Chapter 34 - Soul-Capturing Yin House (Part X)

The police officer placed the pot in front of Liang Luo, who squatted down and reached to uncover the yellow cloth.

“Sir, I advise you not to open it,” Chen Shaoxian said, watching Liang Luo closely.

Liang Luo glanced up at Chen Shaoxian and asked, “Then tell me what’s inside.”

“A cooked human head.” Chen Shaoxian replied bluntly.

The others gasped upon hearing Chen Shaoxian’s words.

Liang Luo snorted coldly and lifted the yellow cloth. Besides Chen Shaoxian, everyone else curiously stared at the pot, eager to see what was inside.

Liang Luo quickly untied the yellow cloth. Just as he was about to lift the lid, Chen Shaoxian warned, “Sir, you’d better keep your distance.”

Ignoring Chen Shaoxian, Liang Luo opened the lid.

“Ah!” Upon seeing the contents clearly, Liang Luo screamed and sat down hard on the ground. Everyone else who was looking into the pot screamed in fright. Several women from the Zhuo family fainted and collapsed to the ground.

Liang Luo stared at the disfigured boiled head inside the pot and, without turning around, said, “Call the forensics team.”

Before he could finish his sentence, the head in the pot suddenly emitted black fog, which quickly dissipated, leaving behind a thick black smoke with a burnt stench. Liang Luo, being closest, was choked by the smoke.

Liang Luo’s face immediately turned ashen, and he collapsed stiffly. The other police officers, seeing Liang Luo fall, drew their guns and aimed at the Zhuo family members. Uncle Hua, the older officer, pressed his gun against the back of Chen Shaoxian’s head and turned to shout at another officer, “Ah Da, call an ambulance quickly.”

“Your superior has been possessed by a corpse demon, and his yang energy is depleted. He’ll die if not helped soon,” Chen Shaoxian said calmly.

Uncle Hua, an experienced officer, had seen many strange things over the years, but this was a first.  Hearing Chen Shaoxian’s tone, he realized this young man might save his superior.  He withdrew the gun from the back of Chen Shaoxian’s head but kept it pointed at him.

Chen Shaoxian squatted beside Liang Luo and quickly took out some cinnabar, dotting it on Liang Luo’s eyes, earlobes, nostrils, and lips. He then placed his pinky and index finger on Liang Luo’s forehead, his middle finger and ring finger on his eyes, and his thumb on the philtrum, murmuring, “May the mind be clear, may the spirit be peaceful, may the souls endure, may the spirits remain stable, expel.” After saying this, he pressed down with all five fingers.

The others watched in shock as the air around Chen Shaoxian’s fingers visibly distorted, and suddenly, five streams of white vapor burst from his fingers, merging into Liang Luo’s forehead, eyes, and mouth.

Chen Shaoxian then turned Liang Luo over, face down, and held him that way. Shortly after, a stream of black fluid began to flow from Liang Luo’s ears, eyes, nostrils, and mouth.

Once the black fluid had drained, Chen Shaoxian called for the remaining mung bean porridge.

Upon hearing Chen Shaoxian’s call, everyone snapped back to reality and hurriedly brought a small basin of the mung bean porridge to him.

Chen Shaoxian grabbed the basin, held Liang Luo’s cheeks, and waited for his mouth to open before pouring the porridge in, not caring whether it would choke him.

However, Liang Luo managed to swallow the entire basin of mung bean porridge, to Chen Shaoxian’s surprise.

After all the porridge was poured in, Chen Shaoxian pounded Liang Luo’s back a couple of times, and Liang Luo coughed a few times and woke up.

Seeing that Liang Luo was awake, Chen Shaoxian threw him aside and stepped back, watching him.

Upon waking, Liang Luo felt his stomach bloated and nauseous, and with a burst, he vomited a stream of dark green water that smelled foul.

Everyone covered their noses and watched Liang Luo.

After he was done vomiting, Liang Luo staggered to his feet, feeling as if his stomach was on fire and his mouth tasted horribly fishy. He took a few deep breaths, looked around, and asked, “What happened?”

Uncle Hua, holding his breath, came over and briefly explained what had occurred.

Liang Luo nodded, then walked straight toward Chen Shaoxian. Chen Shaoxian waved his hand and threw a small bottle to Liang Luo, saying, “Drink this.”

Liang Luo awkwardly took the small bottle, opened it, and smelled the strong scent of mint. He tilted his head back and poured it into his mouth. In addition to the mint, he detected other fragrances as well. After swallowing, the coolness spread from his throat all the way to his stomach, extinguishing the burning sensation there. After a burp, the foul taste in his mouth also disappeared, and he felt much more alert.

Liang Luo walked over to Chen Shaoxian to express his gratitude and inquire about the details.

Chen Shaoxian briefly explained the incident to Liang Luo, and all the police officers who heard it found it unbelievable.

This was the first time Liang Luo had heard of such bizarre occurrences. Had he not experienced it himself just moments ago, he would never have believed it. At this point, Liang Luo was out of ideas, so he turned around and called over Uncle Hua.

Uncle Hua, shocked by the incident, came over and said to Liang Luo, “Sir, Mr. Chen will have to decide what to do about this.”

Liang Luo turned back to Chen Shaoxian and asked, “Mr. Chen, what should we do now?”

Chen Shaoxian replied, “Since you all are here, you can’t just leave. It’s easier for me with you here. You’ll all need to follow my instructions shortly.”

Liang Luo nodded and said to his subordinates, “You all must listen to Mr. Chen.”

“Yes, Sir,” the police officers Liang Luo brought with him responded in unison.

Chen Shaoxian had the police officers line up, and looking at their prompt readiness, he felt quite pleased. He then said to the officers, “Those of you who have fired a gun and killed before, step forward.”

The officers glanced at each other, and only Uncle Hua and another older officer stepped forward.

Chen Shaoxian asked, “Are the guns you’re currently carrying the ones you’ve used before?”

Both Uncle Hua and the other officer nodded.

Seeing them nod, Chen Shaoxian handed them some cinnabar and instructed them to coat their bullets with it. Once they were done, he advised them to be ready to shoot immediately if anything like a corpse reanimating occurred while they were lifting the coffin.

Chen Shaoxian then gathered the remaining officers and handed each one a mask. He had someone bring stools over so they could lift the coffin onto them.

He asked Zheng Lei to bring the brazier and place it under the coffin. He handed Zheng Lei a box filled with mugwort and acorus powder, instructing him to pour the powder into the brazier once the coffin was opened and then to move away quickly.

He picked up some baijiu and poured it around the coffin in a circle, then burned a stack of joss paper as a simple tribute.

With that, they were ready to open the coffin.