Huang Ran… I racked my brain trying to recall, but I didn't think there was any file on him in the Archives. That didn't mean the department heads didn't know who he was, though. Aside from Director Hugo, the other three—Hao Wenming, Qiu Bulao, and the ever-smiling Ouyang Pianzuo—all showed visible changes in their expressions when they heard the name. I edged closer to Po Jun and asked him quietly, "Who's Huang Ran?"
Before Po Jun could answer, Gao Liang slammed the photo down onto the table and said, "Everyone except the department heads, Consultant Xiao… and Yang Jun from Room Six, get out and wait outside." As soon as Director Gao spoke, most of the people in the room stood up and filed out. It was only then that I noticed Room Five's director, Lin Feng, had also been in the conference room. He'd been buried among a group of investigators, only becoming visible now as the crowd cleared. At this point, the only person missing was Wu Rendi.
We didn't go far after leaving the room. Most of us clustered near the windows at the end of the hallway, chatting and smoking in small groups. Not long after, we saw Wang Ziheng walk out of the conference room. He glanced in our direction, his expression somewhat awkward, as if unsure whether he should come over. Just then, Sun Fatty shouted at him in confusion, "Deputy Wang—Director, aren't you supposed to be in there? Weren't all the department heads supposed to stay for the meeting? Even Yang Jun is still in there—how come you're out here?"
Wang's expression stiffened. He ignored Sun Fatty, turned around, and walked away without a word. Sun Fatty watched his back with a grin, a sly glint in his eyes. "Let's see if you still dare mess with Grandpa Sun after this."
While Sun Fatty was teasing Wang Ziheng, I stayed beside Po Jun, asking him about Huang Ran. Thankfully, I'd chosen the right person to ask—aside from the department heads, Po Jun was one of the few who knew anything about Huang Ran's background.
Before getting to Huang Ran, Po Jun first gave some context. He explained how, after the Religious Affairs Commission relocated to Taiwan, it gradually declined. In 1985, its president, Min Tianzong, passed away peacefully at the age of 105, marking the end of the Commission's existence.
No one expected that in the early 1990s, a new religious organization in Japan would be registered under the same name: the Religious Affairs Commission. The legal religious representative of this organization was none other than Huang Ran. At that time, Japan had an overwhelming number of religious groups, so no one paid much attention. After quietly reviving the Commission, Huang Ran came to mainland China under the guise of a Singaporean Chinese expatriate. He started working as an investment advisor for a joint venture bank, and six months later, moved on to become the investment department manager of a large real estate company.
Soon after, the real estate company acquired a plot of land in the suburbs of a southern city. While laying the foundation, they unearthed a mass grave left behind by the invading Japanese army. The night the grave was discovered, people within a ten-mile radius reported hearing horrifying, mournful wails. Countless misty human figures were seen wandering around the pit. One of the company's on-site workers died from fright on the spot.
The case reached the Bureau the following day, and Director Gao personally led a team to investigate. When they arrived, they were stunned to find the matter already resolved. A single investment manager from the company—Huang Ran—had set up a ritual formation at the site to appease the souls of the dead. He had calmed the wrath of thousands of wronged spirits. Even the senior directors who accompanied Gao Liang couldn't claim they could have accomplished that so easily.
What astonished Gao Liang even more was that the formation Huang Ran used followed the Bureau's own method of spiritual suppression—but it was significantly more powerful. When questioned, Huang Ran explained that the techniques had been passed down in his family. His maternal grandfather had been a key figure in the Religious Affairs Commission during the Republic of China era and had taught him everything.
Since most ritual formations in the world follow similar Taoist principles of gathering and dispersing souls, their shared lineage wasn't particularly surprising. After all, the Bureau itself was originally derived from the Religious Affairs Commission. That said, while the resemblance wasn't alarming in itself, Huang Ran's talents certainly caught Director Gao's attention. Gao Liang began considering bringing the young man into the Bureau.
