In the morgue, Xiang Cheng shone a flashlight into the freezer.
"The autopsy report didn't check their backs closely," Zhou Wanyuan said in the dark. "Only a few key parts like the neck, ankles, and wrists were checked. After excluding homicide, they were filed away."
Xiang Cheng was silent. Zhou Wanyuan said, "Do you usually not talk except to analyze cases?"
"En." Xiang Cheng said.
Zhou Wanyuan: "I think you talk a lot to your apprentice."
Xiang Cheng checked the files in his hand, found one of the freezers, and opened it up.
"Xiaoduo is not my apprentice," Xiang Cheng replied. He zipped open the bag, and inside was a body with half its face missing due to jumping off the roof. The head was smashed in, and the brains mutilated.
"Turn it over," Xiang Cheng said.
Zhou Wanyuan came over and gave him a hand. It was very cold in the morgue, and they worked together to turn the body over. Xiang Cheng's flashlight shone on the shoulder of the corpse, where there was a faint claw mark.
The two of them looked at each other. Xiang Cheng zipped up the bag and pushed it back into the freezer.
"It confirms your guess." Zhou Wanyuan said, "There are two possibilities: first, it can control people's minds, or second, it can become bigger and smaller. When luring Girl A over, it took away her pen and waited on the glass ceiling. Girl A climbed out to pick up her pen, and then she fell down."
Xiang Cheng let out a careless “en.” When they were about to leave the morgue, they suddenly heard a slight "dong" in the freezer.
Xiang Cheng stopped, pointed the flashlight back over, and the light landed on the nameplate outside the freezer drawer.
"Things expand with heat and shrink with cold ba," Zhou Wanyuan said.
"It’s the neighboring one."
As soon as Xiang Cheng said that, there was another "dong" from D’s freezer. The two of them stood in the quiet morgue, facing the drawer.
Xiang Cheng stepped forward one hand on the drawer handle.
At that moment, the drawer crashed open and ejected with towering black energy!
Xiang Cheng was sent flying away, and a black monster flattened him to the ground. The two humans roared at the same time, but as soon as Zhou Wanyuan took out something, the monster turned and lashed out at her.
As soon as Zhou Wanyuan had her makeup mirror in her hand, it went flying as the monster hit her. Xiang Cheng crawled to his feet, pressed one hand against the middle table, flew back through the air, both feet aimed at the monster, and kicked it at the door. The door rang out with a loud noise. The monster let out a dull roar and puffed up the feathers that covered its body, its tail lashing around and hooking at things as it caught Xiang Cheng's ankle, and Xiang Cheng’s entire body fell to the ground.
Zhou Wanyuan was being held down by the monster. Its claws caught on her shoulders, and blood burst out. In a flash, the monster bit directly at her throat, but Xiang Cheng forcefully leapt onto it and viciously squeezed it. Xiang Cheng roared and threw the monster to the other side with his hands.
The monster crashed into the drawer of the morgue, turned its head, and Xiang Cheng saw the entire thing.
It was a black yao dog with the tail of a tiger, the wings of an eagle, and the head of a dog.
Zhou Wanyuan rushed to open the door, but heard footsteps, and the door was locked from the outside. As soon as Zhou Wanyuan touched the door handle, it burst into purple light and slammed her away!
The doors of the morgue closed, and there were freezers everywhere. Xiang Cheng and Zhou Wanyuan didn't have any magical weapons on them, only the makeup mirror in Zhou Wanyuan's hand. Xiang Cheng had no choice but to fight the monster at close range. The yao dog showed its bloody maw and forked tongue as it rushed towards him. Xiang Cheng pulled open a freezer, and the nearly 40 kg drawer was used as a shield, withstanding the force of the yao dog rushing over and slamming against it!
The yao dog's tail whipped around, flicking out at Xiang Cheng’s face like a steel whip. The moment Xiang Cheng fell, his cellphone flew out of his pocket. Xiang Cheng shot over, grabbed the cellphone in his hand, slid his thumb over it, and pressed redial.
In the off-road vehicle in the alley, Chi Xiaoduo's cellphone vibrated. The caller ID read: Xiang Cheng.
“Hello?”
The roar of a monster sounded from the other end. Keda immediately started the off-road vehicle and hit it a few times, but the engine turned off. Chi Xiaoduo shouted, "Xiang Cheng!"
Keda opened the trunk door from the inside by kicking it open. The two of them rushed out, climbed onto the roof, and ran into the passageway. In the dark corridor, the morgue was completely quiet, and Keda roared, "Chi Xiaoduo! Make way!"
Chi Xiaoduo immediately leaned against the wall and saw a strange mark on the door, as if it had been firmly sealed by a magical array. Keda drew both his hands back and punched at the door, throwing the weight of his whole body at it.
At that moment, Chi Xiaoduo saw the ghost of a wolf with silver fur burst out from Keda, roaring as it charged at the magical array. The wolf made of light collided with the door of the morgue and shattered the magical array, opening the door with a bang.
Inside, the yao dog had its tail wrapped around Zhou Wanyuan's neck, and it threw her out of the door into Keda, and then rushed out from the door!
Chi Xiaoduo: “.....”
“Careful!” Xiang Cheng roared.
The yao dog rushed up to the ceiling in an instant, then jumped down again, its claws heading towards Chi Xiaoduo's shoulder. In an instant, the world whirled around it.
Chi Xiaoduo yelled in his heart - Damnit - and the conditioned reflex in his hands made him catch the yao dog's claw and judo-throw it over his shoulder.
