Qin Shu really had not killed anyone.
That was easy enough to determine. Although the detectives who arrived at the scene were clearly nervous, they had plenty of experience examining crime scenes.
After seeing the brain matter and unidentified fluids coating the blond man’s fingers, as well as the purplish-black discoloration spreading across his entire body, they could more or less imagine what sort of bizarre incident had taken place.
“Student Qin, you should try to show a little more restraint in the future and keep your temper under control. Even if he had already been poisoned beyond saving, and even if he suddenly lost his mind and tried to kill himself, you still shouldn’t have beaten him into this condition, right? There’s no problem that can’t be discussed calmly. As an outstanding student at one of Jiangcheng’s top high schools, you should set a good example for your peers and strive to be a civilized citizen.”
“I understand. Please rest assured, Captain Wu. I’ll make sure not to act impulsively again.”
Captain Wu, who had arrived rather late, gave Qin Shu a thoroughly official lecture in front of his subordinates. Qin Shu obediently listened with an excellent attitude, wearing a gentle, harmless smile. No matter how anyone looked at him, he did not resemble the sort of troublesome brat who enjoyed stirring up trouble.
No one could see the dark-red centipede hiding inside his collar. Nor did anyone know what sort of terrifying creature had poisoned the blond man into such a state.
Personnel from the Vector and Pest Control Center had also arrived. After examining the shape and distribution of the poisoned areas, they firmly concluded that an invasive species had caused them. There was absolutely no venomous insect native to the country capable of producing such an exaggerated reaction.
The blond man had lived abroad for years and had only entered the harbor by sea that night. With that in mind, the center planned to coordinate closely with border control and customs officials on the next stage of the investigation, in case more foreign organisms had been smuggled into the country.
Qin Shu had initially intended to explain the truth quietly to Captain Wu. After thinking it over, however, he decided not to interfere with the investigation. Instead, he volunteered even more information.
He recommended strict inspections of all imported food, alcohol, beverages, and fruit; travelers entering or leaving the country who carried unusual foul or fragrant odors; companies involved in transporting human remains across national borders; and every passenger who had arrived from the same region as the blond man.
The situation was unusual now. Border inspections genuinely needed to be tightened.
Qin Shu could not guarantee that more servants of the demon king like the blond man would not arrive in search of the little centipede, try to defile the sacred objects in other churches, or bring some other malicious scheme into the country.
“Understood. Since this restroom has such terrible feng shui and we’ve just lost a foreign friend here… I’ll invite Daoist Priest Xu over tomorrow and have him perform a ritual himself.” Captain Wu did not put it too plainly, but he understood what Qin Shu meant and gave him a nearly imperceptible look of acknowledgment.
Once the most important matter had been discussed, Qin Shu quietly picked up the black briefcase and left the scene to the professionals. He walked out of the metro station with Captain Wu and stood beside the curb, where traffic rushed past and a cool evening breeze blew against them.
Captain Wu was drenched in sweat. He bought two cups of lemon water, shoved one into Qin Shu’s hands, and immediately gulped down several mouthfuls from his own.
There was no helping it. The fireball the little centipede had thrown earlier had been far too hot. Heat still poured from the gaps between the restroom tiles, turning the entire place into a miniature oven. The medical examiner had stuck cooling gel patches to his forehead and back before daring to enter and inspect the body.
“Thank you, Captain Wu.” Qin Shu accepted the drink without ceremony, pushed the straw through the lid, and took a sip. His entire face twisted from the sourness. “Hiss… Speaking of which, has there been any news about Liu Yang Yang from Haicheng?”
Captain Wu chuckled, took out his lighter, and lit a cigarette with a click. Then he shook his head. “The harbor is deep water. He fell into the sea there, and no one knows whether he’s alive or dead. Searching for him would be extremely difficult. If Mr. Liu gets washed ashore, word will reach us quickly, and I’ll notify you immediately. But we can’t openly organize a large-scale search…”
“What if I pay for a search team myself? Would that still be forbidden?”
