Woof
After hesitating for a moment between going back to find He Zhouyan or returning home, Lu Congxing ultimately chose to leave. He walked until he reached a secluded corner where no one could see him, then high-ranking back into his human form. The clothes made from his demonic power seamlessly covered his body.
As a small dog, he could secretly absorb spiritual energy without worry—but after all, he wasn’t truly a dog and couldn’t do it naturally.
He took out his phone and called Di Jiang. Before long, a beat-up little car zigzagged its way to a stop in front of him.
“When I get famous, the first thing I’m doing is replacing this junk heap,” Di Jiang gritted his teeth.
“Okay,” Lu Congxing replied as he got into the car and started playing a match-three game.
He needed this kind of distraction to help him sort through the clues he had just gathered.
There was neither yin energy nor resentment in the kitchen, which meant the vengeful ghost had likely never entered it. But could the missing meat and the disappearance of the servant be connected?
However, there was genuine resentment lingering around Boss Xiang.
Meanwhile, Di Jiang kept chattering beside him, “The Shi family actually took a look at this case, but they couldn’t get rid of the ghost. I happened to run into them arguing with Boss Xiang that day, so I took the job myself. That bunch is always so damn arrogant—what a load of crap, those so-called prestigious exorcist families.”
“The Shi family?”
“Yeah, one of the four major exorcist clans,” Di Jiang nodded.
If even the Shi family couldn’t solve this, then things were definitely tricky.
Realizing this, Lu Congxing didn’t feel fear—on the contrary, a smirk appeared on his lips, a hint of challenge flashing beneath his seemingly well-behaved exterior.
The victory sound from his game rang out again.
Lu Congxing put his phone down. “Let’s go back again tomorrow.”
Something about this case felt off—an inexplicable sense of discord.
The vengeful ghost had only left resentment on Boss Xiang, not enough to be fatal, yet its actions were aggressive.
Even its eerie wailing at night was audible to ordinary people, which suggested that it had cultivated to a certain level. But despite that, it had never gone for the kill.
Was Boss Xiang not the real target? Was someone else actually being hunted?
Unconsciously, Lu Congxing reopened his game, watching the cute icons disappear one by one—as if clearing them would also erase the doubts in his mind.
Di Jiang, who had taken it upon himself to look after this young cub, was worried he might be overthinking things and changed the subject. “So, what exactly happened when you sneaked in?”
A sharp-browed, cold-eyed man surfaced in Lu Congxing’s mind again. But this time, the annoying sound of rain and the indifferent demeanor were gone. Instead, the image that remained was the man watching him with amusement.
Don’t look at me like that.
A strange sense of unease crept up his spine. Lu Congxing shook his head, trying to erase the memory.
There was no way he would ever tell anyone that he had turned into a puppy and ended up in that bad Bai Ze’s arms!
Under Di Jiang’s curious gaze, he simply glossed over the details and vaguely claimed he hadn’t seen Boss Xiang.
Di Jiang sighed regretfully. “What bad luck. Let’s go back again tomorrow.”
. . . . .
Having learned from their previous attempt, they finally managed to enter the residential area this time.
From a distance, they could see the butler waiting at the entrance. When he saw how young they were, a look of surprise flashed across his face.
He was well-educated and didn’t show any reaction in front of the two people. Instead, he respectfully led the way.
“Master, Master, you’ve finally arrived!” A slightly overweight man with a wealthy appearance stood up from the sofa and reached out his hand to the two people brought in by the butler.
“Hello, Boss Xiang,” Di Jiang extended his hand for a brief handshake. In an instant, his expression shifted—becoming serious, reliable, and somewhat mature.
Yet, the bright yellow hair on his head still carried an inexplicable air of frivolity.
Boss Xiang chuckled twice and looked them over. “Both masters are quite young.”
Di Jiang, an old hand at this, exchanged pleasantries with him. Meanwhile, as Boss Xiang was scrutinizing them, Lu Congxing also took the opportunity to size him up from a human perspective.
Those who studied exorcism would, to some extent, dabble in face reading. With just one look at Boss Xiang’s features, Lu Congxing could tell that he had an incredible stroke of luck—his fortune was built on coincidences. People like him were often labeled as nouveau riche.
Boss Xiang invited them to sit down but didn’t immediately bring up the matter of vengeful ghost.
Di Jiang knew that looking too young wasn’t an advantage in the exorcism business, so he deliberately acted more mature.
While the two conversed, Lu Congxing remained fixated on the yin energy lingering around Boss Xiang, lost in thought. He felt that the yin energy around him seemed unnatural, as if it hadn’t been directly tainted but rather came from another source.
Feeling uncomfortable under such a direct gaze, Boss Xiang wiped his sweat and was about to say something to Lu Congxing.
But before he could get a word out, Lu Congxing interrupted him and handed him a talisman meant to dispel yin energy.
He needed to use this to confirm something.
The moment Boss Xiang took the talisman, his eyes widened. He could immediately feel his fatigue lighten by more than half, and the tension that had gripped his nerves over the past few days eased significantly.
Instantly, he looked at Lu Congxing with newfound respect. “Master, how much for this talisman? I’d like to buy more.”