Everyone: ".......”
"Well done!" Xiang Cheng cheered.
The yao dog was thrown back into the midst of its enemies again. As soon as it sprang up, Xiang Cheng jerked the freezer drawer and smashed it thunderingly over the yao dog's head. With a loud bang, the yao dog slipped on its four feet, flew into a corner, and shakily rose again.
Chi Xiaoduo was ecstatic; the yaoguai handbook could be updated! In his mind, he gave the monster the animation effect of stars spinning around his head and bleary eyes, and almost wanted to pounce onto it, hug it, and kiss it a few times.
The monster stumbled a few steps and rushed down the stairs. Keda realized what was going on and took the lead in rushing down.
The four of them returned to the car. Xiang Cheng pulled the trunk closed, rolled down the window, whistled, and Si Gui flew over. Keda turned the car key fiercely several times, started the SUV, and quickly backed out of the alley.
Chi Xiaoduo was hastily recording things in his notebook and asked, "That’s the monster?"
"Yes," Xiang Cheng said darkly, "It was a trap."
"There must be a traitor in the organization." Zhou Wanyuan said with a dark expression. Her shoulder was drenched in blood from the yao dog clawing at her, and her color was pale as she said, "We were like turtles caught in a jar!"
"No," Xiang Cheng said, "not necessarily. Keda, drive faster!"
"It's already at the fastest!" Keda shifted gears, ran a red light and gave chase like a bat out of hell. "Zhou Wanyuan, are you okay?"
Zhou Wanyuan shook her head, gasping for breath
Xiang Cheng rummaged for his duffle bag and poked his head out of the sunroof. Chi Xiaoduo also stood up in the back seat and stuck his head out of the sunroof. The strong wind blew at him, to the point that his face was about to be blown crooked.
The night was dark, and the corrupted yao dog spread its wings and faded into the sky. In Chi Xiaoduo's eyes, it left a trail of red light behind it. He looked at Xiang Cheng and pointed to the east.
"I see it," Xiang Cheng hugged Chi Xiaoduo, and they leaned against the roof of the car.
"East," Xiang Cheng said.
"Hey," said Keda, "Zhou Wanyuan."
Xiang Cheng came down and saw that Zhou Wanyuan was deathly pale and that the front passenger seat was covered in blood. She leaned against the seat and didn't move.
Chi Xiaoduo pressed his clothes to her shoulder, helping her stop the bleeding, and said, "We can't give chase anymore."
Half an hour later, in a basement.
Zhou Wanyuan leaned on the sofa as Chi Xiaoduo bandaged her.
"Why me..." The corners of Chi Xiaoduo’s mouth twitched.
"It's awkward for us to do it." Keda said with his back to Chi Xiaoduo, "Has the wound been treated?"
Xiang Cheng sat in silence at a long table.
"But I'm also a man ah," Chi Xiaoduo said.
Zhou Wanyuan, with her shoulders half exposed and her back bare, said weakly, "If I’m letting you wrap it, then just wrap it ba... What are you doing, saying so much nonsense?"
Keda said sincerely, "Your hands are very skilled."
Chi Xiaoduo tied a bow on the bandages of Zhou Wanyuan's wound, his hands covered in blood.
"Thank you," said Zhou Wanyuan wearily.
Chi Xiaoduo went to wash his hands, while Keda brought out some alcohol and handed some to Xiang Cheng and Zhou Wanyuan.
Keda toasted, "To world peace."
"World peace," Xiang Cheng said helplessly.
“Love and peace…” Zhou Wanyuan said weakly.
Chi Xiaoduo: “World peace.”
"Okay." Chi Xiaoduo sat at the long table, spread out his notebook, and said, "Let's sort out today's investigation findings ba."
Xiang Cheng and Zhou Wanyuan looked at Chi Xiaoduo strangely, and Keda started laughing.
"What?" Chi Xiaoduo asked blankly.
Zhou Wanyuan: "Nothing."
Xiang Cheng shook his head. Chi Xiaoduo said, "I'll take notes for everyone," then winked at Keda. Keda motioned that he understood and wouldn't say anything about him signing up for the yao subduing equipment division.
"That monster knew in advance that we would go to the hospital," Xiang Cheng said.
"So?" Keda asked, sitting on the dining chair, absorbed in thought.
"Does anyone want to harm us?" Chi Xiaoduo noted down everything that had happened to them tonight and drew out pictures like a Powerpoint to detail it all. He remembered Zhou Wanyuan saying that “there must be a traitor in the organization” in the car, and he decided not to write that down for the time being.
"Yes." Xiang Cheng replied, "We were caught like turtles in a jar. Fortunately, we escaped. We didn’t bring any magical weapons with us when we entered the morgue."
Chi Xiaoduo updated the “Morgue” key entry and asked, "Is it possible that someone has been monitoring our movements?"
Keda shook his head and said, "I haven’t discovered anyone."
It wasn’t possible that with three exorcists here, none of them would notice a tracker. The only possibility was——the other party had already figured out that they would go to the hospital morgue and had long ago already arranged a trap there and waited for them.
"It's already very clear." Xiang Cheng glanced up at Zhou Wanyuan and said, "It’s one or more yao dogs...I guess that they are all the same type."
Zhou Wanyuan said, "It’s really scary that the enemy can guess that we wouldn’t carry any magical weapons with us when we went to the morgue."
"Don't you have a mirror?" Xiang Cheng asked.
