as a ghost, and he didn’t even dare breathe in any air.

Just now, there was no mistake!

This sentence definitely appeared out of nowhere! If felt like a marvelous miracle created from a magician’s hand! Turning something absolutely unimaginable into reality, but everyone still laughed because they knew that magic was only a distraction, that it was merely an unpredictable trick that took advantage of one’s blind spots.

But in this narrow! Locked! Dark! Panic-inducing room!

Who would perform a magic trick for Luo Jian?!

Luo Jian’s teeth were trembling, he didn’t dare look at the note again, but he couldn’t help but glance at the alarm clock on the desk. The time was now 12:40.

There’s no time!

If he didn’t find a way out, Luo Jian was really likely to be stuck in here forever!

Luo Jian was one edge. He picked up the hammer again, and forced himself to calm down while thinking about the murderer in this room. The clues hinted that the murderer killed a man in here. Luo Jian looked around for a moment, but he did not find any blood. If this room really was the scene of a homicide, then most likely, this room wasn’t a chamber yet. So when the murderer killed his victim, he must have opened the doors to get water, a mop, and all other cleaning equipment, in order to clean any traces of blood indicating a murder occurred.

Then, once he threw away his cleaning equipment, the room became a chamber. The murderer and victim were still here, but they just vanished into thin air.

“No, they didn’t disappear. They’re still here.”

Luo Jian suddenly muttered. He remembered what he saw in the murderer’s notebook, the first line of the first page:

【My left side is a crooked reflection of the dead.】