Volume Twelve: Invitation to Hell, Chapter Thirty: Seven Corpses

The invitation cards have appeared. At the home of the deceased, the group stared at the charred, unrecognizable body, feeling a sense of dread. The killer had escalated things significantly this time; it was not just one person who had died, but seven.

There were seven invitation cards in total, one found in each of the seven victims' homes. Without exception, all seven had been burned to death. The nature of the fire was bizarre—it consumed only the human bodies, leaving everything else in the rooms perfectly intact. Each victim had been incinerated beyond recognition.

Within a single hour, Yaoguang and the team had rushed between six crime scenes. They were all identical. Each murder had occurred between one and three in the morning, and the fire had ignited from within the body, burning outward to the skin. While the surface of the skin was charred, the internal organs had been reduced to ash.

"Phoenix, what is going on here? How are we supposed to perform an autopsy when they’ve been burned like this?" Lele was speechless. Having worked as a forensic pathologist for so many years, this was the first time she had ever encountered a body burned from the inside out.

"This is 'Karma Fire,' but I can’t yet identify which specific type," Yaoguang replied, equally troubled. "It burns from within, starting at the core. Yet, when I probed the victims' souls, I found they had been extracted; the fire didn't even damage the consciousness of the deceased. I have never seen a Karma Fire that destroys the flesh but leaves the soul untouched." Yaoguang was at a complete loss.

"This is the seventh body. Surely there couldn't be any more," Xuan Chen said, staring at the latest remains, his frustration peaking.

Lele sighed, glanced at Chenchen, and the two stepped forward to begin the autopsy. As expected, it was the same as the previous six. The surrounding environment remained pristine, with only the bodies reduced to cinders.

"Let’s head back first. Run a background check on these six—and now seven—individuals. Look for any connections or commonalities," Yaoguang ordered as they returned to the station.

The seven invitation cards lay in Yaoguang’s hands. Each bore only a single sentence: *Unpardonable Sin.*

*Unpardonable sin.* What exactly had they done to be deemed unpardonable? It was vague and lacked context, yet all seven were labeled as such. The killer was playing a calculated game.

"The sixteenth level of hell: the Volcanic Hell. This level is quite broad," Chen Haixu explained. "It is for those who sacrificed the public interest for personal gain, took bribes, engaged in petty theft, committed robbery, or committed arson. After death, they are cast into the Volcanic Hell, driven into the volcano to be burned alive but never die. It also includes corrupt monks and Taoists. This case involves seven victims, all burned to death by an unknown Karma Fire. Given the order of the invitations, this corresponds to the sixteenth level—the Volcanic Hell. Let’s list the sins punished there: First, sacrificing the public for private gain; second, bribery; third, petty theft; fourth, robbery; fifth, arson. Let's use a process of elimination to see which crimes these seven were most likely to have committed."

"For now, that is the only way we can speculate," Yaoguang nodded.

"The seven victims are Yang Luo, Yang Cheng, Yang He, Yang Ruo, Yang Hai, Yang Qin, and Yang Jiu," Xuan Chen said, reviewing the files. "Our investigation shows that Yang Luo was a security guard, Yang Cheng worked on construction sites, Yang He was a corporate clerk, Yang Ruo ran a small shop, Yang Hai was a low-level official at the Urban Construction Bureau, Yang Qin was a director at the Forestry Bureau, and Yang Jiu was a village secretary. They lived in seven different places and had no overlap in their work or personal lives. Why would the killer target them?"

"I keep feeling like there's something strange about all of this," Chu Tianyou said, looking at the photos of the seven men on the large screen.

"Captain Chu, did you notice they all share the surname Yang? What are the odds of that?" Huo Mingkun wondered aloud.

Jiang Yun glanced at Chen Haixu, who understood the hint. He began typing furiously at his computer. The others turned to look at him, wondering whose system was about to be compromised this time.

"These seven people are all from Yang Family Village in Ye City," Chen Haixu said, pulling up the records. "Yang Luo, Yang Cheng, Yang He, and Yang Ruo were ordinary villagers. Yang Jiu was the village chief at the time, and Yang Hai and Yang Qin were minor cadres in the Forestry Bureau." He turned to Yaoguang. "Phoenix, this is getting interesting."