"That's a yao-revealing mirror," Zhou Wanyuan said. "It doesn’t have any attack power."
Keda cracked his knuckles and didn’t say anything. Xiang Cheng sorted out the notes and said, "They’re not guessing; it’s that the enemy’s leader can predict the future and knows the series of events that will happen next.”
"Since he can predict the future, why not make more complete preparations and directly attack?"
Xiang Cheng was silent for a long time and said, "Maybe he can only predict the future to a certain extent."
Chi Xiaoduo said, "So if we talk here, it can predict that as well?"
"It's possible," Xiang Cheng said. "Everything could be under its control."
Chi Xiaoduo: "......”
Keda laughed, shook his head, and said, "That’s impossible. Do you believe that?"
Chi Xiaoduo said, "I believe him."
Keda said, "It's unscientific. God doesn't play dice, and the future is unpredictable. Our university professor said this."
"But yaoguai and devils themselves are unscientific ba," Chi Xiaoduo said. "It seems strange to want yao and devils to abide by the rules of physics and quantum mechanics while also running around capturing them ah."
"Alright ba, then I'll accept this statement for the time being." Keda's eyebrows twitched, and he said, "Go on, Xiang-xiong, what else did you discover?"
Xiang Cheng looked at Keda, and the corners of Keda’s mouth twitched slightly, his eyes making it seem like he had something to say.
After just a moment, the two of them looked away from each other.
"I've been busy with this for three months," Zhou Wanyuan said. "but I haven’t figured out the motive, and also haven’t caught the yaoguai. It's too frustrating."
Zhou Wanyuan took a sip of alcohol, but Xiang Cheng said, "We’ve already gotten close."
Chi Xiaoduo used a drink to ice the red mark on Xiang Cheng's face. Xiang Cheng sat quietly and looked at them.
"I’ll talk now," Xiang Cheng said.
"Go ahead ba," Zhou Wanyuan said.
"Talk," Keda replied.
"A devil who knows the future," Xiang Cheng said, "took the lives of four students and used an unknown ceremony to do something that we don't know."
Keda added, "Correction: it may be one devil or more than one."
Xiang Cheng said, "There’s only one. The yao dog is just a flunky that it’s using. Devils controlling yao is very common in my experience."
Chi Xiaoduo updated the entry "yao dog".
"The yao dog has no brain." Zhou Wanyuan said, lying on the armrest of the sofa. "There must be a more powerful guy behind, directing it. They discovered that we were getting close to the truth after we got involved in the investigation, so they wanted to kill us all to silence us and stop the organization from investigating again."
"That devil," Xiang Cheng said, "what did it form from? We know nothing about it, and I was completely powerless against it when I fought with it for the first time."
"Were you magically restrained?" Zhou Wanyuan sat up straight, lifted her head, and asked Xiang Cheng.
Xiang Cheng shook his head and said, "It dodged every move of mine."
"Why did you find it?" Keda asked.
"The Sword of Wisdom." Xiang Cheng replied, "It's an heirloom magical artifact. The Qi family told me that there are two devils in Beijing, and one of them has my Sword of Wisdom.”
Chi Xiaoduo was ecstatic, noted down “Sword of Wisdom,” and looked at Xiang Cheng expectantly.
"What devil?" Keda asked. "Did they say what kind?"
Xiang Cheng shook his head.
"Where did this information come from?" Chi Xiaoduo asked.
"The youngest son of the Qi family overheard a yao mention it." Xiang Cheng replied, "That old man only went to places with many people, so I didn't dare to use magic. When the old man came to the drum tower, he disappeared. I entered the drum tower, the drum sounded, and another old man appeared. He launched a magical array at me and sent me into that infinite loop corridor."
Chi Xiaoduo recorded down, "Infinite Loop corridor."
Xiang Cheng: "......”
"Take a break," Xiang Cheng said. "Stop writing, what’s there to write about the Infinite Loop corridor?"
"Can you not be so serious?" Zhou Wanyuan, who couldn't watch any longer, said. "I'm most annoyed by reading and taking notes."
Chi Xiaoduo said seriously, “Don’t be like that ma. In this age, is being diligent not okay?"
"Chen Zhen sent someone to check that place." Keda said, "It's a pavilion illusion transformation array left by a Lama from the Qing Dynasty. It was set up 160 years ago to communicate with the capital under the Little Potala’s human skin drum. It may have been used to avoid the Eight Power Allied Forces, and has no direct relationship to devils."
"It's also a trap," Xiang Cheng replied. "It accidentally found the transformation array, so it led me over there."
"In other words, it's playing with you, isn't it?" Zhou Wanyuan said.
"Yes." Xiang Cheng nodded. He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of alcohol.
"Xiaoduo," Keda asked, "what did the old man you met with Director Chen that night look like?"
Chi Xiaoduo's hand was about to cramp from writing, there was really too much key information.
Chi Xiaoduo flipped to the previous pages, described what happened in detail, and said, "He didn't turn his head, so I didn't see his face."
"He has no face," Xiang Cheng said. "He used a hundun’s power, and I saw that his face had no features."
"So it’s a hundun?" Zhou Wanyuan asked.
"He has a dead hundun in his body." Xiang Cheng's five fingers made a "capturing" motion, and he explained, "This is a special kind of devil. There are at least two people... two devils. One releases all the spirits absorbed in his body and lets them absorb the aura of the heavenly veins, and the other sucks all the spirits back in at midnight."
