Chapter 964: Several Strange Cases Occur One After Another

Lao Guangming rushed along the Haihe, looking at the pitch-black mass floating in the water under the bridge, as if it were seaweed, and was on the verge of tears.

How did he end up with such a bad job.

The day before yesterday, a fire on Wanghai Tower burned half of the famous officials in Zhigu City to death.

Several police chiefs of the patrol station were scared out of their wits. Even knowing that the Holy Maiden of the Bai Lian Sect, Lin Heier, was in the city, they didn't dare to provoke her, desperately driving the people below to run around everywhere, just to show that they were busy with something.

Recently, there have been many strange cases and monsters in Zhigu. If it weren't for the fact that Lao Guangming took Tai Sui spiritual medicine and learned some techniques while undercover in the Profound Truth Sect, he would have long since stopped doing it!

This is not it, another strange case occurred today.

The Hair-Keeping Granny in Yanzi Alley died, and her long hair, along with her scalp, disappeared!

Then the next day, people started dying in Zhigu City.

The victims were all those who bought fake hair and fake braids from the Hair-Keeping Granny. First, someone said that the fake hair couldn't be taken off, as if it had grown on their head.

Logically speaking, this should be a good thing.

But soon those who wore wigs combed their hair as if they were possessed by demons.

The hair grew longer and longer as they combed, and the people became thinner and thinner, soon becoming skin and bones like those who smoked opium, and then some people started to hang themselves with that long hair.

More and more people died, and the methods of death became more and more evil.

Now Zhigu City is in panic, and it is rumored in the streets and alleys that people call this case the 'Long-Haired Demon Ghost Case'.

Together with the 'Red Tower Ghost Ship Case' and the 'Burning of Wanghai Tower' the day before yesterday, they are known as the three strangest cases in Zhigu in recent years.

"Another one!"

Lao Guangming rushed to the front and came to the Jinshui Bridge on the Haihe, using a bamboo pole to reach into the water, entangling the pitch-black waterweed.

The bamboo pole entangled that mass of things, and just as he lifted it up, Lao Guangming felt something was wrong.

This thing was too heavy!

Everyone in the Five-River Corpse-Fishing Team who often does this says: 'Don't fear the floaters, only fear the sinkers.'

The floaters are the corpses that float up, presenting a bloated, giant-view appearance.

Although this kind of corpse looks a bit disgusting, it generally doesn't cause any big problems. But if it's the kind of corpse that can't float up and is half-sunk in the river, yet its face is normal.

Then the problem is big!

The reason the green-skinned hoodlums were able to win the magical battle against the Cao Gang back then was because they sank nearly a hundred corpses into the Sancha River mouth.

Not a single person from the Boatmen's Guild who went down to fish them up ever came back up.

The oldest master of the Five-River Corpse-Fishing Team only went into the water for half a moment before crawling out. He didn't dare to say a word and went to the Nine-River Dragon King Temple to kneel for three days before saving his life, and never dared to go into the water again.

Lao Guangming judged by the feel that this one was only afraid of being a sinker, either because the resentment of the hair ghost was too heavy, or because there were water ghosts pulling from below.

He hurriedly turned to the people of the Five-River Corpse-Fishing Team and said: "This is a sinker, I'm afraid there are water monkeys pulling from below. What methods do you have?"

The people of the corpse-fishing team sprinkled two handfuls of red glutinous rice into the water, and the end of the bamboo pole became lighter.

Lao Guangming was also helpless. The superiors didn't dare to investigate the case of burning Wanghai Tower, but they were urgent about the long-haired demon ghost in recent days, seemingly wanting to use this to divert attention. Today, if he couldn't fish up this corpse that had been turning in the river for half of Zhigu, he could forget about eating this official meal!

He gathered his qi in his dantian, slightly displayed the magic of the Black Tai Sui planted in the Profound Truth Sect, and exerted a force of a thousand jin on the bamboo pole, only then lifting the long hair wrapped around the bamboo pole.

A female corpse was pulled out of the Haihe like pulling a radish. The pale female corpse had just come out of the water, and before the onlookers could get close, something drilled out of the corpse's belly. It had hands and feet, covered by the long hair, looking like a little monkey.

It was also as fast as a monkey, crawling toward Lao Guangming along the pole...

That thing was extremely fast. Lao Guangming hurriedly let go of his hand, but it still rushed up the pole!

In his urgency, he reached into his bosom and threw out a pellet wrapped in paper. It landed on the thing and 'pop' exploded with a ball of orange fire, burning the thing into a scream, and it rushed into the Haihe.

No one could say what that scream was, and even the two well-informed corpse-fishing team members beside Lao Guangming lost their minds.

"Water monkey! Water monkey..."

