When I returned home from Europe, the first thing I did was call Chuyi to ask if he needed help.

“Everything’s solved. How are you?” I asked.

“The Longquan Villa has targeted us again. Do you know their purpose?”

“It might just be a coincidence.”

Chuyi understood my idea, but he didn’t think that the Longquan Villa had deliberately troubled us at once. If they did, the Zhang family in Jiangbei wouldn’t stand still and watch.

I thought it sounded logical. I didn’t linger on this subject further. I said goodbye and hung up the phone. Afterward, I called Senior Shu.

Although this old man was despicable, he had saved my life at critical moments many times. Moreover, he was a member of the Zhang family, and he was from the same generation as my grandfather. I had always considered and treated him as though he was my senior. I was really worried about him since he told me the enemy had found him and went to his door.

As soon as the line went through, Senior Shu’s despicable voice echoed. “Hey grandson, why are you calling me?”

When I heard his voice, I knew he was safe. I exhaled and smiled. “Old man, don’t bully me. Do you want my grandpa to beat you up?”

Then, I stopped smiling, and my voice grew serious. “How are you doing? Do you need help?”

“How am I doing? Oh well, they can’t find me that easily. Also, it’s not simple for me to get rid of them completely, so I’ve decided to ignore them for now. I can enjoy my time traveling during this period.” Senior Shu sounded carefree and positive. I admired his boldness.

We chatted for a while. When I was about to hang up, Senior Shu lowered his voice into a whisper. “Hey kid, do you have free time these days?”

“What?” I frowned, thinking that he might entice me to accept a case.

“Old man, don’t try to trick me. I was in so much trouble this time that I’m lucky that I was able to return home safe and sound. I want to take a vacation for a while.” I shook my head and was prepared to deny whatever he was about to talk me into doing.

“What are you talking about? You are Yaoyang’s grandson, so you’re not different from my grandson.” Senior Shu laughed and told me the story.

A few days ago, during his escape, he had passed by Linzhang County in Hebei Province, where he caught wind of a strange case.

A local man went out during a heavy snowstorm to capture some wild hares, but he disappeared mysteriously, coming back home only three days later. The night he returned, his wife and son were murdered, and their heads were chopped off. However, the man wasn’t heart-broken. He laughed at the bodies and cursed as if the deceased were his enemies.

All the villagers knew that he had disappeared for three days, and many people suspected that he had either encountered something foul or was possessed. Some said he was pretending to lose his mind and that he was the murderer.

The police investigated the case. They confirmed that the man was in his right mind and that he wasn’t the one who massacred his wife and kid.

There were no fingerprints found at the crime scene. The man’s wife and child looked as if their heads had fallen off their bodies on their own.

The police had no choice but to close the case. However, the masterful Senior Shu seemed to sense something odd. He decided to stay in Linzhang County to observe.

Indeed, in the next few days, the same mysterious decapitation cases happened again. The police tried their best, but they couldn’t get a clue. Fortunately, they found Senior Shu, who was also following the case.

The two parties discussed the matter. Chief Liu from the local Police Bureau asked Senior Shu to help them.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Senior Shu accepted this serial murder case, his enemy came.

“Jiulin, my grandson, I’ve received the payment from the Police Bureau, so you have to make things right! What I mean is that you should solve it nicely and neatly. I don’t want my name to be tarnished!” Senior Shu sounded pitiful. However, his voice was more despicable than ever to my ears.

I deliberately teased him and said in an angry tone, “You got the money, but you want me to do the job for you? Oh well, I guess I’m not going to take this case!”

“Are you sure you don’t want to take this case?” Senior Shu’s voice showed a trace of threat.

Oh well, I said I didn’t want it. What else could you do to me?

“All right, so I’ll work on this case myself. If the enemy gets me, let’s see who will come to rescue you when you get yourself in trouble!”

“Okay, I’ll take it. You’re ruthless, old man!” I said reluctantly. I was always helpless when I dealt with this despicable, childish grandpa. The only thing I could do was to agree with him.

Senior Shu gave me Chief Liu’s number and told me to contact him when I arrived in Linzhang County.

In ancient times of China, Linzhang County had been called Yecheng. It was the capital of the Wei Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms era. It was also the most lively and bustling city in the North. Unfortunately, after two thousand years, it gradually declined in importance. In modern times, it couldn’t be compared to big cities like Beijing or Shanghai.

Since I had agreed to help Senior Shu, I knew not to linger. I called Li Mazi to join me. Then, we drove to Linzhang County.

Yin Xinyue and Ru Xue were Southern women. As soon as they heard that we wanted to go to the North, they were stirred up and asked to go with us. They wanted to play with snow, make snowmen, and throw snowballs. In the end, I had to coax them that it was almost the New Year and that they should stay home to prepare for it.

We arrived at Hebei at night. As the snow had stacked the entire road, we decided to stay there for one night.

When we reached the hotel, I called Chief Liu and told him the reason for our arrival. He didn’t sound happy when he heard that. He thought that Senior Shu couldn’t solve the case so he sent me—a young apprentice of his—to deceive him.

However, as soon as I told him my achievements of helping the police solve mysterious cases in other parts of the country, he changed his attitude.

Horrible murder cases like the human bone necklace and the ancient painting were all recorded in the police’s national archive, which Chief Liu could access if he wanted to.

After that, Chief Liu asked us to come over immediately.

“I’m sorry, but we’re not familiar with the traffic here. We’ll depart in the morning.”

He was persistent. “Please, I’ll be waiting for you guys at the Bureau.”

Li Mazi and I had to drive through the night to the Police Bureau of Linzhang County.

As soon as we got out of the car, a policeman in a coat with big eyes and thick brows hurried to welcome us.

