Is Xu Qin still alive?
Or perhaps the question should be, who is this Xu Qin now?
The real name of the original “Dreamer of Luo River” in the Cat Paw backend verification wasn’t Xu Qin.
Both “Xu Qin” and “Dreamer of Luo River” are just names of Douyin accounts, essentially stage names.
Shi Pengpeng had witnessed the ritual in the Ling Palace of Biannan where Zhao Xiwen attempted to possess Yan Jing’s body.
At that time, Yan Jing was laid in a coffin with copper coins covering his face.
She felt that this Xu Qin now was likely no longer the original Dreamer of Luo River.
This would also explain why the once bold and daring “borderline man” suddenly became reserved and refused to continue being the “male Bodhisattva.”
Someone capable of possessing another’s body must possess considerable skills, and their status on the Longevity Island must also be quite high.
Letting people casually touch his abs would be too demeaning.
Shi Pengpeng took out a tracking incense stick and lit it.
The smoke drifted and quickly dissipated, finding no trace of Xu Qin.
This further confirmed that Xu Qin was indeed problematic.
He must have some method to conceal his aura, and his cultivation level was so high that even Shi Pengpeng initially didn’t notice anything unusual.
Where has Xu Qin gone, and how can we find him now?
Just then, Yan Jing spoke up, “He should still be in the hotel…”
For this Cat Paw Night, he had specially approved so many spots for Yu Tian Culture, not as a favor but to cooperate with the relevant departments in preparing for an arrest operation.
The higher-ups were determined to round up all the involved influencers from Yu Tian, and Cat Paw Night was the best opportunity.
It would also serve as a warning to other companies attempting to use the Cat Paw platform for illegal activities.
The area around the hotel had already been cordoned off by special police.
Concerned that Yu Tian might also have methods from the Longevity Island, they had called in some members of the mystical community, including Yin Zong, to provide support outside.
All the Yu Tian personnel present today were under surveillance.
If anyone left, there would surely be news.
Since there was no movement from the special police or the mystical community, Xu Qin should still be in the hotel.
But where exactly?
Shi Pengpeng’s mind raced, and she thought of Yu Tian’s real boss.
She asked, “Did Ouyang Jue book a room in the hotel? What’s the room number?”
Yan Jing had also thought of this and had already asked Wei Chi to check.
He instructed Wei Chi to coordinate with the special police while he took Shi Pengpeng towards the elevator: “It’s the presidential suite on the top floor.”
Entering the elevator, Yan Jing pressed the button for the top floor, but his other hand still held onto Shi Pengpeng’s.
Their hands were clasped together.
Although it wasn’t the first time, Shi Pengpeng felt inexplicably uneasy, especially since it wasn’t an emergency situation…
She tried to pull her hand back, but Yan Jing wouldn’t let go, instead gripping it tighter.
Shi Pengpeng: “?”
She whispered a reminder, “ST…”
“I know,” Yan Jing interrupted her, calmly saying, “I’m doing it on purpose.”
Shi Pengpeng fell silent, quietly preparing to form a hand seal, when Yan Jing calmly added, “I’m fully conscious now, not influenced by any evil spirits.”
Shi Pengpeng: “……”
She decided to grab his restless hand, open his palm, and draw a series of symbols on it with her vermilion lipstick.
Yan Jing found it amusing: “What, don’t you believe me?”
Shi Pengpeng, too embarrassed to admit she was just trying to distract herself, put away her lipstick and said nonchalantly, “There might be danger later. Let me draw a protective talisman for you.”
“Ding” The elevator doors opened.
Yan Jing’s brows immediately furrowed, and his keen senses detected an unusual aura.
“Be careful!” Shi Pengpeng shouted softly, stepping in front of him in a flash.
Yan Jing was startled to see a strange black shadow suddenly appear at the other end of the corridor.
The shadow was composed of densely packed black dots, resembling a swarm of mosquitoes on a summer evening or a black sandstorm, swirling toward them at an alarming speed.
In the blink of an eye, the shadow had reached the middle of the corridor, almost upon them.
Shi Pengpeng pointed her fingers, and two yellow talismans flew out.
A massive spell unfolded, forming an invisible shield that collided with the shadow.
The air vibrated with a dull hum.
In the next moment, the talismans spontaneously combusted, turning to ash.
The shadow was also forced back two meters before landing on the ground and transforming into a stunningly beautiful woman with a graceful figure.
