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It was noon, and the gloomy sky still hung overhead, with fine drizzle falling, bringing a coolness to the otherwise hot summer day. Outside the Fookang Apartment Hotel on Yangxin Road in Nanming City, three layers of checkpoints and yellow police cordons had been set up. The outermost layer was bustling with police officers, the middle layer was guarded by armed paramilitary soldiers, and the innermost layer was filled with burly men in black suits and sunglasses, who were stationed inside the hotel for security. The whole scene was tense and on edge.
An hour later, Colonel Hank Han drove his military jeep straight to the entrance of the Fookang Apartment Hotel. After showing his credentials, he was allowed to park right at the front gate.
As soon as the three got out of the car, Fiona Nangong and Quentin Easton came out to greet them. Fiona's eyes lit up when she saw Shawn Young, but her smile quickly faded when she noticed him holding Mai Kanda's hand so affectionately. She pouted, but still followed Quentin Easton forward. Fiona spoke directly to Shawn, "Why are you so slow? We’ve been waiting ages for you! You really know how to drag your feet!"
"Uh—Miss Nangong, we hurried as much as we could! You know it’s quite a distance from Dongyao Mountain to the city. Making it here in just over an hour is pretty fast!" Colonel Hank Han chimed in.
"Hmph! I wasn’t talking to you—why are you butting in? Seriously!" Fiona shot Colonel Han a glare, clearly annoyed. Especially seeing Shawn Young so cozy with Mai Kanda, her inexplicable jealousy flared up.
"Uh—fine, fine, pretend I didn’t say anything! I’ll just go cool off on my own!" Colonel Han, knowing Fiona’s status, was momentarily stunned by her words. Seeing her unhappy expression directed at Shawn, he realized her jealousy was kicking in. Women as beautiful as Fiona always had that ‘privilege.’ He shook his head, sighed, and stepped aside to smoke.
But Shawn Young wasn’t fazed by Fiona’s attitude. He said directly, "What’s the rush? I’m here now, aren’t I? Stop complaining so much—you’ll age faster! So, what’s going on? Fill me in!"
"You—what kind of attitude is that—" Fiona was so annoyed by Shawn’s nonchalant look that she nearly exploded.
"That’s just how I am! You know it! Seriously—so what’s happened here, Quentin? Can you tell me what’s going on?" Shawn ignored Fiona’s frustration and went straight to Quentin Easton for answers.
"Oh—we lost more than a dozen men, and there are still dozens injured. The wounds are really strange, and we haven’t figured out how to deal with them yet. You’d better go inside and see for yourselves. Samuel Morin is holding down the fort inside, while I’m out here keeping order. Sigh—the situation’s pretty serious!" Quentin Easton said solemnly.
"Alright! Let’s go check out what’s happening! Colonel Han, come on, let’s head in together!" Shawn greeted Colonel Han, then pulled Mai Kanda past Fiona Nangong and went straight into the hotel.
"Hmph—he’s such a jerk!" Fiona stomped her foot in frustration, but gritted her teeth and followed them in. Quentin Easton watched her back, shook his head, and chuckled bitterly before heading outside to check on things.
Shawn and the others made their way into the Fookang Apartment Hotel. Inside, aside from the tense guards from the three major clans—the Iron Gate black suits—Shawn saw dozens of police officers and black-suited men sprawled all over the hallway. Nearby, a group of doctors in white coats were gathered around a middle-aged man in a wheelchair, fiercely discussing something. That man was none other than Samuel Morin, his face dark and tense as he listened to the doctors’ chatter. The doctors all looked helpless, clearly stumped by the victims’ condition.
When Samuel Morin spotted Shawn and the others, his eyes lit up and his gloomy expression eased. He quickly rolled his wheelchair over and greeted them, "Shawn, you’re finally here! Things are looking bad for our brothers—dozens of them. All we know is they’ve been hit by some kind of dark sorcery, but we can’t figure out exactly what kind. Even these expert doctors can’t diagnose it, so we’re at a loss. Shawn, you’re a Taoist cultivator—maybe you can deal with this sorcery!"
"Let me take a look!" Shawn said, stepping forward to examine the wounded. He found that, besides some suffering severe external injuries, there were two strange symptoms—one group was hunched over, trembling uncontrollably, their minds clouded, eyes wide with terror as if they’d seen something horrifying, babbling nonsense. It was a pitiful sight!
The other group was stiff, expressionless, but breathing rapidly, eyes glazed, mouths twisted and drooling blackish saliva, while their throats emitted painful moans and wheezy coughs.
At the end of the hallway, a row of bodies covered with white sheets was neatly lined up. Obviously, these were the more than a dozen who’d died. Shawn walked up, lifted the sheet off one corpse, and saw a face swollen and black, eyes wide open in death.
Shawn paused, sensing something odd about the corpse. He squatted down, pressed on its throat, and the dead man’s tongue immediately stuck out, releasing a strange odor from his mouth. Shawn frowned and repeated the process on another corpse, but this time the smell was different.
The two corpses emitted two strange auras—one was a faint, ghostly energy, and the other a dark, sinister vibe. Mai Kanda sensed them even more acutely than Shawn, since she was especially familiar with one of them.
"Oh—this aura, it’s the Nine Chrysanthemums Society’s unique Soul Binding Curse! But the other strange aura—I don’t recognize it!" Mai Kanda said, frowning.
"That other aura belongs to the Eight-Armed Demon God, Iron Monkey! That means Samuel Morin must’ve been here!" Shawn blurted out, furrowing his brow.
"Shawn! So, have you figured out what kind of sorcery it is?" Samuel Morin wheeled forward anxiously.
"Yeah, we’ve got it—it’s my old rivals from the Nine Chrysanthemums Society and Iron Monkey Samuel Morin behind this mess! I can’t believe they’ve shown up again!" Shawn said, frowning.