"Old Zhou, it's me, Bai Haorui." Bai Haorui walked to the hospital bed and said softly.
Old Zhou suddenly raised his head, his eyes filled with fear. He stared at Bai Haorui and made a strange sound like a snake spitting out a message: "Red shoes! Red shoes! She is looking at you! She is behind you!"
Bai Haorui turned around suddenly.
There is nothing behind you.
But he could feel a cold breath blowing across the back of his neck, as if someone blew a breath into his ear. The Lotus Seal between his eyebrows began to beat violently.
A Xiu is here. She is in this ward.
Old Zhou began to roar crazily, his body kept struggling, and the belt tied to his body rattled as he struggled.
"She's everywhere! You can't kill her! You can never kill her! She will follow you until you die! She will make you see what you fear most! She will tear your soul apart bit by bit!"
His voice was sharp and harsh, full of despair and fear. Bai Haorui You can see in Spiritual Sense that Old Zhou's soul is being torn apart bit by bit. His soul body is covered with black cracks and may be broken at any time.
Bai Haorui stretched out his hand and gently pressed it on Old Zhou's forehead. Purple-gold True Gang slowly poured out from his palm and poured into Old Zhou's body., like a warm stream, soothing his chaotic spirit. At the same time, the Lotus Seal between his eyebrows flickered slightly, and a faint golden light poured into Old Zhou's soul, repairing those black cracks.
Old Zhou's roar gradually became quieter, and his body stopped struggling. His eyes slowly closed and he fell into a deep sleep.
Bai Haorui stood up with a solemn expression.
"His spirit was completely destroyed." He said, "A Xiu invaded his consciousness and plunged him into an endless illusion. In that illusion, he experienced the things he was most afraid of over and over again. This is how A Xiu kills people. She doesn't attack your body directly, she attacks your soul. She makes you kill yourself in extreme fear and despair."
Bobby frowned, with a worried look on his face. "Then what should we do?"
Bai Haorui shook his head. "I tried using Spiritual Sense to find her, but I couldn't find her. She is like air, everywhere and nowhere to be found. Her resentment is so strong that it has merged with the entire Chinatown. We must first find out her past, why she became like this, and what her obsession is. Only by finding her obsession can we resolve her resentment."
Dean and Sam followed Adam back to Milligan's house. This is a beautiful suburban house with a large yard and a garage. There are various flowers planted in the yard and there is a swing. The house is clean and tidy, full of life.
Adam took them to visit the house. The walls were covered with photos of him and his mother, Kate, and many photos of him and John. John in the photos always smiled happily, and was completely different from the serious and unsmiling father in Dean's memory.
Dean and Sam stared at a photo on the wall of John and Adam playing baseball together, shocked and speechless.
"He took you to a damn baseball game?" Dean said in disbelief.
"Yes." Adam said, "It's my fourteenth birthday."
Adam asked innocently, "What birthday did dad celebrate for you?"
Dean forced a fake smile and said nothing. He felt a sting in his heart. In his memory, his father had never given him a birthday. His birthdays were always spent on the road of hunting monsters, and sometimes he didn't even say happy birthday.
"Did anything else go wrong the night your mother disappeared?" Sam asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"No." Adam said, "The police searched the house but found nothing. Only the bedside table was knocked over."
Dean was looking for clues behind the dressing table. There were more photos of John, Adam, and Kate on the dressing table. Dean couldn't help but stare. He had never seen his father smile so easily. In front of him and Sam, his father was always serious, always teaching them how to kill monsters and how to protect themselves.
Adam walked into the room. "Is that the only clue?"
"Maybe." Dean said, "The police don't have my eyes."
"Dean, what else can you tell me about dad?" Adam asked, "You know him better than I do."
Dean looked at him and said slowly, "Trust me, kid. You don't want to know."
Sam gestured to Dean to come over.
"The police don't have any clues about his mother, but I found this." Sam whispered, "In 1990, Windom had 17 tomb robberies."
"Do you think that's why dad came here?" Dean asked.
"I think so." Sam said, "Look at this."
He showed Dean an old newspaper photo, with John in the background of the crime scene.
"So he was chasing something." Dean said, "What was it?"
"I don't know." Sam said, "It's just what was written on the torn pages. But last month, the tomb robbing started again. Three bodies were missing from the local cemetery."
"So he didn't kill the thing then." Dean said, "It came back."
"And it has been upgraded and started eating fresh meat." Sam said, "Kate is missing, and there is a local bartender named Joe Barton."
