Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 140 Substitution
That night, on Jiaxianchang Street.

Chen Chuan, Officer Wang, and several members of the Public Security Bureau in plain clothes walked on this busy street.

Both sides of the night market street are lined with food stalls, various shops with lanterns hanging and selling various small accessories are connected one after another, and there are also activities such as guessing lantern riddles, pitching pots, wrestling, guest singing, etc., and fireworks are occasionally seen in the distance.

For a small county, it is indeed very lively. And according to Secretary Wang, the day of Qiaoshen Festival is the busiest, with almost half of the county's population coming out.

This is also what the Government Affairs Office is most worried about, fearing that the situation will get out of control. However, they cannot force everyone not to come out, and even if they make a rule, they cannot enforce it.

But no matter what, at least with this current atmosphere, they were able to relax their tense emotions a little.

Chen Chuan then said to them, "You'd better buy something, even if it's just a snack. If you don't buy anything, you might end up buying more of that stuff when you go back. Of course, it's just a possibility."

Hearing what he said, Director Wang and the members of the Public Security Bureau were shocked and hurried to buy some things from both sides.

Chen Chuan waited for them to come back and said, "Well, there is no mission tonight, so you can go to the night market first."

Seeing that he had been standing there without moving, Secretary Wang said, "Expert Chen, what about you? You... don't want to buy it?"

Chen Chuan hummed.

Secretary Wang couldn't help but shudder.

This time, Chen Chuan didn't buy anything, nor did he eat anything. When it was about ten o'clock in the evening, when the group walked out of the night market, he suddenly saw a trace of blur on the second me's body. Then he reached into his pocket and touched something that suddenly appeared.

Is it true?
He stretched out his hand, took the thing out of his pocket, put it in front of his eyes and took a look. It was indeed a love knot, but it was not a new one. It was the one he got from the corpse during the day!
He had clearly put this thing in the car before, but now it suddenly appeared in his pocket.

When Officer Wang saw him suddenly take out this thing, he was shocked and said, "Expert Chen, why did you bring this thing with you?"

Chen Chuan said slowly: "I didn't bring it with me, it appeared on its own."

"What, what?" Secretary Wang's voice trembled.

"Don't worry." Chen Chuan glanced at him and said, "I know what's going on."

Seeing how calm he was, Officer Wang also calmed down and asked, "Expert Chen, what should we do next?"

Chen Chuan put it away and said, "Wait until tomorrow. Ask Director Wang to check it out tomorrow. If no one else dies from butterfly tattoos, then my guess is correct. If there are still some, then we may need to try another method."

There are certain rules for strange stories, especially for group stories. He noticed that from the timeline, one person died every day since the butterfly tattoo was discovered ten days ago, no more, no less.

But there is a question, what if the person who got the knot of love before didn’t die?

The heart knot in his hand was previously held by someone, but this person did not die because of the butterfly tattoo, but died of some kind of accident. Now that this thing is in his hands, there is a contradiction with the rules of the ghost story itself.

He wanted to see whether this strange story would skip over him or not and could not continue without killing him.

If it is the latter, then as long as he does not die, the rest of the people will not die.

But if that has no effect, he'll try another approach.

After coming out of the night market, he came to the hotel arranged for him by Secretary Wang, which was also the best hotel in Jia County. He came to the front desk and signaled the people here to step aside. Then he called Cheng Zitong, told him the general situation, and said that he already had some ideas.

Cheng Zitong said seriously, "Using this accidental death to find a breakthrough point is a good idea, but doing so means taking on the fight against the ghost story on yourself. Xiaochuan, are you sure?"

Chen Chuanshuo said: "Teacher, I have confidence. When I discussed with Director Lei before, he said that I have a talent that I don't even know about, and I can resist the invasion of ghost stories. I think it is true."

Cheng Zitong nodded. When other people took on ghost story commissions, it would take a very long time between them, and they would inevitably feel inexplicably weak. But this student was always full of energy and jumped up and down every time, and he took on commissions frequently. His spirits seemed to be getting better and better, so he believed this statement.

But he still solemnly reminded, "Ghost stories are ghost stories after all. Good swimmers die by drowning. So even if you have a lot of experience, you still have to be careful. If you have any questions, call me at any time."

"Okay, teacher."

After Chen Chuan hung up the phone, he stayed in this hotel.

As for the love knot, he threw it away when he entered the hotel, but when he settled down, he accidentally found it at the head of the bed.

He was not surprised by this.

Because this thing should have turned into a butterfly tattoo, but now because of my second self, all the attacks have been borne by it, so now it can only appear beside him in this form.

Throughout the night, he could feel a force constantly invading him, but it was not very strong and was far inferior to the flying head monster.

The next day, Director Wang came running over early in the morning, panting. After knocking on the door, he couldn't wait to say, "Expert Chen, a body was found by the river. It looks a bit like the death caused by a butterfly tattoo."

Chen Chuan's eyes narrowed, "Where is the body?"

"It has been sent to the inspection office now, and the results should be out soon."

Chen Chuan nodded. He could only wait. Only after confirmation could he decide on the next direction.

At noon, Secretary Wang came to tell him that the cause of death of the corpse was indeed caused by the butterfly tattoo, but the rotten flesh left on the mutilated corpse was at least seven days old, which means it was not recent.

Chen Chuan thought for a moment and asked, "Have there been other similar bodies found?"

Secretary Wang shook his head.

Chen Chuan thought about it and thought that his method might be useful, but in order to confirm it, he needed to wait for another two days.

That night, he found that the signs of the void suddenly deepened a lot, but he was cheered up because he felt that he might have done the right thing. The next day, there was no news of any body being found throughout the day. Although there were many missing and dead people, it seemed that none of them were caused by the butterfly tattoo. It seemed that the whole Jia County had calmed down.

