chapter 24

Before the Soul Summoning, Seventh Master repeatedly warned us.

The way the Ghost is summoned must be the way it is sent away.

Otherwise, as the Spirit Medium, Xiao Qing could suffer backlash.

We were as careful as could be, but we never expected there was another person at the scene.

That person who appeared suddenly was clearly there with a plan to sabotage everything.

He kicked over several Command Flags and many candles, then fled the scene.

The Array was severely damaged, and Xiao Qing, who was possessed, completely lost control!

I couldn’t spare a thought to chase after that person; all I saw was the living room suddenly filled with a fierce, cold wind, knocking down the remaining Command Flags, and the candles toppled one after another.

Xiao Qing lay on the ground, convulsing, her eyes rolled back, and white foam kept pouring from her mouth.

I noticed that the shadows of Meng Yifan and me had already returned, while Xiao Qing’s shadow was starting to split.

Li Xiumei seemed to be trying to escape from her body.

I panicked instantly, my scalp tingling.

Seventh Master had said that after the Soul Summoning, he would personally send Li Xiumei away, then perform the Seven-Day Daoist Ritual. But those seven days wouldn’t be enough for Exorcism; Meng Yifan and I had to find the person who killed Li Xiumei within those seven days.

But now, Seventh Master had been knocked unconscious, the Soul Summoning process was in chaos, and if Li Xiumei came out, the first people she would kill would be Meng Yifan and me, followed by everyone in this building.

Thinking of the consequences, I couldn’t afford to be afraid. I rushed forward and tried to pin Xiao Qing down.

Xiao Qing was a frail woman, normally easy to restrain, but now she seemed to have taken some kind of strength potion-I couldn’t hold her down no matter how hard I tried.

“Meng Yifan! What are you standing there for?”

“There’s a Talisman Paper in Seventh Master’s pants pocket, hurry and get it!”

I shouted at Meng Yifan.

He scrambled over to Seventh Master, searched around, and pulled out a Talisman Paper from the left pocket.

This Talisman Paper was supposed to be used by Seventh Master. I didn’t know if it would work in my hands, but I had no time to worry about that.

I grabbed the Talisman Paper and tried to stick it on Xiao Qing’s forehead, but she seemed to know what I was about to do and slapped me hard across the face.

Being slapped by a woman was usually nothing, but Xiao Qing was clearly not in a normal state-her slap sent me flying.

Fortunately, Meng Yifan attacked from behind and pinned Xiao Qing to the ground. He was stronger than me and managed to restrain her for the moment.

Seeing how desperately Xiao Qing wanted to kill us both, I was inwardly groaning. I hurriedly said to her, “Li Xiumei, we weren’t the ones who sabotaged the Soul Summoning ritual. We’re trying to help you.”

“Killing us won’t help you at all. We weren’t the ones who caused your death. Why not spare us? We’ll help you find the person who killed you.”

My words seemed to have an effect. Xiao Qing, who had been struggling violently, suddenly stopped moving.

I noticed the shadow on the wall-the shadow that had split from Xiao Qing’s body didn’t return to her, but instead began to fade away.

I quickly rushed over with the Talisman Paper and stuck it onto Xiao Qing’s forehead.

The Talisman Paper was surprisingly effective. The moment it touched her, Xiao Qing passed out.

“This thing works so well…” Meng Yifan exclaimed in amazement.

I didn’t have time to be amazed. I quickly told him, “Take care of Xiao Qing and Seventh Master. I’m going after that person!”

With that, I rushed out of the room, praying I could catch up to the saboteur.

That person had run out from the master bedroom. The wardrobe in the master bedroom had already been dismantled by the police, so the only place left to hide was under the bed.
I figured that person had been hiding under the bed all along, listening to our conversation with Li Xiumei from inside.

He didn’t want Li Xiumei to reveal what happened back then, so he rushed out, knocked Seventh Master unconscious, and destroyed the Soul Summoning Array.

Who wanted Li Xiumei to keep quiet? Naturally, it was the person who killed Li Xiumei all those years ago.

Who could that person be? Without a doubt, the man just now was Lv Zhengxian!

As long as we catch Lv Zhengxian, the real culprit, Meng Yifan and I will be safe!

Thinking of this, I couldn’t help but feel excited and quickly chased out of the residential complex.

Originally, that person had already run for a while, so I shouldn’t have been able to catch up, but his leg had knocked against something in the living room earlier-probably his knee-so he wasn’t running fast at all.

From afar, I saw him running while glancing back at the entrance of the complex.

I chased after him directly, scaring him so much that he panicked and darted into a nearby alley.

I followed him into the alley, but strangely, after he entered, it was as if he vanished on the spot-I couldn’t find him no matter how hard I looked.

The alleys around here are interconnected, with more than a dozen exits leading to apartment buildings or nearby old residential areas.

If I lost track of him, it would be nearly impossible to find him on my own.

But I was unwilling to let him go just like that, so I kept searching inside for quite a while.

In the end, I still couldn’t find him, stomping my feet in frustration.

I returned dejectedly to that room.

Xiao Qing and Seventh Master were still unconscious. Seeing me come back, Meng Yifan hurriedly asked, “Did he get away?”

I sighed, “He got away.”

The man had escaped, so the most important thing now was to get Xiao Qing and Seventh Master to the hospital.

Meng Yifan and I didn’t bother tidying up the scene. Each of us carried one person, locked the door, and quickly left, driving Seventh Master and Xiao Qing to the hospital.

Fortunately, neither of them was seriously hurt. Not long after arriving at the hospital, they both woke up.

Seventh Master had a mild concussion, so of course we’d be paying the medical bills.

Later, the doctor called me over-not because of Seventh Master, but because of Xiao Qing.

The doctor told me that Xiao Qing was suffering from organ failure, and it was at stage three.

Stage three organ failure is quite severe; physical activity is limited, and she can only manage daily tasks. If it progresses to stage four, even daily activities would be restricted.

No wonder Seventh Master said Xiao Qing wouldn’t live past thirty. In her condition, it would be a miracle if she did.

This woman is truly risking her life to earn money.

Holding Xiao Qing’s medical report, I walked into the ward. She and Seventh Master were already awake, receiving IV drips.

I handed her the report, not knowing what to say, just feeling sorry for her.

But after reading the report, Xiao Qing simply smiled, “I’ve already had a physical checkup.”

In other words, she already knew she had stage three organ failure.

Meng Yifan and I sighed. There was nothing we could do to help her. Organ failure requires a transplant, which costs hundreds of thousands or even millions. There’s no way we could help.

Seventh Master cursed from his hospital bed, saying he hadn’t expected someone to be hiding in that room. If he found out who ambushed him, he’d beat that bastard to death.

At that moment, Xiao Qing hesitated, as if she had something to say to us.

I asked her if she’d discovered anything.

She said, “When the Ghost was attached to me, I saw some of her memories. I saw who killed her. I know the features of the murderer.”