As day fell, Tiandu City lay beneath an eerie red sunset that cast long, twisting shadows across the streets and buildings. The sky was a turbulent hue of deep crimson and maroon, swirling like a raging sea. It looked as if the sky was bleeding, a vivid warning to those who dared to gaze upon it. Zhuo Yichen, chief investigator of the Zhuo Gui Agency, sat in his office on the top floor of a skyscraper, watching through the large window that framed this unsettling spectacle.
The air inside the office was charged with an almost palpable energy that extended beyond a normal person's senses. Only those like him, gifted with paranormal abilities, could perceive this dark energy seeping from the horizon, snaking through the veil like wisps of smoke. The strange feeling vibrated against his skin, sending tingles down his spine as if invisible eyes were watching him from beyond the veil of reality.
Yichen's office was dimly lit, adorned with protective talismans and a few relics they had collected over years of ghost hunting, on a long shelf next to the reference books and files. Shadows danced along the glass as he flicked on a lamp. The remnants of daylight barely reached him now, swallowed by the sinister glow emanating from beyond. He could almost hear whispers in the wind, echoes of lost souls yearning for release. It was the price he paid for being born with a gift too strong for a single human to possess.
From birth, Zhuo Yichen was special. His dark blue eyes, coming from a Chinese family that had never mingled with foreigners, were just one visible aspect of how different he was from the rest. Then, as he grew up, his latent abilities began to awaken one after another, making the difference even more evident, even though he was born into a family of ghost hunters, already accustomed to paranormal phenomena.
However, the gifts bestowed upon him, perhaps by the heavens themselves, proved to be too powerful for a child to handle. As a result, his training, ideally suited for someone older, was hurried so that he could learn to control and channel all that inner spiritual power that was too strong to manage. Thus, his training began when he was old enough to understand and follow instructions, at the tender age of six.
In the past, when the paranormal was confined to fantasy novels, movies, series, or considered pseudoscience, neither fully accepted nor entirely dismissed, his abilities would have posed significant problems. They would have caused considerable distress for both himself and his family whenever he lost control in front of others who couldn't comprehend the existence of things beyond the veil.
Luckily for him, he grew up in a time when supernatural phenomena had become a recognized science and were almost a daily occurrence worldwide. His skills, combined with the knowledge passed down through his family for generations, make him a valuable asset as a paranormal ghost hunter. And an indispensable member of any team called to investigate disturbances, whether dealing with a simple lingering spirit or a stronger ghost that killed humans to satisfy their grudges.
The range of paranormal beings crossing realms or lingering out of spite seemed endless, but the Zhuo Gui Agency specialized in cases that typical ghost hunting agencies couldn't manage. Such spirits, or even those they could consider monsters, posed a real danger to humans lacking the necessary training or innate abilities that the Zhuo Gui team possessed. Their impeccable work had earned them a stellar reputation, positioning the Zhuo Gui Agency at the top of a rapidly expanding industry. They stood alongside the Chongwu Agency, which, although equally well known, was less popular due to unusual occurrences during their cases, despite always completing their tasks effectively.
Their services were highly sought after, leading to significant success and prosperity for the company. In instances where lives were endangered in harder cases, their Zhuo Gui Agency collaborated with a special police division to handle such situations at no cost. This dedication to prioritizing human life over financial gain made their business highly esteemed. Every year, they handled almost all of the cases requested by the police, offering protection to citizens when others wouldn't provide free assistance. This commitment allowed their agency to grow its operations, with his brother and father now working in a new office in Japan.
During their nearly year-long stay in Tokyo, where paranormal phenomena were equally common, they were warmly received. As a result, Yichen was entrusted with the leadership of their China office, working alongside Fan Ying, his maternal uncle, and Wen Xiao, his first cousin. Wen Xiao was not only his coworker and helper but also his close friend and self-proclaimed aunt.