No longer daring to underestimate him, Boss Xiang’s gaze was filled with reverence, as if he were looking at an enlightened master from a hidden world.
Lu Congxing pulled out a few more and handed them over. “No charge.” These talismans were easy for him to make, so he usually gave them away as freebies to important clients.
Beside him, Di Jiang chimed in, “Boss Xiang, you’ve got a good eye! These are high-grade talismans.”
Most exorcists would only draw mid- to low-level talismans for dispelling yin energy—not because they didn’t want to make stronger ones, but because they simply couldn’t.
Even the top exorcists capable of drawing high-level talismans could only produce two or three a day, so they wouldn’t waste their energy on ones that only dispelled yin energy.
Only Lu Congxing treated talisman-making like drinking water or eating a meal—creating high-level ones as casually as handing out candy.
Yet, both of them were oddly oblivious to the massive business opportunity this presented.
So, instead of thinking about making money, Di Jiang simply took the chance to praise Lu Congxing a bit more.
Boss Xiang, deeply moved, felt that he had finally encountered true hidden masters.
No longer judging them by appearances, he respectfully invited them to have tea and snacks.
“Tell us about anything strange that’s been happening lately,” Lu Congxing said, sipping his tea. But after burning his tongue, he set the cup down casually as if nothing had happened, though his eyes watered slightly.
Boss Xiang sighed, looking distressed. “For the past half month, we’ve been hearing the sound of a baby crying in the middle of the night. At first, we tried to convince ourselves it was just the wind or a stray cat in heat. But then, one night, my wife suddenly woke up to the crying—only to find herself standing on the balcony. She almost fell off. She’s never had a sleepwalking problem before. Based on what she described, it felt like something was controlling her.”
Lu Congxing asked, “Besides that, have you noticed anything else unusual?”
Boss Xiang hesitated for a moment before nodding. “One of our servant has gone missing.”
This must be the missing servant he overheard in the garden. Lu Congxing wasn’t surprised, but he still raised his voice slightly and repeated, “Missing?”
“We’re not sure if it has anything to do with the crying baby, though. After all, that person didn’t live in our house—he only came in the mornings to help with cleaning and left in the afternoon. That day, none of us noticed whether he actually left. It was his family who called the police, saying he went to work early in the morning and never came back,” Boss Xiang swallowed nervously.
He was a bit anxious, rubbing his hands against the seams of his pants—not because he was guilty, but because Lu Congxing’s serious demeanor was intimidating.
It was still that slightly youthful face, but once he stopped smiling, his presence felt like that of a completely different person.
Lu Congxing asked, “So you’re certain he arrived at your house in the morning, but you’re not sure if he ever left?”
Boss Xiang nodded. “And for some reason, the surveillance cameras at our house broke that day. We sent people to fix them right away, but no matter how many times we installed new ones, they kept malfunctioning. Even now, they’re still not working.”
Lu Congxing nodded. “That’s a common phenomenon. Places with supernatural disturbances tend to disrupt magnetic fields, which can cause electronic devices like cameras to fail. Is your internet still working?”
Boss Xiang quickly nodded. “Yes, it’s working fine.”
That didn’t quite add up. If the yin energy was strong enough to disable the cameras, how was the internet still functioning?
If Boss Xiang wasn’t genuinely covered in traces of yin energy, Lu Congxing might have suspected someone was just playing a prank to scare the family.
“May I meet your wife?” Lu Congxing politely asked as he swallowed a slightly dry pastry.
“Of course! Of course!” Boss Xiang clutched the talisman Lu Congxing had given him, as if it were a lifeline.
He got up a bit clumsily and led the way.
The master bedroom was on the third floor. Madam Xiang remained silent in her room until she heard the knock, responding weakly, “Come in.”
Lu Congxing stepped inside, meeting her gaze while also observing her.
Madam Xiang was stunningly beautiful—so much so that she and the slightly overweight Boss Xiang looked less like a married couple and more like father and daughter.
The moment she saw Lu Congxing, she was also surprised by how young this exorcist was. However, she had excellent manners and didn’t let it show, greeting him with a polite smile.
“I’m sorry, Master. I haven’t been feeling well lately, so I didn’t come downstairs to greet you earlier.”
Lu Congxing nodded in understanding. “That’s alright. Have you seen a doctor?” His tone carried a deeper implication.
Madam Xiang bitterly tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She nodded, then shook her head. “I have. I’ve seen both a private doctor and specialists at major hospitals, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with my body.”
Boss Xiang’s heart ached for her. He quickly stepped forward, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder and continuing, “Actually, the day after my wife almost fell, I tried taking her somewhere else to stay. But even after we moved out, the sound of a crying baby didn’t stop—so we came back.”
Lu Congxing nodded in affirmation. “The feng shui here is good, so vengeful ghosts will have a hard time causing trouble. Staying is definitely better than moving out.”
That also confirmed something—this wasn’t a earthbound ghost, one with an attachment to the location itself. There was only one reason such a vengeful presence would target a household with strong luck and good feng shui.
It had died because of them.
Author’s Note: The pup chooses to return home.