Dark Moon

  October is also known as the "Flying Shadow Month".

  October 1st is the Cold Clothing Festival, one of China's three major ghost festivals, where people pay respects to their deceased ancestors. On this day, people burn five-colored paper at crossroads to send warm clothing to their loved ones.

  The snow on the top of Dàmù Mountain is pure and clean, and the villagers nearby flock to Dàmù Temple to pray for their ancestors. The temple opens its doors wide, allowing villagers to come and go freely, without guarding its wealth. The intelligent and kind monks are busy running around, striking the bell and drum, and also helping pilgrims hang up their name tags, rushing about in all directions.

  "It's great to be young, I'm really too tired, going to rest now."

  Bai Guang glanced sideways from the Qingguang Temple, then returned to the abbot's quarters. Yang Ming and Yichuan Yu had long since fallen asleep in the room where laypeople usually resided, the three of them having talked all night in the deserted great hall, exhausted.

  Yang Ming's men had changed shifts four times, but still guarded the mountain waist of Daming Mountain. Since Yang Ming received the news that Zhang Haiyang had been to Daming Temple, he dared not go out alone. He was not sure if Zhang Haiyang knew the inside story or not. As a person who had long been on the tip of the knife, his principle for survival was: there is no such thing as absolute safety.

  Yang Ming had insomnia, but strangely, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down in this Buddhist treasure land. As he was about to fall asleep, he regretted not coming to the Great Temple earlier and becoming a nominal monk, at least he could sleep soundly. But Yang Ming was destined not to have a good night's sleep, just as he had fallen asleep for a short while, a member of the club came to find him, saying that something major had happened in Qifeng Venture, and the directors were discussing it, if Yang Ming didn't rush back in time, his position as chairman would be lost.

  At the same time Yang Ming was rushing to Qifeng Building, Wu Xiu of the Criminal Police Brigade was on a mission and discovered a corpse in an alley of a certain market. By the time Wu Xiu arrived, the body had been stripped clean by a group of vagrants, with not a single item left, including a gold necklace, gold ring, and gold chain. The CK underwear was also taken away. The police who arrived early only caught a few vagrants and recovered some clothing and underwear, but were unable to recover any other items.

  But this did not prevent identification of the body, which was that of Takashi Kiso, security manager for the Qihang Group.

  Wu Xiu had been monitoring people related to the Qifeng Group, but he was not on duty last night and did not know about the incident at the community. His colleagues who were staking out said that there had been an explosion in the community, but the fire was quickly extinguished. Wang Nian and Zhang Haiyang both appeared, then left again. Colleagues followed them to their hideout, but did not take action because Zhang Haiyang had no criminal record in the country and there was a female hostage inside. As for Wang Nian, his house had been lit up all night until dawn, so they were very cautious due to concerns that there might be hostages inside. When they finally decided to make an arrest, they found that it was an empty house with an underground tunnel leading several hundred meters away to a well.

  Up to now, last night's operation has ended in complete failure.

  The body of Gao Tian was found in the market, apparently a punishment for betrayal by the underworld. Wu Xiu analyzed that this is directly related to the explosion within the organization last night.

  Gao Tian lay with his eyes open, staring at the sky. His expression was desolate, seemingly still unwilling to accept his fate. The blood and flesh on his chest were muddled, as if he had been hacked hundreds of times, with his internal organs clearly visible. Due to the cold weather and a night's snowfall, Gao Tian's corpse had frozen into an ice block. Wu Xiu tried several times but was unable to close Gao Tian's eyes, ultimately giving up.

  "When bad people have something good, even after death, their eyes can't be closed."

  Wu Xiu shook his head.

  As if in response to Wu Xiuhui's question, a sigh escaped from Gao Tian's mouth, and the corpse suddenly sat up, its two pitch-black eyes rapidly rotating, shaking off the snow on its eyebrows.

  Wu Xiu was shocked and fell backwards, sitting on the snowy ground.

  When Wang Nian left, the police behind him were still studying how to enter the courtyard.

  The sky had been light for a long time, the weather was abnormally cold, and his breath turned to ice. Wang Nian's lips were purple with cold, and he had many hiding places, all of which had cash hidden in them, but no winter clothes, because he hadn't considered the weather problem. Wang Nian turned up the air conditioning in the car to its maximum, and there was still a long way to go before reaching his next hiding place.

