Chapter Forty-Five: The Ancient Jade

"Mmm… ah… that feels good…"

Shen Chang’an was lying face-down on the bed. Chen Mengchen sat behind him, her hands gently kneading his stiff shoulders, easing much of his tension.

"So where have you been these past few days? I haven't seen you at all."

Sprawled lazily on the bed, Shen Chang’an muttered, "No one likes a woman who interrogates them…"

Smack!

"Ow!"

Chen Mengchen’s palm landed firmly on his back, forcing a cry from Shen Chang’an.

"Are you going to talk or not?"

Her soft little hand rested at Shen Chang’an’s neck, as if she might squeeze if he didn’t answer immediately.

"Alright, alright. I’ve just been busy these days. Went to the county with Sun Yiyuan a couple days ago, had to deal with a demonic cultivator." Shen Chang’an deliberately muddled the timeline, hoping Chen Mengchen would think he had gone to the county with Sun Yiyuan earlier in the week.

After all, she wouldn’t go ask Sun Yiyuan specifically, and even if she did, Sun Yiyuan would only confirm he’d gone a few days ago, but not specify which day. Matters involving special incidents—even the timing—had to be kept secret.

"Dealing with ghosts again?" Chen Mengchen paused, then scolded, "Is that how you got so banged up? Why do you always have to get involved in these things?"

Shen Chang’an forced a smile. In the modern world, only firearms could really hurt him—no evil spell or sinister method could come close. But the matter of the beast hide and ancient book was not something he could explain to Chen Mengchen, so he let her misunderstand.

"It’s nothing serious. I’ll be fine in a few days. Honestly, most of these injuries are self-inflicted, so don’t worry."

"You… sigh, forget it." Chen Mengchen let out a soft sigh, unable to continue.

"Alright, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head back now." Shen Chang’an picked up his clothes, waved to Chen Mengchen, and hurried back to his own house.

"Hey, you! Hmph!" Watching him flee, Chen Mengchen stamped her foot in frustration.

Shen Chang’an dashed back home as if escaping for his life. He knew if he lingered any longer, he might never get away.

"A man really has to take care of himself out there," he muttered, inching carefully inside. Instantly, Xiao Fen leaned over. "Oh, Shen, did you go flirt with Miss Chen again today?"

"Get lost. I was just spending time with a friend. Why does it always sound so different coming from you people?"

"Pfft!" Xiao Fen snorted in disdain, then said, "You had a call just now. Forgot your phone again, didn’t you?"

Shen Chang’an paused. He’d only meant to stay at Chen Mengchen’s for a bit, so he hadn’t taken his phone. Who could have guessed she’d insist on giving him a massage, making him lose track of time.

He checked the call log—the missed call was from Sun Yiyuan.

"Hey, old Sun? What’s up?" Shen Chang’an frowned, quickly dialing back.

Moments later, Sun Yiyuan’s voice came through, "Shen! You finally picked up. There’s been another incident."

Shen Chang’an was taken aback. "Another incident? What happened now?"

Sun Yiyuan sighed. "I’m almost in the provincial capital. Meet me soon, we’ll talk in detail."

"Alright, see you soon."

Shen Chang’an was puzzled. He’d already taken care of Teacher Lu, so what else could have happened?

Around four or five that afternoon, Sun Yiyuan called again—he’d arrived in town.

Shen Chang’an reserved a table at a nearby restaurant and had Sun Yiyuan meet him there. They decided to talk over dinner.

Shen Chang’an arrived first, and before long, Sun Yiyuan came in, sat down heavily, and forced a bitter smile.

"Shen, we’ve both been duped."

Shen Chang’an’s curiosity was piqued. "Duped? What do you mean?"

Sun Yiyuan sighed, taking out a notebook and handing it to him.

"What’s this?" Shen Chang’an asked, puzzled.

"Teacher Lu’s diary. Take a look," Sun Yiyuan said, sighing.

Shen Chang’an was surprised, but it made sense—Teacher Lu had bottled up all that pain for years with no one to confide in. If it wasn’t written in a diary, he’d have gone mad long ago.

Without concern for privacy, Shen Chang’an opened the diary and began to read intently.

He read at a remarkable pace. Perhaps it was a side effect of his cultivation, but Shen Chang’an’s mind worked swiftly now—he could breeze through pages at a glance and remember everything he read.

In no time, he’d finished the not-so-thick diary.

When he was done, even Shen Chang’an let out a sigh. "I didn’t expect this…"

"So, in the end, he died too?" Shen Chang’an asked.

Sun Yiyuan nodded, then shook his head. "Right after you left. The manner of death was the same as the others…"

Shen Chang’an sighed. "Teacher Lu truly was consumed by hatred…"

The diary’s contents weren’t overly complex—mostly, it detailed Teacher Lu’s bitterness and anger.

But in the entries for this year, there was a sudden mention: Teacher Lu had acquired an ancient piece of jade.

The jade was once a tool of an evil cultivator, and it ended up in Teacher Lu’s hands. Perhaps his own resentment was so intense that it awakened the jade’s power, releasing the Five Viscera Ghosts within.

At first, Teacher Lu was terrified of these ghosts. But then he realized they obeyed him, and his desire for revenge could no longer be contained.

He used the Five Viscera Ghosts to set traps in each person’s home, slowly corroding their organs day by day.

The first to die was Xiao Zhang, whose heart was targeted, so he died the quickest. The knocking he heard at night was actually his own heart pounding against his chest. When the sound stopped, his heart-soul had already been torn out by the heart ghost.

In the video Xiao Zhang saw, the little ghost trying desperately to return was actually his heart-soul.

