Plum Blossom Seal
Si Mucheng stared straight at Wen Ya with an expression that left no room for argument.
Wen Ya had no choice but to raise her hands in surrender: "Fine, no need."
Si Mucheng did not give up: "You are not allowed to use it anymore!"
Wen Ya resisted the urge to facepalm: "Fine, fine. I won't use it anymore." Then she looked at him, "So how are we going to find out about its obsession now?"
Si Mucheng paused for a moment, then turned to look at the little dog ghost.
It had no idea what was happening and just kept showing its puppy-dog smile.
"There...there must be a way..." Si Mucheng said, forcing himself to speak. "Anyway, you can't take the risk."
Wen Ya was helpless. Fortunately, she had managed to contact the spirit of the little dog ghost and hear its words.
"It makes us follow it."
"Huh??" Si Mucheng exclaimed in surprise, "You heard that?"
“Hmm, not quite clear, but it does tell us to follow it.” Wen Ya stood up. “Animals don’t have a very detailed language system like humans, so they can’t say anything too complicated.”
"So, what do we do now?" Si Mucheng asked for her opinion.
"Let's go with it." Wen Ya looked at the little ghost dog. Since it had already come to their door, there was no reason not to help it. "However, we overlooked one problem."
Si Mucheng also remembered: "We don't know where it came from."
Given that the ghosts that came to our door before were able to escape death, this little thing is very likely not a local ghost of Yucheng. What if it leads us to an unknown village in another province? It is a tireless ghost, and Wen Ya and Si Mucheng each only have two legs. How are they supposed to get to the place it wants to take them to?
“Hiss,” Si Mucheng scratched his head, “This is troublesome. It can’t talk, so we can’t prepare anything. We can only follow it. Driving isn’t very convenient either…”
Wen Ya pondered for a moment, then took out a talisman from her bag and called out, "Xiao Feng."
Wen Xiaofeng walked over from the side and tilted her head.
Wen Ya squatted down and stroked it, whispering, "Go with it."
Seeing this, Si Mucheng humbly asked, "If Xiao Feng can follow it, won't she get lost too...?"
"No." Wen Ya tossed the talisman at Wen Xiaofeng. "This is a tracking talisman. Just follow the talisman and you'll find them."
That would be perfect.
Si Mucheng nodded and said to the little dog, "Good dog, lead the way."
Upon hearing this, the little dog immediately stood up, wagged its tail, and ran away, with Wen Xiaofeng running and flying behind it.
"So what are we going to do now?" Si Mucheng asked Wen Ya, looking down at her.
Wen Ya simply gazed in the direction they had left and softly uttered a single word: "Wait."
However, to their surprise, the tracking talisman quickly responded.
When Si Mucheng heard Wen Ya say to wait, he didn't know how long they would have to wait. So he thought that since he had nothing else to do, he might as well go somewhere for a stroll. In case that little dog ghost came looking for them from far away, they would have to make some preparations for their trip.
However, even before they reached the shopping mall that Si Mucheng had found, Wen Ya felt the talisman's response.
"So fast?" Si Mucheng raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Is it very close?"
Wen Ya closed her eyes briefly to confirm the location of the talisman, and replied, "Yes, it's in Yu City."
Si Mucheng was clearly surprised. He glanced at the shopping mall not far away, then at Wen Ya, and asked, "Shall we... go there now?"
Wen Ya nodded: "We need to find a car."
They didn't know the location, only the tracking talisman's indication. A taxi couldn't pinpoint their destination, and shared bikes couldn't provide a reliable distance. Although the tracking talisman was still within Yucheng's territory, Yucheng, as an ancient capital and provincial capital, was incredibly large.
Finally, Simucheng decided to rent a car.
This time, Wen Ya was surprised. She looked at him and asked, "Do you have a driver's license?"
Si Mucheng suddenly thought of Shangguan Qin; what a twist of fate!
He said weakly, "Yes, I am a year older than Shangguan Qin, and I have been driving for a year longer than her."
Wen Ya looked away and calmly said, "Oh."
Si Mucheng seemed to sense something from this and immediately clarified, "My driving skills are much better than Shangguan Qin's! Don't worry, you won't get carsick."
Wen Ya waved her hand: "It's alright, go ahead."
Si Mucheng quickly found a car rental company on his phone. With all his documents on him, he rented a car very smoothly.
Ten minutes after we got on the road.
Wen Ya heard the sound of a horn blaring behind her again, and no matter how she listened, she felt that the horn sounded somewhat angry.
"It seems you do drive much more smoothly than Shangguan Qin," Wen Ya said softly, then looked out the car window at the electric scooter that was passing them at a steady speed.
Si Mucheng had obviously seen it too, and hurriedly explained, "It's because I'm not familiar with the roads in Yucheng."
"Hmm." A smile flashed across Wen Ya's eyes as she continued to tease the dog. "It's alright, we're not in a hurry."
Si Mucheng gritted his teeth inwardly. Ah, he was really looked down upon.
But he really couldn't drive fast. Wen Ya could only give simple directions, and the city roads were complicated. Sometimes he would accidentally deviate from the route Wen Ya had given, and then he would have to find a way back. So he drove especially cautiously.
