Chapter One Hundred Ten: The Next One

I looked at Tu'e and asked, "Can you do it?"

"No problem," he answered curtly.

Zhang Haozi’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. However, recalling how easily Tu'e had seized control of his Mao-Lang in the woods, he seemed to resign himself to the fact, though he still watched Tu'e with a look of shock.

Finding a secluded spot, I took a Mao-Lang charm from Zhang Haozi, wrote the name on it, and handed it to Tu'e. Tu'e held the paper charm in both hands, pressed it to his lips, and muttered a silent incantation for a moment before softly uttering a single name: "Su Yi."

The Mao-Lang took flight and vanished into the darkness.

This guy never wasted time with complicated gestures; he was clean and efficient, making everything seem effortless.

Zhang Haozi stared at him intently, and only after he finished did he ask, "Who on earth are you?"

Tu'e glanced at him but said nothing.

I, too, was dying to know, but according to Su Feiyong, this man’s lips were sealed tight. No matter how much they asked, he wouldn't say a word. It seemed they hadn't been able to dig anything up on him either.

The sky grew dark, and time ticked by. I checked my phone—it was already ten o’clock. The Mao-Lang had been sent out nearly half an hour ago, yet there was still no sign of anyone.

After a while longer, the Mao-Lang flew back and landed in Tu'e’s hand. He frowned.

I sensed something was wrong. "What is it?"

"She isn't at the school," he said. "I set the search range for the entire campus, but I couldn't find her."

Didn't Xiao Qingwan say Su Yi was terrified and refused to leave her dormitory? How could she not be at school! I felt an increasing sense of unease. Was Xiao Qingwan with Su Yi right now?

Second Master Wei pulled out her phone, dialed a number, and said, "Run a check on someone for me: Su Yi. I need her phone number and her current location."

A moment later, she hung up and said, "She’s at the Xian-Guang Hotel, one kilometer from the school. Xiao Qingwan is there too. This is Su Yi’s number."

She turned her phone screen toward me. I was slightly startled, noted the number, and dialed it on my own phone, thinking to myself how secretive these people were.

The phone rang for a while before someone answered. Xiao Qingwan’s voice came through: "Hello? Who is this?"

"It’s me, Wang Luo. Why did you suddenly leave!" I demanded.

Hearing my voice, Xiao Qingwan sounded surprised. "How do you have Su Yi’s number? Su Yi was terrified and refused to stay at school. I couldn't talk her out of it, and I didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone, so I came out with her."

"Listen to me, this whole thing is connected to Su Yi. Everyone who has met with an accident is linked to her! Another person has died. Keep a close watch on her, we are—"

A sudden scream erupted from the phone. Xiao Qingwan cried out in a panic, "Wait—"

Another shriek followed, then a series of chaotic noises, and the line went dead.

I quickly tried to call back, but no one answered. What happened? What was going on over there?

"Something’s wrong! We need to go, now!" I said.

We rushed to the school gate. Second Master Wei had already contacted Su Feiyong, and a car was waiting. We jumped in. I kept dialing Su Yi’s number, but it never rang through.

"Second Master, can we call the hotel?" I asked immediately.

Su Feiyong, who was driving, blurted out a number. I paused for a beat, then immediately dialed it. It took two attempts before someone answered.

"Hello? Who is this?" a woman’s voice asked.

"Two female students checked into your hotel under the name Su Yi. How are they doing?" I asked directly.

The person on the other end paused. "What? Did those two girls do something wrong? That has nothing to do with us—"

"I’m their classmate. How are they? Are they alright?" I interrupted.

The woman seemed to relax. "They’re fine. What could possibly be wrong—hey, why has it been so noisy upstairs for a while now? What’s going on?"

I felt a jolt of alarm and shouted, "Don't go up there!"

The woman seemed startled. "Wh-what’s wrong?"

"Don't go up! None of you go up! People could get killed! They have intermittent mental illness! Just wait, we’re on our way!"

The woman sounded terrified and kept agreeing. If they were truly in trouble, it was definitely not a normal situation.

Su Feiyong drove at top speed and we quickly arrived at the hotel. It wasn't a large building. As soon as we stepped out of the car, we heard a frantic, chaotic clamor coming from upstairs. The manager and his wife were sitting behind the counter, looking anxious, but clearly, they had heeded my warning and hadn't gone up.

Seeing us arrive, they stood up quickly. The proprietress said, "You must be the students who called earlier. What is going on? Thank goodness there aren't many people in the hotel today!"

"Intermittent mental illness. An episode. We’re going up now, it’ll be fine," I said.

We asked for the room number, grabbed the key, and rushed upstairs. The room number didn't really matter; the chaotic noise was so jarring that it was impossible to tell what was happening.

We reached the door and I used the key to open it. Second Master Wei kicked it wide open. A bone-chilling coldness wafted out from the room, and my heart sank.

Su Yi was clawing at her own throat, slamming into things, her expression one of agony, her actions frantic and completely uncontrollable. Xiao Qingwan was desperately gripping her hands, trying to stop her. Xiao Qingwan was quite strong for a girl, but she couldn't restrain Su Yi at all, only barely preventing her from self-mutilation.

Tu'e stepped forward instantly, tapping a finger on Su Yi’s forehead. Su Yi’s expression froze, then her eyes closed and she collapsed backward. Tu'e caught her around the waist and laid her on the bed.

Xiao Qingwan, still shaken, gasped for air. "You finally made it. I tried every method I could think of, but nothing worked. If you had been any later, I wouldn't have been able to hold her back."

I looked at Su Yi on the bed and breathed a sigh of relief. I called the hotel manager downstairs to let them know everything was under control and to tell them not to worry.

I turned to Xiao Qingwan. "What just happened?"

"Right when you called, Su Yi suddenly started screaming and tried to strangle herself. I couldn't stop her; it was exactly like what you just saw. The Yin energy on her is very heavy. I tried paper charms and incantations, but they had no effect," Xiao Qingwan said helplessly.

I asked again, "Why did you suddenly leave the school? Didn't she refuse to leave the dorms?"

Xiao Qingwan looked even more frustrated. "She got more and more scared, saying she didn't dare stay at school. She was afraid she would be the next one, that she would jump off a building too. She insisted on coming out to stay somewhere else. I had no choice but to bring her to the hotel for the night. I never expected this to happen."

She was afraid she would be the next one. This matter was indeed inseparable from her. What exactly was she hiding from us?