(Four)
He was put to sleep by Wen Su the night before last, and only woke up this afternoon. Zhou Ziqiu glanced at Wen Su, and Wen Su met his gaze and smiled again. Although he didn't know why Zhou Ziqiu was looking at him, he still smiled subconsciously.
"Did he explain how he got the information?"
"I told you, I found out from a Taoist priest surnamed Sun under the name of Qingdeng."
Sun?
Zhou Ziqiu frowned, recalling that the man had indeed shouted something before he lost consciousness that night. He had indeed heard the word "Sun". He hadn't paid much attention to it at first, but considering the current situation, this "Sun" should be the "Sun" of the Sun family.
"Sun what? Is it the person from the Sun family who went missing?"
There was a "hmm" from the other end. "His name is Sun Jiao. The person who went missing from the Sun family is named Sun Junlie. I don't know if it's the same person, but Sun Jiao is currently in the hospital. We've already sent people to look for him."
Why at the hospital?
"He had cancer and collapsed on the roadside. He was found and taken to the hospital."
Zhou Ziqiu suddenly looked up at Wen Su, only to find that Wen Su was also looking at him. After countless times of their thoughts aligning, this time, their thoughts aligned once again—
“Seal off the hospital where he is. If he escapes, check the surveillance footage immediately. If the footage doesn’t show him, ask the person I arrested.”
Wen Su grabbed his coat from the back of the sofa, opened the door, and headed straight for the elevator. Zhou Ziqiu followed behind Wen Su down to the parking lot, carrying a jar containing the vengeful ghost. They got into the car Wen Su had rented in Guanxing that he hadn't returned yet. The high-performance Cayenne roared as it started, made a beautiful turn, and left the hotel parking lot.
It's obviously too late to book a flight back to Luoqi now, but fortunately, Luoqi and Guanxing are located in adjacent provinces, and it only takes five hours to drive back via the highway.
However, after getting into Wen Su's car, Zhou Ziqiu suddenly felt that it might not take five hours, because the car was filled with warnings from the navigation software all the way: "You are speeding."
"Your driver's license is probably going to be revoked now."
Zhou Ziqiu glanced at the dashboard in front of the car and saw that the needle had already touched the red numbers behind it, which made his eyelids twitch.
To be honest, in all his years, this was the first time he had ever seen someone drive so fast that the speed limit was off the charts.
Wen Su even had the leisure to chat with him: "No, it'll just deduct six points and fine you two thousand yuan."
An hour and a half after getting on the highway, Zhou Ziqiu received another call from Cui Yongle: "We can't find him at the hospital, and he's not on the surveillance footage either. The person you arrested provided an address, and I'm contacting the person who's still in Luoqi."
"Don't contact me yet, wait for me to get back," Zhou Ziqiu said, then looked at Wen Su beside him, "How much longer until you arrive?"
Wen Su glanced at the navigation and roughly estimated: "Half an hour? We're already in Shandong."
Zhou Ziqiu then repeated Wen Su's words, adding, "Wait for me, I'll be there soon."
There was a long silence on the other end, followed by a sharp "You are speeding" message coming from the phone, before someone finally spoke—
"Who was driving?!"
Just as Wen Su had estimated, the two arrived in Luoqi a little over forty minutes later and rushed to the address sent by Cui Yongle.
It was in a very old neighborhood in Luoqi City. Wen Su's boots kicked up clouds of dust as he stepped on them, just like the fire at the Sun family's house. It was unclear who was arguing, but the sound of the argument could be heard even from inside the building.
The two went up to the fourth floor and stood in front of a dark iron gate.
According to the information passed on by the captured man, Sun Jiao, also known as Sun Junlie, has been hiding here recently. As Zhou Ziqiu stood here, the jar he was holding began to be knocked on from the inside out.
Wen Su pinched out a talisman and stuck it on the door. A few seconds later, the iron door trembled, and Wen Su kicked the seemingly heavy iron door open from the outside.
