"Tell me, which ones?"
Having solved the Zhao couple's burial problem, Zhao Fusheng put all her thoughts on the Demon-Suppressing Bureau's cases.
Fan Bisi said helplessly:
"There are three cases total. One of them counts as an old case."
As he spoke, he felt strange.
When the previous magistrate Zhao Qiming was alive, Wan'an County's Demon-Suppressing Bureau was very powerful. Before Zhao Qiming lost control, his character inherited his father's—still fairly upright. Generally, if there were cases and he judged the danger wasn't high, he'd occasionally be willing to handle them—among past Demon-Suppressing Bureau magistrates, his character was already extraordinarily outstanding.
Therefore, within the residence, there was quite a lot of time discussing ghost cases, somewhat similar to the current situation.
But at that time, Zhao Qiming was a true ghost controller, completely different from Zhao Fusheng's halfway situation.
He was a second-generation ghost controller. One could say it was truly 'family tradition' craftsmanship. His understanding of ghosts far exceeded Zhao Fusheng's. He still ended up with that kind of result.
Though on the surface Zhao Fusheng seemed to control the same ghost as him, their understanding of the ghost's danger level wasn't on the same level at all.
Fan Bisi shook his head inwardly but still said:
"The first case—someone once discovered a strange carriage near Huangquan Village."
These strange cases concerned Zhao Fusheng's merit results and were closely related to her life. She listened very seriously, trying to organize clues from them.
But when she expected Fan Bisi to continue, Fan Bisi didn't continue. Instead, he brought up the second matter:
"The second case is..."
"Wait."
She interrupted Fan Bisi's words. "This carriage matter isn't clear yet."
"That's it."
Before Fan Bisi could answer, Fan Wujiu said:
"How could ghost cases have so many detailed clues? Cases with clues were all exchanged with human lives."
Fan Bisi nodded:
"What Wujiu said is correct. This carriage originally had nothing strange about it. The strangest thing is that people who mentioned the carriage disappeared the next day. Among those who initially encountered this carriage and mentioned it to others, some of the listeners also disappeared."
"..."
Hearing this, Zhao Fusheng's heart jumped.
She hadn't yet truly dealt with ghosts face-to-face. But in her dream, she'd witnessed the terrifying scene of the original Zhao Fusheng dying at a malevolent ghost's hands. However, this was the first time hearing of such a strange incident. It truly made her hair stand on end.
"We don't know what this carriage looks like or what abilities the ghost driving the carriage has. The reason someone reported the case was because a man named Liu San had previously heard a neighbor mention this carriage. The next day, the neighbor disappeared without a trace."
Speaking of this, Fan Bisi also showed a cautious expression:
"This Liu San was terrified. In his shock and alarm, he came to the Demon-Suppressing Bureau to report the case."
Even when Zhao Qiming was alive, he probably couldn't handle this kind of case.
No clues meant the Demon-Suppressing Bureau's people would have to risk their lives to derive warnings to inform later generations.
Every clue and ghost characteristic was tested by predecessors with blood and lives.
"What happened after?" Zhao Fusheng asked.
"There's no after. This Liu San is certainly doomed." Fan Bisi shook his head. "This is also what I called an old case. Actually, as early as two years ago, someone had reported this ghost carriage case. But no one could solve it. Everyone who reported the case, without exception, eventually disappeared. Alive, you couldn't see the person; dead, you couldn't see the corpse."
"..." Though Fan Bisi had repeatedly emphasized the terrifying nature of malevolent ghosts, no matter how much he emphasized, it didn't give Zhao Fusheng as deep a feeling as actually bringing up cases now.
"This ghost carriage comes and goes without a trace, has no fixed abode. No one knows what it looks like on the outside or what kind of ghost is controlling it."
Fan Bisi said:
"Its killing rules and methods—we know nothing at all."
Never mind investigating its existence—even if they found its location, probably no one would dare risk boarding this mysterious and eerie carriage.
"That's not going to handle a case. That's going to one's death."
'Whoosh—' Zhao Fusheng let out a long breath.
From Fan Bisi's introduction, she also realized this case temporarily wasn't something her abilities could handle. She set this case aside and asked again:
"What about the second case?"
She didn't stubbornly insist on having her own way but chose to temporarily compromise. This made Fan Bisi pause, then look at her deeply, hesitation showing in his eyes for the first time.
"The second case is that in Changsheng Town under Wan'an County's jurisdiction, a strange incident once occurred."
Zhao Fusheng nodded, indicating he should continue.
"About four months ago, people from Changsheng Town came to the Demon-Suppressing Bureau to report a case. They said a family surnamed Li in the town—a household of seven people—lost all their heads in one night."
Zhao Fusheng's heart jumped, but she didn't speak.
"This family's cause of death was bizarre. The authorities visited nearby neighbors, who said they heard no strange sounds at night, nor any screams. These bodies were also very strange. At the wound sites, blood wasn't seen spraying everywhere. Instead—instead—the cuts were neat..."
For a moment, Fan Bisi didn't know what descriptive words to use. Fan Wujiu on the side interjected:
"In the local authorities' words, it was like someone plucked melons from a vine."
"..."
This case was also undoubtedly strange.
"Correct." Fan Bisi nodded in agreement.
"Was there any news about this case later?"
"No." Fan Bisi said:
"Malevolent ghosts killing people is completely random. Time, location, objects could all possibly trigger key information for the ghost's killing. If we can't find this information, we have no leads. Like headless flies—extremely dangerous."
"What we currently know is that this Li family definitely triggered the malevolent ghost's rules, equivalent to walking into the ghost's 'field of vision,' which led to their deaths."
After Fan Bisi finished, Fan Wujiu also said:
"We were in danger ourselves at that time. We didn't have extra energy to handle Changsheng Town's case. Later, it just faded away."
Hearing the two brothers finish, Zhao Fusheng couldn't help frowning.
She fell into contemplation.
From the current situation, the Fan brothers mentioned two ghost-related cases. But both had very few clues and sounded quite dangerous.
These two brothers were her enemies and wholeheartedly wanted to leave Wan'an County. Before she woke, she'd heard them discuss wanting to use the disaster-redirecting method to lure someone into Wan'an County's Demon-Suppressing Bureau and remove their life-souls.
After Zhao Fusheng revealed her intention to take on cases again, these two brothers' persuasion failed. She couldn't rule out them wanting to use ghosts to kill, eliminating her.
After Fan Bisi finished speaking about the two cases, seeing Zhao Fusheng fall into contemplation, he also didn't speak. With a half-smile, he waited for Zhao Fusheng to make her own decision.
After a long while, Zhao Fusheng raised her head:
"What about the third case?"
She asked again.
Fan Bisi hadn't expected that with things said to this point, she'd still insist on asking about more cases.
He turned to glance at Fan Wujiu. The two brothers' gazes met. After a stunned moment, Fan Bisi let out a light sigh:
"The third case happened in Wan'an County city itself."