Chapter 37

Chapter 37

It had actually been rebuked by Wu Heng.

It just wanted to see the fuss involving Wu Heng. It had heard that Wu Heng was getting hassled by a mad old man!

The old man was really tough. No wonder he could take down the little ghost. He even dared to confront Wu Heng.

The little white snake shamelessly flinging grass everywhere as it wriggled along the ground, said with a cheeky laugh, ‘Hehehe, I’m not leaving. I insist on crawling in the shadows.’

Wu Heng, “......No wonder Uncle He isn’t impressed by you.”

The little white snake halted its crawling, ‘……’

Wu Heng knew how to hit where it hurt.

Lai Yin Chai, on the other hand, didn’t treat the little white snake as lightly as he did Wu Heng. He looked at it with more respect.

He remembered drowning in the river outside the village; his soul couldn’t break free from the underworld. It was the little white snake, drawing water, that pulled his soul up from the riverbed’s depths.

Lai Yin Chai said to Wu Heng, ‘I’ll take Liu Jianguo and his family of three back to the underworld to report back.’

Wu Heng looked at the layers of distant mountains and suddenly called out to Lai Yin Chai, “Don’t you really want to make some money?”

Lai Yin Chai was somewhat surprised. Of course, he wanted to make money. Although he had been personally promoted by the higher-ups, dealing with troublesome little ghosts required bribes everywhere. The gold ingots he had received around the Ghost Festival had already been used for bribes and were almost exhausted.

Liu Jianguo chimed in, ‘My nephew should be burning a lot of paper money for me soon.’

Wu Heng shook his head and pointed to the distant mountains where cold yin winds were blowing, then looked back at Lai Yin Chai.

Lai Jun suddenly narrowed his eyes and decisively pulled out his soul-chaining rope, throwing it forcefully into the distance.

The yin emissary’s soul-chaining rope was invisibly long. Once thrown, it extended for miles. Lai Yin Chai pulled with all his strength, even having to sling the rope over his shoulder and pull in the opposite direction. His deathly pale face flushed red, resembling the famous painting "The Volga Boatmen."

‘Damn it, did I hook the wrong one?’ he muttered. ‘Did I hook a rock instead?’

Lai Yin Chai felt slightly embarrassed as Liu Jianguo, his senior colleague from the mortal realm, watched him.

Wu Heng stepped forward, grabbed a section of the soul-chaining rope, and with minimal effort, easily dragged whatever was at the other end toward them.

Lai Yin Chai immediately flipped Wu Heng off. ‘Who asked you to help? Are you the yin emissary, or am I?’

Wu Heng gestured with his chin toward the other end of the rope.

At the end of the chilling soul-chaining rope hung seven or eight ghosts with foreign appearances, like seven flowers on a single stem.

It was immediately clear that these were not ghosts from Huaxia. They were likely from the Nanyang region.

So many souls, traveling together?

Lai Yin Chai raised an eyebrow and fixed his gaze on them, asking arrogantly, ‘You’re from abroad? What are you doing in Huaxia? This place doesn’t offer a 144-hour visa-free transit. Let me see your passport. Did you get a visa?’

The yin and yang worlds are two different systems. In the mortal world, countries interact frequently, and visas are processed by specialized agencies.

The underworld is different. New ghosts after death are eager to go to their country’s underworld institutions to be reincarnated. Almost no one travels abroad, so the underworld doesn’t have a specialized visa office.

However, there are unlucky souls who die abroad and need to return home for a visit during their first seven days. If they sneak back and are caught by a yin emissary during an investigation, they can apply for a temporary visa.

The foreign ghosts, all looking like honest souls, huddled together, seemingly confused and unable to understand what Lai Yin Chai was saying. They timidly asked, ‘Sir, can you speak English?’

Liu Jianguo's burning patriotism surged again. He hadn't expected that even in the afterlife, English would still be the global go-to language! This was simply unacceptable.

