Chapter 212 Drug dealers and narcotics officers: From the day they put on their uniforms, they stood on opposite ends of life and death.
As Yuan lay in a pool of blood, taking advantage of Han Xiao's momentary daze, she used her blood-stained finger to draw three numbers on the muddy ground.
657
“Those are the last three digits of my badge number,” she said. “They’re also the code word our undercover team agreed upon, meaning I’ve been exposed and can’t go home.”
Han Xiao actually understood it.
He lunged forward in a rage, trying to wipe away the marks, but Gyu-won used his last ounce of consciousness to protect her.
“He covered my neck…” Ji Yuan’s voice grew softer and softer, “I saw the madness in his eyes turn into panic… He was calling my name, Ah Yuan, Ah Yuan…”
The sound stopped abruptly.
Gu Yuan's soul solidified completely for a moment, then slowly dispersed, turning into specks of shimmering white light.
As the halos of light regrouped in the air and returned to human form, a single tear of soul finally slid down from the corner of her eye.
Those were tears of pain.
The tear didn't fall to the ground, but instead drifted into Shen Yuepo's palm, where it condensed into a transparent crystal.
“That’s how I died,” said Gu Yuan. “I died on the way to escape, bleeding to death.”
She looked up at the night sky, where the moonlight hung low.
"My body... was eventually taken away by Han Xiao. He changed my clothes and bought me a thin coffin."
"Later, he found an evil cultivator to nail my three souls into the coffin. He cried in front of my grave, telling me to wait for him to be reincarnated together."
Her fingertips unconsciously traced the scars on her neck. "Later, my consciousness gradually faded, but I still remembered that I was a police officer."
"I gritted my teeth and endured it, reciting the police oath, the police number, and the grappling techniques my master taught me in my mind again and again..."
"I'm afraid I'll forget! I'm afraid that on the day Han Xiao and I meet again, I'll really be reincarnated with him."
On the stone table, Zhang Qingyuan's eyes were already starting to redden.
Lin Yanxin turned her face away, her Adam's apple bobbing.
"Later I discovered that when that evil Taoist priest came to extract my merit light while Han Xiao was away, a wisp of obsession would arise deep within my soul." Gu Yuan raised her eyes.
"Like the last glimmer of light a person grasps in a desperate situation. I nourished that sliver of obsession with all my will, letting it break free from the shackles of restraint and drift out from the cracks in the grave."
"But it was too weak, so I could only make it do one thing:"
"Go listen."
Meng Guichen sat up straight: "What are you listening to?"
“Listen to everyone who passes by the foot of this mountain.” Gu Yuan looked out at the night outside the Taoist temple.
"Herbalists, mountain climbers... I let that lingering obsession hide in the treetops, rock crevices, and streamsides, collecting every word spoken by people."
"Most of it was just casual conversation. Until about two weeks ago at noon, two old ladies who had come up the mountain to fulfill their vows sat down to rest by the stream."
Gu Yuan's soul glowed faintly as she began to recount the conversation from that day.
"The Abbot of Xujing Temple is truly amazing! My granddaughter's college application choices were decided by Abbot Lin!"
"You wouldn't believe it, there's a Master Shen in their temple, he's very effective and kind-hearted!"
As he spoke, he took out his phone and played a video of Shen Yuepo telling fortunes on the overpass.
"Wow, that's amazing..."
Gu Yuan's voice trembled slightly, "I grasped the two words 'Xu Jing Guan' and 'Chen Yue Po'."
"Later, I used the last bit of strength to make that lingering obsession remember the direction of the Taoist temple and its name."
What followed was heartbreaking for everyone.
That last remaining vestige of obsession, unaware of its own existence, began a trek that lasted for several days.
It does not have a complete soul structure; it is merely a thought that "the sunken moon spirit must be found."
Hiding in the shadows by day, drifting with the mountain winds at night.
It was frightened by stray dogs, soaked by rain, and even nearly taken away by a passing Taoist monk as a wandering spirit.
"On the eighth night, it finally drifted to the gate of Xujing Temple." Gu Yuan closed her eyes and spoke with difficulty.