  Wang Nian checked the items he was carrying before leaving and found that one of the black jade yin symbols was a fake, it was a hate ghost symbol, it must have been swapped by Gao Tian. After summoning the blood ghost, Wang Nian retrieved most of the black jade yin symbols he had sent out, but Yang Ming and Gao Tian each kept one as a token for their organization. Gao Tian also knew where the black jade yin symbols were hidden, at that time Wang Nian considered him his trusted aide.

  But now, Wang Nian won't have any confidants again, in the underworld, a big brother is used to being sold out.

  The board of directors has regained control, and now that the community issues have been resolved, they won't have to flee in desperation anymore. Wang Nian suddenly felt that being a behind-the-scenes boss wasn't bad either.

  At this time, Yang Ming had already returned to Qifeng Building.

  The board members and the community people were arguing loudly in the conference room, Yang Ming listened at the door, the community people were clearly no match for the elites. Refined but inferior, Yang Ming couldn't help but sneer, normally they wouldn't be so proactive, holding a board meeting after 9 o'clock. Just as Yang Ming was about to push open the door, he suddenly saw Vice Mayor He's nephew and hurriedly went up to greet him.

  "Oh dear, isn't this Young Master He? How did you have time to come to my humble abode? Please, come in."

  Yang Ming's office, a Qinglong sword made of Ming dynasty copper coins hung on the south shelf, Jingdezhen porcelain decorations were placed on both sides, the floor was made of bamboo, and the red wood table and chairs imitated the Song and Ming dynasties, inlaid with Jingtai blue craftsmanship, depicting the Eight Immortals crossing the sea.

  He Jie is the nephew of He Deputy Mayor, who is in charge of land resources. He Jie is not a party member and not a direct relative, so he can do business. He opened a Chengjia Real Estate Company in Tainan City and has a cooperative relationship with Qifeng Group. Deputy Mayor He has no children, and He Jie has lived with him since childhood, like father and son. Wang Nian had always attached great importance to his relationship with He Jie, and through him, he won the bid for many hot plots of land.

  Of course, Vice Mayor He would not take a single penny, everything was done by He Jie in front.

  "Yang, I don't know if you've heard a recent rumor related to your company?"

  "Oh? I've been quite busy lately and didn't notice. Please tell me more."

  "White-handed entrepreneurs are IT companies, black-handed entrepreneurs are coal companies, and bloody-handed entrepreneurs are Qifeng companies."

  Yang Ming's heart sank, and he knew that He Jie had come to break up with him today.

  "Our family's principle is to keep a low profile, but you've been making too much noise lately. I won't ask about Wang Nian's matter, but two people died at the board meeting last night, how do you explain this? Is the disappearance rate in Tiannan City increasing again? This is not good. Let's temporarily separate our companies, and we can discuss cooperation when you've stabilized. This way, everyone will find it easier to be a good person. What do you think, Brother Yang?"

  He Jie didn't give Yang Ming a chance to speak at all. The latter also understood that the relationship of mutual use had come to an end and did not stay.

  He Jie left, Yang Ming coldly laughed without stopping.

  "Break up? You think it's that simple? This Tian Nan City will also follow and collapse half the sky."

  Yang Ming called in one of his subordinates to pass on a message to Yan Na, telling her to show Vice Mayor He some things she should see. Then Yang Ming had the company's financial controller come in and calculate the economic exchanges with Cheng Jia Company clearly, storing them separately. After doing all this, Yang Ming got up and went to the conference room, where another battle was waiting for him.

  "Prices must be aligned with international standards, wages must retain Chinese characteristics; price increases must lead the world, price cuts must adhere to business principles; corruption must surpass first-class on Earth, integrity must align with Mars."

  Li Kezhang sent a serious and formal short message to Tang Hongming, but Tang Hongming burst out laughing and couldn't straighten his waist.

  "I'm asking you where did you get all these from? It's simply ruining our country's image, and you're a veteran party member too, you shouldn't be doing this!"

  "Haha, this is currently a Chinese specialty. No joking around, how accurate is that machine of yours? Does the club have a strong spiritual reaction? Then why is it still calm and peaceful now?"

  "It can't be wrong, as for why it's so quiet, it's really hard to say."

  "Also, you said the corpse demon was too quiet, did it get injured too badly when it escaped?"

  "I want to know everything, just like Ling Tong."

  Tang Hong's name is not good-tempered answer.

  Wu Xiu couldn't believe his eyes, Gao Tian's corpse had actually come back to life. He stood up shakily, his movements stiff, and his eyes grew brighter, as if a spark of electricity was flashing inside them.

  "A ghost!"

  A security guard let out a terrified yell and turned to flee.

  Wu Xiu retreated several steps in a row, he had calmed down from the initial shock. The scene before his eyes had exceeded his imagination, but as a policeman, he knew he couldn't retreat.

