Chapter 20: Returning to Xiangcheng

The efficiency of the Zhaoping City Law Enforcement Team was high. By the time Xie Sui arrived by car at the villa rented by Daoist Kunyang and his fellow disciples, the arrest operation was nearly over.

Less than an hour had passed since his report. It seemed the Inspectorate Bureau took a very hard line against crimes involving religious exploitation.

Five or six police cars were parked at the entrance, with many law enforcement officers moving in and out of the villa. Xie Sui noticed a man in a black uniform standing by the door. He appeared to have arrived with the team, but his uniform wasn’t a standard police style. Any Xuanmen-related items found by the officers—peach wood swords, talismans, compasses—were checked by this man before being placed in evidence bags.

As he drew closer to the villa, Xie Sui sensed the exact location of his three stolen Little Ghosts. They were in a room on the east side of the first floor.

Xie Sui looked at the villa surrounded by police tape, then at the nearby SWAT officers armed with live ammunition, and began to consider what excuse he could use to enter.

Perhaps because he, a member of the general public, had lingered near the villa for too long, someone from the Law Enforcement Team noticed his presence and walked toward him.

The officer approaching was very tall, nearly 1.9 meters, and cut an imposing figure. Judging by his uniform, he was likely the team leader.

“Law enforcement is processing a scene. Unauthorized individuals are not permitted to linger.”

Xie Sui quickly explained, “I’m the concerned citizen who called in the report. I wanted to come by and see how the arrests were progressing.”

The team leader visibly froze for a moment upon hearing this. It was likely the first time he had seen a reporting citizen actually show up at the scene of an arrest.

He looked Xie Sui over, then waved over a nearby clerk who seemed to be recording the scene.

“Xiao Zhang, do you have the identity records for the reporting citizen?”

The clerk named Xiao Zhang nodded, flipped to a specific page in his folder, and handed it over.

The team leader took the folder and asked in a very serious voice, “Please state your ID number and name.”

Xie Sui recited them quickly without the slightest hesitation.

After verifying Xie Sui’s identity, the expression on the leader’s face softened considerably.

After all, it was entirely thanks to this citizen’s report that they were able to take down this criminal nest. However, he hadn’t expected the informant to be bold enough to appear at the scene.

Normally, to prevent retaliation, informants keep their information confidential and do not show their faces after making a report.

This concerned citizen, however, had not only reported under his real name but had personally come to watch the arrest. This wasn’t just being “concerned”; it felt like the young man was a bit reckless.

The more the team leader looked at him, the more Xie Sui seemed familiar. “I feel like I’ve seen you somewhere… Ah, right. I think I ran into you the day before yesterday during the search and rescue at the Chuishan Ancient Mansion. You’re the streamer who helped the team find the six missing people?”

Xie Sui nodded.

The team leader’s face showed a look of realization. He returned the folder to the clerk and spoke to Xie Sui in a softer tone. “Mr. Xie, you should pay more attention to your own safety when performing such brave acts. I am the officer in charge of this operation, Yan Nanxing. You can call me Captain Yan. If you’re here for the reward money, you just need to bring your ID to the Zhaoping City Inspectorate Bureau in five days to claim it. There’s no need to come here.”

Xie Sui was stunned. “Reward? What reward?”

Captain Yan was also stunned. “The wanted bounty from the neighboring province. You didn’t know?”

Xie Sui looked completely blank. He had reported them just so the Law Enforcement Team would help him catch Daoist Kunyang’s accomplices. How was there a reward involved?

Seeing Xie Sui’s reaction, Captain Yan explained patiently, “Among the five Daoists we caught, three are fugitives wanted by the neighboring province. They are suspected of fraud, destruction of cultural relics, theft, desecration of corpses, and child trafficking. The neighboring province issued a thirty thousand yuan bounty for those three. Additionally, there is the Zhaoping City Inspectorate Bureau’s ‘Act of Bravery’ award, which includes a five thousand yuan prize and a certificate. Remember to bring your ID to the bureau in five days to collect it.”

Good grief, he hadn’t expected such a pleasant surprise.

Xie Sui spoke to Captain Yan with a hint of sheepishness. “Actually, I came here for another reason.”

According to Daoist Kunyang’s memories, their important items were kept in a secret room on the east side of the villa. The position of the three Little Ghosts Xie Sui had sensed earlier was also in the east; they should be locked inside that secret room.

“I reported them because I was scammed out of money by these Daoists. During the time I was tricked into joining them, I lived here for a while and knew they would put important items they scammed from people into a secret room. I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to find it, so I came here to lead the way.”

“A secret room?” Captain Yan frowned. He used his radio to ask the search personnel inside if they had found one. After a moment of silence on the other end, the radio gave a negative response.