Working closely with him was Ying Lei from the Mount Kunlun temple. Ying Lei possessed remarkable skills in chanting mantras and crafting talismans for protection, spirit binding, barriers, and banishing ghosts, rivaling all but him. Additionally, there was Bai Jiu, also from the same temple, and Ying Lei's best friend, or perhaps something more. Bai Jiu excelled as a healing specialist, gifted with the natural ability to channel nature's energy and transmit his Qi into others. This allowed him to heal wounds faster than traditional medicine, soothe agitated spirits, and ease the suffering of both the living and the unsettled dead.
Wen Xiao, having learned the art of exorcism from her mother—who was a priestess at a local temple before falling in love with Fan Ying during one of the Zhuo Gui Agency's cases, leading her to leave her vocation—was skilled in casting spells and performing silent incantations. She could use carefully drawn symbols or whispered words to exorcise or trap demons and malevolent spirits.
In addition, she had a natural gift for sensing the emotional states of both ghosts and people, thanks to her spiritual empathy akin to that of a medium. This ability allowed her to read the lingering emotional energy of a location and uncover the hidden motives of spirits. As a result, she excelled in negotiating with spirits by understanding their true desires and needs, helping them move on to their rightful place.
As for him... He had an overwhelming amount of spiritual energy, which let him do far more than just act as a medium with clairvoyance. He could read the energy in objects or lingering feelings, and even move things with his mind with psychokinesis. He could sense disturbances in the spirit world and was so resistant to dark energy that he could not be possessed.
He could project his consciousness into the spirit realm through astral projection, and in emergencies, he could blast static energy into objects or spirits. That immense power also allowed him to raise barriers strong enough to ward off evil spirits, nearly impenetrable. But channeling that otherworldly strength was too much for his human body, so he usually settled for less perfect but still decently effective barriers or seals.
Naturally, to manage all that substantial amount of energy, he trained in Tai Chi Qigong on Mount Kunlun, in order for him to balance and harmonize his energy flow and achieve greater control with less fatigue. His family already had a tradition of training with the monks, making it a convenient way to achieve two goals at once. Despite this training, using his psychokinesis still took a toll on him, so he reserved it for emergencies. Most of the time, he relied on talismans infused with his spiritual energy, which proved just as effective.
Yichen sighed as he looked outside again, and with each passing second, he felt more in tune with the strange vibrations coursing through the streets of Tiandu. The city was alive, yet shrouded in death, a paradox that mirrored his own existence as a truth-seeker in a world plagued by shadows.
Then he felt an incoming call, which eased his restlessness instantly and made him smile fondly at his cell phone before it lit up with (Unintentional Big Dream), the theme music to his favorite supernatural drama, "Fangs of Fortune," played by Gong Yuanzhi, the handsome young actor he admired. The reason he smiled was because the caller was his beloved older brother, whom he missed dearly.
"Ge, I miss you..." He answered, and from the other end, he could hear Yixuan's soft laughter.
"Xiao Chen, I know you usually answer me like that after I moved to Japan, but please, could you greet me properly for once? How about a polite way of saying 'Hello Ge, how are you?' Then I miss you..." He joked, and Yichen smiled.
"Hi, Ge, how are you? I miss you so much..." Yichen humored his dear brother with a broad smile plastered on his handsome young face.
"I miss you too, Xiao Chen. How are you, and how are things at home? There's something in the air this evening that unsettles me a little more than the usual strange energy of big cities. So I thought it would be more intense for you, since you're very sensitive to energy fluctuations, so I called to check on you. It's a reddish evening here in Tokyo, with darkness beginning to envelop the land, trying to devour all the light."
"That was quite poetic, Ge. I can see the same unsettling red here, spreading traces of dark energy as far as the eye can reach. The air feels heavy, almost as if foreshadowing something ominous happening tonight. Tiandu City is becoming increasingly chaotic, with bizarre occurrences appearing all over the country. The scientific community might never have been able to explain how our world ended up like this so long ago, but I sense that what occurred back then was far from natural. Growing up with Taoist teachings, I don't think this aligns with the universe's natural flow. Yet, no matter how hard I try to piece together this puzzle, I end up just like the scientists, without a clue about what plunged our world into this spiral of chaos. But enough about philosophy for now. How are things over in Japan?"
