Chapter 47: The Bustling Midnight (Part 10)

Xu Xin had an early meeting. She returned to her rented apartment to grab some materials, and heard Zhou Danni’s sharp shriek from the living room. Her alarm bells immediately went off, thinking something had happened again. She quickly grabbed her self-defense spiked club and the few talismans Chen Jiu had given her, tensed every muscle in her body, and rushed out.

“Who?! Demons and ghosts begone! Demons and ghosts begone!” she shouted defensively at Zhou Danni’s back.

Zhou Danni slowly turned her head, holding her face with her hands, still shaken, and said, “Sister Xin, the mirror shattered.”

“…” Xu Xin let out a long breath, laughed and cried at the same time, and wiped away sweat: “I thought something serious happened. So the mirror just broke? Are you okay? No injuries is good.”

“Yes! No injuries!” Zhou Danni tapped her chin with her finger, recalling: “I felt like I slept pretty comfortably last night. I wanted to check how my complexion looked, and then the mirror suddenly shattered on its own!”

Xu Xin’s eyes went perfectly round. She had thought Zhou Danni accidentally dropped it, but the mirror actually cracked by itself. Wasn’t this even more supernatural?

At the same time, Fang Lei woke up at Wan Shi Zhai, groggy, and received a call from Song Yang. He also heard about the strange news of the mirror spontaneously cracking.

“What?! It cracked on its own?” Fang Lei gripped his blanket in fear: “Oh no, oh no. The mirror must have blocked a fatal calamity for you and shattered in its place. You should beg the boss lady to save you!”

Song Yang stammered from being frightened by him: “Don’t talk nonsense!”

The two of them asked around among their friends, and indeed everyone had encountered this situation.

So Fang Lei and Song Yang sat in the reception room of Wan Shi Zhai with dark expressions, believing their end was near.

Chen Jiu came downstairs yawning and saw the two of them looking like their fathers had died. She pinched her nose and said, “What are you two doing? Crying for whose funeral?”

“Eat whatever you want to eat. I’m afraid there won’t be any chances in the future.” Fang Lei patted Song Yang’s shoulder, speaking with heavy grief.

Song Yang was on the verge of tears. He stood up, dropped to his knees facing Chen Jiu’s direction, then crawled on his knees to her, wailing: “Sister save me! Save my girlfriend too. We’ve only been dating for two months!”

Chen Jiu quickly stepped back a few paces, alert, and said: “Don’t kneel casually. Don’t kneel to me. Get up quickly. This damages your merit so much. There’s no conflict of interest between us. Get up quickly, get up quickly.”

Who would have thought that before this crying was even cleared up, the door rang with a ding ding dong dong sound, and Xu Xin dragged Zhou Danni rushing in, shouting: “Xiao Jiu, quick, save us! Our mirrors shattered when we got up this morning!”

Chen Jiu: “?”

A few minutes later, everyone sat around the small table. On the table were the corpse fragments of the mirror pieces that Xu Xin had collected.

Chen Jiu sensed the fragments for a while, confirming there was no lingering aura from any evil entity. She closed her eyes and sensed the two affected guests present for a while. Their souls were completely clean and clear, indicating that after the Formless Demon was sealed, there was no residual effect.

“You are safe.” Chen Jiu crossed her arms, swept her gaze over everyone, and said with certainty.

Xu Xin let out a breath of relief, patting her chest: “That’s good, that’s good. I thought that thing could already directly break through the physical plane and smash mirrors.”

Zhou Danni hugged Xu Xin’s arm, still shaken, and asked: “It will never come looking for us again, right?”

Chen Jiu nodded and answered again: “Yes. Absolutely, certainly, and definitely.”

If anything still actively provoked them without them taking initiative, then they really should come to her to have their birth charts read.

Silence for a moment.

Song Yang knelt down again, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and muttered something like gibberish or garbled code: “Thank heaven and earth, Amitabha Buddha, Amen. I thank your ancestors eighteen generations back. Thank you, thank you.”

Zhou Danni completely went limp, soft and collapsed onto the sofa.

“Great!” Fang Lei stood up, turned around, and went to the small cubicle to start packing his things.

At parting, Chen Jiu was a bit reluctant to see him go. She patted Fang Lei’s shoulder and said: “Little Fang, if you have anything else in this area in the future, you don’t need to find anyone else. Just find me. I’ll be frank. In the feng shui industry of Qiu City, if Wan Shi Zhai claims to be second, no other shop dares to claim first.”

“Sister, I know you’re amazing!” Fang Lei didn’t beat around the bush either: “When you get back, you still have to carry me in ranked games!”

Chen Jiu forced out a brilliant smile: “Huh? Ah… sure, whatever works.”

If she had to choose an identity between free gaming companion and exorcist, the latter was probably easier. This kid’s skill level was too terrible. He was really hard to carry.

The sect group chat learned that the Formless Demon had been sealed, and the senior brothers and sisters once again launched into enthusiastic discussion.

Seventh Senior Sister: The yin energy in the old city district hasn’t been very heavy these past two days. Is this related to the demon that Xiao Jiu sealed?

Second Senior Sister: Do you all still remember that black and red bagua diagram?

Chen Jiu: I remember. Senior Sister, did you find something else?

Second Senior Sister: Indeed. I have been inquiring all this time. Recently there has been news. This pattern matches very well with the Chiyin Temple that appeared before.

Everyone fell silent for a moment. They were probably each going to search for relevant information about this temple, but all came up empty-handed.

Chen Jiu: You mean the Formless Demon was originally possessing the Buddha statue worshipped by this Chiyin Temple, right?

