Feng Shui

Chapitre 48

"Can't you think of something?" Luo Lin looked at the face that was exactly the same as hers. She knew that no matter how many times she asked, she would get the same answer, but she still couldn't help but ask again. This proved that when people are pushed to the limit, they will really stop at nothing.

"I can't help it." The demon Liao didn't even look up, continuing to write furiously as he slowly and deliberately answered Luo Lin.

Luo Lin sighed and sat down on the sofa.

Three days have passed since Qing Tong disappeared, and Luo Lin still has no leads.

Qing Tong still hadn't returned. Zhang Anqi obediently kept her promise to Ye Miao, and therefore hadn't been online recently. Luo Lin secretly used her QQ account to stay online, but she never encountered the other Ye Miao again. Only the silent spirit of Ye Miao still followed Zhang Anqi around. In addition, Luo Lin never encountered "asdfasdf" online again... No, or rather, although "asdfasdf" on the internet hadn't made contact with Luo Lin again, "asdfasdf" had successfully infiltrated Luo Lin's real life.

Starting with that white digital human head, Luo Lin's life is now almost entirely in the other party's hands.

No matter the time, the place, or what Luo Lin was doing, the other party always seemed to have a way of knowing his every move and explaining it all over the phone. That meticulous and thoughtful manner often made Luo Lin wonder if he was a lab rat living in a transparent glass laboratory, while the other party was a biologist who was always watching from the sidelines, ready to use tweezers and electric currents to test his various ecological responses.

At the thought of ATRUEMANSHOW, Luo Lin couldn't help but sigh again. What exactly did the other party want? Did they really just want to stop him from continuing his investigation? And, could it really be as the other party said, that his opponent was a god?

“If you didn’t get involved in this, there wouldn’t be so much trouble?” Liao put down his pen and said to Luo Lin, “I’ve just finished writing a new section, would you like to hear it?”

Before Luo Lin could answer, he had already slipped back into Luo Lin's body and started reading in his mind.

"This area seems to be an abandoned residential area, but there isn't a single person in sight, and looking further into the distance, there are no lights to be seen either. Huang Jianxin couldn't help but ask himself again in bewilderment, 'Where exactly is this place?'"

The cold wind blowing in through the window made him shiver. Huang Jianxin pounded his head, but couldn't remember how he got here after leaving the bar. He seemed to remember a red taxi late at night.

Suddenly, the feeling of being watched made him turn his head sharply. He saw a hemp rope hanging down from the center of the room, swaying slowly, as if beckoning someone to pull it up…

"Alright, I'm not interested in listening to this stuff right now." Luo Lin interrupted the monster's incessant chatter with a helpless expression. He knew all too well that this monster was currently suffering from severe supernatural novel writing syndrome. The problem was, although Liao had forced Luo Lin to read countless passages, Luo Lin still couldn't figure out what Liao was trying to say.

"Before I even finished reading, Huang Jianxin pulled the rope, and a half-rotten head rolled down in front of me, crawling with maggots and singing!" Liao said with dissatisfaction. "Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've eaten a rotten ghost's brain. It's truly the most delicious of delicacies..."

Luo Lin's face paled instantly, because the demon Liao's recollection had accurately conveyed the images and smells that no ordinary human could possibly bear. He swallowed hard several times before finally suppressing his urge to vomit.

"How many times have I told you not to share memories of things that are inedible with me?" Luo Lin growled, but as always, he only received a half-hearted "sorry".

"PULULU—" The doorbell of Qing Tong's office suddenly rang, and Luo Lin couldn't help but be stunned. They had already released the news of Qing Tong's disappearance, so why would a stranger come to their door at this time?

"Hello, this is Hu Qingtong Private Affairs Consulting and Cooperation Company. May I ask who this is?" Luo Lin picked up the video phone, composed himself, and then spoke to the person who rang the doorbell downstairs. However, he quickly realized something was wrong; the video phone screen did not show any visitors.

