Chapter 121

Li Zhuiyuan stepped back, positioning himself beside Lin Shuyou. He reached out, unzipped the side pocket of Lin Shuyou’s hiking pack, and pulled out a section of net rope, handing it to him.

"Pull."

Lin Shuyou grabbed the net rope and tugged repeatedly, fully retrieving the Homecoming Net. He held an end in each hand, ready to unfurl it at any moment.

"Be ready to enter trance and catch someone at any time."

Hearing this, Lin Shuyou's expression immediately became serious. His nostrils flared slightly, and his eyes were half-open, half-vertical.

When the General Head performers haven't put on their face paint, it’s easy for their emotions not to be in sync, which lowers both the speed and success rate of entering trance. That's why Lin Shuyou chose to warm up beforehand.

While the hospital building was tall, it was nowhere near as extreme as the department store. Even without entering a trance, Lin Shuyou's normal agility would make catching a falling young, slender woman from above relatively easy. Of course, he might get injured, and Zhou Yunyun would also be hurt. But if he were in a trance, allowing the White Crane Boy to catch her, it would be an absolutely reliable safeguard.

After extracting the Seven-Star Hook, Li Zhuiyuan rushed into the hospital building, with Tan Wenbin close behind. As they ascended the stairs, Li Zhuiyuan slowed his pace, his mind replaying the details of Zhou Yunyun's behavior on the rooftop. Tan Wenbin was anxious, wishing he could sprint straight to the roof to rescue her, but when Li Zhuiyuan slowed down, he not only didn't overtake him but deliberately maintained a half-step behind. After so many life-or-death crises, Tan Wenbin knew that in emergencies, a cool head was paramount.

Just before exiting onto the rooftop, Li Zhuiyuan stopped. He couldn't just walk onto the rooftop and reveal himself to Zhou Yunyun. Her previous behavior clearly indicated fear, possibly due to some malevolent entity, a possession, or even an internal issue. In any case, what she was seeing now might not be reality but a distorted and inverted version of it. In other words, the more closely related someone was to her, the more terrifying they might appear from her perspective.

Li Zhuiyuan tossed the Seven-Star Hook to Tan Wenbin, then plunged his hands into his pockets and pressed the red mud. Soon, he withdrew his hands, pressing his left thumb to his own glabella and pointing his right thumb at Tan Wenbin. Tan Wenbin immediately bent down, offering his face. Li Zhuiyuan only applied a circle of red marks to his own glabella, but on Tan Wenbin's face, in addition to the red circle, he drew red flourishes above his eyebrows and at the corners of his mouth.

Black dog blood inherently dispelled malevolence, while the drawn patterns were temporary modifications to the facial features, temporarily borrowing the "Immaculate Aspect." After finishing, Li Zhuiyuan retrieved the Seven-Star Hook from Tan Wenbin and said, "Quick!" Li Zhuiyuan burst through the rooftop door first, with Tan Wenbin following immediately.

On the rooftop, numerous medical staff and security guards were already trying to persuade Zhou Yunyun. However, Zhou Yunyun was highly agitated and stood in such a dangerous position that no one dared to attempt a rescue, fearing they might provoke her into a more dangerous act. Li Zhuiyuan darted through the crowd. Once he entered Zhou Yunyun's line of sight, he didn't stop or speak, but continued running towards her.

Zhou Yunyun first looked at Li Zhuiyuan, but then her attention was drawn to Tan Wenbin, who appeared behind him. Initially, Tan Wenbin appeared to her as a completely red, skinless blood man. But the next moment, accompanied by a slight distortion in her vision, Tan Wenbin returned to his "Tan Wenbin" appearance. At this moment, Zhou Yunyun felt as though she had seen a normal living person among a group of monsters, and even if he wasn't truly Tan Wenbin, she still felt a profound sense of familiarity. She turned sideways, extended her hand, and opened her mouth as if to call out.

