Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Day of Ultimate Darkness

“I heard you were taken away by the police. Qianling and I couldn’t sleep all night, running around trying to find a way. Luckily you’re alright—did the police give you any trouble?” Yue Leiting patted my shoulder as he spoke.

“Brother Ting, you’re very thoughtful. Lianshan and I are fine, thank you,” I replied gratefully, smiling.

“This time, you really shouldn’t thank me. I tried everything last night but couldn’t find anyone to get you out. I was nearly frantic.”

“Huh? Brother Ting, wasn’t it you who arranged for our release?” Xiao Lianshan asked in surprise.

“Honestly, you need to start using your head. Brother Yanhui is impulsive, and you just follow along.” Hearing we’d been arrested, Gu Anqi, who was at the hotel, hurried over.

“So, Brother Ting, why did they let us go today?” I asked curiously.

Yue Leiting pointed to the side, equally surprised. “You really have to thank Miss Qiu. She found a way to get you out.”

Turning around, I finally noticed Qiu Nuo standing nearby, her icy beauty undiminished.

“Heh, I tore your painting, so why… Wait, how did you get us released?”

“You were right. The painting was authenticated as a forgery, a copy of the original. You were also correct about the era—it’s Ming Dynasty paper. After appraisal, the painting has no real value. Since it’s not a cultural relic, you didn’t commit destruction of cultural property,” Qiu Nuo said coldly. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving.”

I smiled at her in gratitude and then glanced back at the police station.

“What, are you reluctant to leave? Want to stay a few more nights?” Yue Qianling taunted from the side.

“Stop staring. Go home and take a shower with Lianshan to wash away the bad luck,” Yue Leiting urged.

“Brother Ting, you go ahead. I’m waiting for someone,” I said anxiously.

“Who are you waiting for, Brother?”

“Fang Yanan.”

“That woman cop is nasty. Why wait for her?” Yue Qianling frowned, clearly annoyed.

“Oh, so after just one day inside you’ve already met another girl. No wonder you’re reluctant to leave. If I’d known you liked it so much, I wouldn’t have bothered getting you out.”

I ignored Yue Qianling, gazing at the police station for a long time before speaking. “Someone wants to harm Fang Yanan, using the Life-Link Soul-Breaking Spell. I can’t just stand by and let her die.”

“Life-Link Soul-Breaking Spell!” Gu Anqi exclaimed in shock. “That’s an extremely sinister Daoist curse, forbidden to orthodox disciples and thought to be lost for ages!”

“Anqi, you’ve heard of the Life-Link Soul-Breaking Spell?” I asked without turning.

“I have. My father mentioned it once—a top ten secret Daoist art, never taught outside, extremely domineering and venomous. Almost all are lost. Brother Yanhui, how did you know this woman cop was cursed?”

“When I first saw her yesterday, I noticed a persistent dark blue aura around her, a sign of impending misfortune. There was a red thread atop her head, perfectly aligned with her destiny palace. I asked her about it, and her reaction made it clear she didn't put it there herself. The red thread in the destiny palace means her life is tied to the underworld. But her face is broad and rounded—signs of blessed fortune and longevity, clarity of spirit, success and fame. By all appearances, she shouldn’t be suffering sudden misfortune.”

“So, Brother Yanhui, you’re saying someone deliberately placed the red thread on her head?”

“Isn’t it a bit much—a single red thread can cause such trouble? Maybe you’re overthinking it?” Xiao Lianshan said.

I shook my head, confident. “I checked Fang Yanan’s office just now. It was recently renovated, all new furnishings, but clearly arranged as a feng shui trap. Her office door faces west—inauspicious for Dingyou year. The vase on her desk is flawed, lacking divine protection. The altar draws in female spirits, bringing calamity to the occupant. Anyone sitting there is destined for misfortune.”

“If that’s how the room is arranged, Brother Yanhui really isn’t exaggerating. Someone wants to harm her,” Gu Anqi nodded.

“I also reviewed her resume and calculated her birth chart. Her emperor star is prominent, a sign of luck and immunity to evil this year. The room’s arrangement is meant to disrupt her fortune, turning her luck into conflict, making her vulnerable to evil.”

