Li Hongyu's two senior brothers, one fat and one thin, were about thirty years old. They were dressed the same as Li Hongyu, wearing a black suit with a white shirt, which should be work clothes.
Chen Ling nodded to his two senior brothers and briefly introduced the people on his side.
The two brothers looked serious and didn't seem to want to say much, but Chen Ling could feel that they were very concerned about Jiang Yu.
From the moment the two of them got off the car until now, he has been secretly observing them without anyone noticing.
Wu Weiwei frowned and whispered, "Brother Chen, why are these two always staring at Brother Jiang? Their eyes are too obvious."
"Your brother Jiang has a good temperament." Chen Ling knew that Li Hongyu must have asked his master or the special investigation department about Jiang Yu and found nothing.
The two people who came today, in addition to helping, probably also want to find out more about the ancestor's background.
The fat and thin senior brother realized that his gaze was too exposed, so he simply stopped pretending and asked openly, "I think Mr. Jiang has a face that shows he is a blessed and lucky person. He has an aura that is different from that of ordinary people. May I ask, Mr. Jiang, is he really just the financial manager of Yuheshan?"
Jiang Yu: "Is it related to you?"
"That's not the case..." Senior Brother Shou sensed that the other party was unhappy, and still asked with a shameless face, "I just heard Hongyu mention that Mr. Jiang knew a thing or two about demons, evil spirits, and yin and yang, and I thought you were also a cultivator."
The fat senior brother agreed: "My junior brother has no intention of offending you, I just want to say that if Mr. Jiang is interested, you might as well come to our Special Investigation Department. The Special Investigation Department is full of people of the same path, which is more beneficial to your cultivation."
"It's not good for you two to poach people in front of us." Wu Weiwei stood up and glared at them angrily.
Chen Ling was even angrier than him. His cheeks were puffed up by the anger in his chest, and he spoke without thinking, "Jiang Yu is a member of Yuhe Mountain when he is alive, and a ghost of Yuhe Mountain when he dies. Brothers, you should give up this idea."
Wu Weiwei gave a thumbs up: "Brother Chen, what you said is very domineering."
It was too late to take back his words. Jiang Yu moved his feet slightly and most of his body stood behind Chen Ling.
He leaned forward slightly, his chin almost resting on the young man's shoulder, not shying away from the fact that there were other people present at the moment, and asked in an ambiguous tone, "I didn't expect you to be so possessive of me. I'm very happy."
It was as if an invisible feather was gently brushing against my ears, and the tingling sensation spread along the auricle, down the side of my neck to my chest as if deliberately torturing me.
Chen Ling clenched his fists and took a step forward. He frowned and glared at the man, "Can you be honest?"
His tone was serious and his voice was deep, as if he was lecturing someone.
Jiang Yu's slightly raised lips fell back, "Yes."
Wu Weiwei: “…” Brother Chen is a little scary except when he is fighting ghosts. He is not that scary when he occasionally looks fierce. Why is Brother Jiang so obedient
The fat and thin senior brothers were knowledgeable and experienced. Without the other party saying more, they had already realized that Jiang Yu would stay in Yuhe Mountain, probably not for the so-called fixed salary, but for the people.
Li Hongyu didn't understand why, he just thought Chen Ling and Jiang Yu were as close as brothers.
He was somewhat dissatisfied with the two brothers' poaching behavior, and turned to apologize to Chen Ling, "I'm sorry, Mr. Chen, although my brothers are in the Special Investigation Division Group 1 and are operational personnel, they are responsible for recruitment and promotion in Qingxuan Temple. It's a professional disease for them to be eager to recruit talents and poach outstanding people when they see them. I don't mean to offend you."
The fat and thin senior brother was exposed by the junior brother. He felt a little ashamed and embarrassed and complained a few words in a low voice, basically thinking that the junior brother was too disrespectful to him.
Li Hongyu ignored this and pointed to the human bones still lying on the ground, "Have you seen them?"
