"Lackeys are always lackeys, even climbing stairs so slowly."
A voice came from the shadows behind the water tower, and a man slowly stepped out from the darkness.
He wore a wrinkled police uniform and had a baby-faced look. Although I wasn't very familiar with him, we had dealt with each other for a few days. This was exactly the little policeman I mentioned before — Yang Xiao. I used to think he was harmless, but my Heavenly Eye clearly deceived me!
I glared at Yang Xiao, then tilted my head toward Wu Rendi and demanded, "Was this your doing?"
Yang Xiao gave a cold smile. Before he could say anything, Sun Fatty, still half dazed, cut in: "Lazi, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?"
Halfway through his words, Sun Fatty suddenly raised his gun and fired a burst at Yang Xiao. "Enough talk — just take him out!"
Having done undercover work before, his acting was incredibly realistic. Just based on that little performance, he could easily win Best Actor at any film festival. Even I didn't expect him to have such a trick up his sleeve. What a waste of a chance for a duo act.
At the moment Sun Fatty fired, Yang Xiao twisted his body several sharp ninety-degree bends from side to side. The bullets whizzed past, barely grazing his clothes.
That move was definitely beyond human capability — even the most flexible contortionist couldn't manage it.
Though he dodged the bullets, it was clear Yang Xiao got lucky. If he had been just a fraction slower, the bullets would have hit him.
"Fatty, didn't expect you to almost get me," Yang Xiao stood back up and said coldly to Sun Fatty.
"Not scared of you," Sun Fatty shot back coldly as well, but he instinctively took a few steps back. "Lazi, I'm counting on you." When I looked back, he was already at the rooftop door.
"Don't act rashly, neither of you is his match."
Just as I was about to open fire, Wu Rendi, nailed to the water tower, spoke weakly: "He's already prepared. Even if bullets hit him now, they won't hurt him."
Wu Rendi's voice was faint; being nailed to the wall with seven huge spikes, just staying alive was a blessing.
Seeing my skeptical expression, Yang Xiao sneered coldly, "Here's a chance for you — try shooting me now."
I sighed, "What's the point? You think I'm stupid…"
Before I could finish the word "fool," I raised my hand and fired a shot right at Yang Xiao's forehead.
"Bang!" Yang Xiao didn't move a muscle. His forehead wrinkled into a knot as a bullet was lodged in his brow and fell to the ground.
"Did the two of you learn from the same master?" Yang Xiao gave me a cold laugh. He was prepared — a sneak attack was useless.
"That's it?" Yang Xiao's tone was dismissive. "So, is it my turn now?"
He shook his body and started walking toward me.
Yang Xiao walked slowly, seemingly cautious of both me and Sun Fatty.
"Don't worry, you won't die — you'll just lose one Celestial Soul and two Earthly Spirits. You'll be asleep for a few years, and if you're lucky, after three to five years you'll wake up. After a few more years to adjust, at least you can manage living on your own."
Yang Xiao got closer and closer; I kept retreating, silently cursing Sun Fatty to hurry and open the door to escape. When I turned to warn him, I saw Sun Fatty looking at me miserably. "We can't get out."
Just like last night at the medical school, the rooftop's only exit was covered by a black shadow that blocked Sun Fatty from rushing out.
"Hahaha!" Yang Xiao burst into wild laughter, as if he'd seen the funniest thing in the world, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
"This wasn't me." He pointed to Wu Rendi, still nailed to the water tower. "Your Director Wu was afraid I'd run away, so he set this prohibition spell. Didn't expect the saying to come true — he who lifts a rock only ends up smashing his own foot. Hahaha!"
He laughed wildly again.
Wu Rendi weakly lifted his head and looked at him. "I guess I'm just unlucky. But why do you want so many souls? Planning to pickle them for the winter?"
"Huh? Still have energy to joke?" Yang Xiao glanced back at Wu Rendi. "Want to know the whole story? No problem. I've got a whole night to tell it, and you can listen slowly. After losing one Celestial Soul and two Earthly Spirits, you won't even remember what happened tonight."
Moonlight shone on Yang Xiao's face, which had grown pale. Surprisingly, there was a strange sadness in his expression.
