Chapter 230
Chapter 230
Soul-summoning talisman arts were not a polite request made to a ghost!
They were a cultivator’s courteous form of soft compulsion.
Once the ghost’s true name was called and the talisman’s power connected with its soul, it would certainly be summoned back and made to appear…
“Then, Boss, if that’s true, why hasn’t Wang Xinren’s ghost appeared?”
Wang Dachun kept asking questions like an endlessly curious child.
I said gravely,
“There are two possibilities. First, his soul has already become an extremely powerful ghost, with strength equal to at least half my own cultivation. If so, he could resist the pull of the soul-summoning talisman arts.”
“But that possibility is extremely small. No matter how unusual Wang Xinren’s bazi and fate might be, he couldn’t possibly become that powerful after being dead for only a day.”
Wang Dachun and Zeng Jin both nodded.
Although they were ordinary people, as my good friends, they had learned quite a lot about the supernatural over the past two years.
For example, after a person died normally, their soul would drift between heaven and earth for seven days.
On the seventh day, it would return home, see its family, settle its lingering attachments, and then travel to the Netherworld.
If it secretly or forcibly remained in the mortal world, it would become a ghost!
Newborn ghosts were generally weak and needed to slowly grow stronger by absorbing yin energy and other means…
Someone like Wang Xinren, who had only just died and had not even passed the first seven days, could not yet be considered a “ghost.” He was merely an ordinary wandering ghost.
Of course, people who died violently with immense resentment and transformed into vengeful ghosts fell outside this discussion.
If Wang Xinren had become a vengeful ghost, the entirety of Room 404 would be thick with sinister yin energy. It could never be as calm as it was now.
But if he was not a vengeful ghost, why had my soul-summoning talisman arts failed to call him here?
“Boss, what’s the second possibility?”
Wang Dachun pressed.
“The second possibility… is that although Wang Xinren is dead, for some special reason, his soul remains trapped in his body and hasn’t separated from it. In that case, I might not be able to summon it here.”
As I spoke, I thought of Xiao Sheng, the living child corpse from Xiaowan Village!
That was precisely what had happened to it.
But Wang Xinren was already dead, and he had not become a living corpse.
Pinching his chin, Wang Dachun said thoughtfully,
“Boss, according to your guess, does that mean we need to try again beside Wang Xinren’s body? His soul can’t be summoned from afar if it’s trapped in his body, but surely it would work right beside him?”
I had to admit, although this fellow’s brain was not much use for studying, he understood matters like these with the slightest hint!
I nodded.
“That’s right. We should try beside Wang Xinren’s body. My soul-summoning talisman will certainly make him appear and tell me the truth about his death.”
Zeng Jin looked at us. “So, Brother Wu, Brother Chun, should we hurry and move to a new battlefield–Lianghe Town Police Station?”
Before I could speak, Wang Dachun swept out an arm.
“Of course! Come on, let’s do it right away.”
I stared at him darkly.
“Who’s in charge here, you or me?”
“Ah, sorry, Boss…”
The idiot hurriedly apologized.
I waved a hand and silently called to Roundy in my mind.
“Hey, damned fat bird, where are you?”
I received an answer instantly, and Roundy’s voice sounded in my mind.
“Obviously, I’m flying around near your school in a cool and handsome pose while waiting for you! Burp… I also ate a few rather plump birds as a midnight snack.”
Uh…
I was a little speechless.
Roundy might be a raptor, a Jade-Talon Gyrfalcon, but it was still a bird itself. Yet it ate other birds as food?
“Wu boy, didn’t you go summon a soul in your school’s dormitory? Are you done yet? It’s about time to return to the coffin shop and sleep, isn’t it?”
I had naturally told Roundy about Wang Xinren.
Our minds were connected, after all, making communication extremely convenient.
“Damned fat bird, something unexpected happened. I couldn’t summon Wang Xinren’s soul.”
“What? Impossible! Your cultivation isn’t weak anymore. How could you fail to summon someone who just died?”
Roundy sounded surprised as well.
I replied helplessly,
“That’s why I suspect his soul may be trapped in his body. Come to Room 404 in the boys’ dormitory at Lianghe District Middle School and take a soul-summoning talisman. Fly to the town police station, find Wang Xinren’s body, activate the talisman, and bring his soul back here.”
I had to admit, having a flying “household familiar” like Roundy made many things much easier!
Otherwise, we would have to run to Lianghe Town Police Station ourselves, wasting far too much time and energy.
“You damned Wu boy, all you do is order me around every day. Your big brother can help, but I want three fish tomorrow!”
“One.”
“No! At least two!”
