On the third floor.
Looking out of the window facing the fountain. Lei Lin stared amused at the nervous Xie Luochen, "Do you think this plan will work?"
Fiddling with his phone, Hong Wen answered, "it's worth a try. Since Xu Qian Qian's death is related to her cheating fiance, Envoy Chu decided on a ploy to attract her attention with something similar. She even gave us two invisibility and five explosive talismans to aid us. Plus, there's a secretly arranged protective array around the building and two dolls. Xu Qian Qian is at her weakest right now, if we don't stop her today, we don't know what will happen tonight."
Nodding in agreement, Lei Lin turned his head away from the window to see Hong Wen playing with his phone. "What are you looking at?"
Without looking at him, Hong Wen answered, "getting my phone ready to film your performance."
"Can't you just pretend to forget?" Lei Lin mumbled sulkily.
"Nope, Master wants evidence. Plus I also want to save a video for myself." Saying so, Hong Wen glanced outside the window. "Pay attention. The show's about to start. Here, use the invisibility talisman now."
Just as the both of them activated the talisman, "Pa!" a loud slap echoed outside, signaling the opening act.
"Wow, Envoy Chu sure doesn't hold back. Look at his cheek, it's swollen." Lei Lin snickered.
Just as the two of them enjoyed the view outside, the Xiao-Su dolls on the desk shook a little the moment it heard the loud commotion outside.
"You beast! How can you play with my heart like this!"
"Clatter!" The desk shook with enough force to knock a few items off the table.
"You have someone else in your heart, don't you!?"
"Creak!" The hinges of the table screeched sharply as the dolls took on a red hue. Their heads slowly turned toward the window.
At this stage in time, Hong Wen and Lei Lin had already noticed a certain spirit's action.
"Think of our child!"
"Bam!" A reddish shadow suddenly appeared from the dolls, crashing loudly onto the window.
Tiny cracks appear on the glass, threatening to shatter onto the audience downstairs.
"Men!" Xu Qian Qian muttered with her teeth clenched tightly, face pressed against the glass. Her eyes locked onto Xie Luochen with undisguised hatred and disgust. "None are good. Only know how to swindle women." The red aura around her thickens as the flame in her eyes grow even brighter.
At this moment, with her attention focused elsewhere, Hong Wen quickly threw an explosive talisman at Xu Qian Qian while activating the barrier around the building and the two dolls.
"Lei Lin!" Hong Wen yelled as he somersaulted backwards, phone in hand. He kneeled with one knee as he positioned his camera to a perfect angle.
Lei Lin rushed forward at Hong Wen's signal, landing on a desk not too far from Xu Qian Qian. With his left palm facing outward, he made a V sign over his left eye while pointing his right index finger at Xu Qian Qian.
Taking a deep breath, Lei Lin started, "evil spirit that dares to bring harm to the people in this city. Don't think you can continue any longer. In the name of the (Dark) Moon (Sect), I shall punish you!"
Xu Qian Qian stood next to the window stunned. Her mouth hangs slightly open as her wide eyes scan his body slowly from bottom to top, then top to bottom again.
The atmosphere became strangely quiet as Lei Lin froze in the same pose. For some reason, Lei Lin thought. Even though no doors or windows are opened, a chilly wind seems to be blowing past his face.
Silence seems to continue on until Hong Wen yelled out, "cut! Excellent work!" as he threw another explosive talisman at Xu Qian Qian, pulling them from their dazed state.
Barely dodging the attack, Xu Qian Qian examined the surrounding area.
Seeing the difficult situation she's in, she threw herself towards the dolls. Only to be obstructed by a kick delivered by Lei Lin. Crossing her arms in alarm, Xu Qian Qian's back knocked against the wall after receiving his kick.
Sliding down the wall, she glared angrily at them."Who are you?!" She asked. "I don't remember doing anything that warrants this treatment."
"Not yet." Hong Wen answered, shielding Lei Lin behind him. "We'll answer you in a moment, stay still." he declared as another talisman flew towards her.
"Ah!" Xu Qian Qian screamed in pain, collapsing to the ground. "Please." she begged weakly.
"In a bit." Hong Wen mumbled as another talisman aimed at her position.
"No!" she screamed. This time her voice cracked painfully.
"These are good talismans, a shame if Envoy Chu asks for them back." Hong Wen muttered as he readied another talisman.
"H, Hey, lets just tie her up now. Okay?" Lei Lin said while pulling on Hong Wen's arm. His sight landed on the sobbing ghost. Feeling a little sorry for her.
Hong Wen paused as he felt Lei Lin's touch. Looking down on the young man next to him, he smiled gently, placing the talisman back into his pocket.
Nodding his head, he threw an object towards the spirit's direction. The spiritual rope glowed for a second, before wrapping itself tightly around Xu Qian Qian's body. Successfully restraining a sobbing ghost.
__________
"So? What do we do with her now?" Lei Lin asked Chu Nuan.
Hearing his question, Chu Nuan lowered herself to Xu Qian Qian's level. Her sight landed on her lifeless face as she opened her mouth. " On that day, you came to his office to surprise him."
Xu Qian Qian's ear twitched.
"Only to find him being intimate with a co-worker of his. Her name is Su Ya, correct?"
She bit her lips in endurance.
"Unable to accept this betrayal, you ran up to them in anger. Afraid of causing a scene, Xiao Ming and Su Ya took you up to the roof to explain. But because of your unstable emotions, the three of you started a physical argument. Su Ya's hand slipped, pushing you against the rail causing you to faint."
Chu Nuan paused a bit to judge her reaction before continuing, "you fainted so you couldn't have known what happened next. They thought you died because they couldn't feel your faint breath. So they left you there until the next morning, when Xiao Ming left for another city. And Su Ya came back early to push you over the railing, causing your death."
Sighing sadly, Chu Nuan looked at her with pity, "in the end, you weren't able to tell him that you're pregnant with his child."
Hearing her words, Xu Qian Qian looked up abruptly, "how did you know!"
"Your son told me." She said as a small glowing orb appeared in front of her. "Your son attached himself to one of the dolls you made." Chu Nuan said as she delivered the orb towards the stunned spirit. "He's too weak to be noticed by you, so when we investigated the floor today, he asked me for a favor. To stop you from turning into a malicious spirit."
Hands trembling in a mix of joy, nervousness, and guilt, she reached out with hesitation towards the small glowing light. Tears formed in Xu Qian Qian's eyes as she whispers in a distraught tone, "Child, my dear child. It's all mommy's fault. I couldn't protect you from harm. But you still want to help me, I'm so happy."
Xu Qian Qian's red aura dimmed as she sobbed gently. "But what should I do child? I still hate, I still want to kill them. I can't help feeling this way."
Chu Nuan sighed silently as she rested her chin on her hands. "Truthfully, death isn't the most painful it can be."
"Huh?" the spirit said with a confused expression.
"Do you want to get your revenge without killing them?"
Pondering for a moment, the ghost glanced at the glowing orb before nodding firmly. "Please tell."
"Sure." A mischievous smile slowly formed on Chu Nuan's lips. "First, tell me where you live."