As the door was kicked open, everything inside was revealed. The room was pitch black; the curtains had been pulled back in broad daylight, preventing any light from entering. A putrid smell wafted through the air, suggesting that the room had been uninhabited for a long time.
Without hesitation, the two walked into the house. Wen Su kicked open the only closed door in the house again. The house was as dark as the living room, but it was a little brighter because the floor was covered with lamps.
The lamps on the ground were not the lamps commonly used today, but the kind that needed to be lit with oil in the past. The lamps on the ground were divided into three sizes: large, medium, and small. Seven medium-sized lamps were arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper. Many small lamps were scattered around the medium-sized lamps. In the center of this group of lamps was the largest lamp. All of these lamps were burning with a faint glow. Only a few small lamps near the door were blown out by the wind when the door was opened.
Through the array of lights was a pale-faced, gaunt middle-aged man who was lying on the ground, coughing up blood, his eyes glaring fiercely at the two uninvited guests who had barged in through the door.
Just as Wen Su was about to open his mouth to mock, the jar in Zhou Ziqiu's arms suddenly jumped to the ground and shattered into pieces, releasing a surge of intense resentment that was unlike anything he had ever seen in the Sun residence.
Sun Junlie chuckled sinisterly, drew his peach wood sword, and stabbed at Chu Feng, who was rushing towards him. "You mere brat, you dare to try and hurt me!"
Sun Junlie, whose energy had been severely depleted by the broken formation, was already on his last legs. After being tackled to the ground by Chu Feng, he vomited several mouthfuls of blood. Zhou Ziqiu quickly reached out to stop Chu Feng, who was about to finish him off: "No!"
"Why...revenge..." Chu Feng stared fiercely at Zhou Ziqiu.
“Because you killed him, you can no longer enter the realm of rebirth,” Wen Su explained.
As the saying goes, debts must be repaid and murderers must pay with their lives; this is a matter of course. However, if a ghost kills the person who harmed it, it will still be punished. When ghost hunters encounter this situation, they usually stop the ghost, help them send the murderer to court, and then perform a ritual to help them pass on to the afterlife.
“His life-extending spell has been broken; he wouldn’t live much longer anyway. If you kill him now, not only will you not be able to enter the afterlife, but he will die a quick and painless death.” Zhou Ziqiu looked at Chu Feng, unconcerned about Chu Feng’s gruesome and hideous appearance. He reached out and touched Chu Feng’s cheek, his pupils pitch black. “Leave him to me. I will avenge you. Besides, don’t you want to see your mother one last time?”
When Cui Yongle called them on the highway, he told them that they were also driving to Luoqi.
Meeting Zhou Ziqiu's eyes, Chu Feng trembled, muttering, "Mom...Mom..."
Seeing that Chu Feng's resentment had subsided, Zhou Ziqiu then looked at Sun Junlie lying on the ground. Although he was a living person, the yin energy around him was so thick that he looked like a ghost who had been dead for thousands of years. With such heavy karma on his body, he probably wouldn't have a good end after death.
Zhou Ziqiu frowned and took a few steps back. The stench emanating from Sun Junlie was pungent and nauseating. It wasn't the usual damp smell of the underworld; it smelled more like rotting flesh, utterly disgusting.
"Hahaha... Anyway, I'm going to die soon, so hurry up and do whatever you want to me." Sun Junlie was already a dying man, and when a man is about to die, he has nothing to fear. He looked at Wen Su provocatively.
Wen Su hadn't thought much of him before, but seeing Sun Junlie provoke him, he chuckled softly, "Interesting." He then walked towards Sun Junlie, crouched down to face him, and asked, "Do you think you're fearless because you're about to die?"
Sun Junlie remained silent, but his expression clearly indicated this.
