There were many kinds of corpses: humans, animals, yao beasts…
The ordinary humans and small animals had died relatively peacefully. Their only injury was a bowl-sized wound in the chest through which all their blood had been drained, so at least their bodies were still intact. But the corpses of those who had possessed cultivation before death had died extremely miserable deaths.
Their chests and abdomens had all been cut open. Their fully formed Nascent Souls, golden eggs, and yao cores had been dug out. Some did not even have faces left, leaving only one cold, hollow shell after another, heavy with resentment, piled on the worktables like discarded trash.
Judging from the dust accumulated on the stairs, the basement had not been used for at least half a year, yet the corpses remained in a strangely fresh state, with no sign of decay whatsoever.
Qin Shu knew there had to be something wrong, so he looked farther into the room.
He saw a meat grinder, more than a dozen sharp cleavers and axes, and several enormous custom freezers packed with all kinds of harvested organs and body parts, their freshness preserved by spiritual formations.
Besides that, countless traces of failed formations remained on the floor, filthy beyond description. Too much blood had accumulated there too many times, drying into a thick layer of dark-red solid matter.
Qin Shu cautiously stepped on it and felt the strange, subtle give beneath his foot.
“…Tsk. Filthy. Disgusting.” The white dragon was even more repulsed than Qin Shu and immediately leapt onto his shoulder.
Qin Shu did not stop him. At this point, he had nothing to say. He did not want to speak. There was nothing worth saying. He only regretted that he had not discovered Zuo Zhe sooner and killed the bastard earlier.
Silently, he took out the luminous pearl and hung it in a corner as an extra light source. Then he carefully lifted his phone and began recording video and taking photographs, documenting every corner of the basement. Once the evidence was organized, he sent everything to Xing Yong and Captain Wu.
[Qin Shu: This is the basement of Zuo Zhe’s house. Don’t send anyone over yet. There are too many mechanisms and traps, and someone could get hurt. Wait for my message.]
[Xing Yong: File sent: Jiangcheng Missing Persons List.doc; National Priority Missing Persons List.doc]
[Xing Yong: Got it. Every person in the documents has a photo. Please compare them and see whether any of the missing people are here. Even a face is enough. Thanks.]
Qin Shu opened the list. The enlarged frontal photo of a missing person filled his screen, and his heart grew heavy.
He tossed the white dragon onto one of the worktables and said quietly, “Look through the list and help me find any matching faces too. Most of the bodies on the tables are ordinary people, so they should be easier to identify… I’ll check the freezers.”
Qin Shu took the hardest job for himself. The white dragon could no longer refuse outright and only gave a low “Mm,” using his tail to roll the corpses over one by one and arrange them face-up in a row across the worktable for easier inspection.
At the same time, Qin Shu held his breath and opened the freezer. Then he instinctively clamped his mouth shut as well, switched entirely to communicating with the white dragon through divine sense, and abandoned any idea of speaking aloud.
Because even without deliberately trying to smell anything, the stench from inside the freezer seemed almost tangible, as though it might seep directly through Qin Shu’s skin.
The most horrifying thing was a stack of peeled-off faces, but the other contents were just as difficult to look at. Organs from all kinds of creatures, pungent yao cores, a basin full of human hearts, and several large bowls of congealed blood labeled “Tiger Yao”…
Qin Shu did not touch anything recklessly. He put on gloves first, took out his phone, and forced himself to flip through the cold faces one by one, comparing them against the missing-person list.
The white dragon found more matches on his side. Cultivators were less common, but Qin Shu still found two or three young men whose names corresponded to the remains, all cultivators from Jiangcheng itself.
According to the notes Xing Yong had added, all of them had only accidentally become cultivators after the resurgence of spiritual energy. By various turns of luck, they had begun cultivating without masters or family foundations, relying entirely on their own talent and fortune.
But the resurgence of spiritual energy had simply not lasted long enough. Aside from exceptional cases like Qin Shu, most spell cultivators around his age still had little real attainment. At best, they might know a simple storage art, a fireball spell, or some similar minor technique. They probably could not even fly on artifacts yet.
They had no fame whatsoever, not even channels through which to meet more cultivators. They were only the pride of their families, geniuses among their peers, promising new stars with limitless futures… and in the end, after they disappeared, the only people running everywhere, filing police reports, and searching for them were still their families and friends their own age.
But without help from cultivators, ordinary people trying to find a missing cultivator really were searching for a needle in the ocean. With worse luck, they might never recover even the person’s remains in their entire lives.
And even if they somehow found Zuo Zhe’s villa… there was a good chance they would simply be blown up.
