Chapter 17
Chapter 17
For the past fifteen years, young women had been mysteriously disappearing from Xianyin Village. Yet every time the police came to investigate, they found no clues.
A year ago, a member of Xuanmen happened to pass through the area and sensed what appeared to be an Evil God’s Power within Xianyin Village, so they reported it to the Paranormal Bureau.
After monitoring the village for a year, the Paranormal Bureau decided to close the net during today’s sacrificial ceremony.
According to the intelligence they had gathered over the past year, every villager in Xianyin Village worshiped an Evil God known as the Twin God.
In truth, the Twin God had not existed in Xianyin Village in the early days. There had only been the massive locust tree at the village entrance, which had stood there for two hundred years.
Because the locust tree was so ancient, the people of Xianyin Village gradually came to regard it as a sacred tree. Many prayed to it during holidays and festivals, allowing it to absorb the power of human faith.
Locust trees were yin by nature. After gaining the power of human faith, it gradually developed a force similar to that of an Evil God.
Later, a wandering Daoist passed through Xianyin Village. He took wood from the tree’s trunk, carved it into two blocks for the villagers to worship, and proclaimed them the Twin God.
From then on, every household in Xianyin Village worshiped the Twin God.
As the Twin God received more and more power from their faith, it became half an Evil God.
But it still lacked much of the faith needed to become a true Evil God, so it resorted to unorthodox means. Every year, it appeared in the villagers’ dreams and demanded that they offer up a young woman. It would then absorb the girl’s flesh, blood, and vital essence to increase its power.
This year’s offering was the fifteenth girl.
If it succeeded this year, it would become a true Evil God.
That was all the information the Paranormal Bureau had gathered. They were absolutely certain that no other divine or ghostly power existed in Xianyin Village.
While Cai Zeyu was still puzzled, another member of the Paranormal Bureau knocked and entered. He leaned close to Cai Zeyu’s ear and spoke in a low voice.
“We’ve figured it out. Someone tampered with the incense and candles on the altar. The sacrificial bride wasn’t actually offered to the Twin God during the ceremony, but we still haven’t discovered what kind of demon or heretical entity the offering was meant for.”
Yun Jianyue raised her chin. “So I was sent to that handsome guy by accident?”
The Paranormal Bureau member jumped. “You could hear me when I was speaking that quietly?”
“Obviously. What do you think this is, a TV drama? The room is tiny, and I’m only five feet away from you.” Yun Jianyue seriously wondered whether these naive fools at the Paranormal Bureau had something wrong with their brains.
In fact, most members of the Paranormal Bureau came from families that practiced metaphysical arts. They rarely ventured into the secular world before completing their studies, so many of them really had learned most of what they knew about modern life from television dramas.
Cai Zeyu nodded and dismissed the man, then said, “It looks like it really was an accident. Since you came back safe and sound, we’ll consider the matter settled. Let’s continue.”
“You’re not going to investigate that Evil God? He’s far more dangerous than the Twin God,” Yun Jianyue asked.
“There are countless demons, monsters, ghosts, and spirits in this world. We’re already swamped every day. How could we possibly have time to search for an Evil God when we don’t even know where he is?” Cai Zeyu said. “Besides, you said that Evil God lives in an underground palace. That proves he isn’t anywhere near people.”
If he wasn’t near people, then he wasn’t hurting anyone. They could barely keep up with all the demons and spirits that were hurting people as it was. Why should they bother an Evil God who had chosen to live in seclusion underground?
Yun Jianyue applauded Cai Zeyu in admiration. “That’s our Cai Zeyu. You’ve truly mastered the art of being a corporate drone.”
After questioning them for a while longer, Cai Zeyu went to compare notes with his colleagues. The statements from the two humans and one ghost matched perfectly, so they let everyone go.
Lu Changxue happily returned to the jade pendant to nourish her ghostly form, while the Paranormal Bureau members packed up and prepared to leave.
“Wait.” Yun Jianyue stopped Cai Zeyu and Du Minghao.
