American Zombie Detective

Chapter 207 Ghost Festival, Ghosts Roam Freely

The office fell silent for a moment.

Constantine jerked his head up, his sleepiness and languor instantly vanishing. He looked sharply at Catherine: "Did the girl say what year it happened?"

Catherine was startled by his reaction and instinctively replied, "It was this year, about seven or eight days ago."

"Oh, right, this year—no! That's not what I'm asking about!"

Constantine's voice was somewhat urgent: "Files! Has the Western Division investigated any historical files? For example—a few years ago, or even earlier? Were there similar incidents?"

Catherine was taken aback by his question: "It doesn't seem to have been mentioned—I didn't ask either. At the time, I thought it was an isolated incident, so I didn't investigate further—"

"This isn't an isolated incident! Those guys in the Western Precinct!"

Constantine cursed under his breath, pulled out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and lit it: "I remember this case, about six years ago—no, no, seven! It should be seven years ago! I encountered it once—around this time—"

He took two deep drags, trying to clear his head from the hangover: "Seven years ago, something similar happened! It was on the subway, and someone was being helped onto it, and then everyone on that train died! At the time, well, I wasn't in Los Angeles—when I came back, the person who asked me for help was dead too—"

Constanze and Catherine both looked at Qin Jin. Combining their statements, if this continued, it was highly likely to be a supernatural event.

It mainly depends on how Qin and Jin define their relationship!

Qin Jin's fingers tapped lightly on the table, producing a rhythmic and muffled sound. The two initially thought it was an unconscious action as he pondered, but to their surprise, Qin Jin began to hum softly: "On the fifteenth of the seventh month, ghosts roam freely."

A narrow path opens at the gates of hell;

A substitute arrives, but a wronged death brings resentment;

A living person has three long and two short lives;

Offering incense and candles, collecting paper money for the dead;

He returned on time with a beaming smile.

River lanterns float, meals are eaten, but don't step on the money rings on the graves;

The night is filled with the weeping of a young man, the three lamps are dim, they stand back to back, face to face.

Catherine was completely baffled by Qin Jin's Chinese folk song, while Constanze and Alessa, though somewhat familiar with it, didn't quite get it.

I didn't understand the meaning behind it, but fortunately, Qin Jin explained it again after he finished singing: "This is a folk song from China about the 14th of the seventh lunar month. Simply put, it describes the scene of the gates of hell opening. On this day, ghosts will come out to find substitutes, and some ghosts will come out to seek revenge, but most of them are those ghosts who come out to see their relatives and collect offerings—most of the time, they are harmless. In modern terms, if you don't court death, you won't die."

"However, at this time, some wandering ghosts also emerge. They have no offerings to receive, no relatives to see, only resentment and malice. If you break any taboos, they will climb onto your back and make you carry them home—"

He abruptly looked up at Catherine and Constantine: "Catherine, seven or eight days ago, it was right after the Ghost Festival! Can you confirm the exact time the girl mentioned?"

Although the customs of the Ghost Festival differ between the East and the West, the core concept of "a hundred ghosts parading at night" is the same. The possibility that a "thing" that appears at this time with such a bizarre behavior is a purely Western evil spirit is rapidly decreasing.

"Sorry, Qin! The time—I don't quite remember," Catherine recalled, spreading her hands. "But it must be such a coincidence, right? It just happened to be that day?"

"What a coincidence, Catherine!" Qin Jin said, offering them an old saying. Now that he had a clearer understanding, he immediately made arrangements: "Catherine, go to the Western Precinct right now and find all the original records in this case file, including the complainant's detailed statement and all their preliminary investigation notes. Bring them all back! Tell them that our special operations team has officially taken over."

"Jack," he turned to Constantine, "go check the files, look for that incident you mentioned, see if there's a record—whether you find it or not, keep going back, look for patterns, find out when the earliest record is, and bring it back to me."

Catherine and Constanze knew that Qin Jin must have grasped something important, so they didn't ask any more questions and quickly got up to complete their assigned tasks.

Only Qin Jin, Alessa, and Yuanxiao, who was lying on the sofa, sleeping with her feet wrapped around a scary-looking pillow, remained in the office.

Alessa lifted her head from the sofa, her grey-blue eyes fixed on Qin Jin, eager to try: "Qin!" Her voice was calm: "This... to kill or not to kill?"

She remembered what Qin Jin had said yesterday about diverting attention from the Celestial Master's successor, so she asked beforehand to avoid making a mistake later.

It was a rare sight for Alessa to be so concerned about the safety of Qin Jin.

"This kind of thing must be dealt with, whether by driving it away or killing it, it doesn't matter which is easier!"

Qin Jin walked to the window and watched the two people drive away downstairs: "This case is a bit off. The timing is unusual, and the pattern is complicated. However, it's very different from what the Celestial Master's successor is looking for, so it can only be eliminated, not left as a target."

"Then, take it down!" Alessa said bluntly: "Erosion can kill it, or send it into the Otherworld."

Qin Jin thought for a moment, then firmly shook his head: "Try not to send them in. Now, your erosion and my absorption shouldn't trigger any bloodlust. If we control it well, it's unlikely to get out of control. So, our main focus is killing. Sending them in might cause other trouble."

He walked over to the chair opposite Alessa and sat down, leaning forward as if to give her a lesson: "Constantine mentioned that he seemed to have encountered something similar seven years ago. If it's the same this time, it means that the same thing has happened at least twice, with a full seven years in between. This kind of recurring occurrence is definitely not just about finding a substitute or seeking revenge."

He paused, looking at Alessa, trying to make her understand the trouble: "Ordinary vengeful ghosts either continue to cause harm by harboring resentment, or they find a substitute to free themselves and reincarnate, ending it all. But this kind of thing appears once every fixed period of time, precisely taking away a group of people—there might be something else behind this thing, and its strength is hard to judge—so, since you're not in the inner world for a long time, don't throw many things in carelessly."

Alessa listened quietly. Although she was far less interested in the "cycle" and "mechanism" than in directly eliminating the target, she understood Qin Jin's concerns.

If no one is home, we won't keep guests!

"Okay, just kill it, don't throw it in," she finally said, indicating that she accepted Qin Jin's proposal.

"Yes, take them down!"

Qin Jin leaned back in his chair, his gaze once again fixed on the office door: "When they get back, let's see how we can find this thing as soon as possible."

About an hour later, hurried and clear footsteps came from outside the office door.

Catherine appeared first, carrying a thick box of paper documents in her arms, her face slightly flushed from walking quickly.

"Qin, the files are all here."

She placed the file box on Qin Jin's desk with a soft "thump": "The Western Branch didn't actually have much substantial information at the time, mainly the complainant's statement and a statement from them that they had reviewed the subway surveillance footage from that day."

"And then?" Qin Jin asked, seeing that she seemed to have more to say.

Catherine shrugged: "The surveillance cameras are broken, I didn't see anything."

This damn lousy subway—

Qin Jin cursed inwardly and reached out to open the box.

He picked up the top file, opened it to the first page, and began to examine it carefully.