A major case

"Holy crap, the old agent wasn't lying, this female ghost really does look like that." Xu Qi'an felt a chill run down his spine.

But he wasn't afraid; being terrified was a natural reaction for someone who had once been an ordinary person to encounter a ghost in reality.

After all, he's the kind of person who's afraid to go to the bathroom after watching a horror movie, and when he can't hold it in, he uses a bottle of sports drink to solve the problem.

The white-clad female ghost stared at them blankly for a moment, seemingly sensing the threat. Her mouth split open to her ears, black blood flowing out, and with a silent roar, she lunged at the two of them.

At the bottom of the deep well, the Yin Qi was several times stronger, causing goosebumps to rise on Xu Qi'an's skin.

I don't know how to deal with vengeful spirits. I'll just stab her. Xu Qi'an gripped the hilt of his sword, intending to rush ahead of Chu Caiwei, but the little beauty in the yellow dress pressed down on him, stopping him.

She made hand gestures, and the Tai Chi fish in the center of the feng shui compass began to rotate. Xu Qi'an saw the character "Gui" in the Heavenly Stems light up.

A beam of dark light shot out from the feng shui plate, engulfing the female ghost and drawing her into it.

Chu Caiwei retrieved the feng shui compass, held it in her hand, turned to Xu Qi'an with a charming smile, then pointed to the bottom of the well and swam over, swaying her hips.

The two explored the bottom of the well for a while but found nothing.

"Splash." Xu Qi'an emerged from the water, finding no foothold underwater. He used his hands to support himself on the well arm as he climbed up, turning back to say:

"Grab my leg."

Chu Caiwei said "Oh," and hugged Xu Qi'an's legs, letting him carry her up.

Xu Qi'an sensed it

"What did you say?" Chu Caiwei didn't hear clearly.

"It's nothing. Climb up a little higher, you're about to pull my pants down. I have another handle up there, you can give me a hand."

Chu Caiwei searched and searched, but couldn't find the leverage Xu Qi'an had mentioned.

Emerging from the well, Xu Qi'an activated his Qi to evaporate the damp well water, while Chu Caiwei made a hand seal, summoning an orange flame from the Feng Shui compass, which circled her body a few times, filling the air with steam without damaging her clothes.

After her body cooled down again, Chu Caiwei said, "This is just an ordinary vengeful spirit."

Just an ordinary vengeful spirit? How has she managed to stay like this for so long? Xu Qi'an frowned. The old agent had said that the ghost story had been going on for more than two years.

Chu Caiwei's next words cleared up the mystery, "The bottom of the well is connected to an underground current, and that's where the resentment in the well comes from. I suspect there's a Yin vein underground."

Xu Qi'an guessed that "yin vein" was a term from Feng Shui, and nodded in realization. "So your purification didn't work, and the rituals performed by the previous masters were useless because they weren't Warlock."

Chu Caiwei nodded vigorously, proudly declaring herself Warlock. "Don't keep this house. The yin veins are underground; the feng shui is terrible. Living here for too long will bring you bad luck."

"Why wouldn't you want it? This house is super cheap." Xu Qi'an gave her a strange look. "You think I'm just asking you for a favor, just to take a look? You have to help me fix the feng shui."

"That's so tiring!" Chu Caiwei said with a pained expression. She was already working very hard studying Alchemy every day. "Then you'll have to..."

"I understand we need extra food," Xu Qi'an said.

"That's more like it." She pouted, leaped back onto the rooftop, and shouted down, "Send me to heaven!"

"Do you want to stand shoulder to shoulder with the moon? Oh, there's no moon today, never mind!" Xu Qi'an thought to himself, leaping onto the rooftop and making a "little stool" with his hands.

Chu Caiwei jumped up, her toes touching his palm, and with the help of the martial artist's terrifying strength, her light body shot into the night sky like a sharp arrow.

During this process, she used the magical properties of the feng shui compass to summon wisps of wind that supported her body and slowed her descent.

With her Clear Vision activated, Chu Caiwei surveyed the entire house, then turned her head to observe the surrounding area and the feng shui of the entire district.

Chu Caiwei drifted down like a falling leaf, frowning as she said, "Strange, this area has good feng shui; it shouldn't have formed a yin vein."

"Is it because your skills are too poor?" Xu Qi'an didn't dare to complain, and asked, "Why don't you take another look? Or go back to the Bureau of Astronomy and ask your senior brothers for help?"

