The little girl was still holding her stomach, but she buried her head even lower, with her forehead almost touching her knees. Her black hair fell down and was blown back and forth on the concrete floor by the breeze.
The security guard tightened his grip on the flashlight, feeling a little weird.
He swallowed and looked back at his boss at the end of the street.
Tang Siping had already realized that something was wrong, and he waved desperately at the security captain, constantly making mouth shapes as if calling him to come back.
The security guard misunderstood and thought the boss was asking him to continue, so he took a deep breath and boldly put his hand on the girl's shoulder, pinching her lightly with his fingers.
"Or are you feeling unwell and need me to take you to the hospital?"
The girl in the dress shuddered slightly, the bones in her body creaking, breaking and bending under the horrified gaze of the security guard.
The bones were staggered, supporting the thin skin, and the hair hanging on the ground was like algae carried by the sea water, twisting with vitality. They stretched on the ground, climbed, and purposefully went to the security guard's feet.
The security captain screamed "Ah!" and the flashlight rolled to the ground, casting a shadow.
The girl in the dress finally stood up from the ground. She slowly raised her head, and her abnormally large black pupils looked straight at the frightened Tang Siping.
Tang Siping was in a trance, his mind was filled with mist, blurring his thinking.
If the security guard hadn't rushed over and dragged him away, God knows what would have happened next.
After hearing this, Wu Weiwei couldn't help but mutter: "The security guard is too bold..."
"It means he has never done anything wrong and doesn't really believe in ghosts and gods." Chen Ling said, "Otherwise, why would he see a woman in white in the middle of the night and dare to approach her to ask if she was hungry?"
Tang Siping also said: "Our security captain is a retired soldier. He is a very upright person and does not believe in ghosts and gods. When I asked a master to exorcise the evil spirits, he said that ghosts and gods are fictitious and were made up to deceive people."
Thinking of the group of masters sitting in front of him, he hurriedly said, "Master Chen, I don't mean to offend you."
Chen Ling nodded, indicating that he had no misunderstanding.
He looked at Mrs. Tang, who had remained silent, and said, "Mrs. Tang, have you ever seen the female ghost that Mr. Tang mentioned before?"
"I know, but I haven't seen it." Mrs. Tang pursed her lips, frowned, and looked worried. "When Siping first told me about it, I didn't quite believe it. After all, we asked a master to take a look before we selected a site for the new planting area. But when the remains were dug out, I... I think there might really be something wrong with Sifang Mountain, but the master at the time didn't see it."
Li Hongyu wanted to say that there was no problem with his second master's ability. He opened his mouth, but he had no more powerful evidence to prove it, so he could only shut up.
Wu Weiwei saw that he looked uneasy, coughed lightly, and after a while of hesitation, he finally whispered to comfort him: "The truth will come out sooner or later."
Li Hongyu looked at him with a little surprise, nodded, and said "hmm" in a very light voice.
Wu Weiwei curled his lips.
"Mr. Tang, where is the dog that discovered the skeleton? Is it still there?" Chen Ling said as he looked around but found no trace of the dog.
Tang Siping said it was in the back garden, "Wait a moment, I'll go get it."
When he stood up and left his seat, he saw that the thin blanket on his wife's knees had slipped down a little, so he considerately pulled it up for her.
Chen Ling smiled and said, "Mrs. Tang and Mr. Tang have a really good relationship."
Hearing this, Jiang Yu glanced at the young man, staring at his face with an ambiguous look, tapping lightly on the armrest of the sofa with his slender fingertips, with some emotion flowing in his eyes.
Mrs. Tang tucked her hair behind her ears and said with the same smile, "Siping and I were high school classmates. After graduation, I went to college, and he didn't pass the entrance exam, so he took some money from his family to start his own business."
Recalling the past, Mrs. Tang's eyes were filled with warmth.
"He is an honest and hardworking man who can endure hardships. He earned his first pot of gold in his twenties." The woman's tone was full of pride. "Later, we met again at a class reunion and exchanged contact information. At the beginning, we just chatted occasionally like friends, and gradually, we chatted more and more frequently... It was a natural progression. On the day when we were in love for exactly five years, we went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get our marriage certificate."
Chen Ling praised: "On the homepage of Sifang Greening, there is Mr. Tang's entrepreneurial history. I have read it. He is really an excellent person."
Mrs. Tang smiled with her hands covering her mouth, looking happy.