Fifth Senior Sister: You all must not send photos of that Buddha statue! It’s too terrifying!

Third Senior Brother: Little Five, if your courage is so small, why do you insist on working in this profession?

Fifth Senior Sister: I didn’t learn anything else, okay! Master didn’t teach anything else!

Second Senior Sister: Yes. But currently it’s still unclear what the specific relationship is between Chiyin Temple and the Formless Demon. It might be simple one-directional worship, or it might be that the Formless Demon is raising these evil practitioners, whether symbiotic or controlling. We don’t know yet.

Chen Jiu: The police don’t even bother to manage this kind of evil heretical path like Chiyin Temple?

Fourth Senior Brother: Xiao Jiu, words that are not conducive to unity, do not speak them.

Chen Jiu: …

Outside, a patter patter of footsteps sounded. Su Xiaoyu ran in clutching a balloon, shouting: “Senior Sister, Senior Sister.”

“What is it?” Chen Jiu asked.

Su Xiaoyu said anxiously: “Come with me!”

Seeing that she was indeed in a hurry, Chen Jiu didn’t ask further. She put on her shoes and followed. Chen Xiaoxuan didn’t miss the opportunity to join the excitement. In one leap it jumped onto Su Xiaoyu’s head, tail standing straight, hitching a free ride.

Arriving at a stone bridge not far away, Su Xiaoyu leaned over the railing and pointed under the bridge.

Chen Jiu followed the direction she pointed. A large golden retriever was biting its own leash, sitting obediently in a bridge hole. The sky was dark, and rain was about to fall. This small area would definitely be flooded.

Passing pedestrians occasionally stopped to watch the spectacle, gossiping casually. Chen Jiu listened, piecing together the course of events bit by bit.

It turned out that this golden retriever’s owner had passed away from illness some time ago. But while alive, the owner had often brought it to play in the water around this time. Today, for reasons unknown, whether family members failed to watch it or some other cause, the golden retriever had run out on its own, stubbornly waiting here for its owner to come play with it.

Su Xiaoyu tugged at Chen Jiu’s hem. Chen Jiu bent down, tilting her ear to hear her whisper: “Its owner is right next to it, very anxious. But the golden retriever can’t see him. Senior Sister, do you have any way to help them?”

“So that’s how it is…” Chen Jiu showed an expression of understanding. She immediately closed her eyes and focused, observing with her spiritual sight for a moment. Sure enough, beside the golden retriever crouched a transparent energy body in the form of a young man, looking to be under thirty.

He was desperately petting and coaxing it, hoping the dog would hurry home. Unfortunately the golden retriever couldn’t see its owner. It just stared stubbornly in one direction, hoping its owner would suddenly appear.

Chen Jiu thought back and forth. The best method was to first contact the golden retriever’s family to come take it away.

The sky grew darker and darker. Pedestrians on the road quickened their pace, afraid of walking too slowly and getting caught in the rain.

Su Xiaoyu wanted to get close to that golden retriever, but it was always very vigilant, retreating again and again. In a short while it would probably retreat into the water.

“What should we do, Senior Sister?” Her eyes went red.

Who would have thought that before Chen Jiu could react, Chen Xiaoxuan leaped down first, sitting elegantly not far from the golden retriever.

Su Xiaoyu: “Xiaoxuan!”

“It’s fine. Let it go.” Chen Jiu comfortingly steadied Su Xiaoyu’s shoulders. Her son was very spiritually aware. She just didn’t know the exact upper limit of Chen Xiaoxuan’s spiritual awareness yet. She also wanted to see.

Compared to two-legged beasts, the golden retriever’s attitude toward Chen Xiaoxuan was clearly much better. It wagged its tail, looking quite enthusiastic, and proactively greeted Chen Xiaoxuan.

Chen Xiaoxuan licked its paw, glanced at the golden retriever, then looked at that glowing energy body.

The man seemed to finally realize something. He approached Chen Xiaoxuan in wild joy, shocked: “Little kitty, can you see me?!”

Chen Xiaoxuan wagged its tail, a bit impatient. What little kitty? It had a name, okay?

“Little kitty, can you help me persuade it? It’s called Bingbing. It loves to eat the grilled sausages from the snack shop next door. Can you help me think of a way to get Bingbing to leave here?!” The man knelt down, shouting and bowing to Chen Xiaoxuan. He truly had no other options. He was treating a dead horse as if it were alive.

Begging people is not as good as begging a kitty.

Chen Xiaoxuan wagged its tail again, signaling him to wait. Then it left with light, quick steps.

Unfortunately the man didn’t understand its meaning, and for a moment fell into despair again.

He placed his hand on the golden retriever’s head, sorrowfully: “Little fool.”

Bingbing still bit its leash, unable to hear its owner speaking, sitting motionless in place.

The sky was dark and gloomy. Light rain began to fall pitter patter. The man looked up at the sky and began to think, if Bingbing really stayed here today, he would take it with him.

Suddenly, amid a loud cry, Chen Xiaoxuan came flying back with a grilled sausage in its mouth.

“Where did this wild cat come from! Stealing my sausage!” A middle-aged male shop owner chased aggressively for a few steps, but ultimately couldn’t outrun Chen Xiaoxuan. After getting rained on for a while he gave up, returning to his shop in a huff.

Bingbing smelled the scent of the sausage. Instinctively it began to salivate, happily starting to wag its tail.

Just like this, Chen Xiaoxuan, carrying the sausage in its mouth, successfully led Bingbing back onto the bridge.