Chapter Seventeen: A Clue Emerges

Li Changqing glanced at Kelly Losedi’s glass—she’d only had half a drink, so how was she already tipsy? He cleared his throat and said, “Alright, back to the point. Kelly, what brings you here?”

“Investigating a case!” Kelly Losedi smiled and cast a fleeting look at the woman sitting in the corner of the tavern, then whispered, “She’s my target.”

Li Changqing immediately understood. He picked up his glass, took a sip, and looked away. “So, you dragged me in to cover for you, so she wouldn’t notice you entering?”

Kelly Losedi raised her glass and clinked it against Li Changqing’s. “My friend, believe me, there’s also a bit of our friendship at play here.”

Both were detectives; much went unsaid.

Li Changqing accompanied Kelly Losedi, drinking for about half an hour. Then the woman stood, lifted her shoulder bag, and strode out of the tavern, vanishing from sight.

“My friend, I’m afraid our brief reunion will have to pause here,” Kelly Losedi said, eyes fixed on the departing figure. “Next time, we’ll have a proper gathering.”

He moved swiftly, shadowing her out of the tavern door, disappearing from view.

From inside the soft felt hat came Tang Xiaoyu’s voice: “Li Changqing, how do you know such a narcissist? I almost couldn’t resist hitting him just now.”

“I almost couldn’t resist either.”

Leaving the tavern, the two quickly took a car back to the detective agency.

With a bang, Li Changqing closed the door, placed the cinnabar carefully in the wardrobe, then spooned out a little, tipping it into the inkstone. Mixing in talisman water, he stirred gently; the cinnabar gradually thickened.

“Whew.”

He set the inkstone on the bedroom desk, took out brush and paper, and closed his eyes, settling his mind.

According to the traditions of his previous life, drawing talismans was a solemn affair. Many beginners, ignorant of its mysteries, would obtain books of talismans, copy them blindly, regardless of their own purity, without invoking spirits or making offerings, using any brush, ink, paper they found. Such careless drawing naturally yielded no effect.

As the saying goes: if you know the secret of talisman script, you stir ghosts and gods to dance; if not, they laugh at your efforts. Such careless drawing is what is called a “ghost’s talisman”—meaningless scribbles.

Li Changqing focused with unwavering concentration, picked up the brush, took a deep breath, and began to draw.

In one fluid motion!

The Command Talisman appeared instantly.

“How about trying the General Arrives Talisman?”

A thought stirred in Li Changqing’s mind; he was already quite adept at the Command Talisman.

He closed his eyes, recalling with clarity from the Celestial Three Caverns Divine Talismans the appearance of the General Arrives Talisman.

He picked up the brush and began to draw with utmost focus.

But halfway through, his concentration slipped for a fleeting instant. In that very moment, the spiritual energy of the talisman dissipated.

“Still the same as before?”

Previously, even when drawing the Command Talisman, he could barely maintain his focus throughout. But with the General Arrives Talisman, he struggled; he’d always start thinking about the strokes or other details, and that split second would ruin the talisman.

“Again.”

Luckily, he still had half a pound of cinnabar as backup, so wasting a little didn’t bother him.

After two hours and thirty sheets of yellow paper wasted, he finally succeeded with one!

“Success! Success!”

Sweating profusely, his hand cramped from gripping the brush, his mind exhausted. It felt as if he’d been intensely focused for ten hours straight, slightly dazed.

But he had done it.

He gazed at the precious General Arrives Talisman before him.

At least tomorrow, he’d not need to eat raw glutinous rice!

He carefully stowed the talisman away for use the next day.

Of course, it was his first time drawing this talisman; he wasn’t sure of its exact effects—would it do nothing? Would it be too powerful? These were all questions to consider.

Walking out of the bedroom, he felt the air in the living room was fresher.

He sank into the soft sofa, picked up his teacup, and brewed himself a hot tea.

Tang Xiaoyu was still on the sofa, watching a melodramatic TV show…

The male and female leads were quarreling…

The man pleaded, “Listen to my explanation,” but never explained anything.

The woman only repeated, “I won’t listen, I won’t listen, I won’t listen.”

Even in this new world, such clichéd plots endure, still captivating Tang Xiaoyu, who watched with rapt attention, utterly absorbed.

Li Changqing lay on the sofa, looking forward to the dawn of the next day…

…

A beautiful morning, birds chirping merrily outside, flitting among the treetops.

In the bedroom, Li Changqing was seated, staring at the General Arrives Talisman in his hand.

“Are you ready?” Li Changqing asked Tang Xiaoyu, who stood beside him.

Tang Xiaoyu was fully focused, concentrating intensely.

After all, she was the subject of this experiment, and the General Arrives Talisman was a powerful corpse-suppressing talisman with many effects worth studying.

But there was some risk, so Tang Xiaoyu stayed close—should anything go wrong, she could tear the talisman off him immediately.

“Whew.”

Li Changqing took a deep breath, pressed the talisman to his chest, and chanted, “By command, General Arrives!”

The yellow talisman on his chest glowed faintly.

No pain, no itching, no discomfort, no nausea.

Li Changqing felt his body; nothing seemed amiss.

Success!

The joy on his face was indescribable.

After so much effort, he had finally succeeded!

He nearly jumped up to hug Tang Xiaoyu and spin her around in celebration. But for the sake of dignity, he refrained.

At least today, he could finally say farewell to raw glutinous rice.

Ding ding ding.

His phone rang.

He picked it up and saw a message—Kelly Losedi had left him a note.

What was that narcissist messaging him for?

He opened the message:

“My friend, this case I’m investigating is thrilling! It’s a big one! This woman is… shhh…”

“I’m in an abandoned factory now, continuing the investigation… shhh…”

“If I don’t cancel this message, it means I’m in trouble. Remember to go to Baolin Restaurant in East District and find a woman named Qu—she’s my informant.”

“You will rescue me, won’t you?”

Li Changqing stared at his phone. “Damn it, couldn’t he get a better phone?”

Too much static; even after replaying several times, he couldn’t make out what the message was saying.

Wait—a factory?