Chapter 459: The Shepherd of Souls (1)

“1407 hours, An old man was discovered hanging from a drying rack inside a six-story low-rise building along Chongming Road. A resident who was hanging up his laundry noticed him. Upon closer inspection, he discovered the old man to be nothing more than… dangling human skin.”

Qin Ye picked it up and scanned through its contents. Credit where it was due, the city government had acted with incredible speed. Within the span of merely a few hours, they had already managed to gather all related information, including details pertaining to the resident’s relationship with his neighbours, full particulars of his children and their whereabouts, and so on and so forth. Their inferences and conjectures were also done up neatly and cogently.

The pale old man still wore a creepy smile on his face, and his entire skin appeared to be shrouded in darkness. It was a startling sight. One could hear from the audio of the recording that there were a number of dogs barking incessantly, almost as though they were desperately warning their owners of the impending dangers.

The captains sitting in for the meeting desperately jotted down notes for themselves. One of the men leaned over to the side and asked softly, “Evil ghosts who possess the ability of dawn voyage would never--... Hey, what comes after that? I need to record these details. This is likely going to be used in the upcoming examinations.”

Did something go wrong somewhere?

“1520 hours. Wild dogs were spotted barking madly at a dumpster. Policemen were called in to investigate and clean out the dumpster. It was only then that they uncovered… literally, skin and bones! It was actually skin and bones! If one even mishandled the bones in the slightest, it would undoubtedly puncture the skin and emerge from within.”

“1603 hours. Three elderly people died at the same time after looking into the mirror at a home for the elderly. According to the attendants, they had earlier exclaimed that they… saw a reflection of themselves when they were young in the mirror.”

“Next up--...”

Wu Wenqing smiled bitterly, “Jumping off a building is nothing. What’s bizarre is the autopsy report.” He drew a deep breath and continued, “This male teacher… was determined to have died three hours ago, and his body was already covered in livor mortis spots at the point of death. We’re talking about… a corpse jumping off the roof of a building. Furthermore, we couldn’t find any traces of fingerprints belonging to any others on his body at all.”

Evil ghosts capable of dawn voyage truly have a plethora of means when it comes to disposing of their victims.

“That’s fine.” Qin Ye furrowed his brows, “Let’s zoom out on the map a little.”

“It all started with Bright Avenue, and then Wanda Plaza some distance south of where the first incident occurred…” Qin Ye picked up an electronic pointer and made some red markings on the screen, before going on, “And then, we move on to the Loquat Mountain Neighbourhood, which is approximately three kilometers south of Wanda Plaza. Next up, the Dayang Neighbourhood, which is located below the Pipa Mountain Neighbourhood. By this point, we’ve already crossed almost half of the city.”

Wu Wenqing looked at the red markings on the map and pondered aloud, “What do you mean?”

Qin Ye asked placidly, “How long has it been since the last supernatural incident?”

Qin Ye nodded, “And if my guess is right, then the next place…”

Silence.

Several seconds later, Secretary Ma queried, “Have you… seen the reports?”

“Because, just two hours ago, the spate of supernatural incidents have spread to the Antai Neighbourhood, which is located right above the Southbrook Neighbourhood.” Wu Wenqing continued, “Mr Qin, did you pick up on something?”

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“Fleeing?” Everyone immediately looked up in shock. It was a concept that was foreign to them.

Something like that… can actually sense fear as well?

Yin spirits did feel fear. In fact, they were terrified of many things.

“This is the only explanation for their behaviour. Something terrifying to the Yin spirits is currently hot on their tails.” He pointed to the screen and continued, “Martial City is where the Yellow River runs into the sea. The ocean sits on the north, and Stalwart City sits on the south. The city of ironwood lies to the east, while Stillmound City lies to the west. These Yin spirits must have come fleeing from the east, even bringing a whole host of Yin spirits alongside them. Everyone…”

“Then, why don’t they go directly to Stillmound City?” One of the captains couldn’t help but interject with a question, “Doesn’t Stillmound City also border Martial City?”

He paused for a moment and lit up a cigarette, but left it completely untouched. Two minutes later, he shook his head despondently, “But why would they pause along the way to kill human beings? It doesn’t make any sense!”

“No.’ Qin Ye shook his head, “My perspective on the matter is the exact opposite. This, to me, is the telltale sign that they’re currently on the run, and that there is indeed something terrifying that is hot on their tails.”

The implications underlying that statement immediately jolted everyone out of their reverie and right back to their senses.

“And the fact that they’ve still been going strong at it tells me that they haven’t recovered from their wounds as yet!” Another investigator chimed in.

“Well, then. Leave this matter to me.” Qin Ye chuckled, “It’s just as well, because I’m personally quite curious as to what could possibly cause three Hellguards and such a large pack of Yin spirits to flee for their lives.”

Wu Wenqing was just about to respond when he noticed everyone’s looks of eager anticipation. And then, he held himself back.

We’re talking about something that we could only pray for on the forums!

After all, this was an incident involving three Hellguard-class Yin spirits. If they tailed alongside Qin Ye, they might well end up being a cumbersome deadweight. Wu Wenqing chuckled bitterly and cupped his hands, “Then I suppose we have no choice but to entrust this matter to Mr Qin.”

……………………………………………………….

Coastal area.

There was nothing else on the surface of the sea, because it was practically impossible to stay afloat on the surface of the waters. Anyone who entered the waters would end up being dragged into the waters and perish in its depths.

That said, there was one gigantic island that had appeared on the surface of the seas. The peak of the mound was surrounded by endless clouds of Yin energy, while countless skeletal crows flew across the surface of the island. The crimson netherflame that filled the sky covered the lands with a sinister scarlet hue, making it look no different from a terrifying demon that was emerging from the depths of the abyss.

In fact, it looked almost like a magnificent palace seen in the glory days of the old Hell. Furthermore… it was still moving!

Furthermore, it wasn’t the only creature that was swimming in the ocean!

Scarlet flames danced about the paper palace, while skeletal dogs roamed its compound freely. Someone stood right at the top of the paper palace, gazing out into the distance without any emotion in his eyes at all.

“My Lord.” A humanoid paper effigy walked over, “It’s time for your medicine.”

The humanoid paper effigy didn’t dare to say more. The only thing separating him from the figure within was the thin green veil that was fluttering with the wind. And yet, he didn’t dare to even look up at the figure laying on the bed. The eyes of the paper effigy were obviously painted on, and yet they still trembled with great fear.

“I was the one who created you, and I naturally have every right to take your life away.”