"No need for all that trouble," Chu Caiwei waved her hand. "Let's just communicate with the female ghost, empathize with her, and see how she died. If we don't find any clues, I'll ask my senior brothers for help."

"Hurry up, I have things to do tomorrow," Xu Qi'an said.

Tomorrow I'm going to the yamen to find Wei Yuan. If my father is willing to stand up for him and suppress the rumors, then everything will be fine. If my father doesn't care, I'll just have to hide and find another opportunity to deal with the consequences of the traitor's betrayal.

This house was the base that Xu Qi'an found for himself.

This place is haunted, so no one usually goes near it. It's not a place where high-ranking officials and nobles gather, and it's some distance from the main street. It's not an area that the city's imperial guards or Nightwatchers pay special attention to.

Chu Caiwei said, "The female ghost has too much Yin Qi. To empathize with her requires enduring the Yin Qi entering the body, which is bad for a woman's health. With you here, a martial artist's Qi and Blood are abundant, so there won't be any aftereffects."

"Good!"

Chu Caiwei removed the feng shui plate, her lips parted, and the Tai Chi fish slowly rotated, releasing a wisp of faint black mist that floated three inches above the surface of the feng shui plate.

The black mist thrashed about restlessly, but it couldn't leave the feng shui plate. Each time, it was bounced back above the tai chi fish by the clear light wall.

Chu Caiwei flicked her finger. "Go!"

The black mist shot out and struck Xu Qi'an's brow.

Xu Qi'an felt a chill run through his body, a coldness rising from his spine, followed by the sensation of thoughts filled with resentment, madness, and fear.

This surge of thought frantically assaulted his Primordial Spirit, attempting to control his body. Suddenly, the female ghost seemed to sense something and became very quiet. No, she became trembling with fear.

This made Xu Qi'an abandon the idea of suppressing the vengeful spirit with his will, and he carefully sensed the female ghost's consciousness.

Did she sense the presence of the monk Shenshu? The monk was indeed asleep, otherwise he might have already vanquished the female ghost.

His thoughts enveloped the vengeful spirit, and the two developed empathy. The next moment, unfamiliar scenes appeared, as if a movie was playing.

The woman was the daughter of a wealthy family in Taikang County. Because of her beauty, suitors flocked to her door. According to the normal course of life, she would marry into a good family and live a peaceful and stable life.

But one trip changed her life. In a secluded alley, she was forcibly abducted by human traffickers and sent to a large mansion in the capital.

The house was inhabited by many women like her.

They did the same thing every night: sleep with the guests who came and went from the house, and be used by them.

They addressed each other as "Sir," clearly indicating they were officials. Once stripped of their official robes, these officials were more beastly than beasts, wantonly toying with the women in the house.

The female ghost had served many adults. Her heart was filled with pain and resentment, but fearing death, she could only endure the humiliation.

Several years passed, and then she caught the eye of a customer and became his exclusive mistress, which improved her situation.

The guest's name was Tamraha; he was a man of medium build, stocky build, with a round face and single eyelids.

She died because she overheard Ramlaha talking to a powerful figure by chance.

The conversation involved terms such as "Yunzhou," "artillery," and "equipment."

In the backyard of the mansion was a well containing the remains of many women who had committed suicide or were tortured to death by guests. After being killed, the women were thrown into the well.

After her death, she became a vengeful ghost, but was trapped in a well. By chance, she followed the dark current at the bottom of the well to this place.

Nourished by the resentment overflowing from the undercurrents, it has survived to this day, its soul not annihilated.

In these fragments of memory, Xu Qi'an saw many familiar faces, especially the conversation on the eve of the woman's death, through the woman's eyes, he saw the important figure talking to Tamraha.

Qi Dang, Minister of Ministry of Works!

"Phew," Xu Qi'an opened his eyes, letting out the pent-up frustration in his chest.

This kind of empathy is something only humans can do.

At the same time, he was also affected by the female ghost's resentment, pain, and despair.

Fortunately, he persisted in visualization every day to hone his Primordial Spirit, which greatly improved his willpower. If it were an ordinary person, they would probably have developed depression or schizophrenia.

"It seems there's been an unexpected gain." Chu Caiwei looked at him, and during the empathy, she watched as Xu Qi'an's face twisted repeatedly, sometimes ferocious, sometimes painful, and sometimes filled with grief and indignation.

