When we arrived at the entrance of the village, Hao Wenming and Lin Feng were standing beside a Beijing Jeep. As soon as they saw us, they walked over.
Hao Wenming turned to Gao Liang and said, "Chief Gao, everything is ready. Do you want to double-check it?"
Gao Liang nodded. "Might as well. We don't want anything going wrong at the last minute."
Hao Wenming pulled out several ritual items from the car. It was 1975, and supplies were still quite scarce. Apart from several stacks of joss paper, the only offerings were a few apples and a bottle of baijiu.
Next to the offerings, however, was a funerary urn. Not just me—Xiao Heshang was just as taken aback. We were supposed to be visiting a grave. What was the urn for?
"Fatty, why is there a funerary urn?" Xiao Heshang asked Gao Liang.
"I made some changes to the plan," Gao Liang replied. "Three grown men going to pay respects at a grave looks a little off. So I changed it up—Sanda and I will visit the grave, and you'll go bury the urn."
Xiao Heshang gave him a look. "Why do you two get to visit the grave while I play the mourning son? If there's grief to be faked, we all fake it together."
Gao Liang ignored him. He walked up to Xiao Heshang, opened the urn, and held it in front of him. One glance at its contents and cold sweat broke out on Xiao Heshang's forehead.
"Isn't this a little extreme?" he muttered. Then, as if he realized something, his face flushed red. He glared at Gao Liang and shouted, "You bastard—what's that supposed to mean? I was wondering why you insisted I carry the urn. You want me to die with that Tao guy?!"
They were standing outside of my—Shao Sanda's—field of vision, so I couldn't see what was inside the urn that shocked Xiao Heshang so much.
Gao Liang closed the urn and rolled his eyes at Xiao Heshang. "Even if I wanted someone to die with him, you think I'd rely on you? Just hold onto it. If things go south—hand it to Sanda." He turned and glanced at "me." "Sanda, I'm counting on you."
Inside Shao Sanda's body, I still couldn't tell whether this was a dream. Maybe because this body wasn't mine, and because of what happened last time, I wasn't too scared. But I had completely lost control—I could only watch through Shao Sanda's eyes and listen with his ears as events unfolded.
Shao Sanda didn't even glance at the urn, as if he already knew what was inside. He ignored Gao Liang and spoke to Xiao Heshang instead: "Heshang, be careful. If anything feels off in there, drop everything and throw me the urn. Then run."
"Is it really that serious? Are we actually going to use what's in there?" Xiao Heshang laughed nervously. "That Tao guy must be, what, at least a hundred and twenty years old by now? I never understood why our entire Special Authority had to mobilize for one walking corpse. Seems like we're giving him too much credit."
"Walking corpse?" Gao Liang gave a cold laugh. "You know how big of a mess he caused back in 1926? The Religious Affairs Committee had to bring in the 64th generation Celestial Master from Longhu Mountain, Zhang Cien, just to deal with him. Even then, half the Committee's forces were wiped out by that 'walking corpse.' They planned to execute him on the spot, but he still got away."
After Gao Liang finished, Xiao Heshang still didn't look convinced. "I've caught a few Ghost Path Sect members myself. Nothing special. I don't see why this one is supposed to be so terrifying. Even if he's the sect leader, ten times stronger than the others, you're making him sound like some kind of monster. And let's be honest, when has the Religious Affairs Committee ever suffered a loss? What is it about this Tao guy that made those bigwigs willing to bleed for him?"
Through Shao Sanda's eyes, I glanced at Xiao Heshang. He clearly didn't know much about the target. Compared to how we in the Bureau have handled things for decades, there was just no comparison.
"Tao Heru is no ordinary man," Gao Liang said. He knew quite a bit about this sort of thing. "Back when Yang, Tao, and Zhao founded the Ghost Path Sect, Yang was the most dangerous of the three—but it was Tao Heru who created their entire system of techniques. Even that fearsome Yang never claimed to have mastered all of the Ghost Path Sect's arts. And according to legend, Tao Heru still holds the Heavenly Principle Diagram from the old Tianli Sect. "
"Heavenly Principle Diagram?" The moment Gao Liang uttered those three words, I clearly felt Xiao Sanda's body tremble violently. What followed was the sound of his heartbeat, growing faster and faster.
