"Luo Simen…" I finally remembered—inside the Tomb of a Transcendent Beast, that wax corpse possessed by Yin Bai, capable of speech.
"Heh, Luo Simen…" Gao Liang smiled as he looked at Min Tianyuan and Hao Zhengyi, but then abruptly changed his tone and said decisively, "No."Gao Liang's response had clearly been anticipated by Min Tianyuan, who continued, "Director Gao, aren't you overthinking this? Luo Simen is just a wax corpse now—surely you wouldn't be so reluctant to part with a corpse?"
Min Tianyuan deliberately kept his voice low—only those of us nearby could hear him. Fortunately, Sun Fatty and I were close enough to catch everything.
Gao Liang looked slowly at Min Tianyuan and replied, "All you're getting is Huang Ran. Nothing else."Min Tianyuan exchanged glances with Hao Zhengyi, who quickly picked up the conversation, "Director Gao, don't be so quick to shut things down. At least hear the offer first."
Hearing this, Gao Liang narrowed his eyes. He ignored Hao Zhengyi and addressed Min Tianyuan directly: "An offer? Fine, go ahead. But if it's about money, don't bother."
Min Tianyuan remained silent. He had prepared a blank check for any amount under RMB 10 million (≈ USD 1.4 million), but Gao Liang's words had shut that down.Min Tianyuan glanced at Hao Zhengyi, who remained composed and said, "Money is a worldly concern. Naturally, we wouldn't insult Director Gao with mere wealth. Here's the real offer: a few years ago, the Religious Affairs Commission happened to acquire a relic—one of the Buddha's sariras. If Director Gao finds it acceptable, it will be yours."
At the mention of the sarira, Min Tianyuan's eyelids twitched slightly—clearly, this wasn't something he had agreed upon. The offer was more than he had intended.
"Oh, more than acceptable!" Gao Liang chuckled. "A Buddha's sarira—how could I possibly reject that?"
Before they could relax, however, he added, "Alright, I'll shamelessly accept the gift. Now, let's talk terms."
Even someone as shrewd as Min Tianyuan was momentarily stunned. He stammered, "D-Director Gao, the sarira was the offer."
Gao Liang's eyes widened, and his smile disappeared. "Are you serious right now? You just said it was a gift—now it's a condition? Are you playing games with me? Let me make this clear—don't say it's a gift. I'm not accepting it as a favor. Let's count the sarira as part of the exchange for Huang Ran. As for Luo Siye, we'll keep negotiating."
Min Tianyuan's smile vanished. He was about to argue again, but Hao Zhengyi stopped him. To his credit, Hao remained calm."The sarira was always a gift," he explained. "Let's move on to discussing the terms for Luo Simen."
Gao Liang didn't respond immediately. He stared at Hao Zhengyi, waiting for him to continue.
Hao Zhengyi went on, "But there's something we need to clarify—Luo Simen isn't being requested on behalf of the Commission. We're acting on behalf of someone else. If your demands are too high, we'll have to walk away."
He paused, and seeing that Gao wasn't growing impatient, continued:"What about the thirteen wooden talismans from the Maoshan Sect, passed down by Li Weizong? Would that satisfy you, Director Gao?"Then he quickly added, "Those talismans are the exchange for Luo Simen."
Gao Liang squinted at Hao Zhengyi. After a long moment, he finally said, "Fine. I'll take a loss—wooden talismans it is. But one more thing—I need to know who exactly wants Luo Simen's wax corpse. If you won't tell me that, I can't let you take him."
Min Tianyuan and Hao Zhengyi both fell silent. They looked at each other before Hao replied, "That's something we cannot disclose. The person who requested this is extremely discreet. We're under a confidentiality agreement. If this is your condition for the exchange, then we'll have to forfeit the corpse."
Then he turned to Min Tianyuan. "Let's drop Luo Simen's remains. Let that gentleman handle his own affairs."
Min Tianyuan sighed but didn't respond. He glanced at Gao Liang one last time, then turned to leave with Hao Zhengyi.Gao Liang simply stood there, smiling faintly, showing no intention of stopping them.
Just as they reached the temporary parking area, Min Tianyuan suddenly gritted his teeth, turned sharply, and shouted, "We'll throw in the annotated edition of The Illustrated Compendium of a Hundred Ghosts! That's the most we'll offer!"
