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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Sixty-Three Underworld Ghost Seal
At that time, they thought they were seeing things, so they pulled up the surveillance footage from the police station lobby and the entrance, because they had escorted the man from the police station door all the way to the detention room. As a result, after Team Leader Wang and his team returned from Liu Family Village, they discovered that the man who had turned himself in had disappeared. The footage showed that the man was never seen at any point, leaving all the detectives who had been to Liu Family Village that night speechless for a long time.
Especially those two detectives who had escorted the man; it was clear from the footage that they were walking side by side with an empty space in between them. Their hands were in a position as if they were escorting a criminal, yet there was no criminal to be seen.
This incident shocked everyone at the City Bureau. Initially, city leaders were skeptical about it being a supernatural event, but after confirming testimonies from local police officers who were present that night, it became hard for anyone to doubt it. After all, there were over twenty testimonies laid out before them; disbelief was no longer an option.
The man who turned himself in might have been a ghost, which was a consensus among all the detectives who went to Liu Family Village that night. However, how did the female corpse disappear?
Since there were no cameras in the area where bodies were stored in the morgue, they could not find out. Later, they received results from the forensic examination; it indicated that the forensic doctor had died from excessive adrenaline stimulation of the heart due to shock. The condition of the corpse's pupils suggested that before death, the forensic doctor had clearly seen something extremely terrifying. In other words, he was scared to death by something.
"What happened afterward? Was the female corpse and the man who turned himself in found?" I couldn't help but ask curiously.
Team Leader Wang shook his head and said, "No, they seemed to have vanished. However..."
"What do you mean 'however'?" I noticed Team Leader Wang seemed to have more to say.
"However, we went back to Liu Family Village during the day and found that No. 7 Old House was completely clean, as if no murder had ever occurred there that night. You have to know we saw the female corpse lying in a pool of blood in the living room," Team Leader Wang said.
I nodded and said, "Based on what you said, it seems you really encountered a ghost."
Upon hearing this, Team Leader Wang eagerly asked me what should be done.
I replied, "You have no grievances with them; just avoid going back to Liu Family Village and you should be fine."
As soon as I finished speaking, unexpectedly Team Leader Wang shook his head and said, "No, sir, you don't understand. Ever since that day, every few days our detectives on night duty receive emergency calls from Liu Family Village. The reports are similar to before; now we don’t know whether we should go back or not. After all, we’ve never dealt with ghosts before and don’t want to risk our brothers' lives over this. Sigh!"
Hearing this, I understood why he felt so helpless; it turned out that the Liu Family Village was involved with them. So I asked Captain Wang, "Wang Team, what exactly do you want me to help you with today?"
Wang Team said, "I heard you can catch ghosts and draw talismans. If we really encounter a ghost, can you handle it?"
I frowned and couldn't help but wonder, "Is your Criminal Investigation Team now also handling ghost cases?"
"I always feel that there must be a reason why they keep reporting to us, so I want to get to the bottom of this. Especially the case of the Liu Family Village Collective Hanging Suicide over twenty years ago, which is still unsolved. If the entire village didn't commit suicide but was murdered instead, should we let such evil people go unpunished?" Wang Team said, his expression somewhat agitated.
To be honest, I also found it hard to believe that an entire village would collectively hang themselves. Perhaps Wang Team was right; the reason Liu Family Village kept calling the police was indeed to have them solve the case for the whole village and bring the murderer to justice.
Thinking of this, I said to Wang Team, "Wang Team, I deal with ghosts. If you insist on handling this case, then if Liu Family Village calls again, I'm willing to accompany you to Liu Family Village."
Wang Team was very pleased to hear this. He said, "Sir, thank you for your willingness to help. However, I must make it clear that going to Liu Family Village may endanger your life, so you need to be aware of that. If it's too difficult for you, we won't force it."
I smiled and joked that I ventured into the world precisely for dealing with evil spirits. If I were worried about my life being taken by malevolent ghosts, then what was the point of coming out?
At that moment, I picked up a pen and paper from the desk and wrote down my phone number, handing it to Wang Team. I told him that as long as Liu Family Village calls again and you decide to go there, just call me! I can't say much else, but I can handle one or two evil spirits.
Wang Team was very happy and took my phone number, shaking my hand again and expressing his gratitude.
After leaving the police station, Mr. Zhu was still waiting for me outside. That afternoon, Mr. Zhu and I split up; I went to search for the family of the female ghost who had been driven to hang herself due to forced relocation based on the address she provided, while Mr. Zhu went to buy his vehicle. After all, a promise made must be fulfilled; otherwise, if one breaks their word, ghosts will truly come after you.
Following the address given by the Hanging Female Ghost, I did not find her family but instead found her uncle—the Feng Shui Master who had set up the soul-locking formation in the basement.
