Ghost Detective Records

Chapter 132

"No!" Lin Zhiping lowered her head, and Yin Xiaolong seemed to see glistening tears falling.

"Sister... Sister." Lin Zhi'an seemed to choke up as well, gently pushing Lin Zhiping's hand away, and said, "Sister, if in the future... if no one takes your delicious food from you, will you be happier?"

"No!" Lin Zhiping uttered those two words again, her whole body trembling, whether from the lingering pain of her wound or something else.

"Sister, be good!" Lin Zhi'an patted Lin Zhiping's hand, then turned to Yin Xiaolong and said, "You carry her on your back!"

Yin Xiaolong was at a loss for words. Did they really have to sacrifice someone's life to obtain that thing? Could he really not protect them? He tried to speak several times, but the words were swallowed back. Without that thing, all the villagers would die. If sacrificing just one person could save everyone… Yin Xiaolong hesitated for the first time… (Typed by Nomad God)

"No...no!" Lin Zhiping burst into tears, like a child, clinging tightly to Lin Zhian's arm as if she were using all her strength to hold on to it.

"Fool!" Lin Zhian slowly squatted down, leaned close to Lin Zhiping's ear, and whispered a sentence. Unfortunately, his voice was too soft, and Yin Xiaolong couldn't hear it at all. But after he said that, Lin Zhiping seemed to calm down and gently released her grip on Lin Zhian's hand.

Lin Zhi'an stood up, clasped his hands together, and made a strange gesture, resembling the Buddhist lotus pose, but with some variations. The speed of the gesture's changes seemed to increase, until finally his hands seemed to transform into countless shadows of hands. In the midst of these changes, blue light particles gradually emerged from his hands, swirling and rising like dancing fireflies before cascading down. A small waterfall composed of blue light particles slowly formed before Lin Zhi'an. As soon as the blue light particles touched the ground, they rippled outwards in concentric circles of blue light, like beautiful blue ripples spreading outwards…

The ground began to look strange, as if it were transparent or softening, and the flat ground began to feel uneven.

"Run!" Lin Zhian suddenly shouted at Yin Xiaolong. Yin Xiaolong then realized what was happening, and without caring about the changes in the ground, he hurriedly picked up Lin Zhiping and ran towards the cave entrance they had just passed. At that moment, the barrier disappeared instantly.

"Barrier...." Yin Xiaolong seemed to hear Lin Zhiping's soft murmur on his back, but unfortunately she seemed to be talking to herself, and Yin Xiaolong couldn't hear it clearly.

Yin Xiaolong thought that the small green tumors would hit them after the barrier disappeared, but he found that the small green tumors seemed to be separated by blue light particles, just like two identical poles of a magnet touching each other, there was always something invisible blocking between the two poles.

As Yin Xiaolong ran a few more steps, the ground suddenly cracked open, and countless arms—some withered, some rotten, some already turned to bone—emerged from the earth. Then came countless human figures. They were merely human bodies; they had human forms but no facial features or hair, appearing as smooth, bare masses of skin. These figures seemed to have been summoned by Lin Zhi'an, pulling the roots of the giant tree from the ground. Their claw-like fingers dug into the roots, drawing out a red liquid, as if the tree were alive, its lifeblood being squeezed out by these figures.

The giant red fruits that had been there before began to tremble, swelling and deflating like balls, their contents gradually becoming clearer—they were people! What sent chills down Yin Xiaolong's spine was that he discovered they were all portraits of past village chiefs of Yin Family Village. Since almost every village chief of Yin Family Village had left a portrait in the ancestral hall, it was familiar to Yin Xiaolong, who went in to pay his respects every year.

Could these red berries be the final resting place of the village chief of Yinjia Village? A tree as a tombstone, fruit as a coffin. What kind of burial method is this?

And what is that red liquid flowing from the red fruit? Could it be that the village chief of the Yin family used his own life essence to water this giant tree? Why is that? Why does this giant tree need life essence to irrigate it? And what is it used for? Is it just to preserve that thing? And what exactly is that thing?

Before Yin Xiaolong could think further, he noticed that Lin Zhian had somehow acquired a sword—a longsword with strange patterns. Lin Zhian used the longsword to sweep away the small green growths flying towards him while simultaneously charging towards the trunk of the giant tree at incredible speed.

"Ah~~~!" Lin Zhian arrived in front of the tree trunk, roared, and forcefully thrust his longsword deep into the hollow part of the tree trunk.

The moment she pierced through, countless small green tumors seemed to feel the immense pain of the tree trunk, and they actually cracked open, hissing like countless mouths, floating in the air, trembling violently.

"Ahhhhh!" The scream seemed to tear eardrums and pierce straight into the brain. Waves of dizziness quickly spread from the brain to the entire body and limbs. Yin Xiaolong and Lin Zhiping collapsed weakly to the ground. They immediately covered their ears, but the sound seemed to bypass their ears and go straight to their brain nerves. The pain and weakness almost made them collapse to the ground.