Gao Liang grinned. "Deal."
Having struck the deal, Hao Zhengyi supported Min Tianyuan as they walked back toward Gao Liang. They hadn't gone far when Xiao Heshang suddenly stepped in front of them.
"I honestly thought you came to see Xiao Sanda off," he said.
Hao Zhengyi froze. He wasn't sure what Xiao Heshang meant. "Director Xiao, what do you…"
Before he could finish, Xiao Heshang raised his hand and smacked Hao Zhengyi hard across the left cheek.
Though nearly seventy, Xiao Heshang didn't hold back—Hao was caught completely off guard and dropped to one knee. Blood streamed from his nose and mouth, though he managed not to fall face-first.
Even as he slapped him, Xiao Heshang kept shouting,"We treated you like our own son, and you treat us like dirt! The three of us were blind to have taught a snake like you!"
He had been holding back his anger ever since he heard Hao Zhengyi had joined the Religious Affairs Commission. Now, it finally erupted.
Seeing Xiao Heshang throw a punch, Sun Fatty immediately rushed over.
"Master Xiao, please, let's talk this out!" he shouted. "Leave it to me!"
He seemed to be breaking up the fight but ran straight toward Hao Zhengyi, grabbing him around the waist just as he tried to stand.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xiao Heshang launched another barrage of punches and kicks at Hao's body.
At that moment, Min Tianyuan's face turned livid. He reached into his overcoat as if to pull something out. I stepped in front of him and said, "President Min, this is between the two of them. You'd better not get involved."
Hearing that, Min Tianyuan slowly withdrew his hand from his coat. He took a deep breath, then blocked Xiao Heshang with his cane and said word by word, "Either you kill him right here, or as long as he's breathing, he remains the current Chairman of the Religious Affairs Commission."
"Let it go, Heshang. Take it as a favor to Hao Wenming. Calm down—at your age, you really should temper your temper." Gao Liang stepped forward and finally managed to pull Xiao Heshang away.
Only then did Hao Zhengyi get up. He took the tissue Min Tianyuan handed him and hastily wiped the blood off his face. Looking at Gao Liang and Xiao Heshang, he said, "I know I owe you both a lot. If it's not enough to ease your anger, feel free to hit me again." After a pause, he spat out a mouthful of blood and turned to find Hao Wenming in the crowd. "Wenming, come with me. From today on, the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation will no longer have a place for you."
"You're still talking nonsense? I'll kill you right now!" Seeing that Hao Zhengyi was still bold enough to pull someone in public while his face was covered in blood, Xiao Heshang charged again. Gao Liang had to cling to him tightly to stop him from moving, and only then did he reluctantly give up.
At this point, nearly everyone at the scene turned their eyes to Hao Wenming. When Hao Zhengyi was getting beaten, Hao Wenming had looked on expressionlessly. Now, hearing his brother call out to him, he acted like he didn't hear a thing. Only after Hao Zhengyi called again did he finally lower his head and slowly walk over to his brother's side.
Hao Zhengyi nodded to his younger brother and began, "All these years, I've let you—" Before he could finish, Hao Wenming suddenly pulled a telescopic baton from his waist and, without a word, swung it directly at Hao Zhengyi's head.
Just as round two of the fight was about to erupt, Min Tianyuan could no longer hold back. He had been keeping his eyes on Director Hao all along. When he saw Hao Wenming brandish his weapon, Min Tianyuan's face flushed red with rage. Strange, guttural syllables flew rapidly from his mouth. As he uttered the final syllable, he slammed his cane against the ground. Immediately, a Soul split off from his body and lunged toward Hao Wenming's baton.
That baton of Hao Wenming's was a custom-made weapon enhanced by Ouyang Pianzuo—it was designed specifically to dispel spirits and exorcise evil. Naturally, it had no fear of Souls or any such spiritual entities. Treating the Soul as if it didn't exist, Hao Wenming's baton continued its vicious arc toward Hao Zhengyi's skull.
But at that very moment, Hao Zhengyi moved. In a lightning-fast motion, he grabbed the baton with one hand, and with the other hand, he seized the Soul by the throat.
Until now, everyone had just watched him getting beaten. Only then did they realize his capabilities—not only could he stop Hao Wenming's blow, but he even managed to grab an incorporeal Soul by the neck. Dispersing a Soul was easy; a single bullet could do the job. But restraining one like this—not even most of the directors could pull it off (except Wu Rendi).
