Entering the twelfth lunar month, work at the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation suddenly seemed to slow down. Reports of bizarre incidents from various regions, which used to come in every day, had now disappeared without a trace. Investigators with nothing to do gathered in increasing numbers, making the entire Bureau unusually noisy and bustling. Since I joined the Bureau, it had always been quiet and somber — I had never seen it like this before. This state of affairs lasted until the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month.
The twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month is the traditional day to worship the Kitchen God. That morning, Sun Fatty and I had just arrived at the Bureau when we saw two large buses parked at the entrance. Section Chiefs Gao Liang, Xiao Heshang, and Hao Wenming were standing by the door, and even Moyes from Room Three — who rarely made appearances — was beside Director Gao. Except for Er Yang, there was no sign of Ouyang Pianzuo or Wu Rendi. Before we could figure out what was going on, Hao Wenming hurried us onto one of the buses. Inside, the seats were already filled with other investigators. I scanned the bus and found a few familiar faces — Xiong Wanyi and Ximen Lian were sitting near the back. When they saw Sun Fatty and me boarding, they waved energetically.
Before I could greet them, Xiong Wanyi shouted at me, "Lazi, Sun Fatty, there's a seat here — come sit!" Since it was them, Sun Fatty and I naturally didn't hesitate and sat in the row in front of them. Before we could speak, Ximen Lian asked, "Lazi, what's going on today? What's this early-morning drag to somewhere?"
Sun Fatty looked at him helplessly and said, "I was about to ask you the same. I swear, Xiong's supposed to be the smart one in Room Two. If I'd known, I would've gone to ask our Director Hao." Xiong Wanyi glanced at the few chiefs standing outside by the window, then said to Sun Fatty in the front row, "You ask your director — if he knew, he'd tell you. I've been pestering Old Qiu since early morning, but he hasn't said a word. If you find out anything, be sure to let me know." Sun Fatty followed Xiong Wanyi's gaze toward Xiao Heshang standing next to Gao Liang outside, then turned back and laughed at Xiong Wanyi, "Forget it. If Old Qiu won't say, where else could I possibly know?"
Just then, all the personnel had assembled and the section chiefs were doing headcounts. Except for Room Six, our Room One's situation was the clearest. Po Jun's injuries had just healed, so he wasn't included in this operation; he and Wang Ziheng, along with a few investigators, were overseeing the Bureau. Meanwhile, thirty to forty people had already arrived last night at the location where we were headed, making preparations. The rest were on the buses. Finally, the vehicles started moving. Gao Liang and his group were riding in a business van leading the way, with our two buses closely following behind. No one told us the destination. The bus kept driving, passing beyond the capital's limits with no sign of arrival.
Along the way, the bus only stopped occasionally for refueling and to let us stretch our legs. Even lunch was pre-packed hamburgers and bottled water. Judging by the route, the destination was probably somewhere in Hebei Province. It wasn't until after 4 p.m., when the sun had shifted westward, that the bus finally stopped outside a huge warehouse on the outskirts of an unknown city. A Land Rover was parked at the warehouse gate, suggesting someone had arrived earlier.
After getting off, Old Qiu shouted at us, "Everyone off the bus! You have ten minutes to freshen up. Restrooms are on the left. After ten minutes, gather inside the warehouse! That's when the purpose of this operation will be announced." Half the group headed toward the restrooms, while the others began moving toward the warehouse. Taking advantage of the moment when Xiong Wanyi and Ximen Lian went to the restroom and few people were around us, Sun Fatty whispered, "Lazi, the Bureau is mobilizing. Is this the big operation that Old Xiao was talking about?" I nodded slightly and said, "Judging by the setup, it probably is. Let's see what they say."
When Sun Fatty and I entered the warehouse, we found something utterly unexpected: inside the cavernous space sat an old, worn-out steam locomotive, its engine pulling twenty or thirty train cars. We were all baffled. This train couldn't be for us — even if everyone from the Bureau got on board, two cars would be enough. Why so many cars?
Just as we were wondering, an old man slowly descended from the second car facing us. Both Sun Fatty and I recognized him: Min Tianyuan, the current chairman of the Ethnic Religious Affairs Commission, who had come to the Bureau to see Gao Liang empty-handed not long ago. The Land Rover outside clearly belonged to him. Chairman Min nodded to Director Gao as he stepped off the train. Neither said a word. After nodding in acknowledgment, Min walked up to Gao and handed him an envelope. Gao wasn't shy about showing us; he tore the envelope open in front of us, revealing some tickets and a strangely shaped key inside. After confirming the contents, Director Gao put the envelope back in his pocket.
Seeing that Commissioner Gao had no objections, Min Tianyuan gave Gao Liang a slight smile, then returned to the carriage they had just stepped down from. Neither of them said a word throughout the process. It seemed Min Tianyuan's purpose in coming to the Bureau had been fulfilled.
Min Tianyuan returned to the carriage. After Gao Liang whispered a few words to several directors nearby, Director Qiu came out and gestured for us to board the last carriage. When everyone had gathered, Old Director Qiu stood in the middle of the carriage and addressed us: "Now, let me explain the details of this operation…"
Finally, the main topic. Everyone present focused their attention on Director Qiu, who continued: "Our mission this time is to escort 1,800 wronged souls to the Netherworld. We will use the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, a day when the Yin Court is relatively relaxed, to forcibly open a breach between the realms of Yin and Yang at the Ghost Gate Pass, and send these souls through. Because the natural scattering of Yin substances along the road to the Ghost Gate prevents the souls from traveling on their own, there happens to be a soon-to-be-decommissioned railway line that reaches our destination. The Bureau has coordinated with relevant departments to use a train for transport. Your task is to oversee these souls and ensure no accidents happen during transit."
