(WWW - Asianovel.com) - Guardian Chapter 1 - Chapter 19

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Guardian
Zhen Hun • 鎮魂
The Special Investigations Unit is a covert organisation that no-one

in the city knows about, dedicated to investigating bizarre
occurrences beyond the comprehension of the living. The Chief Zhao
Yunlan isn’t a simple guy either, being the inheritor of the Guardian
Order, he has always been a righteous conformist, excelling between
realms of the living and the dead. While investigating a school
suicide case, Zhao is attracted to the calm and reserved Professor
Shen Wei, but the Professor seems to be rather fickle towards him…
Author(s): Priest
Artist(s):
Year: 2012
Country: China
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Shounen Ai, Supernatural, Yaoi
Tags: Adapted to Drama, Modern Day
Source: Rainbowse7en
ASIANOVEL VERSION: 3.11

PDF VERSION: 1.4
UUID: 1e859f10-d8ff-11e9-b21f-eb0f9f8eb712
USER: luthient8
DATE CREATED: 2019-09-17
LANGUAGE: English
More info and chapters: https://www.asianovel.com/series/guardian
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Chapter 1
Quality Checker: Krrizis
First Published on Wattpad, Edited and Reposted on Ainushi
It was the 15th of July in the lunar calendar, and the sky was still
gloomy.
Nocturnal cats, big and small, had all returned to their resting
places. Everything seemed awfully quiet, even in the wide avenue of
Dragon City, with only the occasional buzzing of a bug from the
bushes, elusive and bewildered, heightened with anticipation.
It was half-past two in the morning. The morning dew had settled
and the air was damp.
It was wet and sticky.
Perhaps it was the wind, but there always seemed to be a shadow

lurking in the corner; when one walked down the avenue, it was as
though something was constantly glaring from behind.
At present, Guo Changcheng found himself entering No. 4 Bright

Avenue while carrying a document of notice.
Guo Changcheng’s parents had died when he was young. His looks
were mediocre, and his character was introverted and cowardly;
suffice to say, he wasn’t born capable. Fortunately, his two aunts
were quite nice to him, having taken care of him until he had
graduated from university.
Unfortunately, Guo Changcheng failed to live up to any

expectations. He had struggled to graduate from a low tier
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university, with rather mediocre grades at that. Even now, despite
being an adult, whenever he met any strangers, he was always
tongue-tied and afraid.
As one would expect, Guo Changcheng could not find a job. After
he graduated, he wasted almost a year at home, slacking.
Eventually, when his uncle was transferred to the Ministry of Public

Security, his uncle made use of a few connections to get his
lacklustre nephew a job.
And so Guo Changcheng thought that his future would consist of

working from nine to five in a uniform, making tea for important
people, and playing solitaire whenever he was free. That was until he
received a bizarre “recruitment notice”.
When the notice arrived, Guo Changcheng thought there was some
sort of mistake. The notice, written in big, red letters stated:
“Comrade Guo Changcheng,
Congratulations! You have been recruited by our department.

Here, you will enjoy the treatment and status of a national civil
servant, with an above average salary. You will also be responsible
for serving the people. We hope that you will work hard, with both
passion and ambition, for the good of our nation and society.
Please bring this notice and your identity card, and report to our
office at 2:30 am on August 31 (July 15 lunar calendar). Our address:
Human Resources Department, 1/F, No. 4 Bright Avenue.
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you as our new

comrade on behalf of all our staff.
Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China
Special Investigations Unit
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DD/MM/YYYY”
Normally, when someone sees such a strange reporting time, they

would expect it to be a typo, and would probably call in for
confirmation. But Guo Changcheng, being the anti-social freak he
was, had a rather peculiar case of telephone phobia. Even the
thought of having to make a phone call left him sleepless all night.
And so, he never made the phone call.
After a bit of thought, Guo Changcheng came up with the perfect

plan: he would stay up all night and go to No. 4 Bright Avenue at half
past two in the morning. If there was no-one there, he would take a
nap at a McDonald’s not far away and come back at half past two in
the afternoon. He figured that either one of these two times must be
the right one.
Since at this hour the metro was not in service, Guo Changcheng
had no choice but to drive. Struggling, and with the help of his GPS,
he finally managed to find the place.
No. 4 Bright Avenue was, in fact, not so bright, but rather hidden in
a secluded courtyard. Guo Changcheng stopped for a while,
hesitating at the entrance, then turned on the flashlight in his phone.
He found a small sign underneath the lush Japanese ivy with the
building number on it.
Below the sign was a small engraving on the rock, which read
“Special Investigations Unit.” There was even the emblem of the
MPS (Ministry of Public Security) beneath it.
The courtyard was flourishing with vegetation. There was a line of

Japanese pagoda trees past the car park, forming a small grove.
Among the trees was a narrow path which lead to a small reception
hut and an old office building.
The lights were on in the small hut, and a uniformed figure could
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be seen inside it. The figure wore a service cap and appeared to be
reading a newspaper.
Guo Changcheng took a deep breath and started to sweat

nervously, without giving much thought as to why the reception
office would be open at this hour.
“I am reporting in as a new recruit, this is my notice

letter… I am reporting in as a new recruit, this is my notice
letter… I am reporting in as a new recruit, this is my notice
letter…”
Guo Changcheng, still rooted in the same spot, recited his lines as
though he was a schoolkid preparing for an exam. Finally, he
gathered his courage and shakily knocked on the window of the
reception hut, and feebly muttered, “I am reporting in as a new
notice… this is my letter recruit…”
“What?” asked the bewildered, middle-aged man at the

reception.
He was screwed, how could he mess up a line as simple as that?

Almost in tears, his face began to look like a purple yam.
Fortunately, the man spotted the notice letter and realized what he
was here for.
“Oh! You’re the newbie! What should I call you? Oh, I see
it, Little Guo, huh? We haven’t had a newcomer for quite a
few years now. So, how’s it going? I suppose this place
wasn’t that easy to find?”
Guo Changcheng nodded in agreement, feeling relieved. He liked

meeting friendly and eager people. The more talkative the other
person was, the less he would have to say.
“So this is your first day, huh? Let me tell you, you’re
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extremely lucky today! It just so happens that our Chief is
here tonight! Come on, I will introduce you to everyone.”
Guo Changcheng tensed up in an instant, not feeling lucky in the

least.
Guo Changcheng was particularly afraid of people with high status

and power; when he was little, whenever he saw a teacher he’d start
to curl up, and would turn around and run for his life if he ever saw
the principal. Albeit a law-abiding citizen, when he saw a policeman,
it was as if he was a rat seeing a cat.
Meeting the Chief? He’d rather meet ghosts.
At this moment, a young man came striding out of the small office
building.
The man, with his hands buried in his pockets, had a cigarette in
his mouth. He had a tall and slender figure, with upright shoulders
and thick eyebrows, along with deep eye sockets and a high nose.
Extremely handsome, and yet extremely sombre.
With a frown and a quick pace, his body seems to be saying, “No
matter who you are, get out of my way.” Guo Changcheng
inadvertently found himself looking at him, and was immediately
stunned by a set of beautiful, yet abrasive, eyes. This handsome man
seemed to be quite ill-tempered.
Surprisingly, when the handsome man noticed that someone was

standing by the doorway, he made an abrupt stop, and within a split
second, put on the most genuine and cordial smile possible.
When he smiled, two soft dimples appeared on his cheeks, and his
mouth curved up, with the cigarette still held in it. His eyes shrunk
into even steeper curves, amiable yet with a hint of mischief.
“Well, speak of the devil! Hey kid, go meet our Chief.”
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The middle-aged man gave Guo Changcheng a push from behind,
making him almost stumble and fall. His mind went blank as he
heard a voice from behind say, “Chief Zhao Yunlan, we have a
newcomer today.”
“Hello, a warm welcome to you.” Zhao Yunlan eagerly

extended his hand.
Half-paralyzed, Guo Changcheng tried to wipe off the sweat on his

hands and embarrassingly picked the wrong hand for a handshake.
He quickly withdrew his hand. The nerve-wracking experience left his
short-sleeved shirt soaked in sweat, slowly forming a world map on
his back.
Zhao Yunlan, letting out a very restrained laugh, naturally raised

his hand to give Guo Changcheng a pat on the shoulder, “No need
to be so nervous, our colleagues are all very nice and
friendly. Since it’s your first day, I really should walk you
around, but you see, today happens to be a special day, and
we’re extremely busy, so please don’t feel left out. We will
hold a welcome party for you sometime later. Well, this isn’t
a very convenient time is it… How about this? Old Wu will
bring you inside to meet Wang Zheng, our HR manager. She
will help you with the employment procedures. After that,
you can go back and get some rest and come back tomorrow
morning. Does that sound good?”
Guo Changcheng nervously nodded.
No matter how desperately hurried Zhao Yunlan seemed to be a

moment ago, the fact that he was currently standing still, talking to
Guo Changcheng in his calm and stately manner was remarkable.
“Sorry, I’m in a hurry. If there is anything you need, you

can tell me when I get back. No need to be shy, we’re a
family now. Sorry for troubling you today.” Zhao Yunlan gave
Guo Changcheng a gentle, apologetic smile, nodded towards Old Wu
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at the reception, and rushed off in a hurry.
Old Wu was certainly a big fan of Zhao Yunlan. Just a few rather
meaningless words of formality had gotten him into a good mood
instantly. He took Guo Changcheng towards the office whilst
muttering, “Our Chief is young, capable, well-tempered, and
always kind and genuine towards everyone…”
Guo Changcheng had yet to recover from the horror of meeting the
big Chief, and only vaguely heard Old Wu.
Since he was always terrified of making direct eye contact, he

hadn’t noticed that Old Wu’s face was as pale as a wall, his lips
blood-red, his mouth almost wide enough to reach his earlobes, and
that he had no tongue.
The office was full of busy people, it seemed to be a really hectic

time.
It is only until this moment when Guo Changcheng finally realized

that there was something strange about this office. Why would the
whole office, including the receptionist, be working overtime til this
hour?
“No worries,” Old Wu explains, “you will mostly be working

during daytime in the future. As long as there aren’t any big
cases, we rarely have to work overtime. But since it’s July,
only these couple of days are the most hectic in the year for
us. Don’t be concerned though. Overtime pays three times
the usual salary and you’ll even get a bonus at the end of the
month.”
Guo Changcheng was even more perplexed. What’s with that

“only these couple of days are the most hectic in a year for
us”? Do criminals pick this time of the year to commit crimes? And
they follow the lunar calendar too!?
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However, Guo Changcheng, fearing that he’d appear stupid, left his
questions to himself and nodded instead.
Old Wu continued, “I usually work the night shift, another

colleague manages the reception in the daytime. Ah, I guess
we won’t really get to see each other much in the future.
Have you just graduated? From which university? What did
you study?”
Guo Changcheng shamefully admitted his rather disappointing and

lacklustre academic achievements, adding, with the voice of a
mosquito, “I’m not very good with studying…”
“Well, you’re still a university graduate nonetheless! I like

educated young people since I wasn’t that capable myself.
When I was young, my family was poor, so I never got the
chance to get a proper education. When I was around seven
or eight, I studied at a private school for just a short while.
But after all these years, I’ve forgotten almost all the stuff
that I’d learned, I can barely read the newspaper now!”
What stuff? Private school?
Guo Changcheng was once again confused, but because of the fear
that he would appear stupid, he kept it to himself.
“Oh, we’re here!” Old Wu cheered.
Guo Changcheng lifted his head up to see a giant sign that read
“Human Resources” on the door, written with red letters on a
white plane, being a very eerie red as well. Guo Changcheng
pondered why this red seemed so strange and suspicious, and to his
surprise, he realized that… the words look as if they were written
with… dried blood!
Old Wu knocked on the door, “Little Wang, are you in? We

have a newcomer today. Can I trouble you to complete his
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employment procedures?”
After a moment of silence, a very soft female voice replied, “I’m

coming.”
The voice seemed very far away, and yet also seemed as if it was
floating just beside one’s ears. Guo Changcheng immediately felt a
chill running down his spine.
“Sorry for troubling you at this time of day Little Guo, but
you see, Little Wang is just like me. We can only do night
shifts so employment procedures can only be carried out
around this time.”
Hold on…
What did he meant by… “can only do night shifts”?
Guo Changcheng felt increasingly uncomfortable, and another

wave of frost rushed through his bones. Trembling with fear, he
glanced at a worker passing-by, and was instantly mesmerized with
horror.
Guo Changcheng clearly saw the uniformed worker swiftly gliding

in mid-air through the corridor.
He… he he he he he he he didn’t have any legs!!!
The door opened with a screeching squeak, and a young girl in a

white dress appeared at the door and eerily asked, “Have you
brought the notice letter and your identity card?”
A burst of chilling breeze came rushing out of the room. Guo

Changcheng felt as if his heart was about to burst and stop beating.
He was afraid that if he didn’t speak now, he might not be able to
speak again for the rest of his life.
He held his breath and slowly lifted his head, gazing across the
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spotless white dress, stopping at the girl’s bare neck.
A second later, Guo Changcheng let out a croaking noise as though

he was being choked. His jaw hung open, but he couldn’t produce a
single scream. His eyes looked as though they were about to pop out,
his limbs petrified as he slowly stumbled backwards as if his body
was no longer his.
He saw… he saw a red line running across the girl’s neck! It wasn’t
a necklace, but rather a line that was deeply sunk into her skin… a
tightly sewn line that stitched her head to her neck!
An icy hand rested on Guo Changcheng’s shoulder, and Old Wu

asked, “Yo, Little Guo, you doing okay?”
Guo Changcheng turned around and saw Old Wu’s pale paper face
and humongous mouth.
‘Meeting the Chief? He’d rather meet ghosts.’
Perhaps this was karma paying back.
Two seconds later, Guo Changcheng passed out without a sound.
His frozen body lay straight on the floor.
His uncle really had found him a remarkable job.
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Chapter 2
The street lights flickered like fireflies in the wind, and darkness
reigned over the light in the dismal and dreary night. A young girl’s
staggering steps bashed at the bumpy brick road. Suddenly, she
tripped and heavily fell on her knees.
In the suffocating heat of a summer’s night, Li Qian panted and

puffed vigorously, her fingers tightly clutching her clothes.
She could hear the thumping of her heartbeat, along with the
thumping of someone else’s footsteps.
The noise seemed to originate from a pair of old, soft-soled cloth

shoes, and the wearer seemed to be stumbling due to a leg disability.
Li Qian abruptly looked behind her but there was nothing in her
sight besides the small, swiveling insects floating around the street
lamp.
She had a delicate look, and would have normally been considered
pretty. However, her hair now clung uncomfortably to her face,
messy and soaked in sweat, and her cheeks and lips were becoming
paler by the minute. Her current state was far from her natural
beauty.
Gradually, her expression became strangely unsettling, almost like

an evil smirk or a malicious glare, with a remarkable yet
indescribable hint of pure terror.
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“Go away.” She bolted up and said, grinding her teeth, “If I can
get rid of you once, I can get rid of you twice.”
The footsteps stopped.
Li Qian rolled up her sleeves, her snow-white arms now covered

with goosebumps. In the cooking heat of summer, something
invisible was making her cold.
She picked up a brick from the ground as the footsteps closed in on

her from all directions like a swarm of bone-devouring maggots. Yet,
there was still nothing within her sights.
The unseen was the most terrifying.
Li Qian began to scream as she smashed and bludgeoned the air

with the brick.
The brick began to grow heavier and heavier and the coarse
surface pained her palm. Exhausted, her eyes grew dark. Hunch-
backed, her arms rested on her crooked knees. Puffing and panting,
she inadvertently stared at the ground.
Li Qian’s irises began to narrow and her entire body began to

tremble with vigour. The brick in her hand dropped to the ground,
plunging onto her toes through her sandals. But as though she had
not felt the pain at all, she stumbled backwards, her knees bent, she
crashed down, sitting on the ground.
A shadow… it’s a shadow!
The street lamp was directly in front of her, so how was a shadow
cast despite nothing blocking the light?
The shadow looked like black ink spattered across the ground and
the figure watched her for god knows how long.
Li Qian was paralyzed on the ground, but the shadowy figure was
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standing upright.
“If you haven’t done anything wrong, why are you so

terrified by a shadow?”
She seemed to hear a screeching laughter.
It was dawn, almost five o’clock, the phone on the bedside drawer
rang with a ghastly howl.
Zhao Yunlan had worked overtime from dusk till dawn, and when
he got home, he simply rolled right into bed without even taking his
clothes off. Yet, just as he had gotten himself comfortable, the phone
had more work for him.
He opened his eyes blandly, his double eyelids drooping heavily

and stared at the ceiling in contempt. After three seconds, he rose
like a zombie, struggling to hold up his squishy brain, and reached for
his cell phone.
Zhao Yunlan’s room was remarkably chaotic; it was even worse

than a dog’s lair.
His clothes were scattered everywhere, both on the bed and the
floor. Nobody knew whether they were meant to be washed or worn.
The big twin bed had all sorts of miscellaneous objects on it, some
being of rather unimaginable sorts: a single sock wrapped around the
corner of a laptop, a pair of sunglasses, an umbrella, an origami top
hat, and a whole can of cinnabar powder. With all these piles of
garbage cramming up the space, there was only a tiny spot large
enough for a single person to sleep on.
Zhao Yunlan wore an incredibly resentful expression, looking as if

he was just about to burst out swearing. When he picked up the
phone, though, his tone was awfully normal, perhaps having gotten
used to this kind of life.
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“What’s happened now?”
“Someone died,” Wang Zheng’s voice came from the other side.
“When?”
“Last night or this morning, just a while ago.”
“Where?”
“University Street.”
“Hmmm…” Zhao Yunlan ran a hand across his face, “let Old Chu
take care of it.”
“Chu Shuzhi went on a business trip to Xiangxi.”
“What about Lin Jing?”
“Got transferred by Hell.”
“Fuck me… What about Zhu Hong? Oh never mind, there

was a full moon yesterday, she must be on leave. Who else is
at work?”
“Me, but it’s almost sunrise so I have got to go soon,” said

Wang Zheng. “There’s still Da Qing and the new intern Guo
Changcheng.”
Zhao Yunlan feebly yawned, and said, “Tell Da Qing to go with

the intern, give him a chance to learn.”
“Guo Changcheng can’t go anywhere right now.” Wang

Zheng explained. “When he came over last night, he passed
out on the floor and he’s still unconscious.”
“……”
Zhao Yunlan asked, “What scared him?”
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“Old Wu and I.” Wang Zheng even added, “I told you to find a
professional shroud shop to make Old Wu a new body. What
Zhu Hong makes with sandbags and paper can never look like
an actual person.”
Zhao Yunlan silently sat on the edge of the bed and slowly sighed.
“It’s against procedure for me to go there in person, it might
scare others… but I guess I have no choice. Fine, tell Da Qing
to wait for me. I’m coming.”
He hung up, showered in three minutes, and sped towards

University Street in his car.
Zhao Yunlan slowed down right around the corner, and a black
shadow suddenly fell from the sky. A round ball of animal fur came
crashing down like a grenade, almost leaving a crater on the front of
the car.
He swiftly slammed the brakes, rolled down the window and yelled,
“This is called an automobile! It’s a transportation device,
not your litter box! Don’t try to break it will you!?”
On the front of the car sat a pitch-black cat, so fat and round that it
seemed to have no neck, possibly being the African cousin of
Garfield.
The big, fat cat looked around, and after making sure that there
was no one around, flicked its whiskers, and said, “Stop babbling
and get out. Haven’t you noticed that smell?”
The air was filled with an inexplicable foul odor like that of a bio-
weapon. Covering his nose, Zhao Yunlan got out of the car and asked
the cat, “Did you just fart? What’s that smell?”
Ignoring his remarks, the black cat jumped off the car and started
walking ahead.
A few police cars had already stopped by the side of the road, and
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a police line had been set up at the entrance of a small narrow alley.
Zhao Yunlan rummaged his pockets, and, after a long while, finally
managed to locate a scruffy staff card. The policeman guarding the
tape didn’t look too well. He quickly glanced at Zhao Yunlan’s card
and returned it, and then rushed off to a wall and started vomiting.
Zhao Yunlan scratched his bird’s nest of a head, bewildered, “Is

my photo really that nauseating?”
The cat, who was walking quite some distance ahead of him,
impatiently turned back and urged him with a long and angry
“meow”.
“Right, right, the important stuff. Damn, this smell. I can’t

even stand ten steps.” Zhao Yunlan crouched down and crossed
the police line.
Zhao Yunlan had just arrived, yet someone already seemed to

have been waiting for him.
“Are you from the Special Investigations Unit?”
In the Ministry of Public Security, everyone knew of the enigmatic

department called the “Special Investigations Unit”.
They certainly were not low-tier officers but nobody knew what
exactly it was that they did. Every time someone from the SIU
(Special Investigations Unit) was involved, it was always by the
orders of the higher authorities, and nobody could object.
But if they weren’t present, nobody would know where to find

them.
They belonged to the MPS, but weren’t always closely monitored.

