Chapter 371 - Chapter 371: Chapter 371 Gatekeeper (1/2)

Chapter 371: Chapter 371 “Gatekeeper

On the evening of the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month years ago, Mr. Guo, the father of Guo Lin, suffered a heart attack at the station and fell to the ground. He was later rescued by someone and taken to the hospital.

By the time Guo Lin arrived at the hospital, Mr. Guo had already regained consciousness, but he kept muttering about a “Gatekeeper” he had seen at the brink of life and death, implying that he had glimpsed the world beyond death, and he believed that Guo Lin’s late mother was in that world.

Guo Lin knew that his father had a military background and was very stubborn, having always dismissed superstitions. Nevertheless, he speculated that his father’s surrealist claims were probably hallucinations induced by his near-death experience, which had left a profound impression on him.

It’s not at all strange that such life-threatening situations can produce hallucinations that undermine previous understandings of reality.

After seeing the image on his old classmate’s phone today and hearing about the hallucinations of the suspects in the two cases he previously mentioned, Guo Lin was instinctively reminded of the “Gatekeeper” — his father had described.

Because both the image on his old classmate’s phone and the descriptions of the monster given by the suspects in those two cases reminded him of a characteristic the “Gatekeeper”, his father had spoken of – many arms.

This inevitably led him to wonder, could the hallucination his father had seen on the brink of life and death – this so-called “Gatekeeper” – be the same entity that the culprits in the two cases Old Xu mentioned had seen?

Compared to Guo Lin, Wu Xiuwen was privy to far more information.

When he was previously sending Zhou Yiqing away, he ran into Xiang Kun and deduced from Zhou Yiqing’s words that Xiang Kun must have been the one who saved Mr. Guo at the station on the night of the twenty-ninth.

Taking into account Liu Feibao’s previous speculation that Qi Haoguo might have been “startled”, he linked these two happenings together, suspecting that both the entity Mr. Guo claimed to have seen at the brink of life and death and that which scared Qi Haoguo had something to do with Xiang Kun.

This suspicion was especially heightened a few days ago, right before the Lantern Festival, when he saw Qi Haoguo in Tongshi Town. Qi Haoguo had just bought a property in Tongshi Town. When he and Liu Feibao were visiting him, they coincided with the arrival of several workmen moving furniture into the house.

Qi Haoguo, initially indulging in small talk with them in the living room, suddenly lost his temper and sharply reprimanded the workers unpacking a box.

Chu Xiuwen noted that within the box the workers had opened was a foot-tall woodcarving, vaguely seen to have multiple arms and numerous eyes on its head, which gave it an inexplicably eerie feel.

However, following Qi Haoguo’s outburst, the workers quickly repackaged the box and, following his instructions, moved it to a bedroom upstairs in the mansion. Qi Haoguo insisted that he would arrange the wooden figure himself and forbid others from touching it.

Later in their chat, Chu Xiuwen casually mentioned the wooden figure, but Qi Haoguo just glossed over it and was unwilling to discuss it further.

On their way back, Liu Feibao mysteriously revealed that the wooden figure was created by a master wood carver from the provincial city, whom Qi Haoguo had sought after running into Xiang Kun. Furthermore, Qi Haoguo had determined the figure’s design and all its details.

If this had happened before the new year, upon hearing Liu Feibao’s words, Chu Xiuwen would have given more thought to Qi Haoguo’s mental state. But with the additional information he obtained after the new year for comparison, Chu Xiuwen grew more suspicious.

This evening, after hearing the two cases Xu Zhao had shared as amusing stories and seeing the picture, Chu Xiuwen felt as though he had just been struck by lightning. The pieces of the puzzle seemed to be coming together in his mind, making him feel as though he was on the brink of reaching the truth. However, when he thought deeper, he realized he was still surrounded by a thick fog of uncertainty, unable to see clearly.

Of the two cases Xu Zhao mentioned, one took place in Citong City, Yun Gang District where Xiang Kun was during that period, so a connection with him was indeed plausible.

However, the other case happened in another city thousands of miles away from Citong and on the night of the New Year’s Day, and Xiang Kun was still in Citong then.

Or maybe, this “multi-armed monster” was not only linked to Xiang Kun, but also had presence or influence in various parts of the country?

Then he wondered, under what circumstances did these people appear to see the “multi-armed monster”?

Of the six criminal suspects in the two cases Xu Zhao mentioned, even though the crimes they committed varied, they were undoubtedly doing bad things and breaking the law;

Although he didn’t know that much about Qi Haoguo before, Qi Haoguo’s business practices were known to be somewhat unlawful. He amassed huge profits by exploiting legal loopholes. But after being mysteriously “spooked” in Tongshi Town, he either halved or sold off all his those profit-generating businesses and even invested a significant amount of money into purely altruistic projects in Tongshi Town;

As for Mr. Guo, he only had a vague sighting of the multi-armed monster when he was at death’s door due to a sudden heart attack, hence, he was the least affected.

Looking at these incidents, if what they saw – this “multi-armed monster”, truly existed, its course of action appeared to save the dying, punish the wicked, and encourage goodness!

But was this because the monster was a “good monster” or because someone was controlling and guiding it? Like Xiang Kun? Or an official entity backing Xiang Kun?

Or maybe, this was Xiang Kun’s “official background”.