American Zombie Detective

The Dodge stopped near the school. Qin Jin sat in the car, while Yuan Xiao pried open the window and played happily by herself in the back seat.

The school bell finally rang, and the children poured out like birds released from their cages.

Soon, Alessa's small figure appeared in the doorway, clutching a Frankenstein's monster doll. Her grey-blue eyes swept across the crowd, precisely locking onto Dodge...

And Yuanxiao, whose head is popping out of the window, chattering away.

Aresa quickly walked over, picked Yuanxiao up from the window, and gently patted its head. Yuanxiao let out a comfortable humming sound.

This scene immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding children:

"Wow! Look! Aresa has a pet bear!"

"Oh my god! Is it a real baby bear? It's so cute!"

"May I touch it, Alessa?"

A group of children gathered around, chattering excitedly, their little faces full of surprise and envy.

The innocence and vitality of the campus instantly dispelled the gloom and bloodshed that had previously shrouded Qin Jin and his friends.

Aresa was surrounded by the children. Although she still didn't show much expression, her arms holding Yuanxiao seemed to be more stable, allowing curious little hands to carefully touch the bear cub's soft fur.

Qin Jin also enjoyed this human atmosphere. He stayed for a full ten minutes, letting Alessa's friends touch Yuanxiao's chubby body, before letting her get in the car and starting their journey to Lao Zhou's fresh food store.

I'm about to embark on a long journey, and my stock at home is running low, so I must replenish it before I leave.

Because of the advance reservation, the chicken blood was obtained as soon as Qin Jin arrived. While Qin Jin was carrying it, Lao Zhou asked him if he wanted pigeon blood, saying that there might be a large supply of pigeon blood available recently, and he could ask if he wanted it.

Qin Jin gave an OK sign and directly agreed to a certain amount of pigeon blood.

Pigeon blood has a more delicate texture and tastes slightly better than chicken blood. Qin Jin and Alessa should try something different, shouldn't they?

The blood was processed in a nearby abandoned house: filtering, adding anticoagulants, bagging... After a series of tasks, the blood was frozen in the car freezer, and Qin Jin took Alessa home.

After taking a shower and changing his clothes, Qin Jin packed his and Alessa's clothes, along with Yuanxiao's milk powder and food. Seeing that the time had almost passed, Qin Jin took Alessa straight to the midnight bar.

Qin Jin pushed open the door, and a murky air mixed with cheap tobacco, aged alcohol, sulfur, ozone, and various other indescribable strange smells rushed in.

Two burly men, standing like iron towers at the entrance, wearing black leather vests and covered in bizarre tattoos, initially had cold and fierce eyes, but upon recognizing Qin Jin, their gazes softened with unwavering awe.

They tensed up, stepped back, bowed slightly, and made way for the passage.

The bar was dimly lit, with colorful lights and smoke everywhere, and many hybrids and shadow creatures of various kinds had gathered inside.

Qin Jin led Alessa slowly through the crowd, his gaze sweeping over the faces and bodies of the people on both sides, searching for his target.

Many figures froze under Qin Jin's gaze, only relaxing again after he left.

The half-demon with blue vertical pupils shrank back nervously; a tarot card floated down from the fortune teller's hand in the shadows; an angel pretended to be indifferent as he gazed into the distance...

Only ten days had passed since the brutal killing of the vampire, and the news of the vampires' withdrawal from Los Angeles had just spread. It was Qin Jin's moment of glory in the underworld!

Beside a certain table, a man with a chilling aura seemed to have his ferocity provoked by Qin Jin's gaze. Suddenly, he stuck out his forked tongue, licked his eyeballs, and leaned forward slightly.

But the guy opposite him immediately grabbed his arm tightly, said something hurriedly, and his cold aura deflated like a punctured balloon. He lowered his head and gulped down the dark green liquid in his glass.

Just then, Old Man Midnight emerged from the passage leading to the back, clearly having received news of Qin Jin's arrival.

"Hey! Qin!" He quickened his pace to greet him with an exaggerated and insincere familiarity on his face.

"It's so good to see you! My friend! Come, come, let's sit in the back and try some of the good stuff I just got. I swear, you'll love it..."

Qin Jin, along with Alessa and Yuanxiao, followed Midnight into his private area at the back of the bar.

