BXBX NOVEL Chapter 160: Another Victim
Chapter 160: Another Victim
Translator-Rhapsodite
Editor- Koneko, Proofreader- Spring Flower
“No.”
Bei Quan shook his head, “’I still remember some things from my past life…” he said with a smile.
“As long as I remember who I am and how to live, that’s enough for me.”
Wei Fuyuan agreed with Bei Quan. They were born in turbulent times and had a hard time during their past lives. It wasn’t necessary to remember those bloody and violent memories so clearly.
“So, what should we do now?”
Wei Fuyuan asked Bei Quan to help him dry the water that was lingering on his body and help put on the Tang suit that he had taken off earlier. He tidied up his clothes whilst asking, “Are we done with everything in the Zhuling Secret Realm now? Shouldn’t we head back home now?”
Bei Quan helped him fasten the collar button on the suit and raised his eyebrows, smiling narrowly.
“I thought you would want to stay here for a few more days…”
He lowered his voice and leaned over to Wei Fuyuan’s ear.
“For example, we can go to another place… and try the ground and sky in my small courtyard or something.”
T/N- a Chinese idiom, the pinyin is mù tiān xí dì, the sky is used as a curtain, and the ground is used as a mat, referring to the open air.
The proposal sounded very tempting. Wei Fuyuan almost agreed there on the spot, encompassing such a wonderful picture with his imagination.
“But, can we still catch up with this week’s [Thriller Night Talk]?”
He tried to resist the temptation with reason. “If we spend three days here in the Zhuling Secret Realm, how many days will it count on the outside world?”
“The Zhuling Secret Realm has its own orbit, so the passage of time in both ‘worlds’ cannot be simply calculated using concepts such as ‘one day in the sky means one year on the earth’,” Bei Quan explained.
He tried to explain it as simply as possible, “Based on the current position, it’s probably been a day and a half over there.”
Wei Fuyuan looked down at his watch, “Isn’t it already August 12th?”
August 12th was a Thursday, and the new episode of [Thriller Night Talk] is scheduled to be broadcasted at midnight.
Bei Quan didn’t know if Wei Fuyuan suddenly developed a strong sense of protection and responsibility to help with things from what he had seen from his past self, but he was still very satisfied with his little boyfriend’s career ambition.
“Don’t worry, we can still have fun for at least two more days…”
However, Bei Quan didn’t manage to finish his sentence due to a yellow bird suddenly fluttering its wings whilst it flew in front of them.
He reached out his hand and let the bird land onto his palm.
The bird turned into a folded yellow talisman.
“This is a communication talisman I gave to Xiao Jiang. It can pass through the Zhu Ling Secret Realm’s barrier.”
Bei Quan explained whilst opening the talisman.
[Bei Quan, it’s me!]
The talisman burst into flames and Jiang Nan’an’s voice came out of a small fireball.
[The Special Seven have contacted me, saying that they may have found the trail of the body snatcher and they want you to come and take a look immediately! Come back quickly!”]
Bei Quan immediately put away his smile. “The ‘body snatcher’ obviously refers to Ah Song,” he stated.
If Qing Zhu, A’Liu, or someone from the ‘Special Seven’ really found Ah Song’s whereabouts, then he must hurry back to the scene.
“Unfortunately plans have changed,” Bei Quan turned to Wei Fuyuan and said in a stern tone, “We have to head back immediately.”
——————————-
When Bei Quan and Wei Fuyuan returned to the pier, Zhu Ling was already waiting for them on the ferry. The three repeated their experiences in reverse and returned to the children’s park that had a panda slide.
Unlike the lively atmosphere of children and parents that were everywhere before, when they all climbed out of the slide one after another, there was no one around at all. It was very quiet with only a few street lights on, it was already late at night.
Wei Fuyuan’s watch time was no longer accurate after being in the Zhu Ling Secret Realm.
However, after his phone had connected to the 4G network, it automatically adjusted to the correct date and time of the current time zone.
It was August 12th, Thursday, 1:27 AM.
It was midnight when everyone was sleeping.
Bei Quan didn’t rush back to Sāntúchuān, but instead called Qing Zhu using Wei Fuyuan’s phone.
“It’s me.” Bei Quan said to Qing Zhu, “What’s the situation?”
Although it was late at night, Qing Zhu answered the phone quickly whilst speaking clearly, and with no allusion of sounding tired.
“Where are you?”
Qing Zhu didn’t answer, but replied directly, “I’ll come to pick you up.”
Bei Quan relayed the address of the children’s park and agreed to meet Qing Zhu fifteen minutes later. After hanging up the phone, Bei Quan grabbed Wei Fuyuan’s arm and turned to Zhu Ling, saying, “I want to take Xiao Wei with me. Can you go back to Sāntúchuān by yourself?”
Zhu Ling took a long deep look at Wei Fuyuan and nodded without saying anything, then walked alone into the night.
Wei Fuyuan breathed a sigh of relief.
He didn’t know what the cold-faced spirit did after returning to the secret realm. But Wei Fuyuan could clearly feel that Zhu Ling’s vigilance and guard against him had obviously been reduced, and her attitude had become more friendly and subtle.
