Hao Wenming dripped a drop of fresh blood every few centimeters, his eyes constantly watching the blood droplets and the waxen corpse for any changes. Unfortunately, even when the fresh blood landed on the waxen corpse, there was no sign of any reaction from Lord Luo Simen. Finally, Hao took a deep breath and smeared the blood from his index finger onto the pale, shiny lips of the waxen corpse. At this moment, Hao Wenming quickly took a few steps back, as if trying to avoid something.
I knew this trick of Hao's—within the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation, it's called Blood Bait. It is a method investigators use to test and identify special souls when they don't have any auxiliary equipment. Hao was using his own fresh blood as bait to test whether there was something hidden inside Luo Simen that we couldn't see. This move is quite dangerous. Especially the last step, smearing fresh blood on the target's lips—there have been many cases where investigators failed to dodge in time and were assaulted by the evil spirits attracted out. Previously, Xiong Wanyi of the Second Division suffered such a loss; without any equipment, he and his team tried this method, which immediately summoned an evil spirit that attached itself to Xiong Wanyi. Fortunately, other investigators nearby managed to subdue the fierce spirit inside him, though it took great effort.
However, Hao Wenming seemed to hit a dead end this time. Even when the blood solidified on the waxen corpse's lips, there was no sign of anything from Luo Simen. Huang Ran stood behind Hao, silent until the Blood Bait failed, then glanced back and gave a look to Zhang Zhiyan.
Zhang Zhiyan understood immediately. He pulled out a small stick of incense from his backpack (I recognized it—it was the same incense that Xiao Heshang used once at the bottom of the Qinghe River, though I never got to ask about its origin). Zhang lit the incense and placed it at Luo Simen's feet. A faint yellow smoke curled out from the incense tip, drifting around the waxen corpse, but it failed to trigger any resonance. After a while, the smoke dispersed and returned to its original state.
Hao Wenming and Huang Ran exchanged glances; it was clear they were both growing uncertain. But one thing was certain: Huang Ran's segment about Ruan Liulang's past did not explain this recent incident. Huang Ran spoke first: "Director Hao, it seems Lord Luo Simen doesn't want to speak anymore. We shouldn't linger here; let's move forward. The Tomb of a Transcendent Beast is not far ahead."
Hao Wenming nodded. Before he could say anything else, a voice suddenly came from the waxen corpse's direction, "You... leave." The words were unclear and somewhat stiff, like a foreigner trying to speak Chinese. Despite the sigh from before, I still felt a chill run down my spine. Since joining the Bureau, I rarely experienced such a feeling. Even in past cases, when the opponent was not a match, at least we could see where they were. Now, Luo Simen just lay quietly on the ground, yet we didn't even know how he could speak.
"No, leave... die..." more words popped out from the waxen corpse. This time I could confirm the voice came from Luo Simen's mouth. Although his lips didn't move, I saw a faint tremble in his throat. Apart from this barely noticeable quiver, the surface of the waxen corpse showed no other abnormalities and remained quietly lying there. I watched in disbelief—still just an empty shell, with no sign of any soul hidden inside.
Seeing that we had no intention to leave, the waxen corpse "spoke" again: "You all... will die... here." Just after finishing, Huang Ran suddenly reached out, grabbed the short double-barrel shotgun hanging on Zhang Zhiyan's back, and without a word aimed at the waxen corpse's head and pulled the trigger. Bang! Half of Luo Simen's head was blown away. Although his skin and fat were waxy, there was still some dark red viscous matter splattered everywhere inside the skull.
Huang Ran returned the shotgun to Zhang Zhiyan, then looked at Hao Wenming with a smile and said, "Director Hao, now we can move on. If anyone blocks the way, I'll talk to them." Hao looked at him but said nothing, still preoccupied with Luo Simen. Only when Huang Ran repeated himself did Hao snap out of it and say, "I'm serious, Huang Ran. It's time you tell the truth. What exactly is inside the Tomb of a Transcendent Beast?"
Huang Ran's gaze fixed on Luo Simen, who was missing half of his head. His eyes blinked repeatedly, as if he was calculating something. After a moment of silence, Huang Ran took out that copy of Ruan Liulang's Journal of Observations. After flipping through it aimlessly a few times, he handed it to Hao Wenming.
"Director Hao, I won't say much. Just take a look yourself."
The Journal of Observations that had eluded them several times was now in their hands so easily. Hao Wenming glanced at Huang Ran but didn't take the journal directly. Narrowing his eyes, he said,
"Is this really the original written by Ruan Liulang? You didn't tamper with it, did you?"
