Meeting

After a simple breakfast, Chen Hao began to get busy.

Wei Xiuhong had promised to come to see Li Meng, so he had to make some preparations.

After all, Li Meng wasn't able to show his form before humans yet, so he needed to use some means to help Wei Xiuhong see him. Or, separated by life and death, she wouldn't be able to see anything. How was she going to believe that a ghost was standing in front of her?

There were varied rumored ways in different places to let ordinary people see ghosts. Chen Hao knew of a few such methods.

Dip a fresh willow leaf in moving water and cover one's eyes with it, smearing one's eyes with cow's tears, tapping one's eyes with cinnabar. There was also looking over your shoulder at night, burn incense papers while wearing a black robe at night, etc.

Never mind the more complicated methods. Chen Hao pondered for a moment and decided to prepare some willow leaves and cow's tears. This folklore had been passed down for thousands of years, and in the past, Chen Hao might have felt dubious about this, but now he absolutely believed it.

But while willow leaves were fine, seeing as it was the season where they grew in abundance and could be seen everywhere.

As for cow's tears… the only thing that could be found in the city was beef noodles.

Without a choice, he had to take a bus down to the village below Stone City.

After much walking and asking around, Chen Hao finally found a family that reared cows. But when Chen Hao asked for cow's tears, the old farmer asked for money, and it wasn't a small amount either—one hundred yuan for one teardrop.

Chen Hao nearly cussed at him.

Are you a robber! Even 500g of your beef isn't worth a hundred yuan!

But the old farmer calmly expressed that this was the market price. That he had been doing business for a few years, and that he was honest with all customers.

Stunned, it was only after asking that Chen Hao found out that talk of ghosts and monsters were rather popular all these years. Someone in Stone City wanted to, in accordance with ancient folklore, see what a ghost looked like, and it happened that the old farmer had a nearly twenty-year-old ox that was rather famous. Hence, many youngsters came to buy from him, and they were rather generous too. As a result, within the short span of a few years, this cow's tears—which used to be not worth even a single dime—rose to 20 yuan and subsequently even fetched an exorbitant price of 100 yuan.

Chen Hao gritted his teeth upon hearing this, silently cursing those youngsters who had no idea of danger.

But since he urgently needed the cow's tears, and the effects of the ox were better, he could only spend this money.

After painfully parting with 500 yuan, the old farmer generously gave him an extra tear for free and also welcomed Chen Hao to patronize him again.

Patronize your head. No way am I coming back again.

After leaving with the cow's tears, Chen Hao went to pluck some fresh willow branches by the riverside, and also retrieved the spring water from Stream Mountain, to be used later.

Looking at the time, it was already 2 pm, and there was no news from Wei Xiuhong yet. Could that woman have regretted it overnight? How can I let this happen?

Worried, Chen Hao dialed Wei Xiuhong's number.

Wei Xiuhong very quickly answered it and said in her heavily accented Mandarin, "Master Chen, we're reaching Stone City soon. Can you wait for us at the entrance of the Stone City police station?"

Chen Hao chuckled to himself.

Indeed, she didn't trust him. Arranging the venue at the entrance of the police station, and once she discovered something was wrong, he wouldn't be able to escape.

But he wasn't a fraud, so he was fine meeting anywhere.

After agreeing, Chen Hao gave Zhou Gang a call and told him Wei Xiuhong was coming and that she asked to meet him at the entrance of the police station.

Zhou Gang laughed upon hearing this. "Seems like you don't have credibility, Hao'zi. She doesn't trust you."

Chen Hao said, "Never mind if she trusts me or not. In any case, after I do a sending for Li Meng's soul, we won't be crossing paths again. Mm, just in case, Brother Zhou, you should join in, lest she suspects me."

Zhou Gang readily agreed.

When he arrived at the entrance of the police station, Zhou Gang was already there waiting for him. At the sight of Chen Hao, he quickly came out to welcome him.

"Tell me what I should say when I meet her," Zhou Gang asked.

Chen Hao said with a smile, "Nothing much. Just reassure Wei Xiuhong that I'm not a fraud."

Zhou Gang nodded. "Right. If I hadn't seen it with my eyes, you'd count yourself lucky if I don't beat you up after receiving such a call from you."

Chen Hao said with a sigh, "It's not easy to cultivate these days. Unlike in the olden days. If I say I'm a master with Dao Attainment, no one would dare doubt and test me."

Just then, his phone rang.

Chen Hao picked it up and saw that the caller was Wei Xiuhong. He quickly answered the call.

"Master Chen, are you there yet?"

Chen Hao said, "Yes, I'm in the police station. Where are you?"

"I'm at the entrance. Please come out."

Chen Hao hurriedly exited the police station and saw a black Mercedes Benz parked by the roadside.

The car window of the Mercedes Benz was rolled down, and a woman in her thirties holding a phone was waving at Chen Hao.

Damn. Isn't this Wei Xiuhong from the village? How can she afford a Mercedes?

Chen Hao was kind of shocked.

After hanging up the phone, Chen Hao saw three people getting out of the Mercedes.

Other than Wei Xiuhong, there was a guy and a girl in their early twenties.

The three of them came to Chen Hao and sized him up without any qualms.

Especially the young man and woman. After taking a look at him, they looked rather disappointed.

"Sister, is this a true master? He's so young, he seems even younger than me. Is he a fraud?" The guy spoke with a look of disbelief.

The girl, however, appeared calm. She asked Chen Hao, "You're Master Chen?"

Chen Hao smiled. "Yes, I am."

"Regarding Li Meng's matter, we've already found some news online. To Sister Hong, this is indeed a great blow. But, Sister Hong has worked in our house as a nanny for more than ten years. She's no different from our kin. So, you need to be responsible for your words and actions. If you dare to deceive Sister Hong, you need to be aware of the consequences."

She was threatening him? He couldn't help it. His young appearance was indeed to his disadvantage. For the sake of his mission, he had to tolerate it.

Chen Hao nodded. "Whether it's real or not, you'll understand it when you see it. Mm, you two, to guarantee I'm not a fraud, I've invited Captain Zhou of the Stone City police force to come along with us. If you don't believe me, you can ask at the police station."

Oh!

The young siblings appeared shocked.

He was asking a police officer to follow them when doing something like this? Could he really not be a fraud?

Just then, knowing it was time for him to make his appearance, Zhou Gang walked up to them and said with a smile, "I'm Zhou Gang from the Stone City police. If the two of you have any concerns, I can vouch for Master Chen. If something happens, I'll be responsible for you."

"Zhou Gang, legendary detective, guardian of Stone City! I've heard of your name. A classmate of mine admires you greatly. You even inspired him to enroll in the police academy." The young man marveled in shock, staring at Zhou Gang in astonishment.

Zhou Gang said, "You flatter me. I'm only a police officer that serves the people. You're over-complimenting me by calling me a guardian or something."

But since Zhou Gang said it himself, that meant this wasn't a fraudulent case. After all, a highly reputed police officer wouldn't ruin his future for a little bit of money.

The girl glanced at Chen Hao in surprise, before saying, "Alright, Master Chen, what do we need to do?"

Chen Hao said, "You don't need to do anything. We're going to Li Meng's house now. At night, when the mother and son meet, Li Meng's obsession will be resolved, and he can then be reincarnated. That's all there is to this matter. Don't worry, the process isn't complex. I won't ask you to fork out any money."