“Tonight, I will arrange the Seven Fiend Soul Locking Formation. I’m sure I can seal the Hegemon King of Western Chu one more time.”

Mr. Qin exhaled in relief. “That’s good, then.”

However, I could catch a gleam of his restlessness. He didn’t want me to arrange the formation.

He was unaware of the fact that I couldn't arrange the formation even if I wanted to; I only knew the incantation, after all. However, I wasn’t too worried since I would meet my grandfather tonight. I was certain he had a method to deal with the Hegemon King of Western Chu. 

At the same time, I felt that something dangerous was coming. Mr. Qin would try to disrupt our plans, so we had to be cautious. He would not attack us directly, but he was definitely capable of borrowing a knife to kill us.

If he could use Qin Minghao to kill us, it would be perfect for him.

After Mr. Qin understood the situation, he excused himself and said that he had a lot of work related to the family’s business.

I knew he was going to find the person behind the curtain to discuss their countermeasure. They wouldn’t let us work efficiently tonight.

If we gathered info about the real culprit, we could prepare in advance and increase our success rate. As such, I asked Gold-toothed to discreetly follow Mr. Qin to see if we could discover who that person was.

Gold-toothed clutched his butt. “Do you think I can still move with my wounded butt?” 

He had a point as he had wounds on his butt and arm. It wouldn’t be convenient for him to do the stealthy work.

Qin Sisi said, “I know some private detectives. I can ask them to help us.”

I was surprised. 

How does Qin Sisi know private detectives? What did she use them for

?

I guessed it related to the secrets of their business.

Qin Sisi ignored my odd expression and made a call, sealing the deal in a few sentences.

When the ambulance arrived, I asked Li Mazi and Gold-toothed to get their wounds wrapped. Qin Sisi and I weren’t hurt, so we planned to tie up Qin Minghao.

However, when the two descended the stairs, I heard Gold-toothed call my name. He asked me to check something down there. 

I was flustered and wondered if we had made a mistake.

I immediately rushed downstairs. 

“What happened?” I asked Gold-toothed.

Gold-toothed and Li Mazi looked fearful as they gazed at a corner outside the building. I immediately went over there to check. There was a pile of black things. It looked really bizarre.

I took a deep breath and went closer, jerking back right after. 

The dark pile of things was actually a horde of dead mice. They were in different stages of rotting. Some were dried, while others were shriveled.

The doctor and nurses from the ambulance also came over to see. When they saw the dead mice, they started to discuss boisterously.

It was strange, though. How could a big manor like this have so many dead mice?

Soon after, a group of guards came. They were Qin Minghao’s bodyguards. They dismissed us and cleaned up the pile of dead mice.

Li Mazi asked me, “What happened to those dead mice?” 

I sighed. “I activated the Seven Fiend Soul Locking Formation last night, and it required soul energy. There’s no doubt that those mice’s souls became fuel for the formation. However, the energy from those mice can’t last long. I’m afraid the formation will lose its power tonight.”

For the whole day, we stayed in the lavish building and did nothing.

I patiently waited until night fell. I couldn’t suppress my excitement and thought about how I could finally see my grandfather.

Qin Sisi spent the day taking care of Qin Minghao, who was no longer possessed. During the day, he woke up once. However, his body was feeble and his mind wasn’t sane. He ate some liquid food then slumbered again.

The guards wanted to stay to protect Qin Minghao, but Qin Sisi asked them to leave. Without a doubt, those guards were Mr. Qin’s people. As such, she was worried that they would kill Qin Minghao.

Qin Tiantian didn’t bat an eye at her unconscious father. She didn’t even stay in the manor. Gold-toothed told me that he saw a man driving a Ferrari pick her up.

I guessed this family was nothing to her. Only money mattered to her.

After I had lunch, I asked Qin Sisi to call the detective she hired to check if he had discovered who the culprit was.

