"How is the situation? Ethan, what did you see?"
Mona Ouyang stared at me. I wiped the blood from my eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, nodded, and told her what I saw—my cousin, who looked vicious and eerily strange.
That thing—I sensed my cousin Howard Zhang's aura on him, and darkness, but my instincts told me he was definitely not Howard. As for what he actually was, I had no idea.
"Ethan, when you get out, don't ask your cousin anything."
I let out a sound of surprise and looked at Mona Ouyang. He shook his head.
"There's something—or someone—behind this, stirring things up. Try not to mention it, don't bring it up. You can tell Hugh Thompson about it, but absolutely do not discuss it with Howard Zhang."
"Why? My cousin..."
"Hugh Thompson thinks the same way I do. He'll tell you. Once tomorrow is over, you'll understand."
Though I worried about Howard's safety and wanted to sit down and ask him a few questions, I could only hold back. Mona Ouyang led me out of the dream. As soon as I regained consciousness, I saw John Chou standing beside me in the cold moonlight, smiling faintly.
"Brother, what's wrong? Did you see something?"
I nodded. John Chou walked over, crouched in front of me, and smiled.
"Wipe the blood off your face, brother."
Startled, I hurriedly wiped my face. Black blood was still seeping from my eyes, nose, and ears. My ghost soul had suffered a severe shock in that dream.
"Just now..."
"I already know, brother. It's five in the morning now. When daylight comes, you'll understand."
I made a sound of acknowledgment. At that moment, my baleful energy began repairing my damaged body. With a creak, the door to my cousin's room opened. I saw Howard Zhang, drenched in sweat, looking miserable. He walked to the doorway, sat down, his gaze unfocused—even though I was only four or five meters away, he didn’t notice me.
This was the only time I'd ever seen Howard so weighed down by worry. In my memory, he was always joking around, never showing any sign of trouble.
But now, Howard's brows were deeply furrowed, his face tense, breathing heavily.
"Howard, what's wrong? Go back to sleep for a bit."
I smiled and walked over. Howard quickly hid his troubled expression and forced a smile.
"Ah, cousin, I really don't want to sleep. I went to bed a bit early last night. Susu let me off the hook tonight, haha, it's nothing, really..."
He was using the same excuse to fool me again. I knew very well that Howard was already exhausted. I sat down beside him and patted his shoulder.
"It's fine, Howard. As long as I'm here, no matter what happens, I'll be by your side."
I looked Howard in the eyes, speaking firmly, clenching my fist.
"What's wrong, cousin? Saying stuff like that all of a sudden, it's so cheesy."
Howard said, hugging his arms, then burst out laughing. I managed a stiff smile.
I knew Howard wouldn't tell me anything. He didn't want to burden me further, and I understood that well. Right now, I needed to start investigating the Immortality Society. I choked up, and then Howard stood up.
"Cousin, I'm hungry. Come on, let's get something to eat. I brought some good wine to share with those Taoists. You should be able to have some."
I nodded, stood up, and followed Howard over.
I thought that after today, I wanted to ask Howard's master, Master Jianyun, and Master Mingde. Maybe they'd know more.
And so, Howard and I drank beer until dawn, with some simple vegetarian dishes on the side—not bad at all. The beer had no label; Howard said it was a new product developed by one of his breweries, tasted pretty good, so he brought some along.
By nine in the morning, another day of meetings began. This morning, I noticed the Nine Disciples of Daoism looked much more relaxed, not nearly as tense as yesterday. Now, there was a sense of ease.
"Alright, everyone, today, please speak freely. After all, even though we're just the organizers, this meeting is truly for the whole occult world—and for matters of the Ghost Path. That's why we've all gathered here."
After Xuanjizi spoke, he sat down without another word. Then I saw Master Mingde stand up and respectfully greet Grandpa Cat with a Buddhist phrase.
"I wonder, Benefactor Cat, the leader of Naihe and the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches have been inactive lately. This time, they haven't shown up either. May I ask, Benefactor Cat, about their..."
As soon as Master Mingde finished speaking, everyone from the various sects seemed interested. Naihe is the strongest in the occult world, but according to Hugh Thompson, they've had no activity for the past six months—it's as if they've vanished.
