Chapter 4

After Jiang Yi finished speaking, He Lan stared at her in astonishment for a while, then asked in confusion, "Then, then you, then have you gone to see it..."

After saying that, He Lan realized that he had said nonsense.

Jiang Yi: "How is that possible! I was so scared that I ran straight home after I realized what was happening!"

Jiang Yi felt that he was quite capable of not fainting when he saw such a strange thing while walking on a deserted path late at night.

He Lan came back to her senses, her expression becoming unsightly: "A human face, an animal's body, how could there be such a thing..."

"So I've always thought maybe I saw it wrong or remembered it wrongly, but," Jiang Yi looked at Su Xuan and Qi Hanyu with a pale face, "but you mentioned strange creatures..."

He Lan also looked at the two of them.

At this moment, there was only confusion and fear in her eyes.

Good sisters can't lie.

If Jiang Yi had seen and remembered correctly... could such a creature really exist in the world? What was it, an alien? Or a demon?

“—Yes, I do.”

He Lan heard the answer from the handsome young man who had been standing beside her, as if he could hear the thoughts in her mind.

He had his hands behind his back, standing at the boundary between shadow and light. His handsome face was half bright and half dark, and his peach blossom eyes, one in the light and the other in the shadow.

The eye in the light is clear, warm, calm, and has the power to soothe people's hearts.

The eye in the shadow was as black as ink, with a glimmer of light in it, and it even had a hint of weirdness that seemed to be able to confuse people.

A gust of wind blew by, and He Lan suddenly shivered.

She staggered slightly and took a step back, looking back at the two people and the cat in her sight.

Next to the young man, the handsome boy sitting on the bench tilted his head slightly, his seemingly harmless and innocent eyes shining surprisingly brightly.

The white cat sat in the corner of the small wooden table, watching them, wagging its tail, thinking silently.

He Lan's heart was beating very fast, and sweat slightly soaked her back. For some reason, an inexplicable strange feeling flashed through her heart.

She couldn't speak, but Jiang Yi hurriedly asked, "What's the matter?"

Su Xuan looked at Jiang Yi and smiled slightly: "There are monsters in this world."

Jiang Yi was stunned.

My throat started to feel slightly dry: "...monster...monster?"

"Okay." Su Xuan took out his hands from behind and clapped them. The loud "pa" sound woke up He Lan who was silent beside him.

Su Xuan smiled and said, "We have almost understood everything. Let's discuss how to proceed next."

Jiang Yi hadn't recovered from the word "monster" yet. After a pause, she asked dazedly, "Tonight?"

"Well, let's give it a try. Although you won't encounter that monster every night, if you really do, can't it be solved tonight?" Su Xuan said, signaling Qi Hanyu and Xia Yan to quickly pack up their things.

Jiang Yi and He Lan stared in amazement as Qi Hanyu obediently put the bench away... No, the focus wasn't on Qi Hanyu, it was on the white cat!!

The white cat seemed to understand what people were saying. It took a step forward, bit the QR code on the edge of the wooden table, and tore it off. Then it walked gracefully to the other side of the table, jumped into... a small, broken tricycle, and put the QR code down.

"Ah, then," Jiang Yi was no longer able to speak. She suddenly felt that although she was sober, she felt more like she was drunk. She said blankly, "Then, how are you going to catch..."

Su Xuan followed suit and put his "equipment" into the tricycle. Hearing this, he said, "Well, I might need to trouble you to be brave."

*

He Lan was still a little dazed until he followed Su Xuan and the others to set up an ambush at a designated location.

She looked back at the broken tricycle that she and Jiang Yi had just squeezed past, and couldn't believe that the two of them had just... just followed her like that.

It was the middle of the night, and although many people were already asleep at home, there were still many night owls on the streets. They had received countless stares along the way, but these two guys were surprisingly calm and composed. What a strong heart they had!

By the way, why is this handsome guy so shabby!

He didn't drive a BMW but a tricycle all the way!

He Lan had a thousand questions in her head, and at this moment she couldn't help but lower her voice and asked, "Um, are you really specialized in exorcism? Do you make money from this?"

Qi Hanyu: "Uh."

He Lan: "By the way, I don't know your names yet. Do you have business cards? If you specialize in this, who is your teacher?"

He Lan felt that the business of exorcism must be a skill passed down from ancestors. The two young men must have a very powerful master, right?

Recalling the strange feeling he had just felt under the bridge, He Lan calmed down and became extremely curious about these two people.

Su Xuan was originally staring intently at the other end of the path. When he heard her say that, he lowered his head and felt in his trouser pocket.

