Originally, I thought everything would end once daylight came, but unexpectedly, that was just the beginning. The next morning, as soon as the stock market opened, most stocks turned green (in the Hong Kong market, green means falling, red means rising). Only the few stocks that Ma Xiaolin had bought were bright red. At that moment, Mr. Ma's expression was as gloomy as the stocks he owned. A few minutes earlier, when his stocks were plunging the hardest, Ma Xiaolin received a call.
The call was from his real estate company — they were the agents for a new property development scheduled to launch three days later, but just now, the building suddenly collapsed without any apparent cause. Fortunately, there were few people on site, so no casualties. Still, this building was now infamous — it had collapsed before anyone had even moved in. Who would dare buy such a place?
Ma Xiaolin felt like vomiting blood. After dealing with the building disaster, he was overwhelmed and exhausted. He had heard that gambling could turn one's luck around, so he crossed over to Macau, hoping to change his fortune. Unexpectedly, he became known as the "lucky light" of the casino. Every gambler in the entire casino followed his bets; as long as you bet opposite him, you were guaranteed to win and never lose.
Eventually, the casino owner intervened, returning all of Ma Xiaolin's lost money just to get him to leave quickly. Right after Ma Xiaolin stepped out, the casino blacklisted him as an unwelcome person, banning him for life from setting foot inside the casino. Ma Xiaolin became the first person in history, both in the East and West, to be blacklisted for being a "lucky light" in a casino.
From then on, bad luck kept following Ma Xiaolin. Luckily, his family fortune was strong enough that he wasn't ruined right away, but over time, who knew how it would end.
Ma Xiaolin always suspected that the white shadow he saw that night had done something to him, messing up his luck badly. So he started visiting Hong Kong's high-level occult experts. Several masters checked his face and calculated his fate, but none gave him any useful explanation.
At first, Ma Xiaolin thought the problem was with the new luminous pearls he had bought. So he invited Hong Kong's most famous metaphysics master to carefully examine the three pearls. Contrary to Ma's expectations, the master was fascinated with the pearls and said they emitted a peaceful aura, possessing the power to guide souls toward the heavenly realm.
The master even offered to buy one of the pearls on the spot. Ma Xiaolin naturally refused to sell easily, claiming he was selling on behalf of a friend, and set an exorbitant price exceeding a hundred million, which scared the master away.
Having ruled out the pearls as the source of trouble, Ma Xiaolin became even more frightened. He dared not stay in Hong Kong anymore and sent his family to Europe for safety. He himself came to the mainland, hoping to find an expert who could help turn his luck around.
Xiao Heshang frowned as he listened to Ma Xiaolin's story, then said, "Mr. Ma, from what you said, your misfortune began after you encountered that ghost. Did the ghost encounter happen in Hong Kong or on the mainland?"
Ma Xiaolin looked at Xiao Heshang and replied, "It was in Hong Kong. At my house in Mid-Levels. I've lived there for over thirty years; there shouldn't be any problem. Besides, after it happened, I invited several feng shui masters to check, and they all said there was nothing wrong."
"Whether there's a problem or not isn't decided by those feng shui masters," Xiao Heshang snorted, continuing, "Feng shui is just a minor branch of our Daoist Yin-Yang and Five Elements theory. When an evil spirit enters a house, unless one deliberately releases yin energy, the house's feng shui layout is hardly affected. The wind does not shake, the water does not move; yin and yang, five elements, do not interfere with each other. Feng shui practitioners naturally can't detect such things."
Ma Xiaolin felt sure this time he had found a way. Forget everything else, just by Xiao Heshang's looks, attire, and demeanor, he was undoubtedly a true enlightened master. His title — the 40th-generation leader of Lingyun Temple — sounded like he was on a completely different level than those so-called Hong Kong masters.
"Sir," Ma Xiaolin forced a smile at Xiao Heshang, "then what do you suggest? Should I tear down that building?"
"Tear down the building?" Xiao Heshang's face showed a strange smile. "It's too late! Mr. Ma, come here, let me take a look at your face."
"Old Xiao can read faces too?" Fatty Sun whispered to me.
"Yeah." I nodded slightly and replied in the same low voice, "When I was a kid, I saw him do face readings. I heard he was pretty accurate, but he hasn't done it for years now — he's been focusing on bone readings."
"Bone reading?" Fatty Sun was stunned for a moment but quickly caught on and chuckled, "This old guy…"
Meanwhile, Ma Xiaolin had already sat down opposite Xiao Heshang. Xiao Heshang looked over Ma's features, then said, "Mr. Ma, your facial features are not very…" His words were cut off suddenly as he shot his right hand like lightning, grabbing a handful of hair from the back of Ma Xiaolin's head. A shrill, woman-like scream echoed, and Xiao Heshang's hand seemed to have caught something.
