"N-nothing...?"
"Who threw the lightning talisman?"
The unlucky guy who almost fell down the stairs clicked his tongue and said, "How many bills do we have to throw away...?" That's so wasteful.
This male ghost is quite powerful. In fact, if it were just Ruan Bei's two thunder talismans, it wouldn't have achieved this effect. But when everyone attacked together, most of them used their strongest attacks. The male ghost would be seriously injured even if he didn't die.
Ruan Bei's last two talismans were the final straw that broke the camel's back, completely destroying the already crippled male ghost.
However, judging from his ruthless attack just now, as if he was determined to kill the girl, it wouldn't be unfair to kill him outright.
"I threw it," Ruan Bei whispered, secretly hiding his hand behind his back. He hadn't expected it to have this effect. Everyone else had made a move, so why was he the one being targeted?
Mao Xiaoqian clutched his chest and sighed inwardly. As expected of the little devil from the Great Demon King's family, his skill in throwing thunder talismans was truly a direct descendant of his lineage.
The members of Jiao Yan's team looked at him like he was a spendthrift. Everyone else used thunder talismans one by one, but this guy used them by the handful.
Ruan Bei felt uncomfortable being stared at. He was about to explain that he had only used two cards when Conan interrupted him, saying, "Xiao Bei is a novice and inexperienced. He just slipped up."
The Jiao Yan team didn't know, but they did. Ruan Bei's thunder talismans were mostly high-grade, with few even of mid-grade quality. Each level increase in the thunder talisman's grade more than doubled its power.
Most thunder talismans circulating outside are of low quality, with the better ones being of medium quality. High-quality and top-quality ones are rare. Even if a talisman master draws a talisman of high quality or above, he will not sell it but keep it for himself.
Judging from the power of the lightning talismans, the members of the Jiao Yan Squad assumed that Ruan Bei had thrown several. In reality, he probably didn't throw that many; it was just that the grade was too high and the power too great, which led to the misunderstanding.
After Conan explained, the others didn't ask any more questions. Only Jiao Yan glanced at Ruan Bei without any emotion, then lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Yin Kai picked up the rope; it was a dark, ominous straw rope.
Conan took a small urn meant for containing ghosts, stuffed the straw rope inside, and sealed it up like sealing a ghost.
Old Bai explained to Ruan Bei, "Don't be fooled by how ugly this thing is. It's actually a good thing. It's made like this using Yin Sha ghost energy, so it can already be considered a ghost artifact. Let's take it back and have someone process it. Even if we can't use it ourselves, we can still cut it up and use it as material."
Another unexpected bonus! The team members were all smiles. These were only two missions, and although they were a bit difficult, the benefits were real and tangible.
Although the Jiao Yan team was envious, they were unable to eliminate the two ghosts at the time and almost got into trouble, so they were too ashamed to ask for a share now.
"Xiao Bei, you're such a lucky star!" Mao Xiaoqian was overjoyed and boasted for a while about how good his eye was in picking up Ruan Bei, this treasure.
Ruan Bei put in a lot of effort on both missions and gained additional benefits in the end. Isn't that a lucky star?!
Ruan Bei smiled reservedly, but his eyes were exceptionally bright. He also felt that his luck might have turned around. He had bad luck in his previous life, but in this life, things were going well and everything went smoothly.
"Oh, right, there's a little devil in this building." Ruan Bei said, leading them to catch the little devil hiding in the cabinet.
This was the second little devil Ruan Bei had ever seen besides Niu Niu, but he was clearly not as cute as Niu Niu. His face was covered with a layer of black mist, and his eyes were lifeless.
When Yin Kai opened the cabinet, the little ghost tried to attack him, but he was too weak. The two big ghosts were clearly quite strong, especially the male ghost, but the little ghost was only slightly stronger than a ghost that had just become a ghost.
So the little devil was easily subdued. Leaving him here would only cause trouble in the future, given his current state. So we had to put him in his clothes and send him back to be dealt with by the Special Affairs Bureau or the senior monks of Ling'an Temple.
Ruan Bei checked the building again to confirm that apart from the lingering ghostly energy and yin energy, there were no other ghosts in the building. Only then did the two teams go downstairs together.
Of the four members of the Jiao Yan Squad, three were injured. They still needed to go to the hospital to treat their external injuries, especially the cuts from broken glass on their arms and hands. They needed to be disinfected, and those that were serious needed to get a tetanus shot.
When they parted, Jiao Yan held his head high, his pride undiminished: "Our missions will most likely overlap, but I will not give up. Who wins and who loses in the end will depend on our own abilities."
Having come all this way, he was naturally unwilling to give up. This was a declaration of war against Ruan Bei's team, and he would have to fight for future missions.
Let them steal it; it's just fair competition. Their names weren't even engraved on the mission anyway.
Ruan Bei didn't have any ill feelings towards him; at least he didn't abandon his teammates in times of crisis.
Mao Xiaoqian rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "Don't ask us to save you next time."
Jiao Yan's face darkened, he snorted heavily, and left with his teammates.
Ruan Bei and the others looked at each other and decided to go back, take a shower, and go to sleep.
They ran out late at night, and the hilt of the peach wood sword in their bag was sticking out. The innkeeper was so frightened that she hid behind the cashier and dared not show her face.
