Fire of the Upper Origin, Familiar Puppet

Chu Tianshu decided to go and take a look, and Jon and Alexis couldn't object.

So they all set off together.

Chu Tianshu and his group already had many cars; if the Audit Bureau and the Exorcist Association's vehicles were to travel together, it would be far too conspicuous.

Therefore, the two groups each drove their own cars, took detours to other streets, and drove separately.

Anthony and Tang Rongfa were invited by Chu Tianshu to ride together, so they could chat about the local situation on the way.

The Audit Bureau bureau has already provided all the information it could; the rest is either unknown to them, or something they couldn't think of and are unwilling to mention.

Talking to these local bigwigs naturally offers another perspective.

Chen Taozhi was driving, Anthony was in the passenger seat, and Tang Rongfa and Chu Tianshu were in the back. The car was spacious, cool, and filled with the scent of the lemon air freshener that the car had brought with it.

"We've successfully invited Mr. Chu. I've sent out the message, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, everyone should be gathering tonight."

Anthony took out his phone, busied himself with it for a short while, then turned off the screen and introduced himself with a smile.

"The proposed venue for this meeting is one of my wineries."

"Back in the Gold Rush era of the last century, wine culture had already become popular in San Francisco, and many nouveau riche at the time built their wineries and distilleries with a touch of unique humor."

"They would even build Greek-style temples, Japanese-style courtyards, and even have their own cabaret on the winery."

Chu Tianshu smiled and said, "It sounds pretty good to me."

"Ha ha!"

Anthony clapped his hands. "I think it's great too, so this winery I bought was built by those nouveau riche back then."

"Things that seemed incompatible in the past have, over time, developed a unique charm, much like the city of San Francisco itself."

"Pieced together from various sources, borrowed from the south and joined forces with the north, but—"

Anthony's voice softened, and his tone became noticeably more emotional.

"Today, this place has become vast and captivating, possessing a unique charm that is unparalleled in the entire United States."

Tang Rongfa nodded and said, "I often go to that winery; it is indeed a very nice place."

"Moreover, the route to the winery from here passes through Chinatown, so we can have the renowned doctor examine the landscape of our Chinatown."

The real gathering isn't until tonight, so it's fine to take it slow on the way.

Chu Tianshu leaned back leisurely in his chair, his hands clasped together on his stomach, and looked at the scenery outside for a while.

"I heard that the San Francisco Audit Bureau had a traitor who defected to the Ghost God, and the other agents resigned in anger during the subsequent investigations, perhaps due to dissatisfaction with the investigators' attitude, but it's also possible that there are other traitors hiding among them."

Chu Tianshu spoke casually, as if chatting, "The Exorcist Association dares to recruit such an operator to help them, which shows they have considerable confidence in their existing strength."

Tang Rongfa chuckled, "We do indeed have some family wealth."

"So you really don't dare to hold a single meeting? Even if you can't attend in person, you can't even hold a video conference?"

Chu Tianshu spoke casually as always.

Anthony, in the passenger seat, glanced at the rearview mirror on the roof and happened to make eye contact with Tang Rongfa.

"I'm the kind of person who's too lazy to beat around the bush. I don't want to repeat the proverb 'Let's not beat around the bush' too many times."

O

Chu Tianshu closed his eyes to rest, and said softly, "At the airport earlier, with representatives from the Audit Bureau and the military present, it was indeed inconvenient to speak, and I understand."

"But now, we're in our car, no one can overhear our conversation."

Anthony's eyes flickered, and he made his decision.

"The answer is simple: the price offered by the Audit Bureau and the military will certainly not satisfy us."

Anthony said, "But if we can reach a certain understanding and cooperation with you first, we can try to negotiate more favorable terms with the Audit Bureau bureau later."

Chu Tianshu understood and said, "Selling goods to two different people, raising prices on the spot, convenience is power. Once you have more power here, talk to us about cooperation, your value will naturally be different, and you can raise the price again?"

Anthony considered his words carefully.

"A moderate amount of greed can bring benefits, but insatiable greed will only bring disaster. Mr. Chu can check our records of how we built our fortune. Please believe me, Tang and I are much wiser than the average greedy person."

That's an interesting attitude; it's certainly quite frank.

Tang Rongfa added, "We hope that the extraordinary businesses that China will invest in here in the future can design a system of representatives at various levels. Scarcity increases value, so it's best if there aren't too many representative positions granted by China. We would be satisfied if we could secure a few of them."

"Having been appointed to such a position remotely, we must certainly work even harder to serve the country and safeguard everyone's interests."

"As we expand our operations here, if you need any of the materials we acquire, we can sell them back at cost price. It's a win-win situation."

Chu Tianshu had anticipated Tang Rongfa's statement and was not surprised, but seeing Anthony's sincere expression, he still felt a little uneasy.

