Chapter 597: Ghosts, Curses, and a Million-Dollar Mystery

The group left dejectedly amid the sound of Mr. Wu hitting a child.

Even far from the house, they could still hear Mr. Wu shouting angrily, “How old are you to be watching this all day?”

“Don’t you know you can’t stick your phone on the radiator?”

“You slack off on your studies and don’t know that metal can carry sound?”

“Didn’t you tell me when you heard your mom crying inside the house?”

“…Does buying a headset mean you’re doomed? Do you have any idea I spent 200,000?”

“Look at this piece of junk you’re watching!”

“…”

“…”

It was just a false alarm, but that 200,000 still hung in the air…

As Lu Xin left Wu’s Home, he instinctively shot a glance at Vice President Xiao.

Quick-witted as ever, Vice President Xiao immediately nodded, “Brother Wu is a man of his word. He wouldn’t default…”

He then proposed to the group, “For the kid’s sake and Brother Wu’s reputation, let’s not mention this incident any further…”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Then, starting with that seventeen or eighteen-year-old high school student, suppressed laughter suddenly broke out.

Soon after, one person after another couldn’t hold back their chuckles as they hurriedly moved away.

“……”

“……”

“Even if the Wu family incident is a joke, something serious has happened at my construction site…”

After descending the stairs, a slightly chubby man approached Lu Xin hesitantly, “How about you go take a look?”

That remark immediately caught everyone’s attention.

Lu Xin mused, “So, what exactly is going on over there…?”

“According to an old man, it’s the passage of ghost soldiers.”

Fat Man replied solemnly, his chubby face trembling, “Next to my project is a filled cemetery—rumor has it over a hundred bodies were buried there. I got it at a bargain, and now, as we’re building a mall, strange occurrences have begun. Items vanish and ghostly shadows stir at midnight…”

Intrigued, Lu Xin asked, “Are you saying there are really ghostly shadows?”

“Yes.”

Fat Man continued gravely, “Security guard Old Zhang actually saw one—clad in white armor with his face rotten away to bare bone.”

“Oh my…”

The group’s interest was instantly renewed.

“Let’s go now.”

Lu Xin made up his mind, and they all rushed off by car.

Crossing the entire Satellite City, they finally arrived at the project around two or three in the morning.

They saw deformed steel bars twisting into eerie shapes while a torn tarp flapped wildly in the night wind.

Only the east side of the site was dimly lit; elsewhere, a few sparse bulbs hung forlornly.

The feeble light was insufficient to dispel the darkness.

The entire building was split—half bathed in the glow of the Red Moon, the other cloaked in darkness.

In the silence of the night, the wind howled through the hollow structure, sounding like ghostly wails.

Noticing the security office was empty, Fat Man sighed, “Old Zhang got spooked; he probably ran back home.”

He kicked the door open, grabbed a few safety helmets (one for each person), and climbed a makeshift aluminum ladder to the fourth floor, peering toward the west.

“There really is…”

After several glances, Fat Man suddenly shuddered, his eyes wide with terror.

“Right at that spot?”

Everyone else stared in surprise, their eyes growing wide as a chill ran through them.

Far to the west, a dark mass loomed.

At first, it appeared as nothing more than a blot of darkness concealing everything.

But as their eyes adjusted, they made out several pale white shadows drifting slowly and stiffly forward, like flickering ghost fires seeping into the cemetery.

It was as if lost souls were patrolling their territory.

“Th-that’s it…”

Terror-stricken, Fat Man stuttered, “That thing is circling around the spot where the Corpse Pit used to be—the place where they buried people!”

“When construction began, they unearthed hundreds of bones. The first time I heard about it, I didn’t believe it and even went over, but when we got there, all we found was a chilling breeze…”

“Later, the disturbances grew fiercer. Even my night-shift guard saw it…”

“…”

As Fat Man recounted his tale in a trembling voice, the ghostly figure swayed before their eyes, making everyone shiver uncontrollably.

