The journey was long, long enough for Wei Ming to read the booklet and case file back and forth ten times, with spare time to call over the accompanying officials to discuss the case together.

This case occurred on the fifteenth day of the seventh month of this year. According to the old customs of Liang Continent, a grand Sea God festival was held in the city every year during the Zhongyuan Festival. The locals believed that after death, souls sink to the bottom of the sea. Only on the day of Zhongyuan would the Sea God open the ghost gate wide, at which time the souls of the sleeping dead from the seabed would return on the waves to accept the worship and offerings of the living, only returning at dawn.

Therefore, every year as the Zhongyuan Festival approached, the local people would group themselves by clan and meticulously craft complex and gorgeous flower boats in advance. On the day of Zhongyuan, each clan would first parade the boats around the city during the day. In the evening, they would place the flower boats into the sea, burning them along with various paper offerings, praying for the Sea God's blessing for calm seas in the coming year and making offerings to their ancestors to ensure the clan's prosperity.

However, on the night of this year's Zhongyuan Festival, after the sacrifices to the Sea God, a few fishermen who lingered on the beach discovered a large ship that had been pushed ashore and grounded by the wind and waves. Out of curiosity, they decided to enter the cabin to investigate, only to find the furnishings in disarray, as if it had been ransacked. Yet, the entire cabin was eerily empty, with no bloodstains or signs of a struggle. The fishermen found it strange and groped their way to the lower-deck passenger cabins. This time, upon opening one, they were scared out of their wits—it was packed with dozens of people. Each one looked lifelike, but every single one was completely dead. Not a single living creature could be found on the entire ship.

The case was first reported to the Ministry of Justice, which dispatched officials to Liang Continent to investigate in person. However, after investigating on-site for two full months, the final case report submitted by the Ministry of Justice officials surprisingly failed to determine the cause of death. It also stated that the identities of the deceased were unknown and that no one had come forward to claim the bodies despite public notices. They speculated that the victims might have been pirates who had committed too many sins plundering at sea, provoking the Sea God to mete out punishment by taking all their souls away on the Zhongyuan Festival.

This case file was transferred from the Ministry of Justice to the Dali Temple and finally ended up on Wei Ming's desk, leaving His Highness, Prince Duan, silent for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.

So, his journey of a thousand li to Liang Continent to investigate the case was not entirely due to those trifling personal thoughts. He also considered that if this absurd Sea God case were left unattended, it would likely sink like a stone into the sea and become a muddled, unjust case.

One of the officials accompanying him on this case was his already familiar subordinate from the Dali Temple, Vice Minister He Guan. This man occupied a full two pages, front and back, in Chi Lian's booklet, not because he himself was particularly outstanding, but because his grandfather was the recently retired Left Prime Minister He Maoyi. The other, Shen Yunshan, was from the Censorate—and as luck would have it, was a student of Vice Censor-in-Chief Qin Shen.

Both were outstanding young men, slightly older than Wei Ming. They were respectful to him as a Prince but not sycophantic. Wei Ming could sometimes feel a shared hint of scrutiny in their gazes. The reason for this was not hard to understand; it was simply that they had been ordered by their elders and teachers to assess whether he was a branch sturdy enough to be entrusted.

Several days later, the ship neared the shore and entered the territory of Liang Continent.

Zhao Tingying, the Chief Administrator of Liangzhou, personally came out of the city to welcome them. He respectfully received Prince Duan's party into the Liangzhou Prefect's Manor. That evening, he gathered all the major and minor officials of Liang Continent for a banquet to welcome the imperial emissary. The hosts and guests all enjoyed themselves in a harmonious atmosphere. The reception was extremely thorough, and no fault could be found in either the grandeur or the etiquette.

Even Wei Ming felt a bit puzzled. Logically, Liang Continent was entirely within Prince Kang's sphere of influence. Even though Wei Ming arrived as both a prince and an imperial emissary, he had only recently been put into service, and his future was still uncertain. By common logic, even if it was to curry favor with Prince Kang, the officials of Liang Continent should have been somewhat cold towards them, not overflowing with an enthusiasm like that of unjustly wronged commoners who had finally seen justice arrive.

