Chapter 1825 - Playing at Ghosts

The party departed by sedan from the Municipal Police Bureau and soon arrived at the municipal government.

To avoid alarming anyone, the sedans did not use the front gate: the front half of the yamen had been converted into various department offices, packed with naturalized cadres and local citizens conducting business. Instead they went through the rear gate—for convenience of entry and exit, Wang Sangou had opened a rear gate in the back wall of the Guangzhou Prefectural Yamen several months earlier, large enough for sedans and carriages to pass through.

Though the area outside the rear gate was deserted, once inside the security was airtight. This was the outer perimeter guard, entirely replaced with National Army Sword-Drawing Squad and White Horse Squad soldiers. Mu Min and the others alighted from their sedans here. Cui Hantang surveyed the surrounding wall—over two zhang high. At this height, a person could not climb over without equipment.

Wu Mu, director of the Guangzhou Branch of the Political Security Bureau, was already waiting for them in the courtyard. Seeing Cui Hantang arrive, he showed no surprise—before Cui Hantang had even left Lingao, Daoist Dai's coded telegram had already reached his desk.

The New Daoist Order and the Political Security Bureau might seem completely unrelated, but in reality the New Daoist Order actually handled the Political Security Bureau's work regarding folk religious sects. Their cooperative relationship was far deeper than it appeared on the surface.

"This is the scene of the incident," Wu Mu introduced. "Mayor Liu is waiting for us in the conference room..."

"First let me take a look at the shi here," Cui Hantang said.

Everyone remained silent, watching Cui Hantang look around, all secretly puzzled.

Cui Hantang surveyed the area. He saw this was a side courtyard of the rear quarters. The courtyard was small but the buildings were neat and refined. The ground was paved with flagstones. In front of the main building, two flower beds held two osmanthus trees. The main building had three rooms—the center was Liu Xiang's office, the left and right were his and Guo Xier's bedrooms. Liu Xiang had poor nighttime sleep and usually slept alone.

The wing rooms on the east and west sides of the courtyard, judging by the plaques hanging on them, had been converted into offices, a secure room, and an archive room. A conference room had even been specially set aside. Cui Hantang studied everything carefully: the environment was quiet and secluded, without any aura of evil or malevolence. Not to mention that at this moment eight personal guards sent by the Elder Protection Bureau were standing in the courtyard. They wore the standard dual-crossed revolver harness. Some held double-barreled shotguns, others had twin swords thrust through their belts. Every one of them radiated killing intent, armed to the teeth.

"Let's go see Mayor Liu," Wu Mu said.

Liu Xiang had not come out to greet the Elders because a few days earlier Mu Min had already given the Protection Bureau personnel strict orders: he was not permitted to appear outdoors in public. Guards were to provide 24-hour close protection. Apart from essential personnel, no naturalized citizens were allowed to contact Liu Xiang without permission.

Though the sorcery case was still classified, news that someone had attempted to "assassinate" Liu Xiang had already spread through the municipal government. Some anxiety naturally pervaded. To prevent further information leakage, the Political Security Bureau had sealed off the rear quarters from both inside and out, strictly forbidding personnel from entering or exiting, and launching investigations of all who came and went.

The naturalized citizens retained in the rear quarters area were already somewhat nervous. Now seeing so many Elders gathered in this small courtyard, these trusted naturalized staff were secretly astonished: This case really is quite significant!

Liu Xiang was currently resting with eyes closed in the conference room. He had hyperthyroidism issues, and his nighttime sleep had always been poor. After this incident, he had barely closed his eyes at night. The slightest drowsiness brought nightmares or sleep paralysis. After several nights of this torment, his spirit was utterly exhausted and his appearance haggard.

Wu Mu would not let him meet with people or hold meetings. With so many matters outside, he could only read documents and write directives to manage work. This made him appear even more worn. Guo Xier, feeling sorry for her man, had the newly transferred General Affairs Section deputy chief Han Yue—Wang Sangou had been promoted to full section chief—temporarily stop sending documents over. She personally prepared some tonifying foods to nourish vital energy, served them to him, and had someone bring in a screen so she could attend him as he rested on a bamboo couch.

At this moment Liu Xiang felt his mind was confused, neither sleeping nor awake, neither dreaming nor not dreaming. He felt only restlessness and unease. Even reclining on the couch, his whole body felt uncomfortable. Just as he was hazily about to drift off, he suddenly jerked awake with a start. He saw Guo Xier gazing down at him. Seeing him awake, she said softly: "Chief, Chief Mu and the others have arrived..."

Liu Xiang nodded slightly: "Help me up."

Guo Xier hurried to help him up. Seeing his haggard appearance, she quickly wrung out a towel from the nearby washbasin and brought it over.

Liu Xiang wiped his face with the towel and felt somewhat refreshed. He drank a sip of cool tea, then walked out from behind the screen to greet them.

After exchanging pleasantries, everyone sat around the conference table. Mu Min made introductions: "Old Liu, this is Cui Hantang, a comrade from the New Daoist Order here to assist with the investigation. He heard about your situation and said he'd come here first to take a look—see if there are any problems, to clear away your doubts. Dr. Liu says you haven't been sleeping well these past nights and often have sleep paralysis."