  "Request support immediately! Go quickly!"

  Wu Xiu shouted at the patrolling police officer, who immediately came to his senses and ran towards the patrol car.

  Gao Tian's corpse stood firm, opening his mouth to make a hissing sound. His lungs were already severely damaged, so he couldn't make any louder sounds. But Wu Xiu understood that he was roaring like a beast. Wu Xiu turned around and saw that the civilians outside the police line were staring at him in terror. With no way out, Wu Xiu quickly reloaded his gun, but unfortunately, he only had ten bullets equipped at ordinary times. If he couldn't solve the problem in front of him, he would have to resort to hand-to-hand combat.

  "Hoping to hold on until support arrives."

  As Wu Xiuhui thought this, the patrol police who had called for support returned, bringing two riot shields and standing on either side of Wu Xiuhui with another pale-faced policeman, their hands holding batons trembling.

  "Something's wrong, you guys leave first!"

  Looking at those two faces with lingering childishness, Wu Xiu couldn't help but give orders.

  "No! We're police!"

  Two patrolling police officers said that a fire was gradually burning in their eyes, and Wu Xiu's blood was also boiling.

  "Alright, I'll never back down!"

  The gunshot rang out, and Gao Tian's corpse took a step back, but soon took another step forward, like a marionette on strings.

  Yang Ming didn't have to do much to calm down the board members, showing iron-fisted tactics no worse than Wang Nian's. The directors immediately realized that it was best for them to remain neutral until Wang Nian and Yang Ming had settled their scores.

  For some reason, Yang Ming always felt that the Qifeng Building was gloomy inside, and although the sunlight was still bright, it gave people a dull impression.

  "Go to Daemu Temple immediately."

  Yang Ming told people around him that two bodyguards would lead the way in front, Yang Ming would walk in the middle, and head towards the underground parking garage.

  Recently, there were many media reporters outside the Qifeng Building. The storm of Yang Ming being shot had not yet subsided, and it was almost impossible to walk through the front door. But just as he entered the garage, Yang Ming felt like he was being stared at by a wild beast, and his inner fear made him stop immediately.

  "Go back, it's not safe here!"

  Yang Ming's words were not yet finished, when the air window of the ventilation duct suddenly fell down. A bodyguard quickly pushed Yang Ming away. The sound of electric sparks crackled and the lights flickered on and off. It wasn't until Yang Ming regained his balance that he noticed someone was standing in front of him. To be precise, it was a monster, tall and large, wearing a suit that didn't fit its body, tightly wrapped around it.

  Yang Ming was somewhat startled, while the bodyguards quickly pulled out their guns.

  "Which road's friend, please report your name."

  Yang Ming asked, he felt that the monster in front of him was somewhat familiar, like a corpse demon, but Zhuang Qin was not as tall as this monster. He guessed that it might be an assassin invited by Wang Nian, or another evil spirit summoned.

  "Let me kill you!"

  The monster seemed not to have opened his mouth, but his words had reached everyone's heart.

  "Corpse... Corpse Demon!"

  Yang Ming was suddenly frightened out of his wits and turned to run. The bodyguards didn't understand what was going on, but still did their job by blocking the way behind him. Yang Ming ran extremely fast, not at all like someone who had been shot. In his mind, he could only see that terrifying face from just now superimposed over the dark face from over a decade ago. Although Yang Ming had known for over a decade that this day would come, it still seemed to have arrived too quickly, and he was still unprepared.

  Gunfire was intense in the garage, like a platoon firing in unison, but the next moment, cries of agony filled the air and the gunfire became sporadic.

  Yang Ming escaped alone to the front of the sedan, and with great difficulty opened the car door and crawled in. However, the car key couldn't be inserted no matter what. At this time, the gunfire had already disappeared, and even the sound of footsteps could not be heard. Yang Ming wished he could hide under the car seat, but the corpse demon did not give him this opportunity. A fist easily broke through the glass window, and a hand grasped Yang Ming's collar.

  "Let me kill you!"

  The corpse demon's voice was calm and emotionless, he was a natural-born killer.

  Yang Ming's face was pressed against the shattered car window, blood slowly flowing from his eyes to the corners of his mouth. The world in Yang Ming's eyes had turned a deep red. He was being squeezed so hard he could hardly breathe, but he was still alive. In a panic, he pulled out a photo from his pocket and held it up in front of the corpse-like face. It was a photo of Lily. The Lily in the photo looked just as beautiful as Mu Fangfei, with the same noble temperament. Yang Ming had asked the makeup artist to make him up to look like Mu Fangfei.

