I consulted a feng shui master in Hong Kong.

The next morning, Huang Shouzhou was awakened by the noise from the street corner.

He had run his legs off searching for stones all night and only managed to fall asleep in a daze before dawn. When he opened his eyes, he saw half the people on Fu'an Lane talking about how a fire had broken out in Kowloon Walled City during the night and a small temple had burned down.

As a result, there was no further activity at Jinfulou's place.

"Good junior brother, have you heard?" Huang Shouzhou rushed in, his expression a mixture of surprise and joy. "Last night, there was absolutely no news from Jin Fu Lou! And there was a huge fire at the city walled city. Could it be... could something have happened to them?"

Chen Qinghe was sitting at the table drinking tea. Upon hearing this, he simply nodded and said, "Mm."

"Isn't this heaven helping us?" Huang Shouzhou lowered his voice, his eyes shining brightly. "Those people are always acting strangely, but they've finally met their match. If the Pei family finds out, they'll probably treat you like a god."

"We really need to go to the Pei family again today." Chen Qinghe put down his teacup, stood up and said, "The scheme has been dismantled and the root has been cut off. We need to settle them down."

Huang Shouzhou quickly followed.

When the two arrived at Pei's gold shop, Pei Shijie was standing by the counter, looking even better than yesterday.

The tense atmosphere in the shop had mostly dissipated. Mrs. Pei was able to sit still, and her little brother was no longer running a fever, though he was still a bit weak.

"Master Chen!" Pei Shijie visibly relaxed upon seeing the two of them. "The stuffy atmosphere in the shop has disappeared since last night. My mother even said that she didn't have any nightmares for the first time last night."

No sooner had he finished speaking than an old butler rushed in from behind, clutching a newly delivered message in his hand, his expression slightly changed.

"Young master, the fortress is on fire."

Pei Shijie was taken aback, then as if remembering something, he suddenly looked at Chen Qinghe.

"Master Chen, this..."

Chen Qinghe said calmly, "Don't worry, this kind of thing won't happen again."

As soon as he said that, the last bit of unease in Pei Shijie's heart subsided.

Just then, another car stopped outside.

As soon as the car door opened, two plainclothes officers stepped out.

One was older, with a sallow complexion, and his steps were unsteady; the other was younger, but his expression was very upright, and he showed his identification as soon as he entered.

"Chen Qinghe, Master Chen?" the young police officer said. "We're from the Kowloon Regional Crime Unit. We'd like you to give a brief report on the fire in the Walled City last night."

Huang Shouzhou felt a pang of anxiety upon hearing this and instinctively tried to step forward to block the way.

Chen Qinghe, however, didn't seem to care: "What is it?"

The senior police officer clearly recognized Chen Qinghe, his face showing a mixture of lingering fear and respect: "Actually, we wanted to invite you to the police station to ask about the fire at the small Buddhist temple in the walled city, and also about a guy inside called 'Eight-Faced Buddha.' When we went there today, we only saw that he was seriously injured, but there are some cases that are related to this Eight-Faced Buddha, and we need to inquire about them."

"Actually, we've been keeping an eye on these people from Southeast Asia for a while now. But they're too weird. Our men went in to investigate, and three of them were killed in a row. They either ran into walls in the middle of the night, or suddenly developed high fevers, and couldn't even hold their guns properly. If someone hadn't said last night that they saw a young man barging in all by himself, we still wouldn't know what kind of place it was."

The young police officer immediately chimed in, "Mr. Chen, we're not here to make things difficult for you. We just want to get to the bottom of things and see what really happened."

Chen Qinghe nodded.

Such things are not a big deal.

The young officer visibly relaxed, quickly put away his identification, and took a half-step back, his tone becoming even more polite than before: "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Chen. Our car is outside; if it's convenient for you, you can come over now. If you're not finished here, we can wait."

Huang Shouzhou stood aside, his previously anxious heart finally calming down a bit. He had been worried that the police were there to cause trouble, but now, seeing their attitude, it was clear that they were treating his junior brother as a distinguished guest.

The older officer coughed, his voice a little hoarse: "Master Chen, last night's fire in the Walled City exposed this fake Buddha. We went in early this morning and have already taken quite a few things from that small temple: black amulets, cinnabar, ashes, account books, several bags of Buddha amulets of unknown origin, and a few pieces of paper with names and shop numbers written on them."