"No, no, let's go and see now." The fat senior brother pulled the thin junior brother to the square floral cloth and directly lifted up the skull to observe. The two had experienced many storms and waves, and apart from feeling blood, they had no other repulsion.
So after re-examining the skull, they checked every remaining bone again, and "it is indeed the same modus operandi as in several cases last year."
Chen Ling asked Li Hongyu: "Can you tell me in detail what happened last year?"
"Okay." Li Hongyu put his hands behind his back, his expression heavy. "The first incident happened in Suishan, Xiushui City next door. It was similar to this time. A college student went camping in the mountains and disappeared. The bones that were found were eaten. The second incident happened in a shopping mall in the city. The victim was a warehouse manager in the mall. He was a man. He was found in a box almost ten days after his death. Because of the hot weather, the remaining flesh and blood on the bones rotted and maggots grew. There is also a third incident..."
There were six skinning and boning cases in Xiushui City, all with the same method of death. No one could tell who the victims had seen before they died, when they were killed, or when they disappeared, including the cameras everywhere, which were called "eyes in the sky".
Chen Ling: "Except for evil spirits, ordinary people cannot do such brutal things quietly."
"Since so many people died, why haven't we heard about it?" Wu Weiwei asked puzzledly.
"Because it involves ghosts and monsters, in order to avoid causing social panic, the local government blocked the news." Li Hongyu pinched his eyebrows as if he had a headache, "I didn't expect that thing to run to North City."
Chen Ling: "You didn't have any clues at the beginning?"
"Yes." The Special Investigation Department investigated for two months and gained very little. Li Hongyu said awkwardly, "That thing hides during the day and comes out at night, mostly committing crimes in the early morning. It has no specific target for prey, and can eat both men and women, but they must be young. The six people who were eaten before were all between the ages of 24 and 28, which can be said to be the age group with the most vigorous energy of humans."
"Hidden during the day and active at night?" A piece of information flashed through Chen Ling's mind, but it flashed too fast for him to catch it.
He shook his head, unable to make any more sense for a moment.
Thinking that everyone would be staying in the staff dormitory tonight, he suggested, "There are exactly six of us, two people in each room. When it's time to sleep at night, everyone will take turns to rest, and make sure there is one awake person in each room."
Li Hongyu nodded, "If there is any noise, go out and check immediately."
Chen Ling said: "The female ghost in white that the security guard saw before should be the man-eating monster. There are obviously more people in the city, but it chose to attack Sifang Mountain, which is far away from the city center. If there is no prey here that it has set its eyes on, then it must be hiding in the territory of Sifang Mountain."
Wu Weiwei asked curiously, "Brother Chen, which possibility do you prefer?"
"The latter," Chen Ling explained. "Mr. Tang had seen the female ghost in white before last night, which means that thing has been guarding Sifang Mountain for more than one or two days. But apart from the fresh bones that appeared this morning, no other murders have occurred in Sifang Mountain."
"You mean, if it was the former, it should have taken action long ago." Wu Weiwei said.
"Yeah, that's what I think." Chen Ling remembered the talisman for warding off evil spirits that he had attached to his toe bones.
The talisman was originally used to deal with rats and snakes. After the passage of time and continuous blessing, it gradually evolved into today's talisman that can eliminate all evil spirits. If it is attached to an evil spirit, it can make it show its true form; if it is attached to the victim, some things related to the spirit's true form will also appear.
But when he pasted the talisman paper on it, only a little smoke came out.
But our ancestors clearly said that the talisman paper did work.
Chen Ling fell into a miasma, his thoughts were blocked by the haze on all sides, and he could not find a breakthrough for the time being.
"What are you thinking about?" Jiang Yu's voice was very close.
Chen Ling came back to his senses and honestly expressed his doubts, "Since the talisman paper has worked, why can't we identify the true form of the monster, Jiang Yu, I can't figure it out."
"There are countless things in the world. Only with opportunity and chance can they become spirits." Jiang Yu's hand went from the back to the front and grabbed the young man's chin.
