Chapter 127 Plans can never keep up with changes
Before Xie Xun could wring out the rag, his phone, which was on the counter, started ringing like crazy. The three words "Jiang Lehui" on the screen made his heart race.
"Ah Xun!!"
As soon as the call connected, Jiang Lehui's voice, choked with sobs, burst out, "Quick, quick, come to the hospital! Yao... Yao Yao is in trouble!"
Xie Xun's face darkened: "What happened? Explain yourself!"
"Just now! After my sister finished reading the package her great-uncle sent from Hong Kong... she... she suddenly started acting strange!"
Jiang Lehui was incoherent, "His eyes were glazed over, and he kept muttering things like 'lamp' and 'ancestral hall,' then he collapsed and couldn't be woken up no matter what we did! He's currently in the emergency room at the First Municipal Hospital!"
A package from Gangcheng? Xie Xun and Fu Qinghuai exchanged a glance.
"Did you touch the contents of the package?" Xie Xun's voice was cold.
"I just...I just glanced at it! Yao Yao opened it. Inside was an old pocket watch, a note, and a small cloth bag..."
Jiang Lehui almost cried, "There was an old photo tucked inside the pocket watch, with words written on the back..."
"What did you write?"
"Remembered by Xie Yingxuan, Liu Family Ancestral Hall, Year of Wuyin."
The year of Wuyin, 1938, the 27th year of the Republic of China.
Liu Family Ancestral Hall!
How is Shen Zhaoyao now?
"The doctor said my vital signs are stable, but I just can't wake up. My brain waves are abnormally active, like...like I'm having a nightmare. I can't wake up no matter how much I call!"
Jiang Le's voice trembled, "A-Xun, I beg you, come quickly and see! My sister..."
"Send me the address, I'll be right there." Xie Xun hung up the phone and threw the rag in his hand directly into the sink.
"Liu Family Lanterns?" Fu Qinghuai had already stood up straight, his eyes sharp.
"How can someone be 'connected' to another person from this distance through an old object?"
Xie Xun quickly took off his apron. "Either the power of that lantern is ridiculously strong, or... Shen Zhaoyao has a special constitution, or the Liu family bloodline is sensitive to it."
He grabbed a canvas bag from under the counter: "Move the plan forward, go to the hospital now. Then, change to the earliest flight, and leave tonight."
Without saying a word, Fu Qinghuai followed. The two locked the shop and hailed a taxi on the street, heading to the First Municipal Hospital.
On the bus, Xie Xun sent Zhou Wei a short WeChat message.
[Situation has changed. The Liu family's belongings have triggered an anomaly, and Jiang Le's girlfriend is unconscious, suspected to be caused by a lantern remotely. Plans have been moved up; we'll travel to Hong Kong tonight. More details to follow.]
Zhou Wei replied almost instantly.
[Received. Identity cover and port city support activated immediately. Maintain contact and be vigilant.]
Outside the hospital emergency room, Jiang Le was like an ant on a hot pan; seeing Xie Xun was like seeing a savior.
"Ah Xun! Brother Fu! You've finally arrived!"
In the ward, Shen Zhaoyao lay quietly on the hospital bed.
His face was pale, his breathing was steady, but his brows were tightly furrowed, his eyes were moving rapidly under his eyelids, and his lips were opening and closing slightly from time to time, as if he were silently reciting something.
Xie Xun walked to the bedside, lifted Shen Zhaoyao's eyelids to look at her, and then took her pulse.
The pulse is weak and disordered, indicating that yin energy has invaded the body, but deeper down there is a malevolent force entrenched in the mind.
He made a hand seal, and as soon as he approached Shen Zhaoyao's forehead, his fingertips suddenly became icy cold!
"It's the scent of lanterns."
Fu Qinghuai stood aside and affirmed, "Although it's very faint, it's definitely that thing. It's using this old object to 'mark' and 'summon' the Liu family bloodline... or related individuals."
Jiang Lehui turned pale with fright: "Then, what should we do? What if my sister...?"
"Where is it?" Xie Xun asked.
Jiang Lehui quickly took out a small package wrapped in old newspaper from his backpack, his hands trembling.
Xie Xun didn't touch it directly with his hands, but instead used a yellow talisman as a pad before carefully opening it.
Inside was a rusty pocket watch, a note with yellowed edges, and a small cloth bag.
The pocket watch was opened, and sure enough, there was a small black and white photograph inside. Two men in long gowns were standing in front of an old-fashioned building, and the words "Liu Clan Ancestral Hall" could be seen on the blurry plaque behind them.
Behind the photo are faded pen words: "Remembered by Xie Yingxuan, Liu Family Ancestral Hall, Year of Wuyin".
The words on the note were even more chilling.
