There was some writing on it, though it was unclear whether it was in clerical or seal script. The characters read: Great Han, Commandant of the Capital. On the reverse side was a single large character: Guard. It seemed to be quite old; the badge was somewhat blackened, but if you looked closely, it appeared to have a deep, dark red hue, like dried blood.

Guard—was this an ancestral relic?

Evan Wade felt suspicious in his heart. Just as he was about to put it down, a sharp pain shot through his fingertip, as if something had pricked him. A drop of bright red blood welled up and fell onto the badge. Startled by the pain, he instinctively let go, and the badge clattered onto the draft paper on the desk.

It was just ordinary draft paper, yet lines of stern, murderous text began to appear on it as if by magic.

Herein lies chaos, the calamity of witchcraft and sorcery, evil miasma tainting the Divine Land. Under the jurisdiction of the Commandant of the Capital of the Great Han.

Those who violate the Divine Land, be they monsters or spirits, are to be hunted down and executed.

Evan Wade's eyes went blank. He reached out instinctively to pick up this wanted notice, but it felt as if he were being burned by flames—an endless, stabbing pain forced him to jerk his hand back. Beside the text, a pair of red embroidered shoes appeared, eerily vivid, as real as the wanted notice itself.

Chapter 0002: Dream

The strange vision quickly vanished.

Evan Wade snapped back to his senses, clutching his finger, hesitantly staring at the items on the desk.

The badge lay there quietly, looking exactly as it had before.

But on what had been plain white paper, words had truly appeared, along with that pair of red embroidered shoes—red soles with gold embroidery, seeming to glow faintly, looking extremely strange and uncanny. The burning sensation on Evan Wade's finger had not faded, the stabbing pain coming in waves, reminding him that what had just happened was not his imagination.

So, this badge is the identification of the Commandant of the Capital from the Great Han. Now that he had taken this token, did he have to catch this red embroidered shoe? Hm, catch ghosts?

Everything about this felt bizarre.

He had always been bold since childhood. He picked up the badge and turned it over and over, but found nothing unusual. Touching the white paper again, there was no more pain. Evan Wade frowned, his gaze falling on the computer beside him.

……

A moment later.

Evan Wade's fingers tapped on the keyboard, and the search engine displayed records about the Commandant of the Capital. He stared unblinkingly at the text, with the strange, ancient tiger badge and the sheet of paper now covered in writing lying beside him.

"Commandant of the Capital, formerly known as the Crouching Tiger."

It was a military official in ancient China.

Responsible for overseeing the capital and all the surrounding counties, with authority everywhere.

From marquises and imperial relatives down to the Three Excellencies, regardless of rank.

Entering the palace, taking the central path as an envoy, always arriving last and leaving first at court meetings.

After reading this information, Evan Wade closed his eyes for a moment.

Whatever else, entering the palace late and leaving early, wielding great power and authority—that was true. But it was still just an ancient supervisory official, nothing to do with investigating witchcraft or slaying monsters and spirits, as written on the paper.

Unless they supervised not only people, but also the demons and ghosts of the various provinces.

He tapped the keyboard to turn the page and continued reading.

It was a list.

The last few Commandants of the Capital during the Han dynasty.

First was Zhang Fei, and after his death, Zhuge.

Cao Cao had also once held the position of Commandant of the Capital.

If these figures could slay demons and exorcise evil, Evan Wade felt it wasn't so hard to accept.

He glanced at the quiet badge, then casually typed "red embroidered shoes" into the browser to search, but found nothing useful. Aside from some dubious ghost stories on forums, there were just a few hot-selling gold-embroidered red shoes on Taobao, looking quite antique and with a touch of ancient style.

Just as he was about to shut down the computer, he suddenly caught sight of a post on a forum and clicked on it.

[There was a murder in Fuchun Community, Quanshi. The victim was a young woman. Sigh, who knows who did it. Everyone in the city, be careful. It might be another psycho killer or something. Girls, don't go out at night, and if you're home alone, make sure to lock your doors!!!]

Fuchun Community?

Wasn't that right next door?

Evan Wade paused, scrolled down the page, and clicked on the post. He saw a somewhat blurry photo, probably taken secretly. A woman had her face covered with a white cloth, only her thick, jet-black hair visible, as if freshly washed and still dripping water. On her feet was a pair of blood-soaked, three-inch golden lotus red embroidered shoes.

Forcing a modern person to wear those ancient, torturous three-inch golden lotuses—no wonder they called it perverse.

"What a pity, so young."

Evan Wade sighed inwardly, his attention drawn to those red embroidered shoes—red soles with gold embroidery, looking both eerie and strangely beautiful. A sense of inexplicable familiarity surfaced. Evan Wade turned his head to look, and they were exactly the same as the red embroidered shoes on the white paper, matching even in the smallest details. He instinctively tried to enlarge the photo, but it was pointless—the image had already been deleted by the administrator.

But he was certain that the shoes on the deceased's feet were identical to those drawn on the paper.

Recalling the post and the sound of police sirens, after which the badge had reacted, it was clear that the red embroidered shoes had already been taken away. Evan Wade felt somewhat reassured, the earlier shock and faint fear fading away.

This was the natural trust that people living in modern China have in the police.