Investigating (Arc 1)

Feng Yongrui began his investigation. First, he scoured this town, which was called Fengrui, and jotted down the names of the children who were missing. Then, he changed his face and visited each family one by one, inquiring about the missing children.

Of course, Feng Yongrui was not always welcome. However, he told them he was a cultivator and told them he meant no harm, only wanting to investigate the children's disappearance and the ghost.

Some families told Feng Yongrui that it was better for him not to investigate, for fear of angering the ghost, but Feng Yongrui managed to persuade them, either with his words or by offering monetary compensation, to tell him what they knew about the incident.

When it was evening, Feng Yongrui had finally finished "interviewing" almost all the families involved. So far, he had found out several things.

First, the children always disappeared at night, and there was absolutely no sign of someone breaking into the house. Instead, it seems like the children were the ones who willingly went outside the house.

Secondly, the children who were kidnapped were mostly around 4 to 10 years old, meaning the robbers were targeting a specific age group... Feng Yongrui wondered if this had anything related to child labor or child trafficking, but he hoped that wasn't the case...

"Other than those two factors, I couldn't find anything else about this that stood out... Do you really think this is because of a ghost?" Feng Yongrui muttered to the System.

Since he was able to die and come back to life, maybe ghosts were real too? Feng Yongrui shuddered when he thought that ghosts might be roaming around him at that very moment.

The last house Feng Yongrui would visit was quite special, because it was the only family who had found their child. Other families lost their child forever, and not a trace of them could be found, but this particular family was said to have found their child.

Unfortunately, the villagers said the child had turned into a corpse-like child, with no emotions and no intellect. Feng Yongrui wanted to see this child and see if he could glean any more information.

Knock, knock.

Feng Yongrui knocked at the door. He heard the sound of hurried footsteps and the door was opened. A middle-aged man gazed at him with some confusion and wariness.

"What do you want?" The man asked with displeasure.

Feng Yongrui explained the reason for his visit, and the man's face grew twisted with a frown.

"Are you also here to make fun of my daughter and gossip about her?" He snarled. "Go away!" He waved his hand, aiming to slam the door shut, but Feng Yongrui put his foot between the door.

"Sir, I'm really here to investigate this matter. You have to believe me..." He said.

The middle aged man rolled his eyes. "You lot are all the same. Investigation? You'll just call my daughter useless and whisper behind our backs. Go away! We don't need your help and we don't know anything about the kidnappers!"

Feng Yongrui paused.

This was the first time someone said "kidnappers" instead of "ghost". His eyes lit up. This man must know something, right?

"Sir," Feng Yongrui pleaded earnestly. "I'm serious, sir. Look, last time, the one who defeated the robbers and saved the children 5 years ago was me... I'm really here to help. I'm a cultivator..." He said.

The middle aged man softened a bit, but he was still wary.

"If you do anything funny, I'll kick you out of this house," He said gruffly. Feng Yongrui nodded in acquiescence.

When he entered the house, the first thing Feng Yongrui spotted was a bed. On the small, narrow bed, there lay a young girl who looked like she was 7 or 8 years old. Her hair was tied into two cute pigtails, but her complexion was wan and sallow.

The little girl's name was Han Ya, and her father, the middle aged man, called her Ya'er.

"Ya'er, we have a guest," The middle aged man said. "If you don't want to meet him, don't worry. Dad will chase him away if you don't like him."

Ya'er didn't seem to hear her father's words. She looked around with cold, lifeless eyes and did not speak. Feng Yongrui paid close attention to the girl. He thought of asking the girl about the incident, but he was afraid it would trigger bad memories and make her angry instead.

The middle aged man seemed used to Ya'er's silence and did not push her to answer. He brought a cup of water and squatted near the bed.

"Ya'er, come on and drink," He whispered, his gruff voice turning gentle. Ya'er did not move an inch, so her father brought the cup to her lips and helped her drink.

Meanwhile, Feng Yongrui was busy looking at the girl. He had turned on "super vision" that the System had given him and was astonished with what he saw. Ya'er's body was filled with clumps of black spots, similar to tumors.

In Ya'er's brain, Feng Yongrui saw an abnormally round black spot that seemed to be... wriggling? Feng Yongrui squinted and felt his heart nearly fly out of his chest. It was really wriggling!