They were strictly organized and their procedures were completely
non-transparent. If the media didn’t have official approval, they
would never have been able to locate the SIU, let alone interview or
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report anything about them.
To be honest, nobody knew how they did things. When a case is

handed to the SIU, it was as if it was entering a black box, and the
only thing that came out was a mysterious report.
Sometimes, staff members from the SIU were even more baffling
than the most bewildering of cases.
Their case reports were always detailed, logical, and impeccable,

giving a full account of the entire process of solving the case and
catching the criminals involved.
But there was one aspect that was unceasingly suspicious – the
criminals always died by the end of the case.
While most of the cases they handled involved heinous crimes

where most of the suspects most probably deserved such demise, it
was perhaps… a little too coincidental.
The police officer in charge of the investigation was a senior

policeman named Yang. He offered Zhao Yunlan a friendly handshake
and sized him up curiously, “What should I call you?”
“Zhao, Zhao Yunlan. You can just call me Little Zhao.”
Old Yang was quite taken aback. Never would he have thought that
this young man was the Chief of the SIU. He gave Zhao Yunlan an
even closer look and realized that he was tall, slender, and
handsome, like a model from a fashion advertisement. Though it
must be said that his outfit was not very pleasing – a scruffy shirt
which was half-buttoned up, only half of it tucked in while the other
half not, and not to mention that bird’s nest of a hairstyle.
But Chief Zhao Yunlan was the Chief after all. No matter how
messy he looked, even if he ran naked on the street, lower tier
officers would probably have to praise him for trend-setting.
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“Oh dear!” exclaimed Old Yang. “You’re Chief Zhao! Excuse
me for my ignorance. Who would have thought our Chief is so
young and accomplished?!”
Zhao Yunlan was rather used to flattery, and naturally replied with
some utterance of formality.
At this moment, someone was growing rather impatient, and a

loud and clear “meow” could be heard. Old Yang looked down and
saw a black shadow which swiftly climbed up Zhao Yunlan’s pants,
shirt and onto his shoulder.
Normally, seeing a black cat with green eyes at a crime scene

would be rather ominous but this particular cat was just a bit too
plump, which instead seemed to lighten up the situation rather than
darken it.
Old Yang stared at it and it stared right back. “This… this…?”
Zhao Yunlan embarrassingly adjusted his pants which were almost

pulled off by the cat and laughed, “This is our cat manager. He is
really hard-working, so he doesn’t like it when we chit-chat
during work.”
“…” Old Yang was left speechless.
The black cat arrogantly stretched its neck, albeit with difficulty
due to its sheer size, and impatiently swung its tail.
Zhao Yunlan got the message and showed Old Yang the little
badge sported around the cat’s neck.
“This is a SIU special permit. It’s basically equivalent to our

staff cards. Don’t worry, he is an experienced cat so he
knows his way around.”
“…” Old Yang began to find this whole ordeal rather nonsensical.
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A moment later, Chief Zhao carried the cat and followed Old Yang
into the crime scene.
The further they went, the nastier the smell got.
A female corpse laid in the narrow alley, wearing a t-shirt with

“Dragon City University Orientation Camp” printed on it. Her
eyes and mouth were open. Her body laid flat in the shape of a star
and her stomach had been cut open and emptied.
Old Yang covered his nose with a paper towel, visibly disturbed.
The fat cat on Zhao Yunlan’s shoulder let out a long “meow,”
leapt onto the ground, and circled the corpse twice. It then stopped
beside the corpse, sat down, and stared at Zhao Yunlan like a well-
trained search dog.
Zhao Yunlan walked towards the corpse, took out a pair of scruffy
gloves from his ragged pocket, and put them on. He examined the
spot the cat was sitting on and carefully lifted up one of the corpse’s
arms.
Old Yang, leaning forward for a closer look, saw a bloody hand
mark on the floor.
That definitely couldn’t be a human’s hand. The palm was only the
size of a child’s hand yet the fingers were at least twenty centimetres
long. Old Yang had been a policeman practically his entire life, and
he’d never seen anything so bizarre.
While Old Yang was still stupefied, Zhao Yunlan remarked in a

serious tone, “From this point onward, the SIU will be in
charge of this case. The handover procedures will be
completed in two working days.”
Old Yang never got the chance to reply as Zhao Yunlan pointed
towards a dilapidated door and asked, “What’s this place?”
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Chapter 3
It was one of Dragon City University’s small back doors.
Dragon City University was a famous school with a long history.
It was almost the start of the school year, but there weren’t a lot of
people on campus as the main campus had long since been moved
to the suburbs, and the old campus that remained was rarely used by
students, although it was sometimes visited by tourists.
Zhao Yunlan, carrying the black cat, was waiting at the entrance of
a residential hall. Guo Changcheng finally arrived.
Only then did Zhao Yunlan realize that the intern was rather
shabby-looking; hunched forward, always as if shamefully looking
down. His fringe almost covered both his eyes, and he was dressed in
all black as if going to a funeral.
As Guo Changcheng approached, Zhao Yunlan asked the cat in his

arms, “Will this kid be alright? What do you think Wang Zheng
said to him? He looks devastated.”
The black cat yawned in disinterest, “You’re too worrisome,

mama Zhao.”
Guo Changcheng sheepishly stumbled forward, saying, “I’m

here…”
Zhao Yunlan teased him, “Who told you to come along? And
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why can’t you speak up a little?”
Guo Changcheng trembled and began muttering inaudibly,

sounding almost like a moaning puppy.
“Meow,” said Da Qing the cat.
Zhao Yunlan was a bit disappointed. He’d never noticed that this
newcomer was the type who couldn’t even speak properly.
“You roughly know what happened, right? This is where the

victim lived. Let’s go inside.”
Zhao Yunlan headed in, only to soon realize that no one was
following him. He turned back to find Guo Changcheng in an awkward
staring contest with a mean looking security guard.
Trying not to get mad, he called out to Guo Changcheng as if

calling a dog, “Come on, let’s go! She knows who we are, just
come on in.”
Zhao Yunlan’s first impression of Guo Changcheng could be

summarised in two words; “This idiot.”
Room 202 was a standard student apartment for two.
The black cat, bouncing off of Zhao Yunlan, began to thoroughly

scavenge under the bed, under the closet, and the window sill.
Suddenly, it smelled something by the window and sneezed heavily.
After the big scare he received the night before, Guo Changcheng
closely examined big Chief Zhao, and much to his relief, he realized
that the handsome boss indeed had a shadow, and from his
exhausted and messy look after working overtime, confirmed that he
was certainly human. And so, Guo Changcheng eagerly followed
behind the Chief.
Zhao Yunlan took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, put one
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in his mouth and swiftly lit it up. He leaned forward and gave the cat
a pat on the butt so it would step aside. Finally, he blew a cloud of
smoke onto the window sill.
“Look,” Zhao Yunlan said.
Guo Changcheng looked towards the window sill, and to his

amazement, a handprint appeared where there was nothing just a
moment ago.
Zhao Yunlan calmly gave the window sill a sniff.
“It’s not particularly stinky. Only a cat like you can pick up
this smell.”
The black cat replied, “It’s not that?”
Guo Changcheng, frozen in terror, stared at the talking cat and

quivered helplessly.
Zhao Yunlan shook his head thoughtfully, “I’m afraid not, lethal
things can’t have this smell.”
He opened the window and turned back to see the stupefied Guo
Changcheng, visibly horrified. Zhao Yunlan rather enjoyed torturing
him, “Hey kid, you go up there and see what’s outside the
window.”
Guo Changcheng’s only reply was an “Aa…”
“Come on, young man. Wise up and get up there!”
Guo Changcheng nervously gulped and helplessly stared at the

window. It was too high off the ground for him. But it takes just as
much courage to turn around and tell the Chief that he couldn’t do it.
In a difficult dilemma, this poor kid could only reluctantly climb

onto the window sill, tightly clutching the window frame as hard as
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he could.
He moved his head around with great difficulty, cautiously looking

out the window.
Suddenly, seeing a reflection on the open window, the hair on his

entire body stood upright in fear. To his astonishment, alongside the
reflection of his own figure on the window… there was another
shadow!
A human skeleton could be seen in the reflection, inexplicably

laying right beside him, arm extending through his ankle and on to
the window sill where there was a hand mark, looking into the
apartment…
Guo Changcheng looked at the window sill, but there was nothing!
He couldn’t believe his eyes. His chest froze in pain and he began
struggling to breathe.
The skeleton then turned its head towards him and looked right at
him through the reflection. There seemed to be a person in the
hollow eyeholes of the skull.
The person was covered in a black cloak, mysteriously shrouded in

a cloud of black mist, and holding some strange object…
Guo Changcheng had yet to figure out what that strange object
was when he was disrupted by a man below, “Hey student, what
are you doing up there?”
Startled, Guo Changcheng slipped on some lichen on the window

sill and fell victim to gravity.
With quick reflexes, Zhao Yunlan rushed forward to grab him but
was a split second too late and only managed to grab his hair. Out of
pain, Guo Changcheng wriggled causing Zhao Yunlan’s hand to slip,
and down he fell.
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The black cat, calmly sitting on the window sill, sluggishly wagged
its tail. “Meow…”
“Shit!” Zhao Yunlan rushed out of the room and dashed

downstairs, “This knucklehead.”
Fortunately, the man standing below gave Guo Changcheng a

hand, who barely survived the fall.
The man was tall and lean, dressed very formally in a white, long-
sleeved shirt and pants even in the height of summer. With rimless
glasses, along with the textbooks he carried in his hand, it gave him
a cultured and pristine image.
“Are you alright? Do you know how dangerous that was!?”
Instead of replying, Guo Changcheng looked back up at the window

sill to confirm that there was indeed no skeleton.
Guo Changcheng sat on the ground, dumbfounded.
“Your legs are shaking, huh? Be more careful next time.”

The spectacled man slightly bent forward and patiently said, “The
university forbids climbing. So if you get caught, your grades
will be deducted.”
Guo Changcheng’s head lifelessly drooped down, thinking that he

might be naturally retarded after all. If there had been no one for him
to sponge off of, there probably would not have been any hope for
him. It was his first day at work and he was already on the verge of
insanity.
Zhao Yunlan hurriedly arrived and picked Guo Changcheng up by

the back of his collar as if picking up a small chick.
If it wasn’t for him keeping his image as the calm and reserved
Chief Zhao, he would’ve smacked this idiot on the head with his
shoe.
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Zhao Yunlan forced himself to turn away. One more look at this
moron and he swore…
“Hi,” he offered the spectacled gentleman a handshake, “The

name’s Zhao. We’re from the MPS, and you are?”
In just a split second, the spectacled man seemed astonished but

he rapidly adjusted himself as if nothing had happened and returned
the handshake, “It’s Shen, Shen Wei. I’m a professor here. My
apologies, I thought he was a student.”
Shen Wei’s hand felt almost icy, like that of a dead corpse straight
out of a refrigerator. Zhao Yunlan hesitated and curiously looked up
at Shen Wei, who happened to be looking the same way.
Although he quickly turned away, Zhao Yunlan found his gaze

rather suspicious… Inexplicably so, as though this was not the first
time they’d meet each other.
As a criminal investigation officer, albeit the unorthodox type, Zhao

Yunlan had to be skilled at memorizing faces, even those who he’d
only briefly glanced at.
And he was certain that he had never seen this person before.
At this instance, the ball of black fur wiggled its butt and crawled
towards the professor. It gave Shen Wei’s feet a thorough sniff,
circled his leg a few times, and softly purred at him.
Master Da Qing usually kept his cool and looked down upon all
pathetic homo sapiens with disinterest and disdain. Shen Wei,
though, seemed to be an exception.
Zhao Yunlan was stunned at the cat’s abnormal behaviour. It was

inexplicably friendly and cute towards Shen Wei, and even stood on
two hind legs, asking for a hug.
Shen Wei picked up the cat, who gently meowed in comfort; it’s
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emerald eyes gazing at the spectacled man.
Zhao Yunlan noticed a seemingly bewildering connection.
Quite a while later, Shen Wei reluctantly returned the cat to Zhao
Yunlan, giving it a pat on the head. While doing so, he asked, “This
cat is very smart. What’s its name?”
“Da Qing.” And Zhao Yunlan carelessly added, “Nickname

Fatty, also known as Dat Fat Fuq.”
The black cat howled and instantly turned evil. Its fur stood upright
and its claws assaulted Zhao Yunlan.
“Haha, he is mad,” Shen Wei laughed gently and held one of its
paws in his hand. The cat retracted its claws and eagerly let him pat
it on the head.
“I heard about the incident,” spoke Shen Wei. “So the victim
is from our school?”
The Chief glanced at Guo Changcheng, who sheepishly took out a

photograph and a student card of a female student and handed them
to Shen Wei with trembling hands, “Pro… Professor Shen, plea…
pleased to meet you. Will you take a look and… see if you
recognize this person?”
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Chapter 4
Dragon City University’s old main building, built in the 1910s, was
now at least a hundred years old. Lush woods saturated the campus,
some towering over every building, all which were built in a Western
architectural style and were particularly ancient.
Only the administration building which had only been built these
recent years near the west gate was relatively taller, going past
layers upon layers of trees. Amongst this field of old buildings, it
stuck out like a sore thumb and completely destroyed the aesthetic
of the campus.
Professor Shen said that he didn’t recognize this student and

offered to take them to the office to investigate.
Zhao Yunlan was amazed by the modernized office building. It had

eighteen floors, he realized without counting.
In the prior years, property developers always used to avoid

buildings with eighteen floors. But after the economy boomed and
property prices kept rising, people started caring less about
superstition and more about money.
Only those who knew the business would spot the problem right
away.
Perhaps due to the air conditioning, a sudden chilling breeze came

gushing forward as soon as one entered the office building. The cat
Da Qing shivered a bit, extended its claws and tightly grabbed hold
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of Zhao Yunlan.
“The student card says Faculty of Mathematics. The office

is on the top floor,” said Shen Wei, leading the two into the
elevator.
Zhao Yunlan suddenly asked, “Professor Shen, you don’t seem

very curious about this incident. There is nothing you’d like
to ask?”
With his head slightly bent, Shen Wei replied softly, “I respect
the dead, and I will do whatever I can to help you solve this
case but I don’t need to know the details.”
Zhao Yunlan, occasionally stroking the cat, continued, “Rarely do

we meet good citizens like you. Even Da Qing seems to have
taken a liking to you.”
Shen Wei smiled gently, “It’s what I should do.”
Zhao Yunlan remained silent for awhile and glanced at Shen Wei.
He’d noticed that there was something unusual about the professor;
he had been avoiding eye contact ever since they’d locked eyes with
each other earlier.
The elevator abruptly stopped at the fourth floor and the lights
started to flicker. Panicked, Guo Changcheng looked at Chief Zhao in
desperation. But Zhao Yunlan was awfully calm, still intently
scrutinizing the Professor.
A creepy voice, that of a male’s, echoed through the elevator,

“Professor Shen, what brings you to the eighteenth floor?
Shen Wei flatly replied, “There was an accident in school.