Wen Su looked regretful, reached out and picked up a brush from the side. The tip of the brush was still covered in cinnabar, obviously Sun Junlie had written something with this brush before. After picking up the brush, Wen Su drew a series of runes on Sun Junlie's chest. After finishing the drawing a moment later, he stood up and clapped his hands.
"That's a real shame, I just want you to be alive."
"you!"
A burning sensation came from his chest. Sun Junlie looked at Wen Su in disbelief. He only managed to utter one word before his throat became unable to speak. Not only his throat, but also his entire body and limbs were immobilized. He could only move his eyes up and down, indicating that he was still conscious.
Zhou Ziqiu stared at Wen Su in silence.
The Seven Star Lamp Life-Extending Ritual, also known as the Seven Star Lamp Longevity Ritual, involves using a lamp arrangement to pray for longevity from the Big Dipper. After setting up the lamp arrangement, the practitioner must chant scriptures and perform the Yu Step, then burn auspicious yellow paper. After the ceremony, the lamp arrangement must be kept burning for seven days and seven nights. During this time, the door must not be opened, no people or animals can approach, and no wind or sand can enter. If the incense and candles burn out successfully after seven days and seven nights, the life-extending ritual is successful. However, if the door is opened and the wind disturbs the candles, causing them to go out, the life-extending ritual fails, and the practitioner will suffer severe damage to their vital energy and die soon.
Wen Su's actions did not reverse the consequences of the failure of the Seven Stars Life Extension, but rather he cleverly avoided forcibly changing the outcome. Instead, he used his own remaining essence to maintain Sun Junlie's body in its current state. Although this effect could not last long, it was enough for Sun Junlie to survive until the legal trial.
Half an hour later, the police, whom Zhou Ziqiu had called, arrived at the scene. Sun Junlie was taken away, his room was photographed for record-keeping, and the hospital was notified to come and take care of the prisoner.
However, Wen Su was also taken away for speeding on the highway and in the city.
A few hours later, Cui Yongle arrived. When Chu's mother saw Chu Feng's disheveled state, she broke down in tears.
Zhou Ziqiu walked out of the noisy scene, looked at the sky outside that was beginning to turn yellow, and let out a long sigh.
That's the end of it.
A few days later, Zhou Ziqiu sat on the second floor of Yuange Pavilion. Cui Yongle sat next to him and told him about the events of the past few days. Chu's mother returned to Guanxing to prepare to sue the Sun family. The police were also compiling information on previous murder cases in Guanxing to see if they were related to the Sun family. Chu Feng was also sent to the afterlife through a ritual. The old Mr. Sun who was burned did indeed pass away at midnight that night, just as Zhou Ziqiu had said. As for the fire at the Sun family's residence, it was officially classified as an accident.
As he spoke, Cui Yongle felt a little thirsty. He picked up the tea that Zhou Ziqiu had brewed, took a sip, and the middle-aged man actually grimaced at the bitterness. He quickly put the tea back down. "Oh, by the way, I also bailed out that young man who was driving that day. I'm really impressed. He managed to drive so fast that his license was revoked and he was fined five thousand."
Zhou Ziqiu recalled what Wen Su had said to him when he got out of the car: "You're the first person who hasn't thrown up in my car." He picked up his teacup and smiled, trying to hide his embarrassment.
"Have you thought about recruiting him into Qingdeng?" Zhou Ziqiu asked, handing a folder to Cui Yongle. "As you know, Qingdeng is in dire need of a capable ghost hunter like Wen Su."
Cui Yongle nodded, took the folder and looked at it. It was a letter of recommendation written by Zhou Ziqiu in the name of Qingdeng Elder. He glanced at it briefly and put it down, clicking his tongue a few times: "I didn't expect you to have such a high opinion of him."
"fine--"
"—Little beauty?"
Zhou Ziqiu's voice rang out at the same time as the question from downstairs. Cui Yongle recognized the voice and raised an eyebrow: "This is the 'steady' you wrote?"
18:56:06
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