Butterfly

When Chen Chuan arrived at the company, he was greeted by a man in his thirties wearing the uniform of a civil affairs department. The moment the man saw Chen Chuan, his eyes lit up, and he stepped forward eagerly to shake hands. "You must be Expert Chen! I'm Wang Bian from the Jia County Administration Bureau. Expert Chen, you can call me Officer Wang, or Xiao Wang—either is fine." He was exceedingly warm, displaying none of the haughtiness typical of bureau personnel, but rather an intentional eagerness to please. Chen Chuan shook his hand and said, "Hello, Officer Wang." Once pleasantries were exchanged and the two sat down, Officer Wang let out a sigh. "This urban legend has been throwing people into a panic lately, and we really ran out of options. That's why we came to Yangzhi City, where a colleague at the Municipal Administration recommended your company to me. Ah, I heard that your side resolved that flying head monster incident before. Truly remarkable, truly remarkable!" Chen Chuan said, "I heard the broad strokes before coming here. Could Officer Wang go into more detail?" Officer Wang said with an anguished expression, "Ah, here is what happened..." As he recounted the tale, Chen Chuan, Ren Shu, and the others gradually came to understand the situation. Due to local customs in Jia County, many young people in the county seat enjoyed getting tattoos. Recently, however, people began discovering that a butterfly-shaped pattern would mysteriously appear on their bodies, and no matter how hard they scrubbed, it couldn't be washed off. Because the tattoo was strikingly beautiful, vivid, and lifelike—appearing to flutter in dance whenever the body moved—those who developed it would show it off to others with pride. Yet if asked where they had gotten it, none of them could say for sure. Before long, these young people realized something was wrong. These tattoos multiplied almost daily, and within just a few days, their entire bodies were covered. What truly terrified people was that the tattoos would overlap into dense clusters, and once there was no blank space left on the skin, they would turn into real butterflies and flutter away from the body in droves. They didn't just emerge from the surface of the skin; butterflies even flew out from inside the internal organs. Only then did people realize the tattoos were actually inside the body as well, merely hidden from sight until then. In the end, the victim was reduced to nothing more than a pile of hole-riddled, rotten flesh and bones. When Officer Wang reached this point, terror crept into his eyes. He had personally gone to inspect one of the corpses, and he had vomited on the spot. Afterward, he suffered recurring nightmares for days on end, waking up in the morning still drenched in cold sweats. In just ten short days, the local administration bureau received reports of over a dozen similar cases—and those were merely the ones reported. There was no telling how many went unreported. If it had only affected ordinary commoners, that would have been one thing, but the officials of the bureau were terrified that they or their relatives and friends might contract it as well. They ordered all afflicted individuals rounded up and quarantined, but treating the symptoms did nothing to cure the root cause, and new cases continued to surface one after another. Worst of all, who knew how some people's brains were wired, but after hearing about it, they deliberately tried tattooing similar designs onto themselves, drastically complicating the response. In the end, the authorities were forced to search far and wide for experts to deal with the crisis. After listening to the account, Chen Chuan looked far more serious. He considered the matter for a moment. "I understand the situation. I need to consult some records regarding this matter, and I'll give you an answer this afternoon." Officer Wang said, "Wonderful, wonderful! Then I'll leave it in your capable hands, Expert Chen. I'll wait right here at your company for your reply." Returning to his quarters, Chen Chuan went through the materials on urban legends that Cheng Zitong had given him. Over these past days, he had spent his spare time every evening browsing through these documents to broaden his knowledge and build his foundation. However, due to the sheer volume, he still hadn't finished reading them all. He checked against the master index and ultimately confirmed that the butterfly tattoo was not listed among the recorded urban legends. In other words, this was an anomaly that even Cheng Zitong had never seen or heard of. Without a strong grasp of the situation, he could easily have turned the commission down. Yet after thinking it through carefully, he decided to give it a try. Having encountered more urban legends and studied numerous cases, he had gained a fair bit of experience of his own. Most of the legends he had previously encountered—including those mentioned in the records—were confined to a specific location and had a limited scope. They might cause local chaos, but unless there was deliberate human instigation or orchestration involved, as with the Flying Head Cult, they generally weren't enough to trigger societal unrest and widespread panic. An urban legend capable of spreading outward like this almost always had an underlying root source. As long as that root was eliminated, the problem could be solved. Strictly speaking, the urban legends he had dealt with in the past were accompanied by documented summaries and the precedents of predecessors; all he had needed to do was follow the established steps. He had never independently handled an unprecedented, undocumented anomaly before. Yet as he took on more and more commissions in this field, he was bound to encounter similar anomalies sooner or later. Therefore, he chose not to evade it this time, but rather to take the initiative and solve it. Even so, having made up his mind, he did not abandon proper caution. He placed a call to Cheng Zitong, seeking his guidance on the matter and laying out his analysis. After listening, Cheng Zitong said, "Little Chuan, your train of thought is correct, provided the information is accurate. Sometimes, what distorts your judgment is not the urban legend itself, but rather human beings." Chen Chuan said, "Teacher, I understand your meaning. Because urban legends affect people, resolving them fundamentally begins with managing human affairs, which are often far more complicated than the anomalies