Chapter 36:

Chapter 36:

In the dim light, one could see the ancient and tranquil Chengde Medical Hall. Through the half-open door, it was vaguely visible that the youth inside was casually flipping through a book at the diagnosis table, without having moved a single step.

Lu Guoliang froze in place as if he were a glitching movie. Rainwater trickled down his dry hair into the collar of his Tang suit.

Wasn't he running into the mountains?

Why was he still in front of Chengde Medical Hall?

In the flash of lightning, Wu Heng’s side profile was handsome and gentle, a classic look of a scholarly gentleman from ancient times, yet it caused a sudden surge of cold fear in Lu Guoliang.

Lu Guoliang screamed in terror, but the thunder drowned out his roar.

The older generation called this phenomenon 'ghost wall.' According to the official metaphysical explanation, it’s an illusion created by powerful yin energy.

The protection charm given to him by a master didn’t sense anything. How could this young shaman gather such thick yin energy?

‘Hehe, Grandpa, didn’t you say you would take me to find Dad?’

A ghostly child’s voice came from beside Lu Guoliang’s feet. The old man stiffly looked down to see Liu Ziyang, whom he had buried in a pit, with his head resting on his shoe, lightly rubbing his soft right ear against it.

Ear.

Where did he get that ear?!

Clearly, he had just sliced off the child’s last remaining right ear. That knife was no ordinary sharp blade; it was a knife blessed in the largest Buddhist temple in Nanyang. It could easily cut the organs of a young ghost or spirits!

Lu Guoliang’s heart was filled with terror. The fear suddenly wracked his body, and he felt a pain in his right ear, a pain that kept escalating, tearing his heart apart.

He reached out his trembling hand to touch his right ear and felt nothing. Looking down, he saw his palm was covered with blood diluted by the rain.

His right ear… where was his right ear? He had clearly sliced off Liu Ziyang’s right ear!

And what about the soft bone he had just eaten?

Lu Guoliang could no longer hold back, screaming in despair, on the verge of collapse.

“Fake! Wu Heng, you little bastard, dare to deceive me!”

It’s fake, it has to be fake.

The old man laughed maniacally in the rainy night, blood flowing down his face. “Haha, I’ve eaten more salt than you’ve eaten rice, this is an illusion, it’s all fake, Wu Heng, do you think I’d believe it?”

Trying to scare him to death, huh?

The ear cutting, the pain, all fake images to scare him.

Lu Guoliang, enduring the intense pain in his right ear, suddenly sat down on the ground with his legs crossed and began to chant.

Wu Heng put down his biology book and glanced outside, finding it somewhat amusing.

This old man probably committed sins in his early years and fled to Nanyang, where he started to fear and seek Buddha’s protection, reciting the Buddhist scriptures from that region.

Wu Heng couldn’t understand but knew he was summoning the divine generals from that side to help.

Wu Heng sneered; this old man couldn’t tell the difference between the king and the pawns?

This is Huaxia's territory (Huaxia – the patriarch nation)! Even outsiders who come here must kneel and acknowledge Huaxia as their patriarch nation.

Lu Guoliang felt his state of mind become peaceful, as if he had forgotten the intense pain in his right ear, feeling a sense of calm he had never known before.

The sound of cold winds came through the rain, from every direction, surrounding Lu Guoliang.

They’re here.

All these years, he had gilded Buddha statues in the South Seas and made yearly offerings—it wasn’t in vain. Now that he had been wronged by this brat Wu Heng, help was sure to arrive.

A smug smile appeared on Lu Guoliang's old face as he slowly opened his eyes, only to be so frightened by what he saw that his heart nearly stopped.

Women.

The ones surrounding him weren’t the foreign divine generals coming to protect him, but a group of women who had him completely trapped, with no way out.

Each of them was extremely beautiful, but their faces were pale, and their fierce gazes were locked onto him.

Wang Mei was among them. Perhaps it was because she had been too engrossed in dancing with her friends in the square earlier that evening, she had gone home, showered, and fallen asleep without watching any short videos.

She experienced a vivid dream. She kept walking forward until she saw a dim light in the distance and realized she had reached Chengde Medical Hall, with a young doctor sitting inside.

Wang Mei had a vague impression of Wu Heng, who had recently gained quite a bit of popularity. She had seen him online, even at her age.

Wang Mei was confused—why was she dreaming about a doctor?

Could it be a sign that she was getting sick and needed to go to the hospital when she woke up?