"Twin devils," Keda said immediately, "I see."
Xiang Cheng nodded.
Chi Xiaoduo was wide-eyed and couldn’t make a sound. He had already forgotten to update the entry and asked, "So the yaoguai tonight was also one that it released?"
"Yes." Xiang Cheng nodded.
"And it can also predict the future," Zhou Wanyuan said.
Chi Xiaoduo wrote it all down in his notebook and looked at them.
"We have to apply for fresh troops to assist," Keda said. "The three of us are no match for two devils."
"The key is," Xiang Cheng said, "what is it? This is the most important question. Once we know the other party’s classification, everything will be easily solved, and we can go back to the case itself."
"Motive, purpose and means," Zhou Wanyuan said, trying hard to wake herself up. "With your analysis, I can probably grasp a bit of the essence of what is going on."
"Don't be deceived by your eyes," Xiang Cheng said. "Under all these layers, the truth of the matter is that there can only be one reason for this."
"To build up one’s power," Keda said. "The ultimate goal of killing people is to increase your power. This process is beyond all doubt."
"The power it wants to increase," Xiang Cheng said, "is the power to predict the future."
"That’s possible," Zhou Wanyuan said, "but why it chose these four students has always been a mystery to me."
"Coincidence," Xiang Cheng replied, "That’s the only possibility. They met either Mr. Mao or Mr. Die, put forward some kind of trade, and reached a deal with the devil. We’ve already gotten close to the truth, so tomorrow I'll go to Yandaixie Street and stay in the inn where they stayed for one night to search for clues. It's late night now, let’s go back to sleep first ba."
"Stay at my house ba," Keda said. "You can choose any room upstairs."
Keda’s house was very big; it was a three-story single family house. The living room was completely dark with the lights off, and there was no one there. Chi Xiaoduo was very curious, because this was the first time he was living in such a luxurious place.
Each room was equipped with a separate bathroom; Keda’s family was very rich.
Chi Xiaoduo took an ice pack and iced Xiang Cheng's red and swollen face to reduce the swelling. He was extremely distressed on his behalf.
"Fortunately, you called me." Chi Xiaoduo said, "If the two of us hadn’t made it there in time, I don’t know what would have happened."
"Those were the fighting skills you learned in the judo hall?" Xiang Cheng asked.
Chi Xiaoduo let out a “hehe” and said, “Strong ba.”
Xiang Cheng replied, "It was great. When we were in the morgue, I heard footsteps, and that was it coming over to lock the door and then seal it."
Chi Xiaoduo shuddered at the thought that they had passed a devil not long ago and asked, "What faction is Keda from? I saw that he could directly break through the magical array."
"That wasn’t a magical array," Xiang Cheng replied, "that was a devil seal. I also don't know, you can ask him yourself next time."
Chi Xiaoduo thought for a moment and said, "That purple magical seal was so powerful, it could lock both of you inside."
Xiang Cheng: “.....”
"You saw it?" Xiang Cheng’s brow furrowed.
Chi Xiaoduo nodded. Xiang Cheng immediately sat up and asked, "What shape was it?"
"Round." Chi Xiaoduo replied, "Keda also saw it."
"He can't see it!" Xiang Cheng said, "This is great, do you still remember it? Draw it out."
Chi Xiaoduo tried his best to recall it. His memory was actually very good, and as long as he didn't smell any Lihun pollen, he could vaguely remember things that had happened back as far back as when he was seven.
Xiang Cheng found a pen and paper, pulled open a drawer, and asked Chi Xiaoduo to sit by the table, and describe the magical array. Chi Xiaoduo couldn't fully remember it, so many places were off, and he said, “I can’t remember all of it clearly.”
"If you can't remember it clearly, just scribble it," Xiang Cheng said. "It doesn't matter, it’s fine as long as we have the general shape."
Chi Xiaoduo racked his brain, and the insides looked like an earthworm. He scribbled for a while and asked, "What's this for?"
"It’s this devil’s magic," Xiang Cheng said, "If we can figure it out, we can know what kind of devil it is."
Chi Xiaoduo asked, "But according to what you said before, it can predict the future. Can it predict that we are here to try investigating the root of it? Or if it predicts that we will guess what it is through the magical array, it would give the wrong magical array in advance, right?"
"That's reasonable." Xiang Cheng paced a bit in the room. Chi Xiaoduo said, "I'm not afraid of trouble, but I'm afraid that if it can guess everything, will we fall into the next trap?"
Xiang Cheng said, "Draw it out first ba, and we’ll figure it out after we look at it."
Chi Xiaoduo concentrated on drawing for a while, and when it was past midnight, yawned.
"Okay." Chi Xiaoduo handed him the paper, and on it was a circular array of rays. Xiang Cheng said, "You go to sleep first."
Chi Xiaoduo climbed into bed while Xiang Cheng went out and knocked on the door. Keda was sleeping right in the opposite bedroom, and Xiang Cheng asked Keda for reference books. Keda yawned and said, "There are too many, you can’t finish them all. There are PDFs, so you can read it on your iPad ba."
So Chi Xiaoduo slept while Xiang Cheng laid in bed and used the iPad to search picture after picture, based on Chi Xiaoduo’s drawing.
Chi Xiaoduo slept until he was in a daze. He felt that after a long time, Xiang Cheng also lay down, so he took the initiative to twist around. Xiang Cheng hugged him, the air conditioner was fully turned on, and Chi Xiaoduo snuggled into the quilt to sleep.