Because of the distance, Yin Xiaolong couldn't see clearly. Lin Zhian seemed to have cut open the semi-solid condensed substance, and reached in with one hand to take out the contents!

"Xiaolong, come quick!" Lin Zhian seemed unable to move his body and shouted at Yin Xiaolong.

Yin Xiaolong bit his tongue hard, using the pain to stimulate himself, and stumbled to his feet. He crawled and rolled towards Lin Zhian, dodging the hands of the people around him. After almost exhausting all his strength, Yin Xiaolong finally reached Lin Zhian.

Upon closer inspection, it was astonishing to discover that Lin Zhi'an's feet were now entangled in the roots of a giant tree emerging from the ground, and his longsword was covered in a green, semi-solid substance. This semi-solid substance seemed to be alive, slowly devouring the longsword and threatening to reach Lin Zhi'an's hand holding it. (Typed by the Nomad God)

"Let go quickly!" Yin Xiaolong said anxiously.

“No!” Lin Zhian shook his head and said, “This sword and I are actually one.”

"Then... what should we do?" Yin Xiaolong became even more anxious.

"Take this." Lin Zhian opened his other hand and placed a small golden object that looked like a stone or a fruit into Yin Xiaolong's hand, then said, "This should be what we're looking for. Let's hurry back to the village!"

"We'll go together!" Yin Xiaolong said, trying to pull Lin Zhian away, but Lin Zhian stopped him, saying, "Don't touch me! If you touch me, you'll get tangled in this tree, and then nobody will be able to get out!"

"But...but..." Yin Xiaolong suddenly felt incredibly pathetic. He couldn't even protect a girl, yet he had to ask her to sacrifice herself, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Don't hesitate, let's go! I don't know how much longer I can suppress this tree, and besides, I used a spell to summon evil spirits, which will consume a lot of souls. Hehe." Lin Zhian suddenly laughed and said, "Consider it a contribution from our Lin family!"

"Zhi'an!" Yin Xiaolong slowly stood up, tears streaming down his face. Silent tears welled up, and Yin Xiaolong felt as if all the strength in his body had been drained away. His throat was dry and felt like it was blocked by something. His whole body trembled, even his fingertips were shaking.

"Go quickly!" Lin Zhian almost shouted, but tears still streamed down his face uncontrollably.

Yin Xiaolong gripped the object in his hand tightly, as if trying to embed it into his palm. Was he really going to lose even more family and friends for this? Gritting his teeth, Yin Xiaolong suddenly turned around and ran wildly toward Lin Zhiping with his head down, because he was afraid that if he stopped or turned back, he would never be able to go any further.

"I'm not leaving!" Lin Zhiping tried to crawl toward Lin Zhian, but Yin Xiaolong picked her up and carried her on his shoulder.

"You have to leave, whether you want to or not. Do you want Zhi'an's efforts to be in vain?" Yin Xiaolong ran quickly toward the cave entrance, only hearing the hissing of the small green tumors behind him, and Lin Zhiping's painful voice on his shoulder.

The screams and cries of pain merged into a strange sound, piercing not only the ears but also the heart. It felt as if this sound would never cease, never disappear, forever etched into one's mind, life, and soul. Perhaps even at the moment of death, this sound would resurface, reminding one that such a person once existed.

Volume 4, Chapter 18: The Wronged Soul of Lin Zhi'an

Volume 4, Chapter 18: The Wronged Soul of Lin Zhi'an

"So, Lin Zhi'an sacrificed himself to save everyone?" I asked Grandma Yin. "Then why did you say that our Lin family are monsters?"

"Let me finish." Old Mrs. Yin glared at me, sighed, and continued, "Originally, after my elder brother brought that thing back, he immediately handed it over to the itinerant doctor. That itinerant doctor was trustworthy; three days later, he used the heart of this heartless person as a medicinal ingredient to prepare the medicine. After everyone drank it, their illnesses really did improve, and of course, Lin Fan's illness also improved. Since this medicine was obtained at the cost of the life of one of the Lin family's daughters, everyone was extremely grateful and wanted to erect a tombstone for Lin Zhi'an." They wanted to commemorate him, but Lin Fan refused. Left with no other option, they set up memorial tablets for Lin Zhi'an in their respective homes and enshrined them. Then, on the third night after everyone had fully recovered, the itinerant doctor, who was supposed to leave the next day, suddenly died in front of the Lin family ancestral hall! His death was extremely gruesome; his entire body was almost torn into countless pieces, and blood and internal organs splattered all over the Lin family ancestral hall. The Lin family couldn't explain how this doctor had entered their home, or how he had inexplicably died in their ancestral hall.

