The Keeper of Myths - Chapter 2

Song Xiaoming, a native of Jingzhou, graduated from a prestigious university with a major in computer science. However, due to severe social anxiety, he had never found a job and was currently unemployed at home.

Pei Xueting brushed off the simple resume of this person, which couldn’t even fill a single A4 page. She thought and thought, but still couldn’t figure it out, so she finally dialed the number of Lu Wu, the old boss on the ninth floor.

Pei Xueting spoke with deep anguish, “Hello, Leader. If you have issues with my work, you can just fire me directly, instead of making me babysit.”

“This is a quota handed down from above. Every department must have at least two pure humans on staff.” Lu Wu was troubled by the Evil Spirit issue and didn’t take this as anything serious. He flicked the ash from his cigarette with a weary look. “Doesn’t your department lack someone who knows computers? Isn’t this just the right person to fill the gap?”

Pei Xueting looked up. Aside from Song Xiaoming, who was clutching a cup of hot water and trembling on the sofa, the entire seventh-floor Action Department only had a teenage Qilin with a severe internet addiction, the cross-dressing Bifang Bird who frequented all the popular live-streaming rooms, the Turtle Spirit who was so laid-back he couldn’t even figure out an old flip phone, and the Merpeople in the aquarium who couldn’t speak human language.

And a female ghost who sewed her own head back on.

Compared to them, the timid and droopy Song Xiaoming didn’t seem so hard to accept.

“Goodbye, Leader.”

Pei Xueting hung up the phone and stared at Song Xiaoming, as if pondering where to place this inconvenient ornament. Song Xiaoming’s worldview had just suffered a huge shock. Looking at the delicate-featured Pei Xueting, he felt she had a fierce face and fangs, as if she was weighing which part of his body had the most tender meat.

Song Xiaoming wondered whether he should run, and if running would anger this room full of monsters and spirits. His hand shook so much that half the hot water was gone, when suddenly someone took the cup away.

“Stop trembling. You’ll have to mop the floor later.” Si Nan, with a lollipop in his mouth, sized Song Xiaoming up and down, finally exclaiming with delight, “He really does seem to be a pure human. Boss, he’s just like you!”

“Put your Qilin horn away. If he faints again, you’ll be the one taking care of him,” Pei Xueting said calmly.

“Oh.” Si Nan reluctantly retracted the horn on his head.

“The new guy, turn around. I have something to say to you.” Pei Xueting tapped the table.

Song Xiaoming instinctively tried to stand up, but Si Nan pressed him back down into the seat.

“Let me introduce myself. I’m Pei Xueting, Action Department Head of the Investigation Bureau.” Pei Xueting nodded toward the group of idle colleagues in the office. “As you can see, our department has a female ghost, a Qilin, Bifang Bird, and a Turtle Spirit. Anyway, aside from me, there’s no one else.”

The middle-aged man brewing tea in the corner looked honest. He slowly raised his head and interrupted her with dissatisfaction, “It’s Xuanwu.”

“Whatever you want to call yourself.” Pei Xueting waved her hand, still looking at Song Xiaoming. “I’m sorry to inform you, you don’t have the right to resign. This is a tyrannical clause that started the moment you accepted employment with the Investigation Bureau, or as you might call it-a ‘Contract’?”

Song Xiaoming shivered inexplicably; the weight of that word was clearly not on par with an ordinary labor agreement.

Pei Xueting snapped her fingers. “Si Nan, give the newcomer an orientation. I have a meeting to attend.” Then she stared at Si Nan again. “The Information Department told me someone in our department connected a computer to the external network to play games, and this month the total exceeded two hundred and forty hours.”

Si Nan straightened up as if he’d been whipped.

“If I catch you in the act, I’ll melt your account.”

—

After dropping that line-which, to Si Nan, was as lethal as “I’ll kill your whole family and not even leave you a dog”-Pei Xueting leisurely went off to her meeting, completely ignoring the trauma she had just inflicted on Si Nan’s young heart.