At the same time, he pulled an ancient coin from his pocket. Both palms slowly came together, rubbing the coin back and forth. After just a minute or two, Xiao Heshang opened his hands, revealing only that ancient coin. Strangely, the coin was trembling continuously in his palm.
"Ah!" Ma Xiaolin screamed sharply, his legs going weak, slipping off the sofa to the floor. Xiao Heshang frowned and looked at him. "It's just seeing ghosts, why are you making such a fuss?"
Ma Xiaolin pointed at the still trembling coin in Xiao Heshang's palm. "Is this the thing that was caught in my hair? The one that's caused me so much bad luck all these days?"
Xiao Heshang ignored him, then pulled out a piece of red cloth from his pocket and placed the coin in its center. Strangely, the moment the coin touched the cloth, it stopped trembling and lay quietly inside. Xiao Heshang folded the cloth several times and put it back in his pocket.
"Sir, Master Hexiang, Master!" Ma Xiaolin was excited but unsure how to address Xiao Heshang. He pointed to the red cloth in his pocket. "Is this the white shadow I saw? Is this what's caused my long misfortune?"
He thought he had found the culprit and that his nightmare was over. Unexpectedly, Xiao Heshang shook his head. "I can't be sure if it's that, but it hasn't parasitized you for more than five days. Judging by the timing, it probably isn't."
Sun Fatty was okay with it, watching Xiao Heshang perform his tricks like a show. But I was stunned beside him. No way! When I came in, I had observed Ma Xiaolin carefully—there was nothing unusual about him. And in just a few minutes, a ghost was caught right behind his head?
Xiao Heshang then said to Ma Xiaolin, "Boss Ma, consider yourself lucky I came by today. If I had been a few days later…" He shook his head with a mock-serious expression.
Ma Xiaolin's face had turned deathly pale. He nodded repeatedly with Xiao Heshang's tone, "Yes, yes, Master saved my life, thank you so much. I will definitely repay you handsomely. But Master, what kind of demon is this? How did I attract it?"
Xiao Heshang replied, "To put it simply, what I caught just now is neither demon nor ghost. Calling it a strange beast might be more accurate. Its scientific name is Parasite — a parasite of parasites. It preys on people with poor luck and attaches to them. The infected feel nothing at first, but their vitality gradually weakens. They start with minor colds and fevers, then soon develop into incurable diseases. Those afflicted rarely live beyond six months."
After Xiao Heshang finished speaking, Ma Xiaolin sighed, hesitating to say something but ultimately remaining silent.
Xiao Heshang continued, "However, this parasite is just a minor ailment for you, Boss Ma. The real threat should still be inside your house."
Hearing this, cold sweat broke out on Ma Xiaolin's forehead. "Master, I…" Before he could finish, Xiao Heshang waved him off, "Don't worry, I'm here to deliver the Buddha's blessing all the way west. I still have a few days. After handling your matter, I will return to my Lingyun Temple." I silently added "Entertainment Company" in my mind.
Originally, Ma Xiaolin wanted to go straight to the airport and take the earliest flight to Hong Kong. But Xiao Heshang said he needed to prepare some talismans, so the trip was scheduled for noon the next day. Ma Xiaolin handed Xiao Heshang a HKD 1 million cashier's check, agreeing that it was only a deposit and the rest of the payment would be made after the job was done.
In the end, Ma Xiaolin thanked the three of us profusely and personally escorted us out of the hotel, even seeing us to the car. Once the car started moving, I couldn't help but ask Xiao Heshang, "Old Xiao, what's the deal with that parasite? I've never heard of it."
Xiao Heshang took out the check and examined it under the sunlight several times. Hearing my question, he reluctantly shoved the check into his pocket. "There are plenty of things you haven't heard about…" He was about to say more, but Sun Fatty interrupted, "Old Xiao, the check's just staying with you for now — a formal agreement."
"You can't leave out your share. You two aren't even as old as me; why would I want to cheat you?"
Sun Fatty was about to say more, but I stopped him. "Great Sage, just focus on driving. We'll talk when we get back to the Bureau." Sun Fatty smirked at me in the rearview mirror. I ignored him and continued, "Old Xiao, go on."
Maybe because of the million-dollar check in his pocket, Xiao Heshang's mood improved. He chuckled, "The parasite isn't fake. It really lives on humans. But I exaggerated a bit. It does drain the host's vitality, but it's far from fatal and causes almost no harm to the host."
After he finished, I suddenly remembered another question. "One more thing — why can't my Heavenly Eye see the parasite?"
