American Zombie Detective

Chapter 217 Gathering of Evil Stars, Burial in an Inauspicious Place

After leaving Alessa and Yuanxiao in the safe house, Qin Jin returned to the Green Grass Community alone. Not long after he entered, Johnny rushed over in a flurry.

"Boss! I'm here!" The door opened, and Johnny walked in, unable to hide his joy, his face full of flattery: "I just got new information, the original owner of the Blood Relic has been found—"

"Sit down and let's talk, no rush." ​​Qin Jin gestured to the living room sofa.

Johnny then calmed down a bit and sat down before continuing his report: "Boss, it's confirmed. The original collector of this thing was Hermont, a collector who loved Eastern mysticism. Before he died, he auctioned off a batch of his collection, including this relic. I'm thinking of going to New York to see if I can find the auctioneer or a servant from his household and find its new buyer."

Qin Jin listened quietly. Johnny's luck was unbelievable; he found the clue so easily. It seemed a trip to New York would definitely be fruitful. However, spending a couple of days in Los Angeles shouldn't have much of an impact, right?

He was just about to tell Johnny to wait two or three days before leaving when Johnny suddenly slapped his thigh, looking regretful: "Ah! Boss, speaking of which, that old guy died too young! If he weren't dead now, you could go there yourself, and this thing would be yours for the taking."

"How so?" Qin Jin asked casually.

"This old guy's fondness for Eastern mysticism is not just a little bit, it's downright obsessive! Especially things like feng shui, fate, fortune, and annual luck—he supposedly has quite a deep understanding of them."

Johnny was spitting as he spoke, his face full of regret for not getting it for free: "Think about it, with your skills, if you just showed off a little bit, wouldn't he be completely smitten? This would have been a perfect gift!"

Feng shui? Annual fortune?

A dormant node in the depths of Qin Jin's mind flashed by; he vaguely sensed something, but couldn't grasp it.

Qin Jin didn't waste any words, smiled, and said, "The person is gone, there's no point in saying more—" Then he changed the subject, "We'll go to New York a couple of days later."

"Huh? Boss, what do you mean?" Johnny was taken aback.

"Just got back, taking a break," Qin Jin opened his phone and sent a copy of the case file to Johnny: "We've been investigating this case recently. Take a couple of days off and keep an eye out for anything. If you do, let me know. As for New York, contact them by phone first, and go there when we have some leads. It should take three to five days."

"Oh, I got it! Don't worry, boss, I've got it covered!" Johnny glanced at his phone and patted his chest to assure him.

Qin Jin walked to the side, took out three stacks of brand-new US dollars from the drawer, and handed them over: "Here, this is a reward for you. Take it, have fun these two days, spend it as you please. If you don't have enough money, come to me before you leave."

Johnny took the thick 30,000 dollars, his face instantly breaking into a wide smile. He then offered a string of words of gratitude before clutching the files and money like treasures, and left contentedly.

After Johnny left, the living room returned to silence.

Qin Jin sat on the sofa, his mind replaying the scene of Johnny coming in—what was that fleeting inspiration? Where was Johnny talking about?

—By the way, that old collector is obsessed with Eastern feng shui and fortune telling!

And the case he himself was handling—

Qin Jin suddenly realized the entire route of the Blue Line, from where Hilla got on the train to where she saw the three people appear, which was about three stops!

He suddenly realized something!

Although Qin Jin was not good at things like feng shui, he had killed quite a few Taoist priests, celestial masters, and demon hunters over the years. He had also obtained some scattered books and manuals, read them, and had some understanding of them. At least, the blue line had unintentionally formed a fairly typical pattern of gathering evil spirits, which Qin Jin could see at a glance.

However, his memory was always a little off, and Qin Jin couldn't quite pinpoint exactly where that crucial point was, but—

He remembered that there seemed to be a regional topographic map from 90 in the old policeman Murphy's cardboard box, which likely showed the original terrain. This map should be saved on the USB drive, right?

Qin Jin inserted the USB drive into his laptop, opened it, and began searching. Before long, he found scanned archived old maps and planning maps, as well as some photos taken before construction began, among a large number of images.

