I stopped struggling and felt my soul being 'drawn' out by two hands.
In the next moment, my soul might be completely consumed by this copper coin.
When my soul had already penetrated the inside of the copper coin, suddenly, I had a shiver, and my entire consciousness returned.
Beside me, Da Jinyin shouted loudly, "Xiao Liye, this is a Heart-Demon Copper Coin. Inside is a heart demon. If you can't control it, your soul will be dragged in. Then, like Yue Yun, your last trace of yang energy in your body will be sealed by the yin-yang blood, turning you into a zombie that is neither human nor ghost."
"Oh, by the way, I just opened your Heavenly Eye. Your Heavenly Eye has the ability to break delusions and maybe escape this disaster," Da Jinyin shouted desperately, afraid that I wouldn't hear.
Just now, my consciousness suddenly changed from chaos to clarity. It should be because Da Jinyin made an incision in my forehead, allowing me to open the Heavenly Eye, but also causing me unbearable pain.
At this point, I already felt a heat flow on my face, as blood formed a "Beyond" pattern on my face.
Murmuring the song of "Beyond," my face was already burning with heat.
"Open... Heavenly... Eye."
I opened my eyes vigorously, and my Heavenly Eye pierced through illusions, seeing through the true nature.
It turned out that what was in front of me wasn't a copper coin at all, but a gate.
Inside the gate was another scene, a world filled with a heavy sense of death, with skeletons, poisonous fog, and the ground covered in blood.
Standing at the gate was a person, it was Yue Yun.
Or should I say, it was the soul of Yue Yun.
He was holding onto my head, with a fierce expression, and in an alluring tone, he said, "Come in, here I can fulfill your wishes. You'll become the first Yin person."
"Damn it, the voice that deceived my soul just now, turned out to be the ghost of Yue Yun," I cursed fiercely, glaring at Yue Yun, "Don't call me, I won't go in."
Unexpectedly, as a ghost, when I kicked towards him, I passed directly through him without causing any harm.
Yue Yun glared at me maliciously, and sneered, "Hmph, so you can see through the secret of this copper coin? But even if you see through it, what can you do? You need to come in for me to go out! I need to be reincarnated! You come in!"
After speaking, Yue Yun forcefully pulled me towards the gate, and no matter how much I tried to retreat, I couldn't move at all.
Just as Yue Yun and I were in a stalemate, suddenly, a faint voice came from inside the gate.
"The 'Beyond' gate has opened, it seems the descendant of the Yin person has arrived."
Yue Yun and I both stopped and looked towards the back, where in the poisonous fog, a figure emerged.
The figure became clearer and clearer, and when he walked ten meters behind Yue Yun, I could see clearly. He was tall and thin, wearing a blue robe and a round hat.
When he walked three or four meters behind Yue Yun, I finally saw him clearly, his face was sharp, full of spirit and vigor.
"Uh-oh, has Yue Yun got a helper? Seems like today, I'm definitely going to be dragged into this gate," I said, feeling inexplicably fearful of what would happen after entering the gate.
The tall and thin man approached me, gently shook his sleeve, and released Yue Yun's grip.
Yue Yun wanted to grab me again, shouting while attempting to do so, "What are you doing? I need to bring him in for me to get out!"
"What good does it do for you to get out? You have already been invaded by the Heart Demon, your body has become a zombie, you have committed wicked deeds... your soul won't return to the yang, nor can it reincarnate. Even if you try to be reborn in the underworld, you will be confined to the Avici hell, enduring eternal suffering," the tall and thin man said gently.
"It's impossible, I can be reborn once I get out, I must," Yue Yun shouted loudly.
Ignoring him, the tall and thin man gently shook his sleeve and pushed Yue Yun back about ten meters.
Yue Yun still wanted to run towards the gate, but he just couldn't.
I asked the tall and thin man, "Are you here to save me?"
"Haha, if I don't save my grandson, who else would I save?" the tall and thin man laughed gently.
My grandfather was fifth in the family, and people called him Lao Wu.
"Do you know my grandfather?" I asked the tall and thin man.
The tall and thin man shook his sleeve, his hands behind his back, and said with a smile, "I am Li Yuangang!"
Hearing the name "Li Yuangang," I immediately knelt on the ground, "Grandpa!"
When I was very young, my grandfather told me that he was originally not supposed to be the Yin person, because in his generation, among the seven brothers, my second grandfather Li Yuangang had the highest talent.
The lineage of the Yin person is passed down exclusively through one line, with only one person in each generation responsible for the duty of the Yin person. So it was meant for my second grandfather, Li Yuangang to be the Yin person.
