"What!"
Upon hearing this, Captain Han's face changed drastically, and Zhang quickly asked, "What happened?"
"Xiao Wu...Xiao Wu…”
Several police officers looked frightened but couldn't articulate the reason, and just kept pointing behind them.
Following their gesture, there was a big tree the size of a bowl, and a person was tied to the tree with a trailer rope! It seemed that this person should be the Xiao Wu they were referring to.
Xiao Wu was covered in injuries, his face swollen like a winter melon, bruised all over, and drool constantly dripping from the corner of his mouth, it was nauseating to look at.
"What exactly happened?"
Looking at Xiao Wu in such a miserable state, Captain Han's face became even more grim, almost roaring at everyone.
"Well…”
Everyone fell silent, but their gazes kept shifting towards another young police officer squatting on the ground, smoking. There were also numerous injuries on his body, and bloody bite marks on his right hand!
From the looks of it, this matter was probably related to him, but it seemed like he had a deep background, and everyone was wary of him.
"Say something! Are you all mute!"
Seeing this, Captain Han probably guessed what was going on, and couldn't help but be furious. He instinctively grabbed one of them and scolded, "Speak!"
"Me?"
The person was grabbed by Captain Han, looking even more miserable than crying. Under the intimidation, he finally stammered, "Just... just now, Vice Captain Li received a call, and then asked Xiao Wu to take the body back... and then..."
"Damn it!"
Upon hearing this, Captain Han was furious: "Didn't I tell you not to act rashly before I get back!"
While speaking, all eyes, including Captain Han's, turned to Vice Captain Li who was smoking. He seemed calm and composed, showing no intention to speak.
"And then? What happened next?"
Although angry, Captain Han did not immediately erupt, but continued to inquire about the course of events.
"Then, Xiao Wu suddenly went crazy, hugged Vice Captain Li, and started to scratch and bite. We barely managed to tie him to the tree..."
"Strange?"
As they were talking, I had already walked to Xiao Wu's side. After confirming that he was securely tied, I opened his eyelids and checked his pupils.
After hearing the description of the police officer just now, it didn't seem to be a case of a malevolent spirit haunting. Moreover, it was broad daylight, even if there was a spirit, it wouldn't be so brazen, right? Besides, a group of grown men, all of whom were police officers, just with their accumulated positive energy, would be enough to keep ordinary malevolent spirits at bay!
Listening to the description, I felt more like there was some "trickster" at play. According to Lao Zhang, the so-called "trickster" refers to some animals or plants that have acquired certain abilities but have not yet cultivated "demon pills", such as yellow weasels, foxes, mountain cats, or aged ancient trees...
Of course, this was an old saying, and now many people also categorize mountain ghosts, xiaoyao, and other similar entities into this category.
"Tricksters" generally don't harm human lives because of their limited abilities. At most, they cause severe illness, similar to the "bumping visitor" phenomenon frequently encountered in rural areas.
"How is it?"
Seeing me lost in thought over Xiao Wu, Captain Han hurriedly walked up to me, looking nervous and asked, "Is this kid okay?"
"He's fine, don't worry, it's nothing major..."
I was quite confident in dealing with a "trickster" who hadn't yet turned into a demon, so I said, "Let's take him down for now!"
"Okay!"
Captain Han nodded, and then started to untie Xiao Wu.
However, at that moment, Vice Captain Li, who had been silent, suddenly rushed forward like a frightened cat and said with a terrified expression, "Captain, don't do it! This guy is like a rabid dog. It's easy to let him down, but it will be hard to tie him up again!"
"This..."
Upon hearing this, Captain Han couldn't help but furrow his brow. He knew Vice Captain Li's skills well, and the fact that even he had been made to look so miserable meant that Xiao Wu was indeed quite dangerous at the moment!
After hesitating for a moment, Captain Han quickly looked at me and asked, "Are you sure?"
"Yeah," I nodded earnestly, but couldn't help but have some doubts in my heart.
Although Old Zhang had said that dealing with "spirits" was very easy, even ordinary people could overcome it as long as they knew the method. But this was my first solo mission after all. It would be fake to say that I wasn't nervous at all.
"That's good! Trust the trustworthy, I believe in you!"
After getting my affirmative reply, Captain Han felt a little relieved and nodded solemnly, then waved to Zhang for help, saying, "Come and give a hand!"
Among the people present, besides Captain Han and me, only Zhang had a "live talisman" on him, so naturally he was the preferred one to help at this time.
"Okay!" Tapping the "live talisman" on his chest with force, Zhang seemed very confident and ran over without hesitation, helping Captain Han untie the ropes on Xiao Wu.
"You guys!" Vice Captain Li was furious and glared at me, then shouted at Captain Han, "You'll get us killed!"
After saying this, he immediately ran to the police car nearby, indicating that there was trouble and he intended to leave immediately.
"Coward!" Captain Han scolded fiercely, then waved to the others, "You guys! Retreat ten meters!"
Upon hearing this, the other policemen couldn't help but feel a little relieved and quickly moved back.
While they were untying Xiao Wu, I quickly opened the package I had brought. After searching for a while, I realized I couldn't find the cinnabar and brush that I needed.
"Darn it! How could I mess up at this time?" I cursed in my heart. When I looked up, Zhang and Captain Han had already released Xiao Wu. Fortunately, Xiao Wu didn't bite anyone as Vice Captain Li had said; he just lay on the ground, foaming at the mouth and not moving at all.
"Alas! I have no choice but to try!" I sighed inwardly, then quickly bit my middle finger and lifted Xiao Wu's clothes, pointing at his lower abdomen.
The "lower abdomen" is actually a commonly referred to acupuncture point in traditional Chinese medicine. However, in the eyes of a cultivator, it is known as the "pre-natal Qi sea," where the essence of Yin and Yang within the human body converge, used for nurturing and concentrating one's breath. Even Laozi, the founder of Taoism, called it "profoundly mysterious" and "the gateway of myriad wonders"! The reason I targeted this point was to stimulate Xiao Wu's inherent Yang Qi, to maximize the eruption of his internal Yang energy and thus drive away the "spirit".
"Spirits" are Yin in nature, and once there is too much Yang energy in Xiao Wu's body, they would feel uncomfortable, and automatically leave his body.
"Ah—"
As I expected, as soon as I touched his "lower abdomen," Xiao Wu let out a sharp scream, and I saw a wisp of black gas rushing up from his chest. At the same time, Xiao Wu started to struggle violently. Despite being as skinny as a monkey, he was incredibly strong and almost broke free from Captain Han and Zhang's restraint.
"Hold him down!" I shouted loudly and without hesitation, forced the blood from my middle finger and pressed it against Xiao Wu's chest, then quickly slashed at the black gas!
My move was not without purpose. In the Taoist art of Maoshan, the blood from a child's middle finger is called "child's brow." It is also pure Yang. No cinnabar, red lead, or chicken blood can compare to the effect of "child's brow"! It was clearly the best choice for driving away the "spirit".
"Hiss—" Like the sound of air leaking from a tire, a wisp of thread-like black gas was instantly forced out of Xiao Wu's body. At the same time, Xiao Wu stopped struggling and vomited a lot of filthy stuff with a "wow".
Luckily, I managed to dodge it; otherwise, I would have been covered in it.
However, this caused me to miss the best opportunity to eliminate the black gas. While I was avoiding Xiao Wu's vomit, the black gas disappeared quickly in front of me.