Shi Pengpeng was shocked: “It’s you!”
The woman was none other than Liu Ruyan, the book blogger who had just been taken by Meng Zhen to be offered to Ouyang Jue.
Liu Ruyan’s face was stained with blood, and her long skirt had been torn into a more practical short skirt.
Shi Pengpeng frowned: “What are you?”
Liu Ruyan exuded an ominous aura, but it was neither ghostly nor demonic.
The shadow she had transformed into was also bizarre, somehow evading the talisman’s capture.
Liu Ruyan didn’t answer.
Instead, she glanced at the floating talisman ashes and sneered, “Another demonic Taoist.”
With that, her figure flickered like a ghost, instantly appearing in front of Shi Pengpeng.
Her blood-red nails suddenly elongated, aiming for Shi Pengpeng’s neck.
Shi Pengpeng reacted swiftly, sidestepping the vicious strike and countering with an elbow aimed at Liu Ruyan’s shoulder.
But she hit nothing.
Liu Ruyan’s shoulder shifted, turning into a shadow that dodged the attack in a flash.
She scoffed coldly, “Hmph… Ah!!”
Shi Pengpeng wasn’t one to stop at a single move.
As she retracted her elbow, her knee shot toward Liu Ruyan’s stomach.
“How dare you!” Liu Ruyan roared, unleashing even greater strength and speed.
“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”
In moments, the two had exchanged over a dozen blows.
The more Shi Pengpeng fought, the stranger she found Liu Ruyan’s transformations and powers.
Her strength was unusually formidable, making it difficult to gain the upper hand.
Yet, neither her powers nor her transformations were familiar.
Shi Pengpeng had never encountered anything like it and was unsure how to counter it with talismans.
Liu Ruyan, too, seemed surprised by Shi Pengpeng’s tenacity and grew increasingly impatient.
Her eyes flicked toward Yan Jing, and a bloody smile curled her lips:
“Mr. Yan, I hear you’re an unawakened ‘Unwithering Bone.’ I wonder if I can use…”
With that, she dodged another of Shi Pengpeng’s attacks, seized an opening, and transformed back into the shadowy swarm, lunging toward Yan Jing.
Yan Jing indeed gasped in shock, the veins on his right hand bulging as he clenched his fist and swung it out.
The shadowy figure didn’t even bother to dodge.
“A mere mortal dares to challenge me? Hehe… Ah!!!”
“Qilin, descend—” Yan Jing chanted, his fist loosening to reveal the Qilin talisman that Shi Pengpeng had drawn in the elevator just moments ago.
The roar of a beast echoed, and Liu Ruyan, caught completely off guard, was struck head-on by the fierce Qilin’s spiritual power.
Fortunately, her reflexes were incredibly sharp.
At the last moment, the shadow dispersed like fine sand, narrowly avoiding the full brunt of the Qilin talisman’s force.
Even so, some of the “sand” was caught by the invisible beast, vanishing into thin air in an instant.
Liu Ruyan’s furious voice reverberated through the air:
“Damn those marketing accounts! I’ll kill them!!”
Wasn’t Yan Jing supposed to be untrained and cowardly?
Objectively speaking, Yan Jing’s spiritual power was far inferior to Shi Pengpeng’s.
But Liu Ruyan, deceived by the marketing accounts, had underestimated him, and as a result, she suffered a heavy blow.
The remaining black “sand” drifted and scattered, eventually gathering on the other side of the hallway, reforming into Liu Ruyan’s figure.
She now bore several wounds, though they didn’t bleed.
Her once immaculate hairstyle was disheveled, strands of hair falling around her strikingly beautiful face, giving her a somewhat decadent allure.
Her eyes had turned a blood-red, glaring menacingly at the two ahead.
A low, guttural growl emanated from her throat as she hissed, “Since it’s come to this, don’t blame me for going on a killing spree!”
Her crimson lips parted, releasing a beast-like roar.
A flash of cold light revealed two long, sharp fangs growing from her mouth.
Shi Pengpeng, realizing the truth, was even more astonished: “You’re a vampire?!”
No wonder she couldn’t discern Liu Ruyan’s origins.
Vampires were creatures from Europe, and they had never been introduced to the country before.
They had been briefly mentioned in the extracurricular classes at Liangyi Academy, but due to the lack of practical research, they remained an unfamiliar concept to the local mystical community.
