Chapter 17 – Sudden Turn of Events

The decoration of Miss Yan’s apartment was indeed well done. With just a gentle push, the wooden door slid open silently, revealing everything inside the bathroom.

As a two-bedroom apartment with a private bathroom, this small washroom had a decent amount of space. However, the combination of the sink, shower, and toilet still took up a fair bit of room. Fortunately, the design was thoughtful, with a stylish sink and several modern, minimalist shelves that effectively divided the space, making it feel anything but cramped. Instead, it exuded a delicate and meticulous touch characteristic of a woman’s design.

On the right wall, in the middle, there was a ventilation window located in a recessed part of the building. Standing there, one could vaguely see the pale red wall of the building across the way. Perhaps it hadn’t been cleaned in a while, as the entire bathroom emitted a damp, sticky, rotting smell, as if something had decayed inside, leaving a faint hint of blood in the air.

This was something Wei Yang had anticipated. A clogged toilet was something almost everyone had experienced. Since it had frightened Miss Yan to such an extent, there were bound to be some visible signs—stains that wouldn’t wash away or a lingering smell being the most classic indicators. Pretending to compose himself, he took out a small porcelain bottle from the wooden box and said seriously, “So there’s still a lingering stench. It seems we’ll need to deal with that first.”

With a wave of his hand, a pale blue liquid from the bottle was accurately splashed near the toilet. The liquid had its own secrets—it produced a faint white smoke and had decent deodorizing and cleaning properties. As long as it could improve the air in the bathroom… Splash! The water splashed onto the floor. Wei Yang was about to say something when the situation took a sudden turn.

“Ahhh!” Outside, Miss Yan let out a piercing scream and collapsed to the ground.

Wei Yang was so startled that he almost dropped the bottle. He turned around angrily and scolded, “It’s just some lingering stench, why are you screaming… Wait! Where’s Brother Qi?!”

This realization sent a cold sweat down Wei Yang’s back. Since Master Zeng had left Zhang Xiuqi with him, the young man had never strayed far from his side. How could he suddenly be gone? Now was not the time to maintain appearances. He rushed out the door and grabbed Miss Yan, who was sprawled on the floor. “Brother Qi… where’s my senior brother?”

Miss Yan was already crying, her teeth chattering so much she couldn’t form a coherent sentence. She just pointed toward the stairwell, “He… he… he took his sword and charged up there… Wuwuwu! What… what’s going on? Wei! Master Wei!!”

Holy shit! Wei Yang’s head spun as he listened to the girl’s incoherent babbling. He did know that Zhang Xiuqi carried a short sword—he’d even seen the guy use it to kill a weasel! But wasn’t this whole thing supposed to be a scam? Why the hell was he drawing his sword?!

His mind was screaming, but his legs felt like jelly. Pretending to help Miss Yan up, Wei Yang half-knelt on the ground, swallowing hard before forcing himself to speak calmly, “Miss Yan, don’t be afraid… My senior brother must have… must have discovered something… some hidden danger, that’s why he went up to deal with the evil spirits!”

When he said the last two words, he had to bite his tongue hard to keep his voice steady. Gripping Miss Yan’s arm tightly, he continued to press, “So… did you see anything unusual around him? Like black smoke, white light, or evil energy…”

Miss Yan’s mouth opened wide, and after trembling for a while, she suddenly burst into loud sobs! Wei Yang wiped the spit off his face, his mind filled with curses, but before he could ask anything else, a loud crash came from upstairs, echoing through the stairwell. Miss Yan’s body went limp, and she collapsed to the floor. Wei Yang really wanted to collapse too, but this was business! And what the hell was going on upstairs?!

Ancestors! I’m really kneeling to you now! For the first time, Wei Yang, the little swindler, felt the bitter taste of wanting to cry but having no tears. But there was no time to think. He steadied himself against the wall and forced himself to stand up, trying to maintain the demeanor of a “professional.” He spoke coldly and loftily to Miss Yan, “I need to check on my senior brother. Miss Yan, you stay here, and we’ll come back after we’ve dealt with this…”

Miss Yan only heard half of it before she lunged forward like a hungry tiger, grabbing Wei Yang’s leg, “Master! Master, you can’t leave me here alone!”

Her snot and tears smeared onto his pants, and Wei Yang was so angry he almost kicked her away. After taking several deep breaths, he gritted his teeth and said, “The evil spirits are too strong! If I don’t go up to help my senior brother, who’s going to save you if something happens to him?!”

This statement was so righteous and noble that Miss Yan was stunned. Seizing the opportunity, Wei Yang pulled his leg out of her grasp and quickly ran upstairs. Miss Yan wasn’t slow to react either—she let out a wail and followed, but she was so scared she could barely walk, almost crawling up the stairs. Hearing the noise behind him, Wei Yang turned around and almost peed his pants. The atmosphere was already terrifying enough, why the hell are you acting like Sadako now?!