He pointed to the woods not far away and said, "A leaf, a weed, a ladybug, flowing water, stones washed by the river... Don't limit your thinking to a certain world, you need to think outside of it. You don't have to be an independent plant or animal to become a spirit."
Chen Ling's heart was attracted by the old ancestor's words, and he completely forgot to avoid the other party's touch.
Jiang Yu openly rubbed the young man's chin with his fingertips a few times, his eyes slightly narrowed, fixed on the beautiful jawline that was so close to him.
Chen Ling stood still and muttered to himself, "So the smoke produced by the evil spirit talisman has a direction, but what is it?"
"No rush, think about it slowly." Jiang Yu loosened his hand and twisted his fingers a few times lovingly, the body temperature from the young man was still there.
Wu Weiwei suddenly asked: "Can the smoke prove that spirits are actually invisible?"
Smoke can gather and disperse, just like air. It can be squeezed into a container, or it can be diluted and released to diffuse in the vast sky and earth.
"Is it Xiao Yang?" A light bulb went off in Chen Ling's mind, and he became more certain of his guess.
His tone changed from hesitant to firm. "Xiaoyang was first recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Later, the Huainanzi described Xiaoyang as coming from the mountains and forests. So Xiaoyang got a new name, called mountain spirit. Mountain spirit, as the name suggests, is the gathering of the essence of spiritual energy in the mountains. It can be invisible or visible. When it is invisible, it travels through the mountains and forests. When it is visible, it has a dark and ugly face, long hair on its body, and a pair of heels. It smiles when it sees people. By the way, because of its negative appearance, it prefers to hide during the day and come out at night so that no one can see its appearance clearly."
Jiang Yu's hand fell on the young man's head, his fingertips inserted into his hair, rubbing it gently, as if rewarding the young man for answering the question correctly.
Chen Ling was so excited that he didn't care about the man's little trick. He stretched out his hand to block it. When he saw the other party put his hand back on his head, he just glared at him helplessly.
"If it is the mountain spirit Xiaoyang, then we can basically conclude that Sifang Mountain should be its current base."
"Sifang Mountain is so big, where can we find it?" Wu Weiwei said distressedly.
"You forgot that monsters can eat people to replenish their bodies." Li Hongyu's face was gloomy, which showed how difficult this case was. "It is very likely that after eating people, it will put on the skin and bones of living people and hide in the crowd."
"Doesn't that mean everyone here is a suspect? Tang Siping, Mrs. Tang, the employees of Sifang Greening, the security guards, the cleaning ladies... Sifang Greening has nearly a hundred employees. Do we have to check them one by one?" Wu Weiwei got a headache just thinking about the scenario.
"It's in human skin and looks just like a living person. We can't check it out at all." Chen Ling muttered, his expression stern, "Wu Weiwei, why are you still here? Go back and hug the weasel!"
"It's because everyone's analysis was so thrilling and exciting. I was so engrossed in listening that I forgot the important things." Wu Weiwei scratched the back of his head with a silly smile, turned around and ran, waving his arms twice in the air.
Tang Siping was unaware of what everyone outside had analyzed. He was anxiously answering and making phone calls in his study.
The remains dug out by the dog previously made everyone in Sifang Greening panic. Now, less than two days later, another incident happened... No one dared to stay in this kind of environment anymore.
In just half an hour, Tang Siping received countless calls saying he wanted to resign.
No matter how he persuaded them, the employees were unwilling to stay. In the end, Tang Siping had no choice but to cut his losses and promised that everyone's daily salary would be tripled until the truth was revealed.
Even with such big concessions, only a small number of people remained.
The door of the study was gently pushed open, and Mrs. Tang came in pushing a wheelchair with a round tray on her knees, with a cup of chrysanthemum tea on the tray.
"I know you are upset about the company's affairs, but you should also take care of your health." Mrs. Tang put the chrysanthemum tea on the desk, pinched the small spoon with her white fingers and stirred it so that the rock sugar inside could melt quickly.
