At that very moment, Zhou Huan and Dongzi quickened their pace, intending to stop the woman, but unexpectedly, she sat down on her own clothes, pulling out a long wooden pipe from her waist.

"All you heartless wretches will pay the price for my death; I will play the song that heartless men least want to hear for you bastards!" the woman muttered to herself.

Zhou Huan found the current scene intensely familiar, his mind racing, trying to recall the events, but failing to grasp the full picture. Could it truly be due to reincarnation? Zhou Huan's thoughts became blocked; instinctively, he slowly approached the woman. He wanted a better look at her, perhaps this would help him recall the cause of death for the three corpses.

Seeing Zhou Huan walk toward the woman, Dongzi closely followed his steps, daring not to breathe, his footfalls as light as autumn leaves settling into the earth.

The woman remained completely unaware of the two large men approaching from behind. She gently brought the long pipe to her lips. A gust of cool night wind swept by, and Zhou Huan felt a strange chill. The music she played began to drift through the air, sounding profoundly desolate, utilizing ancient Chinese pentatonic melodies—a tone so deep and hauntingly empty that it involuntarily brought a wave of sorrow to Zhou Huan. This was the sound of a dizi (bamboo flute); only a dizi could produce such a sound.

In the vast, dim starlit sky, a few shooting stars streaked downward, drawing long, perfect arcs across the void. Zhou Huan grew closer to the woman, and her flute music became increasingly mournful.

Suddenly, Dongzi felt an itch on his cheek, as if something were crawling there. He reached up to touch it and found moisture—tears. How could a grown man suddenly weep with no apparent reason? Dongzi shook his head repeatedly, struggling, but finally breaking: "Stop f**king playing! My head is going to explode!"

At Dongzi's outburst, the woman’s music ceased. Her entire body seemed frozen, standing motionless like a stone statue.

Zhou Huan did not scold Dongzi. He walked in front of the woman and spoke softly, "Miss, it's late. Can whatever troubles you wait until tomorrow? You should get some proper sleep tonight!"

The woman remained immobile. She raised the bamboo flute in her hand again, and the same sorrowful melody began to play.

Zhou Huan cautiously tried to engage her, afraid she might attempt self-harm: "Miss, don't let sadness defeat you. You can bravely face any problem. The night is too deep; you shouldn't stay here. Where is your home? If you allow it, I can escort you."

The flute music stopped. She lowered her voice and said, "You can't stop me. Since I have decided to die, I will die. No one can stop me."

"Don't think that way. Suicide is the most foolish act. Do you know that if a person dies by suicide, their seven souls and three spirits scatter completely? You might never be able to gather them back," Zhou Huan tried to persuade her.

At this moment, a slight smile touched the woman's lips. "It seems you really are an expert. Let's make a deal: I will play one more piece. After the Zishi hour [11 PM to 1 AM] passes, I will stop. If you can withstand the sorrow of the music, I won't die today."

"Very well. As long as you don't die, I will do anything!" Zhou Huan agreed.

During this brief exchange, Dongzi was frantically busy. He drew every single talisman he had learned since officially regaining his memories from Zhou Huan, sticking them all over himself, and then crumpled two pieces of talisman paper into balls and stuffed them into his ears. When Zhou Huan turned to look at him, Dongzi said solemnly, "I can't stand this flute music. I have to plug my ears, or I really will go insane."

Zhou Huan was astonished to see the array of talismans covering Dongzi, marveling at how much progress he had made in learning their drawings.

Just then, the woman's flute music resumed, that desolate melody beginning to drift through the air once more. Zhou Huan forced himself to remain impassive, while Dongzi proudly shook his head, feeling utterly deafened by his own defense.

Zhou Huan endured the sound for over ten minutes, his expression blank, attempting to let the sound enter one ear and immediately exit the other. Ten more minutes passed, and Zhou Huan's mood remained calm. The woman's music grew increasingly tragic, then suddenly stopped. "Zhou Huan, don't tell me you can keep going. If you survive tonight, I'll still die tomorrow. I don't believe you can watch me forever, you heartless man!"

As soon as the woman finished speaking, her music started again, this time filled with rage and killing intent.

Hearing her words, Zhou Huan's heart clenched. How did she know who he was? Who was this woman? Could this truly be a karma from a past life?

"Hahahaha!" As the Zishi hour struck, the woman erupted into wild laughter. She then thrust one hand into her mouth and let out a long whistle. Immediately after, she bent down, snatched up her clothes, covered her head with them, turned around, and fled rapidly down the mountain.

