Chapter 58: Connections

Chapter 58: Chapter 58: Connections

When they left, Yizhou and Sui Sui returned to the inn as dusk began to settle. Once they had returned to their room, they went over everything they had learned throughout the day.

"So, for now, here is everything we know. People with Yin-aligned attributes are being targeted for some reason, but the culprit is still unknown. This is connected to the missing Soul Bell, which was stolen by a demonic cultivator. Initially, we had three leads: the government Registry Bureau, the Matchmaker Association, and the temple. We visited the bureau, but there was nothing out of sorts. However, we also learned that the last victim did not actually have a Yin-aligned attribute, and we still have no answer for that."

Sui Sui paused briefly before continuing, piecing together the rest of their investigation.

"That investigation led us to the Matchmaker Association, where we learned that the Yaomei Pavilion is run by demonic cultivators who feed on people’s desires. However, although they are demons, we still have no proof that they are responsible. Then we visited one of the victims and learned that, aside from matchmaking, the Yaomei Pavilion also provides services for blessing people’s homes."

He finished summarizing their findings and looked toward Yizhou.

"So the question is, is the Matchmaker Association really the culprit or not? What do you think, Senior Brother?" Sui Sui asked cautiously.

Yizhou did not answer immediately. Instead, his gaze remained on the item in his hand—the small stone statue of the Yaomei Pavilion that they had asked the old lady to give them.

He studied the statue for a moment before speaking. "This statue has two different inscriptions on it. One of them is indeed like what the old lady said. It can help mortals prolong their lives beyond their lifespan." As he spoke, Yizhou ran his fingers over the barely visible inscription. "However, there is another inscription here. I cannot make out what it says because it has already faded, likely because it has already been used."

He turned the statue over in his hand, his expression growing serious. "They are very suspicious, but we still don’t have enough evidence at hand, I feel that this matter should be more than the surface issue."

"Then should we still go to the temple tomorrow?" Sui Sui asked.

"We should go, I need to see the body of the victim to look for any traces" yizhou said.

After making a plan for tomorrow, the two of them finally settled for the day and rested.

—

The next morning, the two of them rose early again. When they reached the first floor, they once again ran into Luo Qingya and the girls from the Vermillion Moon Pavilion.

Seeing Luo Qingya again after several days apart, Sui Sui couldn’t help but remember the embarrassing scene from before. A faint blush crept onto his cheeks.

After exchanging greetings, they began talking about the progress they had made. To their surprise, they soon discovered that their plans for the day were the same—they were both heading to the temple. In the end, the two groups decided to go together.

As they made their way there, Luo Qingya briefly told them what they had learned the previous day. Their investigation had followed a different set of clues from Yizhou and Sui Sui’s, and it eventually led them to the temple.

"When we asked around the area if there had been anything suspicious happening recently, one of the people we spoke to pointed us toward the temple," Luo Qingya explained.

The temple in Xuanshuang City was somewhat different from those found in other cities. Rather than being a place where people went to pray to deities, it primarily dealt with the dead, helping send them on their way after death and guiding their souls into the afterlife. In many ways, it was more like a funeral home than a traditional temple.

A person’s soul did not immediately leave the body after death. It would linger in the mortal world for several days, searching for a way to enter the underworld. However, there were instances when a soul could not find its way there. The temple’s role was to guide these lost souls and help them enter the underworld.

Hearing that the temple dealt with souls once again, Sui Sui immediately became interested. This was something directly connected to souls. He glanced at Yizhou, wondering if he found the connection interesting as well.

Luo Qingya continued, "According to some witnesses, aside from functioning as a funeral home, the temple is actually open to everyone. They accept people who have nowhere else to go and allow them to stay there. This includes beggars with no family, orphans, travelers with nowhere to stay, and so on."

"However, rumor has it that in recent years, the people staying there began to disappear one by one. At first, no one noticed, but as more and more people mysteriously vanished, people grew suspicious. There was no proof, though, and the temple claimed that those people had simply left on their own, so it was no longer their responsibility to make them stay."

"After that incident, people began to lose trust in the temple. Some even stopped sending their deceased family members there, worried that something might go wrong. Because of that, their business hasn’t been doing well these past few years."

"However, after the recent deaths, I don’t know what happened, but rumors began to spread that the incidents were happening because there were many ghosts in the city who had not been properly guided to the underworld. Because of this, people believed the city was now being haunted by ghosts," Luo Qingya explained.

Hearing the word ghosts, Sui Sui instinctively shivered. What the hell? Were there actually ghosts in this world? But when he thought about it, it seemed rather logical. Even Demons were real, after all.

"After that, their business was once again back on track. They’re now making more revenue than they have in an entire year," Luo Qingya finally finished.

She then shared her speculation. "I think there must be something shady going on here, especially with the missing people. I suspect they might be doing something that involves human lives. That’s why we’re going to investigate the place."

Sui Sui listened and found her reasoning plausible. The temple did indeed have a lot of suspicious behavior surrounding it, making it worth investigating.