I become a god in another world

Chapter 625 The Mystery of the Disappearance
Chapter 625

Ding Datong explained:
"If the situation is serious, a county or town may even be abandoned."

After hearing his explanation, Zhao Fusheng understood some of the rules of the Demon Suppression Division.

Reading this passage written by the former general of the Zhenmo Division of Lizhou again, the feeling is even more profound.

“No one from Wuqing County sent a ‘letter of peace’ in a year. The general of Lizhou at that time was also cautious. No wonder Fengdu felt something was wrong.”

After saying this, Zhao Fusheng continued reading:

'Wuqing is a large prefecture with 145,111 registered households and a population of over 584,700. The head of the local Demon Suppression Division in the prefecture is a Silver General who commands calamity-level evil spirits. This man is named Wei Hua, a veteran general who has commanded evil spirits since the founding of the Han Dynasty in 199 years.'

"I dealt with him two years ago. He's a cautious person with a bright future; it's impossible for him to make such a mistake."

This file record is quite long, and the state governor's ghost-taming general continued writing:
'I looked through last year's records. Wei Hua's last "letter of peace" was written on June 5th of last year, which is now over a year and two months ago.'

"We can't wait any longer. I then dispatched Zhou Da and Li Pingsheng, the deputy magistrates of the prefecture, to go. They set off on September 7th and did not return by mid-October."

By the end of November, neither of them had sent a single word back.

'Something might have happened.'

'On the 3rd of December, I dispatched Xu Kailai, Peng Ruizong, Chen Yan, and Meng Anshu from the prefectural government with seven ghost tamers. The names of these seven are as follows:' The following records contain information on a total of eleven ghost tamers.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Fusheng noticed Chen Duozi pointing towards the case file and whispering:
"Sir, the people from the Archives Bureau have prepared the information on these individuals."

Zhao Fusheng's gaze shifted over and saw that in the direction she was pointing, there was indeed a thick, intact bamboo tube with the following inscription: "List of personnel of the Demon Suppression Division of Lizhou Prefecture at the end of 207th year of the Great Han Dynasty".

Her eyes flickered, and Chen Duozi considerately took out the bamboo tube, broke the wax seal, and took out the files inside.

After the silk rope was pulled open, Chen Duozi didn't look at it much, but handed it to Zhao Fusheng first.

Zhao Fusheng put down the dossier in his hand and took the list of names. Sure enough, it listed the personnel of the Demon Suppression Division of Lizhou Prefecture in that year.

All the people involved in the Wuqing County case are listed on it.

Each person's ghost-controlling time, ghost rank, and laws have been recorded as much as possible.

Judging from the list of personnel, the two advanced individuals are already quite powerful, and they brought a total of twenty-one attendants, five of whom are ghost tamers, while the remaining sixteen are all ordinary attendants.

However, their biographical records were formatted as follows: name, time of joining the Demon Suppression Division - entering Wuqing County - and then never appeared again.

The same applies to the next batch of people sent in: name, time of entry into the Demon Suppression Division - entry into Wuqing County - disappearance.

……

The name files for that year were densely packed.

Lizhou is a major prefecture, with a total of 79 registered Ghost Tamers, including prefectural generals.

The officials in charge of the prefecture sent a total of 47 people, but none of them returned.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Fusheng finally understood why Fengdu attached such importance to the Wuqing County case in Lizhou.

She temporarily put aside the case files and focused her attention back on the case itself.

The case continues to be documented.

The prefecture sent people one after another, but Wuqing County was like a bottomless pit. Without exception, all those who went, whether they were ghost tamers or ordinary messengers, never returned.

'But strangely, their Book of Fate is still intact.'

Upon seeing this, Zhao Fusheng's face showed surprise.

She reached out and handed the file in her hand to Ding Datong:
"Datong, take a look."

Ding Datong looked embarrassed.

"Sir, there are some words that it recognizes, but I don't recognize them."

Despite saying that, he still reluctantly took the file and looked at it for a long time, as if he were holding a hot potato.

Seeing his appearance, Zhao Fusheng realized that those who control ghosts use the power of ghosts to gain an advantageous position.

If one is not born into a family of ghost tamers like Xie Jingsheng and Zhao Qiming, and instead becomes a ghost tamer by chance, one will not be able to receive a good education and subsequently learn to read and write.

Ding Datong's performance also proved that he came from an ordinary background and was able to rise to the position of general of Changping County entirely through his own abilities.

Zhao Fusheng took the case file back, seemingly oblivious to Ding Datong's embarrassed expression, and continued:
"The records say that in the 207th year of the Han Dynasty, after the general of Lizhou discovered the strangeness of Wuqing County, he sent 47 messengers in succession to find out the whole story of Wuqing. In the end, none of these people returned, nor did they bring back any news."

Ding Datong wiped the cold sweat that had broken out from his embarrassment, and was stunned for a moment upon hearing these words.

As the ruler of a prefecture, Ding Datong may not be literate, but that doesn't mean he's a fool.

