Chapter 97 We Meet Again, Little Friend Xie
The girl clapped her hands, flicked her wrist, and the rope, as if it had a life of its own, automatically bound the two of them firmly to a pillar.
"They just started the car and tried to drive off, so I had to ask them to come back and sit for a while."
"...Huairou, how many times have I told you? We are law enforcement officers, we need to be mindful of our methods!"
Looking at her outfit, Zhou Wei frowned even more, his tone carrying the helplessness of an older brother, "And why are you dressed like this again during work hours? We're here to investigate a case, not to attend a comic convention."
The girl was wearing a long, dark blue JK uniform, with a five-emperor coin bracelet on her wrist and piercings and nails on her upper arm, creating a striking contrast. She looked every bit the quirky and mischievous young woman.
Lin Huairou smiled and waved dismissively, "Okay, okay, I'll be more careful next time~"
Her twin ponytails swayed gently with her movements, and she hopped over to Xie Xun in a few steps, curiously looking him up and down between Fu Qinghuai. "You're that Master Xie? I heard from the captain that you tore apart a vengeful ghost with your bare hands in that haunted house last time, and even destroyed that formation?"
Before Xie Xun could answer, there was another noise at the door.
Liu Xiuyuan rushed over with his apprentice Acan. His eyes lit up when he saw Xie Xun, and he took three steps forward in two. "Young friend Xie, we meet again. How have you been? I didn't expect that Captain Zhou would also ask you to help with this matter."
"Thank you, Brother Xie!"
Ah-Can waved brightly at Xie Xun, then looked at Lin Huairou in surprise, "Junior Uncle? What are you doing here?"
Upon hearing this, Lin Huairou tilted her head and looked A-Can up and down, "You know me?"
“Last year at the Longhu Mountain Ancestor Worship Ceremony, I saw you once from afar with my master.”
Ah-Can scratched his head sheepishly, "But Junior Uncle, you've joined the Special Administration Bureau? And you're already on field missions?"
"Ah Chan! Don't be rude!"
Liu Xiuyuan quickly interrupted the disrespectful A-Can, then turned to Lin Huairou with a smile, "Junior Uncle, please don't take offense, this child just talks too much."
However, upon hearing this, Lin Huairou shook her head and laughed, her twin ponytails swaying slightly with her movements.
“Da Liu, you call me Junior Uncle, and your disciple calls me Junior Uncle, isn’t the hierarchy a bit messy? How about…”
Lin Huairou winked mischievously, deliberately drawing out her words. Seeing Liu Xiuyuan's sudden tense expression, she smiled like a little fox, "Should I make A-Can call me Grandmaster Grandma?"
Liu Xiuyuan's face instantly fell, and sweat beaded on his forehead. "This...this...Junior Uncle, this is unacceptable..."
Ah-Can stood there dumbfounded, muttering to himself, "Grandmaster? Then my master would have to call me Uncle-Master?"
"Pfft—"
Even Xie Xun, who was usually aloof, couldn't help but chuckle.
Fu Qinghuai put his arm around her and laughed heartily, "Xunxun, the seniority system in their sect is really interesting."
The fat and thin fairy children, bound to the pillar, were completely bewildered.
Liu Xiuyuan was inwardly groaning with misfortune; his generation was truly cursed.
Lin Huairou's master is the last disciple of the current head of Longhu Mountain, and according to seniority, he should call her grandmaster. But this grandmaster took in Lin Huairou as his young disciple in his later years, which means that he, who is over forty years old, has to call a girl in her early twenties grandmaster.
"Junior Uncle, please stop teasing me!"
Liu Xiuyuan wiped his sweat. "It's only right for A-Can to call you Junior Uncle, but what... what's with this 'Grandmaster Grandmother' thing?"
Just as Lin Huairou was about to continue teasing him, Zhou Wei interrupted her with a stern face.
"Quiet down, everyone. Huairou, let's get down to business first."
After saying that, he pointed to the paper figure lying on its side in the side hall and asked, "Was this thing moved just now?"
Everyone looked in that direction and involuntarily held their breath.
