Chapter 323: My Lord Inspector Desires Shui-Ge’s Confession

Under the night sky, Hua City gradually fell into slumber, with scattered lights flickering in the towering buildings.

A petite figure darted between the skyscrapers, occasionally landing on a rooftop. After a brief pause, she leaped again, gliding like a bird across a great distance to another high-rise.

Gradually, the tall buildings began to dwindle, leaving behind only low, dark mountain-surrounded cottages.

Lu Yibei pressed on towards the direction of Baiyan Village. The thought that an outsider haunting might have attacked Du Sixian made her sigh-so many troublesome matters.

Sometimes she wondered if she got entangled in too many troublesome affairs too frequently.

In just a couple of months, it felt like an eternity, as if even a third-rate web novelist could churn out a million-word story.

Misfortune and trouble seemed to stalk her like a relentless pursuer, never letting her go. Was it her body they craved, or something else?

In a word, despicable!

In contrast, peaceful life was always too fleeting, with time slipping by at an alarming speed.

Every morning at eight-thirty, she would wake up, wash up, and have breakfast. After breakfast, she would either study the alchemical formula of the Great Serpent God or complete the papers Professor Ma assigned out of personal vendetta.

After lunch, she’d wander over to The Midnight Watchers Society to slack off until nightfall. In the evening, after dealing with the various trivial matters of Hua City’s hauntings, she’d lie in bed, happily playing with Ah-Hua until she fell asleep. Then, in her Dreams, she would “play” with the Ancestors until they cried out, “I can’t take it anymore!”

Since the end of the final exams, Lu Yibei had maintained this rhythm of life.

Looking back, those peaceful and fulfilling times seemed as if they had happened just this morning.

…

“No, it was indeed this morning…” Lu Yibei murmured to herself.

“Lady Calamity, what happened this morning?”

On a hill surrounded by withered trees, a haunting resembling a child made of mud approached Lu Yibei to inquire.

This haunting had a peculiar name, Mangpu, originally used to describe a swamp-like mud pit.

However, there had long been a legend around here that “Mangpu is a sleeping monster, and if one encounters it in the wilderness, they will be buried alive.” As the nights grew longer, this legend somehow became reality, transforming into a haunting.

“…” Lu Yibei paused briefly, expressionless, and said to Mangpu, “Nothing, just take me there, will you?”

“Yes.”

Under Mangpu’s guidance, Lu Yibei soon arrived at the “accident-prone” desolate tombs.

The tombs stood abruptly in the middle of the road. One of the empty tombs had partially collapsed, and Du Sixian’s Mercedes door seemed to have been ripped off with brute force, thrown far away.

Scattered around were several charred spots, exuding remnants of high-level spell formation psychic energy fluctuations.

In addition, there was a faint, unfamiliar psychic energy fluctuation that did not belong to Hua City’s hauntings, silently indicating that an outsider haunting had once appeared here.

This was no longer a matter of trespassing on my territory; it was an attempt to stir up trouble for all the hauntings in Hua City!

Lu Yibei frowned slightly, her heart heavy, her thoughts drifting back to her previous meeting with Xing Yuan.

A week ago.

The day after Lu Yibei’s final exams, a black envelope embossed with a golden Death Owl pattern mysteriously appeared on her desk.

The envelope was left by golden horn and silver horn, and the letter inside was an invitation from Xing Yuan to have dinner together.

After reading it, Lu Yibei mused to herself, “Could this be a ploy to lure an innocent girl into signing an Indenture under the guise of a dinner invitation?”

“Seems like this might not be a friendly gesture.”

However.

Despite knowing that an invitation from the Inspector of The Midnight Watchers Society might not be well-intentioned, she decided to go and find out for herself.

At the end of the letter, Xing Yuan offered two reasons that were hard for her to refuse-how to remove her name from The Midnight Watchers Society’s Wanted List without signing a contract.

Yes, after completing the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, Lu Yibei had ended up on The Midnight Watchers Society’s Wanted List.

She discovered this by accident while organizing some documents, finding her name glaringly at the bottom of the list.

This situation wasn’t supposed to happen for a long time, but some sneaky individual had sent a report to The Midnight Watchers Society’s headquarters through special channels the day after she completed the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts.

The letter sternly outlined her potential threats, listing over thirty scenarios that could endanger national or even global peace and stability.

Even more infuriating was that after thorough research and calculations, The Midnight Watchers Society’s headquarters found those scenarios to be plausible, posing a certain risk.

Thus, they hurriedly approved the document, adding the name Calamity to the Wanted List overnight.

Lu Yibei swore that if she ever found the person who sabotaged her, she’d make sure to give them a piece of her mind.

Someone like her, born under the red flag and raised in the spring breeze, a red neckerchief destined to contribute to socialist construction, how could she possibly be a threat to society?