"Let me tell you, the situation in Tokyo is just as crazy as the one in Tiandu, if not more so. To be honest, for both us, and the local Japanese ghost hunters, this work is endless. We have so many cases to attend to that we're forced to delay our return home a little longer. The new branch is going quite well, obviously, but as you know, we value life more than money, and with so many things to attend to, it's still too soon for it to operate on its own, otherwise we'd be overworking our teams to death."
"Should I go too? I miss you, Ge..." Yichen pouted, and Yixuan could almost imagine it, so he laughed again.
"We need you there, Didi, so please bear with us for a little longer. As soon as things calm down, we'll board the first ship back to China. Now, let me ask you, how is Wen Xiao? Is she still glued to her desk, typing up case results and investigations that you're too lazy to write yourself?"
"Come on, Ge, paperwork is boring, and she's happy to file everything we do, so it's beneficial for both the Agency and me." Yixuan laughed again.
"I swear, Didi... sometimes you're just too much. Well, she loves writing and books, so it suits her. And what about Uncle Fan Ying?"
"He's bored too. Administrative work isn't his thing, he rather stay in the field handling cases like the rest of us."
"Sure, but with his sister doing most of the work, he's just like you. How's Mom?"
"The same, giving me headaches. She keeps telling me to retire from this position, even though I just got it and I'm barely twenty-five, so I have many years of work ahead of me."
"She's a mother, Didi. She will nag you about this or that until you're a hundred. That's how she cares for her beloved younger son. She does the same with father and me too."
"Yes, I know."
"So, any cases lately that may have given you some troubles?"
"Of course not! Just a minor one, nothing to worry about. It was solved in a day, the fastest so far." Yichen said with pride.
"Ah, I see you're already breaking records."
"Of course, I'm very good at my job." Yixuan laughed.
"Oh my... what a humble little brother I have..."
"Then come home and teach me better. Our apartment is lonely without you there, and it's been so long since I felt your presence before falling asleep. I may start having nightmares again..."
"I'm sorry, Didi, but using that emotional bait won't work on me this time. I love you endlessly, Xiao Chen, but there are things beyond our control, and you're doing very well with our Zhuo Gui Agency. I've heard nothing but praise from our colleagues in China, and it shows that you're destined for great things, in your own way. This will help you grow stronger, gain more experience, and learn about the great responsibilities we all carry on our shoulders. I've always been proud of your accomplishments, but I know this opportunity will make me even prouder. Take care, Xiao Chen... things get more complicated every day, but I know you can handle them."
"Thank you Ge, I love you too, and I will do my best not to disappoint your trust and expectations. You have always been the best brother, tell father I miss him too." Yixuan smiled.
"We will see you soon. I have to go back now. Don't push yourself too hard on the cases. It's not good for your health, as mother always said. You may have been born with great powers, but you're still human. Remember that."
"Will do... be careful, Ge." He said just before his brother ended the call and looked back at that eerie red sky that seemed like a warning that something bad was brewing somewhere.
He hated red sunsets the most, and as if he'd mentally summoned it, his cell phone lit up again, but this time it didn't bring a smile to his beautiful face, but rather a tired sigh. The name, in bright red letters, shone like a traffic sign warning of danger. Captain Pei Sijing was calling, and he answered, hoping it would be resolved like their last case, quickly and safely. But he doubted it, since her calls always ended in dangerous, long-investigated cases.
"I knew tonight was going to be difficult. What do you have for me this time, Captain Pei Sijing?" Yichen asked the woman he had worked closely with on police cases, for the past five years. She was a strong and beautiful woman, but a bit on the stoic side, sometimes bordering on being too strict with herself and others.
However, despite her cold personality, Yichen had to admit that he preferred working with her over other police officers because she was quite good at her job and knew how to handle the paranormal well. It had been a bit difficult at first, but over the years, she had taught herself about the paranormal world and how to defend herself against spirits and the like, adapting her work to each situation.
Therefore, at this point, she no longer needed protection, as she was much better than other, less talented ghost hunters. Her quick learning was thanks to Wen Xiao, who had seriously instructed Pei Sijing, and as she did so, it was hard not to notice the sparks that flew whenever they were together, the glances, the discreet touch, the gentle smiles, Pei Sijing's protection of Wen Xiao, even when Wen Xiao could protect them both.
