Atlas of Heaven and Earth-Chapter 138: Butterflies

When Chen Chuan arrived at the company, he saw a man in his thirties wearing the public uniform of the administrative department. The man's eyes lit up when he saw Chen Chuan and took the initiative to shake his hand.

"So, you must be Expert Chen. I am Wang Bian from the Jia County government office. Expert Chen can call me Officer Wang, or just Little Wang." He seemed very enthusiastic, without any airs of a government office employee, and even a bit deliberately ingratiating.

Chen Chuan shook his hand and said, "Hello, Officer Wang."

After exchanging greetings, they sat down, and Officer Wang sighed, saying, "This Supernatural Entity has been causing panic recently, and we really have no way to deal with it, so we contacted a colleague in the Government Affairs Hall in Yangzhi City, who recommended your company to me. Oh, I heard that your company solved the Flying Head Monster incident before, amazing, truly amazing."

Chen Chuan said, "I heard a rough outline before coming. Can Officer Wang tell me the details?"

Officer Wang said distressedly, "Oh, it's like this…"

Under his narration, Chen Chuan and Ren Shu gradually understood the matter.

Due to local customs in Jiaxian County, many young people in the county town like to get tattoos. Recently, some people have discovered that a butterfly-shaped pattern inexplicably appears on their bodies, and it cannot be washed off.

Because this tattoo is very beautiful and vividly lifelike, seeming to dance gracefully with body movements, those with this tattoo show it off to others. But when asked where it came from, no one can say for sure.

However, these young people soon realized something was wrong, because the number of these tattoos increased almost daily, and within a few days, they covered their entire bodies.

The most terrifying thing is that these tattoos densely overlap each other, and once there is no empty space left on the body, they turn into real butterflies and fly away from the body. Not just from the skin surface, but even from the internal organs, butterflies fly out.

Only then did people realize that the tattoos also existed inside the body, but were invisible. In the end, the person was left with a pile of rotten flesh and bones full of holes.

When Officer Wang said this, he also showed a look of horror. He had seen the corpse, vomited on the spot, and had nightmares for several days afterward, waking up in the morning.

In just ten days, the local government office received more than a dozen similar cases. This is just what was reported; there's no telling how many unreported cases there are.

If it were just the common people having problems, it would be one thing, but the government office officials were also worried that they and their relatives and friends would be infected with this thing, so they ordered these people to be arrested. However, this was only a temporary solution, and similar cases continued to occur.

The most troublesome thing is that some people, with unknown motives, deliberately tattooed themselves with this thing after hearing about it, increasing the difficulty of handling the matter. This led them to seek experts everywhere to deal with it.

After listening, Chen Chuan's expression became serious. He considered it and said, "I understand the situation. I need to check some data on this matter and will reply to you this afternoon."

Officer Wang said, "Okay, then I'll leave it to Expert Chen. I'll wait for Expert Chen's reply at your company."

After Chen Chuan returned, he looked through the Supernatural Entity data that Cheng Zitong had given him. These days, he had been reviewing these things in his spare time every night to increase his knowledge and understanding, but due to the large number, he hadn't finished reviewing them yet.

He checked the compiled catalog and confirmed that the recorded Supernatural Entities did not include this butterfly tattoo. This meant that this was a Supernatural Entity that Cheng Zitong had never seen or heard of.

He wasn't very confident about such a commission and could have declined it, but after careful consideration, he decided to give it a try.

Having encountered many Supernatural Entities and seen many examples, he had also gained some experience.

The Supernatural Entities encountered before, including those mentioned in the data, were mostly fixed in one place, and the range was not very large. They might cause chaos in a certain area, but unless there were human-driven or participating factors like the Feitou Cult, they were generally not enough to cause social-level turmoil and unrest.

Supernatural Entities that can spread like this usually have a source. As long as the source is removed, the matter can be resolved.

Speaking of which, the Supernatural Entities he had dealt with before basically had data summaries and precedents to follow, so he just had to do things step by step. He had never independently handled this kind of unknown entity before.

But as he came into contact with more and more commissions in this area, he would always encounter similar Supernatural Entities, so this time he didn't plan to avoid it, but instead tried to actively solve it.

However, although he had an idea, he didn't lose the necessary caution. He called Cheng Zitong to consult on the matter and explained his analysis.

After listening, Cheng Zitong said, "Little Chuan, your thinking is correct, assuming the information is accurate. Sometimes, what influences your judgment is not the Supernatural Entity itself, but people."

Chen Chuan said, "Teacher, I understand what you mean. Because Supernatural Entities influence people, solving Supernatural Entity problems first lies in handling personnel matters well, and personnel matters are often more complicated than the Supernatural Entity itself."

"That's right," Cheng Zitong said. "So, you need to be mentally prepared. Solving Supernatural Entity problems is not just about the Supernatural Entity itself, especially outside Yangzhi City, you need to be more careful."

