Chapter 153: Protecting

Ma Chulong’s expression was grim; it was also his first time seeing such a malevolent spirit.

It seemed as if it had already become one with Yuan Jing.

Would such a forceful separation have any impact on Yuan Jing?!

The spirit continued to support itself with a hideous ferocity, attempting to break free from the suction of the talisman.

Su Yan manipulated the talisman through the void. "Collect!"

As her voice fell, everyone heard a "rip" sound. The black spirit was completely separated from Yuan Jing and sucked into the talisman.

Yuan Jing collapsed to the ground with a thud, unconscious.

The talisman fell into Su Yan's hand and was placed into a cloth bag before anyone else could even see it clearly.

"Su Yan, is it done?" Sun Mang was incredibly excited, shouting the question as if he didn't already know the answer.

Su Yan nodded. "Go check on Mr. Yuan."

That single sentence served as a reminder to everyone present.

Yuan Jing was carried to a bed. After Ma Chulong performed a simple examination, he visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"His breath is normal, and his pulse and heartbeat are all normal."

"Good. Let the Yuan family members come in to care for him. If he hasn't woken up by dawn, send him to the hospital," Su Yan instructed methodically.

By now, everyone had already begun to follow her lead.

As Su Yan left, Sun Mang, Ma Chulong, and Cao Meng immediately followed, and even Lu Ao trailed closely behind.

"Su Yan, are we going to deal with that thing next?" Ma Chulong asked proactively.

Even though it had been collected into the talisman, leaving it behind might lead to unexpected changes at any moment.

Furthermore, they needed to figure out what that thing actually was. Why had it attached itself to Yuan Jing, and why was it tormenting his wife?

"There's no rush."

To everyone's surprise, Su Yan actually refused.

"How can there be no rush? It has already killed five people, and that's just what we know of," Cao Meng said, his face full of impatience; he didn't want to wait even a minute longer.

Su Yan stopped walking, reached directly into the cloth bag to take out the talisman from just now, and handed it over.

"Why don't you try, Master Cao?"

Looking at the sinister black mist swirling around the talisman, Cao Meng actually hesitated.

This was also the first time he had encountered such a ghostly thing, and he wasn't sure how to resolve it.

The atmosphere became incredibly awkward.

"Brother Ma, Master Cao, Su Yan must have her own plans. Anyway, Mr. Yuan hasn't woken up yet, so let's all be patient and wait a bit longer," Sun Mang immediately stepped in to smooth things over.

He understood Su Yan's temperament; she wasn't very good at explaining things to others, and her blunt way of speaking could easily cause resentment or misunderstandings.

Ma Chulong naturally trusted her. "Alright, let's wait for Mr. Yuan to wake up first. What do we need to do now?"

"Leave someone to look after Mr. Yuan. The rest of you can go back and rest," Su Yan said, walking straight toward her room.

"Heh, hehe." Sun Mang gave the others an awkward smile. "If Su Yan says it's fine, then it should be fine. Don't worry."

Soon, only the Ma siblings, Cao Meng, and Lu Ao were left on the spot.

Although Cao Meng was displeased, he could only accept it.

After all, he wasn't the one who had captured that menace.

"Brother, let's go back too," Ma Chulan signaled to Ma Chulong.

Now that things had finally settled, once the tension in her heart relaxed, she felt an extraordinary sense of exhaustion.

"Mr. Cao, that girl just now was called... Su Yan? What is her background?"

A moment later, when only Lu Ao and Cao Meng remained, Lu Ao immediately inquired.

Even now, his heart could not fully calm down.

Even having seen it with his own eyes, he still found it inconceivable.

Cao Meng replied, "I'm not sure."

This was the truth.

Although he had been around Su Yan for a few days, he hadn't truly taken her seriously before tonight.

"Then that yellow paper she used, what was it?" Lu Ao continued to press.

"A talisman."

"I know it's a talisman, but how could it have such miraculous effects?" Lu Ao felt a sense of trance, as if everything he had experienced tonight was just a magic trick.

Cao Meng hesitated for a moment. "Ah, actually, it's not as miraculous as Officer Lu says. It's just a kind of magnetic field effect; it's not impossible to explain from a scientific perspective."

Lu Ao stared straight at him, poised for him to continue.

Cao Meng coughed twice. "It's roughly like how a special kind of energy remains after a person dies, which ordinary people cannot see with the naked eye. We just use a specific method to make this energy manifest."

"Is it a soul?" Before tonight, Lu Ao absolutely did not believe in ghosts, spirits, or souls, but now it seemed he had no choice but to believe.

Cao Meng's eyes widened. "Why would Officer Lu ask such a thing? Things like malevolent spirits and ghosts are just the feudal superstitions of rural villagers. We must believe in science now; science is the only truth!"

*Ugh.*

Three black lines appeared on Lu Ao's forehead.

Looking at Cao Meng's righteous indignation, it was as if he were the one practicing feudal superstition.

If it had been before tonight, he never would have asked such a question. But now that he had clearly seen it with his own eyes, this man could still lie through his teeth with such a straight face; his thick skin was truly unparalleled.

"But Su Yan just now..."

"Aiya, why is your brain so dull, kid? I've explained it so clearly, and you still don't understand. What Su Yan did isn't anything special; there's nothing to investigate. She's just a young girl with poor eyesight; why do you keep pestering her? Don't tell me you've taken a fancy to her?"

Cao Meng didn't give Lu Ao a chance to finish his sentence, clearly having no intention of letting Lu Ao focus too much on Su Yan.

Hearing him talk more and more nonsense, Lu Ao knew he wouldn't be able to get any useful information from him.

Cao Meng suddenly let out a large yawn and, without waiting for him to speak again, muttered something and left for his room.

Only Lu Ao was left standing alone in the empty corridor for a long time.

Before dawn, Yuan Jing woke from his coma.

The first thing he did upon regaining consciousness was to ask about Ma Chulan's condition.

The servants only knew that Ma Chulan was unharmed; as for what had actually happened in the bridal chamber, they had not seen it.

Hearing that Ma Chulan was fine, all of Yuan Jing's discomfort vanished.

Ma Chulan hadn't died, and everything in the house was safe—did this mean they had succeeded?!

Thinking of this, he couldn't wait to go find the Ma siblings to understand the situation.

At that moment, Lu Ao walked in quickly.

He and his colleagues had kept watch all night, so he knew immediately that Yuan Jing had woken up.

Seeing that Yuan Jing had not been affected in the slightest, and thinking of the thing that had been stripped from Yuan Jing last night, Lu Ao's expression became extremely complex.

"Mr. Yuan, there's no need to go looking for Miss Su and the others; they should all be resting. I was at the scene myself, so I know what happened."

Yuan Jing's heart jolted, and he immediately signaled for him to continue...

(End of Chapter)