Atlas of Heaven and Man

That evening, on Chang Street in Jia County.

Chen Chuan and Director Wang, along with several plainclothes officers from the Public Security Bureau, walked along the bustling street.

The night market street was lined with snack stalls, various shops hanging lanterns, selling all kinds of trinkets one after another, and even activities such as guessing lantern riddles, pitching pots, wrestling, and amateur opera performances, with occasional bursts of fireworks in the distance.

As a small county town, it was indeed very lively, and according to Director Wang, the Qiaoshen Festival would be the most boisterous, with almost half of the county's population coming out.

This was also the biggest concern of the Political Affairs Office, fearing that things would eventually get out of control, but they couldn't possibly order everyone not to come out, even if they made regulations, they wouldn't be able to enforce them.

But no matter what, at least the atmosphere in front of them allowed them to relax their tense emotions slightly.

Chen Chuan then said to them, "You'd better buy something, even if it's just a snack, if you don't buy anything, you might end up with that thing when you go back, of course, it's just a possibility."

Hearing him say this, Director Wang and the Public Security Bureau officers were all startled and quickly went to both sides to buy some things.

Chen Chuan waited for them to return and said, "Alright, there are no tasks tonight, everyone can just stroll around the night market."

Director Wang saw that he was standing still and not moving, and said, "Expert Chen, what about you? You... aren't you buying anything?"

Chen Chuan hummed in response.

Director Wang couldn't help but shiver.

This time, Chen Chuan didn't buy anything, nor did he eat anything. When the group walked out of the night market at around ten o'clock in the evening, he suddenly saw a trace of illusion appearing on his second self, and then he reached into his pocket and felt something that had suddenly appeared.

So it's here?

He reached out, took the thing out of his pocket, and looked at it in front of his eyes. It was indeed a concentric knot, but it wasn't new, but the one he had taken from the corpse during the day!

He had clearly put this thing in the car before, but now it had suddenly appeared in his pocket.

Director Wang was startled when he suddenly saw him take out this thing, and said, "Expert Chen, why did you bring this thing with you?"

Chen Chuan slowly said, "I didn't bring it, it appeared on its own."

"Wh-what?" Director Wang's voice trembled a little.

"Don't worry," Chen Chuan glanced at him, "I know what I'm doing."

The concentric knot in his hand was previously obtained by a person, but this person did not die because of the butterfly tattoo, but died because of some accident. And now that this thing is in his hands, then there is a place that contradicts the rules of the strange tale itself.

He wanted to see if this strange tale would just skip him, or if it couldn't continue without killing him.

If it's the latter, then as long as he doesn't die, then the remaining people won't die.

But if there is no effect, then he will change his method.

After leaving the night market, he came to the hotel arranged for him by Director Wang, which was also the best hotel in Jia County. He came to the front desk, signaled the people here to step aside first, and then made a phone call to Cheng Zitong, telling him the general situation and saying that he already had some clues.

Cheng Zitong said seriously, "Using this accidental death to find a breakthrough is a good way, but doing so is taking the confrontation with the strange tale upon yourself, Xiaochuan, are you confident?"

Chen Chuan said, "Teacher, I have confidence. When I discussed it with Director Lei before, he said that I have talents that I don't even know about, which can resist the invasion of strange tales. I think that's indeed the case."

Cheng Zitong hummed. Other people take on strange tale commissions, and there is a very long interval of time between them, and they inevitably feel inexplicably weak, but this student is always lively and kicking, and he frequently takes on commissions, and his spirit seems to be getting better and better, so he believes this statement.

But he still solemnly reminded, "Strange tales are, after all, strange tales. Even the best swimmers can drown, so even if you already have a lot of experience, you still have to be careful. Call me anytime if you have any problems."

"Okay, teacher."

After Chen Chuan hung up the phone, he stayed in this hotel. As for the concentric knot, he casually threw it away when he entered the hotel, but when he stayed down, he inadvertently felt it by the bedside.

He wasn't surprised by this.

Because this thing should have turned into a butterfly tattoo, but now, because of his second self, the invasion has been borne, so now it can only appear by his side in this way.

And throughout the night, he could feel a force constantly invading him, but it wasn't very strong, far from being comparable to the Flying Head Monster.

The next day, Director Wang ran over panting early in the morning. After knocking on the door, he couldn't wait to say, "Expert Chen, a skeleton has been found by the river, which looks a bit like a death caused by a butterfly tattoo."

Chen Chuan's eyes narrowed, "Where is the skeleton?"

"It has now been sent to the inspection department, and the results should be available soon."

Chen Chuan nodded, then he could only wait first, and only after confirming could he decide the next direction.

At noon, Director Wang ran to tell him that the cause of death of the corpse was indeed caused by the butterfly tattoo, but the remaining rotten flesh of this corpse was at least from seven days ago, that is to say, it was not recent.

Chen Chuan thought for a while and asked, "Have any other similar corpses been found?"

Director Wang shook his head.

Chen Chuan considered it. In this way, his method might be useful, but in order to be sure, he would need to wait two more days.

And that night, he found that the signs of illusion had suddenly deepened a lot, but his spirits were instead lifted, because he felt that he might have done the right thing.

The next day, throughout the whole day, there was still no news of any corpses being found. Although there were many missing and dead people, they didn't seem to be caused by butterfly tattoos. It seemed that the entire Jia County had been calm.

Chen Chuan was still waiting there. The signs of fading deepened further that night, even to the point of stimulating his mutated tissues. By this time, he was certain that his method was correct.