These two are from the MPS. I’m taking them to the Faculty
of Mathematics for some inquiries.”
“Oh…” The voice appeared to be rather slow-witted, only replying
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after a long pause, “Right, take care.”
Suddenly, the elevator returned to normal and the lights turned

back on… as if nothing had happened in the first place.
“Scared?” Shen Wei turned around, still avoiding Zhao Yunlan,

and explained to Guo Changcheng, “That was the security guard.
Last semester, a student jumped off the building from the
top floor. So ever since then, whoever’s not from the faculty
will be questioned before they can go up to the eighteenth
floor.”
Guo Changcheng giggled in embarrassment, feeling relieved,

“And here I thought it was…”
“A ghost?” Shen Wei asked half-jokingly.
Guo Changcheng’s face turned pale and taut.
Zhao Yunlan, though, had other worries on his mind.
This office building with terrible Feng Shui and a professor who
inexplicably avoided eye contact were both equally bizarre.
As for the responsible security guard? Perhaps he wasn’t just a

security guard after all…
Finally, they arrived at the eighteenth floor, all the way at the top
of the building. The entire floor was empty. Being as gloomy and
frigidly humid as it was, not even a mosquito or gecko would ever
consider settling here.
Zhao Yunlan inadvertently sneezed.
Shen Wei swiftly turned around and asked, “Have you caught a
cold?”
Though he avoided direct eye contact with Zhao Yunlan still, his
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query was surprisingly genuine.
Perhaps he possessed some sort of unique charisma but Professor

Shen’s every movement seemed extremely gentle. Whilst his eyes
were unfocused and murky, they were not unsettling to look at.
Zhao Yunlan rubbed his nose slightly.
“No, I am just allergic to the smell of mind-boggling, never-

ending math homework.”
Shen Wei wore a kind and reserved smile.
“Don’t laugh at me,” Zhao Yunlan began jokingly, “I’m telling

the truth, Professor Shen. When I was a student, none of the
teachers liked me. My class teacher even said that I would
grow up to be a gangster! Who would have thought that I
would end up where I am today? When I saw him again years
later, can you guess what he said to me?”
Shen Wei, listening with interest, “What did he say?”
“That cynical old man said, ‘You see Zhao, I was right.
You’ve become a uniformed gangster’.”
Perhaps due to his experience as a high-tier officer, Chief Zhao was

well versed with the courtesy of small talk. Just the “math
homework” joke had gotten Guo Changcheng to loosen up. Possibly
resonating with the Chief, he followed behind him more eagerly.
But as for Professor Shen… his expression as he listened to Zhao

Yunlan was one filled with such attentiveness and interest that Zhao
Yunlan began to have an illusion that what he spoke of was about
some highly complex and important issue that Shen Wei needed to
dedicate all his attention towards, rather than some simple small
talk.
But as he listened, he never once looked at Zhao Yunlan. And
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despite the fact that his smile appeared to be warm and courteous,
the more Zhao Yunlan looked at it, the more he realized how
formalized it was. It looked as though it was stencilled in.
Zhao Yunlan was suspicious of his ability to smile continuously.
The three walked and talked like this for awhile. Their footsteps
resounded through the floor and echoed down the corridors. Their
laughter engulfed the sound of their footsteps… while obscuring the
subtle treads of a fourth person.
Rustling and coarse, like the sound of a pair of soft-soled cloth

shoes.
The administrative office building was built in the style of the so-
called “tower buildings”, with the elevator in the middle and each
floor in a circular shape around the centre.
As they moved forward, Guo Changcheng realized that Chief

Zhao’s wristwatch had undergone an uncanny change. At the centre
of the watch where the hour and minute hands met, a touch of
crimson rose began to spread like ripples on water.
Guo Changcheng, after hesitating for a while, finally whispered,

“Chief… Chief Zhao, your watch…”
“What? Has it turned red?” Zhao Yunlan turned back wearing

his iconic smirk, “Do you know why?”
Guo Changcheng shook his head.
Zhao Yunlan chuckled jokingly.
“Ghosts love red, and since this building has bad feng shui,
there is probably something evil lurking in the shadows,
playing tricks on us…”
Guo Changcheng’s face turned pale. He rigidly turned his head to
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look at the watch once more but this time instead, he saw the
reflection of an old lady. She was… rather plump, dressed in all black
and was vacantly glaring at him!
Guo Changcheng’s feet halted.
Zhao Yunlan laughed and turned a small switch on the watch. The
case, suddenly filled with mist, washed away the bloody colour. The
wristwatch instantly returned back to normal, no blood red, and no
female ghost.
“Have you never seen colour-changing watches? Silly kid,

so gullible.” Zhao Yunlan teased the trainee, but then swiftly turned
to Shen, “Professor Shen, you’re an intellectual so you must
not believe in ghosts?”
Professor Shen, still avoiding eye contact with Zhao Yunlan,

adjusted his glasses and slowly replied, “As the old saying goes,
‘The wise never speaks of that which is out of this world’.
Nobody knows if there are ghosts so there is no need to dwell
on this. If we can’t even understand our own lives fully, why
should we care about what’s beyond us?”
A very educated reply but it didn’t seem like Shen Wei really
answer the question after all. As Zhao Yunlan failed to get anything
out of the professor, he changed the subject, “Professor Shen, you
teach Arts, I suppose?”
“Yes, I teach Chinese and a few Arts electives.”
“I see… By the way, I heard from some friends in the

property business that new residential buildings nowadays
rarely use the structure of this building, only giant
commercial buildings do. It really is bad Feng Shui; very little
natural light indoors and also difficult to maintain.” Zhao
Yunlan took out a pack of cigarettes, “Is smoking forbidden
here?”
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Shen Wei shook his head. Zhao Yunlan took a cigarette and light it
with one hand, with the other still in his pocket. A cloud of white
smoke swivelled out of his mouth.
Shen Wei frowned, “Tobacco is bad for your health. Chief

Zhao is still so young, you better not smoke too much.”
Zhao Yunlan gently smiled and didn’t respond. Smoke covered his
face and obscured his expression. The ashes from his cigarette
landed on Shen Wei’s shadow.
Zhao Yunlan, looking at the ground while fanning the smoke away,
replied with, “This job is rather stressful, I often have to work
overtime. So inevitably, I have some bad habits that I just
can’t get rid of.”
Shen Wei looked as if he wanted to say something but he simply

frowned and then, oddly enough, changed the subject.
“There aren’t many faculties that use the old main campus.
Only a few floors in this building are occupied, the other
rooms are all vacant; round this corner and we’re there.”
Shadowy and frigid places were prone to mould and moss, and
perhaps… other things as well.
For unknown reasons, the corners in this building were close to

right angles, whilst the corridors circled around the centre, giving the
interior a most bizarre structure. Also, in the convoluted and narrow
corridors, the possibility of frequently bumping into each other was
extremely high.
Shen Wei led the group ahead and Zhao Yunlan, holding the cat,
followed behind, and finally with Guo Changcheng bringing up the
rear. As they approach the corner, Guo Changcheng had an inkling
that something might leap out of the shadows. Uneased, he stared
intently at the shadowy corner.
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Suddenly, Guo Changcheng realized that within the shadows,
something was… moving.
It was as if someone was hiding within the shadows, and from that
darkness emerged a shape… a hand!
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Chapter 5
The hand probed out of the shadow and viciously clenched Shen
Wei’s leg but he hadn’t seem to notice it.
Zhao Yunlan suddenly pulled Shen Wei a few steps back by his
shoulder.
“Oh right, I just remembered.”
As he talked, he flickered some ash towards the shadowy corner

and the dark hand, burnt by the ashes, retreated back.
“This case was just handed to us on short notice so I should

talk to the principal about this. Could you help us make an
appointment?”
Shen Wei finally looked at Zhao Yunlan, and he realized that Shen
Wei’s eyes curved into narrow lines like an ink wash painting. Behind
the lenses, his captivating gaze almost penetrated his soul.
His gaze in the dimly lit corridors was reminiscent of a fabled

female ghost who had painted a picture of her beloved scholar.
Then, Shen Wei smiled, “Right, I can’t be of much help here.

The rooms over there all belong to the Faculty of
Mathematics. Just ask around, and I will speak with the
principal.”
“Thanks.” Zhao Yunlan took one hand out of his pocket and shook
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Shen Wei’s hand. Guo Changcheng, following behind the Chief,
headed towards the office rooms.
After several steps, Guo Changcheng looked back.
The professor hadn’t left. He stood in place, took off his glasses

and wiped them inattentively, his eyes fixated on Zhao Yunlan’s
back. His gaze was mysterious and sombre; the expression he wore
was one mixed with nostalgia, restraint, and adoration… but along
with a touch of utmost sorrow.
Shen Wei’s figure stood lonesome and wretched in the long, long
corridor.
Guo Changcheng strangely felt as if Shen Wei must have waited for
centuries just like that.
After a very long time, Shen Wei finally noticed Guo Changcheng.
The young professor politely smiled, placed his glasses back on,
and returned to his normal expression. He nodded Guo Changcheng
goodbye, and as if nothing had ever happened, headed towards the
elevator.
“Chief Zhao, that guy…”
“Haven’t you noticed that this is not the so-called Faculty

of Mathematics office?” Zhao Yunlan interrupted him, swiping
some dirt from the dusty window sill and wiped it off.
“Do you think it was an accident or did Professor Shen

tricked us intentionally?”
“Then why let him go? I mean, if he tricked us intentionally,

then why…”
With one hand buried in his pocket and the other holding a
cigarette, Zhao Yunlan turned around and looked at Guo Changcheng
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through a cloud of smoke. Guo Changcheng was inadvertently
silenced by it.
“He’s a normal human, I checked. You’re a newcomer, it’s

alright if you don’t understand, we will teach you slowly.”
Zhao Yunlan lowered his voice, “Generally, we have the same
authority as other departments of the MPS. We can ask
questions, require citizens to cooperate with our
investigation. We can even arrest on suspicion and
interrogate suspects but there is one important rule: we can’t
let a normal citizen stay in a dangerous area in case anything
goes wrong.”
Guo Changcheng shivered.
Zhao Yunlan looked away from Guo Changcheng, “You’ve

probably realised by now that we usually get rather abnormal
cases, many of which cannot be resolved through regular
legal prosecution. So we have the power to execute criminals
on the spot… which could be dangerous; and that’s why
there’s a set of rules we must follow. Do you know what’s the
first rule?”
Even though Zhao couldn’t see him, Guo Changcheng shook his
head.
“Whoever we’re dealing with, whether human or ghost, if

there is no compelling evidence, we must presume
innocence.” Zhao Yunlan gave the black cat a pat on the butt,
“And you, fatty, what’s wrong with you? Did you turn into a
dog?”
The black cat clawed Zhao Yunlan and bounced off of him, “I just
found the professor very odd but he makes me comfortable.”
“Ghosts and spirits make you very comfortable too. You

even like sleeping in coffins.” Zhao Yunlan coldly pointed out.
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The black cat wagged its tail, “You know what I mean, stupid
human.”
Guo Changcheng was left speechless, “……”
The further ahead they walked down the corridor, the darker it got,
like a gloomy, never-ending maze. Zhao Yunlan lit the way with his
lighter, and the small flame flickered uncomfortably in the darkness.
Under the flame, Zhao Yunlan’s face appeared unhealthily pale but
his eyes were markedly attentive, though visibly worn out. A nasty,
rotten stink oozed out and Guo Changcheng covered his nose.
“I hate going around in circles,” Zhao Yunlan lightly remarked,

“I hate anything that’s circular, like a never-ending cycle of
life and death.”
Guo Changcheng was incredibly tensed, and just then, heard a

crackling sound, like that of a loading pistol. He felt a soft breeze
against his neck and heard Zhao Yunlan’s voice, “Move over.”
It was as if he was casually asking someone to “move over” while

holding a bowl of hot dumplings.
Guo Changcheng desperately bounced on to the ground.
In the dark, the sound of a gunshot was heard, followed by a

piercing scream from behind. Guo Changcheng felt as if he was
having a heart attack, the pounding of his heart was vigorous and
frantic while he felt an intense pain in his chest.
He sat on the floor, and looking up, through the dim light of Zhao
Yunlan’s lighter, saw a shadow of a five-year-old on the wall with
blood steadily flowing from the bullet hole in its heart.
“WHAT IS THAT!!!???” Guo Changcheng shrieked in terror.
“It’s just a ‘shadow’, don’t overreact.” Zhao Yunlan wiped the
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shadow with his hand and the bloody liquid peeled off like dried
paint.
“What… what kind of shadow?”
Zhao Yunlan faced him with a creepy grin hanging off his face and
whispered, “You know, sometimes, a person can have more
than one shadow.”
Guo Changcheng dropped dead against the wall, sliding down like
noodles.
“This is all your fault,” Da Qing circled the unconscious Guo

Changcheng, wagging its tail restlessly. “What good does it do
you when he passes out?”
“I didn’t mean to,” Zhao Yunlan gently nudged the body using
his foot, which made it slide even further down. “How would I have
known he would pass out so easily? I thought he would just…
wet his pants or something.”
Zhao Yunlan carried Guo Changcheng on his shoulder like a sack of

beans, “Then I can blame it on the adult diapers and cut his
salary.”
He swiftly walked around with the body, and coldly asked, “So tell
me. This kid must have some connections otherwise he
would’ve never gotten a job here.”
“I heard his uncle is one of the big wigs in the MPS.”
“Does that idiot know that the SIU doesn’t take new
recruits directly from other departments? Or maybe he
figured death in the line of duty would be a good way for his
useless nephew to go?”
“Don’t complain to me,” Da Qing the cat meowed. “You call

him an idiot behind his back but if you ever saw him, you’d
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treat him as the big boss. I have lived for a few thousand
years, and I’ve never seen a Guardian with less integrity than
you.”
“Integrity doesn’t make money.”
Zhao Yunlan put off the cigarette and softly slapped the cat on the
head.
“What about your huge monthly paycheck, regular

bonuses, and special rights exclusive to the SIU? They don’t
fall from the sky, do they? What’s integrity? Is it edible, is it
tasty?”
Da Qing the cat thought back to all the high-class cat food he
enjoyed every day and quickly shut his feline mouth.
Throughout the history of the Guardian Order, Guardians have

always taken the role of Hell’s ambassador in the realm of the living,
whom would inevitably feel alienated on earth. Rarely has there ever
been a Guardian so close to the living world.
Not only was he close to the living, he was also very well-adapted
to the formalities and complexities of the modern human society.
He was your classic bad boy, gentleman, and rogue all in one. He
could do the kind and friendly well, and the bad and nasty even
better.
The old cat couldn’t help but think that if it weren’t for his
“unfortunate” inheritance – the Guardian Order – he’d probably
have climbed up the social ladder pretty fast.
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Chapter 6
“What happened back there in the corridor?” Da Qing

changed the subject. “Why did your ‘revealing mirror’ activate
an alarm?”
“Something was tailing us,” Zhao Yunlan said, “but it ran

away as soon as it was identified. It probably meant no
harm.”
“Not the killer?”
“How could it be? You think I can’t even tell the difference
between new ghosts and evil phantoms?”
Zhao Yunlan carried Guo Changcheng’s body around the corridors.
“Besides, you saw the handprint next to the corpse, didn’t

you? That hand definitely wasn’t human… Damn, this dude is
heavy. I’m gonna put him down somewhere.”
Zhao Yunlan threw Guo Changcheng down by the corner of a wall.
Chief Zhao stared intently at the troublesome trainee, seemingly

wanting to just leave him there to die. But after a while, Zhao Yunlan
kneeled down and took out a small bottle and sprinkled some of its
contents around Guo Changcheng. He then bit his finger and swiped
a drop of blood on Guo Changcheng’s forehead.
The blood instantly dissolved into his skin and the pale trainee
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immediately seemed to look somewhat healthier.
Zhao Yunlan lightly slapped Guo Changcheng across the head,

“Useless piece of work. Such an annoyance.”
“Enough of that, Yunlan, look at your watch.”
Zhao Yunlan looked down to see his revealing watch turning

crimson again. Da Qing let out a screeching meow.
Behind the two of them stood an elderly figure draped in a dark

shroud.
The old figure turned back; it seemed to be leading them

somewhere.
“A new ghost?” Da Qing rushed forward. “It must be out of its

mind… Hey, why are you walking around during the day?”
“Shut it! Don’t you see she’s mute? And haven’t you
realized she is still alive? She is walking on two feet! Have
you lost your cat mind, fatty?”
Around an abrupt corner, the old woman vanished. A staircase

which led to the roof greeted the two instead.
Da Qing sneezed, “I smell grudge.”
Zhao Yunlan picked up the cat, “It wasn’t the professor but the
old lady who led us here. Let’s go up.”
One man and cat carefully mount the stairway. The steps they
walked felt as if it were made of something squishy and alive.
Numerous shadows flew out of the darkness, fiercely grabbing at
whoever dared invade their territory, but the moment they touched
Zhao Yunlan’s pant leg, they viciously bounced back.
“The government has a suicide count for every school. As
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long as the number stays within the maximum, nobody will
investigate,” said Zhao Yunlan. “But Dragon City University has
exceeded the limit in the past three years, and this building
seems to be the only one tall enough for a surely lethal fall.
Not to mention the maze-like interior must have trapped
quite a few nasty things in here and their grudge,
accumulating over time.”
They reached the top of the stairs but the door to the roof was
closed with only a weak light shining through the crack. Zhao Yunlan
took out an access card and opened the rusty iron door.
Zhao Yunlan held the lighter and steadily headed for the roof.
The rooftop of the eighteenth floor was open to a full view of both
the lush Dragon City University campus and the bustling city centre.
A girl stood on the rooftop with her back to them.
Zhao Yunlan carefully probed, “Hey, student…”
Suddenly, the girl leapt over the fence and jumped off!
Zhao Yunlan instinctively rushed forward and swiftly reached out to

grab her. His hand barely touched the girl’s back but it went right
through her. The girl disappeared like a mirage.
The black cat bounced forward like a ball, “Well? Was it

human?”
“I’m not sure, she was too fast.” Zhao Yunlan’s fingers
twitched, “I didn’t have time to tell whether…”
Since birth, Zhao Yunlan has had the ability to see ghosts. But
because of this, unless he took a closer look, it was difficult to tell a
human apart from a ghost from just a glance.
The black cat was just about to say something but a series of
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pounding footsteps came from behind, and the same girl came
rushing forward, her face obscured.
She sped up on her feet and bounced off the building.
Zhao Yunlan reached out and grabbed her shoulder but the same
thing happened all over again; his hand went right through her, and
she disappeared.
And so, again and again, girls came rushing forward in a suicidal
marathon.
Zhao Yunlan tried to grab a hold of them each time, but not a
single one of them was tangible. Soon he was soaked in sweat.
Da Qing gave up by the eighth girl and sat like a statue beside the
frantic Zhao Yunlan, impatiently complaining, “Stop chasing after
them. This must be an earthbound spirit or a remnant illusion
from the actual suicide.”
Zhao Yunlan ignored his meowing.
Zhao Yunlan had done some physical training but it obviously

wasn’t enough. A few rounds later, he was considerably out of
breath.
The black cat sighed, “Can’t you tell that she isn’t human?”
“How do you know they’re all the same person? When the
next one comes, are you sure we’re still in the same space?
Rule number three: make no assumptions. Have you ate the
rules along with your cat food?”
Zhao Yunlan gave the cat a firm and angry stare.
“You’re scolding me? I am a few thousand years old… A

little creature like you dares to scold me…” The black cat
wagged its tail with a hint of guilt, muttering uncomfortably.
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Zhao Yunlan didn’t back down, “If you don’t shut up, I will
reduce your supply of cat food.”
A wise cat trims its sails so Da Qing promptly changed his tone,
“Meow…”
Just at this moment, the ninth suicidal girl came rushing forward.
Zhao Yunlan shouted, “Hey girl, wait!!!”
Ignoring him, she shot forth like an arrow.
“Fucking hell!”
Zhao Yunlan, failing to grab hold of the girl once more, furiously
slammed the cold, hard fence.
“Hmmm…” Da Qing waltzed forward, with two front paws holding

the fence, gave the area a thorough sniff and said, “Actually, you
might be right. While earthbound spirits are rather suicidal
and they tend to repeat their deaths while being trapped for
eternity, they usually aren’t in such a hurry to die.”
“Then what is it?” Zhao Yunlan asked.
“It’s grudge.” Da Qing wore a solemn expression on his plumpy,

puffed face. “Suicide is an unnatural cause of death so these
spirits have a high chance of being unable to reincarnate.
Some of these spirits are trapped between the realms of the
living and the dead, and they become incomplete and forget
their identities.”
“Grudge certainly makes you uncomfortable but it’s not

harmful, is it?” Zhao Yunlan questioned.
“It probably isn’t. But since grudge comes from spirit

fragments, when more gather, they might become strong
enough to solidify. That girl might be the result of countless
shattered spirits forming a ‘grudge’.”
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“What happens when they solidify?”
“Nothing really. Grudge is different from wrath. It’s not as

vicious, only those infested with ghosts in the first place are
haunted by grudge. Grudge definitely doesn’t have the power
to cut through someone’s stomach,” the black cat explained.
“So this can’t be our killer. Let’s just leave.”
Zhao Yunlan hesitated.
The black cat sighed, “Oh you, why are you so stubborn? The
Guardian Order has been passed down from millenniums ago,
those rules don’t matter anymore. Do you really have to be
so persistent?”
“No, but I still think…” Zhao Yunlan was silenced by the

approaching shadow of the tenth girl.
The man and the cat tensed up as the girl rushed forward and
leapt over the fence, making a suicidal jump like all her
predecessors.
Zhao Yunlan, sensing something different, pounced forward with all

his might, grabbing the girl by her waist.
The blue veins on Zhao Yunlan’s hands popped out as he struggled

to pull her back up. This time, it was an actual person.
The black cat, astonished, quickly leaped on to the fence, its’

emerald eyes staring intently.
Zhao Yunlan found himself in an awkward situation. It was

particularly difficult to hold a person and pull her back up.
One of his legs was trapped between the fence while his whole
upper body was about to succumb to gravity. The girl, dangerously
dangling from the eighteenth floor, suddenly regained consciousness
and started screaming and squirming in terror.
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Zhao Yunlan desperately yelled, “If you keep moving, we’re
both gonna die! Stay put!”
Just then, the fence cracked; perhaps due to being rather old, and
it begun to loosen up.
Not having noticed it, Zhao Yunlan continued, “Stay calm. Don’t
be afraid. Hang in there…”
Suddenly, with a loud “clang”, the fence broke.
Zhao Yunlan heard eerie laughter. It was as if the entire roof was
flooded with people, and the crowd cheered with gloating giggles,
glad to see the two on the verge of death.
Da Qing frantically screeched, “Meow!!!”
At this crucial moment, a figure burst through the door of the

rooftop, and with lightning speed, dashed forward as the fence was
about to free fall.
Zhao Yunlan rapidly turned over and pushed the girl back on to the
roof; the person who dashed forward grabbed the girl just in time.
Then, Zhao Yunlan, barely holding on to the ledge of the roof,

perilously hung mid-air.
Da Qing finally realized the person who rushed forward was

