Egg Spirit Academy.
As one of Donghuang’s top ten schools,
Before we arrived, I had expected to see magnificent academy buildings, courteous classmates, and a peaceful academic atmosphere.
But instead, from the moment we stepped in, it was utter chaos!
“Is the north side blocked?! Which division is over there?”
“The Vermilion Bird Division’s stinky women? Hmm… Those stinky women are pretty reliable when it comes to handling things. So no worries about the north side.”
“Any movement on the east side? Hiss—could it be the Black Tortoise Division stationed there? Oh no! Those lazy turtles probably haven’t even gotten out of bed yet!”
“The White Tiger Division is helping guard the east side? Phew—that’s good! Just don’t let them clash with the Azure Dragon Division again. Those little tigers have terrible tempers, and the Azure Dragon folks are so smug. If they meet, it’ll be a brawl of epic proportions!”
“It’s a total mess! Aaaah—has the Ghost Exorcist arrived yet?!”
“Here, here!”
A flashy crimson convertible screeched to a stop at the school gate.
Behind the wheel sat a woman in a sleek black women’s suit, her fierce eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses.
Next to her in the passenger seat, a little ghost also sported sunglasses, its small hand resting lazily on the car door from beneath its white sheet, exuding an air of a laid-back big sister.
The car door opened, and the Xiaoyue Hermit stepped out, her long legs clad in black silk stockings commanding attention, heels clicking outside the door as she slowly walked toward the gate.
The little ghost floated silently behind her, arms crossed as it drifted noiselessly closer.
“Who’s the client?”
“It’s me, it’s me! I’m Zhao Ba. Just call me Baba.”
The bald professor hurriedly approached the Xiaoyue Hermit.
But her gaze passed Baba, landing on me.
I made a shushing gesture.
At this moment, I was dressed in the night gear that the class president had provided for concealing identity. Kelu was hiding in the box, so strangers wouldn’t recognize me.
But the Xiaoyue Hermit recognized me.
She understood I didn’t want to expose myself to avoid trouble, so she continued with her work.
Removing her sunglasses, she put them into a small bag beside her. Her gaze turned sharp and professional:
“Professor Baba, tell me everything you know about this Resentful Ghost.”
Baba nodded quickly. “This Resentful Ghost was originally Zhousenran, a victim of a serial murder case ten years ago. Because of the extreme terror she experienced before death, she transformed into a Resentful Ghost afterward.”
“Victim of a serial murder? Ten years ago?” The Xiaoyue Hermit thought for a moment. “Could it be… the Serial Film City Murderer?”
“Exactly, that series of cases. The culprit has never been caught.”
“But why is the victim here?” The Xiaoyue Hermit asked, puzzled. “Why would Egg University keep such a dangerous Resentful Ghost on campus? Especially one that’s a ghost spirit-type, the most dangerous kind…”
“Because… Zhousenran was my student.”
Professor Baba’s smile was bitter.
“Sorry.”
“It’s nothing…” Baba sighed and shook his head. “Ten years ago, I was still her mentor. That night, our experiment ran into problems, and we worked late together…”
The Xiaoyue Hermit listened intently.
“—Because we were so busy, we forgot to eat. After the experiment, Zhousenran said she wanted to go to a 24-hour place near Film City for some pan-fried buns. I was too tired to go with her. But then… she never came back…”
“My condolences.”
“Later, Zhousenran turned into a Resentful Ghost… but it wasn’t me who sought her out. She came back to find me.”
“Oh? A rational Resentful Ghost?”
“Yes. Zhousenran never fully turned into a mindless murderous spirit. She retained some consciousness and reason, and she came back wanting to continue the experiment.”
“What experiment?”
“We were researching a potion that could remove the resentment from ghost spirit-type Resentful Ghosts and convert them into Immortal Spirits.”
“!”
Just from that one sentence, the Xiaoyue Hermit realized the magnitude of this research.
Since the Immortal Spirit Awakening, Resentful Ghosts have also appeared, causing great trouble.
Among them, ghost spirit-type Resentful Ghosts are especially problematic. They are immune to physical attacks, highly aggressive, and can appear and disappear unpredictably.
But the hardest problem is ethical.
Ghost spirit-type Immortal Spirits mostly form from deceased humans and Immortal Spirits. Destroying them is essentially killing them again.
Their relatives find this unbearable.
But if they aren’t destroyed, more people could be harmed.
This puts Ghost Exorcists in a difficult position.
“Since Zhousenran returned, she has been providing her soul as a test sample for our experiments… Her condition has remained stable, until just now!”
“What just happened?”
“She suddenly went berserk! I don’t know if it’s the potion’s effect or something else…” Baba looked deeply guilty. “Now she’s scaring people all over the school. We hope you can calm her quickly.”
“Understood. Leave it to me.”
The Xiaoyue Hermit nodded knowingly.
“Possess spirit!”
“…”
This was my first time seeing the Xiaoyue Hermit possess a spirit.
It was… hard to describe.
Wait, was that really possession? Or just the little ghost pulling the sheet over her head?
