"Come this way," Bai Guangnian said.
After they got into the car, he was very interested in what Zhao Yan had said earlier.
"Miss Zhao, what do you need to achieve ascension by overcoming tribulations?"
Zhao Yan replied, "My old man once said that those who achieve ascension by borrowing from others' suffering are basically Jie Shi Xian."
"This kind of immortal is also the lowest grade. Suffering involves going through hellish tortures to achieve enlightenment and the immortal path. It requires at least five cycles."
"To cultivate to the highest level, one must go through nine cycles. Each cycle is divided into four parts. Five cycles plus four makes nine."
Listening to Zhao Yan's words, Officer Wu said gravely, "So, that means seven more deaths, and four people die in each cycle?"
Zhao Yan softly hummed in agreement, "It's pretty much like that."
"This is going to cause chaos!"
If seven more cycles occurred, with four people dying in each, Tianhe City would be in panic, and they wouldn't be able to handle such a situation.
Zhao Yan remained silent, killing people through the hands of ghost images.
However, Liu Tan was still alive. It was highly possible that he had killed four people and was the extra one, who happened to be spared.
Thinking of this, Zhao Yan touched her chin.
Liu Tan was not sent to a mental hospital. Instead, his father had people come to their home to take care of him.
Moreover, the police were concerned that Liu Tan was not genuinely insane but was feigning madness to escape suspicion after committing murder.
When they arrived at Liu Tan's house and identified themselves, Liu Tan's father let Zhao Yan and the others in.
"He's in the room," Liu Tan's father said, pointing to a room.
Zhao Yan pushed open Liu Tan's door and looked inside.
She saw Liu Tan sitting by the bed, muttering to himself, his back to Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan walked from the bedside to Liu Tan's side. He was hugging himself tightly, his body trembling non-stop.
Liu Tan's eyes were fixed on the window outside, his gaze filled with terror as if he were seeing a ghost.
Zhao Yan followed his gaze out the window, but there was nothing there.
"Ah!"
When Zhao Yan touched Liu Tan's shoulder, he screamed in fright, curling into a ball and wildly swinging a pillow at Zhao Yan.
"Ah! Don't come near me!" Liu Tan cried in terror. As he shouted, drool dripped from his mouth, followed by a heh-heh chuckle.
Zhao Yan grabbed Liu Tan's hands and lifted his shirt. There were no markings on his back.
"His soul is lost," Zhao Yan said after examining him, realizing Liu Tan's main soul was gone.
"Let's call his soul back. Perhaps we can ask more questions then," Bai Guangnian suggested.
"I'm afraid it won't come back," Zhao Yan said softly.
It wasn't easy to call back a soul, especially Liu Tan's, as there was no Yin energy around him.
It seemed his main soul hadn't been scared away but rather taken.
"Miss Zhao, don't worry. We brothers have been doing this for so long, we still have some skills."
"We've called souls back hundreds, if not thousands, of times," Bai Guangyue said confidently.
Hearing their confidence, Zhao Yan nodded, thinking they might actually have a solution.
"Alright, let's start calling his soul back then."
Afterward, they spoke with Liu Tan's father. Seeing that they could bring his son back, his father readily agreed.
Liu Tan was their only son. His mother had cried herself into the hospital upon learning of his madness.
"By the way, Brother Bai, have you found that pair of bronze heart statues?" Zhao Yan asked.
Bai Guangnian shook his head. "The pair of bronze heart statues are lost. We've searched everywhere, but we can't find them. We don't know where they went."
"Lost?" Zhao Yan murmured softly.
Since they couldn't be found, she couldn't do anything.
But could the statues grow legs and run away themselves?
The Bai brothers began busying themselves with the soul-calling ritual.
Zhao Yan helped out on the side, finding it quite relaxing to watch others work.
The two brothers indeed had some abilities, but not an overwhelming amount.
They placed Liu Tan in the main seat, with stools and a table prepared. Incense, candles, and paper money were placed under the table.
A pot for burning paper money was also ready. Seeing the two brothers rubbing their hands together, Zhao Yan picked up a stool and sat down, ready to learn diligently.
She was very interested in watching different soul-calling techniques.
After all, each sect had its unique abilities.
Her own sect emphasized the use of talismans.
To stabilize Liu Tan, they directly bound him to a long chair.
Once he was tied up, three gongs were struck, producing a "duang, duang, duang" sound.
Bai Guangnian and Bai Guangyue muttered incessantly, circling around Liu Tan.
They threw glutinous rice onto Liu Tan's head, their chanted incantations growing louder.
Liu Tan, who was bound, began to struggle more violently, falling to the ground along with the chair.
Liu Tan's entire body seemed to be struck by electricity, shaking uncontrollably. His eyes rolled back, and his teeth clenched tightly.
This startled Zhao Yan. Her primary concern was that Liu Tan might bite his tongue.
If that happened, it wouldn't be a soul-calling anymore, but a complete send-off for him.
She forcefully pried open Liu Tan's mouth and stuffed cloth into it.
The more Liu Tan reacted, the better the effect.
After stuffing the cloth in, Zhao Yan sat on a stool and watched the Bai brothers' operations.
Suddenly, the candles on the table extinguished.
For this ritual, the lights had not been turned on.
Zhao Yan quickly turned on the lights.
When the lights were on, she found that Liu Tan, who had been lying on the ground, was now sitting on the stool.
His gaze was fixed on the Bai Guangnian brothers, his eyes rolled back, and a sinister smile appeared on his face.
Bai Guangnian lunged forward, circling around Liu Tan.
At this moment, Zhao Yan noticed that Liu Tan's shadow was very strange.
His shadow had split into two.
Simultaneously, Zhao Yan realized that Bai Guangnian and Bai Guangyue's shadows were also behaving strangely.
Their shadows had also become two.
Zhao Yan looked down at her own shadow and saw that she had two shadows behind her.
One shadow was stepping on her own shadow.
Upon closer inspection, Zhao Yan finally saw that the souls of the deceased Old Zhang and Old Li had returned along with Liu Tan's soul.
"Bold!" Bai Guangyue suddenly shouted.
His expression turned ferocious, and he steadily thrust his peach wood sword forward.
"Stop!" Zhao Yan yelled.
"Brother Bai! You're aiming in the wrong direction!"
Bai Guangyue's sword strike was swift, accurate, and powerful. With a scream, the sword completely pierced Bai Guangnian's backside.
Bai Guangyue, blinded by rage, performed a sliding tackle and was about to launch a second attack.
Even Brother Jie would have been terrified by this offensive.
Zhao Yan felt increasingly uneasy. Bai Guangyue seemed to have lost control of himself, his body not responding to his commands.
The souls of Wang Chuchu and Zhou Xiaoyue stood behind Bai Guangyue.
Well, it seemed the soul-calling had brought everyone back!