Dean turned to Adam: "Hey, does your mom know Joe Patton?"
"I don't think I know you." Adam said, "What's wrong?"
Dean noticed scratches on the floor that extended under Kate's bed.
"What's wrong?" Dean said, "Be careful. Help me lift the mattress."
They lifted the mattress and found a grille under the bed that led to a ventilation duct. There were fresh scratches on the grille.
"It happens every time." Dean sighed.
Dean and Sam looked at each other and started rock-paper-scissors. Dean played scissors, and Sam played rock.
"Why didn't I choose cloth?" Dean said frustratedly.
He opened the grille, climbed into the ventilation duct with a flashlight and gun.
A few minutes later, Dean climbed out of the pipe, his face pale. His hands were covered with dust and blood.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked hurriedly.
"It's full of blood," Dean said, "And flesh and hair."
Two hours later, Dean was cleaning the shotgun. Sam was sitting next to him. Someone knocked on the door. Sam opened the door, and Adam rushed in.
"Who the hell are you?" he demanded, anger and confusion on his face. "My house is a crime scene, my mom is probably dead, and you two... you told me to call the police, but you ran away before the police came? So who are you? The police don't know where to find my mom, but you do. I heard you talking about grave robbing earlier. You're not mechanics. I just want to know what happened. Please."
Dean and Sam exchanged a look.
"We are hunters." Sam said.
"Sam!" Dean shouted.
"He has the right to know, Dean." Sam said.
"What does 'Hunter' mean?" Adam asked confused.
"Okay, so basically..." Sam said, "All the monsters in the movies, all the nightmares you've had... are real."
"Godzilla is just a movie." Dean added.
"We hunt them." Sam said, "Daddy does the same."
Adam was silent for a long time. Then, he said slowly, "Okay."
Dean looked at him in surprise. "'Okay'? That's it?"
"What should I say?" Adam said, "Calling you liars, calling you crazy? You are my brothers. You are telling me the truth, right?"
"Yes." Sam nodded.
"Then I believe you." Adam said, "Now, what took my mother away?"
"We're not sure yet." Sam said, "There's something in town that's stealing corpses, both living and dead. There are many monsters that fit this profile."
"Do you think she might still be alive?" Adam asked, his eyes full of prayer.
Sam and Dean both looked away.
Adam's eyes dimmed.
"How can I help?" he asked.
"You can't." Dean said.
"This thing killed my mother." Adam said firmly, "If you are hunting it, I want to join."
"No." Dean said firmly.
"Dean, listen, maybe..." Sam said.
"Maybe what?" Dean interrupted, "He lost his mother, and we know how it feels. But why do you think Dad never told us about this child, Sam? Huh? Why do you think he tore out those pages?"
"Because..."
"Because he is protecting him!" Dean shouted, "He doesn't want Adam to live like ours, understand? We have to respect his wishes."
"Don't I have a say?" Adam asked.
"No!" Dean shouted, turning to look at Sam "Look at the child."
"Where are you going?" Sam asked.
"I'll go out for a moment!"
Dean slammed the door and left.
Adam looked at Dean's back and asked doubtfully, "Is he always like this?"
Sam smiled, "Welcome to this home."
He took out a gun and handed it to Adam: "Take it. I'll teach you a few moves."
"Uh...Dean said..."
"I know what Dean said." Sam said, "But I know what it feels like to want revenge."
Early the next morning, Bai Haorui and Bobby came to Chinatown's vegetable market.
The vegetable market is bustling with activity. The stalls are filled with fresh vegetables - emerald green vegetables, bright red tomatoes, purple eggplants, and yellow pumpkins. There are also various seafood - lively shrimps, big crabs waving in the front, plump and fresh fish. The stall owners are shouting loudly, and the customers are bargaining, and the voices are rising and falling.
The air is filled with the fragrance of vegetables, the fishy smell of seafood, and the aroma of various cooked foods.
Bai Haorui and Bobby were walking in the vegetable market, asking about A Xiu. But when most of the elderly stall owners heard the name "A Xiu", their expressions changed drastically. They quickly shook their heads, packed up their things and prepared to close the stall, and did not dare to say a word.
They walked to a fruit stall. The stall owner was a kind aunt with a wrinkled face and a friendly smile.
Bai Haorui bought a pound of lychees and a pound of longans. The lychees are red and the longans are round. They all look fresh, but I don't know if there are any shortages.
"Aunt, do you know a girl named A Xiu?" Bai Haorui asked while paying.
