Li Dong and the others recognized that they had caused trouble and dared not to stop him anymore, silently making way to the side, allowing a path for Xie Bai.

Xie Bai walked swiftly to the door of the compartment, first picking up the three demon cores that had fallen to the ground, then squatting down next to a gap between the floor tiles with his coat held up. Just as he was about to reach out, he heard Yin Wushu behind him say, "Hiss—stepped on blood." His tone was filled with sorrow and annoyance.

Xie Bai ignored him, carefully extracting the almost overlooked thing from the gap in the tiles.

It was a dark red bead, slightly smaller than a grain of rice, held between his fingers. The texture was crisp, slightly rough to the touch. Xie Bai was afraid of crushing it, so he did not apply any pressure with his fingertips.

"What is this?" He stood up and walked back, placing the small red bead in his palm and presenting it to Yin Wushu.

At first glance, this object seemed quite ordinary, and someone might even believe it was a piece of decoration that had fallen off someone's clothing. However, appearing here meant it was not that simple. After all, the corpse pieces from before had been arranged in a formation, and any addition or removal would affect the crucial key. The person who arranged the formation couldn't have been so careless. Therefore, this seemingly inconspicuous dark red bead must have a purpose.

Xie Bai quickly ran through a list of items in his mind that could assist the formation of the corpse array, but none matched this object.

At times like this, Xie Bai could only turn to Yin Wushu for answers. After all, among those present, he had lived the longest and seen the most things.

Yin Wushu narrowed his eyes and subtly shifted his face, with an expression like, "Seriously, what on earth are you thrusting into my personal space?". He waved his hand dismissively and then wrinkled his brow, covering his nose. "It smells of blood."

After saying that, he seemed to remember that Xie Bai had no sense of smell, so he coughed lightly, put down his hand, and reluctantly endured the smell. "It looks somewhat unfamiliar to me. Even with you showing it to me, I can't figure it out now. I'll let you know when I come up with something, but don't expect too much. After all, I'm getting old."

Xie Bai closed his fist, squeezing the bead into his palm, and lowered his hand. "No need for polite words."

"How is that being polite? Perhaps next time we meet, I'll have some clues." Yin Wushu raised an eyebrow.

"Next time?" Xie Bai had been about to leave, but upon hearing this, he couldn't help but raise his head again and said lightly, "Next time after a hundred years?"

Yin Wushu was caught off guard by his response, unable to find words to reply for a moment. Meanwhile, Xie Bai, taking advantage of him being speechless, walked straight out of the restroom and descended the stairs. If it weren't for the fact that there were too many sick people in the building and he was afraid of causing a commotion, Xie Bai would have left through the Yin Gate long ago. (NT: Yin Gate - 阴门usually refers to the entrance to the underworld or realm of the dead. Here it could be the door in the mist that Xie Bai controls)

Since he returned from the underground garage to the upper floor, he had cast a concealment spell on himself, making him invisible to ordinary people. Naturally, he had no scruples. He walked through the glass door of the lobby without avoiding anyone and descended the steps. Just as he was about to leave the main gate, someone lightly patted his head from above.

Xie Bai was tall and slender, and almost everyone he knew, whether it was Li Dong and the others or his colleagues from the Forensic Center, was shorter than him. None of them would dare to pat his head, let alone ten of them. The person who dared to do such a thing to him, above or below, could only be Yin Wushu.

"Xiao Bai, wait a moment. I remembered something."

Xie Bai took a step back and turned to look at the person behind him. "What?"

Yin Wushu tilted his head, tapping his chin with his left hand. "That bead, I have indeed seen it, about half a month ago."

"Where?" Xie Bai asked.

Yin Wushu tilted his head slightly. "I'll take you there."

Xie Bai hesitated slightly. It had only been half a minute since Yin Wushu had said it looked unfamiliar, and now he suddenly remembered? Having lived with Yin Wushu for a hundred years, he was well aware of his habit of speaking nonsense with a straight face. At this moment, he couldn't be sure which part of what he said was true. But this was about business, so after a moment's hesitation, he nodded. "Let's go."

The two of them directly cleared the path and headed northeast towards a small shop with barely any customers in front of the door.

The door of the small shop was topped with a square signboard, which had been in use for an unknown period of time, looking extremely old. It flickered intermittently, displaying the name of the shop—Huai Gate Tobacco and Liquor. Unfortunately, the light behind the character "Huai" was broken, leaving only half of it illuminated. At first glance, eight out of ten passing people would mistake it for "Ghost Gate Tobacco and Liquor." (槐Guó huái meaning sophora japonica vs 鬼 Guǐ meaning ghost)

This road was probably the quietest street in the city. The residential areas on both sides had only a few houses sold, and it was pitch black at night. Most of the peripheral shops had signs saying "For Rent." Only this tobacco and liquor shop stood alone at the end of the street, like a deliberate boundary marker separating the urban area from the suburbs.