In the morgue, Xiang Cheng shone a flashlight into the freezer.
"The autopsy report didn't check their backs closely," Zhou Wanyuan said in the dark. "Only a few key parts like the neck, ankles, and wrists were checked. After excluding homicide, they were filed away."
Xiang Cheng was silent. Zhou Wanyuan said, "Do you usually not talk except to analyze cases?"
"En." Xiang Cheng said.
Zhou Wanyuan: "I think you talk a lot to your apprentice."
Xiang Cheng checked the files in his hand, found one of the freezers, and opened it up.
"Xiaoduo is not my apprentice," Xiang Cheng replied. He zipped open the bag, and inside was a body with half its face missing due to jumping off the roof. The head was smashed in, and the brains mutilated.
"Turn it over," Xiang Cheng said.
Zhou Wanyuan came over and gave him a hand. It was very cold in the morgue, and they worked together to turn the body over. Xiang Cheng's flashlight shone on the shoulder of the corpse, where there was a faint claw mark.
The two of them looked at each other. Xiang Cheng zipped up the bag and pushed it back into the freezer.
"It confirms your guess." Zhou Wanyuan said, "There are two possibilities: first, it can control people's minds, or second, it can become bigger and smaller. When luring Girl A over, it took away her pen and waited on the glass ceiling. Girl A climbed out to pick up her pen, and then she fell down."
Xiang Cheng let out a careless “en.” When they were about to leave the morgue, they suddenly heard a slight "dong" in the freezer.
Xiang Cheng stopped, pointed the flashlight back over, and the light landed on the nameplate outside the freezer drawer.
"Things expand with heat and shrink with cold ba," Zhou Wanyuan said.
"It’s the neighboring one."
As soon as Xiang Cheng said that, there was another "dong" from D’s freezer. The two of them stood in the quiet morgue, facing the drawer.
Xiang Cheng stepped forward one hand on the drawer handle.
At that moment, the drawer crashed open and ejected with towering black energy!
Xiang Cheng was sent flying away, and a black monster flattened him to the ground. The two humans roared at the same time, but as soon as Zhou Wanyuan took out something, the monster turned and lashed out at her.
As soon as Zhou Wanyuan had her makeup mirror in her hand, it went flying as the monster hit her. Xiang Cheng crawled to his feet, pressed one hand against the middle table, flew back through the air, both feet aimed at the monster, and kicked it at the door. The door rang out with a loud noise. The monster let out a dull roar and puffed up the feathers that covered its body, its tail lashing around and hooking at things as it caught Xiang Cheng's ankle, and Xiang Cheng’s entire body fell to the ground.
Zhou Wanyuan was being held down by the monster. Its claws caught on her shoulders, and blood burst out. In a flash, the monster bit directly at her throat, but Xiang Cheng forcefully leapt onto it and viciously squeezed it. Xiang Cheng roared and threw the monster to the other side with his hands.
The monster crashed into the drawer of the morgue, turned its head, and Xiang Cheng saw the entire thing.
It was a black yao dog with the tail of a tiger, the wings of an eagle, and the head of a dog.
Zhou Wanyuan rushed to open the door, but heard footsteps, and the door was locked from the outside. As soon as Zhou Wanyuan touched the door handle, it burst into purple light and slammed her away!
The doors of the morgue closed, and there were freezers everywhere. Xiang Cheng and Zhou Wanyuan didn't have any magical weapons on them, only the makeup mirror in Zhou Wanyuan's hand. Xiang Cheng had no choice but to fight the monster at close range. The yao dog showed its bloody maw and forked tongue as it rushed towards him. Xiang Cheng pulled open a freezer, and the nearly 40 kg drawer was used as a shield, withstanding the force of the yao dog rushing over and slamming against it!
The yao dog's tail whipped around, flicking out at Xiang Cheng’s face like a steel whip. The moment Xiang Cheng fell, his cellphone flew out of his pocket. Xiang Cheng shot over, grabbed the cellphone in his hand, slid his thumb over it, and pressed redial.
In the off-road vehicle in the alley, Chi Xiaoduo's cellphone vibrated. The caller ID read: Xiang Cheng.
“Hello?”
The roar of a monster sounded from the other end. Keda immediately started the off-road vehicle and hit it a few times, but the engine turned off. Chi Xiaoduo shouted, "Xiang Cheng!"
Keda opened the trunk door from the inside by kicking it open. The two of them rushed out, climbed onto the roof, and ran into the passageway. In the dark corridor, the morgue was completely quiet, and Keda roared, "Chi Xiaoduo! Make way!"
Chi Xiaoduo immediately leaned against the wall and saw a strange mark on the door, as if it had been firmly sealed by a magical array. Keda drew both his hands back and punched at the door, throwing the weight of his whole body at it.
At that moment, Chi Xiaoduo saw the ghost of a wolf with silver fur burst out from Keda, roaring as it charged at the magical array. The wolf made of light collided with the door of the morgue and shattered the magical array, opening the door with a bang.
Inside, the yao dog had its tail wrapped around Zhou Wanyuan's neck, and it threw her out of the door into Keda, and then rushed out from the door!
Chi Xiaoduo: “.....”
“Careful!” Xiang Cheng roared.
The yao dog rushed up to the ceiling in an instant, then jumped down again, its claws heading towards Chi Xiaoduo's shoulder. In an instant, the world whirled around it.
Chi Xiaoduo yelled in his heart - Damnit - and the conditioned reflex in his hands made him catch the yao dog's claw and judo-throw it over his shoulder.
