She Makes Me Believe in Science - Chapter 26

“Whew,” Song Qian sat on the ground, bracing herself with her hands. That had genuinely scared her half to death.

However, it seemed like that female ghost was calling out to her. She thought she heard the name “Sensen.”

Well, whatever. As long as the ghost was gone, she didn’t care.

Ji Shixing saw Song Qian suddenly drop to the ground, gasping for air. Seeing that she didn’t look as tense as before, Ji Shixing endured the pain in her chest and slowly stood up to walk over.

“What did you just see?”

Song Qian didn’t want to terrify her. Ji Shixing already had a broken rib, and if something else went wrong, Song Qian didn’t want to be stuck explaining things to a police officer.

“Nothing. Just lost my mind for a second.”

Ji Shixing: “…”

Song Qian patted the dust off her clothes and stood up. Her gaze froze as she looked toward Song Fu’s house. When had all the lights over there gone out?

At that moment, Song Qian felt the jade pressed against her chest grow scorching hot, even burning her skin.

Ji Wuxin!?

Sensing something was wrong, Song Qian gripped her talisman and sprinted toward Song Fu’s house, completely ignoring the people calling out to her from behind.

“Where are you running off to in the middle of the night!” Ji Shixing hissed through gritted teeth. Looking at the couple huddled together in the pavilion, she decided it was better to follow Song Qian.

Song Qian turned on her phone’s flashlight. The path to Song Fu’s house was paved with concrete, so there were no obstacles to trip over. She squinted into the distance. The front of the house was deserted, not a soul in sight, and the silence was absolute.

The jade at her chest grew hotter, the skin contact becoming painful. Song Qian finally pulled it out and held it by its string.

She swung the jade, which was about a third the size of her palm, through the dark as she walked. She didn’t notice the flash of red light flickering deep within its center.

“Lin Qing? Song Fu?” Song Qian didn’t dare enter the house, she only called out softly from nearby.

“Where is everyone?”

She was bewildered. Only a few minutes had passed, and now everyone was gone.

“Song Qian! Watch out!”

A shout came from behind, followed by a massive force that tackled Song Qian to the ground. Someone was straddling her waist, pinning her hands down.

If it weren’t for the person’s obvious obsession with grabbing the jade, Song Qian would have thought she’d run into a common mugger.

She wrapped the string of the jade around her hand several times. Even though the stone was now burning hot, she gripped it tightly in her palm.

Song Qian used one hand to protect the jade while the other reached up to yank off her attacker’s hat. “Who are you?”

After Lin Sheng tried to steal the jade last time, this was the second person to come after it. But how did they know she had returned to Weishui Village?

The person pinning her down didn’t speak. They tried to use their knee to trap her other hand while pulling harder at the jade. Song Qian felt the string digging into the webbing of her thumb as if it were about to slice her open. The pain was so intense she wanted to let go immediately.

When her attacker shifted their knee, Song Qian seized the opportunity and kicked upward with all her might. Her core strength wasn’t weak, and the person clearly didn’t expect her to move so suddenly. Their body lurched forward uncontrollably.

“Ah!”

Song Qian took the chance to roll over on the ground, grabbing a nearby fire poker as she went. The voice of her attacker sounded strangely familiar, as if she had heard it somewhere before.

Ji Shixing, who had been walking slowly, finally arrived. Clutching her chest with one hand and leaning on her leg with the other, she remarked sarcastically, “How do you have the nerve to mess with her? This woman just kicked my rib into two pieces.”

Song Qian’s “thank you” died in her throat. She had been about to thank her for the warning, but despite it being a bit useless, having a warning in this situation was better than nothing.

“Lin Sheng! What’s taking you so long with that jade!”

A middle-aged man’s voice echoed from inside Song Fu’s house. Song Qian’s heart skipped a beat. Lin Sheng!?

As the man’s voice faded, the lights in Song Fu’s house flickered on. Even the outdoor lights were lit now. Song Qian saw a familiar face, Lin Sheng, scramble up from the ground. She had some scrapes on her face, it looked like she had landed face-first when she fell.

“Master…” Lin Sheng clutched her arm, not daring to speak. Who knew Song Qian was that strong?