"What are you talking about? You seem to be having such a good chat." Tang Siping's joking voice came, and a golden retriever came back with him.
The golden retriever was in his prime, with a pair of bright eyes. He was not afraid of strangers, wagging his tail and sniffing every guest. After sniffing each one, the golden retriever squatted on the ground and rested his chin on the hostess's thigh.
Mrs. Tang gently stroked its head and whispered, "Our Doudou loves to dig the soil. If you go to the small garden at the back, you will see small holes made by it everywhere."
Looking at the docile and quiet golden retriever, Chen Ling asked Tang Siping: "Does it like to bark?"
Tang Siping: "He doesn't like to bark, he just likes to sleep, especially at night. Once night falls, he hides in his kennel and won't come out."
"You heard the sound but didn't come out?" Chen Ling felt strange.
"If it doesn't come out, it's just a lazy pig." Mrs. Tang said, "It looks gentle, but it has a bad temper and is very stubborn. Unless it wants to, it's useless to call it."
Wu Weiwei: "This dog of yours is quite special."
"It's just that its temper is a bit strange." Mr. Tang changed the subject from the dog back to "Master Chen, aren't we going to perform a ritual? I see you don't seem to have brought anything. Do you need me to send someone to buy some things?"
"No need." Chen Ling had a talisman on him, and this one was enough.
Mr. Tang had seen a lot of formalism, and couldn't help but worry that this non-formalistic approach might be unreliable. Just as he was about to say a few more words, he suddenly heard the sound of sirens.
The flute sounds rapidly, coming from far away, suggesting that something is about to happen.
Tang Siping's heart suddenly started pounding. He stood up nervously, walked out of the house quickly, and walked around to the front of the office building.
The police cars turned into the asphalt road that connected Sifang Greenery to the outside world and stopped in front of the office building. Tang Siping recognized the person who got out of the first car. He was one of the police officers who came to deal with the situation when the remains were dug out.
The sound of his heartbeat was booming in his ears. Tang Siping swallowed nervously and walked forward quickly: "Officer Cao."
Officer Cao nodded and looked towards the group of people walking towards this side. Seeing that Li Hongyu was also there, he nodded slightly.
"Mr. Tang, there's a case on the mountain. Our car can't drive up, so we'll temporarily park it here with you." Officer Cao then led his colleagues who had gotten off the car to the mountain.
The person who reported the case was a college student who was camping overnight in the mountains.
Officer Cao led a group of police officers to climb to the top of the mountain as quickly as possible and found three tents.
There was no one in the two outermost tents, only two older boys were hiding in the inner tent. One of the boys was probably very anxious, and he had obviously cried, his eyes were swollen like peaches, and the other one was also very anxious, pulling his hair anxiously.
"It was you who called the police and reported that a classmate was missing in the mountains?" asked Officer Cao.
The boy who had his hair pulled suddenly came to his senses, stared at the uniformed policeman, then stood up in panic, bent over and got out of the tent.
"We called the police." The boy pointed to one of the red tents. "There were three of us camping, each in one tent. Last night around 3 o'clock, I heard a noise in the tent next to me, so I went out to take a look. My classmate said he was woken up by the urge to pee, so he went to find a place to relieve himself. He never came back since then."
The person next to Officer Cao wrote this down, looked up and asked, "How did you determine that he was missing? He hasn't come back since he went to the bathroom?"
"I am a light sleeper. If I wake up in the early morning, it is difficult for me to fall asleep again. After my classmate left, I tossed and turned in the tent and couldn't fall asleep, so I simply got up and read novels on my phone."
The boy recalled carefully and said, "At first I didn't realize he was missing. It was around five o'clock when my phone ran out of battery and I wanted to borrow his power bank, and then I realized he hadn't come back."
Sifang Mountain is an open scenic spot where people often come to camp and bring their tools to barbecue by the small river on the other side of the mountain.
This is the first time I have seen someone missing.
Officer Cao gave instructions and asked his colleagues to search separately.
In front of the Sifang Green Building, Chen Ling and others were standing with Tang Siping.
Ever since the police went up the mountain, Tang Siping has been very nervous and restless, pacing back and forth, occasionally showing a frightened expression, as if he already knew what had happened on the mountain.
Facing Tang Siping who was about to take a walk again, Chen Ling pressed his shoulders from behind and said, "Mr. Tang, calm down."
