Kuang Feifan called out to Feng Tian, and they walked together to Old Hou’s bedside. He obtained the name and phone number the two policemen had left with Old Hou just before departing. It was clear the officers expected Old Hou to call them if he recalled anything later.

Feng Tian suddenly slapped his forehead, pulled out the book the old Daoist master had given him, and placed it on Old Hou’s bedside table. “The old Daoist master asked me to pass this along to you. Keep it safe; there’s an amulet tucked inside.”

While waiting for the elevator, Feng Tian asked with some curiosity, “You’re going to call those two policemen?”

Feng Tian rarely involved himself in matters concerning the police. Although he could banish ghosts, his activities were generally confined to the folk realm.

Kuang Feifan shook his head. “Since they came, it means they’ve taken on this case. That implies all the data concerning the car accident is in their hands. If we want to investigate, we have to find them. How else are we supposed to get their names and numbers?”

Feng Tian uttered a simple, “Oh.”

The two exited the hospital building and stepped into the courtyard. Feng Tian turned his head to look at the other building nearby. Kuang Feifan watched him and asked, “Should we go take a look at the morgue?”

After a moment’s thought, Feng Tian shook his head. “Forget it. Since the female corpse has already turned to bone, there probably won’t be anything to see. Besides, we have no official capacity right now; they probably won't even receive us, much less tell us the truth. This matter still hinges on that car accident.”

Kuang Feifan agreed with his assessment and said no more. Truthfully, he had hoped the matter could just end here; investigating a car accident wasn't their job, after all.

Back at the Daoist temple, Feng Tian recounted everything Old Hou had experienced to the old Daoist master and sought his opinion on the matter.

The old Daoist master said without hesitation, “The car accident that led to that woman’s death is definitely unusual. I suspect it wasn't a simple hit-and-run.”

Kuang Feifan suddenly felt a strange sensation. Hearing the term “hit-and-run” come from the mouth of a Daoist priest felt dissonant to him.

Of course, this was merely his private thought, something he naturally couldn't voice.

However, since the analysis was mostly speculation, the old Daoist master refrained from further comment. The central figure in this affair was Old Hou, and since his danger had passed, the matter could very well conclude here.

Unable to draw any definitive conclusions, Feng Tian and the old Daoist master simply dropped the topic. The old Daoist master suggested the two go grab something to eat first before making any further plans.

However, the dining time at the temple had long since passed. Feng Tian and Kuang Feifan left the temple, and finally, Kuang Feifan voiced the question that had been weighing on his mind.

“What exactly is the background of this old Daoist master? He seems quite carefree, yet everyone who mentions him speaks of him with considerable respect.”

Feng Tian nodded. “Of course, he’s far from ordinary.”

There were no restaurants near the temple that suited their tastes. They walked quite a distance before finding an eatery that served meat dishes, mainly because Feng Tian belonged to an order that deeply enjoyed meat.

Once the food order was complete, Feng Tian began to tell Kuang Feifan about the old Daoist master’s history.

Speaking of this venerable Daoist, it must be said that he was deeply connected to the strange house Kuang Feifan had seen in his courtyard previously.

Generally, when Daoist temples are constructed, great care is taken to utilize the surrounding natural environment. Most temples are built following the contours of the mountains, and their layout strives to embody the pursuit of harmonious unity with nature—a concept inseparable from the Daoist thought: “The King models himself on the Earth, the Earth models itself on Heaven, Heaven models itself on the Dao, and the Dao models itself on Nature.”

But this temple was built within an ancient town, and its origin dated back seventy years. Its current location was once the site of a large manor belonging to one of the town's prominent families.

At that time, the family was at the height of its power, commanding influence and prestige within the town.

Until one day, a scandal within the household was exposed: the patriarch was informed that his third son’s daughter was having a secret affair with a servant.

In reality, it was the common, albeit clichéd, tale of a wealthy young lady falling in love with a servant, something strictly forbidden at the time.

More unfortunately, the day this knowledge surfaced coincided with a gathering of several prestigious families in the town. Somehow, the illicit affair became known to several households.

The patriarch was naturally enraged; he had lost face completely in front of so many witnesses.

However, under the desperate pleading of his third son, the patriarch finally decided to confine his granddaughter. As for the servant accused of the "impropriety," he was subjected to immediate family discipline in public.

To call it family discipline would be less accurate than calling it summary justice. The servant not only had his eyes gouged out and his tongue cut off but was also brutally castrated. That wasn't the end of it; after these tortures were inflicted, the family finally buried the servant alive.

The young lady, meanwhile, was locked in an empty room—essentially a private prison.

Everyone thought the matter was settled then, but peace never returned to the house. First, the confined young lady was either raving mad or perpetually silent. When she was lucid, she would attempt suicide; if her father hadn't stationed guards, she would have ended her own life long ago.

Within about a month, the young lady had tormented herself into a pitiable state.

This alone was enough to trouble the patriarch, but even stranger things were yet to come. A few days later, reports of hauntings began to spread through the house. Other servants claimed to have seen the deceased servant wandering the courtyard late at night, while others swore they heard someone muttering to themselves in the dark, only to find no one there upon waking.

As these rumors spread, they grew wilder and more unsettling, leading to incessant gossip among the family members.

Someone suggested digging up the servant’s body from the burial site for a proper, respectful reburial, followed by a purification ceremony to appease the spirits.

However, when the patriarch finally yielded to the demands of his household and consented to excavate the corpse, people discovered that the servant's body had vanished. Near the grave site, they found several indistinct footprints.

It was at that precise moment that the room where the young lady was imprisoned suddenly caught fire. By the time others noticed, the blaze was already uncontrollable.

Only after the room had burned nearly to ashes and the flames subsided did everyone manage to extinguish the lingering embers. While clearing the scene, they discovered two bodies—or rather, charred remains. It appeared the two had been tightly embracing. After being burned, the charred forms were impossible to separate.

Everyone could only surmise that one remnant belonged to the young lady, and the other, though unspoken, was almost certainly the servant’s.

No one knew how the fire started, nor whether the servant had truly survived and returned to the house, or if he had come after his death to find his beloved, culminating in this fiery, tragic reunion.

In an instant, the entire family fell into a state of perpetual dread.