Gritting his teeth, he turned back and rushed up the stairs two at a time, mentally pep-talking himself the whole way. I’ve got Longhu Mountain’s protective talisman on me, I’m not afraid of weasels, I’m not afraid of ghosts… ghosts… Brother Qi! Stop showing off, renting a place is actually pretty good, let’s just go back!

Scrambling up the stairs, Wei Yang barely had time to catch his breath before his eyes widened in shock. The door to room 1303 looked like it had been hit by a tornado—the hinges were mostly broken, and the thick security door was hanging halfway off its frame. The previously empty room was now scattered with patches of black ash and chunks of cement and lime, as if they had fallen from somewhere. Zhang Xiuqi was kneeling on the ground, a gleaming silver short sword in his hand, its blade embedded in the cement floor.

Wei Yang’s head buzzed. This… this is breaking and entering, Brother Qi! Couldn’t you have been a bit quieter? But before his dizziness could subside, Zhang Xiuqi flicked his wrist, and several dark brown objects flew out, embedding themselves in the wooden door of the bathroom with soft thuds. The air seemed to contract slightly, then with a loud bang, the door was flung open, and a visible cloud of black smoke rushed out of the bathroom.

Wei Yang stared dumbfounded at the scene, wanting nothing more than to faint on the spot. But someone else screamed before he could—Miss Yan, who had somehow crawled to the stairwell, was now so terrified she seemed to have lost her soul, screaming hysterically. Downstairs, scattered footsteps could be heard. Between the ear-piercing screams and the worry that the property manager or even the police might show up, Wei Yang managed to suppress his dizziness, gritted his teeth, and stood up straight.

The situation in the room had changed again. Zhang Xiuqi clenched his teeth, wiped his lips with his hand, and a spot of crimson appeared on his fingertips. He drew a strange pattern in the air with two fingers, and a faint circle of light flickered into existence. The black smoke let out two sharp squeals, collided with the light, and then shrank before exploding into a cloud of dust like smoke! Miss Yan, who had been watching, was now too stunned to scream, and for a moment, there was an eerie silence. But before the two people outside could react, a whirlwind rushed out of the broken door, heading straight for the doorway. Wei Yang’s mind was filled with the urgent thought of “dodge, dodge, dodge,” but a cold, icy voice beat him to action.

“Don’t move!”

The voice, usually calm, now carried a sharp edge of danger and coldness. Wei Yang felt his entire body freeze, his feet rooted to the spot as he watched the wind rush toward him. At that moment, a pure white light appeared—the talisman jade hanging on his chest emitted a soft glow, enveloping the doorway like a curtain of light, blocking the oncoming wind. There was no thunderous explosion, no black smoke or blood mist—just the white light and the wind colliding, creating ripples like two waves meeting. With a barely perceptible tremor, the ripples dissipated, and something fell to the ground with a soft thud.

Wei Yang’s gaze dropped to the floor. A small insect lay there, its appearance bizarre and unrecognizable. But the question was, was all this commotion caused by a tiny bug? Where was the science in that? Where was the justice?!

Ignoring Wei Yang’s momentary daze, Zhang Xiuqi walked up to him, took out a small bottle from his pocket, and bent down to collect the insect’s remains. Then he walked into the bathroom, rummaged around for a moment, and came out holding a small object. Wei Yang watched him, his mouth opening and closing before he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, “So… there really was…”

Then he suddenly shuddered and turned to look behind him. Miss Yan, who had been screaming earlier, was now lying on the floor, unconscious, her eyes rolled back. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned back, trying to figure out what to say. What the hell is going on? He had checked the developer’s information thoroughly and found nothing suspicious. He had even visited this building several times—how could he have missed any supernatural activity?

All his thoughts condensed into two words, “Brother… Brother Qi…”

The young man in front of him silently walked up and handed him something. Wei Yang was stunned and instinctively took it. Zhang Xiuqi then spoke coldly, “I’m hungry.”

Wei Yang: “…”

At that moment, a commotion came from the stairs as several security guards in uniform rushed up. Seeing the scene in the hallway, they were all frozen in shock at the stairwell. One of the older men trembled for a while before finally raising his small baton, “What… what are you doing?! Don’t… don’t do anything reckless! I’m calling the police!”

Wei Yang: “…”

Glancing at the Celestial Master beside him, who was silently asking for food, then at Miss Yan, who was unconscious on the floor, and the group of trembling security guards, Wei Yang reached up and adjusted his glasses—thankfully they hadn’t broken—and said with forced gravity, “Call your manager. We’ve just eliminated the evil spirits haunting this building!”