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Despite the obstruction of Wen Su, Cui Yongle, and the other three, Zhou Ziqiu continued to wear the clothes.

The next day, everyone went to the police station and, after reviewing the information, understood what had happened.

This is a murder case. The deceased was an elderly man who was found in the park with several loops of electrical wire around his neck and grass roots and leaves on his body. The autopsy results indicated that he was dragged there after being hanged. The police began investigating the deceased's home and found bills in a mooncake box. They discovered that the deceased transferred a certain amount out every month, and then transferred in an amount larger than the previous month. After comparison, they found that the amount transferred in the following month was 10% more than the amount transferred out the previous month. Therefore, the police suspected that the elderly man may have been lured into participating in a money-making scheme.

"Planting gold" is a scam where criminals invite victims to join them by claiming they have raised a spirit that brings wealth. Initially, victims will tentatively invest a small amount of money, which the criminals will cover with their own money to create the illusion that the spirit has indeed brought money. Most victims will then trust the criminals and hand over more money. Once a certain amount is reached, the criminals will abscond with the money.

The deceased elderly man appeared to have been murdered after participating in a gold-farming scheme, so the police searched his network of contacts, looked through his address book, and found a suspicious person named Ta. The police tracked down Ta and followed him for a week. Ta would strike up conversations with elderly people in the park every day, enticing them to participate in the gold-farming scheme. Afterwards, the police questioned these elderly people and found that many of them had participated in the gold-farming scheme.

Therefore, the police applied for a search warrant for Ta and interrogated him after his arrest. Ta confessed to his actions, but also said, "My little devils won't let you get away with this." The police sensed something was wrong and continued their investigation, only to find that it was a gang crime involving three people, one of whom was Chinese. The police could not find his entry and exit information, so he had obviously come in illegally.

Thai police recalled a message recently sent by Chinese police and contacted them.

After hearing the information relayed by Wen Su, Cui Yongle decided to take his personal translator, Wen Su, to visit the Chinese man. Zhou Ziqiu, along with Fatty and Glasses, went with the Thai police to Ta's house. The Thai police also provided them with a translator to ensure that both sides could communicate without barriers.

On the way to Ta's house, the Thai police explained why they waited until Zhou Ziqiu and his group arrived before going there: They had been to Ta's house once before, but they saw many Buddha and deity statues there, and found two small jars, each containing oil, with a small human-shaped object inside the oil. The police did not know what it was, so they picked it up and looked at it, and immediately fainted as if electrocuted. After that, they started talking nonsense and are now lying in the hospital.

They invited a local Thai sorcerer, who told them that this was not a local Thai ghost. They tried to exorcise one, but they all suffered backlash. Ta also suddenly went insane, as if he had suffered a backlash from the ghost. The sorcerer, who had suffered a backlash, was unwilling to take on the matter again and suggested that they wait for someone who was proficient in this field to solve it. The Thai police waited until Zhou Ziqiu and his group arrived.

After listening, Zhou Ziqiu had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

Thailand deeply reveres ghosts and spirits. While they worship deities and Buddhas, with statues and amulets of gods and Buddhas visible everywhere, they also worship vengeful ghosts. Among the most famous are the ghost wives Nana, and the practice of raising Kumanthong (spirit children) and ghost children is also very popular. However, their methods of raising ghost children differ from those in China. They invite Ajarns, Thai masters, to perform rituals using the soul, oil, and ashes of deceased children, then place these rituals inside dolls. Those raising these ghost children are then provided with the best food and drink, and the most effective methods are often those involving mummified corpses gilded and those with inscribed symbols on their skulls.

In China, raising ghost children generally does not preserve the body. Most of the time, the ghost children are made directly from corpse oil or by dripping blood from the forehead onto boxwood to lock the soul before setting up an altar. Occasionally, the body is preserved, but the corpse is usually not exposed. Often, it is buried in a flowerpot and offered incense every day by the ghost raiser, or blood from the elbow is taken to feed the ghost children once every half month.

This is the ordinary practice of raising ghost children. However, extremely evil individuals will employ particularly bloody methods. In Thailand, over two thousand infant corpses were discovered at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. Because abortion is illegal in Thailand, girls resort to illegal abortions, creating a black market for this practice. Criminals use infant corpses to create ghost children, and some even go so far as to kill mothers for their children. The same practice exists in China; for example, the serial murders in Guan County were committed by the Sun family and that Southeast Asian man for the purpose of raising ghost children and creating corpses.

When they arrived at the tower's home, Zhou Ziqiu became even more certain of his suspicions: the Sun family had probably collaborated with that Southeast Asian man to turn the children who had been killed in Guanxing into little ghosts for the two groups to use in their illegal activities.