Gripping the baton in one hand and the Soul's throat in the other, Hao Zhengyi turned coldly to Min Tianyuan and said, "He is my brother."Min Tianyuan's face turned ugly. He glared at Hao Zhengyi and shot back, "Does he treat you like a brother?"After a brief silence, Hao Zhengyi repeated, with heavier emphasis, "He is my brother."
Seeing their Director take action, Sun Fatty instinctively reached for his weapon. "Lazi, go help him!"Before he could draw his baton, I stopped him. "Wait. Something's off. Look closely—see that? That Soul has a shadow.""You seeing things—What the hell? Damn it, is this… a new species?"After my reminder, Sun Fatty noticed it too—under the glare of the work lights, the Soul in Hao Zhengyi's grip was indeed casting a strange, warped shadow on the ground.
Backing away a step, Sun Fatty turned and asked me, "Lazi, I'm serious—what the hell is that thing? Is it human or ghost?"I wanted to ask the same question. Even in the Bureau's archives, I had never seen anything like this.
Thankfully, someone here might know. I turned to look at Xiao Heshang and Gao Liang—only to find that both their expressions had changed. Xiao Heshang was no longer raging, and both he and Gao Liang were now nervously focused on the shadow-casting Soul.Behind them, without anyone noticing, Ouyang Pianzuo had crept closer. Standing behind Gao Liang, he gave me a look, signaling me and Sun Fatty to retreat.
Just then, someone behind me started clapping: Clap, clap, clap...The sound drew everyone's attention. Before we could spot who it was, a voice came from the direction of the applause:"Not bad. To refine a ghost to this extent… At your age, at least your life hasn't been completely wasted."
Hearing that familiar sarcastic tone, both Gao Liang and Xiao Heshang visibly relaxed. The long-absent Director Wu reappeared from the rear. Wu Rendi had changed into a fresh white robe and was slowly strolling forward.
Upon seeing Wu Rendi, Hao Zhengyi immediately released the Soul. Startled, the Soul fled straight toward Min Tianyuan.
But then something eerie happened—the Soul passed through Min Tianyuan's body. It didn't return to him.
Both Min Tianyuan and Hao Zhengyi's expressions shifted. In a hurry, Min Tianyuan slapped a talisman onto himself and tried to retrieve the Soul again and again—but every time, it simply "passed through" him.
Seeing Wu Rendi getting closer, the Soul had no choice but to hide behind Min Tianyuan.
Wu Rendi walked up, ignoring both Min Tianyuan and Hao Zhengyi. Standing beside Director Gao, he looked at the Gate of the Dead and asked, "Did all the wronged spirits go in?"Director Gao suddenly smiled. "One short."
"One short…" Wu Rendi glanced around, then beckoned behind Min Tianyuan. "You. Come here. You're the last one."The moment he spoke, the Soul behind Min Tianyuan turned and fled. But it seemed to be linked to Min Tianyuan somehow. It only got about fifty meters away before letting out a strange shriek and collapsing to the ground, twitching as if its tendons had been severed.
Min Tianyuan's face turned ashen, almost black, like he'd swallowed poison. Seeing the Soul fall, he instinctively took a few steps toward it. As the distance between them shrank, the Soul suddenly sprang up and ran again—only to collapse after just a few more meters.
Wu Rendi wore a cold sneer, clearly unconcerned with how far the Soul could run.Seeing the Soul ahead and Min Tianyuan behind, stumbling together, Director Qiu looked up at the sky and murmured, "It's about time…"
Just as he finished, a warm hue appeared on the horizon in the direction the Soul was heading. Everyone finally realized that dawn had arrived.
The Soul saw the break of day and immediately collapsed to the ground. Min Tianyuan sprinted up and took off his overcoat to cover it before the first rays of sunlight could touch it.
Hao Zhengyi also rushed over. Together, he and Min Tianyuan shielded the Soul from the sunlight, each guarding one side. Carefully, they moved it into one of the Bureau's prepared tents. These tents had been specially treated—Gao Liang and his team had made backup plans in case something went wrong while sending the Souls through the Gate. If needed, they could temporarily shelter the Souls inside, safe from sunlight.