Volume Twelve: An Invitation from Hell Chapter Twenty: The Hell of Boiling Oil

The group arrived at Qin Si’s home and began to look around. The first floor was a mahjong parlor, which had been abandoned since Qin Si’s death. Yaoguang checked the paperwork for the parlor and found everything to be in order. Upstairs, there was a large terrace with a barbecue grill and some miscellaneous items, followed by Qin Si’s bedroom and living room. The layout consisted of three bedrooms, two living rooms, and two bathrooms; the interior decor was simple and unremarkable, with a separate kitchen. As the group wandered through, everything seemed normal.

However, Yaoguang couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. It felt as if something was missing from the house, but what? "A-Yun, look around and see if you notice anything missing. I feel like something is strange here."

Jiang Yun circled the room again. "Master, mirrors! There isn't a single mirror in this house. Even for a man, not having one in the bathroom is highly irregular."

"Exactly, mirrors. Why would Qin Si not have any? Is it because he didn't need them, or because he was afraid?" Yaoguang mused.

"And another thing," Huo Mingkun added, "Qin Si was on good terms with the girls at the bar. A man like that would usually bring women home, but have you noticed? There isn't a single item in this house that suggests a woman has ever been here. That completely contradicts his personality."

"Right," Xuan Chen recalled. "Phoenix, when we were investigating the bar, one of the girls mentioned that Qin Si was terrified of mirrors and acted strangely whenever he saw one. She also said that although he brought women home, he never allowed them to stay the night."

"I think we've found the crux of this case," Yaoguang said after a moment of thought. "We all know that mirrors are often associated with the spirit realm. Being afraid of them suggests a fear of ghosts. Could it be that Qin Si had blood on his hands—specifically, the blood of women? If that’s the case, it explains everything."

"Meow, meow!" Jelly ran over and climbed onto Yaoguang’s shoulder. "Meow, there is a faint, lingering yin energy in the corner of the utility room at the back of the first floor."

"Lead the way." Yaoguang followed Jelly downstairs to the end of the hallway, where a padlock hung on the door. Yaoguang squeezed the lock, and it snapped open. The room was filled with clutter. "Jelly, how did you even get in here?"

"There’s a tiny skylight on the wall outside," Jelly said, wagging its tail.

"Where is the yin energy?" Yaoguang asked.

"Right there in the corner," Jelly said, pointing to the innermost wall.

"A-Kun, take a look," Yaoguang commanded.

Huo Mingkun nodded. He activated his Golden Pupil and looked at the wall. "Master, there seem to be human shadows faintly visible inside."

"Human shadows? But why is there no magnetic field fluctuation? Even Jelly’s reaction is weak," Jiang Yun said, looking around in confusion.

"We’ll know for sure if we smash it open," Yaoguang said.

The group worked together to move the clutter aside. Yaoguang used her spiritual power to strike the wall blow by blow. When a hole finally appeared, everyone gasped. As they dug further, they discovered three corpses: two adults and one child. Judging by the pubic symphysis, they were all female—the two women were between twenty-five and thirty-five, and the child was between ten and fifteen.

The bodies were reduced to skeletons, the soft tissue long since decayed. Judging by the remnants of clothing, one woman and the child wore simple, plain garments, while the other woman’s clothing was more refined.

"What is this? An ex-wife and a current girlfriend? Why is there a child?" Huo Mingkun exclaimed.

"Master, no wonder there was no magnetic field fluctuation," Jiang Yun said, looking at the bodies in shock. "The hands, feet, heads, and chests of these three have all been pierced with peach wood nails. It’s a soul-trapping array. How long have they been buried here? The soft tissue has decomposed, but these peach wood nails remain. Whoever sealed this array really knew their stuff. What kind of grudge would someone have to use peach wood nails against three women, especially when one is a child?"

"This must be Qin Si’s crime. Call the coroner and Team Leader Song. We’ll have to come back tonight. Once these three souls are released, their resentment will be immense. We must send them off, or this place will become a source of malevolent yin energy," Yaoguang said.

Before long, Song Xuekai arrived with Lele and Chenchen. "What’s the situation?"

"Three female skeletons were found in the wall of the deceased’s home. See for yourself," Yaoguang said, pointing to the wall.

"This is intense," Song Xuekai said, walking inside, only to let out a string of curses. "Are they even human? How old is this child? Damn it."

"Let’s go. We’re heading back. I don’t know if Tianyou has returned yet." With that, Yaoguang walked out.

Back at the police station, Tianyou had just arrived. "What did you find?"

"Three female skeletons in the wall of a utility room at Qin Si’s house, one of them a little girl," Yaoguang said, shaking her head.

"If that’s the case, it aligns with my findings," Chu Tianyou said. "Qin Si is from Qin Town in Qin City. He had a child bride named Jiaoniang, and they had a daughter together. They never registered the marriage—in his hometown, it was customary to take child brides without legal paperwork. Eight years ago, Qin Si left for Ye City to work, leaving Jiaoniang and the child to care for his mother. No one knows where Jiaoniang came from; she was likely a victim of human trafficking, sold to Qin Si’s family as a child. His father died long ago, and after Qin Si left, his mother passed away. Qin Si returned for the funeral and then vanished back to Ye City. Neighbors say Jiaoniang took their daughter to Ye City four years ago to find him, but she never returned. If the woman and child in the wall are Jiaoniang and his daughter, it explains why they never came back." Tianyou looked at Yaoguang.