What this white man did is tantamount to profiting from a national crisis in the Americas.

This guy, however, did it with a clear conscience, as if it were his right, and he seemed to regard his country—oh, no, he seems to be from West Asia.

That's not surprising.

"Does Mr. Chu also have certain requirements regarding the character of his collaborators?"

Anthony said proactively, "Please believe me, not to mention someone like me from West Asia, even European Lineage, given the opportunity, wouldn't be any slower than me in doing this kind of business."

"Even if they do miss an opportunity, it's mostly because of arrogance, not virtue."

Chu Tianshu remained expressionless and did not give a clear answer.

While they were chatting, the car had already arrived in Chinatown.

Upon arriving here, the car inevitably slowed down. The streets of Chinatown are not particularly wide, yet the flow of people here is quite large.

Although there were quite a few Chinese faces, most of them were inside shops. The streets were filled with people of various ethnicities, and they didn't all seem to be tourists; they looked more like people there to buy groceries.

I mostly buy ready-made meals, packaged in takeout containers and piled up in plastic bags.

These people, carrying plastic bags of all sizes, bought their groceries and then crossed the street without even looking at the traffic lights.

This also explains why the vehicle speed was forced to decrease further.

Poor Americas, what could they possibly eat?

It's nothing more than fried chicken, steak, hamburgers, desserts, and the like.

San Francisco is a place where food culture flourishes. The Chinese restaurants, Brazilian restaurants, Mexican restaurants, etc. here are all based on their hometowns, but with a lot of sugar added to suit the tastes of Americas.

Many people go to these places to buy vegetables to take back and distribute.

Fortunately, Chinatown is a whole neighborhood, although it has not been able to expand for many years, and many families have moved to other Chinese communities outside the area.

However, some ordinary households remained, and the area did not become entirely restaurants.

After crossing the intersection and passing most of the street where the restaurant is located, the flow of people ahead seemed much more normal.

Everywhere you look, there are signs that use both traditional Chinese characters and English. Signs for fortune telling shops, bone-setting clinics, clothing stores, and youth martial arts classes are starting to appear.

Because expansion was not possible back then, many floors here were added upwards after the original building was completed, resulting in an uncoordinated appearance between the upper and lower floors.

The building shows obvious signs of age, and the upper and lower floors serve different purposes.

Some buildings have a traditional Chinese medicine clinic on the ground floor and a Tin Hau Temple on the top floor.

Not long after the car left, Chu Tianshu saw a rather unique building, eighteen stories high. Although it was also divided into old and new sections, it didn't have as many complicated signs and security windows.

The building as a whole appears quite grand, with only one plaque hanging on it.

Sacred Abode of Lord Guan!

Inside this Guandi Temple building, there were the auras of over a hundred practitioners, and the rest of the people were also breathing deeply and were physically robust.

"That's one of my businesses."

Tang Rongfa said, "Most of my people who practice cultivation are here. Being in the bustling city helps them cultivate their character and also facilitates the improvement of their magical abilities and mental state."

"Anyone in Chinatown who encounters anything unclean can come here for advice. Our fees are always very fair."

Chu Tianshu's ears suddenly twitched, and he said, "Go around to the back entrance of this building."

Without saying a word, Chen Taozhi immediately turned the corner.

Tang Rongfa looked surprised, then, as if realizing something, he frowned slightly and listened intently.

The car had circled around to the back of the building. Here, there was a dilapidated road with sparse old trees on both sides, and the street was rather deserted.

Several strong men in suits were carrying a stretcher out.

Beside the stretcher followed an elderly woman with red and swollen eyes. "Aqing Gong, is there really no hope?"

Inside the door stood an old man dressed in a red silk exercise uniform. He was bald on top of his head, with only some white hair at his temples. He was thin and his voice was filled with sighs.

"If it were just ordinary dirt, I could just wave it off, but this is really hard to treat."

"Go back and prepare for your funeral as soon as possible, and make it a grand affair."

Tang Rongfa secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He wondered if his men had been secretly doing some dirty work, and that Mr. Chu had discovered it.

In retrospect, it seems they simply couldn't cure one patient, so they sent him out through the back door to avoid damaging their reputation.

This is common practice, so it's not surprising.

"Brother A-Qing, really, if you encounter a patient like this, could you give me a call? I'd come over to check on them if I wasn't busy."

As Tang Rongfa spoke, he opened the door and got out of the car, then walked over there.

When Aqing Gong saw him, he was both surprised and delighted. "Old Tang is back, from the Liu Family. Maybe your husband can still be saved!"

The old woman burst into tears and immediately tried to kneel down before Tang Rongfa.

Tang Rongfa quickly helped her up, facing the stretcher, and tapped his cane on the ground.