This time, genuine terror surged from deep within them.

Countless trembling eyes turned to Lu Xin, silently pleading.

After a brief thought, Lu Xin reached into his bag and pulled out a gun.

Then, with a couple of sharp “bangs,” he fired two shots ahead.

“Holy crap…”

The gunfire startled everyone; instinctively, they ducked and clasped their heads.

Their eyes fixed on Lu Xin—a mix of shock and fear evident as they realized he carried a gun and could fire at any moment…

“…This is clearly an official ghost-hunting expert. Who else would be this bold?”

“……”

Amid their terror, Lu Xin focused on where the white shadow flickered, a smile curling on his lips.

After the shots, chaos erupted in the dark night as startled birds took flight.

Near the corpse pit by the project, the white shadow they had seen earlier remained motionless.

It seemed the gunfire had frightened it, forcing it to hunch on the ground.

Under Lu Xin’s leadership, the group hastily moved westward, only to come to an abrupt halt.

Next to the project, several large white fertilizer sacks, filled with steel bars and bundled iron wires, lay scattered; through the cemetery, they saw a few three-wheeled vehicles hustling down a small road toward a slope…

Inside the cemetery, an old man with a face smeared with blood from a fall started shouting as soon as they approached:

“Manager Wang, don’t shoot…”

“With just a few steel bars, you’re not supposed to be firing a gun…”

“My leg’s broken—I’m telling you, if the compensation isn’t tens of thousands, you can’t brush me off…”

“…”

Seeing his crumpled security uniform, everyone suddenly understood.

“……”

“……”

“What the heck is going on…”

Lu Xin had handled his fair share of special pollution incidents, but this case was the richest yet.

It wasn’t that such cases were more varied—it was just that life itself was incredibly unpredictable.

Leaving behind Manager Wang, still bickering over compensation with Old Zhang, the group departed.

After bumping into two bungled incidents in a row, their spirits were understandably low.

“So where are the ghosts then?”

“What about the mysterious event?”

They followed Lu Xin not only because they believed they’d encountered the inexplicable, but also out of sheer curiosity to see if that mysterious phenomenon truly existed…

But the result was overwhelmingly disappointing…

“Should we keep investigating?”

With uncertainty in his eyes, Lu Xin asked the group.

Although Vice President Xiao said the 200,000 for these incidents would still be paid, their advertised work had hit a dead end.

Their careers had taken a slight hit…

The others exchanged hesitant glances until one gritted his teeth, “I still have my own case to investigate.”

Soon, the others nodded in agreement, biting their teeth.

Though both incidents turned out to be mishaps, some still insisted that what they encountered was real.

“Fine then…”

Seeing their determined expressions, Lu Xin agreed.

“No matter what happened, if you want an investigation, then we’ll do it…”

“As long as the 200,000 comes through, I’ll even watch the kid for you.”

“……”

“……”

Thus, Lu Xin—a detective, ghost-hunting expert, and debunker—along with Vice President Xiao, acting as the operative, financial manager, and morale booster, and several others serving as both participants and the group’s spirit, launched an all-out investigation of urban oddities, dedicating several consecutive days to unraveling these bizarre cases.

They looked into Mr. Yang’s “Cursed Incident.”

Mr. Yang, having offended a fortune teller, was cursed to lose his fortune over thirty years. Since then, he inexplicably lost multiple projects—even those that were once promising—leaving him in a state of constant frustration.

After a thorough investigation, a petty accountant was caught stealing sensitive materials.

He had long exploited his office romance to peek at Manager Yang’s safety box password, making multiple copies of critical files.

“……”

They also investigated the “Midnight Red Eye Incident.”

Mr. Li’s wife was jolted awake by a knock at the door. Through the peephole, she saw a blood-red eye glaring at the entrance, terrifying her. Upon further probing, it turned out there was no supernatural occurrence—just an ordinary, deranged murderer!

