Chapter 5 : A Mouth Full of Lies
Chapter 5: A Mouth Full of Lies
Seeing Shen Qingzhou’s fierce expression, the old woman finally spoke honestly, “I didn’t see the killer. That day, I was inside the house.”
“That’s more like it. Not a waste of the incense I offered you.” Shen Qingzhou smiled.
“A mouth full of lies” was not merely a description when it came to ghosts. The older the ghost, the more likely it was to lie.
The reason it was described as “more likely” rather than “fond of lying” was because when ghosts lied, it wasn’t entirely their intention.
Having lost their physical bodies, they also lost complete sensory perception and the ability to store memories long-term. But loss did not mean absence. When fragments of perception and memory were triggered, the soul would fill in the gaps based on past experience.
It was similar to how the human brain filled in missing details.
So sometimes, the lies ghosts told were things they themselves believed to be true.
Shen Qingzhou had arrived relatively early. If he had come a few months later, even if he exposed the lie, the old woman would not have believed she was lying and would instead think he was slandering her.
“Tell me the specifics. What do you know?” he asked.
This time, the old woman answered honestly, “After the girl died, her ghost wandered around the alley for a few days. I saw her and spoke to her a bit… even told her some things about being a ghost…”
Shen Qingzhou listened carefully. He could tell she wasn’t lying this time.
“Did she say what the killer looked like?”
“No. She was killed from behind, her throat cut, so she didn’t see his face. But she said he smelled like fish… and… and there was a knife scar on the back of his right hand…” the old woman recalled.
“Anything else?”
“No, that’s all.”
“Thank you, Granny.”
Shen Qingzhou lowered his head to look at the incense that had burned halfway. After absorbing it, the old woman’s soul had become more solid—no longer as fragile as when they first met.
“You should go report to the underworld soon. If you hadn’t met me today, you probably wouldn’t last much longer. You’d soon dissipate entirely. At your age, what is there left in the mortal world to cling to? And don’t you have anyone at home burning paper offerings or incense for you?”
Ghosts could not remain in the human world indefinitely. The longer they stayed, the weaker their souls became. Unless someone offered them incense and paper offerings, they would eventually dissipate.
Of course, this wasn’t absolute—there were many exceptions, but those wouldn’t be elaborated here.
The old woman didn’t take his advice to heart. She simply smiled kindly and said, “A little longer… just a little longer…”
“What are you waiting for?”
“My son. I can’t rest easy leaving him alone.”
“How old is your son that you’re still worried about him?” Shen Qingzhou looked at her in surprise.
By his estimate, her son must already be in his fifties or sixties.
Sure enough, the old woman said, “He’s sixty-eight this year. Born in ’57. Year of the Pig.”
“He’s already that old—what is there to worry about?”
“Sigh… he’s had health problems since childhood. His body has never been strong, and now that he’s older, he’s been taking medicine all year round, just barely holding on. And his wife isn’t someone who brings peace either… how can I not worry…”
As she spoke, her eyes filled with tears. Shen Qingzhou didn’t know how to comfort her.
He couldn’t understand this kind of maternal love—he had never experienced it himself.
Then he thought of the woman handing out flyers on the overpass, and suddenly felt a sense of emptiness.
So he said, “Granny, I’ll be going.”
Then he turned and left without hesitation.
Watching him leave without looking back, the old woman let out a long sigh. She looked down at the incense that had burned out, then turned and walked into a low house nearby.
After leaving the alley, Shen Qingzhou couldn’t help but feel troubled.
The clues the old woman provided were few, but crucial.
But if he handed these clues directly to the police, he wouldn’t get the money anytime soon—they would have to catch the suspect first, and there were too many uncertainties in that process.
So it was better for him to find the person first, then notify Chang Shengli to make the arrest—faster and more reliable.
Since the old woman said the killer smelled of fish, there was a high chance he worked with aquatic products. Of course, it couldn’t be ruled out that he had just happened to handle fish that day.
But realistically, most people nowadays didn’t kill fish themselves—vendors usually prepared them.
Seeing that it was still early, Shen Qingzhou decided to check nearby markets.
After asking local residents, he learned there were two markets nearby. The closest was less than two kilometers away, while the farther one was three to four kilometers away in the opposite direction.
There were also supermarkets, but only small ones—none sold fresh aquatic products.
So Shen Qingzhou headed to the nearest market.
It was called “Limin Market.” Though not large, it had a wide variety of goods—vegetables, poultry, fish, meat, everything. There were even prepared foods.
After wandering around, Shen Qingzhou’s gaze settled on a fish vendor.
Calling him a fish vendor wasn’t entirely accurate—he sold semi-prepared pickled fish.
Large grass carp were sliced on the spot, seasoned and marinated. Customers only needed to take it home, boil water, add the pickled vegetable seasoning pack and fish slices, and it was ready to eat.
“Boss, give me a portion,” Shen Qingzhou said, stepping forward.
He lit himself a cigarette.
“Sure thing. How much do you want?”
The vendor glanced up, but the swirling smoke obscured Shen Qingzhou’s face, making it hard to see clearly. He didn’t pay much attention.
The vendor was a middle-aged man in his forties, about 1.75 meters tall, slightly overweight, with a friendly appearance. But a mole on his right cheek ruined the overall impression, giving him a somewhat sly look.
“Fifty yuan’s worth.”
The man’s build matched the old woman’s description. And due to handling fish regularly, he carried a strong fishy odor. Unfortunately, he wore gloves, so it was impossible to see whether there was a scar on his hand.
Using pre-cut fish, the vendor quickly sliced it further and weighed it.
“Fifty-five. That okay?”
“Sure. Add a spicy seasoning pack too.”
As Shen Qingzhou spoke, he blew a smoke ring toward the vendor.
The smoke ring hit the vendor’s face and dispersed.
Before the vendor could react, his previously clear eyes seemed to be covered by a layer of white fog, his expression turning dull.
At this moment, he was completely under Shen Qingzhou’s control—he would answer whatever was asked.
Although Shen Qingzhou excelled at controlling ghosts, when necessary, he was also quite proficient at controlling people.
He quickly obtained the answers he wanted, picked up the prepared fish, and strolled out of Limin Market.
As for the vendor, he had no memory of what had just happened.
But unfortunately, he wasn’t the killer.
Sure enough, even with the suspect’s characteristics, it wasn’t easy to catch the culprit.
But Shen Qingzhou didn’t give up.
If Qingzhou Information Consulting Office only had this level of ability, how could it grow bigger and stronger in the future?
Raise troops for a thousand days, use them for a moment—those “people” he had raised were about to be put to work.
Shen Qingzhou returned to the overpass, now carrying the fish slices.
Jiang Xinyue was still there, though the stack of missing person flyers in her hands had noticeably decreased.
After a moment’s thought, Shen Qingzhou walked straight toward her.
As for what she would choose after learning the truth—whether to keep living or to choose death—that was her own decision.
Shen Qingzhou chose to respect others’ fates.
Because sometimes, for some people, living was worse than dying.
And the young mother before him was exactly such a case.
For her, being alive was a form of torment.