Chapter 319: Case Closed! 'Eighteen Layers of Heaven' (Part 2)

Chapter 319: Chapter 175: Case Closed! ‘Eighteen Layers of Heaven’ (Part 2)

Li Miao wanted to run.

But unfortunately, there was always someone watching her. She couldn’t get away. She had no way to run.

Until…

An opportunity arose.

It was a massive police raid. A chance for everyone to be taken away by the Guman police of Chengluo Country!

…

…

“Are you voluntary beggars?”

On September 20th, inside a police station in Guman, Chengluo Country, several dark-skinned police officers with thick, lustrous hair addressed the crowd in fluent Eastern Country language.

They were from the “travel agency.”

All of them had been brought to the police station!

“Yes, I am begging voluntarily.”

A middle-aged man, older than the rest, his leg muscles long since atrophied, spoke with a quavering voice.

‘Voluntarily?’

Li Miao was stunned.

“You’re doing this voluntarily?”

The Guman police officer from Chengluo Country frowned, looking at the man and shaking his head.

“If you are being forced, we can help you contact your embassy.”

“The embassy will help you return to your own country.”

“I’m doing this voluntarily. Begging is my profession.”

The Guman police officer from Chengluo Country asked again.

“Don’t you miss your family?”

“Perhaps they’re at home, waiting for you to return.”

“I’m doing this voluntarily.”

“Don’t be afraid. If you’re truly not doing this of your own free will, we will help you get back home…”

“I’m doing this voluntarily.”

The man before them was like a stiff, numb, soulless robot, endlessly repeating the same four words.

Li Miao couldn’t take it anymore.

A sense of urgency surged through her, and she cut him off.

“I… I want to go home.”

“I’m not doing this voluntarily! They forced me! I want to go back, I want to go home!”

Li Miao’s voice was tinged with a hint of madness.

She had had enough.

This was no place for a human being. Even an animal couldn’t survive here for two days.

She had to go back. She had to go home. She had to return to the home she once knew!

“I have a contact number. If you call her, someone will definitely come get me, right?”

A sliver of pleading appeared in Li Miao’s eyes.

“Is that so?”

“Alright, what is the contact number? The police will contact the person as soon as possible.”

The Chengluo Country police officer said.

“183…” Li Miao began slowly.

Seeing this, the others around her could no longer contain their own agitation.

“I have a number too! Let me go back, I’m begging you, let me go back!”

“Me too! I’m not doing this voluntarily! They broke my legs. I had no choice, I could only follow them and beg…”

About twenty or so people spoke up, giving their contact information to the police.

“Okay, please wait here for a moment while the police make the calls.”

The Chengluo Country police officer said.

After a long while…

The police officer reappeared before them.

“You’re Ms. Li, correct? The police have contacted your family. They are already on their way to the station. Please wait a moment.”

Li Miao, who had been sitting in a daze, suddenly looked excited.

She had already figured out what she would do when she got back.

‘First, I’ll spend money to treat my legs and the burns from the sulfuric acid. Even if I can never go back to how I was, just getting out of here will be enough.’

‘I won’t force myself into a marriage. If possible, I’d be fine growing old alone.’

‘But my parents will probably be scared and heartbroken. I wonder if they’ll even recognize me…’

Li Miao’s mind raced with thoughts of the future—of marriage, of medical treatment, of the path her life would take from now on.

Until…

“CREAK~”

The door opened.

A man walked in.

Li Miao recognized him. He was from the “travel agency”—the one who had told them, “Welcome to Hell.”

Li Miao’s eyes widened, staring intently at him.

The man wore a smile as he pulled out ten thousand baht and handed it to the Chengluo Country police officer, right in front of Li Miao and the others.

A smile spread across the officer’s face as he reached out and began counting the money with practiced ease.

In that instant, a suffocating feeling enveloped Li Miao, as if she were in a vacuum.

Despair flooded her heart and mind.

…

…

When Li Miao appeared again, it was the end of the summer vacation period.

She met two people.

One was Chen Xi.

Li Miao had been begging near the airport.

