"Help... help..."
"It hurts... it hurts so much..."
Faint, mosquito-like voices cried out repeatedly, as if enduring something painful.
At first, Guo Lele couldn't hear clearly and was groggy upon waking.
She thought she was having a nightmare.
But gradually, she began to hear the voices distinctly.
Clearer and clearer...
Even her own body seemed to feel the same torment as if it were her own.
"It hurts... it hurts..."
Guo Lele woke up in her blankets, hugging her arms, almost sobbing.
Even after waking, the pain felt as if it had happened to her.
Vividly remembered.
How similar this feeling was!
In junior high, her sister accidentally broke her leg.
She didn't complain about the pain,
but Guo Lele was in so much pain every night that she could barely sleep, and couldn't concentrate in class during the day.
Guo Lele had also disliked this kind of twin telepathy.
But now,
she was incredibly grateful for this connection.
It allowed her to atone for her regrets and help her sister again.
...
"I can feel her presence."
In the office, Guo Lele clutched the small white bag in her hand. "The suffering she's enduring isn't like a raging fire, but more like someone oppressing her day after day."
"So, I think she might have encountered a powerful ghost and been taken for soul refining or something..."
Thanks to the popular science shared on the "Daily Healing in the Underworld" live stream, the public knew more about the underworld.
Tap, tap.
Jiang Ziwei, who had been at the computer, walked over at some point and stopped Jiang Xian, who was about to perform a divination. "I'll do it."
He looked at Guo Lele. "If you truly have such a strong connection, there's a method you can try."
"But the price after finding her will be calculated separately."
Guo Lele's face was serious as she replied, "Okay."
A few minutes later,
Jiang Ziwei finished his preparations and asked Guo Lele to prick her fingertip for blood, dripping it onto a talisman.
As soon as the fresh blood touched the talisman, it quickly soaked in.
Guo Lele watched the talisman nervously and blankly, wondering if this would really work.
After a few seconds, the talisman remained still.
Guo Lele: "Should I squeeze out more blood?"
Jiang Ziwei replied without looking up, "No need. The fingers are connected to the heart. One drop is enough."
As they were speaking,
the talisman trembled slightly, then floated lightly into the air, leveling with Jiang Ziwei's gaze.
Seeing this, Tang Tianze quickly got up. "I'll drive!"
Jiang Xian called out to Ye Youshi, who was engrossed in reading, "We have a job."
Jiang Ziwei glanced at the flustered Guo Lele beside him. "Let's go find your sister."
"Ah, okay."
This was Guo Lele's first time witnessing such a procedure in reality.
She quickly responded and followed them out of the office.
She wasn't too worried about safety because, from what she had learned,
this place was officially certified.
...
The group got into the car,
Jiang Ziwei used a trick to conceal the floating talisman.
He also opened the heavenly eye for everyone in the car except Ye Youshi.
Once everything was ready,
Tang Tianze kept a close watch on the talisman's movement. Wherever the talisman flew, he drove in that direction.
An hour later,
the talisman's energy was depleted, and it turned to ash.
The car stopped.
Jiang Ziwei took out a spare talisman and had Guo Lele drip her fingertip blood onto it.
Then, he began searching for the soul again.
This way, a new talisman had to be used every hour.
Three hours later, the sky had begun to darken, and the streetlights were coming on.
The black car carrying the group
finally stopped at the entrance of a residential complex.
Guo Lele looked at the familiar surroundings and couldn't help but exclaim,
"My sister rented an apartment in this complex!"
If she had only half-believed that these people could help before, now she had eight-tenths confidence!
Jiang Ziwei: "Drive straight in."
Tang Tianze called over a security guard and showed him an identification card.
Having frequently assisted the police with cases and possessing official accreditation,
they had acquired some minor privileges.
After a moment, the security guard checked the ID and returned it.
Tang Tianze said sternly, "Maintain secrecy."
The security guard quickly closed his mouth and opened the barrier for them.
The car slowly drove into the parking garage.
Everyone took out their Bluetooth earphones and put them on.
Jiang Xian, Tang Tianze, and Guo Lele stayed behind.
Jiang Ziwei got out of the car with a crossbody bag,
simultaneously taking out a paper effigy of a stick figure, while his other hand remained in his pocket, holding a stack of spare talismans.
Guided by the floating talisman, he headed towards the elevator in Building Four.
Ye Youshi activated his ghost artifact—the third eye. A red glow flashed in his right eye, and he followed suit.
As they got closer, the talisman's speed increased, and it began to tremble slightly again, as if sensing something.
Ding—
The elevator door opened on the 28th floor.
The talisman flew to the door of apartment 2802 and stopped, floating in the air.
Jiang Ziwei and Ye Youshi exchanged a glance, then quietly approached the door of 2802.
...
"You owe me! You owe me!"
"How dare you refuse me!"
"I'll make you refuse me! Make you refuse me!"
Inside the house,
a young man was in the bedroom, looking down at a ceramic pot on the table and cursing at it. He was stabbing it with a long black needle.
With every stab, a pained cry would come from the ceramic pot.
These cries greatly satisfied the young man's inner desires.
Excited, he anticipated hearing more.
The corners of his mouth curled upwards, his eyes turned black, and he frantically began to stab the ceramic pot.
One, two, three...
Knock, knock!
Knock, knock!
The sudden knocking at the door jolted the young man out of his thoughts.
He looked suspiciously towards the door, suppressed his emotions, and his eyes silently returned to normal.
"Who is it?" he asked, putting down the long black needle.
"Gas inspection," Jiang Ziwei replied.
They had investigated this residential complex while in the underground garage.
There would be inspectors today, going door-to-door.
"Wait!"
The young man closed the bedroom door,
checked the messages in the community group chat on his phone to confirm the inspection, and then went to open the main door.
The next second, a talisman was slapped precisely and swiftly onto his forehead, catching him completely off guard.
A burning sensation quickly spread through every nerve in his brain, as if it were about to explode.
"Ahhh!"
The young man clutched his head, his eyes wide with rage, and fell to his knees in agony.
The moment the door opened, Jiang Ziwei saw a thick black aura surrounding the man.
His gaze sharpened, and he swiftly took out several talismans and threw them forward.
The talismans spontaneously landed on the young man's hands, feet, and chest.
They began to expel the evil!
"Ahhh!"
Bang!
Ye Youshi closed the main door, shutting out the screams.