Chapter 47: When Did You Say Zhao Xiaoting Was Born?

Su Chen watched Zhang Ming sprinting away and exchanged a glance with Zhao Dongsheng. "Shall we take a look?"

"Let's go!"

When the two arrived at Old Sun’s house, Zhao Dongsheng was in the middle of a stern interrogation of a gaunt man in his fifties or sixties, sitting on a bamboo chair.

"They all said your son went south to work. Why do you say he’s not there? You even said your son and daughter-in-law are dead?"

The old man’s eyes darted nervously. "He... he doesn’t send money back. Isn’t that the same as being dead? And that woman—she ran off, leaving the child behind. If she’s not dead, then who is?"

Disappointment washed over Zhao Dongsheng’s face.

He had hoped to find a clue.

But it turned out the old man was just stubborn, cursing his own son and daughter-in-law.

Was it really necessary? Just because they didn’t send money back? And he told outsiders his son was dead...

Suddenly, Zhao Dongsheng froze.

No, no, no!

He was about to warn Zhang Ming when he heard him chuckle softly. "Is that so? Then what’s your son’s name? I’ll look into it and remind him to send money."

The old man quickly waved his hand. "No, no need, I can remind him myself."

"Do you know the phone number of your son’s workplace?"

The old man fell silent.

"Or can you read and write? Do you know your son’s address?"

Swallowing hard, the old man’s gaze flickered. "Anyway, it’s none of your business!"

Zhang Ming smiled. "Fine, I’ll ask the village chief."

Turning around, he saw Su Chen and Zhao Dongsheng and raised an eyebrow. "Why did you both come?"

Su Chen said nothing. His hand slowly reached into the cloth bag and pulled out a small wooden figure.

Just moments ago, the little wooden figure had been twitching inside the bag, indicating the spirit sealed within was agitated.

The bag was dark; only sound could trigger its response to the outside world.

He had reason to believe it was the old man’s voice causing this reaction.

Perhaps it was a relative, or maybe... an enemy.

After all, the old man’s aura was murky, and his face seemed to be masked, making it hard to see clearly.

It was a pity that his Heavenly Eye hadn’t opened; otherwise, under its gaze, nothing could hide. Not only could it distinguish the gender of a fierce ghost under ghostly energy, but it could also clearly see the face.

Fortunately, even without the Heavenly Eye, there was a compromise—communicating with the spirit.

They needed a dark place.

So, while Zhang Ming hurried toward the village committee office, Su Chen looked around and returned to the earth god shrine nearby.

There, shaded by a banyan tree, sunlight could not reach, meeting the requirement.

Zhao Dongsheng eyed Su Chen suspiciously as he took out the little wooden figure. Whether it was his imagination or not, the figure seemed to twitch once.

Placed on the ground, Su Chen picked up a twig and set it beside the figure, forming hand seals. Soon, he began to speak.

"Do you know the old man surnamed Sun just now?"

The twig suddenly stood upright and made a checkmark.

"Are you male?"

The twig made a cross.

"Are you his relative?"

A checkmark, then a cross.

Zhao Dongsheng instinctively held his breath, not daring to make a sound.

The master was truly impressive, able to communicate with ghosts.

Su Chen continued, "Did he kill you?"

Cross, then a checkmark.

Zhao Dongsheng was puzzled. "What? Is it randomly answering? Don’t fool the master, or your soul might be scattered!"

Su Chen’s expression remained calm.

"Can you write your own name?"

After a brief silence, the twig scribbled crookedly on the dirt: Zhao Xiaoting.

Zhao Dongsheng read aloud, and a voice echoed in his ear: "Xiaoting? Which Xiaoting?"

Startled, he turned to see an old man by the earth god shrine, then patted his chest. "Uncle, Zhao Xiaoting."

"Zhao Xiaoting?" The old man mumbled, frowning as if recalling something, then sighed. "You know Old Sun’s daughter-in-law? Did she send you to bring money back?"

How could it be...

Zhao Dongsheng was about to retort when suddenly he paused. "Master, is that fierce ghost Sun family’s daughter-in-law?"

The old man was stunned. "Fierce ghost?!"

He shifted his position and finally saw the little wooden figure placed before Su Chen and the slender upright twig, standing still in surprise for a long while.

Unfazed, Su Chen asked, "Do you know where your body is?"

The twig made a cross.

Sighing, Su Chen continued, "What about your birth details? Date and time of birth."

The twig quickly began to write on the dirt: June 9, 1974.

Zhao Dongsheng snapped back to reality. "What time was she born? The birth time is needed for the Four Pillars."

The twig didn’t move.

Looking at Su Chen, who was already calculating, his eyes darkened as he put away the wooden figure.

"Brother Zhao, call Captain Zhang."

"Oh, right away."

As Zhao Dongsheng ran off, the old man anxiously grabbed Su Chen’s arm. "Young man, what you just did was..."

"Oh, spirit communication..." Su Chen hesitated, cleared his throat, and added, "Also called spirit inquiry."

"Spirit inquiry?" The old man nodded instinctively, then trembled, wrinkles on his face quivered. "No, that’s not what I meant..."

"Could it be that Xiaoting..."

Su Chen nodded. "Yes, she’s dead."

Nearby, someone called out, "Old Zhang, who’s dead?"

"Xiaoting."

"Don’t talk nonsense! My Xiaoting is fine..."

"Old Sun’s Xiaoting, Zhao Xiaoting."

The speaker quickly ran over.

"Really?"

Then his expression changed to astonishment. "Now I get it. Why did police suddenly come to our village? Xiaoting died—probably murdered."

The old man swallowed with difficulty and nodded. "Yes, it seems so."

"Such a curse! Old Sun always said his daughter-in-law deserved to die, and now she really has!"

Zhao Dongsheng had dragged Zhang Ming along, who still held a small notebook and a pen. Seeing Su Chen, he looked a bit reluctant.

"Ma—Master..." He braced himself but still couldn’t bring out the word “master,” so he gave up. "What do you want with me?"

"There’s a corpse, murdered."

At this, Zhang Ming immediately perked up. "Where?"

Su Chen didn’t answer but walked around the banyan tree toward the back of the hill.

"Was the deceased male or female? How did you find out?" Zhang Ming began questioning after a few steps.

Su Chen glanced at Zhao Dongsheng, who gave a dry laugh. "Master, I haven’t told him."

He was certainly tight-lipped.

Su Chen nodded approvingly, signaling that he could speak.

Zhao Dongsheng then shared the spirit communication findings.

"Nonsense!" Zhang Ming stopped in his tracks. "You have no evidence..."

Suddenly, he blinked. "Wait, wait, when did you say Zhao Xiaoting was born?"

"June 9, 1974."

Zhang Ming flipped through his notebook, staring at Zhao Xiaoting’s recorded birthdate for a long moment before stammering, "Well, Old Zhao, I had a moment of madness earlier. Don’t take it personally."

Zhao Dongsheng suppressed a laugh. "Enough, Captain Zhang, let’s go."

Behind Qingshan Village was a deep karst cave. Thanks to Zhao Dongsheng’s full gear and flashlight, the three of them, along with the old man and five neighbors, spent some time inside the cave.

In a remote corner, they found Zhao Xiaoting’s body.

Her hands and feet were bound, her face blackened and shriveled like a desiccated corpse.

The old man cried out in shock and tried to flee but stopped after a few steps.

He had no flashlight.

"Help! Help! Young man, please get me out of here!"