Chapter 39

"Brother Tian, let's go back. I think we should just give them the Celestial Compass. Qian can't take any more trouble. Grandpa is gone, and Qian can't lose Grandma too," Zhao Qian cried to me.

"Yeah, a Celestial Compass can't save a life." I nodded and drove the car back to the neighborhood.

"Brother Tian, don't go to the village either. Uncle Er said that with Master Wu doing the night vigil, there's no need for other tricks to cause trouble. He told me to call and tell you not to come," Zhao Qian said, her eyes brimming with tears, looking at me awkwardly.

"Alright, but you have to tell me what happened." I tried to keep my tone calm.

It turned out that Zhao Qian had gone to the hospital, and Zhao He had been taken to the police station. The series of incidents had left the old lady of the Zhao family exhausted, and the family was in a state of panic. The village, fearing that the previous accident might happen again, had called in doctors and nurses to stay in the village, so that if anything happened, there would be doctors to attend to it, and the old lady of the Zhao family would also be taken care of.

Then, for some reason, when the old lady of the Zhao family woke up in the morning, she found the old man lying next to her in bed, and he even asked where the Celestial Compass and the compass book were.

The old lady of the Zhao family was so scared that she rolled out of bed and crawled out to call for help.

Uncle Er, Zhao Zhou, brought Wu Zhenghua yesterday and asked about the situation. He felt that he was now the head of the family and was busy trying to get the old lady of the Zhao family to hand over these two items for safekeeping, thinking that the old man would be at ease.

But the old lady of the Zhao family couldn't produce those two items, as the old man had hidden them, and she didn't know where they were.

Zhao Zhou, being a ruthless person, insisted that his mother was just overthinking and having nightmares, and ignored her.

The old lady of the Zhao family also thought that since Master Wu Zhenghua was there, the old man's spirit wouldn't come to demand the items anymore. She decided to stay in crowded places and not sleep, thinking that the old man wouldn't dare to appear in front of everyone and scare her.

Yesterday, it was drizzling, and the old lady didn't dare stay in the house, so she went to chat with some old kitchen workers to relieve her worries. While they were talking, the old man appeared in the woods and waved to her, scaring her so much that she fell into a vegetable pot.

Wu Zhenghua checked the old lady's complexion and said that someone had put a curse on her, and if this continued, the old man would take her to the underworld.

The old lady, frightened, asked for a solution. Wu Zhenghua, after much circumlocution, blamed Zhao Qian, saying that a person skilled in black magic had set a trap, preventing the old man's spirit from going to the underworld and making it linger in the village.

To resolve this, the Celestial Compass had to be brought out, or the problem couldn't be solved.

No matter how much they circled around, it always came back to the Celestial Compass. The old lady used to be a Red Guard, and all kinds of ghosts and spirits would run away at the sight of her. The old man, even in life, was afraid of her. How could he dare to come and claim his life now?

Thinking about it, it seemed like someone had set a trap.

The old lady thought that the old man used to dote on his granddaughter Zhao Qian, so the Celestial Compass must be in her hands. An object is just an object; it can't be worth more than her life and everyone else's.

So she sent someone to find Zhao Xi, who called Zhao Qian to come over with the Celestial Compass and the compass book.

If I give them the Celestial Compass, what about the compass book? I looked at Zhao Qian sympathetically. An object is just an object; compared to a life, it's nothing. Without the Celestial Compass, Zhao Qian would still be a beautiful feng shui master, and a capable person wouldn't rely on objects.

"I'll write it for him," Zhao Qian said resolutely.

"Will he stop if you write it for him?" I shook my head.

"He will. Dad said that as long as we give the items to the head of the family, he won't make things difficult for me," Zhao Qian said, at a loss. She would do whatever her father said.

"Alright. This is the Zhao family's business, not something I can interfere with."

I drove the car into the house, and Zhao Qian went inside. I called Han Shanshan at the door: "Hey, Han Shanshan, where are you?"

"Nowhere, why? You miss your sister already after just half a day? Do you want to know where I am?" Han Shanshan was excited on the other end of the phone, surrounded by heavy metal music.

"Where else could you be? You must be at a bar, right?" I frowned. This place was full of smoke and all sorts of people.

"Yeah! How did you know? Do you want to come? I'm dancing with a guy right now, and he even took advantage of me. I'm so excited, do you want to come? I'll buy you a drink!" Han Shanshan said slyly.

"Xiao Han, what are you doing? You're working on a case, hang up the phone quickly," a voice came from the other end of the phone.

"I'm not going. You're working on a case, right? Call me when you're done. It's urgent, don't forget." I recognized the voice as Captain Huo's. It seemed Han Shanshan was working.

"Oh, okay, hmpf, I was trying to trick you, but you're so calm." Han Shanshan hung up the phone, clearly unhappy.

I sighed in relief. What kind of person is this? She was scared to death at the morgue earlier, but after a nap, she was out working on a case. She even said she was excited about being taken advantage of. Damn, this girl has everything but a brain!

