The Terror of the Heavens Begins with Gu

Chapter 165 A Thousand-Year-Long Ceremony to Achieve Immortality and the Encounter with Yellow Fire and Earth

This time, the destination is finally not Hong Kong Island...

Li Zhen looked down at the runes on his right arm.

Two years ago, Huang Huotu's daughter was nearly shot and killed, but a sudden supernatural phenomenon saved her.

Two years later, paranormal cases reappeared, resulting in the tragic deaths of many victims, deeply unsettling Huang Huotu, a believer in ghosts and spirits.

Please help Huang Huotu overcome his fear of paranormal events, help him emerge from the shadows in his heart, and resolve the underlying cause of this paranormal event within three days to stop it from escalating and prevent the innocent people around Huang Huotu from being killed.

After reading the mission description, Li Zhen fell into deep thought.

If Li Zhen's guess is correct, the previous supernatural event was about Huang Huotu's daughter being almost shot to death by his brother-in-law, but the bullet actually turned around and killed his brother-in-law instead.

At the time, driven by a sense of justice, Huang Huotu reported his colleague's embezzlement and bribery to his superiors.

Huang Huotu's brother-in-law was one of those colleagues.

After being reported by Huang Huotu, this man was sentenced to more than ten years in prison. Unable to bear the provocation, he grabbed Huang Huotu's daughter and intended to beat her to death.

As a result, in full view of everyone, the bullet fired from the pistol grazed Huang Huotu's daughter's temple and entered Huang Huotu's brother-in-law's jaw, killing him on the spot.

To this day, the reason why that happened remains a mystery, but Huang Huotu has since become more convinced of the existence of ghosts and gods.

That incident was a turning point in Huang Huotu's career.

From then on, his relationship with his wife reached a freezing point, and his colleagues at the police station also considered Huang Huotu a traitor who betrayed his own side and were extremely hostile towards him.

Huang Huotu himself didn't want to stay in the criminal investigation team, so he was assigned to the foreign affairs team to sit on the sidelines.

The supernatural events mentioned in the mission, two years later, should be the supernatural events created by Xie Yali in "Double Vision" in order to become an immortal.

Huang Huotu walked into the police station with his head down, looking extremely dejected, which should correspond to this stage.

This mission is somewhat different from previous ones.

Even the most abstract task objectives in the past still had a relatively clear goal.

However, the description of the mission objectives this time is more abstract than before.

Li Zhen was no stranger to the idea of ​​"being free from the fear of paranormal events," having encountered it many times in previous mission worlds.

Such tasks typically require eliminating the culprit behind the paranormal events.

However, this was the first time Li Zhen had encountered a mission that required Huang Huotu to overcome the gloom in his heart.

How can we help Huang Huotu get out of the gloom?
What standards would be considered to have helped Huang Huotu emerge from the shadows?

The most troublesome tasks are those that are vague and ambiguous.

The solution to the underlying cause is simple: just find Xie Yali, who wants to become an immortal, and eliminate her.

However, things are by no means that simple in practice.

Xie Yali's sister has already passed away, and her current condition is unknown.

If Li Zhen were to directly confront Xie Yali and disrupt Xie Yali's long-planned ascension to immortality, the outcome would be uncertain.

Xie Yali's older sister may have already achieved the status of a ghost immortal...

Li Zhen knew he had to be cautious around such a mysterious and unpredictable person.

In past missions, thanks to his precognitive abilities, he was always able to know the origins of the ghosts behind those events, as well as their approximate abilities.

But here, even with his precognitive abilities, he couldn't see through the true nature of the person who might have become a ghost immortal.

The only thing Li Zhen was certain of was that if he made contact with Huang Huotu, or even someone closely related to Huang Huotu, there was a high probability that he would attract that person's attention.

Two years ago, it was Xie Yali's sister who saved Huang Huotu's daughter. The reason was that if Huang Huotu's daughter died, Huang Huotu would definitely not be able to live either.

With the death of Huang Huotu, a key figure in Xie Yali's ascension to immortality, Xie Yali's ascension to immortality encountered a huge setback.