"Here?" Xie Bai stood still for a moment, then turned his head and scanned the surroundings.

The owner of the Huai Gate Tobacco and Liquor Shop suddenly lifted his head from behind the counter. His glasses slid down from his nose to the tip. He was taken aback for a moment, then quickly put down the tablet in his hand, stood up, and bowed respectfully to Xie Bai and Yin Wushu from a distance. He then reached under the counter and fetched an incense burner, quickly lighting three sticks of incense, and respectfully faced the direction of the two men.

Xie Bai: "…"

Yin Wushu smiled awkwardly at the trembling shopkeeper, nodded slightly, then turned his head and quickly walked away with Xie Bai.

He had always disliked this way of showing respect, as he had once said to Xie Bai in his usual words, "I haven't grown old yet, but with them bowing and worshiping, I suddenly feel like a deity."

Influenced by his thoughts, every time Xie Bai encountered this kind of worship, he also felt uncomfortable, as if his back had reflexively stiffened into a coffin board.

"Come on, go down this road." Yin Wushu pointed to a set of steps leading downward along the wall of the tobacco and liquor shop, signaling Xie Bai to go first.

After descending the three steps, they reached a river that partially encircled the city. The river wasn't very wide, about ten meters, but it was extremely long, winding endlessly out of sight. There used to be an old residential area built along the river, but it was demolished two years ago. The ruins had not been completely cleared, so all that remained were broken walls and rubble.

On winter nights in the city, it was always gloomy and damp, with a heavy chill in the air. A thin layer of mist covered the surface of the river, making distant places appear blurry in the fog.

"Keep going, a little further ahead," Yin Wushu caught up from behind, gently pushing Xie Bai's back to signal him not to stop.

The path along the riverbank was very narrow, only allowing one person to pass at a time. Instead of following Yin Wushu's words, Xie Bai turned his body slightly and gestured forward, saying lightly, "You lead the way, I'll follow."

Yin Wushu nodded. "That works." After speaking, he also turned to the side.

As he moved aside, Xie Bai lowered his head slightly and leaned back a bit to avoid bumping into Yin Wushu.

The two changed positions in a blink of an eye, Yin Wushu in front and Xie Bai behind, not too close or too far apart, keeping a distance of about one step. Due to the rain earlier, there was no moonlight or stars, only the lights from the city behind them, casting a faint glow, making it not as dark.

Yin Wushu was quite tall, so even Xie Bai had to tilt his head slightly upward, while his shadow was low and constantly fell on Xie Bai's footsteps, appearing faint and almost invisible.

As they walked further, the mist on the river became thicker, and eventually, even Yin Wushu's figure became less distinct.

"We've finished our work, so why are we still blindfolded?" After walking without talking for so long, Yin Wushu suddenly spoke. His voice was low and faint, as if it could dissipate into the mist as soon as he finished speaking.

Xie Bai was taken aback but didn't immediately respond. After walking a few more steps, he finally mentioned lightly, "It doesn't make a difference whether I take them off or not."

Yin Wushu chuckled. "It feels like I haven't seen your eyes in a long time."

Xie Bai replied, "You're walking in front, and even if I take them off, you won't be able to see."

Upon hearing this, Yin Wushu turned his head to look, squinting at the black bandage over Xie Bai's eyes for a while. Then, he stood still, raised his foot to tap the ground, and said, "If I remember correctly, it should be here."

This was the middle section of the river, where the mist was heavier than anywhere else. In front of them, two bridges ran parallel across the river, one straight and the other arched. The straight bridge seemed quite old, with signs of wear from many passersby. The arched one, on the other hand, had a mysterious desolation about it, with every crevice covered in green moss.

Xie Bai was very familiar with these two bridges. The straight one was for guests, who could only walk back and forth between the two banks of the river no matter how long they lingered. As for the arched one, half in and half out of the fog, it couldn't be seen where it led. If an outsider were to walk on it, they would find it broken halfway, and a slight misstep could lead them into the river.

Only Xie Bai could cross it without obstacles because on the other side of the arch bridge lay the residence of generations of Yin guests.

"Have you seen this kind of bead here before?" Xie Bai raised his left hand and frowned, saying, "Why did you come here?"

"Oh, I came here on business half a month ago and passed by this area, so I came over for a look." Yin Wushu glanced back and forth between the two bridges, then walked onto the straight bridge. "You don't live here anymore, right? I see that the arched bridge hasn't been used in a long time."

Xie Bai stood still for a moment, watching him walk to the middle of the straight bridge before nodding lightly. "Hmm," he said, "It's too noisy here. I've moved to a quieter place."

"Noisy?" Yin Wushu glanced at him in surprise. "If I remember correctly, the residence of Yin guests always changes according to their preferences. There's no reason for it to go against your preferences when it comes here. Has it been out of order due to disrepair? You should send a note to the higher-ups."

Xie Bai shook his head, about to say something, when he noticed a small dark light flashing in a crevice behind Yin Wushu.

 

Translator : DarNan