“This jade belongs to someone else. You think you can just take it? Aren’t you afraid I’ll call the police?” Ji Shixing’s expression hardened. She had initially thought it was just Song Qian’s friends messing around, but it turned out they were actually robbing her.

Hearing Ji Shixing’s words, the man inside the house let out a scoff as if he’d heard a joke. “Call the police? Go ahead and try. Let’s see if the police have any jurisdiction over this kind of business.”

Ji Shixing knit her brows. This person was far too arrogant. She was going to call the police right now!

She struggled to pull out her phone, but before she could even unlock it, she suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe. Something was wrapping tightly around her neck, coiling tighter and tighter.

Yet, there was nothing next to her. The extreme lack of oxygen sent Ji Shixing’s heart into a frantic rhythm. Her face turned bright red as she reached out a hand toward Song Qian.

“Help… help me…”

Unlike the nothingness Ji Shixing saw, Song Qian clearly saw a massive python coiled around her. The snake stared at her with glowing green eyes, its long, thick body continuing to constrict around Ji Shixing.

What do I do? I only have one talisman, and I don’t know what kind of monster that man inside is. What do I do…

Seeing Ji Shixing’s eyes begin to roll back, Song Qian stopped overthinking. She lunged forward with the talisman, but the python had lived for decades and wasn’t about to let a little girl succeed. It whipped its head around and opened its mouth wide, aiming for Song Qian’s arm. Its long fangs glinted coldly under the lights.

Song Qian couldn’t pull her hand back in time. She watched, helpless, as her arm headed straight into the snake’s maw.

“Disgusting!”

A gust of wind blew past her ear, bringing with it a familiar voice.

Song Qian felt herself fall into an icy embrace. Pressed against the person’s chest, she couldn’t feel a heartbeat, but she felt an incredible sense of peace.

Ji Wuxin shielded Song Qian with one hand and reached into the python’s mouth with the other, ignoring the creature entirely as she snapped two of its fangs off with her bare hands.

The python’s tail went rigid with pain. Losing the strength to constrict Ji Shixing, it slumped to the ground, writhing weakly.

The man inside the house saw Ji Wuxin appear, and a look of delight flashed in his eyes. “So you did come back after all!”

Ji Wuxin gripped Song Qian’s wrist, her eyes like frost. “What’s the point of hiding in the house like a coward?”

Song Qian was still clutching the jade, which was growing even hotter. The stone seemed linked to Ji Wuxin’s emotions. Song Qian glanced at Ji Wuxin’s tense jaw, she looked like she was grinding her teeth.

“Lin Sheng, get over here.”

“Yes, Master.”

Song Qian watched as Lin Sheng walked to the doorway with her head bowed. The door opened, and a middle-aged man stepped out, holding a segment of hemp rope about as thick as two fingers.

The man gave the rope a tug, and a figure slowly moved out from behind him.

Seeing the person behind the man, Song Qian’s mouth fell open. Tied up securely was Lin Qing, his mouth stuffed with a rag that looked far from clean.

“Your name is Song Qian, right?” The man smiled at her while handing the rope to Lin Sheng. “Keep an eye on him.”

“How about we make a deal?”

Song Qian didn’t speak, watching him with a defensive glare. Everything about this man screamed “villain.”

“Give me that jade in your hand, and I’ll let him go. I’ll even give you five hundred thousand yuan as a bonus,” the man said, pointing to Song Qian’s right hand.

Five hundred thousand. A generous offer, on the surface.

“Five hundred thousand? You think I’m a beggar?” Song Qian tucked the jade further out of sight.

Ji Wuxin gripped Song Qian’s hand tighter, her voice low and filled with grit. “Song Sensen, if you dare sell this jade, I’ll haunt you every night disguised as a different ghost.”

Song Qian: “…”

The man’s smile deepened. “Then how much do you want?” He preferred to settle things with money whenever possible.

Song Qian looked up as if thinking it over, then let her eyes curve into a smile. “Five hundred million. I suppose I could accept that.”

Ji Wuxin couldn’t help but burst out laughing, making the man’s face turn even darker.

“Are you playing me?” The man yanked Lin Qing forward and pulled out a small wooden box, a sinister smile on his face. “Do you know what this is?”

