Chapter 964

Lao Guangming toiled along the Haihe River, staring at a dark, seaweed-like mass drifting in the water beneath the bridge, tears welling but unable to fall.

How had he ended up with such a cursed assignment?

The fire at Wanghai Tower the other day burned half the named officials of Zhigucheng to death.

Several patrol captains were so terrified they lost their wits; even though they knew the White Lotus Sect’s Holy Maiden, Lin Heier, was within the city, they dared not provoke her, instead forcing their subordinates to run wildly in all directions just to appear busy.

Recently, Zhigucheng has seen a surge of strange cases—if not for Lao Guangming’s time undercover in the Xuanzhen Sect, where he ingested the Tai Sui elixir and learned a few spells, he would have quit long ago!

And today, another strange case has emerged.

The hair-keeping old woman in Yanzi Hutong was found dead—her long hair, along with her scalp, had vanished!

The next day, people in Zhigucheng began dying.

All the deceased had bought the old woman’s fake hair and braids; first, some claimed the fake hair could not be removed, as if grown into their scalps.

Logically, this should have been a good thing.

But soon those wearing the fake hair began obsessively combing their hair.

The hair grew longer with each comb, and the wearers grew thinner and thinner, soon becoming emaciated like opium addicts, until some began hanging themselves with their own elongated hair.

The dead kept multiplying, and the methods of death grew increasingly sinister.

Now, Zhigucheng was gripped by panic; people whispered in alleys and streets, calling this case the “Long-Hair Demon Ghost Case.”

It was now ranked alongside the previous “Red Mansion Ghost Boat Case” and the “Burning of Wanghai Tower” as the three strangest cases in recent Zhigucheng history.

“Another one!”

Lao Guangming rushed ahead to the Jinshui Bridge over the Haihe River, extending a bamboo pole into the water to entangle the dark, seaweed-like mass.

As the pole wrapped around the object and he began to lift it, Lao Guangming sensed something was wrong.

The thing was far too heavy!

Everyone in the Wuhe Corpse Retrieval Team always said: Haihe’s floating corpses were not the problem—it was the sunken ones.

Floating corpses bloated and swollen, appearing grotesque, but usually posed no major issue.

But if a corpse remained submerged, half-sunken in the river, yet its face unchanged—that was a serious problem!

Back then, the Qingpi gang had won their duel against the Canal Clan by sinking nearly a hundred sunken corpses at the Sancha River mouth.

None of the Canal Clan’s divers ever surfaced.

The oldest master of the Wuhe Corpse Retrieval Team had descended into the river for only half a moment before scrambling out, saying not a word, then kneeling for three days at the Nine Rivers Dragon King Temple to save his life—and since then, he’d never dared dive again.

Lao Guangming, by touch, determined that this was a drowned corpse—either the victim’s grievance was too intense, or a water ghost beneath was dragging it down.

He quickly turned to the Wuhe Corpse Retrieval Team: “This is a sunken corpse—there’s likely a water monkey pulling it. Do you have any methods?”

The team members scattered two handfuls of red glutinous rice into the water, and the pole grew lighter.

Lao Guangming was helpless: his superiors dared not investigate the Wanghai Tower fire, yet they were pressing hard on the Long-Hair Demon Ghost case, as if trying to divert attention; if he failed to retrieve this corpse, which had drifted nearly half of Zhigucheng, he’d lose his official salary!

He summoned his Qi to his dantian and subtly activated the black Tai Sui magic implanted by the Xuanzhen Sect, channeling a force of thousands of catties into the bamboo pole to lift the tangled hair.

A female corpse was pulled from the Haihe River like a radish.

As the pale corpse emerged from the water, before the onlookers could draw near, something crawled out from her abdomen—hands and feet, covered in long hair, resembling a small monkey.

It moved as swiftly as a monkey, climbing the bamboo pole straight toward Lao Guangming…

The thing moved too fast; Lao Guangming immediately released his grip, letting it climb the pole anyway!

In desperation, he reached into his robe, pulled out a paper-wrapped pellet, and hurled it at the creature—*pop!*—a burst of orange flame erupted on its body, causing it to shriek and vanish into the Haihe River.

The scream was unlike anything anyone had heard; even two veteran members of the retrieval team beside him were stunned.