Heavenly Principle Diagram? I had no impression of these words. I'd never seen any reference to them in the archives, and no one had ever mentioned it to me. What could be inside the Heavenly Principle Diagram that made Xiao Sanda so agitated?
"Heavenly Principle Diagram…" Xiao Heshang muttered, repeating the name. His face turned a little grim as he continued, "Seriously? I thought people said the Heavenly Principle Diagram didn't even exist?"
"Whether it does or not, we'll know when we get there," said Xiao Sanda. From within his body, I could feel the moment those three words were mentioned, a restlessness rise up from deep within him. I had a strong feeling that Xiao Sanda's attention had completely shifted from Tao Heru to the Heavenly Principle Diagram.
"Just a rumor from the underworld. Don't take it too seriously," Gao Liang said, squinting at Xiao Sanda. "No one's ever seen the Heavenly Principle Diagram. For all we know, it might be pure fiction."
Xiao Heshang rolled his eyes. "Fatty Gao, can you speak properly? What do you mean 'get going'? Watch your wording, can't you? It won't kill you to be more tactful."
Xiao Sanda looked up at the sun already high in the sky and said, "It's about time. Any later and it won't look like we're here to pay respects to the dead." With that, he ignored Fatty Gao and Xiao Heshang, opened the car door, and climbed in. Xiao Heshang and Gao Liang exchanged a glance, said nothing, and followed him into the Jeep, sitting to his left and right.
While the three of them were talking, Hao Wenming and Lin Feng had sensibly stepped away. Now, seeing the three leaders were getting into the vehicle, the two quickly walked over. Lin Feng took the front passenger seat, while Hao Wenming started the engine.
About twenty minutes later, the vehicle came to a stop. Hao Wenming pointed toward a small hill in the distance and said, "We're here. That hill over there—behind it is Nanshan Cemetery. Not to complain, but we can't drive any further. We'll have to walk from here."
Xiao Sanda looked through the car window in the direction Hao Wenming was pointing. Borrowing his gaze, I could see a thin trail of white smoke curling up behind the small hill in the distance.
In the Jeep, Xiao Sanda, Gao Liang, and Xiao Heshang went over the operation details again, making sure everything was airtight.
Xiao Heshang, carrying the urn, went on ahead for about ten minutes. Only after that did Xiao Sanda and Gao Liang start walking toward the hill. What looked like a short distance turned out to be a long trek—they walked for nearly half an hour before they finally rounded the back of the hill. Before them lay a massive cemetery. At a glance, there had to be over a thousand mounds.
At the edge of the graveyard stood two small tiled houses facing west. An old man sat beside one of them, puffing away on a water pipe with deep, rumbling breaths. Whatever he was smoking, it gave off a strange, numbing smell.
Xiao Heshang had already arrived. Cradling the urn, he was haggling with the old man. "Sir, I already showed you the letter from the Civil Affairs Bureau. They said my third granduncle was to be buried here. Please do us a favor."
The old man gave him a glance and finally took the water pipe from his mouth. "Boy, do you know the rules? Who just shows up with a dead person, digs a hole, and buries them? Even if the family's poor, they can still burn some paper offerings. But you? You just bring an urn, no gravestone, no offerings—how's anyone supposed to find this spot later? I can tell, this is a one-off deal for you. I'll tell you what—you want to bury him? Fine. I've got shovels and picks, but I'm not lending them. You'll have to dig the grave with your bare hands."
"Sir, how can I dig with my hands?" Xiao Heshang wore a bitter expression, still trying to plead.
At that point, Xiao Sanda and Gao Liang arrived and pretended to watch the argument with mild amusement.