Even if more than half of the 47 Commanders may not be able to control ghosts, this is still a terrifying force.

Ordinary prefectures and cities cannot withstand this force.

If the people sent by Lizhou were to attack Changping County where Ding Datong was located, they would be able to wipe out the entire Zhenmo Division of Changping County, along with Ding Datong and his entourage.

But all of these people have disappeared, which is the biggest problem in Wuqing County.

"No wonder Feng Du said there were ghosts in Wuqing County."

Ding Datong murmured.

“It’s not just these oddities.”

Zhao Fusheng shook his head, then continued:

"The records of the prefecture state state that the registers of the souls of these missing people have not disappeared."

"what?!"

Ding Datong was taken aback upon hearing this.

"How could this be?"

Entering the Soul Register of the Demon Suppression Division is a law of inheritance.

This law not only binds the ghost tamers and their messengers, but also allows them to observe the life and death of the ghosts through the Book of Soul Fate.

If a ghostly calamity truly occurred in Wuqing County, the general of Lizhou dispatched 47 messengers to investigate. Ultimately, all of these messengers disappeared, which, in everyone's understanding, meant that these 47 people had died.

However, Zhao Fusheng also said that the case files from that year actually recorded that these people were not dead.

This is quite bizarre.

"No wonder Lady Yu Lingzhu said there are no ghosts in Wuqing County." Ding Datong scratched the back of his head, looking completely puzzled.

"Such a situation is unheard of."

Zhao Fusheng said:

"The people are not dead, but the files containing their names only record their birth years, not their death dates."

As she spoke, she picked up a file containing the names of people from the same year and waved it around.

"Madam Chen, please help me find the personnel files from the ten years after 207 years of the Han Dynasty, and open them one by one to find the names on these files."

Zhao Fusheng gave the order, and Chen Duozi quickly responded.

While Chen Duozi quietly searched through the documents, Zhao Fusheng's gaze returned to the records of cases in Lizhou that year. The Lizhou general had left only one sentence:

'I plan to report this to the capital and personally lead a team to Wuqing County to investigate.'

This case file then came to an end.

Zhao Fusheng handed the dossier to Liu Yizhen, Meng Po, and others, while he himself looked to the side and saw the dossier record about '208 years of the Great Han Dynasty' on the table.

She had a premonition that something big would happen that year.

Zhao Fusheng unsealed the bamboo tube and took out the dossier from the 208th year of the Han Dynasty.

The handwriting above is unchanged—it must have been written by the same scribe from the Demon Suppression Bureau.

The first line reads:

On the 7th day of the 1st month of spring in the 208th year of the Great Han Dynasty, General Cheng Mengyin led 11 ghost-taming warriors from Lizhou and 36 messengers to Wuqing County. This journey was marked by gloom and foreboding.

Zhao Fusheng recalled the solemn look on Feng Du's face when he mentioned Wuqing County, and guessed that General Cheng Mengyin and her party probably would not return.

Her mind raced, and she continued reading.

Sure enough, note the following:

"General Cheng Mengyin and her entourage departed on the 7th of the month, traveling light from Lizhou, with an estimated journey time of one and a half days."

Before his departure, Cheng Mengyin had made an agreement with the garrison commander: if he discovered anything suspicious within five to ten days of his departure, he would send a letter back to the prefecture; if he did not return with a letter, then something had happened.

'On January 20th, Cheng Mengyin's team did not return, nor did they send any letters back to Lizhou.'

When Zhao Fusheng saw this, he couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine.

She turned to look at Chen Duozi. Without her having to say anything, Chen Duozi understood her intention and immediately took out the list of personnel of the Demon Suppression Division of the Great Han Dynasty in 208 and handed it to her.

As it was indeed recorded: Cheng Mengyin, born in 175 AD during the Han Dynasty, originally from Beiqi County, Qingzhou.

Zhao Fusheng quickly skimmed through the ranks of the ghosts controlled by Cheng Mengyin and the cases she had handled in her life. Then he focused on the key point: On the 7th day of the first month of the 208th year of the Great Han Dynasty, Cheng Mengyin led a team into Wuqing County, but the team of 48 people never returned.

His family and descendants will be provided with relief by the Demon Suppression Division.

This record confirms Zhao Fusheng's conjecture.

At the same time, seeing that she had finished reading, Chen Duozi continued:

"My lord, from then until the 221st year of the Han Dynasty, Cheng Mengyin and the related envoys recorded in the records did not appear again."

For ten years after Cheng Mengyin entered Wuqing County, he did not leave Wuqing County again, which means that something had indeed happened to him.

Zhao Fusheng composed himself and said:

"Go back further in time, and thoroughly investigate all those related to the prefecture, especially those related to Wuqing County, up to the end of last year."

She ordered:

“If Madam Chen is moving slowly by herself, Yizhen, you should lend a hand. Meng Po, please open up all the case files of Wuqing County and take a look at the records at the back.”

