I heard a decisive female voice from behind me, making my scalp tingle.
Could it be that the malicious spirit on Yueyun had appeared?
Although Yueyun is a man, the malicious spirit on him could very well not be male or female.
If it really was a malicious spirit talking, the three of us would be in trouble.
I quickly reached into my pocket, ready to pull out the cowbell!
"Do you have any other weapons?"
I heard the female voice again, and then I was kicked to the ground. I held on to the cowbell tightly, it was my only hope of survival.
We'll see if this cowbell given by the Ajarn works.
In the end, I didn't pull out the cowbell, as something hard pressed against my forehead: "Don't move, or I'll shoot!"
Huang Xin and Cheng Yan also rushed over to help me, but the woman behind me yelled at them: "You two, crouch down and hold your heads, or I'll shoot!"
Oh no!
She's going to shoot? Is she a malicious spirit?
"The three of you, sneaking around, tell me, what are you up to?"
The woman yelled at me again.
I slowly turned my head and smiled awkwardly, "Elder sister, where are you from?"
"Criminal Investigation Division, stay still." I hadn't seen the woman's face clearly when my neck was choked again.
This was really a misunderstanding. I thought this woman was a malicious spirit, and she probably thought we were thieves.
I hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, we really are not thieves, we just came to visit a friend."
"Visit what friend? I noticed you as soon as I left the house, and you want to talk your way out of it?" After saying this, the lady cop threw handcuffs at me and asked me to put them on myself.
I'm dizzy! Is she really going to be tough on this?
I said, "If you don't believe me, check my bag and see if I have anything to do with the thief."
The policewoman didn't hesitate and started searching through my bag.
Cheng Yan and Huang Xin also said: "It's a misunderstanding, really, officer. We are both models, and as for him... well, he is..."
To be honest, Huang Xin knew that my profession was quite sensitive, so she spoke with a bit of timidity.
After all, which police officer would believe that?
I didn't expect the policewoman to suddenly ask me in authentic Northeastern dialect, "Is that right? Are you recruiting 'yin' people? From which place? Are you from Chenjiadi or from Lijiagama Gou?"
Wow, this policewoman really knows her stuff.
If you talk about our extent of influence, the most famous would be our Li family, and there is also a Chen family in Jiamusi.
I quickly said, "It's the Li family."
The policewoman then asked me, "Are you Lishanshui, Lishanwen, or Lishanwu?"
Her tone carried a hint of mockery.
I swear! This policewoman really knows what she's doing.
In our family, my older brother is Lishanwu, and my second brother is Lishanwen. Neither of them recruits 'yin' people. The only one who inherited our family's mantle is me, Lishanshui.
I hurriedly raised my head and recognized the policewoman's face. I immediately smiled: "Aunt, it's you?"
"Damn! Call me aunt again and I'll smack you. How about calling me little aunt? You simpleton." The policewoman smacked me on the back of my head.
So, this policewoman was none other than my little aunt, Han Li.
Han Li is my mom's younger sister, more than twenty years younger than my mom, and almost the same age as me.
However, despite being younger, she has a higher seniority, and when she used to visit our house, she would chase and beat me, insisting that I call her little aunt.
Just last Chinese New Year, Han Li was still at my house.
But to find Han Li working as a policeman in Changchun and now transferring to Guangzhou? When did that happen?
Han Li had already put away her gun and said that this year she was transferred to Guangzhou as she found the Northeast too cold and preferred the cooler climate here.
I stood up straight, clasped my little aunt's hand and said, "Han Li, can we now say we have connections in the imperial court?"
"Get lost, really, I will never cover for you, and by the way, call me little aunt." Han Li pushed me away.
Despite Han Li's hot temper, she is actually quite good, and we have a close relationship. I often joke with her and always treat her as my equal, calling her by her name.
I scolded Han Li: "You really scared me just now. I thought I had encountered a criminal."
Han Li snorted and said she was afraid of encountering criminals herself. Just now, when she saw me constantly reaching into my pockets, she thought I had a gun. It's a good thing she has a strong mind, otherwise she would have shot me on the spot.