The younger corpse-fishing team member pointed at the thing and shouted: "The water monkey is climbing up the floater!"

The term 'water monkey' is extremely popular in the north, including Zhigu and the capital.

But tracing the source, it was still spread from this Zhigu Port in the lower reaches of the Jiuhe.

It is rumored that this thing is a kind of monster in the water, covered in hair, shaped like a child, with a tail behind it, and has great strength in the water. It grabs people's ankles and won't let go. Those who can swim but drown in the Haihe for no reason can often see handprints on their ankles, and everyone says they were dragged down by water monkeys and drowned.

There is another rumor that this thing is transformed from a drowned ghost, a kind of water ghost.

Lao Guangming, who was still in shock, turned his head and glared at the person fiercely: "What water monkey, I saw it clearly, it's a dead child."

It turned out that in his urgency, Lao Guangming displayed the paper-person Dao spell passed down by the Profound Truth Sect.

After Qian Chen took over the Profound Truth Sect, he didn't look highly upon these ordinary spells. Paper people were ultimately made of paper, and there were many ways to restrain them, so he passed down some methods of external alchemy, letting the disciples below refine gunpowder to cooperate with the paper-person spells, and the effect was extremely good.

The lower-level disciples of the Profound Truth Sect cooperated with the deacons to refine a few furnaces of gunpowder.

Lao Guangming was also assigned a kind, refined from cinnabar, pine resin, and saltpeter, rolled into paper packets with thunder-fire talismans. The power of hitting people was like a firecracker, but hitting ghosts was like a cannon.

Just now, he saw clearly that the thing that rushed up had hands and feet, skin was dark blue, like an infant, and there was an umbilical cord connected to the female corpse.

It was just wrapped in the female corpse's long hair, so it looked like it had grown hair.

Blown up by his gunpowder, it emitted a cry like an infant. As soon as it opened its mouth, it leaked seven points of its ferocity and escaped into the Haihe, and the umbilical cord was also broken!

The older corpse-fishing team member took a look at the female corpse's lower body and knew that Lao Guangming was right.

This female corpse clearly had traces of having given birth, and the lower body had not yet closed. But this sounded even more evil than the water monkey. Since ancient times, 'coffin children' enter the Yin gate, and corpse-fishing is a trade of the Yin gate, so he had heard rumors of coffin children. But to be born after sinking into the river, it sounded extremely fierce, no wonder his black dog blood and glutinous rice didn't work.

"Sir!"

The old corpse-fishing team member stopped Lao Guangming: "This female corpse is probably not from the hair ghost case! Those who suffered from the hair ghost, which one is not thin as a stick? She is normal in body, so I think she has nothing to do with the case. Hurry up and push her into the river and send her away! Otherwise, the child will be attached to the mother, and it will be impossible to entangle with that little ghost!"

Lao Guangming just smiled bitterly: "Whether it has anything to do with the case, it's not for me to say! Send it back to the righteous village, let the superiors see it, and then we can bury it!"

The corpse was transported to the righteous village. Lao Guangming hurriedly invited the superiors to see it. He saw the top superior, the patrol station chief, supporting a young Daoist priest wearing a yellow belt. Before his foot crossed the threshold, he said: "The evil qi in the room is extremely heavy. It's either a dead black cat or the corpse of a woman in labor!"

The chief took a look and gave a thumbs up: "You are really a god. This is a drowned female corpse. I can't tell if she has given birth or not."

He carefully supported the Daoist priest on one side, and ordered Lao Guangming: "This is a little god from the Imperial Observatory, who was injured in a fight with the Profound Truth Sect Master. I invited him here today. Everything is forbidden, no need to fear any little demons or ghosts. Do you know!"

Lao Guangming sneered in his heart. If he had really fought with the Profound Truth Sect Master, he would have to thank the other party for showing mercy to keep his life!

What kind of person is the Profound Truth Sect Master?

That day, the Bai Lian Sect Holy Maiden burned Wanghai Tower, burning an imperial envoy and a prince to death. The officials in Zhigu didn't dare to fart.

And the Bai Lian Holy Maiden provoked the Profound Truth Sect Master and was suppressed by him, suppressing the Nine-Eye Fire Demon under the tax barrier floating bridge. A large iron ship twenty zhang long was sunk to the bottom of the river.

In recent days, there have been all kinds of monsters and ghosts in Zhigu City, and people from all walks of life, but in Lao Guangming's view, the one who truly suppressed the whole city and didn't let the situation get chaotic was really the Profound Truth Sect Master alone.

A little gunpowder passed down by him could blow the ghost child away without looking back, not even wanting his own mother!

If this Imperial Observatory Daoist priest had a ghost child in the belly of the corpse he brought back, I'm afraid he could die right here.