As he said this, his expression darkened further.

"This 'Eight-Faced Buddha' pretends to be a high-ranking monk on the surface, but behind the scenes he does all sorts of dirty things. First, he sets up schemes for people to make money through windfall gains and life-borrowing schemes, and then he uses the situation to drive people to desperation. If someone dies, he says it's because they have a bad fate; if someone goes mad, he says it's because of bad luck; if someone's family falls into ruin, he tells people to pay more to change the scheme. In total, there are at least seven or eight murder cases and missing persons cases that are inextricably linked to him."

The young officer immediately chimed in: "We also found out that a couple of years ago, there was a bank owner who was doing well, but suddenly he became obsessed with his methods, investing over a hundred thousand dollars in him. In the end, his business collapsed, and he jumped into the sea. His family reported it to the police, but they just assumed he had a mental breakdown. There was also a dockworker who first asked him to renovate his house, and then his family suffered a series of misfortunes, eventually dying at the bottom of the stairs. There are more than just one or two cases like this being suppressed in the Walled City."

Huang Shouzhou felt a chill run down his spine and subconsciously glanced at Chen Qinghe.

Chen Qinghe remained expressionless, only asking one question: "Has the Eight-Faced Buddha spoken yet?"

The older police officer shook his head and gave a wry smile: "He's barely alive. He's awake, but he's incredibly stubborn. Our men questioned him for ages, but he just cursed and wouldn't answer. But his temple's account books and those few errand boys under his command are enough to give him a hard time. If you hadn't gone in last night, crippled him, and broken the temple's magic spell, we probably wouldn't even know where we'd start, let alone get these things."

Upon hearing this, Huang Shouzhou straightened his back a bit.

Normally, the locals in Sham Shui Po would just say "Master Chan is really capable," and he'd already feel quite honored. But now, even the Kowloon Regional Crime Unit had publicly acknowledged his abilities; this level of respect was something no one else in the neighborhood could match.

The older officer paused, then said in a low voice, "To be honest, we investigators are usually the least superstitious about this kind of thing. But after following the Eight-Faced Buddha's trail, we realized that some things can't be figured out just by checking accounts and taking statements. His temples and houses are all undercover. Last night, we originally wanted to arrest people directly at that place, but before we even went in, someone had a high fever, someone banged their head against the wall, and they couldn't even hold their gun properly. If you hadn't gone in first and disrupted the situation, we might have lost more people when we went in today."

At this point, he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Chen Qinghe.

"So the reason I'm here today is twofold: firstly, as is customary, to ask you to clarify what happened last night; and secondly, to thank you in person."

After listening, Chen Qinghe simply nodded: "I will say what I need to say. As for thanks, there's no need to keep it to yourself. Now that you've taken over the Eight-Faced Buddha line, how deep you can dig is up to you."

The young officer immediately replied, "Understood."

The older officer smiled and said, "Your words make us feel a little more at ease."

Huang Shouzhou stood to the side, his heart already burning with excitement, practically beaming with pride. But he knew he couldn't say anything now, so he suppressed his smugness and stood there obediently.

It only took Chen Qinghe an hour or two to get to the police station. The Eight-Faced Buddha had committed many evil deeds, and it can be said that those who do many evil deeds will surely perish.

He did not interfere in the aftermath.

After a series of inquiries, Chen Qinghe also got to know the older policeman from before.

His name is Gu, Gu Chengyue.

He's the current head of the Major Crimes Unit, and I got to see him for myself today.

At this moment, Chen Qinghe should have been respectfully escorted out, but Gu Chengyue's face showed a hint of pleading for help.

"Master Chen, if you have some free time, could you please check on one of our brothers? He didn't get sick on his own; it's highly likely... he's been cursed."

"You've been hit by a spell?" Huang Shouzhou felt a chill run down his spine.

"Yes." The young police officer next to Gu Chengyue nodded. "He's still in the hospital. He was unconscious all day, and the doctors can't find anything. If you could take a look, our police force... will definitely remember this favor."

After listening, Chen Qinghe's expression remained unchanged, and he only asked one question: "Are there any of his personal belongings?"

The young officer was taken aback, and then subconsciously turned around to look at the older man behind him.

The older police officer blushed, somewhat embarrassed: "Well... do underwear count?"

Huang Shou-zhou almost choked on the spot.