"More than 60 people resigned from the company at once. No matter how much threats or inducements were used, they refused to stay." Tang Siping was worried. The discovery of the first skeleton in Sifang Mountain was on the news, and now so many people resigned at once.
Truth will come to light sooner or later. The outside world will know that Sifang Mountain is haunted. By then, who would dare to come here for a job interview!
"After a long time, everyone will forget about this matter. If it doesn't work, we can move to another place." Mrs. Tang was very understanding. She pushed the wheelchair to Tang Siping, and gently placed her white fingers on her husband's thighs, kneading and pounding him.
Tang Siping calmed down a little under his wife's gentle comfort. He sighed long and expectedly, "I hope Master Chen and the others can catch that thing. Otherwise, I won't feel at ease even if we move it to another place."
"I will. I think Master Chen is very capable." Mrs. Tang massaged her husband for a few times, then seemed tired. She pinched her fingers and smiled, "I'll go out first."
Tang Siping stood up and said, "Let's go. I have to go downstairs to greet the guests."
He walked forward, grasped the horizontal handle on the back of the wheelchair with both hands, and pushed his wife out. When they were about to leave the corridor completely, there was a "dong, dong, dong, dong" sound suddenly coming from the room at the end.
"He's sick again?" Tang Siping was extremely tired.
"I just checked before entering the study." Mrs. Tang patted the back of her husband's hand and said softly, "I'll go check it out again. You go downstairs to greet Master Chen and the others."
Tang Siping nodded, turned and went downstairs.
After her husband left, Mrs. Tang pushed the wheelchair to the end of the corridor. She looked gentle and happy. In the quiet corridor, the sudden noise had disappeared, leaving only the occasional creaking sound of the wheelchair passing over the floor.
The sound came from the last room at the end of the corridor. Hanging on the door handle was a cute stuffed toy, a pink bunny with red eyes.
Mrs. Tang held the handle and turned it slowly and gradually.
"Click", the door opened and a gap was opened by a finger.
The gap continued to grow larger, and light shone in, creating a strip of light on the floor in the dark room.
Mrs. Tang stopped at the door and said, "Baby, what's wrong with you? Are you awake? Do you want someone to play with you?"
A sob was heard in the room, followed by deathly silence.
Not getting the answer she wanted, Mrs. Tang lowered her eyes in disappointment, her voice still gentle, "Okay, then you stay upstairs obediently. There is a stranger downstairs, you hide well and don't come out, otherwise you will be scared again."
Downstairs, Tang Siping personally brewed a pot of new tea for everyone.
Everything on Sifang Mountain could be Xiao Yang's disguise, so Chen Ling was reserved when he said the result of his previous reasoning, "Mr. Tang, the monster may have transformed into a human and disguised himself among us. If possible, I hope you would keep all the employees in the company to prevent the monster from escaping."
"You said that thing can turn into a human?!" Tang Siping exclaimed, his voice so loud that it echoed throughout the entire villa.
Chen Ling was not afraid of scaring people, "That's right. If it becomes your employee and sneaks into the team leaving Sifang Mountain, it will be difficult for us to catch it again."
"But, but just now many employees called to say they want to resign, and I approved them all. What should I do now?" Tang Siping was so anxious that he was sweating all over. He took out his cell phone but didn't know who to call, and even if the call went through, he didn't know what to say.
Chen Ling didn't know what to do and looked at Li Hongyu inquiringly.
Li Hongyu thought for a moment and suggested, "Just say we're holding a farewell party."
Tang Siping immediately did as he was told and called the Propaganda Department and the Human Resources Department respectively, saying that in consideration of everyone's many years of cooperation, they should get together one last time and there would be a lucky draw. In addition to settling the wages, they would also be given a severance pay.
There doesn't seem to be much difference between leaving a day earlier or a day later.