The aunt's face suddenly changed. She looked around, then lowered her voice and said, "You are here to investigate her case, right? Stop investigating, it's too dangerous. Five people have died, and even Old Zhou is crazy."
"Aunt, we have to find out." Bai Haorui said, "Otherwise more people will die. Do you know about her?"
The aunt sighed and shook her head, "I know her. She is a good girl, beautiful and strong. It's a pity that she has a bad life."
She looked around, then pointed to an alley not far away. "Go to Li's Tailoring Shop and ask. Tailor Li was her only friend back then. He must know a lot of things."
The aunt picked up a bunch of freshly grilled squid from the grill nearby and handed it to Bai Haorui: "Try it, I grilled it myself. It's free."
The squid was grilled until golden and crispy, sprinkled with cumin and chili powder, and fragrant. Bai Haorui took a bite, it was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, and tasted delicious.
"Thank you, aunt."
Bai Haorui thanked the aunt and walked towards Li's Tailoring Shop with Bobby.
Li's Tailoring Shop is in a remote alley in Chinatown. The alley is very narrow, it is difficult for sunlight to shine in, and it looks a bit dark and damp. The walls of the alley are covered with moss, and the ground is pitted and filled with rainwater.
There is a faded wooden sign hanging at the door of the tailor shop, with the four characters "Li's Tailoring" written on it. The handwriting is a bit blurry. When the door is opened, the copper bell on the door makes a "ding, bell, bell" sound.
The store was filled with all kinds of fabrics and clothes, including silk, cotton, and linen. The light was dim, with only a few rays of sunlight shining in from the narrow windows, casting mottled light and shadow on the ground. The smell of mothballs and fabrics filled the air, which was really not pleasant. There were also several old-fashioned cheongsams and Chinese tunic suits hanging on the wall, which seemed to be old.
An old man is sitting in front of a sewing machine, wearing reading glasses and sewing a piece of clothing. He is Tailor Li. Tailor Li is over ninety years old this year. His hair is gray, his back is hunched, and his hands are covered with wrinkles and calluses.
Hearing the doorbell, Tailor Li raised his head and looked at them.
"Do you want to make clothes?" His voice was hoarse, with a hint of age.
Bai Haorui walked up to him, took out the photo of A Xiu and handed it to him.
"Old Li, we want to ask you about someone. Do you know this girl?"
When Tailor Li saw A Xiu in the photo, his hands began to tremble and the needle of the sewing machine stopped. He was silent for a long, long time before slowly speaking, his voice hoarse like sandpaper being rubbed.
"A Xiu... what a miserable child."
He took off his reading glasses and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
"She came from rural Fujian in 1998, when she was only sixteen years old. Her family was poor and her younger brother wanted to go to school, so she followed a fellow villager named A Fang to come to United States. A Fang said he could find her a job as a waiter in a restaurant, but ended up selling her to a white man named Jake·Wilson."
Tailor Li's voice was full of anger and sadness.
"Jake opened an underground brothel in the basement of Chinatown. The place was dark, just like Hell. A Xiu was locked up there and had to receive more than a dozen customers every day. If she disobeyed, she would be beaten and burned her arms and thighs with cigarette butts. She ran away three times and was caught each time. The first time she had a leg broken and she had to lie in bed for a month before she could walk. The second time she had several teeth knocked out and she couldn't even eat. The third time...Jake scratched her face with a sharp knife in front of all the prostitutes."
"The last time I saw her was during the Spring Festival of 2000." Tailor Li continued, "It was raining heavily that night, and she sneaked into my store and was soaked. Her face was wrapped with gauze, and the gauze was It was still bleeding. Without saying a word, she knelt down in front of me and begged me to make her a pair of red embroidered shoes. She said that in a story her mother told her when she was a child, if you die wearing red shoes, your soul will find its way home. She wants to go home, to her mother."
"I made a pair for her, and she gave me a silver ring that her mother left for her. It was the only valuable thing on her body."
Tailor Li took out a small box from the drawer and opened it. Inside the box was a blackened silver ring with a small lotus engraved on it.
"I have been keeping this ring, hoping to return it to her family one day. But I have never found it."
Bai Haorui picked up the silver ring, which was freezing cold. He could feel the breath of A Xiu from the ring, which was a breath of sadness, despair, but with a hint of hope.
"Where is that Jake?" His voice was cold, like ice, "Where did he go?"
