The Containment Foundation

Suddenly, a clear glass bottle flew in from outside the courtyard, hurtling toward Yinshenger.

Splat-

A waterlike liquid splashed over the Wraith Yinshenger, and its form suddenly began flickering in and out of sight.

Its body hissed as it dissolved.

"Aaaah-"

A piercing wail rang through the courtyard.

Uncle's exorcist instincts, honed as an archmage, told him this was his chance to destroy it.

He raised his head and followed that feeling without hesitation.

"Demons and monsters, be gone-"

He fired spell after spell in one direction.

Green beams of magic struck the Wraith.

Old Man's right hand did not stay idle either, pulling out the materials he had prepared for the Dissolution Spell.

"Demons and monsters, be gone-"

Boom-

The restrained monster wailed incessantly, venting its resentment and fury without restraint.

Its attack range and power increased noticeably.

Rather than alarm him, the sight delighted Old Man.

It meant the spirit had started burning through its own essence, fighting for its life.

Old Man slammed the bag in his right hand onto the ground.

Crash-

The sound of shattering glass rang out.

Accompanied by Old Man's chanting, streams of pale blue liquid slowly rose into the air and revolved around him, reflecting a faint blue glow.

With the incantation's help, the liquid gradually began to expand.

"Hi-yah!"

Pale blue engulfed the entire courtyard within the magic circle.

The weakened Wraith huddled at the foot of a wall.

It let out threatening howls, all bluster and no strength, trying to scare away the person approaching it.

But how could Old Man possibly be frightened? As he approached the Wraith, he tossed several bottles of Magic Potion onto the ground with apparent casualness.

"All right, demons and monsters, be gone-"

As Uncle chanted, he took a small bottle from his belt pouch.

In the blink of an eye, the Wraith was sucked inside.

Pop.

He plugged the bottle with its stopper.

"Finally taken care of. Our friend over there can come out now."

Hearing this, Coulson hurriedly composed his words and emerged from cover.

He tried contacting headquarters, but there was no signal. Just as he was about to speak-

A booming voice came from outside the courtyard.

"May I ask which esteemed mage I have the honor of meeting? Forgive my lack of courtesy."

A young man in a red undershirt and brown trousers approached Old Man, cupping one fist in his other hand.

The newcomer was naturally Jiang Xiang, in his guise as Iron-Headed A Xing.

Old Man narrowed his eyes and adjusted the small round glasses perched over his ears.

They looked like ordinary glasses, but Old Man had enchanted them. Under certain conditions, they were essentially a cheat for locking onto people.

"Who are you? Want to test yourself against Old Man?" Old Man stepped forward, reflexively provoking him a little to see whether he would lose his temper and reveal an opening.

But without Jiang Xiang there to play along, Old Man felt a little out of sorts.

"Your magic is impressive. You almost destroyed that Wraith."

Ah Xing changed the subject, his expression still serious, without showing any displeasure.

"Almost?"

Old Man put on an irritated expression. "Are you provoking Old Man?"

Old Man made to raise the Dried Lizard.

"No, no. I just detected the same Wraith aura on Bank Residential Street. I imagine there's either another Wraith, or that one can split itself."

Coulson could no longer stay calm after hearing that. He could not keep standing aside and playing dead.

"Um, forgive me for interrupting your conversation, but is it true that there's another Wraith like this?"

Ah Xing turned toward the balding middle-aged man and rested his chin in his left hand.

"Hmm... Who are you?"

Coulson hurriedly took his credentials out of his inside pocket.

"Hello, I'm FBI agent Phil Coulson. Could I ask you for some details about this so-called Wraith?"

Ah Xing glanced at Coulson's badge, looking thoroughly uninterested.

A skilled reader of people, Coulson could clearly sense his aversion to that affiliation.

"Oh, someone from the secular authorities. There's nothing for you to do here.

"Go about your business. Your colleague is still lying over there. Hurry and see whether he can still be saved."

The receding hairline alone hardly confirmed that this was the beginner village guide, but his name was Coulson.

That made him S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Coulson.

According to his original plan, Jiang Xiang had not wanted to attract S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attention at this stage. His cards were not strong enough yet.

Besides, he did not know where the Ancient One stood.

He had not dared to get too reckless, even though he had already displayed supernatural powers.

But now, there were actually uncanny entities near New York.

Old Man was right here exorcising demons, yet the Ancient One had not appeared.

That meant Jiang Xiang could be bolder about changing his original plan.

Come to think of it, do uncanny entities exist in American comic universes? Looks like this place isn't just the home turf of a few particular individuals.

"Esteemed mage, shall we find somewhere to talk?"

Ah Xing extended an invitation to Old Man.

Old Man studied him carefully for a moment, then pushed up his glasses.