"A prank?" Liao asked.

"Maybe." Half-believing, half-doubting, Luo Lin was about to hang up when her hand suddenly froze in mid-air. Liao, who shared a body with Luo Lin, immediately understood why Luo Lin had suddenly stiffened. The video call screen still showed an empty building lobby, but it was as if an invisible person was present. The two glass doors opened one after the other, welcoming someone in.

"Ghost? Demon?" Luo Lin didn't know whether he was muttering to himself or asking the demon. Long before he had any concept of gods and ghosts, he had been consciously or unconsciously tormented by his eyes that could see creatures that did not belong to the human world, but this was the first time he had not seen anything.

"Is there something wrong with my eyes?" Luo Lin subconsciously rubbed her eyes and quickly ran to the window facing the building next door to look outside.

"That hanged ghost is still around, isn't he?" A gloating thought echoed in his mind.

On this floor of the building across the street, a woman, dumped by her lover, tried to hang herself at midday, like in those Hong Kong and Taiwanese movies, wearing bright red clothes and shoes, hoping to become a vengeful ghost and take the life of that heartless man. The result… was unsuccessful. Qingtong's explanation for this is that there's been a quality control problem at the garment factory recently; the dyes are impure and uneven…

"Uh, she's still there." Luo Lin replied reluctantly, lowering the blinds. He could see clearly that the woman was still floating around in the shadows of the opposite building, leisurely combing her long hair as she floated.

I thought I'd suddenly become a normal person again, but it turns out it wasn't... Then why couldn't he see me just now? Or was it simply a problem with the building's automatic door control system?!

"Here you are." Just as Luo Lin was feeling disappointed because he had misunderstood that his physique had improved, Liao suddenly casually said.

"What's here?"

"We'll see when we get there." Just as Liao finished speaking, the doorbell rang.

"Who is it?" Luo Lin asked in a raised voice as she walked to the door and carefully peered out through the peephole.

The peephole revealed a spotless hallway, but equally unbelievable, Luo Lin still couldn't see a single person.

"This is unbelievable!" Luo Lin cursed under his breath. Could it be that the mysterious person has come knocking on his door?

"Who is it? I won't open the door until you tell me!" Luo Lin shouted at the void outside the door, finding the scene utterly absurd.

The "person" outside the door did not answer, but kept ringing the doorbell. The "ding-dong" sound echoed in Qing Tong's office, which sounded very strange.

“Open the door, there’s no danger,” Liao said. “I smell a scent that I really miss.”

"Nostalgia?" Luo Lin opened the door with some skepticism. Sure enough, there was only an empty corridor outside, and nothing else.

Luo Lin stepped out the door to look around. In that instant, as he crossed the threshold, he felt a gust of wind brush past his ear. Luo Lin looked back in confusion; Qing Tong's office was empty. He took a few steps outside and called out a few more times, but when no one answered, Luo Lin gave up and closed the door. But the moment he turned around, he froze in shock.

In the office where he should have been the only person, another person appeared at some point.

"Hello," the other person greeted Luo Lin.

"Hello...," Luo Lin responded passively. The next second, she finally remembered her lines, "Who are you?"

"Liang Xinyuan, Liang in 'gentleman on a beam,' Xin in 'all things return to the heart,' and Yuan in 'Yuan, Heng, Li, Zhen,'" replied a boy who looked no more than eighteen or nineteen years old and dressed in a somewhat hip-hop style. "You can call me Master Liang. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

(XI) Exchange

"Master Liang?"

"That's right."

"Taoist priest?"

"right."

Luo Lin lowered his head and began searching his mind for relevant or useful information that matched the current situation. After a moment, he got the result.

Part 1 Knowledge: Taoist Priests → Wang Chongyang, Zhang Sanfeng, Origin: Jin Yong's martial arts novels;

Part Two Knowledge: Taoist Priest → Zombie, Exorcising Ghosts, Origin, Hong Kong Ghost Films from the 1980s to the Early 1990s.

