Ever since the incident in the Corpse Realm ended, William Wu resigned from the Ghost Burial Squad and became Rachel’s voluntary errand runner. He was reliable and simply wanted to get involved in this world, so Rachel agreed.
At the time, when Rachel posted about this online, many people were interested in buying it because of its beautiful color, but the highest offer was only a few tens of thousands. However, one person who messaged Rachel privately offered a staggering one hundred million, specifying the transaction location and time.
Just thirteen days ago, Ethan, William Wu and I went to City B.
I looked at Rachel in surprise. City B is more than two thousand kilometers away from here, all the way to the north. It's a political, cultural, and information center.
After arriving in City B, we followed Ethan’s instructions and changed the transaction location and time. During this period, we investigated many things and finally discovered that the Public Security Department had mysteriously moved a sum of money—the exact amount was one hundred million.
My heart tightened. I hadn’t expected Ethan to have started planning so early, and his transformation into a murderer was likely closely related to this.
Rachel then told me that they postponed the transaction by three days. In those three days, following Ethan’s action plan, they set up many things and investigated many places. The most crucial part was the cash transaction.
Rachel and her team insisted that the other party pay in cash—no checks, no transfers, only cash. On the day of the transaction, they met an old man in a suit, who brought several large boxes filled with cash to make the deal.
The transaction went smoothly, without any mistakes. Rachel thought she was dreaming, but when she saw the cash piled up like a small mountain, she realized it was real.
"Why do you say it was from the Public Security Department?"
I asked, and Rachel nodded.
Ethan, the Immortality Society tried to bribe you with cash before, didn't they?
I nodded. Indeed, they gave me a big box of money—ten million in total. Ethan had checked the serial numbers and confirmed that sixty percent of the cash came from a donation made by the Public Security Department more than ten years ago. Later, the same serial numbers appeared among the one hundred million.
I seemed to understand. I hadn't expected Ethan to investigate so deeply. At this moment, Rachel's expression darkened as she looked at me, then at William Wu.
Go outside and keep watch.
Ah, Rachel, you want me to go again?
Rachel raised her eyebrows slightly and pointed at William Wu.
Are you going or not?
William Wu had no choice but to get out of the car.
I get it, Rachel. Don't use this excuse again. Some things can't be told to someone who hasn't joined the Ghost Burial Squad. Even if I do join, only those at the bottom get to know, right?
After William Wu left, I looked seriously at Rachel. I could clearly hear her heartbeat—thumping steadily. Her face was flushed, and she seemed hesitant to speak.
Ethan has been investigating something for a long time: when exactly was the Ghost Burial Squad founded, who funded it, and why do we have the authority to act above the law? A few years ago, Ethan stumbled upon a clue and discovered something.
I sat up straight and looked at Rachel intently. She glanced around, then leaned in and spoke cautiously.
A few years ago, there was a supernatural incident discovered by Lan Ruoxi—a tragedy involving a family of four.
The eldest son, who was once talkative, kind, and gentle, suddenly went mad and killed his parents and his seven-year-old sister. After the incident, the thirteen-year-old boy was arrested, but he didn't say a word.
At that time, Lan Ruoxi was quite a troublemaker. Rachel's face lit up as she talked about it, repeatedly saying how Lan Ruoxi loved stirring up trouble.
Lan Ruoxi only heard about the case by chance, then went to the local police station with Ouyang Wei, who was still a trainee at the time. After Ouyang Wei showed her police badge, they were allowed in, but the boy still refused to speak.
But Lan Ruoxi noticed from the details of the case that the boy's parents and sister had their necks bitten through by some kind of beast. At the time of the crime, only the thirteen-year-old boy was present, so after collecting evidence—blood samples, saliva, hair—the police concluded he was the killer.
The boy's parents and sister all had their necks bitten through, and the saliva, fur, and some blood found matched the boy exactly. The case was so bizarre that the police simply claimed the boy was mentally ill.
Lan Ruoxi and Ouyang Wei questioned the boy every day, but he never spoke. I listened intently as Rachel recounted the story.
