Chapter 75 Paper Man
Chen Yinghe was very disappointed. This was not the result she wanted.
She thought that she might have been too serious, and that Tan Xiao's spell might have been just an accident. He was afraid that his exorcism would be ineffective, so he didn't dare to take responsibility for the matter.
After all, the other person is just a high school student like me.
Chen Yinghe smiled bitterly and said, "Alas, I'm leaving."
When Tan Xiao saw her put the talisman he gave her into her pocket, he didn't say anything.
Just as the evening self-study class started, Tan Xiao was doing his homework when his cell phone vibrated. He took a look and saw that it was an employee from Office 404.
[@南楚-谈晓谈Mr., the case you reported has been checked by the grid worker and there is nothing unusual. The studio was temporarily closed at night and we were unable to visit the people. I want to confirm whether the location is wrong? ]
Tan Xiao replied: [The address said by the person concerned should be correct.] He thought about Chen Yinghe's expression and wondered if it was really a snake or insect. It didn't seem like it, so [I'll go take a look tonight.]
On his way home, he just turned a corner and found himself at the studio, so he would get home only ten minutes late.
"Master, please accompany me to take a look." After the evening self-study, Tan Xiao and Kong Xuan took a detour and took a look near the studio. It was indeed as Lin Yang said, there was a bank on the first floor of the shopping mall, and there were not many people around at this point.
"Let's go straight up?" Tan Xiao walked towards the studio. The building was a bit old, but there were only a few floors so there was no elevator. Because it was temporarily closed at night, the lights were not turned on. As soon as he went up the stairs, Tan Xiao found that the sensor light was broken.
Then you have to use a mobile phone.
Before Tan Xiao took out his cell phone, the surroundings suddenly became bright.
Tan Xiao turned his head slowly. Yes, it was Kong Xuan who opened one of his five-colored divine lights. He hesitated to speak, and finally said, "Wow, it's really bright."
As Kong Xuan went upstairs, he said complacently: "Of course, this is an innate companion magic weapon, it moves according to my will."
That is to say, if Kong Xuan said, "Let there be light," there would be light immediately.
Very cool.
Tan Xiao found the third floor, where Chen Yinghe and his colleagues' studio was located. It had been open for many years, and the outer walls were covered with ivy. Tan Xiao looked at each room and found that fresh mugwort and calamus were hung on the doors.
Not long after the Dragon Boat Festival, it became an old custom to hang mugwort to ward off evil spirits. Calamus is shaped like a sword, also called a calamus sword, and is said to be able to slay evil spirits. In the past, both mugwort and calamus were hung, but in recent years, fewer people have hung calamus, and mugwort is still more common.
Maybe the people in the studio felt that mugwort was not effective enough, so they got some calamus.
Tan Xiao asked Kong Xuan to look inside, "The second room should be this one, right?"
Kong Xuan saw a painting hanging on the wall and said with certainty: "That is Chen Yinghe's self-portrait. This should be where she is."
Tan Xiao: “Oh oh!”
Tan Xiao felt strange after he finished speaking. Thinking back, the squad leader called him out during the day but didn't call Kong Xuan. How come Kong Xuan knew Chen Yinghe's name and appearance? He just said that he came with him to take a look.
Relying on your good hearing, you are eavesdropping...
Kong Xuan also realized that he had let the cat out of the bag, but he didn't feel guilty at all. His eavesdropping today was a special case!
He has been studying in the human world for a year, how could he not know that those students always like to call people out to confess their love!
Fortunately, Chen Yinghe just encountered a ghost.
Tan Xiao also glanced at the painting on the wall. Chen Yinghe's self-portrait was hung up as an excellent portrait assignment last time, but Tan Xiao couldn't seem to match it with her real self. He just glanced at it and then looked at every corner, sensing it carefully.
In the darkness of the studio, I could only see the portraits and plasters, which seemed to be swaying, which was a bit scary. However, sometimes you can't just look at the atmosphere, just like the shopping mall across the street. Although it was built on the execution ground and had little traffic, it was really just poorly managed...
"It seems that there is nothing wrong?" Tan Xiao said, "Master, what do you think? Are there any rats, snakes or anything like that?"
"There are some geckos." Kong Xuan took a look.