But it remained tethered by the Five Viscera Ghosts, unable to return, and he died outside. Without the heart-soul, Xiao Zhang’s heart simply failed.

The others were also being tormented by the Five Viscera Ghosts, though not as severely as Xiao Zhang, and before they could be killed, Sun Yiyuan and Shen Chang’an arrived.

All of Teacher Lu’s magical power came from the ancient jade. Shen Chang’an couldn’t sense any aura from Teacher Lu himself, but the Five Viscera Ghosts could sense Shen Chang’an all too well.

From their perspective, Shen Chang’an was like a blazing sun—if they dared enter his body, they’d be incinerated by his immense power in moments.

Realizing this, Teacher Lu guessed Shen Chang’an was there to handle the case and knew he couldn’t delay. He forcibly commanded one of the ghosts to destroy another victim’s organ in a different neighborhood, luring Shen Chang’an and Sun Yiyuan away from the police station.

Afterward, he knocked out the remaining people and killed the female neighbor who’d entered the station with him.

Thus, his revenge was three-fifths complete. Of the two remaining targets, neither was Li Xia!

Yes, Sun Yiyuan had been worried about Li Xia, but in reality, Teacher Lu never intended to harm her.

As mentioned before, Li Xia was diligent and took the case seriously. She had always tried to help Teacher Lu gather evidence and silence the rumors.

But those people didn’t care about the truth; they just wanted to watch the drama. Li Xia’s efforts were futile. After Teacher Lu’s wife committed suicide, he was plunged into utter despair.

None of his revenge targets included Li Xia; he only went after those who had spread malicious rumors. The last two also died from sudden organ failure.

Even after Teacher Lu’s death, the Five Viscera Ghosts dissipated, but the organs they had tormented were too damaged and soon failed as well.

No evidence could be found; the cause of death in every case was ruled accidental.

Shen Chang’an was full of mixed emotions. "So, when he begged me for revenge, it was just to mislead me, to make me think he hadn’t prepared a backup plan—so I wouldn’t try to help or treat those people…"

If Shen Chang’an had realized it earlier, he might have been able to save them.

After all, their organ souls hadn’t completely left; if he’d infused them with some spiritual power and used soul-calming talismans dissolved in water, he could at least have kept them alive.

But leaving aside Teacher Lu’s deception, even if Shen Chang’an had known, he might not have chosen to save them.

"Enough, let’s not talk about this anymore," Shen Chang’an sighed, trying to change the heavy subject.

But Sun Yiyuan said, "We can set that aside, but Shen, take a look at this."

He pulled a jade pendant from his pocket and set it in front of Shen Chang’an.

"Ancient jade?" Shen Chang’an asked, puzzled.

Sun Yiyuan nodded, his expression grave. "This is a relic of evil. I used my spirit-seeing eyes and saw it wreathed in black mist. I didn’t dare handle it recklessly and brought it to ask you."

Shen Chang’an reached out and immediately felt a bone-chilling cold seep from the jade.

Without hesitation, he channeled his own spiritual power to block the evil aura and examined the pendant.

The jade was pitch black; Shen Chang’an couldn’t tell what kind it was. On its surface were four archaic characters: ‘Talisman of War’. Sniffing it with his dragon’s jade, he caught a stink of rot.

After a moment’s thought, he sent a thread of spiritual power into the pendant.

At once, the jade flickered, and three fierce ghosts burst forth, swirling around him.

"Ah!" Sun Yiyuan recoiled in terror. The ghosts were so solid even he could see them without special sight.

With a single thought, Shen Chang’an recalled the ghosts into the jade, and all was calm again.

"What was that, Shen?" Sun Yiyuan asked, shaken.

Shen Chang’an was still processing the information he’d sensed from the pendant. After a long moment, he clicked his tongue. "Who would have thought something like this would still turn up these days…"

"Don’t be mysterious, Shen. What is it?"

Shen Chang’an grinned. "What is it? A military tally, of course."

"A military tally?" Sun Yiyuan was baffled.

Shen Chang’an explained, "Since ancient times, generals used tiger tallies to command their troops. In the world of the living, and the world of the dead, it’s the same. This is a fragment of a tiger tally from the underworld."

"You mean… it can summon ghost soldiers?" Sun Yiyuan was excited.

Shen Chang’an nodded, then added, "Unfortunately, it’s incomplete. The original tally would have been shaped like a tiger, but this one was damaged and later carved into a different form. It can only house a few ghost soldiers."

"I’d say there are only a few spirits inside. Teacher Lu must have accidentally gotten his blood on it, activating the pendant’s power."

"Too bad—without spiritual power, all he could do was feed the pendant with his own blood and body, summoning only those Five Viscera Ghosts. If he’d had real power, he could have released these evil ghosts to devour everyone, then walked away clean. We’d have found no trace at all."

Sun Yiyuan shivered. "So, what do we do with this thing?"

Shen Chang’an tossed the pendant back to Sun Yiyuan. "Up to you. Handle it however you want."

Sun Yiyuan caught it, then immediately pushed it back, as if it burned.

"Maybe you should keep it, Shen?"

Shen Chang’an raised an eyebrow. "Why? Doesn’t your organization collect these things?"

Sun Yiyuan chuckled awkwardly. "I doubt anyone else could control what’s inside. It’s safer with you."

Shen Chang’an understood—Sun Yiyuan was worried his colleagues might accidentally release the ghosts and be unable to contain them, causing disaster.

He shook his head and said softly, "Alright, I’ll hold onto it for now. If you ever need it, just come fetch it."