Captain Yan looked at the honest and sincere “concerned citizen” Xie Sui. He hesitated for a moment before finally making a decision. “Fine. Go over there and put on shoe covers. Stay close to me when you go in, and don’t touch anything.”

Under Captain Yan’s lead, Xie Sui successfully entered the villa and arrived at the room on the east side.

The room looked like a study. The walls had been converted into built-in bookshelves filled with books, antiques, and ornaments.

Xie Sui walked to the bookshelf directly facing the door and signaled for Captain Yan to pull the drawers at the bottom.

The mechanism for this secret room was cleverly designed; the drawers had to be pulled in a specific order to open it.

After Captain Yan pulled the drawers according to Xie Sui’s instructions, the built-in bookshelf trembled slightly and then retracted inward.

Upon seeing the scene inside the secret room, Captain Yan froze.

As soon as the door opened, a strange smell of oil mixed with sandalwood wafted out. On the wall directly facing the secret door was a massive compass that took up the entire wall. The mummified corpse of a six or seven-year-old child was fixed to the compass with red string and iron nails. The body was charred black like withered wood, posed in an extremely distorted position.

Shelves on either side of the mummified child were lined with jars of various sizes. There were transparent glass jars and black ceramic ones, each sealed with yellow talisman paper. The transparent jars contained organs soaking in red liquid, as well as unformed fetuses… Judging by what was visible in the glass containers, the contents of the black ceramic jars were likely just as macabre.

Standing behind Captain Yan, Xie Sui could sense that his three captured little ghosts were inside one of those black ceramic jars.

Taking advantage of Captain Yan’s momentary shock, Xie Sui quickly directed the ghosts on his person to knock the jar containing the three captives to the floor.

The sound of shattering ceramic snapped Captain Yan out of his daze. Reacting as if facing a formidable enemy, he spun around, hoisted Xie Sui onto his shoulder, and sprinted out of the study at incredible speed.

Before Xie Sui could even celebrate the return of his three little ghosts, he felt a sharp impact to his abdomen. His perspective shifted abruptly as he was carried out the door like a sack of rice.

The Law Enforcement Team members Captain Yan had brought with him reacted with identical precision, following him out of the room in a disciplined, rapid retreat.

“All officers who entered that room, stay where you are,” Captain Yan said, setting Xie Sui down. He stood in the hallway outside the study with a grim expression and pulled out his walkie-talkie. “Mr. Li, I need you to come over here. The study on the east side of the first floor. We’ve run into some trouble; it looks like we’ve encountered something foul.”

Xie Sui leaned shakily against the wall, silently clutching his stomach. The only injury he had sustained while taking down Daoist Kunyang’s gang came from “friendly fire”… Captain Yan’s shoulder was incredibly hard, and it had slammed right into his stomach. It was a good thing he hadn’t eaten yet today, or he definitely would have vomited.

The sound of hurried footsteps echoed as a young man ran toward them from the end of the hallway. This was the person Xie Sui had seen outside the villa wearing the specialized black uniform. He seemed physically frail, as he was already panting heavily after such a short distance.

Li Duanyuan adjusted his glasses and took a long string of dark red prayer beads from his pocket, wrapping them around his forearm. He then formed a hand seal and scanned the group in the hallway.

“No talisman aura, no incantation fluctuations, no curse effects, no ghosts… Holy crap, where did all these ghosts come from?!”

His sudden outburst startled the law enforcement personnel, their expressions shifting instantly to alarm.

“Sorry, sorry, my mistake.” Li Duanyuan smiled apologetically, quickly reassuring the panicked team members before casting a complicated look at Xie Sui.

The ghosts on this man showed no fluctuations of resentment, so he likely wasn’t an evil cultivator who raised spirits. These ghosts were probably just karmic debts from his past life.

Tragic. Truly tragic. This was worse than being born under a cursed star¹. Just how many enemies and creditors had this guy provoked in his previous life to be haunted by so many guardian spirits in this one? The Yin energy was bone-chilling; he probably didn’t even need air conditioning in the summer.

Li Duanyuan scratched his head, looking at Xie Sui with a hesitant expression.

Finally, he let out a heavy sigh. “Forget it, meeting like this is fate. Here’s my business card. If you have time, head to Xiangcheng in Minjiang Province. There’s a place called Shikong Temple. It’s quite famous; just ask any local and they’ll know it. When you get there, tell them Li Duanyuan sent you. I just counted… good heavens, exactly forty-nine of them. Sigh… just tell the abbot you need to perform an Entrusting Life ritual and require forty-nine Ever-Burning Lamps². He’ll tell you what to do after that.”

Without waiting for Xie Sui’s reaction, he turned and walked toward the secret room in the study.

Xie Sui stood there holding the business card, feeling somewhat bewildered.

It seemed Li Duanyuan had mistaken him for an ordinary person haunted by the karmic burdens of a past life.

