I repeated the events of that day at Ma Xiaolin's residence, particularly the process of swapping out Huang Ran. Of course, I discreetly left out everything Sun Fatty and Yang Xiao had discussed afterward. Gao Liang listened, frowning the whole time. When I finished, he first glanced at Blind Jin, then at Ma Xiaolin—who had slumped back into the sofa, gasping for air—before saying:
"To be frank, Mr. Ma, I suspect the Hungry Ghost in your home isn't unrelated to the Religious Affairs Commission. They officially agreed to the swap for Huang Ran, but secretly snuck people into your house to steal from us. That gave them more than enough time to plant a ghost array. Don't forget—it was they who suggested using your home for the handover. If you ask me, this was a simple matter of two words: 'silencing witnesses.'"
As Gao Liang said this, Blind Jin nodded repeatedly. From what we saw during our Hong Kong trip, Blind Jin had always leaned toward the Religious Affairs Commission. But for some unknown reason, he was now endorsing such a bold accusation from Gao Liang—without objection.
Ma Xiaolin slammed his hand down on the sofa's armrest and roared, "Bloody bastards! Hope they never shit straight again—" but barely managed a few curses before running out of breath. The veins on his forehead were bulging like earthworms. Clearly, he was truly enraged. Sun Fatty smirked, ready to crack a joke, but Gao Liang spoke first:
"Mr. Ma, a Hungry Ghost is not that big a deal. I'll arrange for a medical checkup first, then send people to your residence to deal with the ghost. By the time you return to Hong Kong in a few days, it should all be settled." With that, he called in his secretary, Wang Lu. Grateful to the point of groveling, Ma Xiaolin followed Sister Lu to consult Ouyang Pianzuo for his health exam.
After Ma was escorted out, I felt rather out of place among the remaining few. This clearly wasn't my scene. I was just about to excuse myself and leave when Blind Jin seemed to remember something and turned his face toward Gao Liang, saying:
"By the way, I wanted to ask—among the items the Religious Affairs Commission used to trade for Huang Ran, wasn't there a partial Heavenly Principle Diagram? Have you examined it?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Xiao Heshang abruptly looked up at Blind Jin. Strangely, neither Gao Liang nor Sun Fatty showed much reaction. They didn't even exchange glances. Sun Fatty stared at the floral pattern on the tea table as if he hadn't heard anything at all. This clearly wasn't the kind of topic a low-ranking investigator like me was supposed to hear, so I stood up and said to Gao Liang:
"Director Gao, I'll return to Unit One now. Let me know if you need anything."
I didn't wait for a reply and turned to leave. But just as I stepped out with one foot, Gao Liang's voice came from behind: "Sit back down. No need to leave." Then he turned to Blind Jin and said, "How did you know?"
Blind Jin raised his head toward Gao Liang and replied, "I have some ties with Min Tianyuan. He told me a few things—"
"I didn't ask you that." Gao Liang cut him off before he could finish. After a short pause, he continued, "How did you know what they gave me was a rubbing? No matter how close you are to Min Tianyuan, that's not something he'd let slip."
When Gao Liang mentioned that the Heavenly Principle Diagram retrieved during the Huang Ran exchange was only a copy, Xiao Heshang sprang to his feet and shouted, "What did you say? A rubbing? And you didn't tell us sooner?"
Gao Liang shot him a look. "And if I had told you—would it have magically turned into the original?"
With Gao Liang insisting I stay, I had no choice but to sit back down next to Sun Fatty. At the moment, he was smiling ear to ear as he watched Gao Liang and Xiao Heshang bicker. When they quieted down, Sun turned his gaze to Blind Jin and asked:
"Master Jin, how did you know it was a rubbing? Don't tell me you divined it. Or better yet, can you do another divination and tell us where the original is?"
As he spoke, both Gao Liang and Xiao Heshang turned their eyes toward Blind Jin. The three of them just sat there, staring at the blind man. Even though he couldn't see, Blind Jin clearly felt the pressure and looked noticeably uneasy.
The room fell into silence. No one spoke. All eyes were on the blind man.
After a moment, Blind Jin gave a quiet laugh and said, "Director Sun flatters me too much. Alright, I'll be blunt. That partial Heavenly Principle Diagram was lost from within the Religious Affairs Commission over a decade ago. Min Tianyuan kept it tightly under wraps—even within the Commission, no more than three people knew. And this recent trade involving the Diagram wasn't public knowledge either. Min had made five rubbings of the original—he gave you one. The original is still the Commission's treasured artifact."
Gao Liang narrowed his eyes, looking toward Blind Jin. After a moment, he said, "Jin Beihai, it seems you know even more than Min Tianyuan does. Go ahead—what's your price?"
Blind Jin nodded slightly and fell silent for a moment before replying, "Do you remember what I just mentioned? Once I seal off my divinations, I want a position here—reserve me a spot."
Gao Liang glanced at him, then at Sun Fatty and Xiao Heshang. His gaze even lingered briefly on me. After a pause, the Director finally smiled and said, "You just dropped that bomb about wanting to join the Bureau—I didn't even have time to react. You were always so insistent about keeping Hong Kong neutral. What changed? Getting restless in your old age?"