“Cases involving the deaths and disappearances of gifted practitioners are complicated. Unless we have clear, conclusive evidence identifying exactly who committed the crime and what they did—or unless the incident itself threatens public safety and ordinary civilians—we won’t be approved to mobilize a large number of personnel.”
Captain Wu kept the cigarette between his teeth and tilted his head toward Qin Shu. “Remember this. When a situation is complicated and we can’t yet clearly define its nature, we aren’t allowed to interfere openly. That’s the rule from higher up for cases like these. Personally, I think it makes sense. If we spent every day getting tangled up in grudges between supernatural practitioners, every hotheaded young officer under me would have died by now.”
Qin Shu listened carefully and nodded, but he was still puzzled. “I understand the rule. Whenever I encounter a dangerous event outside the ordinary, I also try to settle it before reporting it to you. But if all we want to do is search the sea, why…”
“There’s nothing stopping you from renting one or two boats with some friends and searching together. But if you want to hire an entire professional rescue team, you would still need approval from the maritime police, wouldn’t you? Ordinary civilians would notice what you were doing too. The moment they learned that the person you wanted to recover was Mr. Liu, the application would never be approved.”
“Because Liu Yang Yang is a corpse herder. You all know what he does, so his case falls under the special rules for gifted practitioners.” Qin Shu sighed.
“Exactly. I’m sorry, but we genuinely can’t help you with this right now. I sent Xing Yong out of town to investigate partly to keep him from getting carried away and coming back to tag along with you again…”
Captain Wu sighed with him and flicked ash from his cigarette. “By the way, Student Qin, I’ll tell you about a policy in advance. Once you’re an adult, it would be best to register your special circumstances voluntarily. You can report things like your ability to see ghosts, the cultivation method you practice, or any unusual animals you raise. As long as everything you report is verified, you can qualify for a very substantial personal income-tax exemption.”
Personal income tax…
Qin Shu remembered the twenty million yuan that had just appeared in his account, and his eyes lit up.
Now it all made sense. The supernatural crowd clearly had no trouble making money. Liu Yang Yang could name a fee of five million yuan without blinking and had even prepared a legally binding contract in advance. Within their profession, such transactions seemed perfectly ordinary.
Anyone who wanted to bring that income into the open and make those transactions safer and more stable would naturally be tempted by such an enormous tax exemption.
“Oh, right, there’s more. If you’re willing to help the police maintain public order and investigate unusual cases after you grow up, like Daoist Priest Xu does, I remember the benefits being quite good. The fee for every request for assistance is paid the same day too. They’re very prompt about it. The Jiangcheng government isn’t short of money. What we’re short of are capable outside specialists.”
Qin Shu’s eyes lit up again. “I can help you maintain public order right now. Call me whenever anything happens. It isn’t that I need money. I was simply born with a passion for serving the people. Truly.”
“Absolutely not. Hey, you’re still underage, so don’t go meddling in things you shouldn’t. Your most important task right now is studying hard!” Captain Wu refused repeatedly. As he spoke, he crushed the cigarette out and tossed it into a trash bin beside the intersection. “Why would I call a high school senior and ask him to put aside his schoolwork just to come fight for me? I haven’t lost my mind, have I?”
“Fine, fine. I’ll stay in Jiangcheng for university, so remember to contact me then. Also… if you ever encounter genuine danger and can’t find anyone else to help in time, don’t worry about how old I am. Keeping yourselves alive matters more. Don’t forget—I really am quite good at fighting.”
Qin Shu raised an eyebrow and cast a meaningful glance toward the entrance of Yunli Metro Station.
Once they had settled those minor details, Captain Wu personally drove Qin Shu home. His stated reason was that he disliked seeing minors wandering around outside so late at night.
Captain Wu had driven a spacious van that evening, and he slid Qin Shu’s electric scooter smoothly into the rear cargo area. Qin Shu sat in the passenger seat with the briefcase in his arms. When he glanced back at the chaotic pile of “junk” covering the rear seats, he abruptly fell silent.
