When Fu Sang came out of Jingguan Pavilion, Zhuge Buhuo was still squatting outside playing on his phone, keeping watch. Hearing him come out, he looked up in surprise.
“So fast?”
“Yeah,” Fu Sang nodded.
“Thanks. I’ll add you on WeChat and send you the case details as a PDF later.”
Fu Sang didn’t want to spend a second longer at the Zhuge family estate and coldly declined Zhuge Buhuo’s offer to stay for tea.
Zhuge Buhuo didn’t really care, it was just a polite gesture anyway. He hadn’t actually wanted to invite this smooth-talking deadpan face for tea anyway.
Outsiders entering the main family compound had to be accompanied by a family member at all times, serving as a guarantor or living entry pass. So Zhuge Buhuo still had to escort his cheap “little uncle” all the way to the gate before the task was considered fully complete.
Huo Wei’s car was parked outside, and she had sat inside the whole time waiting.
Fu Sang got into the passenger seat carrying a chill, and as soon as he sat down, he slumped into the seat like a fried egg.
Huo Wei glanced at him: “What’s wrong? Did the illness really knock you out?”
Fu Sang rested quietly for a while before reaching into his pocket, pulling out his phone, and starting to send the document to Zhuge Buhuo while saying:
“Let’s go back to Jianyuan Residential Community.”
“?” Huo Wei frowned: “Again? Why? Didn’t we already figure everything out?”
“Something new came up.” Fu Sang coughed softly a couple of times.
“I suspect the figure in the dream who taught Wei Luyuan the blood-sacrifice soul-resurrection is Qiyueban.”
“Qiyueban? Which Qiyueban?”
“You know a second Qiyueban?”
“Wait, the Qiyueban from our nether-path? The one I know?”
“Who else?”
“…He’s been dead for almost a thousand years. Are you sure??” Huo Wei’s eyes widened.
“People die, but souls don’t always perish. Don’t people in this line of work have that much awareness?”
Fu Sang raised an eyebrow slightly, as if something had occurred to him, and suddenly asked a seemingly unrelated question, “Do you think Qi Changying suffered a tragic fate?”
“?” Huo Wei followed his train of thought in a big leap:
“Tragic? Of course! He was such a kind young general, and in the end he died a horrible death and was suppressed for a thousand years…how is that not tragic?”
“There’s worse.” Fu Sang let out what sounded like a faint laugh:
“If my information is correct, besides his soul and the blood in that well, there should be six other parts of him sealed in different places.”
As he spoke, Fu Sang reached into his pocket, took out the bone coin, and twirled it between his fingers a couple of times, “This is one of them.”
“Wait…” Huo Wei didn’t quite understand.
“Six parts? Which six?”
“Head, limbs, and torso.”
Fu Sang held up the bone coin between two fingers toward Huo Wei:
“I’m guessing this is his skull.”
“…”
Huo Wei had nothing to say.
She knew Fu Sang wouldn’t joke about something like this, which was why she was particularly speechless.
“…Not to sound harsh, but what kind of heinous crime did he commit that they had to go this far? If treating Qi Changying required dismembering him and scattering his parts for suppression, then what would happen if you died? Given how vicious you are, they’d probably have to grind your bones to dust and pair every particle of ash with a Seven Watch Blood Crying Prison just to ensure world peace, right?”
“Fine. When I become a ghost, I’ll kill you first.” Fu Sang said coldly.
Huo Wei laughed, started the car, and headed out of Xuanshan Mountain as Fu Sang had instructed.
After driving for a while, she turned to look at Fu Sang, who was still slumped in his seat catching up on sleep.
“How about we go see Wei Luyuan later? I think your top priority right now is to go to the hospital for a shot in the butt.”
Fu Sang’s voice was muffled, with a thick nasal tone and hoarseness: “I won’t die.”
Huo Wei rolled her eyes.
“Stubborn fool!”
Miss Huo played chauffeur all day, driving Fu Sang from the city into the mountains and then back out.
When they arrived at Jianyuan Residential Community again, the old residential area that had been so quiet the night before was bustling with unusual activity.
Before getting out of the car, Huo Wei craned her neck to look through the windshield at the distant view. Unable to make out anything, she quickly reached over and patted Fu Sang.
“Hey, look over there, what’s going on? I feel like something’s happened…”
There was no response after two pats. She turned to look, and Fu Sang was lying in his seat, half his face buried in his collar, sleeping quietly. But he didn’t seem to be resting well; his brows were slightly furrowed, and his cheeks had an unnatural flush.
