After Zheng Zhuxi secretly shot him a look full of mixed emotions, Ding Songyan could only suppress his laughter and silently tell himself:
"For the sect's future, for the cherished wishes of our forebears, Senior Sister, you'll just have to shoulder these two pots of blame.
"Get used to them first. There'll be plenty more pots for you to carry later."
Unable to explain herself, Zheng Zhuxi could only repeat that she had been lucky, but Constable Xue and the others took this as modesty and praised her even more lavishly.
The girl had no choice but to shut her mouth. Her gaze swept across Ding Songyan, and she silently stepped aside.
Xue Zhangjian approached Qu Zhongheng and said gravely:
"Qu Sanlang, didn't we agree that anything dangerous would be done at your workshop south of the city?"
Qu Zhongheng immediately jumped in indignation:
"I did do it at the workshop south of the city! I only brought it home after making sure nothing was wrong!"
Glancing at the wrecked courtyard, his voice gradually dwindled:
"Who could have known something would go wrong afterward..."
Xue Zhangjian kicked aside half a Wooden Dummy and came up to Qu Zhongheng:
"What exactly happened?"
Qu Zhongheng repeated everything he had told Ding Songyan earlier. The more Xue Zhangjian heard, the darker his face grew.
By the end, the constable said, torn between anger and amusement:
"Don't you know your own level in Martial Arts? Any Ghost-Binding Method you can use is bound to border on witchcraft. Methods like these are intimately tied to timing, terrain, and people. Once the seasons change, the surroundings shift, or the people involved change, things can easily go wrong. They're only good for temporary use!"
Xue Zhangjian looked around and exhaled:
"Fortunately, no innocent people were hurt. Qu