Huang Ran's entry into the Bureau went unusually smoothly—in hindsight, a little too smoothly. Gao Liang barely had to make any effort. Huang Ran expressed immediate and intense interest in joining the Bureau once he learned about its nature. Just like that, he was brought onboard and assigned under Hao Wenming. Back then, the Bureau was much smaller than it is today; even combining all the departments, there were only about thirty people. Among them, Huang Ran's abilities were second only to Wu Rendi.
During his time at the Bureau, Huang Ran stuck to his work routine, but spent nearly all his free time in the Archives—just like I do now. At the time, there were no rules prohibiting investigators from staying in the Archives overnight, and Huang Ran practically lived there, burning the midnight oil. Outside the Archives, the only place he frequented was Wu Rendi's Room Six. He'd show up there constantly, pestering Wu Rendi with questions no matter how coldly he was received.
After successfully handling several major incidents, with Huang Ran taking the lead, Gao Liang even considered promoting him to director and creating a new Room Seven. But just then, Director Gao accidentally discovered the registration of the Religious Affairs Commission in Japan a few years prior. Once he confirmed that Huang Ran was the religious representative of that group, alarm bells began to ring. Gao Liang started a quiet investigation into Huang Ran's background through special channels.
The results were chilling. It turned out that the story Huang Ran had told about his grandfather being a core member of the original Commission wasn't entirely false—such a man did exist and did have a grandson. The problem was, that grandson wasn't surnamed Huang and had suffered from polio as a child. He now relied on a wheelchair or crutches to get around.
As the investigation deepened, Gao Liang was horrified by what he discovered. Huang Ran's great-grandfather was Min Tianzong, the same Min Tianzong who had once presided over the Religious Affairs Commission. Min had married nine times in his life but fathered only one daughter. That daughter had an unfortunate fate—she didn't marry until she was thirty-six and died in childbirth at forty-two, leaving behind a baby girl. Despite sacrificing ten years of his own life essence, Min couldn't save his daughter.
Because she died during childbirth, Min Tianzong had little affection for his granddaughter at first. It wasn't until she grew up, got married, and gave birth to a great-grandson that his attitude changed. That great-grandson was Huang Ran.
Min Tianzong was extremely wealthy, and from the moment Huang Ran was born, he was designated as Min's sole heir. Raised by Min from infancy, Huang Ran began learning spells at age three. By five, he had already mastered the Seven-Star and Eight-Trigram footwork. Under Min Tianzong's strict training, by the time Huang Ran was in his early twenties, his skills were already unmatched in the supernatural world.
When Huang Ran first arrived on the mainland, one of the foreign shareholders of the joint-venture bank he worked for was none other than the Min Tianzong Sect Heritage Management Fund. The real estate company that employed him had developed so smoothly in recent years precisely because it secured a massive loan from that joint-venture bank. Linking these pieces of information together, Gao Liang felt a chill run down his spine. To outsiders, he was a cunning old fox spoiled by too much success—but who would've thought this overfed fox had been played like a fiddle by a man not even thirty?
After learning Huang Ran's true background, Bureau Chief Gao didn't change his attitude toward him outwardly, but he had already begun to guard against him in secret. Gao Liang originally planned to keep a low profile and wait for Huang Ran to slip up on his own. But unexpectedly, Huang Ran must have sensed something. One night not long after, he vanished from the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation without a trace—and along with him disappeared nearly a quarter of the archive room's files. (It was after this incident that the rule prohibiting investigators from staying overnight in the archives was implemented.) What made Gao Liang want to cough up blood was that Huang Ran even managed to sneak into the Bureau's fourth underground level. That floor was supposed to be exclusive to bureau chiefs; since its construction, no outsider had ever entered except for those personally escorted by Gao Liang himself.