“Hey!”
Huo Wei leaned over and touched the back of her hand to Fu Sang’s forehead. She was startled by the temperature and quickly grabbed his shoulders, shaking him.
“I told you you should get a shot! Wake up! Don’t die in my car!!”
“…”
Fu Sang finally stirred.
He frowned, squinting slightly. He had just woken up and his mind was still foggy. “…What happened?”
“Why are there so many people gathered up ahead?”
Too lazy to move, Fu Sang just pressed the button to raise his seat, and his field of vision gradually lifted.
Indeed, as Huo Wei said, a large crowd had gathered below Building 6. If Fu Sang wasn’t mistaken, the top of a police car’s light bar was visible behind the bushes.
He raised an eyebrow slightly, unbuckled his seatbelt, and got out to walk over.
A cordon had been set up around Unit 1 of Building 6, with officers maintaining order. The surrounding crowd was noisy and clamorous.
Taking advantage of his height, Fu Sang lifted his chin and peered in from behind a group of elderly people.
“Hey, auntie, what happened here?” Huo Wei took the initiative to gather information without needing Fu Sang to ask, immediately striking up a conversation with the most animated auntie in the group.
The auntie didn’t disappoint, slapping her thigh and immediately replying:
“Oh, you wouldn’t believe it. This morning, a girl jumped off the roof of Building 6! I don’t know what could make her so despairing, so young, sigh…”
At this, Huo Wei already had her answer, but she wanted to confirm:
“What did the girl look like?”
“I don’t know, I’m not sure. I heard she was a tenant, and a top student at Jingda University too! See, the one on the top floor with the broken windows!”
“…”
Huo Wei made a shocked and sympathetic expression as the auntie spoke. Without looking up at the building, she turned and nudged Fu Sang with her shoulder, asking quietly, “Did you hear that?”
Fu Sang nodded.
He wasn’t surprised.
If it were just a simple suicide, the police wouldn’t have made such a big fuss. But with the cordon and the unusual police presence, it was clear the case was far from simple.
Wei Luyuan’s death had definitely brought the contents of her freezer to light, and a suicide case turned into a serial murder case, which was why the police were taking it so seriously.
Wei Luyuan had killed too many people, and the bodies couldn’t be disposed of, only stored. The mess was too big to clean up.
It was bound to come out eventually, and impossible to keep hidden. Death was her only option. And since she never believed she had done anything wrong, ending herself this way was only too natural.
It wasn’t about guilt, it was about refusing to admit fault or bow her head to the dead.
Fu Sang had no comment, but he hadn’t expected her to act so quickly. It hadn’t even been a full day, just half a day’s time, and Wei Luyuan had already ended her life.
After all, her life was still tied to Xia Kui’s. Fu Sang had assumed Wei Luyuan would stay a few more days for Xia Kui’s sake, waiting until she was truly at the end of her rope before taking that final step.
“That man standing at the entrance, do you see the red cord on his ID tag?”
As he was lost in thought, he suddenly caught sight of something and tilted his head slightly, reminding Huo Wei in a hoarse voice.
Huo Wei immediately caught on: “He’s from the Spirit Supervision Bureau!”
The Spirit Supervision Bureau, officially known as the Spiritual Energy Monitoring Bureau, was an official agency responsible for handling supernatural incidents involving monsters and ghosts. It could be understood as the supernatural version of the public security bureau, the place for spirit masters to take civil service exams. They worked year-round in cooperation with the major families and sects of the nether-path and spirit-path to handle cases involving spirits and ghosts.
Of course, in most cases, they just outsourced the cases and cleaned up afterward, ensuring that these incidents weren’t widely spread and didn’t frighten ordinary people.
“Mm.” Fu Sang raised an eyebrow:
“I handed the case file to Zhuge Buhuo just an hour ago. An hour later, the Spirit Supervision Bureau is already involved. Their response couldn’t be that fast. Someone else is also following this case.”
“Who?”
“Are you asking me?”
“.”
Huo Wei rolled her eyes:
“Then who should I ask? That brother from the Spirit Supervision Bureau? I do have some connections, you know.”
“No need to ask. Let’s go.”
Fu Sang didn’t stay any longer, turning toward the car. “Attracting attention isn’t worth it.”
“Fine, fine, you’re right, everything you say is right, Master Fu Sang.”
Huo Wei responded casually.
This whole thing hadn’t really been her business to begin with, and she wasn’t deeply involved. It was no different from when she’d gone on missions with other senior brothers and sisters before. So regardless of the outcome, she had no reason to get too emotionally invested.
