The Terror of the Heavens Begins with Gu

Chapter 166 The Truth and the Birth of the Ghost Immortal

With a heavy heart, Huang Huotu got out of the car with the documents in his hand and headed towards Sheng Zuchang's house.

After Reverend Lorenzo's death, at Kevin Wright's request, he and Kevin Wright visited Academician Sheng Zuchang.

Academician Sheng Zuchang recognized the origin of the talisman on Pastor Lorenzo's chest, told him that the talisman came from the Zhenxian Temple, and gave him some information.

It was from the materials given to him by Academician Sheng Zuchang that Huang Huotu discovered those clues.

He had guessed that the mastermind might kill people in the order of "Fu", "Miao", "Jing", "Wang", etc., but he didn't know how to continue the investigation.

The character “旺” at the end does not necessarily refer to a name, just as “景” refers to Nestorianism, not a name.

It wasn't until he learned that the body found in the bustling city today was named "Chen Liangwang" that Huang Huotu became completely convinced that what he had discovered was the killer's order of murder.

The True Immortal Temple, the edicts, the mysterious inscriptions...

This case doesn't seem simple at all.

Originally, people in the bureau said that these cases were not committed by humans, but by ghosts or gods, and that the murderer was destined to be found. Huang Huotu did not quite believe this statement.

But the deeper he got involved in the case, the more he believed it was related to ghosts and spirits.

His experience two years ago made him less averse to ghosts and spirits.

Here, his ideas are incompatible with Kevin Wright's.

In cases like this, Kevin Wright, who adheres to scientific principles, is more likely to believe that it was the work of unknown aliens than to believe in ghosts or spirits.

After knocking on Academician Sheng Zuchang's door, Huang Huotu apologized for disturbing him.

Academician Sheng Zuchang, who is nearly seventy years old, is a typical scholar. He greeted Huang Huotu with a smile and welcomed him inside.

A dozen minutes later, Huang Huotu, looking preoccupied, pushed open the door and walked out of Academician Sheng Zuchang's home.

After seeing more photos from the scene, Academician Sheng Zuchang said he knew what the murderer wanted to do.

The Five Hells...

Five human demons...

Only those suffering from serious illnesses can gain profound insights...

Is there really someone practicing the path of immortality according to the order of that ritual?
The glimpse of that mysterious world revealed in these murder cases made Huang Huotu somewhat uneasy.

Through this visit, Huang Huotu finally understood what "Shaoyang Taiyin" referred to after "those who do not believe in ghosts and gods" in the inscription.

According to Academician Sheng, "Shaoyang" and "Taiyin" refer to "fire" and "earth" respectively, so together they are "fire and earth".

Will the murderer's ascension to immortality involve someone named "Fire and Earth"?
Or is it involving other people named "Fire and Earth"?
Or perhaps he's overthinking it?

Recalling what happened two years ago, Huang Huotu felt even more uneasy.

After standing on the steps in front of the door for a while, he walked towards his car.

Now is not the time to overthink things; the most important thing is to use this evidence and clues to track down the killer.

Huang Huotu kept reminding himself in his heart.

Having been in a slump for many years in the foreign affairs group and failing to handle his own family affairs, Huang Huotu originally had no interest in getting involved in this case.

However, after Kevin Wright became involved in the case, he became inextricably entangled in it.

Perhaps it has something to do with the influence of Kevin Wright.

Kevin Wright is not only very serious when dealing with murder cases, but he is also very popular and makes friends easily.

After noticing the discord between Huang Huotu and his wife, the kind-hearted Kevin Wright even tried to help Huang Huotu mend their relationship.

Even someone as pessimistic as Huang Huotu became much more optimistic after spending time with Kevin Wright.

Huang Huotu reached for his car door and suddenly heard a voice behind him.

"Officer Huang Huotu from the Foreign Affairs Department?"

The sound made Huang Huotu feel very uncomfortable, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

Turning around, Huang Huotu felt a chill run down his spine.

The person speaking was standing a few meters away under a streetlamp, half of their face hidden in shadow, the other half visible under the bright streetlamp light.

