Chapter 31: The Ghost Infant

On my first day out of the hospital, I was back on duty at the shop. The Fatty probably realized he was out of his depth; aside from exorcising spirits, his only trick was physical combat, which was useless against a fierce ghost. He wasn't sleeping soundly at night anymore, either; instead, he spent his time memorizing scriptures. Naturally, with no one to teach him, he wasn't discouraged—he just juggled his phone, searching for the scriptures online while reading them.

Liu Jun was in the shop, diligently drawing talismans. As he worked, Brother Dog strolled over slowly.

"Kid, there are some ritual artifacts under the counter that Master Li left for you. Take them out and get familiar with them." Hearing Brother Dog’s words, Liu Jun remembered. When Mo Li left, he had mentioned that the old man had prepared some tools for him.

*Damn it,* Liu Jun suddenly thought, *if I’d had those artifacts when I was fighting that fierce ghost at school, would I have been kicked around so badly?*

"Brother Dog, why didn't you remind me earlier?"

"I did remind you when you came back to get the Spirit-Startling Talisman. Who knew you were such a blockhead?" Liu Jun thought back carefully. *Heh,* he really had mentioned it, but Liu Jun had been in such a rush that he hadn't paid it any mind.

He rummaged under the counter and pulled out a large seal that looked like a brick, and a wooden axe. A few question marks popped up in Liu Jun's head. *Aren't we Taoists? What happened to the promised peach-wood sword? Why did I get something from the Axe Gang instead?*

"Brother Dog, is this a jade seal? Which emperor did it belong to? And why is this a wooden axe instead of a wooden sword?" Liu Jun asked, looking at Brother Dog.

"A jade seal? Your grandfather's. This is the Heaven-Overturning Seal, a great Taoist seal. That wooden axe is made of lightning-struck wood—don't lose it; it's worth more than you are."

"The Heaven-Overturning Seal? The one used by Guangchengzi?" Liu Jun gasped in amazement. *My God, what kind of divine being is my master to get his hands on a divine artifact like this?*

"Are you still dreaming? The Heaven-Overturning Seal of Guangchengzi—let alone whether it even exists anymore—do you think a little Taoist like you, who can't even beat a minor ghost, could use it? This is a replica, with similar functions but far less power. It’s just right for you."

That made sense. If it were truly the divine Heaven-Overturning Seal, he wouldn't dare use it, nor could he.

Liu Jun played with the brick-like object for a while; it was quite heavy. He glanced at the wooden axe again. This was different from what he saw on TV. Other Taoists had a peach-wood sword in their right hand and a talisman in their left—how cool. He, on the other hand, had a brick in his right hand and an axe tucked into his waistband, looking like a thug out for a fight.

According to ancient texts, the divine Heaven-Overturning Seal was a magical treasure of Guangchengzi. In the age of mythology, it had struck down the Lady of Golden Light and the Lady of Fire Spirit. If this brick could replicate even one percent of that power, he would be able to walk sideways in this world.

As Liu Jun was lost in thought, the man in the suit from the Ninth Division arrived.

"Master, is Master Mo Li in?" The man in the suit looked around, seemingly searching for Mo Li.

"Mo Li is out and won't be back for a while. Tell me what's going on." Liu Jun frowned; honestly, he didn't really want to deal with these government departments.

"Please, Master, we need your help. We've encountered a case that seems to involve an evil practitioner causing harm. We implore you to intervene." The man in the suit bowed.

"Don't you have your own capable experts? Why not ask them?" Liu Jun was puzzled. Logically, if there were evil practitioners causing trouble, they should just arrest them; why come to him?

"You may not know, Master, but our Ninth Division is already short-handed, and we have to guard various regions. Because of the zombies in the Miao territory, many of our experts have been pulled away to provide support, leaving us even more short-handed everywhere. That is why we are here to ask for your help."

This was the second time he had heard about the Miao territory zombies. It seemed these zombies were no minor threat if so many people had been sent to deal with them.

