“Causing trouble, eh!”
Lu Zheng hailed a taxi at the city bureau’s entrance, then headed home.
“Trying to frame me, are you? You probably don’t know what I’m capable of!”
“Well, fine, I can’t do much either, but you likely don’t know the power of the people’s police!”
He paid the fare, got out, went upstairs, and returned home.
…
Back home, it was already noon. Lu Zheng changed clothes, then travelled back to ancient times for lunch.
“Young master, Miss Liu, the second daughter, came by this morning, saying she wanted you to go shopping with her.”
Lu Zheng smiled at this. Shopping? More like she’d run out of sweets.
But he couldn’t go play with the Liu sisters now, as it would prevent him from time-travelling at will.
“I won’t be around this afternoon. Later, take a bag of sweets over for me, and say I’ll be busy for the next few days.”
“Got it!”
While eating, Lu Zheng thought, “This won’t do. The case is dragging on, and the police might come for me again, which would hold me up.”
But the situation wasn’t under his control. He couldn’t just catch the culprit and hand them to the police, could he?
He didn’t even know who the culprit was!
“Hmm?”
Lu Zheng popped a piece of tofu in his mouth, his eyes gleaming with a sudden idea.
“Am I being daft?”
He quickly finished lunch, returned to his bedroom, and took a bag of fruit candies from the drawer, along with a few talismans he’d drawn last night at the cost of exhausting his true qi.
The benefit of exchanging qi for talisman-drawing proficiency was clear: Lu Zheng had skipped the beginner stage, boosting his success rate to one hundred percent.
Five peace talismans, one qi-seeking talisman, two evil-repelling talismans, and one divine travel talisman.
After some thought, Lu Zheng kept one peace talisman for himself and handed the other two, along with the bag of candies, to Uncle Li to deliver to the Liu sisters.
Then he ground cinnabar, spread yellow paper, and drew two more qi-seeking talismans.
“Time travel!”
“Buzz!”
Feeling the locked but still-present true qi within the yellow talisman, Lu Zheng grinned, “It worked!”
This time, he wanted to test whether objects imbued with true qi could travel with him, beyond his own body.
The result was promising: it worked!
“Hm, cinnabar’s about the same on both sides, but I wonder if the yellow paper or talisman brush would differ? Next time, I’ll bring some over to test.”
The priority now wasn’t testing theories but catching the culprit.
“So, what’s the next step?”
“The object with the strongest trace of the culprit’s qi would be the murder weapon.”
“Find Lin Wan, have her show me the weapon, then I cast a spell on the spot, use the qi-seeking talisman to extract the qi, fold the talisman into a paper crane, and let it lead the police to the culprit?”
Lu Zheng chuckled, “Heh!”
First, he’d check if any trace of the culprit’s qi lingered in his home.
He channelled true qi into the talisman, gave his right hand a gentle shake, and the red symbols on the talisman began to glow.
Soon, he sensed several strands of qi gathering around the talisman, slowly swirling.
The largest was his own; three smaller ones likely belonged to the police who visited that morning.
And there was one more… a faint wisp, almost imperceptible. If he’d used the talisman half a day later, it probably wouldn’t have registered.
“No time to waste, condense! Guide!”
Holding the talisman in his right hand and forming a seal with his left, Lu Zheng dispersed the other four qi strands, then condensed and guided the remaining wisp into the qi-seeking talisman.
“Buzz!”
The talisman quivered, as if connecting to something far away.
“Let’s go!”
In Hai City, he couldn’t just fold the talisman into a paper crane, and he hadn’t stored enough true qi in the talisman to make it fly.
So, he folded it into a small square, held it in his hand, and followed its guidance, heading out immediately.
“Hurry, the qi in the talisman is limited and will fade fast.”
Leaving the neighbourhood quickly, Lu Zheng unlocked a shared bike at the entrance, hopped on, and pedalled furiously.
…
Meanwhile, at the city bureau.
“Captain Li, through surveillance comparison, we’ve identified five potential targets, but…”
“But what?”
“They were all dressed as delivery workers, wearing helmets and masks, showing no distinct features.”
“So, either Lu Zheng is lying, or the culprit is highly skilled?”
“Yes!”
Li Jinglin stubbed out his cigarette, sinking into thought.
…
The qi and true energy in the talisman depleted rapidly as Lu Zheng cycled north, passing over a dozen intersections.
Then, he arrived at the entrance of a rather upscale hotel.
“Buzz!”
The qi-seeking talisman in his hand quivered, its power spent.
Lu Zheng looked up, “Good thing it didn’t fail halfway. At least I’ve got the destination.”
He dismounted, locked the bike, and glanced at the hotel’s sign.
Qingyu Hotel.
The target was inside. If Lu Zheng could pinpoint another place the culprit had been and use another qi-seeking talisman…
Having memorised the culprit’s qi, he could filter it from the myriad qi strands.
Like, say… the hotel reception?
Why did things suddenly feel so straightforward?
Catch the culprit, deliver them to the police, and claim he’d run into them by chance, recalling seeing them in the neighbourhood.
Since he hadn’t done anything wrong, the process didn’t matter. Done!
Lu Zheng strode into the hotel, approached the reception, “Book me a room.”
“Of course, sir. What room type would you like, and for how many days? Please show your ID.”
Lu Zheng handed over his ID to the receptionist, “Standard room, three days.”
In a flash, he’d already come up with a reason for staying at the hotel.
“Please wait a moment!”
Shortly after.
“How would you like to pay, sir?”
“Mobile.”
“Thank you, payment successful. Here’s your room key. Enjoy your stay!”
Lu Zheng took the key card and headed to the lobby’s side elevator.
As he walked, he pulled another qi-seeking talisman from his pocket, folded it into a square, and held it.
His other hand formed a seal, and instantly, hundreds of qi strands flooded in.
“So many!”
The true qi in the talisman drained quickly, but Lu Zheng recognised the target’s qi in an instant.
“Condense! Guide!”
“Buzz!”
“Brilliant!”
Lu Zheng stepped into the elevator, smiling as he pressed the button for the eighth floor.
If anyone glanced at his room key, they’d see the number 1210 clearly printed on it.
