Chapter 399: Searching Everywhere Only to Find It Right Under Your Nose

“Miss Su, I heard Lu Feng say this morning that you were preparing to head back to your hometown? Actually, it’s quite unsafe for a young girl to be wandering around outside. Just listen to Auntie Wang’s advice and go back quickly.”

Listening to Auntie Wang’s seemingly concerned suggestion, Su Yan merely smiled.

Auntie Wang kept her eyes fixed on Su Yan, who was walking further and further away under the moonlight. All the expressions on her face gradually receded until they finally vanished completely.

“Master, you don't actually believe what that old woman said, do you? She is clearly problematic!”

Once the Ghost Shadow emerged, it couldn't hold its composure. It didn't believe that Su Yan wouldn't see through her.

“But she refuses to speak; I can't exactly hold a knife to her throat,” Su Yan said, her mind heavy with worry.

“Master, you have so many methods. You could just use any one of them and she wouldn't be able to withstand it.” The Ghost Shadow didn't understand why, even though that address was extremely important to Su Yan, she refused to resort to extreme measures.

“Ghost Shadow, as an exorcist, my responsibility is to slay demons and monsters. No matter how many methods I have, I cannot use them recklessly on an ordinary person. Auntie Wang hasn't committed any evil, nor has she harmed anyone. Would I let you go around harming people?” Su Yan’s voice was somewhat heavy.

Although the Ghost Shadow's intentions were for her own good, it was a ghost after all; its thought patterns and inherent hostility were unchangeable. Therefore, she needed to remain vigilant at all times, otherwise, it would be common for it to take lives according to its whims.

The Ghost Shadow clearly felt the pressure coming from Su Yan and knew that it had indeed become too carried away today, even forgetting the Master's identity and taboos.

“Master, Ghost Shadow knows its mistake.”

It quickly admitted its fault with a good attitude.

Su Yan did not pursue the matter further. After all, it had only just emerged from the gourd and hadn't actually caused any substantial harm to Auntie Wang.

The Ghost Shadow drifted beside her for a while longer before asking cautiously, “Master, then what should we do next?”

They couldn't really just give up, could they?

Su Yan’s eyes flickered slightly. “Go to No. 76 Yongxiang Road.”

She didn't believe that a barrier which Feng Zong and Auntie Wang couldn't break through was one she couldn't break through.

In the dead of night, a slender figure paced beneath a street sign on an empty street.

However, no one could see that in the air beside her, a ghost shadow was also circling.

The street was still the same street, with nothing unusual about it. The Capital Publishing House also stood in the night, showing not a hint of abnormality.

The Ghost Shadow had already circled here dozens of times, yet it had still found nothing.

It even began to wonder involuntarily: had its memories been tampered with?

It was clearly here that day. This place should have been an extremely narrow alley, with a patch of overgrown weeds behind it.

But now, this was the most prosperous district in the capital; how could there be any wasteland?

“Master, this lowly one doesn't sense any evil aura. If there really is a hidden barrier, it is truly formidable.”

Su Yan’s expression was tense. There was definitely a barrier; otherwise, they and Liu Yiyi wouldn't have appeared there that night. It was just that she hadn't found a way to break it yet.

At that moment, several drunks came stumbling this way. At first, Su Yan didn't even spare them a glance. However, these people clearly noticed her presence and actually walked straight toward her.

“Little sister, why are you here all alone so late? Did you forget the way home?”

The men all eyed Su Yan lecherously. After speaking, they burst into loud laughter and surrounded her from all sides.

Smelling the pungent stench of alcohol emanating from them, a shadow of gloom crossed Su Yan’s eyes.

Instead of being anxious, the Ghost Shadow actually shed a tear of sympathy for these lustful men.

Of all the people these men could provoke, they chose to provoke the Master.

The Master was already in a bad mood; they were practically seeking death.

“Get lost.” Su Yan said only one word.

If these drunks were still sober, they would surely have felt the terrifying aura emanating from Su Yan, but now their brains were dominated by alcohol, and they only wanted to take advantage of her.

“Hahaha, this little sister has quite a temper! Big brother likes it! Come, play with us!”

There was no one around, and Su Yan was just a lone girl, which made these men even more unscrupulous.

The leader of the drunks impatiently reached out his hand toward Su Yan.

“Die!” Su Yan let out a low growl. Before the hand could even reach her, the owner of the hand was sent flying.

Moreover, he didn't fall to the ground in a parabola; instead, he flew a full dozen meters from a height of seven or eight meters before landing with a thud.

“Pfft!”

The leader spat a mouthful of blood directly from his mouth, his eyes rolled back, and he instantly lost consciousness.

The others watched this scene unfold with their own eyes. They froze in place, even doubting if there was something wrong with their eyes!

How could a person fly like that?!!

After reacting a few seconds later, all their intoxication vanished instantly.

“This, this, this... you, you, you...”

At this moment, Su Yan became exceptionally terrifying in their eyes, and their previous teasing was replaced by a bone-chilling cold.

In the next second, a ghost shadow appeared out of thin air in everyone's sight, its large, bloody eyeballs being utterly horrific.

“I died such a miserable death... why don't you come down and accompany me?”

Along with the resentful murmur, one of the drunks was so scared he urinated his pants, while another's hair stood on end as if struck by lightning.

“A ghost!”

The men all screamed and fled in a frenzy.

The Ghost Shadow chased them for a long distance before drifting back, looking unsatisfied.

“Master, these people are clearly no good. Who knows how many women they've harassed in the past? Letting them go like this is truly letting them off too easy.”

Su Yan glanced indifferently at the two large eyeballs hanging out of the Ghost Shadow's eye sockets and reminded him, “Put your eyes back in.”

The Ghost Shadow chuckled twice and quickly returned to its original state.

But in the next second, he suddenly shouted toward Su Yan, “Master, look over there! It seems like there's something!”

Su Yan looked in the direction he indicated. Not far away, right where the drunk had collapsed, a wisp of smoke was slowly rising.

She immediately realized something and walked over quickly, with the Ghost Shadow following close behind.

The place where the smoke rose was exactly where the drunk had spat out his blood and landed, and right in front of him was the entrance to the publishing house.

“Master, is this the barrier you've been looking for?” The Ghost Shadow was extremely excited.

This truly lived up to the saying: "Searching everywhere in vain, only to find it when you least expect it."

The barrier they had been searching for so bitterly had actually been broken by that drunkard's accidental stumble!

(End of Chapter)