Those things were not junk at all. They were firearms of various models, spare magazines, stun batons, and other weapons. Several demon-banishing talismans bearing Daoist Priest Xu’s unmistakable style had been tucked into the magazines, while another thick stack had been stuffed into a seatback pocket.
There were also two peachwood swords—the kind Pei Zhao hated most. They carried the faint scent of dead spirits and supernatural creatures.
The talismans made specifically for banishing demons were extremely ornate. The sharp, austere strokes drawn in cinnabar ink radiated a formidable, murderous authority. Qin Shu wanted some of his own very badly.
Unfortunately, Daoist Priest Xu refused to give him even one, yet had generously handed over a large pile to the police.
When Qin Shu’s expression gradually became complicated, Captain Wu laughed. “Ever since the resurgence of spiritual energy, I hardly get any proper criminal cases anymore. My luck is terrible. Every time I go out on a field assignment, I end up dealing with demons, ghosts, and monsters, then scrambling around in a panic. So the van might be a little messy. Try to understand.”
Qin Shu abruptly froze and turned to stare at him. “…What does ‘the resurgence of spiritual energy’ mean?”
“Huh? You don’t know?” Captain Wu froze as well.
“I don’t!”
…
Only after hearing Captain Wu’s explanation did Qin Shu finally realize that the hidden currents beneath this world were far more eventful than he had ever imagined.
Put simply, roughly thirty-four years ago, for reasons no one understood, the entire world had experienced a resurgence of spiritual energy. From that point onward, anyone with even a little spiritual sensitivity became capable of learning cultivation. Most simply lacked a teacher, a fortunate opportunity, or any reliable source of information.
Before spiritual energy returned, nearly everyone in the world had been a Muggle. Demons, ghosts, and monsters could not maintain their power and were forced to hide in caves and remote corners, barely clinging to existence. Evil spirits and demons lacked the strength to disturb human society and could even be killed outright by having a bowl of black dog’s blood thrown over them.
Apart from those favored prodigies destined to walk the path of cultivation, geniuses born with their spiritual aptitude already maxed out, and immensely powerful ghosts or unusual creatures that had lain dormant for hundreds or thousands of years… there had been no true gifted practitioners.
Whenever someone did claim to possess such abilities, they were usually a cultist or a professional swindler.
Captain Wu did not know much more than that. Even after the resurgence of spiritual energy, he remained the Muggle among Muggles and could barely use a talisman without fumbling it.
“Then, if that’s the case, is Daoist Priest Xu a genius or a swind—”
“Hey, you little brat! Shh, shh, shh! Don’t talk nonsense where he might hear you!” Captain Wu interrupted irritably. “He’s the most famous Celestial Master in Jiangcheng. His divinations never miss. When I was a child, I nearly died from a high fever, and Daoist Priest Xu cured me with a bowl of talisman water. Come to think of it, he saved my entire family. I’ll always trust him. And because I trust him, I trusted you too. Understand?”
Qin Shu scratched his head and nodded with perfect sincerity. “I understand. In that case, may I buy a few of the demon-banishing talismans you have?”
“No. Daoist Priest Xu foresaw this long ago and specifically warned me not to give you any of his talismans.”
Damn it.
Qin Shu was left speechless, but his curiosity about Daoist Priest Xu’s true abilities only grew stronger. After New Year’s, he would choose a day to drag Pei Zhao to the temple with him. The fortune sticks there were probably extremely accurate, and he could investigate the details while they were at it.
For now, however, perhaps he really ought to sleep.
Captain Wu unloaded Qin Shu’s electric scooter from the van, then wandered around outside the courtyard gate, admiring the hedges covered in winter snow. He clicked his tongue and muttered that he needed to start saving money for a house like this himself, but otherwise did not linger.
Perhaps he had genuinely come only to ensure that a minor reached home safely. Or perhaps he had also wanted to investigate Qin Shu’s background.
After confirming that nothing seemed wrong, he finally said a hurried goodbye, stepped hard on the accelerator, and sped back toward Yunli Metro Station.
Qin Shu carried the briefcase inside, took a sip from the flat cola that had been sitting on the coffee table, then slowly opened the heavy, sturdily constructed case.