As she thought this, she turned her head and came face to face with the man she had hated for most of her life.

Though time had left its mark on Lu Guoliang, Wang Mei could never forget him.

At sixteen, through a mutual acquaintance, she and her cousin had started working at a KTV, serving drinks to guests in private rooms. It was their very first day when a middle-aged man had forced her down onto the leather sofa in one of the private rooms.

She was terrified and begged the man to spare both her and her cousin.

But their vulnerability only seemed to excite the man more. Both of them were raped.

Her cousin had lost her mind due to the trauma, while Wang Mei had suffered through those painful days and eventually found a boyfriend who, at first, seemed deeply saddened by her past.

But later, he had cruelly called her a shameless, used-up woman. But she was the victim.

She hated the man who had raped her and resented her so-called boyfriend, which was why she had never married.

Seeing the man who had destroyed her life, even if only in a dream, Wang Mei’s hatred erupted. Without hesitation, she threw herself at Lu Guoliang, pouring all her strength into a powerful punch to his face.

It was unclear how it happened, or perhaps it was the sheer resentment emanating from them, but Wang Mei’s punch sent Lu Guoliang’s head spinning sideways. A front tooth, mixed with blood and gum flesh, was spat out from his mouth!

There were countless other women like Wang Mei, aunties and middle-aged mothers, who had once been beautiful young girls. The old man before them had become a lifelong nightmare.

They had experienced these nightmares countless times before, always terrified, always weak, always begging for mercy even in their dreams. But this dream felt different. The cool winds brought with them an infinite amount of courage. They stared at Lu Guoliang intently.

Why should they suffer so much while he enjoyed endless wealth?

Lu Guoliang had actually long forgotten who Wang Mei was, and he had no memory of these women at all. He was incredulous that these weak women dared to strike him.

Lu Guoliang looked at the women, layered three deep, advancing towards him. He couldn't stop himself from laughing maniacally, as if trying to bolster his own courage. He screamed hysterically, "I know! It's all fake! These are illusions!"

Lu Guoliang, who had dared to follow his elder brother in those life-threatening activities back in the day, certainly didn't have a heart that could be easily frightened.

Trying to scare him into having a heart attack? Wu Heng was dreaming.

The lightning flashes accentuated Lu Guoliang's increasingly fierce gaze. He roared and started brawling with the women.

However, it was Lu Guoliang who ended up screaming.

*

It was incredibly noisy.

Village Chief Zhou Dagui, a nearly seventy-year-old man, usually went to bed early. He never would have thought that a commotion outside would wake him up in the middle of the night.

It was cool in Nan Nuo Village that night, and it had rained in the evening, making it even cooler. Zhou Dagui hurriedly put on a thin shirt and rushed out. When he got up, he noticed that the light from his grandson Zhou Yi's study was still on.

Peeking inside, Zhou Dagui saw that it was past one in the morning, and Zhou Yi was still writing furiously at his desk. He occasionally let out a chuckle, as if he were thoroughly enjoying himself.

Zhou Dagui noticed that the shadow behind Zhou Yi was unusually large and didn't quite look like a human shadow. It was like... no, it was as if...

Zhou Dagui couldn't quite put his finger on it. When he heard police sirens outside, he knew something serious had happened in the village and hurried out.

Luckily, the Village Chief's house was only a few minutes' walk from Chengde Medical Hall.

By now, there were already grim-faced police officers on the scene, along with villagers who had been woken up, standing on the periphery in their pajamas, whispering to each other.

Some villagers, curious to see what was happening, had even climbed to the highest point and were recording with their phones.

Zhou Dagui squeezed his way through and was about to greet Police Officer Wang Jun, the lead officer, when he saw the scene inside. The old village chief was so shocked he almost fainted.

"Is... is he crazy? What is he doing? Isn't he one of us from the village?" Zhou Dagui trembled as he pointed at the old man who was acting mad in the courtyard of Chengde Medical Hall.

By then, Lu Guoliang was covered in blood, his face smeared with it. His right ear was missing, and bloody teeth were scattered on the ground.

His mouth was full of blood, and he was still shouting wildly and incoherently, "You whores, it's your fortune that I desired you. Dare to resist? Resist and you'll be raped!"

"Go away, all you illusions, go away."

"And you, kid! The son of a cop? Blocking my path, the son of a cop deserves to die!"

Zhou Dagui was confused. A nosy villager beside him, holding a phone with a recording, said, "Village Chief, I was the first to discover this. Oh my lord, we've got a madman in the village."