"It seems everyone is curious. The truth is, I haven't been managing Naihe lately, nor have I returned there. I've mostly been wandering outside. So, I don't know what's going on with the younger generation. This time, I couldn't contact them either, so I came myself—since this is an important meeting."
With those words, he declined to answer further. It was clear that the Five Aggregates of the Precepts-Breaking Sect were very interested in this issue.
"Amitabha, please don't blame this humble monk, Benefactor Cat. My deepest thanks."
For a moment, after Master Mingde sat down, the room fell silent. No one seemed willing to speak; everyone wanted to see how things would develop before acting.
At that moment, the Five Aggregates stood up and looked at Master Mingde.
"Since no one else will speak, let this old monk do it."
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After glancing around for several seconds, the Five Aggregates pulled a letter from his robe and placed it on the table. Everyone looked over. The letter's paper was already yellowed and cracked, but the messy handwriting was still legible.
"Mingde, I think it's time we resolved the matter between our two sects."
The Five Aggregates sounded somewhat angry, and Master Mingde responded.
"Master Five Aggregates, may I ask what matter you refer to?"
Then the Five Aggregates waved his hand, and the letter floated over to Master Mingde.
"Everyone, I hope today you can bear witness. Our Precepts-Breaking Sect simply wants to reclaim what belongs to us—the Buddha Statue of Visions."
"Just as expected."
Hugh Thompson muttered under his breath, then explained: since yesterday, the Dao Sect and Ghost Mound resolved their issues at the negotiating table, with clear logic and order. Today, the Precepts-Breaking Sect wanted to follow suit—they'd prepared all their evidence.
"Oh, so it's a letter personally written by Master Liaoyuan. Amitabha, how wonderful."
"So it's that little monk. Interesting, haha."
John Chou spoke, laughing. The Five Aggregates looked at him and bowed respectfully.
"Benefactor Chou, since you know the details, please explain. After all, we need witnesses here today."
"Brother, do you remember that the Ghost Burial Squad once sealed a Qing-Capturing Ghost and a ghost weapon?"
John Chou turned to look at me. I nodded.
"So Master Liaoyuan was the one who sealed the ghost weapon and Zhao Yuyang, and also set up the Grand Celestial Formless Killing Array?"
John Chou nodded and began to explain. There really was a monk named Liaoyuan—a wandering monk, unaffiliated with any sect, who passed away centuries ago.
"Mingde, this letter was written by Master Liaoyuan to my teacher. Along with his relics, he sent something else—the Buddha Statue of Visions, our Buddhist sect's greatest treasure. The letter asked my teacher to help safeguard it, but during delivery, the statue was snatched by Ghost Rakshasa. All we received were the letter and Master Liaoyuan's relics."
The Five Aggregates spoke, then looked over—his gaze fell on Howard, who stood among his senior brothers.
"So, even though my teacher has become a ghost, he still remembers his old friend's request and hopes to bring the Buddha Statue of Visions back. The letter also says it must be delivered to Hidden Falls Temple and given to the abbot, Master Frank Yuan."
"Amitabha, as far as I know, Hidden Falls Temple disappeared over a hundred years ago. May I ask..."
"No need to worry, Mingde. We've already found the location of Hidden Falls Temple. My teacher keeps appearing in my dreams, hoping that..."
"Stop, stop, stop."
Howard suddenly stood up as he spoke.
"The Buddha Statue of Visions has already fused with my body and soul. It's like something I've eaten and digested—turned into shit. Are you really asking to eat what I've excreted?"
Howard's words made the Five Aggregates' face darken. He glared at Howard, but Howard just grinned and walked over to Master Mingde, patting his bald head.
"Grandmaster, your head is full of rites and virtues. You can't negotiate like this—let me handle it. After all, I'm the one involved."
Howard spoke, and Master Mingde smiled and nodded in agreement.
Then Master Mingde got up, and Howard plopped down in his seat, arms crossed, looking every bit the rascal as he stared at the Five Aggregates.
"Go ahead, what do you want the Buddha Statue of Visions for? Murder? Arson? Oh, wait, you want it for your dead master to practice some technique, right?"
"Howard Zhang, don't get cocky!"
The Five Aggregates roared in anger, looking furious.