Chapter 94

Chapter 94

In front of the Cultural Center, the old gatekeeper showed off his knowledge, leaving the kids listening with shining eyes while passersby murmured among themselves.

Striking while the iron was hot, the old gatekeeper took the opportunity to give the Cultural Center a proper bit of promotion.

Spittle flying, he launched into even more strange tales and odd anecdotes about the old city’s past, from every corner of society.

When the children’s teacher came over, she happened to hear the old man talking about the Green Gang’s old initiation ceremony.

Something about slapping knives against backs, passing through the Heaven-and-Earth Circle, and drinking the Water of Three Rivers.

All feudal dross!

The teacher’s face twisted for an instant. She hurriedly herded the little brats away, lest these mischievous things learn all the wrong lessons.

The boy who had been telling the story earlier muttered, “Swearing brotherhood in blood, drinking Red Flower Wine and living and dying together… So cool!”

Before the teacher could react, a voice said, “Red Flower Wine contains human blood and chicken blood. Drinking it makes you prone to AIDS, hepatitis A and B, syphilis, and avian flu.”

“The last batch who drank Red Flower Wine to pledge loyalty to a gang got rounded up during the anti-crime campaign and shot.”

The little chubby boy’s look of yearning instantly froze.

With a few words, Qin Ying snuffed out a child’s budding urge to court death, and received a grateful look from the teacher.

Seeing Qin Ying’s fair skin and delicate features, the teacher asked what she needed.

Qin Ying smiled at her and asked politely, “I overheard the story the child was telling just now.”

“I’m quite interested. I wanted to ask which street this young friend lives on, and whether I could interview him.”

At that, the teacher’s smile faded a little. She refused flatly. “That’s not very convenient.”

The internet was full of nonsense these days. For traffic, people dared to make up anything. As a teacher, protecting her students’ privacy was her duty.

The teacher refused quickly, but the child answered even faster. “My family lives on Ninth Street.”

If not for professional ethics, the teacher would have dearly loved to smack the brat upside the head.

She looked at Qin Ying with hostility. Qin Ying gave an apologetic smile. “That was presumptuous of me. Don’t worry, I won’t bother the child.”

With that, she turned and left. As she passed through the exhibition area, the smile on her face gradually faded.

The location of the story the old gatekeeper had told was South City.

The child lived on Ninth Street, due south of the old city.

In ancient beliefs, nine was the number of extreme yang, representing the pinnacle of fire energy.

When several coincidences came together like this, and the matter concerned the lives and property of many people, Qin Ying could not convince herself to calmly go have a meal.

She quickened her pace toward the Cultural Preservation Institute.

As soon as she entered, she saw that everyone was present and accounted for.

Zong Li and Zhang Lang had changed into Black Trench Coat and were sitting beneath the locust tree like a pair of door gods.

Old Miao and the others were on the other side, livestreaming sales of paper offerings.

The two groups were clearly divided.

Zhang Lang in particular-someone withdrawn and timid like him found people who were too lively to be practically poisonous.

Amid Old Miao’s bright, cheerful cries of “family” this and “family” that to the livestream viewers, Zhang Lang looked as if he had hemorrhoids growing under him, fidgeting restlessly in his seat.

When Qin Ying arrived, both men let out a breath of relief.

It was not that they were greedy for the meal Qin Ying had promised. Rather, only by using Qin Ying as bait had they been able to capture Yin Xu so quickly.

Yin Xu had been on the run for three years and had been carrying important hazardous items.

Now that Yin Xu had been captured and the Dream-Embracing Grass, Ghost-Shadow Vine, and insect eggs recovered, the two of them could go back, prepare their reports, and receive credit.

So even if they looked down on this idle, layabout bunch from the Third Cultural Heritage Preservation Institute, they had still come out of consideration for Qin Ying.

Qin Ying said apologetically, “Sorry, something held me up just now.”

Probably because he was not on a mission, Zong Li’s hair today was slicked down as if a dog had licked it, and he smelled of men’s cologne.

He laughed heartily. “No problem.”

He was about to chat with Qin Ying when he heard her say, “I heard something outside just now, and it’s bothering me a little. How about everyone put down what they’re doing and have a quick meeting?”