By this point, she had no hands, not even a single finger. Her arms had been severed at the elbows, leaving fleshy stumps.

She could only lie on the ground, struggling to crawl.

Until she met Chen Xi.

Chen Xi was hesitating. She carried her luggage, constantly looking around, searching for any sign of Li Miao, but unfortunately, she saw nothing.

And just as she was about to leave…

She felt something poke her foot.

Looking down, she saw a terrifying woman whose face was extremely disfigured and whose legs were missing from the knees down.

The woman was looking up, repeatedly touching her, her eyes filled with pleading.

“Ah, ah, ah, ah…”

When the woman opened her mouth, Chen Xi saw that her tongue was gone. Her mouth was an empty cavity, capable only of producing jarring, meaningless sounds.

Chen Xi hesitated for a moment, then reached out and dropped all the remaining baht she had into the tin paint bucket.

A moment later, Chen Xi entered the airport.

Li Miao despaired.

She watched Chen Xi’s retreating back. She wanted to stop her, to tell her who she was, to go back with her.

She crawled on her stomach, her two stump-like elbows dragging her across the ground.

But the distance of just a few meters was like an insurmountable mountain separating them.

A moment later…

Li Miao looked up and watched the plane take off.

「October 2nd.」

Li Miao met someone else.

The person was so familiar, even though her black hair had turned white and her face was weathered and covered in wrinkles.

But Li Miao still knew who it was.

“Ah, ah, ah, ah…”

She reached out her arm, trying to touch a woman who was looking for a missing person.

It was her mother, Chen Xue.

Hope flickered in her eyes. Using her remaining arms, she lay on the ground, scraping the tire treads tied to her lower limbs, and inched forward.

The woman paused. She looked at the disfigured face before her, a trace of confusion on her own.

After a long moment, she asked,

“Have you seen my daughter?”

“Her name is Li Miao. She signed up for a tour group to visit Guman, but she disappeared…”

Chen Xue took out a flyer. She crouched down and spoke to Li Miao.

Li Miao’s eyes filled with anguish.

She wanted to say something, but all that came out was that “ah, ah” sound.

She wanted to write on the ground, but her stump-like arms made it impossible.

After a good while, Chen Xue sighed, shook her head, and stood up.

“AH, AH, AH, AH, AH!”

Li Miao was going insane. She watched her mother leave, frantically trying to move, not caring if she scraped the tire treads raw.

A trail of blood soon appeared on the ground, left behind by her own flesh.

But it was no use…

Before long, Chen Xue’s figure had vanished.

Li Miao collapsed on the ground.

Her mind was blank.

‘Maybe this is a nightmare… but this nightmare feels so real, the passage of time so heavy…’

“TAP, TAP, TAP…”

In her daze, she heard the sound of footsteps.

Li Miao froze and looked up. It was her mother, who had come back.

Excitement surged in her heart, but just as the flame of hope began to flicker to life, the next second…

“CLINK~”

A crisp sound echoed from inside her tin oil drum.

Chen Xue had returned to toss a few coins in, then turned and left again.

This time, Li Miao just stared blankly, watching her leave, watching her disappear into the crowd.

She seemed frozen, a motionless statue amidst the flowing river of people.

Perhaps… her soul had already died.

…

…

「2018.」

The Guman police launched another raid, rounding everyone up.

The Chengluo Country police officer before her wore a concerned expression as he asked,

“Are you all here voluntarily? If not, we can help you go back…”

Li Miao looked at him with hollow, numb eyes.

She had no tongue. In a bizarre, trained accent, she spoke in a voice that was barely discernible.

“I’m doing this voluntarily.”

The four words fell.

The people behind her grew restless, their eyes showing confusion and desperation.

“Don’t you want to go home?” the officer asked again.

Li Miao replied numbly again:

“I’m doing this voluntarily.”

…

Li Miao had a dream. Her dream was to enter Heaven.

Legend says Heaven has eighteen layers, each with its own meaning.

Li Miao wanted to go to the Tongue-Ripping Layer.

If all it took was having her tongue ripped out while she was alive…

that would be pure bliss.

…

(Ghost Messenger Case File)

[Case Closed!]