Chapter 85

Chapter 85

The closest predicted site was north of Jiangcheng, half of it in the city's outer districts and the other half in a neighboring city.

To make things easier, Yan He drove.

It took them over two hours to reach the border between the two cities. Yan He looked at the map and said, "This predicted area's pretty big. From what I've heard, they've already swept half of it with equipment as a first pass, and now they're doing a finer sweep, which takes more time. The research institute crew is camped out here for now. Let's go see if they've turned anything up."

Xu Muchan nodded in agreement, and the two went to find the research institute staff stationed there.

Coming with Yan He really was the right call. Yan He was outgoing and way better at digging for info than Xu Muchan. When they got there, Yan He grabbed the fruit and snacks he'd stashed in the car, quickly chatted up the stationed crew, and managed to get the intel they needed.

After passing out the snacks and fruit, Yan He headed back to the car and said to Xu Muchan, "They've been sweeping outward from this spot as ground zero for the past few days and haven't found anything weird—not even one vengeful ghost in the yin energy. It's squeaky clean."

Xu Muchan looked around and said, "This place really is clean."

So clean it felt almost wrong.

After all, there were way more ghosts and spirits in this world than regular folks could imagine—mostly earthbound spirits, stuck by their obsessions where they died, unable to move on day after day.

Xu Muchan had long gotten used to tuning them out, but now that he was in this weirdly clean spot, it threw him off.

Yan He thought about it after hearing his words and said, "This area isn't as busy as downtown, so fewer spirits makes sense."

Xu Muchan said, "Let's hit the next spot."

Yan He nodded and climbed in. Xu Muchan circled to the passenger side and was about to hop in when he suddenly froze. His pupils snapped into black-red ghost eyes as he glanced left. In his narrowed sight, he could just barely make out a thin strand of hair swaying like a snake, sending a signal.

It was the strand he'd planted on Ou Yangmu—which meant Ou Yangmu was close.

Back when he'd gotten out of the ghost domain at Immortal Village, he'd realized he couldn't use paper figures to corner and expose Ou Yangmu, so he'd dropped it for now. Instead, he'd played nice and secretly planted a strand of hair on Ou Yangmu.

This was a special power he'd gotten after becoming the Ghost King—the strands stayed alive and could relay info even away from his body.

Through that strand, he could keep tabs on Ou Yangmu.

And now he suddenly felt the strand, which meant Ou Yangmu was right there.

What a coincidence... Xu Muchan squinted ahead.

Yan He, in the driver's seat, saw him standing by the door and called out, "Xu Muchan, what's wrong?"

Xu Muchan snapped out of it, his pupils instantly back to normal. He opened the door, climbed in, and said, "Skip Xuancheng for now. Head this way."

Yan He shot him a confused look. "Why the sudden detour?"

Xu Muchan said, "Picked up on something. Let's trail it first—you'll see when we get there."

Yan He had no choice but to kill the navigation and drive where Xu Muchan pointed.

But as they drove, Yan He got curious and switched the navigation back on. "Why does this route look like it's going to Xuancheng anyway?"

He pulled up the map, gave it a side glance, and said, "This way leads to Xuancheng."

Xu Muchan frowned too, leaning in to check the map—sure enough, it was the way to Xuancheng.

They kept the navigation on the rest of the way. Xu Muchan followed the strand's signal and found they were indeed barreling straight for Xuancheng. Right as they were about to hit the city limits, a black Jeep showed up ahead.

Xu Muchan eyed the Jeep and said to Yan He, "Tail that car, but don't get seen."

Yan He's face got weirder and weirder. "Who's in that car?"

This time, Xu Muchan didn't beat around the bush. "It's Ou Yangmu."

"Ou Yangmu?" Yan He blinked in surprise. "Why's he heading to Xuancheng?"

Then it clicked. "Wait—how do you know that's him? Were you tailing him just now?"

Xu Muchan said, "I ran into him back in Panlin and slipped something small on him."

"You two got beef?" Yan He's tone was curious.

Xu Muchan nodded. "Do you remember Cui Tong? The paper puppet secret art Cui Tong used—Ou Yangmu knows it too. Back in the ghost domain at Immortal Village, he used a paper puppet to ambush me, but there was no evidence at the time, so I kept a card up my sleeve."