However, though he did not find fault, Zhao Tingying insisted on first penalizing himself with three cups of wine. In front of everyone, he gave Wei Ming a deep bow and earnestly explained, "The Governor-General's absence today is truly a slight to Your Highness. Recently, the sea pirates of Qiao Continent have shown signs of stirring again. Governor-General Fang has personally led troops to the front lines to set up defenses. The military situation cannot be delayed, so he was unable to come and welcome you. The Governor-General has ordered this subordinate and others to serve Your Highness with all our hearts. When he returns victorious after eliminating the sea pirates, he will surely come to apologize to Your Highness in person."

The Great Zhou Dynasty faced the sea to its west. The various prefectures built along the coast thrived with agriculture, fishing, industry, and commerce, making them a prosperous and rich prize that constantly attracted foreign tribes and pirates. Every year during summer and autumn, the pirates were especially rampant. Various regions were either guarded by garrisons or organized militias to resist them. Although there were occasional successes, they were never long-lasting. In the end, they could not solve the pirate scourge once and for all, and the coastal populace was thus plunged into dire straits.

Emperor Qiansheng had a great headache over this. The entire imperial court argued endlessly about it. After long deliberation, he finally appointed the famous general Fang Tianchong as the Prefect of Liangzhou five years ago, responsible for Liangzhou's coastal defense military affairs. This was because Liang Continent had a long and winding coastline, was rich in resources and population, and was simultaneously easy to attack but difficult to defend, with its principal city having always been the most severely plundered by pirates.

Fang Tianchong was originally a subordinate of Great General Shenwu, Wei Chenwu. After Wei Chenwu died of illness, he first presided over military affairs in the northern border for a period before being transferred to Liang Continent. There, he devoted himself to training the navy, expanding his troops, and reorganizing defenses. After a few years, his efforts proved quite effective, and he achieved several major victories in succession. Emperor Qiansheng finally saw hope in him. Upon the recommendation of court officials, he was also appointed as the West Sea Governor-General, tasked with overseeing the coastal defense affairs of Chenzhou, Liang Continent, and Qiao Continent.

Such a high-ranking official commanding a large army in the frontier was someone even Emperor Qiansheng had to treat with some deference, let alone Wei Ming. He waved his hand, unconcerned, and said amiably, "Governor-General Fang is fighting on the front lines, serving the country with loyalty. What crime is there in that? This Prince should be the one to respect him. When the Governor-General achieves a great victory, I will surely have to borrow Chief Administrator Zhao's good wine to celebrate his success properly."

Seeing him so cooperative, Zhao Tingying's attitude became even more agreeable and attentive. After three rounds of wine, everyone was three or four parts drunk. Wei Ming put down his cup, feigning a bit of intoxication, and lazily asked, "Chief Administrator Zhao, come tell this Prince about your Sea God case... What exactly is going on?"

With dazed, drunken eyes, Zhao Tingying sighed with a troubled expression, "Your Highness, please understand. This subordinate has lived for forty years and has truly never seen such a shocking matter. I'm afraid if I speak of it, Your Highness will think it's just this subordinate's drunken nonsense... but this is absolutely true, and it happened right under everyone's noses!"

Wei Ming said, "Go on, let me hear it."

Zhao Tingying leaned closer to Wei Ming and whispered conspiratorially, "Your Highness, do you believe there are demons in this world?"

Wei Ming: "..."

He gave a dry laugh, clearly looking like he didn't believe a single word, but said aloud, "Continue, Lord Zhao. What about demons?"

Zhao Tingying slapped his thigh with a "pa" and exclaimed loudly, "The Sea God case wasn't committed by ordinary murderers at all! It was demons eating people!"

Wei Ming: "...What evidence do you have?"

