After breakfast, Xiao Quan took me to see Ye Weiguo as he had an appointment with him.
Ye Weiguo appeared, wearing the standard uniform of a soldier. He donned dark green trousers and a loose military uniform vest. He looked as though he could mingle with people on the streets and nobody would recognize him.
Judging from his appearance, I knew that Ye Weiguo had struggled and thrived from nothing to what he was today. I’d always admired and respected this sort of man. I took the initiative and asked him what had happened.
He didn’t use the arrogant style of an official to address me. He acted friendly and poured me a cup of tea. Then, he told me what he remembered.
I had listened to him for a while and found that he was telling me the same as what Xiao Quan had told me. The only thing I noticed was that he didn’t mention the relationship between him and the one who had died instead of him.
However, from his frightened and angry expression, he and the deceased didn’t just have a superior-subordinate relationship.
The crime scene was also in the Haidian District. However, as Ye Weiguo was based in Guangzhou, he had come to Beijing this time to join a new weapons research team. That was why he didn’t bring his family with him. Every day, he stayed in the house that was allocated to him.
I took a glance at the scene. It wasn’t much different from the previous ones. This unlucky man was also chopped in half. Since he was slashed as soon as he passed through the door, his blood dyed the snow-white painted wall.
After collecting the information from the crime scene, Xiao Quan asked his staff to remove the dead body. I guessed he did that to facilitate the next operation.
No matter what, the spirit would come to trouble Ye Weiguo again. He needed to stay in this house to be the prey. If we left a dismembered body on the floor here, all the people would feel sick.
However, I had a feeling that things wouldn’t be that simple. “I think we should keep the body here. Will you be scared, Sir?”
“I came back alive from a counterattack against Vietnam. I’ve rolled between dead bodies. This doesn’t scare me.” Ye Weiguo sounded bold and strong.
At noon, when the sunlight was the strongest, I went to the victims’ houses to check if the coins had changed. Indeed, all the coins had turned dark.
In other words, the spirit had returned to the murder scene. I was skeptical. It had already killed the people it wanted to kill, so why did it return to their houses?
I had thought about it for quite a long time and didn’t come up with any ideas. The only thing I could confirm now was that the spirit had used the coins to keep track of me!
It reminded me that I should always put up my guard.
Ye Weiguo had escaped death once. Would he be able to do it again?
After pondering for a while, I decided to take action. I needed to know the spirit’s identity first!
To ensure Ye Weiguo’s safety, that afternoon, I went to a shop that sold funeral items to make a paper stand-in. The shop owner was quite skillful. From a distance, the paper stand-in looked similar to a real person. When I put Ye Weiguo’s clothes on it, even Ye Weiguo was surprised.
I asked Ye Weiguo about his birthday and birth hour. Then, I wrote the information on a talisman, which I later stuck on the paper stand-in’s forehead. To finish the preparations, I asked Ye Weiguo to cut his fingertip and drip some drops of blood on the talisman.
It was the tactic called “concealing the sky to cross the sea.” The spirit targeted and killed people using a person’s Yang energy and their blood essence.
After preparing the paper stand-in with Ye Weiguo’s birthday and blood, I used the Yang Concealing talisman to hide Ye Weiguo’s Yang energy. Once the spirit came, it would deal with the paper stand-in as if it was Ye Weiguo.
When everything was done, it was twilight. Xiao Quan took us to dinner.
“Mr. Zhang, do you think something unexpected will happen to Ye Weiguo?” He asked me over the table.
It was no wonder Xiao Quan looked panic-stricken when he heard that Ye Weiguo had an accident. It turned out they had a good relationship. I took a sip from my tumbler of wine. “Don’t worry. At most, we will spend the night watching nothing. However, I’m sure people will be safe.”
The Northern people drank generously. Moreover, the two of them were hospitable and friendly. I didn’t refrain myself anymore and drank with them.
It wasn’t like I could drink with high-ranking leaders like them every day. I was sure that when I came home and told Li Mazi about this, he would blame me for not being generous enough to bring him along.
Even though I liked to drink a bit in my free time, I rarely drank a lot. Under Xiao Quan and Ye Weiguo’s continuous encouragement, I was soon drunk. Dreamily, I laid on the table. Since we had something to do at night, they didn’t insist on me drinking more.