The face was pale and stiff, covered with round spots like lividity, and a layer of light purple bruises extended from the face down to the chin, indistinguishable from lividity.

If this person were lying in the morgue, Huang Huotu would definitely think it was a corpse.

Having worked in the criminal investigation team for so many years, he had seen all kinds of corpses and would never fail to recognize one.

But now, this corpse is standing in front of him and talking to him?
Perhaps this person is suffering from some strange illness?

Huang Huotu gave himself a reason.

"Is this Officer Huang?" the man asked again.

Huang Huotu, realizing what was happening, nodded: "It's me. And you are?"

The person appearing opposite Huang Huotu was naturally Li Zhen.

“I have a case involving foreign affairs that I want to report to Officer Huang. Could you come with me?” Li Zhen tried to smile, but his face was too stiff to manage a smile.

"Now?" Huang Huotu looked somewhat hesitant.

If it weren't Li Zhen standing in front of him, but a normal person, he wouldn't have hesitated so much.

Yes, right now.

"Is there something you can't say now?"

"Officer Huang, this is a very important matter; it involves several lives."

"Where are you taking me?"

“It’s over there, just a few minutes away. There are some things that Officer Huang has to see with his own eyes before he will believe it.”

Huang Huotu still had some doubts, mainly because Li Zhen's condition was too strange, making him feel unsafe.

But then he thought, if his negligence caused the injury or death of innocent people, regardless of whether he was derelict in his duty, he would feel guilty.

After looking Li Zhen up and down a few more times, he began to see him as an illegal worker who had come to Taiwan from who-knows-where.

Perhaps it was this very identity that drove the person in front of him to desperation, leading him to seek help from him upon their unexpected encounter.

Huang Huotu offered a relatively reasonable explanation for the situation before him.

As for other strange things, he didn't think much of them.

"I have time now, I can go with you to take a look."

Without saying anything more, Li Zhen turned and walked across the street.

Huang Huotu, who was following behind Li Zhen, noticed that Li Zhen's movements were very stiff and seemed very strange.

Feeling a chill run down his spine, Huang Huotu reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone.

If the situation becomes unfavorable, he can call for backup via his mobile phone.

Although the person in front of them was strange, they hadn't noticed anything amiss along the way.

After walking through the small park, the two went up into an abandoned building.

The building reeked of urine, and the floor was littered with all sorts of household garbage. The walls were covered with bizarre graffiti.

A bonfire was burning in the middle of the first floor, and although there were no lights in the small building, the light was still quite sufficient.

After observing the situation inside the small building, Huang Huotu became even more certain that Li Zhen was an undocumented migrant worker who had entered the country without legal status.

Over the years, countless illegal immigrants have come from South Asia.

Huang Huotu, a police officer in the Foreign Affairs Division, spends most of his time dealing with these kinds of people and has become somewhat well-known among them.

So it's normal that this person knows him.

Li Zhen didn't stop on the first floor, but instead walked up the dilapidated stairs, which looked like they might collapse at any moment, all the way to the third floor.

The third floor was originally a residential building, but now it's in a terrible state, with all sorts of garbage everywhere.

The windows were wide open, and you could see the streetlights throughout the dark park.

A bonfire was also lit here.

Using the firelight, the wary Huang Huotu looked around but found no one else.

He frowned as he looked at Li Zhen's retreating figure: "Sir, what are you talking about regarding the human life? It seems like you're the only one here?"

"Wait a moment." Li Zhen turned to look at Huang Huotu.

Huang Huotu didn't know what to wait for. Suddenly, a series of "bang" sounds rang out, followed by the sound of heavy objects hitting the ground.

The whole building shook.

Startled, Huang Huotu turned and ran to the third-floor entrance to look down. He saw that only two or three steps remained of the original staircase, and the steps beyond had disappeared.

A large amount of dust rose from downstairs, blocking Huang Huotu's view.

Even if he couldn't see it, Huang Huotu knew that it must have been caused by the steps falling down.

Judging from the noise, it wasn't just the third-floor steps that collapsed; the second-floor stairs probably collapsed as well.