——Anyway, it’s a good thing!
Wei Fuyuan said to himself.
Bei Quan opened a black umbrella above himself and Wei Fuyuan, covering them as they walked through the children’s park. He spotted many surveillance cameras and opened the iron gate under the guard’s nose, and walked out of the park.
Qing Zhu’s car was already waiting outside, and A’Liu was sitting in the passenger seat.
Bei Quan briefly introduced Wei Fuyuan’s identity and called him his boyfriend.
Wei Fuyuan quietly held his lover’s hand, feeling warm and sweet inside. Qing Zhu and A’Liu met Wei Fuyuan for the first time, but after hearing Bei Quan’s introduction, they didn’t even raise their eyebrows.
Bei Quan thought that the ‘Special Seven Field Service’ had investigated everyone who had entered and exited Sāntúchuān including Wei Fuyuan. The car drove East and went straight to Feng Xingcheng University, stopping under a building meant for teachers.
At midnight, an ambulance and several police cars had blocked this building.
Although it was summer vacation, the commotion attracted some teachers and students. About ten people stood far away, looking curious about what had happened.
Bei Quan followed Qing Zhu and asked what had actually occurred.
His brows furrowed deeply.
Since Qing Zhu mentioned the incident was related to the ‘Body Snatcher’ who drove to Feng Xingcheng University and saw many police cars, Bei Quan had to guess that a student must have been killed.
As a traitor who escaped from their Zhu Ling Secret Realm, Ah Song not only took away the Lost God Banner that sealed the Hui Guis, but also used the Body Snatcher technique to harm people.
In terms of morality and logic, the Zhu Ling Secret Realm must bear the responsibility.
“Someone committed suicide in the library.”
Qing Zhu replied, “We suspect that he was the one who was possessed by the Body Snatcher after Zhu Hongtao.”
Bei Quan asked, “Was he a student here?”
“Strictly speaking, no,” Qing Zhu said. “The deceased was a graduate student at the affiliated History Research Institute of Feng Xingcheng University, named Lan Fang.”
Qing Zhu briefly explained the situation.
Since Bei Quan told the ‘Special Seven Field Service’ that Zhu Hongtao was possessed, Qing Zhu and A’Liu immediately investigated the cause and effect of the matter.
In the ‘Special Seven Field Service,’ there is a master who is proficient in fortune-telling.
Combined with the clues obtained from Bei Quan’s “descending to the Yin,” they quickly figured out the general situation through divination.
The antique dealer who claimed to have the name Chen Chao whom Zhu Hongtao met in the countryside, was in fact Chen Wenbin, whose ancestral home was Jinmen. He had a small shop in the capital and had been engaged in antique trading for more than 20 years.
It was said that Chen’s vision was quite sharp, and his expertise in identifying antiques even surpassed that of most experts who appeared on TV.
He often bought good items at low prices from the ‘groundhogs’ who dug out in the fields, and then sold them to customers at a huge profit.
Therefore, Chen always acted as a middleman and never personally went to the countryside to ‘excavate land.’
However, about two years ago, Chen Wenbin suddenly closed his small store and started to work as a ‘land digger.’ He traveled all over the country, always leaving quietly while returning mysteriously. But, no matter how his old customers inquired, they never saw him sell the “goods” with his hands.
Then, about a year ago, this boss Chen committed suicide.
He died by hanging himself in a small hotel in a remote village.
“I see.”
Hearing this, Bei Quan somewhat understood.
“That ‘Boss Chen’ committed suicide after meeting Zhu Hongtao, right? It’s estimated that ‘he’ had already transferred three souls and seven spirits to Zhu Hongtao.”
Qing Zhu nodded: “That’s right.”
He confirmed Bei Quan’s guess.
“We checked. When Chen Wenbin committed suicide, Zhu Hongtao lived in the same small hotel…”
Qing Zhu turned to look at Bei Quan, “Therefore, we suspect that Zhu Hongtao’s technique of seizing the body may require physical contact to move the soul.”
Qing Zhu paused, and then continued, “So, we investigated people Zhu Hongtao had contact with before death and found a graduate student named Lan Fang.”
His voice sunk,
“Sadly, it was too late.”
Lan Fang was dead.
This child had a pass card from Feng Xingcheng University. This morning, he swiped his card and borrowed some books from the library. Then, he brought the books into this building and never came out again.
Until about two hours previously, security personnel discovered the body of Lan Fang hanging in the toilet compartment that’s on the top floor that was supposed to be closed.
Bei Quan’s brow furrowed even tighter.
This is already what they knew, the sixth human life killed by Ah song.
The possessed artifact dealer; folklorist Zhu Hongtao, the history graduate student; Lan Fang, Xu Lei with the ‘word spirit’ ability, Wang Baotai with the unique birth chart, and the ticket salesman; He Qiang. And since Lan Fang had ‘committed suicide’, it was obvious that Ah Song has already taken over another body.
The unlucky person who replaced Lan Fang was equivalent to being dead when the possession was successful.
——That’s seven lives.
This was not just a number, but was actually seven living people with their seven families and their acquaintances.
Bei Quan knows that if Ah Song was not caught sooner rather than later, there would be more victims.