On a level invisible to the naked eye, a shimmering blue arm extends from his yellow wooden cane.

The arm, thin and long, soft as a noodle, was pressed against the chest of the elderly man on the stretcher.

With a slight increase in force, the blue hand hooked and pulled, drawing the patient's soul out of his body.

The spirit was dressed in a hospital gown, with deeply sunken eyes, but a very robust physique and thick, large arms.

After the soul left the body, the person was blank and unresponsive, and there was no sign of any evil aura emanating from them.

Tang Rongfa examined it carefully, his brows furrowing as he lightly twirled his cane.

Whoosh!!!

One after another, noodle-like blue arms surged out of the cane, generally extending three or four meters long, reaching into the air.

The patient's soul was grasped by these blue hands in various parts of the body, stretched slightly like dough, making the soul larger and fainter.

A small, flickering flame appeared at the head of the spirit.

Chu Tianshu had already gotten out of the car and walked closer. Seeing this scene, he secretly praised it.

Not bad.

Although the spell of this Soul-Summoning Banner is sinister, if used properly, it is exceptionally convenient for treating ailments related to the soul.

For example, situations like possession by Evil Spirit.

The many ghostly hands within this Soul-Summoning Banner can snatch a person's soul out of their body with a single stroke, along with any Evil Spirit.

Seven or eight, or even ten hands, are used to lock the Evil Spirit together, tearing it off the person's soul.

Unfortunately, today's situation doesn't seem to be a typical case of possession by Evil Spirit.

"You've stretched your soul out like this, so much so that even the flames of your thoughts are visible. Can't you see any evil energy?"

Chu Tianshu looked up to observe and asked a question.

Tang Rongfa with a troubled tone, "This person is really unlucky; he probably ran into Familiar Puppet."

Although the vast majority of Ghost God races can manifest a variety of power attributes through complex supernatural transformations, their fundamental power is pure Yin.

As believers in Ghost God, they often receive more turbid and unchanging blessings, so their sinister and evil attributes are particularly obvious.

In front of people of equal standing, these believers in Ghost God find it difficult to conceal their sinister power; once discovered by a master, it is laid bare.

However, the situation is very different in the Americas.

The Ghost God race they faced was primarily composed of Flame Demon, whose supreme Flame Demon Clan wielded power over poisonous fire.

Although its essence is yin and evil, it naturally presents the appearance of fiery yang without needing to undergo complex supernatural transformations.

This power, bestowed by Ghost God and spirits, becomes less noticeable once it is combined with human believers.

"The most troublesome thing is that the Flame Demon Clan also possesses profound heritage; their technology is sufficient to create creations called Familiar Puppet."

"Familiar Puppet are divided into two types: tangible and intangible."

"A tangible puppet, resembling a golem composed of obsidian and magma, but unlike the fragile nature of obsidian, it is incredibly sturdy and possesses formidable combat power."

"Fortunately, bringing a physical puppet into reality is quite difficult, and there aren't many cases yet."

"Invisible puppets are tiny, undead-like entities that, once they come into reality, often attach themselves to the human body."

"We speculate that the source of the invisible puppets is that the Flame Demon Clan captured spirits from the Spirit Realm, used them as raw materials, tortured and sacrificed them, and then refined them."

Tang Rongfa said, "Among the formless puppets, there is one called the Fire of the Upper Origin, which manifests as a faint flame."

"Once this Fire of the Upper Origin possesses the body, it will overlap with the fire of thought in a person's mind, making it extremely difficult to distinguish."

"I think this Fire of the Upper Origin was injured by some powerful expert, and instinctively sought to possess a strong yet old person to extract and absorb their life force to heal itself."

"The only way now is probably to wait until this patient dies, and then capture Fire of the Upper Origin. That would be a way to avenge him."

Chu Tianshu stared intently at the soul.

"I have read the Blood Dao Book. Those who practice this method can unleash a dragon's shadow with a single palm strike, capable of piercing mountains and rocks without harm. I have witnessed the Dragon-Subduing Palm. Those who wish to truly master this skill must possess righteous and upright spirit, which will subdue all evil."

He murmured to himself, raised his left hand, and a tiny drop of blood seeped from his palm.

Hold head high!!!

Within a mile radius, everyone vaguely heard a dragon's roar, and felt a sense of relief, as if many troubles had been temporarily suppressed.

Tang Rongfa's eyes widened in disbelief.

He saw Chu Tianshu his palm, and a crimson, crystalline dragon flew out from his palm, its head and tail several feet long, and pounced with a roar, piercing through the patient's soul.

The soul remains unharmed, and so does the fire of consciousness.

But when the crimson dragon shadow flew back to Chu Tianshu's side, it had a faint, reddish flame in its mouth.

"Ah, my first little dessert since arriving in Americas."