Their growing attraction was so evident that sometimes he just wanted to tell them to just tell everyone they love each other and stop pretending like no one noticed their feelings for each other. They were not the type of family that casted away their members because they love somone from their own sex. There was no reason for either of them to fear discrimination within the family, although it was a different story outside of it.
"You have an annoying knack for answering the phone. Have anyone ever told you that?" She scolded him.
"Just now, my Ge told me the same thing." He replied.
"Good for him to be honest with a spoiled brat like you."
"Come on, Sijing, aren't you going to ask for a favor from me? Don't be rude, I am just four years younger than you, and I'm not a brat anymore."
"Alright, I got a case for you, but from what I've investigated so far, it's going to be a long and quite dangerous one. You'd better gather your entire team and take all your glowing talismans with you. There's a village in Guilin, at the skirt of the mountains, where many people have disappeared without a trace for centuries. There are cases there as old as your ancestors, but back then, the disappearances of villagers were attributed to fleeing in search of a better life, kidnapped or killed by wild life."
"Sijing, that's not within our jurisdiction. We deal exclusively with the paranormal, you know that."
"Of course, Xiao Zhuo, trust me when I say this is something truly paranormal and of great seriousness. These days, if someone gets lost or disappears on any mountain, it often results in spirits either attacking them or trapping them in certain spots that aren't properly safeguarded by talismans. In this particular instance, it seems the Chongwu Agency had begun recruiting more ghost hunters. One rather amateur group decided it would be a clever move to record a video of a ghost hunting adventure to submit to the hiring committee in about a month." She paused momentarily.
"Of course, the amateurs who came up with that idea decided to choose the Guilin mountains, no less, to make their video as terrifying as possible while showing off their talent, which I found pretty questionable. They arrived in the village and headed out despite the locals warning them not to. Their plan was to camp for one night near an abandoned mansion and have an adventure in the forest around it. They took a boat to save time, but that single night stretched into two, and then they vanished without a trace." She took a deep breath.
"Naturally, the local police searched as far as they could safely, but all they found were their belongings on the river shore near that mountain. The protected area there is about five miles, but there were no traces of any of them, and going deeper was too risky, so they called whatever contacts they found on their backpacks." And then her voice broke for the first time in the five years he had known her, which surprised him and made him alert instantly.
"Come on, Sijing, what is affecting you personally in this case?" Yichen asked, and he heard her almost sobbing, which set off an alarm in his instincts even further.
"I try to make this as professional as I could, but... my little brother... Xiao Zhuo, Siheng.. he..."
"Please don't tell me he went there with a group of amateurs into a real haunted mountain..."
"Yes, he did. You know he was trying to prove he could do everything I could. When he got sick at the worst possible time and couldn't join the police force, it made him desperate. I don't know how he got in touch with that ghost hunter group, but he'd been missing for four days. I had no idea he'd left the city, and neither did the rest of my family. As you know, he lives alone by choice... I only found out he was there because they contacted me and told me he had disappeared." She sobbed.
"That idiot... Sijing, it must be hard for you. Forget professionalism, you're a sister first, and you've been having a terrible time with a sick brother. Let your feelings out, it will only make it harder if you keep them locked away." She sobbed.
"Please, Xiao Zhuo. You know those mountains are said to hold a curse. Locals tell tales of powerful spirits locked in a never-ending fight deep in the enchanted forest, a place where no human can escape their thirst for blood. Everyone who dared to enter has disappeared without a trace. The scariest part? The dark energy at the mountain's peak is so intense that many believe a demon lurks there. Even if just a piece of this is true..." She explained, while Yichen rubbed his forehead, a wave of dizziness crashing over him, and a heavy unease settling in.
"Sijing, I think there's some truth to that legend... I'm starting to get a vision..." Yichen said, pressing the speaker on his phone and placing it on his cluttered desk, piled high with papers and talismans.
"Xiao Zhuo, are you okay? Is Wen Xiao nearby? You shouldn't be alone when you have visions." She said in a worried voice, but for Yichen it was like listening to her from under water, as his vision began to blur and a dark void claimed him.