Qi Hanyu looked at Su Xuan's action and smacked his lips: "No way, brother, you still have some, how many did you draw?"

He had already seen Su Xuan's homemade business card in the afternoon.

"Just in case, I drew twenty of them before I left today," Su Xuan curled his lips, finally took out a business card and handed it to He Lan, gritting his teeth as he said, "How can a serious businessman not even have business cards! Tomorrow I'm going to order a box for everyone! Look, I don't have any specific business cards yet, so I'll just use these for now."

He Lan took it quickly, thinking that she was about to see something extraordinary. However, she looked down in the dim light and saw——???

There was a strange-looking pig in the middle of the business card, with the words "Shan Le Ge Hai Idol Entertainment Co., Ltd." written on it...

"Ah? Idol company?" He Lan was stunned.

"Well, that, sister, exorcism is not our main job. I, I'm a trainee. My brother is the small boss of our company. It's just that he hasn't had a job recently, so he came out to earn some pocket money." Qi Hanyu explained with a red face, feeling a little embarrassed.

Xia Yan: "Meow."

He Lan: “???”

Trainee? Small boss at an idol company? Out of work, so he's out exorcising evil spirits to earn some pocket money?

Are idol companies nowadays so sleazy?

He Lan felt her worldview collapse for a moment, then she heard the so-called "small boss" beside her, a young man named Su Xuan, say seriously, "As our first batch of customers, if you and your friends need help again in the future, we will keep the discounted price of 50 yuan per visit!"

He Lan was in a daze: "Will the price go up in the future?"

Su Xuan opened his eyes wide and looked at her with an incredible expression, as if to say: Our store’s service is so good, once it gets on the right track, price increases are inevitable!

He Lan: “…”

He Lan: "No, um, do people in the entertainment industry know that you can exorcise evil spirits?"

Qi Hanyu: "Hahaha, they definitely don't know. To be more precise, people in the entertainment industry not only don't know that we can exorcise evil spirits, they don't even know us."

He Lan: “…”

Su Xuan turned his head, his eyes sharp: "Making a fortune is only a matter of time. Everything now is just the beginning! Brother, let's not underestimate ourselves."

Qi Hanyu: "Brother, you are right."

He Lan: “…”

Now when I think back to how hard the handsome guy was trying to pedal the tricycle, I feel even more sad. What should I do?

Qi Hanyu: "But no matter what, sister, remember to keep today's events a secret."

Qi Hanyu finished speaking, and before He Lan could respond, Su Xuan lowered his voice and said slowly, "—including everything you'll see later."

He Lan was stunned for a moment. Just as she was about to speak, Su Xuan suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked forward: "Here I come."

At the other end of the path, Jiang Yi appeared.

*

Jiang Yi was dropped off at the subway station entrance.

It was already past eleven o'clock, later than usual when I arrived here after working overtime. The night seemed to have reached its darkest moment.

There were almost no cars on the road. Jiang Yi grabbed the shoulder strap of her cross-body bag, her heart pounding.

She walked quickly across the street outside, which took only a few minutes, until she reached an intersection and turned right.

All I could see was the narrow, deserted, dark path.

The chirping of crickets continued in my ears.

I don’t know if it was because of fear or the stuffiness, but sweat kept oozing out of my back. A breeze blew by, and goose bumps kept appearing on my upper arms. Jiang Yi couldn’t even tell whether she was cold or hot.

She took a deep breath and told herself that it was okay, it was okay, they were watching over her at the other end of the trail.

It's okay, it's okay.

She swallowed, looked around, calmed herself down, then turned her gaze back to the front and took the first step into the darkness.

The heels of the high heels made a clear and loud "click" sound on the ground, echoing in the path.

After the pause, there was no interruption, slowly but firmly.

"Da", "Da", "Da", "Da".

The path was more than 20 meters long. After walking a few steps, the entrance to the wasteland was right in front of us.

Jiang Yi didn't dare to move her eyes away.

She only stared at the warm yellow streetlight at the end of the path ahead. However, perhaps it was a psychological effect, but in her peripheral vision, she always felt that there seemed to be a strange shadow dancing at the entrance to the wasteland diagonally in front of her.

The closer I get, the faster my steps become and the faster my heart beats.

“Da”, “Da”, “Da”, “Da”.

Another gust of wind blew by, and the leaves of a dense tree beside the path, as well as the weeds in the wasteland, swayed and rubbed against each other, making a rustling sound, as if something was moving among them and approaching.

“Da”, “Da”, “Da”, “Da”.