Chen Chuan said, "Teacher, I understand."

Cheng Zitong hummed, "If there's anything you need me to solve, just give me a call."

Chen Chuan ended the call and, after pondering for a while, called the company and said that he would accept the assignment and needed to go to Jiaxian County immediately.

Ren Shu immediately told Officer Wang, who was overjoyed to hear that he was willing to leave immediately, repeatedly saying okay and that he would come to pick him up right away.

Half an hour later, Chen Chuan got into Officer Wang's car and headed to Jiaxian County. To facilitate understanding the situation, he and Officer Wang sat in the back, with the driver in charge of driving in the front. Ren Shu, considering that he was going to a foreign county, also sent an empty car from the company to follow, to facilitate his movements.

Among the six counties in Yangzhi City, Jiaxian County is located at the northernmost point in the southwest and is also the smallest. The county town is surrounded by hills on three sides, making access difficult, but because a tributary of the White River makes a bend here, right at the exit, shipping is relatively convenient and it is not too isolated.

After leaving Yangzhi City, it was only a two-hour drive, and the vehicles drove onto a winding mountain road. More than ten minutes later, the light on both sides suddenly dimmed, and they entered a canyon passage, with the light on both sides blocked by the mountain walls.

Officer Wang also introduced to Chen Chuan that this place is called Pingkong Gorge. In the old times, this was a very famous dangerous place. During the Great Reclamation period, it was widened. If you don't go by water, this road is the only way to enter and exit the county town.

Chen Chuan looked up and saw the sentry posts and wall paths that were carved out during the Great Reclamation period on both sides.

Just then, a number of two-wheeled motorized vehicles quickly passed by the car. One of them even deliberately came in front of the car and swayed a bit before accelerating away.

Officer Wang was a little embarrassed and said, "These are a group of wealthy students, not just from Jiaxian County, but also from nearby counties. They especially like to travel through here."

After about five miles, they finally exited the canyon, and the light suddenly brightened, giving people a feeling of returning to the world.

Shops and residential buildings gradually appeared on both sides. Perhaps because the county town is not large, the population seems very dense, and there are many people on the streets.

Officer Wang said, "I'll arrange a place for Expert Chen to stay. The conditions are simple; please don't mind."

Chen Chuan said, "No need to rush." He picked up the map in his hand, "I just looked at it. The butterfly tattoos first appeared in the Chang Street area, and also in Bo Street, and here…"

He circled a few places on the map with a pen and then drew a large circle around them, handing it to Officer Wang, "Officer Wang, it's best to bring some people and walk around according to this."

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Officer Wang took it, looked at it, and his expression became serious. "I'll make a call." After the car stopped, he went to a roadside phone booth to make a call. After waiting for a quarter of an hour, two local security bureau vehicles drove over. He got back into the car and said to Chen Chuan, "I've called the people. Expert Chen, shall we go now?"

Chen Chuan nodded and instructed, "Don't drive too fast."

"Okay."

The vehicles traveled for only ten minutes before arriving at the street on the edge of the map. Chen Chuan saw that both sides were decorated with lanterns, and the shops were all hung with lanterns. The people walking around had several red marks smeared on their faces, so he asked, "What festival are you celebrating?"

Officer Wang said, "Yes, the local Qiaoshen Festival is in two days. The custom is to weave fabrics and apply festive paint on the face. The government office is also afraid that something will happen at this time and hopes to resolve this matter as soon as possible."

At this time, Chen Chuan looked at. Following these people's recent whereabouts, if all goes well, it should be possible to find the source.

The area circled on the map was not large, and the vehicles drove around for more than an hour before finishing. But without any findings, he said, "Narrow the scope and go around again."

Officer Wang didn't know what his purpose was in doing this, but since he was an expert in dealing with Supernatural Entities, he must have a reason, so he instructed the driver to continue driving according to his instructions.

As the vehicles continued to narrow the scope, the driver didn't say anything, but the security team members in the back became impatient and complained a few times. Officer Wang quickly comforted them and looked at Chen Chuan with embarrassment.

Chen Chuan then asked, "Officer Wang, do you have a night market here?"

Officer Wang said, "Yes, especially near the Qiaoshen Festival. Some young people like to go out at night, and the night market is especially lively these days."

Chen Chuan said, "Tell them that if we can't find any clues, we'll continue looking in the evening. Please trouble them to work hard now so we don't have to bother them tonight."

"Okay, okay."

When Officer Wang said this, the security team members didn't say anything, but instead felt sorry for those who had to run errands at night. They felt like they had gotten a good deal.

At this time, the vehicles had driven to the innermost side of the area circled on the map.

Once past here, the entire area marked on the map would be finished.

But just then, Chen Chuan suddenly saw.

He turned his head to look at the side of the street and saw a bald man with a dull expression walking past. However, this man's muscles were unusually strong. His eyes moved, and he immediately said, "Wait, stop the car, and stop that man."