Lai Jun felt embarrassed once more. He hadn't been fond of studying during his lifetime, and his English had been even worse. As for Wu Heng, there was no chance; he hadn't even attended elementary school and probably couldn't distinguish pinyin from the 26 letters of the alphabet.

The little white snake and Liu Ziyang knew only a few English words, and Liu Jianguo and his wife Chen Jiawen couldn't hold an English conversation either.

Lai Yin Chai said, "Should I go grab Zhou Yi's soul for a few minutes? He can be the translator since he's the top student in the school."

Wu Heng raised his eyebrows, amused that Lai Jun had indeed been promoted.

Lai Yin Chai thought about it and shook his head again. "Never mind, if something goes wrong with Zhou Yi's soul, it will affect his studies. If his mom comes to my grandmother to cause a scene, it'll be a disaster."

Lai Jun hadn't been a good person in life, but he had been extremely good to old lady Lai, who had raised him.

Lai Yin Chai looked at Wu Heng. "The ghost network still has a lot of bugs. Do you have a translation app on your phone? Lend it to me."

Wu Heng immediately volunteered. "No need, I found out I can handle it. I'll translate."

Lai Yin Chai and the little white snake thought about how Wu Heng had woken up from a coma and transformed from a fool into a powerful shaman. Maybe he had mutated and could speak English now?

Several foreign ghosts timidly handed over their documents and whispered in English to Wu Heng, "We're not here to sneak in illegally. We just wanted to see if Huaxia's yin emissaries look decent."

Wu Heng translated, "They actually have no interest in illegal entry. They just wanted to see if the yin emissaries of Huaxia look presentable."

Lai Yin Chai listened to the broken English with an accent and found it ridiculous. But when he heard Wu Heng's translation, his already cold expression turned even colder.

They wanted to see if these yin emissaries were ugly?

What? Do they think I, Lai Jun, am ugly? Hahaha.

The lead foreign ghost saw Lai Yin Chai's expression and hastily handed over a bag of gold ingots with both hands. "A little token of our respect, sir. It's for your hard work in processing our temporary visa. Please accept it."

Lai Yin Chai opened the bag and looked at the gold ingots inside. They weren't as well-made as the ones Wu Heng folded, but they were still worth something. His expression darkened further as Wu Heng translated, "They're giving you money, so if you know what's good for you, hurry up and process our temporary visa."

Not only did Lai Jun's pale face turn even more sullen, but Liu Jianguo's family of three also wore no better expressions.

They had come to our territory and were still so arrogant while asking for favors?

The group of ghosts shrank back in fear and quickly explained in English, "Sir, we came to Huaxia as a group to seek medical treatment. The master couldn't heal us, and after much questioning, he reluctantly suggested we seek out the shamans of Huaxia."

Wu Heng translated concisely, "They're here for medical treatment, and the shamans of Huaxia might be able to treat us."

Fury erupted across the room!

Liu Ziyang and the little white snake pounced forward and bit into the leader's legs, their mouths clamping down hard.

It was bad enough that they had insulted the yin emissary earlier, but now they dared to insult Wu Heng, their shaman!

There was only one known shaman in Huaxia, and it was outrageous to say that Wu Heng could only "possibly" treat them?

Brother Wu Heng had helped him find his father and extended his father's life by another day, allowing their family to reunite. To Liu Ziyang, Wu Heng was the most powerful shaman!

These foreign ghosts, looking strange and ugly, had the nerve to mock Wu Heng after being caught trying to enter the country illegally?

The little white snake had only one thought: Wu Heng was family, and he was godfather to Xi Xi! He could secretly laugh at Wu Heng, but no other ghost could.

With their legs bitten and teeth marks left behind, Liu Ziyang, who had been brutally killed and carried strong resentment, and the little white snake, born with spiritual power, caused thick ghostly energy to pour out from the holes in the legs.

The rest of the ghosts were not spared either. The little ghost and the little white snake worked together, biting wildly at the group of ghosts like a pack of unrestrained mad dogs.

The ghosts at the scene howled incessantly.

"No, sir, how exactly did you translate for the yin emissary?" cried a beaten South Seas ghost.

