In the dead of night, the streets of Shangjing were silent and deserted.
"Beware of fire, the night is dry!"
Only the night watchman’s weary voice broke the silence.
The eerie cry of a wild cat startled the night watchman awake.
At the end of the long street, a tall shadow appeared. The night watchman rubbed his eyes and followed the shadow, only to see a tall figure with disheveled hair dressed in burial robes, holding a black cat eating voraciously.
The night watchman turned pale with fright, his legs weakened at the desire to flee, yet he lacked the strength.
As if sensing his gaze, the shadow lifted its blood-red eyes to look over, eyes as odd as a cat’s, with blood-red vertical pupils, extremely sinister.
Finally unable to hold back, the night watchman let out a scream and dashed away.
The only sound on the street was his footsteps, until he reached the foot of a tall building. He didn’t hear any sounds behind him, so he stopped and turned around to see no figure chasing him.
Just as he breathed a sigh of relief.
A shadow fell from the tall building above, crashing heavily at his feet, blood spreading.
The night watchman looked in horror at the corpse that was about to become pulp, it was the tall figure dressed in burial robes, its bulging eyes staring at him tightly.
The entire Shangjing echoed with the night watchman’s miserable shrieks. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
"Yes, it’s just such a ghostly encounter, you know. My house is nearby, so this scream woke me up in the middle of the night. That night watchman was so rattled that his mind was completely disturbed, he went insane!"
Inside the teahouse, a crowd had gathered, listening to the storyteller recounting the murder that happened last night.
"Do you know where the fall occurred?" The storyteller slapped a table, "It was the Stargazing Tower! The tower the Emperor dreams of completing by year’s end! Such a terrifying thing happening at such a crucial time, surely the Emperor is enraged."
"And do you know who the deceased was?" The storyteller spoke mysteriously, "It was none other than Liu Han, the eldest son of our Mr Liu!"
"Liu Han? Aren’t he a deputy garrison officer? Didn’t he inherit Mr Liu’s skills in martial arts? How could he fall from the Stargazing Tower?"
"Indeed, I heard he was wearing burial robes. Who goes out wearing burial robes? Truly bizarre."
People were speaking one after another, feeling chilly even in broad daylight.
"Bah! Wearing burial robes out means either you’re dying or... possessed by ghosts. Isn’t it easy to guess?"
Dongfang Chenyue slammed her teacup on the table, speaking dismissively.
"Miss, Liu Han is known to be physically strong, should not be a dying person, as for your saying he was possessed..." The storyteller squinted, speaking in a bizarre tone, "It’s possible, after all, evil spirits are rampant. Such things happening is logical, so..."
"For everyone’s sake, for the sake of friends and family, you’d better buy some amulets to ward off evil. These amulets I have are from the Qingyun Taoist Temple and other temples with flourishing incense. Just thirty silver pieces each, get them quickly, or they’ll be gone soon."
After speaking, the storyteller showed a shrewd smile, pulling out a large bunch of amulets for sale.
"Cough cough cough..."
Dongfang Chenyue choked on her own spit and said incredulously, "What on earth? He’s been talking all this time to set up a sale of amulets? This guy isn’t a Daoist or a mystic, yet he’s selling amulets? A swindler!"
Yu Nianzhao calmly cracked melon seeds, "Everyone’s out here trying to make a living, he’s just seizing the opportunity."
"No way, I need to check if these amulets are authentic, lest our mystics’ reputation gets ruined outside."
Dongfang Chenyue rolled up her sleeves, storming into the ’battlefield’ of amulet grabbing.
"Xie Jiuxiao was called away at midnight because of the Stargazing Tower murder?"
Yu Nianzhao’s eyes flashed as she asked casually.
Dongfang Chenyuan, having been drinking tea, immediately put down his cup and whispered, "That’s right, a murder at the Stargazing Tower undoubtedly affects the whole Shangjing. Who doesn’t know of the Emperor’s concern for the tower? Not to mention, the deceased was a fourth-rank official, and died in such a bizarre fashion, the officials in charge of the Stargazing Tower are certain to be unlucky."
"Do you think it’s human-caused or ghostly?"
"I was summoned by the Prince to investigate, but found no ghostly presence."
Dongfang Chenyuan gave her a knowing wink, "Princess, I hear your cheap dad is one of the officials in charge of the Stargazing Tower, indeed he’s in for a big trouble, the greater the responsibility, the greater the punishment."
Yu Nianzhao said indifferently, "What does his life and death matter? Xie Jiuxiao’s been busy as a spinning top lately, he hasn’t caught all the Black Market ’Netherworld’ people yet, and now there’s trouble at the Stargazing Tower."
Dongfang Chenyuan sighed, "According to logic, most evil spirits are suppressed in Tomb Guard City, yet somehow they’ve multiplied these past two years. It’s truly strange."
When mentioning Tomb Guard City, Yu Nianzhao’s eyes twinkled, "Using Tomb Guard City to suppress evil spirits is ridiculous. It’ll only cause worse results in the future."
"Oh? Why does the Princess say so?"
"Do you know what happens to those sent to Tomb Guard City?"
"Well, many are never heard from again, they cannot escape the word ’death.’"
"A person’s soul, after death, normally reincarnates. But Tomb Guard City, full of evil spirits, gathers into a sinister area, where the magnetic field is different. Ghost officers can’t step in to collect souls. Over time, souls there devour each other. Do you know the consequences?"
Dongfang Chenyuan’s face turned ugly, and he gritted his teeth, "It could create a more powerful ghost entity, possibly becoming a Ghost General, or a terrifying Fierce Ghost King, something even more vicious than the Taiyin Evil, certainly not good."
"So every five years of sending people in is not a solution, it’s just feeding them constantly."
Yu Nianzhao took a sip of tea, her leisurely words chilled Dongfang Chenyuan to the bone.
Dongfang Chenyuan swallowed hard, "The Princess is absolutely right. I must inform my father about this."
Yu Nianzhao raised her eyebrows, "Your father, huh... I’ve seen him once, he doesn’t seem foolish. Do you really think he’s unaware?"
Seen in Xie Jiuxiao’s dream, Mr. Dongfang seemed much shrewder than Dongfang Chenyuan.