Professor Shen.
Shen Wei, quickly pushing the girl back on to the roof, grabbed
ahold of Zhao Yunlan, “Give me your hand, quick!”
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Chapter 7
Zhao Yunlan released his hold on the ledge and trusted Shen Wei
with his literal life as though he was only a short distance above the
ground, rather than dangling off an eighteen-storeyed building.
Despite having a gentle appearance, the professor turned out to be

incredibly strong.
Zhao Yunlan’s wrists grew numb and his hands turned purple as
Shen Wei pulled him up with great effort.
Zhao Yunlan sank into Shen Wei’s arms, and the two fell back onto
the roof.
Not wanting to weigh down on the professor, Zhao Yunlan pushed

against the ground but realized that his wrists were bruised. Shen
Wei was embracing him tightly, worried for his safety.
Of course, Professor Shen promptly adjusted himself. As Zhao

Yunlan pushed himself up, the professor relaxed his hold and
released the other man, awkwardly pushing his glasses up the bridge
of his nose.
Zhao Yunlan, being the observant kind, recognised a hint of desire,

restraint and embarrassment from Shen Wei’s clumsiness. But he
didn’t have any intention of letting it play out in front of someone
else.
Zhao Yunlan got back on his feet and took out a pack of tissues,
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pulling one out and casually wiping off the dirt, blood, and dust
covering him as though nothing had happened. “I’m glad you came
back, otherwise I might have turned into a meat pie.”
Shen Wei, still in shock, didn’t reply.
“And you, what’s wrong with you?” Zhao Yunlan decided to

give Shen Wei a break and instead started firing shots at the girl.
“Did your boyfriend break up with you? Were you told off by
the teacher? Or did you fail your exams? Kids these days,
you’re rich enough to afford an education, so you think you
can do anything? What, were you just too bored and simply
decided to jump down and see what happened?”
As tears rolled down her cheeks like a waterfall, the poor girl’s sobs
soon turned into screeching wails.
“That was too dangerous,” professor Shen suddenly uttered.
“Totally!” Zhao Yunlan continued instantly. “Did you hear your

teacher? That was way too dangerous! Alright, don’t cry now.
Let me take you to the hospital, and I’m gonna have to call
your parents…”
Wearing a solemn face, Shen Wei got up and glanced at Zhao

Yunlan, and then turned to the girl. Saying nothing, he merely stared
at her, and the girl gradually stopped crying.
The professor reminded Zhao of his deceased Grandpa. He was

also an experienced intellectual and a gentleman, always friendly
and benign, never resorting to violence no matter how furious he
was. But when angered, his stares were always more than enough to
teach those mischievous kids a lesson.
“If someone else died because of you, would you be able to

live with that?” Shen gravely interrogated her.
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The girl stuttered, “I’m… sorry…”
Zhao Yunlan felt somewhat embarrassed, “Well, look, I’m still

fine, but you really can’t be that reckless. You being so
young, have your parents, a life, and a future to think about.
Come now, stop crying, I will take you to the hospital.”
He glanced at the frozen Professor Shen, and supported the fragile

girl by the shoulder and brought her downstairs.
Downstairs, the unconscious Guo Changcheng was still lying flat on

the ground. Da Qing the cat ran forward and woke him up with a few
mighty cat punches.
The suicide scene caught the attention of a crowd of university

personnel, and many teachers came to ask about the incident.
Amidst the curious crowd, Guo Changcheng gradually regained
consciousness.
Guo Changcheng opened his eyes, his face a bit bloodied.The

Chief, beside a young girl in a rather awkward state, said, “You
need some physical training, you can’t do this job if you pass
out all the time.”
Guo Changcheng lowered his head in shame.
Zhao Yunlan briefly hesitated and continued, “I have something

to take care of here, so how about you go investigate the
background of the victim with Da Qing. Do you think you can
handle that on your own?”
Emphasizing “on your own,” Da Qing naughtily meowed and

curiously licked its paws. Guo shivered.
This was a glorious but challenging mission. Wearing a reluctant

and miserable face, Guo raised his head in despair. Zhao, ignoring
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his silent complaint, patted the other’s head benevolently and left
without a word.
Shen Wei, face twisted in a strange expression, had yet to say a

word. Someone whispered and inquired about what happened, but he
only shook his head.
Finally, out of everyone’s line of sight, Shen Wei put his hand firmly
against his collarbone. An outline of a pendant could be seen
beneath his shirt.
After closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he followed after
Zhao Yunlan.
On the way down, Zhao Yunlan asked the girl, “What’s your
name?”
“Li Qian.”
“Which faculty are you from? What year?”
“Foreign languages, postgraduate year one.”
“Were you born here?”
Hesitating, Li Qian nodded slowly.
“So why did you do it?”
Li Qian stood silent.
Zhao Yunlan carefully studied Li Qian; her eyes were baggy and
she was visibly exhausted. Her red eyes appeared unfocused and her
face was deathly white. She seemed to be withering away.
Professor Shen asked, “Have you been to one of my language

elective courses?”
Li Qian carefully looked at Shen Wei and nodded.
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As if giving a lecture, Shen Wei said, “As I’ve mentioned in
class before, there are only two things in this world that are
worth dying for. The first is your country, and the second,
your loved ones. Otherwise, you would only be dying a
cowardly death, understand?”
“I…” Li Qian’s voice trembled, “I’m sorry, Professor Shen, I

really… I only did it out of impulse, I didn’t think it through,
and it almost got…”
She glanced at Zhao Yunlan and looked back down.
Although Chief Zhao was incredibly handsome and wore a friendly

smile, Li Qian was somehow frightened of him, and instinctively stood
closer to Shen Wei.
Zhao Yunlan lit a cigarette, and looked at her half-jokingly, “I have

heard of killing someone out of impulse, but not killing
yourself out of impulse. It’s almost as if you were…
possessed.”
Li Qian’s face instantly turned pale at the word “possessed”.
Zhao Yunlan refused to let this go, “What are you afraid of? Tell
me, did you see something on the rooftop?”
Li Qian laughed unconvincingly, “It’s just… the rooftop, what

could I have seen?”
“But I saw something.” Zhao Yunlan staring off to space, and

blew out a cloud of smoke, “When you jumped down, there was
a crowd on the rooftop, and they were all laughing at you.”
Li Qian trembled and held her arms tightly; her teeth rattling.
Zhao Yunlan sized her up and flicked some ash. Nudging her
shoulder, he said, “Right, go inside, this is the school’s
hospital.”
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Shen Wei accompanied Li Qian into the hospital while Zhao Yunlan
stood outside, still smoking.
Dragon City University’s school hospital had an artificial river at the

entrance, with a small bridge across it. Zhao Yunlan sluggishly
leaned against its wooden railing, and slowly exhaled smoke on his
watch. The white smoke disappeared, and a cloud of white mist
saturated the inside of the watch. Shortly after, an elderly woman
appeared, staring at Zhao Yunlan through the watch.
“The old cat might have been right, it’s a new ghost that
only just died less than a week ago.” Zhao Yunlan raised his
eyebrows, murmuring, “Appearing on the ‘revealing mirror’ in
broad daylight, what kind of ghost has that kind of power?
Old lady, who are you really?”
Hearing footsteps, Zhao Yunlan quickly wiped the watch clean, and
the reflection disappeared. He turned around to find Shen Wei
carrying a small tray full of wet towels and medicine.
Shen Wei set aside the tray and took Zhao Yunlan’s injured elbow.
Gently rolling up his sleeve, Shen Wei grabbed the distilled water on
the tray.
“It’s okay, I can do it myself.”
“By yourself?” Shen Wei washed the wound with water and dried
it with cotton pads, as if he were taking care of a newborn baby,
“Tell me if it hurts.”
Zhao Yunlan, feeling slightly uncomfortable, stepped backwards,

“I’m fine, really.”
Shen Wei continued, “What if it gets infected?”
Shen Wei had long eyelashes, so when he looked down, he had a
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certain charm, almost like a well-crafted character straight from an
oil painting. His glasses obscured parts of his face, but just a single
look closer made apparent his glaringly appealing glamour.
Zhao Yunlan’s perverted heart itched.
Zhao Yunlan wasn’t exactly gay, but his taste was certainly wider
than most. And better yet, he had to be the most perverted guy one
had ever met; be it either a man or a women, anyone who was
beautiful was enough ring his bell.
Luckily, he was just a perverted jerk, not a perverted playboy. If he

fell for someone, he was determined and loyal; so credibly, he wasn’t
too shabby of a lover.
Around half a year had passed since the end of his last
relationship, and Professor Shen was wholly his cup of tea; it was
hard to resist such temptation.
Go for it, or leave him alone?
Shen Wei was the type of guy who looked exceptionally serious.
It was clear to Zhao Yunlan what he had to offer- a bizarre and

unconventional career, as well as a frivolous and callous lifestyle of
drinking and partying. Sure, he drove an expensive car, but he lived
in a dog’s lair. He wasn’t exactly boyfriend material, let alone the guy
you’d want to settle down with and marry. He should probably stay
away from someone who’s decent and well-educated, but…
The young professor seemed to be attracted to Zhao Yunlan, and

he was such a catch too. It would be too much of a waste if Zhao
Yunlan lets this go.
Shen Wei cleaned the wound, applied the medicine, and was just
about to bandage his elbow with gauze when Zhao Yunlan stopped
him.
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“It’s just a scratch, the gauze is unnecessary. I don’t wanna
look like a mummy.” Zhao Yunlan put off his cigarette and slung
his arm around Shen Wei, “Now, shall we go take a look at the
girl?”
The professor froze up like a statue and stumbled a few steps

forward; his ears and neck dyed in shades of pink. He frantically
wriggled out of Zhao Yunlan’s arm and pretended to calmly pull at
his shirt.
“What are you so embarrassed about? Like a girl…” Zhao

Yunlan chuckled carelessly, and suddenly changed the subject,
“Professor Shen, have you perhaps met me before?”
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Chapter 8
Shen Wei’s mind went blank the second he locked eyes with Zhao
Yunlan. Mesmerised, his eyes seemed to be drawn to Zhao Yunlan’s,
locking together like magnets. Several moments passed as he gazed
in stupefaction.
Shen Wei had really made a blunder today… He shouldn’t have

met Zhao Yunlan in the first place.
Zhao Yunlan didn’t know anything, didn’t remember anything…

He’d already crossed the Bridge of Fate, drunk the Forgetful Water,
passed the Six Realms of Existence, and completed reincarnation. His
soul had long been washed clean, how could he remember anything?
With a piercing gaze, Shen Wei stared intently at the other’s

handsome face. He really wanted to feel the touch of his skin, the
warmth of his body, just one more time…
After god knows how long, Shen Wei cleared his throat and replied
bitterly, “I have met you before…”
Zhao Yunlan waited for his explanation.
Countless times, I’ve never had the courage to find you, yet I know
everything about you… Shen Wei almost said this out loud, but
restrained himself, and instead stuttered out, “In a case that you’d
worked on.”
Zhao Yunlan was stunned. “Which one?”
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Shen Wei no longer stuttered. Perhaps after the first lie, the lying
thereafter didn’t feel as bad. “The twelve suicides at the Twin
Tower, around five or six years ago. I was about to graduate
back then, and I was looking for a cheap flat, so I chose Twin
Tower. The suicides there had caused the price to plummet.”
Zhao Yunlan frowned, pausing to think. “I’m certain I never saw

you there.”
“You didn’t see me, but I was living on the top floor, so I
saw you. I even saw…” Shen Wei momentarily paused, put on an
astonished pretence, and said, “I even saw you pull a dark
shadow from a room and stuff it into a bottle. You then said,
‘The criminal is caught, our work here is done.'”
Zhao Yunlan was startled. “You lived on the top floor? You
really are quite fearless.”
Shen Wei dropped his head. “You can check, I’m not lying.”
He naturally wasn’t lying. He really did live there at the time, but
all because he wanted to take a peek at a certain someone. He
conveniently left this small detail out, though it pained him to lie
about it.
Zhao Yunlan looked convinced and even joked, “Negligence, that

was negligence on my part. We’re supposed to erase the
memories of normal citizens who got involved but somehow, I
missed you… So, how did you feel? Did it make you question
everything you believed in?”
Instead of a reply, Shen Wei flashed him a difficult smile.
After entering the hospital, they saw Li Qian sitting by the window
while holding a hot cup of tea.
Gloomy and depressed, she stood staring at her shadow.
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Zhao Yunlan knocked on the door, making Li Qian jump. Only after
seeing that it was Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei did she ease.
Zhao Yunlan glanced at his watch. The reflection of the old lady
was still there but the watch hadn’t turned red… It was too strange.
This new ghost was probably gathering life energy.
Perhaps, she was about to reincarnate?
Zhao Yunlan sat on the bed beside Li Qian. “I have a few

questions for you.”
Li Qian looked at him, her face pale.
Since Professor Shen already knew about Zhao Yunlan’s line of

work, Zhao Yunlan wasn’t afraid to question in front of him.
“Recently, have you noticed any strange occurrences?”
Li Qian’s only response was a horrified expression.
“I see.” Zhao Yunlan stared at her forehead. After leaning forward

slightly for a closer look, he said, “But your Third Eye hasn’t
opened, so you shouldn’t be able to see anything strange. Is
it because of your fate or did you touch something you
weren’t supposed to touch?”
Li Qian bit her lip, twisting her fingers uncomfortably under his
gaze.
“Oh? So it’s the latter.” Zhao Yunlan lowered his voice. “Tell
me, what did you touch?”
Li Qian refused to talk and Zhao Yunlan coldly laughed. “If you
don’t tell me then you can live the rest of your life being
haunted by it. Haven’t you heard of ‘curiosity killed the cat’?
Some things are better left untouched.”
After a long while, Li Qian finally spoke. “A sundial. It’s an
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antique passed down for generations from my family. It’s
black, with lots of tiny fish-scale-like rocks on it. The elderly
call it…”
“The Wheel of Reincarnation,” Zhao Yunlan finished.
Li Qian glanced at Zhao Yunlan in astonishment before slowly

nodding.
“The sundial completes a full circle every day,

continuously. It symbolises the eternal cycle of life, death,
and reincarnation.” Zhao Yunlan paused slightly, then continued,
“But there’s also another saying, that reincarnation is a
process of ‘slaughtering’; the past is lost, and there is no
return. When someone reincarnates, the old life is destroyed,
leaving no option but to move forward to a new life.”
Unaware of Shen Wei trembling behind him, Zhao Yunlan asked,

“What did you do with it?”
Li Qian bit her lip.
“Alright, I’ll phrase this differently. Did you do anything

bad with it?”
Li Qian eyes widened instantly. “I didn’t!”
Zhao Yunlan watched her silently.
“I didn’t!” Li Qian stood up, stumbling backwards, defensively

shouting, “Why would I do anything bad with a family
antique!? You don’t know what you’re talking about! You…”
Extremely agitated, she started coughing violently.
Frowning, Professor Shen stepped forward to comfort her. “Calm

down, there’s no need to hurry.”
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He turned around and told Zhao Yunlan, “This kid has gone
through a lot already, so could you maybe be a bit more
gentle with her?”
Zhao Yunlan rubbed his nose. “Alright, I’ll leave out the
irrelevant questions. Just one more and I will leave.”
He took out a photograph of the victim. “Have you seen her

recently?”
Li Qian glanced at the picture and shook her head. But a moment
later, as if she recalled something, she grabbed hold of the photo.
After studying it closely, she said uncertainly, “I might have seen
someone like her yesterday, looked just a… just a bit like
her…”
Zhao Yunlan tensed up. “Exactly when yesterday? What was

she wearing?”
“It was at night.” Li Qian paused, thinking. “Last night I left

only after the library had closed, so around ten o’clock. I
went out of campus to buy something, and I saw her at the
entrance… I don’t really remember her clothes… Oh right, I
remember! She wore the orientation camp T-shirt; I have the
same T-shirt as well, so I noticed her.”
“Did a lot of people wear that T-shirt yesterday?”
“Most of the students are in the new campus, there should

only be a few in the old campus.”
“Did you wear it too?”
“I didn’t want to wear it directly because it wasn’t washed

so I wore it on top of my clothes. Then it was a little hot, so I
just stuffed it in my bag.”
“Oh.” Zhao Yunlan hesitated, before asking, “When you saw
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her, were there people around?”
“Yes, quite a few people were passing by, and there were
some cars as well.” Li Qian, sensing something from Zhao Yunlan’s
expression, asked, “What’s wrong?”
“No, I don’t mean the main road, I’m talking about the
small alley on the side. Did she go in there? Were there other
people?”
Li Qian began feeling uncomfortable. “I… I don’t really

remember… maybe? She might have gone in there, but I
didn’t go in. That alley is a dead end, so not a lot of people
would go in there…”
“You didn’t walk over to the East side?” Zhao Yunlan

interrupted her.
“Ah? Ah… I didn’t…”
“Why not? Don’t you live there?” Zhao Yunlan continued.
“I…” Li Qian, lacking an excuse, muttered inaudibly, before finally

saying, “I took another route to go buy something…”
“Didn’t you say that you came back to campus after buying
something outside?” Zhao Yunlan interrupted her again, his tone
turning more solemn by the second. “I’d like to be nice to you,
but you’ve got to cooperate with the investigation. Can you
tell me the truth?”
Li Qian tensed up again and clutched her clothes. “… I’m telling

the truth.”
“Her name is Lu Ruomei, she’s also a postgraduate student

here. She died last night.” Zhao Yunlan glared at Li Qian, slowly
pronouncing each word. “The estimated time of death is around
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ten o’clock… which means, you may well be the last person
who saw her alive.”
Li Qian’s irises contracted and the cup in her hand fell crashing on
to the floor, breaking. Her lips turned pale with horror, her eyes
twitched, and her fingers started to tremble.
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Chapter 9
Zhao Yunlan leaned backwards and crossed his legs.
“Why are you so agitated? If you didn’t know the victim,

and her death had nothing to do with you, why are you so
frightened? Why did you take the longer route to the East
side? What did you see?”
Li Qian suddenly screeched, falling to the ground, trying to cover

her face with her hair.
Zhao Yunlan grabbed her wrist, continuing to question her. “You

can’t run away from it. Tell me, what did you see?”
Li Qian struggled out of his grasp and began to shake

uncontrollably.
“I don’t know!” she screamed, her voice nearly breaking from its
force. “I don’t know! Don’t ask me anything! I don’t know
anything!”
“Your campus isn’t very big,” Zhao Yunlan continued, lowering

