Just kidding—he was only acting out of consideration for Gao Gusheng, since he was little Gao Shi’s son after all. It absolutely wasn’t because of Flowing Water Pavilion, much less because of those two proctologists.
The cost of last time’s hot pot was Kongmiao sitting on the toilet for a whole day with his phone playing “Chrysanthemums Bloom All Over the Mountain” on loop.
Regarding this, while calling doctors, Gao Shi was extremely curious, “Why is it that even though you’re a cultivator, you still can’t withstand the destructive power of a mere hot pot meal? Isn’t it said that Daoists use qi to refine the body?”
To this, Kongmiao roared: Refining the body is refining the body—who the hell cultivates such places in their spare time!
Kongmiao didn’t pack much. After going out, he wanted to hail a taxi but saw that no cars came for a long time. He wanted to use an earth-shrinking talisman on himself but discovered he’d forgotten to bring them when coming down from the mountain. Finally, he simply slapped a lightness talisman on himself and ran toward Beijing University.
After Gao Shi convinced Kongmiao, his heart finally settled. With so many protective charms plus Kongmiao’s protection, even if that inscrutable Celestial Master from the dreams came, he’d have to fight with Gao Gusheng for quite a while.
Immediately, they split into two groups—one heading to the Wu family to investigate their situation, while the other followed Liao Zitu.
Though Ran Qiu had one lame leg propped up, he operated three machines simultaneously, monitoring movements from three parties. The third party was the surveillance in Wen Liang’s room.
Wen Liang had finally awakened from sleep.
His condition still wasn’t very good, looking somewhat dazed.
After he got up, personnel quickly arrived to take his temperature and supervise him taking fever medicine.
Wen Liang moved around in the room to stretch his muscles, a thin layer of sweat appearing on his forehead, then went to drink water.
When he picked up the cup, his hand seemed somewhat weak and trembled slightly. He pressed his temples, hurriedly drank the water, then lay back on the bed, as if unable to bear the fatigue.
Currently, there seemed to be nothing unusual. Ran Qiu’s gaze moved away from Wen Liang’s screen and fell on the people heading to the Wu family.
Behind these two teams flew bee-sized insect cameras.
Actually, the civilian cameras the Gao family showed everyone were outdated by countless generations.
The Gao family’s truly cutting-edge technology was these insect cameras, exclusively for national use.
These cameras were like real insects—inconspicuous, solar-powered, with up to forty-eight hours of battery life.
Even in strong winds, they could guarantee clear and stable footage.
Just like the Wu family footage in the lens now.
The spirit police going to the Wu family was Feiyu.
When considering which anomaly police to assign as backup, Huang Shan had voluntarily stepped forward to request following along.
Everyone could see that there was probably some history between Huang Shan and Feiyu.
Gao Shi couldn’t let personal feelings affect mission progress. Originally, he wanted to send Zhuang Xiuxiu and Chang Yang to follow, but after Huang Shan said something to Gao Shi, he thought it over and agreed.
After the two teams met, clearly Feiyu still remembered this middle-aged man who wanted to “get his attention.”
Upon seeing Huang Shan, Feiyu snorted through his nose, looking quite punchable.
Compared to Feiyu’s hostile attitude from the moment they met, Huang Shan appeared very composed, just like every time he cooperated with spirit police—steady and calm, almost like a different person from the previously flustered Huang Shan.
Instead, it was Feiyu who, after looking surprised for a few moments, finally put away his arrogant, disdainful attitude.
From the footage, they could see they had now arrived at the Wu family.
The Wu family members had already been taken for questioning, obviously without revealing anything crime-related. Though Zhou Yun’s actions before falling looked quite strange, everyone could see there was no external force around her—she had jumped completely on her own.
The Wu family knew this too. Their cooperation was excellent, yet nothing useful had been extracted. Everyone’s stories were so consistent it made police suspect they had rehearsed their statements.
“What’s going on? Why do I feel the Wu family estate is so eerie?”
Chang Yang rubbed the goosebumps on his arms.
Chang Yang’s body temperature was higher than normal, making summers difficult, so he usually wore specially made clothes from the research department.
But upon seeing this mansion, he understood the meaning of “bone-chilling cold” for the first time in his life.
Cold.