After thinking all this through, he looked up again at the boy who was now smugly pacing around Qing Tong's office. The boy was probably eighteen or nineteen years old, but because of his baby face, he might look younger.

However, Luo Lin speculated that the other party's age would not exceed 22, which is the age range of high school students to college students.

He had a frizzy, permed hairstyle, with small, messy curls that looked like an Afro, highlighted with striking gold. An exaggerated, wide black headband adorned his forehead. His long, thin eyebrows and eyes always seemed to be smiling. He also wore a row of earrings. As for his clothing, he wore a baggy sweatshirt, baggy pants with a drooping crotch, and Adidas basketball shoes…

Luo Lin looked at it up and down several times, but she just couldn't connect the new human in front of her with those classical figures wearing Taoist robes.

"Young man, you really enjoy reading supernatural novels?" The eighteen or nineteen-year-old boy walked to Qing Tong's bookshelf, casually picked up a novel, and started flipping through it as he spoke, looking very relaxed, as if this were his own home.

"No, those books aren't mine..." Just as Luo Lin was about to answer that the books were Qing Tong's private collection, and that the one reading them now was the demon who shared a body with her and suffered from "severe supernatural novel writing syndrome," she suddenly realized a very strange problem.

"Young man?" For Luo Lin, who had graduated more than a year ago, it wasn't surprising to be called "uncle" by an impolite "young man." Some junior high school students who came to his bookstore to borrow comics called him that... Of course, even someone as good-tempered as Luo Lin would feel uncomfortable about this. But on the other hand, being called "young man" by an eighteen or nineteen-year-old boy was a bit too outrageous!

"You've misjudged him; he's much older than you." Liao's voice echoed in Luo Lin's mind, tinged with a hint of mockery. Luo Lin suddenly remembered that before she opened the door, Liao had said it smelled a scent of nostalgia.

"Who are you to Hu Qingtong, young man?" Still not giving up on that form of address, the black-haired Taoist priest Liang Xinyuan put down his book and sat on the sofa.

"He is my friend," Luo Lin replied, noticing the wariness in the other person's expression. Could this Taoist priest Liang also be some kind of demon?

"Unfortunately, he's out right now. Is there anything you need him for? I can pass on your message," Luo Lin replied cautiously, afraid that his carelessness might cause trouble again while Qing Tong was away. After all, there had been farces in the past where demons had come to cause trouble, but could demons really be Taoist priests?

Liang Xinyuan listened to Luo Lin's words but did not reply. He just looked Luo Lin up and down very carefully, as if he wanted to see into Luo Lin's heart through his clothes, skin and bones. After a moment, he asked uncertainly, "Are you an ordinary person?" Before Luo Lin could answer, he overturned his own conclusion.

"No, he doesn't seem to be an ordinary person either." He muttered to himself, taking a small purple piece of paper out of the pocket of his baggy trousers. Luo Lin glanced at it and realized that it might be a talisman.

"There seems to be a faint demonic aura about you..." Liang Xinyuan muttered, unsure if he was speaking to Luo Lin, "Could it be possession? No, possession wouldn't look like this, or... it doesn't seem like... young man!"

"Huh?" Luo Lin was looking on in confusion when she was suddenly called out, and she responded subconsciously.

"May I put this talisman on your forehead?" Liang Xinyuan said, standing up, tearing off a piece of paper from the back of the purple paper, and walking towards Luo Lin with the talisman in his hand.

"Of course not!" Luo Lin took three steps back and looked at the other person, who didn't seem to be joking, with great seriousness.

"It's just a sticker." Liang Xinyuan looked hurt and sadly glanced at the paper in her hand. "It's okay, I'll take it off for you soon. Look, this is a special adhesive on the back, colorless, odorless, non-toxic, and without side effects. It's easy to apply and remove, and most importantly, it won't affect your skin at all. Even if you have sensitive skin, you don't need to worry..."

