Not long afterward, Chuyi smoothed his furrowed browsand glanced atme and Zhou Tian. Then, without saying a word, he closedthe window. Afterward, he drew his eight-facedHan swordand stabbedthe gold-threaded handkerchief.

He just wanted to force the thing inside tocomeout, so he withdrew the sword as soon as he touched the cloth.

The gold-threaded handkerchief sizzled. Then, we heard a seductive woman’svoice. “Ouch, why did you have to pokeme there…”

This voice was so captivating that mymouthfelt dry. Instinctively, I read thesacredtext of Daoism to calm down. Zhou Tian covered his crotchand headedto the toilet.

When I pulled myself together,I saw a beautifulwomancomeout of the handkerchief. She wore a white fox fur upper garmentand a skirt madeof translucent gauze.Her entire body looked mesmerizing, especially herseductive andcharming eyes. She lookeda lotlike thelegendary fox spiritDaji.

When she noticed that I was looking at her,she saidsweetly,“A moment ofloveisworth more than onethousand gold ingots. I can tell you are already tired. How about you rest here with me?”

She then undressedand crossed her legs,putting a finger in her mouth. Herother handgestured to metogoto her.

Icouldn’tresist thetemptation andwanted tojumponher. Chuyi drew his sword again. This time, he used all of his strengthto stabthrough the gold-threaded handkerchief.

The woman shrieked painfully. She turnedinto a mass of mistand dispersed. Inoticedthat the handkerchiefhad lost its luster.Moreover, the part that Chuyi had stabbed started to oozeablack liquid.

“What happened?” I asked.

That woman wasn’tChuyi’sopponent, and when Chuyi dealt with spirits, he always chose to help them ascend. This time, he didn’t even give the woman time to talk. Iwas puzzled as he hadkilledherinone strike.

“If she didn’t die, Bianhe would never rest…” Chuyi picked up the handkerchiefand handedit to me. He askedme to sniff it. I cocked my headand tookasniffof the strong,foul smell. I couldn’t help but frown.

“Was that woman a fox spirit?”

“Yeah, she was a fox spirit. This sort of spirit alwaysseducesmen to suck their essence. I don’tknow who trapped this fox spirit inside thisgold-threaded handkerchief, but sincethe handkerchiefandthe Heshibi were in contactfor quite a long time, the two spirits must havefelt each other’s existence. I think the fox spirit might have tried toseduceBianhe.”

“Bianhe was known for beingnoble and virtuous, so hewouldn’t fall forthe fox’s enticement. Left with no choice, he was forced to become anotherworldlyspirit,”Chuyi explained to me.

I nodded.We didn’t need to show mercy to this sort ofbeastlyspirit. Even though theyhada human form, they didn’t have ahumanheart. We couldn’t tame them or teach them.However,Ifelt sorry for losing thegold-threaded handkerchief. Chuyi unwrapped the bandage on my footandsprinkled glutinous rice powder on the wound. My soles felt itchy, soIsubconsciouslywanted to scratch the wound. Chuyi grabbed my handand said in a serious voice,“Don’t move.I’m going to expel the Yin energy in your wounds.”

As heincreasedhis force, I gradually got used to the feeling of paininmy feet. I could feel the movement of cold currents in my body, which headed to my soles. Soon, the pure white powder turnedpitchblack.

He thentook out a smallcontainerfrom his bag andsqueezed out somepaste that looked like toothpaste. He appliedittomy wounds. The pain was so sharp that Iscreamed.Zhou Tian and Chuyi held my limbs tightly.They didn’t release me until my feet felt completely numb.

Surprisingly,thepain was gone shortly after. Ilookedat myfeet and sawthat thewounds hadclosed. I tried towalka few steps.There was nopain at all!

I felt happyand pattedChuyi’s shoulder. “You're incredible. If you have time, can you teach me?”

“Haha.” It was rareforChuyito laughout loud. Then, with a cold face, he asked, “Do you know where that old man’s hiding?”

I pulled myself together. “At that time,he noticed meas I wasfollowing him, soIdon’tknow where he’s staying. However, sincehe justcamehere to finish me off,I’m sure heleftatrace.”

With that thought, I rushed downstairs with Chuyi. We bribed the guardso that we couldcheck the surveillance cameras. Soon, we saw the old man leaving my ward. He went downstairs,took off hislabcoat and mask,and leftthe hospital.