These were certainly not his own emotions, but rather stemmed from that woman. But what kind of experience could have given a woman so many negative emotions?

Chu Caiwei touched Xu Qi'an's brow with her fingertip, pulling out the female ghost and resealing her in the feng shui plate.

That Tamraha doesn't look like someone from the Central Plains. People from the Western Regions are characterized by high-bridged noses and deep-set eyes, Southern Frontier barbarians are characterized by blue eyes. Northerners have dark skin and possess the bloodline of ancient beasts, making them somewhat inhuman in appearance. Tamraha seems to have the racial characteristics of people from regions ruled by the Witch God Cult.

But how could the Witch God Cult be connected to Yunzhou? Yunzhou is in the southeast of Great Feng. Although there are only a few words, it seems that the Ministry of Works has been supplying advanced equipment to the Witch God Cult or Yunzhou.

"This matter involves treason and collusion with the enemy. I must report it to Wei Yuan immediately." With that thought, Xu Qi'an cut to the chase and told Chu Caiwei about the matter.

After listening, Chu Caiwei was very puzzled. "Those who suffered greatly in life and whose resentment lingers after death may not necessarily become vengeful ghosts, but if their numbers accumulate, their resentment will be overwhelming. If there were such a place in the inner city, the Nightwatchers would have discovered it long ago."

"We'll talk about that later. Oh, by the way, give me back the mirror," Xu Qi'an said.

Now that he has made a contribution, he is no longer afraid of the so-called "corruption and abuse of power" charges, and naturally he does not need to hand over the mirror to Chu Caiwei for safekeeping.

Just kidding, there are over nine hundred taels of gold inside.

Xu Qi'an led Chu Caiwei toward the Nightwatchers's office, where they encountered four gong-bearers on duty and were stopped and questioned.

"It's me." Xu Qi'an showed his identification badge.

"Lord Xu?"

Despite being of the same rank, Xu Qi'an, as Wei Yuan's number one attendant, was not to be neglected by the other attendants.

"Why are you still wandering around outside? Today, the Ministry of Ministry of Justice and the Court of Judicial Review sent a large number of men to break into the yamen and take away many of my colleagues," said a gong-bearer.

"I heard your name is on the list too, but you weren't at the government office, so you escaped unscathed. Are you unable to go home?"

His meaning was clear: you're not planning to run away, are you?

"Who were they arrested?"

Upon inquiry, Xu Qi'an discovered that among the four arrested "Golden Gongs" was Jiang Luzhong. Among the "Silver Gongs" were Li Yuchun, Min Shan, and Yang Feng, three of whom had served under him in the Sangbo case.

Jiang Jinluo is a fairly upright person. Even if he was corrupt, it was only minor. The reason he got arrested is because he was on good terms with me, and that guy surnamed Zhu was retaliating against him. Chun Ge is really pitiful; he didn't get any money, and he's in jail first.

As expected, Zhu's revenge was targeted, specifically targeting those close to Xu Qi'an, both weakening the Nightwatchers and avenging his enemies.

"Duke Wei will definitely save them. These hypocrites really think we're easy to bully."

"Hey, you know what, actually, none of us have been completely clean these past few years."

"Pah, Li Yinluo is clean, but he still got in."

The three gong players, in a fit of impotence and rage, grumbled in front of Xu Qi'an.

"I heard that His Majesty personally ordered the investigation. I'm afraid even Duke Wei will be in a difficult position. What should we do? The atmosphere in the yamen is unusually tense and silent today."

Xu Qi'an comforted him, "There will be a way."

The three gong players shook their heads, looking very pessimistic, and went on patrol with a sigh.

Xu Qi'an returned to the yamen and headed straight for Haoqi Tower, where he was stopped by guards at the bottom.

"Duke Wei is already resting and will not see anyone; this is the rule." The guard recognized Xu Qi'an, but it was nighttime, Wei Yuan was not seeing anyone at this hour.

"I have urgent business to attend to. Go and inform them immediately," Xu Qi'an said in a deep voice.

"Lord Xu, please come again tomorrow." The guard was very firm.

PS: These chapters are foreshadowing and I'm thinking about how these foreshadowings will be revealed in the future, so the writing is slow and I'm also experiencing writer's block because of this.