Before long, the young woman woke up, then stared blankly and foolishly smiled: “So many dolls, so many dolls, Henry, I’m going to be a mother, I have so many dolls now…”

　　Charles Foster said, “To the upper house!”

　　At night, the checkpoint between the upper and lower houses was still guarded. Seeing the three of them approaching, a man shouted, “Who goes there…”

　　“Get lost!”

　　“How dare you, you…”

　　“Official business from the Heavenly Monitoring Bureau, all unrelated persons clear the way.”

　　Charles Foster took out a wooden plaque the size of a child’s palm.

　　In the flickering firelight, a blood-red glow pulsed on the plaque.

　　The man shuddered inside and quickly pulled open the wooden door.

　　When the Heavenly Monitoring Bureau is handling a case, any obstruction is treated as demonic activity.

　　The New Han Dynasty always executed first and reported later when it came to demons!

　　Charles Foster led the way, and the three of them headed straight for the ancestral hall.

　　The ancestral hall of the Zhong family was a large stone house. Pushing open the main door, directly ahead stood a stone Buddha statue as tall as two people. According to custom, ancestral tablets should be placed beneath the Buddha, but this hall had a unique style: in front of the Buddha were only an incense burner and offerings, with no tablets.

　　Instead, inside the house, a large red lacquered coffin was propped up on benches, and between the door and the coffin was a delicate paper bridge.

　　This was called the Ascension Bridge, connecting two ends—one to the coffin of the living world, the other to the Yellow Springs of the underworld.

　　After a person dies, the Ascension Bridge is set up, and the underworld messengers will cross the bridge from the netherworld to take away the soul.

　　At the end of the Ascension Bridge was the mouth of the coffin, and between the two sat an ancient, simple bronze bell.

　　This was the Soul-Summoning Bell. When the soul returns on the seventh night, the bell can summon the soul of the deceased back, to cross the Ascension Bridge and take one last look at the living world.

　　A young woman with a slightly rounded belly was tending the eternal lamp. Seeing the three of them suddenly enter, she was startled: “Who are you? This is the Zhong family’s sacred ground, outsiders are not allowed!”

　　Daniel Bennett: “Then just consider us insiders, and we’ll be allowed in, right?”

Chapter 011: The Underworld Messenger Ran Away

　　At the woman’s cry, the surrounding residents hurried over and surrounded them, their gazes unfriendly.

　　The middle-aged man they had seen that morning stepped forward and said, “Sirs, why did you come to our ancestral hall without notifying us?”

　　David Bennett shouted angrily, “I report directly to the Heavenly Monitoring Bureau, and any news I have is for the Emperor. Why would I report to you?”

　　“Or do you want to be the Emperor?”

　　The brocade short robes on the three of them shimmered with a mysterious black light in the flickering fire, as if coated with ink, or shrouded in a cold, ghostly aura.

　　And his last words were colder than any ghostly chill.

　　The Zhong family members around them all shivered.

　　The middle-aged man immediately knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly: “This humble one wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare!”

　　At this moment, the crowd parted, and an old man limped over with the help of a young man—it was the current patriarch of the Zhong family, Robert Bell.

　　But no one paid him much mind; several people wanted to speak with Charles Foster.

　　At this moment, the young man supporting Robert Bell stepped forward with a stern face and said, “The patriarch is here, do you think it’s your place to speak?”

　　Charles Foster said coldly, “Patriarch Zhong, we greeted each other during the day, so I’ll get straight to the point. There’s a ghost in your Zhong family, I’m here to catch it, just doing my duty. You understand, right?”

　　Robert Bell grinned and said, “Officer Foster, you’re too serious. Of course I understand.”

　　Charles Foster said, “Good. Then I have some things to investigate. Earlier, when I was up the mountain, I heard someone say a child in your family ran into a ghost? What’s going on?”

　　Robert Bell blinked, trying to play dumb, but William Clark pulled out Henry Bell.

　　Seeing this, he said, “Sorry to trouble you, officer. It was just an old woman making a fuss— the child only had a nightmare.”

　　Charles Foster threw a spirit coin on the ground and said, “At my command, I’m afraid every child in the upper house will have nightmares tomorrow!”

　　Seeing the spirit coin, Robert Bell’s face changed dramatically.

　　He hesitated several times, then finally cupped his hands and said, “Officer, our Zhong family’s child really didn’t see a ghost!”

　　He gave orders to those around: “Those with the ‘Wen’ generation stay, everyone else go back and rest early. There’s work in the fields at noon tomorrow.”

　　The crowd dawdled, reluctant to leave.

　　There’s nothing to do in the countryside at night, and now that something exciting was happening, how could they miss it?

　　Robert Bell’s grandson stepped forward and shouted sternly, “Patriarch Youfu’s body is barely cold, and the ancestral hall where our ancestors rest is right here. Are you going to disobey the patriarch’s orders in front of them?”

　　William Clark said coldly, “That’s right, think about it. Your patriarch Samuel Bell died of a sudden illness at home just a few days ago, remember? His coffin is still in the ancestral hall, watching you right now!”

　　The group looked at each other, and finally left reluctantly.

　　Robert Bell ignored this, still grinning foolishly: “Wen Ying, go bring Xiao Shitou over.”

　　A man answered and disappeared into the darkness.

　　Soon he returned carrying a child—the same child William Clark had exchanged the spirit coin for during the day.

　　But the child was no longer lively as before. Now, his face was expressionless, his whole body stiff, and his eyes were rolled back so only the whites showed. The man holding him looked like he was carrying a wooden doll.

　　Even stranger, after being set down, the child walked straight into the ancestral hall, his little legs moving quickly, darting up the Ascension Bridge in a flash.