But Little Qilin was not one to learn his lesson. He gave Song Xiaoming half an orientation, then started pestering him to fix his computer. Si Nan’s computer was stuffed with trendy games, and the C drive was on its last legs. Song Xiaoming cleaned it up in no time and changed all the download directories to the other two drives.

Si Nan looked at him with worship, wishing he could rub his Qilin horn against him to show his affection. “Tech nerds really do save the world! Awesome! From now on, in the Investigation Bureau, you’ve got Si Nan covering you!”

Song Xiaoming’s social anxiety flared up again, and he stammered, “Thank you, Senior.”

Si Nan didn’t hear him at all, and Pei Xueting’s warning was forgotten. He opened a game and started clicking away.

“So, Senior, what exactly is my main job?” Song Xiaoming raised his voice a bit and asked.

Si Nan thought for a moment. “Can you Ward Off Evil?”

“Does hanging mugwort on Dragon Boat Festival count?”

“Then can you Slay Evil?” Si Nan changed the question.

“I can kill viruses,” Song Xiaoming replied honestly.

The two stared at each other for a while. Finally, Si Nan was defeated by the pure ignorance in Song Xiaoming’s eyes. He freed up a hand to pat Song Xiaoming’s shoulder. “How about this, I’ll give you one of my positions in the department.”

“Is that okay?” Song Xiaoming asked. “What position?”

Si Nan replied seriously, “Mascot.”

Not far away, Xuanwu poured a cup of tea and said slowly, “Being a Mascot has its perks. You clock in and out on time, and you never have to go out on assignments.”
Song Xiaoming could only feel his eyelids twitching uncontrollably. “You guys still have to go out on field assignments?”

After witnessing the peculiarities of the Special Investigation Bureau, he could easily imagine the nature of this “field assignment” with just a little thought.

“It’s us,” Si Nan corrected him. “Once the Department Head trains you for a while, you’ll be able to go out on field assignments too. Don’t worry, it’s not hard.”

Before he finished speaking, the phone lying face down on the table rang.

Si Nan glanced at the caller ID and immediately put on a fawning expression. “Hello, Department Head, any instructions?”

“A tomb has been unearthed in the northwest. You and the new guy come with me,” Pei Xueting’s tone was heavy. “Book the tickets, get the earliest flight. Hurry.”

—

Northwest.

Since her adolescence, Pei Xueting had always been impatient with all noisy and oblivious creatures-Si Nan included.

After the three of them got off the plane, they took a special car and made their way to the excavation site of the ancient tomb.

This Little Qilin seemed to have ADHD, unable to sit still for even a second, chattering endlessly to Song Xiaoming. Song Xiaoming was terrified of talking to people; every word felt like being stabbed, his expression one of utter agony.

After a long ten-hour drive, the three finally arrived at the tomb excavation site.

Pei Xueting couldn’t wait to open the car door and get away from the babbling Si Nan. Song Xiaoming, on the other hand, started vomiting as soon as he got out, nearly dehydrating himself.

It was just after sunrise, a blazing orb of light rising slowly from the horizon, gilding every blade of grass swaying in the wind. Various machines stood behind the distant cordon, people coming and going, and outside, others were taking photos with long and short lenses.

“Are you from the Special Investigation Bureau?” A man in uniform came up to shake hands with Pei Xueting.

“Action Department, Pei Xueting.” Pei Xueting didn’t shake his hand, just took off her sunglasses and flashed them. “Sorry, I’m not used to shaking hands.”

The man awkwardly withdrew his hand. “No problem. Let’s head in directly, then.”

Pei Xueting nodded.

Si Nan followed behind her, one hand slung over his backpack, the other supporting Song Xiaoming. Song Xiaoming struggled for a moment, but realized he really didn’t have the strength to walk on his own, so he resigned himself to leaning on Si Nan.

“Does our department also do tomb raiding?” Song Xiaoming looked terrified.

“No, we don’t raid tombs,” Si Nan’s sunglasses slipped halfway down his nose, dangling precariously. “They called us because there’s probably something ‘unclean’ down there.”

