Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It was already evening when Hao Jixin came to see Xie Qingfeng. By the time they reached Hao Jizhu's hospital room, it was almost dark.

Hao Jizhu was staying in a top-floor VIP room, which was a private, single room. Expensive, yes, but it offered real tranquility.

Walking along the corridor, the silence was eerily unusual. The lights in the hallway were bright, making the darkening sky outside even more indistinct.

"The last room down the hall is my sister’s. She was sleeping soundly when I left, and I arranged for a nurse..." Hao Jixin explained as they walked.

Xie Qingfeng walked beside him quietly, listening, but then he looked towards the end of the corridor as if he sensed something.

Almost simultaneously, the lights in the corridor flickered—not just one or two, but all of them. This caught Hao Jixin off guard, "What's happening?" he questioned. "Isn’t this supposed to be VIP? Why are even the lights malfunctioning?"

As he spoke, he saw a flicker beside him. In the next moment, Xie Qingfeng, who had been walking beside him, lightly leaped several meters ahead with a tip-toe touch. This left Hao Jixin stunned, "What the... Did I just see that? Was the Master flying?"

Realizing what Xie Qingfeng's swift move to the last room implied, he turned pale and rushed after him.

Xie Qingfeng faced some resistance when he pushed the door, but it was no trouble for him.

He lifted his hand, drew a quick symbol on the door, and then pushed it open effortlessly.

Inside, the room was pitch black, lit only by faint light seeping through the uncurtained windows from outside. Despite it being summer, the room was unusually cold.

It wasn't the coolness of air conditioning, but a bone-chilling coldness, as if seeping into one's very bones.

Hao Jixin, panting from running, arrived and instinctively flipped the light switch on.

The light flickered and illuminated the room but dimmed intermittently, especially unsettling with Hao Jizhu lying motionless at the far end, adding to the eerie atmosphere.

"Close the door!" Xie Qingfeng ordered emotionlessly, his back to Hao Jixin. He raised his arm and waved his hand, casting a flow of golden spiritual energy towards an unseen target.

Hao Jixin, trembling near the door, only saw a shadow flash by. The next moment, his sister, who had been lying still on the bed, abruptly sat up.

Startled, Hao Jixin nearly screamed but managed to stifle his voice, not daring to approach.

Aware of his own limitations, he knew rushing in would only cause chaos. He pulled out a peace charm from his pocket, clutching it tightly and hoping for protection.

Xie Qingfeng observed the sitting figure of "Hao Jizhu." Her complexion was unnaturally pale and bluish, not the color of a living person, with dark veins spreading from her neck. Her eyes, devoid of any human warmth and entirely black, stared fixedly at Xie Qingfeng, resembling a walking corpse, evidently possessed.

Xie Qingfeng couldn't determine how or when this entity targeted Hao Jizhu, but its integration with her body indicated a lengthy possession.

If the entity wasn't removed quickly, Hao Jizhu might survive physically but be left without her soul or consciousness, merely an empty shell.

The effectiveness of the peace charm on Hao Jizhu was probably unexpected for the entity, but such charms only offer protection against spirits, not much use against a possession of this duration.

Xie Qingfeng had dealt with countless such cases in ancient times. It wasn't too difficult, but it required a specific condition.

Back then, he was in his own body, nurtured in an environment rich in spiritual energy and with high cultivation. His body itself was a vessel of spiritual energy, capable of destroying such entities with a mere flick of his fingers.

However, the problem now was that he had recently taken over this body, which lacked any cultivation or internal spiritual energy.

Moreover, the surrounding spiritual energy available for his use was scant. To confront this entity, he needed a substantial amount of spiritual energy, or else even a skilled exorcist can't work miracles without resources.

The entity clearly feared Xie Qingfeng, probably not expecting Hao Jixin to find such a formidable master.

However, it didn’t sense the imposing aura of a celestial master from Xie Qingfeng, and seeing him standing still, it began to grow bolder.

Xie Qingfeng watched as the entity, having taken over "Hao Jizhu," got off the bed. It was too late for Hao Jixin to fetch any jade now.

"It's, it's coming over!" Hao Jixin, terrified, had barely seen his sister’s possessed form with black eyes before panicking.

Xie Qingfeng, calm as always, asked, “Do you have any jade on you?”

"Ah?" Hao Jixin, confused and slow to react, shook his head, "No, no... Master, do you need jade to deal with this thing?" He regretted not wearing more jade pendants.

Knowing he couldn't rely on Hao Jixin, Xie Qingfeng acted quickly as the possessed "Hao Jizhu's" nails began to grow and darken, lunging towards him. He grabbed a jade ring from the treasure vault, drained all its spiritual energy, and formed symbols with his hands. Almost instantly, the entity inside "Hao Jizhu" was bound tightly, unable to break free.

Invisible to Hao Jixin, the golden ropes tightened around the entity, unaffected by Hao Jizhu’s physical body, as if they could penetrate and bind the spirit attached to her.