However, we soon discovered that something bad had happened. The detective’s phone was off. All of us guessed that Mr. Qin had detected him.

It could be a good thing that the detective hadn’t found anything. If he did find something, Mr. Qin would definitely kill him to shut his mouth.

Qin Sisi was worried and didn’t know what to do. I could only comfort her and ask her not to worry. “After seeing my grandfather, I’ll learn of Mr. Qin’s evil plan. Then, we would be able to save the detective.”

Qin Sisi was still very worried. It appeared that she didn't believe in me; she just kept silent.

When night fell, I asked Qin Sisi and Gold-toothed to stay and take care of Qin Minghao. Since I was worried that Mr. Qin would send his assassins to kill them, I asked Qin Sisi to get two trustful guards to stay with them.

I then brought Li Mazi with me to the Wu River.  

The Wu River still emitted a pungent smell, and there was a lot of trash floating in the water. A cold wind blew over, which chilled us to the bone.

We stood on the river bank and looked around, waiting for my grandfather to show up.

However, after a whole hour of standing there, we still hadn’t seen my grandpa. I was worried as I knew that the Seven Fiend Soul Locking Formation wouldn’t last for a long time. If Qin Minghao went crazy again, Qin Sisi and Gold-toothed would be in grave trouble.

Although they had two guards with them, those guards couldn’t help much.

I waited restlessly. I felt I’d go crazy if my grandpa didn’t appear.

“Hey, Little Brother Zhang, look over there. What’s that?” While I was deep in thought, Li Mazi suddenly spoke. 

I was startled and followed his line of sight. Then, I saw many black things floating and bobbing on the Wu River. There was nothing there just a moment ago.

“What are those?” I took a better look and discovered that those things had a round shape.

“They’re human heads!” Li Mazi shrieked. “Damn it, why are there so many human heads here?” 

When I heard him, my heart skipped a beat. The heads formed a mass of darkness in the river. The scene was rather shocking.

Although it wasn’t bright, we could still make out their faces under the hazy moonlight. They all looked gloomy and lifeless, but their eyes were filled with resentment and hate.

I recalled the headless ghosts we saw yesterday in the yard. If I wasn’t wrong, these heads belonged to those headless ghosts.

It seemed the formation had lost its power. The resentful souls were now back.

This is not good. We have to go back! Qin Sisi can’t fight against Qin Minghao.

I called Li Mazi and prepared to head back.

However, when I reached out to pull him, I discovered that something was wrong. No matter how hard I tried to pull him, he didn’t budge an inch.

I checked his face, and his expression gave me a scare.

Li Mazi’s mouth was wide open, and his eyes had rolled to the back of his head; he stood on the tip of his toes with a faint smile on his face. From time to time, he would also rub the corners of his mouth. 

I knew he was possessed. I was startled, but I quickly got myself together. I had to expel the evil from Li Mazi’s body.

But before I could take action, I heard something twittering. I tried to have a closer look at Li Mazi. 

To my surprise, there was a rat lying on Li Mazi’s head. That rat was black with bright eyes. It raised and wiggled a small paw as if it was showing me the way.

I recognized it instantly. It was Senior Shu’s life-bound rat! Why was it here?

The life rat looked healthy, which proved that Senior Shu was also fine. He had recovered well. 

Also, Senior Shu couldn’t be more than five kilometers away from his life-bound rat. So, he had to be nearby. If the small rat was motioning us the way, it could mean only one thing — Senior Shu was nearby. He was waiting for us!

It turned out Li Mazi was controlled by the life-bound rat.

I was elated and said to the rat, “Little rat, did Senior Shu send you to us?” 

The rat nodded happily. Then, an unclear voice came from Li Mazi’s throat. “Follow me.” 

“Very good. Take me to Senior Shu.”

Li Mazi took the lead while I followed behind him.

Not long after we departed, ghost cries arose from the Wu River. My heart shivered after hearing the cries, but I didn’t think much and just followed after Li Mazi.