A few hundred meters away from the hospital was an intersection, so we couldn’t guess which direction hewent in.

Chuyi sighed.“If my little Daoist boywashere, hewould have been able to trackthe old man’s Yang energy.”

I now remembered that IhadLittle Lin. I released him from the paper crane.

Little Lin was excited. But as he was about toroll and jump around, he saw Chuyi.Theboy immediately paledand rushedback to me. He hid behindmy shoulder.It seemed hefelt threatened byChuyi.

“Don’t be scared. He’s on our side.” I smiledand rubbedthe boy’s head. Then, I poutedand saidto Chuyi,“What do you think? I adopted him for you.”

Chuyi gavethe boya faint glanceand asked,“Why are you afraid of me?”

Little Lin lowered his head.

“Because you’re intimidating,” he answered slowly.

Chuyi nodded. He bit his fingeruntil it bled and brought itto Little Lin’s mouth. I could tell he liked this little ghost. Instinctively, Little Lin moved forwardto drinkChuyi’s blood. However,at thelast moment, he pausedand looked at me with hesitation.I felt touchedand nodded.“Go, boy! He’s stronger than me. He can help yourevivefaster.”

Little Lin happily drank Chuyi’s blood, becoming his newlittle footman.

Chuyi asked Little Lin to smell the old man’s Yang energy from the bronze box.The boyfollowed the smelland roamedaround the hospital. In the end, hewas able todiscoverthe old man’s whereabouts.All of usimmediately rushedafterhim.magic

On the way there, Isawthat Zhou Tiandidn’t look toogood. When wewerechecking the surveillance cameras,I had already noticedhis strange look. I was afraid that something had happened to himwhenweweren’tpaying attention. “Hey, are you okay?Is something the matter?”

“No, it’snothing. I’m okay.” Zhou Tian shook his headand triedto look normal. He walkedahead of us.Now, I was even more sure that there was something wrong with him.

Chuyiquietlyreached his hand to stop me. I turned to himand saw himglancing atZhou Tian. My heart sank, and I became more vigilant.

After followingLittle Lin for a while,we reachedthe constructionsiteIwas at yesterday. It seemed the old man was heading home.When we reached the iron bar fence, Little Lin stopped. Hebecame flustered and scannedthe place.

Iwas already tense, soI quicklygrabbedthe Yin and Yang Umbrellaand carefullywatchedthe ground under my feet. Chuyi also drew his eight-facedHan sword, pressing his back against mine.Wescanned oursurroundings, butthe place was dead silent. There was nothing strangeabout it.

A moment later, Chuyi put his sword backinits sheathand lookedat Little Lin skeptically.“Did you make a mistake?”

Little Lin shook his head. Hisfacelookedrestlessas he lookedaround. However, he couldn’t locate the target.

Eventually, Chuyi waved his hand. “Don’t worry. Just take us there with yoursenses.”

Little Lin was scared but listened to Chuyi.

We continued walking a few more miles.We started to see fewerstructures and construction sites, while the number ofpaddy fields and random wooden lodges increased. From a distance, the lodges looked small and dark. I wondered if people lived there.

Suddenly, I heard Zhou Tianscream from a wooden lodge a few hundred meters away. I was aghastand turnedto check. Zhou Tian wasn’t with us!

“What’s going on?!”

Chuyi alsonoticedthat Zhou Tian had disappeared. He frownedand asked, “Who is this Zhou Tian?”

I told Chuyi the truth.“I don’t know ifthere’s something wrong with him, but the otherworldly itemhas beentargetinghim sincethe beginning.”

Ever since wecameto this area, Chuyi and I had paid attention tooursurroundings toseeif the enemy would attack, forgetting aboutZhou Tian. We didn’t even knowwhenhedisappeared.

However, I was sure that when Little Lin stoppedearlier, Zhou Tian was still with us. At that time, he was holding the bronze box, and hisexpression was strange. With this sudden memory, I panicked. “WasLittle Lin flusteredbecause of Zhou Tian?”

“We have no time to think about that!” Chuyi didn’t lingerand sprintedtoward the lodge in the far distance. With my feet wounded, I was much slower than him. Intheblink of an eye, he wasalreadyten meters ahead of me. As I was about to run after him, a force held me from behind. Instantly, I feltaburning pain.