Mysterious Séancer: My Doll Can Really Show Its Power

The branch in the third small square was half thrown away when the police car arrived.

It was already dark, and heavy snow was falling.

Chen Tao, who had just returned from Shanghai, saw Yang Ning and his two companions from afar. He signaled his colleague to park the car on the side, got out, and trudged over through the ankle-deep snow.

"What are you doing here so late at night, and with the snow falling?"

As they were talking, Chen Tao noticed the grid in front of Yang Ning, and the small piles of branches placed inside it.

The snow fell heavier and heavier over the course of the day. Chaoge Xue and Bai Mao, who were beside Yang Ning, were both covered in snow, but he and the square in front of him were completely untouched by the snow.

Chen Tao stared at the grid pattern that stood out starkly against the snow, his eyes glancing out of the corner of his eye at the brick kiln not far away, and his eyes began to twitch incessantly.

Yang Ning, who was originally throwing twigs one by one into the third square, saw Chen Tao arrive and threw all the twigs that were supposed to be thrown into that square at once.

He looked up and greeted Chen Tao with a smile, "Captain Chen, long time no see, how have you been?"

Chen Tao replied very politely, "Thanks to you, it's very good."

He was just being polite casually, but the way he said it took on a different meaning.

After all, he used to be the captain in the provincial capital, Zhongzhou, but now he's been demoted to the captain position in Liangcheng.

And all of this is thanks to Yang Ning.

Yang Ning joked, "Oh? It seems Captain Chen has some grievances against me?"

"No, no!"

Chen Tao hurriedly waved his hand and said, "How could that be? It's my own good fortune!"

He pointed to the grid pattern on the ground and tentatively asked, "What's this... how you're doing it?"

Yang Ning yawned, and the white-haired man next to him said, "Yes, Captain Chen, if you've finished asking your questions, please excuse yourself."

Knowing that the white-haired creature in front of him was no ordinary person, Chen Tao nodded without saying anything and trudged back through the snowdrifts.

As soon as he got into the car, the officer driving pointed to the brickyard over there and said, "I bet the moment our police car shows up, there's a flurry of activity going on in that place."

"Just like the previous times, if we break in, those people will be playing mahjong again. We might find some gambling equipment, but they'll deny everything. We'll just have to put them in jail for a few days and then release them..."

After finishing his own explanation, the officer remembered to ask Chen Tao, "Captain Chen, what were you doing down there just now? You were standing by the roadside, bowing and scraping to an empty space. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought it was Director Zhang there."

Chen Tao suddenly paused, turned his head, pointed out the car window, and asked the police officer, "You...you can't see three people over there?"

This time, the police officer was suddenly taken aback. He turned his head and looked carefully in the direction Chen Tao was pointing, then looked at Chen Tao again, and said with a stiff smile, "Captain Chen, in this heavy snow, in the middle of nowhere at night, your joke is a bit creepy..."

Chen Tao: "..."

Just then, the two heard the roar of a motorcycle behind them.

Under the dim streetlights, a truck rumbled through the snow on this snowy night, heading towards Chen Tao and his companion.

The two men in the police car remained silent. Out of professional vigilance, the officer driving the car slightly opened the window, and a cold wind carrying snowflakes rushed into the car, causing both men to shiver.

As the truck drew closer, the officer in the driver's seat whispered, "Captain Chen, there looks like someone's lying on top of that truck?"

Chen Tao: "Don't talk. Who would lie on a truck for no reason in the dead of winter? Let's take another look."

Soon, the truck approached and drove straight past the police car.

Chen Tao and his police officer both stared wide-eyed at the back of the truck.

On this snowy winter night, the open cargo bed of the truck was packed with people!

None of those people seemed to be short of money, yet they all stood willingly in that carriage, chatting and laughing as if they didn't care at all, even though they were freezing!

Because there was no room to stand in the cargo compartment, some people lay down on top of the truck's cab.

The police officer driving the car quickly scanned the people inside, using the streetlights and the headlights of his police car as his eyes darted around.

"Captain Chen, something's wrong! Something's really wrong!"

He exclaimed excitedly, "I recognized several of the people in the carriage at a glance!"

"They're either people we're closely monitoring, or people we've arrested before! There's definitely something going on with these people hanging around together!"

Having weathered the storm, Chen Tao looked towards the main road ahead at Yang Ning and his two companions. He asked the officer beside him, "You really can't see those three people?"

"Hey, Captain Chen!"

The police officer pointed to the bus ahead and said anxiously, "What time is it? Are you still telling ghost stories?"

"Should we follow? No, we're in a police car, too conspicuous. They can't drive fast in the snow, I'll chase them on foot!"

After saying that, before Chen Tao could react, the police officer opened the car door and sped out.

Chen Tao watched this scene silently, then glanced at Yang Ning and the other two by the roadside ahead, and then at the brick kiln. He sat calmly in the car and lit a cigarette for himself.

Soon, the car was filled with smoke.

After seeing the truck drive into the brickyard, Chen Tao took out his phone and made a call.

"Hey, Xiao Wu, let the forensic doctors and evidence specialists in the bureau know they might have to work overtime tonight."

"And the city hospital, just say that the police are handling a case and need them to deploy some emergency doctors to be on standby. You go and take care of that first, and I'll explain it to Director Zhang."

"What? Director Zhang isn't here? He just rushed out in a hurry? Never mind that, get on with your work."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Tao silently finished his cigarette before opening the car door and getting out.

He had just gotten out of the car when he saw his police officer colleagues jogging towards him through the snow.

"Team Leader Chen! I saw it! That truck went into Xu Chao's brickyard!"

From dozens of meters away, the police officer shouted excitedly to Chen Tao, "Quickly notify the station to arrest him!"

Adjusting his hat, Chen Tao looked at his excited, panting young colleague, patted the young officer on the shoulder, and said, "You're arresting people without even knowing what's going on inside?"

"What if they're having tea or a meal inside?"

The young police officer exclaimed in astonishment, "How is that possible?!"

As he spoke, the officer's expression suddenly became complicated. He stammered, "Um, Officer Chen, was...was I too rash?"

That's what they said, but given the increasingly complicated look in the police officer's eyes, Chen Tao could sense that the young man in front of him was beginning to doubt whether he was rotting away.

He smiled and gestured for the officer to come forward with him, "Let's go over and see what's going on first."

The two passed by the place where Yang Ning and the other two had been before, and at this time, there was indeed no one there anymore.

Chen Tao glanced at the roadside and noticed that the grid Yang Ning had drawn was still there.

He walked over and took a look, and found that a stick of incense was burning in the fourth square of the grid.

"Captain Chen, what's this? Could it be some kind of code left by those people?"

Chen Tao laughed immediately, patted the police officer next to him on the back, and said, "Maybe."

Then, he pointed to a line of words next to the grid and said, "Did you see those sentences?"

The officer turned his head and saw a sentence left on the snow—

Don't listen, don't look, don't go near, wait until dawn, otherwise something bad will happen.

The officer gave a cold laugh. "Captain Chen, I don't believe in this stuff. I'm going to go check it out right now!"

As he spoke, the police officer strode toward the brickyard over there.

Chen Tao stood there and lit another cigarette for himself.

He smoked while looking at the words left in the snow.

Besides the text the police officer had just seen, there was a second paragraph.

"Young people are impulsive, that's understandable. It's not a big deal. Just bring it to Zhongzhou tomorrow so I can slap it."

After reading this passage, Chen Tao looked up and gazed ahead.

The young police officer jogged to the brick kiln wall and swiftly scaled it.

I peered through the wall.

......