"Ou Yangmu has a connection to Cui Tong?" Yan He's brows knitted tightly at that—he had an extremely poor impression of Cui Tong.

"Yeah." Xu Muchan's words were startling. "Not only that, I suspect Immortal Village is connected to the Ou family. The Ou family wants to ascend to immortality."

Yan He took a moment to process this, then said hesitantly, "The Ou family switched to politics long ago, and their reputation's pretty good right now. Do you have proof?"

Xu Muchan shook his head but said firmly, "Keep following that car, and maybe we'll have proof soon."

Yan He immediately turned serious at that, focusing intently on trailing the vehicle. Strangely, though, the car didn't stop even after entering the predicted area—instead, it drove in circles as if lost.

Afraid of being discovered, Yan He didn't dare get too close and could only slow down and observe from a distance.

After circling twice in place, the car drove off.

"Something's off. Should we keep following?"

"No need." Xu Muchan signaled Yan He to stop the car and said, "He used a paper puppet."

Yan He pulled over, took out a concealment charm and handed it to Xu Muchan. The two got out and carefully searched by the faint trace of aura, eventually finding the paper puppet hidden in the grass.

The paper puppet was no bigger than a fingernail, having slipped out lightly from the car door crack. If not for Xu Muchan's extraordinary eyesight, it would never have been spotted.

"What's special about this place..."

After searching around for a bit, the puppet's exquisitely crafted hand transformed into the shape of a blade and sliced through the air. A moment later, it cut open a thin slit, and a faint wisp of yin energy leaked out. It slipped right through.

"A ghost domain!" Yan He was first surprised, then frowned deeply.

Xu Muchan had said earlier that there were special ghost domains that couldn't be detected—and now one had just appeared.

The two exchanged a glance. Yan He took the lead, prying open the still-unsealed passage where the paper puppet had entered, and slipped in silently.

One step through, and the surroundings changed completely.

Thick yin energy rushed at them. Rotting corpses hung from the gnarled, claw-like branches all around, and crows flew overhead in flocks.

Further away, a paper puppet that had grown to nearly three meters tall was locked in battle with a monster covered in human faces all over its body.

The creature was bloated and slow-moving, no match for the paper puppet at all. Within moments, it was already at death's door.

Xu Muchan and Yan He hid in the shadows, phones already out recording.

Yan He gave him a look of mixed feelings and whispered, "We go in after they finish?"

Xu Muchan nodded. "I'll handle it. You stay on the sidelines and make sure it doesn't escape."

This paper puppet is quite cunning. Last time, Xu Muchan was caught off guard and failed to capture it, but this time, he was dead set on catching it red-handed.

The fight between the paper puppet and the monster wrapped up quickly. After skillfully killing the monster, the puppet whipped out a talisman and slapped it on the monster's body, and flames instantly swallowed it whole.

Afterwards, the paper puppet prowled the small ghost domain, flinging talismans nonstop.

Once the fire burned itself out, the ghost domain would collapse, leaving zero trace behind.

Xu Muchan filmed the whole thing, stashed his phone, and struck while the puppet wasn't looking. The second he lunged, he went full ghost mode, razor-sharp claws aimed right at the puppet's head.

The puppet, all smug and full of itself, never saw it coming. Its flimsy head got ripped clean off, eyes bugging out in terror as it screeched, "Who?!"

But Xu Muchan crushed the head into a pulp, making sure it never got a look at him, and silently chased down the body that was making a run for it.

The headless body, mid-escape, slammed right into Yan He. With the two of them working together, the puppet barely put up a fight before getting caught.

Only after Yan He pulled out a little pouch and stuffed the puppet inside did either of them say a word. Xu Muchan spoke first: "I'll hold onto it."

Yan He raised an eyebrow. "What, you don't trust me?"

Xu Muchan shook his head. "I'll sleep better knowing it's in my own hands. If I'm right, the research institute might have Ouyang family plants in it too."

Yan He didn't argue, just tossed the pouch over. "So what's the move? I gotta report this ASAP. Judging by how slick that puppet was, this definitely ain't its first rodeo with a ghost domain... If a ghost domain with heavy yin energy shows up at the predicted spot, it could totally trigger a tide..."

