So many people! Many, many people! Wearing long robes, wearing official uniforms, all sorts of attire, from Song to Republic styles. Some have queues, some have long hair tied up, and some wear Western suits. There are men and women, and they all seem to be quite old. Some sit, some hold folding fans, and others cradle tea cups. Those people seem completely indifferent to our presence, only concerned with their own conversations.

  I can clearly see the expression of each person, every move they make. I can also see them talking to each other, some shaking their heads or nodding, but I couldn't hear what they were saying.

  What kind of "people" are these? No need for me to say, I reckon everyone's heart is clear about it - aren't there just hundreds of coffins lying in the ancestral halls and old houses?

  I don't provoke the ghosts, and the ghosts don't provoke me. This principle is the same everywhere. I reckon these old men also think that the guy on Fatso's back is an unfilial son, not even daring to glance in our direction.

  Cha Wenbin's footsteps were different from usual, I observed carefully and found that he walked in a rhythm of left three steps forward two steps back, then right four steps forward three steps back; followed by left four steps forward three steps back, changing to right three steps forward two steps back again. We three people just followed him in and out, slowly moving towards the northwest corner, until we reached the position of the copper stove, Cha Wenbin stopped again.

  He lit incense, bowed and worshipped, then performed the three kneelings and nine head knockings, saying: "I have brought Zhou Botong away today only to verify his true identity. I do not dare disturb all of your ancestors. Junior bids farewell."

  He said, without lifting his head, and took three consecutive steps back, then shouted in a low voice: "Don't lift your head, turn around where you are, and walk out directly!"

  "Where's the door?" In both my and Pangzi's memories, there was no door here.

  "Turn around and you'll see."

  As expected, when we turned around, the distance to the gate was less than a meter, and just one big step could take us out. However, neither I nor Fatso dared to move first, because this kind of place had already taught us a lesson: "Don't trust your eyes."

  Zha Wenbin saw that we didn't move and also smiled, patted my shoulder and said: "Let's go, it's nothing!"

  The words had just fallen, and I hadn't moved yet. Suddenly, a gust of wind whizzed past my ear, and the fatty was like Nezha riding the Wind Fire Wheels, bursting out at a speed of 100 meters per second...

  In the village head, there was an abandoned house that might have been used for miners to live in. Inside, there was a row of large beds without electric lights. Cha Wenbin lit candles and placed the body on one of the beds. The eyes were open and the mouth was also agape, with an expression very similar to my elder cousin's before he died. Three twenty-year-old rascals, a corpse with a darkened face... I really couldn't imagine what would happen if someone burst in at that moment, what kind of fate we two would meet...

  "Big brother, I know you died unjustly. We're here to avenge you. Your eyes keep staring at me and it makes me uncomfortable. Can't you close them?" Fatso said as he reached out his hand to wipe the corpse's face, and with just one light wipe, surprisingly, its eyes closed.

  Seeing this result was beyond my expectation. The fat man shouted repeatedly, "Do you see? Do you see? Absolutely framed! Investigator, hurry up!"

  The corpse was wearing two sets of clothes, a set of undergarments, which we called lining, and outside that was a thin shroud. There was a big hole at the chest, the work of a fire gun, it should have pierced through the thoracic cavity, Zhang Wenbin gently pressed on it, and blood could still be seen gushing out from inside.

  The joints of the corpse were all stiff, and after taking off his clothes, a small bulge could be seen above his navel, which was very obvious, and even I was attracted by that bulge.

  Cha Wenbin pressed down on the bulge with his hand and said, "Who has a knife?"

  I looked at the fatty, and the fatty looked at me. Neither of us seemed like the kind of person who would carry a knife on them. There was no other way, so Zhang Wenbin himself had a Seven Stars Sword, which was temporarily being used as a scalpel. The sword didn't look great but was exceptionally sharp, and with just a light slash, it easily cut through the skin without going in more than half an inch. In an instant, it opened up a one-inch long incision on his belly.

  Zha Wenbin turned around and said to the fatty: "Get me a cigarette."

  "Ah, Old Zhang is quite good at this?" The fatty quickly handed a cigarette to Cha Wenbin, but instead of smoking it, he used it to flip the corpse over and prop it up on the bed, making the fatty hold the corpse's hands up in the air, keeping the upper half of its body suspended.

  Zha Wenbin held the cigarette and kept blowing smoke onto the incision on Zhou Bocai's abdomen, from which a liquid began to drip out. At first, I thought it was blood, but when I looked closer, I saw that the liquid was dark green in color, similar to bile, with an indescribable pleasant smell, somewhat like jasmine flowers.

  He said to me: "There is an empty bottle in my bag, can you help me get it?"

  Zha Wenbin crouched on the ground with a bottle, concentrating his spirit, and I didn't know what he was up to. When the cigarette was almost finished, he suddenly shouted: "Come out! Come out!"