Qin Shu sighed, feeling faintly grateful that he and Pei Zhao had found the place first. At least they could preserve the victims’ remains as completely as possible and prevent any further casualties.
They matched twenty-one missing persons to photographs in total. It was a horrifying number. Many other corpses had faces too badly destroyed to identify, so the police would need DNA testing to confirm their identities.
As for the more highly cultivated corpses, especially those who had already formed Nascent Souls like Daoist Master Xu… DNA testing technology might not even have existed when they were born. They probably had no surviving relatives either and might only be registered as unidentified remains.
“Take the yao cores with us. I can identify them. If they belonged to local yao cultivators, return them with the remains to their families. As for the ownerless ones, I might as well eat them. Lord Zhaoyuan can’t use them. I’m the only one who can.”
The white dragon transmitted the words quietly, then added with unusual seriousness, “Don’t think I’m insulting the bodies. We’re different from humans. When a yao beast dies, whatever remains of it should be divided and eaten. The family gets priority, then other yao beasts. That’s how the survivors grow stronger. It’s the proper custom, and better than letting everything rot alone.”
“…Fine.”
Qin Shu could tell he was not joking and had no intention of commenting. There was still plenty of room in the luminous pearl’s storage space, so Qin Shu deliberately partitioned off a clean, spacious section and stored everything belonging to the yao beasts there. He could let the white dragon inspect it properly after they returned home.
For now, though, he wanted to figure out exactly what Zuo Zhe had been trying to do and what he had once done in this basement.
Based on their previous investigation, Qin Shu could already infer part of it, so he listed those conclusions and discussed them with the white dragon.
“Sacrificial rituals, demon-summoning rituals, yao-beast modification experiments… and finally the body-replacement experiments he personally participated in. He probably replaced some of his blood with yao blood too, forcibly changing his species. Come to think of it, demons really do have their own methods of possession. Zuo Zhe probably went to every possible length to learn the life-extension methods used by those ancient demons.”
“What a clever old bastard. He even knew to use methods like those to conceal himself from Heaven. If he’d relied only on our side’s life-extension techniques, the Heavenly Dao would’ve noticed him long ago. Forcibly prolonging one’s life already violates the natural order. After using so many underhanded methods and accumulating that much blood debt…”
The white dragon paused, then continued in disbelief, “Forget being a multimillionaire. He should’ve been reduced to wandering the streets by now. Anything he gained should’ve been lost again. Calamities and heavenly lightning should’ve punished him everywhere he went. But what happened? Nothing! Not a damn thing. This is downright unnatural.”
“His life and his wealth were all bought with other people’s lives. He kept feeding the demons’ appetites, but in the end he still couldn’t escape having his own soul devoured… I only accelerated the process so fewer innocent people would die while he kept walking toward his own destruction.”
Qin Shu closed the freezer and crouched down to study the traces left by an abandoned formation. Using Zuo Zhe’s memory fragments to distinguish its purpose, he suddenly gained a little insight of his own.
Demons, like gods and immortals, were beings that did not die in the ordinary sense. They could be sealed, but good and evil would inevitably both exist in this world. Neither side could ever be erased completely.
But asking a deity for help and asking a demon to fulfill one’s desires were entirely different things.
Goddess Nüwa had only taken two strings of beads from him, while the number of souls devoured by demons… was a bottomless pit with no limit to its hunger.
As long as Zuo Zhe could no longer satisfy their appetite, as long as he failed to become a true deity, then one day he himself would inevitably become food.
He had schemed so desperately for longevity. Why go this far…? After plotting for so many years, he had barely enjoyed a few glorious days before having to hide among ordinary people again, concealing his name and identity while planning yet another way to survive.
What was the point of living like that? Could Zuo Zhe really not understand that the farther he strayed down crooked paths, the less chance he had of ever returning to the orthodox way?
Had he truly become obsessed beyond reason, or was there something else…?
The question remained suspended in Qin Shu’s mind for the moment because he still had other things to do.
Without the corpses, this would have been a quick trip. But now that they had discovered so many dead people, the entire nature of the situation had changed.
He and Pei Zhao inspected the villa from inside to outside for a third time. Only after confirming that no defensive mechanism could possibly still be triggered did they notify Captain Wu’s people that they could come in.
Captain Wu came, and so did Xing Yong, who was technically still “on medical leave.” Xing Yong did not care whether he was on leave or not. Once something happened, even if he had to fight Captain Wu over it, he absolutely had to see the scene first.
To ensure nothing went wrong, Qin Shu did not rush to leave. He stayed outside to answer questions while waiting for the larger team to conduct an initial sweep.
