Time passed quickly.
Lusha City, Canghai District, at the intersection of a residential area.
After driving for a while, Zhang Wei's taxi stopped at this intersection.
As soon as Zhang Wei got out of the car.
Lu Lianxue, who was waiting for Zhang Wei by the roadside, stepped forward. Without wasting time, she handed her phone to Zhang Wei, which contained the information sent by Lin Tong:
"Zhang Wei, we are responsible for Canghai District today. Search all old residential areas as soon as possible."
Lu Lianxue said, pointing to the information on the phone, and continued:
"Captain Lin Tong reviewed the case files overnight and compared them with the three murder cases that occurred in our city. He found that although the people killed by this ghost exorcist had no relationship or connection, Captain Lin Tong, combined with previous case files, discovered that these deceased people, while having no connection to each other, all lived in old residential areas."
"This ghost exorcist is very smart, specifically choosing ordinary families, even those considered poor, to target. Even if people are killed, because they receive little attention, their deaths are difficult to discover immediately."
"Moreover, the ghost exorcist does not commit crimes in the same place. After killing someone in a district, they will not choose the same district next time."
"Therefore, Captain Lin asked us to come to Canghai District. Since the ghost exorcist has not yet acted in this district, it is possible that this is the next district the ghost exorcist will target."
Zhang Wei nodded and took the phone to look.
Lin Tong was worthy of being a captain. Although he was obsessed with muscles, his brain did not only grow muscles. The information he provided not only inferred the possible next target area of the ghost exorcist but also revealed the ghost exorcist's motive.
"Five Elements Life Continuation?"
Looking at the introduction on the information, Zhang Wei's eyes flickered with a hint of solemnity.
Since ancient times, using human lives as a catalyst has always been a taboo in folk beliefs, and extending life is a taboo within taboos. This case involves both.
Whether in ancient times or modern times, people have always known that human lifespan is limited, but there will always be people who do crazy things to extend their lives. The most common example is ancient emperors who spared no effort and resources to find so-called immortality and life-extension methods, such as Qin Shi Huang searching for the elixir of life.
However, the cycle of life and death is natural, and it is not so easy to break. Breaking taboos will inevitably come with a price.
Five Elements Life Continuation.
It is a method of extending life, which involves killing five people representing different attributes and then, through a special method, using the lives of these five people to extend one's own life.
In numerology, people have attributes: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Not everyone has complete five elements. Some people may lack one of them. To compensate for this attribute, people often add it to their names. For example, someone lacking water might have characters with the water radical in their name.
As the saying goes, life and death are predetermined. If one wants to live, one naturally needs a life. What is life? It is the life of living. To live, one needs vitality. In Feng Shui, Yin and Yang, and other academic fields, it has been said that all things in the world are formed by the most basic five elements, and the five elements are the foundation of life.
Therefore, using five people representing different attributes to complete the five elements and generate vitality from the five elements is precisely the method of Five Elements Life Continuation.
At this moment.
Lu Lianxue noticed Zhang Wei's gaze and saw what he was looking at, sighing:
"Are you very surprised? I was also very surprised when I first saw it. I rarely deal with these things. I only learned about Five Elements Life Continuation after watching 'The Eye' and 'Detective Chinatown 1'. Out of curiosity, I went to ask my grandfather."
"Unexpectedly, such a method actually exists. Of course, the method is different from the movies, but it does use people of the five elements to extend life."
Zhang Wei nodded lightly.
Because he possessed one-third of the knowledge of Longhu Mountain, which included records of such methods, he responded:
"It is indeed surprising. I saw a post discussing life extension on the Wei Dao Si forum before. Someone mentioned this method, using other people's lives to extend one's own. This is no longer life extension, it is borrowing life."
"Taking the lives of five people and borrowing them for oneself, and the borrowed life is only less than a few years. To live longer, one must continue to borrow."
As he spoke.
He looked at Lin Tong's information on Lu Lianxue's phone, which not only recorded the current murder case but also previous case files.
A rough count.
More than ten vibrant lives had already died, the youngest of whom was only in his twenties. Yet, they all died, their lifespans borrowed by that ghost exorcist.