Their backs prickled as a familiar fear of being ordered around swept over them.
“Ma’am, what else do you need? My shift is over. I really don’t want to work overtime again,” Du Minghao said miserably.
The incident hadn’t even taken place in their jurisdiction, so it should have had nothing to do with them. But then the local Paranormal Bureau went straight to their superiors to request that personnel be seconded to them, claiming they couldn’t handle Xianyin Village’s Twin God.
So their superiors seconded the entire team.
They’d cursed up a storm when they received the notice. The Paranormal Bureau in that city had obviously only wanted Si Wuming, so why had their entire squad been temporarily assigned there too?
They had worked overtime until now, and just when they were finally about to clock out, one of the people involved had cornered them and refused to let them leave.
“Do you have any books on how to quickly get started in metaphysics? I’d like to teach myself.” Yun Jianyue gave them a friendly smile.
After everything that had happened today, she’d realized that without a few tricks up her sleeve, she could die at any moment.
She had deliberately waved her wrist in front of Cai Zeyu and the others several times just now, but none of them had been able to see the faint, flickering red cord around it.
She didn’t know what the red cord did, but her instincts told her it had bound her to the Black-Robed Evil God.
Cai Zeyu frowned. “I do, but metaphysics isn’t something you should be teaching yourself.”
Du Minghao pulled Cai Zeyu aside and whispered about how Yun Jianyue had taught herself to draw a Human-Ghost Contract Talisman last time.
After swearing several times in astonishment, Cai Zeyu quickly schooled his expression so he wouldn’t look too easily impressed.
“Fine. Come find me for them when you get back to City A,” Du Minghao said.
“One more question. What will happen to the villagers of Xianyin Village?” Yun Jianyue asked. It was also what Zhou Benxin wanted to know.
Although those people had tried to kill them, to Zhou Benxin, they were still the relatives and neighbors who had watched him grow up.
Cai Zeyu said, “That depends on what charges the police bring. Those who weren’t involved in any deaths will probably be fined and given a warning, or detained for illegally organizing feudal superstitious activities. Those responsible for deaths could face anything from prison to the death penalty.”
“Oh, right. That reminds me. Wang Hui has already been sentenced. He had two lives on his hands, and given the vile nature of his crimes, he received the death penalty with a six-month reprieve.” The moment Cai Zeyu finished speaking, he made his escape.
What a joke. Si Wuming had clocked out and run off ages ago, leaving the rest of them to miserably clean up the aftermath. Cai Zeyu wanted to go home too!
Once everyone from the Paranormal Bureau had left, the sky was beginning to brighten.
Over the next few days, Yun Jianyue stayed with Zhou Benxin and helped him make the proper arrangements for his grandmother’s funeral.
By the time they left Xianyin Village, the elderly villagers who hadn’t been implicated in any deaths had already been released.
After the ordeal of the past few days, they seemed to have aged even further, their spirits utterly depleted. Their children and grandchildren, however, had returned after hearing what happened and lectured them against indulging in feudal superstition.
As they drove out of Xianyin Village, Yun Jianyue saw that the enormous Chinese scholar tree at the village entrance was still standing, but its former sinister aura was gone.
A pile of charred wood and snapped incense sticks and candles had been dumped beside it.
“It was worshiped for decades, and now it’s nothing,” Lu Changxue said wistfully from the back seat.
Now that Zhou Benxin knew she was a ghost, she no longer bothered hiding. Whenever they were out of the sunlight, she would manifest at will and chat with Yun Jianyue.
However, she no longer possessed much resentment, so she couldn’t manifest strongly enough for ordinary people to see her. Naturally, Zhou Benxin couldn’t hear her either.
Lu Changxue sighed. “The Twin God’s yin energy seeped into everyone who worshiped it. Now that the Twin God has vanished from this world, none of them have long to live.”
Worse still, they would spend the final years of their lives plagued by illness and constant misfortune.
This was probably what her Darling had meant by staying alive to atone for their sins.