Later, there was a lot of noise coming from the small building, even the sound of thunder. The neighbors nearby almost couldn't stay at home and ran out.
The small hotel wasn't too close, but it wasn't far either. The landlady who was at the front desk heard the noise and guessed that it was probably made by the young people staying at her hotel.
The proprietress was so frightened that she woke up her husband. Neither of them dared to close the door, so they just stood there guarding it.
The old Taoist priests and high monks we invited before didn't have this kind of presence. They ran out on their own in no time. Some even went in vertically and came out horizontally. Although they didn't die but were just unconscious, it shows that the thing in that small building is not easy to deal with.
If it weren't for the fact that as long as people in the neighborhood don't go to the small building, nothing bad will happen to them, they would have moved away long ago.
The two stayed until Ruan Bei and his group returned. Although they looked tired and their clothes were covered in dust, making them look somewhat disheveled, they were all fine and none of them were injured.
The proprietress peeked in and saw that the peach wood sword was still there, so she cautiously let them in.
The couple were hiding behind the cashier when the owner couldn't resist calling out, "Young man!"
He stopped Ruan Bei and the others, but then he didn't know how to start the conversation. He just stood there, sweat beading on his forehead.
The proprietress was so angry she kept hitting him, but she smiled shamelessly at them, though she was also very scared.
Conan pushed up his glasses: "Don't be afraid, we're not bad people."
He paused, then continued, "The problem in that small building has been resolved, and government officials will be coming to handle it soon."
As soon as he mentioned the authorities, the couple immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and the boss asked happily, "Are you sure everything's alright?"
The question clearly indicated that Conan knew something about the situation at Xiaolou, so he said directly, "It's best not to go there recently. The yin energy hasn't dissipated yet, and it's not good for your health."
"Okay, okay, we definitely won't go, thank you so much, young man!" The boss and his wife thanked them repeatedly.
If what these young people say is true, that would be great. Although that small building hasn't harmed anyone in the neighborhood in recent years, there were more than just one family living in it back then.
They all had bad luck later on. The worst one had his child fall and hit his head, and I heard he became mentally impaired, and his life was over.
Later, everyone in the building moved out, leaving it empty. The surrounding residents were terrified, but because they didn't harm outsiders, they lived in relative peace.
A developer was planning to demolish this area, which was a great opportunity, but because of that building, the demolition didn't happen, and the surrounding residents hate it.
Hatred is useless; no one dares to go in. The "masters" hired by the developer were all dragged out. If they went in, they'd just be offering themselves up as food.
The couple were so excited that they didn't sleep all night. The next morning, when they saw several young people coming downstairs, the boss was very eager to treat them to breakfast.
Ruan Bei and the others also wanted to ask him some questions, so they went out together.
Perhaps because he felt that Xiaolou's problem had been resolved, the boss became much more accommodating. When Lao Bai asked him about the original situation in Xiaolou, he told him everything.
His family has been living here for a long time; he grew up here, so he knows the area quite well.
According to the owner, he believes the problems in the building started with the disappearance of the female homeowner in the leftmost apartment on the third floor.
That couple came from another province to work. The man did manual labor, and the woman, who had little education and skills, also did odd jobs like serving dishes and washing dishes.
At first, things were fine. Although the couple was young, they were both honest and hardworking.
But after a year or two, perhaps blinded by the allure of the world, the woman changed. She became quite attractive and less docile.
The owner emphasized, "I'm not saying anything bad about her, but I own a hotel and I've seen that woman bring other men to my place."
In broad daylight, her husband was still out carrying heavy bags for others.
They didn't even try to hide their affair from the outside world, and soon rumors started circulating. The couple argued and fought, but they never got a divorce.
Later, the woman became pregnant and behaved herself for a while. After the child was born, the couple seemed to have reconciled.
Perhaps because she had a child, the woman stopped having ambiguous relationships with other men. She had to take care of her child and couldn't work, so she took on some handicrafts to do at home.
A few years later, the child grew up and didn't look like his father at all, so rumors started to circulate that the child wasn't the man's biological son.
The boss sighed as he spoke, "Actually, I think that woman has really changed for the better. We neighbors are watching her every day. If she were still messing around, wouldn't we be able to tell?"
The man didn't believe it, or rather, the trust between the couple had long since broken down.
So he started drinking heavily and beating his wife. He would beat her whenever he was drunk, and he would beat her very badly, probably just venting his frustrations through his drunkenness.
The woman endured it for a while, but then she couldn't take it anymore and ran away. She came back, the couple reconciled, she was beaten again, and she ran away again. This went on and on until the neighbors were numb to it all.
Then, after another argument, the woman disappeared.
The man said his wife had run away again. Because of previous incidents, the neighbors believed him. None of their relatives lived there, so no one went to look for her.
After a long time passed and she still hadn't returned, the neighbors assumed the woman had run off with another man.
The boss lowered his voice and said, "I think something might have happened to that woman."
Ruan Bei and the others exchanged bewildered glances. Something must have happened; they had even seen her ghost last night.
Later, when they questioned the female ghost, she said she was strangled to death by her man with that hemp rope, and he threw her body into the cement mixer at the construction site.
Later, the man heard about paternity testing from others, so he saved up some money and took his child to get a paternity test done.
No one knows what the outcome was, but in the end, in that rented room, he used that hemp rope to strangle his son and then hanged himself, leaving the whole family together.
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