Zhou Huan was momentarily stunned by her question. Dongzi, who had been dozing with his eyes closed, felt a rush of wind sweep past him. He opened his eyes and saw the woman was gone, but Zhou Huan remained motionless. He pulled the talisman papers from his ears. "Brother, she left. Should we chase her?"

Zhou Huan gave no response. Dongzi moved closer, staring at Zhou Huan’s face. "Brother, what's wrong? Why aren't you talking or moving?"

"Oh, I remembered some things." Zhou Huan finished speaking, glanced around, and then asked with sudden tension, "Where is that woman?"

"She left! I asked if we should chase her just now, and you didn't answer, so I thought you didn't want to pursue her!"

Zhou Huan lunged forward. "Dongzi, keep up! We can't let her get away, or tonight will have been for nothing!"

The two men descended the mountain less like walking and more like leaping down, taking several steps at a time.

Dongzi muttered as he ran, "What's up with big brother today? He suddenly froze. Haha, looks like he won't be calling me stupid anymore!"

"You idiot! When I was frozen, why didn't you stop her? She's definitely problematic," Zhou Huan retorted, instantly silencing Dongzi.

Although the woman seemed to be walking at a leisurely pace, no matter how fast Zhou Huan and Dongzi pursued her, they couldn't catch up. By the time the two reached the square at the base of the mountain, the woman had already crossed the square and gone past the main road.

As Zhou Huan entered the square, several police cars blocked the entrances. "You people wait a moment before leaving. There's been a death here; we need to conduct an investigation!"

"What?" Hearing the police, Zhou Huan suddenly understood the entire chain of events. The culprit for this entire incident was this woman.

"Oh, Master Zhou, why are you here so late?" The arriving officer was Xiao Li, who likely recognized Zhou Huan by his Qi aura.

Zhou Huan gripped Xiao Li's shoulder and pointed toward the woman across the road. "Don't let her escape! She is connected to these incidents!"

Xiao Li immediately drew his sidearm, preparing to give chase, but he looked around quickly, then turned back to Zhou Huan. "Who is across the road, Master Zhou? What's wrong? This is the first time I've seen you so flustered."

"She was just..." As Zhou Huan tried to pinpoint the woman, even he could no longer see her.

Dongzi gently tugged Zhou Huan's hand. "Brother, the woman is gone. This is your fault; why didn't you use a talisman to restrain her earlier?"

"That's a vengeful ghost from a past life. Can our talismans hold her? We need a long-term plan to deal with her!" Zhou Huan's explanation sounded highly specialized, causing Xiao Li only to offer a polite smile.

Shortly after, two forensic examiners rushed over. "Xiao Li, both deceased victims suffered sudden cardiac arrest. It looks like natural causes."

Xiao Li rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought, then asked Zhou Huan, "Master Zhou, what do you think..."

"Sigh, let me examine the bodies first!" Zhou Huan said with some frustration, striding toward the two corpses.

As Zhou Huan approached the bodies, he saw they were both young men. Different lines of blood vessels were visible on their bodies. Zhou Huan immediately stripped the clothes off both victims and then discovered a thin, bluish-red line of blood running across the forehead of each, extending down past the nose and jaw to the throat. Zhou Huan gently touched the heads of the two deceased; the skulls split perfectly along the bluish-red line, dividing the head in two. Each half of the eyeballs remained attached, with bright red blood gushing out. The brains spilled out like white tofu mixed with blood, the thick matter clotting into red and white chunks.

"You see, this is the true cause of death. This is a supernatural event, Xiao Li. File it for immediate investigation!" Zhou Huan quickly instructed Xiao Li.

Xiao Li nodded. "Then it seems this case will be quite difficult. Master Zhou, you've been up all night. I will investigate using our police methods. We will contact you as soon as we have any leads. You two should go back and rest."

"En, we still have many things to do. Is Dongzi finished drawing? If so, let's go!" Zhou Huan was genuinely anxious now, lifting his leg to leave.

In truth, he wasn't rushing to catch the woman; he was anxious to return to the Fushou Hall so he could quietly contemplate whether he had any connection to this woman in a past life. Otherwise, how could she instantly call out his name and accuse him of being a heartless man?

Dongzi, holding a pen in his mouth, finished sketching the patterns from the bodies and tucked them into his coat pocket. He then patted his bag repeatedly before finally settling the pen inside with a reassuring touch, catching up to Zhou Huan.

"Brother, the small coffin is still there, and these bundles of talismans are quite useful!"

"Stop babbling. When we get back, you go straight to sleep. Place all the patterns you've copied, from start to finish, on the table. I need to stay up late working on this," Zhou Huan said, starting the car engine.