Jiang Yi clenched her teeth tightly and even held her breath.

She clutched the shoulder strap of her bag tightly and almost ran as she quickly passed the entrance to the wasteland.

She felt a gaze staring at her, right at the entrance to the wasteland. That gaze was lying on the ground, staring at her, watching her quickly pass by—

The next second, there was a sound of something passing through the air at the back of Jiang Yi's head. The hairs on Jiang Yi's body almost exploded, her legs went weak, she staggered, and she couldn't help but scream!

At this moment, a sharp roar of a wild beast came from behind!

"Ah——" Jiang Yi screamed and squatted down with her head in her hands. Someone was running towards her!

"Jiang Yi!" He Lan exclaimed and came over to hug her. She looked up in shock and saw that the stone that was about to hit Jiang Yi's back of the head just stopped in mid-air!

Su Xuan, Qi Hanyu, and the white cat ran up and stopped. Qi Hanyu called out, "Brother!"

Su Xuan narrowed his eyes, raised his right hand, spread out his five fingers, and followed the stone connected to the weak spiritual power scattered in the air, extending all the way to the wasteland -

As if he had caught something, he suddenly retracted his fingers and pulled them back. Immediately, a huge black shadow was pulled out of the wasteland with a scream, and fell in the middle of the trail with a "bang"!

Qi Hanyu released his spiritual power and wrapped the black shadow several times to tie it up!

The shadow screamed and tried to struggle and escape. Jiang Yi just turned around subconsciously to take a look, and then she and He Lan screamed together -

That thing really has a human face and a beast body!

Its body was like a wolf, covered with black fur, and its four feet had sharp claws. It was pushing off the ground with its hind legs, standing up, and its front paws were struggling in the air, as if trying to escape.

There was a human head attached to the neck, with the eyes and mouth wide open, letting out a shrill scream!

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Jiang Yi and He Lan were so scared that they couldn't speak normally. They just hugged each other tightly, crying and shouting dirty words!

Although Su Xuan had already told them a complete luring plan before setting out from the bridge hole - catching monsters is actually not difficult, but in order to avoid some unnecessary accidents, letting Jiang Yi pass by this path as usual, luring the other party to appear, and then catching him is the simplest and safest way - Su Xuan also asked them to be mentally prepared, but at this moment they were still very scared!

"Xia Yan!" Su Xuan called out with a dark face. This guy is too noisy!

The white cat ran over quickly, jumped high, and rushed towards the monster's screaming face - and it rushed right past him!

Monster: “Ahhhhhhhhhhh——”

The monster was stepped on the face by Xia Yan's four claws, and its whole body fell backward and fell heavily to the ground!

Qi Hanyu ran over and waved his hand. Invisible spiritual chains completely bound the monster's front and hind legs. The monster immediately huddled on the ground like a quail, trembling. It stared at the two people and the cat with its blood-red eyes wide open in fear. It opened its mouth to scream. Su Xuan threatened, "If you scream again, I'll seal your mouth too."

If he didn't have something to ask later, would he have gone to so much trouble?

monster:"!!!"

The monster's facial muscles trembled, making his expression extremely ferocious... Then he suddenly grinned, revealing a strange smile: "Hehehe?"

Su Xuan, Qi Hanyu, and Xia Yan: “???”

Su Xuan was shocked. "He was caught red-handed attacking a beautiful woman in the middle of the night, and he's still smiling so arrogantly. He deserves a beating?"

He swung his hand and tied a few circles of spiritual chains on the monster. The monster's body was tied tighter, and it immediately stopped laughing and screamed miserably.

Perhaps it was because Su Xuan and Qi Hanyu were too calm, Jiang Yi and He Lan also calmed down a little. They supported each other, stood up tremblingly, approached here cautiously, and stretched their necks to see what it was.

When the monster caught sight of the beautiful woman, the muscles on his face, which had been in pain, twitched, and the corners of his mouth widened again, revealing a strange smile: "Hehehehe?"

Jiang Yi & He Lan: “???”

Su Xuan, Qi Hanyu, and Xia Yan: “???”

Su Xuan: "I called the police?"

Tighten the spiritual power chain!

In the eyes of Jiang Yi and He Lan, the monster was being restrained by something invisible to the naked eye and could not move!

Monster: "Ouch! It hurts... Ouch, it hurts! Ouch, hehehe!"

Qi Hanyu: "Damn, are you going to cry or laugh, brother? You're making me mad!"

Monster: "Wuwuwuwu, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that. It hurts so much, hehehe..."