Chen Qinghe nodded calmly: "You can count it."

Half an hour later, in a private room at the hospital.

The police officer on the hospital bed had a sallow complexion, bluish lips, and his chest was rising and falling very shallowly, as if something invisible was pressing down on him.

Several police officers stood to the side, their expressions grim, clearly having been on guard for quite some time.

When they saw Chen Qinghe appear, their faces were filled with joy.

"It's that master!"

"That master who single-handedly defeated the Eight-Faced Buddha!"

Gu Chengyue seemed to be quite prestigious. At this moment, he raised his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet, and then said to Chen Qinghe, "Master Chen."

He lowered his voice, "We're really out of options here. We've been watching those people from Southeast Asia for almost half a year, but we haven't been able to find a suitable method. Some time ago, my men went in to keep watch, and when they came back, they were all more sinister than the last one. The last one was the worst; he just passed out."

He paused here, a hint of regret in his eyes.

"Last night we originally intended to take action against the Eight-Faced Buddha, but when we got to the door we realized we were no match for him. If you hadn't gone in first and smashed up the place, there would probably have been a few more deaths in the walled city today."

Chen Qinghe ignored the compliment, took the undergarment, placed it by the bed, casually pulled out a piece of yellow paper, and then took the warm water that the nurse had just brought.

Huang Shouzhou stood to the side, watching as he dipped his fingertip in water and quickly drew a few strokes on the yellow paper. He didn't chant any mystical incantations, but only softly uttered a single sentence as he pressed the talisman against the patient's chest:

"Return".

As soon as he finished speaking, the police officer on the hospital bed trembled violently.

The next moment, he tilted his head back and spat out a mouthful of black water with a "whoosh".

All the police officers inside were stunned by this.

Some people instinctively took a step forward, then stopped abruptly, as if afraid that they would mess things up if they bumped into something.

Detective Gu didn't even blink, staring intently at the black liquid, feeling a chill run down his spine.

Because that stuff didn't resemble ordinary vomit at all; it was like a stagnant pool of water that had been stagnant for too long, black and murky, with an indescribable fishy smell.

After vomiting, the police officer on the hospital bed felt his chest rise and fall a few times, and the sallow complexion on his face visibly faded a little.

After a moment, he slowly opened his eyes.

The room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

The officer's eyes were still somewhat unfocused, as if he had just crawled back from a very far place. His lips moved, but his first words were spoken in a hoarse voice:

"Master Chen... thank you so much, Master Chen..."

Detective Gu was completely stunned by what he saw. After a long while, he took a deep breath and solemnly cupped his hands in greeting to Chen Qinghe.

"Master Chen," he said softly, "we'll remember this favor."

Chen Qinghe straightened his cuffs, his expression remaining calm: "It's nothing."

This is something that should be done; there's no need to be proud or boastful about it.

But the police officers inside, who had previously been skeptical of "feng shui and physiognomy," now looked at him with completely different eyes.

That's not just being polite.

I'm genuinely impressed.

That was surprising too.

Over the years of their work, they have seen blood, guns, and the darkest corners of the human heart.

But this was the first time they had ever seen someone pull half a life back from the jaws of death with just a simple "come back."

After the police officer in the hospital bed woke up, the oppressive atmosphere in the room finally eased a bit.

Detective Gu stood by the bed, watching the nurse take away the sip of black liquid. His expression shifted from shock to doubt, and then to complete conviction in just a few breaths. He had invited Chen Qinghe earlier as a last resort, not entirely confident in his abilities.

But now that the person is awake and clear-eyed, the lingering doubts can no longer be sustained.

Gu Chengyue turned around and solemnly cupped his hands in greeting to Chen Qinghe.

"Master Chen, I, Gu Chengyue, will remember this kindness."

Chen Qinghe waved his hand: "It was nothing."

Gu Chengyue didn't reply immediately. He just glanced at the few police officers who were still standing there in a daze at the door of the ward and said in a low voice, "You guys go out first."

The police officers looked at each other, quickly responded, closed the door, and left.

The ward was suddenly left with only Gu Chengyue, Chen Qinghe, and Huang Shouzhuo, plus the police officer on the bed whose face was still pale but who had at least survived.

Huang Shouzhou was very good at reading people's expressions. As soon as he saw this, he knew that what Detective Gu was about to say was not just polite talk.