Chapter 4: Undercurrents
"Someone from the Evil Suppression Bureau?" The woman's voice was soft, but it pierced Chu Yun's ears like an icy awl. Chu Yun didn't answer. His gaze lingered on the woman for a moment, then he glanced around warily. He could sense that besides the two of them, there wasn't a single living being in this mass grave. He tightened his grip on the three talismans clasped in his hands. "Even if you don't speak, you can't change that unpleasant aura you carry around with you," the woman, Li Ge, continued. There was no hostility in her eyes, only a pure, object-like indifference. "Taiyi Yuanqi... I haven't seen this in ages." Chu Yun's heart sank. The other party not only recognized his origins, but even revealed the source of his power. This was no ordinary quack. "Who are you?" Chu Yun finally spoke, his voice low and alert. "Me?" Li Ge seemed to find the question amusing, a cold smile playing at the corner of her mouth. "You can call me Li Ge. Of course, more people prefer to call me 'Ghost Doctor.'" Her admission was so straightforward that Chu Yun's prepared questions died in his throat. "Did you kill that girl?" Chu Yun asked a different question, his gaze fixed on her. "If I had wanted to kill her, you wouldn't be looking at blood and a cloth tiger, but a dried corpse drained of its vital energy." Li Ge's tone remained calm. "I'm just... a step too late." "What are you doing here?" "Same as you." Li Ge's gaze shifted to the pool of dried blood. "Tracking something that shouldn't be here." Chu Yun didn't fully believe her. He could sense that Li Ge didn't have the pure malevolence of a demon, but her aura was equally eerie, filled with a dead silence entangled with death and yin energy. Someone like her couldn't possibly associate with the righteous. "You went to the town hall last night," Chu Yun stated. Li Ge's eyes shifted, a hint of surprise. "Your perception is sharper than I thought." "What exactly do you want to do?" "I told you, the same as you, investigating." Li Ge retracted her gaze and put her cloak back on, covering her pale face. "But now it seems that our methods of investigation seem to conflict. I advise you not to follow me anymore, and not to interfere in this matter anymore. Your righteous magic is useless against 'it'." With that, she turned and walked away. "Stop!" Chu Yun shouted. Li Ge's footsteps did not stop. Her figure flashed a few times and disappeared...
"Someone from the Evil Suppression Department?"
The woman's voice was soft, but it pierced Chu Yun's ears like a cold awl. Chu Yun didn't answer. His gaze lingered on the woman for a moment, then he glanced around warily. He could sense that besides the two of them, there was no other living being in this mass grave. He tightened his grip on the three talismans in his palms.
"Even if you don't speak, you won't change the unpleasant aura you exude," the woman, Li Ge, continued. Her eyes held no hostility, only a pure, indifferent expression, as if she were looking at an object. "Taiyi Yuanqi... I haven't seen it in ages."
Chu Yun's heart sank. Not only had the other party recognized his origins, but he had even revealed the source of his power. This was no ordinary sorcerer.
"Who are you?" Chu Yun finally spoke, his voice low and alert.
"Me?" Li Ge seemed to find the question a little funny. A cold smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. "You can call me Li Ge. Of course, more people like to call me 'Ghost Doctor'."
She admitted it so readily that all the questions Chu Yun had prepared were stuck in his throat.
"Did you kill that girl?" Chu Yun changed the question, staring at her intently.
"If I wanted to kill her, what you would see now would not be blood and a cloth tiger, but a dried corpse that had been drained of its yang energy." Li Ge's tone remained calm, "I just... came a step too late."
"What are you doing here?"
"Same as you." Li Ge turned his gaze to the pool of dried blood, "Tracking something that shouldn't be here."
Chu Yun didn't completely believe her words. He could sense that Li Ge didn't have the pure malice of a demon, but her aura was equally strange, filled with a dead silence entangled with death and yin energy. Such a person couldn't possibly associate with the righteous path.
"You went to the town hall last night." Chu Yun expressed his observation.
Li Ge's eyes moved, as if he was a little surprised: "Your perception is sharper than I thought."
"What do you want to do?"
"I told you, the same as you, to investigate." Li Ge retracted her gaze and put on her cloak again, covering her pale face. "But now it seems that our methods of investigation seem to conflict. I advise you not to follow me anymore, and not to interfere in this matter anymore. Your righteous magic is useless against 'it'."
After saying that, she turned and left.
"Stop!" Chu Yun shouted in a low voice.
Li Ge's footsteps did not stop. Her figure flashed a few times and disappeared into the depths of the mass grave, and the cold breath also disappeared with her.
Chu Yun didn't chase after her. He stood there, his brow furrowed. Li Ge's appearance made the whole situation even more confusing. She said she was investigating, but her actions were suspicious. Why was she at Tailor Wu's house? Why was she at the town hall? What did her last warning mean? Chu Yun couldn't figure it out. He only knew that this woman who called herself a "ghost doctor" was definitely a huge variable.
Over the next few days, the panic in Qingxi Town reached its peak. That strange nursery rhyme was no longer just a game among children; even some mentally fragile adults began to unconsciously hum the tune.
Something even more terrifying happened. People in the town began to fall into prolonged comas. The first was Carpenter Li from East Street. He slept for three days and three nights, and no matter how his family called out to him or slapped him, they couldn't wake him. His breathing was steady, his face rosy, and he looked like he was simply asleep. However, the town doctor examined him but couldn't find any cause.
