Chapter 180
Chapter 180
In the small room beside the funeral parlor’s mourning hall, Fatty Wu, his face bloodied from the blow, had finally managed to secure a tiny stool to sit on.
He sat there grimacing, his flesh bunching up around him.
The strip of mourning cloth he was pressing to his wound had already been soaked red with blood.
“Our team came to Yunlan City for what was supposed to be a meeting, but before the meeting even started, we received an assignment.”
“There have been constant incidents along the Qingzhai Mountain section of the railway lately.”
“We’ve received multiple reports of supernatural sightings, and there have even been fatalities.”
Fatty Wu pointed toward the mourning hall outside. “That’s the third person to be scared to death.”
“The first two were villagers from nearby. They died earlier than this one.”
“The director sent me to investigate.”
Qin Ying wasn’t entirely satisfied with his explanation. “Then what happened to the little girl?”
She didn’t rein herself in just because Fatty Wu might become the future director of the Cultural Preservation Institute. She still looked as if she were interrogating a suspect.
Fatty Wu didn’t lose his temper. He remained obediently perched on the little stool, hands resting on his knees as he answered, “In theory, she was just badly frightened. The medicine I gave her only calms the nerves and helps with sleep.”
“In theory?” Qin Ying was still holding half of the broken vase.
Seeing that she looked ready to erupt again at the slightest provocation, Fatty Wu hurriedly explained, “I only did that because I wanted to keep the girl here so I could examine her alone.”
As for why he had kept quiet after recognizing Qin Ying, that was purely because he had been asking for trouble.
He had wanted to see how Qin Ying would react when faced with such an abnormal situation.
Fatty Wu pulled a long face. “I figured the worst you’d do was rally the neighbors, expose me, and put me on trial.”
“I’d already worked out how I was going to produce evidence and refute your accusations.”
Who could have known this wretched girl would spring into action like a mad dog and split his head open without a word?
He didn’t dare say that last part aloud, but he couldn’t resist grumbling, “This is a society governed by law. Why are you so violent? Little Qin, you need to be more careful in the future.”
Qin Ying immediately shot back, “That’s what you get for looking like you’re about to commit a crime.”
Fatty Wu was indeed telling the truth.
Qin Ying was still most concerned about the child. “What are we going to do about her? How are you planning to investigate?”
After a pause, she added, “I called an ambulance earlier. You can hitch a ride when it gets here.”
“That’s not what hitching a ride means!” Fatty Wu protested in a thick Beijing accent as he swayed to his feet. “Bring the girl inside first. Let me take a look at her.”
Granny Shi and the others were standing outside the door, all straining to hear what was happening inside.
Third Aunt Xu quietly asked Granny Shi, “Auntie, what’s going on?”
Granny Shi had no idea what had happened, but she was determined to back Qin Ying no matter what.
She shushed Third Aunt Xu, then said enigmatically, “Generations of the Qin Family have served in the police. In the old days, they’d have been called a dynasty of lawmen.”
“Qin Ying must have noticed something. We just need to wait and see.”
Third Aunt Xu hurriedly nodded along. “Yes, yes.”
Clearly, compared to Fatty Wu, who had shown up on his own, they trusted Qin Ying more. After all, they had known her and her family for years.
At that moment, the door to the small room opened.
Qin Ying emerged first, her face still pale, followed by Fatty Wu with blood all over his face.
Despite the blood streaming down the bridge of his nose, Fatty Wu was somehow still able to smile. “Everything’s fine! It’s fine! Just a misunderstanding!”
Even Third Aunt Xu’s son was alarmed by the sight of him. He asked in a low voice, “Shouldn’t you stop the bleeding first?”
He was afraid the man might die right there in the mourning hall.
Fatty Wu waved his hands frantically. “I’m fine. When the ambulance gets here, I’ll go to the hospital with them.”
Meanwhile, Qin Ying quietly explained the situation to Granny Shi and Third Aunt Xu.
“Fatty really is a colleague from our Headquarters. Before the ambulance arrives, let’s have him take a look at the child.”
“It won’t cost anything, so there’s no harm in trying.”
“I’ll keep an eye on him.”
Only after hearing that did Third Aunt Xu reluctantly hand the child in her arms to Qin Ying.
Qin Ying carried the child into the room. She was still very weak, and even that short walk left her feeling dizzy.
Seeing the state she was in, Fatty Wu said, “So you really are sick? I thought you’d overslept and were late, then lied to Yin Minmin about being sick.”