"Don't, if you shot me, you shouldn't come back to the Northeast. My mom would beat you every time she saw you." I joked.
I was chatting happily with my little aunt, and this surprised Cheng Yan and Huang Xin.
Huang Xin pointed at Han Li and asked with disbelief, "Is this your little aunt?"
"Of course, she's my genuine little aunt. She used to be in the serious crime unit in Changchun, but now she's been transferred to Guangzhou." I thought for a moment and asked Han Li how she transferred here.
Han Li's explanation was vague and confusing, with a few incoherent sentences. Anyway, it wasn't clear.
I have reservations about her explanation. How could she transfer directly from the serious crime unit in Changchun to the serious crime unit in Guangzhou? There are many interests involved. It can't just be that simple.
In the end, Han Li didn't talk more about her transfer, just saying she had a classmate who lived here, working as a painter, and she came here today to visit him but accidentally saw me.
I teased her: "Lili, don't lie to me. What classmate? You're probably referring to your brother-in-law, right?"
"Get lost, it's a woman."
"Oh, then I need to meet her even more." I teased.
Han Li raised her fist and threatened me, "If you say another word, I'll punch you."
"Punch" in Northeastern dialect means fist.
I quickly smiled and said I wouldn't say it again, wouldn't say it again. However beautiful the woman is, compared to my little aunt, there's a gap.
I praised Han Li, and she didn't vent her anger on me. Instead, she wanted to take me out for a drink.
I said I had something to do in the afternoon, so I couldn't go drinking.
Han Li asked me what I had to do.
I recounted the incident of Yue Yun getting possessed by a spirit in the house.
Who is Han Li? She is part of our family. Upon hearing this, she immediately got interested and said she wanted to go in with me and deal with the spirit.
I told her not to brag. In our family, which has been recruiting 'yin' people for several generations, no one has been catching spirits lately. What are you going to do? Die?
"Take me, take me. My brother-in-law told me that spirits are afraid of noise. I have a gun on me. If we see it later, I'll scare it off with a shot." Han Li is a very curious person.
Since she was a child, she had begged my dad to take her to see 'yin' things, and now she's dragging me to see spirits.
Little aunt, are spirits really that attractive?
I really didn't want to go back into the house, but Han Li insisted, saying that if I didn't take her, she wouldn't acknowledge me as her nephew and would use her status as my little aunt to pressure me.
Got, just watch, anyway, as "Han Li" said, carrying a gun that "can make a sound", what is there to be afraid of?
I also want to be a "resolute" man.
I asked Huang Xin and Cheng Yan to wait outside for us, and I went in with Han Li.
At this moment, Cheng Yan, this curious baby, insisted on coming too, saying she also wanted to see.
Hey, you women, do you think this is a zoo? Watching gorillas, monkeys, and elephants? These spirits will harm people if they get upset.
While Cheng Yan was making a fuss, the sensible woman, Huang Xin, also joined in, saying that since Han Li and Cheng Yan were going, she would also go.
Fine!
My mind was completely blown. Since all of you are going, then follow me.
With my cowbell and Han Li's gun, we shouldn't be too afraid of that spirit.
Before going in, Cheng Yan asked me what kind of spirit it was.
I said it was a "yellow skin."
A "yellow skin" is also known as a yellow weasel.
In the northeast, among the spirits, the yellow weasel ranks second among the big wild spirits, after the black and white willow ashes.
This spirit is naturally narrow-minded and loves to eat. In a nursery rhyme in our northeast, there is a line that says, "The famished spirits starve and the hungry vixen dies."
This means that the fox is picky about its food and doesn't eat many things, so there are starving vixens. But the yellow skin eats everything, chickens, rats, and even wood shavings when it's hungry, belonging to the furthest reaches of the spirit world.
Seeing how Yue Yun could eat so much but be so narrow-minded as to not let us have a bite, I was sure he was possessed by a yellow skin.
"Oh? So scary?" Cheng Yan couldn't help shivering when she heard that.
