Chapter 12 Shadows of Luoshan 2
The "police officer" said he had something important to do, but his steps were unhurried as he left through the east gate of the community.
Chang'an then arrived at the south gate of the community, the same place we had passed through on our way here, and met up with me.
Upon seeing me, he told me without any hesitation what he had just discussed with the "police officer," and then said worriedly, "I might be in danger recently, and I probably won't be able to go to school. You'd better not get close to me, lest you get implicated."
While keeping an eye on the "police's" movements, I replied, "I understand."
"But why did he send you away just now?" Chang'an asked, puzzled.
"It's probably to avoid leaks of the case. You're half involved, so it doesn't matter to you, but I'm basically an outsider." I'm just offering a simple analysis from a layman's perspective: "The victims involved in this incident are almost all local dignitaries, so the nature of the case is likely more than just a few deaths. Before the truth comes out, nobody wants to cause a huge uproar and gossip."
Chang'an suddenly realized, then took out his phone, checked the time, and said to me, "I have somewhere to go later, so I'll say goodbye here for now."
"Don't you have class this afternoon?" I asked, puzzled. "Are you skipping class to go to the club again? Seriously, it's this late..."
One of the main reasons Chang'an was so controversial at the university was that he was said to frequent brothels.
What's worse is that this isn't a rumor, it's a fact.
With his looks and financial situation, he could easily have any woman he wanted. Even with his current reputation, it wouldn't be an exception; plenty of women would throw themselves at him. So I still can't understand why he would be interested in buying sex with money.
"No, no, I'm going to the hospital to visit my mom!" he quickly explained. "As for today's classes, I've already asked for leave. I need to stay at the hospital until at least tonight, and it happens to be a military hospital with tight security, so I can lay low for a while. My sister will probably be going tonight too; she keeps nagging me about not visiting Mom..."
"That's good. But you'd better not go to clubs anymore. Hasn't Zhu Shi been criticizing you for not being chaste?"
"Okay, okay, I know, I know... Sigh, I don't know how to talk to my sister. She probably already thinks I've gone crazy," he complained.
"Just pretend nothing happened. Zhu Shi won't bring up your mental breakdown."
"I'm not mentally unstable!"
He protested loudly, muttered a few more words to himself, then said goodbye to me and turned to leave.
I secretly put a firefly on his back, just in case something happened to him. Although there is currently no evidence that he would be a target of a serial killer, his background is similar to that of the previous five victims, and he is also involved in the case, so this level of precaution is necessary.
After doing all that, I went into a fried chicken shop on the street, sat down, and silently monitored the "police's" movements.
-
Not long after I parted ways with Chang'an, the "police officer" took out his phone by the roadside and dialed a number.
The "firefly's" perception is all-encompassing and without blind spots. Through it, I can clearly perceive all the images and sounds in this space, and therefore I can also see the exact digits of the number he dialed. On the other side, I silently took out my own phone to record it, while continuing to monitor.
The call from the "police" was answered very quickly.
“I have done everything you asked me to do. There are indeed unusual traces at Zhu Chang’an’s residence.” The “police officer” spoke first. “I did not see the ‘cave’ he mentioned when he called the police, but the ‘magic circle’ does exist, and it is indeed a nearly effective ritual magic circle.”
"Thank you, Agent Kong." A young woman's voice came from the other end of the phone, her meticulous personality evident.
I was able to clearly eavesdrop on the phone call using the "firefly" device.
Detective Kong?
Is the "police officer" surnamed Kong? But why is he called an "investigator"?
In my experience, police officers in our country generally don't use the suffix "detective." I only had a slight suspicion before, but now it seems this person really isn't a police officer?
The young woman on the other end of the phone continued speaking.
"What did you mean when you said that ritual array was 'almost effective'?"
"It means that the magic circle shouldn't be effective," Agent Kong patiently explained. "Although I'm not one of your Witchers, I did study ritual studies in Luoshan before. So I can tell that it's over 90% complete as a ritual magic circle, and its goal is to open up some alternate dimensions that overlap with the real world. However, because it's missing the last part of the spell symbols, it can't accurately locate the target alternate dimension."
"To describe it, that ritual array is like a domino that's missing a few pieces at the beginning. No matter how well it's completed, it won't run if the most crucial part is missing."
The young woman said understandingly, "I see... but strange things have indeed happened there, haven't they?"
Detective Kong shook his head: "I don't know about that. I think Zhu Chang'an probably didn't lie, but I can't explain why that ritual array suddenly activated."
Wait, what are they suddenly saying?
Ritual magic circle? Another dimension?
The Witcher? Luo Shan?
Is this the Witcher I'm thinking of, the one who "hunts down monsters"?
As for Luoshan...
I've never heard of such an organization or force, but I know the concept.
In Taoism, hell is called "Fengdu," also known as "Luofeng Mountain" or "Fengdu Luoshan." Luoshan is the underworld. The Taoist classic *Dongyuan Ji* records: "Fengdu Luoshan is located in the north, in the Gui region, the gate of ghosts, the root of death and darkness. The mountain is 2,600 li high and 30,000 li in circumference. It contains caves and palaces, all capitals of ghosts and gods."