Yang Xiao began to speak slowly, "Let me start from the beginning. I'm not lying — I am from Yunnan. '"
"I came to Qilin City a long time ago. There was something I didn't take then. Ten years ago, when I returned, the place where I hid it had already been built over by this building. If it weren't buried so deeply, it would have been unearthed when they dug the foundation."
"That thing is deeply connected to me; I can't give it up. So I have to offend the residents in this building. You saw it — the Descent Formation downstairs was set up by me."
"I thought no one was left in the building, so I'd have a chance to go underground and get my stuff back. But unexpectedly, after many years, that thing has fused with the earth veins…"
"It's the Earth Pearl, right?" Wu Rendi interrupted when Yang Xiao was getting into the story.
Yang Xiao was taken aback and looked straight at Wu Rendi. Only after confirming that the seven big spikes were still firmly nailed into him did he slowly say, "How do you know?"
Wu Rendi looked at Yang Xiao weakly and said, "You said it yourself — after so many years, only the Earth Pearl could fuse with the earth veins. What else could it be? You knew it was the Earth Pearl, yet you dared to bury it so deep. So, what were you thinking?"
Director Wu didn't give up the fight — her last sentence sounded like a parent scolding a child.
Yang Xiao's face was pale and dark; it looked like he was about to make a move.
"You haven't said why you want so many souls," Sun Fatty noticed something was off and changed the subject.
Maybe keeping the secret inside for so long was hard, Yang Xiao needed an outlet. We were basically lambs to the slaughter in front of him, almost no threat at all.
"Remember I told you about my wife? Collecting all these souls is for her." Yang Xiao ignored Wu Rendi and slowly said to us, "My constitution is different from yours. It's hard for me to have descendants. Fatty, what's that look on your face?"
Sun Fatty spread his hands and shrugged, "I'm feeling sorry for you."
Because he needed to stay long-term in Qilin City to observe any changes after the Earth Vein absorbed the Earth Pearl, Yang Xiao fabricated a false identity for himself as Yang Xiao. After that, by some unknown means, he even got admitted to Qilin University and spent four years there.
When he first entered the university, Yang Xiao kept a low profile and never participated in any student council activities. Yet, even so, he caught the attention of a somewhat unconventional girl.
It seemed as if fate itself had tied a red thread between Yang Xiao and this girl.
(Note: In traditional Chinese culture, the God of Matchmaking, Yue Lao, ties two people together with a red string, ensuring they will fall in love.)
The girl's surname was Xu, given name Rongrong. She was a local of Qilin City, one year older than Yang Xiao, thus technically Yang Xiao's senior at university. Xu Rongrong was renowned as the campus beauty of Qilin University. In her freshman year, she won the inaugural Qilin Miss Beauty Pageant. Legend has it that since Xu Rongrong entered Qilin University, the number of love letters she received on Valentine's Day each year counted by the hundreds, including some from the university's faculty members.
According to gossip, the university's vice president, Liang Biren, was discovered by his wife to have secretly written blood-written love letters to Xu Rongrong at home (writing the character for "love" in one hundred different calligraphy styles—the so-called "Hundred Loves Chart"). After a huge quarrel, the marriage ended in divorce. Similar cases were countless.
Whenever Miss Xu walked on campus, nearly all the male students (including some male lecturers and professors) had their eyes glued to her. Fortunately, Xu Rongrong was used to living under the spotlight.
Until that day when Yang Xiao arrived at Qilin University for registration and walked face to face with Miss Xu at the main gate. Yang Xiao kept his gaze straight ahead and entered the campus without glancing. Xu Rongrong was stunned—this was not the normal reaction a man should have. Even a gay man would at least glance her way.
Xu Rongrong had never encountered a man like this before. Driven by her competitive spirit, she began consciously and unconsciously to reach out to Yang Xiao. Then, to the despair of all eligible single young men in Qilin City, the scene unfolded: the Qilin goddess Xu Rongrong actually started dating a quiet freshman.
To be honest, at first, Yang Xiao did not see Xu Rongrong, the exceptionally beautiful Miss Qilin, in a special way. His sole intention was to integrate into the local society, and Xu Rongrong just happened to provide him with the opportunity.