Everyone: ".......”
"Well done!" Xiang Cheng cheered.
The yao dog was thrown back into the midst of its enemies again. As soon as it sprang up, Xiang Cheng jerked the freezer drawer and smashed it thunderingly over the yao dog's head. With a loud bang, the yao dog slipped on its four feet, flew into a corner, and shakily rose again.
Chi Xiaoduo was ecstatic; the yaoguai handbook could be updated! In his mind, he gave the monster the animation effect of stars spinning around his head and bleary eyes, and almost wanted to pounce onto it, hug it, and kiss it a few times.
The monster stumbled a few steps and rushed down the stairs. Keda realized what was going on and took the lead in rushing down.
The four of them returned to the car. Xiang Cheng pulled the trunk closed, rolled down the window, whistled, and Si Gui flew over. Keda turned the car key fiercely several times, started the SUV, and quickly backed out of the alley.
Chi Xiaoduo was hastily recording things in his notebook and asked, "That’s the monster?"
"Yes," Xiang Cheng said darkly, "It was a trap."
"There must be a traitor in the organization." Zhou Wanyuan said with a dark expression. Her shoulder was drenched in blood from the yao dog clawing at her, and her color was pale as she said, "We were like turtles caught in a jar!"
"No," Xiang Cheng said, "not necessarily. Keda, drive faster!"
"It's already at the fastest!" Keda shifted gears, ran a red light and gave chase like a bat out of hell. "Zhou Wanyuan, are you okay?"
Zhou Wanyuan shook her head, gasping for breath
Xiang Cheng rummaged for his duffle bag and poked his head out of the sunroof. Chi Xiaoduo also stood up in the back seat and stuck his head out of the sunroof. The strong wind blew at him, to the point that his face was about to be blown crooked.
The night was dark, and the corrupted yao dog spread its wings and faded into the sky. In Chi Xiaoduo's eyes, it left a trail of red light behind it. He looked at Xiang Cheng and pointed to the east.
"I see it," Xiang Cheng hugged Chi Xiaoduo, and they leaned against the roof of the car.
"East," Xiang Cheng said.
"Hey," said Keda, "Zhou Wanyuan."
Xiang Cheng came down and saw that Zhou Wanyuan was deathly pale and that the front passenger seat was covered in blood. She leaned against the seat and didn't move.
Chi Xiaoduo pressed his clothes to her shoulder, helping her stop the bleeding, and said, "We can't give chase anymore."
Half an hour later, in a basement.
Zhou Wanyuan leaned on the sofa as Chi Xiaoduo bandaged her.
"Why me..." The corners of Chi Xiaoduo’s mouth twitched.
"It's awkward for us to do it." Keda said with his back to Chi Xiaoduo, "Has the wound been treated?"
Xiang Cheng sat in silence at a long table.
"But I'm also a man ah," Chi Xiaoduo said.
Zhou Wanyuan, with her shoulders half exposed and her back bare, said weakly, "If I’m letting you wrap it, then just wrap it ba... What are you doing, saying so much nonsense?"
Keda said sincerely, "Your hands are very skilled."
Chi Xiaoduo tied a bow on the bandages of Zhou Wanyuan's wound, his hands covered in blood.
"Thank you," said Zhou Wanyuan wearily.
Chi Xiaoduo went to wash his hands, while Keda brought out some alcohol and handed some to Xiang Cheng and Zhou Wanyuan.
Keda toasted, "To world peace."
"World peace," Xiang Cheng said helplessly.
“Love and peace…” Zhou Wanyuan said weakly.
Chi Xiaoduo: “World peace.”
"Okay." Chi Xiaoduo sat at the long table, spread out his notebook, and said, "Let's sort out today's investigation findings ba."
Xiang Cheng and Zhou Wanyuan looked at Chi Xiaoduo strangely, and Keda started laughing.
"What?" Chi Xiaoduo asked blankly.
Zhou Wanyuan: "Nothing."
Xiang Cheng shook his head. Chi Xiaoduo said, "I'll take notes for everyone," then winked at Keda. Keda motioned that he understood and wouldn't say anything about him signing up for the yao subduing equipment division.
"That monster knew in advance that we would go to the hospital," Xiang Cheng said.
"So?" Keda asked, sitting on the dining chair, absorbed in thought.
"Does anyone want to harm us?" Chi Xiaoduo noted down everything that had happened to them tonight and drew out pictures like a Powerpoint to detail it all. He remembered Zhou Wanyuan saying that “there must be a traitor in the organization” in the car, and he decided not to write that down for the time being.
"Yes." Xiang Cheng replied, "We were caught like turtles in a jar. Fortunately, we escaped. We didn’t bring any magical weapons with us when we entered the morgue."
Chi Xiaoduo updated the “Morgue” key entry and asked, "Is it possible that someone has been monitoring our movements?"
Keda shook his head and said, "I haven’t discovered anyone."
It wasn’t possible that with three exorcists here, none of them would notice a tracker. The only possibility was——the other party had already figured out that they would go to the hospital morgue and had long ago already arranged a trap there and waited for them.
"It's already very clear." Xiang Cheng glanced up at Zhou Wanyuan and said, "It’s one or more yao dogs...I guess that they are all the same type."
Zhou Wanyuan said, "It’s really scary that the enemy can guess that we wouldn’t carry any magical weapons with us when we went to the morgue."
"Don't you have a mirror?" Xiang Cheng asked.