These kinds of urban legends are difficult to eliminate in one go. The most effective way to deal with them is to find the crux of the problem and then engage in a war of attrition.

He knew this was a tug-of-war; either the urban legend would exhaust him to death, or he would exhaust the power of the legend's source.

But the former was unlikely to happen, because if he sensed something was wrong, he would leave Jia County in advance. This was also the way to deal with most urban legends: leave the place where the legend was located. Unless it was manipulated artificially, it could generally be avoided.

However, in densely populated areas, the people living there couldn't just leave whenever they wanted.

When Director Wang came to see Chen Chuan on the third day, his mental state had become very good, no longer as frightened as he had been two days before.

He admired Chen Chuan very much, because Chen Chuan had come up with a solution on the very day he arrived, and in the past two days, there had indeed been no more butterfly tattoo incidents.

Chen Chuan knew that it was not yet time to truly relax. He said, "The matter is not over yet. The Qiaoshen Festival is in one more day. If we can get through this festival smoothly, then it will be fine. Otherwise, there will be trouble."

He privately judged that this urban legend was likely related to the Qiaoshen Festival, and tomorrow, when the festival arrived, it might usher in an even greater force of invasion.

Only by surviving that day could they truly pass this hurdle.

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Hearing him say this, Director Wang became uneasy again, but now he had confidence in Chen Chuan, and said, "Expert Chen, what do you need? Can I go prepare it?"

Chen Chuan pondered for a moment and said, "If there is anything to do, it is to keep too many people from coming near this hotel."

"Understood." Director Wang's expression was solemn. After he left the room, he immediately went to make arrangements.

Another day passed, and soon it was the day of the Qiaoshen Festival.

Chen Chuan found that his judgment was correct. With the arrival of the festival, the invasion of his Second Self suddenly increased, and as time went on, it was still continuously strengthening.

He believed that it was likely that the power of those scattered concentric knots was gradually gathering.

Then it would depend on which side could persevere.

Judging from the current level, it was still not comparable to the Flying Head monster last time. He almost couldn't survive last time, but that was because he also needed to fight the Flying Head at the same time. Now he didn't need to do that, so he could save a lot of overlapping time.

But in order to guard against accidents, he also asked the driver from the company to prepare outside. If he really felt that he might not be able to hold on, he would leave Jia County in advance, avoid this invasion first, and then think of a solution later.

At this moment, the Qiaoshen Festival outside had also entered a climax. The citizens of the county town had all come to the streets to revel tonight. This was also a rare festival in this small county town besides the New Year. Most people in the city would come out to relax.

Chen Chuan sat in the hotel, watching the fireworks rising and bursting outside the window, while feeling the strong stimulation as if he had used several times the dose of medicine.

He adjusted his breathing and guided the growth of the mutated tissues.

Time slowly passed. When it was twelve o'clock, as the noise outside ended, the feeling of continuous transmission gradually began to weaken, and soon returned to a lower level. Although it was still continuing, it was far less than before.

He knew that the most dangerous time had passed.

He didn't sleep, but sat there cross-legged all the time. The Snow Monarch Saber was placed by his hand where he could take it at any time. As the sky gradually brightened, a ray of sunlight shone in from outside.

He held the saber and walked down from the bed, came to the window, took a breath of fresh air, and looked at the rising sun gradually rising from the distant hillside.

At this moment, he suddenly felt something and reached into his pocket to take out the concentric knot, but he only took out a pile of decayed powder, and only a section of silk knot on the tassel remained.

He looked at his Second Self. There was only a faint sign of fading there. He knew in his heart that this urban legend had been resolved.

When the room was filled with sunlight, he heard a knock on the door outside, and Director Wang's cautious voice came: "Expert Chen, are you there?"

Chen Chuan said: "The door is unlocked, Director Wang, come in."

Director Wang heard his words were normal outside, and he was full of energy, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

He pushed the door in and saw Chen Chuan standing by the window looking at the scenery, so he came over to take a look and said, "This is the highest hotel in our Jia County. You can see most of the county town, and you can also see the Calabash River outside. I heard that the county town used to be prone to flooding. It was renovated during the Great Development period, and this situation rarely happens."

Chen Chuan nodded and said, "Director Wang, you can go and check those people who were detained and see if the butterfly tattoos on their bodies are still there."

Director Wang was stunned, and then ran out like a gust of wind.

In less than half an hour, Director Wang called, excitedly saying: "Expert Chen, it's gone, it's gone, the tattoos on their bodies have disappeared."

Chen Chuan could feel his excitement over the phone. He smiled and said, "That's good, Director Wang. Since this is the case, my commission in Jia County is considered complete. Then I will leave here later and return to Yangzhi."

"Wait a minute, please wait a minute," Director Wang said anxiously: "I'll see Expert Chen off."

Chen Chuan said okay. He packed up a bit, then came out of the hotel, told the company's driver, and waited there for the car to come.

In less than ten minutes, he saw Director Wang running over quickly, his forehead covered with sweat. He was also holding a book in his hand. Seeing that he was still there, he hurried up, handed the book to him, and sincerely said:

"Expert Chen, thank you for solving the trouble in our Jia County. I don't have anything to thank you with. I remember that Expert Chen seems to be interested in local customs and folklore. This "Legends of the Three Mountains" records many legends from the old era in several nearby counties and towns. I'll give it to Expert Chen, I hope you don't mind."

Chen Chuan took it, smiled, and said, "Thank you, Director Wang, I like this gift very much. I'm leaving, please go back." Director Wang waved his hand, got into the car, and Director Wang also waved his hand to him, and stood there, watching him go all the way, and did not leave for a long time.

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