Chapter Nine: Does It Resemble?

For Li Changqing, he truly wasn't ready to face the uncanny. This strange power was mysterious and unfamiliar. Yet such things never wait for you to be prepared before they arrive.

Sitting on the sofa, Li Changqing took out his revolver, checked the bullets inside, and examined the summoning talismans he carried.

"Is the shadow on Hu Qideng's back powerful?"

He had no reference to judge the strength of that shadow, so he could only ask Tang Xiaoyu for her first impression.

Tang Xiaoyu touched her chin, her face thoughtful. "It's not about whether it's powerful or not. The whole thing emanates a chill that makes me really uncomfortable..."

"Anyway, it's stronger than me."

Wasn't that obvious? This girl, aside from playing tricks and petty schemes with him, hadn't shown any other talents so far.

Facing this unknown force, Li Changqing could only take out paper and brush and begin drawing talismans, trying to accumulate as much spiritual energy as possible within himself.

If it really was some sort of uncanny curse, it might strike tonight, or perhaps tomorrow night.

...

Late at night, Nantong Residential Complex was situated in a housing area of Nanlin City. Compared to the surrounding buildings, it was already an old community—each building only six stories high, without elevators, and the property prices were relatively low.

Nearly half the residents were tenants: young people working in Nanlin, or university students.

Inside Building Sixteen of Nantong Complex.

"Cough, cough."

Hu Qideng sat on the sofa, his face pale and body trembling, the vigor he had displayed during the day completely gone.

Suddenly, he coughed up a puddle of pitch-black blood.

He grabbed a tissue from the table, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and leaned back on the sofa. "I'm almost there. In two more days, I'll have bought my life."

Knock, knock, knock.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Hu Qideng's brows furrowed as he looked toward the entrance. Something felt off—who would come looking for him?

"Who is it?" Hu Qideng asked in a deep voice.

A voice replied, "Hello, property management here, checking the water meter."

"Wait a moment." Hu Qideng coughed, quickly wiped the blood off the floor, straightened his clothes, and limped to the door. He glanced through the peephole.

Outside, indeed, stood a security guard from the complex.

He opened the door without suspicion, but unexpectedly, beside the guard stood another man.

This man appeared to be about twenty-three or twenty-four, dressed in a black suit, slim, with shoulder-length golden hair. He was only about one meter seventy-three tall, his eyes ringed with deep shadows, giving off a malnourished impression.

"Who are you?"

Checking the water meter shouldn't require two people, and this malnourished man clearly wasn't from the property company.

"Let's go inside and talk."

Bang.

The man stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"Who exactly are you? I never agreed to let you into my home. What you're doing is already violating federal law. Get out immediately, or I'll call the police." Hu Qideng showed him no courtesy.

"A filthy rat from the Shadow Cult—do you dare call the police after what you've done?"

As he spoke, the man walked deeper into the apartment.

"This place reeks of rats. It's disgusting."

Seeing the malnourished man so quickly mention his organization, Hu Qideng's face changed. "Who are you?"

"Thirty-Sixth Bureau, official business. Please cooperate. If you refuse, I'll have to use force."

The man surveyed the apartment with a look of disgust; he clearly suffered from severe obsessive cleanliness.

"The Thirty-Sixth Bureau? Why would they come after me?"

Hu Qideng was stunned, but before he could respond, the man suddenly swung a fist at him.

With a loud thud, Hu Qideng lost two teeth and crashed to the floor.

He hadn't even refused to cooperate! This guy just started beating him.

The man's leather shoe pressed down hard on Hu Qideng's face, his expression calm as he wiped a bit of blood from his hand with a handkerchief. "Members of the Shadow Cult always keep their shadows close, right? Where's yours?"

Hu Qideng gritted his teeth. If his shadow lord were here, would he dare be so arrogant?

"Where is your shadow?"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three heavy kicks landed squarely on Hu Qideng's face.

"I'll talk, I'll talk," Hu Qideng's head spun from the blows. If this kept up, he would be beaten to death.

This was a man from the Thirty-Sixth Bureau...

Since arriving in Nanlin, he'd worked hard to hide, keeping out of their reach. Who would have thought they'd still track him down?

"He—he went to kill someone..."

...

Outside the detective agency, the night was unusually silent.

"Are you ready?" Tang Xiaoyu asked Li Changqing uncertainly.

Li Changqing sat on the sofa, a loaded revolver placed in front of him.

In his left hand, he quietly held more than ten summoning talismans.

Even if each one could only heat up a cup of cappuccino, ten together might be enough to cause a qualitative change. At least, that's what he hoped.

"Yes. You should hide."

Li Changqing had no intention of letting Tang Xiaoyu help, even though she was a ghost herself... but her skill points seemed to have been invested in the wrong direction.

"Then—then—be careful," Tang Xiaoyu hid in the bathroom, still uneasy. "If there's danger, call me."

"Are you sure you don't want to hide farther away?" Li Changqing asked again.

Initially, he wanted her to leave the agency and return only if nothing happened to him by tomorrow.

But she refused, which was somewhat touching.

The next moment, though, Tang Xiaoyu said, "My savings are all hidden in the bathroom. I have to guard them. If that shadow tries to steal my money, I'll fight it!"

...

Time ticked by. Li Changqing sat on the sofa, drinking milk, quietly waiting.

At midnight, precisely twelve o'clock.

Suddenly, the living room window slammed shut on its own.

It's here?

Li Changqing's heart tightened. He quickly grabbed his revolver, clutching the talismans in his left hand, and nervously scanned the surroundings.

Outside the window, a black figure slowly, slowly squeezed its way inside.

As the figure entered the room, Li Changqing finally saw it clearly.

It was pitch black, resembling a human shadow, but its eyes radiated a green ghostly light.

Li Changqing took a deep breath.

Suddenly, the shadow spoke. "Well? Does it look real?"

It was Tang Xiaoyu's voice.

The shadow snapped its fingers.

It was Tang Xiaoyu. "How is it? Not so nervous now, right?"

Li Changqing couldn't help but curse. "Tang Xiaoyu! You broke ghost! Are you trying to die?"

"I saw you were too tense in the bathroom, so I thought I'd give you some special training," Tang Xiaoyu pouted, watching Li Changqing stare at her. Her pupils contracted slightly. "What's wrong? Scared?"

Just then, a chill swept in from behind her.

Her expression changed.

This was bad.