The young Daoist priest of the Imperial Observatory groped to the front of the female corpse bit by bit, touched upward along her hair, and then said: "It is that ghost hair! But something is wrong. Ghost hair absorbs the blood qi of the whole body, and the person who planted the hair ghost uses hair to hook their souls, hanging them one by one, so the remaining corpses have no soul and spirit, leaving only a stinky skin bag. But this corpse, her soul has not been pulled away."

"Mother and child are connected. Perhaps it is the infant in her belly pulling her soul."

The Daoist priest shook his head to himself: "But it's still wrong..."

The Daoist priest poked his head out and sniffed around the female corpse. The corpse-fishing team members watched him put his face almost against the corpse, regardless of the heavy corpse stench. Someone felt nauseous, covered their mouth, and made an 'ugh' sound. At this time, the Daoist priest suddenly stopped. He was against the female corpse's face, the distance between the person and the corpse was almost face to face.

After a long while, the Daoist priest climbed up.

"Give me a cup!"

The patrol chief beside him hurriedly handed over a silver cup.

The Daoist priest flicked a talisman paper into the cup, which burned without fire. A ball of fire burned in the cup, and the Daoist priest quickly buckled the silver cup onto the female corpse's mouth and nose, and then pointed his two fingers like a sword at the 'pill's weight' acupoint between her breasts.

The female corpse tilted her head upward, the silver cup was pulled out, and points of bright red blood flowed out from her mouth and nose.

The Imperial Observatory Daoist priest twisted the blood and smelled it, saying calmly: "It is the foreign blood medicine! This medicine is refined from flesh and blood. If a person takes it, their five senses will be confused, like a flying immortal. If they don't take it for a long time, they will inevitably be extremely hungry and thirsty, almost losing their minds and going mad."

"This medicine is also a forbidden item of the foreign church, but the foreigners mixed it into opium and sold it to the Central Lands!"

"The so-called 'opium' today is mixed with this thing."

"Because those who are addicted to this blood medicine will inevitably fall into the evil path. In the past, the so-called 'Boxers' had people who ruined their hearts because of this thing. The martial artists of the True Martial Dao path were almost lured into the demonic path and committed acts of cannibalism."

"The foreign evil cults use this as great medicine to refine pills and cultivate, and some evil paths in the Central Lands actually learned their ways, concocting evil pills and evil medicines to lure people to smoke, and then refine pills with human flesh and blood. The imperial court has repeatedly banned it but failed. The so-called 'collecting life and cutting' today is also this."

"This woman took blood medicine, I'm afraid she was used as a medicine primer, to make her become part of the blood medicine, and then dig out her fetus to refine pills."

"But she also bought the Hair-Keeping Granny's wig and was targeted by the hair ghost!"

"So these two evil ghosts fought, and this tragedy was formed."

The Daoist priest's words were reasonable and well-founded, which indeed made everyone believe it. Even Lao Guangming felt that this person really had some skills.

"The poison of blood medicine is I'm afraid even worse than the hair ghost." Lao Guangming bowed: "This must be inseparable from the opium dens in the city. Sir, I will send people to catch them back. The Green Skin trade is now taking care of itself, which is just the right time to clean up these people."

The patrol chief looked embarrassed.

The opium dens in the city naturally have filial piety, but such a tragic case has occurred, and he also has the heart to clean it up. But the blood medicine path is something the Emperor tacitly approved, and it is also part of the Emperor's refining of longevity immortal medicine. These years, it has developed in the Central Lands and has great power, and has relationships with many nobles in the court.

'Fushou Paste' is also often taken by many nobles, who call it an immortal object.

He is just a mere chief, how can he provoke these people?

The Imperial Observatory Daoist priest twisted the blood and sneered: "Red Tower Ghost Ship, Burning Wanghai Tower, Long-Haired Demon Ghost, plus this foreign blood medicine, Bai Lian Sect, Profound Truth Sect, and even foreign evil cults—really everyone is coming to this Zhigu Port!"

"But there is a Great Buddha sitting in the city now. If these little demons and little evils have any movement, I'm afraid it will attract a sky-covering Buddha hand, crushing all the fleas in Zhigu City to death!"

The chief suddenly realized: "You mean, they will attract the Profound Truth Sect Master to take action? Let them bring fire to burn themselves?"

"I mean we are also fleas. When people slap down, they don't care whose fleas we are." The Daoist priest sneered: "Sir, you don't think that in his eyes, the imperial court is not an enemy, do you?"

The chief's face changed drastically, and he jumped up: "Catch! Catch all the people in the opium dens!" ===== CHAPTER 965 =====

The Battalion Commander's face turned ghastly pale, and he jumped up, saying: "Arrest them! Arrest everyone in the opium den for me!"