Coughing and muffled sounds of people fighting back vomit came from inside one after another. Two younger officers even sprinted outside, split up, grabbed separate tree trunks, and started throwing up violently.
The gruesome state of Zuo Zhe’s villa was difficult even for forensic specialists to process calmly, much less ordinary police officers. In relatively peaceful Jiangcheng, this qualified as the kind of massive case that might appear only once in a decade.
Twenty minutes later, Xing Yong emerged from the basement with an ashen face. He pulled off gloves covered in dried blood flakes and slapped Qin Shu hard on the shoulder.
He had apparently wanted to hug Qin Shu too, but the instant his peripheral vision caught Pei Zhao’s figure, he abandoned that idea and said solemnly, “Thank you. We searched the office building yesterday. Captain Wu wanted to come check Zuo Zhe’s residence that same night, but I stopped him. I don’t know how to do any of this myself, but living with someone in the field has at least taught me to recognize some traces of formations and mechanisms. If you hadn’t come first to inspect the place, who knows how many more people would’ve died…”
“We’ve known each other this long. Why are you still being polite? Anyway, Brother Yong, you’re the worst at following rules. From now on, if Second Squad encounters anything especially wrong, call me first. Don’t take the long way around and contact Daoist Master Xu before me. It wastes time. As long as you don’t make the contact too blatant, Captain Wu can pretend he didn’t see anything.”
As Qin Shu spoke, he took out his phone and typed with a serious expression. “Right, I’ve marked every missing person I could match in bold red. I’m sending the file to you now. Some cultivators definitely won’t match anything in the records, and there are also ordinary people whose faces can’t be identified. You’ll have to find those yourselves.”
“All right. Keep in touch if anything happens. Once this case is over, I’ll send you a copy of the final report.” Xing Yong glanced toward the villa. “Captain Wu will definitely pretend he didn’t notice that either.”
After a few brief exchanges, Xing Yong put on a fresh pair of gloves and went back into the basement. Nobody was in the mood for idle chatter today. The important work came first.
One delay led to another, and by the time the blood-red sunset covered Jiangcheng’s sky, no one had managed to leave. Second Squad simply did not have enough manpower, so Captain Wu called in every available colleague to work overtime. Even at dinner time, they were still working in the basement.
They not only had to confirm the number of human victims, but also bring in specialists to determine whether any protected wildlife had been killed. The workload was enormous because there were several times more animal corpses than human ones. Even after Qin Shu removed the yao beasts, two small mountains of remains still sat in place.
The only person sent away was Xing Yong, who had only just recovered from a serious illness. Captain Wu forcibly kicked him out, but he did not go far. He found a private restaurant nearby, booked a quiet room, and treated Qin Shu and the others to dinner himself.
Since it was a private room, the white dragon no longer bothered concealing himself. He lazily coiled up in the most comfortable part of the sofa and even ordered Xing Yong to add another pot of strong liquor.
No Huaguo citizen could easily refuse a dragon’s request. Xing Yong was no exception.
He ordered double portions of food but hardly ate anything himself. He did not even have the attention to spare for the absurdly beautiful snow-white dragon. He only cautiously asked whether he could take a photo… After receiving permission, he took a picture of the white dragon drinking and sent it to Chang Liu Yi as something novel to see.
Then Xing Yong sat at the dining table and went right back to studying photos sent from the crime scene.
Of course, he was not the only busy person. Pei Zhao did not touch his chopsticks either. He held the luminous pearl in his hands, his divine sense completely immersed in the pile of jade slips inside the storage space.
When it came to reading speed and comprehension, Qin Shu felt that even another hundred years of cultivation would not let him catch up to Pei Zhao. Thus the enormous task of sorting through the jade slips fell entirely into Pei Zhao’s hands.
In the end, the only people still in the mood to eat and drink were Qin Shu and the white dragon.
“You’re an interesting person too. You can still eat with such enthusiasm after seeing all that…” The white dragon lazily poured himself more liquor. “Qin Shu, are you some kind of antisocial personality? I’ve always thought your temperament was strange. Anyway, you don’t seem like a good person.”
“Only if I eat enough can I get stronger, and only if I get stronger can I stop things like this from happening again.” Qin Shu tore off a tender roasted chicken leg and forced himself to swallow a mouthful. “But you’re right. I’m really not a good person. Ao Wang, behave yourself. I’m seriously not in the mood to discuss life philosophy with you.”
“I’m not behaving enough? You, a brat who still smells of milk, lecture me every day, and haven’t I endured all of it?”