After a while, Zhao Qian came out, holding the Celestial Compass, her eyes brimming with tears. Yu Xiaoxue was curious and stood outside watching us.

"Brother Tian, why haven't you left yet?" Yu Xiaoxue asked, puzzled.

"Nothing, Xiaoxue, go back to sleep. I won't be back tonight. Lock the door and don't wait for me." I told Yu Xiaoxue to go inside.

Yu Xiaoxue reluctantly pouted and went into the villa.

"Brother Tian, drop me off at the Zhao family village and then go back. If anything happens, I'll call you. You must answer when I call. Now that I'm used to having you around, I'll be uneasy if you're not here," Zhao Qian said, already accustomed to my presence.

"Alright, do you have enough battery on your phone?" I asked.

"Enough, I have a spare battery," Zhao Qian said, a bit puzzled by my question.

"Set up a quick dial. If anything goes wrong during the night vigil, call me and put the phone in your pocket. If I think something is wrong, I'll come over. I'll wait for you on the main road outside the village. This won't help much in an emergency, but it's better than nothing," I explained.

"Okay, I will." Zhao Qian felt reassured and got into the car to set up the quick dial.

I drove her to the Zhao family village. Zhao Qian got out of the car reluctantly and looked at me, not wanting to leave.

The village was bustling with people and bright lights. If you didn't know it was a funeral, you'd think someone was getting married.

It seemed that the old lady of the Zhao family had decided to go all out today. She had called in relatives and friends and many young people, who were sitting around the village square, drinking and playing cards. With so many young people, the yang energy was strong, and the old lady probably thought nothing would happen in the village.

But was that really the case?

If Wu Zhenghua was performing rituals, these young people wouldn't make any difference.

I shook my head. The old man might have been killed by Zhao Zhou and Wu Zhenghua, but they just hadn't found the evidence.

The old man was a good person. Even in death, he didn't become a vengeful ghost. It seemed he had fallen for Wu Zhenghua's trick, losing his yang energy and eventually taking his own life. Since he had taken his own life, he wouldn't consider his death unjust.

Now things were getting interesting. They thought the old man's spirit had been taken to the underworld, but it hadn't left the village and had been brought back. It was clear that Wu Zhenghua had set this up; no one else had that kind of ability!

Would Zhao Zhou let Zhao Qian go if she gave him the Celestial Compass and the compass book?

Judging by their actions, they wouldn't stop until they had eliminated the root cause. If I were doing this, I would have taken Zhao Qian's soul, ensuring everything was peaceful.

I got out of the car and said to Zhao Qian, "Qian, keep the soul-stabilizing talisman and the ghost-repelling talisman on you. If anything strange happens, recite the spell and call me. I'll come as soon as I can."

"Okay, be careful out there, Brother Tian." Zhao Qian nodded.

Just as we were talking, a few young men with dyed hair were looking at us in the parking lot. One of them picked up his phone, probably calling someone, and more young men with rough looks came out.

They were probably sent by Zhao Zhou or Zhao Yi.

About seven or eight young men were staring at me with unfriendly expressions. The leader said, "Zhao Qian can go in, but you should leave now."

I was afraid they might harm Zhao Qian, so I planned to stay and watch her enter the village.

"Little punk, why aren't you leaving? What are you staring at? Afraid I won't beat you up?" One of the young men with green hair pointed at me, looking like he wanted to hit me.

"Hey, what are you looking at? Afraid I won't flatten you?" Another impulsive one walked over, grabbed my collar, and was about to slap me!

"A-Biao! Wait!" The leader tried to stop him, but A-Biao's slap had already come.

I turned cold. "Do you really want to die?"

They couldn't see Xijun sitting on my shoulder, so they were acting recklessly.

A-Biao's slap was caught by Xijun, and then a cold wind rose around me. Xijun squeezed his hand, making him kneel down.

The scene shocked the others.

"A-Biao! What's wrong with you?" The leader ran over to see what was happening.

A-Biao's face was pale, and he was trembling in pain. His hand had five small finger marks, as if a child had squeezed it.

The leader sucked in a cold breath. He and Zhao Yi were brothers and knew that the matters of the mystic world couldn't be judged by ordinary standards. When he asked me to leave, he had been polite, hoping to leave a good impression for the future.

But his subordinate had acted impulsively and tried to hit me. As the leader, he immediately said, "A-Biao was out of line. I apologize. Sir, please don't take it to heart. I'm Lei Qing from the west side of the city. I saw you at the hospital today. Please show mercy and let A-Biao go."

I looked at Lei Qing and said coldly, "Stay away from Zhao Zhou. If I find out you're making things difficult for Zhao Qian, you'll be ordering coffins for your whole family from the Wang family!"

Lei Qing's face turned pale, and he broke out in a cold sweat. He nodded rapidly, like a chicken pecking at rice. "I understand. I won't let anything happen to Sister Zhao Qian."

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