It's not surprising that the staircase of a dilapidated building collapsed.

What Huang Huotu found strange was that it happened too coincidentally; he had just stepped onto the stairs when they collapsed.

But he was also thankful that the stairs did not collapse when he stepped on them, otherwise he certainly would not have survived.

Still somewhat shaken, Huang Huotu took out his phone to call for backup, while reassuring Li Zhen, "It's just that the stairs collapsed, don't worry, I'll find someone..."

He suddenly heard Detective Li say something completely unrelated: "Wang refers to Chen Liangwang, so does Officer Chen know who the one who doesn't believe in ghosts and gods is?"

Huang Huotu suddenly turned around and looked at Li Zhen in surprise.

"You...what did you say? You don't believe in ghosts and gods?"

Li Zhen looked into Huang Huotu's eyes: "Chen Liangwang is already dead. Four out of the five people are dead. The last one is a non-believer in ghosts and gods, corresponding to the Tongue-Pulling Hell in the Five Hells."

"Now that things have come to this point, the mastermind behind the scenes is only one step away from becoming an immortal. As long as she kills those who do not believe in ghosts and gods, she will have completed her preparations for the ascension ceremony."

Huang Huotu stepped back to the wall and asked again, "Who are you? How do you know all this?"

"That's not important. What's important is who the next non-believer to die will be."

"Do you know who the killer's next target is?"

"Those who do not believe in ghosts and gods, as the name suggests, are those who have no faith in ghosts and gods at all. Isn't there such a person around Officer Huang?"

"Who exactly are you talking about?" Huang Huotu, who was breathing heavily, thought of many different people.

After learning that "Wang" referred to Chen Liangwang, he also considered who the "non-believers in ghosts and gods" might refer to.

The meaning of "those who do not believe in ghosts and gods" is not difficult to understand literally, but it is too broad.

Obviously, with such advanced science in society, there are countless people who do not believe in ghosts and gods, and it is impossible to identify the next victim based solely on this characteristic.

But now Huang Huotu heard that this person was one of the people next to him. How could Huang Huotu not be worried?
He didn't completely believe Li Zhen's words. He was talking to Li Zhen hoping to hear more useful information, but when he heard Li Zhen say that the people around him were "non-believers in ghosts and gods," the anxiety on his face was genuine.

If his family or his friends are involved...

Huang Huotu heard a somewhat unexpected name from Li Zhen.

"Kevin Wright".

"Kevin?" Kevin's image appeared in Huang Huotu's mind. "Why is Kevin the one who doesn't believe in ghosts and gods?"

“Officer Huang didn’t understand what ‘non-believers in ghosts and gods’ meant.” Li Zhen sat down by the fire. “The so-called non-believers in ghosts and gods do not refer to people who do not believe in gods at all, but to people who do not believe in the Chinese way of gods and ghosts.”

"You mean Kevin is a foreigner who believes in Christianity, so he's one of those people here who doesn't believe in ghosts and gods?" Huang Huotu shook his head. "No, there are countless people like Kevin, why would it be Kevin?"

Even if what the other party said is true, it doesn't necessarily refer to Kevin.

Huang Huotu keenly grasped this key point of logic, but his unease did not disappear.

The other party must have mentioned Kevin for a reason.

As the other party said, Kevin does indeed fit the description of "a person who does not believe in ghosts and gods".

Instead of explaining, Li Zhen brought up a topic that seemed unrelated to the question: "Shaoyang and Taiyin refer to fire and earth, which is to say, you, Huang Huotu. Officer Huang, you are destined to help the mastermind complete your final self-destruction."

Huang Huotu's heart sank.

The fact that the other party even knew about the "Lesser Yang and Greater Yin" theory and directly connected it to him shows that the other party not only knew about the True Immortal Temple, but also had a thorough understanding of what was happening.

This made Huang Huotu even more worried about Kevin.

Clearing his throat, Li Zhen continued, "Two years ago, when your daughter was kidnapped, if nothing supernatural had happened, she might have been killed. If your daughter had been killed, would you have survived?"

Li Zhen looked at Huang Huotu.