Pervasive coldness drilling through his skin into his marrow.
Huang Shan also felt uncomfortable. He looked at Feiyu, whose pupils trembled slightly as he scanned the entire estate but saw nothing unusual.
He shook his head, “Let’s go.”
The group was led into the mansion.
The Wu family patriarch stood in the hall leaning on his cane, looking at the three arrivals.
“Hello, officers.”
Truly worthy of being an old man Lele had commented as being “vigorous despite his age”—besides being wealthy, his personal condition was quite excellent.
Though over seventy, his hair was surprisingly thick, making many young people feel inferior. He even had quite a bit of black hair, making him look much younger than his actual age.
Though his back was slightly hunched, this small flaw was overshadowed by his other qualities. His facial features were strong, and despite his age, you could still see his youthful handsomeness.
Chang Yang muttered inwardly: This old man looks quite different—did he look this young and handsome in the photos before?
The moment this thought flashed through his mind, he faintly heard children’s laughter and footsteps, as if someone was running from one end of the corridor to the other.
Hm? The Wu family’s direct line shouldn’t have children this age. Could it be another newly brought-in illegitimate child?
After taking their seats, Feiyu got straight to the point and began questioning the Wu family.
Compared to Yin Ling and others who needed anomaly police assistance due to social anxiety, Feiyu’s need for assistance was mainly because he wasn’t good at communicating with people in normal tones. His high-and-mighty, punchable demeanor made Chang Yang worry he might get beaten up.
Fortunately, Huang Shan seemed to know his terrible temper, adding context before and after his words to significantly soften Feiyu’s aggressiveness.
Watching them work in harmony, Chang Yang felt a strange sensation—as if these two had known each other for years. Their cooperation was so seamless that he, Huang Shan’s old colleague, felt out of rhythm.
Perhaps Brother Huang really did know Feiyu before?
The questions were still the same old routine ones, and the answers yielded nothing particularly special.
“Zhou Yun? Yes, she was indeed a beautiful girl. I did truly care for her before. Her death does make me somewhat regretful, since she really did love me.”
“No no no, although I’m a womanizer, I’ve been very generous to every girl who’s been with me. I gave them substantial breakup fees.”
“Mm, did the previous two make a fuss? Oh, that was because they thought the breakup money I gave them wasn’t enough.”
“As for Zhou Yun, she truly loved me, but this suffocating kind of love was indeed more than I could bear.”
“Yes, I have many children, but Officer, you can see that none of these children amount to anything. The whole family still depends on these old bones of mine, so I want to have another son to cultivate.”
“A power struggle? Ha! As long as I’m alive, who dares to usurp power? My sons are all worthless, indulging in wine and women all day. They can’t even handle the simple task of having children properly. My grandchildren either die young or are miscarried, or they simply refuse to have any. So at my advanced age, I have to do it myself.”
“Do I prefer sons? Well, of course I do. I know we advocate gender equality now, but to be honest, I do prefer sons over daughters. Girls are too easily taken advantage of in business, and they’re soft-hearted. Compared to girls, a son better fits my idea of an heir.”
“As for our family’s daughters, they just need to dress up prettily and marry good husbands. With the Wu family backing them, their husbands wouldn’t dare treat them badly.”
When he said this, Chang Yang heard an angry scream—a little girl’s voice.
He instinctively turned to look back and found that both Feiyu and Huang Shan were frowning and looking around.
Huang Shan frowned disapprovingly at the old man, “Mr. Wu, I remember you have a four or five-year-old granddaughter? I also have a girl at home. When there are children in the house, it’s better not to say such things in front of them.”
The old man waved his hand dismissively, “They can’t hear.”
Footsteps came “tap tap” running from the distance toward them—clearly a child’s footsteps, very hurried and light.
Like echoing in an empty corridor, with reverberations.
Above their heads came “thump thump” sounds from the floor—there must be mischievous children playing with balls.
Huang Shan emphasized again, “With so many children brought into your house now, I think it’s better to watch your words.”
“Children…”
Old Wu was scalded by spilled tea water on the back of his hand and softly hissed.