Wu Heng looked confused. "Ah? I translated it exactly as it was."

"That's enough! All of you, stop right now!" Lai Yin Chai roared in fury, putting an end to the violence.

Little Ghost and Little White Snake had to stop, considering Lai Yin Chai was an official yin emissary.

Liu Jianguo, actually, was also itching to throw a punch, but he held himself back, thinking of his identity in life. Seeing Lai Yin Chai's pale face filled with rage yet still intervening, he felt it was the right call.

Their jobs were similar, and in this line of work, you really couldn't act impulsively. It was truly regrettable.

Lai Yin Chai tossed the soul-binding rope, lantern, tall hat on his head, and a bag of gold ingots to Wu Heng, cracking his neck and fingers with a loud grinding sound.

Lai Jun charged into the crowd of ghosts, punching and kicking. "You think I'm some kind-hearted cop? I was a bully in life!" he shouted.

"You dare speak recklessly, you foul thing! You dare be arrogant after being caught for smuggling? Do you even know who you're talking to? The future top ghost emissary of the underworld, that's who!"

"You dare insult my pursuers? Who do you think you are?"

Wu Heng: "..." "Pursuers?" What pursuers?

Lai Yin Chai's every move was brutal and precise, kicking them where it hurt the most and pulling hair.

It was utterly brutal.

Little White Snake excitedly cheered and joined in, their voices like mad dogs let off the leash.

The seven or eight South Seas ghosts were beaten until they wailed, their world coming crashing down. They had been so respectful just moments ago—why were they being beaten now? Was the translator accurately conveying their words?

A South Seas ghost leader, his hidden ghostly aura suddenly multiplying several times, shouted, "Devour these blind little ghosts for nourishment!"

A bloody atmosphere suddenly engulfed the scene, as if they had sunk into a sea of blood. The pressure was too much to bear, and the once docile South Seas ghosts had turned fierce and vicious.

Liu Jianguo, holding his wife's waist, keenly noticed the change. As a new ghost, he didn't fully understand the underworld's ways but felt... it felt like...

His wife, Chen Jiawen, said with certainty, "They are all blood-stained fierce ghosts!"

Chen Jiawen had waited on the Naihe Bridge for thirty years, encountering countless ghosts and monsters, and could easily identify fierce ghosts.

Fierce ghosts were different from ordinary ghosts; they were always escorted by yin emissaries when crossing the river.

So, what were these South Seas fierce ghosts doing in Huaxia? If they caused trouble, who knew how many would die?

Wu Heng, staring at the chaotic battlefield, said, "They are the fierce ghosts Lu Guoliang raised in the South Seas. Just now, they tried to summon these evil entities to deal with Liu Ziyang and the others."

What Lu Guoliang hadn't anticipated was that these fierce ghosts, despite their ferocity in the South Seas, were still afraid of Huaxia. That's why they hesitated and only pretended to be obedient ghosts, hoping to slip past the yin emissary.

Upon hearing mention of Liu Ziyang and that these fierce ghosts were raised by their family's greatest enemy, Lu Guoliang, Liu Jianguo and Chen Jiawen could no longer contain themselves.

Liu Jianguo, having already shed his uniform long ago after death, rushed forward with his wife.

At that moment, he was not a police officer, but simply a father seeking revenge for his son.

Although Liu Jianguo was a new ghost, he had the blessing of merits. His punches had the same force as a yin emissary’s, causing the targets to howl in pain.

Wu Heng tossed the light blue wrist guard in his hand as he watched the one-sided fight unfold.

Several Nanyang evil spirits were pinned to the ground by Liu Jianguo and Lai Jun, kneeling with black-and-blue faces, crying out, ‘Please, sirs, don’t hit us anymore…’.

Everyone couldn’t help but praise Liu Jianguo. No wonder he was a seasoned police veteran in life; even as a new ghost, his methods of catching souls were beyond what junior yin emissaries could compare to.

Liu Ziyang proudly lifted his chin, loving it.