I suddenly realized that I had unexpectedly come into contact with another unfamiliar world.
Who exactly are they?
The dialogue is still ongoing.
"Perhaps the source of the phenomenon is not in the ritual circle?" the woman known as the Witcher speculated.
“I don’t know about that. I’m just a ‘probe,’ only responsible for informing you of the existence of strange events. The follow-up handling is the responsibility of you witchers.” Agent Kong first adopted an attitude of indifference, then continued, “By the way, I also saw another person there, probably a friend of Zhu Chang’an, named Zhuang Cheng, do you remember him?”
Hearing my name suddenly mentioned, I reflexively sat up straight in the fried chicken shop.
"Zhuang Cheng..." the witcher woman murmured my name.
“I’ve also heard rumors about this person. He’s a well-known enthusiast of supernatural tales in Xianshui City and has been investigating paranormal phenomena.” Detective Kong seemed to know quite a bit about my affairs. “Three or four years ago, wasn’t there an overseas feng shui master who gave some advice to our local tycoons, only to be exposed as a fraud by him on the spot? I heard that he even assisted official forces in cracking down on feudal superstitious forces in other provinces.”
"He seems to have noticed many suspicious points in this incident, such as why the ritual array was only discovered now..."
“It’s because the people from Luoshan have too little criminal investigation experience. If they were real police officers, they certainly wouldn’t have missed such a big clue.” The witch hunter woman sighed. “Luoshan’s approach in recent years has been very problematic. At the very least, they should have deepened their cooperation with the public security department in the case-handling process. How can they monopolize all the work and not even do it well themselves?”
“This is not something we frontline personnel should be discussing.” Detective Kong avoided the topic and continued the previous one, “Judging from his appearance, he has never given up on pursuing supernatural events.”
"You mean..." The witcher woman's voice turned serious.
Agent Kong nodded on the other end of the phone: "You know the trend of the last two years. Zhuang Cheng has most likely already come into contact with the world of Witchers, and may even have mastered a certain degree of power."
Huh? I've already been exposed to the world of Witcher?
Did I know about this?
And what does "the trend of the last two years" mean? Judging from his tone, it seems that the last two years have been a period when people like me have more access to "the world of Witcher"? Then why have I never been exposed to it before?
"You mean, the source of the strange phenomena isn't the ritual circle, but him?" the witcher woman countered.
Upon hearing this, I calmed myself down slightly and realized that this speculation was not entirely unreasonable.
If I was truly affected by Asaho's strange, jinx-like constitution, and Chang'an, as my friend, was affected and thus encountered strange phenomena, then tracing the blame back to me is entirely reasonable. Even if the source wasn't me but Asaho, I still bear some responsibility.
Agent Kong and the witch-hunting woman's analysis may be correct.
“I just had this idea; there are actually no clues at all. Ultimately, we don’t even know why the Fallen Witcher would leave an incomplete ritual array in that house…” Agent Kong only touched on my suspicions superficially. “Now let’s get down to business. Do you have any time to deal with the ritual array in that house? It’s not convenient for an ordinary person like me to handle such things; it’s something only you Witchers can do.”
“I have to go to the hospital tonight, so I’ll do it this afternoon. I’ll deal with that ritual array soon,” the witcher woman said quickly. “I just don’t know what caused the cave. If all else fails, we can break through the entire living room floor of that house to physically remove the conditions that created the cave.”
“That’s one way to do it,” Detective Kong agreed.
But a tremendous sense of urgency immediately arose in my heart.
They want to destroy that cave?
No, I haven't gone down to explore yet.
I cannot accept this.
To me, whether it's the "doomsday" and "blessed monks" that Mazao mentioned, or the "Luoshan" and "demon hunters" that these two people are talking about now, they are all just concepts that remain at the verbal level and cannot be seen or touched.
But that cave was different. That cave was the only strange thing I had ever seen with my own eyes, and it had a unique value.
It may not reappear, but it must be after I have explored it.
Something must be done to stop them.
Just then, Detective Kong spoke again.
"Also, I'm a little worried that the Fallen Demon Hunter's next target might be Zhu Chang'an. If he's being targeted by someone of that level, there's no guarantee of safety no matter where I take him, and I can't provide him with any protection. I'll have to rely on you. Didn't you defeat the Fallen Demon Hunter head-on last time? If you don't have any other leads at the moment, I suggest you try ambushing Zhu Chang'an."
“Okay, I’ll go protect him right away.” The witcher woman readily agreed at first, then came to her senses, “But in that case, I won’t have time to deal with the ritual circle and the cave for the time being.”
"There's no need to rush over there for now, since there haven't been any casualties before."
“No, the unknown strange events must be dealt with as soon as possible…” The witcher woman pondered for a moment and then said, “Tomorrow, I will ask the other witchers to temporarily take over my protection duties first thing tomorrow morning, and I will handle it myself.”
(End of this chapter)
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