Running, Li Zhuiyuan flung out the Seven-Star Hook. The one-arm-length bamboo pole instantly transformed into a long fishing rod. At the revolving handle, a locking hook appeared at the tip, precisely encircling Zhou Yunyun's outstretched wrist. Li Zhuiyuan braced his feet against the ground, turned his back, and pressed the Seven-Star Hook beneath him, using his entire body weight to pull down. Zhou Yunyun's wrist was locked, blood flowed, and her center of gravity was pulled completely inward onto the terrace. She tumbled forward. Tan Wenbin appeared just in time, sliding in to catch Zhou Yunyun, preventing her from hitting the ground.

Zhou Yunyun looked at Tan Wenbin in front of her. His "Tan Wenbin" face gradually transformed into a skinless monster. She screamed, reaching out to scratch, and began to resist frantically. Tan Wenbin closed his eyes, enduring it all. He suppressed his instinctive reactions, such as flipping her over and binding her hands and feet like a dead body. Even a strong Northeastern man like Lu Yi, when possessed in the dorm hallway, had been completely subdued by Tan Wenbin's move.

Li Zhuiyuan walked over, his right hand lightly clasped, and tapped Zhou Yunyun's glabella three times with his ring finger knuckle. Zhou Yunyun's eyes showed confusion; she stopped struggling and resisting, and tears streamed from the corners of her eyes. The medical staff behind them immediately stepped forward to take Zhou Yunyun back to her room. Li Zhuiyuan noticed a nurse holding a syringe.

"Brother Binbin, control the situation."

Tan Wenbin lifted Zhou Yunyun with one arm, while his other hand quickly reached into his pocket, pulled out his student ID, quickly scanned it around, and immediately put it back. At the same time, he shouted loudly: "I'm a police officer!" He had just saved the person, and coupled with Tan Wenbin's family background and current demeanor, no one present truly doubted his impersonation of a police officer.

Li Zhuiyuan whispered next to him, "Back to the ward."

"I'll take her back to the ward. Besides the attending doctor and nurse, no one else should approach. Please cooperate with our police work. Thank you."

Zhou Yunyun was taken to a private ward. Nurses bandaged her wrist injury, and a doctor performed an initial physical examination. Tan Wenbin declined the suggestion of administering a sedative and didn't allow them to take any necessary restraint measures on Zhou Yunyun, such as tying her to the bed. These suggestions and measures weren't wrong, as Zhou Yunyun had just almost jumped from the building and had shown some aggression.

"Thank you, you've worked hard. Now, please leave for a while. I'd like to question the patient privately. Also, please tell those from the school not to enter the ward and disturb her."

The doctor and nurses left. Before they did, they specifically glanced at Li Zhuiyuan, who was sitting on a nearby stool. They vaguely remembered that the young man had also played a role in the rescue on the rooftop, but everything had happened so quickly that they weren't entirely sure.

At this point, only Li Zhuiyuan, Tan Wenbin, and Zhou Yunyun on the bed remained in the ward. Zhou Yunyun's eyes were still confused, but they seemed to be a bit more focused than before. She couldn't speak or move; she just looked at Tan Wenbin, who was standing by her bed.

"Hiss... My dear class monitor, you really scratch hard." Tan Wenbin gently touched his face and neck, which were covered in scratches. Many spots were bleeding, and in a few places, skin was hanging. He looked exactly like a husband who had just fought with his wife at home, and lost.

Li Zhuiyuan stepped down from the stool and approached the bed, looking at Zhou Yunyun. Seeing that Xiao Yuan wasn't looking at him, Tan Wenbin simply walked halfway around the bed to Xiao Yuan's side and whispered, "Brother Xiao Yuan, my mind just short-circuited." Tan Wenbin was there to admit his mistake. There had always been a rule in their team: in sudden situations, they must make the calmest and most correct choice based on the current circumstances. In short, don't be foolish.

Li Zhuiyuan replied, "It's fine. She can't scratch you to death."

Tan Wenbin chuckled twice. He could feel the gradual changes happening in Brother Yuan; he seemed to be becoming more humane. "Brother Xiao Yuan, what do we do next?"

"Call your dad. You can't pretend to be a cop for long. Let your dad take control of the situation."

"Oh, okay. Um, what reason should I give?"

"Poisoning case."