Even so, the journey went relatively smoothly. However, they were getting further and further away from the hustle and bustle, and the car was driving into the outskirts of the city.
After driving for another five minutes, the roadside was mostly lined with single-story houses. Si Mucheng braked at the side of a narrow road. Following Wen Ya's directions, they needed to continue forward, but the road ahead was impassable.
"We have to get out of the car and go." Si Mucheng turned off the engine. "It looks like a residential area ahead, like a rural-urban fringe area, all narrow roads."
Wen Ya nodded. Following the talisman was the right path, but she didn't know why the little dog ghost had come here.
“It might be its home,” Si Mucheng guessed. “Is it trying to find its owner? That makes sense, it’s human nature…and dog nature, puppies are the most loyal. It’s probably just that it can’t let go of its owner, right, Master?”
Wen Ya remained noncommittal.
The two entered the alley, where the terrain was rather complex, with winding alleys that could easily lead to getting lost. However, with the tracking talisman, they moved nimbly and soon arrived at a bungalow.
The bungalow was surrounded by trees, and behind it was a courtyard-like area. Beyond that was undeveloped wasteland on the outskirts of the city.
Wen Ya saw Wen Xiaofeng first and greeted her. Wen Xiaofeng quickly came over and flapped her wings. Wen Ya frowned: "What happened?"
Upon hearing this, Si Mucheng asked, "What's wrong?"
The little dog ghost suddenly appeared. It stopped laughing and seemed very anxious, pacing around in circles.
Just as Wen Ya was about to speak, she suddenly heard a dog barking from behind the bungalow. Unlike the fierce barking of a warning dog, it didn't bark in a cute, childish way; instead, it sounded like a pleading whimper.
The little dog ghost grew increasingly impatient, jumping around at Si Mucheng and Wen Ya's feet, and then rushing towards the bungalow, as if urging them to hurry up.
Si Mucheng said, "That sound just now was strange, and the little dog ghost's behavior was also odd. It must have brought us here. Shall we go and take a look, Master?"
Wen Ya nodded and looked at a path next to the house: "Let's go that way."
Si Mucheng walked over first, saying only, "I'll go first."
Wen Ya did not want to argue with him, so she remained silent.
The two walked along the path, and before they even reached the open space behind the bungalow, they were hit by a strong smell of blood. Si Mucheng quickly covered his nose: "This...this is so strong?"
Wen Ya's face darkened; she had a bad feeling.
Then they heard some noises and a man's laughter: "This little bastard is no good, not enough to play with."
Thinking back to the dog barking earlier, Si Mucheng suddenly realized a possibility, his expression changed drastically, and he took two steps forward, heading directly to the back of the house. Wen Ya followed closely behind.
However, what they saw was exactly as they had guessed. A young boy was holding a knife, which was covered in blood, and his hands were also stained with bright red blood. The mangled mess in front of him was unrecognizable.
"Who are you?" The boy looked up at the noise, staring at Si Mucheng and Wen Ya in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"You..." Si Mucheng's face turned pale as he suddenly saw the bloody scene. "What are you doing?!"
The boy looked speechless: "Why did you come to my house to ask me what I'm doing? Are you alright? Get out of here and mind your own business."
Wen Ya took the opportunity to look around the small courtyard. It was usually just a place to store miscellaneous items. However, in the northwest corner, there were several lumps of something similar to the bloody mess on the ground. Upon closer inspection, they could be identified as cats or dogs by their ears and tails.
Wen Ya suddenly understood: this wasn't the little dog ghost's home, but the place where it died.
"That was a puppy, wasn't it?!" Si Mucheng pointed at the dog on the ground, unable to hide his anger. "You killed it!"
The boy, however, was unconvinced: "So what? I didn't kill any pets. They were all strays."
Si Mucheng was clearly shocked by the calmness in his tone, a calmness that disregarded life. He said softly, "This is a life. It just doesn't have a home, and you're taking advantage of its lack of a home."
The boy scoffed, "Who are you to meddle? Don't try to lecture me. I don't know you. This is my home, and I can do whatever I want in my own home without breaking the law."
"How many cats and dogs have you tortured and killed?" Wen Ya suddenly asked.
The boy was stunned and subconsciously looked at the northwest corner. Si Mucheng followed his gaze and saw the animal corpses. Suddenly, he remembered the little dog ghost, and his eyes reddened instantly.
He gritted his teeth: "Beast."
The boy had lost his patience and pointed at them with the knife in his hand: "What's it to you? You're being ridiculous. Get out of here!" But before he could finish speaking, he was struck hard in the cheek. He didn't even see how Si Mucheng rushed over and threw a punch; everything happened too fast.
Wen Ya only felt a blur before her eyes, and then she saw Si Mucheng kick the knife out of the boy's hand, then punch him to the ground, and finally twist his right hand behind his back and pin him down with his knee.
With a series of fluid movements, he pinned the boy to the ground, rendering him unable to move. Then, Si Mucheng raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, and said to her, "Xiaoya, call the police!"
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