Tailor Li sighed and shook his head, "He, he later made a fortune. After A Xiu died, he sold the brothel and took the money to New York. I heard that now An investment tycoon worth billions lives in a Manhattan penthouse, drives a Rolls-Royce, has a beautiful model wife, and has two lovely children. He lives a very good life without any retribution at all."
Bai Haorui's eyes became even colder.
"Did he think he could escape?"
"It's useless." Tailor Li shook his head, "Many people have tried to seek revenge from him, but they all failed. He hired more than a dozen bodyguards to stay with him at all times, and A Xiu's soul should be inseparable from San Francisco. That's why she kills people here randomly. She is too painful and desperate. She has nowhere to vent her resentment, but only on those white men."
Dean pretended to be Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Nugent and walked in the mausoleum with the cemetery director.
"This mausoleum was built in 1926," the cemetery director said. "Four generations of the Millsap Family people are buried here. No one builds anything like this anymore."
"Tell me, Agent Nugent, have you ever thought about your eternal resting place?"
Dean said expressionlessly, "I've been thinking about it."
"So the three bodies are missing." Dean said, "Do you know who did it?"
"Little punk," said the cemetery superintendent. "Sick, deranged little punk."
Dean noticed something sticky on the side of a coffin. He squatted down, touched a little with his finger, and smelled it.
"This isn't blood," he said. "What is this?"
"Embalming fluid," said the cemetery superintendent. "Those perverts not only stole the bodies, they cut them open."
Dean stood up with a solemn expression.
It's a ghoul.
He drove away from the cemetery and came to a local bar. There were not many people in the bar and the lights were dim. Dean sat down at the bar and ordered a glass of beer.
"Excuse me, is Lisa Barton here?" he asked the bartender.
The bartender pointed to a woman in the corner. "There she is."
Dean was holding a beer and walked up to Lisa. Lisa looked about thirty years old, with blond hair and blue eyes, and a trace of fatigue on his face.
"Hello, I am Dean·Winchester from Federal Bureau of Investigation." Dean showed his FBI badge, "I am investigating the disappearance of Joe Barton."
Lisa raised her head and looked at Dean. Her eyes were full of sadness.
"Yes." she said, "I am his wife, Lisa."
"I'm sorry." Dean said.
"One night two weeks ago, he stayed to take inventory and never came home," Lisa said. "I was worried that the local police had stopped investigating because they found nothing. So I was happy to see Federal Bureau of Investigation come."
Dean saw a photo of Lisa and Qiao behind the bar, as well as a photo of Qiao in police uniform.
"He used to be a deputy sheriff?" Dean asked.
"A long time ago." Lisa said, "He was one of the discoverers of the tomb robbery case in 1990."
Dean saw the same old newspaper hanging on the wall as before, with John's photo on it.
"Did he tell you how he solved the case?" Dean asked.
Lisa took a sip of beer and said slowly, "After drinking a few beers, he will admit that in addition to solid police work, he also got help from an 'expert'. When I pressed him, he would only say don't worry, they have solved the problem."
Sam is teaching Adam to clean the gun.
"How did John die?" Adam asked.
"Killed by a demon." Sam said.
"Have you found it and taken revenge?"
"Dean killed it."
"Is that the end for you?"
Sam shook his head. "It will never end."
Suddenly, the lights went out.
The whole room fell into darkness.
Sam immediately picked up the gun and looked around warily.
"What's going on?" Adam asked nervously.
"Shh." Sam whispered.
There was a creaking sound in the bathroom.
Sam motioned to Adam not to move, then he took the gun and cautiously walked to the bathroom. He kicked the door open, but there was nothing inside.
The sound rang again, this time from above.
"In the ventilation duct! Move quickly!"
Sam pushed Adam out of the room and shot at the ceiling.
They ran to the motel parking lot.
"Key!" Sam said.
Adam threw the key to Sam.
Adam walked towards the passenger seat, and Sam walked towards the driver's seat. When Sam was looking for the keys, something grabbed his ankle, pulled him to the ground, and dragged him under the truck.
"Ah!" Sam shouted.
"Sam!" Adam shouted.
At this moment, the Black Antelope drove over. Dean jumped out of the car.
"Dean, help!"
Adam grabbed one of Sam's arms, and Dean grabbed the other, pulling him out together. Dean picked up the shotgun that fell on the ground and fired a shot under the truck.
There is nothing left.
Adam backed the truck out. They found that the truck was parked right on top of a partially opened sewer grate. There was blood on the edge of the grate.
"I hit it." Dean said, "Did you see anything?"