The press conference concluded amidst a flurry of earth-shattering announcements.
Lin Zitong's successful acquisition of several core companies within the Lin Group was already explosive news for the financial, capital, and Jianzhou business worlds.
Even more sensational was the news that Lin Zitong had found a romantic partner and was soon to be married.
People from all walks of life began speculating about Lin Zitong's mysterious boyfriend.
Some suggested a second-generation political figure, as the Lin family, already incredibly wealthy, might consider venturing into politics.
Others proposed a scion of a prominent family from another province, as no one ever had too much money, and a strong alliance was always the correct choice.
There were also whispers of mysterious local powers, suggesting this rumor wasn't entirely groundless, as a select few knew that Rongcheng had entities that surpassed even financial groups and families.
A final piece of gossip claimed that Lin Zitong's boyfriend was the captain of the security team at the Shanghang Art School.
However, this piece of news sounded like a fairy tale, eliciting only laughter from those who heard it.
No one took this rumor seriously.
Yet, as fate would have it, the answer everyone deemed impossible was the correct one.
...
The press conference ended successfully, and Lin Fan had already vanished.
Offstage, Lin Zitong felt a touch of disappointment at not seeing Lin Fan.
She had intended to further deflate Lin Fan's arrogance.
Alas, Lin Fan hadn't given her that opportunity.
After leaving the stage, many reporters surrounded Lin Zitong, eager to ask more questions.
But Yan Shouyi, like a bodyguard, shielded Lin Zitong within his embrace.
Even with the combined efforts of three or four reporters, they couldn't budge Yan Shouyi's arm by an inch.
They could only retreat in disappointment, watching as Yan Shouyi escorted Lin Zitong to the lounge.
"Why don't you quit your job at the school and become my full-time bodyguard!"
As soon as they entered the lounge, Lin Zitong clung to Yan Shouyi.
Yan Shouyi quickly locked the door.
Lin Zitong was now a prominent figure, and if reporters captured this scene, it could have some negative impact on her.
After locking the door, Yan Shouyi chuckled,
"Wouldn't that make me a kept man? I can't quit my job at Shanghang Art School; a man should have his own career."
Lin Zitong let out a giggle.
Was being a security captain considered a career?
However, Lin Zitong didn't look down on Yan Shouyi; on the contrary, she preferred that he had his own ideas.
What Yan Shouyi didn't say was that his reason for staying at Shanghang Art School was to conveniently handle matters concerning the Refining and Rebirth Great Array.
Shanghang Art School was one of the three array eyes, and his identity as the security team captain saved Yan Shouyi a lot of trouble.
"Phew! Finally, this major issue is resolved!"
Lin Zitong slumped onto the sofa, completely sinking into it, her face radiating relief.
Yan Shouyi sat opposite her and asked with a hint of doubt,
"Before, you were only managing a few small companies and were so busy you had no time to rest. Now you've taken over several large corporations. Will you have to skip school from now on?"
"Of course not!"
Lin Zitong smiled and said, "Actually, all of this was my father's idea."
"Your father?"
"Yes, my father has wanted to regain control of those companies for a long time, but he didn't have a suitable method. So, he decided to let me use my strength as the Lin family heir to reclaim the companies. Now that it's resolved, although the companies are nominally under my management, my father will find suitable people to handle them for me. I can still go to school as usual, and spend time dating you and catching ghosts."
Yan Shouyi rubbed his temples, "The affairs of wealthy families are truly complicated."
The families of Lin Zitong, Li Qinger, and Liu Yiren always seemed to be embroiled in some form of internal strife.
Yan Shouyi's family, on the other hand, was much simpler. In the past, he only had his grandfather and father, two relatives who doted on him immensely.
And now, he only had his father.
Lin Zitong was unconcerned, "I'm used to it."
She paused, then added, "Wait here for a moment, I'm going to change my clothes."
"Change clothes for what?" Yan Shouyi asked, puzzled.
"To accompany you to find Xue Kai, of course!"
Lin Zitong said, then took her clothes and headed to the restroom.
Yan Shouyi had accompanied Lin Zitong these past few days, and now that her matters were resolved, she had time to accompany Yan Shouyi.
She had long since realized that the mysterious person Xue Kai was causing Yan Shouyi some distress.
However, since Yan Shouyi hadn't spoken of it, she hadn't pressed the matter.
Now that Xue Kai was directly impacting Jiang Yun Ning's life and death, Lin Zitong couldn't stand idly by.
She shed her formal attire and changed into a casual black tracksuit.