At that time, the village's connections with other places had not been fully restored, and since everyone already had no goodwill towards this itinerant doctor, they naturally did not pursue the matter further. They burned his body and hastily ended the matter, and everyone deliberately chose to forget about it and never mentioned it again. Therefore, to outsiders, they only knew that a strange disease had broken out in Yinjia Village, but they were unaware of the existence of this itinerant doctor.

But the story was far from over. Gradually, a rumor began to circulate: the itinerant doctor was actually killed by the ghost of Lin Zhi'an! This rumor grew increasingly bizarre. Some even claimed to see a long-haired girl floating in the village at night, seemingly Lin Zhi'an!

At first, not many people believed it, but later the word spread. More and more people said they saw her at night, even describing her face and expressions vividly. More importantly, she kept clutching her chest, telling everyone she met that she had lost her heart and wanted it returned to her. And most of those who saw her were villagers who had taken the drug, so people said that Lin Zhi'an had come to collect a debt. Every household started burning paper money and incense every day, hoping that Lin Zhi'an could be reincarnated as a human soon and no longer linger in the mortal world.

"So, what happened to her after that?" I couldn't help but ask.

"No. Not only did she not leave, but she became even more strange. At first, she only appeared in the village. Later, she even appeared in the villagers' homes, causing widespread panic. No one could live a normal life. So, everyone went to Lin Fan, hoping that he could help build a tombstone for Lin Zhi'an, even if it was just a cenotaph, so that he could at least be laid to rest. But unexpectedly, Lin Fan flatly refused. We even learned from Lin Zhiping that there wasn't even a memorial tablet for Lin Zhi'an in the Lin family ancestral hall." Old Mrs. Yin couldn't help but shake her head as she said this.

Why? Why won't Lin Fan build a tombstone for Lin Zhi'an? Even if there isn't a tombstone, why won't he give her even a small memorial tablet in the Lin family ancestral hall? Without her, the heart of that heartless person couldn't have been taken from the Yin family ancestral grave, let alone saved everyone. Besides, at that time, not giving her a memorial tablet was tantamount to not acknowledging her as a member of the Lin family. A hero of Yin Family Village, a member of the Lin family, why shouldn't she receive what she deserves?

"Why is that?" Fang Lei, who was standing to the side, also felt curious and asked hurriedly.

"This is what all the villagers find strange. Logically, Lin Zhi'an is his daughter, a member of the Lin family, yet he's so heartless, not even giving her a memorial tablet. Moreover, without Lin Zhi'an, he probably would have died from that strange illness himself!" Old Mrs. Yin continued, "The villagers talked to Lin Fan about this several times, but each time to no avail. Later, someone even saw Mrs. Lin and Lin Zhiping secretly going to the back mountain to burn paper money for Lin Zhi'an, only to be scolded by Lin Fan who followed them. Then, Lin Zhi'an's ghost became increasingly mournful, appearing almost every night. Several people, unable to bear it, even… even… chose to commit suicide to appease Lin Zhi'an's vengeful spirit!"

Suicide…? Everyone gasped in shock. Who could have imagined things would turn out this way? They thought it would be a happy ending with the medicine working and everyone recovering, but no…

"Yes! No one expected that after the strange illness was cured, an even more terrifying thing would happen. Those people seemed to feel guilty, or perhaps they were possessed. They started howling like ghosts at night, then kept muttering to themselves, as if they were possessed by Lin Zhi'an, repeating, 'My heart is gone, my heart is gone.' They wouldn't sleep all night, and they became more and more haggard. In the end, they were practically like zombies. On the seventh night of the attack, they would shout, 'Here you go, here you go!' and then... then, they would forcefully plunge their hands into their own hearts and rip their hearts out! Perhaps none of you have ever seen such a sight, so you can't know how terrifying it was? Although I was very young at the time, but..." "Yes, how could I forget? How could I possibly forget? A person rips out their own heart right before your eyes, yet their expression is so strange—not of pain, but of relief. The sound of that heart tearing from the chest seems to never fade away. Every night I hear it, in my ears, in my mind!" Old Mrs. Yin seemed increasingly agitated as she spoke, saying, "Later, almost everyone who recovered after taking the medicine died at the hands of Lin Zhi'an's vengeful spirit. If the strange illness was just the beginning of the whole affair, then Lin Zhi'an's vengeful spirit was the real killer! Why did our Yin Family Village have so few elderly people for so long? Because they were all dead! No one died with a complete corpse. Tell me, aren't the Lin family members demons?"

"But...but...isn't this all for the sake of your Yin Family Village?" Abao muttered softly from the side.