Looking at my aunt Han Li beside me, she was excited, waving her fists non-stop, "Great, I've always heard about yellow skins, today your aunt will finally get to see one."
Hmm, I really don't know whether to laugh or cry.
When we came out in a hurry, Yue Yun's "gate" was still unlocked, providing us with the convenience to go check out his house again.
I opened the iron "gate" and let the brave Han Li, who was carrying a gun, take the lead, as she was a police detective in the serious crime squad.
Cheng Yan and Huang Xin walked in the middle, and I followed behind.
Let me make it clear, I was at the back, not out of fear. In the old Li family's dictionary for warding off "yin" spirits, there is no word for fear... okay, I'm sorry, I can't go on, I'm actually quite afraid.
The four of us sneaked into Yue Yun's house.
And walked to the inner room through the hall.
At this time, Yue Yun was still eating and drinking heartily.
Seeing us come in, Yue Yun suddenly let out a sharp laughter: "Haha! They say people are foolish, and indeed, you are all fools. I had food just now and didn't feel like eating, but you guys just had to come back, hahaha!"
His laughter was extremely sharp, and suddenly his eyes emitted a green light, and his expression became extremely cruel and ferocious.
Step by step, he walked towards us, his fingernails also suddenly became long and sharp, showing signs of murderous intent.
"Lie down! Or I'll shoot." Han Li used the same tactics as when she caught me earlier.
I shouted anxiously from behind, "Auntie, when is it? Still using the same old trick? Hurry up and fire the gun."
My aunt pulled the trigger several times in a row and suddenly realized... the safety was still on!
Oh, I was so frustrated. At a critical moment, why did things have to go wrong?
My panic was of no use, because Yue Yun had already pounced on Han Li.
Cheng Yan and Huang Xin were so scared that they screamed loudly.
I pointed to Yue Yun's corpse and yelled at Han Li: "Take off this guy's shirt, there's something fishy here!"
"Why don't you do it?" I scolded Han Li.
Han Li, a detective from the serious crime unit, had exceptional mental toughness. Without a word, she stripped off Yue Yun's shirt.
As soon as the clothes were removed, Huang Xin and Cheng Yan took one look and immediately started retching by the wall.
I felt a bit queasy myself.
Yue Yun's abdomen had been eaten away, leaving a massive cavity. His heart, liver, spleen, stomach, and kidneys had all been devoured, leaving only a bare cavity.
The skills of those yellow-skinned creatures were not sufficient to transform into human forms, so they holed up in Yue Yun's belly.
No wonder he would collapse after eating and then wait for four or five minutes.
During those four or five minutes, it was the yellow-skinned creatures who were feeding.
"Goodness, what kind of evil did Yue Yun do to deserve being attacked by these creatures?" I really felt sorry for Yue Yun.
Creak!
Just as Han Li was about to dress Yue Yun, another yellow-skinned creature suddenly jumped out from inside him.
It turned out one of the yellow-skinned creatures hadn't fled and was still hiding inside Yue Yun's stomach. The lighting wasn't great just now, and we were unable to keep looking at Yue Yun's opened-up belly, so we didn't notice it.
This yellow-skinned creature was like a beam of yellow light, leaping onto Han Li's face.
Once it bites you, it would probably eat its way from your face to your stomach, turning you into the next Yue Yun.
I don't know where the strength came from, but I moved two to three times faster than usual and grabbed the yellow-skinned creature by the throat.
"Hey, little yellow-skinned one, dare to bite me? Shuizi, strangle it," Han Li ordered me to strangle the yellow-skinned creature.
I protested, "Ah, come on, don't be so rash. Strangling this thing? Do you want it to haunt you in your dreams at night?"
"What should we do? It looks quite fierce now," Han Li said.
She did have a point. The yellow-skinned creature was now baring its teeth and looked like it had regained consciousness. If I let it go, it would bite us, and it might even call back the other yellow-skinned creatures that had been scared away earlier to deal with us.
I thought for a moment and asked Han Li, Cheng Yan, and Huang Xin if they had any needles on them.
Cheng Yan and Huang Xin shook their heads and said they hadn't brought any needles.