“Sorry for the embarrassment.” He took a deep breath, then smiled, “Alright, Officer. I know if you have a daughter at home, you probably can’t stand hearing such things. I understand. I won’t say these things in front of children anymore. Actually, I treat girls quite well too. At least living in my house, they can enjoy wealth and luxury that they could never get in ordinary families their entire lives.”
“The Wu family will protect them well—after all, they’re my children too.”
The children hiding in the shadows stopped their screaming and finally seemed satisfied, letting out “giggling” laughter.
As the girl’s laughter rang out, the other children were infected too, and laughter rose and fell—their voices tender and young.
Listening carefully, these children seemed to be of different ages. Some sounded extremely young, as if just born, while others sounded four or five years old.
The Wu house was very spacious, and their laughter echoed throughout this empty Wu family mansion. For some reason, the innocent laughter of children now sounded somewhat eerie.
Wooden board creaks arose, accompanied by light, soft “rustling” sounds.
Chang Yang and Huang Shan felt the strangeness in their hearts growing heavier. They looked at Feiyu, but he was only frowning slightly, having discovered nothing unusual.
Old Wu’s tea was finally ready. He poured clear, transparent tea for the three men. It looked quite beautiful in the cups, bringing some vitality to the gloomy Wu family estate.
Chang Yang praised, “This tea is quite good.”
He didn’t know what kind of tea it was—clear and bright, held in the cup like a green gemstone, emitting the fresh fragrance of tea leaves, making people eager to taste it.
The Wu family patriarch lowered his head for a sip and smiled, “This is this year’s new tea. You officers must be somewhat thirsty after so long. Please!”
With that, he took another sip.
Chang Yang was about to pick up his teacup when he noticed Old Wu’s gaze casually glancing at the teacups in the three men’s hands.
His fingers unconsciously rubbed the teacup wall lightly—a sign of contemplation or nervousness.
What was he nervous about? Could there be something wrong with the teacups?
No, they were police officers with official records of their visit. No matter how bold he was, he couldn’t attack three officers.
Moreover, both Feiyu and Brother Huang had already picked up their teacups. Even if he and Brother Huang’s spiritual sensitivity was somewhat weaker, Feiyu was a spirit police with Kunpeng bloodline—surely he couldn’t be deceived too?
Then what was he nervous about?
Just then, footsteps came from the corridor again, very noisy sounds that seemed like several children fighting.
Chang Yang cleared his throat and withdrew his hand, saying, “Mr. Wu, it sounds like your children are fighting. Shouldn’t you go take a look?”
As if in response, the fighting sounds became more intense, and Chang Yang even heard children crying.
Old Wu sighed, “Officers, sorry for the embarrassment. These children just brought home don’t understand proper behavior and are mischievous all day. Let me go check on them.”
Old Wu, leaning on his cane, strode toward that direction.
His legs were quite nimble—not at all like a man in his seventies.
“Brother Huang, I think…”
Before he could finish, they heard the sound of a cup breaking.
Turning to look, they saw the teacup in Huang Shan’s hand had been knocked to the floor.
Feiyu’s expression was somewhat dazed, his face showing fear, anger, and a trace of inexplicable confusion.
“Are you crazy?! Don’t you know what this is? You dare drink it?!”
After Feiyu finished shouting this sentence, he froze again. He looked at his hands, then at the shattered teacup on the floor, and finally at Huang Shan whose pupils were somewhat unfocused.
Chang Yang quickly stepped forward to break them up, “Hey hey, Feiyu, Feiyu, Brother Huang, Brother Huang, what’s wrong with you two? Why did you suddenly start fighting? Is there something wrong with this tea?”
Chang Yang looked at the “mirage” illusion Feiyu had cast and quickly stepped forward to mediate.
“Who hit him!”
Feiyu instinctively retorted, then looked at his hands and patted his head, as if not knowing why he said that.
His current state seemed abnormal, as if two personalities were struggling inside his body.
Huang Shan, disturbed by this commotion, had his scattered pupils suddenly focus. He also pressed his temples and thanked Feiyu, “Thanks… Feiyu.”
Huang Shan explained with a bitter smile, “Just now I saw my daughter holding a teacup saying ‘Daddy worked hard,’ so I instinctively took it. I was about to drink when I was interrupted. Turns out it was an illusion.”
“Thanks to Feiyu.”
