Chapter One: The Radiance of Sun and Moon
Urban supernatural, cold humor series. New book seeking collection and constructive criticism. Watermark advertisement test. Watermark advertisement test.
“Heaven and earth without boundaries, the universe lends its power!” A middle-aged man struck a fierce palm toward a giant talisman floating in the night sky.
A thunderous explosion echoed, deafening, and from afar came an angry shout, “So it’s you, Sun Radiance! Always spoiling my plans!”
Sun Radiance chased after, cursing, “Moon Bright! With all your evil deeds, are you not afraid of divine retribution?”
Moon Bright’s anger twisted into a sly, mocking smile. “Divine retribution? What is that? I, Moon Bright, am born of heaven and earth—with heaven as father, earth as mother. All things beneath the heavens are meant for my use, naturally including wayward ghosts and wandering spirits!”
He calculated inwardly, “If I fight Sun Radiance with magic now, we will both be badly hurt. Not good, not good!”
Moon Bright’s hands surged with vital blood. “By the power of spirits, turn the stars, demons of the eight directions, come swiftly to aid me!”
Sun Radiance saw Moon Bright about to escape using magic, and his anger flared. “I cannot let this villain get away! Otherwise, more innocent people will die!”
His hand moved with his will, and a sharp sword was already drawn.
Moon Bright shook his head and laughed wickedly; just as Sun Radiance’s coin sword swept toward him, his body dissolved into smoke and vanished without a trace.
Seeing Moon Bright escape, Sun Radiance was vexed. “This is terrible! Moon Bright’s ghost magic is unfathomable—who knows how many will die next!”
He slowly opened his eyes and saw the familiar door before him, knowing his soul had returned to his body. He sighed. “These battles with the soul surely drain spiritual energy, but Moon Bright can’t be feeling any better.”
Sun Radiance turned to gaze at the statue of Supreme Lord Taiyi upon the altar, filled with guilt. “I am incompetent, letting Moon Bright slip away again—an embarrassment to my master and disgrace to my teacher.”
Just as Sun Radiance berated himself, there came a gentle knock at the door. “Dad, it’s the middle of the night and you’re still awake. What are you up to? Are you thinking about Mom again?”
Sun Radiance replied through the door, “I’m going to bed now, my sweet Nian Xue. You too, go get some sleep.”
Outside, Nian Xue answered softly, “Alright then. Tomorrow I’m going for morning tea with Ye Dong. Good night in advance.”
“Good night.”
Sun Radiance sighed, and not long after he lay down to sleep, a wisp of blue smoke swiftly floated into a local bar.
...
The next afternoon at two-thirty, Ye Dong was at home reading a suspense novel when someone knocked at the door.
“Hello, are you Ye Dong?”
“Yes, may I ask who you are?”
“New City Police Department. There’s a case that needs your assistance, and we must search your home—here’s the warrant. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Hearing it was the police and seeing the seriousness of a home search, Ye Dong’s heart tightened. “May I ask, what happened?”
“Liang Lingzhi—you know him, right?”
Ye Dong had a close buddy named Liang Lingzhi. His name sounded nice, but Ye Dong thought the “zhi” in his name meant “idiot,” not “wisdom.”
“I know him! What happened to that idiot?”
Hearing it concerned his best friend, Ye Dong grew even more anxious.
“He’s had an accident and is now in the hospital. To solve the case quickly, please cooperate. You saw him last night, correct?”
“Last night, after drinking with Liang Lingzhi, Xiao Bao, and Da Chun, I went home first.”
Ye Dong’s father saw his son’s grave expression and several police outside, and quickly came out to ask, “What’s wrong, son?”
“The idiot’s in trouble.”
Soon, Ye Dong was taken to the police station.
After finishing his statement, he saw the other two who had been with Liang Lingzhi for the latter part of the night—Mu Xiao Bao and An Da Chun, the big-and-small duo. The tall, burly one was Xiao Bao, the short, skinny one was Da Chun.
“What were you guys doing? How did you get into trouble?” Ye Dong scolded. “Lingzhi is always reckless—why didn’t you stop him?”
Mu Xiao Bao looked aggrieved. “Dong Bro, we’d all had a few too many drinks, got excited, and decided to ‘end our training as virgins’.”
