"I have another question,” I said. “How does the person with the Yin object survive the music?"

"It’s very simple,” replied Zhang Jiulin. “The Yin object won’t let him die."

“It won’t let him die?” I echoed in bewilderment.

"The Yin object is merely a thing to you,” he began. “But in fact, every Yin object has its own will and needs. You probably won’t believe what I say and you’re thinking–how can an object have needs? For example, when a lethal weapon evolves into a Yin object, its demand is to kill, and the more people it kills, the deadlier it becomes. This is the case with the Heartbroken Xun. It doesn't care who’s wielding it for revenge. It’s only satisfied when it kills. But as an instrument, it can only play its role when someone uses it."

The more we spoke, the more absurd I found his words. Had he spoken about this yesterday, I might have waved it off as nonsense.

We were standing outside the villa, talking, when Xiaotao ran over and shouted, "Song Yang, something’s happened to Officer Xun!"

A chill swept across Zhang Jiulin’s face as he immediately phoned Pockmark Li. As it turned out, half an hour ago, the three of them were in the hotel when they heard the murderous tune. Officer Xun committed suicide while Pockmark Li and Officer Luo suffered a devastating blow.

We rushed to the hotel. Upon arrival, we saw the body of a waiter on a car parked at the entrance, the impact severely deforming the car.

Without a moment’s delay, we made our way to the sixth floor where the two men were waiting. Zhang Jiulin suddenly stopped me halfway, took out a talisman and threw it in mid-air. The talisman disintegrated to ashes before he nodded, "We can go now!"

I glanced at him, confusion written all over my face. Was that a magic performance?

When we arrived in Pockmark Li's room, I found that the TV screen, lights and all the glass in the room had shattered into pieces. Officer Luo rushed out of the room, bleeding all over from the head, painting a terrible picture. He grabbed my hand and cried, "You’re here, Consultant Song. Lao Xun…" He wept uncontrollably, "Lao Xun didn't make it!"

Only when I walked into the room did I find Officer Xun kneeling by the wall. He had committed suicide by ramming his head into the wall so plasma and brain matter were splattered all over. The strength with which he exerted to slam his head was so hard he managed to break the frontal bone.

Zhang Jiulin scanned the room and asked, "Where’s Pockmark Li?"

"I'm here!" A hand stretched out from the other side of the bed. Pockmark Li had hidden himself. Though bleeding from his seven orifices, his wounds were mild in comparison.

“Zhang-xiaoge,” wailed Pockmark Li as he hugged Zhang Jiulin, refusing to let go. “The job’s too risky! I want to go back to Wuhan and no one can stop me!"

“Calm down!” Zhang Jiulin grabbed his shoulder. "Tell me what happened."

According to Pockmark Li, the three were playing cards in the room when a shrill tune drifted out of nowhere. Pockmark Li immediately instructed them to recite the Tao Te Ching and spread his Ying Yang Umbrella to defend themselves. Unfortunately, the demonic music was too strong. In an instant, all the glass in the room shattered and the three were left bleeding from their orifices. They felt as if the bones in their bodies were about to break and their vision became distorted.

Officer Xun was the first to lose control and committed suicide in an instant. Officer Luo was just about to jump out of the window when Pockmark Li held onto him, using his body to hinder his movement. They endured the music, resisting it one second at a time until the music ended. After enduring the deadly tune, the two were soon overcome with dizziness and passed out together.

I glanced around the room and saw a strange umbrella.

Xiaotao and I exchanged a look of fear. "If we don't deal with this thing, it will no longer just be a tune capable of causing suicide..." Zhang Jiulin paused and turned to us. "It will become strong enough to directly kill!"

Zhang Jiulin left us with those words and walked out of the room with his Ghost-Slaying Daggers in hand.

We escorted Officer Luo to the ambulance while Pockmark Li insisted he was perfectly fine and refused to go to the hospital. Still, I thought it prudent Pockmark Li at least undergo a check-up, to which he agreed.

We examined the surroundings and found that the attack had also affected a couple next door and a waiter who all jumped to their deaths. It was because onlookers downstairs had called the police that alerted Xiaotao to the situation. Fortunately, we came in time before anything happened to Officer Xun.

We were lucky it wasn’t a holiday so the hotel wasn’t fully occupied and the number of casualties remained low.

"How did the murderer know that Officer Xun was hiding here?" Xiaotao frowned as she bit her fist.

The same question plagued my mind but before I could contemplate the answer, Zhang Jiulin walked up to us and said, "May I have a word?"

We followed him to a deserted area where he explained, "It’ll be dark in two hours. I plan to start tracking the Yin energy from here to locate the Heartbroken Xun."

"Will that work?" I asked.

"I can’t be a hundred percent sure, but it does work to some extent,” he answered. “What are you going to do when you find the Heartbroken Xun?"

"The man is extremely dangerous,” Xiaotao uttered through gritted teeth. “We intend to kill him on the spot!"

"That’s likely to intensify the resentment of the Heartbroken Xun,” mused Zhang Jiulin. “But there’s no other way out. After that, you must evacuate the place immediately and leave the rest to me."

“What will you do?” Xiaotao and I asked in unison.

"Naturally, I’ll have to resolve the Yin energy!"

"Why must we wait until evening?" I asked.

"It’s much easier to track Yin energy at night,” he explained.

"There’s no need for that,” I declared. “I have a faster method of locating the man! Xiaotao, please get me a detailed map of Nanjiang City, a marker pen and some sandalwood incense."

Xiaotao understood at once that I was about to employ my divination technique. "Let me show you the miraculous methods of the Song family!" I proudly turned to Zhang Jiulin.

At present, the clues were enough to perform the Triple Divination Technique. Xiaotao quickly obtained what I needed and found an empty room where I could get to work. I spread the map on the ground, marked the eight corners, and crouched on it as I began to mark the location of each attack.

Taking a deep breath, I instructed Xiaotao to light up the sandalwood. In order to accurately pinpoint the murderer’s location, I took out a small bottle containing a low concentration of the Dream Entry concoction and placed it under my nose, inhaling deeply. Suddenly, the world around me turned blurry like a dream.

This time, the technique I used was slightly different. It was a combination of the Divination and Reenactment Techniques. I placed myself into the murderer’s shoes and contemplated his hiding place!

The key elements of the crime poured from my lips along with low murmurs of the divination and reenactment mantras. The map at my feet seemed to transform into the actual Nanjiang City. I looked down as if I were standing up in the sky, thousands of miles from the ground, and my sight quickly fell upon the location where the first attack took place.

I seemed to have become the murderer himself, holding the Heartbroken Xun in my hand as I ambushed Officer Niu on his way home from work. The night was still and no one was around.

Then, I jumped to another location. This time, I hid in the toilet cubicle and peeped through the gap in the door, waiting for Officer Ouyang to enter the restroom. This sort of crime reenactment allowed me to restore many details of the crime that would’ve been otherwise unknown to the police.

After that, I murdered Officer Cui's family. Standing under the street light, I played the Heartbroken Xun so the music floated into the crowded restaurant before I laughed and quickly retreated.

During the reenactment, my hand automatically marked the map. The effect of the Dream Entry powder continued to envelop my body, rendering me intoxicated and dazed. Xiaotao shook me up, "Song Yang, Song Yang! It's time to stop!"

I opened my eyes and returned to reality, body covered in sweat. Zhang Jiulin looked at me incredulously.

I looked down at my hand, only to find the nib of the marker stuck so hard in one place it was broken. "That’s it!” I shouted excitedly. “The murderer must be hiding here!"

Xiaotao read out the name, "Nanjiang Longshan Cemetery?"