The four-legged snake is another name for the gecko. This building is relatively old and has ivy planted there. It is normal to have geckos. If it were a mouse, it would be easy to get rid of it, but geckos are beneficial insects.
After confirming that the gecko had not become a spirit, Kong Xuan urged, "Let's go, let's go back."
"Hmm..." Tan Xiao was a little more cautious. After all, judging from the situation updated this afternoon , Chen Yinghe was not the only one who felt something was wrong. "I'll ask the monitor tomorrow."
…
Chen Yinghe went to the studio, but because the studio was a mess during the day, it had to be closed for the night, so she only took her bag back.
When she got home, her parents were not at home, so Chen Yinghe set up her drawing board to practice. However, she did not sleep well last night, and she was still worried about the studio during the day. As she was drawing, Chen Yinghe's head began to nod.
A "crash" sound woke Chen Yinghe up instantly.
Looking closely, I saw that the paint was spilled.
Chen Yinghe's heart ached, "Ahhh, I should have known not to paint at home!!"
Compared to being difficult to clean, her paint is wow. Chen Yinghe screamed while cleaning up. Because she was too miserable, she didn't have time to think about it. She just thought that she accidentally touched it when she was taking a nap. After cleaning up, she was in no mood and no conditions to practice, so she just went to sleep.
Chen Yinghe fell asleep almost as soon as she touched the pillow, but she didn't know how long this sweet sleep lasted. There was another loud noise in the house, and she opened her eyes in a daze. This time she really saw a paintbrush fall from the table to the ground without any wind.
"Bang."
The moment the paintbrush fell to the ground, Chen Yinghe also jumped up from the bed. Why did this happen? He followed her back from the studio? !
At this moment, she didn't care whether it was useful or not. She took out the talisman from her bag and said, "I'm telling you, I got the talisman from the temple! If you come again, I won't be a pushover! I'll fight you!"
It’s no wonder that the talisman with “Peacock is here” written on it really works. The arrogant movement stopped immediately.
...It seems that I have to tell Tan Xiao later that you are actually quite good.
Chen Yinghe leaned back weakly, reached for her phone, rummaged in her bag, and opened the velvet bag containing the tarot cards. She suddenly had a very strong feeling and couldn't help but draw a card from it.
Look down at the cards.
Chariot.
Chen Yinghe felt her heart sink to the bone. It was the same card that Yu Zhenzhen had drawn for her. She tightly grasped the talisman and trembled as she called Yu Zhenzhen, but Yu Zhenzhen's phone was turned off at this time. She grabbed her bag and left the house. She didn't feel relieved until she reached the 24-hour fast food restaurant. She decided to stay there for the night.
…
Compared to Yu Zhenzhen, Tan Xiao knew earlier that Chen Yinghe must have encountered trouble, after all, Chen Yinghe used the talisman and chanted Kong Xuan's name. But Tan Xiao did not have Chen Yinghe's contact information, nor did he find Yu Zhenzhen.
This thing is likely to have followed Chen Yinghe. Fortunately, Chen Yinghe has a talisman on him. It is not a big problem if he cannot be contacted. Tan Xiao directly sent a message to the 404 office. They have a lot of information to call and will definitely be able to find Chen Yinghe's location.
There is naturally someone on duty at 404. Tonight it is Ah Jin. He has now passed the internship period and his head has grown out, but it is not fully grown yet, so he has been wearing a mask.
A Jin locked onto Chen Yinghe's location and discovered that she was in a fast food restaurant. He checked the surveillance footage and found that the girl was fast asleep on a chair.
"Spiritual Master, it seems that nothing is wrong. Let her have a good rest tonight. You go to sleep first. I'll keep an eye on the surveillance. Tomorrow, I'll talk to her and then take her to find you. How about that?" A Jin said very skillfully.
"Okay, good night." Tan Xiao yawned. It was getting late. If he wasn't Teacher Liu Qingquan, he shouldn't play the game of working cases for 24 hours. He should get enough sleep first.
The next day, when Chen Yinghe woke up, she saw a man in a suit and a mask sitting on the chair next to her. He had a plate with his order number in his hand and smiled at her: "Are you up? Do you want to eat?"
Chen Yinghe sat up quickly with a unhappy expression. He thought, "You pervert, are you teasing your students?"