Then came Granny Chen from South Street, Peddler Zhao from West Street... In just three days, seven or eight townspeople fell into this strange coma. The only thing they had in common was that before falling into coma, they had all been heard humming the nursery rhyme over and over again.
The entire town of Qingxi was shrouded in an invisible fear. During the day, the streets were deserted, and every household kept its doors closed. At night, everything was completely silent, not even a dog barking could be heard.
Chu Yun remained in the town hall's archives, ostensibly sorting accounts, but in reality, secretly observing everything in his own way. He discovered that the townspeople who fell into coma were not random. He had quietly sneaked into the homes of Carpenter Li and Granny Chen, and in each of their rooms, he discovered traces invisible to the naked eye—tiny runes imprinted with an extremely sinister energy, etched into the corners of the walls and under the beds. The pattern of these runes was identical to the demonic aura he had seen on the windowsill of Tailor Wu's house.
The demon wasn't acting randomly; it was searching, or rather, sifting for something. The comatose townspeople were like "substandard goods" it had marked, discarded carelessly after losing some value. Their vital energy was being slowly and steadily absorbed by the invisible mark. This was an extremely malicious arrangement.
Chu Yun also discovered that the aura of the ghost doctor Li Ge had become unusually active in the past few days. She was like a ghost, always appearing near the homes of the sleeping townspeople in the dead of night.
Chu Yun had followed her once. He had seen Li Ge sneak into the home of Zhao the Peddler without a sound. Thinking she was about to commit murder, he immediately clasped his talisman and prepared to strike. But Li Ge didn't strike. She simply stood by Zhao the Peddler's bed, extended a pale finger, and gently tapped his forehead. Chu Yun could feel a cold, herbal-scented yin energy flow from Li Ge's fingertips into Zhao the Peddler's body, seemingly temporarily blocking the demonic mark's ability to absorb Zhao the Peddler's vital energy.
After doing all this, Li Ge left quietly without leaving any trace.
Her behavior further baffled Chu Yun. She seemed to be saving lives, yet she was employing the Ghost Doctor's technique of accompanying the dead. What on earth was going on? Chu Yun couldn't figure it out, and could only come up with the most likely hypothesis: the Ghost Doctor and the demonic being weren't accomplices, but were instead... competing for these "sacrifices"! The demonic being needed to absorb their essence, while the Ghost Doctor might need their entire souls, or perhaps use them to refine something else.
This speculation made Chu Yun's vigilance towards Li Ge reach its highest point. In his opinion, no matter what the motivation of Li Ge's behavior was, its essence was the same as that of a demon, playing with life.
That night, Chu Yun was drawing a new talisman in the archive room. Suddenly, the "Taiyi Yuanqi" in his chest began to churn violently without any warning, and a tingling sensation far stronger than any previous one instantly spread throughout his body.
Chu Yun groaned, his pen dropping to the ground. He immediately sat cross-legged, forcing himself to circulate his inner energy to suppress the raging power within him. Here it comes! That demon is about to strike again! And this time, the malevolence and energy fluctuations it exudes far surpass those of before. It seems... it has found its ultimate target.
Chu Yun endured the excruciating pain and released his senses. That familiar, cold, sinister aura moved rapidly toward the center of town like a vulture in the night. Meanwhile, in another direction, the cold and unique aura of Ghost Doctor Li Ge also moved, her target completely aligned with the demonic one.
Chu Yun's eyes grew cold; he couldn't wait any longer. He pulled out three talismans he'd prepared: a defensive "Golden Light Talisman," an offensive "Thunder and Fire Talisman," and the "Evil-Suppressing Spirit Binding Rope," the one he'd spent the most effort crafting. He stood up, pushed open the door, and vanished into the night, a black shadow.
In the center of town, at Jishitang Pharmacy, Dr. Liu, the owner, had an eight-year-old granddaughter named Xiaoya. At that moment, Xiaoya lay in bed, eyes closed, brow furrowed, as if haunted by a nightmare.
The window beside her bed creaked open in a gust of cold wind, and a black, twisted shadow silently drifted in. The shadow had no substance, like a ball of flowing ink, slowly approaching Xiaoya on the bed.
Just as the shadow was about to reach Xiaoya, a cold, low voice called out from the corner of the room. A pale figure flashed into view. It was none other than Ghost Doctor Li Ge. She raised two fingers and pointed at the shadow. The shadow, seemingly terrified of her, suddenly retreated, emitting a silent shriek.
"Get out of here!" For the first time, there was a hint of anger in Li Ge's voice.
But the shadow didn't retreat. Instead, it expanded, transforming into several black tentacles that curled towards Li Ge from all directions. Li Ge snorted coldly, her figure shifting erratically. Her hands flew, and silver needles gleaming blue shot from her fingertips, pinning the black tentacles with pinpoint accuracy. The cold energy of the needles seemed to have a strong inhibitory effect on the shadows, and the black tentacles immediately withered and dissipated after being struck.
However, just as Li Ge was trying his best to deal with these tentacles, the body of the black shadow suddenly accelerated and pounced on Xiaoya on the bed!
Li Ge's face darkened, and he tried to defend himself, but it was too late. Seeing the tragedy about to happen, a deep roar like thunder erupted in the room. A golden light arrived first, instantly condensing into a solid rune shield in front of Xiaoya's bed.
"boom!"
The black shadow slammed heavily into the golden shield, making a dull thud. The golden light shook violently, but ultimately remained intact. The powerful recoil sent the black shadow flying, letting out an angry roar in mid-air.
A figure fell from the beam like a ghost and stood steadily between Li Ge and the black shadow. It was Chu Yun.
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