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After a moment of silence, Zhao Fusheng placed the scroll in her hand back onto the table.
She had read several case files and now had a general idea of the Demon Suppression Division's past methods of handling cases.
Her time was pressing. She didn't know when the malevolent ghost on her would lose control, nor did she know when the Demon Suppression Division's case-handling deadline was. In short, the matter of Beggars' Alley needed to be resolved as soon as possible.
Thinking of this, she prepared to first search for the case from forty years ago.
Fan Bisi's previous conversation with her hadn't mentioned what year it currently was in the Han Dynasty. Fortunately, Zhao Fusheng learned from the original owner's memories that it was currently the 246th year of the Han Dynasty. Fifteen years had passed since the ghost case recorded in the first scroll she had examined.
And the Confucian Temple ghost case had occurred forty years ago, meaning it was in the 206th year of the Han Dynasty.
A tragic incident had once occurred in this side room, causing many scrolls to be scattered, but a large portion of the scrolls still remained on the shelves.
Zhao Fusheng casually picked up a scroll from the middle shelf on the far left, against the wall. After unrolling it and glancing at it, she saw the date marked on it: 227th year of the Han Dynasty.
She didn't read the subsequent details of the ghost case or the participants. After rerolling the scroll and placing it back in its original position, she searched the adjacent compartments.
Her objective was clear at this moment: the top priority was to find clues about the old Confucian Temple case from forty years ago. As for these ghost case scrolls, it wouldn't be too late to look through them after she completed her mission.
If she didn't return from this trip, then wasting time reading other cases to satisfy her curiosity would be of no use.
Zhao Fusheng pulled out another scroll from the adjacent shelf. Unrolling it slightly, she saw it still recorded April of the 227th year.
The dates on the ghost case scrolls were recorded specifically. Judging from the date markings, each row of compartments should contain cases from the same year.
She then took one from a lower row, and sure enough, it was earlier.
After figuring out the arrangement pattern of the scrolls, Zhao Fusheng quickly found the cases from the 206th year of the Han Dynasty in the bottom left corner of the wooden shelf on the right!
Upon seeing the date, Zhao Fusheng's eyes lit up. She slowed down her search speed, carefully examining the investigator's name first on each scroll, then the account of the ghost.
After about half a ke, she finally pulled out a dust-covered document from among the sealed scrolls.
There were quite a few cases from this year, indicating that the Commanding Officer and Envoys of Wan'an County's Demon Suppression Division at that time were quite capable. But she had already searched through about ten scrolls, and the remaining number was not large.
When Zhao Fusheng pulled out this scroll, she paused for a moment, then unrolled the document.
This time, Zhao Fusheng's luck was good.
After opening this case file, the surface of the paper had yellowed slightly due to the passage of time. It read:
June 15th, 206th year of the Han Dynasty, a malevolent ghost appeared in the Liu Clan Ancestral Hall, south of Wan'an County city.
A total of seven investigators.
Wan'an County Demon Suppression Division Commanding Officer in charge: Su Long, leading five Envoys, named respectively: He Jing, Zhao Yi, Wang Dan, Liu Cai, Chen Shou.
Zhao Fusheng was not unfamiliar with these names. She had previously read about ten case files. Several case files from before the 206th year of the Han Dynasty were handled by the previous Commanding Officer and his men, while the subsequent four were all led by Su Long.
Su Long at that time was very capable, having saved his life several times in the face of malevolent ghosts. Most of the accompanying Envoys also managed to survive, which was very difficult.
However, Zhao Fusheng's attention didn't linger on this for too long. Upon seeing the words 'Liu Clan Ancestral Hall, south of Wan'an County city,' she imperceptibly breathed a sigh of relief, then showed a look of gratification.
The scroll read:
The Liu Clan of southern Wan'an city was a local powerful family. Their ancestors had once produced a Juren, served as an imperial official, and amassed a considerable fortune.
The family's descendants were also promising. Over the years, they had developed and prospered, with flourishing offspring.
The current head of the family was Liu Huacheng. This man was charitable and benevolent, with one wife and two concubines in his lifetime, and had nine sons and six daughters.
As it concerned the ghost case in Beggars' Alley, Zhao Fusheng read very carefully.
The record of the ghost case from forty years ago showed that, including collateral branches and direct lineage, the Liu clan had a total of 103 descendants and relatives, and a total of 489 servants in the household. The Liu clan occupied a vast area; including Liu blood relatives and household servants, there were a total of 592 people.
In Wan'an County, this was already a true prominent and wealthy household.
The Liu family's ancestors were very discerning and shrewd. After several generations, the family fortune snowballed.
By the generation of the family head Liu Huacheng, they were even more successful.
This Liu Huacheng himself was a legend in Wan'an County.
Before his mother gave birth to him, she frequently dreamed, often dreaming of him holding a strange red booklet, walking along the long street, appearing very mystical.