Liu Xiang nodded: "Dr. Liu is right. These past nights I haven't slept well."

Cui Hantang studied Liu Xiang without speaking. He scrutinized him from top to bottom for quite a while, then suddenly reached his hand toward Liu Xiang's eyes. Liu Xiang, already dizzy from being stared at, quickly raised his hand to slap away the fat hand, saying irritably: "What are you doing?"

"What am I doing? Heh heh, heh heh heh..." Cui Hantang let out a lecherous laugh in a voice quite unbecoming of his build, then spoke a line familiar to all as a street charlatan's spiel, leaving everyone thunderstruck: "This patron—I see your yintang has darkened, your eyelids have turned black. Sooner or later, misfortune will befall you!"

Liu Xiang's face immediately darkened. He was already in a foul mood, feeling he had made a fool of himself and badly damaged his reputation. Cui Hantang, though not exactly a close acquaintance, was at least someone he had shared meals and drinks with in Lingao and Qiongshan. They had exchanged tips on life secretaries and cursed the Executive Committee's mothers together. Yet here he was opening with such an inauspicious fortune-teller's patter. Face hardening, Liu Xiang pointed at him: "Fatty Cui! We're discussing serious business here! You TM better be serious!!!"

Cui Hantang was not offended. He chuckled and said: "Hey, don't get upset. This is exactly what I mean by serious business." He coughed twice, his expression turning grave. He said to Liu Xiang: "Stand still, stand still. Let me turn your eyelids over and look. I suspect someone has placed a gu curse on you!"

"Ah?" Liu Xiang was alarmed. He forgot to correct his language and hurried to ask: "Dead fatty, don't lie to me—is there really such a thing?"

"Stay calm, stay calm. It's just a little gu insect. At worst your whole body's skin will ulcerate, or a lump will grow on your belly making you fatter than me, or parasitic worms will crawl all over your body." Cui Hantang spoke with a perfectly calm expression.

Lin Boguang, seeing Liu Xiang's face turning green, hurried to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, Daoist Cui! Let's not do this feudal superstition routine. No one's questioning your abilities. Just stop playing at ghosts and tell us what's actually going on!"

Only then did Cui Hantang drop his lazy act: "Of course. But this can't be explained clearly in a moment. Let's go to the scene—that way I can make a more accurate judgment. Chief Mu, I take it you've already examined the scene?"

Though the investigation was the Political Security Bureau's responsibility, Wu Mu had no experience in criminal investigation. The actual scene examination had been conducted jointly with the police bureau.

"Yes, but we only found some strange things—limited help for solving the case."

As she spoke, she brought out a tray from the adjacent room. In the center was a glass test tube plugged with a small piece of thin cotton paper. "This is a stain sample taken from Mayor Liu's window. There were flies gathering on it. It's probably some kind of animal blood, excrement, or rotting substance—the specifics will have to wait for analysis back in Lingao. Also, on the rear windowsill there's a very small scratch mark, smaller than an ordinary cat's claw. But it doesn't look like a feline animal. Rather, it looks like..." At this point Mu Min paused, looking as if she wanted to say more but hesitated.

"Like an infant's footprint, right?" Cui Hantang said with a cold smile.

Mu Min immediately fell silent. Liu Xiang's face paled several more shades.

"Honestly, I don't believe in these things," Mu Min said. "I've roughly heard from Liu San and some old runners that this might be a 'little ghost.' All the evidence left at the scene indicates these people were harvesting souls and refining ghosts. But these are all deceptive tricks. There can't possibly be any real 'little ghosts' in the world..."

Cui Hantang shook his head: "Chief Mu, what you say certainly makes sense from our perspective. But you should also consider this: the origins of soul-harvesting sorcery supposedly date back to the Han dynasty. And Han dynasty sorcery may have been transmitted from the Western Regions or the Mongolian steppes. For these dark arts to have been passed down for a thousand years, all the way to the twenty-first... ahem... to the present day with practitioners still carrying on—can they really be pure charlatanism with no efficacy whatsoever?"

"You mean..." Mu Min pondered his meaning. "There really are 'little ghosts'?"

"Indeed there are." Cui Hantang nodded emphatically. "Not only are there, but Mayor Liu has very likely been afflicted with gu poison."

All the Elders present except Liu Xiang looked at him as if seeing a lunatic. It was Lin Boguang who remained composed enough to ask: "You mean?"

"Let's go to the scene. That way I can judge more accurately."

The scene was right in Liu Xiang's bedroom in the courtyard—just a few steps from the conference room in the east wing.

Liu Xiang's bedroom was the east room of the main building, a very common local architectural style. There was an open veranda in front with rolled-up bamboo blinds hanging from the veranda eaves. The paper on the windows had been replaced with glass, and curtains hung inside.

Mu Min pointed at the window and door: "The stains were found there—you can see some residue still remaining."

Cui Hantang looked up and saw glass panes fitted in both door and windows. There were some stains on them. He sauntered over, carefully dabbed a bit with his finger, and brought it to his nose to sniff. He let out a cold chuckle: "Petty tricks." Then he asked: "Where's that claw mark?"

(End of Chapter)