But the other party stopped her with one sentence: "I know you encountered dirty things again last night."
Chen Yinghe sat back immediately: "Master, please speak."
"Haha, I'm not a master. The one I'm going to take you to see is a master." A Jin said happily, "In order to prevent you from being afraid that I'm part of a trafficking group, I'll show you my ID. Also, please go to the official website of the Nanchu Municipal Government and click the link at the bottom to enter our office website to check my ID number."
Chen Yinghe had actually believed it when he said the second sentence, but after he finished explaining the verification process, Chen Yinghe became a little worried that she might have been too credulous. Fortunately, this was not a bad person.
"Is there a master who wants to see me?" Chen Yinghe thought to himself, what on earth did I bump into?
"Yeah, let's eat something and go." At this time, the waiter just came to deliver the food.
After eating, A Jin took Chen Yinghe out. He kept a distance, which made Chen Yinghe look at him twice. Seeing that he was still wearing a mask, was he sick and afraid of infecting others?
The place they were going to was probably not far away, so the man in the suit took her on foot to an old street.
Chen Yinghe saw that the man in the mask and suit didn't say a word. She was curious but didn't dare to ask more questions. She had already constructed a complete worldview in her mind: I might be entangled by something powerful, so the master who controls the dark world of this city... No, he seems to be an official. Then, the office director who controls the principles and disciplines of this city decided to save me, and my fate will go to another path from now on...
As an artist, the scenes in her mind are even presented in the form of comics, and the storyboards are quite cool.
While she was imagining this, she was brought to a self-built courtyard. The antique wooden door was completely in line with the style of the painting that Chen Yinghe had just conceived.
The man in the suit knocked on the door, and the wooden door opened, revealing the whole world behind it. Chen Yinghe looked at it excitedly. It was...
Um?
Is it the red anti-fraud and anti-superstition slogans, the signs of "Civilized Family" and "Folk Culture Tourism Demonstration Site", or is it Tan Xiao who is still brushing his teeth? !
Chen Yinghe: “???”
Ah Jin said, "This is the master... oh no, the spiritual master." He then said to Tan Xiao, "Spiritual master, I brought classmate Chen here."
What on earth was going on? Chen Yinghe was pulled into the yard by A Jin in a daze: "You...I...you clearly said that it was a show!"
"I also said that I can't accept orders privately - I have to go through official channels." Tan Xiao said helplessly, "Classmate, please understand that I can't openly talk about exorcism in school. The teacher will scold me."
Chen Yinghe: “…”
What? You are still afraid of the teacher...Oh yes, you are a student too.
"Let me brush my teeth and then I'll tell you in detail." Tan Xiao ran back and continued brushing his teeth.
Just when Chen Yinghe felt that her brain was not enough, her cell phone rang. It was Yu Zhenzhen calling. She saw Chen Yinghe's record and asked, "Xiaohe, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?"
As if all his emotions had found an outlet, Chen Yinghe said, "I, I'm fine, but do you know that classmate of yours, Tan Xiao, is a spiritual master?!"
Ah Jin raised his index finger and whispered, "Hey, classmate, don't talk about this casually. We also have regulations in the 404 Office." The 404 Office has regulations specifically for ordinary citizens like this, which include a certain degree of confidentiality.
Chen Yinghe was a little flustered. Oh, she couldn’t say it, but she had just said it.
Yu Zhenzhen on the other end of the phone was already smiling and saying, "Xiao He, are you confused in your sleep? Did I tell you that Tan Xiao is a spiritual master? Yes, he is a spiritual master, and his family has been spiritual masters for generations."
Chen Yinghe: “…”
Okay, even if we ask her to talk now, she can’t explain the relationship between these nesting dolls!
When Tan Xiao finished washing up and came out refreshed, he said, "Let's talk upstairs. My mother is still sleeping."
Upon hearing this, Chen Yinghe looked at Tan Chunying's room in awe. Who was that boss?
Entering Tan Xiao's study, Chen Yinghe discovered that there was a handsome guy sitting inside, doing homework in the early morning. She pointed at him in confusion, "Who is this?" He doesn't look like Tan Xiao at all.