"It's precisely because there is no evidence—we can't find any evidence at all!" Zhao Tingying said. "Even when pirates kill people, there are stab wounds and signs of a struggle. As long as it's something done by humans, it will always leave a trace, wouldn't you say? But there were no marks on the bodies of the dead. Including the ten coroners we borrowed from the county, we examined them over and over for three whole days! We didn't even spare a strand of hair or a toenail. We examined them until the bodies stank, and still couldn't figure out how these people died."

"What about their identities? If you can't find the cause of death, you can at least find their identities, right?" Wei Ming asked. "The disappearance of a large group of living people couldn't possibly go unnoticed."

"Isn't that the truth," Zhao Tingying sighed. "Three painters worked day and night to draw portraits, which were posted all over the city. We went door-to-door inquiring for information. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack, but we still came up with nothing."

Wei Ming said, "Then what about that ghost ship? There must be some traces on the ship that can be followed."

Zhao Tingying took a drink of wine to calm his nerves and said with lingering fear, "With such a bizarre incident, how could this subordinate dare to delay? I immediately sent a messenger on a fast horse to inform the Governor-General, asking him to dispatch troops to surround that ghost ship and forbid any unauthorized personnel from approaching."

"Oh?" Wei Ming held his wine cup but didn't drink, as if he were merely using the action to think. The corner of his mouth curled into a playful smile. "You reported it to Governor-General Fang?"

Zhao Tingying said with an apologetic smile, "Your Highness, please understand. Governor-General Fang oversees the coastal defenses of three continents and also holds the position of Liangzhou's Prefect. He is the chief official of Liangzhou City, responsible for its people's welfare. With such a major incident occurring under his jurisdiction, how could we not report it to him immediately?"

"Chief Administrator Zhao's considerations are correct," Wei Ming agreed. "Although Governor-General Fang is the Prefect, he must be busy with military affairs. All matters in Liangzhou City are handled by you, the Chief Administrator. It must have been very hard on you all these years, hasn't it?"

Zhao Tingying hurriedly and humbly said, "It is my duty to share the nation's burdens. How could I dare speak of hardship?"

Wei Ming said, "Where are the fishermen who discovered the ghost ship now? If I have time tomorrow, I'd like to have a chat with them."

This time, Zhao Tingying did not answer immediately. A very ugly, bitter smile formed on his face.

Wei Ming had a bad feeling. "What is it?"

"Your Highness, those people... I'm afraid it won't be easy to see them," he said miserably. "They all drowned. Not a single one survived."

Wei Ming was startled. "All dead? Why wasn't this mentioned in the case file sent from the Ministry of Justice?"

Zhao Tingying said, "Ever since those people boarded the ghost ship, they haven't been in their right minds. Every day they would either mutter to themselves while staring at the ceiling or scream like madmen that there were ghosts. When the official from the Ministry of Justice questioned them, they could no longer even recognize people and couldn't say anything coherent. On the thirteenth of the ninth month, it rained heavily. Someone said they saw them heading towards the seashore. After the rain finally stopped, their families went to look for them and only found their bodies floating in the sea."

It was hard to describe Wei Ming's mood at that moment. It was as if he were choking on a whole pebble—unable to spit it out, chew it, or swallow it. Zhao Tingying, observing his expression, cautiously and somewhat probingly tried to persuade him, "Your Highness, it's truly not that this subordinate is being negligent, making up supernatural excuses to shirk responsibility. This case is just too bizarre; it doesn't seem like something humans could do. Even the yamen runners don't dare to investigate further. Who among those living by the sea doesn't believe in ghosts and gods? What if it really is the work of a demon?"

"Mm," Wei Ming nodded and said understandingly, "I know. This case does feel off."

Hearing him say this, Zhao Tingying's brow instantly relaxed. But then, he heard Wei Ming continue, "But it doesn't matter. This Prince used to be a cultivator."

He lowered his gaze to the wine cup in his hand, a cold smile on his lips, and said unhurriedly yet indisputably, "Catching ghosts and exorcising demons—that's what I'm best at."