Huang Shan’s gracious thanks made Feiyu somewhat uncomfortable. He muttered “You better know it” then silently tapped the teacup. The originally clear tea became murky, and what floated inside wasn’t green tea leaves at all, but green, flat insects.
The insects were still alive, their thin legs waving in the murky liquid.
Chang Yang’s stomach churned. Thinking that he had almost drunk these insects made his whole body break out in goosebumps.
“What are these things? Could it really be as Boss Gao suspected—that the Wu family has connections with Liao Zitu, and Liao Zitu knows witchcraft and gu magic?”
“That guy surnamed Gao guessed correctly. These are puppet gu.”
“After entering the human body, they lodge in the dantian and consciousness sea, used to manipulate people’s actions. Most importantly, those afflicted by gu have no awareness of becoming puppets, and their daily habits remain unchanged. Only when making important decisions will they be influenced by the gu.”
Feiyu lightly tapped with his fingertip, and the insects in all three cups died silently.
Chang Yang looked at his cup and discovered that after the insects died, it wasn’t one insect but two.
Another one was clinging to the cup wall, same color, hard to distinguish.
“This type of gu, when practiced to the extreme thousands of years ago, could make people parasitized by gu insects continue acting as if alive even after death, not even realizing they were dead.”
Chang Yang’s body hair stood on end, “What? Isn’t that like legendary zombies!”
“Horsehair worm invasion?”
“Damn! This stuff is so disgusting! What can we do? How can we kill them? The kind that doesn’t require spiritual power—would insecticide work?”
“Holy shit, I wonder if Boss Gao’s family could develop high-tech insecticide.”
While Chang Yang muttered with an ashen face, Huang Shan’s expression changed slightly, “You said the insects enter the body’s dantian and consciousness sea?”
“Does the puppet gu controlling human bodies involve one insect crawling through both locations sequentially, or two insects entering each location separately?”
Feiyu shook his head, “Not sure. I only learned about it from inherited memories.”
As they spoke, both looked at Chang Yang’s cup. Chang Yang hadn’t touched his teacup. In his cup floated the corpses of two gu—one was a thin white gu, very inconspicuous, clinging to the cup wall like a porcelain flaw. The other was a green gu with a flat body, like a green leaf floating in water.
But in Huang Shan and Feiyu’s cups, the hair-thin white insects had already disappeared.
Both their faces changed colors continuously. Feiyu closed his eyes, and a silver-white streak of spiritual power flashed at his eye corners. He pricked his index finger, and immediately several drops of white liquid with a strange fragrance dripped from his fingertip. After a few seconds, his blood color returned to normal red.
Feiyu’s face looked extremely ugly. Two gu insects—one on the cup wall, another in the tea water. He had just been infected.
He had Kunpeng bloodline and was naturally the nemesis of insects, so the gu died the moment it entered his body.
Chang Yang asked urgently, “What about Brother Huang?”
Feiyu’s expression changed, showing some humiliation, “…There’s nothing in the inherited memories. I don’t know how to expel insects.”
While Chang Yang used the newly developed barrier communication talisman to send a distress signal and frantically edited requests for reinforcements, he asked, “Brother Huang, do you feel any discomfort?”
Huang Shan shook his head, “Not at the moment…” He suddenly stopped talking and looked toward the distant corridor.
Now they all heard children’s footsteps running toward them, getting closer and closer.
The footsteps had clearly reached the hall, but they couldn’t see anyone’s shadow.
The chill in the air seemed to deepen, climbing up their spines step by step.
Huang Shan’s gaze began to scatter again. He gripped his palm tightly to keep himself conscious.
“I can see them—children, little children.”
“What little children?”
Feiyu pursed his lips. In his eyes, there was nothing unusual.
Though his abilities were suppressed from repeated dormancy, there was no reason he wouldn’t see ghosts if they were here.
Huang Shan looked toward the corridor, “There’s a little girl over there, probably four or five years old when alive.”
He said “when alive” because this little girl’s face was pale blue-white, clearly not looking like a living person.
Huang Shan’s expression was calm. If you didn’t look at his scattered pupils and sweat-covered forehead, you couldn’t tell how much pain he was enduring.
“There on the ceiling chandelier is a little boy. Looks only about one year old, still wearing diapers.”