Huang Ran chuckled, "Director Hao, would I do such a low-level thing?"
Hao Wenming snorted, looking at him: "Do you think I'm meeting you for the first time?"
Huang Ran wasn't offended. Still wearing a smile, he held the journal up firmly in his hands.
Though he said that, the Journal of Observations was right in front of him, and Hao couldn't help but feel tempted. Finally, he took the journal from Huang Ran and began to read. The more he read, the slower he turned the pages, and his expression grew increasingly grave. Nearing the end, it seemed he noticed a major problem. His eyes suddenly widened, and he abruptly looked up at Huang Ran, saying sharply,
"There's a Yin Bai inside the Tomb of the Arcanobeast?! Huang Ran! You're crazy!"
Hao Wenming's reaction was exactly what Huang Ran expected. He said nothing in reply and glanced over at Meng Qiqi and Zhang Zhiyan.
"Yin Bai…" Both Meng Qiqi and Zhang Zhiyan widened their eyes and looked at Huang Ran. It seemed Huang Ran hadn't revealed any solid information to them either.
"Y-Yin…" Before Zhang Zhiyan could say more, Miss Meng interrupted by grabbing his arm.
"You're way off track. Let me speak! Huang Ran, what do you mean? When you called us here, you never mentioned there was a Yin Bai here. So how come the gear you prepared is designed for fighting Arcanobeasts?"
Huang Ran maintained his cheerful grin, spreading his hands.
"So what if there's a Yin Bai? Our goal is the same. That thing is inside. Even if there is a Yin Bai in there, would you not come?"
Meng Qiqi wanted to say more but was stopped by Zhang Zhiyan:
"L-Let it go…"
Only then did Meng fall silent, though she still looked at Huang Ran with displeasure. The trio's unity quickly showed cracks.
I had some impression of the name Yin Bai. In one archive in the data room, it was mentioned once — something like a monster. Unfortunately, when I was flipping through that part, the data room was being inventoried. I didn't get to finish reading before Ouyang Pianzuo kicked me out. After that, I came here. My knowledge of Yin Bai was basically blank, but luckily there was a senior member of the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation nearby.
I sidled up to Dajun and Sun Fatty and asked, "Dajun, what exactly is a Yin Bai? For Director Hao to be so excited, it must be something big."
Dajun looked back at me and said,
"You really dare to call a Yin Bai 'something'?"
He caught his breath and continued,
"A Yin Bai is a term for a fully Arcanobeast-transformed animal. Very few Arcanobeasts reach the level of a Yin Bai. According to our Bureau records, in the Qianlong era, the last creature classified as a Yin Bai was struck down by lightning. Since then, there have been no records of Yin Bai. I never expected there'd be one here."
After saying this, he glanced at Huang Ran and Hao Wenming, then added,
"Lazi, if there really is a Yin Bai here, the few of us are not nearly enough. Without Wu Rendi, even if several directors come, it won't help."
After Dajun finished, Sun Fatty looked at Director Hao and murmured,
"Then let's not waste time here. Let's retreat…"
Sun Fatty then turned his gaze to Meng Qiqi and Zhang Zhiyan and said,
"A bunch of clueless people got dragged in here, not just the few of us. You two seem to be pawns in Huang Ran's game too. What a pity. But now, you two are just small soldiers crossing the river—not even rook, horse, or cannon pieces. We might be forgiven, but I didn't expect you two to be the same. I'm not trying to cause trouble, but didn't Huang Ran show you that 'Journal of Observations' before?"
After Sun Fatty finished speaking, Meng Qiqi and Zhang Zhiyan remained silent, as if they hadn't heard him. But their eyes stayed fixed intently on Huang Ran.
Sun Fatty then hugged the black cat and approached Hao Wenming, saying,
"Director Hao, if this doesn't work out, we should retreat. Anyway, we know how to get in and have explored most of the paths inside. The rest should be left to Director Wu and Er Yang."
"It's too late." Huang Ran finally spoke. Looking at Sun Fatty and Hao Wenming, he said,
"I forgot to tell you, we can't return the way we came. The entrance is only the entry point; we must pass through the Tomb of the Arcanobeast to reach the exit."
Hearing this, Sun Fatty sneered,
"You say we can't return the way we came, so we can't? We came in the same way, just through some Ying Spring and a few Wyrmvine Threads. If we made it in once, we can make it out the same way…"
As Sun Fatty said this, the black cat he was holding lifted its head and softly uttered "Nyeh…" as if agreeing with him.