Chen Chuan was still waiting there. The signs of emptiness deepened further that night, and it was even able to stimulate his alienated tissues. At this time, he was sure that the method he used was correct.

This kind of weird talk is difficult to get rid of in one go. The most effective way to deal with it is to find the crux of the problem and then fight it out.

He knew that this was a tug-of-war. Either the ghost stories would wear him down to death, or he would exhaust the power of the source of the ghost stories.

But the former is unlikely to happen, because if he feels something is wrong, he will leave Jia County in advance. This is also the way to deal with most ghost stories, that is, leave the location of the ghost story. Unless it is manipulated by humans, it can generally be avoided.

But in densely populated areas, people living there cannot just leave as they please.

On the third day, when Secretary Wang came to see Chen Chuan again, his mental state had become very good. He was no longer as frightened as he was two days ago.

He admired Chen Chuan very much because Chen Chuan came up with a solution the day he arrived, and in the past two days, there were indeed no incidents of butterfly tattoos.

Chen Chuan knew that it was not time to rest assured yet. He said, "It's not over yet. The next day will be the Qiaoshen Festival. If we can get through this festival smoothly, then it will be fine. Otherwise, there will be trouble."

He privately judged that this strange story might be related to the Qiaoshen Festival, and the festival was coming tomorrow, when there might be a greater invading force.

Only if you can get through that day, then you will have truly passed this hurdle.

Secretary Wang became uneasy again after hearing what he said, but he now had confidence in Chen Chuan and said, "Expert Chen, is there anything you need? I can prepare it for you."

Chen Chuan thought for a moment and said, "If we want to do it, don't let too many people come near this hotel."

"I understand." Secretary Wang looked serious. After he left the room, he immediately went to make arrangements.

Another day passed, and soon it was the day of the God of Skill.

Chen Chuan found that his judgment was correct. With the arrival of the festival, the invasion of the second self suddenly increased, and as time went by, it continued to intensify.

He thought that it was very likely that the power of those scattered love knots was gathering together one by one.

It all depends on which side can hold on longer.

Judging from the current situation, it is still not comparable to the last time with the flying head monster. Last time he almost couldn't hold on, but that was because he still needed to fight the flying head at the same time. Now he doesn't need to do that, which can save a lot of overlapping time.

But in order to be prepared for any eventuality, he also asked the driver from the company to be ready outside. If he really felt that he might not be able to hold on, he would leave Jia County in advance to avoid the attack first and then think of a solution later.

At this time, the Qiaoshen Festival outside has also reached a climax. Citizens of the county town have come to the streets to have fun tonight. This is also a rare festival in this small county town besides the Chinese New Year. Most people in the city will come out to relax.

Chen Chuan sat in the hostel, watching the fireworks rising and exploding outside the window, feeling the intense stimulation as if he had taken several times the dose of drugs.

He adjusted his breathing and guided the growth of the alienated tissue.

Time passed slowly, and when it was twelve o'clock, as the noise outside ended, the feeling that had been transmitted to me gradually began to weaken, and soon returned to a lower level. Although it was still continuing, it was far less than before.

He knew that the most dangerous time had passed.

He did not sleep, but sat there cross-legged, with the Xuejun Sword at his fingertips where he could take it at any time. As the sky gradually brightened, a ray of sunlight gradually shone in from outside.

He got down from the bed with a knife in his hand, walked to the window, took a breath of fresh air, and looked at the rising sun over the distant hillside.

At this moment he suddenly felt something and reached into his pocket to take out the love knot, but he only got a ball of rotten powder, with only a piece of silk knot from the tassel remaining.

He looked at the second self, where there was only a faint sign of emptiness. He knew in his heart that this strange issue had been resolved.

When the room was filled with sunlight, he heard a knock on the door. Officer Wang's cautious voice came over: "Expert Chen, are you there?"

Chen Chuanshuo said, "The door is not locked. Secretary Wang, please come in."

Secretary Wang, who was outside, was relieved when he heard that he spoke normally and was in high spirits.

He pushed the door open and saw Chen Chuan standing by the window looking at the scenery outside. He walked over to take a look and said, "This is the highest hotel in Jia County. You can see most of the county town and the Hulu River outside. I heard that the county town was always flooded before. It was renovated during the great development period, and this situation rarely happens now."

Chen Chuan nodded and said, "Secretary Wang, you can go check on those who have been detained to see if the butterfly tattoos are still on their bodies."

Secretary Wang was stunned for a moment, then ran out like a gust of wind.

Less than half an hour later, Secretary Wang called and said excitedly, "Expert Chen, they are gone, gone. The tattoos on their bodies have all disappeared."

Chen Chuan could feel his excitement through the phone. He smiled and said, "That's good, Secretary Wang. In this case, my commission in Jia County has been completed. I will leave here later and return to Yangzhi."

"Wait a moment, please wait a moment," Secretary Wang said anxiously, "I'll take Expert Chen back."

Chen Chuan said hello, packed up, and walked out of the hotel. He told the company's driver and waited there for the car to arrive.

In less than ten minutes, Director Wang came running over with sweat on his forehead. He was holding a book in his hand. Seeing that he was still there, he ran up to him and handed the book to him, saying sincerely:
"Expert Chen, thank you for solving the problem in Jia County. I don't have much to thank you for. I remember that Expert Chen seemed to be interested in local customs and habits. This book "Legends of Sanshan" records many old legends of several nearby counties and towns. I'll give it to Expert Chen. I hope you don't mind it."

Chen Chuan took it, smiled and said, "Thank you, Secretary Wang, I like this gift very much. Let's go, please go back." Secretary Wang waved and got into the car. Secretary Wang also waved to him and stood there, watching him go away, and did not leave for a long time.

……

……

(End of this chapter)