As for what exactly Huang Ran obtained in that fourth underground level, Gao Liang never spoke a word. He gritted his teeth and kept it buried deep inside. But rumors persisted—some said Huang Ran's real target had been the most secretive part of the Bureau: the fifth underground level. Because he couldn't figure out how to access it, he left empty-handed on that front. Still, no thief leaves without loot. Before his escape, he made off with several artifacts from Level Four—any one of which could have served as the Bureau's treasure of the house. Gao Liang had never taken a loss this severe; at the time, he was so angry he nearly coughed up blood. Since that day, Huang Ran vanished from the world. No one expected him to resurface more than twenty years later.
After finishing his story, Pojun lit a cigarette, took a slow drag, and said, "I don't know what the hell Huang Ran is thinking, daring to show his face anywhere near the Bureau again. Lazi, I'm telling you, even if we have to blow a hole in the sky, this time we must drag that bastard out—otherwise Chief Gao won't die in peace."
"Dajun, there's still something I can't wrap my head around." I frowned as I asked Pojun, "Twenty years ago, when Huang Ran stole those files and snuck into the fourth underground level, where was Wu Rendi? Are you telling me someone could rob the Bureau and he wouldn't know about it?"
Pojun glanced at me with a strange expression and said, "Word is, he was in the Bureau at the time. As for why he didn't arrest Huang Ran… well, that's the million-dollar question. There were a few different theories. One says Director Wu didn't care about what Huang Ran stole—wasn't worth his time. Another theory's more outrageous: it claims Huang Ran joined the Bureau not to steal files, but to poach Wu Rendi himself—to get him to lead the revival of the Religious Affairs Commission. And Wu Rendi had already been swayed. The two of them had planned to leave together, but for some reason, Wu changed his mind at the last moment. If he hadn't, forget Level Four—everything in Level Five would've been cleared out too."
Here, Pojun paused and took a hard drag on his cigarette before continuing, "There's also one more theory. They say that the moment Huang Ran made his move, Wu Rendi noticed. He was on the scene immediately, but for some unknown reason, he let Huang Ran go."
Just as I was about to dig deeper into those details, the conference room door opened. Sun Fatty's secretary, Wang Lu, stepped out and said, "Chief Gao wants everyone back inside to continue the meeting."
When we reentered the conference room, we noticed that all the directors present—except for Nicholas and Hugo—wore grim expressions. After we were all seated, Gao Liang began, "The directors and I just finished a discussion. We must take this wolf incident in Xinjiang very seriously. The wolf pack has already shown signs of demonic mutation, which is a dangerous signal. It's also possible that the mutation isn't confined to just a few individuals. The entire pack may be affected."
Gao paused to take a sip of water before continuing, "We must eliminate any possibility of a mass mutation at the root. To ensure absolute containment, everyone except for administrative personnel will deploy to the scene. Due to potential interference from unpredictable factors, I expect everyone to remain extremely cautious and follow the directors' commands. We'll be splitting into two groups: one to eliminate the wolf pack—" here, his voice lowered slightly, "—and the other to neutralize those unpredictable elements. Now let's assign tasks."
Scanning the room, Chief Gao said, "Director Hao Wenming of Room One, along with all Room One investigators and Yang Jun of Room Six, will be paired with local military units to eliminate the wolf pack. Everyone else will focus on removing the unidentified threats. Further assignments will be given based on the situation at the scene. Any questions?"
"Yes!" Sun Fatty immediately raised his hand and stood up. "Chief Gao, if I understand correctly, the five of us, plus a few soldiers, are going to handle hundreds of wolves—while you send over a hundred people to deal with three unpredictable humans? I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but that's what you mean, right?"
Gao Liang shot him a glance and said, "That's exactly what I mean. Got a problem with that?"
Sun Fatty bared his teeth and slumped into his chair. "No, just confirming."
Gao couldn't be bothered with further debate. "Get ready. The Bureau will issue cold-weather gear. We depart from the parking lot in thirty minutes—don't be late."
As soon as we left the conference room, Sun Fatty was already pulling a long face. He turned to me and muttered, "We're really walking into a den of wolves this time. Lazi, we're counting on you—hundreds of wolves, but with your aim, you can handle ninety or so by yourself, right?"