But when my second grandfather was twenty-five years old, he went out to summon the Yin and never returned. Our family looked for him numerous times but couldn't find him. Therefore, my great-grandfather had no choice but to pass on the art of summoning the Yin person to my grandfather.
It had been almost fifty years since my second grandfather disappeared, but I never expected that fifty years later, I would see my second grandfather Li Yuangang inside this Heart-Demon Copper Coin.
"Get up," my second grandfather raised me up, saying, "I didn’t expect our strand of souls to meet the descendants of future generations. Well, this is very good."
I bowed to my second grandfather again, saying that I would definitely take him out of this copper coin.
My second grandfather waved his hand, saying that this copper coin was a trap, formed by the blood of 1500 heinous individuals, turning it into a gate of life and death, full of overwhelming resentment. He had been locked in here for fifty years and was now just a remnant soul. There was no point in leaving.
After that, he asked me, "By the way, how is Lao Wu? Among my brothers, I was closest to Lao Wu. Before I disappeared, I told my father that if I didn't come back, I would pass on the art of summoning the Yin person to Lao Wu."
Certainly, here is the English translation of the provided text:
Certainly, my grandfather was able to attract 'yin' spirits, and my second grandfather had a part in it too.
I said my grandfather is still fine now, but he's getting old and his hearing is particularly bad. He can't hear very well. This time, I brought a coin to show my grandfather. Can I let my grandfather see you one more time?
"Let's arrange it for another day. This coin weakens the supervision of the gate of life and death at the beginning of the year. When you come back on the thirtieth day of the lunar new year, let me go and see the fifth elder." My second grandfather instructed me.
I kept it in mind, but I was a little curious about the charm of the emperor, so I asked my second grandfather what the emperor's charm was.
My second grandfather told me that in the royal tomb, in addition to various mechanisms, secret passages, and terracotta figures, there is also a defensive mechanism to prevent tomb robbers. It involves setting a prohibition trap within many valuable ancient artifacts. If a tomb robber takes the artifact, they will inevitably trigger the trap!
Once this trap is triggered, there is no turning back and the result is the majesty of the emperor – one emperor's success and ten thousand people's bones withered!
Therefore, tomb robbers call this trap the emperor's charm.
"My second grandfather, were you also caught by the emperor's charm?"
My second grandfather pointed to the gate of life and death in front of him and sneered: What do you think?
I scratched my head, feeling like I spoke out of turn.
My second grandfather said that the coin contained the gate of life and death. The exterior is life, and the interior is death. Once the soul enters this gate of life and death, the body will inevitably become a zombie.
He paused here, and sighed, "Ah, I've committed sins without knowing whether my body has turned into a zombie, causing harm."
I said, "My second grandfather, you are highly respected, and you shouldn't do such things."
My second grandfather sighed again and said that the spirits drawn into this gate of life and death would become ghosts. They would make every effort to pull in the person holding the "Heart-Demon's Coin." Only if a substitute enters can the ghosts leave.
"I don't want to collude with the tiger, so I'm willing to stay here." My second grandfather said.
I said, "That's why Yue Yun risked his life to pull me in. He said that only when he pulled me in could he leave. So that's how it is."
I chatted with my second grandfather for a long time, and my second grandfather said it was time for me to leave.
Before leaving, I begged my second grandfather, asking if he could pass on some 'yin' art to me.
In the past, those who attracted 'yin' spirits all had 'yin' art, starting from my grandfather's generation. But my grandfather always mocked himself, saying that his qualifications were dull and he couldn't learn 'yin' art, which led to the loss of 'yin' art for those who attract 'yin' spirits.
Now that I've encountered my second grandfather, who has extraordinary talent, how could I not seek some inheritance from him?
My second grandfather shook his head slightly and said that those who attract 'yin' spirits did not learn 'yin' art. It was the agreement between him and my great-grandfather to ensure that those who attract 'yin' spirits only played the role of a contact person, rather than being invincible with 'yin' art. Otherwise, those who attract 'yin' spirits would have nothing to eat.
Well, since my second grandfather said so, I had nothing more to say.
However, my second grandfather did not speak definitively. He told me that learning 'yin' art depends on opportunities. If the destiny comes, it will surely happen, and if not, learning it would be useless.
After saying this, he bowed and said, "Grandson, feelings don't distinguish between life and death, and fate is uncertain. We'll meet again in the future."
"Farewell, my second grandfather." I also bowed to my second grandfather.
The two of us bid farewell, and the gate of life and death began to close rapidly. When it had only a crack left, a light point suddenly flew out and landed in the center of my forehead.
The light point burst, and my second grandfather's words echoed in my mind: "My grandson, I have implanted Yue Yun's past and present life into your mind. Perhaps it will be useful to you."