If possible, Li Zhen really wanted to talk to Xie Yali and her sister, but they might not be willing to talk to him.

Things are getting a bit tricky...

However, considering the mission objectives, it may not be necessary to disrupt their ritual and incur their mortal enmity...

Li Zhen looked away, put his hat back on, and completely covered the wound on his head.

Looking at his stiff arms, he noticed that not only had his skin become paler, but his joints had also become stiffer.

In a little while, his body will probably become no different from a zombie.

He had been worried that his "corpse descent" was progressing too quickly, causing him to "corpse-turn" too fast. But then an accident happened, turning him into a corpse.

No need to worry about "corpse descent" anymore...

Li Zhen pressed his hand to his chest, but could no longer feel his heartbeat.

There was no mirror here, so Li Zhen didn't know if the number of "round spots" on his face had increased. He could only see that the number of "round spots" on his arms had increased considerably.

Below his arm, one can see a continuous patch of light purple lines.

Since this is the world of "Double Vision," his condition might not be beyond saving...

There were no living immortals in the original world, at least Li Zhen didn't know if such immortals existed. But here there was a suspected ghost immortal who was still active in the human world and had unresolved karmic ties with it, as well as a person who was about to disintegrate.

Suddenly recalling the light he had seen at the moment of arrival, which resembled the glow of a talisman drawn on a coffin, Li Zhen began to have more speculations.

If that talisman truly influenced his fate at that time, then it pointed to the world of "Double Vision"?

Can he get what he wants here?
Shaking his head, Li Zhen temporarily put the problem aside, reviewed the mission and the details in his memory, and then made a simple arrangement.

The first thing to do is to confirm what time it is now, or rather, to confirm what stage Xie Yali's ascension ceremony has reached.

Li Zhen looked around and led the vampire and the banshee toward a street with a lot of people.

It's evening now, and the sky is getting dark, which is perfect for Detective Li and the vampires' activities.

Pedestrians on the street would avoid Li Zhen from a distance.

Putting aside Li Zhen's appearance, the eerie aura emanating from Li Zhen and the vampire would terrify any ordinary person who got close.

After walking for a short while, Li Zhen saw a newsstand.

These newsstands were a common sight on Taiwan Island in the 2000s.

Li Zhen walked to the newsstand, glanced at the pages, and immediately saw a striking headline—

The Death of Reverend Lorenzo: A Symbol Drawn on His Chest, Was the Murderer a Mage?!
Li Zhen picked up the newspaper and read it carefully.

The newspaper reported the case of a pastor named Lorenzo who was brutally murdered in his home.

The murderer pulled the pastor's intestines out of his abdomen, washed them with water, put them back in, and then stitched up the wound with sewing thread.

Even more bizarrely, a talisman, possibly related to Taoism, was found on Lorenzo's chest wound.

This is a very eye-catching event, and the news media are naturally happy to report on it.

Therefore, this newspaper described this detail the most, and even included a clear photograph.

After reporting on this murder case, the newspaper also mentioned the murders of Liao Zhenfu, chairman of Taifeng Group, and Qiu Miaofang.

In both cases, Liao Zhenfu's office had no water, yet he drowned there.

Similarly, Qiu Miaofang's house did not catch fire, but her body showed many signs of being burned to death.

What these three cases have in common is their bizarre nature.

Li Zhen put down the newspaper and rubbed his temples.

This was exactly the same sequence of killings Xie Yali remembered him to have.

To achieve complete "corpse dissolution," Xie Yali needs to kill five human demons in the following order: "Fu," "Miao," "Jing," "Wang," and "those who do not believe in ghosts and gods."

The so-called "human demon" refers to a guilty person.

The "Fu" mentioned earlier refers to Liao Zhenfu, as reported in the newspaper.

“妙” refers to Qiu Miaofang.

The ancients called Christianity "Jingjiao" (景教), so "Jing" refers to the pastor Lorenzo, who believed in Christ.