Four years of university passed in the blink of an eye. In their graduation year, amidst a chorus of opposition, Yang Xiao and Xu Rongrong got married. After marriage, Xu Rongrong chose to remain at the university as a teaching assistant in the Foreign Languages Department. Yang Xiao, with help from his father-in-law, joined the Qilin City Police Department as a junior officer. Using a little trick, Yang Xiao was assigned to the precinct responsible for the Fifteenth Floor building area.
Not long after, Yang Xiao's father-in-law, the deputy director of the Qilin Police Sub-Bureau, accidentally discovered that the old village Yang Xiao often mentioned had actually been renamed decades ago—and Yang Xiao seemed completely unaware of this.
At first, Director Xu misjudged the situation, suspecting that Yang Xiao might be a fugitive criminal. If his son-in-law were a wanted man online, it would be a huge embarrassment. So Director Xu started to secretly investigate Yang Xiao.
Yang Xiao was fully aware of what his father-in-law was doing. He had originally hoped to hide behind him, guarding the Earth Vein beneath the Fifteenth Floor building. But now, with the situation changed, he could only rewrite the script.
To outsiders, Yang Xiao's luck seemed to have run out. He had just secured a stable job, married a stunning wife, and had a police chief father-in-law. Unfortunately, it was all fleeting. After his father-in-law's death, Yang Xiao basically lost all motivation to advance.
Thus, Yang Xiao worked in his precinct area for several years. To his colleagues, he was an unambitious but cautious and prudent junior officer. Even Xu Rongrong had resigned herself to living quietly and anonymously with Yang Xiao for the rest of her life—until that day came.
That was three years ago. Because Xu Rongrong's health had been unstable, she went to the hospital for a checkup that morning. After receiving her urine test results, the diagnosis came out: she was two months pregnant. Yang Xiao was stunned as if petrified, frozen on the spot.
Many years ago, Yang Xiao had gained an extraordinary ability by chance. After living for a long time with this ability, he gradually discovered its side effect. This power altered his constitution; in some ways, he was much stronger than ordinary people. But when it came to reproducing offspring, Yang Xiao was almost incapable. He could be intimate with women, but impregnating them and having children was extremely difficult.
It seemed difficult but not impossible. Yang Xiao was ecstatic and began planning for his child's future. Over six months later, just as his anxious anticipation reached its peak, a bucket of cold water was dumped on him.
That day, shortly after finishing a prenatal exam, Xu Rongrong was hit by a runaway car not far from the hospital and was unconscious. Luckily, a passing ambulance rescued her. When Yang Xiao arrived, his wife was in the operating room. The doctors gave him two choices: save the mother or save the child.
Yang Xiao hesitated. From the beginning, he had always treated Xu Rongrong as a mere prop to conceal his identity. Now, faced with choosing between the prop and the child, he was undecided.
Time was pressing. The doctor repeated the question, and this time Yang Xiao gritted his teeth and answered, "I want my wife." From that moment on, Yang Xiao had an epiphany. Deep in his heart, Xu Rongrong was no longer just a prop to hide behind; she had become an indispensable part of his life.
An hour later, the operating room lights went off. When the doctor emerged, there was no good news. The surgery was not successful; the child was lost, and Xu Rongrong remained in critical condition, her fate hinging on whether she could survive the next three dangerous days.
When Xu Rongrong was wheeled out of the operating room, Yang Xiao's heart sank to the bottom of the valley. From his eyes, one could see that Xu Rongrong's soul had begun to disperse and leave her body. From the perspective of Taoist metaphysics, Xu Rongrong had lost her soul and was, in essence, dead. She was only kept alive by machines barely sustaining her vital signs.
With the child gone and his wife slipping away, Yang Xiao took a desperate gamble: he decided to summon Xu Rongrong's soul.
Given Yang Xiao's level of cultivation, summoning a soul was not difficult. But after summoning, gathering the soul and returning it into Xu Rongrong's body was an act of defiance against heaven. Resurrecting the dead was a major taboo in Taoist metaphysics, and even if he succeeded by luck, he would likely be cursed by heaven. But at this point, Yang Xiao had no choice but to risk it all.