"That's a yao-revealing mirror," Zhou Wanyuan said. "It doesn’t have any attack power."
Keda cracked his knuckles and didn’t say anything. Xiang Cheng sorted out the notes and said, "They’re not guessing; it’s that the enemy’s leader can predict the future and knows the series of events that will happen next.”
"Since he can predict the future, why not make more complete preparations and directly attack?"
Xiang Cheng was silent for a long time and said, "Maybe he can only predict the future to a certain extent."
Chi Xiaoduo said, "So if we talk here, it can predict that as well?"
"It's possible," Xiang Cheng said. "Everything could be under its control."
Chi Xiaoduo: "......”
Keda laughed, shook his head, and said, "That’s impossible. Do you believe that?"
Chi Xiaoduo said, "I believe him."
Keda said, "It's unscientific. God doesn't play dice, and the future is unpredictable. Our university professor said this."
"But yaoguai and devils themselves are unscientific ba," Chi Xiaoduo said. "It seems strange to want yao and devils to abide by the rules of physics and quantum mechanics while also running around capturing them ah."
"Alright ba, then I'll accept this statement for the time being." Keda's eyebrows twitched, and he said, "Go on, Xiang-xiong, what else did you discover?"
Xiang Cheng looked at Keda, and the corners of Keda’s mouth twitched slightly, his eyes making it seem like he had something to say.
After just a moment, the two of them looked away from each other.
"I've been busy with this for three months," Zhou Wanyuan said. "but I haven’t figured out the motive, and also haven’t caught the yaoguai. It's too frustrating."
Zhou Wanyuan took a sip of alcohol, but Xiang Cheng said, "We’ve already gotten close."
Chi Xiaoduo used a drink to ice the red mark on Xiang Cheng's face. Xiang Cheng sat quietly and looked at them.
"I’ll talk now," Xiang Cheng said.
"Go ahead ba," Zhou Wanyuan said.
"Talk," Keda replied.
"A devil who knows the future," Xiang Cheng said, "took the lives of four students and used an unknown ceremony to do something that we don't know."
Keda added, "Correction: it may be one devil or more than one."
Xiang Cheng said, "There’s only one. The yao dog is just a flunky that it’s using. Devils controlling yao is very common in my experience."
Chi Xiaoduo updated the entry "yao dog".
"The yao dog has no brain." Zhou Wanyuan said, lying on the armrest of the sofa. "There must be a more powerful guy behind, directing it. They discovered that we were getting close to the truth after we got involved in the investigation, so they wanted to kill us all to silence us and stop the organization from investigating again."
"That devil," Xiang Cheng said, "what did it form from? We know nothing about it, and I was completely powerless against it when I fought with it for the first time."
"Were you magically restrained?" Zhou Wanyuan sat up straight, lifted her head, and asked Xiang Cheng.
Xiang Cheng shook his head and said, "It dodged every move of mine."
"Why did you find it?" Keda asked.
"The Sword of Wisdom." Xiang Cheng replied, "It's an heirloom magical artifact. The Qi family told me that there are two devils in Beijing, and one of them has my Sword of Wisdom.”
Chi Xiaoduo was ecstatic, noted down “Sword of Wisdom,” and looked at Xiang Cheng expectantly.
"What devil?" Keda asked. "Did they say what kind?"
Xiang Cheng shook his head.
"Where did this information come from?" Chi Xiaoduo asked.
"The youngest son of the Qi family overheard a yao mention it." Xiang Cheng replied, "That old man only went to places with many people, so I didn't dare to use magic. When the old man came to the drum tower, he disappeared. I entered the drum tower, the drum sounded, and another old man appeared. He launched a magical array at me and sent me into that infinite loop corridor."
Chi Xiaoduo recorded down, "Infinite Loop corridor."
Xiang Cheng: "......”
"Take a break," Xiang Cheng said. "Stop writing, what’s there to write about the Infinite Loop corridor?"
"Can you not be so serious?" Zhou Wanyuan, who couldn't watch any longer, said. "I'm most annoyed by reading and taking notes."
Chi Xiaoduo said seriously, “Don’t be like that ma. In this age, is being diligent not okay?"
"Chen Zhen sent someone to check that place." Keda said, "It's a pavilion illusion transformation array left by a Lama from the Qing Dynasty. It was set up 160 years ago to communicate with the capital under the Little Potala’s human skin drum. It may have been used to avoid the Eight Power Allied Forces, and has no direct relationship to devils."
"It's also a trap," Xiang Cheng replied. "It accidentally found the transformation array, so it led me over there."
"In other words, it's playing with you, isn't it?" Zhou Wanyuan said.
"Yes." Xiang Cheng nodded. He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of alcohol.
"Xiaoduo," Keda asked, "what did the old man you met with Director Chen that night look like?"
Chi Xiaoduo's hand was about to cramp from writing, there was really too much key information.
Chi Xiaoduo flipped to the previous pages, described what happened in detail, and said, "He didn't turn his head, so I didn't see his face."
"He has no face," Xiang Cheng said. "He used a hundun’s power, and I saw that his face had no features."
"So it’s a hundun?" Zhou Wanyuan asked.
"He has a dead hundun in his body." Xiang Cheng's five fingers made a "capturing" motion, and he explained, "This is a special kind of devil. There are at least two people... two devils. One releases all the spirits absorbed in his body and lets them absorb the aura of the heavenly veins, and the other sucks all the spirits back in at midnight."