"This is my classmate, he's studying early in the morning." Tan Xiao didn't explain why his classmate was studying at his home so early in the morning, so he sat down and chatted, "We sent someone to the studio to check, and found nothing unusual, but something similar to that night happened to you, right?"
Chen Yinghe didn't know how he knew it, and nodded vigorously: "Yeah! Am I being pestered?"
Tan Xiao took notes and said, "Most likely. It's okay. I'll solve it for you by the weekend. You can take a rest at my house and tell your parents. Can we find a place to start at 8 o'clock in the evening?"
Chen Yinghe was also a little confused about the time: "I can understand doing it at night, as the yin energy is heavier, but why is it eight o'clock?" It's not particularly late, isn't it usually done in the early morning?
"No, I still have a lot of test papers to finish." Tan Xiao said quite depressed.
Chen Yinghe: “…Okay, okay.”
Chen Yinghe called home and said she was out painting, and then spent almost the whole day in Tan Xiao's study reading. She actually had a lot of questions, but she didn't dare to disturb Tan Xiao because he was studying so hard. She just couldn't help but complain in her heart, "You're the representative of the physics class?"
She was reading a book, while Tan Xiao and the handsome classmate Kong Xuan were doing their homework together. Only the man in a suit and mask took out his laptop and worked seriously, looking like a workplace elite.
When pouring water to drink, Chen Yinghe passed behind the man in the suit and found that his screen was green. Her first reaction was, stocks?
Take a closer look, wow, there are books on it.
Chen Yinghe was also introduced to Tan Chunying as a classmate who came home to do homework together. She and Kong Xuan had a meal at Tan Xiao's house. However, during the meal, the man in the suit neither ate nor took off his mask, which made people even more curious.
After eating, Chen Yinghe walked around the house to digest her food, touching her bloated stomach. She saw a calendar on the wall, but people usually don't use mobile phone calendars anymore. She also saw a date circled in red. She wanted to ask what it meant, but Tan Xiao went to pack up.
Kong Xuan was the only one left in the room. He glanced at the calendar, which was drawn by Tan Chunying. Because Tan Xiao's family celebrated birthdays according to the lunar calendar, Tan Chunying would draw the dates on the calendar every time she bought a new one. Her memory was not very good.
After Kong Xuan moved in, although the dates were easy to remember, Tan Xiao still symbolically circled the first day of the Lunar New Year.
Kong Xuan couldn't help but flip through the calendar. When he turned to the first day of the new year, he confided, "He circled this. It's my birthday."
Chen Yinghe was choked. Okay, you’re a bad couple, right? Who asked you that?
Chen Yinghe said dryly: "Oh, so the circle just now was his birthday?"
Kong Xuan fell into deep thought: "Well, his birthday is coming soon..."
Chen Yinghe was so afraid that he would continue to show off.
"Let's go!" Fortunately, Tan Xiao shouted outside and called the two people out.
Watching Tan Xiao close the gate, Chen Yinghe wondered, "I have a question, why can't we do it at your house?" We have to go out and find another place, Tan Xiao's house is obviously very big. The reason why we didn't go to her house was because her parents were at home tonight, and they didn't believe in such things at all, and they were afraid of wasting time and effort.
"My mom is at home too. She's cleaning the house tonight." Tan Xiao looked at her puzzled expression and explained, "My mom doesn't know I can catch ghosts."
"...OK!" Chen Yinghe's lifelong speechlessness was about to be used up here. What made her most sad was that she couldn't tell Yu Zhenzhen yet. She really hoped that Yu Zhenzhen would be able to discover it herself one day.
They walked directly to Chen Yinghe's studio. Chen Yinghe said that this was their studio teacher's own house and the second floor had not been rented out yet. Since she had helped clean the house, she had the key and was quite suitable to do business here.
After arriving, she ran into her classmates downstairs. When they saw her with three handsome guys, they asked, "What kind of family is it to hire three models at once?" They looked around with envy and asked, "It must have cost a lot of money, right?"
“It’s so precious!!”
…
When I got to the second floor and turned on the lights, I saw that several rooms were connected. They used to be used as offices, but now they are empty with only some desks and chairs.
"Let's get started. I'll drive away the evil spirits for you." Tan Xiao planned to call the dirty creature that was pestering Chen Yinghe out for a chat. He first pasted a few "borrowing land" talismans on the doors and windows here to prevent any noise from scaring the students in the studio upstairs.