Ye Dong sneered, “We agreed to give our best selves to our wives on our wedding night—how could you break our youthful oath?” Seeing their faces flush with shame, he continued, “Forget it. What happened after that?”
An Da Chun rubbed his nose and muttered, “Then Xiao Bao and I, drunk, went home first.”
“What about Lingzhi?” Ye Dong pressed.
Mu Xiao Bao replied, “He put us into a taxi, then took another taxi himself. I was drunk but still a bit sober—I definitely saw him get into the cab behind ours.”
Ye Dong was puzzled, “Then how did Lingzhi have an accident?”
Just then, a policeman came over. “Let’s go. I’m Officer Li. I’ll take you to see your friend—maybe you can wake him.”
The three followed the officer to the hospital and found Liang Lingzhi lying in bed.
When Ye Dong saw the bizarre, unnerving smile on Liang Lingzhi’s face, a chill crept over him. “Officer Li, is my friend suffering from a drug overdose?”
Officer Li replied, “At first, that’s what we thought. But his bloodwork shows only high alcohol levels—no trace of drugs.”
Ye Dong stared at his friend’s near-lifeless state, troubled. “Could it be a new kind of drug?”
Officer Li nodded. “It’s possible. We just searched your homes—found nothing. Reviewing the surveillance, as you said, he got into a taxi, went alone to the hotel, and was later found unwell by hotel staff who called the police.”
Ye Dong pondered. “Either he was drugged at the bar, or the taxi driver and hotel staff are most suspect.”
The duo protested, “We drank what Liang Lingzhi drank—why are we fine and he’s not?”
Officer Li concluded, “That rules out drugging at the bar. The forensic report shows his body was stiff for at least three hours, and the room check was at two-thirty in the afternoon, ruling out the hotel staff as suspects.”
At that moment, another officer came in. “Boss, we’ve found the driver!”
Ye Dong couldn’t help but marvel, “Detectives are so fast these days!”
Officer Li returned to the station. Mu Xiao Bao and An Da Chun tried to wake Liang Lingzhi, playing his favorite song, ‘Letter to Dad,’ and showing him his beloved voyeur drama on their phones, but Liang Lingzhi remained frozen with his eerie smile, unmoved.
Their efforts in vain, Ye Dong was deeply frustrated. “Strange—when we were in school, Lingzhi would always wake instantly at the music from the voyeur drama. He must be seriously hurt this time. If he’s left with permanent brain damage, it’ll be a real problem.”
That evening, Officer Li called.
“Is this Ye Dong?”
“Yes, Officer Li.”
“I need to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
Officer Li said, “The case is at a dead end. The taxi driver is cleared, but he mentioned something very odd.”
Ye Dong was intrigued. “Even Officer Li thinks it’s odd?”
Officer Li explained, “The driver said Liang Lingzhi seemed to be chatting with someone in the car, as if holding someone in his arms. But besides the driver and Liang Lingzhi, no one else was there. The driver assumed he was just drunk and ignored it.”
Ye Dong asked, “Are you wondering if Liang Lingzhi has a mental disorder, like hallucinations?”
Officer Li spoke softly, “I’d actually prefer it if he did. That would make things easier.”
Ye Dong was startled. “Impossible! His nickname is ‘Idiot,’ but he’s not actually an idiot! I swear on my pure, untouched chastity—he has no mental issues whatsoever! If that’s the case, then something’s definitely off. Could it be...”
He wanted to say, “...something supernatural at work?” but thought it inappropriate to mention ghosts to Officer Li.
Instead, he said, “With all suspects excluded, the only problem must lie with Liang Lingzhi himself.”
Officer Li pondered. “If you recall anything odd about Liang Lingzhi, contact me at once.”
Ye Dong hung up, and his phone rang again. It was Nian Xue, daughter of Daoist Chen Yao, also known as Sun Radiance.
Ye Dong brightened. “Right! Nian Xue mentioned her father knows magic. Maybe he can help with these mysterious matters!”
“Hey, Nian Xue.”
“Hey, Ye Dong! Are you free?”
“Just so happens, I have something to ask you too!” ...