The woman in sunglasses pointed at me and said, “No matter how much he offers, I’ll add fifty thousand more.” Ye Qingyou looked at me and asked, “How much are you offering?”
I considered her gaze for a moment before replying, “At most, two bucks.”
Then I bolted out the door.
Ye Qingyou stood there stunned. “Bro, are you messing with me? That’s not fair.”
Yufan chased after me. “Boss Xiao, you haven’t even helped me get the worm out yet… How am I supposed to sleep tonight…”
I sped home in a frenzy, asking He Xiaomao to take me to find Xie Lingyu. Given He Xiaomao’s spiritual sense, locating Xie Lingyu wouldn’t be difficult. Delaying any further would only make things worse.
Whether or not I could buy the Lycoris flower wasn’t the most important thing.
After driving the Wuling for a while, the woman in sunglasses caught up in a white BMW. We pulled up side by side at a red light. I glanced nervously at her, occasionally stealing looks at the potted plant in her passenger seat.
The moment the light turned green, the BMW shot forward—only to be obliterated by a speeding dump truck in the middle of the intersection. The deafening crash left me dumbstruck. If my brakes had been any better, that could’ve been me.
The dump truck roared away, leaving a trail of shattered dirt behind, with no signs of braking—clearly a premeditated hit.
I grabbed a flashlight, kicked open my door, called the police and an ambulance, then rushed to the wreck. The BMW was mangled, the woman inside covered in blood, her thighs impaled by shards of glass, crimson flowing endlessly.
Under the moonlight, the blood looked like flowing water.
The black cover on the Lycoris in the passenger seat had slipped off, revealing scattered white powder and a single red petal.
Damn, so Ye Qingyou had faked the whole thing…
I leaned in. “Stay awake. Help is coming.” Her sunglasses had fallen off, and she smiled bitterly. “Never thought you’d go this far… I, Sun Junliu, gave you the best eight years of my youth…”
“Save it for the cops,” I said. “Don’t move.” The car was too twisted to pull her out. I scanned the wreck—no easy way to help. Whoever “you” was, they’d gone all out.
A cover-up.
“Can you… wipe the blood off my face?” Sun Junliu asked weakly. I reached in, cleaning the blood until her beauty resurfaced, pale yet haunting in the night, almost making me forget the gore.
“Why the Lycoris?” I asked. “Raising a spirit?”
She sighed. “He barely visits… I just wanted him to look at me… I know he has others…”
I quickly pegged her as a mistress—maybe second, third, or even lower. Society scorned women like her, but desperation drove them to dark arts. When things got out of hand, they’d seek the Lycoris to banish the spirits.
Normally, I wouldn’t care. But with her life hanging by a thread, who else would see her off?
Eight precious years, wasted on someone who discarded her like trash. A tragic fate.
Dump trucks ruled the streets at night, often unregistered, perfect for hit jobs. Whoever hired this one had serious connections.
A chill ran down my spine.
Sun Junliu laughed weakly. “Am I dying? Ha… crushed by a truck? Karma, huh?”
Traffic cops arrived, but the wreck was too mangled to free her quickly. By the time paramedics sawed through the roof, she was ghostly pale, her pulse fading.
Witnesses claimed no license plate was visible. The intersection camera? Coincidentally under maintenance. A dead end.
Back at the flower shop, Yu Yuwei saw my bloody hands. “Where’s the boss?” she asked.
“Go home early,” I said. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
She left without another word.
I roused He Qingling, stroking its head. “Take me to Xie Lingyu. She’s in danger.” After Ji Qianqian’s coma, I couldn’t bear losing Xie Lingyu too.
The dog, Xiao Jian, yapped and leaped into my arms. I slung two bags around my neck—left for the dog, right for the cat—then drove to the greenhouse. The cat meowed, hopping out as I tied a glow stick around its neck.
It darted ahead, leading me through alleys crammed with food stalls and shady figures. Freshmen, lured by rumors of “special services,” were dragged into flimsy rooms by eager hands.
At “Peace Inn,” I asked the owner about a suspicious Taoist. A bribe loosened his tongue: “A robed, sloppy guy in Room 601. Brings women—sometimes three or five at a time.”
Sounded like Feitian Wugong.
I handed him the cash. “He’s a murderer. If I’m not back in 15 minutes, call the cops—or face charges for harboring prostitutes.”
The owner nodded nervously, eyeing my cat-and-dog duo. “Weirdest cop I’ve ever seen…”
The hallway reeked of trash and echoed with moans. At Room 601, I knocked. “Police. ID check.”
A pimpled teen cracked the door. I kicked it open to find him shirtless, a woman in bed smirking. “My girlfriend,” he stammered.
“Where’s the Taoist?”
“He paid me 200 to swap rooms.”
“Which one?”
“Room 603.”
I slammed the door. The sly bastard had switched to the opposite room. Another kick sent the door flying—only for a 30-centimeter-long venomous centipede to launch at me.
This wasn’t natural. Even centipede kings didn’t grow this big, let alone shimmer in rainbow hues.
I dodged too late. It landed on me, numbness spreading fast. White powder from the door knocked out the animals.
A robed Taoist with a high bun stepped out, chuckling. “Enjoy your night, kid. Use protection.” He dragged me inside, where the centipede slithered into a box, cowing two king cobras into submission.
“So you followed me,” he mused. “I don’t want to kill you. Hand over the century-old ghost, and I’ll spare you. Otherwise…” He gestured to the centipede. “Two hours without my antidote, and you’re dead. Blink if you agree.”
Relief washed over me—he wanted Xie Lingyu, not revenge for Yang Pao.
Spotting a wooden box bound with red threads on the table (likely holding Xie Lingyu), I blinked.
He fed me half a pill. “The rest later. Kids these days… too crafty.”
As feeling returned, I probed, “Yufan called you Feitian Wugong. Never heard of you.”
“Foolish child,” he scoffed. “I’m a Taoist Association member now. Cooperate, and you’ll prosper.”
“Can you teach me how to handle multiple women in one night?”
He preened. “My techniques can tame even tigresses.”
I grinned. “Ever tried a mountain tigress?”
His face darkened with rage…
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