Tang Siping's teeth were chattering.
Chen Ling: "You look uneasy, why?"
Tang Siping opened his mouth, but before he could answer, he heard the young man ask again, "And when you announced that you wanted someone to exorcise the evil spirits, why did you add that the person performing the ritual must ensure that nothing bad happens in the future?"
Tang Siping didn't expect the young man to suddenly bring up the previous matter. He was stunned for a moment and said honestly: "Master Chen, I had no choice but to do this. I was scared."
"You talk, and we listen." My previous guess turned out to be correct. This person was hiding something.
Tang Siping said with a bitter face: "To tell you the truth, since I was still in the next city, I always felt that something was watching me. At home, in the office, even when I went to the toilet, I felt that there was something hidden around me."
Li Hongyu was angry: "Why didn't you tell me these things when my second master came to your place for feng shui? You didn't tell me when we received the police notice and rushed over two days ago."
"I..." Tang Siping was also puzzled, why didn't I say it before, "I don't know, maybe I forgot..."
Li Hongyu sneered and didn't believe him.
Wu Weiwei had the same attitude: "How could you forget such an important thing?"
Tang Siping said distressedly: "I really didn't mean to hide it. I don't know what happened to me at the beginning."
"Let's not talk about this topic for now." Chen Ling asked, "What happened after you came to Sifang Mountain?"
"It's been a while since I felt like I was being spied on... except a few days ago and last night." Tang Siping paused and took a deep breath. "I'm afraid the past will happen again, so I hope to find a powerful master to help me completely exorcise the evil spirits and prevent future troubles."
Chen Ling asked: "Does your wife know what happened in the next city?"
"I know." Mr. Tang was a little embarrassed. "My wife often comforted me. Later, when the company needed to expand the planting area, she said the air was better at the foot of Sifang Mountain, so she discussed with me that we might as well move the company here."
Chen Ling: "It was your wife who suggested relocating the company?"
"Not really. I had that idea originally." Mr. Tang said, and suddenly raised his eyes to look up the mountain. Two policemen flashed through the woods.
He asked worriedly, "What do you think they are looking for?"
"Looking for someone." Tang Siping, a person with a very low presence in the team, became aware of his existence because of these two words.
Tang Siping stared at the cold and elegant man in amazement, wondering in his heart, this man came in with Master Chen and the others, and although his appearance and aura were both outstanding, it was always easy for people to ignore his existence. It was like a person who could become invisible, and he would only show up when he wanted people to find him.
Tang Siping shuddered several times, inexplicably not daring to have a direct conversation with Jiang Yu. He twisted his neck stiffly and looked at Chen Ling, "Master Chen, what did this master just say?"
Jiang Yu's words were unclear, but Chen Ling could understand: "It means exactly what it says." He just didn't know whether the person the police found was dead or alive.
He took a step back, and his shoulder, which was a bit shorter than Jiang Yu's, just touched his arm. The thin fabric of the shirt transmitted his slightly cool body temperature to him.
"Have you noticed anything?" Although it was a question, Chen Ling was already sure in his heart that Jiang Yu must know something.
"There is an invisible blood mist lingering in the forest, which means someone died on the mountain, and died miserably."
Jiang Yu had no intention of concealing anything, and his cold voice was neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for everyone present to hear.
Tang Siping finally calmed down his emotions, but they surged again. "Has something happened again? Could it be that thing has followed me... But, why didn't anything happen to me in the past year?"
He looked at everyone present in panic, hoping to get the answer from their eyes.
Seeing that he was about to collapse, Chen Ling lowered the hand that was holding his shoulder and said, "Mr. Tang, calm down."
"I can't calm down!" Tang Siping was shaking all over. "If it really was that thing from before, why did he follow me so persistently? Did he want to kill me?!"
As if to echo his guess, a shrill scream erupted from Sifang Mountain.
The sound echoed in the mountains, startling a flock of birds.
Jiang Yu frowned, "It's a crow."
Crows are considered unlucky because they are scavengers, which further indicates that there is a dead body on the mountain.
The mountain had been cordoned off by the police, and no one could go up. Tang Siping felt his heart pounding, and was thinking about whether to ask his friends in the police station to help him find out the situation, when his hand hanging by his side was gently held by another soft, warm hand.
He shuddered and turned his head to look to the side. His wife had come out of the villa at some point.