Lai Yin Chai said to Wu Heng, ‘I’ll bring them all back to the underworld. Illegal entry, insulting Huaxia's underworld authorities, and fierce ghosts committing murder—these charges are enough to keep them in trouble for a long time.’

Liu Ziyang’s face fell. ‘Ah? They’re coming with us? They’re so dirty.’

Wu Heng, displaying his indulgent nature toward the child, returned the lantern to Lai Yin Chai, silently chanted a spell, and gestured towards the scattered Nanyang evil spirits, ‘Enter.’

Lai Yin Chai said, ‘Damn, you’re really upgrading me, huh?’

Isn’t this love?

Lai Jun actually knew that his uniform was magical gear, but like in a game, he was too low-level to unlock its full potential, so he was obsessed with leveling up.

Wu Heng unlocking it for him cross-level was like cheating in the game.

Seven or eight Nanyang evil spirits were trapped inside the lantern, unable to escape, while the central guiding light continued to burn, as if it was roasting their souls, causing them to scream non-stop and frantically scratch the white paper covering the lantern.

The white paper lantern was soon covered in dark, blood-stained handprints.

-

Across the ocean, at this very moment, in Lu Guoliang’s villa in Nanyang, a master dressed in foreign clothes suddenly arched his back, his blood rushing rapidly towards his heart like a tsunami.

“Ptooey—” A mouthful of foul blood sprayed out.

The master fell to the ground, his bloodshot eyes wide open like a bull’s.

The divine generals he had raised for old Master Lai were all… gone? How could this be?

Could something have happened to old Master Lai?

Immediately after, overwhelmed by energy and blood, he vomited more foul blood, as if his heart, liver, lungs, and intestines were about to be expelled, and with deep resentment, he could no longer hold on and closed his eyes.

-

Too noisy.

Lai Yin Chai looked back at Wu Heng, who teased, ‘Shall I add a mute function for you?’

Lai Yin Chai glanced at the noisy lantern, his ears ringing, and sneered, ‘Once I’m promoted, I’ll know how to mute them all. Let’s go.’

Lai Yin Chai picked up the bag of gold ingots and handed one to each of Liu Jianguo’s family members.

Liu Jianguo waved his hands repeatedly, saying he couldn’t accept, but Lai Yin Chai insisted, ‘When I used to beat people up, I’d always give my underlings a share. Take it.’

Wu Heng and the little white snake didn’t need a share since they couldn’t use it in the mortal world anyway.

Lai Yin Chai added, ‘Thanks for the translation. You did a good job. I’ll come to you next time. Consider this a debt for now.’

The family stood behind Lai Yin Chai, bowing deeply to Wu Heng and waving goodbye.

Farewell, from now on, they would be able to live happily together as a family.

As the cold ghostly wind rose, the family gradually disappeared from sight amidst the woods.

The little white snake stood beside Wu Heng, standing upright with a sense of loss. "I won't be able to see the little ghost anymore after this, oh."

There's no more little servant to clean up either. The little white snake felt extremely sad about losing its labor.

Wu Heng smiled. "They're going to live the life they wanted with his mom and dad."

Holding the half-burned white candle, Wu Heng turned and headed back to Chengde Medical Hall, with the little white snake following step by step behind.

"Wu Heng, what was the technique you just used to trap the Nanyang demons inside the lantern?"

Wu Heng explained, "It's an ancient shamanistic spell."

The little white snake thought Wu Heng was really impressive.

"Do you want to learn?"

The little white snake propped up its small horns and snorted, "I don't need to. I'm a naturally born spirit snake, lord of a well spanning ten thousand miles. But if you're begging me so desperately, I might just reluctantly agree."

It wriggled closer to Wu Heng and raised its tail and wagged it like a dog.

Wu Heng moved a little further away from it, covered in grass, and added, "You were biting wildly like a mad dog earlier. It was really embarrassing."

"..." The little white snake let its tail drop involuntarily.