I didn't exchange much with him since he knew that I had broken his formation. Although we weren't enemies per se, we were at least opponents who had crossed paths before. So when I clarified my intentions with him, he only asked me one question: how was his niece doing now?
I nodded and told him that his niece had let go of her resentment and moved on to where she needed to be.
The Feng Shui master nodded and then told me that his niece's family had moved to the suburbs to rent a house because they couldn't afford to buy one in the city. He gave me a phone number, saying it was his niece's husband's number.
After leaving the Feng Shui master's house, I called the ghost's husband. When he heard that Mr. Zhu wanted to make amends for his previous actions, he was silent for a long time. Finally, he arranged for us to meet tonight at his wife's grave.
Today happened to be the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month, Ghost Festival. As the name suggests, it is a festival for ghosts. During this time, the gates of hell are wide open, allowing spirits from the Underworld to return to the living world and see their families. Of course, the living family members also prepare good food and burn some yellow paper for their deceased relatives.
Thinking about meeting at the grave of the woman who hanged herself tonight, although Mr. Zhu would compensate her family with money, it still couldn't truly compensate for the deceased. So I thought it would be better to buy some incense and yellow paper for Mr. Zhu to burn at her grave as a form of repentance.
Thus, I went out and found a shop selling funeral supplies. The shop had items like Paper Figurines and Wreaths displayed outside, giving me a familiar feeling; after all, I used to work in this line of business.
Upon entering the shop, I saw an old man with his back to me, sitting at a computer playing a card game. I told him I wanted to buy some incense and yellow paper.
He turned around, and I couldn't help but exclaim, "So it's you!"
He recognized me immediately as well, chuckling and stroking his white beard while saying, "What's up, young man? You still remember this old man?"
Of course, I recognized him; he was the same old charlatan I had encountered when I first came here and set up my stall—the one who talked about women wearing bras.
I said, "I never expected such a small world that I'd run into you again."
The old man completely ignored my sarcastic remark. Instead, after looking at me for a moment, he performed his signature gesture of calculating with his fingers and then stroked his beard again. With a serious expression, he said to me, "Young man, I calculated with my fingers and found that you bring ominous signs!"
At that moment, I felt like a flock of crows flew over my head; I was instantly stunned by his words. Damn it, how could this nonsense come back around to me?
I replied, "Uncle, spare me your nonsense; your tricks won't work on me. If you're not selling incense, then I'll just go somewhere else."
After saying that, I prepared to turn and leave. However, the old man hurriedly shouted at me, "Young man, not listening to the advice of elders will lead you to regret! The reason I'm saying this is that I see you have some potential; I don't want such a good seedling to be ruined like this."
Hearing this, I became somewhat interested, so I turned around and said to him with curiosity, "Uncle, you actually know I have some real skills, so why did you just say I bring bad omens?"
The Old Man stroked his beard, suddenly glared at me, and scolded, "You young man, do you really think I'm just a con artist living off others?"
I replied, "What was that divination you did for that woman the other day? If you're not a con artist, then what are you?"
To my surprise, the Old Man picked up a bundle of incense from the counter and hit me on the head with it, cursing, "You little brat, how dare you speak like that about your Master Uncle? You really have no respect for your elders!"
At this point, I was genuinely confused—not because he hit me, but because of what he said. Master Uncle? He actually claimed to be my Master Uncle? My grandfather's Shidi?
I couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment, "You are my Master Uncle?"
The Old Man widened his eyes and stared at me. "What? Do I not look like your Master Uncle?"
I shook my head, thinking to myself that this old fraud could never be my Master Uncle. Even if he beat me to death, I wouldn't believe it.
Seeing that I didn't believe him, the Old Man took out a piece of jade pendant from his pocket and tossed it to me. I caught it and took a look; I was instantly stunned. In a hurry, I took out my half of the jade pendant to compare it and found that they indeed matched. My half had the words Ghost Seal on it, while his had Underworld written on it. This meant that this person in front of me really was my Master Uncle!
I was filled with disbelief. Although the jade pendants were indeed a pair, I had never met my Master Uncle before; he had never seen me either. Even if this Old Man was truly my Master Uncle, my pendant had always been hidden close to me. He definitely hadn't seen mine before; how could he possibly know that I was his disciple?
What made it even harder for me to believe was that my grandfather was quite skilled; naturally, his Shidi would also be capable. However, this Old Man in front of me looked nothing like someone with any skills at all. He only acted pretentious all day long, stroking his tuft of white beard and living off others. This was completely different from what I imagined a Master Uncle to be! If this were all true, then I would truly be taken aback!
I asked, "You... you... really are my Master Uncle?"
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