"This Soul-Eating Demon... is supposed to be very timid, usually only daring to operate in desolate wilderness or places with heavy yin energy, and rarely daring to enter a bustling hospital on its own initiative, yet it found the ICU so precisely..." Qiqi tilted her little head and analyzed, "Moreover, the spider plant it possessed was a gift from someone else..."
Huo Yuwei immediately understood her meaning, his eyes darkening. "You suspect that someone deliberately sent this possessed plant to the hospital?"
"Yes!" Qiqi nodded vigorously. "The Soul-Eating Demon doesn't have the brains of its own; it's very likely being controlled by someone! The parent who delivered the plant might be suspicious!"
This is an important clue!
If it was indeed done by someone, then the nature of the crime is extremely heinous. This is not just stealing soul power, but murder!
"I'll have someone check the family information of that discharged child." Huo Yusen immediately took out his phone, made a call, and began the investigation using the Huo family's resources.
Back at the Huo family villa, Qiqi took the jade bottle containing the Soul-Eating Demon back to her room and called Hu Ying and Bai Xuan in as well, so they could study it together.
After a careful examination, Qiqi confirmed that there was indeed a very faint but malicious control mark remaining on the Soul-Eating Demon, which confirmed her previous guess.
“It seems that the soul power dissipation incident mentioned by Judge Lu was not accidental. There is probably a dark hand behind it.” Bai Xuan’s expression was solemn. “This Soul-Eating Demon is probably just one of the tools it is using.”
Just then, Huo Yusen also received the investigation results.
The information provided by the "parent of the sick child" who sent the spider plant was fake!
The so-called discharge record doesn't exist at all!
That spider plant was deliberately disguised as a gift and placed in the ICU of the hospital!
The trail seems to have ended here.
But Qiqi was not discouraged. She shook the jade bracelet on her wrist and asked, "Xiaobai, can you find the bad guy based on the marks on this evil monster?"
Bai Xuan's cold voice rang out, "The mark is too weak and has been processed using special methods, making it difficult to track directly. But since the other party's goal is to extract the power of the living soul, they must have some ulterior motive and will not act only once. We can wait for them to come to us, or... lure them out proactively."
"How do we lure it?" Huo Yuwei and Huo Yusen both looked at Bai Xuan at the same time.
“Create a ‘bait’,” Bai Xuan said. “Use a fake target containing pure soul power fluctuations to lure the other party into taking the bait. Since the other party needs soul power, they certainly won’t let it go.”
Create a fake target containing pure soul power fluctuations?
This wasn't difficult for Qiqi.
She can use special talismans and materials to simulate the aura of a weak, living soul.
Let's do it!
Over the next two days, Qiqi had Huo Yuwei and Huo Yusen help her gather a lot of materials to start making "soul power bait".
She chose a piece of nurtured spirit jade as a vessel, meticulously drew intricate spirit-gathering and soul-simulating runes on it, and finally dripped a drop of her own fingertip blood into it.
Qiqi's blood contains immense spiritual power, which can make the bait's aura even more realistic.
The finished product is a palm-sized jade pendant that is warm to the touch and emits a soft white light.
The soul power fluctuations it emits are perceived as a high-quality living soul whose life force is constantly draining away, which has a fatal attraction to evil cultivators or demons who need soul power.
"Next, we just need to find a suitable place to 'fish'." Qiqi held the newly made bait jade pendant, her big eyes sparkling with excitement.
After discussion, they decided to choose a relatively remote abandoned factory on the outskirts of the city, where homeless people or people returning home at night would occasionally pass by.
The area is neither too popular nor too quiet, making it unlikely to cause widespread panic, and it also fits the environment where a "weak target" might appear.
Night falls.
The abandoned factory was dimly lit, with only moonlight filtering through the broken windows and casting dappled light.
Qiqi placed the bait jade pendant in the open space in the center of the factory, and then, together with Huo Yuwei and Huo Yusen, they hid behind a pile of abandoned machines with the help of Qiqi's advanced invisibility talisman, holding their breath and waiting quietly for the fish to take the bait.
Time passed second by second, and the only sound in the factory was the whistling of the wind blowing through the holes.
Huo Yuwei and Huo Yusen were completely focused and dared not relax for a moment.
Qiqi seemed very patient, and even took out a candy from her small bag and secretly put it in her mouth.
suddenly!
The temperature inside the factory dropped several degrees without warning, and a cold, swirling wind blew in.
It's here!
The three of them perked up.
A blurry black shadow, like a gecko, silently crawled in from the factory's outer wall and landed without a sound.
It was a short, hunched person wearing a black cloak.
His face was covered by a pale, expressionless mask, revealing only a pair of eyes that gleamed with a greedy green light in the darkness.
His gaze immediately locked onto the jade pendant in the center of the open space, which was emitting an "alluring" fluctuation of soul power.
"Hehehe... Such pure soul power... This is truly heaven's help!" A hoarse, unpleasant laugh came from under the mask. He couldn't wait to stretch out his withered, chicken-claw-like hand and grab the jade pendant.
Just as his fingers were about to touch the jade pendant—
"Let's do it!"
With a single command from Qiqi!
Huo Yuwei leaped out like a cheetah, his military bayonet aimed straight at the opponent's vital point in the back, moving so fast that only a blur remained!
Bai Xuan then flanked from the other side, his fingertips now holding several thin, hair-like ice needles that gleamed with a cold, eerie blue light, sealing off the opponent's escape route!
Huo Yusen was clearly the only ordinary person among them, yet he still stood firmly in front of Qiqi.
Any danger that approaches must first get past him.
Just before the man in black touched the bait jade pendant, it suddenly burst forth with a strong golden light.
Countless fine golden runes shot out like chains, instantly wrapping around the black-clad man's arm!
"What?! It's a trap!"
The man in black was terrified and tried to break free.
But the golden rune chains were incredibly tough and carried a power that burned his soul, causing him to let out a painful groan.
He reacted extremely quickly, and with a sudden wave of his other hand, a thick, foul-smelling black mist gushed out from his sleeve, instantly spreading and obscuring the view.
At the same time, countless rustling noises came from the black fog, as if countless poisonous insects were crawling.
"A mere trick!" Qiqi jumped out from behind Huo Yusen, her chubby little hands holding a bright yellow "exorcism talisman".
With the infusion of spiritual power, the talisman spontaneously combusted, transforming into a massive ring of fire radiating pure yang energy, instantly incinerating and purifying the black mist along with the illusory poisonous insects within it!
The firelight dispelled the darkness and illuminated the terrified eyes of the man in black.
Huo Yuwei's military dagger had already struck his pressure point, causing his whole body to go numb.
Bai Xuan's ice needles precisely pierced several major acupoints on his body, completely sealing off his mobility and the flow of his magic power.
The man in black stood frozen in place, unable to move, his green eyes filled with resentment and disbelief.
Qiqi walked up to him with her short legs, stood on tiptoe, and curiously poked the mask on his face with a small twig.
"Hmph! You villain, is it you who secretly let the little monster go to the hospital to steal the children's soul power? Tell me, why did you do this? Who else is involved?"
The man in black kept his mouth shut, clearly not intending to cooperate.
Qiqi wasn't in a hurry. She took out another talisman from her small bag, this time a "True Word Talisman" crackling with electric arcs.
"You don't want to tell me? No problem, Qiqi has a way to make you tell the truth!"
As the crackling talisman drew closer, the expression on the man's face behind the mask finally changed!
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