"Call in the criminal investigation team, bring the equipment, and move out. Now."
The group headed to Jiang Xueyan's home in force.
Jiang Xueyan was terrified. She didn't dare turn off the livestream and could only ramble to the viewers.
Lin Fan was comforting her too.
[Viewer54682: Don't be scared, miss. Want me to come keep you company?]
[Gentle Breeze: You above me, dream on! What would you go there for? To comfort her? You've got something filthy in mind, don't you?]
[Sticky Candy: Everyone, stop joking around. Look how scared she is. Let's give her some encouragement.]
[Passerby A: I'm new here. This stream seems really popular, so I wanted to ask what just happened. Did something actually happen?]
[Viewer5842: Same question! Your stream is trending now. What did we miss? What corpse? Someone fill us in.]
[Fan God's Fangirl: Welcome to Fan God's livestream. He just told a cute girl's fortune and figured out that the constant cold drafts in her new home were because there was a corpse above her ceiling.]
[Viewer5842: Oh my god, you guys actually uncovered all this on a livestream? That's incredible.]
[Spring Breeze, Blue Sea: Newcomers, get ready to bow down in awe. Master Lin's fortune-telling is incredibly accurate. This is already his third reading! Every reading is a winner, and this time he's really dropped a bombshell.]
The viewers' comments were all over the place, but every discussion revolved around the corpse.
Jiang Xueyan bit her lip, her eyes brimming with tears. She cautiously asked Lin Fan, "What should I say when the police get here? Master Lin, I'm so scared. I won't get dragged into a murder case, will I?"
Lin Fan waved a hand and reassured her. "Just tell the truth. It's all right. Someone deliberately hid the body in your home. The police aren't fools. Trust them to help you uncover the truth. Besides, once the body is removed, those cold drafts will stop. If you're scared, you can stay somewhere else for a few days."
"Master, how long should I move out for? Will there still be some sinister presence here? Why am I getting more scared the more you explain?" Jiang Xueyan's eyes had begun to redden.
She curled up in her chair, trembling slightly.
Of course Lin Fan knew the young woman was deeply afraid. More than that, she was terrified. Anyone who bought a home only to discover a corpse inside it would feel the same.
No one could feel safe there. Lin Fan strongly recommended that she move out.
"I'm suggesting you move out because you're emotionally unsettled right now and might develop an aversion to this place. Besides, once the police arrive, they'll secure the crime scene and ask you to leave anyway. But there won't be any sinister presence like you're worried about. Someone deliberately hid this body here. No matter how much resentment it held, that resentment dissipated the moment you helped bring it back into the light. In fact, you're its benefactor. You helped it! So don't let it weigh on your mind. There's no need to be afraid."
Lin Fan narrowed his eyes and spoke calmly, deliberately stroking his chin like a true otherworldly sage.
"All right. Thank you, Master. Hearing you say that puts me at ease. Once the police get here and take the body away, I'll move out and give myself some time to recover. Thank you, Master." Jiang Xueyan breathed a sigh of relief.
Ding-dong-
"Ms. Jiang, please open the door. We're from the East City Police Station."
"Were you the one who reported a body in your home?"
Hearing the officers outside, Jiang Xueyan finally let her guard down.
She picked up her phone and darted to the entryway like a rabbit to open the door for them, without ending the livestream.
The viewers and Lin Fan were "monitoring" everything in real time.
"Hello, officer. I made the report. My home-there really is a body in my home. I don't know when it was hidden here. Please go take a look. I'm scared out of my mind." Jiang Xueyan spoke through tears, her face wet with them.
With her leading the way, Director Wu and Old Liu saw the body.
"Ms. Jiang, I'm sorry, but you can't stay here anymore. This is a crime scene, and we need to seal it off." After briefly examining the scene, Old Liu addressed Jiang Xueyan gravely.
Jiang Xueyan nodded frantically. She wouldn't have dared stay anyway.
Old Liu then had someone put up police tape to secure the crime scene.
He put on professional gloves and shoe covers before entering the bathroom.
Two other officers accompanied him. Since Jiang Xueyan said she had discovered a head after opening the vent, they planned to open the bathroom's suspended ceiling and take a look.
But the moment they opened it, Old Liu was stunned.
The entire space above the bathroom ceiling was crawling with maggots, and a foul stench hit him.
The distinctive stink of a decomposing body filled the air, making them gag.
Most importantly, the body had been cut into more than a dozen pieces. The flesh had rotted away, exposing stark white bones.
The killer had been clever. Without dismembering the body, there would have been no way to hide it above the suspended ceiling. In addition, the bathroom heater's daily ventilation cycle had kept the smell from spreading.
The killer was skilled at covering their tracks, too.
A chill ran through Old Liu. His gaze swept quickly over the remains, and their physical characteristics told him it was a woman's body. He then ordered the others to collect all the remains and take them away.
Since the case involved confidential details, Jiang Xueyan was also taken away by the police. After collecting the remains and leaving officers to guard the scene, Old Liu and the others returned to the station with the body. They needed a forensic examination to identify the killer and uncover more clues.
