Thriller Night Talk

Translator-Rhapsodite

Editor- Koneko, Proofreader-Ghostie

Originally, Bei Quan was going to use his method to find the killer, but on a second thought, he told the two police officers about the special features relating to Wang Baotai’s birth date.

After the two police officers listened to it, they both showed an expression of disbelief as if they were listening to a strange, fictitious novel.

“This ……”

The younger police officer frowned.

“Is there someone who would deliberately kill a person for such a hideously messy reason?”

He stared suspiciously at the pictures on the glass board.

“And….. isn’t this like looking for a needle in a haystack?”

Although this police officer graduated from the Public Security University and was a good student, he was not a statistics student, however, even he understood certain principles like probability.

Bei Quan nodded, “That’s right, it really is like looking for a needle in a haystack…”

Although the Ten Heavenly Stems and the Twelve Earthly Branches were both half Yin and half Yang; each accounting for one-half, but if the eight characters were all Yin, the probability would be less than four in a thousand.

In fact, if Bei Quan was correct, the killer had to look at much more than just the birth date, they also had to factor in the age group and gender restrictions.

The probability of finding a satisfactory match would probably be less than one in a thousand.

Bei Quan’s eyes were fixated on the police officer, when his chestnut eyes suddenly flashed.

“But, Wang Baotai. The ‘needle’ was indeed pulled out of the sea of people by the killer.”

The faces of the two officers changed in an instant.

“Crap!”

They looked at the thin man wearing a wide brimmed hat that was shown on the surveillance screen, and then at the victim sitting in front of him who knew nothing about the situation. Their hearts became filled with worry.

“Yeah ……”

The younger officer murmured.

“The seat numbers of the long-distance bus are allocated according to the time of purchase. If the murderer didn’t buy the tickets just after Wang Baotai…”

Another officer suddenly cut the other officer’s conversation mid-flow.

“Then someone deliberately arranged seats for him.”

After the discussion, the two police officers immediately turned their heads and headed outside via the main door, leaving Bei Quan, Qingzhu and A’Liu behind, and went straight to the office where the task force was located.

After the two officers had left, Bei Quan stood up and closed the door of the conference room, and locked it from the inside.

“Okay, let’s leave the identity of the murderer to the police and we’ll take care of the other issue.”

He spoke in a soft tone to the two other people present in the room.

Qingzhu and A’Liu nodded and also stood up.

Qingzhu dragged the conference table from the centre of the room into the corner, while A’Liu closed all the windows, leaving only a small gap of half a knuckle’s width on the one facing North.

Bei Quan took out a small bag from inside of his briefcase. He tore open a small gap, and slowly poured out the powder that resided inside. He knelt down on the floor and drew a circle on the ground with the white powder, leaving only a palm-width gap on the North side.

This white powder was a special mineral powder, as it was a pure Yin material, and had the effect of isolating Yin and Yang energy.

Within the circle the inner and outer Yin and Yang cannot communicate with each other, and only the small gap left by Bei Quan would be enough to allow “something” to pass through.

Bei Quan then took out another roll of red thread, and tied a “passage” at both ends of the gap in the window, before extending it all the way into the circle drawn by the special powder.

Finally, an incense table was placed inside the circle, where? an incense burner was positioned in the middle. Bei Quan lit the candle that was already inside and then inserted the incense. He nodded to Qingzhu and A’Liu again, indicating that he was now ready to begin.

At this moment, A‘Liu, who usually didn’t like to talk a lot, actually smiled and jokingly asked.

“Do we need to avoid it?”

“No.”

Bei Quan also smiled.

“But, it would be better if Miss A’Liu could lend me the little thing on her wrist.”

A‘Liu curved her lips softly, and took off a gold bracelet from her wrist, then threw it towards Bei Quan.

Tethered to her bracelet were two translucent flakes, each the size of a bottle cap. At first glance, they looked like white crystals that weren’t clear enough, but on closer inspection, they were semi-rhombic in shape, slightly thicker at the front and thinner at the end. Surprisingly, the scales seemed to be in the shape of some kind of reptile’s.

Bei Quan took out a set of clothing and placed them in front of the incense. These were the home clothes that were given to him by Wang Baotai’s parents that the victim used to wear, but were contaminated by two drops of blood on them, from the fingertips of Wang Baotai’s parents.

Finally, he pressed the bracelet that A’Liu lent him on the blood drops, tied a red thread on the scales, and tied the other end to his own finger.

After doing all this, Bei Quan flipped his wrist and summoned the Qingguang Vientiane Brush.

Although Bei Quan was an old ghost of a few hundred years old, the body he “possessed” was actually only twenty-seven years old. In addition, he was sent to the secret realm of Zhuling shortly after he was born, and returned to the “mortal world” within only two or three years.

Therefore, the name “Bei Quan” had not been widely known in the circle of practitioners or monks, and there were very few people who had seen him make this specialist kind of move.

Whilst this was being performed in front of them, Qingzhu and A’Liu saw Bei Quan reveal his natal magic weapon, their eyes were in awe and they became fascinated seeing Bei Quan using his magical item. They continued to stare at him with rapt attention.

Bei Quan slit his wrist, and using blood as a medium, began to draw runes in mid-air.

