Elder Yao walked outside the cloth shop and boarded a rickshaw.
The Coachman didn’t ask for the destination or discuss the price; he simply started pulling the rickshaw and set off.
Elder Yao took out a flask, took a big gulp, and asked, "Do you know where I’m going?"
The Coachman smiled and said, "You’ve been out for quite some time; you must be heading home."
Elder Yao took another big gulp and asked, "Do you know where my house is?"
The Coachman laughed again. "I know. I stroll by your doorstep when I’ve got nothing to do."
GLUG! GLUG!
Elder Yao drained the flask, wiped his mouth, and asked, "Let’s discuss something. Could you perhaps find another area to operate your rickshaw?"
The Coachman shook his head and said, "No, I won’t. I rather like this spot."
Elder Yao took out another flask, took a sip, and said, "I’m hard to kill; you won’t outlast me!"
The Coachman was very optimistic about this. "I’m not in a hurry. I’ll wait patiently. You drink like this every day; who knows, one day you might just be gone."
...
「Yuezhou Sanatorium.」
He Jiaqing lay motionless on the hospital bed.
Zou Guoming, a Public Security investigator from the Dark Star Bureau, glanced at him from the doorway, inquired about his condition, then left the hospital.
In the Public Security Team, he was the most outstanding and experienced investigator. Because of his large head and somewhat narrow shoulders, his body proportions seemed a bit strange, earning him the nickname Big Head within the team.
When He Jiaqing had first had his incident, Zou Guoming and two other teammates had been responsible for keeping a twenty-four-hour watch over his condition.
Unexpectedly, He Jiaqing had remained comatose for over half a year. Big Head couldn’t stay and watch over him continuously, but he would still visit the hospital every two or three days.
This wasn’t an order from the bureau; it was Big Head’s intuition. He always felt there was a hidden story behind He Jiaqing’s plight.
This time, his visit was not entirely for He Jiaqing. Next to Yuezhou Sanatorium was Flower Lake Park, one of the most famous parks in Yuezhou.
Recently, a disappearance had occurred in the park. The missing person was a female college student named Hu Lishan, who had entered the park alone at eleven o’clock at night.
The park’s surveillance captured images of her entering, walking through the woods, and dropping her cell phone, but there was no footage of her leaving the park.
She had disappeared in the park. She wasn’t found, but her abandoned cell phone was.
From the information on the phone, it was learned that Hu Lishan had suffered a setback in a relationship, which might have been why she came to the park late at night.
Afterward, her boyfriend was investigated. The minutiae of their relationship were thoroughly scrutinized, but no direct connection to the disappearance was found.
Unsolved cases were handed over to the Dark Star Bureau. The Dark Star Bureau wasn’t focused on solving cases; they only needed to determine one thing—whether the case was related to a Superpowered Individual.
Big Head actually wasn’t interested in this case. He suspected that Hu Lishan, in a moment of distress, had thrown herself into Flower Lake.
However, as he followed the clues provided by the surveillance and circled the park, he felt that something was off.
He could hear sounds, like a woman crying.
He could smell something, akin to the scent of fresh blood.
Big Head was a Fifth Layer Fighter, also known in Puluo State as a Martial Cultivator.
Although a Martial Artist’s Perception wasn’t considered top-tier, it was still much stronger than that of an ordinary person.
He followed the sound and scent all the way to the vicinity of a western-style house in the park.
The crying originated from behind the house. Just as Big Head was about to go around to the back, a shrill screeching sound abruptly stopped the crying.
"Please look this way, everyone. This western-style house is a landmark building of Flower Lake Park..."
A tour guide was leading a group.
Big Head glanced at the tour guide and then moved to the back of the house.
The area behind the house was empty; he couldn’t hear the crying anymore, nor could he smell the blood.
This highlighted the Dark Star Bureau’s predicament: they couldn’t conduct their duties with fanfare, and their investigations were often subject to public interference.
But Big Head had confirmed that there was something wrong with this park.
He found a nearby hostel, booked a room by the hour, rested for half a day, and at ten o’clock that night, he entered the park again.
SNIFFLE! SNIFFLE!
He soon heard sniffling, like someone sniffling from the cold or, possibly, someone sobbing.
Following the sniffling, Big Head once again reached the western-style house. Here, he smelled a pungent odor of blood, much more intense than during the day.
Both the sound and scent came from behind the house. As Big Head made his way to the back, he saw a woman standing there, her back turned to him.
Each time the woman inhaled, her shoulders hitched, and her body trembled; she was indeed sobbing.
She was dressed in a denim jacket and jeans, identical to the back view of Hu Lishan captured by the surveillance cameras.
Big Head didn’t rush forward. As an experienced investigator, he knew that seeing this meant his mission was essentially complete.
He took out his phone and tried to call the bureau for support, but after several attempts, the only response was a rapid busy signal.
It wasn’t an issue with the bureau—the problem was that his own phone had no signal.
Confronted with this unexpected situation, Big Head remained calm.
He took out another phone from his pocket, bit down on it to pull out the antenna, positioned it correctly, and dialed the bureau.
This was a satellite phone provided by the Dark Star Bureau to its agents—awkward to use but relatively reliable.
He dialed the number, but even after a while, there was still no response.
He saw Hu Lishan moving forward.
Big Head was hesitating whether to follow her when he suddenly realized he was already being moved forward, following her.
His legs weren’t moving, but the distance between him and Hu Lishan remained unchanged.
The scenery around him, including the ground beneath his feet and the western-style house beside him, was all slowly moving backward.
The ground beneath Hu Lishan’s feet suddenly began to distort, as if ripples were spreading across the hard gravel path.
It *was* ripples! Ahead of her, the original wall had vanished, replaced by a mist-shrouded lake surface.
Hu Lishan walked into the lake, dragging Big Head in with her.
Icy lake water filled his pants. Big Head struggled frantically, but his legs wouldn’t move.
Not just his feet, his arms were quickly stiffening as well; his whole body was becoming immobile.
Hu Lishan was slowly sinking beneath the surface.
Big Head, his body rigid and still holding the satellite phone, vanished with Hu Lishan into the lake.
The ripples gradually disappeared, and the ground hardened again, as if nothing had ever happened.
As lake water kept pouring into his mouth and nose, Big Head, on the brink of losing consciousness, looked toward the pitch-black surface of the lake and plunged into complete darkness.
But it was no use—he couldn’t move his limbs and could only drown.
PHEW~
A hand reached into the ground and pulled Big Head out.
Drenched in lake water and mud, Big Head lay on the ground vomiting profusely. Someone stood quietly beside him, watching.
Big Head raised his head and looked at the person beside him.
He Jiaqing!
"How, how is it possible... It’s, it’s you..."
"You should start with a ’thank you.’" He Jiaqing smiled. "You just entered New Land.
Unexpected, isn’t it, that there’s New Land in the Outside Provinces too?
Even with your Fifth Layer Cultivation, if I hadn’t saved you, you’d be dead for sure.
Do you still want to go in and take a look?
You’re a courageous man. I can take you through it one more time."
PS: The character Big Head first appeared in Chapter five, where only his name was mentioned.