"A monster is a monster! If Lin Fan had agreed to give Lin Zhi'an a memorial tablet back then, perhaps Lin Zhi'an's vengeful spirit wouldn't be so terrifying! It's all the fault of your Lin family!" Old Mrs. Yin coughed agitatedly, and after a long while, she finally calmed down and said, "After almost all the old and weak who survived died under Lin Zhi'an's vengeful spirit, Lin Zhiping also fell seriously ill and died soon after. Perhaps because Lin Zhi'an's vengeful spirit had her sister's company, it didn't continue to haunt us. However, the whole village was devastated for a long time! After all, with so many relatives dying at once, no one could recover in a short time."

"So, Lin Zhiping also died of illness in the end?" I asked.

"That's right. Although we don't know what illness she had, she died later. Lin Fan lost both of his daughters. Fortunately, Mrs. Lin later gave birth to two more sons, Lin Zhihuai and Lin Zhinian, and a daughter, Lin Zhixuan. Perhaps feeling guilty towards his two previous daughters, Lin Fan doted on Lin Zhixuan, even declaring that he would never marry her off. Anyone who wanted Lin Zhixuan had to marry into the Lin family! So, your father, Chen Yilang, married into the Lin family back then," explained Old Mrs. Yin.

"Do you know how my two uncles and grandparents died?" I asked hurriedly.

"Your grandmother died of illness a few years after giving birth to your mother, Lin Zhixuan. As for your grandfather, Lin Fan, and your two uncles..." Old Mrs. Yin remained silent for a long time before slowly saying, "You will understand those things in the future."

Understand? How am I supposed to understand if you don't tell me? My sister doesn't know either. Only she and I are left in the Lin family. Am I supposed to wait until I die and go down to the afterlife to find out?

"But..." I said anxiously, "How will I understand later?"

This time, Old Madam Yin seemed determined. She had Yin Tianhu help her up and coldly said to me, "Your Lin family is a monstrous family. If you don't want to harm this village, then leave now!" With that, she turned and left without looking back, leaving us bewildered. We hadn't expected to miss the Nuo dance today, but instead learn about this strange past of the Lin family. However, this didn't seem to be the whole truth. I had a vague feeling that the most important thing was hidden in the deaths of my grandfather and two uncles.

Introduction of characters related to the work

Introduction of characters related to the work

Lin Xiao: The male protagonist of this book, a forensic doctor.

He possesses a ten-thousand-year-old ghost jade that grants him superhuman abilities, but his potential is limitless; the reason for this will be revealed later. He is naturally lazy, has his own set of principles for dealing with people, and is mostly very rational. Initially, he didn't believe in ghosts or gods, but after the "Three Ghosts of the City" tale, he had no choice but to believe!

Fang Lei: The female protagonist of this book, a forensic doctor, and a rising star of the Emei Sect.

A perfect combination of a beautiful forensic doctor and a cultivator, she is intelligent and understanding, but perhaps due to her years of cultivation, she is somewhat naive about human relationships and needs Lin Xiao's guidance in some matters. She deeply loves Lin Xiao.

Li Yang: The second male protagonist in this book, a policeman.

He's naturally carefree and easygoing, and his womanizing is a fatal flaw. However, he also possesses a keen eye for detail when it comes to cases, and he's never confused when it comes to important matters! (The only person I dare not kill off is someone my friends all like!)

Li Hai: Li Yang's twin brother, a rising star of the Maoshan School.

He's steady, loyal, and insightful—definitely better than Li Yang. (I'll die in Volume Two, so I can write one less character, *chuckles*)

Cao Ying: Lao Cao's adopted daughter, a college student studying in the United States, majoring in criminal psychology.

A girl who appears cold but is actually very fragile yet strong.

Lin Yao: Lin Xiao's older sister, a horror novelist.

Everything else remains a mystery...

Tian Niang: The owner of the Black Forest Bar and the third-generation successor of the Ancient Tomb Sect.

It's a mystery! It's a mystery!

Abao: A genius and beautiful girl, proficient in computers. Li Yang's bickering love interest!

Yin Xue: Lin Xiao's first love, who committed suicide.

Preview of the next volume: The Devil's Left Eye

Preview of the next volume: The Devil's Left Eye

Synopsis:

A chance visit to an art exhibition led me to a strange art book and a bizarre website address...

Mysterious emails from unknown individuals gradually plunged me into fear...

Several murder victims in the city shared two strange things in common: they were all missing their left eyes and had all been to an art exhibition...

The bizarre funerary practices of ancient ethnic minorities...

A miracle in the history of human architecture...

New characters appearing:

Baiyun: Lin Xiao's classmate in college, and of course, she's a beauty too!

Their profession is also forensic pathologist.

Others: Still thinking... (Choosing a name is so painful...)

Hope you all continue to support me! :)

Update announcements related to the work

Update announcements related to the work

Dear readers, I've been having a really tough internal struggle lately! A Taiwanese publisher wants the copyright to my traditional Chinese characters, which means I can't update as frequently! :(