I had laid on the table for a while. When I felt better and my head stopped spinning, I wanted to use the bathroom. When I lifted my head, Ye Weiguo and Xiao Quan weren’t there. I asked their assistants and learned that they had gone to the toilet.
“Oh, they even go to pee in unison. Why don’t they share the same trousers…” I mumbled, then got up to go to the toilet.
Since we had reserved the entire floor of this hotel, there was no shadow in the corridor.
As soon as I reached the toilet room, I couldn’t wait anymore. While walking into the restroom, I unbuckled myself. All of a sudden, I heard Xiao Quan shout, “Old Ye, please listen to me once, can’t you?”
“Xiao Quan, we are the people’s soldiers. As humans, we can’t forget our roots!” Ye Weiguo’s angry voice followed.
My head boomed at this moment. I knew they had a secret. I silently tiptoed to a toilet stall to eavesdrop.
Xiao Quan suddenly smiled and faced Ye Weiguo’s bold attitude. His tone changed into a persuasive one. “Old Ye, my friend, it’s not something you should care about. You should back off. Why do you want to step into this dirty puddle?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m a loyal Chinese. As long as I am not dead, I am not going to let them do that!” Ye Weiguo sounded strangely enraged. However, the argument ended here. I heard the door slam and Ye Weiguo grunt before leaving.
At this moment, only Xiao Quan was in the restroom. I inched toward the door of my stall to peep through the slit. The man was clenching his fists. His red eyes gazed at the direction Ye Weiguo went. He spat maliciously, “Haha, I’m sorry, then!” Then, he left. It took me a lot of time to pull myself together and react to the situation.
Xiao Quan had probably done something dirty that Ye Weiguo had accidentally discovered. Being a righteous and straightforward soldier, Ye Weiguo wanted to report him. Xiao Quan knew he couldn’t persuade him, so he wanted to murder him.
This was the playground of the officials. There was no smoke from the muzzle, but it was more ruthless than any battlefield. Of course, I didn’t want to put my nose in their business. But now, I was suspicious that Xiao Quan was somehow related to these serial murder cases.
It was logical that Xiao Quan went to talk to Ye Weiguo after the man had undergone a horrible incident. Still, although I had just listened to the latter half of their conversation, I felt it sounded like an ultimatum!
While thinking, I heard Xiao Quan call me from the corridor. I knew I mustn’t let them know that I had eavesdropped on them. Otherwise, perhaps I wouldn’t even know how I had died.
As the footsteps drew nearer, I took the opportunity to crawl out the window. I followed the drainpipe to reach the room upstairs at my maximum speed.
“Mr. Zhang, where have you been?”
When I returned to the dining room, I saw Ye Weiguo drinking alone. He looked a little down. He poured me another tumbler when he saw me.
I pretended to know nothing and drank with him. A moment later, Xiao Quan rushed into the room. His face looked worried. When he saw me, he heaved a gentle sigh of relief. “Mr. Zhang, where did you go?”
“I went downstairs for some fresh air. I felt dizzy…” I pretended to be drunk. My voice was drowsy. However, I had discreetly started to put up a guard against Xiao Quan. I had a feeling that there was some conspiracy!
After drinking, we stayed in the hotel to rest. At around twilight, we returned to Ye Weiguo’s house. The paper stand-in was tucked in bed during the day. Now, we needed to check it one last time. We didn’t want any mistakes.
After confirming that everything was all right, I left the house and waited in the car. I gave Ye Weiguo a Yang Concealing Talisman. He didn’t trust the talisman, so he put it in his pocket. Anyway, the talisman still worked even if he kept it in his pocket. I didn’t comment on anything.
As the night grew deeper, the temperature dropped. I rolled up the window. Inadvertently, I took a glimpse of Xiao Quan grunting through the rearview mirror. He looked as though he was contemplating something.
The spirit would show up at any minute. Looking at Xiao Quan’s anxious countenance, it was easy to guess why he was worried. I decided to pretend to be dozing off. I leaned on the wheel and slept while calculating things.
If Xiao Quan did something in the next moment, should I bust him? If I let him do what he wanted, perhaps Ye Weiguo’s life would be over tonight. But if I interfered, I would offend Xiao Quan…
And, if I let him run away, it would be too late to regret it. After all, he had my criminal profile!
At this moment, I felt so anxious, more than I had ever felt before. Once Xiao Quan made a move, I would have no room to advance or retreat!