themselves." "Correct," Cheng Zitong said. "So you must be mentally prepared. Solving an urban legend isn't just about the anomaly itself, especially once you're outside Yangzhi City. You must exercise even greater caution." Chen Chuan said, "Teacher, I understand." Cheng Zitong gave an affirmative sound. "If there's anything you need me to handle, just call me." Ending the call, Chen Chuan pondered for a moment before calling the company to say he would take the commission and needed to head to Jia County immediately for an on-site inspection. Ren Shu promptly informed Officer Wang. Hearing that Chen Chuan was willing to depart right away, Wang was overjoyed, repeatedly voicing his assent and offering to pick him up immediately. Half an hour later, Chen Chuan sat in Officer Wang's car, heading toward Jia County. To make it easier to discuss the situation, he and Officer Wang sat in the back while a driver took the wheel. Considering that Chen Chuan was traveling outside the county, Ren Shu also arranged for an empty company car to follow them, making his movements and return trips more convenient. Among the six counties of Yangzhi City, Jia County was situated at the northernmost point of the southwest, and it was also the smallest. The county seat was surrounded by mountains on three sides, making access inherently difficult. However, because a tributary of the Bai River made a bend right at the valley exit, river transit was relatively convenient, keeping the area from being entirely cut off. After departing Yangzhi City, they drove for just over two hours before the car wound its way up a curving mountain highway. Ten minutes later, the daylight on both sides suddenly dimmed as they entered a canyon passage, the illumination choked off by sheer cliff walls. Officer Wang introduced the area to Chen Chuan, explaining that this was Pingkong Gorge. In the old era, it had been a renowned deathtrap, but during the Great Expansion, it was widened. Unless one traveled by water, this road was the mandatory route into and out of the county seat. Chen Chuan glanced upward, spotting sentry posts and cliff paths that had been carved out during the Great Expansion. Right then, several motorized two-wheelers sped past the car. One rider even deliberately swerved across their bumper to show off before accelerating away. Officer Wang said with some embarrassment, "That's a bunch of rich students. Not just from Jia County, but from neighboring counties as well. They love racing through here." After traveling roughly five li or so, they finally emerged from the canyon. Daylight flared bright all at once, giving the sensation of stepping back into the land of the living. Shops and residential buildings gradually appeared on either side. Perhaps because the county seat covered a small footprint, the population density seemed quite high, with many pedestrians bustling along the streets. Officer Wang said, "I've arranged lodgings for you, Expert Chen. The conditions are rather rustic, so please don't take offense." Chen Chuan said, "There's no rush." He picked up the map in his hands. "I took a look earlier. The butterfly tattoos first appeared in the vicinity of Chang Street, as well as Bo Street, and over here..." He circled several places on the map with a pen, then drew a large loop around them and handed it to Officer Wang. "Officer Wang, it would be best to bring some men and drive a circuit following this route." Officer Wang took the map and looked at it, his expression growing solemn. "I'll make a phone call." Once the car pulled over, he walked to a roadside telephone booth to place a call. After waiting for about fifteen minutes, two vehicles from the local Public Security Bureau pulled up. Wang got back in the car and asked Chen Chuan, "The men are here, Expert Chen. Shall we go now?" Chen Chuan nodded and added, "No need to drive too fast." "Understood." After driving for barely ten minutes, the vehicles arrived at the outermost street marked on the map. Chen Chuan noticed lanterns and festive decorations hung up everywhere, with vibrant lanterns dangling high over storefronts, and pedestrians bearing streaks of red paint across their cheeks. He asked, "Is there a festival being celebrated?" Officer Wang said, "Yes, the local Skillful Goddess Festival is in two days. The custom involves weaving and tying ornamental fabrics, as well as applying celebratory face paint. The administration bureau is terrified of an incident occurring during the festivities, so they hope to resolve this as quickly as possible." Chen Chuan looked out the window then. If they retraced these people's movements over the past few days, then if all went well, they should be able to track down the source. The zone circled on the map was not large, and the car completed the circuit in just over an hour, but they found nothing out of the ordinary. He spoke up again: "Narrow the perimeter and drive another loop." Officer Wang didn't understand the purpose behind this, but since Chen Chuan was an expert in handling urban legends, he assumed there was a reason, so he instructed the driver to follow Chen Chuan's directions. As the car progressively narrowed its radius, the driver made no complaints, but the security officers following behind grew impatient and came over to grumble. Officer Wang hurriedly smoothed things over, then looked awkwardly toward Chen Chuan. Chen Chuan asked, "Officer Wang, do you have a night market here?" Officer Wang said, "We do. Especially with the Skillful Goddess Festival approaching, young people love coming out at night. The night markets have been exceptionally bustling these past few days." Chen Chuan said, "Tell them that if we don't find clues now, we'll continue searching tonight. If they put in the effort now, we won't need to trouble them this evening." "All right, all right." Once Officer Wang explained this, the security officers stopped grumbling. Instead, they began pitying whichever colleagues would have to run errands at night, feeling as though they were getting off easy. By this point, the vehicles had reached the innermost street of the circled area; passing through here would complete the tour of the entire designated zone. Just at that moment, Chen Chuan caught sight of something. Turning his gaze toward one side of the street, he saw a bald man with somewhat dull eyes walking past, though the muscles on his body were exceptionally solid. His eyes shifted, and he immediately said, "Wait, stop the car. Intercept that man!"