"So what!" Luo Lin replied decisively. "Would you let a stranger stick a piece of paper on your forehead? Besides, how did you get in? What do you want with Qing Tong?"

Liang Xinyuan held up one finger and waved it like a black rapper singing hip-hop: "Take your time, young man, I'll answer your questions one by one."

“My way in was very simple,” he said, rolling up his sleeves to reveal two small, bright yellow pieces of paper on his tanned arms. “Invisibility talismans.”

"Invisibility talisman?"

“Hmm, invisibility talismans. There are two on my thighs and one on my chest.” Liang Xinyuan said, trying to lift up his trouser leg, but Luo Lin stopped him.

"No need, I already know it very well."

"Really not going to take a look? It's no trouble at all." Liang Xinyuan asked unwillingly, "Look at me, I'm already sticking talismans on myself, are you really not going to consider giving it a try?"

Luo Lin shook her head: "Thanks, please continue answering if it's not too much trouble."

“Oh, the second question,” Liang Xinyuan said, plopping down on the sofa and swinging his legs. “You remember the name Liang Qian, right?”

Liang Qian...

Luo Lin remembered that name: the last person he knew to have gone missing, the first person he knew to have survived the three-day curse and died in the early morning of the fourth day, and also the last person to see Qing Tong.

"He is yours..."

“A junior.” Liang Xinyuan answered calmly, his smile fading, his slender eyes fixed on Luo Lin.

"He's also a Taoist priest?"

“He’s a real estate developer.” Liang Xinyuan rubbed his hands together. “But his father is a junior of mine. He just wasn’t qualified enough, so apart from inheriting a tiny bit of spiritual awareness, he can’t do anything else. About four days ago, I received a notice that Liang Qian’s death was very strange, so I came out of the mountains to investigate.”

“That curse is really strange,” Luo Lin muttered to herself.

The corpse, without any wounds, died wearing someone else's clothes. It had received a curse before its death, and that curse led to many unexpected events. It sounds like a fairy tale...

"A curse?" Liang Xinyuan's eyes suddenly lit up. "What curse?"

"You don't know?" Luo Lin frowned, unsure whether the other person genuinely didn't know or was trying to extract information from him. "Then what was this strange thing you mentioned earlier?"

“Yes…” Liang Xinyuan abruptly stopped speaking, glanced slyly at Luo Lin, and said, “Tell me first, is Hu Qingtong a demon?”

Luo Lin was stunned for a moment, unsure how to respond.

Seeing his troubled expression, Liang Xinyuan smiled sincerely and said, "Don't worry, I'm not here to take him away. I don't have the time for that."

Luo Lin thought about it and felt that a Taoist priest who consulted the person before sticking a purple paper strip on their forehead was somewhat credible, so he nodded.

Where has he gone now?

“I don’t know. He’s been missing since July 15th. The last time I contacted him was on the afternoon of July 14th, the day he met Liang Qian. They were both affected by the cursed power, and Qing Tong said he promised Liang Qian to protect him.”

"Hu Qingtong was also affected by the curse?" Liang Xinyuan seemed taken aback. "He's a demon!"

Luo Lin asked in surprise, "Aren't demons also affected by the curse?"

“Of course,” Liang Xinyuan replied, then added, “but demons should have strong resistance to curses, since curses are themselves a type of magic. Does that mean Hu Qingtong is weak?”

"It shouldn't be weak," Luo Lin replied carefully.

Not many people know that Qing Tong is a demon, but even fewer know that Qing Tong is a powerful nine-tailed fox!

"That's strange. Unless the person who casts the curse is powerful enough, cursing a demon is a very technical matter. Is there such a powerful person in this city? Have I really been away from this city for too long?" Liang Xinyuan pondered, resting his chin on his hand, and muttered to himself from time to time.

“It might not be from this city.” Luo Lin also had her own opinion. “The curse spreads through the internet, so the person might be somewhere else. And since the other party said it was an Egyptian curse, the person might not even be from this country.”