"But the protective formation is too strong, and it can't get in. It can only huddle in the shadow of the gatepost and wait, like a homeless ghost."
"It waited for two whole days. Until the day the Taoist temple opened and worshippers poured in, it saw you."
Gu Yuan opened his eyes, his gaze falling on Shen Yuepo's face:
"You're sitting behind the table, and a worshipper asks you if they can draw talismans if the Wi-Fi is lagging. You suggest restarting the router."
“I knew then that I had found the right person,” Gu Yuan said softly. “You’re not the kind of charlatan who makes a big fuss. You have real skills and you’re reasonable.”
"So that afternoon, I mustered the last bit of my strength to solidify into a physical form, dressed in black—the color I often wore during my police academy training—and stood in the front hall waiting for you to see me."
What happened next is well-known.
Shen Yuepo remained silent for a long time, the water in her teacup long since cooled. Suddenly, she asked, "What about that lingering obsession that led the way?"
Gu Yuan opened his palm.
A tiny, shimmering white light floated in her palm, like a candle flame in the wind.
"Here it is. I brought it back. It has fulfilled its mission."
After hearing Yuan's story, Ox-Head and Horse-Face, two tall and strong ghost messengers, burst into tears.
The bull's large hand slammed against the stone table with a loud thud.
"When I get back, I'll file a complaint with King Yama and have all the drug dealers' souls thrown into a pot of boiling oil! Boil them a thousand times before taking them out, sob sob sob."
Horse-faced man wiped away his tears and agreed, "Yes! First, blast them a thousand times! Then throw them into a mountain of knives and a sea of fire!"
Just then, Yuan bowed deeply to Shen Yuepo, saying, "Daoist Shen."
She raised her head, her eyes reflecting the moonlight. "My remains have returned home, and my three souls have been released. Could... I see Han Xiao one more time?"
Ox-Head and Horse-Face are still crying there.
Meng Guichen couldn't help but rub his ears and gently kick Lin Yanxin's calf with his toe: "Control her, she's so noisy."
Lin Yanxin was staring intently at the patterns on the stone table when she was kicked and brought back to her senses.
He looked at Gu Yuan, whose soul stood in the moonlight, so frail that a gust of wind could blow it away, yet its spine stood straight as a sword.
"Comrade Yuan," Lin Yanxin used a respectful title, which was unusual for her, "Do you really want to see Han Xiao?"
"I want to see him." Gu Yuan's voice was soft, but resolute.
"Why bother seeing someone like that?" Meng Guichen frowned, the melon seeds in his hand shattering into dust. "A madman, a scumbag obsessed with his own desires. Seeing him will only make you feel disgusted."
Gu Yuan turned her head, and moonlight pierced through her translucent soul.
She suddenly smiled; it was the first time Shen Yuepo had ever seen such a sharp smile on her face.
"Lady Meng Po." A few minutes before releasing the soul, Shen Yuepo had already told her the origins of everyone in the hall.
The implication was crystal clear.
She should say everything that needs to be said, so that she will have a powerful backer in the afterlife.
Gu Yuan spoke up: "You are in charge of reincarnation and guide the souls of the dead. You have seen too many lovesick men and women. But do you know? Some things are the most disgusting if they are not said clearly."
She floated forward half a step, and a shimmering white light emanated from the edges of her soul form:
"Han Xiao imprisoned me, tortured me, and humiliated me. He still believes that there were feelings between us."
"I'm going to tell him."
Gyu-won spoke each word with deliberate emphasis, his tone filled with unwavering resolve:
“Tell him that drug dealers and anti-narcotics police officers stand on opposite ends of the spectrum of life and death from the day they put on their uniforms!”
“Tell him…”
She took a deep breath, and her soul shone brightly. "I, Yuan, police number 081657, from my first day undercover to my last breath, I have never yielded, never betrayed my country, and never... wavered even slightly!"
The moment the words fell, the backyard of Xujing Temple fell silent.
A few leaves in the courtyard were blown down by the wind, and in mid-air behind Yuan Yuan, they condensed into a police badge-shaped light and shadow, which disappeared in a flash.
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