Chuzheng found more than a dozen talismans on He Jin, but not the booklet; he probably didn’t bring it with him.
Chuzheng asked Du Pei to describe the key points on the talisman paper to He Jin, questioning him about what kind of talismans they were and what they were used for.
He Jin answered like a puppet on strings.
He Jin carried four types of talismans in total.
Two of them weren’t particularly useful.
The other two included one that could control others, like the girl from last time, and another meant for Shang Qi, which could evoke the dark side of a person’s heart.
——Ask him where the book is.
"What do you want to do?" Du Pei lowered his voice, glaring at the Little Cat in front of him.
That book doesn’t sound like a good thing!
——No matter whose hands it falls into, it’s bad news, so it should be destroyed.
Du Pei: "..."
I feel like you want to keep it for yourself?
He Jin was obviously sensitive about that book, even under hypnosis, he resisted, refusing to divulge where it was hidden.
Seeing that He Jin was about to wake up, Chuzheng swiftly cast out the Yin Xian to bind He Jin.
He Jin gradually calmed down again.
Du Pei was prepared to knock He Jin out again upon waking, having readied his weapon, but then He Jin calmed down again.
Something seems off here, doesn’t it?
Du Pei asked again this time, He Jin resisted for a while, but eventually spoke.
He had destroyed the book a long time ago, transferring all the data onto his phone.
Chuzheng: "..."
Du Pei: "..."
Chuzheng pulled out his phone, unlocked it with He Jin’s fingerprint, found the stored data, transferred it all to her phone, and then deleted it without leaving a backup.
Having asked almost everything they needed, Du Pei gestured to Chuzheng: "What now?"
——Call Shang Yucheng.
"Hm?"
Why call him?
Since Shang Yucheng condoned his daughter harming Shang Qi, she certainly owed some payback.
Does he really think the Good Person Card has no backing?
-
An accident occurred during Shang Qi’s tour, and it was reported in the news, involving a man acting like a lunatic who almost harmed a little girl.
The man’s behaviors were strange, completely unlike a normal person, more like a cat.
This incident caused quite an uproar, and attempts to suppress the news failed; they could only claim it was mental illness.
Using that explanation made it easier for everyone to understand.
Mental illness—imagining oneself as a dinosaur is normal.
Shang Shanyu was terrified, now hospitalized, scared at the sight of people. He Jin was detained, but due to his peculiar behavior, he had been transferred to a psychiatric hospital.
Shang Yucheng never expected the person he brought in to deal with that unlucky star would suddenly go berserk attacking his own daughter.
Deep inside, he felt both resentment and hatred.
If he had arrived just a little later, what kind of harm might Shang Shanyu have suffered? He couldn’t even bear to think about it!
Shang Yucheng wanted Shang Qi to share some of his ire, and He Jin surely wouldn’t escape it.
Du Pei watched the news, internally clicking his tongue repeatedly.
Du Pei glanced at Chuzheng beside him, whispering: "Little Crescent, aren’t you afraid of doing something like this..."
——What did I do?
The talismans were He Jin’s; she merely used the talisman paper on He Jin as a return gift for trying to deal with Shang Qi, just reciprocating the favor.
Did she do something?
Du Pei: "You..."
"Don’t get too close to her; she doesn’t like it." Shang Qi came out with desserts, interrupting Du Pei and Chuzheng.
Du Pei clicked and sat across with the desserts: "He Jin ended up in this situation, couldn’t be more deserved."
Shang Qi turned off the TV.
He Jin’s affair was indeed odd.
How did he suddenly become like that?
Du Pei: "Has Shang Yucheng tried to give you trouble?"
"No."
Shang Yucheng was still handling He Jin, too busy to bother him for now.
Du Pei: "It’s good timing, since you’re on a tour, getting away from here is nice. People like that are hopeless to reason with."
"Mm." Shang Qi didn’t plan to reason much with Shang Yucheng.
No matter what he did, it was always wrong to the Shang family.
The tour had temporarily more than a dozen performances, a good chance to leave here for a while.
However, Little Crescent...
Shang Qi was sure to take her with him; it’s just that being constantly on the move could be troublesome, and it was uncertain if she would adapt.
After sending off Du Pei, Shang Qi took out the talisman he had picked up earlier and laid it out before Chuzheng.
"Little Crescent, aren’t you going to explain what’s going on with all this?"
——Explain what?
Shang Qi said slowly: "If I guessed right, the blood on that handkerchief last time had something to do with this talisman, didn’t it? It didn’t work because you swapped the blood."
——Mm.
"Who exactly... are you?"
——Someone who won’t hurt you.
Shang Qi looked at Chuzheng, who was lying on the sofa, completely ignoring Shang Qi’s gaze.
After a moment, Shang Qi let out a breath: "So, are you human?"
Chuzheng: "... Did I say anything?"
Chuzheng glanced at the text she typed.
Alright.
——Sort of.
Upon seeing this answer, Shang Qi felt surprisingly unshaken deep down; perhaps Chuzheng behaved too much like a human that he had long ceased treating her as a cat.
Within his heart, a subtle joy also arose.
He wasn’t an outcast; what he loved was still a person, just that she existed in a different form.
Shang Qi looked earnestly: "Thank you." Thank you for appearing, to let me feel there still exists warmth in this world.
——You’re welcome.
Just don’t make me take a bath!
Yet, that night, she still couldn’t escape the fate of bathing.
Chuzheng’s fur was blown up wildly; she clawed at Shang Qi’s wrist.
——Don’t you find it time-consuming to blow my fur every day?
"Mm, it is indeed time-consuming." Shang Qi nodded in agreement: "But you won’t trim it..."
——Keep blowing!
How can I still look good if I end up bald?!
Even the highest looks can’t save a bald cat!
Shang Qi’s mouth curled upward slightly; he didn’t mind blowing Chuzheng’s fur, instead enjoying the feeling.
-
Chuzheng studied He Jin’s booklet in detail, and it largely matched what He Jin himself told her.
The final record in the booklet caught Chuzheng’s attention.
It seemed to be a method for turning a cat into a human.
Given that some mystical powers exist, enabling a cat to become human didn’t seem unreasonable.
However...
One condition required the faith of a thousand cats.
Simply put, it was a cultivation process, akin to enlightening masses of cats.
No shortcuts were available.
By the time she cultivated it, the grass on the Good Person Card’s grave would be two meters high.
While packing, Shang Qi said: "Can you come with me on the tour?"
——I’m not going.
Shang Qi never expected to be refused, stumbling over his words: "W... why?"
——I have other matters.
The main quest of the game is only fifty percent completed, with half remaining undone; why go, did you think I was free? I’m quite busy, okay!
"What kind of matters?" More important than me?
That question automatically flashed in Shang Qi’s mind, yet being too embarrassing, he didn’t ask it aloud.
——My business.
"Can’t you tell me?"
——It’s a bit complicated to explain, don’t want to say.
When Chuzheng said she’s not going, she’s not going. Shang Qi was disappointed but didn’t force it, leaving guards Xiao San and Xiao Si to care for Chuzheng.
He didn’t want to compel her into doing what she disliked.
Moreover, transportation was convenient now, making comings and goings actually fairly easy.
And taking her along might indeed inconvenience her...