his voice, “you must have seen her or met her somewhere,
perhaps in a study room, the library, or the cafeteria. Do you
wanna know how she died? When she was found, her body
was lying all alone in the small alley, her stomach slashed
open and emptied. There were teeth markings on some
remaining guts, so the murderer could have eaten her
internal organs. Blood… everywhere. The stains are yet to be
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cleaned up, and you know what…”
Li Qian squeaked in terror, shuddering in response to the

gruesome descriptions.
“When her stomach was slashed open, she was still alive;
her guts and intestines were being eaten, one by one, while
she was still conscious…” Zhao Yunlan heartlessly continued.
“Can you imagine? She would have heard the crunching and
munching of her own organs.”
Li Qian curled up into a ball, burying her head between her knees.
A doctor, in response to her earlier screaming, rushed inside,

shouting in distress. “What’s wrong?”
Zhao Yunlan showed him his staff card and closed the door, saying,
“Excuse me, this is a police investigation. Please give me five
more minutes.”
Zhao Yunlan crossed his arms, turned around, and repeated, “Tell
me what you saw.”
“A shadow…”
Zhao Yunlan’s expression grew sombre and he dashed forward,

kneeling beside Li Qian. “What kind of shadow?”
“Watch out for the shards,” Shen Wei reminded them, grabbing
a broom to clean up the shattered glass. “Should I see myself
out? Li Qian, do you want some water?”
“No,” Zhao Yunlan waved his hand in refusal. “It’s good that
you’re here. I didn’t bring a female colleague along, so it
wouldn’t be appropriate if it’s just the two of us in here.”
He helped Li Qian up, handing her a pack of tissues, repeated his

earlier question. “What kind of shadow? Please tell me.”
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“When I passed by her and saw her wearing the T-shirt, I
greeted her even though we didn’t know each other. But she
told me to ‘back off’, and hurried away. Then…” Li Qian’s red
eyes widened and she shivered. “…Then I looked down, and I
saw… she had two shadows.”
“Multiple light sources can create multiple shadows,

perhaps…” Shen Wei softly explained.
“No, not like that!” Li Qian trembled as she recalled what she’d
seen. “The shadow appeared where there was no light, and it
was much darker than normal. And… and it was moving all on
its own!”
The room was eerily silent. Li Qian had been trembling and
quivering for so long, it seemed that her bones were about to shatter.
Shen Wei leaned forward, softly murmuring, “Calm down.”
“I saw it, Professor Shen, I really saw it!” Li Qian grabbed his
shirt, tears starting to leak out of her swollen eyes. “I saw it follow
the girl, and when she entered the narrow alley, the shadow
stood up like an actual person… I ran and I ran. I thought I
was dreaming, I thought it was just an illusion, you know?
But you just had to tell me that she’s… she’s…”
She pushed Shen Wei away, sprinted to the nearest corner and
vomited.
Shen Wei glared at Zhao Yunlan with disapproval.
Zhao Yunlan rubbed his nose, commenting, “Uh, don’t worry,

her reaction could have been worse. You didn’t see it, but
earlier this morning one of the policemen at the crime scene
vomited even more.”
Shen Wei helplessly looked at Zhao Yunlan and shook his head.
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Turning away, he asked the doctor at the door for some water and
helped Li Qian up.
Li Qian shakily stood, legs resembling boiled noodles, and

stumbled to the bed, staring at Zhao Yunlan with a helpless gaze. “It
killed her and now it’s coming after me. I saw it, so it
wouldn’t let me go, would it?”
Zhao Yunlan didn’t respond and took a small notebook out of his
pocket.
“What did it look like?”
“I’m not too sure, but it was… it looked like a person, about
this tall.” She motioned with her hand. “It was all black, a little
short, and a little fat…”
“Short and fat?” Zhao Yunlan echoed her, his face twisting into a
frown.
Li Qian nodded.
“Could it be that it wasn’t short, but you ran away before it

stood up?”
Li Qian paused for a moment, then dropped her head. “May…

maybe.”
Zhao Yunlan paused and looked at her strangely before resuming

his writing. “And then?” he prompted.
“Then I ran away.”
Zhao Yunlan silently scrutinised the girl.
Li Qian clenched her fists under his gaze, fingers turning white.
After a moment, Zhao Yunlan tore off a piece of paper and wrote
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down a string of numbers. “If there is anything else, please call
me; my phone is on twenty-four seven. Thank you for your
time,” he said.
Stuffing the paper into Li Qian’s hand, he stood up.
“I will walk you out,” Shen Wei offered.
“Oh, there’s no need,” Zhao Yunlan replied. “I’m going out for
a smoke. You stay behind to chat with her a bit. Sorry if I
scared her.”
Zhao Yunlan left.
“Are you hungry? I can buy you a meal from the cafeteria,”
Shen Wei gently asked the scared girl.
Li Qian nodded feebly, slightly relieved that Zhao Yunlan was gone.
Shen Wei then asked, “I will call the doctor in to look after
you. You have a good rest here before you head back, okay?”
Li Qian nodded again.
Shen Wei reached the door, before worriedly turning around. “Do
you have enough cash? I could give you some.”
Li Qian smiled lightly. “Thank you, professor, but I don’t need

it.”
Shen Wei sighed and subtly reminded her, “Some lies are
intentional, some are not. The former is to deceive others,
the latter is to deceive yourself… but both are pitiable
regardless of the situation.”
Li Qian froze.
Shen Wei looked down before letting out a sigh. “Never mind,
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take care of yourself.”
He picked up a bottle of medicine from the pharmacy and rushed

out.　　
Zhao Yunlan was still in the corridor, on the phone.
“I checked, this time it’s not our problem. It’s a problem

from ‘the other side’,” the female voice on the phone, unlike
Wang Zheng’s, contained hints of mischief. “Last night the Gates
of Hell opened and several ghosts went missing, but most of
them were new ghosts less than a week old. The problem is, I
heard a hungry ghost got away in the mix.”
Zhao Yunlan thought he heard her wrong. “A what???” he

questioned in surprise.
“Hungry ghost.”
Zhao Yunlan was furious, but managed to lower his voice. “What
the fuck is going on? Which motherfucking Hell Guard wants
to get fired?”
“The prisons aren’t perfect. Besides, ‘the other side’ is still

using the same management from over a century ago.
Hungry ghosts are the most desperate and the prison guards
are pretty useless. I could probably break out of that prison
eight times a day.” She paused for a moment. “Oh right, since
someone died, ‘that person’ will be sending a letter and
perhaps may even visit us in person. Come back quickly, I
don’t dare to open that letter.”
Zhao Yunlan frowned. “Right, got it, I’m coming. Help me take
care of something in the meantime. Since the small alley
faces the University’s main road, there should be CCTVs
around. Help me dig up the footage. Then check on Li Qian, a
first year postgraduate in Dragon City University, studying
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foreign languages. Also, I want you to help me ask ‘the other
side’ whether they’ve heard of an ancient sundial with a
Wheel of Reincarnation on it.”
Zhao Yunlan glanced to the side and saw Shen Wei rush out of the
room. “That’s all. I’ve got to go. Call me if you find anything.”
He hung up and turned around, quickly putting on a polite and

friendly face. “Wait a moment, Professor Shen. You’re too
kind.”
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Chapter 10
Professor Shen handed Zhao Yunlan a bottle of medicine. “You

forgot your medicine.”
Frowning, he glanced at the wound on Zhao Yunlan’s elbow. “Take

care of it. Keep the wound dry and don’t eat irritating
foods…”
Zhao Yunlan silently gazed back at him.
“What?” Shen Wei asked, slightly uncomfortable.
“Are you married, Professor Shen?” Zhao Yunlan suddenly

asked.
Startled, Shen Wei slowly replied, “No…”
“Oh.” Zhao Yunlan continued, “Do you have a girlfriend?”
Zhao Yunlan’s masculine gaze covered the other’s body, making

Shen Wei shiver. Shen Wei felt that regardless of his answer, he was
in trouble.
Zhao Yunlan took the medicine bottle from Shen Wei and half-
jokingly said, “Professor Shen is so young and handsome, and
so caring; you must be a catch.”
“Nonsense…” Shen Wei was rather tense.
Zhao Yunlan smiled, dimples appearing. “Right, can I borrow
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your phone for a second?”
Shen Wei took out his phone but Zhao Yunlan didn’t take it.
Instead, he took Shen Wei’s hand, entered his phone number and
name into the contacts list, called himself, and hung up.
“You can call me,” Zhao Yunlan smoothly stated, putting on a

professional face. “If there’s anything about the case, that is.”
He tossed the bottle into the air, caught it, then waved at Shen
Wei. “Thank you very much. I have something to take care of
now but after I finish this case, I will treat you to a meal.”
With one hand in his pocket, he lazily sauntered away, movements

slightly sloppy and laid-back, yet still giving off a charismatic vibe. He
was like a peacock performing a mating dance with its beautiful
plumage, releasing hormones with his seductive movements.
As the man walked away, Shen Wei relaxed a little, looking at Zhao
Yunlan with a deep, yet restrained gaze. After a final look, he turned
around. However, just a few steps later, Shen Wei couldn’t help but
look back again, only to see an empty hallway, the other long gone.
In his contacts list glowed a new entry: an amorous ‘Ah Lan’. He

muttered the name and felt as though a knife had pierced through
the softest part of his heart, slowly tearing it apart.
Shen Wei raised his fingers and smelled the hint of cologne still
clinging to them. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and tried to
calm the beating of his heart.
He didn’t know what kind of cologne Zhao Yunlan used but the
smell lingered in his mind. Familiar, as though he’d dreamed of it for
years.
A few leaves fell to the ground, the soft rustling the only source of
sound in the surroundings. Shen Wei stood silently, going over the
recent events in his mind. After a long while, he smiled self-
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mockingly and hurriedly left.
He looked down, his sorrow wearing away, his face turning stern, a
touch of malice entering his eyes.
After Guo Changcheng was given a background investigation

mission, he struggled to figure out what kind of background he had
to investigate. All he managed to do was speak with some people
inarticulately.
Zhao Yunlan finally called him at noon. Guo Changcheng

dispiritedly returned with the strange, talking cat, and waited for the
Chief to pick him up at the entrance.
Guo Changcheng curled up in a ball on the ground, a black lump of

fur sitting beside him, attracting the attention of several passers-by.
Half an hour later, Zhao Yunlan hurriedly arrived.
After kneeling on the floor for so long, Guo Changcheng’s legs

trembled as he stumbled along behind Chief Zhao.
While waiting, Guo Changcheng had thoroughly reconsidered the

series of events he’d gone through during his first twelve hours of
working for the SIU…
How could he have passed out more than once?
Guo Changcheng had never thought he would qualify for the high-
salaried SIU, but now that he had gotten in there because of his
connections, he ought to at least work hard to stay in there.
Otherwise, what would his uncle think?
Troubled, Guo Changcheng glanced at Chief Zhao who was

carrying Da Qing on his shoulder. Although the cat was incredibly fat
and made the Chief rather uncomfortable, he still appeared
handsome and cool.
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Chief Zhao wasn’t much older than Guo Changcheng; how was
there such a huge difference?
Zhao Yunlan turned around and Guo Changcheng quickly averted

his gaze.
“What? You have something to say?”
Guo Changcheng dropped his head in response, trying to hide his

face under his black fringe.
“Don’t be shy,” Zhao Yunlan kindly coaxed. “If you want to

say something, just say it. I’m not bad-tempered and I never
get mad for longer than a day.”
Da Qing quietly listened. Even after a few thousand years of cat

life, it still couldn’t understand human hypocrisy.
“I… I… I…” Guo Changcheng stuttered for a long while, before on

the verge of tears, saying, “I think I’m so useless!”
Haha, did anyone say you aren’t? Zhao Yunlan thought.
Zhao Yunlan patted him gently on the head. “It’s alright, little
kid, it’s your first time after all. Nobody is perfect, am I right?
You’ll get there slowly… So tell me, what did you hear from
the teachers?”
“Ah… Oh!” Guo Changcheng hurriedly took out a notebook. “The

victim is called… she is called Lu Ruomei. She’s a
mathematics postgraduate student, a local, and her family is
quite well off. The Faculty of Mathematics doesn’t have a lot
of girls so she was rather popular. I didn’t hear anything
about her getting into trouble or having enemies. She was
applying for a research opportunity but she spent a lot of
time on extra-curricular activities so her grades were
dropping…”
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“What else? What do you think?” Zhao Yunlan was surprisingly
patient.
“I think some of the other students competing for a

research opportunity might have a motive. We could
investigate her relationships with other students…” Guo
Changcheng unconfidently glanced at Zhao Yunlan. “That’s… that’s
all I can think of.”
“Oh.” Zhao Yunlan slowly nodded and continued, “So how do

you think she died?”
“She was… murdered?” Gao Changcheng replied, feeling stupid

for not being able to come up with another reason.
Zhao Yunlan laughed helplessly.
Guo Changcheng, oblivious to subtle emotions and expressions,

laughed along.
Controlling his anger, Chief Zhao put on a professional face.

“You’ve done well. You have good potential.”
Guo Changcheng looked up at the Chief who wore a gentle and

friendly smile. He’s so good-looking, Guo Changcheng thought, the
man’s words helping his fear abate.
Guo Changcheng’s face turned red in gratitude, the Chief really

was too good to him. He suddenly felt like Chief Zhao was someone
worth dying for.
Guo Changcheng gathered up his courage and volunteered to take

up the most difficult job, one involving talking to strangers. “Then…
then I will go investigate her relationships at school!”
“What’s the hurry? Zhu Hong is still at the office, I will give
her a call and she can take care of that,” Zhao Yunlan carelessly
said. “How about this? I will give you another important
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mission instead. Do you remember the girl who almost
jumped off the building? She is a key witness in this case. I
want you to follow her. I think she lied to me so go and figure
out what she’s up to.”
Guo Changcheng straightened his posture, eyes sparkling. “Yes,

sir!”
Zhao Yunlan nodded. “Right. Go.”
Guo Changcheng rushed away, more eager and enthusiastic than

he’d ever been.
After a while, the benevolent Chief returned to his true self.
“Fuck me,” he said to the cat on his shoulder. “I have never

seen a such a pure idiot like this one. So motherfucking
impressive!”
Da Qing sighed. “You’re really mean and hypocritical, Chief.”
“You’re a cat, don’t give me that crap. You’re the

hypocritical one… Go follow him. Don’t let him die, otherwise
what will I say to his uncle.” He patted the cat on the butt. Da
Qing lazily meowed, bounced off of Zhao Yunlan, and rolled out like a
ball, chased after the boy.
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Chapter 11
Shen is on his way back from the cafeteria, and sees the scaredy
Guo standing at the entrance, with the fat, black cat sitting besides
him in disregard.
"Aren't you..." Shen embarrassingly pauses for a moment, he

was too fixated on someone else earlier, "excuse me, what's your
name?"
Guo is shortly startled, but quickly recognises Professor Shen.
Guo is much less nervous when facing Shen, he doesn't have the
sense of pressure that Chief Zhao gives him.
Perhaps a well-educated gentleman has a greatly different

charisma, whether he is dealing with a big figure like Zhao or a small
potato like Guo, he is calm and reserved nonetheless.
"I'm Guo."
"Oh, little Officer Guo," Shen laughs lightly, "what brings you
here?"
Guo hesitates, he isn't sure whether he can tell his mission to

someone else; he looks to Da Qing for a sign, but gets no reply.
Da Qing face-paws; does he want a cat to teach him how to talk to

another human being?
The cat realises that the brave and wise Chief really wasn't far
from the truth at all, this right here is indeed a pure idiot.
Shen realises his embarrassment, and changes his tone, "sorry, I
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shouldn't have asked, this is none of my business."
Guo shamefully looks down... though he doesn't understand why

he feels ashamed.
"Have you eaten? I bought quite a lot of food, you could

have some if you want."
Guo is about to refuse, but his stomach disagrees: he hasn't eaten

ever since he came to the SIU.
Da Qing rushes forward, "come on, kitty, I bought you some

milk."
Guo was just about to turn to Da Qing, but since the cat has
already surrendered to the temptation of food, Guo has no choice but
to follow suit.
Shen tries to get Guo to open up and relax, "Officer Guo is quite
young, around the same age as my students, you haven't
been working very long presumably?"
Guo honestly replies, "it's my second day at work..."
Shen laughs, "how does it feel?"
Terrible... but Guo tries to appear presentable, "it's alright."
Shen brings along a guy and a cat, and the three walk along the
corridor of the school hospital; his eyes shine beneath his glasses,
and he continues naturally, "your colleagues and... the Chief are
nice to you?"
"Chief Zhao is quite nice to me, oh, you've met him earlier
today. As for the colleagues," Guo wears a difficult expression as
he is reminded of the paper-faced Old Wu and the un-beheaded
ghost Wang Zheng, but he finally says, "they.. they are not bad
either."
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"Chief Zhao..." Shen echoes, and asks, "is Chief Zhao busy all
the time?"
Guo scratches his head, "I... I guess? I'm new, so I'm not
sure."
Shen continues, "what do you think about him?"
"He's quite nice."
Guo looks at him, "then why do you seem afraid of him?"
Guo is startled, "well... he is the Chief after all..."
Shen chuckles, he knows he won't get anything about Zhao from

Guo, so he leads him to Li's room.
Shen seems to be quite used to taking care of others, he swiftly

sets up the food and the utensils, heats up the milk in the microwave
oven, and pours the milk onto some rice and gives it to Da Qing,
"come on, let's eat."
Guo has almost passed out from hunger, but he isn't eating a lot
still; he gets nervous when he is eating with strangers, and when he
is nervous he loses his appetite.
Li is even less interested in her meal, her entire person is

incredibly troubled and disoriented, although the doctor says she will
be fine.
Professor Shen realises that when he stops talking, the only sound
heard in the room is Da Qing's licking the milk, and so asks Li,
"where is your home, is it far away? If it's not far away you
should go home for a rest, I can talk to your tutors."
Li pauses and puts down her chopsticks, and softly utters, "at
home... they're having a funeral, many relatives have come,
so there is no room for me."
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Shen freezes.
Li picks up her chopsticks and pokes at the rice, "my grandma

passed away... two days ago."
Shen apologises, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked. My

condolences."
Li looks down and doesn't answer; she dryly stuffs rice into her
mouth.
Shen takes a pair of extra chopsticks, and picks up some food for
Li, "I don't know what you like to eat, so I bought different
kinds of food, at least eat some of it."
Guo suddenly says, "my grandma has always taken care of

me when I was little, but she passed away when I was
sixteen, and I quit school for half a year."
Shen and Li look at him.
Guo stays silent for a moment, and continues, "when I was a kid,
I was always bullied at school, and when grandma found out
she would tell me off for being so timid... then she would
take me to buy sour milk, chocolate, sweets, buns; and she
would give all the food to me, she wouldn't even eat it
herself... I thought, when I grow up I will make money and I
will buy her stuff she likes to eat, but... I never got the
chance."
Li is touched, her eyes begin watering; Guo continues as if talking

to himself, "she passed away in her sleep, and nobody even
noticed at first... I always dreamed of her, from high school
through to college, and she was always there to support me."
Guo is desolate like a withering plant; Shen comforts him and pats
him on the head.
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Guo bitterly smiles, but the smile wears away quickly, "when I
graduated, I saw her one last time in a dream, and she said
to me, 'you're all grown up now, I'm relieved, so I'm leaving'.
I asked her where she was going, and she just shook her
head, and then I never dreamed of her again; my uncle said
she must have reincarnated."
Tears dribble down Li's cheeks silently.
"What I mean is..." Guo clumsily scratches his head, he is rather

surprised that he managed to speak in full sentences for more than a
minute, "hey, please don't cry, when my grandma was gone I
was devastated as well, I even wanted to trade my life for
hers, but... uh, I really shouldn't have said anything, what I
mean is, don't be sad, our deceased relatives are all watching
us."
He really shouldn't have said anything; Li begins trembling and

crying louder and louder, uncontrollably, until her limbs are quivering
and her mind goes blank.
Shen rushes for the doctor; Guo has never seen anyone so upset
before, and helplessly stands besides her.
The school doctor doesn't have experience prescribing sedatives,

so he suggests sending Li to another hospital.
Guo follows Shen to take Li out of the school hospital. The three
get inside Shen's car, and Guo takes care of the fragile girl in the
backseat.
Shen isn't Li's tutor, he only teaches a few elective courses; Guo
has never seen such a kindhearted Professor before.
Shen takes care of everything, and gets Li to the emergency room;

then he tries to contact her parents.
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Guo realises that something is wrong. Shen has dialed several
phone calls already: Li's parents, uncles, aunties, none of them would
come see her.
Even Guo is furious at this ordeal, how messed up is that?
Shen runs out of options, he crosses his arms and frowns.
His handsome figure leans against the wall: broad shoulders,

narrow waist, long legs and tight shirt; this scene looks like a
perfume commercial. Guo thinks he must want to swear, but Shen
doesn't say anything.
A moment later, Shen is still visibly worried, but he smiles to Guo,