"All right, but Old Man needs hot tea."

"Of course. Let's go to a teahouse in Chinatown."

"One more thing!"

Ah Xing and Coulson looked at Old Man.

"I haven't received the rest of my payment. Is the homeowner still here?"

Coulson gave a few awkward coughs. "I'm very sorry. He's already been killed."

"What! Don't you evacuate uninvolved civilians before handling a case?"

Coulson forced an ugly attempt at a friendly smile. "I'm very sorry."

Chinatown.

A teahouse.

At the entrance, Coulson spoke into the radio at his collar. "Director, we've confirmed that the targets entered this teahouse to the north."

Nick Fury picked up another radio. "Are the assault and perimeter teams in position?"

"Yes, sir."

Nick Fury was wary of everything, but his abilities were clearly nowhere near sufficient to control these unexpected events. In short, he was bad at the game but loved playing it.

Although he had deployed field teams, they knew only that they were cordoning off and monitoring an area. Coulson alone was actually listening in on what happened inside the teahouse.

Before long, the two men sat facing each other in a secluded private room.

As though by unspoken agreement, they glanced toward several surveillance devices.

Neither did anything about them.

After all, Ah Xing had appeared to earn Emotional Value. If nobody knew about him, where would those points come from?

Old Man simply did not care.

He had never deliberately concealed his identity as a chi wizard.

Otherwise, there would have been no rumors about his ability to exorcise evil and ward off misfortune.

"Allow me to introduce myself formally." Ah Xing's expression grew solemn. "Ah Xing, Level Three Investigator of the Containment Foundation."

With that, Ah Xing stood, inclined his torso slightly, and held his left hand across his chest.

This was the Foundation's etiquette for a first meeting with an important figure.

Seeing this courtesy, Old Man naturally returned it.

After all, he belonged to an established tradition, not some self-taught backwater school.

He took out his magical implement, the Dried Lizard, with his left hand and spoke with proper solemnity.

"Cheng Yang, of the chi wizard lineage."

Coulson, in the adjoining room, was speechless.

What country's language is this?

He did not understand, but he was deeply impressed.

The two sat down again.

Slurp-

Old Man picked up the teacup before him and took a sip.

"Not bad. Fresh tea of excellent quality."

"Of course. If I'm treating someone, it has to be good! Hahaha."

The two shared restrained smiles.

They chatted about this and that, discussing the merits of various teas and wines.

Before long, they had finished a cup of tea.

"Why have you come to New York? I'm not particularly familiar with the Foundation, but I recall that the Containment Foundation has strict confidentiality regulations, doesn't it?" As he spoke, Old Man gradually leaned forward. His kindly elderly demeanor vanished, replaced by an archmage's indomitable presence.

"You don't care about leaking secrets?" Old Man pointed at the surveillance devices and the room next door.

In the adjoining room, Coulson rolled his eyes.

Crafty old bastard!

You claim you're not familiar with them, but you practically know their confidentiality regulations by heart!

"Whether anything leaks doesn't matter," Ah Xing replied nonchalantly.

"Planning to run away?"

"Of course not." Ah Xing smiled awkwardly.

"Isn't that your tradition?" Old Man nodded. "Enough nonsense."

Ugh, it's miserable without someone to play along. Maybe I should consider taking an apprentice.

Ah Xing answered vaguely, "I'm here on a mission. I happened to discover that Wraith, so I stopped to contain it. Oh, right, here's the location where I found the other Wraith."

Ah Xing slid a piece of paper across the table.

"What do you need me to do?" Old Man calmly sipped his tea.

There was no such thing as a free lunch, or a favor without strings attached.

"Just lend me a little hand while I'm carrying out my mission." Ah Xing beamed at Old Man, his smile faintly ingratiating.

For a moment, Old Man could not adjust to Ah Xing's sudden change in demeanor.

"What mission?"

"It's the year 2004 now." As he spoke, Ah Xing drew a large disk on the tabletop.

Old Man understood at once.

"After all these years, you still haven't properly dealt with that fellow?"

Ah Xing nodded in agreement.

"Not enough."

"You can keep the item."

"Deal."

What Old Man had actually meant was that a little more money would suffice, but the other party had been so generous.

Afterward, Old Man asked a few probing questions, trying to tease out exactly what Ah Xing intended to do.

Since Ah Xing was asking for his help, he held nothing back. He explained that his mission concerned a magical item that fellow had made back then, though he did not know what it looked like.

Having finished, Ah Xing stood to leave.

"Let's exchange contact information."

Ah Xing had just taken out his phone.

"Those things damage people's souls. Old Man never uses them. If you want to find me, go to..."

In the next room, Coulson screamed inwardly, You might not want his contact information, but I do!