I was stunned—I couldn’t tell.
The Xiaoyue Hermit’s possessed form seemed able to see the ghost aura.
She decisively ran east.
“I knew it was east!” Baba cursed loudly. “Those lazy Black Tortoise Division slackers didn’t even search east! Stupid pigeons with turtle brains!”
“Let’s go check it out.”
I followed the Xiaoyue Hermit with Xinyue and the Treasure Chest Monster into the campus, heading toward the east dormitory area.
The search for the Resentful Ghost went smoothly.
Following the trail of ghost aura, we quickly found the black energy hiding in a corner.
The instant we saw the black energy, an inexplicable fear arose in our hearts.
I knew this fear wasn’t ours.
It was that black energy’s own fear.
She was terrified.
The little ghost stepped forward, emitting a gentle voice inaudible to humans. This calmed the ghost aura significantly.
After some communication, the Xiaoyue Hermit set up a spirit board to gather information from the little ghost.
【He’s back!】
【That guy… his aura…】
【He’s going to kill! He’s going to kill again!】
【This time he will kill more! More!】
“Who’s back?” Baba asked, shocked, eyes wide. “Could it be…”
The answer was obvious.
“That serial killer?! That monster… that monster… how dare he show up again!”
The Xiaoyue Hermit frowned deeply.
She stood up.
“Ghosts live in a non-material world between three and four dimensions. They possess a sixth sense far beyond humans—intuition.” She put away the pen. “This is serious. We have to prepare for the worst and not rely on luck. Contact the Sian Office.”
Baba nodded firmly and dialed the Sian Office.
Meanwhile, at the Sian Office.
“Okay, understood.”
After recording the message, the operator forwarded the report to the Major Crime Department.
At the Major Crime Department, Shi Tian sat expressionless at his desk, bitterness stirring inside.
Today was his first day at the Daotianhai City Major Crime Department, and sitting at an unfamiliar workstation made him feel uneasy.
The colleagues around seemed to have their own cliques, indifferent to the newcomer, even… somewhat isolating him.
Isolation? That feeling was definitely not imagined.
Though he didn’t know why…
His restless mood was interrupted by a sudden raised voice that caught Shi Tian’s attention:
“The Serial Film City murder case from ten years ago?? That case was a perfect crime—no clues left behind. Where on earth do you expect us to find anything?”
“Over these ten years, we’ve had fewer fake reports like this. Mostly it’s the victims’ families unwilling to give up, calling from one number to another…”
“They say things like ‘the Film City killer is back’ or ‘there will be new victims tomorrow’—it’s all to get our attention and pressure us to reopen the case…”
“But there’s nothing to find! You think we don’t want to solve it? This is a major serial murder case! Cracking it would be a huge achievement! But… we’ve exhausted all leads, and there’s absolutely nothing!”
“What? A professor from Egg University reported the case? We have to respond? Fine, fine, fine… Hey, you! Yes, you!”
The team leader who had taken the call beckoned to Shi Tian.
Shi Tian looked around; he was the only one there.
Reluctantly, he approached the team leader.
“You’re the new guy. This case is yours now!”
With a snap, the team leader slapped the case file into Shi Tian’s arms, a smirk visible at the corner of his mouth.
“…”
“Just pretend to investigate it, comfort the victims’ families. If you can’t find anything, it’s not your fault. Even Conan would have to watch the surveillance footage, but there’s none.”
“…”
Shi Tian took the file in silence.
“Alright, go on.” The team leader took a sip from his thermos, then patted Shi Tian’s shoulder. “The complainant is a professor at Egg University, but they went to Film City for clues first. Just head straight to Film City.”
Shi Tian sighed deeply, donned his Law Enforcement Officer uniform, started the law enforcement vehicle, turned on the flashing lights, and departed.
–
Meanwhile,
Film City.
“Chi Xiaoyuan, are you done with your makeup? The other actors are ready. We’re waiting for you! Hurry up!”
Teacher Xiao Yuan… Chi Xiaoyuan reluctantly stood up as the makeup artist just finished the last stroke near her eye.
Looking at her perfectly made-up face and ornate costume in the mirror, she felt a wave of discomfort.
“Hurry up! The props team has already set up the murder scene. The guy playing the corpse might fall asleep if you don’t get on stage soon!”
This was a popular variety show airing on a certain satellite channel.
Called Detective Has Arrived.
Its main feature was celebrity-led mystery solving and suspense.
The production team staged crime scenes around Film City and deliberately left some clues for the celebrities to deduce.
Chi Xiaoyuan’s opinion of it: trash.
Those deductions were as flimsy as the escape room experiences at shopping malls, and so illogical that any normal person would be unable to solve them.
Unfortunately, besides herself, no one seemed to care.
The production team knew the audience only wanted to see familiar faces joking around on screen; the details didn’t matter.
After all, most variety show viewers didn’t use their brains, so why bother planning things logically?
“Here I come.”
With a deep sigh, Chi Xiaoyuan stepped out of the makeup room.
The deduction began.
The murder started.