"This old man went crazy in the courtyard of Chengde Medical Hall, slicing off his own ear with a knife, then cursing and smashing all his teeth out. The police wouldn't let us near because he had a weapon and they were afraid he might hurt us. Look at the recording."

Watching the few minutes of footage, Zhou Dagui stood there, stunned.

The courtyard of Chengde Medical Hall was vast and empty at night, with only a long-burning white candle by the flower bed. Out of nowhere, a mad old man in a Tang suit appeared at the entrance of the medical hall, causing chaos.

Zhou Dagui was furious. "What about our village security? With this kind of incident, how will our tourism economy survive next year?! Will tourists still come to our village?"

Zhou Dagui was so angry he wanted to kill that lunatic.

"Xiao Heng, Xiao Heng! Oh dear, oh dear, is our Xiao Heng okay?" Eugene, upon receiving the news, had rushed over without even getting dressed, losing a slipper along the way. He tried to rush into the medical hall but was stopped by the police.

Wu Heng came out, standing at the threshold, and reassured the anxious Eugene, "Don't worry about me, Eugene. I'm fine."

You Jin, furious, stared at the still ranting Lu Guoliang and said, "What on earth is this old man doing? He scared our young Heng, and I'll fight him for it!"

The surrounding villagers nodded in agreement.

After all, the grandson of old village doctor Wu was a bit of a fool to begin with, and after finally recovering, if he got scared and became an idiot again, who would be responsible?

Especially the coffin bearers who had carried Lai Wazi's coffin a while ago nodded vigorously. If not for Wu Heng's charm, they would have frozen to death.

"Is he talking crazy?" asked a villager, rubbing their goosebump-covered arms.

Hidden in the crowd, Old Lady Lai narrowed her eyes, looked at Wu Heng, and said, "He's not crazy, just possessed."

Old Lady Lai looked at Lu Guoliang. A massive wound caused by such strong yin energy meant that only a shaman could stop the pain; this old man would suffer from the constant erosion of yin energy until his death, enduring unbearable agony.

"Possessed" is a local term in Nan Nuo Village. The restricted area behind the village often generated miasma at night, causing hallucinations.

As they pondered the meaning of her words, the villagers suddenly realized and recoiled in fright.

"So, when the old man talked about killing a policeman's son and raping many women, was it all true?"

Zhou Dagui was so angry he slapped his thigh. Their village's tourism was finished. With such a vicious criminal running around, who would dare to visit?

Wang Jun raised his hand to signal his comrades to coordinate, and a group of police officers rushed in.

As soon as the silver handcuffs clicked shut, the continuous mountains, pits, and countless women he had violated in his mind disappeared like smoke.

His decaying body was wracked with pain, especially the severe pain in his right ear and mouth, causing Lu Guoliang to roll on the ground in agony, screaming like a wild beast.

There was not a single piece of unbroken skin on his body.

Wu Heng fiddled with a light blue wristband and said with difficulty, "Mr. Lu, I've treated your internal illness as well. Please don't cause a scene. We're just a small clinic."

You Jin was furious. The old man had quite the audacity to cause trouble at the clinic.

Lu Guoliang was tightly restrained by two police officers. He turned his head, his bloodshot eyes glowering at Wu Heng, and mumbled insults, "You little bastard!"

A cold voice came, "Shut up."

Lu Guoliang turned to look and saw the owner of the voice.

The young officer who had arrested his older brother, the leader who had just put the handcuffs on him—Liu Jianguo, the father of police officer Liu Ziyang.

Liu Hui was also in the crowd, his expression somewhat numb.

What was this?

His uncle was supposed to be on his deathbed.

Suddenly, as if having a burst of energy before death, his uncle put on his police uniform again, ignoring their attempts to stop him, and headed overnight to Nan Nuo Village under the Hezi Slope town in the southwest.

At first, he thought his uncle had become confused from illness, but look who he caught?

The underling who had escaped during the nationally shocking cultural relic smuggling case decades ago—Lu Liang.

Thirty years later, this man had become a renowned antique collector in the South Seas, living a carefree life. How ridiculous.

Liu Hui shouted, "Old man, where did you take my brother Yang?"

Even if he was just a beggar, if he could see him one last time before his death, his uncle would leave this world without regrets.

Liu Hui had been praying that what Lu Guoliang said just now was just nonsense.