Utter nonsense!

On the night of the invitation, at eight o’clock sharp, Lu Yibei arrived at the private suite on the top floor of the Financial Building, as agreed.

As she opened the door, a faint scent of perfume wafted through the air. Looking around, she saw Xing Yuan sitting alone near the entrance, dressed in a burgundy deep V-neck gown, lightly made up, and seemingly with a fresh perm. It was clear she had dressed up meticulously.

Lu Yibei thought, “…”

What on earth? What’s going on? This isn’t quite what I imagined!

Does this mean the thirty-plus Alchemical Bombs and over fifty talismans I brought were for nothing?

Lu Yibei pondered, silently tightening her oversized coat to prevent any major weapon from accidentally falling out.

The King of Hauntings having dinner with the Inspector from The Midnight Watchers Society, armed with a body full of explosives, seemed rather unreasonable.

Upon seeing Lu Yibei’s flustered demeanor, Xing Yuan chuckled softly, “Why are you just standing there? Come on, sit down and let’s eat. We can chat while we enjoy the meal; it won’t taste as good once it gets cold.”

As she spoke, she pulled out the chair next to her and gently patted it, signaling Lu Yibei to sit beside her.

Lu Yibei hesitated for a couple of seconds before silently moving over and sitting down, leaving a seat between them. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Xing Yuan shifted her position, closing the gap between them, and leaned forward slightly, her hand casually resting on Lu Yibei’s thigh.

“…”

Lu Yibei glanced at the hand exploring her thigh, then at Xing Yuan’s eyes filled with warmth and allure, and finally at the deep, breath-stealing neckline. She was momentarily speechless.

Is she here for dinner or to devour me?

Could this Inspector have a peculiar fascination with hauntings? Lu Yibei mused internally.

Just then, Xing Yuan broke the awkward silence.

“How old are you? Are you dating anyone? Do you have a favorite skincare set? I’ll send you a couple.”

Oh no! The more she listened, the more it felt off. Lu Yibei silently grumbled, feeling that Xing Yuan’s smiling demeanor seemed less like discussing cooperation and more like a matchmaking session.

Finally, when Xing Yuan asked, “What do you think of me?” Lu Yibei couldn’t hold back any longer.

She pushed Xing Yuan’s hand away, stood up, took a couple of steps back, straightened her posture, and turned her head aside, “Sister, please! I think I can still work hard for a couple more years!”

She had to stop her before things got out of hand, or Xing Yuan might whip out some ‘rich lady happiness’ products. Lu Yibei thought.

Seeing Lu Yibei’s resolute stance, Xing Yuan paused for a moment and then burst into laughter, “You’ve misunderstood. I’m not interested in you, but rather…”

As she spoke, her face turned red.

Watching the elegant woman who had been like a ripe peach a moment ago transform into a shy girl, Lu Yibei furrowed her brows and cautiously asked, “Rather?”

“Ahem, I just wanted to know more about Bai Kai’s recent situation.”

Can’t get to Bai Kai directly? Then approach those around him.

“…” Lu Yibei paused for a couple of seconds before decisively distancing herself from Bai Kai, “Bai Kai? Never heard of him. You must be mistaken.”

Xing Yuan frowned, “Huh? Aren’t you his lover?”

“Lover? Who’s spreading such rumors?” Lu Yibei exclaimed.

As soon as she finished speaking, she noticed Xing Yuan smiling at her, her gaze piercing as if trying to see right through her, making Lu Yibei uneasy.

Lu Yibei, “…”

“Don’t worry, this is still a private chat. I won’t disclose your relationship with him. If you don’t believe me, I can sign a contract with you.”

Lu Yibei squinted slightly, “You really won’t tell anyone?”

“Really.”

“Then sign the contract first.”

Members of The Midnight Watchers Society are notoriously sly, so caution is necessary. Lu Yibei thought.

Xing Yuan, “…”

After signing the confidentiality contract with the “Unbreakable Oath” spell formation, Lu Yibei finally felt at ease and said, “I do know Bai Kai, and we’re quite close. But why are you asking about him? Don’t tell me you’re interested in him?”

Xing Yuan remained silent for a while, her eyes hesitantly scanning Lu Yibei before she shyly nodded and replied, “Yes.”

“Why not just pay him? I heard it costs twenty-seven thousand for a night,” Lu Yibei said earnestly.

“No, no, no!” Xing Yuan quickly waved her hands. “That’s not what I want. I mean…”

“So it’s not about the physical, but the emotional connection?”

Xing Yuan hesitated, then nodded, “Actually, I want him to take the initiative… you know, we’re all girls here, you should understand.”