He set the cash aside, gave the dried mint leaves to the little centipede, and decided the switchblade was quite decent. Once he washed it, it could still be used.
Qin Shu pressed down on the soft interior lining of the case. After hesitating, he tore apart the velvet-covered shock-absorbing foam with brute force. His eyebrows immediately jumped.
Liu Yang Yang’s phone had actually been hidden inside a concealed compartment!
It was perfectly clean, had not been damaged by the fall, and had never been submerged in seawater. The special material of the briefcase had simply blocked its signal, which was why the phone had shown as being out of service.
Fortunately, Qin Shu had remained cautious and stubbornly refused to hand the briefcase over. Had it been taken into the evidence room, he would not have been able to access anything inside so easily again.
“Little bug, do you know his lock-screen password?” Qin Shu lit up the phone and confirmed that the battery level was still safe, then hurriedly asked the centipede.
“Four eights and four sixes… What a simple, straightforward password.”
Qin Shu quickly entered the numbers. With a click, the phone unlocked.
The unread-message count on the social apps was rapidly approaching 999+, but apart from that night’s client, every notification came from a group chat Liu Yang Yang had joined—One Big Happy Family.
It was an extremely classic group name, and it contained more than fifty members. Presumably, every friend and relative in Liu Yang Yang’s home village who knew how to use a smartphone was in that group.
Qin Shu briefly skimmed the member list and found a young man who loved chatting and seemed relatively approachable. He opened a private conversation and began typing.
AAA Corpse-Herder Brother Liu: Hello. I’m a friend of Liu Yang Yang. Something happened while he was carrying out a commission at Haicheng Port. The client attacked him and knocked him into the sea. His condition is currently unknown. Do you have any way to determine whether he is safe?
AAA Tasty Mushroom Wholesale: Holy shit! Wait a minute. I’ll ask my dad.
AAA Tasty Mushroom Wholesale: My dad says nobody is allowed to interfere in his situation, including you. Ah, you’re… You’re Mr. Qin, right? My dad says you shouldn’t get involved either. Don’t search for him. Whether he survives is entirely up to him!
Qin Shu froze. The meaning behind those words was surprisingly identical to what Daoist Priest Xu had told him.
After hesitating, he continued typing.
AAA Corpse-Herder Brother Liu: There’s one more matter. His golden centipede is also with me. I don’t seem to be able to return it because it has already accepted me as its master. If your family requires compensation, I’ll do everything within my ability to provide it.
AAA Tasty Mushroom Wholesale: …Please teach me how.
AAA Tasty Mushroom Wholesale: No, never mind! Highly spiritual Gu creatures are simply like that. If you share a destined connection with it, then it belongs to you. Who are we to demand compensation?
…
Once everything had been explained, the people in Yuncheng treated Qin Shu no differently than before. They did not cancel the joint burial ceremony they had already arranged either.
The young mushroom wholesaler told him that even with Liu Yang Yang’s safety uncertain, they would still provide round-trip airfare, accommodation, and meals. All that mattered was that Qin Shu himself arrived when the time came.
Qin Shu’s anxiety did not lessen at all. Instead, he was left with even more questions.
Afraid that he would be too unsettled to sleep, he sighed and took the little centipede into the storage room to search around. Eventually, he managed to find a bundle of old incense sticks.
His parents did not believe in gods or Buddhas, but his grandparents’ generation had. From a box of family keepsakes, Qin Shu uncovered a miniature statue of the Supreme Lord Laozi. He wiped it clean and placed it on the table, then personally lit three sticks of incense and bowed three times.
“Heavenly Venerable, please protect Liu Yang Yang and help him survive this ordeal safely…”
At that same moment, dozens of kilometers away over the dark surface of the sea, three deafening peals of thunder tore across the sky. They shattered the thick darkness and illuminated the night so completely that, for one brief instant, it resembled broad daylight.
“Ah! Stop hitting me, Mom! I… glug, glug… really didn’t sneak any beef!”
“Huh?! Glug, glug…”
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