Chapter 4: Arrested as a Suspect

Silver Mist Mountain, nestled within the scenic area of Tianyun County, bustled with visitors by day but fell utterly silent and deserted come nightfall.

The early winter evening carried a biting chill.

Fu Xixi wrapped a gray scarf—snatched from Wen Yanfeng—around her neck, wearing a fuzzy serpentine hood that left only her small face exposed.

The air still carried the sweet scent of roasted sweet potatoes.

“Master, I’ll pay you with earthly currency, but you must help me find the murderer,” Little Tao hovered beside her, persistently reminding.

Fu Xixi bit into a now-cold sweet potato, leisurely retorting, “First, remember your bank card’s PIN, then we’ll talk.”

Little Tao smiled awkwardly. “I just forgot it temporarily. I’ll recall it soon enough.”

Fu Xixi cast her a glance, thinking it was all a ruse. Eventually, she’d have to resort to her own methods anyway; after all, her spiritual power was only partially restored.

She patted the inconspicuous gray cloth pouch slung at her waist.

As if alive, the pouch’s flap lifted, spitting out a plump red pill.

Fu Xixi tossed the completely cold half-eaten sweet potato into a plastic bag, squeezed the pill, then handed it to Little Tao. “Go on.”

Little Tao caught it with one hand, stunned. Her first reaction wasn’t to eat it, but rather—

“Wow, I actually get to touch something! After becoming a ghost, I won’t be able to touch anything. Master, what is this?”

It was truly remarkable.

Fu Xixi smiled softly. “Something that keeps you hidden from the ghostly wardens for twenty-four hours, and also replenishes some ghostly energy.”

Little Tao blinked in surprise.

“But…the ghost wardens said I died unjustly, that I don’t even have a tombstone, and they refuse to take me.”

“Replenishing ghost energy is the key point.”

Little Tao’s astonishment deepened. “Master, you’re so kind to me.”

If only she weren’t unable to cry, she’d be kneeling and kowtowing in gratitude.

“Not being able to cry doesn’t mean you can’t kowtow,” Fu Xixi said earnestly.

Little Tao ignored how well her thoughts were read and looked up at the sky. “Master, I think this is where I died.”

“…” A pathetic act, indeed.

——

Since the murder at Silver Mist Mountain, no one was allowed after dark.

A safety perimeter stretched a full kilometer, the crime scene still frozen in time.

Fu Xixi tapped the man-made warning sign that read “No Entry.”

“Master, this thing burns me like fire whenever I touch it.”

Following Little Tao’s voice, Fu Xixi’s gaze fell on the talisman paper pasted to the yellow caution tape.

Scattered on the ground were powders, likely to keep snakes, insects, and ants from disturbing the scene.

Little Tao poked the powder through the air. Fu Xixi suddenly asked,

“Have you taken your pill?”

She nodded hastily. “Yes.”

Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to touch the powder or stand firmly.

Fu Xixi nodded, raising her hands on her hips. “Now, touch it freely and without fear.”

Little Tao hesitated, then, trusting her master, closed her eyes tightly and trembled as she tentatively reached out a finger.

Three minutes later—

“Why are you shaking so much?” Fu Xixi rolled her eyes in exasperation.

Little Tao turned away, face drawn. “Master, I’m scared… ah!”

With a ghostly shriek, her finger finally touched the talisman paper. Silence surrounded them; nothing happened. Then—

Little Tao gasped.

She stared at her finger glowing red. “Not only is it fine, it seems… the talisman’s effect is gone?”

Fu Xixi withdrew her hand from Little Tao’s wrist, ignoring the unsightly talisman. “Let’s go. Bring a shovel to dig.”

A shovel? Did they bring one?

Only when Little Tao was grumbling as she dug with the warning sign nearby, her eyes full of grievance—especially when she noticed Fu Xixi cracking sunflower seeds beside her—did the truth dawn.

“…” So this was the real reason behind the pill.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Fu Xixi said innocently, munching seeds as she scanned the surroundings. “I still need to examine clues nearby. Besides, finding the killer on your own is much better.”

Little Tao, lacking any rebuttal, replied softly: “Oh.”

She recalled few memories from life, but the murder site left a deep impression, though she couldn’t remember the killer’s appearance.

Fu Xixi paced around the digging area, frowning.

Suddenly, her eyes landed on a patch of overgrown weeds.

Bloodstains should have been there.

Time had long passed, and rain had washed them away. Any remnants were invisible to the naked eye; ordinary people wouldn’t find them.

Fu Xixi closed her eyes briefly. When she reopened them, a glimmer flashed across her gaze. She popped a seed into her mouth and headed toward the faint red glow.

Tiny phosphorescent bloodstains traced a path forward.

At last, it ended in a cordoned-off patch of bent-over wild grass, stained with splotches of blood—the place thick with resentment.

Fu Xixi sneered, “Trash like this belongs in the eighteenth level of hell.”

No corpse, yes, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use tracking magic.

——

Judging by the time, Little Tao’s digging was nearly done.

——

“Captain Shen, I heard from Deputy Hao you went to the scene again?”

Under the bright moonlight, the mountains looked as if dusted with silver frost.

Shen Du hummed in response to the phone, fiddling with the soil in his free hand, eyes fixed on the direction of the crime scene.

“I say we get someone from the Xuanmen Association to take a look. It’s been three months, and I hear the second elder’s apprentice has been quite active lately.”

In the criminal investigation unit, Xiao Li stirred his instant noodles, slurped a mouthful, and spoke while grabbing a bottle of water from the table.

“If we rely entirely on the association, then what are we here for?”

Several groups from the Xuanmen Association had come and gone, yet no progress had been made.

Listening to Shen Du’s slightly cold voice, Xiao Li chuckled softly, “Then I won’t bother you anymore. We’ll definitely crack this case.”

With that, he hung up without hesitation.

Shen Du casually slipped his phone into his trench coat pocket, noticing the spot where the warning sign should have stood was empty. He narrowed his eyes at the danger.

After about three minutes of walking, he fell silent, staring at a signpost that seemed possessed.

In the moonlight, the mud-stained sign flapped in the air. Beside it stood a snake-headed humanoid figure, a red plastic bag dangling from its wrist.

Then he heard the snake-headed creature speak.

“Speed it up, or dawn will break.”

“Alright, alright, once I finish these seeds, this hole will be dug.”

“…Someone’s there?”

Feeling a gaze sweep over him, Shen Du instinctively rolled up his sleeves.

A melodious female voice spoke again.

“I know someone’s here. You keep at it; don’t waste your energy worrying.”

The snake-headed creature stepped closer, revealing itself to be a girl wearing a snake hood, remarkably beautiful.

At least, the likes of her were rare.

“You…” Fu Xixi barely uttered a word before being pressed to the ground, making intimate contact with the soil.

She: ?

The man’s expression was stern and cold. “Behave.”