Huang Ran smiled faintly, said nothing, and turned his face toward Director Hao.
Director Hao glared at him and stopped Sun Fatty, helplessly saying,
"Great Sage… let's keep moving forward. The exit is ahead."
Sun Fatty was momentarily stunned but, seeing the Journal of Observations in Director Hao's hand, immediately understood. He glanced back at Huang Ran and said,
"Old Huang, well done. I always suspected you treated Ruan Liulang's journal like a little wife and hid it away. How come you're willing to show it now? Since it's come to this, just be honest. What happened with Luo Simen just now? I've seen dead people talk before, but someone like Luo Simen—an empty old husk—talking nonsense like that, it's a first."
"Why don't you ask Director Hao? Everything I know is in Ruan Liulang's journal. Looks like Director Hao is the one with the final say now," Huang Ran answered with a grin.
As he spoke, Hao Wenming had already put the journal away.
"Do you want to keep talking nonsense, or do you want to go into the Tomb and find your thing?"
As we moved forward, the situation changed slightly. Meng Qiqi and Zhang Zhiyan clearly grew wary of Huang Ran and deliberately kept their distance. During this time, Hao Wenming took the Journal of Observations and handed it to Meng Qiqi and Zhang Zhiyan. In return, they returned the confiscated equipment to me and Dajun. At Hao Wenming's request, Huang Ran also returned the director's equipment. In no time, the power struggle turned from a two-way battle into a three-way stalemate, with Meng Qiqi and Zhang Zhiyan's faction showing signs of leaning toward us.
After walking for another ten minutes, the temperature slowly dropped, and the fog thickened, like tiny crystals of moisture drifting in the air. A nauseating stench spread gradually, even Hao Wenming, not sensitive to smells, covered his nose. We all knew this meant we were getting closer to the Tomb of the Arcanobeast.
We put back on all the clothes we had taken off earlier and were glad we hadn't discarded our coats and jackets before entering the hot springs. As we moved forward, members of the Bureau gathered quietly. Director Hao whispered a warning: if anything unexpected happened and they confronted the Yin Bai, Huang Ran's group should handle it, while we made a run back to the Ying Spring area, which was safe. Then we would wait for the Bureau's reinforcements to arrive and regroup. According to him, the Ying Spring seemed to suppress the Yin Bai.
At a convenient moment, I asked Hao Wenming what exactly was inside the Tomb that made Huang Ran willing to set such a huge trap despite knowing there was a Yin Bai. It was clear Meng Qiqi and Zhang Zhiyan had been lured in using that item as bait. When mentioning the item, Director Hao's expression twisted:
"Dragon Whisker…"
Sun Fatty's ears perked up at the words "Dragon Whisker." He hurried forward and asked Hao Wenming,
"Director Hao, this Dragon Whisker—is it really a dragon's whisker?"
Hao Wenming gave him a helpless look, saying,
"Whatever you want to think…"
Sun Fatty was about to say more but I cut him off,
"Great Sage, Dragon Whisker is a type of metal wire known for exceptional toughness. It's called that because it looks like the whiskers of some large creature."
"Lazi, you mean it's like iron wire or something?" Sun Fatty had actually been to the Bureau's data room once, but because of that visit, he ripped a rare manuscript there to blow his nose and was immediately kicked out by Ouyang Pianzuo. Since then, Sun Fatty had been banned from the data room unless there was a direct written order from high up. So compared to an average person, Sun Fatty's Bureau knowledge was still limited.
"Iron wire?" I smiled bitterly, "Neither you nor Huang Ran are right. The metal used to make Dragon Whiskers is said to be refined from fallen meteorites. Originally, it was for forging weapons, but a little was left over. The blacksmith, for some reason, added other materials and ended up crafting three identical strands that look exactly like animal whiskers. Everyone, including the blacksmith, thought these three metal whiskers were useless. But later, by accident, it was discovered that these Dragon Whiskers had an unexpected function…"
Before I could finish, Sun Fatty interrupted,
"What function? Lazi, hurry up and tell us. Don't be like Huang Ran and leave us hanging."
"If you hadn't interrupted, I'd have finished already." I rolled my eyes and continued,
"Lock picking. No matter what kind of lock, as long as there's a keyhole, if you insert a Dragon Whisker and gently stir it inside, it can automatically disengage the lock's mechanism."