Part 2
“These are the masters I invited,” Tong Yong explained. “This is Mr. Jiang and Miss Luo. They are professionals I’ve asked to look into Yun Shu’s condition.”
“Masters?” Qiu Lingling was shocked.
“Pardon me.” Jiang Si said politely as he squeezed to the bedside.
Without the color filters from the camera broadcast, Yun Shu was actually even more beautiful. Her wavy hair was scattered behind her like seaweed. Her pale face lacked any excess flesh, revealing a very defined bone structure. Her face was devoid of color, except for the dark lashes that looked like they were drawn with charcoal.
Seeing her in person for the first time, Jiang Si actually dazed for a moment. Her state was no different from sleep; she looked perfectly normal.
“What’s wrong?” Tong Yong asked seeing him stand there in silence for so long. He worried Jiang Si had encountered a difficult problem.
Jiang Si ignored him, reaching out to cover her eyelids. He used his fingers to peel them back, revealing the dark pupils beneath.
An unconscious person’s eyeballs usually roll upward; this angle allowed him to see the whites of her lower eyes.
“Hmm…”
“Is there a problem?” Tong Yong asked, heart in his throat.
“The vitreous humor is a bit cloudy, but it’s nothing serious.” Jiang Si checked the other side as well and replied calmly.
Tong Yong: “…”
Then why did you look so serious?
Jiang Si turned his head and took in Tong Yong’s expression, then smiled. “Just a joke. Do you have a knife?”
“What kind of knife? Is a fruit knife okay? When I bought the fruit basket today, the shopkeeper gave me a small fruit knife; it hasn’t been used yet.” Qiu Lingling didn’t understand but answered honestly.
“That’ll do.”
After receiving the knife, Jiang Si twirled it between his fingers. He lifted a corner of the quilt and took one of Yun Shu’s fingers, making a tiny incision.
At the same time, he said, “Turn off the light.”
Luo Shannü was closest to the switch and turned it off, watching Jiang Si’s next move with interest.
He squeezed out a drop of blood and took a small paper doll from his pocket, smearing the blood on its head. Holding the paper doll between two fingers, he formed a seal with his other hand and whispered a soul-summoning incantation.
“Heaven is Yin and Earth is Yang, all things are clear. By decree I summon the spirits; let the soul return, let the soul return.”
As he whispered, he released his fingers. The paper doll drifted down, but just before hitting the floor, it seemed to gain a consciousness of its own. It leaped up, grabbed the bedsheet, and swung itself onto Yun Shu’s abdomen, slowly moving toward her head.
Tong Yong and Qiu Lingling both stared at the tiny paper doll in dead silence, their expressions filled with wonder.
Jiang Si watched it just as closely. When the doll reached Yun Shu’s collarbone, it suddenly fell over and stopped moving.
“It—” Tong Yong tried to speak but was silenced by a look from Jiang Si.
Jiang Si picked up the paper doll and wiped its blood-stained head. After a few seconds, he said, “Her soul is gone again.”
“It seems her soul is being held captive by something and cannot escape.” He looked up and asked, “Has Yun Shu had contact with any strange people lately? Or has she visited any temples or taken any ritual items? Specifically items that are not from Huaxia.”
“Not from Huaxia?” Tong Yong gasped. Could she have been targeted during their trip to State D? He voiced his suspicion. “But her last trip to State D was six months ago. Why would it only manifest now?”
Jiang Si shook his head. “Time isn’t an issue. As long as they have some of her hair or blood there, it doesn’t matter how much time passes; they can cast a spell at any time.”
As they fell silent, Jiang Si squeezed out another drop of blood, intending to try summoning her soul again. Suddenly, he felt a cool breeze from the window behind him.
The curtains flapped violently in the sudden wind. The light gauze billowed wildly; in the dim ward, it looked as if a child was hiding behind the curtains, intentionally playing a prank on them.
“Is it going to rain?” Qiu Lingling heard a rustling sound from outside and walked over, intending to close the window so the rain wouldn’t blow in.
A chill rose, and everyone in the ward clearly felt the temperature plummet.
Qiu Lingling tightened her jacket and reached for the window. The moment she pulled the curtain aside, a massive human head was pressed against the glass, only centimeters away from her.
Facing the head without warning, she was nearly scared witless, standing frozen on the spot.
The head was swollen like a balloon, drifting by the window with the wind. If not for the safety bars, it would have entered the ward directly.
After a moment, Tong Yong became impatient. “What’s taking so long with a window? What are you standing there for?”
At the same time, a gust of wind threw the curtains high, completely exposing the head-balloon outside. Tong Yong’s words died in his throat. His pupils shrank to pinpoints as he stared at the window.
Luo Shannü felt this had nothing to do with her and remained emotionally unruffled, watching the farce play out.
Only Jiang Si reacted quickly enough. He cleared the path Tong Yong was blocking and rushed to the window, jerking the curtains shut to block everyone’s view.
Qiu Lingling showed no reaction to the commotion, standing there with blank eyes. Jiang Si reached out and pressed a spot on the back of her neck. She fell backward, but Jiang Si caught her and helped her lie down on the cot.
“Bloody hell! What on earth was that thing!” Tong Yong was so shocked he couldn’t even speak proper Mandarin, a string of dialect swearing escaping him. He ran to Qiu Lingling’s side to check on her. “One person is already down! Why did another one go?”
“Her soul was scared out of her.” Jiang Si stepped aside to create space. “Hold her arms and don’t let her move. It’s going to hurt a bit in a second.”
“Right, right.” Tong Yong hurriedly cooperated.
Jiang Si moved behind her, parted the hair at the crown of her head, and delivered a sharp slap to the top of her skull.
Qiu Lingling struggled in pain, reaching for her head, but the prepared Tong Yong pinned her down, allowing no movement.
“Aaaaaah—” Qiu Lingling screamed and snapped her eyes open to stare at Tong Yong. After the sharp pain at the crown of her head passed, she felt a sense of grounding, as if her soul had returned to its place.
“Alright.” Jiang Si withdrew his hand and walked quickly to look outside. The previously massive head was shrinking, its bloated shape returning to normal. Long hair fluttered in the wind, and the features drawn on that gray-white face were strikingly familiar.
She opened her eyes, her lips a blood-red that seemed ready to drip, and she looked over with a smile.
“Yun Shu.” Jiang Si squinted. He took another paper doll from his pocket and threw it out before she could notice. “Soul Lock!”
As he spoke, the head-balloon vanished. The paper doll was torn to shreds in the air, its remains scattered in the wind.
“She—she… Yun Shu?” Tong Yong was in shock.
“No.” Jiang Si closed the window, ensuring not a single draft could enter. “It’s a hex. Yun Shu has been targeted with a Head-flying Hex (Feitou Jiang). That thing outside wasn’t her; it was the thing controlling the hex.”
He walked to Qiu Lingling’s side and stopped her from getting up. He lifted her chin to scrutinize her eyes. Qiu Lingling felt embarrassed by the gaze, a hint of red appearing despite the dim light.
“You’re fine; nothing serious.” Jiang Si let go. “You were almost hooked just now. If you stare at that thing for too long, your mind becomes lost. It’s easy for a soul to leave the body, but hard to return.”
“Then my head…” Qiu Lingling still felt a lingering pain from the slap.
“I wasn’t hitting your head. I had to knock your soul back in; it was about to exit through the ‘Heavenly Gate’ aperture on your forehead. Leaving the body through the crown is naturally painful.” Jiang Si spread his hands. “That wasn’t intentional on my part.”
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