“Eh! Fellow Cultivator Tang, what are you doing?”
Taoist Master Chang Qing shouted anxiously.
The police were here to solve crimes. Why in the world would they let unauthorized people enter the crime scene? Was it not obvious that he would run into a brick wall?!
Meanwhile, when the police saw Tang Hao, the expression on their faces changed instantaneously, revealing hints of awkwardness. There were even some who looked vaguely respectful.
A middle-aged policeman who was in the lead hastily walked up to Tang Hao and shook his hand. “Lil Bro Tang, long time no see!”
“Captain Zhou!”
Tang Hao smiled and returned the handshake warmly.
This middle-aged policeman was the newly promoted captain of the criminal police unit, Zhou Bin.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Tang Hao saw a few familiar faces. Amongst the group, there stood the same duo which had handcuffed him in the past. They had the most awkward expressions on their faces, not daring to look Tang Hao in the eye.
The most beautiful policewoman in the unit stood next to them. She was wore a complete police uniform, looking valiant and heroic whilst her figure was still as sexy as always. Despite her allure, her pretty face was as cold as usual. When she noticed Tang Hao looking in her direction, she looked upward and snorted lightly.
Even if he had been wrongly accused the last two times, this fellow was still a lecher to her. She could never forget the time he had groped her breasts. She felt shame surging up inside her whenever she recalled it.
Tang Hao was completely clueless about that and smiled warmly at her.
Zhao Qingxue’s gorgeous eyes widened as she returned him a piercing glare.
Noticing that, Captain Zhou furrowed his eyebrows and said, “Lil Zhao, how could you be so impolite?!”
“Captain, he…” Zhao Qingxue argued hastily.
However, she was too embarrassed to reveal the incident. Therefore, she stomped her feet and huffed, “Forget it, it’s nothing!”
“Captain Zhou, there’s been a misunderstanding between me and Officer Zhao here,” explained Tang Hao.
“Oh, I see!” Said Captain Zhou in realization.
Then, he directed his attention to Tang Hao once more, “Oh, right. Why are you here? Who’s this?” As he spoke, he shifted his gaze to Taoist Master Chang Qing, who was standing behind Tang Hao.
“This attire… Why do you look like a Taoist priest?”
Tang Hao answered, “This is Taoist Master Chang Qing. Actually, both of us… are here for this case too.”
Captain Zhou was surprised to hear that. His gaze sharpened visibly. “What’s going on?”
Tang Hao replied, “Taoist Master Chang Qing has been pursuing the murderer for a long time now. He knows this case like the back of his hand.”
“A long time? What does that mean? This is merely the second murder committed by our suspect. Moreover, he’s a Taoist priest, isn’t he? He’s not police or investigator, so what’s he doing investigating this?”
The expression on Captain Zhou’s face was starting to get suspicious.
Taoist Master Chang Qing walked over and answered, “This murderer has committed a lot of crimes. He uses the same techniques and has traveled to many places before coming to Westridge District, where you’re currently staying.”
Captain Zhou hesitated. With a frown, he replied, “That’s true. Similar cases happened in the neighboring districts, and can even be traced all the way to the outer provinces. However, the suspect is already dead. What is following are all the copycat crimes. This one is obviously another one of those.”
Taoist Master Chang Qing hesitated for a while.
That was indeed the case from the police’s perspective. However, the truth was that all these murders were committed by the same ghost that had simply possessed different people.
Yet, there was no way for him to tell them it was a ghost behind all these heinous crimes. Which policeman or woman would believe him?
“If that’s the case, have you ever wondered why there are so many copycat crimes?” Asked Taoist Master Chang Qing.
“This…” Captain Zhou wavered.
The question had crossed his mind before.
“Captain Zhou, let’s go in and check it out. This Taoist priest knows a lot about these murders. He might be able to give us some ideas that can help us solve the case,” smiled Tang Hao.
Captain Zhou hesitated. “This… In principle, this wouldn’t be allowed, but since Lil Bro Tang suggested it, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Captain!” Zhao Qingxue hastily interrupted. “This is a crime scene! How could you let unauthorized people in?”