Lu Guoliang was in so much pain he couldn't answer.

Liu Jianguo's previously straight back was slightly hunched. He tightly clutched the urn and the small iron box containing the blood-stained towel, looking as Liu Ziyang gently patted him for comfort. With a choked voice, he said, "Dad is going to bring Yangyang home."

Wu Heng silently gestured to the women, mouthing, "Go back."

Wang Mei and the others were plunged into darkness and lost consciousness, as if it were a dream.

Wu Heng turned around and handed the white candle to Liu Jianguo, saying, "Use it for lighting when you need it."

With red eyes, Liu Jianguo took out a bulging old-fashioned envelope from his pocket, handed it to Wu Heng, and said in a trembling voice, "Here's the doctor's fee."

Wu Heng paused, then reached out and took it.

The police station in Hezippo Town took the case involving Lu Guoliang very seriously. He was handed over to them since he was badly injured and needed hospital care.

Liu Jianguo was a senior investigator from out of town. The chief assigned Wang Jun and a few others to accompany him, guessing it would be a major case.

Liu Jianguo looked at Liu Ziyang bouncing ahead of him, just like how he would always walk ahead of him and his wife.

Liu Ziyang gently touched his left ear and smiled at Wu Heng, saying, "My real ear looks better than the one you made."

Wu Heng looked at the mole on the child's left ear and nodded with a smile.

They walked, following Liu Ziyang into the silent mountain forest.

The little white snake, having woken up, hurried to Chengde Medical Hall after hearing the noise. The commotion at the entrance was gone.

Hearing that they had gone to the mountains, the little white snake wriggled and decided to check out the commotion involving the child.

After a brief evening rain, the road was difficult to walk on. Liu Hui had to support Liu Jianguo several times, helping him make their way towards a hidden spot south of the mountain.

Seeing his uncle stop to take the shovel and hoe from Wang Jun's hands, Liu Hui, seeing the years-old soil layers, felt his heart sink and hurriedly said, "Just give me instructions, I'll handle it."

Liu Jianguo shook his head. He tightly gripped the shovel and dug into the ground, only turning up some soil.

His movements became more and more careful, each strike of the hoe gentle. He suddenly dropped the tools and, at only 58, looked like a frail old man, kneeling by the pit and digging with his bare hands.

Bit by bit.

The soil got stuck under his fingernails, and his fingers hurt from digging, but Liu Jianguo seemed to feel nothing.

It must have been when Lu Liang fled in a hurry; the pit wasn't buried very deep. Liu Jianguo dug out a faded toy, a rusty tin frog.

Yangyang had loved it so much that he took it everywhere with him.

With trembling fingers, he gently scraped away the soil and touched a small piece of bone, belonging to a child.

In an instant, Liu Jianguo collapsed to the ground, his uniform soaked with silent tears.

No one from Wang Jun's team spoke; they could only stand silently by the side.

Liu Jianguo, by himself, dug out the bones and the child's clothes bit by bit.

He would always remember the clothes Yangyang wore the day he disappeared and the toy he took with him.

Liu Jianguo was already at the end of his life, relying on a bowl of medicine from Wu Heng to borrow a few more days from the underworld. Once his last hope was shattered, the final bit of strength that had been holding him up collapsed in that moment.

He slumped at the edge of the pit, his eyes gradually becoming vacant, like a lonely lamp about to be blown out by a fierce wind. His dead, cracked lips murmured, "Yangyang, Dad has finally brought you back."

He had once sworn that he would see the person, dead or alive.

If his child had died, then as a father, he would have to dig him out with his own hands.

Now he had done it.

His well-behaved son was now by his side, using his cold little hand to tightly hold his large palm, gently comforting him.

Was there anything left to regret in this life?

There was nothing to fear ahead.

They could finally be together as a family.

Wu Heng, who was behind, sighed and picked up the white candle. After gently rubbing the wick with his palm, a candlelight lit up in the lonely night.

Liu Hui supported the weak Liu Jianguo, still crying out, "Uncle, hang in there! We've found Yangyang, we’ve got to get revenge for him! You have to live to personally send that old bastard to the firing squad!"

Liu Jianguo, holding the remains, gently patted Liu Hui's arm and said, "I won’t live to see it, but... I believe in the country, I believe in the law."

He knew his nephew would work hard for this matter, and he could rest assured.

Wang Jun and the others had already called the ambulance.

Liu Jianguo vaguely saw a familiar figure, dressed in the white dress from their first meeting, so beautiful he couldn’t look away.