After closing the door, he led Alessa to sit on the sofa and immediately revealed his purpose:

"I need some information—there's a Southeast Asian sorcerer woman, in her sixties or seventies, practically dying, living on Pine Forest Street, with a Kumanthong (a type of Thai spirit) painted on her door. I need information about her, do you have any?"

"Pine Forest Street? Kumanthong? They probably haven't been here before... You know, those people have a very closed circle, and many of them don't come here much."

He changed the subject, "However, since you've brought it up, I'll definitely do my best. I do have a few regulars among their group, or... I know a bit about them."

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

The door was pushed open, and a young man in a waiter's uniform walked in.

"Go and take a look," Midnight reverted to his calm demeanor and ordered.

"Check if 'Snake Tongue' Chachai, 'Ghost Woman' Sompa, and 'Puppet Master' Ajarn Win are out there, or ask if anyone knows the old guy on Pine Forest Street who paints Kuman Thong. Just say I have a little something to ask him."

The wait wasn't long.

Half an hour later, the waiter brought in a tall, thin man who reeked of a faint stench of decay.

The man entered the room, and the moment his gaze fell on Qin Jin, his face turned pale. He instinctively turned to leave.

"Chacha!"

Old Man Midnight's voice suddenly rose, carrying a hint of cold threat:

"Detective Qin is waiting here, and you're just going to turn around and leave... Do you look down on Qin, or on me?"

The sorcerer named Chachai froze, as if nailed to the spot.

He turned around with difficulty, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace, his voice trembling: "Midnight... Detective Qin... You... you were looking for me?"

Facing Qin Jin and Aresa, two humanoid tyrannosaurus rex, along with Midnight Old Man, a voodoo master, the sorcerer had no chance of winning and could only admit defeat.

Qin and Jin will not waste time:

"There's an old sorcerer on Songlin Street who paints Kumanthong (a type of Thai spirit doll) at his door. What do you know about him?"

Hearing that the person was looking for him, Chachai breathed a sigh of relief: "I know a little about that person... Her name is Zhan Mapeng, and she's very reclusive, she doesn't interact with us much."

He glanced at Qin Jin's face and quickly added, "She...she's probably dying soon...maybe she's making her own funeral arrangements...she's really quite old..."

Qin Jin nodded slightly, indicating his agreement with the information.

"What kind of black magic is she specifically skilled in? Or, if he were to perform some kind of evil magic that requires a large amount of living people's hair and may involve the soul, what method would it take?"

Chachai's body trembled again, as if he had thought of something terrible:

"Zhan Ma Peng... is proficient in many kinds, especially... Yin magic and soul summoning. Hair... in our lineage, hair is indeed considered an extension of the soul, and... an excellent medium for binding the soul."

What he said matched what Qin Jin knew.

"But!" Chachai's voice carried a hint of seriousness:

"There are many types of spirit summoning using hair, I don't know which one she used..."

"Do those souls need their own hair?" Qin Jin interrupted his rambling, his question simple and direct.

Chachai took even longer to think this time, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

"Using your own hair...that means completely placing yourself into the spell! There are usually only three possibilities!" He held up three fingers, his speech quickening:

"First, and most dangerous—the caster wants to transform themselves into a vengeful ghost! By fusing their own vengeful spirit with the resentment of the ghost trapped in their hair, they forcibly enhance their power to achieve some kind of extreme curse or revenge!"

"Secondly, there's soul transfer! Using one's own hair as an 'anchor' and 'channel' for the soul, attempting to transfer the soul to another body, or... a container. This is usually done to prolong life or escape something."

"Thirdly, it involves sacrificing one's own life to unleash a suicidal blood curse! Using one's own life and soul as fuel to ignite the flames of the curse!"

He took a breath and added:

"Either way, it requires extremely strong willpower and... madness!"

Qin Jin asked a few more questions about Zhan Mapeng's possible friends and family, but Cha Cai said he didn't know.

It seems that these are all the clues we have.

"Alright." Qin Jin didn't ask any more questions. He nodded slightly to Old Man Midnight. "Thanks, Midnight. Consider it a favor I owe you." After saying that, he turned and left with Alessa without any hesitation.

Old Man Midnight's smile remained, and he gave a slight bow to Qin Jin's retreating figure.

"You're welcome anytime, Detective Qin."

Having received Qin Jin's favor, the smile on his face finally relaxed a bit.