In an excited voice, he said, “You’re finally here! If you didn’t come, I wouldn’t know what to do!”

“Who are you?” Li Mazi snorted, pretending not to know the man.

From the police badge he was wearing, I knew he was Chief Liu. Li Mazi had asked that to vent out his dissatisfaction. I didn’t stop him.

Chief Liu was surprised after Li Mazi said that.

Then, he embarrassedly introduced himself. “I am Liu Zhangyi. I’m the incumbent Chief Police of the Linzhang County Police Bureau. On behalf of the people in Linzhang County, I would like to send my warm welcome to you guys!”

Then, he extended one hand.

I knew it was enough. I smiled and gently shook his hand. “Otherworldly merchant Zhang Jiulin.”

Chief Liu then led us to his office. When we walked past the threshold, there was a strong smell of burning coal. The corner of the room had an old coal stove that was burning hard. Except for that, there were only a few chairs with backrests and a pile of documents stacked on a desk.

“We live in a poor area, so we couldn’t afford a heating system. Although it’s makeshift, it’s good to be able to work.”

Chief Liu invited us to have a seat, then drew a file from his desk and handed it to me. At first glance, I recognized it contained the documents of the victims of the decapitation case. I read it carefully.

The man that Senior Shu had told me about was called Zhu Fengchun. His profile was placed on top. Apart from his family’s case, there were three other similar cases. The second case was Wang Zhuangzhuang. At around twilight, he went to the Bronze Bird Terrace historic site to take some photos. He disappeared mysteriously. After a few days, he returned home. The same night, his head left his body.

The third victim was called Li Tiansheng. On his way home from work, he unknowingly tripped himself. That night, he was decapitated. The fourth victim was Zhang Yang. He was also beheaded. However, since he was an old bachelor, no one knew what happened to him when he was still alive.

After reading through the documents, I asked Chief Liu with a stern look, “Besides these files, have you found anything else?”

The victims of all four cases had been beheaded. It wasn’t hard to tell that there was one murderer behind all of this. In the latter three cases, the victims were dead, so Zhu Fengchun was the most important clue!

Moreover, the other three were all killed, but he remained alive. This was very strange.

However, from the documents the police had gathered, Zhu Fengchun had done nothing suspicious. They didn’t arrange any cops to watch him, either. I suspected there was more to it.

“They were found dead in their beds. We’ve inspected the scenes thoroughly and carefully. We didn’t find anything. Not a single clue. From the evidence at the scene, we have ruled out the possibility of homicide. Unless…”

When Chief Liu said that, his voice shivered and his face paled.

I opened my arms. “So, the three latter victims were dead, and only Zhu Fengchun’s alive. Haven’t you thought about sending some men to watch him?”

After talking, I stared at Chief Liu. However, his eyes were calm. I didn’t see any change. It didn’t look like he was hiding anything from me. I didn’t understand it, so I asked him directly.

“We did watch him. However, after the homicide in his home, he hasn’t left his house. He only goes out to buy food, and he goes home right after that. We’ve made random and sudden stops at his house. Everything seemed normal. Then, three more incidents happened afterward. We don’t have enough men in the station, so we had to summon them back…” Then, Chief Liu suddenly realized something. He dropped his jaw in shock and looked at me. “You mean, Zhu Fengchun is the murderer?”

“He may not be the murderer, but he’s surely connected to the murder. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have survived until now.”

Afterward, I insisted that Chief Liu take us to Zhu Fengchun’s house. He agreed and nodded continuously. Then, he went out to take the police car.

I thought for a moment, then told him not to do that. “We should take our car! The police car is eye-catching. When we enter the village, we could alarm the others.”

According to my experience and intuition, I was certain that Zhu Fengchun had something to do with the three murder cases that happened after his family’s case. Although the police had checked his house a few times, they found nothing. It could be because the police car had exposed them.

Chief Liu nodded and appraised me. “You are really smart!”

I gave a slight smile, then closed my eyes to rest for a while.

There was a thick layer of snow on the road, which was rather dangerous. Chief Liu drove carefully. I thought it would be much faster if we left the car and walked there ourselves. Fortunately, Zhu Fengchun’s house was in a suburban area. We arrived there after half an hour.

As he was an experienced cop, as soon as we reached the village, Chief Liu quietly turned off the car’s headlamps. Using his senses and intuition, he drove the car forward.

It was late at night, and the entire village was shrouded in darkness. The sky was gray, and the moon and stars were covered by the clouds.

When we reached the village, the dogs at the village entrance began to bark. However, the howls from the strong wind subsided the barks.

Chief Liu pointed at a house that had lights on. “That’s Zhu Fengchun’s house.”

Then, he opened the door of the car. It was very cold outside, and the wind billowed our clothes. I pulled my jacket close to my body and got out of the car after him.

When we got there, I noticed that it was a blue brick house. I couldn’t help but furrow my brows.

Li Mazi asked, “What’s wrong?”

“What era are we living in? They still use blue bricks to build houses! It’s no wonder he’s provoked something foul.” I could almost conclude that this serial decapitation case wasn’t caused by a human. It was related to something foul.

After the Chinese Economic Reform, the structures throughout China were built with red bricks. There weren’t many people that chose to build their homes with blue bricks.

Speaking of practical aspects, blue bricks were more durable as they resisted corrosion better than red brick. The ancient proverb that mentioned bricks from Qin and tiles from Han, referred to the blue bricks. So, why did people choose to use red bricks?

The blue bricks had Yin properties. That was why Chinese people often used blue bricks or stone slabs to build tombs or graves. The old houses built with blue bricks would possibly become a new, comfortable lair for the wandering ghosts to dwell and cultivate in.

Zhu Fengchun’s house was made of blue bricks, which was a bad sign. However, his house didn’t look old, so why did something so powerful start to live there?