Chapter 27: The Shadowed Maiden

Fu Yang was feeling a bit dejected.

He waved the piece of blue silk in his hand toward Zhao Shanshan and Ah Huang. “He got away—I only managed to rip this off his clothes, that damned peeping lunatic slipped through my fingers.”

“Let me have a look.”

Zhao Shanshan took the blue silk from Fu Yang’s hand, and their fingers brushed together by accident.

A soft, delicate sensation lingered at his fingertips, sending a ripple through Fu Yang’s heart. He glanced at Zhao Shanshan.

Their eyes met for just a moment before darting away again, both suddenly aware of how fast their hearts were beating...

“What’s happening to me? He’s younger than I am, so why do I feel this way about him?” Zhao Shanshan was a little flustered inside.

It all happened in an instant, something only the two of them could feel—Ah Huang hadn’t noticed a thing.

“I’ll check if there’s anything special about this blue silk.” Zhao Shanshan steadied herself and swiftly changed the subject.

Girls usually know more about clothes and fabrics.

But after half a minute, Zhao Shanshan frowned in puzzlement. “That’s odd... I’ve never seen this kind of fabric in stores. Could it be custom-made?”

Fu Yang and Ah Huang also examined the cloth, but nothing new came to light and they could only give up for now. They decided to take the blue silk back for the police to analyze, hoping it could help identify whoever had been secretly following them.

For now, all leads had pretty much dried up.

The only thing they could do was stake out the lakeshore at night and hope to catch something by chance.

But that was far too risky—not to mention, there was no guarantee the little ghost boy would show up again...

Just as the three of them were sinking into disappointment, Zhao Shanshan’s phone suddenly rang.

She answered and after a few words, her expression brightened with delight. She repeated, “Okay, got it,” several times.

After hanging up, Fu Yang asked curiously, “What’s up, Shanshan? Did the police make progress?”

“Fu Yang, Master Huang—In our line of work as detectives, whether the perpetrator is human or something else, if they have a motive, there will always be a shared trait among their victims! By comparing the details of our two victims, the station finally noticed an overlap. Normally in a standard homicide, this might not mean much, but in a supernatural case, it could be the key!”

For some reason, seeing her excitement made Fu Yang inexplicably happy too.

Zhao Shanshan looked seriously at Ah Huang and enunciated each word: “Master Huang, both of the murdered girls were born at midnight on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. What do you make of that?”

What?!

Ah Huang was visibly shaken.

“Midnight on the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month? That’s when the gates of the underworld open. These girls... they’re ‘Yin Maidens!’”

Suddenly, he understood, smacking his forehead with an embarrassed look. “I was careless! I’m not very skilled in fate and divination, so I missed this. If both victims were born at that precise time, it means the ghost lord is hunting for Yin Maidens. If we access the university’s records, we can instantly identify who this damn specter will target next.”

Zhao Shanshan froze, then burst out joyfully, “That means all we have to do is protect the targets!”

So what is a Yin Maiden?

Simply put, it refers to girls with a constitution and aura that lean heavily toward the Yin—shadowy—side.

The fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month is known in folk tradition as the Ghost Festival.

On this day, the gates of the underworld are thrown open and spirits roam the earth. The boundary between the living and the dead blurs during the night. People honor their ancestors, yet it’s also a time when malevolent ghosts take the opportunity to wreak havoc...

Girls born on this day often have traits that set them apart from others—greater sensitivity, a tendency to see spirits, or to hear eerie, inexplicable things...

Such girls are called “Yin Maidens.”

At the police station.

A young officer with a wild mop of hair that looked like a bird’s nest was typing away at a computer while Fu Yang, Ah Huang, and Zhao Shanshan watched intently from behind.

“Captain Zhao, our police system connects with the databases of many organizations. Jiangcheng University is no exception. Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll pull up everyone born at midnight on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month.”

Zhao Shanshan patted the young officer’s shoulder, “Thanks, Xiao Gao.”

“No need to thank me, Captain Zhao!”

Two minutes later, five names and their departments appeared on the screen.

Liu Qingyu, twenty, junior in Civil Engineering.

Fang Min, nineteen, sophomore in Advertising.

Zhang Zeyun, twenty-one, senior in Dance.

Liu Taotao, eighteen, freshman in Software Engineering.

Qin Mei, twenty, junior in Journalism.

“There are seven girls at Jiangcheng University born at midnight on the fifteenth of the seventh lunar month—including the two who are already dead? That can’t be a coincidence!” Zhao Shanshan’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Ah Huang frowned, his expression grave. “Seven Yin Maidens...”

He seemed to have an inkling of something, though the answer hovered just out of reach.

Fu Yang reacted the most dramatically. He darted forward, his face close to the screen, and blurted, “Qin Mei? How could Qin Mei be on the list?!”

That feeling was deeply unsettling.

It was like knowing for sure that the goddess you secretly adored had been marked as the next prey by a deranged killer—only this time, the killer was a ghost lord, far more terrifying than any lunatic.

Fu Yang’s reaction drew curious looks from the others.

Realizing he was still at the police station, he quickly composed himself.

“What is it, Fu Yang?” Zhao Shanshan asked, her brow furrowed in a way that was strikingly beautiful.

Seeing her like that, the words he’d meant to say suddenly changed.

“It’s nothing... Qin Mei is my classmate. We’ve always gotten along well. I didn’t expect to see her on this list. It’s like a death roster.”

So that was it.

Zhao Shanshan smiled. “Actually, you don’t need to worry too much. Ghostly murders may sound frightening, but this world still belongs to the living. Now that we know the targets, we’ll assign a special team to keep close watch and protect these five girls...”

She hadn’t finished when Ah Huang suddenly cut in, “Leave Qin Mei to me and Fu Yang. First, she’s an acquaintance, and second, it’ll lighten the load for the police.”

With Master Huang volunteering, the police were naturally glad to oblige. They even issued temporary detective badges to Ah Huang and Fu Yang.

Having never seen such a thing before, Fu Yang was beside himself with excitement. In all the movies and TV shows he’d seen as a kid, this was basically a “license to kill!”

As they left the police station, Ah Huang shot Fu Yang a sly grin. “You sly dog! You’ve got a ghost queen as your wife at home, you’re flirting with Qin Mei outside, and making eyes at the vice-captain of the detective squad too... Do you think I’m blind?”

“Nonsense!”

Fu Yang jumped, reacting like a startled cat.

“I’ve told you, the one at home is my queen—she treats me like a servant! As for Qin Mei... I do have a crush on her! And about Shanshan... Hmph! I’m not even going to talk to you.”

He shot Ah Huang a glare and stalked off toward the university, clearly annoyed.

Ah Huang trailed behind, shaking his head and sighing dramatically, “Xiao Yang, when did you become even more of a Casanova than me? This isn’t good for you, you know—bad for your health, bad for your kidneys, and bad for... certain parts...”