"thank you for your trouble today, Officer Guo, how about
this: you go back first, I can take care of my student alone, I
don't want to get in the way of your work."
"I... I don't have work at the moment," Guo mutters, and

stares at Da Qing's green eyes, "Chief Zhao told me to follow
her, but didn't tell me what to do, or when should I go
back..."
Guo begins to realise something about this mission: he is

incompetent, but he is not actually retarded; following this girl
around isn't some challenging mission, the Chief just wanted to get
rid of an annoyance.
Of course, someone useless like him only got into the SIU because
of his uncle... why would the Chief want him around to mess things
up?
"Your Chief Zhao doesn't think like that," Shen helplessly

assures him, though he is certain that Zhao absolutely thinks like
that, "don't think too much about this."
Guo turns into a depressed mushroom.
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After a while, the doctor comes out, and tells them that Li Qian has
been depressed for very long, she is malnutritioned, and has low
blood pressure.
Shen completes the inpatient procedure for her, and the two men
and a cat stay besides Li til sunset; still not one of her family
members showed up.
Guo softly asks, "Professor Shen, none of her family

members are coming?"
Shen has nothing to say, and only sighs.
Guo sits besides Li on the edge of the bed, and he suddenly

realises why she attempted suicide.
She had lost the only person who cared for her in the world... from
then on, no-one will support her and love her anymore.
And so the night falls.
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Chapter 12
"That part, rewind it."
After Zhao got rid of Guo, he drives back to No. 4 Bright Avenue,
and heads straight for the office to view the footage over and over.
The office is a lot less busy during daytime, there is only one
female officer working.
She looks to be in her twenties, a cleanly combed ponytail, light

makeup, but her eyes are drooping and visibly tired; though her
hands are working very fast.
She is in uniform top, but her legs are covered by a long and thick
blanket.
The blanket really is quite long, Zhao carelessly steps on it, and it
slides away slightly; a giant python tail wriggles beneath the blanket,
and quickly retracts.
There is a name plate on the desk, which reads: Zhu Hong.
The footage is blurry, as it seems to be interfered by some

magnetic field. And since the small hutong is rarely visited by
anyone, the only people were the victim Lu Ruomei and Li Qian.
Like she said it herself, Li arrives at the university entrance after

buying something, she passes by Lu and greets her.
Afterwards, Lu crosses the street and is about to enter the small

hutong.
Li inattentively glances at Lu, and stumbles backwards in shock.
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Zhu stares at the screen for a moment, and her drooping eyes
widen, her irises contract into two narrow, vertical slits; the snake
eyes on a human face give off an eerie vibe.
"She is looking at the street light?"
Zhao nods, "can we take a closer look at the street lamp?"
Zhu tries to widen the image, but the resolution is not good,
"sorry, that's all I can do."
"I will send you to study another degree in a couple of

days, you've gotta improve your technological skills."
Zhu slaps her 'leg', "that's gonna take at least two years, how
do I explain taking leave from work so often?"
Zhao rudely says, "can't you just say you're having your
period? Stupid woman."
Zhu stays silent for a while, "you really leave me no room for
fantasising about you, Chief."
"If you know I'm your Chief then you better not be
fantasising," Zhao presses her head lightly, "or do you not want
your bonus?"
Zhu's irises contract even further, and licks her lips with a long and
thin forked tongue, "if you sleep with me, I will even give up my
salary."
Zhao looks down and says with a fake smile, "really?"
She suddenly realises that there is a good possibility the Chief

would really agree to something like that.
"Flirting with your boss at work," Zhao laughs, "you're really

something, Zhu; I think you would like the training sessions
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the department offers, it might improve your thinking."
Zhu changes the subject awkwardly, "if the CCTV didn't get it,
it probably didn't want to be seen; that girl probably only saw
it because she touched the sundial."
Zhao lightly knocks on the desk repeatedly, "I know about the
Wheel of Reincarnation, it's usually attached to a sundial and
has philosophical quotes engraved on it; normally it doesn't
have much practical use, what's special about it?"
"When you mentioned an ancient sundial in the afternoon I

thought of it instantly," Zhu opens a drawer, and takes out an old
account book, "I borrowed this from Hell, you can have a closer
read yourself; it's said that the back of the sundial is made
from shattered pieces of a Stone of Reincarnation, the fish
scales on the back are from a fish in the Forgetful River."
Zhao nods, signalling her to continue.
Zhu opens the account book, "when Pangu created the

universe, and separated Yin and Yang, the Road to Hell and
Forgetful River were the only boundaries between the two
realms. Afterwards, life flourished and increased in numbers,
so the Gates of Hell were created to better manage life and
death. Long before the Gates existed, the Four Mystical
Artifacts were created, and the Sundial of Reincarnation is
one of them."
Zhu's long fingers scroll through the pages, and stops at 'Sundial of
Reincarnation', where there is something else written in small print:
'lent for extending life-span'.
"Extending life?" Zhao frowns, and thinks of the weird new ghost
that was following Li around, "does Li know anyone who died less
than a week ago?"
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"Yes, her grandma."
Zhao leans backwards, and starts smoking, "it must be, that's
why the old lady was appearing in broad daylight, she had
borrowed life energy from the Stone of Reincarnation; and Li
was lying to me as I thought, she borrowed the sundial to
extend her grandma's life, well..."
"Only the older can borrow life for the younger, I have
never heard of it being the other way round, Chief Zhao, have
you?" Zhu takes out a thin piece of rice paper out of the air, which
has Li Qian's name and horoscope readings on it.
Zhu says, "I told Hell to help investigate, Li's destined time
of death was altered, her life was shortened, not
lengthened."
Zhao raises his eyebrows.
"The Sundial of Reincarnation, round and round three times

round the Stone, half my life and half of yours, we weren't
born together, but we ought to die together," Zhu explains,
"what that means is, if you have the mystical artifact, you
can use half your remaining life-span to raise someone back
from the dead, and afterwards these two people will die
together when the time comes. Two years ago, Li's grandma
should have died, so she used half her life to bring her
grandma back."
Zhao silently listens.
"I checked her background, she used to live with her

grandma, who raised her ever since she was little. She had a
little brother as well, and since at that time the one-child
policy was very strict, she had to stay with her grandma."
Zhao understands, and Zhu continues, "two years ago, her
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grandma had a stroke, the doctors thought she was done for,
but she miraculously recovered. Afterwards, though, she was
still in poor health; and when Li got admitted to university,
her parents finally took them back in."
"So Li exchanged life for her grandma when she had the
stroke," Zhao flickers some ashes, "why did she have to lie to
me about this then?"
Zhu turns her chair around, and glares at Zhao with her snake
eyes, which are surprisingly not frightening, "think about it, if you
love someone enough to sacrifice half your life for them, but
they eventually leave you regardless, how would you feel?"
Zhao blandly frowns, and hesitates.
Zhao is entirely oblivious to this tear-jerking, tragic story; he is still

thinking long and hard about anything suspicious. Zhu sighs.
Zhao shrugs, "alright, snake lady, tell me what you think."
"Li always buys things online, mostly healthcare products

for the elderly. She doesn't have a lot of money, but she uses
it all on her grandma. She is a great kid, and she is still
devastated due to her grandma's death, if it's not directly
related to the case, you don't absolutely have to know, do
you?"
"The things she buys online can't prove anything,

sometimes when you don't love someone anymore you will
use money to compensate..."
Zhu stares at him, with a face that says 'you heartless, cold-
blooded monster'. What an insult coming from a snake.
"Alright, fine." Zhao says, "let's say you're right, she

exchanged half her life for her grandma, but now her
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grandma's dead, why is she still alive then?"
"This could be an accident, for instance the old lady might

have died before her time was up," Zhu says, "Lin Jing sent me
a list of missing souls, I checked, grandma isn't on the list.
Hell doesn't know that she is wandering out there, her soul is
linked to the living by the sundial, so the Hell Guards never
noticed her."
Zhao pauses for a thought, "hmmm..."
Zhu asks, "what?"
"I suddenly thought of something, Li Qian and Lu Ruomei

look quite similar, they have similar hairstyles, and they were
wearing the same T-shirt that day; they were even at the
same place when Lu died... think about this, Li used the
sundial, so she must smell like the Mystical Artifact, which
has the power to escape the Hell Guards' detection, so the
escaped prisoner..."
"You're saying the hungry ghost's target was supposed to

be Li Qian!?"
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Chapter 13
Zhao puts off the cigarette, and quickly takes out his phone, "it's
almost dark outside, I only sent the idiot after her, I have gotta go
take a look myself.
Zhu asks, "you mean the trainee who passed out?"
Zhao looks at her with a grumpy face, "give me the letter from
the Ghost Slayer."
Zhu signals the corner of the desk, but doesn't dare touch it.
It's a black envelope with red words written in cinnabar powder:

"To the Guardian, please open personally". In the letter, the
incident of the hungry ghost escaping is summarised, and finally, it
reads, "I shall come by midnight; my apologies in advance for
so troubling you."
As Zhao turns over the letter, Zhu frantically moves aside.
The Ghost Slayer is not a god, but not a ghost either, and to call
him a spirit or angel wouldn't be appropriate as well. Legend says
that he was born in the depths of Hell, and he has a ghost-slaying
blade with the ability to "know good from evil", which earned him
his name.
The blade has immense power, whether human, ghost, spirit or

god, none can survive this weapon.
Because of this, everyone is terrified of him; but Zhao is an

exception, he seems to think that the Ghost Slayer is a rather nice
person... the only bad thing about him is the way he talks: too old-
fashioned and too much babbling.
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Zhao quickly glances through the letter, puts it in his pocket, and
says to the uneasy Zhu, "you can go now, leave the night work
for Wang Zheng; these days you don't have legs, so you
better stay home... right, call Lin Jing, tell him to come back
if there is nothing special down in Hell."
Zhu is relieved that she can leave before that someone comes, and
nods.
"I'm going." Zhao rushes outside, and calls Guo.
When Guo realises the Chief is calling, he can't help but stand
upright and freeze.
"What took you so long to pick up?" Zhao is worried, "did

something happen?"
Guo stutters... it's really strange, Guo has already gotten used to
speaking with Zhao in person, but as for talking on the phone,
perhaps he needs another period to get used to it.
Is it because the Chief sounds less friendly over the phone?
Guo begins breathing heavily, he struggles to say a word but

nothing comes out; Zhao sighs, "it's there anyone else? If not
hand the phone to Da Qing."
Guo is relieved, and hands the phone to Professor Shen.
Luckily, the Professor is the reliable type: he efficiently summarises

what happened to Li and how they got her to the hospital, then asks,
"what's wrong, what is it about Li that..."
A loud but indiscernible noise can be heard from the phone.
Zhao seems to be saying something, but the signal is unstable;

Shen walks towards the window, and looks to be trying to get a
better signal, but he opens the curtain without Guo noticing, and
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looks outside, "hello? What did you say? Can you hear me?"
Zhao's voice finally becomes clear, "damn it, get out of there,
now!!"
A black shadow dashes across in front of Shen's eyes, he blinks,

and the lights go out in the room. Glass breaks, the cat screeches,
and Shen smells a decaying, bloody odour.
In the darkness, nobody sees Shen grabbing a blood red worm out
of thin air, and crushing it to death. He takes a deep breath, and
carefully conceals his spirit energy, reverting to the gentle professor.
The room is in utter chaos, and the phone loses signal; the cat
screams, which mixes with some other noise, and something knocks
down the chair. Shen stumbles backwards.
He turns on the flashlight on his phone.
An unfamiliar male voice shouts, "be careful!"
It's Da Qing's voice, who just knocked down the chair, which
knocked down the miserable Guo as well.
Shen grabs a wooden mob from the corner of the room, and
attacks; a deafening crashing sound explodes, and a black shadow
rapidly flies over his head.
The wooden mob breaks in two, and the shadow dashes towards Li
on the bed at lightning speed.
Li is sedated, so she lies unconscious on the bed.
Their eyes are getting used to the darkness by now, and in the dim
light of Shen's phone, they can see a dark shadow... it opens its
mouth more than ninety degrees, its head looking like a sliced
watermelon.
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Guo's heart almost stops, his mind goes blank and he quivers
uncontrollable in utter terror.
What is that thing? What the heck is it!?
The black shadow takes the shape of a human, skinny and slender,
like a skeleton, but its stomach is ridiculously gigantic. Its hands turn
into scythes, and viciously slashes towards Li's stomach.
Shen leaps forward, but someone else beats him to it, and gets
between Li and the ghost.
It's an old lady who came out of nowhere, short and stubby; she
uses her plump body as a shield to protect the girl on the bed.
Shen retracts the leap with great agility, but nobody notices the
professor's abnormal physique; then he grabs the steel chair, and
hurls it at the black shadow.
The chair precisely crashes into the shadow's 'body', splitting it in

half; the thing shrieks like an angry gorilla, the two halves of its body
only have a small segment intact.
Shortly, its body bubbles as if boiling, and vigorously thrashes

about; the two halves slowly merge back together.
"It grew back! It grew back!" Guo shouts, not being of any help.
Shen pounces forward, picks up the steel chair once again, and
starts battering at the ghost.
Shen appears gentle, but his attacks are precise and vicious, and
the monster soon shatters into several pieces; he tosses the chair
aside without difficulty.
Silence.
Then, Da Qing jumps on to the bed and says, "don't just stand
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there, let's go! This is a hungry ghost, you can't kill it with a
steel chair; if it really gets angry then we're screwed!"
Shen stares at the black cat.
"Yes, yes," Da Qing sombrely says, "I'm talking, now let's go!"
Shen must have a strong mind, a hungry ghost and talking cat did
not startle him whatsoever; he swiftly reaches for Li, and carries her
away, "what about the old lady?"
The cat replies, "don't worry about her, she is a new ghost."
"Oh," Shen abandons materialism, and says to Guo, "come now,

Officer Guo, let's go!"
Guo's mouth gapes in terror, and his neck freezes into a bizarre
look.
Shen carries Li on his back, and raises his voice, "Officer Guo!!"
Guo wakes up from a dream, and struggles on the floor like an

octopus; he hurriedly gets up, "I... I... I..."
"Stop stuttering and open the door!"
Guo mindlessly follows, and scrambles over to the door.
The corridor is pitch black, and the entire hospital is dead and
empty; not a single nurse or doctor.
The black cat runs ahead incredibly fast for its size, as Shen follows
with Li on his back, and Guo stumbling forward at the back.
Their footsteps echo through the empty hallway; a chilling breeze

tails them, and Guo shivers.
Their seems to be something behind him.
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Chapter 14
But Guo dares not to turn around; ever since he was small he had
stayed with his grandma, and so he is rather familiar with
superstitious beliefs, one such being: "don't turn around when
you walk at night, otherwise the ghosts will catch you".
Although Guo desperately holds back, he keeps thinking about

what happened in the room. And he can't help but feel that the thing
must be catching up to them. That vicious monster wouldn't care if
you turn around or not, he has scythes for hands and Guo is quite
sure he wouldn't survive even half a slash.
Then, Guo's rich imagination continues to haunt him: he thinks of

photos of the victim, stomach sliced open and emptied...
Turn around... not turning around... turn around... not turning

around...
This dilemma is torturing Guo, and as he rushes forward he is

already soaked in sweat.
He runs even faster and manages to catch up with Shen.
At this moment, Guo realises that the safest place is between Da

Qing and Professor Shen: he really doesn't want to be the one
walking behind.
Suddenly, Shen stops; Li gradually regains consciousness and

starts moving, Shen adjusts her body a bit.
Oddly, Guo doesn't keep moving forward to stand between Da Qing

and the Professor, but instead stays behind the Professor.
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He turns sideways to check his surroundings.
He suddenly remembers something, "I'm a policeman."
"I'm a policeman.I'm a policeman.I'm a policeman. .." he

says to himself, as if that would make him braver.
But those words are not a magical spell afterward; he is still

extremely frightened.
Shen looks at Guo in shock; Guo slowly realises that he is crying.
Professor Shen has really seen some bewildering occurrences

today: a murderous sentient shadow, a talking black cat, and a crying
cop!
But Guo realises that crying really helps with fear, more so than
muttering "I'm a policeman". So he takes a deep breath, cries as
loudly as he can, and shouts, "run! I will stay behind to protect
you guys!"
Shen is quite used to insanity by now.
Soon the cat reaches the stairs, and the group sprints upwards to
the first floor. Not long after, Guo screams out of terror.
Shen takes a closer look, and sees an infant by the wall... no, it's
closer to a foetus, it's very small, even smaller than a newborn baby.
Its head is damaged and the skull is exposed, its face is distorted and
it has no teeth.
Like a medical specimen, the creature feebly lies against the wall,
glaring at the group.
"Stop screaming!" Da Qing reprimands, "this is a hospital,

there are ghosts everywhere, stupid human."
Shen bitterly asks, "what's that?"
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"A foetus that died of an abortion," Da Qing scratches at the
infant, which lets out a squeaking cry, and vanishes, "keep moving,
the hungry ghost is tailing us!"
Speak of the devil; the gang soon smells an eerie, decaying odour.
As they run forward, heavy footsteps come thumping from behind.
"What's that!?" Guo screams with tears, "isn't the hungry

ghost just a shadow? Why does this sound like something
heavy?"
"I fucking said it! This is a hospital! There are ALL sorts of
ghosts around!" Da Qing furiously howls, "and what's wrong
with being heavy? Huh? Heavy doesn't hurt anyone does it?"
Shen cannot imagine what kind of work environment Zhao is used

to alongside such peculiar colleagues.
Shen doesn't seem tired at all although he is carrying a person on

his back, and he calmly says, "stop it you two; hey kitty, where's
the exit?"
"Don't call me that, stupid human!"
"Godly cat," Shen changes his tone miraculously, "we have

been running around for quite some time now, what's your
plan?"
Da Qing stops abruptly, and Shen nimbly steps aside. Guo looks
like he only has half his life left, and leans against the wall, crying
and gasping.
Da Qing raises its ears, its eyes glimmering under the dim light of
Shen's phone.
After a moment, it turns back to the group, "I think we're in a

ghost labyrinth."
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The heavy stomping comes from the front, and an unclear shadow
is cast on the wall: on a closer look, several dozens of shadowy
figures wriggle and thrash about in a giant cluster, scratching and
screaming and stomping on each other...
Everyday, countless people die in a hospital. Their spirits wander

around endlessly, and they envy the living; they prey on life energy.
The living and the dead cannot co-exist.
The grudge, and the despair...
"RUN!!!" Da Qing screeches at the top its voice.
Three people and a cat scramble over to a storage room, and Guo
shuts the door behind them. Tear streams down his face; he cannot
believe he is still alive.
A freezing hand reached his neck just now, and almost caught him;
the chill lingers.
Shen puts Li down, and helps Guo move over furniture to block the
door.
Shortly after, something crashes against the small door outside;