Yue Yun's past and present life? So, everything about how he was entangled with the Heart-Demon, the fox, and the ghost coffin is now in my mind? This is really useful.
When my spiritual communication ended, everything around me returned to normal.
Dajintooth asked if I was okay.
I waved my hand, not speaking to him, but in my mind, I watched Yue Yun's past and present life like watching a movie, trying to see if there were any clues about the ghost coffin.
The man said to Yue Yun, "Brother, do you want a fur coat?"
"Yes...I do," Yue Yun stammered.
The man leaned in and said to Yue Yun, "If you want a fur coat, come to me! One thousand five hundred for one, guaranteed to be genuine mink fur?"
Hearing that it was one thousand five hundred for one, although a bit expensive, Yue Yun still felt tempted.
He asked the man, "Other people's fur coats cost tens of thousands, why is yours so cheap?"
The man smiled and said, "Do you think fur coats really need to be that expensive? That's just a high price to sell. I caught these minks in the Changbai Mountains as an old hunter and made the fur coats myself, so the price is cheap."
Yue Yun believed the man's words, went back to school, took out the six hundred yuan from his bank account, and lied to his mother, saying that the school needed to 'collect' a sum of money, 'collecting' nine hundred yuan.
In this way, he managed to gather one thousand five hundred yuan and bought a fur coat from the man.
Wearing the fur coat, Yue Yun couldn't help but feel elated. He showed off to his three roommates in the dormitory, saying he had also bought a fur coat.
Jiang Song and Liu Yun asked Yue Yun, "How much did you buy this fur coat for? Not bad!"
Yue Yun didn't mention the price, and instead asked them, "How does my fur coat look?"
Jiang Song and Liu Yun praised it incessantly.
It wasn't until Li Hu came back that everything changed.
Li Hu's family made fur coats, so he was familiar with them. He took one look at it and laughed, mocking Yue Yun for being a hillbilly and buying a fur coat? Clearly, he had been fooled.
Yue Yun panicked and said that his coat was indeed genuine leather.
Li Hu sneered repeatedly, saying that there is a difference between furs, their fur coats were made from mink fur, but yours... haha, hare fur from the mountains!
Mink fur is valuable, hare fur is worth nothing!
Unsurprisingly, the three roommates began mocking Yue Yun again.
Li Hu added the finishing touch, saying, "Yue Yun, if you can't afford a fur coat, just wear a down jacket in peace."
This incident made Yue Yun very sad, and he left school in frustration.
After leaving school, Yue Yun had nowhere to go, so he had to take a taxi and wander around.
In the car, the driver asked Yue Yun, who was sitting in the passenger seat, "Brother, your fur coat looks good! You're a rich man!"
"It's fake, it's a counterfeit product made from hare fur," fearing further ridicule, Yue Yun decided to tell the truth.
"Ah! Hare fur, mink fur, all of these furs are just garbage," the driver said as he drove, "Do you know what the best fur in the world is?"
"What is it?" Yue Yun asked the driver.
The driver said two words, "Human skin."
"I dare not wear that," Yue Yun quickly replied.
The driver laughed and said that Yue Yun had become foolish from studying, everyone has human skin, so why would he not dare to wear it? Every day people need to put on human skin when they go out, or else they would become zombies, right?
The northeastern driver was talkative from the start, and he chatted with Yue Yun: "You know, human skin is impressive. Smooth, warm, no wrinkles when young, it’s hundreds of times better than those worn fur coats. Why do people need to go hunting for mink fur, killing so many animals, what's the point?"
The driver's initially positive statement stuck in Yue Yun's mind, he only remembered one thing: human skin is the best fur in the world.
From that moment on, Yue Yun wanted to own a fur coat made from human skin.
But it was just a thought, he didn't have the courage to kill someone to obtain their skin.
Time passed quickly, four years of university, and two years of work after graduation, Yue Yun led a stable life. However, on lonely nights, the thought of when he can have a fur coat made from human skin would always linger in his mind.
Finally, Yue Yun somehow obtained a cursed coin from somewhere, and when the demon in the coin dragged him into the gate of life and death, it said to him, "I'll let you possess the best fur coat in the world!"
And so, Yue Yun became a zombie.
Of course, even as a zombie, he still had his inner demons. He called his three former roommates, inviting them to his house in Guangzhou.
Afraid that they wouldn’t come, he also told them that he was now in the entertainment industry and could introduce them to good young models.
The three of them hurried to his place.
But in the end, all three of them were killed by Yue Yun. He peeled their skin, and their bodies were turned into "meat" dishes and were completely consumed by the yellow-skinned Yue Yun who had taken over.
Finally, the three people became three fresh skeletons, which my friend and I found inside a cupboard.