Jiang Yi and He Lan: “…………”

Su Xuan took out his cell phone and asked seriously, "What's the phone number for the Monster Affairs Bureau?"

Qi Hanyu: “875——”

Monster: "Wuwuwu, I'm sorry!!! Don't let anyone take me away, I didn't mean to... Hehehe, wuwuwu, I didn't mean to! I can't help laughing when I see people, it's my conditioned reflex!! Wuwuwu!"

Everyone was stunned.

Looking at it now, the monster grinned for a while, then trembled and was about to cry, and his facial muscles twitched so much that it was obvious that he could not hold it anymore.

Even though Su Xuan, Qi Hanyu and Xia Yan were monsters and had seen many other monsters, they had never seen this one and were a little confused.

He Lan was a little bolder and moved her lips.

Although there were many things she wanted to ask, after all, before the plan was made, Su Xuan and the others had only said that "they would find a way when the time comes" regarding how to catch the monster, and now, they didn't even know what the missing "rope" that bound the monster was, but in the end, the sister's affairs were more important -

She trembled as she spoke, "What do you mean by instinct or not? Well, you're the one squatting here all day, attacking Jiang Yi with rocks! What's your purpose? Tell me the truth! The masters are all here, don't you have any other evil ideas!"

When the monster heard this, his panicked expression revealed the answer without a doubt!

He looked at Su Xuan and the others, then at Jiang Yi and He Lan, tears streaming down his face, and said, "Wuwuwu, I'm sorry! That, that wasn't intentional! Hehehe... Wuwuwu, that was just my instinct, Wuwuwu, I didn't mean it!"

He Lan was confused and said anxiously: "What? How come everything has become instinct? You don't think you can fool it, do you?"

Su Xuan suddenly thought of something and asked, "Wait, what kind of monster are you?"

The monster cried pitifully, "Wuwuwuwu, I, I am mountain ash..."

Qi Hanyu, Su Xuan and Xia Yan were stunned again.

Mountain ash, as recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas by ancient people, is: "There is a beast that looks like a dog but has a human face. It is good at throwing and laughs when it sees people. It is called mountain ash..."

Two people and a cat were confused.

Its appearance is like a dog with a human face...

The guy curled up on the ground had the body of a wolfhound, a yellow and muscular face like a boy with tears streaming down his face.

Smiling when seeing people...

Monster: "Hehehe, wuwuwu, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it..."

Good investment...

The two men and the cat turned their heads again and looked at the stone that was being held in mid-air by their spiritual power...

Shit! Wait!

ha? ? ?

So it wasn't a case of a monster harming people at all, but simply a monster that couldn't control its instincts and scared passersby?!

The two people and the cat were immediately thrown into chaos!

Several people were too stunned to speak. Mountain Ash started to cry and confessed, "I like to collect round things, so I've been hiding here for over a week and collected a lot of round stones. And then, whenever I see something with a beautiful shape, I can't help but throw it at it..."

Jiang Yi was also confused: "Something with a beautiful shape?"

Mountain Ash: "Sister, the back of your head has such a beautiful shape..."

Jiang Yi: “…………”

He Lan: "Damn it, if you don't call the police, I will!"

Mountain Ash: "Ooooooooooooooo don't catch me oooooooooooooo!"

Su Xuan felt a slight headache and couldn't help but put his fingers to his forehead. "No, that, then...why have you been hiding in this wasteland?"

Shanhui confessed honestly: "Wow, I, I don't have any parents. I grew up in the mountains. I was curious about what the city was like, so, wow, I couldn't help but come down the mountain to take a look."

"But I really had nowhere to go, so I was wandering around until recently, when I came across this wasteland and settled down... Woooooo!"

Everyone was stunned when they saw the dirty hair of Mountain Ash again.

Su Xuan listened and felt a pause in his heart.

The mountain ash in front of him had weak spiritual power and was obviously a second-generation monster. Unlike the first-generation monsters born from heaven and earth, the second-generation monsters were monsters born from the reproduction of monsters.

In their company, he and Lu Tao are first-generation monsters, and the others are all second-generation monsters.

Since the beginning of the world, the second generation of monsters has far outnumbered the first generation, not to mention now after thousands of years, so it is not surprising to encounter one casually.

However, the kinship between monsters...is actually very weak in most cases.

Similar to the ones in their company - although they all have parents, they and their parents belong to different monster survival associations. Most of the time they don't interfere with each other's affairs, and they don't even see each other very often. Compared to their parents, Su Xuan and Lu Tao are more like their parents.