The deaths of these five people correspond to the Ice Hell, Fire Pit Hell, and Intestine-Pulling Hell in the Five Hells. The deaths of "Wang" and "the one who does not believe in ghosts and gods" should correspond to the Heart-Digging Hell and Tongue-Pulling Hell, respectively.

If Xie Yali kills two more people, he can proceed to the final stage of transcending death and becoming an immortal.

Detective Li picked up another newspaper.

The front page of this newspaper reported on a press conference held by the police station last week.

Although Liao Zhenfu and Qiu Miaofang were not simple people, their deaths were still under control.

However, the death of Reverend Lorenzo involved international disputes and had serious consequences, making it impossible for the authorities to conceal the matter.

At that press conference, the spokesperson admitted that the death of Reverend Lorenzo was related to the deaths of Liao Zhenfu and Qiu Miaofang, but denied that the incident was related to ghosts or spirits.

Meanwhile, police also announced that the FBI would send an agent specializing in serial murder investigations to assist in the case; the agent's name was Kevin Wright.

So much time has passed, Agent Kevin Wright must have arrived here by now.

After rummaging through the pile of newspapers for a while, Li Zhen found the news about Kevin Wright's arrival in Taiwan.

After putting down the newspaper, Li Zhen picked up another report introducing the information of the three deceased.

This newspaper went quite deep, revealing some of the shady dealings of the three deceased.

Liao Zhenfu once allowed his factory to discharge sewage into the Keelung River, causing widespread pollution of the river.

Chiu Miao-fang was the mistress of a legislator.

Reverend Lorenzo's identity was even more complicated. On the surface, he was a pastor, but in reality, he was an international arms dealer who specialized in reselling arms internationally.

Li Zhen didn't watch any further.

He put down the newspaper and led the vampire and the banshee toward an inn.

It's not time to go see Huang Huotu yet...

There are still three days left...

After successfully checking into the hostel, Li Zhen did not go out again.

When faced with such a mysterious entity, one can never be too cautious.

Instead of sending Xiao Gui or Mahjong Ghost to track down Huang Huotu, so as not to alarm the Xie sisters, Li Zhen sent Xiao Gui to investigate an academician named Sheng Zuchang who studies social anthropology.

That very night, the clever kid managed to find out about the academician named Sheng Zuchang for Li Zhen through the university's humanities research institute.

After obtaining Academician Sheng Zuchang's address, Li Zhen did not visit him in person, but instead patiently waited at the hostel.

During this time, in order to prevent his body from decaying, Li Zhen used the things he had prepared to set up a ritual and began to gradually transform his body into a zombie by using the corpse energy of the vampire.

The method used here is a simple way of creating zombies obtained from the memories of that Wang family member; it only involves initially transforming one's own body into a zombie.

The Wang family rarely uses this method to create zombies.

This method not only consumes the original zombie's corpse energy, but also produces zombies very slowly. Compared with other methods of zombie refining, it is no exaggeration to say that this method is not worth the effort.

But this method is just right for Li Zhen now.

Li Zhen's body had completely lost its yang energy and had no ability to restrain the soul.

In order to bind his primordial spirit within his body, he also needed to use some methods to restrain it, so as to prevent it from leaving his body.

This method can only temporarily provide a dwelling place or an anchor point for his primordial spirit, preventing it from dissipating directly.

Li Zhen had already sensed a barrier between his primordial spirit and his body, which caused the three evil spirits within his consciousness to begin to stir.

If this continues, his primordial spirit will definitely gradually dissipate.

If he cannot find a solution here, then he will have no choice but to walk the path of the ghosts.

What worries Li Zhen is that if he were to stray onto the path of demons, it might create obstacles to his practice of the "Method for Sublimating Evil Spirits into Formless Righteousness"...

The following afternoon, Li Zhen saw a news report on TV about a woman known as "Betel Nut Beauty" who found a body in a van in a downtown area.

If I remember correctly, this should be the scene of the murder of the man named Chen Liangwang, which corresponds to the character "旺" (wang)...

When Li Zhen learned that the man had been killed, he noticed that the runes on the man's arm did not convey any message to him, which made Li Zhen breathe a slight sigh of relief.