Everyone responded in unison.

While everyone else was busy, Zhao Fusheng continued reading.

She already knew from the records in the list of people in Lizhou that Cheng Mengyin and others had gone and never returned.

Cheng Mengyin and others did not return until the end of 208.

The same thing happened to the ghost tamers before them: this group of people never returned, but their soul records were still kept and did not disappear.

……

After losing Cheng Mengyin, a silver-ranked general, the Imperial Capital Demon Suppression Division dispatched a new general to Lizhou.

Furthermore, because the Wuqing County incident involved a Silver General, the capital city attached great importance to it at the time and sent a general with the strength of a near-Gold General.

After taking office in Lizhou Prefecture, the first thing this person did was to personally lead a team to Wuqing County to investigate the mystery of the disappearance of Cheng Mengyin and others.

But something strange happened.

It was thought that after entering Wuqing County, this person would disappear without a trace like Cheng Mengyin and her party in 207 AD, but this general named Fu Sitong did not encounter any trouble.

He spent a day and a half traveling and successfully entered Wuqing County.

Strange to say.

Having witnessed the successive disappearances of the ghost tamers before him, this person thought that his trip into the county would be fraught with danger—even if he didn't die, he would still encounter perilous situations.

But after he entered the city, nothing strange happened.

He received a welcome from the local Chang family, and the local Demon Suppression Bureau was safe and sound.

According to the local demon-suppressing general, Wuqing County has been extremely peaceful for more than a year, and no ghost cases have occurred.

The local general had also written a "letter of peace," but why this "letter of peace" was not delivered to Cheng Mengyin was unknown to the general.

The Chang family lived a peaceful life. The area was prosperous, and people could come and go freely without any obstruction.

While they were talking, the people from the Demon Suppression Division asked the local government to show Fu Sitong the records of people entering and leaving the city.

Everything in the city was as usual.

Fu Sitong initially didn't believe it, but he personally went to check the four city gates and found nothing strange.

The people lived a decent life, and the city was filled with chickens and dogs; there was no ghostly atmosphere.

As for where Cheng Mengyin and the others went, the people of Wuqing County couldn't say for sure.

The Chang family hosted a grand banquet for Fu Sitong, presenting him with fine wine and delicacies, as well as ten cartloads of various jewels and fifty beautiful women.

He returned home laden with spoils, still in disbelief.

The records of the prefecture during his reign state that year state: nothing happened in Wuqing County, but Cheng Mengyin and others may have done something and fled.

……

The matter seemed to have come to a temporary end here.

Liu Yizhen said:

“Fusheng, the household registration records of the Demon Suppression Division after 208 years of the Great Han Dynasty are normal again.”

There are still ghost cases in Lizhou. The household registration of the personnel of the Demon Suppression Division under the jurisdiction of Lizhou is no longer recorded as missing as in 207, but there are normal personnel casualties during the investigation.

The records about Cheng Mengyin and others in 207 AD seem like an absurd dream.

The same mysterious case occurred again in the 221st year of the Han Dynasty.

That year, Fu Sitong had already been transferred away from Lizhou.

His most famous event during his time in Lizhou was his investigation of Wuqing County. After that, his career was unremarkable, and he was eventually transferred to the capital.

221 years later, the person who succeeded him as the general of Lizhou was named Wu Ciping.

The situation Cheng Mengyin experienced back then is happening again.

From March of 220 AD to May of 221 AD, the peace letter from the Wuqing Commandery's Demon Suppression Division did not arrive as smoothly as in previous years.

Besides the peace letter, May happens to be the Dragon Boat Festival.

At this time of year in previous years, there was an unwritten custom among the generals and commanders of the Demon Suppression Division in the counties and prefectures under the jurisdiction of the state to exchange gifts.

In the same year, Wu Ciping received gifts from the counties under the jurisdiction of Lizhou, but Wuqing County alone did not receive any—and no one wrote a letter of peace for him.

This man was greedy and displeased, so he sent his trusted confidants to Wuqing County to reprimand the county's generals.

More than a decade has passed since Cheng Mengyin's incident, and Wu Ciping has long forgotten about it.

His trusted confidant immediately disappeared.

By July, it had still not disappeared or returned.

Wu Ciping was initially angry, but later became terrified. However, the list of his confidants in the Book of Fate was still there, which meant that he was not in any trouble.

He then sent three more ghost riders and sixteen messengers to Wuqing County, but they also disappeared.

Until November 221, when Wu Ciping was preparing to personally visit Wuqing County, he also disappeared into the annals of history.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Fusheng was immediately handed over by Chen Duozi, who presented the personnel files of the Demon Suppression Division of Lizhou: Wu Ciping and his group of ghost tamers, like Cheng Mengyin back then, had gone and never returned; their names had not disappeared from the Book of Fate.

"These people seem to be alive, but we don't know where they are alive."

After reviewing the case file and checking the names in the archives, Liu Yizhen gave a bitter smile and sighed deeply.

(End of this chapter)