The photos taken at the start of construction were quite good, capturing all the buildings on the ground at that time. Apart from a church, almost all the others were residential buildings, and the residents were a diverse mix, including whites, Chinese, and African Americans.

The old blueprints on the screen clearly confirmed his guess:

In those days, there were few buildings in that area, and the pattern of the Three Killings converging could be clearly seen. The missing northeast corner formed a missing element; the blue line running across the area had invisibly created a piercing evil!

The convergence of the Three Killings attracts the Five Yellows, and the missing corner pierces the heart, giving rise to the Grand Duke Jupiter;

When the year's fortunes coincide, all kinds of calamities arise; the red horse and the red sheep signify certain death!

This is a very complex geomancy theory. Generally speaking, the convergence of the Three Killings will attract the attention of the Five Yellow Killing Star, which will bring continuous disasters. Furthermore, the missing corner and the piercing heart pattern will breed the Grand Duke Jupiter!

If these two factors are combined, it might be barely enough to suppress the evil spirits. But if the timing and circumstances are also wrong, then it's all over. It will definitely create a "Red Horse and Red Sheep Formation," and trying to break or resolve it will result in death!

Qin Jin immediately calculated the dates for 1990. Sure enough, that year the Five Yellow Star was in the west, and the Grand Duke Jupiter was also in the west, forming a perfect gathering of inauspicious stars, a very ominous situation for "burial in an inauspicious location" —

but!

If that's the case, then it doesn't quite make sense!

But what were the results of old Murphy's investigation back then? — The construction was carried out cleanly and without any accidents or disturbances.

This is extremely abnormal.

Qin Jin re-analyzed the calculations and confirmed that his predictions and the time of day were correct. However, Murphy wasn't lying; he genuinely hadn't seen any reports back then.

Qin Jin pondered for a while and came up with two possibilities:

Either there's some kind of magical treasure or something that single-handedly suppressed this malevolent power!

These items are neither numerous nor scarce, but they are all priceless treasures, such as the Imperial Seal of the State, the Divine Cauldron of the Nine Provinces, the Pangu Axe that opened the heavens and created the earth, the Eastern Emperor Bell that shifts the stars, and the Banner that commands all demons under heaven.

Something like this appearing under a subway in 1990? It's ridiculous!

The second possibility is that something has devoured this evil energy; in other words, something is absorbing the evil energy!

Of course, its absorption of evil energy is not for the purpose of serving the people, but rather to accumulate power for a stronger burst!

If all else fails, then go and take a look.

Qin Jin immediately decided to take Alessa on a walk that night. If there were any magical treasures or anything like that, they would find them. If it was something big, they could also take it down and be done with it.

As Qin Jin shut down the computer, unplugged the USB drive, and was still pondering a third possibility, the phone rang. It was Catherine calling.

As soon as the call connected, Catherine's excited voice burst out, completely forgetting the terrifying ordeal of the previous night: "Qin! We found them! We found one of them! The woman whose back was to the camera!"

Qin Jin held the phone a little further away, picked at his ear, and said helplessly, "Speak slowly, Catherine. Who is she? How did you find her?"

Catherine's deep breaths came through the phone, clearly trying to calm her excitement: "It's Emily! The Chinese-American college student! She and Mark saw us comparing photos and offered to help. Mark recognized the homeless man who was eating with his head down, saying he seemed to see him often near those subway stations. I've already asked my colleagues in team one to look for him based on his features, but we haven't heard anything yet."

She paused, then raised her voice again, her tone incredulous: "The key is that person with their back to the camera! Emily said she saw their face when she got in the car. It's an author named Lana Winters, a romance novelist. She's not a top star, but she has quite a few fans. Emily attended one of her book signings, so she remembers her very well!"

Qin Jin listened quietly; this was indeed an unexpected breakthrough.

However, Catherine's next words made Qin Jin's eyes instantly turn strange.

"The strangest one is Qin!"

Catherine's tone was full of confusion:

I just called Ms. Winters to briefly inquire about what happened that night. She admitted to taking the Blue Line subway that night, but—she said with absolute certainty—she didn't see any three people supporting one person onto the train! She said everything in the carriage was normal, just ordinary late-night passengers!

Didn't you see it?

That's interesting, that's really interesting!

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