  The demon's hand relaxed, and he caught the photo, staring blankly at it. A tear was welling up in his eye and trickling down his scarred cheek.

  Yang Ming didn't have time to catch his breath, and once again inserted the key into the small hole. This time, he successfully started the car and sped away. The corpse devil was still standing in place, stunned, without any intention of chasing after him. It wasn't until the car left the underground parking garage that Yang Ming finally took a deep breath. He thought back to the scene earlier and felt a lingering fear in his heart. If the corpse devil had no reaction to Lily's photo, then he would have been out of options. But thinking about the corpse devil's expression when looking at the photo, Yang Ming regretted not running him over with the car and crushing him repeatedly. Now, he could only go search for the legendary thirteenth ghost.

  "Bring down the heavens and destroy the earth? I don't know what it would be like to face off against the Corpse Demon. Even if we really do bring down the heavens and destroy the earth, so what? I won't survive, and neither will anyone else!"

  Yang Ming's vicious thoughts.

  The snowy road was slippery, and all the cars on the road were driving slowly with caution, except for one car that was speeding recklessly and changing lanes constantly.

  Yang Ming reported to the police that someone wanted to assassinate him and hoped to get protection from the police.

  "You won't believe it, Yang Ming just called the police and said someone was trying to kill him."

  Tang Hongming said to Li Kechang that they were going to support Wu Xiuhui at the market.

  "Was he killed? His bodyguards aren't paid for nothing, it's likely that a yurei has appeared."

  Li Kezhang's expression was serious, Tang Hongming was stunned for a moment, and then came to his senses.

  "What's to be done? Split our troops in two, you lead a team to support at the market, I'll go..."

  "No, I'm going to the Qifeng Building. He didn't say it was a corpse demon, and as a forensic expert, I'm more suitable for this task than you are. Besides, the market area is safer with you there."

  Tang Hong looked at Li Kechang with a complex gaze, and after a long time, he stretched out his hand and gave him a heavy punch on the shoulder.

  "You must live."

  At this moment, Wang Nian had already arrived at a new hiding point and was preparing to sleep when he was suddenly attracted by the news on TV. A bloody case occurred in the market, where a seriously injured fugitive desperately resisted arrest and engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the surrounding police officers.

  A female journalist on screen was continuously introducing the situation at the scene:

  "When I arrived, the scene had already been cordoned off and it was impossible to see what was happening inside. According to informed sources, at the time of the incident, the seriously injured fugitive seemed to have died, but when the police came to inspect the scene, the fugitive suddenly regained consciousness and attempted to escape, only to be surrounded by the SWAT team in a small alley. In accordance with humanitarian principles, the police did not shoot the fugitive on the spot, but instead tried to capture him alive. From the outer perimeter of the scene, I saw 7 or 8 ambulances parked, indicating that the police were still trying to save the fugitive's life. According to informed sources, the fugitive was a Class A online wanted criminal who had participated in multiple kidnapping cases, and several hostages are still missing, which is why the police must capture him alive."

  Just as the reporter was saying this, another gunshot and a blood-curdling scream came from within the police cordon. The female reporter's face turned pale, her knuckles white with tension as she gripped the microphone. She was reading from the material provided by the police, but it was clear that this was not what was happening here.

  But she had to keep reading.

  When Tang Hongming arrived, reporters were still reporting live on the scene. The police gave Tang Hongming an external title of negotiation expert, which made her smile bitterly.

  Tang Hongming led her team through the cordon line and into the scene.

  Unexpectedly, the sudden event had ended. A young man covered in blood and holding a bone-cutting knife was leaning against the wall, resting. He was smoking a cigarette, narrowing his eyes as he gazed at the limbless corpse still wriggling on the snowy ground. A scornful smile hung from the corner of his mouth.

  Tang Hong's name was mentioned, and he had never seen anyone eliminate supernatural powers with human strength before. But she quickly regained her composure, ordering the team members to retrieve the Lingdian from the corpse, then walking towards the young man.

  "I am Tang Hongming of the Six Arts, are you interested in joining the Six Arts?"

  "Six departments? That uncertain event department?"

  "Yes."

  "Sorry, I'm not interested."

  Contrary to Tang Hong's expectations, Wu Xiu rejected her again.

  "I believe in the power of unity, man can conquer nature!"

  Wu Xiu replied, then stumbled towards the ambulance. Before Tang Hongming arrived, two injured patrolmen had already been sent to hospital for emergency treatment, and now it was his turn.