"Akun is right—this isn't a coincidence," Yaoguang said, studying the data. "Seven people from one village, now scattered to the winds, yet all dying in a judgment corresponding to the same level of hell. It means these seven must have committed one 'unpardonable' act together. Something no one else knew about, but the killer discovered. The fact that the killer is acting now implies they only recently uncovered it. Find out what happened in Yang Family Village back when these seven still lived there."

Chen Haixu started digging, but the events seemed buried in the distant past, yielding no immediate results.

Chenchen and Lele approached, handing over the autopsy report. "To put it simply: the skin is charred, but the interiors are ash. However, we found a strange toxin in their remains—we haven't identified it yet. Even more bizarre, we found a multitude of insects inside them. They had been burned to death, but they weren't charred or melted." Lele placed a container on the table.

Yaoguang looked at the insects, a sense of familiarity washing over her, though she couldn't quite place them.

*Squeak, squeak.* Xue'er, the Golden Silkworm Gu King, crawled out and huddled beside the container. After a moment, it climbed onto Yaoguang's shoulder and let out a series of frantic squeaks.

Yaoguang’s face turned pale. "Fire-Venom Bugs. These originated in the ancient Western Regions, but they were supposed to have been extinct for ages. How could they have reappeared?"

"Fire-Venom Bugs? What are those?" Xuan Chen asked, startled.

"They were poisonous insects from the snowy mountains of the ancient Western Regions," Chen Haixu explained, shocked. "They normally look like common beetles, but when they encounter blood, they spray flames from their tails. It's a strange fire, like a Karma Fire that burns from the inside out. Once the fire reaches the surface, the bugs die from lack of oxygen inside the host. In the ancient Western Regions, they were used to execute death-row inmates because it supposedly left the body intact. But these creatures have been extinct for a thousand years. How could they still exist?"

"What kind of place would house such things that shouldn't exist in the human world?" Jiang Yun asked.

The group exchanged glances. Suddenly, Huo Mingkun and Yaoguang looked at each other and said in unison, "The Ghost Market?!"

"Yes, the Ghost Market. Only there could such hidden, dark things exist," Yaoguang nodded. "But this isn't the one Huangquan frequents; it's another one." She frowned. "It seems I’ll have to make a trip there."

"Another Ghost Market?" Huo Mingkun was stunned.

"A much larger one," Yaoguang sighed. "Let's do this: we'll head to Yang Family Village first to find out what these seven did, then we go to the Ghost Market."

Yang Family Village was located over a hundred kilometers from Ye City, a small hamlet under the jurisdiction of a town-level city. The team drove to the local police station, hoping that by uncovering the past, they would find the reason for the seven deaths.

With the help of the local police, they began asking questions in the village, but no one seemed to know what had happened all those years ago. The group looked at the village with a sense of disappointment.

Huo Mingkun scanned the area and spotted an old man with a long white beard sitting under a locust tree, soaking up the sun. His eyes lit up. He crouched down beside the old man and said with a grin, "Grandpa, you must be the most senior person in this village. You look so kind and wise, just like an immortal."

"Hehehe." The old man chuckled, his voice raspy. "Young man, you certainly have a sweet tongue. You’re here to ask about something, aren't you? I’m in a good mood today, so go ahead."

"Grandpa, you have a sharp eye," Huo Mingkun said. "We want to know if anything major happened in the village about a dozen years ago. Something that really shook the place."

"A dozen years ago? Let me think," the old man mused. "Nothing like that happened in our village, but the Li Family Village next door, that’s a different story."

Yaoguang and the others gathered around as the old man began to speak.

"Does a massive mountain fire count? The Li Family Village is up on the mountain, right behind the forestry station. Ten years ago, a huge fire broke out there. It nearly burned the whole village down. The military had to be called in to fight it. They finally put it out, but people died. The family that managed the forestry station perished in that fire," the old man said.

"How did that fire start?" Huo Mingkun asked.

"Two cadres from the Forestry Bureau came down to investigate, taking statements and questioning everyone. In the end, they blamed the dry weather and declared it a natural disaster. The family at the station was compensated, but what’s the use of money when everyone is dead? Ah, the heavens are cruel," the old man sighed.

"Do you know how to get to Li Family Village?" Huo Mingkun asked.

"Oh, just follow this road east until you hit the end," the old man said, closing his eyes to resume his nap.

Yaoguang and the others exchanged a look and drove toward Li Family Village.