I asked Han Li, "Do you have any needles?"
"Does a safety pin count?" Han Li had a safety pin in her bag.
I said, "Okay, open the safety pin, and then stick it half an inch above each of the yellow-skinned creature's eyes. Just a small prick with the tip of the pin will do."
Han Li was about to prick it with the safety pin when she turned back and asked me, "How long is half an inch?"
Oh, this illiterate person!
"One and a half centimeters," I said.
Then Han Li began to prick the creature with the pin.
After she had pricked it twice, I said, "Now prick it twice behind each ear, and then once beneath the chin, and finally, wherever you can reach on its forehead."
Han Li pricked it in all the places I specified. The yellow-skinned creature, which had just been ferocious, suddenly closed its eyes and fell silent.
"Did you kill it?"
"No, I don't have the heart to do that. I just closed off all the creature's senses. It won't wake up for an hour or two." I put the yellow-skinned creature on the table and wiped the cold sweat from my forehead.
This was truly exhausting!
I asked Cheng Yan and Huang Xin to come with me. Since Yue Yun was already dead, we needed to find out the whereabouts of the coffin from someone else.
But Han Li wouldn't let us leave. She said this was already a criminal case, someone had died, and it couldn't be resolved so easily. She also said the three of us were witnesses and had to go to the police station to give statements.
Forget it, I've got so much on my plate, I don't have the time to go with you!
I said that while I tried to maintain a tough attitude. But in the end, I stayed, because I couldn't tell Han Li about my bet with the fox spirit. If I didn't give her a satisfactory answer within forty-eight days, it would destroy my entire family.
If I spoke up, Han Li would definitely tell my mom, causing unnecessary worry for my family. Besides, with the help of the police, it would be easier for me to track down the source of the stone coffin.
The first thing the police would do is search.
Han Li kept searching the room.
We got a bigger fright than we bargained for. In Yue Yun's cupboard, we found three human skeletons.
The skeletons were not just plain bones, but were covered in blood vessels. They were fresh skeletons.
It seemed that in these past few days, Yue Yun had been eating human flesh dishes.
No wonder I smelled blood as soon as I entered the room.
Cheng Yan and Huang Xin, the two "women," were constantly trembling with fear. They may have seen such a heavy scene for the first time.
"Now we really need to investigate this thoroughly. These few are probably the artists living on this side," I said to Han Li.
Now, we not only need to find out the ins and outs of the matter but also find someone to come and take away these "yellow-skinned" monsters. They have already been stirred up like wild beasts, I have to deal with them, or who knows how many people will die here.
Han Li, upon seeing these skeletal remains, was furious and asked the staff of the "MV" crew, one by one, to report to the police station half an hour later.
After making the calls, Han Li also called the three of us to the police station.
On the way, I called Da Jinya. He is the closest "dark" person to me now, I have to ask this guy if he can help deal with the "yellow-skinned" individuals.
But after making a few calls, Da Jinya didn't answer. He said he was going to participate in a "black cultural relic transaction" in the morning, but now he hasn't replied to me. I couldn't help but worry.
At the interrogation office of the police station, the three of us, I, Cheng Yan, and Huang Xin, sat in the interrogation room, watching Han Li interrogating the assistant directors, production assistants, and others.
As long as they were present at the MV recording that day, they were all squatting in the interrogation room.
Watching them being interrogated was a bit boring, but it was also very important. First of all, we need to figure out the origin of the stone coffin.
I was quietly listening when I heard a voice outside the door saying, "I'm innocent, I'm innocent."
In my mind, I was still wondering, who is that, shouting 'innocent' at this day and age?
Then the person outside shouted again: "It has nothing to do with me, those cultural relics are all fake. I have sharp eyes, don't believe it? Go to the Panjiayuan in Beijing and ask about me, Lao Jin, and see if I am a discerning person."
Lao Jin, Panjiayuan, cultural relics.
The person shouting outside, could it be Da Jinya?
I was stunned, and immediately ran out of the interrogation room. Could it be that Da Jinya has been arrested?