"Poisoning?" Tan Wenbin immediately realized. "Did someone use a dirty trick on her?"

"That's a possibility, but it's not confirmed yet. However, Zhou Yunyun is a college student. She had an episode in her dorm and then almost jumped from the hospital. These things can't be kept secret. And once she's completely labeled as mentally ill, her studies and future will be over. The best way to clear her mental illness identity is to turn this into a poisoning case, explaining that her abnormal behavior was due to poisoning. This way, after treatment and returning to school, the negative impact can be minimized."

"Thank you, Brother Xiao Yuan. I'll go call my dad now." As Tan Wenbin walked toward the ward door, he muttered to himself, "This mind... it's terrifying." He was still only concerned with Zhou Yunyun's "condition," but Brother Xiao Yuan was already thinking about the aftermath and cleanup.

Li Zhuiyuan said, "Let Lin Shuyou come in."

"Okay." Tan Wenbin opened the ward door and walked out. He saw Lin Shuyou sitting on a long chair in the hallway, looking solemn, his fists clenched. What was wrong with this guy? If he were honest with himself, Lin Shuyou was happy that Zhou Yunyun was rescued in time and didn't jump. But Ayou also had a small personal regret: he had missed an opportunity to perform. He was deeply ashamed of this rising regret and was fiercely self-critical.

"Hey, Ayou?"

"Ah, Brother Bin, how's sister-in-law?"

"I'm going to make a call, you go in." Tan Wenbin couldn't be bothered to correct his address at that moment.

"Then I'll go in." Lin Shuyou carried his hiking pack into the ward.

Li Zhuiyuan took out his talismans from his pocket, handed them to Lin Shuyou, and instructed, "Walk around the ward carefully a few times, and climb the ceiling too. Stick the talismans everywhere while you're at it."

"Okay." Lin Shuyou put down his bag, took the talismans, and first walked around the ward. Then, like a gecko, he climbed the wall, sticking talismans everywhere as he moved to test them. Since the talismans drawn by Li Zhuiyuan only acted like pH test paper, he didn't need to stick them everywhere; one talisman, if it didn't change color, could be used for the entire area. After a flurry of activity, several cobwebs in the corners were cleared, but nothing was found.

"Checked, Brother Xiao Yuan." Lin Shuyou showed Li Zhuiyuan the talisman, which was still yellow.

"Do you feel anything yourself?"

"No, this ward is very clean."

"Yes, very clean." Li Zhuiyuan nodded. "The problem is right here."

When ordinary people encounter malevolent entities, they either get stuck to them, like Jingjing, or even if the entity isn't on them, it leaves heavy traces, like Li Zhuiyuan himself when he was affected by the Little Oriole entity. But he had checked Zhou Yunyun's body, and there were no traces at all. Yet her symptoms clearly indicated an encounter with an evil entity.

Lin Shuyou cautiously asked, "Brother Xiao Yuan, could Zhou Yunyun have been 'struck' by someone?"

"Cursed?"

"Yes, that's what I mean. At our temple, people who feel they've been 'struck' often come seeking exorcism, and I've helped people before. However, solving it is very troublesome, because changes only occur when one is 'struck.' After the effect of being 'struck' ends, it's difficult to detect any problems, unless they are 'struck' a second time. So, in such situations, we usually have people stay at the temple or a nearby hotel. When it flares up again, we immediately set up an altar and perform a trance, relying on the power of the General Head to push it back!"

"Ayou."

"Brother Xiao Yuan?"

"Do you know how to cast curses?"

"Of course not."

"What about your temple?"

"How could our temple possibly know such a thing? Any individual or sect with a sense of shame and morality would never engage in such malicious and despicable acts, nor would they even deign to learn such tricks!" Lin Shuyou craned his neck, looking upward, puffing out his chest, his words resounding. But for a long time, he received no response from Brother Xiao Yuan. In an instant, a huge wave of regret washed over him. Lin Shuyou felt he had said something wrong.

"Brother Xiao Yuan, do you... do you know how?" After asking this, Lin Shuyou bit his lip hard, wishing he could slap himself, regretting the words as soon as they left his mouth.