"Twin devils," Keda said immediately, "I see."
Xiang Cheng nodded.
Chi Xiaoduo was wide-eyed and couldn’t make a sound. He had already forgotten to update the entry and asked, "So the yaoguai tonight was also one that it released?"
"Yes." Xiang Cheng nodded.
"And it can also predict the future," Zhou Wanyuan said.
Chi Xiaoduo wrote it all down in his notebook and looked at them.
"We have to apply for fresh troops to assist," Keda said. "The three of us are no match for two devils."
"The key is," Xiang Cheng said, "what is it? This is the most important question. Once we know the other party’s classification, everything will be easily solved, and we can go back to the case itself."
"Motive, purpose and means," Zhou Wanyuan said, trying hard to wake herself up. "With your analysis, I can probably grasp a bit of the essence of what is going on."
"Don't be deceived by your eyes," Xiang Cheng said. "Under all these layers, the truth of the matter is that there can only be one reason for this."
"To build up one’s power," Keda said. "The ultimate goal of killing people is to increase your power. This process is beyond all doubt."
"The power it wants to increase," Xiang Cheng said, "is the power to predict the future."
"That’s possible," Zhou Wanyuan said, "but why it chose these four students has always been a mystery to me."
"Coincidence," Xiang Cheng replied, "That’s the only possibility. They met either Mr. Mao or Mr. Die, put forward some kind of trade, and reached a deal with the devil. We’ve already gotten close to the truth, so tomorrow I'll go to Yandaixie Street and stay in the inn where they stayed for one night to search for clues. It's late night now, let’s go back to sleep first ba."
"Stay at my house ba," Keda said. "You can choose any room upstairs."
Keda’s house was very big; it was a three-story single family house. The living room was completely dark with the lights off, and there was no one there. Chi Xiaoduo was very curious, because this was the first time he was living in such a luxurious place.
Each room was equipped with a separate bathroom; Keda’s family was very rich.
Chi Xiaoduo took an ice pack and iced Xiang Cheng's red and swollen face to reduce the swelling. He was extremely distressed on his behalf.
"Fortunately, you called me." Chi Xiaoduo said, "If the two of us hadn’t made it there in time, I don’t know what would have happened."
"Those were the fighting skills you learned in the judo hall?" Xiang Cheng asked.
Chi Xiaoduo let out a “hehe” and said, “Strong ba.”
Xiang Cheng replied, "It was great. When we were in the morgue, I heard footsteps, and that was it coming over to lock the door and then seal it."
Chi Xiaoduo shuddered at the thought that they had passed a devil not long ago and asked, "What faction is Keda from? I saw that he could directly break through the magical array."
"That wasn’t a magical array," Xiang Cheng replied, "that was a devil seal. I also don't know, you can ask him yourself next time."
Chi Xiaoduo thought for a moment and said, "That purple magical seal was so powerful, it could lock both of you inside."
Xiang Cheng: “.....”
"You saw it?" Xiang Cheng’s brow furrowed.
Chi Xiaoduo nodded. Xiang Cheng immediately sat up and asked, "What shape was it?"
"Round." Chi Xiaoduo replied, "Keda also saw it."
"He can't see it!" Xiang Cheng said, "This is great, do you still remember it? Draw it out."
Chi Xiaoduo tried his best to recall it. His memory was actually very good, and as long as he didn't smell any Lihun pollen, he could vaguely remember things that had happened back as far back as when he was seven.
Xiang Cheng found a pen and paper, pulled open a drawer, and asked Chi Xiaoduo to sit by the table, and describe the magical array. Chi Xiaoduo couldn't fully remember it, so many places were off, and he said, “I can’t remember all of it clearly.”
"If you can't remember it clearly, just scribble it," Xiang Cheng said. "It doesn't matter, it’s fine as long as we have the general shape."
Chi Xiaoduo racked his brain, and the insides looked like an earthworm. He scribbled for a while and asked, "What's this for?"
"It’s this devil’s magic," Xiang Cheng said, "If we can figure it out, we can know what kind of devil it is."
Chi Xiaoduo asked, "But according to what you said before, it can predict the future. Can it predict that we are here to try investigating the root of it? Or if it predicts that we will guess what it is through the magical array, it would give the wrong magical array in advance, right?"
"That's reasonable." Xiang Cheng paced a bit in the room. Chi Xiaoduo said, "I'm not afraid of trouble, but I'm afraid that if it can guess everything, will we fall into the next trap?"
Xiang Cheng said, "Draw it out first ba, and we’ll figure it out after we look at it."
Chi Xiaoduo concentrated on drawing for a while, and when it was past midnight, yawned.
"Okay." Chi Xiaoduo handed him the paper, and on it was a circular array of rays. Xiang Cheng said, "You go to sleep first."
Chi Xiaoduo climbed into bed while Xiang Cheng went out and knocked on the door. Keda was sleeping right in the opposite bedroom, and Xiang Cheng asked Keda for reference books. Keda yawned and said, "There are too many, you can’t finish them all. There are PDFs, so you can read it on your iPad ba."
So Chi Xiaoduo slept while Xiang Cheng laid in bed and used the iPad to search picture after picture, based on Chi Xiaoduo’s drawing.
Chi Xiaoduo slept until he was in a daze. He felt that after a long time, Xiang Cheng also lay down, so he took the initiative to twist around. Xiang Cheng hugged him, the air conditioner was fully turned on, and Chi Xiaoduo snuggled into the quilt to sleep.