After breakfast, Xiao Quan took me to see Ye Weiguo as he had an appointment with him.
Ye Weiguo appeared, wearing the standard uniform of a soldier. He donned dark green trousers and a loose military uniform vest. He looked as though he could mingle with people on the streets and nobody would recognize him.
Judging from his appearance, I knew that Ye Weiguo had struggled and thrived from nothing to what he was today. I’d always admired and respected this sort of man. I took the initiative and asked him what had happened.
He didn’t use the arrogant style of an official to address me. He acted friendly and poured me a cup of tea. Then, he told me what he remembered.
I had listened to him for a while and found that he was telling me the same as what Xiao Quan had told me. The only thing I noticed was that he didn’t mention the relationship between him and the one who had died instead of him.
However, from his frightened and angry expression, he and the deceased didn’t just have a superior-subordinate relationship.
The crime scene was also in the Haidian District. However, as Ye Weiguo was based in Guangzhou, he had come to Beijing this time to join a new weapons research team. That was why he didn’t bring his family with him. Every day, he stayed in the house that was allocated to him.
I took a glance at the scene. It wasn’t much different from the previous ones. This unlucky man was also chopped in half. Since he was slashed as soon as he passed through the door, his blood dyed the snow-white painted wall.
After collecting the information from the crime scene, Xiao Quan asked his staff to remove the dead body. I guessed he did that to facilitate the next operation.
No matter what, the spirit would come to trouble Ye Weiguo again. He needed to stay in this house to be the prey. If we left a dismembered body on the floor here, all the people would feel sick.
However, I had a feeling that things wouldn’t be that simple. “I think we should keep the body here. Will you be scared, Sir?”
“I came back alive from a counterattack against Vietnam. I’ve rolled between dead bodies. This doesn’t scare me.” Ye Weiguo sounded bold and strong.
At noon, when the sunlight was the strongest, I went to the victims’ houses to check if the coins had changed. Indeed, all the coins had turned dark.
In other words, the spirit had returned to the murder scene. I was skeptical. It had already killed the people it wanted to kill, so why did it return to their houses?
I had thought about it for quite a long time and didn’t come up with any ideas. The only thing I could confirm now was that the spirit had used the coins to keep track of me!
It reminded me that I should always put up my guard.
Ye Weiguo had escaped death once. Would he be able to do it again?
After pondering for a while, I decided to take action. I needed to know the spirit’s identity first!
To ensure Ye Weiguo’s safety, that afternoon, I went to a shop that sold funeral items to make a paper stand-in. The shop owner was quite skillful. From a distance, the paper stand-in looked similar to a real person. When I put Ye Weiguo’s clothes on it, even Ye Weiguo was surprised.
I asked Ye Weiguo about his birthday and birth hour. Then, I wrote the information on a talisman, which I later stuck on the paper stand-in’s forehead. To finish the preparations, I asked Ye Weiguo to cut his fingertip and drip some drops of blood on the talisman.
It was the tactic called “concealing the sky to cross the sea.” The spirit targeted and killed people using a person’s Yang energy and their blood essence.
After preparing the paper stand-in with Ye Weiguo’s birthday and blood, I used the Yang Concealing talisman to hide Ye Weiguo’s Yang energy. Once the spirit came, it would deal with the paper stand-in as if it was Ye Weiguo.
When everything was done, it was twilight. Xiao Quan took us to dinner.
“Mr. Zhang, do you think something unexpected will happen to Ye Weiguo?” He asked me over the table.
It was no wonder Xiao Quan looked panic-stricken when he heard that Ye Weiguo had an accident. It turned out they had a good relationship. I took a sip from my tumbler of wine. “Don’t worry. At most, we will spend the night watching nothing. However, I’m sure people will be safe.”
The Northern people drank generously. Moreover, the two of them were hospitable and friendly. I didn’t refrain myself anymore and drank with them.
It wasn’t like I could drink with high-ranking leaders like them every day. I was sure that when I came home and told Li Mazi about this, he would blame me for not being generous enough to bring him along.
Even though I liked to drink a bit in my free time, I rarely drank a lot. Under Xiao Quan and Ye Weiguo’s continuous encouragement, I was soon drunk. Dreamily, I laid on the table. Since we had something to do at night, they didn’t insist on me drinking more.