Guo falls on the ground.
Again and again, the door is crashed and attacked. Then it stops.
The banging is soon replaced by squealing noises of fingernails
scratching against the iron door.
Guo says to Shen in tears, "I haven't even gotten my first

paycheck, can I at least get my salary before I die?"
Shen has trouble laughing in this situation, but he really doesn't

know what to do with Guo.
Guo sobs, and asks, "Professor Shen, do you have any
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unfulfilled wishes?"
Shen is incredibly calm, but he takes the time to consider the

question anyway, and nods, "yes."
"There is this person... we met by chance. I'm just a

stranger to him, he doesn't know anything about me, nor is
there anything between us," he says softly amidst the screeching
fingernails, "but I want to see him again."
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Chapter 15
This man is in his thirties, medium-built, spectacled, and wears a

sandalwood prayer beads bracelet. On a glance, he seems to be
rather ordinary.
He gets off the car, and takes out a phone; he records himself with
the hospital as the background, and says, "September first,
eleven twenty three, special mission at Dragon City Second
Hospital, Baota East Road, Eastern District; Lin Jing, over."
A black SUV hurriedly arrives, and Zhao rushes out, "stop that
nonsense and come with me, quick!"
Someone's about to die and you're taking a selfie video... Zhao

furiously thinks; his colleagues are either not human, or has severe
brain damage.
The hospital is shrouded in dark mist, and nobody is inside. Zhao

tries to call Shen and Guo, but neither picks up; he swears, and
violently busts through the hospital door.
A black cloud pounces forward at Zhao, who swiftly dodges, and

takes out a small dagger. He rolls on the floor, jumps to the side, and
accurately slashes on the shadow, which splits in two.
More are coming from all directions. Lin follows behind Guo and
takes out a gun; while chanting some mantras, he shoots down the
creatures one after another, not missing any one of them.
"Have you checked the horoscope readings of the trainee?"

Zhao faces the shadow-laden corridor, "why does it seem like
ghosts and spirits follow him wherever he goes?"
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Lin chants, "that which is form is emptiness... I will pray for
him after this."
Zhao is irritated, "that which your head! Speak English or

shut your mouth!"
Lin calmly continues, "...that which is emptiness is form."
"Motherfucker!"
Lin pauses for a moment, and advises, "Chief, you must purify
your six senses, and abstain from evil."
This is the reason why he hates his job!
Zhao takes a deep breath, and puts the dagger in his mouth; he
takes out a yellow paper talisman, and lights it with his lighter. The
paper explodes into a storm of flames, engulfing all nearby spirits
into a three feet tall fire spiral. The flames destroy everything in its
path, and the endless crowds of ghosts vanish in the mystical flare.
"Amitabha, may Buddha have mercy on your soul."
Zhao is pissed, "enough of that."
Half a minute later, only embers and ashes remain.
Zhao lights a cigarette with the dying flames, signals Lin to follow
him, and opens the door at the end of the corridor.
The group in the storage room doesn't know that help is on its way.
The screeching fingernails are increasingly vicious, and Guo's
breathing speeds up uncontrollably. He is on the verge of insanity.
Shen ignores him, and asks the cat, "what do we do?"
Da Qing the wise old cat calmly replies, "don't worry, hang on
for a moment, Chief Zhao must be on his way."
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"What? He's coming alone? Is that safe? How can he save
us?"
Da Qing feebly waggles its tail, "don't worry, a few small

ghosts can't hurt him."
Shen frowns, and leans against the wall, "we can't save
ourselves?"
Da Qing glances at him, and replies coldly, "we have a team of

human, garbage, vegetative state, and me... a cute mascot.
How do we save ourselves?"
"Didn't I crush that thing with a chair?"
"That's because it was too hungry, and let its guard down.
Besides, two young guys have strong life energy, so it must
have been weakened a little. Now we're surrounded by a
whole horde of evil spirits, there's nothing we can do... oh,
shit, why is there another one?"
A squeaking laughter can be heard from the corner of the room,

Shen looks down and sees a five year old girl kneeling on the floor,
eerily giggling, and trying to grab the cat's tail playfully. Guo jumps
on to Shen and holds on to him like a koala with a tree.
"Help!" Guo's face is covered in tears, saliva and snot, and he

screams at the top of his voice, "ghost!! It's a ghost!!"
The child ghost floats towards Guo, and curiously looks up to the
scaredy officer. Guo carefully looks downwards, and sees it stick its
tongue out and roll its eyes back, while her head spins a three
hundred and sixty and almost detaches.
Guo is too frightened that he can't even pass out, he hangs on to

Shen as tightly as he can and continues screaming, "ahhhhhhh!!!
Ghost!!!"
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Shen stands upright like a soldier, and is comically trapped amidst
the ghost child, the stupid koala, and the horde of hungry ghosts.
A few metres in, Zhao's revealing watch is already starting to

malfunction; there are way too many evil things in here.
"Hey fake monk, my watch is broken again, use whatever

tricks you have, and be quick."
Lin sits on the floor, closes his eyes, and holds the prayer beads in
his hands. He chants mantras in a soft voice. Zhao impatiently waits
against the wall.
A moment later, Lin opens his eyes, and shouts, "there!"
The prayer beads quiver and rattle, and Lin Jing the Saint stands up
and points to a direction, "over there."
Zhao starts walking, and remarks, "that was faster than usual."
Lin sluggishly explains, "they are both guys, and young, so

their life energy combined is very easy to spot."
Zhao pauses, "two guys? What about the girl?"
"Da Qing is there too, but the girl isn't."
Zhao frowns, it's true that Da Qing is just a cat, and a lazy one too,
but it's not cruel and frivolous, and there is even the Professor, he
could not have abandoned Li Qian.
"That's impossible, Shen would never abandon a student."
Zhao has only met the Professor for a short time, but he has a
strong feeling that he is not that kind of person.
Lin asks, "who's this Shen person? I thought the trainee is

called Guo?"
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Zhao only says, "you don't need to know."
Lin pauses for a moment, and makes a realisation, "the last time
you tried to avoid conversation like that you were falling for
the campus belle; so tell me, who's the beauty this time?
Wait, is it a guy or a girl?"
Zhao ignores him, "Amitabha, that which is emptiness is

form."
Lin has nothing to say.
Zhao lights the way with the lighter; the convoluted corridors
intersect and diverge like a deadly spider lair.
Why isn't Li Qian with the guys? Why would they abandon the girl?
Or... do they just think that they are with her?
At this moment, 'Li' opens her eyes.
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Chapter 16
Guo hears some noise, and sees Li standing up.
Her movement is disoriented, like a broken puppet controlled by an

inexperienced puppeteer. Perhaps this is due to the sedatives.
Guo is relieved, "oh thank god you're alright."
Li stays silent, and blandly stares at him.
Guo finds it rather strange, "Li?"
He walks forward to take a closer look, but Shen blocks his way.
Li smiles eerily, and her mouth curves up to an unnatural crescent.

A strange cackling sound is heard from her throat; her shoulders
abruptly twitch, and her body quivers.
The next moment, Li pounces forward at lightning speed, opens

her mouth and attacks Shen's shoulder.
In the dim light of the phone, her mouth opens wide and her eyes
are almost popping out; her teeth protrude like that of a menacing
beast.
Shen moves backwards, and dodges sideways, bumping into Guo.

Guo struggles; flailing, he attacks Li helplessly like a frantic octopus...
his attacks are rather awkward, but he hits Li across the face by
chance, and the possessed girl stumbles backwards.
Guo screeches in tears, "don't come here! Don't come here!

Help!!"
The situation cannot get more chaotic: Shen pushes Guo to the
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wall, and grabs hold of Li by her shoulders.
Li wriggles and twists like a crab in a cooking pot, clawing and

biting chaotically. Shen clutches her neck from behind, pushes her to
the wall, and constricts her quivering hands.
The small storage room has all sorts of occurrences in and out: a
hissing girl, a ghost child hugging the leg of a crying policeman, a
swearing cat, and horrifying fingernails scratching at the door from
outside.
Although Shen is more composed than any human can ever be in

this kind of situation, he wonders whether he is having a
schizophrenic dream.
"Who can help me tie her up?" Shen asks, but to no avail, as
the crying human and screaming cat can't be of any help; Shen
raises his voice, "stop crying, Officer Guo, that thing won't bite
you, come and help me!"
Coincidentally, the ghost child opens its mouth and nibbles on

Guo's leg.
Guo screeches like a dolphin, but the cat paws him across the head
to calm him down.
"Look at your leg, you idiot!"
Guo looks down, and sees that the child's mouth goes straight
through his leg like air.
Guo blinks; it seems that his cowardly brain only imagined the
pain.
Li grows stronger and stronger as she frantically howls, and Shen

yells, "Officer Guo!!"
Guo scrambles over and takes off his belt; embarrassingly, his
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pants are almost falling off, and he clumsily ties up the girl.
Suddenly, the spirit of the old lady reappears and anxiously looks
to Li. It tries to touch the young girl, but only passes through her, and
the ghost begins to weaken the more it moves.
Guo can't help but want to stop it, "hey old lady..."
His hand goes through it.
It turns around and looks at Guo with its wrinkly eyes; it

desperately tries to say something, but no sound comes out. Its face
is laden with utter despair.
Helplessly, grandma stares at Li.
Quietly, tears fall down its face.
The tears are muddy and murky, like the Yellow River.
Guo brainlessly stands aside, and asks about Li, "what's... what's
wrong with her?"
Shen is lost in thought, but Da Qing sighs, "something evil is

inside her; this girl really is unlucky, even you are fine, and
yet she is possessed."
Guo can't tell if this is a compliment or an insult.
Clank!!! The small iron door bursts open. A giant scythe comes
viciously slashing in.
Shen nimbly dodges downwards, and pushes Li to the side. The

hungry ghost's claw narrowly misses his skull. A few hair strands
quiver in the air.
The hungry ghost has gotten bigger than before, and pounces
forward, right through ghost grandma's body. Its horrified expression
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remains, but its body vanishes instantly.
Da Qing screams, "dodge!!"
All Guo can do is sit helpless on the floor. Da Qing jumps to a high
spot, and its body begins bulking up to almost twice the size; its eyes
turn gold. On top of the shelf stands a small panther with razor-sharp
teeth.
Da Qing spurts out a beam of supersonic sound waves; the humans

cannot hear it, but they can feel the sheer power bursting towards
the hungry ghost, like a thousand knives raining downwards.
The next second, the hungry ghost slams against the wall; Shen
can barely see a crack on the wall.
The evil ghost sticks to the wall like a nailed wall decoration. Da
Qing returns to normal size, stumbles forward, and feebly falls down.
Shen catches it just in time, and Da Qing breathlessly glances at
Shen, and passes out in his arms.
Guo rushes forward to check if it's dead, and is relieved to find that
Da Qing is only asleep from fatigue.
"What do we do?" Guo panics.
Before anyone can say anything, an earth-shaking howl blasts

through the room.
Guo falls back down on the floor.
The hungry ghost on the wall starts moving again, and a horde of
black shadows gather from the corridor into the room; the hungry
ghost absorbs countless spirits and its gigantic stomach keeps
expanding and expanding like a balloon.
It lands on the floor on its skinny legs, and stumbles towards the
two men, viciously slashing the air with its scythes.
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Guo horrifyingly realises that he is moving further away from Shen
and closer to the ghost by the minute.
"I'm being sucked in!!!" Guo loses his voice.
"I'm being eaten alive!!!" Guo struggles to grab something in

mid-air, "I... I'm a police officer! I'm being eaten alive!!"
His brain begins to malfunction; nobody knows what being a police

officer has anything to do with being eaten alive.
Perhaps the hungry ghost is annoyed by him, and roars; Guo

begins floating and rising as if being clutched at the neck by an
invisible hand. He no longer makes any sound.
Shen grabs his hand and tries to pull him back; Guo feels as if he is
being split in two.
Da Qing is still unconscious, Li wriggles on the floor, and the giant

hungry ghost approaches slowly with a whole horde of smaller spirits.
The situation cannot be worse.
At this crucial moment, a sharp whistle can be heard from outside,

bursting through the room and the dark spirits like a bright dazzle.
The ghost child is horrified, screams, and escapes down the floor.
A black dagger slashes between Guo and the hungry ghost, as if

cutting an invisible rope, and the ghost smashes against the wall.
Guo falls backwards on to Professor Shen, and the two stumble...
Guo falls flat on the ground, but Shen is caught by someone.
Zhao wraps his arms around Shen's waist and steps aside, his face
is roughly visible under the dim light of the lighter: handsome, cool,
and sharply contoured like a well-crafted statue. His eyes sparkle in
the sheer darkness like two passionate flames, quivering in a most
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seductive dance.
Chief Zhao successfully keeps his captivating pretence, and lowers

his voice like an untamed wolf, looking into the Professor's eyes like a
hero saving a damsel in distress, "Professor Shen, are you
alright?"
Nobody remembers the poor trainee on the floor.
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Chapter 17
For a few seconds, Shen is lost in a mesmerised trance.
Shortly after, Shen looks away, and wriggles out of someone's

groping hands; he adjusts his glasses, "I'm fine, thanks."
Guo desperately screams, "Chief Zhao, help me!!!"
Zhao quickly glances around in the storage room to confirm that

no-one is injured; to relax the situation, he jokes in an operatic
recitative, "what injustice doth you bringeth, has't thee did get
an affidavit? Showeth me apace!"
Guo falls face-down on the ground.
Shen rubs his nose, and hides his faint smile.
The hungry ghost revives yet again; Shen looks up and sees its
scythes slashing towards Zhao.
"Behind you!"
Zhao spins around and narrowly dodges the first, as the second
scythe comes crushing down against his dagger. He grabs hold of the
vicious scythe.
Behind the hungry ghost, a deep male voice chants, "Namo

Amitabha..."
Bell chimes come out of nowhere, the sound wave crushes

everything in its path; Guo starts feeling dizzy and the quivering Li
stops moving.
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The hungry ghost screams in agony as if shot on the head; endless
black shadows fall from its body.
Zhao releases it, and it shrinks down to just the size of a normal
human; scrawny with a big stomach, and feebly withering.
Zhao takes out a glass bottle that's the size of a hand, and opens it
as a stream of light shines through the bottleneck. The hungry ghost
turns around and runs, but Lin blocks the doorway, and strikes a
Mudra Mahabala; a force field bounces the ghost back into the room.
Zhao points the bottleneck at the hungry ghost.
The ghost looks like Munch's painting 'The Scream'; and with one
last expression of horror, the bottle absorbs it in whole.
The translucent glass bottle becomes opaque, and Zhao closes it

with a cork stopper. He holds the mini prison against his ear, and
shakes it a few times; he happily says, "mission accomplished."
Da Qing slowly awakens from its deep slumber, "you guys are so
violent, so much noise..."
Zhao picks up the cat and stuffs it into his bag.
Da Qing moans feebly, "what took you so long?"
"Traffic jam," Zhao pats it on the head, "go to sleep, you'll get
your bonus this time."
Da Qing's eyelids droop and gradually close, as it mutters, "I... I

wanna eat grilled yellow corvina..."
Guo is still puzzled, "so... it's over?"
Zhao impatiently frowns, but quickly puts on a smile, and says,

"there is still one thing."
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He crosses over to Shen, and asks, "are you injured? Sorry for
dragging you into this, I will take you for a check-up."
Shen carelessly touches his hand, "really..."
Shen's face goes blank for a moment, and passes out.
Zhao kneels down and picks up the unconscious professor, with

one hand on his back and the other beneath his knees, and whispers
into his ear, "a female student called Li Qian attempted
suicide, you sent her to hospital, but you passed out due to
low blood sugar, and stayed in hospital for a day."
Lin points at Li Qian, and signals Zhao.
Zhao continues, "Li is involved in a murder case, and is

brought in for questioning by the police; you don't remember
anything else."
Shen unconsciously leans on Zhao's shoulder.
Zhao carries him and walks outside.
Lin picks up Li Qian and puts her on his shoulder; Guo doesn't
follow, so Lin politely asks, "child, I have another shoulder,
would you like me to carry you as well?"
"No no no... no need, thanks."
Lin bows holding up one hand, "Amitabha, you're welcome."
He calmly dawdles away.
Zhao carefully avoids a nurse who came out of nowhere, and puts
Shen in Li's room. He takes off his glasses, sets them aside, covers
him with a blanket, and turns on the air con.
Zhao takes the Professor's right hand, and draws an invisible
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soothing talisman on the back of it. Zhao smirks pervertedly, and
kisses his hand softly, "good night, sleeping handsome."
"Let's go," he signals Lin and Guo to come, "an important guest
will visit by midnight, we shouldn't have him wait for us."
Their footsteps disappear in the hallway. Shen suddenly awakens,

and sits up; he doesn't seem sleepy at all.
He raises his right hand, and softly rubs the back of it; a golden
talisman emerges. Shen tenderly looks at the symbol, and smiles
lightly. But the smile quickly wears away.
He frowns, worried and in pain.
Shen lowers his voice and murmurs something; the golden

talisman leaves his skin and solidifies into a small piece of paper. He
takes the talisman and keeps it safe like a cherished treasure.
He tidies the bed, jumps off the window and disappears in the

night.
When Zhao and co return to No. 4 Bright Avenue, it's almost

midnight. Old Wu opens his gigantic mouth, and says, "oh, Little
Guo, you're back? How was your first mission?"
Being hunted down by the hungry ghost for one whole night, Old
Wu's paper face seems very approachable by comparison, so he puts
on a feeble smile, "...it was... alright..."
Old Wu laughs, "it's okay, you're just starting out, you will
learn along the way; you're living after all, you've got a
future ahead of you!"
Guo realises he has a workplace advantage: he is alive.
Lin and Guo take Li Qian inside, and Zhao lowers his voice and
says to Old Wu, "you know about this case right? We can't
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execute an escaped prisoner from Hell, so the Ghost Slayer
will visit in a while; greet him politely."
Old Wu shivers in terror, and lowers his voice, "he... he is

coming?"
Zhao nods, pats Old Wu on the shoulder, and lights a cigarette

while entering the office.
Old Wu dares not to read newspaper indoors like he usually does,

and in stead stands upright by the door like a royal guard.
Zhao waves at Guo, and points to a working desk, "this is your

