As if pulled by invisible threads, five yellow talismans whistled through the air, flying toward Song Yuli. They struck five specific points on her body and adhered firmly.
The moment the talismans touched her, they seemed to be scorched by an unseen fire, sending thin wisps of black smoke curling from their centers.
With a sharp crack, the jade tablet resting on Song Yuli's forehead snapped clean in two.
At that exact moment, in a small shop not far from the Song family estate, a middle-aged man was staring at his phone, his face lighting up at the sight of a massive deposit. A second later, without any warning, he jerked forward and sprayed a large mouthful of blood across the screen. His body went rigid before he slumped heavily to the floor.
Screams immediately erupted, and the shop was plunged into chaos.
Back inside the Song family villa, the room was stunned into a deathly silence. Everyone, including Jiang Huai, looked on with eyes full of disbelief.
Old Mrs. Song was so captivated she nearly forgot to breathe. When she finally snapped out of it, she reached out with trembling hands, hovering them over the broken jade and the charred talismans. She seemed to be checking for some hidden mechanism or invisible wire.
Otherwise, how could those paper charms have flown onto the girl like that? And that jade it was genuine jade how could it have snapped in half just as the charms started smoking?
"Mom!"
Song Yongming frowned at his mother's behavior, but Master Lu seemed to take it as a cue. He suddenly regained his senses and shouted, "This is nothing but a trick! Old Mrs. Song, don't let yourself be fooled!"
Those who made a living through deception always had a few flashy skills up their sleeves.
Even the tongues of flame he had produced earlier were a trick he had practiced privately for years.
He refused to believe that a girl who barely looked like an adult could truly possess such profound abilities. If she really was some kind of master, he'd eat filth while standing on his head today!
Just as Master Lu was thinking this, the expressions of the Song family members standing by the bed shifted dramatically. Even Old Mrs. Song, who had been searching for tricks, widened her eyes in shock.
Master Lu's heart skipped a beat. He looked toward the bed and saw that the Song family's daughter, who had been in a comatose state for days, had actually… opened her eyes!
She was awake?!
"Li'er!" Mrs. Song was the first to cry out, her usual elegant composure replaced by a voice thick with tears.
Song Yongming rushed to the bedside, his face tense with anxiety. "Li'er, how are you feeling?"
Song Yuli's eyes were filled with the hazy confusion of someone just waking up from a long nap. "Mommy? Daddy?"
She noticed the third figure. "Grandma is here too."
She clearly didn't understand why her parents and grandmother were all crowding around her bed after she had simply taken a nap.
As she looked around the room, her eyes went wide. There were so many people in her bedroom.
Her beautiful eyes darted around until they landed on Guan Xuxu. Song Yuli blinked, a happy spark lighting up her face. "It's the Doggie Big Sister!"
Everyone in the room froze, looking utterly baffled. Mrs. Song's face flushed with embarrassment. "Li'er, don't be rude. This is Big Sister Xuxu."
The girl gave a silly, innocent giggle. Seeing that his daughter was back to her usual self, the tension finally drained from Song Yongming's face.
"Master Guan, is Li'er going to be all right now?"
Guan Xuxu shook her head. The couple felt their hearts drop instantly. Was she not cured yet?
Guan Xuxu explained, "I have forcibly broken the other party's life-borrowing technique. The sorcerer has suffered a Backlash, so they won't be able to strike at Miss Song again for now. However, they tricked her into signing a life-borrowing covenant. We must find them and burn that contract. Otherwise, if they find another practitioner, they can use that document to cast the spell and steal her lifespan again at any time."
Hearing that Li'er was still in danger, the parents felt their hearts tighten again. Mrs. Song pulled her daughter into a tight embrace, instinctively trying to shield her.
Song Yongming no longer harbored a shred of doubt regarding Guan Xuxu's abilities. His expression turned grim. "I've already had people investigate the surveillance footage from the time Li'er went missing, but we found nothing. I can keep searching, but I'm worried it will take too long. If in that time..."
If the culprit found another sorcerer to finish the job, he couldn't bear to see his daughter fall into a coma a second time.
He pleaded earnestly, "Master Guan, is there any other way to find the mastermind behind this? Please, as long as you can save my daughter, you can name any price for your reward."
Guan Xuxu thought for a moment. "It's not impossible."
As she spoke, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a White Rabbit Creamy Candy.
Guan Xuxu stepped forward and held the candy out to Song Yuli. Seeing the girl's eyes light up, Guan Xuxu gave a rare, gentle smile and spoke in a soothing tone. "Li'er, do you want to play a game with Big Sister? I'll give you a treat if you do."
Song Yuli looked at the White Rabbit Creamy Candy longingly, but she still tilted her head and looked at her mother for permission.
Mrs. Song nodded immediately. "Big Sister wants to play a game with you. Why don't you join her, Li'er?"
Seeing that her mother didn't object, Song Yuli's eyes crinkled into crescents. She took the candy and nodded vigorously at Guan Xuxu.
Guan Xuxu smiled faintly and took a thin red string from her bag, tying one end of it around the thumb Yuli had used to sign the contract.
Next, she pulled out a small cinnabar brush and quickly painted a tiny rune on the girl's thumb.
The onlookers watched in awe as the rune on Song Yuli's thumb flashed with a faint golden light the moment Guan Xuxu finished the final stroke. The light traveled down the red string, and a second later, the short length of cord suddenly stood upright as if being pulled by an invisible force, pointing straight in one direction.
Exclamations of shock filled the room.
Song Yuli's eyes went round as saucers, and she gasped in wonder. "Wow! I have magic!"
Guan Xuxu's lips curled slightly. "Li'er, stand up now and follow the direction the red string is pointing. The magic will lead you to a surprise."
Song Yuli's eyes sparkled even brighter. Forgetting everything else, she scrambled out of bed, eager to start.
Song Yongming and his wife understood immediately. They moved to follow her, and Song Yongming barked orders for all the bodyguards on standby in the villa to fall in.
Once he found the person who dared to target his daughter's life, he would make them pay a heavy price!
As the group headed downstairs, Song Yongming prepared to call for the cars, not knowing how far they would have to go. However, Guan Xuxu stopped him.
"There's no need for the cars. A small transport vehicle for getting around the estate is enough."
Mrs. Song looked confused, so Guan Xuxu elaborated. "Typical life-borrowing techniques involve placing one's own hair inside red envelopes filled with money and scattering them on the road. If a stranger picks up the money and spends it,
their lifespan is unconsciously drained. It's a method of casting a wide net; usually, it only steals a small amount of time, and the victim never notices. But Miss Song was clearly targeted specifically and forced into a formal covenant. This suggests the culprit knows her."
The moment Guan Xuxu finished speaking, Mrs. Song gasped, her eyes instantly turning red with unshed tears.
Her poor Li'er had been mentally disabled since an injury in her childhood. Her life was already more difficult than most, and yet someone had the audacity to target her lifespan!
It was as if they thought her daughter wasn't pitiful enough!
What kind of person could hold such a deep grudge against her child? They wouldn't even let a disabled girl live in peace!
The usually mild-mannered Song Yongming now wore a look of cold, predatory intensity. In an instant, his mind began racing through a list of every enemy his family had ever made.
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