Chapter 1 The Beginning

　　Wei Yuan hadn't slept since he woke up.

　　He leaned against the wall, clutching his sword, until Mao Shi passed, and the sky had already dawned. Only then did he put the Crouching Tiger waist牌 (waist牌) in his pocket, and pick up the bag containing the red embroidered shoes and the severed hair to report the case. It was a sunny day outside, the sun warm and gentle, but he still felt a bit cold in his hands and feet.

　　Especially the hand holding the bag, it felt like it was soaked in ice.

　　He didn't go to the nearest police station.

　　Instead, he directly rented a shared bicycle and went to the city police bureau.

　　Without a doubt, in a major case like someone being murdered, the body and records couldn't still be at the street police station. Moreover, Wei Yuan was guessing that since there were ghosts harming people, and the world was still so peaceful, there must be a force that could restrain ghosts.

　　When Wei Yuan arrived at the police station, he saw a car that was entirely ink-black among the police cars.

　　He didn't pay attention to it and walked straight in, found a police officer, and opened his mouth straightforwardly.

　　"Hello, I want to report a case."

　　The young police officer was stunned for a moment, and said, "Eh? Please tell me..."

　　"A ghost wants to harm me."

　　"Huh??!"

　　…………………

　　Wei Yuan originally thought that he would have to go through some twists and turns before he could possibly gain the trust of the police.

　　But for some reason, after he said that he had been visited by a ghost, the police officer looked at him strangely, then made a phone call to ask someone, and then took him to a room, poured him a glass of plain water, and then just told him to wait a moment, and went out.

　　He also closed the door when he went out.

　　In the small room, only Wei Yuan was left, a table, and a water dispenser.

　　Wei Yuan wrapped his hands around the paper cup, breathed a sigh of relief, and from the police's reaction, there was no doubt that they knew about ghosts, at least the people in this police station knew, and this also meant that under the seemingly peaceful world, there was another world unknown to most people.

　　Wei Yuan took a sip of water.

　　He heard very swift footsteps, the crisp sound of high heels stepping on the floor.

　　A minute later, the door was pushed open, and a short-haired woman in a women's suit walked in. She had a well-proportioned figure, neither too plump nor too thin, with an amazing waist curve. Her white shirt had a faint smell of women's cigarettes. Her eyes swept across the room, and she extended her hand towards Wei Yuan:

　　"Special Operations Team, Zhou Yi."

　　"Wei Yuan."

　　"Yes, I just read your statement."

　　Zhou Yi pulled a chair and sat in front of Wei Yuan, with a document in her hand, which she casually closed and placed aside, and smiled: "I just had a cigarette, there's a bit of a cigarette smell, do you mind?"

　　"It's okay."

　　"Well, you said you encountered a ghost?"

　　Wei Yuan's gaze swept past the Bluetooth headset in the woman's left ear, and he nodded:

　　"Yes, it started with a dream. I dreamed of a small building, and then a courtyard with pagoda trees. The woman was sitting next to the stone well, looking at me..."

　　While Wei Yuan was telling the woman in front of him about his dream.

　　The two men who were with Zhou Yi were investigating the information. If Wei Yuan was there, he would be able to see that it was his personal information, as well as where he had been recently. After quickly browsing through it, one of the men pressed his headset and said:

　　"Captain, judging from his experience, he hasn't had the chance to come into contact with ghosts recently. Judging from his travel trajectory, he hasn't been to those dangerous areas either. It can basically be inferred that he hasn't been entangled by evil spirits, but he used to live near Fuchun Community, and there is a possibility that he was entangled by Yin Qi."

　　"It may also be the reason, coupled with the news of the murder, that he had a realistic nightmare."

　　"Of course, it cannot be completely ruled out that he was indeed entangled by evil spirits, but generally speaking, if he encountered evil spirits, his mental state should be more sensitive and depressed than it is now, and he would start to show slight neurotic symptoms, and he wouldn't be as calm as he is now, and his speech would not be so clear."

　　His voice paused, and he said with a bit of a joke:

　　"According to past experience, a psychologist is more suitable for him than exorcising demons and catching ghosts."

　　Zhou Yi nodded slightly.

　　Her eyes quietly looked at Wei Yuan in front of her, listening attentively, and at the end, she nodded slightly and asked:

　　"Besides your dream, are there any other signs?"

　　"If not, perhaps other methods will be needed for identification."

　　She did not follow her companion's advice.

　　Wei Yuan's voice paused, and he took out the black bag and gently placed it on the table. Zhou Yi raised her eyebrows and said:

　　"This thing, the colleague just now said that you wouldn't let him touch it, is it very important?"

　　Wei Yuan nodded, reached into the bag and took out a paper box

　　Then he put it on the table, opened it, and pushed it towards Zhou Yi.

　　Zhou Yi's gaze fell, and then her expression froze.

　　The two men who were staring at this room through the surveillance cameras changed their expressions drastically, and one of them suddenly got up and ran out.

　　In the paper box were a pair of gold-trimmed red embroidered shoes, extremely strange.

　　There were also traces of dried blood inside the shoes.

　　Wei Yuan said calmly: "If he had seen it, it might not have been me having nightmares today, but him."

　　A moment later, Zhou Yi's Bluetooth headset transmitted the panting voice of a teammate:

　　"It's gone."

