Âme Miroir Ancienne

Chapitre 21

"This method is not the work of a demon. You must first understand that it is just a vengeful spirit, a demon, not a mortal like you or me. It does not need to use human means to achieve its desired goal. Its thinking and its magic power would not allow it to make that choice."

"Then, senior brother, is there any connection between the person who killed Meng Ping and the vengeful spirit? Could it be that Luo Min killed him?"

"I'm not sure about that either, but based on your descriptions of Luo Min these past few days, I think it's unlikely."

"Then, senior brother, what should we do?"

"We can only wait and see. Perhaps Meng Ping's death has nothing to do with vengeful spirits; he may have had other private issues that we don't know about. That's just speculation."

Zheng Qi gave a wry smile, speechless.

In the following days, Meng Ping's death created an unusually oppressive and gloomy atmosphere in the newspaper office.

Old Dong locked himself in his office all day, rarely coming out to chat with everyone anymore. He seemed to be increasingly resembling the former Director Wang. Chen Qing wore a sorrowful and dejected expression, always appearing lost in thought and dejected. Sister Zheng became increasingly quiet, her once radiant smile gone. Luo Min toned down her deliberate flirtatious behavior, mainly because while her admirers were eager to win her heart, risking their lives for a smile from a beauty wasn't worth it; they all scattered like birds. Suddenly, the newspaper office became much quieter.

It was pitch black outside the window, and thunder rumbled in the distance; a heavy rain was imminent.

Zheng Qi paced anxiously around the room, his hands behind his back, his mind in turmoil. He had a vague feeling that Meng Ping's death and the vengeful spirit were connected in some unusual way, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what that connection was. Several days had passed, yet everything remained so calm and uneventful, and he couldn't help but feel increasingly anxious.

"Don't go any further, or the floor will collapse!"

Mo Han comfortably reclined on the sofa, leisurely exhaling smoke rings as she spoke to Zheng Qi, who was pacing back and forth.

"Sigh, I'm really upset! I have a feeling that Meng Ping's death and that vengeful spirit are related."

Zheng Qi sat down next to Mo Han in frustration, staring blankly at the smoke Mo Han was exhaling, deep in thought.

"Senior brother, why don't we summon Meng Gang's spirit and ask him something?"

Looking at the thin layer of smoke enveloping him and Mo Han, Zheng Qi suddenly thought of the method of summoning the soul.

Mo Han flicked the cigarette in her hand with her index finger, and a piece of grayish-white ash instantly flew away.

He shook his head and said,

“No, you know that using the soul-summoning technique not only consumes a lot of your own power, but also shortens your lifespan. The reason we had to use this method was because time was of the essence and there was no other way. But we still have time now, so we should never use the soul-summoning technique unless absolutely necessary.”

After saying that, Mo Han looked serious and casually stubbed out the cigarette butt in his hand and put it in the ashtray.

Zheng Qi felt a little unhappy after hearing Mo Han's warning, and his expression was inevitably a bit dejected. However, he knew that his senior brother was doing this for his own good, and he didn't know what to do for a moment. He couldn't help but sigh deeply.

"It's not that there's no way!"

Mo Han sat up from the reclining sofa, straightening her clothes as she smiled at Zheng Qi.

"What other methods are there? Tell me quickly!"

Upon hearing Mo Han's words, Zheng Qi felt a glimmer of hope and grabbed Mo Han's arm, asking urgently.

"Look at you, so impatient. We'll go to Meng Ping's house tonight. Even though the police have already thoroughly searched the area, I think they'll leave behind some clues they don't know about!"

After saying that, he gave Zheng Qi a meaningful smile.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Qi immediately understood the meaning behind Mo Han's words and nodded excitedly.

At Meng Ping's home.

Perhaps because he lived alone, or perhaps because the police had thoroughly searched the place, the sight of the interior made Zheng Qi and Mo Han frown. The entire room looked like it had been robbed, a complete mess.

Zheng Qi and Mo Han briefly looked through each room before returning to the living room.

"Senior brother, have you discovered anything?"

Although Zheng Qi knew that Mo Han must have his own reasons for coming to Meng Ping's house, he had no idea what Mo Han was looking for or what methods he would use to do so.

"Strange, why can't I sense his soul?"

Mo Han stood in the middle of the living room, eyes closed, silently reciting a spell. Then he opened his eyes and muttered to himself, full of doubt. At that moment, his eyes were filled with confusion and bewilderment.

"What's wrong, senior brother?"

Zheng Qi was completely unaware of Mo Han's actions and couldn't help but ask curiously.

"Generally, the soul of someone who dies with a grievance will return to the place where the incident occurred on the seventh day after their death. This is actually their process of reuniting their three souls and seven spirits. After that, they can peacefully carry their three souls and seven spirits to their next life. We can only use the Soul Sensing Technique at midnight on this day to go to the place where the incident occurred and sense the soul, thus understanding some of the circumstances surrounding their death. But—"

"But what?"

While Zheng Qi was busy questioning Mo Han, he couldn't help but secretly complain to his master why he hadn't taught him this spell!

"I just performed a ritual, but I can't sense his soul! What's going on?"

Mo Han muttered to herself slowly, somewhat at a loss.

"Could it be that he and his spirit haven't arrived yet? Should we wait and see?"

Zheng Qi guessed.

Mo Han gave a wry smile and said to Zheng Qi,

“Look at the time now. If his spirit doesn’t come by midnight, he won’t come back. Now it seems there are only two possibilities.”

Which two?

Zheng Qi glanced at his watch; it was well past midnight. It seemed that Meng Ping's spirit was indeed not coming back.

"One possibility is that his accident didn't happen here, meaning he wasn't killed here. His spirit went to the actual accident site, which is why we can't sense it anymore."

Mo Han sighed deeply, a troubled look on his face. He glanced at Zheng Qi's gaze, which seemed intent on pressing him for more information, and then slowly continued,

"Another possibility is that his soul is being controlled by that vengeful spirit, preventing him from coming here!"

"So, senior brother, do you mean the latter possibility is that Meng Ping was indeed killed by that vengeful spirit?"

Zheng Qi asked with some doubt, because he thought of the contradiction between Mo Han's analysis a few days ago and what she said today.

"Hmm, it seems I misjudged things before. It's possible that Meng Ping was indeed killed by that vengeful spirit through someone else's hands, with the aim of framing someone else. But why would it do this this time? And who is this vengeful spirit trying to frame?"

Mo Han nodded solemnly.

Finally, the two shouted in unison, "Luo Min!"

Zheng Qi and Mo Han returned to their residence, and it was nearly midnight. Neither of them felt sleepy, and they sat on the sofa, deep in thought.

Zheng Qi looked at Mo Han with expectant eyes, asking what to do next. At this moment, he was truly like a headless fly—completely bewildered.

"Sigh, I see there's really no other way, so we'll have to resort to this last resort!"

Mo Han sighed with a hint of pain.

"What's the worst possible solution?"

Although Zheng Qi already had a vague feeling in his heart that it would be a terrible decision!