This was the first time he had ever received kindness from the Xuanmen… No, not the Xuanmen. Judging by the hand seals and prayer beads Li Duanyuan used, he was likely a lay disciple of Shijiao³.

Captain Yan patted Xie Sui on the shoulder. “Listen to Mr. Li. He’s a consultant hired by our Inspectorate Bureau, fully certified. He knows his stuff when it comes to these matters.”

Xie Sui nodded obediently. “Okay. I’ll head to Xiangcheng this afternoon.”

He wasn’t just being polite; he actually intended to go, as that was where his hometown was located. Xie Sui wouldn’t truly be at peace until he returned to the orphanage to see the children with his own eyes.

Now that the three captured ghosts had been recovered and Daoist Kunyang’s associates had been rounded up by the Inspectorate Bureau, this matter was largely concluded.

Xie Sui hadn’t kept Daoist Kunyang’s soul. After all, the man knew his true identity. To prevent any other accomplices from using soul-summoning or spirit-medium techniques to extract information about him, Xie Sui had chosen to feed Daoist Kunyang directly to the Soul-Hanging Five Ghosts⁴ he had summoned.

Every man for himself; when it came to his own safety, Xie Sui refused to take any risks.

In his current state, he couldn’t afford to be fully exposed to the Xuanmen. To prevent a repeat of the siege he faced thirty years ago, staying in the shadows to investigate was the best option.

Right now, he was just an ordinary man named Xie Sui, with no connection to the events of thirty years past.

After saying goodbye to Captain Yan and leaving the villa district, Xie Sui didn’t even return to his home in the urban village. He went straight to the station.

Sigh… the ticket price hurt his wallet a bit. It was all Sun Danian’s fault. If not for him, Xie Sui could have taken a bus directly from Rongcheng to Xiangcheng instead of dealing with all this extra trouble.

Xiangcheng was in the southernmost part of Minjiang Province. The trip from Zhaoping City took about six hours. By the time the bus arrived at the station, night had fallen.

Walking out of the station and seeing the familiar figure standing by the roadside, Xie Sui felt his eyes grow hot. “Dad, it’s so late. Why did you come? I told you that you didn’t need to pick me up.”

“I happened to have business nearby, so it was on the way,” Xie Fan said with a cheerful smile.

He was about fifty years old, with an ordinary appearance, salt-and-pepper hair, and a slight slouch. He wore a faded old jacket over a grey-blue construction uniform, looking every bit the common laborer. On the surface, there was no physical resemblance between Xie Sui and Xie Fan.

Xie Sui felt a bit helpless. He stopped arguing the point and followed Xie Fan into the battered old minivan parked by the roadside.

Xie Fan expertly started the engine and began the drive toward Pinghe County.

As the car traveled along the familiar road home, the scenery flashed past the window. Being back in his familiar surroundings allowed Xie Sui’s nerves, which had been stretched taut for days, to finally relax.

“By the way, Dad, how are those three children doing now?”

At the mention of the children, Xie Fan let out a heavy sigh. “The moment you transferred the money this morning, the hospital started arranging the surgeries. The skin graft for the child with the burns was very successful. The other two will have to wait a little longer for theirs.”

When the topic turned to money, Xie Fan looked at Xie Sui through the rearview mirror, his eyes full of concern. “Son…” Xie Fan’s voice was solemn. “You didn’t do anything illegal to get this, did you?”

Xie Sui didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “No, Dad, don’t worry. I didn’t steal or rob anyone. I met a client during my livestream a couple of days ago and helped them solve a small problem. This is the fee they paid me. If you’re still worried, I’ll show you the contract we signed when we get home. I promise it’s all legal.”

Hearing this, Xie Fan finally breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good, then.”

The orphanage was located in Pinghe County, which required over an hour’s drive on the highway from the center of Xiangcheng. This was why Xie Sui hadn’t wanted Xie Fan to pick him up. A round trip took more than two hours, and Xie Sui couldn’t bear to see his aging father go through such trouble.

He had never considered getting a driver’s license before because he couldn’t afford a car, but it seemed he would have to find time to get one now.

By the time they arrived at the orphanage, it was already past eleven at night.

The orphanage was small, with only thirty children. Aside from Xie Fan, there were two caregivers and a security guard on staff.

At this hour, the children were already asleep under the caregivers’ watch, which made it easier for Xie Sui to conduct his inspection.

Fortunately, he didn’t detect the aura of any Life-Swapping Talismans on the other children.

He would only feel truly at ease if he stayed in his hometown to watch over them personally. Xie Sui planned to move back to Xiangcheng from Zhaoping City as soon as his current lease expired.

He had stayed in Zhaoping for work, but now that he had been fired from the television station, there was no reason to remain there.

After a quick wash, Xie Sui returned to the room he had lived in for over a decade. In these familiar surroundings, he quickly fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, as soon as he woke up, Xie Sui sent a message to Zhao Haotian asking when he was free for a meal.