“……”

The case that most resembled a special pollution incident was that of Gao Yan’s younger associate, Zhou.

He was plagued by the “Nightmare Demon Pursuit Incident.”

For several consecutive days, he kept dreaming of being chased by a demon.

Worse yet, he woke up with a swollen, battered face, as if he’d been beaten up.

At Lu Xin’s advice, he installed a surveillance camera in his room.

After recording for two nights, when everyone reviewed the footage, they witnessed a horrifying scene unfold in the silent night.

After taking his habitual sleeping pill and drifting off, it wasn’t long before his recently trimmed fat cat slipped in through the door crack, climbed onto his chest, and fiercely clawed at his mouth…

Every time the cat snored, it lashed out viciously.

“……”

“……”

After several days, results from all the special pollution incidents came in.

Apart from one deranged murderer, no substantial evidence emerged.

The few old men who spent 200,000 ended up only unveiling a petty accountant.

After all, no one dared call the police—everyone held on to their own secrets.

The deranged murderer had reported to the police, and the killer escaped, making the neighborhood even more terrifying.

The one who got slapped by a cat ended up sending the cat for a second trim…

Only Lu Xin walked away with over a million in his pocket, his mood remaining surprisingly upbeat.

“So, these kinds of mysterious events aren’t as common as they once were…”

After it was all over, the group sat together again, but the earlier excitement had faded, replaced by a sense of loss.

“I guess we won’t see many like this in the future…”

Lu Xin mused quietly.

In Qinggang City, with so many people around, unless it’s an event that affects the entire city, such bizarre occurrences are rare. Even Vice President Xiao’s two cases in such a short period were extraordinary.

Besides, the Heaven’s Kingdom Plan in Qinggang is steadily progressing and will further reduce the frequency of these incidents.

According to Professor Bai’s earlier words, once the Heaven’s Kingdom Plan succeeds, Doll’s Mental Power will be completely linked with all of Qinggang. In essence, Qinggang becomes the Doll, and the Doll becomes Qinggang. Then, there won’t be many mysterious events lurking around—even if they do, they won’t dare create trouble…

“Doesn’t that mean even taking on private cases in the future will be tough?”

“……”

Lost in thought, Lu Xin suddenly remembered that since returning to work to earn money, he hadn’t seen Doll in ages.

It seemed that scraping together a grand from small jobs wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

So… Doll must have saved up quite a bit over the years, right?

“……”

“Huh? Brother Lu, what about me…”

While everyone was lost in their own thoughts, the youngest member, Little Meng, suddenly brightened up.

Gently nudging Lu Xin’s arm, he exclaimed excitedly.

Lu Xin merely gave him a lazy glance, and the others returned the look with equal indifference.

They ignored him because his story always sounded too far-fetched.

Lu Xin’s indifference was partly because, among them, no one really cared about the 200,000 reward—except this young fellow, who had just graduated high school, with little pocket money and not yet able to flash 200,000 to cheer himself up.

Hmph, can’t even muster 200,000—what a pauper!!

“Look, over there…”

At that moment, poor Little Meng, oblivious to everyone’s indifference, grew visibly excited and pointed down the street:

“It’s right there—it looks just like the campus beauty I told you about…”

“Holy crap, how is she…”

“…”

“Huh?”

Even though everyone thought his story was a load of nonsense, they instinctively lifted their eyes.

Then, their expressions suddenly froze.

Following Little Meng’s pointing, they saw a beautiful girl.

Around eighteen or nineteen years old with a slender figure, she exuded the pure vitality typical of youth.

Whether she was truly the beloved campus beauty adored by every boy remained a mystery.

But on that street, she certainly stood out.

Little Meng had only pointed roughly, yet every gaze was drawn to her.

Including Lu Xin’s.

At the first glance, Lu Xin silently arrived at an answer in his heart: “Case solved.”

PS: Today, my new book, “Taoist Priest: Times Have Changed,” featuring full metal casings, is up with ten chapters. For anyone interested, please show your support.