"Yes, I do." Lin Shuyou lowered his head, like a meek daughter-in-law, staring at his joined shoetips.

Li Zhuiyuan did indeed know how. Wei Zhengdao had severely criticized curses in his "Records of Righteous Demon Subjugation." To make readers detest and deeply understand the vile side of curses, Wei Zhengdao had even provided detailed analyses of some classic curse schools in the book. Li Zhuiyuan, moreover, was proficient in physiognomy and destiny reading, which essentially removed the biggest hurdle to learning curses.

But the problem was that curses had immense limitations—no, they had fatal flaws. First, the success rate of curses was not high, and regardless of success or failure, one had to pay a huge price. Second, even if successful, if the damage caused to the cursed person was 1, the damage to the caster would be at least 2 or more. Therefore, many famous historical curses were cast when one party was almost annihilated, whether a family or a nation, implying a "nothing left to lose" mentality.

Furthermore, in reality, those who help people curse others, stick voodoo dolls, or enact malicious schemes are usually "rotten people" who lack self-awareness. They are often miserable themselves or have miserable relatives; in short, their lives are very difficult, and to endure these hardships, they continue to practice such professions, forming a vicious cycle. Reputable sects don't learn these things not because they are reputable, but purely because these things... are too costly. Before cursing someone's family to ruin, you'd end up dying with your entire family for entertainment.

Therefore, this was also what Li Zhuiyuan couldn't understand at the moment. He had seen Zhou Yunyun yesterday, and she was normal then. A curse that could produce such intense effects overnight must be of a very high level. Zhou Yunyun was his high school classmate; although they didn't interact much, he knew she was an ordinary person from a reputable family. What kind of logical thinking drove the person who cursed Zhou Yunyun? To speak coldly, he would find it more understandable if they had just directly murdered her. But this act of using a cannon to kill a mosquito was truly baffling.

Li Zhuiyuan sat back down on the chair, lowering his head, beginning to ponder. Based on past experience, once his thinking about something entered a logical dead end, he should switch to another approach. And he needed to abandon his intellect, putting himself in the shoes of a foolish person with no logic or self-interest, driven purely by emotion. This might yield unexpected results.

"Ayou."

"Here!" Lin Shuyou immediately turned around, facing Li Zhuiyuan.

"You hit five people this morning."

"Yes, I am guilty."

"It seems our class monitor is indeed very popular," Li Zhuiyuan looked up at Zhou Yunyun on the bed and murmured, "Could it be precisely because she's too popular?"

Tan Yunlong arrived with his colleagues. Some police officers went to the ward to check on the situation, some questioned the doctors about her condition, and others took brief statements from the school representatives, proceeding exactly according to the protocol for a poisoning case. Tan Wenbin met his father; the two had only separated that morning, and unexpectedly reunited at noon.

Tan Yunlong specifically chose the protruding terrace on that floor of the hospital. With only the father and son present, Tan Yunlong lit a cigarette and asked, "Is it really poisoning?"

"Brother Xiao Yuan said this is the best way to minimize negative impact."

"I asked, is it *really* poisoning?"

"Hmm?" Tan Wenbin understood, first shaking his head, then nodding. "Dad, let's just proceed with the poisoning protocol for now."

Tan Yunlong slowly exhaled a smoke ring and said, "Don't tell your mom about this."

"Don't worry, I won't say anything until there's a result."

"You don't need to tell her even after there's a result." Tan Yunlong tossed his cigarette to the ground and stomped it out. He saw Li Zhuiyuan walking towards him.

"Xiao Yuan."

"Uncle Tan, next, should we investigate Zhou Yunyun's social network?"

"Hmm, I was just about to go to her school. Do you need a ride back to school?"

"Yes, please."

Tan Yunlong asked Li Zhuiyuan, "What about Binbin?"

Tan Wenbin started, "I..."

Li Zhuiyuan interjected, "Brother Binbin should stay here and accompany Zhou Yunyun for now."

Tan Yunlong looked at Tan Wenbin, "Then you stay here."

Tan Wenbin replied, "Okay, Uncle Tan."