“And yet, sick as you are, you still managed to hit me hard enough to get blood all over my face.”
After dealing with him for a while, Qin Ying simply couldn’t muster any respect for this potentially unreliable superior. She retorted irritably, “If you got hit, that’s something you should reflect on yourself.”
“Wow, you really don’t waste any energy blaming yourself, do you?” Fatty Wu wiped the blood from his face. Before Qin Ying could fire back, his expression abruptly turned serious. “Time for business!”
Inside the room, Third Uncle Xu’s young granddaughter, Xiaoyu, lay quietly on a makeshift bed formed from three plastic stools pushed together.
Qin Ying crouched down to examine her and found traces of pale green medicinal powder around her nostrils and collar.
“This isn’t a sedative. It’s Fumigant Powder used to calm the mind.”
“Xuncao?”
Hearing the name again, Qin Ying paused. “The Xuncao Flower Spray that clears toxic miasma?”
Crouching on the other side, Fatty Wu shook his head. “The flowers and leaves have different scents and effects. Powder made by breaking down the leaves’ cell walls can soothe and restore the mind.”
Qin Ying held out her hand. “I haven’t been sleeping well lately. Give me some to try.”
Her mental energy had been depleted, so in theory, this stuff should help her.
She didn’t stand on ceremony and asked for it outright.
Fatty Wu couldn’t bring himself to argue with her. Seeing that her eyes really were bloodshot, he took out a small glass vial as long as his index finger and handed it over.
“Thanks!” Qin Ying said politely before turning her attention back to Xiaoyu.
Fatty Wu crouched by Xiaoyu’s head and combed through her hair as if searching for lice. Without looking up, he said to Qin Ying, “Help me check whether there’s anything unusual on the kid’s body.”
Qin Ying shuffled to another position while still crouching. “Unusual?”
“Strange marks. Fingerprints, that sort of thing.”
At that, Qin Ying shielded Xiaoyu from Fatty Wu’s view and lifted the girl’s clothes to inspect her.
After checking everywhere, she found nothing except a few bruises on Xiaoyu’s calves.
But Xiaoyu had been kneeling vigil in the mourning hall, so a few bruises were perfectly normal.
Fatty Wu sighed when he heard that. “Then maybe the fright really did make her suddenly ill.”
He was just taking out his phone to send a message when Qin Ying called out, “Does a strange protective charm count?”
She removed a small charm pouch from around Xiaoyu’s neck.
These little pouch charms were common in Yunlan City. Around the Dragon Boat Festival, children wore a Five Poisons Talisman. By the Ghost Festival, it would be replaced with a Ghost-Face Talisman, while during the New Year, the pouch would contain a Peachwood Talisman.
They were all common protective charms worn by children. There was nothing unusual about them.
But the moment Qin Ying’s fingers touched this one, her instincts warned her that something was wrong.
Her intuition had always been accurate. She removed the charm from Xiaoyu’s neck, loosened its opening, and tipped its contents onto the floor.
A small black pebble wrapped in a lock of hair rolled out.
Qin Ying folded a tissue into a point and prodded it. “This charm isn’t right. It’s the seventh lunar month, so people normally wear a Ghost-Face Talisman. I’ve never heard of anyone putting a pebble inside.”
Fatty Wu’s expression changed drastically. He seized Qin Ying’s hand to stop her from touching it.
“This is a Yellow Springs Eye Stone.”
He hurriedly brushed aside the hair around the whorl on Xiaoyu’s crown. Sure enough, a small patch of hair there had been cut short.
“If an Eye of the Yellow Springs is uncovered while quarrying stone from a mountain, it must be suppressed with a braid from a young boy or girl. Otherwise, the resentment within the tunnel will gather and take form as a Tunnel Wraith.”
“Damn it! How could a Shamanic Ritual Stone like this end up being worn by someone?”
Realization suddenly dawned on Fatty Wu. “No wonder the little girl said, ‘Grandpa, don’t pull me.'”
“Her grandpa was frightened to death and became a Tunnel Wraith. He followed the stone here to drag her away.”
“If she hadn’t been so far from the Qingzhai Tunnel, she might’ve… been dragged into the mountain too.”
All traces of Fatty Wu’s earlier flippancy had vanished. He said gravely to Qin Ying, “Go ask the child’s grandmother where this little pouch came from.”
“I’ll notify our colleagues at the Qingzhai Tunnel right now.”
“There must be something else inside the Qingzhai Tunnel.”