All three looked up at the chandelier swaying slightly in mid-air. The moment Feiyu looked up, the little boy quickly left, leaving only an afterimage in Huang Shan’s eyes.
Huang Shan thoughtfully said, “Feiyu, they seem very afraid of you.”
He pointed to the wooden floor making “rustling” sounds.
“Here, there’s a little baby crawling on the ground.”
Then another large door.
“Here, there’s a little boy swinging.”
That door was swaying gently in the wind. In Huang Shan’s eyes, there was a little boy at the door handle, hanging from it with both hands like a little monkey, swinging back and forth. When he saw Huang Shan looking over, he grinned with a mouth full of sharp teeth, made a face, then ran away.
Besides these seemingly conscious children, on the floor, ceiling, corridors, tables… were countless bloody handprints.
Tiny ones, looking even smaller than a newborn baby’s hands.
These bloody handprints were like ice blocks emitting cold air, covering the entire Wu family estate.
Huang Shan took a deep breath, “Feiyu, remove the barrier illusion. Little Chang, call for reinforcements.”
“The captain’s guess should be correct. If Liao Zitu really knows witchcraft and gu magic, then she should have made some deal with the Wu family.”
“Among these children, there should be child spirits raised by the Wu family.”
Miao witchcraft wasn’t just about gu magic—raising child spirits was also included.
They chose children, preferably infants who died before birth, using their fetal blood and bones to create containers for housing infant spirits, letting their souls reside within the containers.
The purposes of raising child spirits were divided into five types: causing disasters, stirring up trouble, bringing ruin, creating separation, and seeking wealth.
Considering how the Wu family had once fallen but regained prosperity within just two months, raising child spirits was obviously for wealth.
However, everything came with a price.
Commanding child spirits required using living human blood and flesh. Initially, child spirits only needed a drop of blood, but later they required more and more blood.
Among blood types, birth mother’s blood was best.
Child spirits’ abilities were also ranked. Infant spirits who died before birth were purest, infant spirits who died with their mothers had the heaviest resentment, direct bloodline infant spirits were most obedient, and infant spirits combining all three factors had the strongest abilities.
“No wonder… no wonder the two women who entered the Wu family couldn’t successfully give birth to their children. Initially, we thought it was because the Wu patriarch was too old, so the children were naturally weak. Now thinking about it, maybe these children’s early deaths were planned by the Wu family. What they wanted wasn’t a living child at all, but a dead one—a child spirit for them to command!”
“The Wu family’s direct lineage is thin, with very few grandchildren reaching adulthood—either dying young or being miscarried. The outside world thought the Wu family members were physically weak, but could the truth actually be that the Wu family was using their own grandchildren to raise child spirits?!”
“That’s right. The Wu family’s sons are all philandering and promiscuous, frequenting pleasure quarters. Many aren’t married, and changing girlfriends is common. So they weren’t just lusting after beauty—they wanted those women to bear children for the Wu family to raise child spirits!”
“Of course the Wu patriarch doesn’t like girls. Girls can’t create child spirits for the Wu family. And when he said girls are soft-hearted, he probably wasn’t just referring to business—but also to how they treat their own children.”
The more Chang Yang spoke, the more excited and angry he became. He trembled with rage and stepped out of the barrier to send reinforcement requests.
Huang Shan seemed unable to support himself any longer and swayed, about to collapse onto the table. Feiyu quickly caught him.
When his palm touched Huang Shan’s forehead, he felt it was ice-cold and damp. A strange emotion flashed through Feiyu’s heart, but before he could think more, they heard footsteps again.
This time the footsteps were very heavy—clearly the Wu patriarch returning.
He dared to attack the three of them because he had puppet gu in his hands.
Though his gu-casting method was crude and he clearly wasn’t the true master of these gu, the gu’s effectiveness was strong enough. He was confident he could completely control these three reckless young fools.
Chang Yang supported himself on the table with both hands, pretending to be weak, and quietly asked Feiyu, “The distress message has been sent, but reinforcements need at least three minutes to arrive. How confident are you?”
Feiyu’s mind flashed to the cold sweat on Huang Shan’s forehead, and he said coldly, “Even without rescue, I can handle them myself.”
The footsteps were getting closer.
***
I hadn’t considered this angle before. It’s refreshing!