Chapter 6

"Fire! Fire!"

A diver soldier was running down the street, striking a copper gong.

Not far away, a blaze rose into the sky, dispelling the darkness and causing the neighbors to panic and scream.

A group of diver soldiers, carrying water bags, poles, and pumps, hurried to the scene to extinguish the fire.

Qin Shaoyou had a bad feeling in his heart. He stopped the diver soldier who was striking the gong and asked, "Where is the fire?"

The diver soldier, who had intended to scold someone, quickly swallowed his words upon seeing Qin Shaoyou's uniform from the Demon Suppression Bureau and hastily replied, "Sir, it's at the Yatan Hall."

"What?"

Zhu Xiuzai was startled upon hearing this.

They were about to investigate the ghost in the painting at Yatan Hall, and now it was on fire?

This was not an accident but a deliberate arson to destroy evidence, wasn't it?

"How is the fire?" Zhu Xiuzai asked urgently.

Actually, there was no need to ask. Just by looking at the towering flames, one could tell that the fire was not small.

Sure enough, the diver soldier replied, "The fire is huge. Yatan Hall and the printing shop behind it have been burned down. We can't save them. We can only try to contain the fire to prevent it from spreading to the surrounding houses."

After understanding the situation, Qin Shaoyou let the diver soldier continue to sound the alarm and led his subordinates to the vicinity of Yatan Hall, where they saw the raging fire engulfing the hall.

"Sir, this fire is too coincidental," Zhu Xiuzai said with a serious expression.

Qin Shaoyou nodded. He knew this situation without being reminded and immediately ordered, "Find out where the people from Yatan Hall are and bring them back to the Demon Suppression Bureau for questioning!"

"Yes, sir." Zhu Xiuzai immediately took the order and led a few strongmen to conduct the investigation.

Ma Heshang also wanted to go, but Qin Shaoyou kept him by his side.

Zhu Xiuzai proved to be efficient. It didn't take long for him to find the people from Yatan Hall.

These people were lucky; although many were burned, none of them were in mortal danger.

However, when they heard that they were to be taken to the Demon Suppression Bureau for questioning, they became panicked, and some even tried to escape in the chaos.

Zhu Xiuzai immediately realized there was something wrong with this group. Without hesitation, he ordered the strongmen to chain them up and bring them back to the Demon Suppression Bureau for interrogation.

Qin Shaoyou, who remained at the fire scene, waited until the fire was extinguished and then entered the ruins with Ma Heshang and others to conduct an investigation.

The result was nothing.

The fire had burned Yatan Hall to the ground, leaving no clues behind.

Back at the Demon Suppression Bureau, the interrogation by Zhu Xiuzai and others had concluded.

The people from Yatan Hall did not know the cause of the fire or the ghost in the painting.

However, they were all followers of the Black Lotus Sect, using Yatan Hall to secretly spread their teachings and recruit followers in the city.

Ma Heshang, who had been listening to the report with Qin Shaoyou, raised an eyebrow and speculated, "So, the ghost in the painting is the work of the Black Lotus Sect?"

"Not necessarily."

Qin Shaoyou thought for a moment and shook his head. "If the ghost in the painting was created by the Black Lotus Sect, they would have taken these believers away when they set the fire to destroy the evidence. They wouldn't have left such a big loophole for us."

This made sense, and Ma Heshang nodded. He then asked, "So, where did the ghost in the painting come from?"

Qin Shaoyou sighed. "There might have been clues at Yatan Hall, but unfortunately, they were all burned in the fire."

He paused and then asked Zhu Xiuzai, "Who did Yatan Hall sell the erotic books to recently? And who in the city have they recruited into the Black Lotus Sect?"

Zhu Xiuzai replied, "These people are very stubborn. They only admitted to selling the erotic books and refused to reveal the names of the Black Lotus Sect followers, no matter how much we interrogated them. Many people bought the erotic books, but they only knew the details of some regular customers. I have already sent people to investigate at the addresses they provided. They should be back soon."

As he spoke, several figures rushed into the office.

They were the strongmen Zhu Xiuzai had sent out.