What do you mean we’re all girls? I don’t understand! Lu Yibei cursed inwardly and said seriously, “If that’s the case, then it’s going to be tough. Shui-Ge hasn’t been emotionally involved for years, not even physically. He usually just goes for quantity.”

“I suspect that if he’s not gay, he’s probably hung up on his first love.”

Lu Yibei had heard from her father that Shui-Ge always kept a faded Polaroid photo tucked in his wallet, never letting anyone touch it.

Apparently, her father said it was a photo of him and his first love, and when Shui-Ge got drunk, he’d clutch his wallet and cry his heart out.

It seems Shui-Ge still can’t forget the woman who deceived him.

Upon hearing this, Xing Yuan paused, her heart skipping a beat as if squeezed by an invisible hand, and her eyes trembled as she said, “I am his first love.”

“What the heck! You’re the one who conned him out of money and affection, the one who chews people up and spits out the bones?” Lu Yibei exclaimed, her emotions running high, causing her jacket to misinterpret her actions, and several Alchemical Bombs clattered out from the lining of her clothes.

“…”

Seeing the liquid glowing ominously in the glass bottles, seemingly harboring terrifying power, Xing Yuan’s mouth twitched.

Lu Yibei, “…”

As she struggled to explain, Xing Yuan laughed softly, “Haha, bringing a few Alchemical potions to spice up a meal is perfectly reasonable! It’s no big deal.”

Lu Yibei, “???”

Is this really okay? It seems her determination to win over Shui-Ge is quite strong!

Thus, after a brief exchange, understanding that My Lord Inspector wanted Shui-Ge’s confession, Lu Yibei quickly struck a secretive, dirty deal with Xing Yuan, happily selling out Bai Kai…

The topic of Bai Kai was discussed at length between the two, while the real purpose of the invitation took less than ten minutes to reach an agreement.

“…That’s the situation. If you can ensure, under your management, to control the number of murderous haunting attack incidents within Hua City as much as possible, I can guarantee that as long as you don’t do anything too outrageous, no one from The Midnight Watchers Society will come to investigate you,” Xing Yuan said.

“And the hauntings?” Lu Yibei asked, “I mean, will people still hunt those hauntings?”

Xing Yuan shrugged, “If they don’t kill anyone!”

“…” Lu Yibei hesitated for a long time, took a deep breath, and said, “I’ll give it a try, but I can’t guarantee anything right now.”

“Understood,” Xing Yuan nodded. “You have a year. After a year, as long as the number of murderous haunting attack incidents in Hua City decreases to a certain range, that’s fine.”

“Alright,” Lu Yibei nodded solemnly, “In that case, I’ll take my leave. As for Shui-Ge, follow my instructions, and there’s a good chance you’ll succeed.”

With that, she hurriedly left the hotel, returned home, and drafted the first edition of the “Hua City Haunting Management Regulations.”

Near Baiyan Village.

Lu Yibei snapped back to reality, her gaze fixed on the desolate tombs ahead. Just as Du Sixian had described, these tombs were indeed peculiar. But what was even stranger was why she had ended up here in the first place.

According to Du Sixian, after leaving Baiyan Village, she had driven for over an hour and should have almost reached the town by now. Yet, this place was less than a kilometer from Baiyan Village, right next to the village’s threshing ground. In a way, she hadn’t really left the village at all.

The road beneath her feet seemed to stretch forward within her line of sight, but just ahead, it abruptly ended at a backwater bay.

“What’s up with this road? Why are there so many desolate tombs along it?” Lu Yibei muttered, turning to look at Mangpu beside her, only to be startled by the sight of a large group of little Hauntings that had gathered behind her without her noticing.

In the dead of night, to suddenly find herself surrounded by a sea of eerie green, crimson, and ghostly blue eyes, along with shadowy figures, was enough to send a shiver down anyone’s spine.

Their psychic energy fluctuations were so faint that they had slipped into Lu Yibei’s psychic sense range without her even realizing it. Perhaps they had picked up some bad habits from the villagers nearby.

They were scattered about, wearing the support T-shirts they had bought from Gu Qianqian, sitting on small stools, holding wild fruits and bird eggs, and gathering as if to watch a spectacle, whispering among themselves.

Lu Yibei rubbed her forehead, “…” Why are they everywhere?

Even now, she was still struggling to adapt to her unique status as the King of Hauntings in Hua City. Whenever she transformed at night and appeared on the streets, it was like a celebrity arriving at an airport, with hundreds of Hauntings gathering around to gawk.

She later discovered that this phenomenon was due to some rumor spread by a troublemaker claiming that the King of Hauntings in Hua City was a stunningly beautiful, kind, and gentle older sister.

When the Hauntings flocked to see her, they found that, apart from her image shifting from an older sister to a beautiful girl, everything else was hard to explain.

