"According to the hospital's medical records, Browning is nearly sixty years old this year, but he looks very young. Although it can be explained by spending money on maintenance, it is more likely the influence of supernatural powers."

Stone explained.

"In fact, Browning has never aged since he moved into Stormy Hill at the age of fifty. He has become younger and younger. Although he has lived a secluded life since then and many of his former companions have stopped communicating, people have still discovered this fact to some extent."

"You mean to say that Browning may have touched upon some of the foreign contamination?"

Xia knew that rejuvenation was rare, but not impossible.

After receiving extraordinary powers, humans can, at least on the surface, temporarily achieve a state of eternal youth and ageless appearance. However, this appearance is accompanied by severe pollution. It can be said that beneath the bright appearance is a rotten interior, no different from a monster.

Just like the picture of Dorian Gray, he looks young and beautiful, but is actually corrupt and withered.

"This Stormy Mountain Villa must have the pollution left by Taoist Heming. This pollution may combine with the pollution brought by Master Byron, allowing Taoist Heming to return to this world again."

Stone speculated.

"Browning asked me to find the things left by the real Heming Taoist in the mansion. I don't know if he just happened to live here and was exposed to pollution, or if he has already mastered some of the secrets. In short, he hoped that I could search the entire mansion and find the secrets buried here. Unfortunately, he died before I could do so."

"He probably just found out that he would be younger if he lived here. He didn't bother looking for you after he found the Heming Taoist's legacy. It's totally unnecessary."

Shia judged.

"really."

Stone nodded and said that he thought so too.

"Is it possible that Taoist Heming left part of his soul in a certain object, thus unknowingly bewitching Browning and keeping him young? If the remains of Taoist Heming were to be near such an object, it would enhance his power?"

Lu Ban suddenly said.

"Similar to, uh, Horcruxes."

He was referring to a concept from a children's literature work, which is to divide the soul into several parts and inject them into objects. As long as all the objects are not destroyed, they can be resurrected by relying on the souls in the fragments.

“That makes sense.”

When Stone heard Lu Ban's words, he felt as if he had suddenly realized something.

"Since Heming Taoist's ascension did not really leave this world, but only changed his form, if he was cautious enough, he would have set up a clone or a backup plan. That thing has Heming Taoist's will and knowledge, so it is normal that it bewitched Browning."

"That is to say, if we don't find the Horcrux hidden by Heming Taoist on the night of the Summoning of Souls, then Byron will use Heming Taoist's remains to enhance the power of this ancestor, and we will all be robbed of our sanity by the strong pollution."

Shia speculated.

This is the most likely scenario at this point.

"Is it a good thing that Master Byron hasn't come yet?"

Lu Ban sighed.

"There are two possibilities. Byron knows what Horcruxes are in Stormy Hill, and his arrival will cause contamination to spread. Or, he doesn't know what Horcruxes are, and needs to search for them like us."

Stone offered his own opinion.

"Based on the mission, I think the latter is more likely. Otherwise, if he arrives in the next two days, Heming Taoist will be resurrected."

"There is another possibility. As long as that thing is near the remains of Taoist Heming for a certain period of time, such as nine days, it will be absorbed by Taoist Heming's will."

Lu Ban added that he had another sudden idea.

"If we kill Byron halfway and take away the remains he carries, can we complete the mission quickly?"

"???"

Stone glanced at Lu Ban.

“Good idea.”

Shia agreed.

"No, wait, is this how you usually complete missions in foreign lands?"

Stone asked as he choked on his cigarette.

"You could have killed those doctors and call girls to achieve your goals before, why are you unwilling to do it now?"

Shia looked at Stone in confusion.

"I have confessed!"

Stone suddenly became a little impatient when his dark history was mentioned.

"Besides, I am also helping her to avenge herself... Killing is a means of destroying everything. Once someone is killed, something irreversible will happen. We can't just rely on inference to kill Byron. Maybe he is just a gangster, or he doesn't know anything about the remains of Taoist Heming..."

He is in a contradictory state. On the one hand, in order to achieve his own goals and to help a call girl he met by chance to take revenge, Stone brutally killed those gang members.

On the other hand, after so many years of growth, Stone also understood the meaning of killing, and he became "cowardly", just like the boy who squatted with his head in his hands on the bus that night.

Of course, Lu Ban was also very sure that if the other party threatened Stone's life, the detective would act without hesitation and grind the other party to ashes.

"Okay, the problem now is that Byron may not come through normal channels, and we don't know when or how he will come. While we are waiting for him to come, we can search the mansion."

Lu Ban said, thought about it again, and added a few words.

"Also, I don't think Browning's family is completely unaware or unconcerned about this place. They may also use various means to explore Heming Taoist's legacy."

According to Lu Ban's experience, there would be no unimportant characters in this kind of mission. Browning's children, his business partners, and even his lover, must have a reason for their existence.

Not only does he have to fight against Taoist Heming's disciples, he may also have to fight against Browning's family members.

After all, if they knew that Taoist Heming’s legacy was here, perhaps they would become greedy and try to murder Lu Ban and others.

Moreover, just because Taoist Heming could bewitch Browning, it doesn’t mean he couldn’t bewitch his family.

Thinking of this, Lu Ban came up with an idea.

"Since you are a detective and have accepted Browning's commission, perhaps we can use the name of investigation to find out Browning's usual movements, see what he comes into contact with, and look for clues from it."

"That's exactly what I intended."

Stone stood up.

Just then, a scream of panic and fear came from outside the house.

The scream was heart-wrenching, as if one had seen the most terrifying thing in the world.

Lu Ban rushed out of the restaurant.