“Even so, couldn’t you just change her feng shui? Why so anxious?” Yue Leiting dismissed my concern.

I shook my head, bitterly smiling. “She’s stubborn, believes we’re worlds apart. She won’t listen to me. Even if I changed her office, it’d be useless. She’s been targeted for more than a day; the lingering dark aura means evil has already invaded her body.”

“You’ve talked so much, but I still don’t get what’s up with the red thread,” Yue Qianling said, curious but embarrassed.

I pointed at the police station and calmly explained. “The station faces south, sunlight pours in through the main entrance every day. With staff on duty around the clock, it’s always bright—a constant flow of yang energy. Plus, police stations inherently repel evil spirits. Fang Yanan’s emperor star gives her extra yang energy, and she carries a gun—a weapon against evil. Most curses won’t affect her. But placing a red thread above her destiny palace disperses her yang energy.”

Gu Anqi nodded, suddenly understanding. “I see. Once her yang energy is dispersed, she’ll inevitably fall victim to the Life-Link Soul-Breaking Spell—even immortals couldn’t save her then.”

“Isn’t it simple, though? Just remove the red thread from her head,” Yue Qianling said.

I slowly opened my palm, revealing a piece of red thread I’d picked up from the interrogation room floor yesterday.

Plucking a blade of grass from the flower bed, I formed a sword gesture with my right hand, placed the grass at my brow, closed my eyes, and whispered softly:

“Grass grows on the southern coast, evergreen day and night. The Queen Mother’s peach dispels all evil. Let all sinister spells be lifted. I invoke the Six Stars of the Southern Dipper and the Seven Stars of the Northern Dipper. By the command of the Supreme Elder, disperse!”

Then I pressed the red thread in my palm. The grass between my fingers instantly shriveled and blackened, and the red thread transformed into a drop of black water that faded away.

“What you saw was just a red thread—it’s merely a facade. This is corpse water.”

Yue Qianling, terrified, stepped back, afraid to get any on herself.

“Red thread refined with corpse water is extremely sinister, formless and invisible. Whoever can do this so skillfully must be highly accomplished. I wonder how Fang Yanan managed to offend such a person.”

“Brother, can she still be saved?” Xiao Lianshan asked anxiously.

“If she listened to me, I could help her. But the person attacking her is a master—using the Life-Link Soul-Breaking Spell means they’re determined to finish her. Unfortunately, Fang Yanan doesn’t believe me at all,” I replied, sighing.

“Brother Yanhui, maybe I could talk to her. She might listen,” Gu Anqi offered kindly.

“It’s useless. She thinks I’m a threat, and talking more only makes things worse.”

“Is there any way to keep her safe, even temporarily?” Xiao Lianshan pressed.

I shook my head regretfully. “There was, but it’s too late. Her yang energy has faded, evil has entered her body. Unless I confront the attacker directly and break their spell, she won’t survive.”

“Brother Yanhui, based on your calculations, how much time does she have left?” Gu Anqi asked.

I calculated carefully, worry etched across my face. “If I’m not mistaken, Fang Yanan will die a violent death on her most yin day this month.”

“Yanhui, I may be a thief and she’s a cop—we’re on different paths—but saving a life is worth more than building a seven-story pagoda. We can’t just let her die,” Yue Leiting said, taking a deep breath.

“Brother, what’s a ‘most yin day,’ and how can we find out which day it is for Fang Yanan?” Xiao Lianshan frowned.

Just then, Fang Yanan emerged from the police station. Seeing me still at the door with Yue Leiting beside me, she shot me a cold glance.

I hesitated, biting my lip, then forced myself forward.

“Officer Fang, I’d like to speak with you.”

“There’s nothing to discuss. If you have business, come to my office,” Fang Yanan said firmly.

“I just want to ask you one thing—it won’t take long,” I said awkwardly.

“Go ahead,” she replied, not looking at me.

I hesitated for a long moment, then sighed heavily.

“May I ask…what day…what day of the month do you…do you get your period?”

Fang Yanan was stunned at first, her face flushing red with fury. I imagined that if she weren’t in uniform, she’d have hit me harder than Yue Qianling ever could.