Then Tan Xiao took out all the props from his bag, lit incense and candles, burned yellow paper, and drew circles with the paper ash. His movements were so smooth that Chen Yinghe wanted to draw a quick sketch. But she had to hold back and stood in the east of the circle as Tan Xiao instructed.
He had only finished half of the painting and had not yet invited the guests when he heard the door open.
The noise really sounded like someone pushing the door, but because the door was locked, it couldn't be opened immediately.
Tan Xiao paused and asked slowly, "Who's outside?"
Chen Yinghe was quite familiar with this place. She was sure that this was not the sound of a door opening from the outside. She said with trembling lips, "It should be said, who is inside." This was clearly the sound of a door opening from the inside.
Tan Xiao turned around quickly and looked towards the area at the door. He was clearly lurking beside him?
So what is “it” going out to do now?
“Crack.”
The latch was fiddled with, but failed to open; the man seemed a little clumsy.
Then the office chair began to move, sliding across the empty room. Because it had been there for so long, the sound was so piercing that it made one's teeth ache.
The office chair slid halfway, then suddenly accelerated and slammed into the door!
Chen Yinghe's heart also beat wildly along with the sound.
"Stand back, don't move." Tan Xiao's voice soothed Chen Yinghe. He pinched his fingers and shouted, "The incense smoke is blowing, and the ghosts and gods are startled. No nameless people are taken at the altar. The Peacock God has come here in person, and all things in the world must report their names!"
The cigarette and candle flames burned more and more fiercely. With a snap of Kong Xuan's fingers, the smoke made two long bends and wrapped around the invisible object at the door, making it gradually appear. First, it was a human face with a black and white turban on the head, but below the neck, it was actually the body of a lion.
“?” Even Tan Xiao was stunned for a moment. What is this, a sphinx?
Tan Xiao said strangely: "Is this a foreign-related case?" Then he didn't know the specific handling procedures, and whether he needed to call someone in.
The sphinx licked its paw and said softly, "What a pity! How can I be a foreigner? I am Chinese."
It took Tan Xiao a few seconds to realize that it seemed to be speaking in dialect, just like seeing a person licking his paw, which was a bit uncomfortable, "Uh, what's going on."
He looked at Kong Xuan in confusion, and Kong Xuan also looked disgusted, but still assessed: "Not angry."
There is no breath of life, which means that this is not a real living monster, but its origin is also unknown.
The others didn't understand, but Chen Yinghe's mind suddenly buzzed, and she took out her tarot cards from her bag. The top card was really the "Chariot" that she had drawn today. Because it was a Chinese version of the novice card, it not only had a Chinese name on it, but also several key words in the middle of the card.
More importantly, there was supposed to be a warrior on the card driving a chariot pulled by two sphinxes, one white and one black. However, the white sphinx, which symbolizes "compassion", disappeared from the card, leaving it empty.
The warrior in helmet seemed to blink his left eye under Chen Yinghe's dull gaze.
"Huh?"
Tan Xiao asked in amazement, "The spirit of things, the paper man on the card?"
Okay, you are in my book!
Unlike Tan Xiao who was still in a state of surprise, Chen Yinghe threw the cards away as if she had a burning coal in her hand. Although she prayed every day for the paper man to come back to life, she was talking about her husbands and wives instead of her cards.
After throwing the card, she hid behind A Jin. She knew that Tan Xiao was a master, but her first reaction was to find this person who looked like an adult as a shield. Besides, Tan Xiao looked like he wanted to fight, so she couldn't get in his way.
Ah Jin had never enjoyed this kind of priority when he was out on the field. Between Tan Xiao and Kong Xuan, Chen Yinghe actually chose him. Ah Jin was flattered and said, "Thank you, thank you."
You won't regret choosing me.
He took off the mask that Chen Yinghe had always been curious about. There was no mouth under the mask, only a data interface, spewing out data streams, and a blue shield appeared directly in front of him.
Chen Yinghe cried out in grief. Her worldview, which had been constantly shattered today, made her want to faint: "What the hell—"
A Jin wondered, why am I screaming so miserably, am I more terrifying than a lion with a human head?