And there are also poor little creatures like the mountain ash in front of us... who were abandoned after birth.

Su Xuan paused, his tone calming down: "So, you didn't mean to scare this young lady?"

Shanhui looked at Jiang Yi with tears in her eyes.

Jiang Yi still trembled and looked at him anxiously.

Mountain Ash shed tears: "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to, wuwuwu... By the way, the day before yesterday, I know you were scared by me the night before yesterday, but I didn't mean to expose myself in front of you. That day, I couldn't control my instinct and threw the round little stone over, and you suddenly screamed, which scared me, and I fell..."

Everyone: “…………”

Jiang Yi's face changed, and she suddenly remembered that night when she was hit by a rock and yelled "Fuck!", then turned around and saw this monster lying on the ground...

Jiang Yi: “…………”

Jiang Yi blushed and became embarrassed: "Uh, I, I was acting on instinct that time..."

Mountain Ash: "Wow, I know, it's not your fault, it's my problem..."

The little monster spoke so obediently that Jiang Yi and He Lan looked at each other and felt guilty. Even Qi Hanyu and Su Xuan quietly loosened their spiritual power chains.

Then I heard the pitiful little monster sobbing, "Actually, if I hadn't been waiting for you to pass by every night, I wouldn't have seen the back of your head every time, and then I wouldn't have been able to help but stare at your beautifully shaped head—"

Jiang Yi frowned: "Wait, no more beautiful shapes!!"

The little monster hiccuped as he cried.

Su Xuan finally followed the logic and got to the point. He hesitated and said, "So why do you wait for her to pass by every night? Are you... secretly in love with her?"

Jiang Yi was stunned.

The little monster's face turned red, and he looked at a loss.

He quickly shook his head in embarrassment and said, "No, no, it's because someone has been following my sister for several nights."

He turned his head and looked in the direction where Jiang Yi had just come from.

Everyone was startled and followed his gaze, only to see a figure hiding stealthily at the entrance of the path. No one knew how long he had been watching, but now he was in a daze, obviously completely mesmerized by the monster show before him.

When he realized what was happening, his face turned pale and he turned around to run away—

Then he was instantly tied up by the invisible spiritual power chain released by Su Xuan, dragged into the path, and fell in front of everyone!

The man who was following him fainted. He shook his head and opened his eyes, and saw the mountain ash right in front of him. He was so shocked that he forgot to breathe for a moment.

Shanhui blinked his tearful eyes, and smiled strangely, "Hehehehe?"

"!" The man who was following him screamed with his scalp exploding. His face turned pale as he struggled and screamed, "Help, help! Help! There's a ghost! There's a monster!"

Seeing this person's face clearly, Jiang Yi and He Lan's expressions changed drastically: "Xiao Gu?!"

They obviously knew each other, and even seemed to be colleagues at work.

Jiang Yi covered her mouth: "Wait, I remember you live nearby... You, you follow me every day?! I didn't even come out of the company today!"

In order to restore the situation as much as possible, she was just dropped off at the subway entrance. Unexpectedly, not only did she lure out the little monster, but she also lure out the real stalker!

But, could it be that this guy was hanging around here waiting for her on his day off?!

Shanhui said weakly, "I didn't dare to come out during the day and kept hiding in the bushes. But every time my sister came back at night, he, he followed her..."

"I've actually thought about punishing the bad guy on my sister's behalf, but I'm too weak to use my spiritual power against him. I also don't dare to appear in front of humans casually, so I haven't taken any action. I just watch over my sister every day... Fortunately, this bad guy always follows her to that intersection... On the other hand, I, wuwuwu, can't help myself when I see the back of my sister's beautiful head-"

The man who was following him was desperately kicking his legs and backing away, his nose running with fear: "No, no, no, don't eat me, monster! Don't eat me!!"

Qi Hanyu was speechless: "In the end, it really was an incident of a creepy guy stalking me!"

Su Xuan took a deep breath, stood in front of the man who was following him with a dark face, twisted his wrist, and made a "click" sound: "I was so busy paying attention to the little monster that I didn't notice you. I almost let you slip away... This is not the true level of our shop!"

I was just chatting with someone about service and price increase, but now I almost slapped myself in the face!

I can’t tolerate it, I absolutely can’t tolerate it!

Su Xuan firmly believes that only the best service can lead to the most long-term development! If you almost fail, you must pay it back tenfold!

At that moment, the tailing man looked at the beautiful young man with a sullen face. For some reason, he felt as if his face was saying: "Next two sisters, please watch me perform well. I will give you five-star praise!"