The white dragon downed another mouthful of liquor. “My female dragon is gone. I endured that too. I’ve been reduced to a little spirit pet doing odd jobs. I endured that too. I only want to wait around and watch you run into bad luck, yet I keep nearly getting torn in half by Lord Zhaoyuan. Then I have to stand here and watch the strongest elder in my clan refuse to have children, refuse to marry another dragon, and insist on staying with you…”
“Don’t you have other elders in your family? You could try finding your father and asking him to judge. Let’s see whether he takes my side or yours.” Qin Shu could not be bothered with Ao Wang’s usual complaints and only raised a brow in response.
“…My imperial father might be missing. I can’t contact him anyway. If even I can’t find him, no one else will. I can’t reach several of my uncles either.”
“Wait. Even the Dragon King is missing? Why didn’t you mention something this important earlier?”
“You don’t think Lord Zhaoyuan knows? If my father and uncles were still around, with that kind of powerful support right in front of him, he would’ve used it long ago if he could.” The white dragon snorted. “I say one or two random things and you immediately start suspecting everything. But whenever it concerns Lord Zhaoyuan, you turn into a slow-witted idiot… What kind of person are you?”
“So it’s not only the gods. Even the Dragon Kings from back then have vanished without a trace.” Qin Shu’s thoughts stirred, and he ripped the other chicken leg off the roast bird just as forcefully.
No wonder Jiangcheng had always possessed legends of the Dragon Mother but no stories of a Dragon King manifesting miracles. The Dragon Mother had relied on the prestige of dragonkind and absorbed vast amounts of worship from believers and yao cultivators over the years. No matter how brutal and frightening she was in essence, no other Dragon King or dragon prince had ever appeared to intervene.
No wonder Daoist Master Xu had once said that the strict heavenly laws of the past had long since stopped being enforced. Relationships between yao cultivators and humans, and children born from lovers of different species, had not caused trouble in a very long time. Everyone simply treated such things as ordinary in the present age.
More importantly, Qin Shu suddenly understood something else.
He abruptly realized that Goddess Nüwa answering their previous deity-invitation ritual might not have been only because he had brought the bracelet Chang Liu Yi gave him… More importantly, among the gods they could still summon, among the gods who could still be called “active” and “capable of handling things,” there simply were not many left.
The highest-ranking ancient deities had appeared, and so had small local divine officials such as City Gods and Tudigong. Yet the number of mid-tier deities displayed a bizarre gap. This might even be connected to the severe decline and ruin of the underworld.
Perhaps Zuo Zhe had clues. He had lived long enough and remained quietly active in the hidden world all that time, watching the cultivation world’s tides rise and fall… Pei Zhao was not the only one who knew certain things. Zuo Zhe had to know something too.
With that thought, Qin Shu stopped wasting time arguing with the white dragon and sped up, eating two-thirds of the food on the table while leaving enough for Xing Yong. Then he reached over and took Pei Zhao’s hand.
“Brother Yong, we’re done eating. We still have things to do after we get home. Don’t forget dinner… Brother Yong?”
Only after hearing his name a second time did Xing Yong finally snap out of the crime-scene photos.
Looking at the stew that had already been mostly finished and the roast chicken Qin Shu had nearly demolished, his ashen expression finally softened slightly, and he laughed. “Being young really is great. Looks like you were holding back at the hotpot place last time. Keep it up. And don’t be polite with me in the future either. Go home early and rest. You worked hard today.”
“Okay, then we’re leaving.” Qin Shu emphasized seriously once more, “Brother Yong, I’m serious. Don’t forget to eat dinner. If you really can’t eat, pack it up and take it home. Don’t waste food.”
“Like I need you to tell me! Brat’s lecturing me again.”
Seeing that Xing Yong was clearly in a better state and had instantly become much more lively, Qin Shu finally left with satisfaction.
The white dragon remained their mount on the return trip. After drinking a little, he flew even faster, carrying the two of them straight into the sky. He rolled through the star-filled night while his snow-white scales shone beneath the moonlight, the brilliant, brightly lit nightscape of Jiangcheng spread beneath them in full.
“Whew… Nice.” Qin Shu held the dragon horn steadily and enjoyed several sudden moments of weightlessness, discovering that the sensation was tremendously satisfying and excellent for relieving stress.
Pei Zhao lightly held him from behind, his cool face resting against Qin Shu’s neck, though his attention remained immersed in the equally boundless storage space.
Enjoying the night view alone was boring. Qin Shu reached back and touched Pei Zhao’s thigh. “Zhaozhao, how’s it going? Find anything interesting?”
“He researched the world’s fractures extensively.” Pei Zhao came back to himself and tightened his arms around Qin Shu. “It’s a good thing we killed him.”
“…Why?”
“If he’d lived a few more years and his plan succeeded… not even the gods could save us.”