The Unremarkable Little Taoist Master

After arriving at the agreed location, we followed Director Lou back to the police station in a police car. Director Lou went to report back, and we made our way to the archives. The two of us took the files of the male and female victims and started to examine them carefully.

Later, when we compared the two, we discovered that both of them were born in a yin year, yin month, and yin day – a trait that made them particularly favored by fierce ghosts.

“Because they naturally have heavier yin energy,” the old daoist priest said to me. “I believe this must be the work of an evil spirit.”

I shook my head and replied, “I don’t think so. I didn’t find any ghostly presence at the scene. Why would someone target people born in a yin year, yin month, and yin day? And why would they skin both of them?”

I was also engulfed in confusion and thought, as this was exactly the question on my mind. We spent the whole night discussing this in the police station, but we could not come up with any conclusions.

All we could do was continue to consider the possibilities. We heard chaotic voices in the police station, and after a sleepless night, we stepped out of the archives. We stopped a police officer who was walking hurriedly. He told us, “There’s an emergency assembly. Hurry up, or you’ll get chewed out soon.”

A sense of foreboding filled our minds, as we felt something must have gone wrong the previous night; otherwise, everyone wouldn’t be so tense, gathering early in the morning. Quickly, we followed everyone to the small square at the police station entrance. It was only after we got into the police cars that the old daoist priest and I learned the truth.

It turned out that another case similar to the last incident had occurred in our city last night – also involving skinning and a gruesome death. Our hearts filled with guilt in an instant. If we had discovered the killer earlier, perhaps this person wouldn’t have had to die. At the moment we saw the corpse, we felt immense remorse.

Moreover, this body was identical to the couple from the previous case. After exchanging a glance with the old daoist priest, we left and retrieved the victims’ files once again.

It seemed that this case was identical to the last one, also involving victims born in a yin year, yin month, and yin day. We quickly compiled a list of all citizens in the city who fit this description. Besides the three victims, there were three more individuals-one was out of town, another was at the police station, and the last was a little girl who looked like she had just started elementary school.

She was an adorable little girl. We shared the information we had gathered with Director Lou, who nodded in agreement and prepared to deploy police resources to protect the girl. In the meantime, I seized every moment to recall everything I knew about this type of monster.

After thinking for a long time, I still couldn’t remember what this monster was. Despair settled in deeply, and the old daoist priest seemed to be equally perplexed.

The old daoist priest muttered, “What kind of beastly killer does this? It’s as if all it wants is human skin. Is this monster cold? Does it need to wear human skin to go out?” Just as I was about to educate the old man not to ramble on, a sudden realization hit me.

How could I have forgotten about the monster that wears human skin?

Suddenly, it dawned on me that this monster is a wolf in human skin, known as the Thousand-Faced Granny. This creature originates from beyond our realm, and its greatest passion is to collect human skin, then use it to take on the appearance of its victims, moving freely among humans.

Hence, it’s called the Thousand-Faced Granny. It’s said that this monster hasn’t appeared in a long time, and I couldn’t understand why it suddenly emerged in front of me now; it completely slipped my mind.

The old daoist priest’s words triggered my memory. I explained to him that the Thousand-Faced Granny was extremely cunning, possessing numerous faces, making her very difficult to capture. Upon hearing this, the old man’s face turned furious.

With a bewildered expression, the old daoist replied, “How are we supposed to catch this so-called Thousand-Faced Granny?” I shook my head and said, “We can only catch her at the scene. If we can’t do that, then there’s nothing we can do. We’ll just have to retreat.”

The old daoist priest stared at me in disbelief, as if to say, “Is there anything you can’t accomplish?” I smiled, recognizing the old man’s thoughts.

I replied, “I’m just a human, not a god. The Thousand-Faced Granny is too elusive; after she changes her form, even her aura changes. There’s nothing we can do. If she really escapes, we’ll have to wait until she shows up again.”

Will she come out again? Of course, I nodded and said, “The Thousand-Faced Granny must obtain a human skin every so often. For those born in a yin year, yin month, and yin day, the demand occurs every ten years. If she fails to do so, she won’t need anyone to take action against her; she will destroy herself.”

The old daoist priest said seriously, “So, right now, the Thousand-Faced Granny is indeed in the midst of one of those ten-year trials?” I nodded again, saying, “Theoretically, that’s the case.”

It’s also possible that the Thousand-Faced Granny has high standards, but I felt that was unlikely since she needs a considerable amount of human skin from those born in a yin year, yin month, and yin day every ten years. Thus, it’s improbable that she would randomly kill these individuals.

The old man nodded in agreement. “Let’s go to the little girl tomorrow night. I think only we can protect her.” I nodded and said, “That’s the only course of action we have.”

We shared our deductions with Director Lou, who assured us that he would fully cooperate with our operation. We began to prepare.

Night fell, and we watched the little girl sleeping soundly. Everyone’s expressions were complex; this time, she was our bait. None of us wanted this operation to fail because the cost of failure would be devastating.

We all bowed to the peacefully sleeping little girl, then dispersed to start our plan. We were waiting for the appearance of the Thousand-Faced Granny so that we could solve this series of gruesome murders.

If something did go wrong this time, I feared I would drown in remorse for the rest of my life.

Suddenly, a pair of strong hands gently patted my shoulder.

I looked up to see the old daoist priest shaking his head at me with a serious expression.

“Life and death are predestined; don’t put too much pressure on yourself. We’ll do our best.”

I shook my head, not saying a word, and we both fell into a deep silence.

The old daoist priest put away his usual playful demeanor, donning a rarely seen serious look.