"Xiao Yuan, I'll wait for you in the car downstairs." Tan Yunlong left first.

Li Zhuiyuan said to Tan Wenbin, "Brother Binbin, I've set up something in the ward. You need to make sure those three candles don't go out."

"Understood."

"Don't allow anyone into the ward to visit, except for the familiar doctors and nurses, especially people from Zhou Yunyun's school."

"Okay, I remember."

Li Zhuiyuan waved to Lin Shuyou in the distance, motioning him to follow him downstairs. The two got into Tan Yunlong's police car and drove to Zhou Yunyun's school. Because they needed to search the female dorm and conduct interviews, more female police officers were dispatched this time. Although Lin Shuyou was young, mingling among the police, he could pass as an plainclothes officer. Li Zhuiyuan's age and appearance, however, were a bit awkward. Tan Yunlong simply explained that Zhou Yunyun was Li Zhuiyuan's distant cousin. Anyway, they were from the same hometown; "cousin" didn't necessarily require a blood relation.

Zhou Yunyun's dorm was a six-person room. At this time, the other five female roommates were arranged in other dorms for questioning, and the police were searching their room. Li Zhuiyuan said to Lin Shuyou, "Help them search."

"Me?"

"You have experience hiding things in dorms."

"Oh, okay."

"Search like you did in the ward earlier."

"I understand." Lin Shuyou borrowed a pair of gloves and joined the search. However, throughout the search, he kept a "Zhuiyuan Secret Scroll" lucky charm hidden in his palm. The female dorm had a lot of things, especially clothes. Wardrobes, beds, storage boxes, and clothes drying on the balcony—all were filled with clothes. When Lin Shuyou inspected these garments, he would wipe them with a talisman to check for a reaction.

Meanwhile, Li Zhuiyuan, led by Tan Yunlong, successively sat in on the interviews being conducted in various rooms. All five girls seemed very nervous when facing the police, their words stumbling. This was natural, but it also complicated Li Zhuiyuan's "observations." His physiognomy could better capture subtle facial expressions, but when they were all in a state of uncontrolled emotional expression, this method was difficult to apply effectively. He generally gathered that Zhou Yunyun had good interpersonal relationships in her dorm and class. Additionally, even though the new semester had just begun, Zhou Yunyun had already received many love letters, and some boys had confessed to her in person.

Li Zhuiyuan simply noted down the names of the five roommates:Tong Yanyan,Wang Lunnan,Zhao Mengyao,Zhang Xin,Zhou Shengnan.

Coming to the hallway, Li Zhuiyuan looked at Tan Yunlong, hoping to get some insights from the veteran detective. Then, the young man noticed Tan Yunlong was also looking at him; their thoughts were aligned. Tan Yunlong reassured him, "Once the social network expands a bit more and brings in more people for investigation, there might be breakthroughs."

"Hmm."

Tan Yunlong added, "I'll have someone conduct more in-depth background checks on these five roommates, and also look into their social circles."

"Uncle Tan, did you notice anything?"

"No," Tan Yunlong shook his head honestly. "Just experience. In cases that happen in dorms, whether it's theft or something else, the probability of the suspect being a roommate is very high. However, it would be best if we could find the poison. In a situation like Zhou Yunyun's, if it were poisoning, setting aside psychiatric drugs, could it be heavy metals?"

"Uncle Tan, I don't know much about those things." He wasn't looking for toxins, but for a cursed object. Although to some extent, the effects of a cursed object and a toxic substance were the same.

At that moment, Li Zhuiyuan saw Lin Shuyou waving at him. Li Zhuiyuan walked over, and Lin Shuyou lowered his voice to say, "Brother Xiao Yuan, I found something unusual." With that, Lin Shuyou opened his palm, revealing five blackened talismans inside. They weren't completely black, and the color wasn't deep, but they had indeed changed color.

"What were they on?"

"Clothes, clothes hanging on the balcony to dry."

Led by Lin Shuyou, Li Zhuiyuan went to the dorm balcony. The five pieces of clothing that caused the talismans to blacken were hung together. Tan Yunlong also followed, asking, "Xiao Yuan, did you find anything?" This was a redundant question, as Lin Shuyou's cautious, peeking demeanor earlier practically screamed "I found something" on his forehead.

