A month ago, a housing estate resident made a report to the local police, saying that there was a foul smell coming frequently from the house downstairs of his. It was Tao Gang who performed the task. He asked the residents around there. And according to the information provided by the neighborhood committee, the house owner had moved to Beijing. The person who lived there now was a tenant and had stayed there for half a year. He was a middle-aged man and a loner. No one had ever seen any visitors of his. At that time, Tao Gang knocked on that door and found there was indeed a foul smell in the house! Something was being cooked on the stove. Tao Gang took a look at it but couldn’t figure out what that was. So he questioned the middle-aged man, “What is in the pot?” The man answered, “It’s meat!” Tao Gang asked again, “What kind of meat?” The man answered, “It’s not human meat!” Seeing that this man was perfunctory, Tao Gang didn’t say anything more.

After opening the fridge, Tao Gang found a lot of raw meat, but he couldn’t tell what it was. Then he asked the man but got nothing. He was at his wit’s end! Therefore he said to the man, “Someone made a report to us that the smell in your room is affecting other resident’s lives!” Unexpectedly, the man replied, “You can’t consider me as law-breaking just because I don’t cook well!” Seeing that this man was evading his questions, there was nothing Tao Gang could do. Then after Tao Gang handed in the report, he fell ill all of a sudden. He looked absent-minded as if his soul were lost.

After hearing that, I stood up and said to Deputy Director Zhao, “Can we pay Tao Gang a visit?” He said, “I happen to need to see him too. Let’s go together!” Before heading out, I said to him, “You should send someone to investigate the emergency call. If what I guessed is right, the call should be from a copied card. The owner of the original card didn’t know!”

After we met Tao Gang, I checked his pulse and said to Deputy Director Zhao, “What he has is not a disease, it’s a black art. Someone has cast a spell on him!” Then without asking for Deputy Director Zhao’s consent, I brought out the calabash gourd right away, took a mouthful of water from it, and spat it out on Tao Gang’s face with a puff. He came to his senses immediately, took a look around, and asked, “Where am I?” Seeing that, the others all felt delighted! The other police officer who came along held Tao Gang’s hand, and explained to him.

The doctor around also came over and asked me, “What medicine is that? It was magical…” Before I could answer, someone rang Deputy Director Zhao’s phone. Deputy Director Zhao answered the call, and after he heard a few words, he said, “I see.” Then he took me to one side and said, “My colleague just told me on the phone that they have found the card owner from the emergency call. It turned out that someone had indeed copied his card and made the fake report! How did you figure that out?” I laughed coolly and said, “It’s simple. They had aimed for Tao Gang since the beginning. They needed to know when Tao Gang would perform a task after receiving an emergency call. Therefore they had planted an agent inside the police station. And the reporter must be their man too! When they needed that call, there’s no chance that they would count on a stranger to do it! If what I am thinking is right, the policeman who attended to Tao Gang volunteered to take care of Tao Gang!”

Deputy Director Zhao nodded and then asked, puzzled, “But what is all of this are for?” I lit a cigarette, laughed coldly, and said, “Of course they are looking to take me down!” Then I told him about what had happened in Wu Zhong County and the connections between these cases. And I said, “The members of this cult in Wu Zhong County were wiped out by me. Then they wanted to take revenge. However, because they were not familiar with the environment in Wu Zhong County, they had to rack their brains to make a scheme and lure me here. The man had lived there for almost half a year. But why was there no foul smell coming out before? It explains that they had already started to plot since they made the foul smell! It was a scheme that was elaborated designed and carefully operated. Each step of it was intricately woven together. And there was not the slightest error. They had succeeded in luring me here. But they failed to make the final effort when they tried to have me killed by another’s hand. However, they must have a plan B or even plan C! This is a challenge to me. As the arrow is fitted to the bowstring, it must be released. I can only accept the challenge! And I hope that you can support me, Deputy Director Zhao!” Deputy Director Zhao was quite straightforward and said, “How can I help you?” I answered, “Take me to take a look at the room with the foul smell. If I am right, the tenant has already made his get-away!” Deputy Director Zhao said, “Sure!” Before he could say more, Tao Gang came over, held my hand, turned around and said to Deputy Director Zhao with a requesting tone, “Let me come along?!” Deputy Director Zhao nodded his head.

On the way, I revealed the real occupation of the three of us and explained the reason why Tao Gang was spellbound. Because these cult members practiced black magic, the three of us who had supernatural abilities stepped in. Deputy Director Zhao was an experienced police officer. Apparently, this wasn’t the first time that he encountered a case like that. So he said right away, “We will let the professionals do the professional jobs! Rest assured. You will have our full support to help you solve this case!” While we were heading to the place, I started to recall. This scheme had already started the moment Zheng Shuang saw the picture. In this way, I walked right into their trap by calling Tao Gang forwardly, telling him to pick up the calls in a crowded place, and letting him know our undercover investigation. I was a complete fool in their eyes.

