Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The vengeful ghost suddenly darted right up to Fang Lin’an, scaring him half to death. He instinctively recoiled, but once he realized what Lu Changxue was asking, he flew into a rage. “That’s my Junior Martial Uncle! He’s more than worthy of your Darling. He’d even be worthy of an ancient princess!”

“So what’s his name?” Yun Jianyue asked, equally curious.

“Si Wuming.” Despite his grumbling, Fang Lin’an still sold out his Junior Martial Uncle.

Yun Jianyue smacked her lips. “That name sounds pretty ominous.”

Just as Fang Lin’an was about to blow up and insist there was nothing ominous about his Junior Martial Uncle’s name, the resentment permeating 404 abruptly vanished without a trace.

“Damn, he’s incredible. How long has it been since he went over there? Has it even been three minutes?” Lu Changxue exclaimed in shock. She couldn’t help wondering how long she would last against Si Wuming.

After running the numbers, Lu Changxue decided she could probably hold out for a minute at most.

In reality, even that was overly optimistic. It had taken Si Wuming two minutes just to walk over, and only one minute to deal with the S-class vengeful ghost.

Fang Lin’an straightened proudly at her praise, as if Lu Changxue had complimented him rather than Si Wuming. “Of course! My Junior Martial Uncle is the greatest genius in the entire metaphysics community! Do you even know what a genius is?”

While Fang Lin’an was still singing Si Wuming’s praises, two slender, long-legged men dressed in black approached them.

One of the men held up his credentials. “We’re with the Paranormal Bureau. We’ll need you to come with us.”

The Paranormal Bureau answered directly to the higher authorities and maintained a branch in every city, but ordinary people knew nothing about it. Even within government agencies, only a select few were aware of the truth.

The City A branch of the Paranormal Bureau occupied the entire top floor of an office building downtown. A special formation had been laid over the floor, preventing ordinary people from entering.

Yun Jianyue and Lu Changxue were separated and placed in different interrogation rooms. The two men who had escorted them back questioned them individually.

Their names were Cai Zeyu and Du Minghao. Cai Zeyu was the one who questioned Yun Jianyue.

Yun Jianyue cooperated fully and gave him an honest account of everything that had happened. Lu Changxue, who had never been one to think before speaking, spilled absolutely everything, including how Wang Hui had dismembered her.

Once the interrogations were over, Cai Zeyu and Du Minghao returned to the office. Si Wuming was seated in a chair, while Fang Lin’an stood in front of him like a child who had done something wrong.

“He’s just a junior. Why are you being so harsh on him?” Du Minghao walked over with a grin, intending to pat Si Wuming on the shoulder and put in a good word for Fang Lin’an. But when he met Si Wuming’s emotionless gaze, he awkwardly withdrew his hand. “Actually, juniors ought to be disciplined properly. Otherwise, they might cause a catastrophe someday.”

Fang Lin’an shot him a resentful glare. “We’re from the same generation. What are you barking about?”

Du Minghao grinned obnoxiously. “Your Junior Martial Uncle and I are colleagues. Doesn’t that raise my seniority?”

“Enough fooling around. What did the A-class vengeful ghost tell you?” Cai Zeyu was a consummate workaholic, focused on the job at all times.

At the mention of official business, Du Minghao sobered up. He and Cai Zeyu compared statements and found that Yun Jianyue’s and Lu Changxue’s accounts were largely consistent. Lu Changxue’s statement simply included the additional details of her own dismemberment.

“This is strange. A newly formed vengeful ghost shouldn’t possess such a clear mind. Not only is Lu Changxue fully lucid, but she was also able to speak calmly with me. She didn’t behave like a vengeful ghost at all.” Du Minghao rubbed his chin, unable to make sense of it.

Cai Zeyu reviewed the statements once more and noticed something. “When Lu Changxue first became a vengeful ghost, her mind was muddled. All she knew was that she had to find someone to sew her body back together and then take revenge. She only became truly lucid after she met Yun Jianyue.”
“There’s something else that’s strange. Why did Lu Changxue become a vengeful ghost? There are dozens, if not hundreds or even thousands, of dismemberment cases every year. Plenty of victims die far more gruesome deaths than she did, yet none of them become vengeful ghosts. So how was Lu Changxue able to turn into one immediately after her death?” Du Minghao wondered aloud.

The two men exchanged puzzled glances before slowly turning toward the taciturn Si Wuming. In unison, they asked, “Do you know?”

Si Wuming shook his head. He didn’t know the reason either.

Du Minghao began flipping through the files again. Si Wuming had only just pulled up the two women’s records on the computer.

When he reached the second-to-last page, Du Minghao frowned. “Lu Changxue was in a car accident a year ago. She and Yun Jianyue were in a small county town at the time, and the local blood bank didn’t have enough blood. They both happened to have type A blood, so Lu Changxue received four hundred milliliters of Yun Jianyue’s blood.”

“In other words, Lu Changxue has Yun Jianyue’s blood in her body?” Fang Lin’an immediately slapped his thigh. “I think I once saw a book in the Lingxi Sect’s archives that mentioned something like this. How about I head back to Lingxi Pavilion and look for it?”

“All right. I’ll leave that to you.” Cai Zeyu nodded. As captain of the Paranormal Bureau’s Second Squad in City A, he had enough authority to approve that much.

Fang Lin’an didn’t leave right away. Instead, he asked, “What are you planning to do with Lu Changxue?”

According to Paranormal Bureau regulations, they had no authority to imprison or eliminate a vengeful ghost that had not taken a human life.

Ghosts ultimately fell under the Underworld’s jurisdiction. As long as they caused no trouble in the mortal realm, handling them was the ferrymen’s job.

If the bureau meddled in the Underworld’s affairs without good reason, they might even incur the resentment of the one who ruled it.

But Lu Changxue was still an A-rank vengeful ghost. She might not be killing anyone now, but who could guarantee she wouldn’t do so in the future?

There were too few ferrymen these days, and the underworld officers were run off their feet. The dead were already waiting decades for their turn to reincarnate. Who knew when those officers would finally get around to taking an A-rank vengeful ghost like Lu Changxue down below?

While everyone was wrestling with the dilemma, Si Wuming suddenly spoke. “Lu Changxue probably can’t stay away from Yun Jianyue for long. Much of her sanity comes from Yun Jianyue.”

“Huh? Is that how it works?” Cai Zeyu looked bewildered.

Si Wuming said nothing more. He rose and slowly shuffled toward the door. Despite being a young man, he somehow walked like someone approaching the twilight of his life.

“Where are you going?” Cai Zeyu asked.

“My shift’s over.”

With that, Si Wuming clocked out. He left with a casual wave of his sleeve, taking not so much as a wisp of cloud with him.

The clock already read eight in the morning. Even the night shift had to end sometime.

Once his Junior Martial Uncle was gone, Fang Lin’an hurriedly slipped away as well, leaving only the two poor suckers, Cai Zeyu and Du Minghao, to keep working overtime.

After running a series of tests, they discovered that if Lu Changxue remained separated from Yun Jianyue for more than three hours, she would lose her senses and exhibit the violent tendencies common among vengeful ghosts.

They informed Yun Jianyue and warned her not to stray too far from Lu Changxue.

Yun Jianyue, however, was in no hurry to leave. She still had plenty of questions.

“For the love of God, lady, please just go. We’d like to clock out too.” Du Minghao was so tired his head hurt.

Yun Jianyue smiled sweetly. Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought she was their boss. “I only have a few questions. Once you’ve answered them, you can clock out.”