This is the past and present life of Yue Yun, although it may not be comprehensive and does not explain where Yue Yun obtained the ghostly coffin from, or where he got the cursed coin, it can at least provide some insights into his inner demons, and the origins of the three deceased individuals at his house.
This morning, my friend told me that he searched the "Warehouse Apartment" thoroughly but didn't find anyone who had died. Now, it seems that it wasn't anyone from the warehouse apartment who died, but Yue Yun's three former roommates, Jiang Song, Liu Yun, and Li Hu!
Alas!
After reading about Yue Yun's past and present, I gained clarity and my consciousness started to become clearer. A part-time director with a promising future, but unfortunately, his downfall was because of the thought of a "fur coat made from human skin."
After reading about his past and present, I also realized that everything the yellow-skinned man said was true, Yue Yun's death was of his own making, and the three individuals were indeed killed by Yue Yun, having nothing to do with the yellow-skinned man.
Of course, I don't intend to release the yellow-skinned man for now, because the source of the fox ghost coffin is still unclear, and these few yellow-skinned men surely know about it, so I can't easily let them go.
Regaining my senses, I said to Big Jinya, "It was really dangerous just now."
"Who says it wasn't, my lord! Even the legendary Emperor's Trap, you, Master Li, can come out of it, you're really lucky," Big Jinya chuckled knowingly.
He said to me, "Master Li, shall we sell this coin? Then we split the money and go our separate ways?"
I shook my head, and told Big Jinya about my grandpa, Li Yuangang, who was still in this coin.
Big Gold Tooth may seem greedy for money, but he is a reasonable person. He nodded and said that the copper coins can't be sold.
Waving his hand, he said, "Forget it. Let's leave this copper coin for you as a memento, Xiao Li."
"That's fine." I patted Big Gold Tooth's shoulder.
"Hey, Shuizi, how's your investigation going?" Han Li, probably done with other things, came over to find me. "By the way, Shuizi, guess what I saw inside the coffin?"
"What?"
"Three pieces of human skin!" Han Li hesitantly told me, "The human skin has been sent for testing."
I told Han Li, "Don't bother checking. These three pieces of human skin are the ones we saw in the warehouse apartment. They are the three university roommates of Yue Yun, named Jiang Song, Liu Yun, and Li Hu."
"Ah?"
"What 'ah'? You've seen the evidence, can it be fake?" I told Han Li about seeing the Second Grandfather in the copper coin.
After listening, Han Li was stunned. "What did you say...you saw the Second Uncle?"
"Yes, I saw the Second Uncle," I said.
"Fine, let's leave it at that. Thank goodness Yue Yun is dead, if he were alive, I would have beaten him half to death," Han Li spoke resentfully, casting a glance at Yue Yun's body.
Yue Yun's transformation into a zombie and killing policemen and forensic doctors had enraged my aunt.
With the matter of Yue Yun's body resolved, I had to continue investigating the Fox Ghost Coffin.
Such a sinister coffin needed a thorough examination.
Big Gold Tooth and I walked to the front of the Fox Ghost Coffin.
The Fox Ghost Coffin is a stone coffin, estimated to weigh over a thousand pounds. How could it have appeared in the police station's morgue?
Could it have been carried here by Yue Yun, who had become a zombie?
I felt like the situation wasn't that simple.
I circled the coffin several times, but couldn't get a clear idea of it, so I decided to call Cheng Yan.
"Hello! Yan Yan, what are you doing?"
"I'm training. Xinxin sister is here too. Should I let her talk to you?" Cheng Yan said playfully.
This little brat, really mischievous.
I told her, "No need to, you and Cheng Yan should come to the police station's morgue, I'll be waiting there."
"Okay." Cheng Yan readily agreed.
An hour later, Cheng Yan and Huang Xin arrived.
Huang Xin saw me and exclaimed, "You look so carefree, you didn't even contact us in the past few days. It's not right, your life as a big homebody is too colorful and fun, it's not scientific."
"Not scientific? I think it's not scientific either. I almost lost my life this afternoon," I teased Huang Xin.
Huang Xin immediately wanted to hit me.
I told her not to make a scene first and informed her that the Fox Ghost Coffin was right here to let Cheng Yan take a look.
Once she heard that the coffin Cheng Yan mentioned was right in front of us, Huang Xin stopped causing a scene. She grabbed Cheng Yan's arm and asked her to come and take a look.
Haha! This little kid wanted to fight? She's too soft. A casual remark to resolve a potential beating, I'm quite sharp.
Just when I was feeling smug, Cheng Yan walked to the front of the Fox Ghost Coffin and suddenly... with a bang, she knelt down on both knees and placed her hands on the coffin.