Blind Jin removed his sunglasses, turning his waxen-white eyes toward Gao Liang. His tone was bitter. "I've leaked too many Heaven's secrets. My time is almost up. In what little time I have left, I want to do a few things—for myself, if nothing else, to pave the way for my next life. If I'm to move within the mainland, I can't avoid dealing with you. So rather than work around you, why not join you? If we're on the same team, I hope you'll cooperate with me a little."
No sooner had he finished than Sun Fatty chuckled. "Still the sharpest abacus in the room, Master Jin. But why not cast a divination for yourself? See if the Bureau's really part of your fate." He paused, then shifted topics, staring straight at those pale eyes. "By the way, how's Luo Simen? Gotta admit, I kind of miss that guy after all this time."
As soon as Sun mentioned Luo Simen, the image of that slick, waxy corpse in the Tomb of a Transcendent Beast flashed through my mind. Hearing the name, Blind Jin's expression froze ever so slightly. "Didn't think you cared so much about Fourth Master Luo," he said with a dry laugh. "I've already returned his remains to his descendants. What the Luo family chooses to do with them… that's none of my business."
While Blind Jin spoke, Xiao Heshang was signing rapidly to Gao Liang. The Director nodded, then turned to Jin and said, "Brother Beihai, if you're serious about joining us, we'd be glad to have you. I'll reserve the position of Director of Investigation Unit Seven. The day you report in, the Seventh Unit will be officially established."
Blind Jin smiled faintly as he slid his sunglasses back on. "Then I'll be freeloading under your command, Director Gao. I trust everyone here will keep an eye out for me." No sooner had he said this than Xiao Heshang impatiently interjected, "Alright, Jin Beihai, that's enough teasing. Just spit it out—what's the story with the Heavenly Principle Diagram?"
Blind Jin smiled in Xiao Heshang's direction. "You all know I've got a bit of a name in this field. If I know where that half-diagram went, it's because of that small shred of reputation."
It turned out that after our trip to Hong Kong, while Blind Jin was riding home, he got a phone call. The caller was a young man, claiming his surname was Li. He said he had a few antiques and asked if Blind Jin was interested in buying them. At the time, Jin's mind was wholly occupied with Luo Simen's remains, and he had no interest in taking the call. Just as he was about to hang up, he was struck by an inexplicable wave of unease—what he called a warning from the unseen.
Very few people had Blind Jin's number. And yet the caller opened with, "Are you Jin Beihai?" but his voice wasn't familiar. When asked his full name, the man grew impatient and simply said, "Surname Li." Then he kept pressing: "Do you want it or not? Do you want it or not?"
Amused, Blind Jin replied, "How am I supposed to know if I want it? You haven't even told me what the stuff is or how much you want for it." There was a moment of silence on the other end. Then the caller rattled off a list of items—he was clearly reading from some kind of catalog. Though most of it was ordinary antiques, several were sacred implements never publicly shown by major Daoist sects. A few pieces even made Blind Jin's heart skip a beat.
Then came the last item. Jin's heart pounded. But with an indifferent tone, he asked, "I didn't catch that last one. Say it again?"
"The lower half of the Heavenly Principle Diagram… Let me make it clear—it's not a scam. I only have the bottom half. The upper half isn't with me. I'm not hiding it from you—I just don't have it."
Blind Jin had long known the Diagram was in the hands of the Religious Affairs Commission, but judging by the caller's tone, it didn't sound like a bluff. After hesitating a moment, he said it was nearly New Year's and he couldn't leave just yet. He asked the young man to wait until after the holiday—he would contact him to examine the items in person and decide whether or not to buy.
The caller seemed to know only Blind Jin as a potential buyer. Though clearly impatient, he had no choice. In the end, he gave a U.S. address and said Jin could find him there. After hanging up, Jin had his driver check the incoming call display—the call had indeed come from the United States.
Immediately after, Jin reached out to Min Tianyuan. At that point, the Chairman was hanging on by a thread, surviving through esoteric life-sustaining techniques, waiting desperately for Huang Ran's return. Only because of Jin's reputation did he even agree to take the call. When Jin mentioned that someone in Taiwan wanted to see the Heavenly Principle Diagram, Min fell silent for a moment. Then he claimed his end was near and that he wasn't in a position to arrange such matters. He told Jin to speak with Hao Zhengyi in a few days.
That answer smelled fishy. So Jin started digging. While staying by Ma Xiaolin's side in Hong Kong, he had someone investigate the caller. The result came back: the young man's name was Li Qimu—a name few knew. But his grandfather, Li Jianghe, was a big name in the inner circle—especially within the Religious Affairs Commission.
Li Jianghe was one of the Commission's founding elders. At one point, he even briefly served as acting Chairman. Later, he held the post of Vice Chairman in Taiwan. But for reasons unknown, over a decade ago, he had a severe falling-out with Min Tianyuan. Their clash nearly split the Commission. In the end, a few elders who had supported Li defected back, salvaging the Commission's unity.
Li Jianghe, enraged, took his family and left Taiwan altogether—moving to the other side of the globe: the United States. In the decade since, he had all but disappeared. No one expected his reappearance to come indirectly, triggered by his grandson.
Things were getting increasingly interesting.
Then, on the third day of Jin's stay at the Ma residence, he received a phone call from Min Tianyuan. The old man's voice was feeble, breathless, and all he managed to say was six words:
"How… did… you… find… know... this?"