I awkwardly stood up, complaining, “Why didn’t you say so earlier? I almost uncovered it!”

The thin man chuckled apologetically.

I pulled out my phone to send a location, but there was no signal.

The thin man hurriedly took out his own phone and said, “Use mine. Your phone hasn’t been ‘sensitized’ yet; this area has been sealed off by our barrier.”

Phone, sensitized?!

I stared at the iPhone 7 he handed me, nearly popping my eyes out!

“You guys, you use phones in the underworld too?!” This completely shattered my worldview!

The thin man paused, then laughed, “I’m not a ghost, just a soul reaper making a living.”

He scribbled a talisman on the screen to unlock it, and I instantly saw a text message from 10086 on it, confirming he really was human.

Living people as soul reapers, that’s rare, isn’t it?

I called Song Wei and gave her the location. She quickly arrived, this time with a middle-aged man by her side, her father.

“Your brother might have encountered some bad people; he’s been robbed clean.” I realized that the soul reaper had disappeared at some point.

Jiang Qiyun stood far from me, not wanting to come near these “mortals.”

Song Wei’s dad thanked me profusely and urged me to head home quickly.

》》》

The next day, my local social media circle was flooded with a shocking news.

Last night, in an alley on Bar Street, a male corpse was discovered, bare from the waist down and pixelated. Later, a police notice announced that two more male corpses were found in the suburbs, similarly half-naked and mostly pixelated in the reports.

I had noodles in my mouth and forgot to chew; I had “coincidentally” seen all three bodies…

“Xiao Qiao!” My brother patted me.

I looked outside, and Officer Lu smiled at me.

I twisted my fingers nervously and said, “Officer Lu, I haven’t done anything wrong…”

Officer Lu smiled, “Don’t be so afraid of me, okay? Weren’t you the one who asked your brother to call the police yesterday? I’m just here to ask about the situation then.”

But I felt guilty. How could I explain always being at the scene?

Thankfully, there were street cameras that captured yesterday’s events, so Officer Lu didn’t trouble me. He smiled and said, “The girl you saw has been reported missing by her family for three days now, and we still haven’t found her.”

My heart raced. There must be something wrong with that girl!

The first time I saw her, she was shyly looking down, but how did she suddenly become such a libertine? Plus, that day after spending three hours in the hospital for a “ritual,” she seemed dazed and unsteady on her feet, and I watched her leave.

Most importantly, last night I personally heard and saw her interacting with several men, and afterward, all those men died!

When Jiang Qiyun showed up, I hurriedly reported everything to him, not omitting even the embarrassing details.

Jiang Qiyun quietly watched the street outside the window: “The underworld also can’t find out; all three victims had their souls extracted. Bai Wuchang went to check, and their three souls were completely drawn out, their seven spirits scattered.”

“Could it be the Ghost King’s doing?” I asked softly.

He scoffed, “Him? He barely escaped last time and is severely weakened. He’s probably struggling to survive in some ditch right now.”

“That… do you have any grudge with him? Why is he called the Ghost King? How many Ghost Kings are there in the underworld?”

Jiang Qiyun glanced at me and said lightly, “Evil spirits are cunning. They avoid the rules of the underworld to cultivate, and once powerful enough, they become demon gods and can control other spirits or even live people as their underlings. So, you need to be careful.”

“Oh.”

“The problem must be with that Maitreya Buddha statue.” Jiang Qiyun frowned, “Perhaps a Tantric monk released the ghost attached to the Maitreya Buddha, and it directly possessed that woman.”

I nodded eagerly, “Yes, yes, yes! I saw that girl, she could barely keep her legs together, her feet were wobbly, but she was still desperately seeking men! Her body couldn’t take much more!”

Jiang Qiyun looked at me with a complicated expression and said coldly, “I thought you were the only one so fragile, always crying out in pain.”

I…

I silently gritted my teeth.

This is simply impossible to communicate with!

That’s because your technique is bad and you’re insatiable! I’m just a normal person!

“Anyway, the seven days are up, and you’re no longer interested in me, so can you stop jabbing at me? I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment! You, Lord, can find some beautiful female ghosts to satisfy you, but you might need more than one, as I suspect one won’t be enough for you!” I angrily pulled the blanket over my head.

What a terrible ghost! After all he’s done, after sowing his seeds, he still complains I’m too delicate!

》》》

Our family has a tradition set by my great-grandfather: “Between yin and yang, the boundary is clear and must not be crossed; speak cautiously and mind your own business.”

Basically, everyone has their own karma to deal with. Our family might see more than others, but we can’t act like saviors and intervene. Matters of yin and yang should not be discussed with unrelated outsiders.

Like the case with the Maitreya Buddha; the Hou family believed in some sorcery, invited an authentic ritual, and that virgin was possessed by a ghost for money. She chose this, and the ghost in the yang realm harmed people and was ultimately annihilated—these were her choices.

Song Wei’s dad teaches calligraphy at a senior university, and her mom is a nurse. Her brother suddenly fell into a coma and the hospital couldn’t find anything wrong. She quietly told me, suspecting he might be possessed.

Knowing my dad was part of the Daoist association, she quietly asked me to check on her brother.

I don’t know much about Daoist techniques, but I should visit since her brother was ill. Her family lives in a new type of urban village, rows of newly built rental houses tightly packed, with gaps only a rat could squeeze through.

The moment I entered their house, I felt uncomfortable. It’s hard to describe—despite being a brand-new self-built house, it felt oppressive and stifling, making it hard to breathe.

“Xiao Qiao, what’s wrong?” Song Wei saw me standing still in the living room, “My brother’s and my room are on the second floor.”

“It’s nothing, I just feel a bit chesty.”

“Chesty?” She looked at me in confusion and teased, “I think it’s because your breasts are too heavy, making your shoulders hurt.”

—I sometimes really want to strangle her.

As soon as we entered her brother’s room, that oppressive feeling overwhelmed me. I saw her brother lying on the bed, his mother sleeping beside him.

“Mom, my classmate has come to see my brother.” Song Wei woke her mom, whose eyes were swollen from days of crying.

“Welcome to our home. Have dinner with us? I’ll go cook,” her mom said, rubbing her eyes and forcing a smile.

I quickly waved my hands to decline, not wanting to stay a minute longer in that house.

Song Wei’s brother lay motionless on the bed, perfectly still…