Chapter 38

Deep into the night, it was always quiet, and in this bustling city, it was rare to hear the chirping of insects and birds. The sound of crickets was like a natural lullaby, but the Chen family could not fall asleep. The four of them sat in the living room, dazed, surrounded by guards.

Only Li Mang, carefree, was snoring soundly in bed, conserving his energy. As the saying goes, a man is iron, and food is steel; both rest and meals are essential. Otherwise, even the greatest expert would lack the strength and spirit to face the enemy.

"Ah!" A scream broke the tranquility of the villa.

Li Mang, who was in the guest room, instantly opened his eyes, quickly got up, and went downstairs. He found that the first-floor hall was already on high alert, with over twenty guards surrounding the four members of the Chen family.

"What exactly happened? Where did the scream come from?" Chen Hui was asking a guard who had just run back from the backyard.

"Boss, another person has had their eyes gouged out!" The guard reported in fear.

"..." The three women of the Chen family huddled together, their expressions tense. Chen Hui was also stunned, not knowing what orders to give.

"Can I take a look?" Li Mang, who had just come downstairs, suddenly interjected.

Chen Hui glanced at him, his smile somewhat unnatural, but since there was nothing to hide, he said, "Sure, take Li Gong to check it out."

In the courtyard behind the villa, next to the swimming pool, lay a corpse. The eyes were gone, the empty sockets staring skyward, blood gushing out and even seeping into the pool, staining a large area red.

Li Mang felt slightly uncomfortable but still forced himself to carefully examine the victim's wounds. Were the eyes gouged out? It didn't seem so, but he wasn't an expert, so he asked the guard beside him, "From the wound, how were the eyeballs removed?"

"..." The guard clearly hadn't expected this question, as he was too nervous to consider such details.

The guards of the Chen family were all elite. Upon hearing this, they reacted and used cotton to dry the blood around the victim's eye sockets. To their shock, they discovered a strange phenomenon: the outer membrane of the eyeball was still intact, with only a small hole, but the contents inside had vanished, as if eaten by something, which was truly bizarre!

"This... this wasn't gouged out at all." The guard's words were hesitant. He had grown up under the red flag as a special forces soldier and couldn't believe in ghosts or monsters, but he couldn't explain the death of his fallen comrade.

Li Mang took out his phone, forced himself to take several close-up photos despite his discomfort, and sent them to Yang Fan, explaining the situation in detail, waiting for a response from headquarters.

"Phew..."

At that moment, Li Mang suddenly sensed a strong wind coming from behind. Suppressing his confusion, he quickly dodged. Glancing sideways, he was shocked to see that the attacker was the guard who had just answered his question. The guard was holding a military dagger, his eyes clearly bloodshot.

This guard was also skilled. Despite his initial surprise at missing his target, he quickly moved in again, the dagger aimed directly at Li Mang's vital points.

"Hmph!" Li Mang coldly snorted and kicked out— "Bang!"

"Plunk!" The guard fell into the water. However, when Li Mang tried to subdue him, something strange happened. The guard in the water suddenly clutched his head and screamed in agony, his expression under the light extremely distorted, showing intense pain.

"Plunk! Plunk!"

With two strange sounds, the screaming suddenly stopped, and the guard ceased struggling, eventually sinking into the water.

Li Mang, standing by the pool, opened his mouth in shock, his eyes full of horror. Others might not have noticed, but he could clearly see that the guard's eyes had burst open, and he had died instantly, just like the previous victim, which was truly terrifying.

"..." The other guards stood woodenly by the pool, their minds unable to process what had happened. Their comrade had inexplicably 'lost control' and then died, making them feel very unreal.

"Ring ring!"

The sound of an incoming call interrupted Li Mang's thoughts. Thinking it was Yang Fan, he answered, "Manager Yang, have you figured it out?"

"Brat, it's me!" It was Grandma Snake's voice. Before Li Mang could ask, she continued, "I've seen the photos you sent to Yang Fan. Based on your description, it seems to be the result of a Miaojiang curse!"

"A curse?" Li Mang was surprised.

"Yes, a curse. The curse master makes their curse insect enter the human body, controlling the person's life and even their actions. From the situation you described, this curse master is quite powerful. You must be careful," Grandma Snake warned ominously.

Despite Li Mang's usually thick-skinned nature, he was still chilled to the bone by this evil thing. He quickly recounted the recent incident to Grandma Snake for her analysis.

"That's right. The curse insect might be afraid of water. When it encounters water, it struggles, causing the guard to die prematurely. Quickly check the water surface for the corpse of the curse insect," Grandma Snake instructed methodically.

Li Mang immediately asked the guards to bring a high-powered flashlight. Sure enough, he saw two small insects struggling on the surface. Upon closer inspection, they were two small beetles he had never seen before. Li Mang described the beetles to Grandma Snake.

"These are soul curses. The curse is mixed into food or drink and ingested, attaching to the internal organs. After about half a month, it grows and quietly moves to the brain, allowing the curse master to control the person's body and issue commands," Grandma Snake, with her extensive knowledge, explained.

"Mixed into food? Could I have been affected too?" Li Mang was genuinely alarmed, inwardly regretting it.

"Brat, do you think curse insects are common? It takes a year to cultivate one! Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that you've been affected, but don't worry. The incubation period for this type of curse is half a month. If you can return within that time, I will help you remove it," Grandma Snake reassured him with a smile.

"Alright!" Li Mang felt more at ease and then focused on the current situation, asking an urgent question, "From what we can see, more than just these people in the Chen family have been affected. How can I help them?"

"If it were a regular curse, eating garlic and black dog blood, and inducing diarrhea and vomiting, might help. But this is a soul curse. Unless I arrive tomorrow, you won't be able to remove it yourselves!" Grandma Snake's tone was low.

"Can't wait until tomorrow. Is there no other way?" Li Mang asked urgently.

"..." Grandma Snake thought for a long time before suggesting, "Curse insects are actually a type of insect, especially the soul beetle, which loves sweet food, particularly honey. If you coat their mouths with honey, it might lure the soul curse out. However, this isn't guaranteed to work, and the quality of the honey must be very high."