As a result, when she decided to launch the “First Session of the Haunting Scare Training Class,” over five hundred Hauntings signed up. She had to set a high registration fee to reduce the number of participants to eighty-six.

It was infuriating, so much so that she considered organizing a second session.

Take from the people, give back to the people, right?

…

“Reporting to Lady Calamity, I have no idea why these desolate tombs are here. I only awakened my consciousness last year, so I’m not aware of what happened around here. However, Old Whiskers might know,” Mangpu explained.

“Old Whiskers?” Lu Yibei recalled the information about the nearby hauntings and frowned, “Are you talking about that catfish spirit? Where is it?”

“Lady Calamity, I’m here, right here!” A raspy voice emerged from the group of hauntings. Following the sound, a scraggly old man, dressed to the nines, shuffled over, dragging his long whiskers along. His face was dotted with catfish-like slimy patches, resembling age spots.

“Madam, I’m not a catfish spirit; I’m a Nether Drake…”

“Aren’t you just a big catfish that grew up eating animal carcasses? Why make it sound so grand?” Lu Yibei interrupted with a wave of her hand.

As she spoke, she moved towards Old Whiskers, snatching a wild fruit from a three-tailed squirrel as she passed by and popped it into her mouth. The three-tailed squirrel looked at its empty paws, then at Lu Yibei, its little face scrunched up in dismay.

Sadness.jpg

“Yes, yes, Lady Calamity is right,” Old Whiskers responded quickly.

“Mangpu just mentioned you might know why these desolate tombs appeared here?” Lu Yibei asked, “Care to share?”

Old Whiskers bowed respectfully and replied, “Reporting to Lady Calamity, these desolate tombs were left behind when Baiyan Village was building a road a few years ago.”

“Back then, the villagers were constructing a road and planned to dam the river and build a bridge. This angered the River God, resulting in the deaths of over a dozen people…”

“Hold on!” Lu Yibei interrupted with a frown, “The River God? Is it a haunting? I don’t recall any such haunting within Hua City’s boundaries. What does it look like?”

“Well…” Old Whiskers bowed again, explaining, “Madam, I’ve only heard of this River God and never seen it. Moreover, it isn’t a haunting from Hua City.”

Well, isn’t that a lead? Lu Yibei’s eyes lit up as she pressed on, “If it’s not a Hua City haunting, where is it from? Do you know where it usually appears?”

Old Whiskers frowned, looking at the quietly flowing river not far away, and said with a complex expression, “It’s said that this entire river is the River God’s domain. It is always elusive, and no one, not even hauntings, knows where it might appear.”

Lu Yibei frowned at this, lost in thought.

If the River God is always so elusive, why did it appear near Baiyan Village?

There must be another reason.

As she pondered, she glanced around at the little hauntings, her face expressionless as she asked, “Do any of you know anything else? Speak up!”

Her words fell, and the little hauntings, staring at her icy face, froze in place, silent as the grave.

“Lady Calamity, please don’t be angry. They’re timid and haven’t seen much of the world.”

“Do I look angry?” Lu Yibei asked Mangpu.

Mangpu glanced at her face, hesitated for a few seconds, and nodded.

Damn, I can’t possibly smile at them, can I? Lu Yibei rubbed her forehead, “I’m really not angry. Feel free to speak. Whoever provides useful information will be rewarded with half a core entity!”

Though offering half a core entity to coax information pained Lu Yibei, Du Sixian’s safety was more important.

“……”

After another moment of silence, a haunting resembling a straw hat timidly approached and said, “I-I know. I saw the young lady when she encountered the River God.”

“Oh?” Lu Yibei tilted her head, “Tell me about it.”

The Straw Hat Haunting squirmed a bit and whispered, “I saw a boat, a blood-red boat…”

When Du Sixian encountered the River God, the area near the riverbank was eerily quiet, like the eye of a storm, where all sounds had vanished.

Amidst this unsettling silence, a few points of light suddenly appeared in view.

These lights swayed gently along the riverbank, and in the blink of an eye, they reached the vicinity of the desolate tombs. It was then that Du Sixian realized they were a group of strange people, carrying two rows of lanterns as they moved along the riverbank.

These peculiar figures were all dressed in black robes, long enough to obscure their faces and bodies, revealing only their ghastly pale hands.

Following the sound of a gong, a massive blood-red ship suddenly emerged into view. Its towering decks loomed high, making Du Sixian and her vehicle seem as insignificant as an egg before it.

On the ship stood many people dressed in ornate clothing, their faces pale, waving their arms stiffly towards the riverbanks.

Such a large ship should not have been able to navigate this narrow river; even on broader rivers and lakes, it would be a rare sight. Yet, there it was, appearing like a ghost ship, hovering on the river’s surface, gliding through the thick fog, silently drawing closer. The eerie red glow it emitted stained the entire river with the color of fresh blood…