Chapter 36: Master?

After writing my name, I couldn’t bring myself to write anything else.
Because for the subsequent personal information, I could only fill in my gender and school.
As for contact details, address, and ID number, I knew none of them.

“What’s wrong, Miss Xia?
Please feel free to write.
Our police force guarantees that your information will be safe and not leaked; it’s merely to facilitate the protection of your rights,” the police officer said.

“Um, I don’t know.” I said, distressed, stating the truth.

“What?
You don’t know?
Who doesn’t even know their own address and phone number?” the police officer asked.

“I don’t remember anymore.
I seem to not remember many things,” I said.
This was the advice Mo Qingyan gave me after we discussed it—to simply feign amnesia.

“You really don’t remember?” The police officer’s expression grew serious.
After I nodded again in confirmation, he turned and walked out: “Please wait a moment.”

After a while, he returned with another officer dressed in white.
That officer sat down and said to me, “Miss, I’d like to chat with you and understand the circumstances of the case.
Please relax and answer, say whatever comes to mind, no need to be too nervous.”

He should be a criminal investigation expert specializing in psychiatry and interrogations.
He questioned me in a conversational manner, focusing on the process of being attacked by the ghost, gradually moving to events before the attack.

Regarding the attack, I only said that I was lured to the rooftop by the ghost, suddenly attacked, and then protected by the jade pendant when my life hung in the balance.
The ghost fled, and the next day I saw him again at school, and also saw delinquents clashing with him.
For other questions, especially about my former family members, address, phone number, and so on, I consistently answered that I couldn’t remember.
In fact, I truly didn’t know, and even his attempts at leading questions didn’t elicit any information.

After a chat, the previous front desk officer pulled him to the door.
They walked quite a distance before lowering their voices to speak, unaware that my senses had mysteriously sharpened, allowing me to hear their conversation.

The front desk officer asked first, “How is she?”

“The poor child, she was overly traumatized and has developed amnesia.
She doesn’t remember anything about her previous family or past, including some details from when the incident occurred,” the criminal investigation expert said.

“Are you sure?
She seems quite calm to me, not panicking or confused because of her amnesia, and it doesn’t seem to be complete amnesia either,” the front desk officer asked again.

“Basically confirmed.
She indeed forgot things before the attack, and she was somewhat vague about the details of the incident.
She must have been overly traumatized, triggering her brain’s protective mechanism, causing her to forget many things, which is why she appears calm.
However, her knowledge hasn’t been affected by amnesia; normal life shouldn’t be a problem,” the criminal investigation expert said.

“Alas!
Another one.
Many victims in supernatural-related cases are overly traumatized.
It’s a blessing she hasn’t directly suffered a mental breakdown,” the front desk officer sighed.

“No choice.
Go check her file.
Xia Yubing.
Her school file should be easy to find, then notify her family to pick her up.
Since she hasn’t suffered a mental breakdown, perhaps seeing familiar people and things will trigger her memories,” the criminal investigation expert said.

“The person who reported the crime is in this state, so there’s no way to write up the report.
Moreover, according to communications, those delinquent students have been missing for a day and are unreachable.
None of them went home, and no one has seen them, so it seems they truly met with foul play,” the front desk officer said.

“Tsk!
This case is probably very serious.
It’s been a long time since we’ve had such a serious case in our jurisdiction.
This time it must be a formidable opponent.
I hope the frontline officers are safe and sound,” the criminal investigation expert also sighed.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.
The main unit has already hired an exorcist consultant.
If worst comes to worst, we can also request assistance from exorcists in other regions.
It’s not a big problem,” the front desk officer said confidently.

They walked further away, and I couldn’t hear them anymore, but the information from their earlier conversation was already sufficient.
First, they seemed to believe I had amnesia, so my identity was covered.
Secondly, the police indeed knew about ghosts in the world and collaborated with exorcists, which reassured me slightly.

We waited quietly for two or three hours.
During this time, different police officers occasionally came in to chat with us, incidentally questioning Xiao Qing and Senior Sister Mo.
They both only said they came to report with me and didn’t know the specific situation.

The phone rang intermittently outside.
The police seemed to have set up a dedicated line for this case to command and exchange intelligence, but from their frequent and anxious conversations, I gathered that the case still had made no progress.

Xiao Qing had already called home, saying she wouldn’t be home for dinner tonight because of something at school.
Her parents readily agreed, so it seemed they really trusted Xiao Qing.

After eating boxed meals at the police station, a team of police officers finally filed in, about twenty or thirty people.
The leading officer walked up to me and said, “I’m sorry, Miss Xia, Luo Xiao is missing.
We’ve dispatched people to search urgently.
You can go home first, or you can choose to apply for special police protection.”

I was stunned.
They hadn’t caught the Painted Skin Ghost yet, but they wanted me to go home first.
I was already homeless, and I didn’t even know where Xia Yubing’s home was.
But police protection… I wasn’t used to it.

At this point, the front desk officer leaned in and whispered about the reporter’s amnesia.
The officer was momentarily surprised, then said, “We can arrange to send you home, or you can stay in an apartment arranged by the police for your protection.”

I was about to choose to accept police protection, after all, I came to report the crime precisely to save my life.
Just then, the officer’s phone rang.

“Hello?
Oh, Master Yi, have you found something new?
Another method?
You want to talk to the victim, but she seems to have been traumatized and has amnesia.
Uh, alright, you come to the police station now, I’ll arrange it.”

After the officer hung up the phone, he spoke with great respect to the person on the other end.
I also vaguely heard the voice coming from the phone; it seemed to be a male voice, not very old.
The officer hung up the phone and said to me, “A Master wants to talk to you.
He is the main force responsible for capturing that evil ghost this time.
He seems to have a method that can solve that menace once and for all.”

Master?
Invited by the police?
Or was he the exorcist consultant they mentioned earlier?
I didn’t hesitate for too long before nodding and saying, “Okay, I’ll see him.”

Not long after, a young man walked into the police station.
He was about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, not yet thirty.
He wore a Daoist robe with a taiji symbol drawn on it, a string of copper coins hung at his waist, and a sword was strapped to his back.