Chapter Eighty-Seven: Peng Lei

When I heard that name, my heart lurched. Back when I first met Peng Li, I had vaguely overheard a few of his police colleagues mention that Peng Lei had an uncle who was a bureau chief; otherwise, none of those people would have given him the time of day.

Now, with Peng Li suddenly taking me to see his uncle, I had already begun to guess what he intended: he wanted to use Peng Lei’s influence to get involved in my brother’s case.

What I never understood was why, when Peng Li asked Peng Lei for help, he said he needed to see what I was made of. I didn’t even know Peng Lei at all.

With a head full of questions, we finally arrived at a residential compound in the city center and stopped. Peng Li led me into a six-room apartment building.

When the door opened, I saw Peng Lei, dressed in a police uniform, sitting on the sofa in the living room, drinking tea. Seeing us, he waved at the two of us and said we had arrived.

Peng Li gave a soft grunt. Though still rough-bearded and unshaven, his whole spirit had sharpened at that moment, shaking off the listlessness he had worn before. He respectfully called out, “Uncle.”

I hurried forward as well and greeted Peng Lei, saying, “Hello, Bureau Chief Peng. My name is Wu Dao.”

It was obvious Peng Li had already phoned Peng Lei before we came. He had originally planned to go out today, but because we were coming, he had waited at home for us on purpose.

Peng Lei was probably in his sixties, yet he did not look old at all. Every inch of him carried a stern and upright dignity. He was easygoing, without the slightest hint of arrogance; when we greeted him, he smiled and nodded, then told us to sit on the sofa opposite him.

My heart was tight with nervousness. After all, I had never dealt with anyone at this level before. Peng Lei told me not to be nervous, then personally made us some tea.

I held the cup but hardly dared drink. My nerves were still a mess. Peng Lei already knew why we had come, so he spoke directly. He studied me with his keen, bright eyes and said, “So you’re the young man from the hidden world of the living and the dead that Peng Li mentioned?”

The way he looked at me made me deeply uncomfortable, and I quickly nodded. “Bureau Chief Peng, I came this time for Liu Dong’s case. Liu Dong is my classmate, and I was there that day too. You must know he could not possibly have smashed that person’s head with a beer bottle.”

Peng Lei nodded and said that the case was indeed baffling. The police had treated it as a major investigation, too. Though it was unbelievable, the fact remained that the deceased man named Wang Lun had indeed been killed by Liu Dong.

“Uncle, this case is definitely supernatural. And we discovered that half a month ago, Wang Lun had already died once!”

“What?” Peng Lei frowned. “Where did you hear that?”

Peng Li and I tensed up immediately, because neither of us dared tell Peng Lei about what had happened last night. Seeing the two of us act so mysteriously, Peng Lei did not press further. Instead, he laughed and said, “Peng Li, you were once an elite in the force. After you took up the job, you were also one of the most valued all-round talents in our police system. I know very well that the mission two years ago dealt you a terrible blow, but you should not go around promoting superstition like this.”

“Uncle, this isn’t superstition. This world has supernatural events in it.” Mentioning the mission from two years ago made Peng Li visibly agitated. “I know you served in the Vietnam War, and I know you’re an atheist. Back then you went to war with a body full of killing intent. Now you’re a policeman with righteousness in your bones, so naturally no ghost could ever touch you, and you might go your whole life without seeing one. But you can’t just dismiss everything as superstition.”

“Nonsense!” Peng Lei’s sudden rebuke silenced Peng Li at once.

I sat quietly at the side, saying nothing. At last I understood why Peng Li had said he wanted to see what I was capable of. He was trying to use me to make Peng Lei believe that demons and ghosts really existed.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Peng Li’s face suddenly filled with deep anguish. “Uncle, two years ago, more than twenty brothers from our unit went out fully armed to carry out that mission. In the end, I was the only one who came back alive. They were all elite officers—my brothers in arms who had risked life and death with me!”

“What exactly are you trying to say?” Peng Lei asked, frowning at him.

“I’m trying to prove to you that ghosts exist in this world, and that it is absolutely not superstition. You must also know that many cities across the country have already formed special supernatural investigation teams, and that the higher-ups are even planning to establish a Supernatural Investigation Bureau. Why, here in Bashu City, do you keep refusing to set up such a team? Why are you so obstinate?”

Perhaps Peng Li had grown too emotional and crossed Peng Lei’s bottom line. With a sharp crack, Peng Lei slammed his palm onto the coffee table. Seeing him lose his temper, Peng Li said no more. Instead, he pointed to me and introduced, “Uncle, he’s from that hidden world. And just three months ago, I saw him and another girl exorcise and destroy a baby spirit in a hotel room. He can make you believe that ghosts truly exist.”

“How do you plan to prove it?” Peng Lei suddenly asked, looking at me.

I frowned and, almost on instinct, used one of the fire-calling methods from the Maoshan Secret Record. Flames sprang to life at my fingertips, but after watching them, Peng Lei merely shook his head and smiled. “Young man, you think you can fool this old man with a street trick?”

My face flushed red. I quickly withdrew the flame, then said to Peng Lei in all seriousness, “Bureau Chief Peng, I can let you see a ghost with your own eyes. But before that, you must promise me something. If you believe that ghosts truly exist in this world, then you must agree to let Officer Peng establish a supernatural investigation team and handle my classmate Liu Dong’s case!”

Peng Lei lifted the tea on the table and took a sip. To my surprise, he agreed without hesitation. “All right.”

I was overjoyed and blurted out, “Bureau Chief Peng, come with me. Tonight I’ll let you see a ghost!”

Actually, making someone see a ghost was not difficult for me anymore. As long as I used the method from the Maoshan Secret Record to open Peng Lei’s spiritual sight, then took him at night to a hospital or a funeral home, places heavy with yin energy, it would be easy to let him see one.

But Peng Lei shook his head and said no.

I was startled and hurriedly said, “Bureau Chief Peng, didn’t you just agree to me? Why are you saying no now?”

Peng Lei replied that it was fine if he wanted me to believe ghosts existed in this world, but it could not be done according to my method. It had to be done according to his own way.

I quickly asked, “Then how do you want me to do it?”

Peng Lei did not answer. He simply stood and went to his bedroom. A moment later, he came back out holding a photograph.

He handed the photo to me and said the person in it was his comrade, a man named Han Qiang.

I took the photo at once. It was a yellowed black-and-white picture showing two young soldiers, both only a little over twenty years old, standing side by side in uniform with rifles slung over their shoulders, each with an arm draped around the other’s shoulder. Behind them stretched the backdrop of a large force heading off to war.

It was obvious that one of the two men was Peng Lei, and the other was Han Qiang, the man he had mentioned.

Peng Lei explained that the person in the photo had been his closest brother in arms, the comrade who had saved his life on the battlefields of the Vietnam War. At the time, Peng Lei had been gravely wounded, and it was Han Qiang who carried him down from the battlefield. In the end, Peng Lei was saved by the doctors, while Han Qiang died from a gunshot wound to the waist, excessive blood loss, and exhaustion.

As he spoke, a faint sorrow surfaced on Peng Lei’s face, and his gaze grew distant, as though the photograph had dragged him back to that smoke-filled battlefield more than forty years ago, back to the good brother and comrade who had traded his own life to save his.

I looked down at the black-and-white photograph in my hands. After a long while, I finally turned to Peng Lei with a solemn expression and said, “Bureau Chief Peng, what exactly do you mean?”

“If you say there are ghosts in this world, then that means the underworld must also exist, doesn’t it? Fine. Then go to the underworld, bring my old brother up here to see me, and I’ll believe you.”