“Well! Lil Zhao, Lil Bro Tang isn’t exactly some outsider, now is he? Come, come, come. Wrap this around your feet and let’s go in.” Captain Zhou fetched them a set of shoe covers cordially.
This Lil Bro Tang was a well-known associate of Secretary Lin. He had not had the chance to cozy up to Lil Bro Tang yet, so how could he refuse him?
“Impressive, Fellow Cultivator Tang!” Remarked Taoist Master Chang Qing in admiration.
“Hmph!” Zhao Qingxue glared at him and stormed into the hotel.
Tang Hao and the Taoist master followed closely behind Captain Zhou into the hotel.
The hotel was dimly lit as the pungent smell of blood filled the air. They passed through the hallway and saw the police officers from the forensics team before them, collecting evidence and taking photos.
Then, they reached the entrance. Looking in, Tang Hao could not help furrowing his eyebrows.
The scene inside the room was so gory that even Tang Hao was pushed to his limits. Of the two victims, one of them was tied to the bed while the other was tied to a chair. Both of them had been flayed, and there was blood everywhere.
Captain Zhou and his team entered the room while Tang Hao and the Taoist master stood at the doorway.
The Taoist master looked around before sneaking out his geomantic compass. The needle on the compass twitched.
“I’ve got a response!” Said the Taoist master happily. “We can find it with this!”
They continued to pretend to look around before finding an excuse to leave.
They hailed a taxi and hastened toward the direction the geomantic compass indicated.
However, the traces detected the geomantic compass were weak. It worked intermittently, spinning around aimlessly. This caused the driver quite some confusion.
“These two must be nuts, holding onto some stupid geomantic compass and treating it like a treasure!” The driver muttered.
From morning till afternoon, they traveled across almost the entire county seat. Eventually, when they reached the west side of the city, the geomantic compass finally showed the direction clearly.
“It’s there!” Exclaimed the Taoist master excitedly.
After driving a distance, they left the city and headed into a forest.
After getting out of the car, the duo examined their surroundings. Suddenly, Tang Hao spotted a house not far away.
“Master, look!”
“It must be there! Let’s go!” The Taoist master led the way.
“Whoa! That’s a haunted house!”
As they got closer, they noticed that the air above the house was enshrouded in a dense ghastly aura. Such a thick aura full of vile and murderous intent—it could not have been something that had accumulated overnight.
“Seems like our ghost had taken over another ghost’s resting place like a cuckoo bird.”
As the Taoist master spoke, he opened the bag at his waist and set up his equipment.
“Fellow Cultivator Tang, you must be careful later on. This is a sly ghost, so you mustn’t get affected by it. Let’s go!” The Taoist master raised his peach wood sword whilst clutching a stack of talismans in his left hand. After this, he raised a leg like he was about to kick the front door of the house open.
Suddenly, shrill sirens pierced the air from somewhere nearby.
“What’s going on? How did the police find this place too?”
The Taoist master paused and turned around to see two speeding police cars.
“Lil Bro Tang, why are you here?” Captain Zhou rushed over with his team of criminal police after getting out of the car. Confusion was written all over his face.
“Oh! We got a clue and we followed it here!” Replied Tang Hao.
“Coincidentally, we did too. The culprit must be in here. Alright, we’ll deal with the rest! It’s our job as the police to apprehend criminals.”
Captain Zhou took out his gun and led the group of criminal police toward the house.
“Eh! Don’t go inside! There’s a ghost in it. It’s not something you can deal with.” The Taoist master started to get anxious.
The group of criminal police was amused to hear that. Even Zhao Qingxue was unable to control herself and quietly sniggered.
“There are no ghosts in this world. Even if there are, only execution awaits them if they face the people’s police.” Captain Zhou chuckled while beating his chest, acting all heroic.
Then, he kicked open the big door.
Suddenly, a burst of black smoke rushed out to form a hideous and ferocious ghost, which charged straight at them.
Captain Zhou froze on the spot. His eyes rolled back into their sockets, and he fell stiffly onto the ground.