It seems this person is not an "innocent person".

Yesterday, while flipping through the newspaper, Li Zhen saw a report about a man named "Chen Liangwang" who drove his parents to their deaths. This must be the man being referred to.

The mission requires him to save innocent people, but the meaning of "innocent people" can be broad or narrow.

In Li Zhen's eyes, Chen Liangwang was not an innocent person.

Liao Zhenfu and Pastor Lorenzo, who were mentioned earlier, were not exactly innocent victims either.

It's time to go see Huang Huotu...

Li Zhen got straight up from the bed, his body stiff as a zombie as he got off.

The vampire lying beside him also sat up, and the corpse aura emanating from it slowly subsided.

As Li Zhen passed by the full-length mirror, he glanced at himself in the mirror.

In the mirror, his face was covered with "round spots," his eyes were bloodshot, and his sunken cheeks had a sickly stiffness, like a wax figure whose face could not make any expression. His neck and below were covered with dense talismans, making him look strange and mysterious.

Li Zhen barely managed to pull his cheeks up, managing to make them move slightly and produce a micro-expression resembling a "smile".

He has completely lost the characteristics of a "human being".

Moreover, Li Zhen had already clearly felt a thirst for blood...

Suppressing his bloodlust, Li Zhen, accompanied by vampires and banshees, ventured out of the inn for the first time.

The sun wasn't strong in the afternoon, and it turned cloudy before evening.

Li Zhen took a taxi to the front of Sheng Zuchang's house.

After glancing at Sheng Zuchang's somewhat familiar house a few times and looking at Sheng Zuchang through the window, confirming that it was the person he was looking for, Li Zhen did not enter Sheng Zuchang's house. Instead, he turned around and walked towards the small park across the street.

The little devil who heard Li Zhen's summons appeared in front of Li Zhen and reported to him, "I've been here all day and haven't seen that Huang Huotu you mentioned come over."

"No one else has been here?"

"There was hardly anyone around. Sheng Zuchang didn't even leave the house all day."

"Continue to monitor Sheng Zuchang, but do not disturb him or get close to him. Just watch from a distance. When you see Huang Huotu arrive, notify me."

The little devil holding the cat disappeared without a sound.

Li Zhen sat motionless, like a statue.

After his body became a zombie, his patience increased. He would never get impatient no matter how long he sat, and he didn't need to eat.

This could be considered one of the benefits of turning oneself into a zombie...

After it got completely dark, Li Zhen still hadn't seen Huang Huotu.

But he wasn't in a hurry.

In his memory, Huang Huotu still does not know the real reason why Liao Zhenfu and others were killed.

When Reverend Lorenzo was killed, Huang Huotu sought out Academician Sheng Zuchang, a social anthropologist who was well-versed in various talismans, in order to find the talisman he had seen on Lorenzo's chest.

Sheng Zuchang recognized the talisman and told Huang Huotu that it was a "goudie," a kind of talisman sent by the underworld to mortals to hasten their death. He also told Huang Huotu that the talisman had appeared at the Zhenxian Temple unearthed in Jiaozhi.

Sheng Zuchang also gave Huang Huotu a photograph he had taken from the stone tablet in front of the "True Immortal Temple," which contained some unreadable scriptures.

Huang Huotu stumbled upon the words "rich," "wonderful," and "scenery" on it.

He recognized that the first three words corresponded to the first three deceased, but he didn't know what the content of the photo meant.

It wasn't until the fourth victim was identified as Chen Liangwang that Huang Huotu was certain the matter was related to ghosts and spirits. So he took the crime scene photos to Sheng Zuchang and learned the truth from him.

Even if Huang Huotu hadn't come to Sheng Zuchang's place at this time, it wouldn't have been a big deal for Li Zhen; he would just have needed to find another way to see Huang Huotu.

Around 8 or 9 o'clock, Xiao Gui hurriedly came to report to Li Zhen that a car had driven up to Sheng Zuchang's building, and the person who got out of the car seemed to be Huang Huotu, whom Li Zhen had mentioned.

Li Zhen opened his eyes.

(End of this chapter)