Chain Reaction

"Hmph, even if you can't solve it, you can't solve it. Write down my number. If anything goes wrong at the manor, notify me immediately. I'll be waiting outside." I snorted coldly and gave Lei Qing my phone number.

"Senior, I've written it down. If anything happens at the manor, I'll definitely call you." Lei Qing took out the latest 5.5-inch iPhone and saved the number. He then called me, and my knock-off phone in my pocket immediately rang with the divine song "A Little Apple."

Lei Qing heard the song and saw me looking at him with an unfriendly expression, and his heart immediately sank.

Earlier in the morgue, he had seen me holding a knock-off phone with this flashy divine song as the ringtone. He suddenly remembered that he still had a batch of phones that Zhao Yi had given him to watch over the place. He quickly hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket.

He pushed Abi, who had just grabbed his hand, and quickly said, "Get me that unopened iPhone 6 from my car. Give it to senior. Senior must be busy with things and doesn't have time to queue up to buy one."

"Ah? But that's mine..." Abi was stunned.

Another person, however, was sharp-eyed and quickly kicked Abi in the butt: "Your boss told you to do something, and you're not doing it? You were just told not to go over there, what are you hesitating for! You offended senior, shouldn't you offer a gift? Do you still want to stay in the county?"

Seeing Abi's predicament, Zhao Qian, standing nearby, covered her mouth with the back of her hand and chuckled, looking relaxed. I didn't say anything. Why would I refuse a new phone? Yu Xiao Xue hasn't even gotten a phone yet, and she's in high school.

Abi nodded vigorously and ran to the nearby van to get an unopened new phone. He handed it to me with trembling hands.

"It's good that you're sensible. In the future, if any family members are haunted by fierce ghosts or harassed by vengeful spirits, just call me." I took the phone and got back into the car, lying inside and waiting for something to happen at the manor.

"Okay! Senior, you said so, but you must not lie to me." Lei Qing was overjoyed. This was building good karma. This person was definitely a powerful Xuanmen master, not comparable to that kid Zhao Yi.

Zhao Qian almost choked with laughter, but then she remembered that her grandfather was still lying in the coffin and felt it was inappropriate, so she held back.

"Alright, take your men and escort Zhao Qian inside. Remember, you've accepted the karma. If anything happens to her... hehe." I sneered and rolled up the car window, not saying the rest.

After dealing with the group of thugs, Zhao Qian also entered the manor. I watched her until she was out of sight, then sat in the front of the car and began drawing talismans.

I chanted the talisman core while drawing runes, and soon, sheets of Ghost Repelling Talismans and Calming Talismans appeared in my hands. Although these low-level talismans were not very effective against vengeful spirits, it was better to have them than not. I put them on me for peace of mind.

After writing two or three, my knock-off phone rang again. Could something have happened already?

I quickly took out my phone to check. It was Han Shanshan. I answered the phone: "Hurry up and speak, I'm busy."

"Yo, you're annoyed that I'm calling you? Do you know there are many handsome guys at the police station who flock to me every day?" Han Shanshan taunted.

"I don't know. Are you going to speak or not? If not, I'm hanging up!" I was afraid the line would be busy if something happened later. I had originally wanted her to escort Zhao Qian into the manor, but she was also on a case that night, so I didn't ask her to come.

Han Shanshan immediately softened and asked me pleadingly: "No, no, no! Alright, I admit defeat. You tell me, why did you call me just now?"

"It's nothing. Aren't you busy? I was going to ask you to accompany Zhao Qian into the Zhao Family Manor, in case someone might try to harm her." I knew if I didn't tell her, Han Shanshan would try to investigate, it was her professional habit, otherwise, she wouldn't have called.

"That's it? Then why aren't you protecting Qian Qian? Isn't that what you should be doing!" Han Shanshan was also a curious cat and asked incessantly.

"Do you think I don't want to? I was rejected by the Zhao family members. I can't get in, and I'm freezing outside the door."

"Hmph, then you should have said so earlier. I'll have someone drive me over now!" Han Shanshan readily decided to come and hung up my phone directly.

I shook my head. Han Shanshan was a good person, beautiful and with a hot body, but she was a bit airheaded. She hung up the phone without even finishing her sentence.

It would be better to have less contact with her in the future.

After I drew a few more talismans, Han Shanshan's police car arrived.

Han Shanshan ran over and knocked on the car window a few times. I unlocked it, and she got in.

"Wow, selling calligraphy and paintings? You've drawn so many! Ah, this is a new iPhone! Did you just buy it? You're so rich selling calligraphy and paintings, and it's a 128GB model, costing eight thousand silver dollars! I heard you have to queue up to buy it! Even I haven't been willing to buy one." Han Shanshan picked up the phone and examined it.

I was speechless to her and said, "Someone gave it to me."

"Why doesn't anyone give me one!" Han Shanshan said disdainfully, thinking it was Zhao Qian who gave it to me.

"Lei Qing gave it to me," I added. Han Shanshan was stunned.

"Lei Qing? Isn't that guy collecting protection fees from the west of the city? I heard he's also involved in smuggling from the border. How did you get involved with him?" Han Shanshan asked again.