After the notice was sent out, those who were clamoring to leave stopped and planned to draw the prizes, get their severance pay, and then leave early the next morning.
Sifangshan is not close to the city center. For the sake of convenience, even employees with local household registration are reluctant to go back and all live in staff dormitories.
At seven o'clock in the evening, everyone gathered in the cafeteria.
The cafeteria was decorated by the Human Resources Department and the Publicity Department, with colorful ribbons and balloons hanging everywhere. A small stage was temporarily set up in the front with a red lottery box on it.
When Chen Ling and his group followed Tang Siping to the cafeteria, it was already full, with four people sitting neatly at each rectangular table.
When seeing Tang Siping, someone shouted "Hello, Mr. Tang", which was like a slogan. As soon as the voice fell, thunderous applause broke out.
Whenever Tang Siping thought about the possibility of a man-eating monster sitting below him, his legs would tremble and his shirt would be soaked with sweat.
He swallowed and opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound, so he swallowed a few more times, "Master Chen, you said that thing won't kill people on the spot, right?"
"No." Chen Ling glanced around and asked in confusion, "Isn't Mrs. Tang coming?"
"I'm here, still getting dressed." Thinking of his wife's pretty face, Tang Siping's eyes darkened a little, "Mr. Chen, I don't think I told you that my wife's legs became like this because of a car accident, right?"
Chen Ling said no.
Tang Siping: "It's been several years since the accident, but she still can't get over the trauma. In fact, according to the orthopedic surgeon, her legs should have healed a long time ago, but she just can't stand up."
"Why?" Chen Ling looked curious.
"They say it's a psychological problem. But I took her to see a psychiatrist, but it didn't work." Tang Siping pleaded, "I heard there are magic spells that can cure diseases. Master Chen, if you know how, can you help my wife with it?"
Chen Ling smiled and said, "Mrs. Tang's mental illness may not be easy to cure. She can't rely on others but herself."
"In fact, the psychologist said the same thing. No matter how outsiders help, it's useless. The most important thing is for her to get over it herself." Tang Siping sighed, showing an earnest look, and whispered, "Then Master Chen, can you cure the soul separation syndrome?"
Soul-separation syndrome is when the three souls and seven spirits are always separated from the physical body and wandering outside. It is caused by the body being too weak and the yang energy being unable to suppress the yin energy.
Chen Ling frowned, "Who has soul separation syndrome?"
"It's my adopted child." Tang Siping and his wife had no children, so they adopted a boy from an orphanage three years ago. The boy had already developed this disease before they moved to Siping Mountain from the neighboring city.
Tang Siping, a Taoist priest, was invited to treat the child, but it was useless; he tried traditional Chinese medicine treatment, but with little effect; when Mrs. Tang saw a psychologist, he brought the child along, and the doctor sighed and shook his head, judging that the child was autistic.
"Mr. Tang, why haven't I heard you talk about the child before?"
"The child is timid and can't stand strangers. His emotions get out of control easily, so I asked my wife to put him in the room." Tang Siping led Chen Ling and others to a specially placed round table. "I thought we wouldn't be able to meet, so I simply didn't say anything."
The Tang family has indeed been through many disasters. Chen Ling said, "Let's find a chance to meet them first."
The clothes on the back were gently pulled. When I turned around, it was Wu Weiwei.
He was holding a schoolbag in his arms, and inside the schoolbag was a weasel curled up in a ball, listening to the outside sounds with its ears perked up.
After Chen Ling and the others left the villa with Tang Siping, Wu Weiwei asked to stay in the villa to rest, citing a headache. Except for the aunt who was busy in the kitchen stewing bird's nest for the hostess, he was the only one on the first floor.
When no one was around, he let the weasel out.
Wong Tai Sin knew what he was going to do, so he ran away as soon as he landed and didn't come back until more than half an hour later.
It was a little mute and had difficulty communicating with humans. Wu Weiwei was afraid of being discovered by the hostess and aunt at home, so he grabbed the weasel and stuffed it into his schoolbag without delay and went to the cafeteria.