“Water monkey! Water monkey…”

The younger retrieval team member pointed at the creature, shouting: “The water monkey climbed up on a floating corpse!”

The term “water monkey” was wildly popular across northern Zhigucheng.

But its origins traced back to the Nine Rivers’ outlet at Zhigou.

Legend said it was a water demon, covered in fur, child-sized, with a tail, possessing immense strength underwater—it would grip a person’s ankle and never let go.

Many who drowned mysteriously in the Haihe, despite being strong swimmers, were found with handprints on their ankles—everyone claimed they’d been dragged under by a water monkey.

Others claimed it was the spirit of a drowned person, a type of water ghost.

Still shaken, Lao Guangming glared sharply at the man: “What water monkey? I saw clearly—it was a dead child.”

Earlier, in desperation, Lao Guangming had activated the paper-man magic taught by the Xuanzhen Sect.

After Qian Chen took over the Xuanzhen Sect, he dismissed such common spells as beneath notice—paper dolls were just paper cutouts, easily countered; so he passed down some alchemical methods, instructing disciples to refine gunpowder to enhance paper-man spells, with remarkable results.

Lower-level Xuanzhen disciples, working with clerks, had refined several batches of gunpowder.

Lao Guangming received one type: red gunpowder made from cinnabar, pine resin, and saltpeter, rolled into paper packets with thunder-fire talismans; when thrown, it struck like a firecracker against humans, but exploded like artillery against spirits.

Just now, he had seen clearly: the thing rushing toward him had hands and feet, bluish-black skin like an infant, with an umbilical cord still attached to the female corpse.

Only the long hair wrapped around it made it appear furred.

When his gunpowder exploded, it emitted a cry like a newborn’s wail—seven-tenths of its malevolence drained away as it fled into the Haihe, the umbilical cord snapping.

The older retrieval team member glanced at the corpse’s lower body and knew Lao Guangming was right.

The woman had clearly given birth—her lower body remained open; yet this was even more sinister than a water monkey. Ancient lore spoke of coffin-born infants entering the yin gate, and corpse retrieval was an yin gate profession—they’d heard tales of coffin-born infants, but never one born *in the river* after sinking—that sounded terrifyingly potent, explaining why their black dog blood and glutinous rice had no effect.

“Sir!”

The veteran retrieval team member called out to Lao Guangming: “This corpse isn’t linked to the long-hair case! Those afflicted by the hair ghost were all emaciated—this woman’s body is unchanged. She’s unrelated—quickly push her back into the river, send her on her way! Otherwise, the child’s attachment to its mother will bind it to the spirit, and we’ll be entangled!”

Lao Guangming only smiled bitterly: “Whether it’s connected or not—I don’t decide! Take it to the charity mortuary—only after the superiors have seen it can we bury it.”

The corpse was taken to the charity mortuary; Lao Guangming immediately summoned his superiors. His direct superior, the patrol captain, escorted a young Daoist priest tied with a yellow sash; before even crossing the threshold, the priest declared: “The room is thick with foul qi—either a dead black cat or a corpse of a woman who just gave birth!”

The captain glanced at the corpse and raised his thumb: “You’re truly a divine being—I couldn’t tell if she’d given birth or not.”

He carefully supported the Daoist while ordering Lao Guangming: “This is a young immortal from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau—he injured his eyes dueling the Xuanzhen Sect Master. Today I’ve brought him here with full authority; no minor demons or ghosts need concern you. Understood?”

Lao Guangming sneered inwardly: If he’d truly dueled the Xuanzhen Sect Master, he’d be lucky to have kept his life!

Who was the Xuanzhen Sect Master?

When the White Lotus Holy Maiden burned Wanghai Tower, killing a Grand Secretary and a Prince, every official in Zhigucheng dared not utter a word.

Yet when the White Lotus Holy Maiden provoked the Xuanzhen Sect Master, he immediately crushed the Nine-Eyed Fire Demon beneath the Chaoguan Floating Bridge, sinking a twenty-zhang-long iron ship entirely to the riverbed.

Lately, Zhigucheng has swarmed with all manner of demons and sects—yet in Lao Guangming’s view, the only one truly holding the city together, preventing chaos, was the Xuanzhen Sect Master alone.

Even a single bit of gunpowder he passed down could make that ghost-child flee without looking back—not even pausing for its own mother!