Because he saw the little ghost child who made him run away at the scene of the Guan Ying case that day.

The ghost child, who had been huddled alone in the corner, instinctively wanted to pounce on someone when he saw them enter the room. However, upon seeing that the person was the older brother Guan Xing had met, he was overjoyed and stumbled towards Zhou Ziqiu. Although Zhou Ziqiu knew that the ghost child was dead, he still subconsciously reached out to hug him.

The ghost child was picked up by Zhou Ziqiu and happily called out to him, "Big brother!"

The child's voice was sweet, though tinged with resentment and a hint of melancholy, but the rising intonation at the end made people involuntarily happy. Zhou Ziqiu smiled and pinched the ghost child's cheek: "We meet again."

There is something similar to a spiritual field between ghosts. Even if a ghost has a physical body, a body so perfect that it is difficult to distinguish with the naked eye and magic, it can still be identified as a ghost. Some ghosts have dull senses and will be a little slower to identify, but children are the most sensitive. They can even recognize which ghost is good and which is bad at a glance. So in the eyes of the ghost child in Zhou Ziqiu's arms, the one holding him is a kind-looking long-haired older brother.

The ghost child nodded, his smile growing even sweeter. His empty eyes narrowed, revealing teeth covered in blood: "Big brother!"

The accompanying translator and Thai police watched in horror as Zhou Ziqiu made a gesture of prayer with his hands clasped together, while the fat man and the bespectacled man exclaimed that they were ignorant.

"Big brother, what brings you here?"

Even though the ghost child wasn't very sensitive to changes in the outside world, he could still tell that he was no longer in a familiar place. He held Zhou Ziqiu's hand with his chubby hand, and his pupil-less eyes revealed a hint of worry.

"Of course we're taking our little baby back with us."

When speaking to innocent and naive children, Zhou Ziqiu couldn't help but soften his voice.

"Oh! I don't want to be here anymore. There's a bad uncle here who makes me do bad things every day. I don't want to do them, so the bad uncle punishes me." The ghost child wrapped his arms around Zhou Ziqiu's neck, and the grievances he had accumulated over the past few days finally burst forth. Child ghosts usually don't realize that they are dead, and most child ghosts are refined into little ghosts, losing their own consciousness and only having instincts left. It is rare for this child to still have his own consciousness. "My mom and dad are gone too. I want my mom and dad."

Zhou Ziqiu reached out and patted the ghost child's back, his voice gentle: "Okay, I'll take you back to find your mom and dad."

"Hmm!" Ghost Child nodded, then remembered something and showed Zhou Ziqiu his feet, "But I have this on my feet, so I can't walk."

The ghost child had a shackle on its foot, which shimmered with runes, and was probably set up by the ghost keeper to prevent the little ghost from escaping.

Zhou Ziqiu's eyes flashed, and he grabbed the ghost child's foot. With a "crack," the shackles were shattered by his bare hands. The ghost child kicked his legs, surprised that this older brother was so powerful, and shouted happily, "Big brother is so powerful! Big brother beats up bad guys!"

"Okay, brother will take you to fight the bad guys." Zhou Ziqiu smiled, picked up the ghost child, walked to the shelf with the jars, and picked up one of the jars.

He could sense that the little ghost in one of the two jars was already dead, presumably killed by the Thai sorcerer when he rashly performed the ritual.

If a child dies without intervention, they can still enter the cycle of reincarnation. However, if they are transformed into a ghost, it becomes very difficult for them to be reborn. Even so, if Taoist priests encounter a young ghost and are able to save it, they will do their utmost to send the ghost child to the afterlife, not for any other reason than to give these unjustly deceased children a future. But once the ghost dies, its soul is scattered and it has no chance of being reborn.

Zhou Ziqiu sighed and lowered his eyes to hide the sadness in them.

"Big brother..." Noticing Zhou Ziqiu's low spirits, the ghost child hugged Zhou Ziqiu tightly, trying to convey warmth to him with his intangible body. "It's okay, Yangyang will be very happy."

"Is Yangyang your name?" Zhou Ziqiu looked up, hiding his sadness, and asked with a smile.

The ghost child shook his head. "My name is Stone. Yangyang was another child. He left a few days ago, but he was happy. He said he felt relieved." As he spoke, he murmured, "Big brother, will I end up like Yangyang? I...I'm a little scared. I want my mom and dad."

Ghosts also feel fear. They fear never seeing their loved ones again, fear that they will not live well without them, fear their future, and fear where they will end up.

Zhou Ziqiu gently stroked the stone's back: "No, no, brother will save you."

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