"Uncle Tan, since the statements are done, let them return to the dorm. Have them collect their clothes from the balcony."

"Okay, I'll arrange it."

The five girls were allowed back into their dorm. A female police officer pointed to the balcony and said, "Please collect the clothes hanging there. Each person only collects their own. We need to conduct a thorough inspection of the balcony." Soon, the clothes on the balcony were collected. Except for the five pieces that caused the talismans to change color. So, those five pieces belonged to Zhou Yunyun.

Li Zhuiyuan tugged on Lin Shuyou's arm. Lin Shuyou looked down, puzzled. The young man sighed helplessly. If Tan Wenbin were here, he wouldn't even need a hint; he'd proactively ask. But Lin Shuyou, even when prompted, didn't know what to do. Left with no choice, Li Zhuiyuan curiously looked up and asked, "Are these my cousin's clothes? Were they washed yesterday?"

Tan Yunlong asked the five girls, "Are these Zhou Yunyun's clothes from yesterday?"

"Yes, Yunyun washed them last night."

"That's right, Yunyun washed them and hung them out last night."

"Yunyun came back after washing clothes for a long time last night; we had already turned off the lights when she returned."

"After she hung up her clothes, she went to bed. I called her, but she didn't answer. I really regret it; maybe Yunyun was already feeling unwell then."

"Yeah, and then in the morning, Yunyun drove all of us who were still in bed out of the dorm."

Li Zhuiyuan said, "My cousin used to help me wash clothes often when she was home, and they always smelled nice."

Tan Yunlong asked, "What did Zhou Yunyun use to wash her clothes?"

Tong Yanyan replied, "Yunyun uses laundry soap."

Tan Yunlong then asked, "What about you all?"

Tong Yanyan said, "Some of us use laundry powder, and some also use laundry soap."

Tan Yunlong questioned, "Where is Zhou Yunyun's laundry soap?"

Tong Yanyan squatted down, pulled out two stacked basins from under the bed, took out a bar of laundry soap from inside, and handed it over. "Here, this is the one Yunyun uses."

Tan Yunlong took it, examined it carefully, and said, "This is a newly opened bar of laundry soap. It hasn't been used." With that, Tan Yunlong handed the soap to Li Zhuiyuan. Li Zhuiyuan took it; it was indeed unused.

Tan Yunlong asked, "Where's Zhou Yunyun's other bar of laundry soap?" The five girls exchanged glances; no one knew, and no one answered.

Li Zhuiyuan's fingertips lightly caressed the laundry soap in his hand. So, the cursed object was that "laundry soap" from last night. But even losing a bar of soap wasn't a big deal. If he hadn't appeared, who would have known Zhou Yunyun was cursed? You take the original cursed object away, and then you put a newly opened bar of soap back. Is that necessary? How much free time do you have?

Li Zhuiyuan confirmed again that in this incident, rational logical thinking could be put aside for now; a purely emotional approach was more suitable. Someone possessed a very high-level cursed object. They used this high-level cursed object on an ordinary girl. After successfully using it, they took the cursed object back. They lay in bed, feeling excited, nervous, scared, thrilled, and pleased, replaying the events, and then discovered a "loophole." It was purely an unnecessary act, like gilding the lily: they opened a new bar of laundry soap and put it back in Zhou Yunyun's basin, probably feeling smug about their perfect execution.

Zhou Yunyun returned after washing clothes and the lights were out last night, then she drove them all out of the dorm this morning. Unless the person who cast the curse was as agile as Lin Shuyou in his prime, able to sneak into a fifth-floor dorm in the dead of night just to swap out a bar of soap. But that's impossible. If they had Lin Shuyou's agility, wouldn't assassination or staging an accident be simpler?

So... Li Zhuiyuan's gaze swept over the five girls present.

That fool, which one of you is it?

Today, organizing the plot took a bit more time. I'll write more tomorrow to compensate everyone. Don't worry, everyone, hold tight!