Mrs. Tang held her husband's hand very close to hers. "Don't be afraid. Our company is at the foot of the mountain. Even if something happens on the mountain, it has nothing to do with you."
"I'm not worried about this. I'm worried that thing will follow me again." Whenever he thought of the feeling of being watched by dangerous eyes, he felt cold all over.
A breeze blew by, and Mrs. Tang coughed twice. Tang Siping quickly bent down and held her shoulders. "It's too sunny outside. Let me push you inside."
"Coming down." Chen Ling spoke suddenly, his eyes staring straight ahead.
The policemen who went up the mountain appeared on the mountainside with a thin, human-shaped object wrapped in cloth. With them were two young men who were supporting each other. Judging from their clothes, they should be students.
About twenty minutes later, the square canvas that was originally used for the picnic was placed on the scorching ground.
Officer Cao did not ask anyone to untie the things. He just asked Li Hongyu to step aside and said in a heavy and serious voice, "The deceased was a male junior student at Beicheng University. His death was tragic and similar to several cases in the neighboring city last year."
Li Hongyu understood immediately, "Are you talking about the cases of skinning and bone scraping?"
"Yes," said Officer Cao. "The student disappeared in the early morning. Now there is only a skeleton left. There is no flesh left on the bones, including brain and eyeballs. There are some faint tooth marks on the bones. Judging from the size of the tooth marks, it should not be a beast, but a human."
Li Hongyu made a prompt decision: "I'll call the Special Investigation Department."
After simple and effective communication, the Special Investigation Department took over the case from the police. Li Hongyu happened to be in Sifang Mountain, so he directly handed the case to a group.
When the camping students heard the police say they were leaving, they excitedly grabbed Officer Cao's clothes and asked, "What will happen to my classmates if the police leave? Have you confirmed that the body is his? What about the murderer? The murderer hasn't been caught yet!"
"This case has been transferred to another department." Officer Cao held the boy's arm and promised, "Don't worry, we will investigate the case thoroughly."
“But…” The boy was about to say something when his classmate pulled his shirt.
The classmate's eyelids were still red. He leaned close to his ear and said in a hoarse voice, "That bone is Xiaodong's. He told me that he had a steel nail in his right calf."
When the police discovered the human bones, he happened to be looking for them. He was so scared when he saw the bones with the skin and flesh peeled off that his heart almost stopped beating. Then he found the silver steel needle shining in the sunlight on the red bones.
“If it was really Xiaodong, who could quietly remove his skin and flesh…” The boy couldn’t continue. The bloody scene made him feel sick.
Classmate: "Maybe it wasn't done by humans?"
The boy opened his eyes wide in horror and turned back to look at the human bones lying on the ground. Fear gripped his mind, urging him to leave as quickly as possible.
Soon, Officer Cao left with his colleagues and two camping students, leaving behind a fresh skeleton on the ground.
Li Hongyu turned around and said to Chen Ling: "My brothers will be here soon. This case may be related to other cases and is very dangerous. Are you sure you want to participate?"
Tang Siping did not trust Li Hongyu's so-called senior brother, and hurriedly said: "Master Chen, you must not leave. Who knows if those people have real skills?"
Fearing that people would not agree, he raised the price, "I will double the reward. No, triple it."
"No, the previous price is suitable." Chen Ling looked at Li Hongyu, "Let's check it together, and we'll give you half of the money after we're done."
"How can I let you pay for this?" Although Tang Siping was not interested in the Qingxuan Temple where Li Hongyu was, he also knew that this matter was not ordinary. With two more people helping to investigate, the chances of solving the problem would be greater.
He said: "If this master and his senior brother can help me solve this problem, the reward should naturally be paid by me."
There are so many people in the Special Investigation Department, and everyone has to make money to support their families. Li Hongyu was not polite, "I will give you a detailed bill when the matter is over."
Tang Siping nodded, "Okay."
"Siping." Mrs. Tang said in a gentle voice, "Should we go in first? And what should we do with those wrapped human bones? Should we call the security guards to help?"
"Don't move it, leave it here, I want to take another look." After saying this, Chen Ling walked towards the square piece of floral cloth.
There was no blood on the floral cloth, which showed how cleanly the bones had been handled. He squatted down, stretched out two fingers and lifted the cloth little by little, revealing several toe bones.
The bones were white and stained with blood that had long since dried.
He pulled out a yellow talisman paper from his bag and whispered, "Within the Three Realms, including the six directions, all living things are born and bred. Demons and ghosts, quickly escape, as ordered!"