The old man looked at them and frowned. "And who are you two?"
Gao Liang smiled. "We're here to visit a grave. Sir, where's the eldest son of the old Jia family from Nanshan Village buried?"
The old man eyed them with suspicion. "And what are you to him?"
Xiao Sanda and Gao Liang froze for a second. They'd gone over every detail—except this one. As the old man's frown deepened, they blurted out at the same time: "He was my uncle-in-law." "He was my great-uncle."
After a beat of silence, Gao Liang reacted quickly and pointed to Xiao Sanda. "We're related. My uncle-in-law is his great-uncle."
The old man hadn't yet replied when Xiao Heshang jumped in, pointing at the two of them. "What happened to first come, first served? My business isn't even done yet. Can't you two wait?"
Gao Liang grabbed Xiao Heshang's pointing finger and said, "Watch your hands. Who do you think you're pointing at?" The two immediately began arguing and then fighting. Xiao Sanda pretended to try separating them.
During the scuffle, Xiao Heshang took a hit and stumbled toward the old man. The old man shouted, "Take it outside if you want to fight! Don't cause trouble here!"
Staggering, Xiao Heshang flailed his arms like he was trying to regain balance. As he did, a puff of red powder spilled from his sleeve, covering the old man's head and face.
At the exact moment the red powder hit, Xiao Sanda moved. He pulled out a ruler and struck the old man on the head. With a sharp smack, the old man collapsed to the ground, convulsing violently.
Xiao Sanda raised the ruler to strike again, but Gao Liang stopped him. "Don't! Something's wrong!" But Xiao Sanda didn't listen. He raised the Measuring Ruler again—
Before it could land, a nauseating stench filled the air. In the next instant, red blisters rapidly spread across the old man's face, neck, and hands—any exposed skin.
Stunned, Xiao Sanda lowered his weapon and stepped back.
Within seconds, the blisters merged into one giant bubble.
"Step back!" Gao Liang suddenly shouted, as if recalling something.
Xiao Sanda listened this time. Just as he took a second step back—pop! The massive blister burst, spraying yellow pus. A few drops landed at Xiao Sanda's feet, raising wisps of green smoke.
The wounds on the old man's face oozed black smoke. It grew thicker and thicker, then suddenly ignited with a spark. Flames burst forth from the center of the wound.
Gao Liang tried to put it out, but it was too late. The fire spread rapidly, engulfing the old man in seconds.
As the flames burned away his flesh, black bones were revealed. Moments later, even the bones were gone. After ten-odd minutes, the fire died down, leaving only a heap of black ash.
"Gao Fatty, what the hell just happened?" Xiao Sanda asked.
Gao Liang narrowed his eyes. "That wasn't Tao Heru."
Even before he finished, two Liberation trucks rolled up. Pu Dage was the first to jump out, followed by the rest of the Special Affairs investigators.
Pu Dage held the sword that had once decapitated a Bloodshade Fiend. Seeing the heap of black ash, he froze. "Is that Tao Heru? Why's he burned like that?"
"That's not Tao Heru," Gao Liang repeated. "That's a stand-in—someone Tao Heru arranged to die in his place."
"No way!" Pu Dage shook his head. "How would he know we were coming for him? Why arrange a decoy for no reason?"
"Are we sure he didn't know?" Gao Liang muttered. "I'm not so sure."
"Fatty, what do you mean? Can you speak clearly for once and stop being so damn cryptic?" Pu Dage was getting impatient. Even though he and Gao Liang had worked together for years, he still wasn't used to the man's roundabout way of talking.
Gao Liang wasn't offended. The corners of his mouth curled into a faint smile. "Hang on, let me show you something." With that, he walked into the pile of black ash and started kicking it with his foot. Sparks still glimmered faintly, but he didn't care. Eventually, he started sifting through the ash with his hands.
After a few minutes, Fatty Gao let out a soft gasp. "Got it!" In his hand was a needle-like object—but Xiao Sanda was too far away for me to see exactly what it was.