desk, if there are no special cases our working hours are nine
to five, if you have to take sick leave just call me. Twelve to
one is lunchtime, the canteen is on the second floor, meals
are free for staff. Sick leave is paid, insurance and everything
has all been arranged for you, no need to worry."
Zhao hands Guo a credit card, "password is six ones, change it

yourself. Salary and bonuses are all transferred here, every
15th of every month. If you need to claim work expenses,
find Wang Zheng."
Guo takes the card with both hands, and forgets all about Wang
the terrifying un-beheaded ghost. Salary... that means he finally has
a job!
"I... I have salary now!" He stutters, eyes glimmering.
Zhao is amazed at how silly he is, "your uncle is so rich, what

do you need that money for?"
Guo raises his head excitedly, "I need it! I really need it!"
But he doesn't say what for; all he does is carefully place the card
in his wallet like handling a one-of-a-kind antique.
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Zhao is about to say something, but he sees a white beam glimmer
across Guo's body.
Zhao is astonished: this kid has a powerful aura of virtue, is it his

ancestors protecting him, or is it good deeds from his past life, or is
it...
He puts off the cigarette, and points to his room, "I'm usually

inside, if you've anything just knock."
Zhao's eye bags deepen into a dark and heavy weight; he sits in a
chair and falls flat on the desk, "wake me up when he comes."
Guo doesn't know who "he" is, but luckily Lin Jing is here, so he
comfortably takes a nap for the first time in twenty four hours.
Only a while later, Guo wakes up, and feels an eerie chill.
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Chapter 18
The air condenses in a rush of eerie frost; the air conditioner turns
off on its own, but the room soon freezes in sheer coldness. White
fractals crystallise on the window glass.
The busying ghost staff members have all stopped their work; they
stand still and lower their heads, waiting for the arrival of a most
important figure.
Zhao wakes up, and stately sits in his chair. He places four cups on
the table and starts making tea. Lin stands up.
Guo is puzzled, but follows suit.
The air conditioner makes a soft clanking sound, and switches to

warm air mode.
Footsteps sound from the hallway, and echo through the office,
stopping at the door. Old Wu opens the door, and comes in with
someone.
Old Wu is extremely respectful and polite, like a eunuch following

behind an emperor. The paper ghost leads the figure into the office,
pulls a chair, and says while looking on the ground, "Your Honour,
this way please."
The figure says, "thanks."
It's a male voice, soft, pleasing and polite, but incredibly sombre.
Guo is still numb and sleepy, when everyone is frightened and

looking down in awe, he bravely and stupidly looks at the dark figure.
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That person is slender, and completely wrapped in a black cloak.
His limbs are all covered and his face is obscured by a cloud of black
mist.
He stands at the door, and greets the Chief lightly, who politely
nods; the dark figure slowly walks in.
Zhao takes out a yellow paper talisman, lights it, and the ashes fall
into a cup of hot tea and melt in the liquid. The hot liquid cools down
instantly.
At the same time, a cup of hot tea appears in the cloaked figure's
hand.
"It's so cold, please have a seat, Ghost Slayer" Zhao says,

"and have a drink of warm tea."
Guo sees the Chief burning the talisman and sending the tea, and
he can't help but think of burning offerings to the dead.
"It's so cold"? Guo is bewildered: isn't it summer? Where does

this person come from?
The trainee suddenly thinks of something, and shudders.
When he was small, his grandma used to tell him that before
someone dies, you must give them a hot meal and warm clothes,
otherwise their soul might freeze on the way to Hell.
Perhaps it's...
The Ghost Slayer takes a sip, "good tea, thanks."
He walks past Guo and sits opposite Zhao; Guo smells something.
It's nothing like the decaying odour of a hungry ghost; it's not
unpleasant at all, but somewhat aromatic, although incredibly mild.
The smell reminds Guo of winter in the Greater Khingan mountain
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range.
It's the smell when you open the door to a night of snowfall, clean
and freezing; it has a tinge of the aroma of a withering flower.
The Ghost Slayer speaks softly and gently, like a scholar in an

ancient Chinese drama. There is nothing particularly frightening
about him besides the sheer blackness, but as Guo fully wakes up
from his nap, he begins to feel utterly terrified.
That terror is inexplicable, and illogical.
Yet it comes from the soul.
Guo now realises why the ghosts in the corridor are all horror-
struck like mice meeting a cat.
"He comes from the Southern hemisphere, it's winter over

there..." Guo closes his eyes and struggles to convince himself with
a scientific explanation.
The office only has four people, whether human or not, save the
passed out black cat. Zhao pours four cups of tea, but neither Lin nor
Guo dare to drink. The only person who is not frightened is Zhao, he
calmly sits at his working desk.
The Ghost Slayer finishes his tea, and Zhao stands up, "come, I
will bring you to the interrogation room."
The Ghost Slayer quietly follows him, "you don't look too well,
Guardian, must be a result of this case; take care."
Zhao sluggishly waves, "I'm fine, I can survive a few all-

nighters; if not, I'd be happy too, I can find an easier job in
Hell."
The Ghost Slayer disagrees, "life and death are matters of

great significance, Guardian, perhaps it's best not to joke
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about it."
Zhao laughs it off, and opens the door to the interrogation room.
'Li Qian' has woken up, and begins to scream uncontrollably. The
screaming stops abruptly as the Ghost Slayer enters.
When 'Li' sees the Ghost Slayer, she quivers in horror like a dying
chicken; a moment later, she rolls back her eyes and falls on the
floor.
Guo follows the group at the very back, and suddenly feels
something pouncing at his face; he stumbles backwards, and the
Ghost Slayer raises his arm as a powerful black wave gushes
outwards towards a ghastly shadow. The ghost seems to be a
woman, long-haired, and wearing a worn out dress; twitching and
howling, the ghost is crushed instantly, and dissipates into black
smoke, as the Ghost Slayer absorbs it into his sleeves.
"Obdurate in sin, and attempted to rejuvenate through

possession; culpable." The Ghost Slayer blandly says, his tone
remains the same no matter what he says.
Guo shivers.
Li Qian is tied to a chair.
Lin sprays water across her face to wake her up, and says, "we're
the police, we need to ask you some questions, be honest or
bear the consequences."
Li is puzzled, but she soon recognises Zhao and Guo. She wants to
say something, but to her terror, she realises she is tied to a chair,
and asks, "what... what's happening?"
Zhao gently asks, "the culprit who murdered Lu and attacked

you has been caught, we just need to confirm your testimony
and file a case report, could you do that?"
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This looks nothing like filing a case report; it looks more like a trial.
"Then why did you tie me up?"
Zhao raises his eyebrows, snaps his fingers, and the ropes are
undone.
The girl is startled, but quickly composes herself; she asks

uncomfortably, "if you've caught the murderer already, then
what's there left to ask? I've already told you everything. I
wanna go home."
Lin smashes the desk, and assumes the character of a ruthless

cop, "don't give me that bullshit, just answer our questions!
Or do you want to be charged with aiding and abetting the
murderer? What's your motive? What was your relationship
with the culprit?"
Li is petrified.
Lin gives Zhao a signal, who pretentiously pushes Lin on his

shoulder, and asks calmly, "August 31st, ten twenty at night,
you saw the victim Lu Ruomei by the entrance of the
university; you also saw the thing that was tailing her. There
is something else we need to know: since when were you able
to see ghosts? Was it after you touched the old sundial?"
Li bites her lips, and quickly nods.
Zhao's long fingers gently knock on the desk, "legend says that
the sundial was crafted from a Stone of Reincarnation, and
inlaid with the scales of a fish from the Forgetful River. It has
the power to bring back the dead, at the cost of one's own
lifespan; and once you use the sundial, you will get so close
to death that you start seeing the dead, right?"
Li stares at Zhao's fingers, and silently nods.
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Zhao leans backwards on to the chair.
"You're a good kid," he sighs, "I wonder how many young

people would be willing to give up half their life to bring back
their deceased relatives?"
The Ghost Slayer interrupts, "the Sundial of Reincarnation is

one of the Four Mystical Artifacts from Hell, they can disrupt
the order of Yin and Yang; humans should not use them."
Li twitches her fingers, and says with difficulty, "I didn't know
what it was... I only heard about it, people say it can bring
back the dead... my grandma had a stroke all of a sudden;
she raised me as a kid, my parents abandoned me, and she
was my only family... do you know how that feels? I wanted
to cry but I couldn't, and I couldn't believe she was just gone
like that, just like that... why do people die?"
"So you found the sundial." Zhao says.
"I thought I was going crazy, who would believe such a

thing, but it really worked..." Li glances at Zhao, and looks back
down, "I thought, what's there to be afraid of? I'm still young,
maybe I can live to a hundred, even if I give her half I can still
live to fifty, why wouldn't I bring her back? If humans
shouldn't use it, why did I find it right when I needed it? And
why did it respond to my wish?"
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Chapter 19
This question leaves the whole room in silence. After a while, the
Ghost Slayer speaks.
"You were determined to resurrect her, whatever the

cost... sometimes when your will is strong enough, anything
is possible; but that does not mean you were right."
Li's eyes turn red; she looks the other way, not willing to let anyone
see her weakness.
She says with a deep and monotonous voice, "yes, I'm just a
human, no matter what life throws at me... my only family
suddenly passes away, my parents despise me, I struggle to
pay tuition, and I can't even find a job here; I'm pathetic,
aren't I? I have to... endure all of that; I really shouldn't have
brought grandma back, I should've just died with her."
Zhao calmly looks at her.
Li coldly laughs, "I'm like a tortoise, crawling on the ground

slowly and strenuously, just for a passer-by to kick me, and I
fall facing up; when I painfully get back on all fours, I get
kicked again, isn't it hilarious?"
This girl is laden with grudge and anger, although she tries her
best to conceal it.
Guo's face heat up: he is stupid and lazy, but he got this job
because of his uncle; he stands up and says, "I... I'll bring you a
cup of water."
Li ignores him.
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Zhao asks, "the sundial responded to you, and your grandma
survived, but she was still unwell afterwards, did you take
care of her?"
"Who else could have done it," Li says without an expression,

"my parents only agreed to take her in when they heard she
was gonna die."
Zhao nods, "You had to study, make your own living, and
pay for your tuition, and you also had to take care of her,
must have been tough?"
Lin is a bit surprised: he thought Zhao wanted to get her to talk

about the incident with the hungry ghost since she lied, but now he
isn't sure what the boss is trying to get out of her.
What's the point in asking these questions?
But the Ghost Slayer doesn't seem impatient at all, so Lin doesn't
say anything, and keeps his doubts to himself.
Guo hands Li a cup of warm water; the girl takes it and doesn't say
anything. She stares at the cup, which is shaking in her hands.
"She wakes up at half past four in the morning, everyday,

and she always wants to make me breakfast. But her
condition was deteriorating. One time she was cooking milk,
and it spilled on the stove, almost causing a gas leak. So I
had to wake up at half past four everyday too, and make
breakfast before she messes things up. When it's noon,
whether or not I'm having lessons or working on a project I
still have to take a one-hour bus back home everyday to
make her lunch, make sure she takes her medicine, and then
rush back to school. I don't even have time to eat lunch
myself. She is always babbling at home, I can only work once
she is asleep, around ten every night. I work til midnight,
sometimes even later, and I still have to get up before
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sunrise."
Li takes a deep breath, her face is incredibly exhausted, "is it

tough?" She takes a sip of water, and says coldly, "don't waste
time, there is no use talking about this, what else do you
want to ask about the case, just ask."
Zhao taps on a file in his hands, "sorry for being rude, but it
must have been easier for you once your grandma passed
away?"
Li stares at him, "what do you mean?"
Zhao stares back, "I meant what I said, literally."
Li jumps up and spills the cup of water, "is this how the police
treat normal citizens? How can you detain me for no reason,
and make false accusations?"
"Sit, calm down." Zhao wipes the water with tissue, "I'm not
accusing you of anything, I'm just asking about how you felt;
feelings cannot be crimes, even if you wanted to blow up a
building, as long as you didn't do it, nothing will happen."
"I want to go home, you can't detain me."
Zhao looks at her, and nods, "alright, I will leave out the
irrelevant parts; let's talk about today, you told me you saw
the victim and the shadow behind her, do you remember
what the shadow looked like?"
Li frowns, "I didn't take a close look, can't remember."
Zhao smiles, his dimples deepen, but his eyes are not smiling; he
looks down and says slowly, "maybe you wouldn't remember a
passer-by, that's normal... but how can you forget something
so frightening? If you don't remember, why are you shaking?"
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Li's fingers tense up.
Zhao says with a more serious tone, "didn't you tell me it was
black, a little short, and a little fat?"
Li's face turns pale.
"Revoking your testimony is a bad habit. Tell me, did the

shadow look like what you said?"
Lin slams on the desk and shouts, "say it!"
"Yes... so what!?" Li erupts.
"Oh, a little short, a little fat." Zhao sluggishly repeats, and

crosses his arms on the desk, "then was it male or female, young
or old?"
Everyone here except Li knows what the hungry ghost looked

like... there is no telling whether it was male, female, young or old; it
was a bony monster with a giant stomach, scythe hands, and as tall
as two humans.
Everyone is staring at Li with suspicion.
Li is terrified.
Zhao lowers his voice, and almost whispers, "I lied, human
memory is unreliable, and you could very possibly forget
about something if it frightened you; your brain might want
to protect you from fear and shut down the memory as a
defense mechanism. So what you said... could be just your
imagination."
Guo slow-wittedly realises that this really isn't just filing a case
report, it's a trial, and he has a bad feeling about it.
Li's face turns grey, with defeat.
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Zhao is no longer faking a smile, "now can you tell me, why did
you jump off the building this morning?"
Li's chest vigorously rises and falls.
"Did you think that if you kill yourself, then you will be
freed from this curse, and you will be forgiven?" Zhao laughs
coldly, "I'm not much older than you... many young kids like
you are not afraid of death, because they are too young to
comprehend it fully. Especially you, you're so... determined
and impulsive."
Li's voice weakens, "what.. what makes you say that? How do
you know I don't understand death? I know how it feels, I
have seen it! The heart stops, breathing stops, her body...
turns cold, becomes inhuman... and I can't find her, can't see
her anymore, can't..."
"Li Qian," Zhao interrupts, "you don't understand nor do you

fear death, but you fear separation, you couldn't accept your
grandma leaving you suddenly."
The interrogation room is incredibly quiet; Li's body shivers like a

fallen leaf caught in the wind.
Zhao continues, "the shadow you saw tailing the victim, was
it... old, wearing a thick cotton jacket, and a hairpin on her
head?"
Lin and Guo are astonished.
Li lets out a shrieking and abrupt screech; her face distorts into a
frightening expression.
Is she going crazy? Guo thinks; he doesn't understand the

situation. He glances at the boss, who is fumbling with his fingers,
looking like he really wants to smoke.
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Zhao takes out a photo; it's a photo of Li's grandma, who wears a
gentle smile on her face. Guo recognises her as the old lady who
pounced forward to protect Li from the hungry ghost.
Zhao sets the photo in front of Li, "this is Wang Yufen, born in
1940; she died last month, cause of death was an overdose of
drugs."
Li glares at the photo, her eyes almost popping out.
Zhao continues, "your grandma is your only family, so the

two of you must have been incredibly close... can you tell me
why are you so afraid of her after she died? What makes you
think she would hurt you?"
Li freezes into a statue.
Zhao's voice softens, "if you don't tell the truth, you won't get
the chance in the future, you will never be free for the rest of
your life; lies will always be lies, and they will haunt you
forever like a curse."
Someone else... said something similar to her today.
Li sluggishly raises her head.
Zhao leans forward, and looks her in the eyes, "the Sundial of
Reincarnation connected the souls of you and your grandma,
normally you would've died together, but you're still alive...
so your grandma must have died earlier than destined. I kept
thinking, what went wrong? Did the Hell Guards make a
mistake, or did someone trap her living soul?"
"But then I realise, I'm so stupid, there is another

possibility: the sundial could have disconnected from her.
And what that means is, the person who brought her back,
murdered her."
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The interrogation room is so quiet that a pin dropping on the floor
would be heard.
"She was suffering from dementia, so she must like to eat

candy like a child. Tell me, who put the blood-sugar-lowering
drugs in the candy box?"
Guo holds his breath.
He hears Li's coarse voice; she softly says, "it was me."
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The Special Investigations Unit is a covert organisation that no-one

ASIANOVEL VERSION: 3.11

More info and chapters: https://www.asianovel.com/series/guardian

Quality Checker: Krrizis

First Published on Wattpad, Edited and Reposted on Ainushi

It was wet and sticky.

Perhaps it was the wind, but there always seemed to be a shadow

At present, Guo Changcheng found himself entering No. 4 Bright

Unfortunately, Guo Changcheng failed to live up to any

Eventually, when his uncle was transferred to the Ministry of Public

And so Guo Changcheng thought that his future would consist of

“Comrade Guo Changcheng,

Congratulations! You have been recruited by our department.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you as our new

Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China

Special Investigations Unit

Normally, when someone sees such a strange reporting time, they

And so, he never made the phone call.

After a bit of thought, Guo Changcheng came up with the perfect

The courtyard was ﬂourishing with vegetation. There was a line of

Guo Changcheng took a deep breath and started to sweat

“I am reporting in as a new recruit, this is my notice

“What?” asked the bewildered, middle-aged man at the

He was screwed, how could he mess up a line as simple as that?

Guo Changcheng nodded in agreement, feeling relieved. He liked

Guo Changcheng tensed up in an instant, not feeling lucky in the

Guo Changcheng was particularly afraid of people with high status

Meeting the Chief? He’d rather meet ghosts.

Surprisingly, when the handsome man noticed that someone was

“Well, speak of the devil! Hey kid, go meet our Chief.”

“Hello, a warm welcome to you.” Zhao Yunlan eagerly

Half-paralyzed, Guo Changcheng tried to wipe oﬀ the sweat on his

Zhao Yunlan, letting out a very restrained laugh, naturally raised

Guo Changcheng nervously nodded.

No matter how desperately hurried Zhao Yunlan seemed to be a

“Sorry, I’m in a hurry. If there is anything you need, you

Since he was always terriﬁed of making direct eye contact, he

The oﬃce was full of busy people, it seemed to be a really hectic

It is only until this moment when Guo Changcheng ﬁnally realized

“No worries,” Old Wu explains, “you will mostly be working

Guo Changcheng was even more perplexed. What’s with that

Old Wu continued, “I usually work the night shift, another

Guo Changcheng shamefully admitted his rather disappointing and

“Well, you’re still a university graduate nonetheless! I like

What stuﬀ? Private school?

“Oh, we’re here!” Old Wu cheered.

Old Wu knocked on the door, “Little Wang, are you in? We

After a moment of silence, a very soft female voice replied, “I’m

What did he meant by… “can only do night shifts”?

Guo Changcheng felt increasingly uncomfortable, and another

Guo Changcheng clearly saw the uniformed worker swiftly gliding

He… he he he he he he he didn’t have any legs!!!

The door opened with a screeching squeak, and a young girl in a

A burst of chilling breeze came rushing out of the room. Guo

A second later, Guo Changcheng let out a croaking noise as though

An icy hand rested on Guo Changcheng’s shoulder, and Old Wu

‘Meeting the Chief? He’d rather meet ghosts.’

Perhaps this was karma paying back.

Two seconds later, Guo Changcheng passed out without a sound.

His frozen body lay straight on the ﬂoor.

His uncle really had found him a remarkable job.

Quality Checker: Krrizis