Zhao Haotian had been a full-time streamer for several years and likely knew many people signed with the Blue Sea Platform. Xie Sui wanted to dig up information on Horror Old Liu, as he suspected the man was connected to the Xuanmen practitioners using Life-Swapping Talismans.

The reply came almost instantly.

Zhao Haotian: I’m actually in Xiangcheng meeting up with some netizens. Might not be back in Zhaoping for a bit.

Xie Sui: What a coincidence. I’m in Xiangcheng too.

Zhao Haotian: Oh! What are the odds? Let’s meet up this afternoon then. I pulled an all-nighter at an e-sports hotel, so I’m going to catch some sleep first.

Xie Sui: Sure. Let me know when you wake up and I’ll send you my location.

Around three in the afternoon, the two met at a restaurant in downtown Xiangcheng.

While waiting for the food, Zhao Haotian’s mouth never stopped moving as he gossiped about the latest drama. From two streamers taking an online feud into the real world to a certain “beauty” streamer dating eight people at once, Xie Sui could hardly get a word in.

“…And let me tell you, that little platform Blue Sea is really hitting the big leagues now. I heard that hit paranormal outdoor adventure variety show produced by YouTu Video wants to find a guest streamer from Blue Sea.”

At this point, Zhao Haotian took a melancholy sip of his drink. “Too bad I’m a gaming streamer, and you’re still in your Newbie Streamer Rankings protection period. Neither of us has a shot.”

Xie Sui had zero interest in streamer gossip or paranormal variety shows. He had invited Zhao Haotian out today specifically to ask about Horror Old Liu.

A few days ago, while streaming in the haunted house, the comments had alerted him to Horror Old Liu’s videos. The charms Horror Old Liu used to summon the Bixian felt like they shared the same origin as the Life-Swapping Talismans. This creator was a vital lead; perhaps through him, Xie Sui could find the scum who were harming children.

“Old Zhao, do you know Horror Old Liu?”

Zhao Haotian swallowed his food and looked at him strangely. “Horror Old Liu? Why are you asking about him?” Before Xie Sui could answer, Zhao Haotian seemed to have an epiphany and slapped his thigh. “Don’t worry, brother. Old Liu is famous, sure, but he has no plans to livestream. He won’t be encroaching on your territory.”

“I’m just interested in the man…” Xie Sui paused, looking at Zhao Haotian. “From your tone, you’re familiar with this Horror Old Liu?”

“Not exactly. I met him during a Blue Sea offline event and we swapped social media info. We’re the kind of acquaintances who only send mass-produced holiday greetings to each other.”

Xie Sui pressed further. “Do you know where he lives? Or maybe places he frequents?”

“Little Xie, take a piece of advice from your big brother.” Zhao Haotian stood up and reached across the table, patting Xie Sui’s shoulder with a grave expression. “Whether it’s an offline brawl or jumping someone with a sack over their head, it’s not the way to go. Let’s talk things out. There’s no need for that.”

Xie Sui was speechless. He brushed the hand off his shoulder. “You’ve been reading too much gossip. I just want to get to know him.” Whether he’d use a sack later was a different matter; if Horror Old Liu really was connected to those evil Xuanmen cultivators, Xie Sui certainly wouldn’t let him off.

“Oh, I see. Let me check for you. Old Liu loves posting on his Moments. If you want to know his whereabouts, you just have to look at his photos.”

Zhao Haotian pulled his phone out of his pants pocket and opened his social feed.

When he found the latest post from Horror Old Liu, he was a bit surprised. “What a coincidence, he’s actually in Xiangcheng right now! It looks like he’s been gathering material near elementary schools lately, and he just left the area around Tianyi Elementary School.”

“Gathering material? At an elementary school??” Xie Sui was stunned. He suddenly felt a strong urge to pull out his phone and call the police immediately.

Zhao Haotian explained, “No, no, no, it’s nothing illegal. There’s been an urban legend about an elementary school circulating widely on the paranormal forums these past couple of days. He posted a screenshot of the forum on his feed. Supposedly, there’s a ghost or monster catching and eating children, though no one knows if it’s true or not, so he went to investigate near the school. Heh, Old Liu really knows how to chase a trend. Once he puts out a video, this elementary school ghost story will probably blow up on the trending searches.”

Speaking of which, Zhao Haotian seemed to think of something and slapped his forehead. “Little Xie, you could go there and livestream too! It’s guaranteed traffic. If you actually manage to film something, wouldn’t your channel just explode in popularity?”

“Walking around an elementary school entrance filming with my phone? No thanks, I’d rather not be mistaken for a pervert,” Xie Sui said expressionlessly. “Let’s eat first. I’ll head over to the Tianyi Elementary School area afterward to see if I can run into Horror Old Liu.”

Translator’s Notes