I shot him a look. "Why don't you just say I should handle them all?"
Before he could keep talking nonsense, Hao Wenming intercepted us. "Hold up. Don't rush off just yet. Head over to Ouyang Pianzuo's office to collect your special equipment."
That puzzled me. "Special equipment? Hao, we've only got half an hour—will we make it?"
"It won't take long. Grab the gear and go."
Sun Fatty caught the hint. "Hao, don't tell me we're going undercover again. What are we this time—Wildlife Protection Association?"
Hao Wenming hesitated for a moment. "We're there to hunt wolves. What are we protecting?"
By now, Pojun and the white-haired Yang Jun had also caught up.
We chatted as we walked, soon arriving at the door of Room Five. Ouyang Pianzuo was already waiting outside, speaking in his thick Northwestern accent. "What took you slowpokes so long?"
He ushered us into the office, where four sets of military uniforms lay neatly on a long table, with four identical long cases lined up on the floor beside them. As soon as I saw the uniforms, I had a good idea what was going on. I turned to Hao Wenming and Ouyang Pianzuo and asked, "So these are our disguises for the mission?"
"Yeah," Hao replied. "Except for Sun Dasheng, we're posing as temporarily deployed officers from a field unit of the Xinjiang Military District, assisting the local garrison in dealing with the wolf threat."
"Wait, what do you mean, except for me?" Sun Fatty protested. "What am I supposed to be?"
Hao Wenming looked him up and down with a sigh. "Dasheng, come on. You in a military uniform? Take a look in the mirror—you wouldn't even believe it."
As he spoke, Ouyang Pianzuo pulled out a stack of IDs and handed one to Sun Fatty. It read: Deputy Captain Sun Desheng, Comprehensive Enforcement Unit, Forestry Police Bureau, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
Sun Fatty turned the ID over and over. "You've had this ready for a while, haven't you, Ouyang?"
Ouyang shot him a glare. "Quit yapping and check your gear. If everything's good, get moving—Fatty Gao is waiting downstairs."
Each of us got one long case. When I opened mine, I found a QBZ-95 assault rifle and four preloaded magazines. Two of them were marked with red lines—clearly something special. Seeing this familiar weapon again stirred something in me.
Hao Wenming and Pojun took it in stride, but Yang Jun frowned when he saw the rifle. "Firearms… not really my thing." He tried to return the case to Ouyang Pianzuo, but Sun Fatty stopped him. "Just carry it. Better safe than sorry. You can always fire a couple of shots—it'll feel like hunting."
Yang Jun gave him a look, then strapped the case on his back, clearly not fond of modern weapons.
I checked my rifle over—standard issue, no visible runes. Didn't seem like Bureau gear at all. Ouyang Pianzuo chuckled. "Don't overthink it. Just your everyday QBZ-95. Technically, it's more a prop than actual gear." As he spoke, he picked up one of the red-marked mags, pulled out a bullet, and laid it in his palm.
This rifle round was engraved with runes like the Bureau's pistol ammo, but its bullet wasn't silver—it looked like it had been dipped in red lacquer, completely obscuring the metal underneath. On that red surface, strange runic sigils were carved. The bullets in the unmarked mags, by contrast, had standard copper heads with no markings at all. I was still wondering when Ouyang said, "These are old stock—don't have many left, so use them sparingly."
There wasn't anything else in the case. I looked up and asked, "So, the rifle's a prop, and these bullets count as our 'special gear'? Seems a bit light."
Ouyang rolled his eyes. "What else do you want? Fighter jets? Artillery? And hey—if you've got any bullets left, make sure you bring them back to me."
I was about to double-check the rifle when Ouyang started ushering us out. "Quit staring. Nothing from my office is second-rate. Time's up—Fatty Gao's waiting."
We hadn't even changed clothes. By the time we reached the parking lot, everyone else was already assembled. The five of us crammed into a single vehicle and set off with the main team toward the airport.