Divine Level Witch Doctor

”The target is in the Wood Garden Villa Area?” Lu Qing asked quietly.

”That’s right.” Zhao Yuan nodded.

Lu Qing didn’t even ask how he knew the target’s location, saying simply, ”Let’s go. To the parking lot!”

They hurried to the parking lot, got into Lu Qing’s car, and headed toward the Wood Garden Villa Area.

Along the way, Zhao Yuan took out four Fearless Pearls. He used a strand of Ink Pot Line dyed red with Cinnabar to string them together, fashioning them into a long whip.

After a moment’s thought, he took out two Exorcism Talismans. He tied one to the tip of the whip and handed the other to Lu Qing, instructing, ”Take this with you.”

”What’s this?” Lu Qing asked, puzzled.

Zhao Yuan replied, ”It’s an Exorcism Talisman. I got it from a High Monk at a temple. It’s very potent—it wards off evil, prevents disaster, and keeps you safe.”

Lu Qing was taken aback. ”You actually believe in this stuff? I thought you medical types didn’t believe in any of this.”

Zhao Yuan gave a wry smile. ”What you study has nothing to do with it, does it?” ’I used to not believe in any of this either,’ he grumbled internally. ’But after everything I’ve been through, I have no choice but to believe. Besides, I made this Exorcism Talisman myself. I know exactly how well it works.’

Lu Qing accepted the Exorcism Talisman from Zhao Yuan. She wasn’t prejudiced against such things, because she knew that there were indeed Talismans in this world with miraculous effects.

She just didn’t believe the one Zhao Yuan gave her was one of those legendary Talismans. Such items were incredibly rare and difficult to obtain, as only Cultivators who had mastered the art could create them.

Lu Qing didn’t think Zhao Yuan would know someone like that, and it never even crossed her mind that he himself was one of them.

So, after accepting the Exorcism Talisman, Lu Qing casually tossed it into the car’s glove compartment.

Seeing this, Zhao Yuan reminded her, ”Don’t leave it in the car. Keep it on your person.”

Lu Qing didn’t want to slight his good intentions, so while waiting at a red light at the next intersection, she did as he said and tucked the Exorcism Talisman into an inner pocket of her clothes.

Only then was Zhao Yuan satisfied.

Lu Qing glanced at the odd-looking whip in his hands and asked, puzzled, ”What did you make that thing for?”

Zhao Yuan made up an excuse. ”These are all blessed items I got from the temple. They might come in handy later.”

Lu Qing didn’t question him, just shaking her head with a wry smile. She figured Zhao Yuan had been scammed. So many temples nowadays were just commercial enterprises, and the so-called consecrated Protective Talismans, Magical Artifacts, and Magical Treasures they sold were nothing but fakes to fool people.

She gestured to the back seat. ”You want something for self-defense? I’ve got police batons in the back. You can grab one.”

”No, thanks,” Zhao Yuan politely refused. ”I feel more comfortable using this.”

As he spoke, he tested the long whip made from the Fearless Pearls. Waves of pure energy pulsed from it, letting Zhao Yuan clearly feel its power and might.

The Fearless Pearls had already proven their worth in the previous battle against the Ghost Spirit. Now, a long whip made of four Fearless Pearls and an Exorcism Talisman was bound to be much stronger than a single Pearl! Even if Ying Ji had other tricks up her sleeve, Zhao Yuan wouldn’t be afraid!

Lu Qing, however, misunderstood him. ”Do you practice with a long whip? I know a master of the Whip Technique. I can introduce you sometime.”

”Sure,” Zhao Yuan nodded, not wanting to refuse her kind offer. He then recalled something Lu Qing had mentioned earlier and asked curiously, ”Officer Lu, you said you once encountered a criminal who used Evil Gu. Can you tell me what happened?”

Lu Qing fell silent for a moment, then slowly began to recount the story. ”It was three years ago. I hadn’t graduated yet and was doing an internship in a small county in the mountains. One day, a murder occurred in town. My colleagues and I went to investigate. Just as we were looking at the victim, his skin suddenly cracked and flaked away, and countless flying insects resembling hornets burst out from the corpse…”

As she spoke, her voice began to tremble. It was clear that even after all these years, the memory still filled her with terror.

After taking a moment to compose herself, Lu Qing continued, ”You weren’t there, so you can’t imagine how disgusting and horrifying that scene was. The worst part was, as soon as those insects burst from the body, they started attacking everyone around! They were highly venomous. The moment you were stung, you’d feel your breathing constrict, unable to draw another breath. Many of my colleagues weren’t fast enough to react. They were stung by those insects and suffocated to death.”

”One of my colleagues tried to hide in a car, but the insects were incredibly smart; they actually got in through the ventilation system. The colleague inside was trapped like a sitting duck, with no way to escape. Finally, another officer came up with an idea, using bug spray and a lighter to create a makeshift flamethrower. After he torched a few of them, he managed to intimidate the bastards and scare them away.”

”Those of us who survived felt lucky, but we were also furious. So many of our comrades had died; there was no way we could just let it go. The entire county police force was mobilized. Based on evidence from the crime scene, we launched a full-scale investigation and tracked down the mastermind.”

”To prepare for any other bizarre Techniques the killer might have, we not only brought our guns, but also the flamethrowers. But when we arrived, we were still hit with all sorts of other Evil Gu and suffered heavy casualties. By the time we’d wiped out the Gu Insects, we discovered the perpetrator had already vanished without a trace. The case shocked both the Provincial Public Security Department and the National Ministry of Public Security. They issued a nationwide arrest warrant, but years went by with no sign of the culprit… until you called me today.”

Zhao Yuan’s eyebrow shot up. ”You suspect the Gu Master using the Teng Mo to harm people is the same criminal from all those years ago?”

Lu Qing nodded. ”Back then, even though we didn’t catch him, we found a journal in his house. In it, he wrote excitedly about finding a method to cultivate Teng Mo. He planned to follow an ancient formula to raise a batch of them for his own use. He even boasted that the Teng Mo were incredibly powerful and that with this Evil Gu, he could get anything he wanted!”

”I see,” Zhao Yuan said, a look of realization dawning on his face. His expression then turned serious. ”Officer Lu, rest assured. Even if the person using the Teng Mo this time isn’t the same criminal, I will still help you hunt down the one from back then, so you can avenge your colleagues and comrades!”

Zhao Yuan could see that Lu Qing was filled with a deep hatred for that criminal.

’That criminal must have done more than just harm her colleagues and comrades,’ he thought. ’He must have also killed the man who was so important to her.’

”Thank you,” Lu Qing said softly, tears welling in her eyes.

As they were speaking, the car arrived at the Wood Garden Villa Area.

Lu Qing was about to drive straight in, but they were stopped at the main gate.