That night, Yang Xiao performed a soul summoning ritual in the Fifteenth Floor building. The beginning went smoothly, but when it came to gathering the souls, something went wrong. Among the three souls and seven spirits, the "Shuang Ling" and the "Fei Du Fu Shi" of the seven spirits refused to merge with the rest. Moreover, this one soul and two spirits showed signs of dissipating. Outside, the sky was already thick with dark clouds, thunder rumbling—it looked like a heavenly punishment thunder tribulation was imminent.
In haste, Yang Xiao captured a wandering spirit, took its one soul and two spirits, and merged them with Xu Rongrong's soul. Strangely, while Xu Rongrong's own soul could not gather, adding this other soul and two spirits made the whole cluster coalesce.
A few minutes later, Yang Xiao returned to the hospital and implanted this patched-together soul back into Xu Rongrong's body. After the soul re-entered, Xu Rongrong opened her eyes.
Xu Rongrong's recovery was remarkable—her attending physician was astonished. She needed to stay in the hospital for a few more days for observation to check for any aftereffects.
Several days later, to the surprise of many, Xu Rongrong was discharged and returned home to recuperate. During the first half-month, her recovery was very good.
Unexpectedly, a few days later, when Mrs. Yang went for a follow-up at the hospital, Yang Xiao was careless and did not accompany her. He then received a call informing him that Xu Rongrong had fallen down the hospital stairs and was unconscious. When Yang Xiao arrived, the X-rays showed a dislocated spine, and Xu Rongrong had not regained consciousness.
What happened? A thunderous realization struck Yang Xiao's mind. He clearly saw that Xu Rongrong's three souls and seven spirits were missing one soul and two spirits—the very ones he had added. They had clearly fused into one body before! How could it be that if not her own, it wouldn't work?
Yang Xiao racked his brain but couldn't think of a better solution. At that time, the remaining two souls and seven spirits showed signs of dissipating as well. Without time to hesitate, Yang Xiao again took one soul and two spirits from another wandering soul in the Fifteenth Floor building and merged them with Xu Rongrong's soul.
Xu Rongrong woke up again. Yang Xiao dared not be careless anymore and stayed close by. But seven days later, the thing Yang Xiao feared most happened again—Xu Rongrong suddenly lost consciousness without warning, and that one soul and two spirits vanished once more.
This time, it was less than ten days. Could it be that a dead person's soul could not fully fuse with a living body? If the problem was an incompatibility between yin and yang, that would be easier to handle. To Yang Xiao, human lives were the least valuable. He immediately extracted the soul of a vegetative patient at the hospital.
The result was initially satisfactory. Half a year passed without incident. Xu Rongrong began preparing for her first spinal surgery. But on the eve of the operation, she fainted for the third time. The old problem—one soul and two spirits missing again.
It seemed living souls also could not fully fuse, like organ transplant rejection. Fortunately, transplanted living souls worked far better than dead ones, at least lasting longer.
But even that effect was gradually weakening. Xu Rongrong fainted again after four months awake. Yang Xiao had no choice but to continue repeatedly merging living souls into Xu Rongrong's soul. After dozens of times, the intervals between her fainting grew shorter—from the initial half-year to now just three days. Fortunately, three days was enough for the hospital's intensive care to keep her stable.
Because he needed to frequently use the one Celestial Soul and two Earthly Spirits, Yang Xiao transformed the anatomical human specimens used for dissection classes in the medical school into storage vessels for souls and spirits. To be safe, he also placed a puppet there as a backup.
Since Mrs. Yang's accident, many people in Qilin City had suddenly lost consciousness and become vegetative patients. This group phenomenon caught the attention of the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation. At first, they thought it was ordinary soul-loss syndrome and sent Bao Xi and Li Ting from Division Two to Qilin City.
Those two were unlucky. When they arrived at the hospital, they happened to witness Xu Rongrong losing her soul and fainting during a CT scan and being carried back to her ward by Yang Xiao. Both being experts, they immediately sensed something was not so simple and approached Yang Xiao to inquire. To prevent any future problems, Yang Xiao extracted the one Celestial Soul and two Earthly Spirits from both of them.