The paper figure had sat up at some point, and the smile painted with vermilion on its face looked particularly eerie in the dim light. Dark red liquid was oozing from the severed end of its right little finger.
Suddenly, the entire ancestral hall began to shake violently.
The candlesticks on the altar rattled loudly, and the beams and pillars creaked with a teeth-grinding sound.
"Watch out!" Fu Qinghuai quickly shielded Xie Xun behind him.
Several cracks appeared in the ground, and from beneath the thick fog, several distorted human figures emerged, all dressed in Tang suits, their deaths gruesome.
"These are the Liu family members who have been sacrificed over the years. Their souls have been trapped here for hundreds of years, serving as nourishment!"
Lin Huairou quickly formed hand seals, her twin ponytails moving without wind, making her look like a magical girl chanting a spell, yet her movements were incredibly cool.
Ah-Can was so frightened that he hid behind Liu Xiuyuan, "Master! This...I..."
"Shut up and hide!"
Liu Xiuyuan cursed as he took out his magic weapon: "I told you to practice your skills properly, but you wouldn't listen!"
Xie Xun's soul-locking chain snapped open, and the ancient sword seemed eager to strike as he warily surveyed his surroundings. Fu Qinghuai, on the other hand, held Xie Xun firmly in place, his ghostly aura condensing into a thick black mist that dissipated in all directions.
However, these ghosts did not seem to be afraid of Fu Qinghuai, and even let out a strange, cackling laugh.
Just then, the fat man tied to the pillar suddenly let out a shrill scream. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw the thick fog frantically rushing into his mouth and nose.
In less than a minute, his body shrank visibly, his skin clinging tightly to his bones, yet his face wore an eerie, serene smile.
"Help...me..." The fat man managed to squeeze out two words with a final laugh before turning into a completely dried-up corpse.
The skinny man was so frightened that his eyes rolled back and he fainted.
In the thick fog, the paper figure dressed in theatrical costume slowly rose up, its eyes filled with bloody tears, but its mouth stretched to the roots of its ears in a wide grin.
"We finally meet again."
The paper figure spoke in a hoarse voice, staring intently at Fu Qinghuai, "My... other half."
"Who says I'm half of you!"
Fu Qinghuai frowned in disgust, black mist swirling around his fingertips, but his words were sharp and cutting: "You, a piece of trash like you, dare to compare yourself to me?"
The paper figure suddenly let out a strange, gurgling laugh, and the blood and tears dripping onto the offering table made a sizzling sound as they corroded.
"You've forgotten... a hundred years ago, Xie Yingxuan sealed us both away..."
"fart!"
Fu Qinghuai suddenly flew into a rage, and black mist surged around him. "I was tricked by that old bastard Xie Yingxuan. Who do you think you are to try and extort me?"
Xie Xun astutely grasped the key point: "Is this also a remnant of your soul?"
Fu Qinghuai's face was grim, and he pursed his lips without saying a word.
The paper figure seized the opportunity to speak in a sinister tone, "Of course he wouldn't dare say... that part of his soul that carried painful memories was turned into me by Xie Yingxuan..."
"Shut up!" Fu Qinghuai raised his hand and unleashed a cloud of black mist.
The paper figure lightly dodged, continuing to provoke him, "Of course you wouldn't dare admit it. The pain of betrayal, the despair sealed away, are all here with me..."
Xie Xun, too lazy to listen to these old grievances, decisively shouted in a cold voice.
"Lin Huairou is setting up the formation! Master Liu, take Ah Can to seal off the doors and windows!"
His voice was like a thunderclap, instantly bringing those who were stunned by the explosive information back to their senses.
Lin Huairou was the first to react, quickly forming hand seals, and the Five Emperor Coins flew out in response, "Understood!"
Liu Xiuyuan didn't care about anything else, and grabbed the still dazed A-Can, running towards the doors and windows, "Quick, quick! Put up the talismans!"
"Team Leader Zhou,"
At this moment, Xie Xun's sharp eyes swept across the entire ancestral hall, finally settling on the area under the offering table. "Could you please overturn this offering table?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