Song Qian’s expression shifted. “What are you trying to do?”

“This venomous insect was raised alongside poisonous herbs and fed talisman water for three months. If placed on a person, it will crawl into the body through any opening and multiply frantically. In less than three days…” The man looked at Song Qian, his thumb resting on the lid of the box. With just a gentle push, “The person will be infested with worms and die a gruesome death.”

Lin Qing’s eyes widened in terror. Even with his legs tied, he hopped backward as fast as he could to get away from that horrific little box.

He did not want to die looking like that!

“Heh.”

A cold, disdainful scoff interrupted the standoff. The man seemed displeased by the arrogance of the newcomer, his sharp gaze moving from Ji Wuxin and Song Qian toward the source of the sound.

Two women were standing on the path to the right. One was looking around curiously as if wanting to join the fun, while the other, wearing a black trench coat, looked on with a cold, detached expression while the first woman dragged her forward.

“Who are you?” the man asked, the woman in the black coat looking strangely familiar.

Song Qian let out a surprised cry, “Senior!”

It was the powerful woman who had helped capture the life-stealing ghost on the train!

The woman looked at him and spoke clearly, “My name is Liu Changsheng.”

When her name reached the man’s ears, his expression changed instantly. “You’re Liu Changsheng!?”

Liu Changsheng continued to fiddle with the beads on her wrist, looking at the man with eyes that showed no emotion. “Don’t I look like her?”

“And I’m Qi Buyu!” Qi Buyu pulled Liu Changsheng forward a few more steps, clearly excited. She had thought they were just doing introductions.

As Liu Changsheng stepped closer, the man instinctively took a step back. He saw her trademark eye, one that was entirely white with no pupil to be seen.

“You won’t be taking that jade tonight.”

The man clenched his fists, frustrated. The prize was right there, but there was no way he could win against a woman like Liu Changsheng.

“Lin Sheng, let’s go!”

Liu Changsheng was famous in their trade for her eccentric temper, but she was so powerful that no one could do anything about it, even if they didn’t like her methods.

“Master, what about him…” Lin Sheng pointed at Lin Qing.

“Forget him! We were just messing around, you think we’re actual kidnappers!” the man snapped, grabbing her and running.

He wasn’t about to stick around. He could lie through his teeth and invent a venomous insect to scare people, but that freak Liu Changsheng might actually have the real thing.

“Mmph!” Lin Qing hopped excitedly toward Song Qian.

Untie me, hurry up and untie me!

As soon as the rag was pulled from his mouth, Lin Qing couldn’t contain himself. “Senior Liu Changsheng!”

Liu Changsheng glanced at him. “This is the second time we’ve met, and you’re tied up. How embarrassing.”

Lin Qing looked sheepish. He hadn’t expected the python to have an accomplice, and he’d been pinned before he could react.

Luckily, Ji Wuxin had escaped quickly, otherwise both the jade and the spirit would have fallen into their hands. He hadn’t expected someone to be so bold as to target a Jade Spirit openly. He needed to notify the Special Investigation Group so the Chief would know.

“What happened to your hand?”

Ji Wuxin had been smelling a faint scent of blood. Looking down, she saw blood flowing from Song Qian’s palm, dripping onto the ground from her fingertips.

“Oh, this. The string dug in when they tried to snatch the jade.” Song Qian was still holding the jade, and a slight movement made her wince in pain from the wound.

“Is the clinic still open at this hour? We should go get that bandaged.”

Song Qian waved her off, pointing at Ji Shixing on the ground. “We should go to the hospital in town. Her rib is broken.”

“We’ll come too!” Qi Buyu looked at Liu Changsheng, her eyes sparkling. These people looked very interesting.

Liu Changsheng’s eyes felt a bit dry, she really wanted to sleep. “You don’t even…”

Qi Buyu knew what she was going to say. She raised an eyebrow and tapped her phone screen.

A moment later, Liu Changsheng felt a vibration in her pocket. A new notification.

“Your account ending in 1508 received 10,000.00 yuan via WeChat Pay on July 10 at 22:30. Current balance: 10,022.03 yuan. Deposits are insured and secure.”

“Let’s go.” No one was going to turn down money.