Before Xiao Heshang could answer, Sun Fatty replied, "Because there's nothing behind Ma Xiaolin's neck, right? Old Xiao, when you reached for Ma Xiaolin, you had already caught the parasite. This time you didn't exorcise a ghost — you just pulled a trick."
Xiao Heshang stared at Sun Fatty, stunned for a moment. "Didn't expect that. Your eyes aren't big, but you focus well."
Several dozen minutes later, we returned to the Bureau. Xiao Heshang started preparing the tools for tomorrow. The night passed quietly. The next morning, when we arrived at the airport, Ma Xiaolin was already waiting.
There was a bit of trouble passing security. My handgun and baton were fine. Ouyang Pianzuo had a "Special Firearms Permit" valid for level-two restricted places including civil aviation cabins.
The problem was with Sun Fatty—he unexpectedly brought the Wealth Rat out with him, just in his pocket. Security found it. No matter how much Sun Fatty argued, it was no use. Finally, Ma Xiaolin used his airport VIP privileges to get both him and the rat on the plane.
Once on the plane, I asked Sun Fatty, "You think this is a vacation? Why bring it along?"
Sun Fatty grumbled, "You think I want to? I fed it this morning, it was fine. I said I was going to Hong Kong before leaving — honestly, I was just talking to the air. Suddenly, it darted into my pocket and refused to come out. I grabbed it, it bit me. Look at these teeth marks." He showed me his finger.
I looked at him, "Serves you right for acting cute!"
A few hours later, the plane landed at Hong Kong International Airport. Ma Xiaolin had already arranged two Mercedes cars to take us to his mansion in the Mid-Levels.
Before we arrived, a convoy of police cars passed us one after another.
"Old Ma, is something wrong at your place?" Sun Fatty asked Ma Xiaolin.
"Impossible!" Ma Xiaolin frowned, clearly annoyed with Sun Fatty. If not for needing us to handle something for him, he might have lost patience. "Mr. Sun, you really joke. Mid-Levels is a wealthy area. Any small stir, and the police get called. Can't help it—we taxpayers, ha…"
He laughed, but the smile soon stiffened. Not far ahead, five or six police cars were parked outside a large villa. Three or four reporters raised cameras, snapping photos inside.
The car stopped. Ma Xiaolin ignored us and jumped out, rushing to a police officer in charge. "Sir, what happened here?"
"Sir, what's going on inside?" Sun Fatty translated the conversation to me and Xiao Heshang.
A few hours earlier, someone viewing the house called the police—two people were found dead inside Ma Xiaolin's mansion. The viewer had contacted Ma Xiaolin, but since Ma turned off his phone before boarding and forgot to turn it back on after landing, he hadn't responded. When the viewer got worried and feared responsibility, he called the police.
The forensic examination was mostly done. Preliminary evidence showed these two were burglars who died of sudden heart attacks while stealing—both collapsed without much struggle.
"Heart attack? Honestly, if your heart's weak, don't steal. You get nothing and lose your life in someone else's house. That just causes trouble," Sun Fatty commented.
Xiao Heshang sneered, taking over Sun Fatty's words. "Heart attack? They were scared to death." He narrowed his eyes at the villa. "Looks like there's really something in there, pretty fierce."
Xiao Heshang's words startled me. "Old Xiao, can the three of us handle this? If not, say so now. We can call for backup at the Bureau. Don't let us get stuck at the end."
Sun Fatty agreed, "Yeah, Old Xiao, be honest. This isn't the time to bluff."
"Bluff?" Xiao Heshang laughed, "I'm the real deal! Today I'll show you what a master is."
Just then, Ma Xiaolin finished talking with the police and came over. "Three of you, you see, another problem today—deaths, damn it…"
Before he finished cursing, Xiao Heshang stopped him. "Boss Ma, stop wasting words. What's the situation inside? When can we go in?"
Ma Xiaolin sighed helplessly, "It's been ruled out as homicide. But by protocol, the crime scene has to be preserved for three days."
"Three days?" Xiao Heshang frowned, "I have to return to Lingyun Temple tomorrow… Boss Ma, looks like I won't have time to help you."
Ma Xiaolin's expression changed again. He treated Xiao Heshang like a sage; in his eyes, there was no ghost Xiao Heshang couldn't catch. Now hearing that Xiao Heshang might leave, he panicked. "Master, Great Sage, Holy Monk, Immortal." In his panic, he threw out every respectful title he could think of. After a while, he calmed down.
"Master, I'll arrange it so we can go in tonight. For your losses, I'll compensate… one… two million…"
Sun Fatty seemed not to have heard clearly. "What? Old Ma, say that again?"
Ma Xiaolin gritted his teeth, "Two million. Is that okay?"
"Ah!" Xiao Heshang sighed deeply, troubled. "Boss Ma, money is just an external thing. I'm doing this for you!"