Jiang Xueyan had captured all these scenes on her livestream.
[This livestream contains potentially graphic content. Please adjust your camera angle.]
With a beep, the streaming platform issued a warning to Jiang Xueyan's video feed.
Seeing Jiang Xueyan keeping her head lowered and fiddling with her phone, Director Wu stepped forward.
"Ms. Jiang, you're actually livestreaming our investigation? Please end the stream immediately. The scenes here are far too graphic, and our investigative procedures cannot be broadcast to the public."
When he realized Jiang Xueyan was livestreaming, his gaze darkened and his tone turned sharp.
Jiang Xueyan had no choice but to obediently end the stream.
[Your friend has disconnected.]
The notification immediately appeared in Lin Fan's livestream.
[Oh my god, are the police taking our goddess away for questioning? Did you guys see that body just now? It was disgusting.]
[That was my first time seeing a corpse. I almost threw up my lunch.]
[I'm following this streamer. Without him, how would I ever have seen something like that? I always wanted to be a police officer, but today I chickened out. I can't even get past seeing a corpse.]
[Wow, I actually saw a real corpse! This is so exciting. Are we getting a follow-up?]
[Say no more. I'm already imagining myself as Sherlock Holmes. Why don't we guess who the killer is?]
[I bet it was whoever installed the ceiling.]
[You above me, bathroom suspended ceilings and regular ceilings aren't made by the same manufacturer. I sell bathroom heaters myself.]
[Everyone, use your imagination. What if she staged the whole thing herself?]
The livestream erupted. Viewers bragged, discussed the graphic scenes they had just witnessed, and speculated about the killer's identity.
Meanwhile, Jiang Xueyan obediently followed Old Liu and the others back to the station to give a statement, leaving the already stunned livestream behind as a screenful of comments scrolled wildly past!
Chapter 15: Livestream Fortune-Telling? The Cops Say Things Are Getting Wild!
Lin Fan calculated on his fingers and came up with an idea.
He didn't care who the killer was, nor did he want to get involved. The police would reach their own conclusion.
Ding-dong-
[Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing the mission. You have earned 1,000 heavenly secrets points!] [Ding! Your mission reward, mastery of the Talisman Canon, has been credited. Please visit the shop to claim it.]
The system rewards suddenly arrived. Lin Fan raised an eyebrow, thinking that the timing was rather convenient.
Jiang Xueyan had been taken away by the police. They would get to the bottom of it, so he no longer needed to follow up.
He rubbed between his brows, feeling exhausted in both body and mind.
Only after checking the time did he realize he had been streaming for nearly six hours.
"My dear viewers, I really have spent too much energy today, so we'll stop here. Same time as always. See you then."
He politely announced the end of the stream, then turned off his computer.
[Lunchbox, Level 5: Bye, Master! I'll be here right on time tomorrow.]
[I've Fallen for Fortune-Telling: Fan God, watching your stream today suddenly made everything click for me. Seriously, I really want to become your disciple.]
[Viewer68245:]
After rubbing his temples again and drinking a cup of tea, he felt more alert and opened the shop to examine the specific rewards the system had given him that day.
The Talisman Canon mastery reward actually contained all kinds of Taoist talisman methods. Lin Fan carefully read through them and committed them to memory.
But these methods were merely formulas. He still needed to practice putting them into use.
Lin Fan also needed to prepare some tools. Even the most common talismans, such as the Immobility Talisman, Manifestation Talisman, and Invisibility Talisman, required talisman paper and cinnabar.
Lin Fan opened the shop's tools category and found what he needed. They didn't cost many heavenly secrets points, so he simply bought a large batch to have on hand.
He now knew the methods by heart, but he still had to practice.
To put it bluntly, drawing talismans required some artistic skill, but more importantly, it required complete focus. He had to calm his mind and channel the spiritual power generated by the formulas into the paper for the talisman to work.
It wasn't like on television, where casually chanting a few incantations was enough to make a talisman take effect.
He spent 500 heavenly secrets points on thirty sheets of talisman paper and five bottles of cinnabar.
He took out five sheets and spread them across the desk, then picked up a writing brush and dipped it in cinnabar, ready to draw a few talismans for practice.
The talisman paper was yellow, neatly cut into rectangles about ten centimeters long. It had an old-fashioned texture, slightly rough and abrasive to the touch.
The cinnabar came in a white-jade-colored blue-and-white porcelain bottle. Its color was vivid, and its consistency was thick.
A light dip of the brush would probably be enough to draw several talismans. It would last quite a while.
He got straight to work.
Lin Fan picked up the brush and was about to dip it into the porcelain bottle.
Then he reconsidered. That would be too wasteful, so he used a small saucer as an inkstone instead. He poured cinnabar onto it and added a suitable amount of water. With that, everything was ready.
He held the brush upright and dipped it into the cinnabar water. The tip immediately soaked up the red cinnabar, turning from gray to red.
Next, Lin Fan pulled a sheet of yellow talisman paper over and laid it flat on the desk, ready to begin drawing.
Suddenly, he stopped.
"What kind of talisman should I draw?" Lin Fan muttered to himself.
Before you continue