Chapter 4: I Have to Find a Way to Drive It Out

Sometimes a person’s organs will betray the brain.

For example, when you gaze at the small stalls along the roadside, you clearly know that the items are not clean, but by the time you realize it, the bag is already in your hand. The betrayal of the mouth is often frequent and uncontrollable; otherwise, you wouldn’t see so many in the 8 p.m. romance dramas: the male lead clearly likes the female lead, the look in his eyes is all love, but the words he says are “I could never like you in this lifetime.”

The meaning of all that is: Xu Huai regretted it.

To some extent, it can be said that “disaster comes from the mouth.” However, he ultimately let money blind him and chose to assist people in resolving their issues. Now that the situation had calmed down, the easygoing guy who recognized he had caused significant trouble sat at home on the sofa, letting out a sigh.

Xu Huai collapsed on the sofa, looking at a wisp of cat hair floating in the air, his eyes full of hopelessness.

This morning, he first helped a new colleague at the third branch of the [National Security Special Protection Department] draw a talisman. Before he could rest after drawing it, he went to meet Li Fang at the agreed place. Not only did he spend an hour walking back, consuming a lot of stamina, but he also gave that drunkard a divination on a whim just now.

Helping people read palms and hold talismans also consumed a lot of energy. Xu Huai’s mana and stamina were now depleted.

It was 11 p.m. now. According to his usual lifestyle, he would have been lying in bed asleep by now.

But something unexpected happened.

Xie Jing’s voice came from the guest bedroom in Xu Huai’s house: “Boss, I’ve packed my things. I’m bothering you today.”

Xu Huai took a deep breath.

——Under normal circumstances, it was impossible for Xu Huai to bring someone he had just met for less than half an hour home.

About two hours ago, after Xu Huai agreed to help Xie Jing with the supernatural events in his home, he noticed that it was getting late. So, he told Xie Jing not to go back tonight and to stay out for the night.

It was certainly not safe for Xie Jing to return home. That ghost had already harmed him. Wouldn’t going back be courting death?

He would let Xie Jing stay elsewhere and would temporarily set up a formation to protect him briefly. He would need to go to the scene tomorrow to assess the situation at Xie Jing’s home.

After Xu Huai shared his thoughts with Xie Jing, Xie Jing had no objection. The two went to a hotel near Xu Huai’s house together.

The hotel was newly opened, and Xu Huai’s master, Zhang Daoquan, helped set up the feng shui bureau when it was built. As soon as he entered the hotel lobby, the hotel manager, who knew Xu Huai, greeted him with a smile and assisted him with check-in after inquiring about the situation.

Everything went smoothly. The strange thing was that the check-in system would always crash for no apparent reason.

Xu Huai yawned almost twenty times on the sofa in the hotel lobby and was about to fall asleep when the manager finally came over with an apologetic face and said, “The system was broken, and he couldn’t stay.”

If he couldn’t stay at this one, he would switch to another. However, after changing three in a row, either the system crashed or the hotel key card got demagnetized, preventing him from getting in. There were all sorts of problems.

This also made Xu Huai suspect that the ghost under the overpass had followed him; otherwise, how could it be so outrageous?

Xu Huai couldn’t take it anymore, so he told Xie Jing to go to his house for the night. Xie Jing also looked tired from being tossed around, and politely asked Xu Huai if he would be bothered. After receiving a negative answer, he said okay without much hesitation.

So, the current situation was as follows: Xie Jing had already changed into his pajamas and was standing in front of the guest bedroom, looking at Xu Huai on the sofa.

Xu Huai was holding a black lion cat in his arms. The cat raised its head from Xu Huai’s chest when it heard the sound, and its golden vertical pupils stared at Xu Huai’s back.

Xie Jing and the black cat looked at each other for a second, and asked seemingly casually, “Boss, where are the other two cats?”

Xu Huai: “The two white ones are timid and afraid of strangers, so they hid.”

Xu Huai stretched out his hand, anticipating the black lion cat’s airplane ears and hissing, and directly covered the cat’s face with his palm: “This black one is brave and very fierce, it even bites me.”

Xu Huai initially thought that nothing would happen if he brought Xie Jing back to his house, but who knew that as soon as he opened the door, the three cats guarding the entrance heard the sound and all bristled. The two white fur balls arched their backs and bounced away, leaving a pile of cat hair, and the remaining black one stared at Xie Jing, ready to attack.

Xu Huai quickly picked up the black lion cat and coaxed it for a long time, but it still refused to come down.

Xie Jing laughed softly when he heard this: “Is that so? But the way this cat is sticking to the boss doesn’t look like it usually bites people.”

Xu Huai used his hand to pinch the soft cat’s head: “No one comes to my house except my master. These kittens have never seen anyone else since they were little.”

Xie Jing: “So I’m the first person the boss has invited to his house?”

Xie Jing didn’t prepare anything before going to Xu Huai’s house, so the pajamas Xie Jing was wearing were naturally Xu Huai’s. The size Xu Huai bought wasn’t small; it was a loose fit, but it appeared a bit slim on Xie Jing.

The gray cotton material outlined the contours of his abdomen and chest, and even his arms had tight lines, not exaggerated, but powerful enough. It was the perfect figure that Xu Huai would take a second look at.

He wanted to work out, but just thinking about it was tiring.

Xu Huai glanced a few more times with an envious and self-conscious, though not overly intense, expression before withdrawing his gaze: “Yeah, you’re the first.”

He didn’t know which word touched the happy spot of that man with abs, but he saw the man’s eyes curve into a pleased look: “I’m honored.”

Xu Huai felt inexplicably guilty for a second when he looked at the other person’s smile.

Haha, actually, Song Lianzhou has been here as well.