"Notify the coroner to perform a DNA match. Compare the girl’s DNA with the two women and Qin Si. That will give us our answer. As for the other woman, check the missing persons reports from the last four years. That might provide a lead."

"Phoenix, the autopsy results are in," Lele said, dropping the report. "The two women are approximately thirty and thirty-two, and the girl is around eleven. Based on the skeletal state and clothing decay, they have been dead for at least three and a half years. All three suffered blunt force trauma to the head, likely from a hammer. Cause of death: craniocerebral injury. Peach wood nails were driven into their wrists, ankles, chests, crowns, and glabellae after death. I’m starting the DNA tests now."

"All right. We wait for the results. There’s still a long time until midnight," Yaoguang sighed. "What do you all think?"

Chen Haixu spoke up: "It feels like a modern-day Chen Shimei story. Look: Qin Si goes to Ye City, finds a wealthy woman, and hides the fact that he has a wife. He has a common-law marriage but no registration, so it’s hard to trace. He wants to marry the wealthy woman, but his ex shows up with their child. He can’t let them ruin his prospects. An argument ensues, he flies into a rage, kills them, and then has to kill the current girlfriend too because she found out. He buries them in the wall during renovations. He thinks he’s safe, using those peach wood nails to seal their souls so they can’t haunt him. But two questions remain: how did he know how to seal souls, and where did he learn such a specific array? Is he a practitioner of the Taoist arts?"

"A-Xu, you’ve hit the nail on the head," Yaoguang said. "Let’s go back to Qin Si’s house. This guy looked decent on the outside but was rotten to the core. Let’s see what else we can find."

At the house, they searched carefully and discovered a secret room on the second floor. Inside, there was a shrine to the Three Pure Ones, and in a cabinet, they found Taoist robes, supplies, and a medallion that read: *Qin Si, Registered Disciple of the Bitian Temple.*

"Wow, he was a registered disciple of the Bitian Temple," Huo Mingkun said. "No wonder he knew how to seal souls. Who did that temple offend to keep producing such scoundrels?" He called the temple to verify. "He was a disciple at twelve but was expelled after a year. They said he was highly talented but wicked, and they kicked him out to prevent him from becoming a disaster."

"So that’s it," Jiang Yun said. "Good thing he never finished his training, or the world would have another dark sorcerer."

"He was a disaster regardless," Xuan Chen noted.

"Phoenix, the results are in," Lele called. "Jiaoniang is the thirty-year-old woman. She is the mother of the girl, and Qin Si is the father."

"Confirmed," Yaoguang said.

Song Xuekai ran in, sweating. "I checked the missing persons from the last four years. One of them, Huihui, matches the second woman. She owned a KTV in Ye City. She went missing three and a half years ago. Her brother reported her missing, but he never knew she was involved with Qin Si. He never imagined she was buried just a street away."

"The puzzle is complete," Yaoguang said. "Now, we ask the parties involved."

"The parties involved?" Song Xuekai asked.

"The ghosts," Yaoguang replied mysteriously.

"Forget it," Song Xuekai said, scurrying away. "You guys are too intense."

As midnight approached, Yaoguang directed the group to set up a spirit-trapping array on the terrace. Using Jelly the spirit cat as bait, they waited. As the clock struck eleven, a cold wind began to howl, thick with resentment. Three malevolent spirits appeared, drawn to the spirit cat.

After a tense chase, Jelly lured the three spirits into the center of the array. The red light of the formation flared to life, trapping them. Yaoguang stepped forward, her expression stern. "My spirit cat is not something you can touch. Huihui, Jiaoniang, it’s nice to meet you."

"Who are you?" Huihui demanded, her aura surging.

"Yaoguang, the Phoenix Venerable. Don't waste your energy. My Nine-Star Soul-Trapping Array would baffle even a high god. Let’s get straight to the point: Qin Si is dead. He was deep-fried in oil. Does that satisfy you?"

Huihui and Jiaoniang looked at each other, then began to laugh, their laughter turning into blood-stained tears. They recounted the truth: Jiaoniang had come seeking support, only to be murdered by Qin Si, who then killed their daughter and the current girlfriend, Huihui, who had walked in on the crime.

"If you don't believe us," Jiaoniang said coldly, "there’s a camera hidden in the living room ceiling. I installed it myself because I knew what kind of man he was."

Yaoguang retrieved the camera, and the footage confirmed their story: Qin Si was a monster who engaged in theft, human trafficking, extortion, and murder.

Yaoguang summoned the Judge of the Underworld, who arrived with a yawn. "More trouble, I see."

"Take them," Yaoguang said.

The Judge took the spirits of Huihui, Jiaoniang, and the little girl to the afterlife. After the police recovered the footage, the case was airtight. Qin Si’s underlings were all arrested. While the world didn't change much on West Sea Street, the scourge had been removed.

Qin Si, when your soul returns, you will taste the true Oil Cauldron Hell—the ninth level of the underworld.