“Deal!”
About a minute or two later,
the sound of a light breeze stirring came from outside the door.
A dark shadow flew low through the corridor, dove straight into Room 404, and landed on a blade of the ceiling fan above our heads.
It was so fat that its weight tilted the fan hanging from the ceiling. I worried the whole thing might suddenly fall.
“Roundy’s here!”
Wang Dachun and Zeng Jin raised their hands in greeting.
Unexpectedly, the damned fat bird raised its head haughtily.
“Where are your manners? Call me Brother Roundy!”
Wang Dachun: “…”
Zeng Jin: “…”
I glared at it.
“Enough. Let’s handle the important matter. Here’s the soul-summoning talisman. I’ve already infused it with qi. Give it a little push and it will automatically burn and activate.”
As I spoke, I flicked my hand.
A talisman flew toward Roundy.
It spread its wings, shook its body, and caught the talisman between its feathers.
In theory, demons could not activate talismans made by human cultivators.
“I’m off! Wu boy, wait here for your big brother’s good news.”
Roundy beat its wings and shot outside like an arrow…
Its huge, fat, round white body vanished into the dark night in an instant.
Watching it fly away, Wang Dachun sighed with wonder.
“It amazes me every time. How does Roundy fly so fast when it’s that fat?”
I shrugged.
“I wonder the same thing.”
After Roundy flew away, the three of us each found a bed in Room 404 and sat down, chatting idly.
Naturally, we mainly discussed ghosts and other supernatural matters.
Less than five minutes later, Roundy’s voice sounded in my mind, filled with surprise and confusion.
“Wu boy, something’s strange! I used the soul-summoning talisman you gave me, but Wang Xinren’s soul didn’t appear. I got curious and examined his body myself. It’s completely empty, just an ordinary dead shell. There isn’t any trace of a soul inside.”
What?!
I was instantly shocked and shot to my feet.
Wang Dachun and Zeng Jin, who had been chatting with me, both jumped in fright.
Wang Dachun clutched his chest.
“Boss… we’re talking about ghosts in a room where someone died. It’s really scary when you suddenly jump like that.”
But I had no attention to spare for him.
In my mind, I told Roundy,
“Fly back to the dormitory first.”
Then I told Wang Dachun and Zeng Jin what had happened.
My expression grew grave and my voice sank.
“It seems there may be hidden circumstances behind Wang Xinren’s death!”
What I had taken for a very simple matter had defied my expectations.
If Wang Xinren’s soul was neither trapped in his body nor wandering somewhere–and even my cultivation could not make him appear through soul-summoning talisman arts…
Then where had his soul gone?
A person’s soul could not simply vanish after death!
Some external force had to be interfering for something like this to happen.
Wang Xinren had only just died and had not passed the first seven days, so he could not possibly have gone straight to the Netherworld either.
There were only two possibilities: either some evil entity had imprisoned him, or his soul had been destroyed at the very moment of death!
Neither possibility was ordinary.
There had to be more to this!
Roundy soon returned.
To my surprise, it held a roll of papers in its beak.
It dropped them into my arms and said,
“Wasn’t your big brother impressive? I even went to the records room and found a photocopy of the freshly issued autopsy report. Wang Xinren’s school medical examination reports from the past two years are attached. Take a look yourself.”
Every semester, Lianghe District Middle School organized group medical examinations for its students at the town clinic.
One copy of each medical examination report was kept at the clinic, and another at the school.
During the day, Officer Li had asked the principal for information about Wang Xinren. These reports were probably among those materials…
I had to admit, Roundy was quite reliable when handling business.
“Thanks, damned fat bird. Tomorrow, I’ll have Old Cao buy two live fish at the market as your reward!”
After making that promise, I lowered my head and began reading the reports it had brought back.
Wang Dachun and Zeng Jin hurried closer and switched on a miniature flashlight. I could gather qi in my eyes for “night vision,” but the two of them were ordinary people and could not.
Two minutes later, after reading the materials, I was even more certain that something was strange about Wang Xinren’s death!
Supernatural forces had to be at work here.
His medical examination reports showed that… his body had been perfectly healthy! He had no history of hereditary disease or any acute or chronic illness.
In other words, illness could no longer explain his death.
Yet the autopsy report plainly stated: death from a sudden myocardial infarction!
A perfectly healthy person was very unlikely to suffer a sudden heart attack. Unless… he had suddenly seen something that subjected him to a tremendous shock and caused his emotions to change violently in an instant.
In other words, Wang Xinren might very well have been frightened to death!
The people at the police station would probably feel a chill down their spines when they reached the same conclusion from the two reports.