Song Xiaoming looked even more horrified. “I-I-I haven’t finished my training yet, I can’t go on field assignments!”

Up ahead, Pei Xueting, her ears sharp, was already impatient with these two rookies. She turned back and pressed Song Xiaoming’s head to face Si Nan.

Si Nan blinked in confusion.

“Do you know what he is?” Pei Xueting asked Song Xiaoming.

“Qilin…” Song Xiaoming replied weakly.

“Do you know what a Qilin does?” Pei Xueting spat out three cold words. “Talisman.”

Song Xiaoming fell silent.

“With him here, you’re perfectly safe. Stop dawdling and wasting my time, or I’ll pack you both off back to Jingzhou and dock your quarterly allowance.”

“No, Department Head, I still have credit card debt to pay!” Si Nan wailed, dragging Song Xiaoming to catch up with their superior’s retreating back.

Several tents had been set up at the archaeological site, with injured people lying everywhere inside. Calling them injured wasn’t quite accurate, since none of them showed any external wounds. But they were all eerily quiet, their bloodshot eyes staring blankly at the tent ceiling.

Medical checks showed their blood pressure, blood tests, and cardiopulmonary function were all normal, but they lacked even the most basic pupillary reflex.

Song Xiaoming felt like he couldn’t breathe as soon as he entered.

“How many injured like this?” Pei Xueting asked.

“Twelve,” the man who led them in squeezed his eyes shut. “We sent down six people at a time, and both teams had incidents. The portable cameras they carried didn’t record anything, just some static.”

“How did they get back up?” Pei Xueting frowned.

The man looked terrified. “They… walked up on their own!”

He clearly remembered the scene vividly; just recalling it gave him goosebumps.

“Understood. Have your people leave, and give me the camera footage,” Pei Xueting waved her hand. “Get the media out too. There are too many people here-the thing below is getting restless.”

Soon, only the breathing members of the Archaeological Team and the three from the Action Department remained in the tent. Si Nan went around checking the injured, feeling their pulses and occasionally lifting their eyelids. Song Xiaoming couldn’t see any changes, but he could clearly feel the air becoming fresher.

Pei Xueting put on headphones and listened to the two recordings over and over.

The sounds were strange, like wind in the dead of night, accompanied by a thumping noise, as if someone were bouncing a ball in an empty stairwell, the rhythm eerily slow.

“Department Head… Is there anything I can do?” Song Xiaoming asked softly.

“Hm? No need. Go help Si Nan,” Pei Xueting put down the headphones. “I’ll go down and check things out first.”
“Boss, are you going alone?” Si Nan looked up at her alertly. “The Bureau Chief said that our Action Department strictly forbids individual heroism.”

“Whatever’s down there probably isn’t that deadly. Otherwise, those twelve people wouldn’t have all come back in one piece. Don’t you think this ‘Soul Loss Syndrome’ is more like a warning?”

Compared to the Evil Spirit that prowls rainy nights and eats children, having a group of Archaeological Team members line up and walk back to the surface in a daze is clearly much milder and less harmful. It’s just that, with all the tomb-raiding dramas these days, their state looks rather creepy.

Si Nan nodded. “Their souls are indeed intact…”

“But if we drag this out, there might be other problems. So you stay here and handle them, I’ll go down and take a look.” Pei Xueting decisively cut off Si Nan’s options. “We can’t go down together, or we’ll both end up mindless, and this mess will be impossible to clean up.”

Si Nan hesitated for a moment, then compromised. “Alright. But you have to promise to come back within fifteen minutes, or I’ll file a report to the Bureau Chief saying you died in the line of duty down there.”

Pei Xueting chuckled and flicked his forehead. “Don’t jinx me.”

—

The entrance to the tomb was a deep shaft about two square meters wide. After descending, there was a winding corridor. But what lay beyond the corridor, they didn’t know. Pei Xueting didn’t bring any communication devices; judging by the state of the twelve people before her, it wouldn’t have helped anyway.

