Chapter 160 - 160 Eighteen

Words : 1242 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

160: Eighteen. Dead Wife 160: Eighteen. Dead Wife “May I come in to talk?” The young man’s frantic shouting drew the attention of a few passersby, who curiously looked towards the house shrouded in the rain. “No, you mustn’t—” “Okay, thank you.” Lu Li ignored the refusal and forcefully pushed past the young man to enter the foyer, closing the door behind him. Thud— The door shut, and the young man, holding a wooden stick, nervously stepped back, appearing as if he suffered from a mental illness. “Don’t be nervous, Mr. Trance, we’re just here to understand some situations.” Lu Li said, scanning the room. The house had only one floor, a typical three-bedroom, one-living-room layout. One study, two bedrooms, the living room window faced west, away from the harbor. The scent of low-quality disinfectant was even stronger than in a hospital, nearly choking, as if to cover something up. Both the floor and the furniture were spotless, with a wet mop placed on the side. Trance appeared to have a severe case of OCD, though Valentine hadn’t mentioned this in the information he provided. “You all...” Trance’s eyes flickered with wariness; he noticed Lu Li used a plural noun, anxiously turning his head as if looking for another person in the room. Although that was indeed the case. “I have a colleague, he’s outside, didn’t come in,” Trance’s paranoid-like reaction made Lu Li frown. Lu Li walked over and sat on the sofa, which might make the other tense, but it could signal his harmlessness: “Okay, Mr. Trance, please sit down. I have some questions I’d like to ask you.” “Didn’t you guys already ask these a few days ago?” Trance finally seemed slightly convinced by Lu Li’s words. He circled the sofa and sat down opposite Lu Li. The wooden stick was tightly gripped in his hands, his entire demeanor extremely wary of his surroundings. Naturally, there was no tea prepared for guests. “This time, it’s a new question,” Lu Li said, staring into Trance’s eyes, his voice slow and deep, “Just now outside I noticed you seemed very afraid of us finding your wife. Can you tell me why, or is it that...” His dark eyes narrowed slightly. “Your wife Shelley is missing, and it’s related to you.” Shelley, O’Connor’s new name, or rather the new body he occupied after abandoning the unusable body of Luke. She had gone missing yesterday, and a neighbor reported it today. Hence, Lu Li rushed here, noticing the suspicious and strange behavior of the husband. Now it seemed the husband was a prime suspect. “I didn’t, I didn’t!” The mention of the name seemed to trigger Trance’s fear; his eyes reddened, and he trembled as he yelled, “I know the truth, but you police won’t believe it!” Lu Li’s expression remained unchanged, his legs crossed as he leaned into the sofa, his demeanor calm, “Belief will depend on what you say. After all, from what I see now, you are still a major suspect. For instance, your earlier statement can be interpreted as worry that the police will find her, and your cleaning of the house can be seen as an attempt to eliminate evidence.” “It really wasn’t me! She’s already dead! When she last came back, she had already—”—the shout abruptly stopped, Trance suddenly fell silent, sinking back into the sofa with a grey face, reverting to his reticent demeanor. Already dead? This phrase meant a lot to Lu Li, and he pressed on: “If what you’re referring to is some unexplainable oddity, you can tell me.” “What?” Trance looked up blankly. Lu Li subtly led him on: “Like a supernatural event, perhaps.” Trance, his eyes red, stared intently at Lu Li, realization dawning: “Who exactly are you?!” “I’ve already introduced myself,” Lu Li answered emotionlessly. Trance’s head sank between his legs, muttering in a whisper, “You’ll think I’m crazy...” “If you’re worried about something, I can assure you I won’t speak of it.” Lu Li turned his head, looking towards where Anna might be. Anna nodded, regardless of whether Lu Li could see her or not, and floated into another room to search for clues. “Well... I’ll tell you...” Trance slowly raised his head, revealing a face that was incredibly haggard. No one would believe he was only 26 years old this year. “My wife and I worked for Lute Bank, where we met and fell deeply in love. We bought this house together... We planned to have another child and then grow old together...” Anna drifted back from the bedroom, shaking her head at Lu Li. Everything in the study and bedroom was normal, if not too clean. Trance continued his somber narration. Having lived together as a couple for a while, it perhaps wasn’t as passionate as at the beginning, but it was comforting. Until a few days ago, when Shelley temporarily disappeared. She vanished without a trace for half a day; when Trance started to panic, she reappeared before him, dispelling his doubts. “Wait, you’re saying she disappeared a few days ago?” Lu Li frowned slightly. “Do you remember the exact time?” “Around... 11 o’clock in the morning?” “I mean the date.” “About six days ago.” Lu Li finally understood where the problem lay. The information Deputy Sheriff Valentine had provided was about Shelley’s second disappearance; the truth was she had already briefly disappeared once six days earlier—but because Trance hadn’t reported it immediately and Shelley returned quickly, the police were not informed. According to the timeline, the day Shelley first disappeared was exactly the day after Lu Li had contacted Deputy Sheriff Valentine. In other words, the woman who returned after the first disappearance... was no longer his wife. It was a jumbled soul possessing the memories of all three individuals: O’Connor, Ruby, and Shelley. The smell of disinfectant in the room and Trance’s odd behavior were explained: the former was covering up the smell of decay, the latter was terrified. Lu Li shook his head gently, a step too slow again... This problem was caused by insufficient information. Lu Li thought this was O’Connor’s second victim, but in reality, O’Connor had left the decaying Shelley and was now searching for a new victim. Perhaps he had already found one. “I later found out... my wife... she was already dead... The one who came back that day was her corpse.” Trance painfully clasped his head. Lu Li, of course, knew this, but still said, “How did you know?” “Do living people have livor mortis?” Trance gave a bitter smile. ... “Huff... huff...” Trance panted heavily as he turned over in bed, his chest heaving. His wife got up stiffly beside him and moved towards the bathroom unconcerned with decency. Trance interpreted this as a lack of strength, leaned against the headboard, and was about to jokingly comment on Shelley’s retreating figure when he suddenly saw a large patch of dark bruises on her back. Shelley seemed a bit itchy, reaching to scratch her back. As her nails scraped her skin, the flesh seemed to separate easily from the muscle, revealing the fat underneath and the blurry viscera. Trance rubbed his eyes vigorously, and when he opened them again, his wife had already entered the bathroom.

Chapter 160 - 160 Eighteen

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