Even as she said this, Qin Ying had already raised her hand and made a pause gesture at Old Miao.
Old Miao, who had still been calling out, “One, two, three, connecting now,” suddenly cut himself off. Then, ignoring the barrage of questions in the comments, he shut down the livestream.

…

In the conference room, Zong Li sat with his arms folded. Seeing that the left and right sides of the room were piled with spirit-money bundles, a flash of disdain crossed his face.

When his gaze shifted to Qin Ying, however, his expression eased a little.

Finding a partner had always been a problem for the Cultural Preservation Bureau’s Emergency Management Department.

Everyone on the inside looked down on everyone else, and bachelors were everywhere you turned.

It was rare to get a chance to spread his tail feathers like a peacock.

Between him and Zhang Lang, he had always been the one who called the shots. Since he didn’t speak, Zhang Lang sat hunched behind a fortress built from stacks of spirit-money bundles.

From the first time they had met, he had never dared look Qin Ying in the eye.

He didn’t know why. He was just terrified of her.

If he could, he would have stuffed his head between his legs and hidden it there.

Across from them sat the four members of the Cultural Preservation Institute.

Qin Ying’s fingers tapped unconsciously on the table as she repeated what she had overheard on her way here.

“I don’t have any evidence proving these two incidents are connected, but something about it just feels wrong.”

“Especially since Ghost Festival is the day after tomorrow.”

During Ghost Festival, every household burned spirit-money bundles. Every year around this time was peak season for fires.

Although the government had designated a centralized burning area, only someone who had seen it with their own eyes could understand how spectacular it was when the flames joined into one vast sheet and ashes drifted through the sky like a sea of stars.

The swaying flames were the living’s romance, the longing between two worlds-and danger.

Old Dao held an unlit cigarette between his lips and said leisurely, “If I’m remembering right, this year’s centralized burning area is also in the south of the city.”

His words plunged the conference room into a moment of silence.

Zong Li, arms still folded, slowly straightened in his seat. The carelessness in his posture disappeared.

Old Miao flipped rapidly through his little red notebook. “Wait. Why does this Black Hound, eating charcoal and fire, sound so familiar?”

Beside him, Wen Hao pushed up his glasses. His voice rang out almost at the same time as Zong Li’s.

“It’s Huodou.”

“Huodou!”

Qin Ying and Yin Minmin exchanged a glance, then both lowered their eyes and began searching for Huodou on their phones.

Old Miao licked his lips and said, “According to legend, after a puppy takes shape in the womb, if the mother dog is struck by a meteor fragment, the thing she gives birth to is a Huodou.”

“Wherever a Huodou appears in the world, a great fire disaster is sure to follow.”

The conference room went utterly quiet.

Qin Ying set down her phone and asked, “So if all these coincidences come together, what do they become?”

“They become the Great Fire of Meireki,” Zong Li answered. Gone was his flashy, frivolous air from before; his expression was grave as he propped his elbows on the conference table.

Yin Minmin raised her hand. “I know this one! The Great Fire of Meireki was the Meireki Fire in Japan. They say that during a cremation, a young girl’s sleeve was blown up by the wind and set Honmyoji Temple on fire.”

“In March of 1657, right in the middle of windy season, the blaze spread from Honmyoji Temple through the Japanese capital and burned for five days. About a hundred thousand people died in the sea of flames.”

After reporting that number, Yin Minmin couldn’t help but shudder.

She looked at Zong Li in horror. “It was related to Huodou?”

Zong Li nodded and gave the answer none of them wanted to hear.

“According to our internal information, it’s highly possible.”

“Before that fire, there were eyewitness reports of a strange black dog at Honmyoji Temple. Based on the descriptions, it was a canine creature with a forked tail.”

“At dawn on the day of the fire, it was seen wandering in front of Honmyoji Temple.”

Yin Minmin suddenly raised both hands and cut him off. “Hold on! It was seen at dawn on the day of the fire?”

In her panic, her voice cracked. Pale-faced, she turned to Qin Ying. “When did that kid see something strange?”

Qin Ying tightened her grip on her phone and answered expressionlessly, “Three or four in the morning.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Yin Minmin grabbed her own hair in the conference room and let out a scream.

“We’re screwed!”