Under the sorrowful gaze of the others, she descended the shaft empty-handed.

Underground, it was so quiet it could drive one mad.

All outside sounds seemed cut off. Pei Xueting could only hear her own breathing and the drip-drip of water. She walked forward with a high-powered flashlight, its beam occasionally illuminating the bronze-cast walls, which were engraved with intricate, beautiful patterns-so much so that just a glance made her feel nauseous.

Realizing this, Pei Xueting immediately looked away, staring straight ahead into the pitch-black passage.

Luckily, there was only one path, so she didn’t have to worry about getting lost.

Strangely, Pei Xueting felt a strong surge of Yin Energy, but couldn’t pinpoint its source. The suffocating pressure seemed to come from all directions, weighing heavily on her heart and lungs.

What the hell is this place? Pei Xueting cursed inwardly. The Archaeological Team probably wanted to study the bronze patterns in the corridor, but ended up having their minds disturbed by them.

The owner of this tomb clearly understood geomancy.

Just like how the Special Investigation Bureau uses that small villa as a cover-though many people pass by, ordinary folks rarely notice its existence. The bronze patterns in the corridor serve the same purpose: uninvited guests have their minds affected and then leave on their own.

Pei Xueting didn’t know how long she’d been walking, but suddenly, the sound of wind arose in the corridor.

It was the same wind sound as in the Archaeological Team’s video.

But she knew there shouldn’t-and couldn’t-be any wind here.

Pei Xueting’s nerves were taut all over.

The “bang bang bang” sound started up too, but she couldn’t find its source either. Pei Xueting felt like she was inside a drum, with someone outside persistently beating on its surface.

Suddenly, the corridor ended. Before her stood a stone stele and a bronze door.

“Being uneducated really is a disadvantage!” Pei Xueting muttered, pulling out her phone and snapping several photos of the stele from different angles.

Out of the corner of her eye, her brows suddenly lifted.

There was actually a signal down here!

If there’s a signal, why did the Archaeological Team lose contact, and even their recording equipment failed?

Pei Xueting had a strange feeling, as if this tomb had invisibly granted her some kind of access, letting her pass unimpeded all the way to this door.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated. Pei Xueting’s hand slipped, and she answered the call.

Lu Wu’s voice, roughened by years of nicotine, boomed through the radio, crossing hundreds of kilometers of vast land and stabbing straight into Pei Xueting’s ear.

“Pei Xueting, get out! Don’t go in, what’s buried there is-”

Lu Wu was a bona fide Kunlun Mountain Divine Beast, and his shout had the power to Ward Off Evil.

But Pei Xueting couldn’t hear the rest. Heavy wind and “bang bang bang” sounds exploded in her ears. She growled, clutching the stele and dropping to her knees. Her phone smashed to pieces on the ground. In a flash of realization, Pei Xueting understood: it wasn’t wind or drumbeats, it was the tomb’s breathing and heartbeat.

Fragmented male voices squeezed into her eardrums amid the chaotic breathing and heartbeat.

“May… the Hundred Thousand Resentful Spirits… seal this… Coffin.”

This phrase was chanted over and over, like a Great Shaman in ancient times singing and dancing by the fire, offering a bloodied sacrifice to the sky, reciting sacred prayers.

Suddenly, all the sounds converged into a fine needle, piercing into Pei Xueting’s mind.

The bronze door opened.

Footnote:
1. Xuanwu(玄武): A guardian deity of the North in Chinese mythology, depicted as a tortoise entwined with a snake, symbolizing longevity and stability.
Footnote:
2. Qilin(麒麟): A mythical Chinese hybrid creature with dragon-like features, often symbolizing prosperity and divine power.
3. BiFang(毕方): A mythical one-legged fire bird from Chinese legend.
4. Yin Energy(阴气): In Taoism and ghostly cultures, yin symbolizes death, the netherworld, ghosts, night, and stillness. Places with strong yin energy are usually considered to be active with ghosts and spirits, such as cemeteries and yin dwellings.