Huang Huotu said, "What does what happened two years ago have to do with what's happening now?"

“Of course it’s related,” Li Zhen said. “If you die, how will you complete her final act of self-disposition?”

Huang Huotu's breath hitched: "Someone... deliberately saved my daughter, just to save me?"

"You cannot die for the mastermind who needs you, nor can your daughter, who can affect your life or death."

A gust of cold wind blew into the room through the window, causing the flames to flicker.

Li Zhen glanced at the night sky outside the window, then casually turned to Huang Huotu: "The reason your daughter can't speak is probably because she saw something, and someone doesn't want her to talk about it. You..."

The words stopped abruptly.

Li Zhen suddenly lowered his head and spat out a small piece of pale flesh onto the ground.

The piece of meat bounced a few times and rolled to a branch next to the fire.

Under the flickering flames, the coating on parts of the irregularly shaped pieces of meat was clearly visible.

"what happened to you?"

Looking at the chunks of meat on the ground, Huang Huotu felt a growing chill in his heart.

If he wasn't mistaken, it was definitely a small piece of tongue.

How can a person's tongue suddenly fall out of their mouth while speaking?
How could such a sight not terrify Huang Huotu?

From the moment he saw the person in front of him, Huang Huotu experienced several exciting things that made his heart race in a short period of time.

Li Zhen raised his head, glanced around the room, and said in an even more indistinct voice, "You are... the one destined to complete her self-destruction. After you complete her self-destruction, she will take you with her."

"But before that, she will kill those who do not believe in ghosts and gods."

"Her followers also wanted to die with him... Who would they send to die in their place?"

"The car transporting Chen Liangwang's body is heading to a place. You will find that place soon. As long as you send a large number of police officers there, you will fall into their trap."

“They will resist, they will kill, and the former police officers will help them on their own… by disbanding themselves.”

"Will they attack the police?" Huang Huotu tried his best to suppress his rapidly beating heart.

His right hand, gripping the phone so tightly, had turned white.

“That was their plan.” Li Zhen’s words became increasingly vague. “Liao Zhenfu and his men deserved to die, but… I believe Kevin is innocent, and your colleagues are innocent too.”

"She committed so many bloody crimes in order to complete her process of becoming an immortal and to complete the ritual that she had been preparing for a thousand years."

Huang Huotu said in a deep voice, "Do you know who the murderer is?"

"Telling you who the real culprit is will not make any difference."

"Why is it meaningless? If you just tell me, I can catch the murderer and prevent the bloodshed!"

“These things can’t be kept from her. She knows what we’re talking about and what you’re going to do. Even if you inform Kevin Wright now, it won’t help. There’s only one way to prevent the subsequent murders, and even to prevent her from… uh… becoming… an immortal!”

Suddenly feeling dizzy, Li Zhen reached out and pressed his hand to his head.

The primordial spirit that he had suppressed within his body suddenly stirred and almost left his body.

To make matters worse, the three evil spirits within his consciousness also launched a backlash at that moment, causing Li Zhen to once again experience the burning pain of his consciousness.

In that instant, the problems he had suppressed suddenly erupted, putting him in the most dangerous situation.

This is no coincidence!
Li Zhen quickly pulled open his clothes and used his sharp fingernails to carve a line of talismans on his body.

After carving the talisman, he lowered his hand and hurriedly chanted a spell.

Once his primordial spirit stabilized, Li Zhen used his powerful primordial spirit to suppress the restless demons in his consciousness, and then looked around.

"Is this your warning? I don't know what situation you're in right now, but I know you can't do anything to me! Otherwise, you wouldn't be resorting to these petty tricks to warn me!"

His eyes were filled with black corpse energy, turning into two pitch-black vortexes. The circular spots on his pale face kept writhing, making him look even more sinister and terrifying.

"Officer Huang, didn't you want to know how to stop her from continuing to kill and stop her from becoming an immortal?"

Li Zhen looked at the terrified Huang Huotu, his dark eyes becoming even more unfathomable.

"Once you die, her path to immortality will become nothing but an illusion!"

(End of this chapter)