Tang Siping and Mrs. Tang had a very close relationship, so Chen Ling couldn't ask in front of him, "Mr. Tang, I need to go to the bathroom."
Wu Weiwei said very understandingly, "That's great. I want to go too."
The bathroom near the cafeteria had poor sound insulation and many people came and went. The two passed by the bathroom door, went to the stairwell, and sat on the stairs with their backs to the door.
Wu Weiwei unzipped his pants, and the suffocating weasel immediately poked its head out, leaped out like lightning, and jumped onto Chen Ling's knees.
Chen Ling stroked its fur and asked, "Did you find anything in the Tang family's villa?"
The weasel shook his head, then nodded.
Chen Ling looked at Wu Weiwei blankly and asked, "What do you mean?"
Wong Tai Sin's nose twitched, he opened his mouth but no sound came out, he was so anxious that he held his head and turned around.
Chen Ling was dazzled by its spinning, so he held its head and ordered it to stop. "As usual, I ask you questions and you answer them. If yes, nod your head, if no, shake your head."
The little weasel nodded vigorously.
Chen Ling: "Have you seen Mrs. Tang?"
The little weasel twitched its whiskers to indicate that it had seen it.
Chen Ling: "Does Mrs. Tang smell familiar to you?"
The weasel opened its dark little eyes and shook its head.
Chen Ling asked again: "Does Mrs. Tang have the smell that you are afraid of?"
The weasel shook his head.
"Is that the nasty smell?"
The weasel nodded frantically.
"What does it smell like?"
The weasel tilted its head, looked at Chen Ling, then turned to look at Wu Weiwei, then waved its claws in the air, covered its nose, closed its eyes and fell on its back.
Chen Ling: "Perfume, lime, incense?"
These things all have pungent smells and are often used to drive away rats. Although Wong Tai Sin is not a rat, they have a keen sense of smell and their first reaction when encountering these smells is to avoid them.
The little weasel's black eyes sparkled, and he nodded again and again as the young man finished his speech.
"We've been discovered." Chen Ling suddenly fell silent, his eyes focused on the stairs below, and it was unknown what he was thinking.
"You mean, she deliberately left the scent of incense on her body?" Wu Weiwei was a little nervous. "Brother Chen, did you let me stay in the villa because you already suspected Mrs. Tang?"
"Yeah." Chen Ling raised his eyes, "Didn't you notice that Mrs. Tang was very calm from beginning to end. She just frowned when she saw the bones, and didn't show the fear that a normal person would have."
"Then why did you ask Mr. Tang to hold a farewell party instead of just arresting Mrs. Tang?"
"Because I wasn't sure at first. Even if we were sure, Mr. Tang probably wouldn't believe us and would make Mrs. Tang more alert." Chen Ling pressed his brows in annoyance. "The most important thing is, don't forget that she is very likely Xiao Yang. She is the gathering of mountain essence and can turn from tangible to intangible. It's too easy for her to escape."
Wu Weiwei asked worriedly, "What should we do then?"
"We'll take it one step at a time." Chen Ling stood up and patted the dust off his butt, "Let's go back."
Wu Weiwei still had doubts in his mind, so he followed closely and asked, "When did the mountain spirit eat Mrs. Tang?"
"I guess it was after the car accident." Chen Ling held the door of the emergency passage and exerted a little force. "After the car accident, Mrs. Tang was unable to stand or walk. This gave Xiao Yang the opportunity to do evil. It was also a perfect disguise."
Wu Weiwei thought about it and said, "Reverse heel?!"
"Yes, the toes are at the back and the heels are in front, so Xiaoyang walks backwards. But if he sits in a wheelchair, walking backwards is no longer a problem." Chen Ling's hand holding the door handle suddenly loosened and made a gesture to keep quiet.
Wu Weiwei: "How..."
The little weasel jumped up swiftly and blocked his mouth with his little paws.
Chen Ling whispered, "Someone is coming."