But before getting in, as she opened the door, she inexplicably glanced back at the broken window on the top floor not far away.
Wei Luyuan was dead. Xia Kui probably didn’t exist anymore either.
What a child who had barely felt any kindness or warmth throughout her life…and yet she had been so gentle.
She didn’t know what she was feeling inside, but there was a dull, heavy ache in her chest, as if breathing had become difficult.
But when she’d gone on cases with other seniors before, she had witnessed life and death many times.
Huo Wei sighed inwardly and got into the car, only to find Fu Sang had produced a stack of papers from somewhere and was studying them with his head down.
“What’s that?” Huo Wei leaned in curiously.
“A journal on the Seven Watch Blood Crying Prison.” Fu Sang answered flatly.
“?” Huo Wei was confused for a moment.
Looking more closely at those pages, the paper was yellowed and clearly very old, with irregular jagged edges, obviously torn out by hand.
Huo Wei immediately asked warily, “Whose journal?”
“Probably Qiyueban’s.”
“The original?”
“Would the Zhuge family store copies?”
“…Where did you get it?”
“Where else did I go today?” Fu Sang said without changing expression.
“Jingguan Pavilion…?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Huo Wei finally couldn’t hold back, “Fu Sang, are you serious! You tore up an ancient text?!”
“So what? Are you going to kill me?” Fu Sang asked back flatly.
“…” Huo Wei gave him a thumbs up. “You’ve got guts.”
The handwriting in the journal was messy, and deciphering it line by line would take a lot of time. Taking photos with a phone wouldn’t guarantee that every page was clear. If any key words or sentences were blurry, they’d have to make another trip.
So Fu Sang chose the most convenient method; to just rip the pages out, fold them up, stuff them in his pocket, and take them. He could read them anytime he wanted.
This might make him seem like someone with low moral standards, but he was never a good person anyway. Since he was mooching off the Zhuge family, he didn’t need to feel bad about it.
His phone suddenly rang. Fu Sang glanced at the caller ID…it was Zhuge Buhuo.
“Hello? Hey, surnamed Fu, that Wei Luyuan girl is dead already?” Zhuge Buhuo cut straight to the point when the call connected.
“Ah.” Fu Sang feigned a hint of surprise, “Is that so? I hadn’t heard.”
“Yeah. I just got in touch with the Spirit Supervision Bureau. They said they’ve been following this case closely, and finally traced it to Wei Luyuan. But before they could reach her, she was already dead.”
“Mm. Then the information you have is quite valuable.”
“It is.”
“Since you don’t need after-sales support, why did you call me?”
“…” Zhuge Buhuo really wanted to throw his phone at his head through the air, “What, are you the UN Secretary-General? Am I not allowed to call you if I don’t have business? Can’t I just notify you?!”
“Okay.” Fu Sang paused, then asked again, “Who filed the report at the Spirit Supervision Bureau?”
“I really don’t know. You know the Spirit Supervision Bureau, they’re slow but they keep their mouths shut. I asked around for ages; all they said was it was an ordinary person and they couldn’t disclose anything.”
“An ordinary person doesn’t affect your case, so that one zhuan can still be credited entirely to you, no need to share it.” Fu Sang stated the facts.
“Hehe, yeah!” Mentioning this free merit made Zhuge Buhuo happy.
“Then congratulations.”
There was nothing more he could get from this person, so after saying congratulations, Fu Sang hung up directly.
Being sick was already leaving him drained. Fu Sang was dizzy and couldn’t focus on anything, so he folded the pages and stuffed them into his pocket.
On the way back, Huo Wei asked if Fu Sang wanted to go to the hospital, and he refused again.
She didn’t insist again. On the drive back to his place, the usual chatterbox who could never stay quiet was unusually silent.
Fu Sang noticed she wasn’t herself, glanced at her, but said nothing.
It wasn’t until the car stopped downstairs at his place and he thanked Huo Wei, unbuckling his seatbelt, that he lowered his head and said out of the blue:
“Don’t torture yourself over other people’s stories.”
“Huh? What?” Huo Wei was stunned for a moment and turned to look at Fu Sang.
Because of his fever, Fu Sang’s eyes were a bit red. Beneath his heterochromatic eyes were two heavy dark circles, so he probably hadn’t slept well again last night.
Huo Wei hadn’t expected that rare piece of almost-human comfort to come from this person. She was about to ask for more when she saw him push the door open and walk away, leaving her with one last line:
“In our line of work, the worst thing you can do is fall for a client.”
“?”