Do you know, Ethan, on the seventh meeting, that boy suddenly grew hair all over his body and revealed wolf-like fangs, attacking Lan Ruoxi and Ouyang Wei. Ouyang Wei even took photos at the time—I saw them, they were terrifying.
Rachel continued, saying that then the Ghost Burial Squad intervened and transferred the boy to their custody, locking him up. Strangely, after he was subdued during the attack, he never showed signs of turning into a wolf again.
Weeks passed, and they examined the boy in every way, but found nothing wrong. At that time, Ethan took over the case and worked with Lan Ruoxi and the others.
Things became more and more mysterious. No matter how much they investigated, they found no clues and even met with resistance. Under pressure, after holding the boy for several months, the Ghost Burial Squad had to release him, treating him as a simple juvenile offender.
However, Ethan secretly had Dr. Chen Liang perform surgery on the boy to implant a transmitter that couldn't be detected, which would regularly send signals to a receiver.
This matter continued to trouble Lan Ruoxi. Later, Ethan and Lan Ruoxi had an argument, and Ethan punched Lan Ruoxi. That ended things for a while, but a few months later, Ethan finally received the transmitter's location.
From the beginning, Ethan had set the transmitter to send information only once after a few months, then it would be completely destroyed. Once he got the location, Ethan went alone.
What surprised Ethan was that the boy wasn't in a juvenile detention center, but in City B, and the location was inside the Public Security Department.
At this point, Rachel stopped and looked at me.
At that time, Ethan met with people from the Immortality Society. They promised Ethan that if he helped them, they could bring his son back to life.
I looked at Rachel in surprise. This scene took place in a sewer—I’d seen it when I entered the Dream Realm and witnessed Ethan’s memories. Indeed, someone spoke to Ethan about these things.
Ethan... didn’t agree. Ethan, you have to believe me...
Rachel spoke, her big eyes looking at me sincerely. I nodded. There’s no way Ethan would betray the Ghost Burial Squad—I’ve confirmed it. Deep down, I trust Ethan, and I’m sure the others in the squad do too.
To tell you the truth, Ethan, I’m a special investigator personally appointed by Ethan. Though I’ve been in City L for years, I’ve spent most of my time traveling and investigating under Ethan’s instructions.
I was shocked and looked at Rachel. Indeed, she had previously spoken mysteriously with Ethan over the phone in the Corpse Realm.
Those people must have learned that Ethan was investigating them, so they caused this incident to create chaos in the Ghost Burial Squad. After years of investigation, Ethan reached a conclusion.
My heart skipped a beat. I looked at Rachel seriously and nodded. By now, nothing could shock me.
The Ghost Burial Squad was... founded by the Immortality Society.
I nodded. With this, everything made sense.
As for what comes next, I think you should go directly to Ethan and ask him. There are some things I don’t know, but the Ghost Burial Squad was probably founded by the Immortality Society for some massive experiment. Ever since Old Stone took over, the squad has completely changed.
I let out a sound of surprise and looked at Rachel, who nodded.
Ethan joined the Ghost Burial Squad five years after Old Stone took over. Before that, he investigated many of the squad’s records and discovered that Old Stone completely changed the squad.
Rachel told me that many records from before were well-organized, and most things were done according to orders from higher-ups. Under the previous director before Old Stone, the squad’s death rate was very low—only a few people died each year.
However, after Old Stone took over, the Ghost Burial Squad underwent drastic changes. Its sole purpose became handling ghost-related cases, disregarding orders from above. The death rate instantly soared to fifty percent, but Old Stone also trained a group of elites.
This group of more than forty elites received a particularly difficult mission and went to the cannibal village. Lan Ruoxi mentioned it before. In the end, all the squad’s elites died—none returned.
Ethan didn’t go that time. Rachel looked at me sadly and said.
Ethan, my husband was one of those who went and never returned. Ethan said it was a complete conspiracy—someone wanted to weaken the once-powerful Ghost Burial Squad.