The Heaven-Listening Bureau

The twelfth day of the third lunar month, in the year of Gengwu.

Qingming.

Auspicious for sacrifices, capture, and release. Undertake nothing else. Inauspicious for marriage and burial.

Sitting upright in the Heaven-Listening Bureau's station in Crouching Dragon Township, Auspicious County, Wang Qilin studied the old almanac before him for a moment, then picked up a brush and added two words after "release":

"Entering office."

My fate is mine to decide, not the almanac's!

Today was his first day working for the Heaven-Listening Bureau. This appointment concerned his very life, so nothing could go wrong.

Just then, a tabby cat passed in front of his desk. Its murky yellow eyes glanced at him, as though it had seen through his thoughts.

Wang Qilin had indeed joined the Heaven-Listening Bureau with an ulterior purpose.

Ever since he could remember, he had often seen a black pill furnace after falling asleep.

It was called the Furnace of Creation, and it could draw out his soul and send it to a strange place called Earth.

His soul possessed an Earthling, allowing him to see everything that person saw and hear everything that person heard.

But he could neither control that person's body nor influence his thoughts. He merely shared the man's sight and hearing.

Throughout his childhood and into adulthood, this had terrified him.

He had heard that children's souls were unstable and easily dragged into the underworld by ghosts, so as a child, he had guessed that bizarre place called Earth was the underworld.

Afraid of being exterminated as some evil, unclean thing, he had never dared tell anyone about his experiences. He could only bear all the pressure himself.

This had made him precocious and withdrawn from childhood, and people disliked him.

Later, he had learned of the lifeline that was the Heaven-Listening Bureau.

The Heaven-Listening Bureau was a government office established by the imperial court to ward off evil, suppress demons, exorcise ghosts, and protect the people. Its influence extended throughout the Nine Provinces, and it specialized in resolving strange incidents in the world. Wasn't his experience precisely such an incident?

That was why he had always wanted to join. Now, after several years of effort, he had finally gotten his wish.

As he recalled the past, a sudden gust of cold wind blew inside.

The spring chill was biting.

Because his soul often traveled to Earth, he occasionally saw embarrassing scenes through the young man he possessed. As a result, his constitution was somewhat weak, and the gust made him shiver involuntarily.

Besides, whenever he thought of those scenes, he actually wanted to denounce them as "utterly vulgar," but his conscience wouldn't allow it. Those ladies' boobs were simply too big.

Shaking his head to drive away the strange memories, Wang Qilin looked around.

The Heaven-Listening Bureau's station was built with mud-brick walls, with several paper-covered windows set into them. The south-facing window was open, and cold wind laced with fine rain whistled inside, making him shiver again.

Seeing this, he first shut the window, then took out the "Heaven-Listening Bureau Case Files" that his immediate superior, Du Cao, had given him after he reported for duty that morning, and began reading the cases.

Absorbed in study, he lost track of time.

At some point, someone reached the doorway, pushed open the wooden door with a creak, and called in a rough voice, "Master Cao said our station's got a newcomer? Hey, is that you, lad?"

Wang Qilin looked up to see a burly man stride casually inside.

The fellow's appearance was as rough as his voice. Big face, big eyes, big mouth, big chest, big hands, big feet-he seemed two sizes larger than an ordinary man from head to toe.

Wang Qilin had put considerable effort into joining the Heaven-Listening Bureau and knew everyone in its Auspicious County branch. Once he got a clear look at the newcomer, he stood and cupped his hands. "I am Wandering Star Wang Qilin. Greetings, Strongman Xu."

The Heaven-Listening Bureau had nine ranks, from highest to lowest. The lowest official post was called a Minor Seal, and his immediate superior, Du Cao, was one.

Minor Seals had assistants called Wandering Stars and Strongmen. Wandering Stars handled civil matters, while Strongmen handled martial affairs. Wang Qilin had applied to be a Wandering Star, and this burly man, Xu Da, was his Strongman colleague.

Xu Da cupped his hands too, laughing heartily. "What's all this 'I am' and 'greetings' nonsense? You sound mighty refined. Did you attend a government school?"