When Wu Heng agreed to He Yunxiao's request to be Xi Xi's godfather, it wasn't just about the title. There was still a long way to go if Xi Xi wanted to grow into a true protective deity of the He Family. The little white snake was just a bonus.

Wu Heng became interested. "You said you don't know any spells, so how did you manage to transform?"

Wu Heng had seen the little white snake's human form, a white-haired boy of about ten years old.

For living beings, the process usually starts with gaining spiritual awareness, learning some small spells, and finally transforming.

The little white snake had skipped a few levels.

The little white snake stiffened its neck and shouted, "Of course, it's because I'm amazing! I'm super powerful!"

After a pause, knowing that Wu Heng could see through everything, it mumbled, "I... I couldn't transform, so I cried in front of the Nuo King and Queen for a whole night. I passed out from crying and fell asleep. The next morning... I suddenly could do it."

Wu Heng: "..."

It's alright, as the saying goes, 'Whether it's a white cat or a black cat, catching the mouse makes it a good cat.'

Wu Heng and the little white snake parted ways at the fork in the road, one heading back to Chengde Medical Hall, the other returning to his well for sleep.

Wu Heng took out the wristband, still carrying a faint scent of laundry detergent, from his pocket, feeling a bit hesitant.

The matter was resolved, but should he return the wristband to his friend?

Wu Heng held the wristband, feeling the soft and sweat-absorbing material. It was probably something Shi Xuan often wore during his workouts, no wonder He Yunxiao joked about it in the locker room.

"It might come in handy in the future," Wu Heng muttered to himself under the moonlight as he put the wristband on his wrist, "It's not something valuable, and between friends, it would feel too formal."

Yes, this was his now, no need to return it.

*

Auntie Wang Mei felt like she had a long yet incredibly satisfying dream. In it, that man was no longer a nightmare but something she could overpower.

In her dream, she beat that old man until he was battered and bruised, leaving him with no good flesh. This was something she wouldn't have dared to imagine before, let alone dream of.

It was just a pity that it was only a dream. If only it were reality.

Wang Mei leaned against the bed, feeling down for a while before picking up her phone. These days, even middle-aged women like them had learned to surf the internet, scrolling through short videos with ease. Wang Mei had even mastered adding special effects to her square dance videos, which garnered many likes.

Wang Mei scrolled through a couple of short videos and was suddenly jolted by the latest video recommendation.

The video was posted by an ordinary netizen located in Nanzuozhai Village, Hezipo Town, yet it had received over 800,000 likes in just one night.

In the video, a blood-soaked old man in traditional Chinese attire was rolling on the ground, cursing, "Bitch, you dare to resist? Resisting means rape! I'll fuck you to death!"

As he spat out these words, one of his front teeth, still attached to a piece of gum and flesh, was violently knocked out.

In the sped-up, pixelated video, the old man lost most of his teeth, leaving only a bloody mouth, much like Liu Ziyang's toothless and earless state back then.

Wang Mei was completely stunned.

"This... this..."

The scene in the video was exactly the same as what she had dreamed about, without the slightest difference.

With trembling hands, she typed a comment in the comments section: "Did you have the same dream?"

Soon, a netizen replied to Wang Mei: "Auntie, what dream? This is real footage."

"What do you mean by 'also' and 'dream'? My mom woke up this morning sobbing and told me for the first time about something that happened when she was young. She also said she dreamed of fighting bad guys with many other sisters. Auntie, did you dream about it too? Is it true?"

Wang Mei hurriedly put on her glasses and clicked into the account. It was clearly a personal account belonging to a young girl, filled with happy photos of her and her mother.

Wang Mei immediately recognized the girl's mother as the woman who had been kicking the man's groin furiously beside Lu Liang in her dream last night.

Could they have had the same dream? Was there such a coincidence?

Wang Mei returned to the short video platform, where almost all the morning's push notifications were about this incident, one after another.

#Shocking! Nanyang’s Renowned Antiquities Collector Lu Guoliang Turns Out to Be a Fugitive Murderer for Thirty Years!

