Hearing Senior Sister finish her story about the rope’s origin, Old Ghost scratched his head awkwardly. "My Senior Brother's mind was indeed a bit off before, but not this far gone." Senior Sister chuckled at Old Ghost’s words, but I remained indifferent. "Old Ghost, why are you in Beijing?"
Old Ghost's arrival in Beijing at this juncture meant he had timed it perfectly. In the past, when I was in trouble, my greatest wish was for this胖子 (pàngzi - fatty) to suddenly appear before me with a cheerful grin. However, as I learned more about the Schemer, I began to fear Old Ghost. Truly, he possessed no killing intent, yet he was more terrifying than any opponent.
As soon as I asked, Old Ghost looked at me in surprise. He understood my thoughts and said, "Why are you speaking so coldly? Ah, forget it, I’ll tell you. Elder Gao has been unwell recently, and his business hasn't been smooth. He sent me to Beijing to find a legendary artifact from Tibetan Buddhism."
"Artifact?"
"Yes, a Gangdong, also known as a human bone flute. Legend has it that it's made from the tibia of a sixteen-year-old girl, with Tibetan silver capping both ends and inlaid with rubies."
"What kind of ghost is that?"
"A sickness of the heart requires a cure for the heart. For the wealthy, this bone flute is the medicine."
…
"Killing bone, Gangdong, headlamp."
I had no experience with bone objects at all. I initially didn't want to ask further, but I heard Gangdong and my spirit perked up. As I suspected, Old Ghost coming to Beijing to help Gao Ji find the human bone flute (Gangdong) was definitely within Zhu Guang's calculations.
I glanced at Senior Sister. She smiled, her voice softening. "Boss, we've heard of Gangdong, but we haven't heard of killing bone or headlamp."
The boss grinned, his rotten teeth yellow in the dim light, making him look like someone who had just crawled out of the earth. He said with a smile, "Killing bone is a type of sacrificial culture prevalent in the inhabited areas of Oceania. Killing bones are bone artifacts made from human bones, kangaroo bones, or wooden sticks and stones. Every year, those indigenous people create such a hand bone, and it's said to be able to kill anyone who wishes to kill."
"How does it kill?" Senior Sister asked.
"You just need to point it at the other person."
Senior Sister smiled, and the bone shop owner chuckled along. "It's all nonsense. In our cultured eyes, they are all artworks. That's right, artworks."
I looked at the bone shop owner’s sinister smile and felt a warning in my heart. I probed, "Do you sell these here?"
"These are all custom-made, but I happen to have the materials."
"Human bones?"
The boss chuckled without answering.
"Tell me about the bone lamp."
"It's made from a skull."
"Skull?"
"Yes, it's not uncommon. Vikings used skulls as drinking cups. In religious contexts, the skull represents the holiness and piety of a martyr, symbolizing the supreme authority of the divine. Once, during a grand religious ceremony, someone lit a thousand lamps made from the skulls of young boys and girls."
Hearing about young boys and girls, Senior Sister suddenly became nervous and gripped my hand tightly. I gently tapped her hand with my fingertips to calm her.
"Boss, are these all made from human bones?"
"Yes!"
"How much?"
The boss held up one finger.
"10,000!"
Hearing my offer, he shook his head, his mouth splitting into a grin full of rotten and yellow teeth. "100,000."
"It's made of human bones."
"Mm!"
"Where did you get the human bones?"
"You don't need to ask about that."
I chuckled. "Heard of the Criminal Investigation Bureau?"
Hearing me say that, the boss's expression turned unpleasant. "Police?"
"Yes!"
I thought that after I said this, the monkey-like uncle would get angry and explain, or that he had been bluffing. But to my surprise, he shoved me and Senior Sister aside in the cramped shop and fled out the door.
"He escaped?"
I was a bit bewildered, and Senior Sister's face was also grim.
"Could it be that he really used human bones to make bone artifacts?" I asked.
Senior Sister nodded. "When that person rushed past me, I smelled the scent of decaying dead bodies on him."
"No way!"
"Absolutely."
I looked at the back door and then remembered that when the boss escaped, he had shoved us aside, not fled through the back door. This meant the back door didn't lead outside. Holding hands, we walked over and opened the back door. It revealed a staircase leading to a basement. Walking down, under the dim light, there was a large iron door. Pushing open the heavy iron door, I was stunned.
A headless skeleton hung on the wall, the air filled with the stench of decaying flesh and skin.
Senior Sister and I pinched our noses and walked in. My brow furrowed. "Let's call the police."
"Do you know the meaning of the suitcase Zhu Guang gave you?"
I looked at Senior Sister, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Judging by the skeleton, this should be a female, but she's missing her tibia and skull. The things that need to be loaded into this suitcase are the killing bone, Gangdong, and headlamp. Zhu Guang guided us here, didn't he, to find one of them? Given the current situation, we should be able to get the killing bone."
I was shocked. Make a killing bone from this unnamed female corpse’s hand bone? Although we had gotten the method for making a killing bone from the boss, the hand bone was still attached to the body. Was I supposed to saw it off with a saw?
Senior Sister saw my grim expression and understood my difficulty. She said, "If you can't do it, turn away, and let me. To save our daughter, I'll do anything."
I shook my head. "Is this the time for someone to make the decision?"
"You!"
"Call the police!"
"Tang Nan, if you're so soft-hearted, how will we save our daughter?"
Senior Sister exclaimed unhappily.
"We fight rule with rule. Since I'm in charge, you have to listen to me. I said, call the police!"
Although Senior Sister agreed to let me decide, I could see from her expression that she was angry. I also knew that this was Zhu Guang's choice for us. Senior Sister definitely wouldn't care about a stranger's arm, let alone a dead person's.
But I couldn't do it. I was bound by morality.
This was our disagreement. And I understood that once a divergence occurred between people, not only would the tacit understanding be unable to be repaired, but the crack of this divergence would only grow wider, ultimately leading to the disintegration of the entire plan.