Unlike Wei Fuyuan and Jiang Nan’an, who knew nothing about spells, Qingzhu and A’Liu were not among the best, but they knew a little. It could be said that Bei Quan painted a self-created nested spell, something that had the dual effect of evoking and attracting the soul simultaneously.

“Awesome.”

A’Liu praised softly, “Worthy of being a high student of the secret realm of Zhuling.”

The talisman was drawn, and Bei Quan tapped the blood-red rune onto Wang Baotai’s clothes.

The incantation rune suddenly turned into a red glowing light which melted into the clothes.

At the same time, the blue smoke that hovered from the three strands of incense in the incense burner suddenly thickened more than double, then twisted around into a tight bundle, before it floated out towards the gap in the window.

The red thread tied to the finger of Bei Quan suddenly moved.

A few seconds later, he suddenly closed his eyes and fell to the ground with a “thud”.

A’Liu was startled and reflexively wanted to go over and take a look. But as soon as she lifted her leg, she was held down by Qingzhu next to her.

At that moment, Bei Quan, who was lying on the ground, suddenly opened his eyes.

“Ahhh …… ah ……”

He let out a hoarse cry.

It was not Bei Quan’s usual voice, but sounded like someone equally as young. He had not been in this state for long, but the voice was incredibly hoarse with a completely different tone.

“Ah …… I’m wrong …… so wrong ……”

A’Liu understood at once what was happening in front of her.

“Wang Baotai.”

She opened her mouth and called the other person’s name.

“Bei Quan” rose from the ground and looked around blankly. His eyes circled around, not stopping to gaze at Qingzhu and A’Liu, when he finally turned to the north-facing window, staring at the only gap with confusion etched on his face.

“I …… where am I? You are, who are you?”

A’Liu replied, “My name is A’Liu.”

“Bei Quan” asked again, “Where are you? Why can’t I see you?”

A’Liu said, “But, you can hear my voice.”

Since Bei Quan had used the mineral powder to draw the circle, which separated the inner and outer Yin and Yang, Wang Baotai, who was inside, could not see the two people standing outside the circle, Qingzhu and A’Liu, even if he did possess Bei Quan.

From his current perspective, he seemed to be standing in a dense fog. Except for the small floor under his feet, the surroundings were all gray and hazy, that he could neither see through nor walk out of. There was only one path in front of him— It was a long and narrow path, a deep and winding one. He couldn’t see the end, and he didn’t know where it would end up.

Although Wang Baotai couldn’t see A’Liu, A’Liu’s bracelet was pressed on the object that communicated with him, so he could hear her voice.

He died a tragic death and after many days, his soul was displaced in the wilderness and he had not been able to return.

This was the first time he heard another person’s voice since then. Although frightened and confused, he seemed to have grabbed the driftwood with great difficulty, and eagerly shouted.

“Please help me! Please help me!”

“Don’t panic.”

A’Liu’s voice was soft and muffled, like wandering silk, that blended into the quiet night with a certain ineffable sense of mystery and solemnity.

“Tell me, how did you die?”

Upon hearing this question, “Bei Quan” whimpered again.

Yes, Wang Baotai knew that he was dead, and knew it would be impossible to come back from the dead.

——But he only lived for less than 24 years!

Thinking of this, “Bei Quan” was so sad that he could hardly speak.

“Don’t cry!”

A’Liu’s words were still soft, but her tone was sharp.

Even for a master like Bei Quan, being possessed by the spirit for too long would not be a good decision, especially for the body. A’Liu did not intend to give Wang Baotai enough time to vent or waste time.

She wanted to make the possession quick and to ask for as much information as possible.

“Answer me, how did you die?”

The cries of “Bei Quan” stalled and he stood still, looking around in fear as if trying to identify the person who spoke to him.

Unfortunately, no matter how much he looked around, the only thing that he could see was the winding path of the underworld that Bei Quan had led him to.

“I …… I don’t know ……”

“Bei Quan” replied in a trembling and confused voice.

“I wanted to go back home …… First, I took the high-speed train, and then changed to a long-distance bus…then…then… …… and then, then …… took a motorcycle from the bus station ……”

A’Liu asked, “Then what?”

“Bei Quan” answered in a trembling tone.

“There was an accident on the motorcycle, the motorcycle overturned, and the driver and I both fell…then…”

His voice choked for a moment.

“And then I died …… I know …… I, I know ……”

“Bei Quan” cried as he sniffled.

A’Liu once again asked, “How do you know that you are dead?”

“Bei Quan” answered through his stammered breath.

“Something went through my head, and then I floated …… I, I saw …… my own body …… and ……”

He paused.

“…… and the man ……”

A’Liu went to the glass board, took off the surveillance photo of the man in black, and dropped it into the circle. 𝘣𝘦𝘥𝑛𝘰𝘷𝘦𝑙．𝘯𝘦𝘵

“Look, is this the man?”

.

“Bei Quan” saw a photo suddenly appear at his feet, was first startled, then widened his eyes, nodded vigorously, “Yes! That is the man! That is the one!”

A’Liu asked again, “Well, and then what?”

“Then, the man took my body into the car and drove away ……”

“Bei Quan” stared at the photo that suddenly appeared at his feet with a mixture of pain, fear, and hatred.

“He left ‘me’ in that place! I can’t find my way home! I’m dead! I can’t go back!”v