Feng Yongrui averted his eyes in shock and happened to look down. He saw Ya'er's spirit root and frowned. This was... a golden spirit root?

...Golden spirit root... Was this girl the female version of King Midas? Everything she touched would turn into gold?!

Her root was obviously golden and shiny... other than gold, what else could it be?

"Hey, System, is there a golden spirit root in this world?" He asked.

It should be known that having spirit roots is already rare. Having a single spirit root is a miracle. Having a rare type of spirit root like this... was something you wouldn't even dream of!

"Host, as you may know, I lost the information regarding this world..."

Feng Yongrui clenched his fist. That's right. At the critical moment, this System is always useless!

"But, I have never heard of a golden spirit root either. Host, perhaps you're seeing it wrongly. Maybe the spirit root is actually just yellow color, and the sparkles you see are just... beautifying effects?" The System said.

Feng Yongrui's lips twitched. System, is this a camera, with beautifying effects and whatnot?

Yellow colored spirit roots correlate to earth attributes...

"Don't tell me, her spirit root used to be an earth attribute spirit root, but then it mutated and became a gold attribute spirit root?" Feng Yongrui murmured.

The System could only shrug its non-existent shoulders. "But gold should be more related to metal instead of earth, right?" Feng Yongrui said.

However, at the next moment, Feng Yongrui's thoughts were broken by a shrill, piercing scream. Feng Yongrui winced and resisted the urge to cover his ears. The high pitched sound shook his eardrums and brought a strange sense of terror into his heart.

Feng Yongrui looked at the source of the sound. It was Ya'er. The little girl was clutching her head and screaming at the top of her lungs, shaking back and forth uncontrollably.

Ya'er's father was not panicked in the slightest -- it seemed like he was used to this situation. He took a piece of cloth and shoved it into Ya'er's mouth to muffle her voice and stop her from biting her tongue.

With the cloth covering her voice, Feng Yongrui could only hear muffled groans and moans of pain. Feng Yongrui's eyes were naturally drawn to her head, which was the source of the pain.

Since his "super vision" was not switched off, Feng Yongrui could clearly see what was happening. Inside Ya'er's brain, the black wriggling object that he had seen before was moving around in Ya'er's brain.

Feng Yongrui shuddered in disgust. There was something so sinister and vile about the thing that made him want to run far away from here. The worm-like creature seemed like the Devil incarnate, dancing a mad ritual inside Ya'er's poor brain.

Feng Yongrui pursed his lips and ignored the chill in his heart. Fighting back the urge to flee, he squatted near Ya'er and grabbed her wrist, intending to give her internal energy. He was a cultivator of the Soul Formation Stage, so this should be nothing.

However, Feng Yongrui had not even injected his internal energy when a powerful force pushed him away, as if they were magnets that repelled each other. Feng Yongrui's eyes widened and he was pushed back a few centimeters.

...What just happened?

Feng Yongrui inched closer and tried to inject his spiritual power inside Ya'er again, but the same force repelled him. This time, Feng Yongrui paid attention to the source of the force and realized that it was the "golden" spirit root inside Ya'er.

The golden spirit root originally had a shiny gold color, but now, its brightness was almost blinding to his eyes. When the spirit root shone brighter, the wriggling worm inside her brain seemed to pause and lose its strength.

Its wriggling grew slower and slower, and finally stopped. When the "worm" ceased its movements, the "golden" spirit root continued shining like the sun, as if giving warmth to Ya'er. Of course, this golden light was something only Feng Yongrui could see, with his "super vision".

After a few seconds, Ya'er stopped groaning. She was breathing heavily, but she no longer clutched her head in pain. Her father was relieved and took the rag out of her mouth with practiced movements, as if he had done it a thousand times before.

Feng Yongrui gave a long sigh.

Things were getting really complicated.

***

Feng Yongrui: Golden spirit root?! Is Ya'er the reincarnation of King Midas?!

Ya'er: "..."

***

Q: What are you most afraid of? Worms? Spiders? The darkness? Or... creepy laughter?

Author's answer: Cliffhangers and writers' block...

What about you?

Comment below~