Seeing them, Zhu Xiuzai quickly stood up and asked, "How did it go? Did you find anything?"

The strongmen first saluted Qin Shaoyou and then reported, "When we arrived at the homes of Yatan Hall's regular customers, some of them had already been killed. Their times of death were different; some died tonight, and others had died a few days ago..."

Ma Heshang frowned and interrupted, "A few days ago? Why didn't the families report it to the Demon Suppression Bureau?"

The strongman replied, "The bodies had no visible injuries, and from the outside, there was no sign of a problem. The families thought they had died suddenly from illness and did not realize they had been harmed by evil spirits."

Ma Heshang nodded, acknowledging this explanation.

The strongman continued, "We examined the bodies and found that although they had no external injuries, they had severe blood loss, and some of the bodies had sunken chests, suggesting their hearts had been removed. We also searched their homes but found no useful clues, only the erotic books they had bought from Yatan Hall. In the latest book, there were obvious signs of missing characters."

With that, the strongmen handed several books to Qin Shaoyou.

Qin Shaoyou flipped through them and passed them to Zhu Xiuzai, who glanced at them and confirmed, "Indeed, there are missing characters. The most prominent roles in these books are all gone."

"Probably because the ghost in the painting harmed them and then fled," Qin Shaoyou concluded with a nod.

"There are a few regular customers who have not been harmed yet, and we have brought back all the erotic books they purchased."

The strongmen then produced a few more books.

However, after studying them for a while, no one found any issues.

Qin Shaoyou, not giving up, placed the books on the office desk, pulled over a stool, and sat down to watch.

He was waiting for the ghost in the painting to appear.

One, to find clues, and two, to kill it.

Zhu Xiuzai and the others also stayed to watch.

It was unclear whether they wanted to kill the ghost or be possessed by it.

After a while, the erotic books showed no abnormalities, but a sudden, urgent alarm sounded outside the office.

Someone was sounding the alarm?

And it seemed to be coming from inside the Demon Suppression Bureau?

What had happened?

Everyone was startled.

Zhu Xiuzai's figure blurred and disappeared, returning a moment later with the news, "It's the prison that's sounding the alarm!"

"The prison?!"

Everyone's faces turned even more grim.

The only people detained in the prison tonight were the group from Yatan Hall.

Could they have caused trouble?

Or were their Black Lotus Sect comrades trying to break them out?

Regardless of the reason, they had to go and check.

Qin Shaoyou, being meticulous, instructed Ma Heshang to bring the erotic books when they left, in case they caused more trouble while they were away.

When they arrived at the prison entrance, many night guards were already there, including the night commander.

Seeing Qin Shaoyou, the night commander's eyes lit up, and he called out, "Qin Xiaqi, you're here. Come with me to check inside the prison."

Qin Shaoyou knew the night commander was a close confidant of Xue Qingshan and had invited him to join the investigation to share in the credit.

Although the situation inside the prison was unclear, the Demon Suppression Bureau had multiple protective wards. Even if something had gone wrong, they could handle it.

After a brief consideration, Qin Shaoyou tightened his grip on his sword and followed the night commander into the prison.

On the way, he also obtained a shield from a guard on duty.

Zhu Xiuzai and Ma Heshang followed closely behind without hesitation.

Inside the prison, the lighting was dim. Before they could see what had happened, they were hit by a strong, foul smell of blood that made them want to vomit.

Then, they heard a series of hair-raising screams and cries.

Once their eyes adjusted to the dim light, Qin Shaoyou and the others saw a hideous monster in the prison cell.

It looked like a bizarre tree made of flesh and blood.

The trunk was composed of human bodies, seemingly haphazardly piled together, but connected by pus-filled, grotesque flesh buds, as if forcibly sewn together.

The branches and twigs were human limbs, and the flower buds and fruits were human heads.

All the limbs and heads were alive!

The limbs were moving, splattering pus and blood, polluting the surroundings.

The heads were screaming and spewing black mist and foul odors.

The blood and the foul smell, the screams and cries, all came from this hideous flesh tree!

This bizarre and eerie scene made even the seasoned demon hunters of the Demon Suppression Bureau feel uneasy.