When Liu Huacheng was born, red clouds appeared in the sky. The people of Wan'an County regarded this strange sight as auspicious, believing Liu Huacheng was a celestial star descended to earth.
In his youth, Liu Huacheng was exceptionally intelligent and studied diligently. He passed the Juren examination before the age of thirty, far surpassing his ancestors.
His father had once boasted to others after drinking, believing his son had the talent of a Zhuangyuan.
Unfortunately, Liu Huacheng did not achieve further success in his studies. At the age of forty, after the Liu family donated money to buy an official position, he once served as the Right Supervisor of the Commandant of Justice in the capital. Later, for some unknown reason, he strangely resigned and returned to his hometown.
After returning to his hometown, Liu Huacheng took over the Liu family. This man was not only brilliant in his studies but also an excellent businessman.
Under his management, the Liu family's business flourished, and the family became as wealthy as a nation. However, the records mentioned that the Liu family was not rich and unkind; Liu Huacheng would set aside a sum of silver each year to repair bridges and roads and frequently aided the poor.
Coincidentally.
On the day of the incident, it happened to be family head Liu Huacheng's sixtieth birthday. His sons had been preparing a banquet for him for half a year.
Because he was usually charitable, the Liu family set up a running feast on Wenchang Road near the ancestral hall, inviting fellow townspeople and commoners. Anyone willing to go and wish Liu Huacheng a happy birthday, regardless of their status, could sit at a table, eat a full meal, and have a drink.
The banquet started three days in advance, and countless people attended.
And it was precisely on Liu Huacheng's birthday that the family began to be haunted.
Six people from the Liu family died that day, and the malevolent ghost was extremely terrifying. After killing people, it advanced and quickly developed a Ghost Domain.
A joyous birthday banquet instantly turned into a funeral. Those who had come to offer congratulations were scared half to death and trapped within the Ghost Domain.
Due to the large number of participants at the time, the ghost case incident immediately escalated.
The Commanding Officer in charge of the Demon Suppression Division at that time was named Su Long. This man was quite resourceful, a ghost controller. He had only been the Commanding Officer of the Demon Suppression Division for a few months but had already handled several ghost cases, each one exceptionally well, and had long made a name for himself in Wan'an County.
After the Liu family's ghost case erupted, Liu Huacheng, for some unknown reason, managed to escape the Ghost Domain. He personally came to their door and, at great expense, invited Su Long and Zhang Xiongwu to join forces.
The scroll, written up to this point, was nearing its end.
Zhao Fusheng held the gradually unfolding scroll, a sense of foreboding rising in her heart. It recorded:
When we entered the Liu residence, we found that this place was already enveloped by a Ghost Domain. It was easy to enter but difficult to exit.
In the end, a total of seven people from the Demon Suppression Division and Zhang Xiongwu went. Later, only four from the Demon Suppression Division and Zhang Xiongwu left safely, while Wang Dan and Chen Shou from the Demon Suppression Division were forever left within the Liu family mansion.
Regarding this trip to the Liu residence, Su Long surprisingly did not record in detail how these two triggered the malevolent ghost's rules and were subsequently killed.
Regarding information about the malevolent ghost, the scroll only wrote: Headless Ghost.
The end of the scroll read: It is unknown when the ghost kills, or when those around will meet their end—Su Long also did not know.
The ghost's ferocity exceeded everyone's imagination. By the time they discovered someone had died, it was when a head suddenly fell to the ground.
Su Long was terrified at the time. He paid a considerable price to retreat to the Demon Suppression Division.
Later, unable to withstand the Liu family's repeated pleas and the high reward offered by Liu Huacheng, he eventually cooperated with Zhang Xiongwu again and successfully pacified this ghost case.
Su Long did not write about the process of dealing with the ghost case in between.
This Commanding Officer, who was once famous in Wan'an County and considered to have great potential, warned future generations at the end of the scroll: The rank of this malevolent ghost in the Liu Clan Ancestral Hall, south of Wan'an County city, is unknown. It is highly possible that it has already reached the 'Sha' rank, or even the 'Huo' rank above 'Sha.'
He wrote: After this incident, the ghost I control shows signs of losing control. It is possible that within a year, I will either die at the hands of a malevolent ghost or die from the Soul-Life Register's claim on my life.
'When a man is about to die, his words are good.'
If any future members of the Demon Suppression Division are willing to look through this scroll, it must be that the Southern City ghost case has gone out of control.
Su Long wrote up to this point, his calligraphy becoming increasingly chaotic: If you see this scroll, immediately report to the imperial court. Do not attempt to resolve it yourself.
Those who do not control ghosts of 'Huo' rank or above must not easily step into the southern city. To enter is certain death!
"..."
Zhao Fusheng, reading up to this point, felt a pain in her chest from holding her breath for so long. Her head also felt dizzy and unbearable from lack of oxygen. She let out a long, turbid breath.