'Jiawen... Are you here to guide us?'

Liu Ziyang stared blankly at the beautiful woman, crying as he rushed toward her, "Mom! I’ve missed you so much."

The woman, following the faint light, saw the small figure and tears flowed freely, "Yangyang. Why couldn’t I find you down there?"

Chen Jiawen, who passed away before the age of thirty, had once thought that after death she would meet her Yangyang again. She had waited at the Naihe Bridge for thirty years but never saw him.

Chen Jiawen tightly hugged Liu Ziyang and saw her husband lying on the ground, his mind slowly slipping away. Her tears rolled down as she smiled and said, "So, this is what you look like when you're old? You’re still handsome; no wonder I knew right away you were the one."

"Jiawen… Yangyang..."

Liu Jianguo was lifted onto a stretcher, and he reached out to them with all his strength.

The hands of the woman and child each held Liu Jianguo's, and they smiled together, "We’ll take Dad home together."

They were finally reunited.

They would always be the happy family that others envied.

The road through the underworld was long, but the three of them walked together, no longer lonely.

When Lai Yin Chai hurried over with his lantern, he saw a pair of beaming parents with a child with a radiant smile between them.

Lai Jun had chased after her. Chen Jiawen’s ghost was about to reincarnate, but her soul had slipped away.

"Why run off? So many lost souls long for a chance to reincarnate. It's a privilege for police families."

Lai Jun said, then glanced at Wu Heng.

"Why is it him again?"

"We didn't see each other this often when we were in the same village before, right?"

Wu Heng was not surprised to see Lai Yin Chai again. He said, "Let's send this family of three for reincarnation."

Guiding the souls of police, firefighters, and soldiers who served the country counts toward the yin emissary's performance.

Lai Jun took out a tablet from his lantern, checked it, and nodded. 'Alright, I've scheduled them for the 29th, 30th, and 31st dates. They can reincarnate as soon as the first seven days are up.'

The mountain forest was suddenly filled with cold winds, and the howling resembled the wails of ghosts and demons.

Lai Yin Chai sneered instantly. 'What's with the wailing? These folks made major contributions to society. They're family of police officers and are entitled to special treatment. How could they be the same as you? If you're unhappy, go ask about the underworld's policies. Don't blame me if I beat the crap out of a ghost.'

Wu Heng glanced at his lantern and saw that the code had changed to 322, an increase of over thirty ranks.

It was probably due to his promotion after taking Zhao Li to the underworld for a high-level report.

Another promotion today, for sure.

Wu Heng said, "By the way, throw this heart into the River of the Underworld."

Lai Yin Chai weighed the heart in his hand. Not even his grandmother could have made such a heart; it was realistic enough to deceive.

The top was inscribed with the seal script characters "Guo Jiang" and his birthdate.

If Wu Heng were in the underworld, he'd definitely make a great prosthetist doctor.

There were countless souls in the underworld missing arms and legs, and Wu Heng could instantly find a new job, raking in who knows how much money.

Lai Yin Chai looked at the family of three beside him and felt that sending the three of them on their way tonight would be enough to count as a full night's work.

This was another assignment sent by Wu Heng.

Wu Heng looked surprised. "Aren't you leaving? Want some more gold ingots?"

Lai Jun sneered softly. He did like gold ingots. After all, money makes the underworld go round. With money, he could bribe his way for promotions. But that wasn’t what he really wanted. What he truly desired was power!

"They are police and police family. Why would I need money?"

Although he had been a rebellious youth when he was alive and had been hauled into the police station a few times.

Lai Jun suddenly said, "Wu Heng, bro, I'm already dead. You should know there's a distinction between life and death."

Wu Heng: "..."

If Lai Jun weren’t his guide and had so many connections with him, he wouldn’t bother.

Seeing that Wu Heng had no response, Lai Jun added, "Don’t get obsessed with me. I’m straight."

Wu Heng: "I am too..."

Wu Heng tightened his grip on the light blue wristband in his hand and immediately thought of a tall figure, falling silent.

Wu Heng felt that sexual orientation wasn’t something to be fixed.

Wu Heng looked at Lai Yin Chai’s "I knew it all along" expression and felt his face heat up slightly. He said, "Get out of here."

The little white snake slithered through the mud from the forest, with dirty grass stuck to its body, and became excited when it saw him. "Wu Heng, I heard that you..."

Wu Heng: "Get out of here too."