  Then I watched him press the bottle cap hard, and when he took it out, we saw clearly that there was a worm about one finger wide and long in the bottle. The worm looked similar to the big green worms in the vegetable fields in rural areas, its stout body was twisting back and forth in the bottle at this moment, with a pair of sharp mandibles biting the glass "zizi" making a hissing sound.

  "What a fierce worm, where did it come from?" The fat boy looked at the green stuff on the ground and seemed to understand. He immediately ran back, and then I heard him vomiting at the door.

  "This is too damn disgusting!" Fatso's voice rose and fell outside...

  "Look, this is the Gu insect. It's true that he was poisoned by it. He can run to the temple on his own, thanks to this bug. The stench during the day is probably related to it too."

  "Do you know who did it?"

  Zha Wenbin put away the bottle and said, "I don't know. The art of Gu has never appeared in Jiangnan before. This thing only exists in Miaojiang and Nanyang, I'll go back and ask someone about it."

  "What about the dead?"

  "Take him back..."

  I don't quite remember how Fatso scolded his mother all the way back that night, but fortunately, when we entered the ancestral hall again, it was a familiar road. The old men and women who were playing chess and drinking tea didn't have any objections to us younger generations sneaking into the ancestral hall at night.

  One thing is certain about Wen Bin: his soul is also gone.

  Back home, it was already noon. The three of them didn't smell very good. Cha Wenbin took a bath and went out, saying he wouldn't be back until the evening. It wasn't until the second day, on the fifth day of the first month, that he brought a companion back to his house.

  Bell-bottom pants, pointed leather shoes, black jacket, with a sweater with a chicken heart-shaped collar inside, and a fake collar. On his head was a cowboy hat, on his face were horn-rimmed glasses, and on his shoulders he carried a boombox playing "Jiǔ gān shàng mài fǒu, jiǔ gān shàng mài fǒu..."

  With just this one person, I would never put him together with Cha Wenbin. He and I have been through the Guangzhou Golden Triangle for many years, and with just a glance at his outfit, it's trendy and cool!

  The fat guy circled around that guy and said to Cha Wenbin: "Hey, isn't this fresh? Is he your friend?"

  "Alright then, his name is Kuang Feng."

  "Is this 'Feng' a surname? This name is just like a person's personality - it's awesome!"

  That cool young man finally spoke up: "No name, no surname, codename."

  "Code name? I'm still keeping the gunshot of the secret service a secret. You really think you're acting in a movie, bro? Wake up, it's only the fifth day of the first month."

  Cha Wenbin didn't bother to care about the fatty's antics and said to that guy, "Go ahead and go in."

  That lunch was the strangest meal I've ever had, my dad is an old revolutionary and my mom is a simple farmer, they were both at home, who has ever seen such a dress, those eyes didn't know how many times they stared at me blankly, meaning you kid what kind of people are you hanging out with, this kind of person looks like a hooligan at first glance.

  As expected, after finishing dinner, my dad made an excuse to go out and play mahjong, then gave me a test. I followed him out, and as soon as we left the door, he scolded me: "I don't care who you know, but I think he can't afford to eat, if he's still here tonight, you won't be eating at home either, where did you two come from? Go back together! Learn from this!"

  "Not someone I know, and I don't know how to explain, Wen Bin brought."

  "My dad raised his hand and was about to hit me: 'Wen Bin? Does that honest kid know such goods?'"

  "What a true friend..."

  "Come back and see if I don't kill you!" This was the final ultimatum given to me by my old man...

  When I got back, that guy was already on the table studying the insect. He didn't feel at all that his handsome image had ruined everyone's lunch. On one hand he was drinking liquor, and on the other hand he was holding a bottle, pinching that disgusting thing in his hand, and he was still eating with gusto. What kind of person is this if not a freak?

  "Hey, weirdo, we're in a rural area here, and the old folks like it quiet. How about you turn off that music player?"

  That weirdo only had eyes for that worm and didn't react at all to what I said. Finally, Wen Bin stood up and said, "Alright, I'll do it."

  "Wait a minute, 1982, this thing is called Osedax mucofloris, I finally remembered something. When I went to the Gobi Desert with Dragon that year, an old man used this thing, but it's said to have come from the Western Regions, this matter is really strange."

  Cha Wenbin also raised a question: "Western Regions? Isn't it Miaojiang Gu Sorcery?"

  "It's not from Miao territory, this thing is from the Western Regions. However, according to what you said, it should be Gu sorcery, and it's not like only those Miao people know how to use Gu sorcery. After all, Gu sorcery was invented by us in the Central Plains, but it was popularized by others. This person is quite ruthless, using Soul Capture along with Gu sorcery, this is intentionally making someone never able to turn over a new leaf, what kind of deep hatred would lead to such a ruthless move?"