Seeing that she was endless, I stuffed two talismans into her hand: "Take these, then go inside and watch Zhao Qian from a distance. If you notice anything wrong, go to her support. Do you have your gun?"

"Oh, I do! I was on a mission just now and haven't returned it yet. Captain Huo is still at that bar, I came here myself." Han Shanshan's mind finally returned to the main topic.

"Okay, I'll call Captain Huo and ask to borrow you for a few hours." I said, hanging up and calling Huo Dadong. I told him about the Zhao family's situation, and Huo Dadong readily agreed.

"Alright, go." I urged her to leave.

Han Shanshan put on a coquettish expression and deliberately pulled at her collar, revealing a patch of white on her chest: "Hmph, you've borrowed me from Captain Huo for a few hours, and you won't even let me stay with you longer? Are you afraid I'll eat you?"

A shiver ran down my spine. Could this female police officer be trying to seduce me with her uniform? The last time I saved her, I had indeed touched all over her body. Her soft skills were quite powerful. If she really tried to seduce me, I didn't know if I could resist.

Just as I was stunned by her, Han Shanshan burst into laughter and patted my shoulder: "Haha! Look at you scared. I thought you were afraid of nothing! Forget it, I'm leaving!"

"You airhead!" I cursed inwardly, still unable to recover. I was almost suffocated by Sister Wife's pressure.

I took a deep breath, released Xijun to keep watch, and continued making my curse talismans.

Xijun's strength had greatly improved after the battle in the morgue. She had easily bruised that thug's hand with a casual grab just now, which gave me a lot of confidence.

However, it's easy to dodge open attacks but hard to guard against hidden ones. It would be best if I had more helpers like Xijun. Thinking of Grandma, she probably had a large group of them, and I only had one, who wasn't even a true combat-type.

I drew many paper talismans and put them in my pocket. Then I took out Grandma's books and found the incantations for communicating with ghosts. After all, if I wanted to lure ghosts into a trap and raise them as my vengeful spirits, I needed to know how to communicate.

But humans and ghosts are from different worlds. When humans and ghosts communicate, ghosts are still separated by a layer of worldly yang energy. It's not easy to understand what ghosts are saying, unlike how easily ghosts understand humans, because yang energy can penetrate many places.

That's why elders often say that people shouldn't curse ghosts randomly. The deceased should be respected. They can hear you, and perhaps an unintentional word could provoke a Lingering Spirit into becoming a vengeful spirit. By then, it would be too late to regret being haunted by a vengeful spirit.

The text I found was not true ghost language, but a type of curse talisman. As long as I drew the talisman, performed the ritual, and placed it under me while sleeping, theoretically, I would be able to communicate with the spirits and gods outside.

However, this was still relatively dangerous. If one's willpower was not strong enough while communicating with spirits and gods in their sleep, and they ate ghost food or drank ghost wine, they might be taken away by the ghosts. Therefore, I still needed someone to guard me. Although I had Xijun, for safety's sake, I needed to find someone trustworthy and powerful to pull me back at a critical moment.

This is when a good Dao companion is needed. I think Zhao Qian has great potential for cultivation, so I'll pre-select her.

"Jiao, Kang, Shi, Fang, Xin, Wei, Ji, Dou, Niu, Nü, Xu, Wei, Shi, Bi, Kui, Lou, Mao, Ang, Bi, Zi, Shen, Jing, Gui, Liu, Xing, Zhang, Yi, Zhen. With the names of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, I borrow divine power to enter the talisman." I recited the talisman core, using cinnabar to quickly write a "Spirit Communication Talisman" on old yellow paper. Every stroke and curve was infused with my heart, my sincerity absolute, without the slightest distraction.

Because I had experience making talismans as a child, drawing this low-level rune wasn't too difficult. The talisman core was a bit tricky, though, so I even reviewed it several times before I memorized it.

A Spirit Communication Talisman was quickly completed. With the talisman core, the rune showed a faint, almost imperceptible yellow light in my eyes. This was a sign of borrowing the divine power of the Twenty-Eight Mansions. Of course, if it weren't for my heavy Yin energy, I wouldn't be able to see these things. Only a cursed talisman that borrowed divine power could exert its intended effect.

While I was drawing the talisman, I also kept an eye on the phone to see if anything was happening. By the latter half of the night, nothing had occurred. People in the Zhao Family Manor were still playing cards and guessing games, seemingly unconcerned about any potential trouble.

I checked the time; it was 4:30 AM.

Something's wrong. I felt a strong Yin energy around 3 AM. If spirits were going to be summoned, they should have been by now. Why hasn't anything happened yet?

I picked up my phone and quickly tried to call Han Shanshan, wanting to ask her what was going on inside.

Then, I looked out the window and saw that a light rain had started to fall. Could it be?

As I looked, I suddenly saw Old Man Zhao appear in the rainy night. His aged face was pale and sickly, and he was staring blankly at me!

Instantly, goosebumps erupted all over me. Sister Wife also suddenly tugged at my sleeve!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunshots rang out from the Zhao Family Manor!

"You are my little, little apple, I can never love you enough..."

The moment the gunshots started, the phone on my car's phone mount also began to ring!