Yan He's voice got tight here, but he forced the words out: "There's a real chance that prediction wasn't totally off..."

And the scariest part? Maybe the prediction was dead-on.

The two went quiet, watching the ghost domain crumble to nothing. Xu Muchan said, "I'm calling Sister He first. Keep your mouth shut for now."

Back in the car, Xu Muchan FaceTimed He Yunyi to fill her in on the ghost domain in Xuancheng.

He Yunyi's face went visibly grim. "You sure? Got proof?"

Xu Muchan angled the phone camera slightly toward Yan He and said, "I dealt with it alongside Taoist Master Yan He."

Even though he'd filmed the whole thing, Xu Muchan didn't mention it right away. Instead, he brought up the previous tide prediction: "I think that last tide prediction might not've been a screw-up. It could've been spot-on—someone just covered up the anomalies."

He Yunyi looked uneasy. "Right now, it's just one low-risk ghost domain in Xuancheng. Last time, we made a huge stink, and it turned out the system's prediction was just wrong. Without harder proof, getting anyone else on board is gonna be tough."

Xu Muchan casually pivoted: "Sister He, aren't you tight with Mr. Ouyang's dad? Could you get them to help persuade others? Although only Xuancheng has shown anomalies so far, both Taoist Master Yan He and I feel this isn't that simple. It'd be best to send more people to re-investigate."

His words were clearly probing. Yan He raised an eyebrow at him, surprised that this seemingly innocent top student would even suspect He Yunyi.

But He Yunyi was indeed closely connected to the Ouyang family and held an important position at the institute... Yan He remained silent.

He Yunyi, however, shook her head. "Personal ties are personal ties; official matters are official. Without sufficient evidence, I can't use personal connections to approach Mr. Ouyang. Besides, during the last prediction failure, Mr. Ouyang wasn't involved and remained neutral. My intervention wouldn't change anything."

She then shifted her tone: "But what you've said does make sense. I'll try to speak with those higher up, though approval is unlikely. At most, they'll send more personnel. A large-scale operation like last time won't happen again."

Hearing this, Xu Muchan's guard lowered slightly. If He Yunyi were in league with the Ouyang family, she wouldn't endorse their views.

"I have a video here related to Ouyang Mu that might serve as evidence for persuasion."

Xu Muchan sent the video over.

He Yunyi opened it, and after watching, her expression darkened further. "You've captured the paper puppet?"

Xu Muchan replied with an "mm" and said, "I'm keeping it safe. I've suspected before that the existence of the Immortal Village was someone's attempt to create gods and ascend to immortality. I still hold the same view, and I believe the Immortal Village is closely tied to the Ouyang family—it's the Ouyangs who want to ascend."

He Yunyi pondered for a moment, then said, "Understood. The video and the paper puppet you've sent are enough to arrest Ouyang Mu. I'll file the application first and get him under control."

"As for the rest, it depends on whether we can extract more leads from Ouyang Mu."

Xu Muchan expressed his understanding. After ending the call, He Yunyi immediately filed the application and then set out with two others to the Ouyang residence.

As far as she knew, Ouyang Mu's recently publicized whereabouts placed him at home in the capital, likely to cover up his private movements.

This sudden visit to the Ouyang residence wasn't primarily to capture Ouyang Mu; she wanted to test Ouyang Mu's father, hoping for some unexpected surprises.

However, when she arrived at the Ouyang villa with her team, she found the entire place eerily quiet. After ringing the doorbell, no one answered or came to the door.

Realizing something was wrong, He Yunyi and her team immediately broke in, only to find that the Ouyang family had already vacated the premises.

"They've fled?" He Yunyi was incredulous. She could understand Ouyang Mu fleeing out of guilt, but Ouyang Mu's father held a high-ranking position. As the saying goes, "The monk may run away, but the temple remains." Ouyang Mu's father was that temple.

Yet the one least likely to flee had vanished.

The entire Ouyang residence was empty, clearly abandoned long ago.

He Yunyi took a deep breath, first sending word back, then ordered, "Issue an internal wanted notice. Search for the whereabouts of the Ouyang family."