Having visions triggered by information alone was rare for him, and that had only happened once when he was very young and unaware of the extent of his abilities, but since he knew Pei Siheng personally, even when they weren't close, he at least had a feeling of his energy that he could use to get a glimpse of what was happening to him and hopefully at least find out if he was still alive.
He dove into a world where reality twisted like shimmering water, and darkness wrapped around him like a heavy blanket. Pain shot through him, a sharp reminder echoing in the shadows, while confusion morphed into shapes both familiar and strange. His heart raced as he sensed another presence lurking just out of sight. Suddenly, a crimson flash illuminated the void, revealing a pair of red eyes that locked onto him. They glowed with both power and a strange allure, and Yichen's instincts screamed for him to flee. Yet, he felt himself pulled deeper into this unsettling vision of despair and chaos.
"Pei Siheng!" he shouted hoarsely into the suffocating darkness, feeling utterly alone yet acutely aware of an ancient, powerful presence watching him. A thick wave of red energy enveloped him as shadows crept closer, whispering secrets he couldn't understand.
Suddenly, an echo stirred in his mind. A call in the void that sounded like his name, but so far away he could not be sure. Then he caught a fleeting glimpse of Pei Siheng's face, pale, weak, cold, and utterly exhausted, trapped in a relentless cycle fueled by the oppressive dark energy around him. Rain poured down, blurring his vision, while lightning flashed so close that Siheng trembled not just from the sound, but from the raw power it carried. Fear ignited in him like a burning scar. Yichen gasped at the vision, mirroring Siheng's panic and shock.
The fool had wandered deep into the forest, lost, alone, and injured, until he stumbled upon a massive, crumbling mansion. Though it still stood, it looked ready to collapse at any moment. Feverish and disoriented, not to mention freezing from the cold rain, he stepped inside, where a golden light from a seal shined bright after he entered.
Suddenly, the demon trapped within that place reached out to his mind, but instead of prying into his memories or causing harm, it felt more like a greeting. Panic rose within him too, because although the demon posed no immediate threat, he could sense his demonic energy wrapping around him like a hand. He knew he had to escape this mental trap before it consumed him completely, or he risked being lost forever. Then, the demon approached, and Yichen saw him clearly for the first time, before he vanished in a cloud of red smoke a second later.
"Find me, Zhuo Yichen... and I will keep him alive for you..." The demon whispered softly, as if coming from right behind his ear, threatening to trap him deeper into the darkness and coldness of a seal pulsing with an unknown, twisting energy, attempting to hold him there and expel him at the same time with a sudden wave of dark energy.
Opening his eyes abruptly, Zhuo Yichen found himself back in his office, drenched in sweat despite the air conditioning that fanned his skin. The sight of the mansion and its inhabitant loomed ominously behind him, as if mocking his momentary plunge into despair. He looked again at the reddish sky, now a little darker than before, like a warning. He no longer knew.
In that moment of hesitation, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest, perhaps from the surge of energy that had hit him during the vision, and a ribbon of blood trickled down the corner of his mouth. A sign that he had overdone it, even if he had not intended to perform clairvoyance on the spot.
"Xiao Zhuo! Xiao Zhuo! Answer me! I'm calling Wen Xiao right now!" Yichen heard Pei Sijing's cry from his phone, concern quite evident in her voice, while the call remained connected. With a groan of pain, Yichen picked up the phone and tried to focus on what he needed to do before fainting, something he knew was about to happen.
"Sijing... Your brother is still alive, but there's a powerful demon near him. We must hurry before it's too late... Call Wen Xiao and tell her to get me in our office, because I'm about to faint..." With that warning, he let the darkness take him once more and passed out on his desk, out cold.
AN: Yep, in this story, Yichen actually watched Fangs of Fortune, (more or less same story with different names), like Yichen been replaced by Gong Yuanzhi and Zhu Yan by Tian Yao (from Back from the Brink) and so on. 😂 Zhuo Gui = (Ghost Hunt/Ghostbusters) Hope you like this, but a warning for very slow updates, as I have other stories to update too. 🤦♀️😿