As he understood the truth behind the murders, Zhang Wei also understood the Soul Suppressing Talisman. The ghost exorcist was afraid that after killing, the resentment of the deceased would turn into ghosts and seek revenge.
To solve the problem once and for all, he not only killed them but also left them with Soul Suppressing Talismans to suppress their souls at the place of their death. Even if they turned into ghosts, they could not retaliate and could only be trapped there, unable to reincarnate.
As if sensing Lu Lianxue's emotions.
As a member of the Wei Dao Si, she could not stand to see innocent people harmed, especially a ghost exorcist who had the blood of over a dozen people on his hands.
Zhang Wei then rubbed her head:
"It's okay. As long as we find him before he kills five people, it will be fine. Moreover, Five Elements Life Continuation is not without its price. Committing taboos will inevitably lead to a price, and this price is not just human lives, but also sin."
"Everything in the world has cause and effect. He borrows the lives of others for his own use, and he has also committed a karmic debt. Not only will he be burned by the karmic fire in hell, but his next life is also destined to have no good outcome."
Lu Lianxue nodded.
Afterward.
The two of them set off into the residential area, preparing to look for clues.
According to Captain Lin Tong's deduction.
The Soul Suppressing Talismans on the deceased were not carved after death but were left during their lifetime. The longer the Soul Suppressing Talisman was placed on the deceased, the better the soul-suppressing effect. Therefore, as long as they found someone with a Soul Suppressing Talisman on them, that person was likely the next target.
After all, not every ghost exorcist understood Soul Suppressing Talismans, so it was unlikely for two cases in the same city to use Soul Suppressing Talismans but have different culprits.
Zhang Wei and Lu Lianxue posed as police officers and conducted door-to-door interviews.
After interviewing many households.
Just as Zhang Wei and Lu Lianxue were asking a family that had lived in this residential area for decades, three generations living together, and were about to turn and leave.
"Grandma, it's that one! I told you before that Grandpa Tang had a drawing on him, it's that drawing."
A little girl, about five or six years old, spoke up.
Children always liked new things, especially beautiful ones. Seeing Zhang Wei and Lu Lianxue, two 'beautiful' things, she curiously approached them. However, after being picked up by her grandmother, she saw the picture of the symbol in Lu Lianxue's hand.
She immediately shouted, pointing at the photo to indicate.
"Hmm?"
Zhang Wei looked at her actions and pointed to the symbol photo in Lu Lianxue's hand:
"Little sister, have you seen this?"
As the little girl nodded affirmatively, Zhang Wei asked a few questions and learned the situation.
The grandmother holding the little girl explained:
"Old Man Tang lives in the neighboring residential area and does shadow puppetry. We used to call him Old Man Tang. He drives a tricycle to the night market every day to perform shadow puppetry to earn money. He is a very nice person and always puts on free shadow puppet shows for the children."
"A few days ago, I took Nizi to see Old Man Tang's shadow puppetry. While I was chatting with other old women, she was playing with other children and said that when Old Man Tang was fanning himself, she saw a drawing on his back. Come to think of it, the drawing Nizi drew does look quite like this symbol of yours."
It was no wonder the grandmother didn't recognize it immediately. A child drawing from memory couldn't possibly draw the symbol perfectly.
At this moment.
The grandmother pointed in a direction and said:
"If you are looking for Old Man Tang, I suggest you go later. He hasn't returned from his stall yet. He will go there in the evening to put on shadow puppet shows for the children."
Afterward.
Zhang Wei and Lu Lianxue asked more about Grandpa Tang's information.
They learned that Grandpa Tang was a widower who made a living from shadow puppetry. Since shadow puppetry is now an old art and not many people watch it, he could barely make ends meet. He had only come to Lusha City a few years ago.
Lu Lianxue became excited upon hearing this, as the matter finally had progress:
"Grandpa Tang is a widower and from out of town, which fits the profile of the target the ghost exorcist chooses, an ordinary poor person with low visibility. It seems the symbol on Grandpa Tang's body is likely the next target of that ghost exorcist."
...
(ps: The content of this chapter is purely fictional and should not be associated with reality.)