Liu Jun was silent for a moment. After all, his injuries hadn't fully healed, he was already mediocre, and the man in the suit said they were dealing with an evil practitioner—something he had never encountered before. He had no idea how dangerous they might be.

"Master, this evil practitioner is kidnapping infants and using fetuses to perform dark arts. We implore you to step in. The Ninth Division is willing to pay you one hundred thousand as a reward," the man in the suit continued.

"Fine, I'll go." It wasn't about the money—though the amount the man offered was indeed tempting—but more because of what he said about the evil practitioner kidnapping infants and using fetuses.

That wasn't just an evil practitioner; that was a monster. They had to be killed!

Liu Jun called out to the Fatty, grabbed his artifacts, and tucked the little fox into his jacket. He followed the man in the suit into the car. On the way, the man explained the situation.

In Taotian Village, Jufeng Town, there were two bachelors—let's call them Zhang San and Li Si.

"Do you want to make money and get yourself a wife?" Zhang San said to Li Si.

"Of course I do! A life with a wife sounds great," Li Si replied.

"I’ve got a big money-making deal. Are you in?"

"What kind of deal?" Zhang San leaned in and whispered a few words to Li Si.

"Are you crazy? That's heartless!" Li Si said, panicked.

"What are you afraid of? Their parents don't want them anyway. What’s the harm in us taking them? Besides, heartless? How are you going to get a wife if you aren't heartless? And this isn't even illegal," Zhang San replied.

Li Si hesitated for a long time, then gritted his teeth. "Fine." Under the cover of darkness, the two snuck to the obstetrics department of the town hospital. Behind the small building, there were two large trash cans—one for regular trash and one for medical waste.

The two rummaged through the medical waste bin and pulled out two black bags. When they opened them, they saw two undeveloped fetuses. They grabbed them and left. Once they reached the crossroads outside the hospital, they made a phone call. Moments later, an unmarked black car pulled up.

Zhang San took the black bags, opened the back door of the car, and threw them in. A passenger in the front seat tossed out two thousand yuan, which Zhang San and Li Si hurriedly scrambled to collect.

The money was earned too easily. A quick rummage through the trash bin, and in no time, they had two thousand yuan. The two went home, delighted.

Just like that, the two went to steal fetuses every day, and the money they received grew. They began to live a life of luxury.

"The big boss has another job for us—one that pays big in a single go," Zhang San said.

"What job?" Li Si asked.

"Stealing infants."

"Are you f***ing crazy? That's illegal!" Li Si panicked. Stealing fetuses was one thing, but stealing infants could easily lead to a firing squad.

"What are you yelling for? An infant is worth three hundred thousand. One job and we'll be living the high life!"

Li Si hesitated for a long time before finally agreeing, deciding they would do it just this once. The two snuck into the hospital to prepare. After all, the town hospital had poor security, and no one expected anyone to be twisted enough to steal infants.

They finally found an opportunity and succeeded, stealing an infant. They traded the baby for a large bag of money—three hundred thousand in total.

Seeing so much money, the two went mad with greed. They intended to steal again the next day, but the hospital had tightened security. They waited all night without success and eventually just turned over two dead fetuses from the trash bin before leaving.

The man in the suit stated that they had been tracking them, but his two colleagues had died, bleeding from their seven orifices, while following the black car that bought the infants and fetuses. That was why they had come to them for help.

"And those two who stole the fetuses and infants?" Liu Jun asked.

"We haven't moved on them yet. We plan to let them lure the black car out again so we can capture them all at once," the man replied.

The car arrived at the town hospital, the engine was cut, and the lights were turned off. Liu Jun took out the cow's tears and wiped them on everyone's eyes, then checked the artifacts and talismans in his bag.

Soon, two sneaky figures walked to the entrance of the obstetrics building. They circled the department and came back out; it seemed they hadn't succeeded. They headed toward the large medical waste bin and, with practiced ease, pulled out two black bags.

"Damn, these two... what a monstrous sin," the Fatty exclaimed.

In his sight, dozens of ghost infants were surrounding the two men, glaring at them with malice, ready to tear them to pieces at any moment.