It was said that vampires were cursed beings, originally corpses that rose from graves but lacked souls.
They were neither dead nor alive, surviving by drinking blood and were known as the Blood Clan, considered immortal beings.
Vampires themselves couldn’t reproduce, but they could turn others into vampires by biting them and injecting their blood into the victim’s body.
Liu Ruyan no longer hid her fangs, the hallmark of a vampire, and her spiritual power surged as she pounced on Shi Pengpeng like a wild beast.
In the next moment, the Four Symbols Talisman Array rose, trapping her within.
“Ahhh” Liu Ruyan let out a piercing scream, transforming back into a shadow and slipping out of the array like smoke.
The yellow talismans at the four corners burst into flames, turning to ash.
Liu Ruyan reappeared like a ghost, sneering, “Is that all you’ve got?”
Shi Pengpeng remained calm, dodging her attacks while swiftly forming hand seals.
One after another, yellow talismans flew out, targeting Liu Ruyan.
But they always fell just short.
Yan Jing was frantic.
He was no longer a novice in the mystical arts and could see that Shi Pengpeng was struggling.
In the past, even if Shi Pengpeng wasn’t entirely familiar with vampires, her formidable skills would have been enough to subdue Liu Ruyan.
But now, with her spiritual meridians damaged, her control over talismans wasn’t as precise as before.
While this wasn’t as noticeable when dealing with ordinary spirits, against someone like Liu Ruyan…
The problem became apparent when faced with such a powerful and unfamiliar species.
At this moment, Yan Jing once again regretted studying the Daoist arts too late and having too shallow a cultivation.
He had just used the Qilin Talisman Technique once and couldn’t gather enough cultivation energy in a short time.
He didn’t dare to approach recklessly, fearing he might end up being a hindrance rather than help.
He could only quickly take out his phone to call for reinforcements.
The battle between Shi Pengpeng and Liu Ruyan had reached a fever pitch.
Unlike the local definition of ghosts, vampires were neither human nor ghost, lacking a soul.
Thus, the Qilin Talisman had limited effect on her.
The most effective talisman technique would have been the sharp and fierce Talisman blade, but given Shi Pengpeng’s current condition, she couldn’t use it again.
“Roar “
With a roar from the vampire, an Evil-Slaying Talisman failed and burned.
This time, the cursed race had the upper hand.
Her power wasn’t completely neutralized, and the residual force surged like a raging wave toward Shi Pengpeng.
Shi Pengpeng’s qi and blood churned violently.
She hastily retreated, stepping back until she reached the elevator, with no further room to retreat.
Just then, a “ding” sounded behind her, and the elevator doors opened.
“Holy crap, is this a vampire? She’s really powerful! But you’re not local, are you? Did you enter the country legally or sneak in? The Dao follows nature, the universe is boundless-”
Xiao Lingshu quickly finished an Evil-Breaking Incantation, “Command!”
An invisible force rose like a sudden gust of wind, finally neutralizing Liu Ruyan’s residual power at the critical moment.
Xiao Lingshu patted his chest, “Whew, that scared me! Senior Sister, are you okay?”
He had just received a message from Yan Jing about a vampire on the top floor and rushed up in a hurry.
Fortunately, he was fast enough to help his senior sister in time!
This was also Xiao Lingshu’s first time seeing a living vampire, and he felt a bit unsure.
Thankfully, he wasn’t completely clueless.
He looked at the beautiful and slender vampire before him, but there was no pity in his eyes-only a sinister thought about what he needed to do next:
“Vampire, look at this!”
As he spoke, Xiao Lingshu pulled out a yellow mesh bag commonly seen in markets.
Liu Ruyan glanced at it, and her eyes widened instantly, “Garlic!!”
“That’s right, garlic!” Xiao Lingshu sneered.
He had just happened to pass a kitchen cart on his way up pure luck.
He immediately took out a clove and threw it at Liu Ruyan, “Hahaha, tremble, vampire!”
But then, Liu Ruyan opened her blood-red mouth and roared, spitting the garlic back at him, “I hate garlic and cilantro the most!”
She decided then and there to change her name to Reborn Liu Ruyan (No Garlic or Cilantro).
Xiao Lingshu: “???”
Wait, this wasn’t what he had learned!
Shi Pengpeng rolled her eyes and said helplessly, “Xiao Lingshu, how many times have I told you? Study the textbooks, don’t learn from TV and marketing accounts!”
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