The talisman paper flashed with golden light and was stuck on his toe bone.
The tips of the toes quickly turned black, light smoke rose, and a strange smell was emitted, which was neither smelly nor fragrant, and was a bit similar to the smell of mold.
Wu Weiwei also squatted over, stared at the talisman paper carefully for a moment, and asked in a low voice: "Is it a talisman to ward off evil spirits?"
"Hmm." Chen Ling used it for the first time and didn't know what it meant that the toe bones turned black, smoked, and emitted a strange smell.
He didn't stand up, but just looked up at Jiang Yu, "Do you think the talisman paper worked?"
"It's risen, but not big." Jiang Yu moved his fingertips and reached out to lift the young man's bangs that were wet with sweat and stuck to his forehead.
Chen Ling was stunned for a moment, his heart stopped beating for a moment and then started beating even more violently.
He pursed his lips, lowered his head and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, perfectly concealing the shyness that was rising in his heart.
"So it's really the spirits that are killing people?"
"Yeah." Jiang Yu glanced at the tip of the young man's ear which was covered with a thin layer of red, and couldn't help twisting his fingers.
He squatted down, with his beautifully shaped arm resting on his higher knee. "But it's not an ordinary monster. Li Hongyu is right. This time, things might be dangerous."
None of the masters left. After Tang Siping sent his wife back to the villa, he ran out again.
He didn't dare to get closer. He stood at the back, braving the sun and listening to the people in front talk.
The more he listened, the more frightened he became. Finally, he could no longer bear it. He took two steps forward, trembling with fear as he squeezed his hands, and begged, "Master Chen, why don't we stay at Sifang Mountain tonight? I'm afraid that thing will come out and scare people again at night."
Chen Ling originally had this idea, but he still turned around and asked Jiang Yu for his opinion.
After hearing Jiang Yu say yes, he looked at Li Hongyu: "What about you?"
Li Hongyu: "I will stay with my senior brother."
Chen Ling nodded and finally looked at Wu Weiwei.
Noticing that the young man's eyes were not right, Wu Weiwei thought he was going to be driven away, so he raised his hand and said, "I can help you."
"Go back to Yuhe Mountain and bring Wong Tai Sin here."
"You mean, let it help find clues?" Wu Weiwei remembered that he had read in a book that there is some sense of connection between spirits and demons, and between demons and demons.
An animal like Wong Tai Sin, which has a keen sense of smell, will have its sense of smell magnified many times after becoming a spirit. With it, you may be able to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Knowing that he could help, Wu Weiwei was very excited. Just as he was about to take out his cell phone to call a taxi, a key was thrown from the front and fell into his hand.
Jiang Yu: "Drive my car back."
The finance manager's car has high configuration. It looks like a sedan, but it is actually equipped with twelve cylinders. It can fly if driven at high speed.
Wu Weiwei was so excited that he held the key tightly and said, "I'll be back soon."
Tang Siping felt relieved knowing that everyone was going to stay, but then he remembered that he had no place to stay in his villa. "Master Chen, there aren't many rooms in my villa, and the only two empty rooms have been converted into a study and a rehabilitation room. If you don't mind, can you stay in the staff dormitory tonight?"
Chen Ling is not picky about this, "Sure, I can do anything."
Li Hongyu: "I agree with Mr. Chen."
Tang Siping's sad face showed a happy expression, "I'll send someone to clean it up right away."
Chen Ling suddenly remembered something and asked, "Is the dormitory a single room?"
"There are exactly three double rooms left, which should be enough for you guys." Tang Siping introduced, "And they don't have bunk beds, and they have their own bathrooms, so washing is very convenient."
Chen Ling was silent for a moment, then asked Li Hongyu: "How many brothers are coming?"
"two."
The two senior brothers must live together, so the only ones left are him, Li Hongyu, Wu Weiwei, and Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu, who had a cellar of aged vinegar, would definitely not let him live with Li Hongyu or Wu Weiwei.
Chen Ling looked at Jiang Yu and said, "How about we stay together tonight?"
Jiang Yu raised the corners of his lips, his eyes flickering, "Okay."
Laugh, laugh, what's so funny
Chen Ling turned his face away uncomfortably, and in a flash, his eyes turned back to the man's face uncontrollably... Apart from anything else, the old man was really good-looking when he smiled.