Qiu paused briefly, glanced at the investigators around him, and seeing no objections, continued: "This time, the number of souls is large, and they are all wronged deaths, so the resentment they carry is intense. You must be extra cautious during the escort. If anything happens, your own safety comes first. When necessary, you may use force to disperse any unruly souls, even if that means severing their celestial souls and earthly spirits. Due to the special nature of this operation, there was no prior notice. If anyone is missing equipment, report to Director Hao later to receive temporary gear." Just as we thought he was done, Director Qiu suddenly seemed to remember something else. "Ah, yes, one more thing: you are not responsible for the first three carriages of the train; all personnel are forbidden to enter them. Now, I will announce your assigned carriages. Li Dadan, Zhang Mingda, Yun Feiyang, Xiao Mingchang, you four to Carriage Four…"
After assigning almost all the investigators present, Director Qiu finally mentioned my name: "Shen La, Sun Desheng, Xiong Wanyi, and Ximen Lian, you four are assigned to this carriage." He glanced at his watch and said, "Souls will start entering the carriages at six o'clock, and departure is scheduled for six-thirty. There is one hour before departure. If there are no questions, head to your respective carriages and begin preparations."
After Director Qiu finished, the investigators around stood up and left the carriage. Some went directly to their assigned carriages; some gathered near Hao Wenming to get temporary equipment; others huddled beside their directors, whispering. Soon, only the four of us—me, Sun Fatty, Xiong Wanyi, and Ximen Lian—remained in this carriage. After checking our gear and confirming all was in order, the four of us gathered around a table and chatted idly for a while. Suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded outside. We all looked out the window and saw the doors of a dozen rooms in the warehouse opening one after another. Countless misty human silhouettes came out.
These silhouettes, as if arranged beforehand, walked in orderly fashion to the doors of various carriages. Our carriage doors were all open, and the moment these figures entered, their misty forms suddenly solidified. The fog dissipated, revealing faces pale as death and bodies exuding dense Yin energy. To the eye, these souls—both male and female—looked no different from ordinary people.
However, they were still wronged souls. As more boarded, I began to feel the carriage temperature drop slowly. What was once a fairly warm carriage now saw our breath visible when we spoke. These souls seemed even more fearful of us; once inside, they sat as far away from us as possible. But as more souls entered, some had no choice but to gradually inch closer.
We had earlier agreed to split into two groups to guard the carriage's front and rear entrances, keeping watch over the souls between us to cover each other if anything happened. Seeing the number of souls grow, the four of us stood up simultaneously. Sun Fatty and I moved toward the front door of the carriage. The souls, who had been clustered together, suddenly parted to let us pass.
Our carriage had 108 seats, and the number of souls plus us four exactly filled the seats. On the seats beside ours, no souls dared to sit close; only about a dozen stood in the carriage's center. Sun Fatty laughed heartily and said, "Well, the New Year's really coming soon. Looks like this train even has standing tickets."
Looking at the wronged souls packed in the carriage, I couldn't share Sun Fatty's lighthearted mood. My eyes casually swept outside the window and were suddenly drawn to a scene: Xiao Heshang was leading a soul surrounded by mist slowly toward the front carriages. As they passed our carriage, a sudden twitch hit my head, as if a thin string inside my skull pulled sharply. It wasn't painful, but the sensation of a foreign object inside my head was unmistakable. The back of this soul looked familiar—I seemed to have seen it somewhere before.
Sun Fatty also followed my gaze and saw Xiao Heshang with the misty soul beside him. He stuck his head out the window and shouted, "Old Xiao, which carriage are you in? I'll come find you later…"
Before he finished, Xiao Heshang suddenly turned around and shouted sharply, "Shut up! Close the window!" As far as I remembered, I had never seen Xiao Heshang like this, especially not snapping at Sun Fatty.
Sun Fatty sulked and closed the window, then muttered to me, "What's up with Old Xiao? Took some kind of drug? His temper's so bad now. Wasn't he just shamelessly begging me to take him to the Celestial Realm a while ago?"
I looked at the soul beside Xiao Heshang and said, "Big Sage, do you recognize that soul next to Old Xiao? Doesn't it look familiar?"
Sun Fatty tilted his head in thought. "Familiar, I can't quite say. But that soul looks strange. Not to mention, the way it walks is like it has some kind of stroke aftereffect."
Indeed, the soul's walking was odd, somewhat dazed. Every dozen steps or so it would stop moving, needing Xiao Heshang beside it to gesture forward before it would slowly continue. I quietly opened the window and watched their backs as they moved forward. The more I looked at the soul, the more familiar it seemed. Just as a name was about to slip out, Xiao Heshang suddenly turned and stared at me. Our eyes locked, and his unusually icy gaze made me shiver. The name that had been on the tip of my tongue blurred completely. What was going on? Was that really the Xiao Heshang I knew, or some strange version of him?
After one look, Xiao Heshang and the soul continued forward. They stopped at the front carriages. At that moment, Sun Fatty again stuck his head out the window. Xiao Heshang made a gesture, and the soul followed him into the train's second carriage.
Seeing them enter, I closed the window. Sun Fatty asked, "La, do you figure out who it is?"
I shook my head. The name was so close to coming out, but Xiao Heshang's cold stare had scared me so much I almost forgot Sun Fatty's own name. I tried to collect my thoughts but still couldn't recall who that soul was.