The lamp is about to devour its master; leave the port city immediately. If you see this letter, I am likely doomed. Descendants of the Liu family, do not return to the ancestral hall.
The signature was "Liu Wenbai," and the date was one month ago.
Inside the small cloth bag were a few broken bamboo pieces and a small piece of leather with charred edges.
"Liu Wenbai is the guardian of the Liu family ancestral hall in Gangcheng."
Xie Xun quickly deduced, "He sensed something amiss with the lantern's unusual movement and risked sending out a warning and a token. Shen Zhaoyao has a thin lineage of the Liu family, and upon contact with the token, she was 'sensed' and marked by the lantern."
"Can we wake her up?" Jiang Le asked anxiously.
Xie Xun took out a cinnabar brush and quickly drew a calming and stabilizing talisman on Shen Zhaoyao's forehead.
A flash of light, and it entered the skin.
Shen Zhaoyao trembled violently and let out a painful groan, but she still did not wake up.
"no,"
Xie Xun frowned. "The wisp of yin energy from that lantern has already entangled her soul. Simply expelling it with external force will damage its foundation. We must find the source and destroy that lantern for the mark to dissipate naturally."
He looked at Jiang Lehui and said, "We'll take this with us. Shen Zhaoyao is not in immediate danger, but she will remain unconscious. We will use a talisman array to protect her heart and mind, and try to slow down the erosion. You stay here and notify me immediately of any changes."
Jiang Le nodded with red eyes: "You...you must be careful!"
Xie Xun and Fu Qinghuai left the hospital with the bag of life-threatening belongings.
It was nearly dusk.
"Change your flight to the earliest one," Xie Xun said to Fu Qinghuai while calling Zhou Wei to update him on the situation.
"Old Liu is already arranging it. Tonight at 10 PM, we'll fly directly to Hong Kong."
Fu Qinghuai waved his phone; the screen showed a successful ticket booking page. "Zhou Mutou said that the people who will meet us at the airport will be 'folklorists' and 'assistants' to investigate the Liu Family Ancestral Hall."
Xie Xun's eyes were cold.
Plans can never keep up with changes.
Not only has the Liu family lantern awakened, but it is also actively hunting for prey.
"Let's go to the airport first."
Xie Xun showed no extra emotions, only a quick decision: "I'll prepare on the way."
The two went home and retrieved a few belongings.
Actually, it was Xie Xun's canvas bag full of magical artifacts, and Fu Qinghuai's light, unassuming shoulder bag with an unknown contents.
Passing by a convenience store, Xie Xun went in and bought bread and water. He also greeted the owner and said that he might be going on a long trip and asked her to look after the store for a few days.
The proprietress readily agreed and even insisted on giving them two packets of her homemade pickles.
In the taxi to the airport, Xie Xun opened the bag of "relics" and quickly traced the embroidery pattern on the leather item on yellow paper with a vermilion pen.
The patterns are incomplete, but it can be seen that they are some kind of evil talisman, originating from the same source as the lantern's power.
"This leather..."
Fu Qinghuai picked up the small piece of leather, black energy swirling around his fingertips, and the leather trembled slightly. "It's human skin. And it's the skin from the heart, where the resentment is heaviest, and it's also the most capable of bearing evil magic."
Xie Xun paused, pen in hand: "The human skin of the Liu family's ancestor?"
"pretty close."
Fu Qinghuai put the skin back. "Xie Yingxuan used the skin of the Liu family's ancestor to make lanterns. This might be scraps, or... leftovers from when other victims were used to 'repair' the lanterns later."
Xie Xun didn't speak, and continued to draw.
With each stroke of his pen, a chilling aura seeped from the lines of the paper, but he forcefully suppressed it with his pure Yin constitution.
Zhou Wei called, his tone grave.
"Xiao Xie, news just came from Gangcheng that residents in the old Tanglou area where the Liu Clan Ancestral Hall is located have been reporting seeing green lights and strange noises at night since the day before yesterday. This afternoon, the area suddenly experienced a large-scale power outage. The power company's inspection said that the lines were chewed by animals, but no animal traces were found at the scene."
“The lantern is expanding its influence,” Xie Xun said. “It… is feeding.”
"In addition, we found that Liu Wenbo had visited the psychiatric department of a public hospital several times a month ago. His medical record stated 'anxiety disorder and auditory hallucinations,' but there were very few records of medication prescriptions. During his last visit, he told the doctor, 'It talks to me every night.'"
Zhou Wei paused for a moment, then said, "The doctor advised him to be hospitalized, but he refused and sent the package out the next day."
“He heard the sound of the lanterns,” Fu Qinghuai interjected from the side.
"The lantern was seducing him, or... asking him for something."
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