After finishing dinner with Mo Fei, Mo Chuan put the leftovers in the refrigerator, planning to check the usage instructions for the Kusarigama back in his room. This thing was, in essence, a Japanese weapon, and to learn how to use it, he would need to look up how the Dragon Country and Nippon used flexible weapons.
Just as he picked up his phone, an unfamiliar number called him. He answered, "Hello? Is this you?"
"Little friend, it's this old Taoist. Do you have time now?"
Nan Shanzizi?
Although Mo Chuan didn't know how the old Taoist got his contact information, if he had something to ask of him, it must be important.
"I have time. Is there something, Taoist?"
"Little friend, please come to the place where you subdued the female ghost last time. Something has happened."
Mo Chuan frowned. After informing Mo Fei, who was watching TV, he rode his electric scooter to the alley from last time.
Before entering the alley, Mo Chuan, seeing police cars from afar, realized the problem might be quite serious.
He stopped the scooter and went to the police cordon, peering at the situation inside.
At that moment, a familiar voice suddenly rang out from beside him, "Brother Chuan! This way! The Taoist is waiting for you!"
Seeing Wang Bao's familiar spiked yellow hair and his usual fawning expression, Mo Chuan suddenly had a thought about how Nan Shanzizi got his contact information: *Did you lead them here?*
But Mo Chuan didn't say much. Led by Wang Bao, he met three people – Nan Shanzizi, Wang Hu, and a police officer.
"Little friend, you've arrived. Officer Song, allow me to introduce you. This student is a ghost cultivator with exceptional talent, and he was the one who subdued that red-clothed female ghost."
Upon hearing Nan Shanzizi's introduction, the police officer's small eyes flashed with brilliance. He smiled and said, "Good, good, good. A hero in his youth. We'll have to rely on you for this investigation."
"No, Officer Song, Taoist, what exactly happened?" Mo Chuan asked, recovering from the polite exchange.
"Taoist, let me explain," Wang Hu said. After receiving consent, Wang Hu gave Mo Chuan a "friendly" smile and said, "Little brother Mo Chuan, thank you for saving me last time.
This is what happened. The three of us brothers came to this alley last time to collect a debt from the owner of this house, but we encountered that female ghost afterward, and you know what happened next.
However, when we returned here today, we found that the person was gone, and the furnishings in the room were in disarray, with even bloodstains. So, we immediately called the police. The Taoist, upon hearing that this matter was related to the female ghost, also came to take a look."
"Little friend, follow me." Nan Shanzizi beckoned, then turned and led Mo Chuan into the house.
The house was an old-fashioned small house with a courtyard in Jibei, only one bedroom and one living room. Mo Chuan followed Nan Shanzizi into the living room and was immediately captivated by the scene.
The room's decorations were rather old. The broken handle of a thermos on the floor was wrapped in yellowed bandages, with water from the inner lining scattered on the ground. The awards and photos on the wall had yellowed, and the plaster on the back wall was gradually peeling off due to the recent damp weather. The most striking items were the sofa and the television. One was tattered on the surface, its springs exposed, with cotton and fabric stained with patches of blood. The other had clearly suffered a heavy blow, its screen shattered, revealing the wires inside.
"It looks like there was a struggle? And the missing person seems to have had little power to resist," Mo Chuan frowned.
"Investigating is Officer Song's job. I called you here to show you this," Nan Shanzizi said as he stepped forward and moved aside the newspaper and clothes behind the sofa. On the mottled white wall, there was a strange symbol.
The symbol was composed of a five-sided shape resembling a token, with some blood-red incantations, but the most prominent feature was the character "泰" (Tai) in the center.
"Do you recognize it?"
Mo Chuan thought carefully but finally said, "No."
"This is the Yan Jun Ling, it belongs to those people from the Hall of Yama," Nan Shanzizi narrowed his eyes. "The Hall of Yama has ten Yan Juns, all of whom are ghost cultivators, distributed across the ten major provinces of the Dragon Country. The one in Qing Province is the Fifth Yan Jun – King Taishan.
The investigation doesn't fall under our jurisdiction, but this does..." Nan Shanzizi stood up and said, "Let's go to the bedroom. I need your help."
The two then went to the bedroom. In the dim light, Nan Shanzizi fumbled for a while before finally finding a strand of hair in the mattress.
"Little friend, use your lantern to illuminate it."
Mo Chuan summoned the lantern as instructed. Under the faint green light, the hair showed no abnormalities.
Nan Shanzizi breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Fortunately, the owner of this room is still alive."
Seeing Mo Chuan's bewildered expression, Nan Shanzizi explained, "Little friend, your lantern is a soul lantern. It can illuminate the souls of other things. My former junior brother also had a soul lantern ability, and he told me this. You see, this hair still casts a shadow under the light, which means the owner of the hair is still alive, and the soul fragments attached to the hair still exist. If the owner of the hair were dead, then this hair would have no shadow."
"I see. Thank you for teaching me, Taoist."
"Alright, since he's still alive, it'll be easier." Nan Shanzizi took out a compass from his pocket and lightly tied the strand of hair to the handle. Then, he took out a talisman. As Nan Shanzizi chanted a spell, the talisman spontaneously combusted, turning into a wisp of golden light that entered the compass handle.
After a series of actions, Nan Shanzizi held up the compass and said, "Okay, it should be locatable now. Little friend, do you want to accompany me?"
"Of course! I have a special suppression effect on ghosts, I can definitely help the Taoist!" Mo Chuan thought to himself, *This is a no-brainer, if I don't go, it'll be a wasted trip, I have to stack some passive skills!*
"Good, I knew I wasn't mistaken about you, little friend. Wang Hu! Let's go!"
A moment later, Wang Hu was riding a sidecar motorcycle with Nan Shanzizi behind him and Mo Chuan sitting in the sidecar. They sped off in the direction Nan Shanzizi indicated. After several turns, the golden light on Nan Shanzizi's compass turned red. Seeing this, he quickly said, "We're here! He's somewhere nearby!"
Upon hearing this, Mo Chuan and Wang Hu began to survey their surroundings. They saw an old road sign not far away that read: Erlang Temple Street.
"Why is it so remote..." As a native of Jibei, Mo Chuan knew very well that Erlang Temple Street was an extremely eerie place, and its location was very remote. It took nearly two hours to get back to the city from here.
Under the flickering streetlights, the "Erlang Temple" plaque not far away looked very sinister.
"He's in the temple." Nan Shanzizi narrowed his eyes, put away his compass, and hid the talisman in his palm. "I can feel faint traces of ghostly energy seeping out from there. Prepare yourselves. Mo Chuan, don't summon your abilities yet, but remain vigilant and ready to fight at all times."
The three slowly approached the temple gate. The weathered red-painted door was locked with a thick iron chain. Wang Hu was about to draw his knife to cut it when Nan Shanzizi stopped him, saying, "Don't alert them. Let's check the situation inside from the side first."
Then, the three quietly entered the alley beside the temple.