If this Imperial Astronomical Bureau Daoist discovered a ghost-child inside the corpse he’d brought back, he’d drop dead right here.

The young Daoist from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau slowly groped his way to the corpse, tracing his fingers along her hair, then said: “It’s the ghost hair—but something’s off. Ghost hair drains the victim’s entire blood and qi, and the one who planted the ghost hair uses the hair to hook their soul, hanging them one by one—so the corpses left behind have no soul or spirit, only rotting husks. But this corpse—her soul was not taken.”

“Mother and child are connected—perhaps the infant in her womb pulled her soul.”

The Daoist muttered, shaking his head: “Still… something’s wrong…”

He leaned forward, sniffing the corpse’s body; the retrieval team watched as his face nearly touched the corpse, utterly unmoved by the stench—some gagged, covering their mouths with a “pukk!”—when suddenly the Daoist froze, his face pressed against the corpse’s, their noses nearly touching.

After a long while, he rose.

“Bring me a cup!”

The patrol captain immediately handed him a silver cup.

The Daoist flicked a talisman into the cup—it ignited without fire, flames burning inside; he swiftly pressed the cup over the corpse’s mouth and nose, then pressed his index and middle fingers together like a sword, jabbing at the Danzhongxue between her breasts.

The corpse arched her head upward; when the cup was lifted, crimson blood trickled from her mouth and nose.

The Daoist pinched the blood, brought it to his nose, sniffed, and said calmly: “It’s foreign blood medicine. This drug is forged from flesh and blood; when ingested, it confuses all five senses, making one feel like a flying immortal. But if not taken regularly, the craving becomes unbearable, driving one to madness.”

“This drug is forbidden by foreign churches, yet the foreigners mix it into opium and sell it in our land!”

“The ‘big smoke’ people use today contains this substance.”

“Those addicted to this blood medicine inevitably fall into heresy; in the past, the Boxers were corrupted by it, their minds twisted—true martial Dao cultivators were nearly lured into demonic paths, committing cannibalism.”

“The foreign heretics use it as a great medicine to refine elixirs; some heretical sects in our land have copied their ways, crafting demonic pills and drugs to lure people into consuming them, then refining elixirs from human flesh—the court has repeatedly banned it, yet it persists. What we now call ‘life-stealing dismemberment’ is exactly this.”

“This woman ingested the blood medicine—she was likely prepared as a medicinal ingredient, meant to become part of the drug herself, then have her fetus extracted to refine an elixir.”

“But she also bought the hair-keeper’s fake hair—and was marked by the hair ghost!”

“Thus, these two demonic forces clashed, creating this horrific case.”

The Daoist’s explanation was logical and convincing; everyone believed him—even Lao Guangming felt this man likely possessed real ability.

“The poison of the blood medicine is likely worse than the hair ghost,” Lao Guangming bowed. “This must be tied to the city’s opium dens. Sir, I’ll send men to arrest them—Qingpi Gang is currently distracted; now is the perfect time to clean them up.”

The patrol captain’s face darkened.

The opium dens certainly paid bribes, but with such a horrific case, he wanted to clean house—but the blood medicine trade was tacitly permitted by the Emperor; this heresy was part of the Emperor’s quest for immortality elixirs. Over the years, its power had grown immense, tied to many court nobles.

Many nobles regularly consumed Fushou ointment, calling it a divine substance.

How could a mere captain dare provoke them?

The Imperial Astronomical Bureau Daoist pinched the blood, sneering: “The Red Mansion Ghost Boat, the Burning of Wanghai Tower, the Long-Hair Demon Ghost—and now this foreign blood medicine. The White Lotus Sect, the Xuanzhen Sect, heterodox sects, even foreign heretics—all have converged on Zhigou!”

“But right now, a great Buddha stands in the city. If these minor demons stir, they’ll draw down a vast Buddha hand that will crush every flea in Zhigucheng!”

The captain suddenly understood: “You mean they’ll provoke the Xuanzhen Sect Master to act? Make them burn themselves?”

“I mean we’re fleas too. When that hand slams down, it won’t care which master we belong to,” the Daoist sneered. “Sir, you don’t think the court is immune in his eyes, do you?”

The captain turned pale, leapt up, and shouted: “Arrest them! Arrest everyone in the opium dens!”