Not only Song Lianzhou, but Zhang Daoquan’s old friends also occasionally came to visit, and that group of people even played mahjong on the sofa.

It’s just that the cats didn’t react as much when those people came. This time, it was extraordinary.

Xu Huai guessed that it was likely connected to the yin energy in Xie Jing’s body. After all, he had only removed most of the yin energy, and some hidden residue remained within Xie Jing. These matters weren’t easy to explain, and mentioning them would only cause panic, so he opted to stay silent.

“Don’t call me boss, call me Xu Huai.” Xu Huai changed the subject and pointed to the bathroom, “I found the disposable items for you and put them in the bathroom. Take a shower and get some rest early.”

This new guest was also very well-behaved. When he heard this, he called out his name, said goodnight, and walked towards the bathroom.

Xu Huai hugged the cat, listening to the sound of water coming from the bathroom. After a few minutes, he drove the black cat off his body and got up from the sofa.

Zhang Daoquan’s old house, which he had previously purchased, was demolished, and this was a resettlement house provided as compensation. Although it was a typical residential building with an elevator, it was enough for Zhang Daoquan to sigh with relief that he could live in a high-rise building at his age.

Don’t perform divination for fame and fortune, nor selfish desires, nor personal gain.

Help only sincere people resolve their doubts, and address the worries of those who are willing to be helped.

With Xu Huai’s master, Zhang Daoquan, having a habit of not soliciting customers and performing divination by chance, it was challenging for Xu Huai and Zhang Daoquan to improve their living conditions. Only in the past two years, after receiving compensation for the demolition, with Zhang Daoquan obtaining a minimal living allowance and Xu Huai occasionally finding work, did they manage to avoid surviving on just one bun a day.

That old man, Zhang Daoquan, hadn’t performed divination for a long time before his disappearance. He hummed tunes at home with the radio all day long, looking very happy, and had begun to enjoy his old age. People thought this old man would lead a plain life, but they didn’t expect that on the day Xu Huai graduated from college, Zhang Daoquan would vanish from the world.

Xu Huai raised his hand and opened the door to his bedroom, and closed the half-open window after entering the room.

No one knew where his master, Zhang Daoquan, who had raised him since he was a child, had gone.

While thinking, Xu Huai bent down and took out a glass jar about the size of a palm from the drawer on the bedside table.

A talisman paper with a yellow background and red characters was pasted on the jar. If you looked closely, you could see a translucent black gas locked at the bottom of the transparent jar.

This was the yin energy that Xu Huai had drawn out of the bodies of several previous employers. The purity of this yin energy was very low. If you didn’t look carefully, you would think it was an empty bottle.

In comparison…

Xu Huai flicked his hand and found that the yin energy that should have appeared on his fingertips had already hidden in his abdomen.

Xu Huai: “?”

Xu Huai frowned.

Was that a place you could go?

Xu Huai’s gaze dropped, and he spoke in the empty room: “Are you coming out yourself, or do I have to find a way to drive you out?”

The air was silent for three or four seconds, and then there was a rustling sound, and a snow-white cat head poked out from behind the curtains.

Xu Huai: “…”

When did this thing run into his room and even confess without being beaten?

Xu Huai ignored the cat cowering in the corner and applied some pressure with his fingers. Soon, a circle of black gas enveloped his fingertips.

Compared to the black gas in the glass bottle, the one in Xu Huai’s hand was larger and darker. It was irregularly shaped and floated on his fingertips, eager to approach Xu Huai, but stopped in place as if obstructed by something, unable to move forward.

Xu Huai uncovered the yellow talisman on the glass bottle with his other hand, intending to stuff the black object he held into it. Still, he didn’t anticipate that the black gas, which had been obediently wrapped around his hand, would suddenly react violently, resisting entry into the bottle no matter what.

And the faint color in the bottle had already shrunk in the corner, and you could see that it was trying to reduce its presence as much as possible.

Xu Huai stared at the black gas twisting and turning in his hand, refusing to enter the bottle, and his words carried a hint of threat: “Get in.”

The black gas arched into Xu Huai’s palm, its meaning very clear: no.

This was the first time Xu Huai had seen yin energy that had been separated from its owner for so long and still had such a strong self-awareness.

Xu Huai was about to use some violent means to force the yin energy into the jar when he saw it bounce nimbly, and he didn’t know what method it had used to get out.

The jar was also knocked to the ground. Although it didn’t break, the sound it made frightened the white cat behind the curtains, and it knocked over several books on the bedside table, making a loud noise.

——Xu Huai’s head was about to explode.

On the other side, Xie Jing, who had just come out of the bathroom, also heard the noise in Xu Huai’s bedroom. He wiped the water droplets dripping from his hair and looked up, meeting the gaze that had not moved since he entered this door.

Cats are said to possess spirituality, as their eyes perceive more than those of humans, and they are susceptible to unclean things.

As Xie Jing approached the black cat, its body began to tense. The cat opened its mouth and was about to attack when Xie Jing slowly raised his hand and placed his index finger in front of his lips.

“Shh.”

The whole black cat froze, and fell to the ground with a plop, its four feet stretched out, leaving only its round golden pupils rolling.

Xie Jing curled his lips and squatted in front of the black cat, gently scratching the black cat’s chin with two fingers.

The black cat, which had just been fierce and full of aggression, was now motionless, lying flat and letting him stroke it.

Fingers slightly cooler than usual gently stroked the black cat’s back, moving slowly down the spine. Then he wickedly flipped the cat over and began kneading its soft belly.

He didn’t stop until he touched the two upright cat testicles, and the smile on his face grew deeper.

He approached the black cat with its feet in the air and whispered:

“Your owner is also soft.”

Black Lion Cat: “??!!?!!!!”