The entity, in pain and unable to escape with Hao Jizhu's body, was caught off guard by Xie Qingfeng’s pre-emptive immobilization.

It had two choices: be gradually severed by the spiritual energy ropes and forced to leave, or willingly detach from the highly compatible host to avoid further destruction.

It screamed in agony, inaudible to Hao Jixin, but he could feel the chilling wind and hear the glass in the room vibrating. He huddled tighter into the corner.

Ultimately, the entity chose the latter, detaching itself from Hao Jizhu.

Xie Qingfeng was waiting for this moment, knowing that voluntary departure would minimize damage to Hao Jizhu’s body.

As soon as the spirit left the host, Xie Qingfeng wasted no time, swiftly moving forward with his slender, pale fingers pinching the entity.

Despite the light grasp, the entity, initially thinking it had a chance, found itself completely unable to break free. It realized too late that Xie Qingfeng had never exerted his full strength, merely luring it into believing it had a chance to escape, only to be effortlessly crushed once it left the host.

The entity, consumed with rage, was bound by Xie Qingfeng’s expressionless and cold demeanor. The spiritual energy ropes, like burning cords, wound around the remnant soul, searing it. Eventually, its body was twisted into a ball, leaving only its head exposed, creating a particularly eerie and pitiful sight.

Xie Qingfeng finished by tying a knot above the entity's head and carried it over to Hao Jixin, who was still muttering incantations, "It's done. Get up and put your sister back on the bed."

"It's over?" Hao Jixin sprang open his eyes, overwhelmed with excitement.

From trembling one moment to spry the next, he quickly got up and obediently lifted his sister from the floor back onto the bed.

After completing the task, he turned and asked, "Master, what just happened? What was wrong with my sister?"

After Xie Qingfeng explained, he added, "In the emergency, you didn’t have jade, so I used mine." Although it was only a jade ring, it was of much higher quality than the one from the bar. "That one cost three hundred thousand; mine should be at least four hundred thousand, right?"

"In the future, I'll use the money to buy suitable jade for the young emperor's treasure vault, to compensate."

"Catching the entity costs twenty thousand, the jade forty thousand, totaling four hundred and twenty thousand. Transfer it to my account. Of course, if you have quality jade to offer in exchange, that works too." Xie Qingfeng, considering his lack of access to jade, added this as an option for Hao Jixin.

Without hesitation, Hao Jixin transferred four hundred and twenty thousand, "As for jade, that's easy. We have plenty at home. I'll bring some for you to choose from later."

Xie Qingfeng shook his head, "I’ll purchase it myself." Keeping transactions clear, even among close relations.

Hao Jixin wanted to argue that saving his sister's life was priceless, but knowing Xie Qingfeng's character, he decided to let it be, perhaps settling for a nominal sum later.

"Master, what exactly was that thing?" Hao Jixin was still visibly shaken, haunted by the look in his sister's eyes that nearly scared him witless.

Xie Qingfeng asked, "Do you really want to know?"

Hao Jixin immediately nodded, "Yes, I do."

Xie Qingfeng, feeling it was his duty to fulfill the client's request, lightly tapped the subdued entity he was holding.

The next moment, caught off guard, Hao Jixin yelped and clung to a nearby cabinet, shaking his head frantically, "Take it away, take it away, I don’t want to know anymore!"

"What is this thing? It's so frightening!"

Xie Qingfeng looked at the subdued entity he was holding, now cowering, a far cry from its earlier arrogance: "I haven't harmed anyone yet..."

Xie Qingfeng responded, "That's because you didn't get the chance." Otherwise, wouldn’t Hao Jizhu’s life be at stake?

Used to such scenarios, Xie Qingfeng didn’t bother with further conversation. He extracted the entity's residual memories and obsessions from before its death and then recited the Rebirth Mantra to guide it towards reincarnation.

The ghostly entity, in life, had been a teaching assistant, who had died of sudden exhaustion after working non-stop on a project.

Normally, it would have moved on to reincarnation, but it refused, obsessed with the unfinished project and in denial about its untimely death. It believed death was unfair to it and refused to be reincarnated, lingering in that place. As time passed, its obsession became a chain, making it impossible to leave or reincarnate unless someone else completed its task.

After several failed attempts, it found Hao Jizhu, who showed similar dedication and disregard for herself, making her a perfect target.

Its plan was for Hao Jizhu to exhaust herself to death, just like it did, which would set it free.

However, it hadn’t anticipated Xie Qingfeng's intervention, ruining its plan. Though it could now reincarnate, its malevolent intentions left a mark on its soul. Facing karmic retribution in the afterlife, even if it reincarnated, the next life would not be fortunate.

After resolving Hao Jizhu's situation, Xie Qingfeng returned to his foster parents' room. But as he stepped out of the elevator and approached room 1205, he was unexpectedly stopped.