　　Standing in a place specially used to seal corpses harmed by ghosts, the brawny Wei Ming Sect disciple looked at the woman's twisted feet, as well as the freezer and outer door that had never been opened, and said:

　　"The iron door here couldn't suppress her, and the talismans on it don't seem to work on her either."

　　"It's not an evil ghost, it's a vengeful ghost."

　　…………………

　　In the face of such ironclad evidence, there was no doubt that Wei Yuan's words received enough attention.

　　Before long, there were two more people in front of Wei Yuan.

　　"Hello, Wei Ming Sect disciple, Zhao Yi."

　　"Wei Ming Sect, Daoist name Xuan Yi."

　　After the two disciples from the sect came, they directly asked Wei Yuan about the specific situation of his previous dream. The Daoist disciple named Xuan Yi also took out a sketch paper and quickly sketched out the pavilion, the cold pagoda tree, and the stone well in his dream, according to what Wei Yuan said.

　　As well as the white silk, the courtyard surrounded by tall wooden buildings, where you could only look up and see a piece of the sky.

　　Zhou Yi habitually lit a cigarette, noticed that Wei Yuan was still there, smiled apologetically, and put out the cigarette, explaining, "Vengeful ghosts are different from ordinary wandering souls, as well as resentful ghosts and evil ghosts. Basically, they all have very high cultivation and have had different encounters. It's not wise to confront them head-on."

　　Wei Yuan was thoughtful, and took the opportunity to ask:

　　"So, the courtyard in the dream is helpful in subduing the vengeful ghost?"

　　Zhou Yi nodded:

　　"Yes, the basic principle of vengeful ghosts is strong negative emotions, and the powerful combination with certain spiritual lands. Because they are combined with the corresponding external aspects of heaven and earth at the time when the negative emotions are strongest, these negative emotions will become stronger and stronger, extremely vicious."

　　"Finding the source of these emotions is an opportunity to weaken the vengeful ghost and take the opportunity to subdue and eliminate it."

　　"And for the souls that have turned into vengeful ghosts, they were once human beings, and they have always been under strong negative emotions that exceed the scope of the concept of humans. It can be said that life is worse than death, so both Buddhist and Daoist families call this behavior transcendence."

　　"I see."

　　After that, there was a moment of silence.

　　Only the rustling sound of Xuan Yi quickly sketching.

　　"Is it like this?"

　　After modifying it again, the brawny man showed the revised sketch to Wei Yuan. It was more than 80% similar to the dream, which made Wei Yuan subconsciously recall the cold and strange feeling in the dream. He nodded and said, "It's almost like this."

　　Xuan Yi nodded and put the pen aside.

　　Zhao Yi took the painting and began to mobilize the database to find places that matched Wei Yuan's dream.

　　This is the reliance on which China can suppress the monsters. After modern technology locks the location, Daoist and Buddhist disciples will carry targeted magical instruments to directly and accurately snipe them. In the silent wait, Wei Yuan thought for a while and said, "I didn't expect that there really are people like you."

　　Zhou Yi said, "After all, don't ghosts exist too?"

　　"When there are ghosts and goblins, people like us also exist."

　　Wei Yuan said, "So early?"

　　Zhou Yi nodded: "After all, our history can be traced back to the first predecessor who dared to draw a knife against demons and ghosts, but to be honest, the truly organized, earliest, and strongest official demon-slaying force should have been in the Han Dynasty."

　　"Han?"

　　"Yes, Sili Xiaowei (司隸校尉), formerly known as Crouching Tiger, suppressed the demons of the world from the Han Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties."

　　Before she could finish speaking, Zhao Yi raised his head and raised his tone slightly, "Found it, Captain, it's the Ju Yuanzi (剧园子) in the former Jiangnan Dao, a place for singing operas. It seems that several famous actors have come out of there, and something happened there before, so it was sealed off."

　　Zhou Yi's eyes lit up, and she got up and said:

　　"Let's go, to Jiangnan."

　　Wei Yuan raised his head slightly, and Zhao Yi patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile:

　　"You can go back to rest."

　　"The following things are not the world that ordinary people like you should be involved in."

　　Xuan Yi glanced at him, nodded, and took out a talisman.

　　"It can protect you."

　　"Protect yourself, and forget about this kind of thing. Although you are helpful to us in finding ghosts, we still have to be distracted to protect you. To put it bluntly, you are a burden and will drag us down. I hope you understand."

　　Zhao Yi's face twitched, and he bumped Xuan Yi with his elbow, and lowered his voice:

　　"Can you speak?! Saying that in front of someone's face? Apologize."

　　"…………"

　　Xuan Yi thought for a while, and took out another talisman and handed it to Wei Yuan.

　　Wei Yuan smiled a little, and still took the second talisman, and said:

　　"It's okay."

　　Xuan Yi nodded and returned to silence.

　　………………

　　Wei Yuan signed a confidentiality agreement, guaranteeing that he would not talk nonsense, and watched those people leave before returning home. It was naturally good for someone to handle this matter for him. The official forces were definitely much stronger than him.

　　He was busy reporting the case all day today, and after returning home, he was busy cleaning the house.

　　When it came time to rest at night, Wei Yuan stuck one of the talismans on the head of the bed and one on the door.

　　He held his sword in his arms.

　　Only then did he fall asleep peacefully.