#Antiquities Collector Mr. Lu Guoliang Commits Suicide Outside a Popular Medical Hall at Midnight, Suspected of Mental Breakdown.

#Police Officer Makes a Last Effort, Traversing Mountains and Rivers to Arrest the Culprit from Thirty Years Ago, Dies After Unearthing His Son’s Remains.

...

The editors of major news media were almost typing their keyboards on fire; there was simply too much to write about.

Netizens had almost woken up to a huge scoop.

"Damn, isn't this the old man who did a live stream with Chengde Medical Hall a few days ago? The one Wu Heng said had a dirty disease."

"So this old bastard smuggled artifacts, raped and murdered dozens of women, and even killed a police officer's son? And he escaped to Nanyang and lived in freedom for thirty years? My God..."

"So Wu Heng really diagnosed it correctly, he was indeed a lawless madman with a dirty disease. Do you guys think why he went crazy outside Chengde Medical Hall? I checked an interview with Lu Guoliang from a week ago, the old man seemed fine, how could he have a mental breakdown?"

"...Did you guys notice the news? This old man ate his own ear and shattered his mouth, just like the news from thirty years ago when the police officer received Lu Guoliang’s left ear and a mouthful of teeth. Wu Heng mentioned last night that he would follow up with previous patients."

Wu Heng's fan groups were even more excited to the point of madness.

"Don’t say anything rash, our Heng didn’t do anything, it was the old man’s own fault. Those who understand will understand."

Guo Jiang jumped in, agitated: "I was visited in my dream last night, Auntie said I don’t need to worry about my heart anymore, wuwuwu, Doctor Wu works so quickly."

"Wuwuwu, who remembers that before going off air, our precious Heng once said very gently, ‘If you dream of me, don’t be afraid’?"

The recording of Wu Heng saying this was unearthed by netizens and spread like wildfire across various platforms.

Gradually, more and more aunties came forward wearing masks, saying that they indeed had such dreams. Many of them had never dared to mention this incident in their entire lives, but now they are deciding to bravely tell the police about the suffering that had happened to them years ago, accompanied by their families.

Wang Mei finally came to understand that what happened last night was not a dream. Her soul had truly followed the light of the candle thousands of miles away to Chengde Medical Hall, where she avenged herself on her sworn enemy at the entrance of the medical hall.

Wang Mei burst into tears, her sobs soaking the sheets. She had imagined Lu Liang getting arrested and sentenced to death, but she had never thought that she would have the chance to strike back with her own hands!

And all of this was brought about by a village shaman doctor she had never met online.

Wiping away her tears, Wang Mei hit the follow button for "Chengde Medical Hall" and murmured, "When will the live broadcast start? I must send him a gift!"

A lifelong nightmare had finally been lifted.

At the center of the ongoing discussion, Wu Heng was still asleep. He was woken up by the ringtone of his phone. The caller on the other end was Wang Jun.

*

Wang Jun's voice was extremely anxious, "Is Doctor Wu Heng awake? Lu Liang had a psychotic episode on the way to the hospital, he used a syringe to stab the accompanying officer and the nearby nurses!"

Lu Liang had a filthy disease. It was said to be a disease obtained from dabbling in the occult.

This incident caused the stabbed nurse to break down in tears, and Officer Xiao's face also turned extremely pale.

Lu Guoliang laughed insanely, his gaze venomously sweeping across everyone, "Ha ha ha ha..."

A filthy disease, right? The top hospitals and masters couldn't cure it, but besides sexual and mother-to-child transmission, isn't there also blood transmission?

He knew he was finished, Huaxia wouldn't spare him, and he hated everyone.

Seeing the innocent people getting hurt, Lu Liang felt an extreme sense of pleasure.

Wu Heng said with his eyes closed, "I've cured his filthy disease."

The old man was stunned, screaming, "How could it be cured? Isn't it supposed to..."

He'd eaten the cartilage of his own right ear.

Is this even possible???

Wu Heng rubbed his eyes and yawned, "Just say if this disease was cured by me or not."