I had laid on the table for a while. When I felt better and my head stopped spinning, I wanted to use the bathroom. When I lifted my head, Ye Weiguo and Xiao Quan weren’t there. I asked their assistants and learned that they had gone to the toilet.
“Oh, they even go to pee in unison. Why don’t they share the same trousers…” I mumbled, then got up to go to the toilet.
Since we had reserved the entire floor of this hotel, there was no shadow in the corridor.
As soon as I reached the toilet room, I couldn’t wait anymore. While walking into the restroom, I unbuckled myself. All of a sudden, I heard Xiao Quan shout, “Old Ye, please listen to me once, can’t you?”
“Xiao Quan, we are the people’s soldiers. As humans, we can’t forget our roots!” Ye Weiguo’s angry voice followed.
My head boomed at this moment. I knew they had a secret. I silently tiptoed to a toilet stall to eavesdrop.
Xiao Quan suddenly smiled and faced Ye Weiguo’s bold attitude. His tone changed into a persuasive one. “Old Ye, my friend, it’s not something you should care about. You should back off. Why do you want to step into this dirty puddle?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I’m a loyal Chinese. As long as I am not dead, I am not going to let them do that!” Ye Weiguo sounded strangely enraged. However, the argument ended here. I heard the door slam and Ye Weiguo grunt before leaving.
At this moment, only Xiao Quan was in the restroom. I inched toward the door of my stall to peep through the slit. The man was clenching his fists. His red eyes gazed at the direction Ye Weiguo went. He spat maliciously, “Haha, I’m sorry, then!” Then, he left. It took me a lot of time to pull myself together and react to the situation.
Xiao Quan had probably done something dirty that Ye Weiguo had accidentally discovered. Being a righteous and straightforward soldier, Ye Weiguo wanted to report him. Xiao Quan knew he couldn’t persuade him, so he wanted to murder him.
This was the playground of the officials. There was no smoke from the muzzle, but it was more ruthless than any battlefield. Of course, I didn’t want to put my nose in their business. But now, I was suspicious that Xiao Quan was somehow related to these serial murder cases.
It was logical that Xiao Quan went to talk to Ye Weiguo after the man had undergone a horrible incident. Still, although I had just listened to the latter half of their conversation, I felt it sounded like an ultimatum!
While thinking, I heard Xiao Quan call me from the corridor. I knew I mustn’t let them know that I had eavesdropped on them. Otherwise, perhaps I wouldn’t even know how I had died.
As the footsteps drew nearer, I took the opportunity to crawl out the window. I followed the drainpipe to reach the room upstairs at my maximum speed.
“Mr. Zhang, where have you been?”
When I returned to the dining room, I saw Ye Weiguo drinking alone. He looked a little down. He poured me another tumbler when he saw me.
I pretended to know nothing and drank with him. A moment later, Xiao Quan rushed into the room. His face looked worried. When he saw me, he heaved a gentle sigh of relief. “Mr. Zhang, where did you go?”
“I went downstairs for some fresh air. I felt dizzy…” I pretended to be drunk. My voice was drowsy. However, I had discreetly started to put up a guard against Xiao Quan. I had a feeling that there was some conspiracy!
After drinking, we stayed in the hotel to rest. At around twilight, we returned to Ye Weiguo’s house. The paper stand-in was tucked in bed during the day. Now, we needed to check it one last time. We didn’t want any mistakes.
After confirming that everything was all right, I left the house and waited in the car. I gave Ye Weiguo a Yang Concealing Talisman. He didn’t trust the talisman, so he put it in his pocket. Anyway, the talisman still worked even if he kept it in his pocket. I didn’t comment on anything.
As the night grew deeper, the temperature dropped. I rolled up the window. Inadvertently, I took a glimpse of Xiao Quan grunting through the rearview mirror. He looked as though he was contemplating something.
The spirit would show up at any minute. Looking at Xiao Quan’s anxious countenance, it was easy to guess why he was worried. I decided to pretend to be dozing off. I leaned on the wheel and slept while calculating things.
If Xiao Quan did something in the next moment, should I bust him? If I let him do what he wanted, perhaps Ye Weiguo’s life would be over tonight. But if I interfered, I would offend Xiao Quan…
And, if I let him run away, it would be too late to regret it. After all, he had my criminal profile!
At this moment, I felt so anxious, more than I had ever felt before. Once Xiao Quan made a move, I would have no room to advance or retreat!