Seeing that I laughed ironically, Deputy Director Zhao asked me, “Is everything okay?” I felt embarrassed to tell him the truth, so I dodged the question. On the way, Tao Gang was driving, and we were sitting at the backseat. At this moment, there were only Deputy Director Zhao and Tao Gang who were from the police station. Apparently, Deputy Director Zhao was more at ease. Then he asked me, “Erm. Xiao Yan, wouldn’t it be too cursory if you said that a piece of charm revealed a child trafficking case?” I shook my head and said, “If they didn’t lure me here, that’s indeed cursory. However, the situation now is totally different. What the cult did was a reprisal to me.” I understood what he really meant to say. Although he said that he would let the professionals do the professional jobs, he wasn’t convinced and might even presume that we were frauds. However, he didn’t dare to say that to us for the sake of the police in Wu Zhong County. I liked to be straightforward, so I said directly, “If you don’t believe me, you can tell me, Deputy Director Zhao. It’s alright.” Hearing this, he smiled awkwardly, which proved that my guess was right. He said, “I have been working for many years. There were many strange cases. But we are the police after all. It’s indeed quite difficult for me to know that we are not only dealing with humans but also spirits and ghosts, this is…”

I chuckled and said, “This is common. There are no others in the car. Tao Gang is Zheng Shuang’s old schoolmate, and you are his leader. How about I prove this to you…” Then I took out a charm of Divine Sight and put it on between his eyebrows. After I said a pithy formula in silence, the charm burned into ashes automatically. He opened his eyes and looked at me with a confused face. I motioned him to look at the backseat. The moment he turned around, he shouted, “Oh my!” and got so shocked that he almost bounced. Six women were sitting in the backseats squeezing with each other. Xiao Qi waved her hands playfully at him. And Xiao Si who was murdered by hanging did a crazier move – She stuck out her long tongue and made a face at Deputy Director Zhao! Deputy Director Zhao got even more scared and almost passed out. Then he said repeatedly, “I believe you, I believe you!” I looked back, glared at Xiao Si accusingly, and said, “Why did you scare him! Stop showing your ugly face!” After hearing that, Xiao Si got grumpy and made a face at me too. Her tongue was so long that it stretched out to my face! Then she showed me the white of her eyes. And her whole eyeballs were white!

Deputy Director Zhao got dumbfounded at the side. Apparently, he believed it now. He asked me, “Xiao Yan, these ghosts, who are…” I explained hastily, “Oh, don’t be afraid, Deputy Director Zhao. She was just messing with you. She won’t hurt anyone. Because they all died violent deaths, they don’t look good. That’s why they tried to scare you.” Deputy Director Zhao asked with a trembling voice, “Did you bring them here?” I nodded and said, “Yes. They heard that we were coming to Inner Mongolia and wanted to tag along.” Although Tao Gang was driving in the front and couldn’t see Xiao Qi and her sisters, he could understand that I wasn’t lying after seeing that even the deputy director got so scared.

Tao Gang laughed and asked me, “Brother Yan, don’t the novels say that people like you always conceal themselves? But you don’t seem like you’re trying to hide your powers.” I laughed and said, “Right. We do conceal ourselves. But ask Deputy Director Zhao to share what he had seen today after you go back to the police station, and see if there would be anyone who would believe that!” Tao Gang laughed and said, “Cast a spell on me too. I also want to see supernatural things!” I said, “No hurries. Drive well now. I will let the six of them come home with you tonight. Then you can have a close look! Each of them died in a different way. I guarantee that you will see various appearances! Tomorrow you can tell me which one you like, and I will act as a matchmaker for you!” Tao Gang shivered at once and waved his hands to say no. I looked to the six sisters at the back and said with a cheeky grin, “Don’t be shy. They are all big girls! Well, Xiao Liu is a good girl! She is honest! It’s just that she died with her wrist cut open. Therefore she is a bit too white. But don’t be upset!” After hearing that, Tao Gang shivered again and said, “Brother Yan, please stop making fun of me!” The three of us and the six of the sisters all burst out laughing.

We reached the housing estate and found the apartment. Then we knocked on the door for quite a while, but no one answered the door. I pushed the door, and it opened itself. Tao Gang was still on guard while I swaggered my way into the room. In the room, there was a piece of rice paper on the table written with a sentence that said, “Murong Shiyan, lucky for you! If you dare, see you at the next stop!” I grinned, took up the brush pen at the side, and wrote down, “See you there!” on the back.