Chapter 23: Humans Are More Frightening Than Ghosts

When we found that cave, I almost vomited again—the stench was overwhelming, and that was before we even stepped inside. Seeing how badly I was affected, Tan Xiao said, “You’d better not go in later. I think seeing it will be even harder for you.”

Lin Chuan echoed the warning, but I still wanted to see for myself. I needed to know what kind of horror those children endured when their bodies were abandoned in there. Mask strapped on, the foul air stung my eyes, making it hard to keep them open, but I followed them inside. The moment I saw the decaying corpses and dried blood, I couldn’t help but retch.

“Brother, are you all right?” The little girl’s spirit came in, saw me vomiting in the corner, and ran over before she even looked at the bodies.

Wiping my mouth, I forced myself to smile at her and shielded her from the gruesome sight. “Little one, what’s your name?”

“My name is Star,” she replied.

“Star, could you please take your siblings outside? I’ll have to perform a ritual soon, and I don’t want you to get hurt.” I coaxed her, hoping to spare them from seeing their own remains.

“All right, brother. We’ll wait for you outside,” she said, turning to gather the other children.

Seeing my reluctance to let the spirits witness their bodies, Tan Xiao came over. “Zhang Xiaobei, you’re so kind!”

“It’s too cruel. I can barely handle it myself, let alone children,” I answered.

“Zhang Xiaobei, these bodies are so decomposed you can’t tell who’s who. Some are even fused together, look—”

“I don’t want to look!” I refused, not even turning my head.

“Fine. If you need a break, just step outside,” Lin Chuan said, seeing how sick I felt.

I nodded, unable to bear it any longer. If Fang Xiaolong’s corpse earlier was brutal, this scene was a hundred times worse. So many small bodies piled together, probably tossed in carelessly, forming a mound. I can’t imagine how their parents would feel seeing this. I crawled out of the cave, unable to picture it.

Outside, the children waited obediently under the trees, and seeing them there, I was suddenly overcome with the urge to cry.

“Brother, will you let me see my mother?” Star asked.

“You all want to see her?” I sighed, approaching them.

“Yes, I haven’t seen my mom in so long,” they chimed in.

“Alright, we’ll go to the police station later and let her come see you.” I crouched beside them.

They looked so happy—perhaps they were too young to understand what a child’s death meant to their parents. Like my own parents who would never want to lose me, willing to sacrifice themselves for my life. If these parents knew, they would be devastated, perhaps unwilling to live.

“Brother, after we see them this time, we’ll never see them again, right?” Star suddenly asked.

I froze, turning to her. “What do you mean?”

“It’s you. We won’t see you anymore after this, will we?” she said again.

I lowered my head, then smiled. “We probably will, why?”

“Do you want to know about the black market?” she asked seriously.

Her earnest, adult-like manner tugged at my heart. “Those painful memories—I don’t want to press you.”

“It’s alright, brother. We know what kind of person you are,” she replied.

“Alright then,” I said, deciding to ask. “Do you know what Fang Xiaolong did on the black market?”

“We do. But it wasn’t just him, there were several partners. He was killed by one of them this time,” Star said.

I was surprised. “Why?”

“I’m not sure. Their relationships weren’t good, especially with someone named Chen Fei. He’s disliked Fang Xiaolong for a long time. I think he’s the one who did it.”

“Do you know where to find Chen Fei?” I asked.

“He’s probably hiding. It’s not his first time doing this. But he has a woman named Rose. If you find her, you’ll find Chen Fei,” Star answered.

“Do you want us to catch him?”

“We all want that,” Star said firmly.

I nodded. “I promise you, I will catch these bad people.”

“Thank you, brother. But there’s another partner, Yang Minghui. He studied medicine, but he liked experimenting on living people. That sister I mentioned before—that was his work. He knows how to hurt someone without killing them.”

Hearing this, I felt Yang Minghui was the most terrifying of all. A doctor meant to heal, now a monster who destroys lives.

“Are there others?” I asked.

“There are many in the black market. In the group I was with, these three were the leaders. The rest worked for them, most enslaved since childhood—unable to speak, unable to hear the outside world,” Star explained.

I was stunned. The world seemed suddenly so dark; before I started my work as a spirit intermediary, I’d never heard of such things.

“Brother, you must save that sister. She must be in terrible pain—no hands, no feet, fixed in one position, unable to feel, but still forced under those ugly men,” Star said, her eyes reddening.

I stroked her head. “I’ll get her out. Are there others?”

“There are other children, all locked up together. The adults take photos and let the clients choose, then torture the chosen child in a room. Many girls like that sister were sold, only one kept for clients to try, then customized anew,” Star told me.

I was deeply shocked and angry. By the time Lin Chuan and the others moved the bodies out, I still didn’t let the spirits see their remains.

Once everything was loaded onto the truck, I called the spirits of the children to the car where Lin Chuan and I sat. Xiao Fang, Xiao Yuan, and Tan Xiao were entertaining them, so our car was occasionally filled with laughter, making Lin Chuan say that the chill inside was cooler than any air conditioning.

We went straight to the police station, where they compared the bodies whose faces were still recognizable with missing children records and contacted their families. For those whose faces couldn’t be identified, only forensic sampling could help.

I didn’t know much about this, so I couldn’t help—just waited outside for the parents to arrive.

Soon, several parents arrived, nearly collapsing in tears. Among the children with me, one little boy said, “Those are my mom and dad?” He ran to them, but of course, they couldn’t see him. Wanting to be hugged, he reached out, but they rushed past him. Too young to understand death, the boy sat there crying.

Inside the police station, I couldn’t openly reveal what I saw, so I whispered to Star, “Can you bring your brother back?”

She nodded, went over, and led the little boy back. I worried they might try again, so I quietly told them, “From now on, you must only watch your parents from afar. You’re in another world now, and they can’t see you.”

“Why can’t they see us?” the children asked innocently.

I couldn’t explain it fully, so I left Tan Xiao and Xiao Yuan to comfort them, and took Xiao Fang to find Lin Chuan to ask what we should do next.

“Sir, I’ll go find that woman named Rose. There aren’t many women with that name—it should be easy,” Xiao Fang said once we were aside.

He seemed quite clever, so I nodded. “Go ahead. Be careful. These people probably have protective charms at home like Fang Xiaolong. Don’t get caught.”

“Okay!” He vanished, while Lin Chuan was reporting to his superior.

From outside, I overheard: “You said today’s progress is thanks to your friend Zhang Xiaobei?”

“How did he know all this?” the supervisor asked.

“Director Liu, don’t ask. It’s between me and him,” Lin Chuan replied, not revealing my ghost-seeing ability.

“Well, he’s so mysterious—I’d like to meet him!” Director Liu said.

“He’s here in the station now.”

Hearing this, I hurried to move farther away, worried they’d catch me eavesdropping.

“Zhang Xiaobei!” Lin Chuan spotted me and called.

I hurried over. “Brother Lin!”

“Xiaobei, let me introduce you. This is Director Liu.” Lin Chuan gestured to me. “This is Zhang Xiaobei, my friend.”

“Hello, Director Liu!” I greeted him.

He nodded and smiled at Lin Chuan. “Captain Lin, impressive. I didn’t expect your friend to be so young!”

“Yes, Xiaobei is only twenty. Actually, Director Liu, I’m just in my twenties too—no generational gap!”