Wang Qilin shook his head. "My family was poor. I didn't."

Xu Da gave him a comical look. "Then why are you putting on scholarly airs? I'm the one who's a licentiate here-hold on, Wandering Stars have to be literate. How did you become one if you never attended a private school?"

"I studied a little under a teacher privately," Wang Qilin said simply.

He had indeed had dealings with an old licentiate, but he had learned to read in bits and pieces on Earth in his dreams.

Earth's writing differed little from the official script of the New Han Dynasty. It was merely simpler.

Xu Da didn't dwell on the subject. Leaning over to look at the open case file, he pursed his lips. "So you're reading case files? Which case are you on?"

Wang Qilin said, "Green Mountain County..."

He had barely begun before Xu Da cut him off. "I know that case. If you want to know about it, I'll tell you. But first, let me ask you: do you know Green Mountain County?"

Wang Qilin shook his head. Xu Da said, "Good thing you don't. If you already knew, what would be the point of me telling you?"

"Here's what happened. That year, a down-and-out fellow went into an abandoned house in Green Mountain County to hide from his creditors. But once inside, he encountered an old man in rags, and when the old man spotted him, he crawled under a large, worn-out bed."

"The down-and-out fellow figured the house had stood empty for years and a beggar had taken over the place. He wanted to drag the old beggar out and chase him away. Now, guess what he saw when he lifted the bed?"

"There was no one under the bed," Wang Qilin said. "Only a wooden box, with a piece of broken silver inside."

Xu Da picked his nose and complained, "You said you didn't know Green Mountain County. How do you know this case, then?"

Wang Qilin pointed at the case file in surprise. "It says so right here."

He felt that this colleague of his didn't seem particularly bright. Or, to borrow an expression he had heard in his dreams: all boobs and no brains.

At that thought, he deliberately took a glance.

Really big. Nicely trained!

Xu Da didn't notice that strange look. He said sulkily, "So you've already finished reading the case? I thought you'd only just started. That's why I was going to tell you."

Seeing that he was unhappy about losing his chance to show off, Wang Qilin played along. "Then tell me again. The case file is vague, and reading it left me completely confused."

Xu Da immediately brightened again. Sometimes a man's happiness was that simple.

He continued, "The down-and-out fellow got scared when he found no one, just a piece of broken silver. He fled the house and headed home. Passing through the market, he used the silver to buy some mutton and a sheep's head. But sheep's blood soaked through the cloth bag holding the meat, and a patrolling bailiff happened to see it. The bailiff told him to open the bag."

"Once the bag was open, guess what happened?"

"There wasn't a sheep's head inside, but a human head!" Wang Qilin obligingly played the straight man.

But Xu Da didn't appreciate it. Instead, he grew annoyed. "Damn you! I'm not telling it anymore. You already know everything!"

Wang Qilin didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Go on, go on. I won't say another word."

Knowing he had already finished the file, Xu Da gave a perfunctory account. "There's not much to tell. The down-and-out fellow pissed his pants in fright and told the bailiff what had happened earlier. The bailiff went to the old house and dug beneath the bed. Sure enough, a dead man in rags was buried there. But the corpse had no head!"

He stopped there, and Wang Qilin urged him, "Go on."

"That's it," Xu Da said. "There's nothing more."

Wang Qilin looked puzzled. Xu Da said, "It's an unsolved case. Who killed the man, what was behind it-the local Greater Seal was a useless fool and didn't find out a damn thing."

Just as he finished speaking, another gust of cold wind blew inside, and Wang Qilin shivered again.

Xu Da immediately grinned. "Brother Wang, you're a little frail, aren't you?"

"Why didn't you close the door?" Wang Qilin asked unhappily.

Xu Da folded his arms. "What do you mean, I didn't close the door? You didn't close the window!"

Wang Qilin whipped his gaze toward the south-facing window.

The window was open again!

It was broad daylight outside, yet the room was dark and eerie!

The cold wind blowing inside felt like a ghostly wind.