The black pants did little to conceal Lin Zitong's long legs, the sports vest snugly held her ample assets, and the outer jacket hid most of her beauty, leaving only her clean neck, still inviting imagination.
For ease of movement, she tied up her hair.
Looking at Lin Zitong, so different from her appearance at the press conference, Yan Shouyi couldn't help but sigh.
This woman had such a versatile style.
Unlike me, who remains handsome as always.
"What are you looking at?" Lin Zitong asked with a smile.
"Looking at my beautiful wife."
"Tsk!"
Lin Zitong smiled shyly, realizing Yan Shouyi was becoming increasingly adept at sweet talk.
She never expected this blockhead to finally learn how to express himself!
However, after a brief moment of playful banter, Yan Shouyi became serious again, asking,
"How do we find Xue Kai?"
Lin Zitong looked around, not finding what she was looking for, and then asked, "Did you bring any incense sticks?"
"Yes."
Yan Shouyi immediately took out an incense stick from his satchel.
Holding the incense stick Yan Shouyi handed her, Lin Zitong blinked in surprise,
"This incense stick seems longer than your bag. How did you fit it in?"
In fact, Lin Zitong had been curious about Yan Shouyi's satchel before. It was like Doraemon's pocket, seeming to possess infinite space.
Yan Shouyi patted the bag and chuckled,
"It's a magical artifact, given to me by my dad, though I suspect my mom sewed it. It's a shame my mom died early; otherwise, I would have had her make one for you. If you thought it looked ugly, I could even have a Louis Vuitton tag sewn onto it."
Lin Zitong let out a chuckle, "You dummy."
Since it was a magical artifact, anything miraculous was within the realm of possibility.
Lin Zitong lit the incense stick and formed a mudra with her fingers holding it. The steadily rising smoke from the incense transformed into a small, swimming dragon.
It circled her head three times before flying outward.
"Chasing Spirits," a supreme technique of the Lushan Sect, allowed one to follow this small dragon to locate the target of a previous spell.
Without delay, the two quickly followed the little dragon.
They left the Fugui Grand Hotel, traversed several blocks, and arrived at one of the few remaining old districts in Rongcheng that had not yet been demolished.
Compared to the surrounding skyscrapers and bustling nightlife, the old district was like the city's sewers and stagnant water.
Dim streetlights, uneven ground, garbage everywhere, and flowing sewage. The people living at the bottom of this city endured a life akin to ants and mice.
Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong couldn't help but frown as they reached this place.
The terrain was complex, and the area was a mixed bag of people, making it difficult to find someone.
Yan Shouyi felt relatively at ease here, but Lin Zitong, a beautiful woman dressed in extraordinary fashion, immediately became the focus of everyone's attention.
Especially the few shirtless, drunken men sitting in front of a roadside stall nearby.
Their gazes towards Lin Zitong were filled with greed and lust.
Lin Zitong tried her best to ignore their stares and said softly to Yan Shouyi,
"Why would Xue Kai be in a place like this?"
Yan Shouyi shook his head, "I know nothing about him either."
Following the little dragon's guidance, the two ventured into a dark alley.
Unexpectedly, those few shirtless, drunken men also got up and followed them!
"That young lady clearly has money, and she dares to come to our territory!"
"Haha, you won't find such a beautiful girl anywhere in our village. We've hit the jackpot today!"
"Let's take care of the little beauty first, and then see if we can get some money out of them!"
"That beautiful woman's companion is a bit of a nuisance; he looks like he might be difficult to deal with."
"What are you afraid of? We have more people, so dealing with him should be easy?"
...
Unaware that they were being targeted, Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong, guided by the little dragon, arrived outside a derelict hair salon.
The sign for "Wash, Cut, Blow-dry $10" had already fallen to the ground.
The roller shutter was half-down, and the inside was pitch black.
They exchanged a look, turned on their phone flashlights, and went inside.
The furnishings inside the salon were also very old, appearing untouched for a long time, with a layer of dust accumulated on them.
Passing through the storefront, they reached a long corridor at the back.
At the end of the corridor, they saw a slightly ajar door, with candlelight flickering within.
The little dragon had already slipped behind that door.
Perhaps Xue Kai was in there.
Yan Shouyi burned a talisman and took out the Zhanpo Blade, which he hadn't used in a long time.
Lin Zitong, meanwhile, pressed down on the soul-summoning bell with her finger.
They tiptoed through the corridor and arrived behind the door.
Creak—
The door was pushed open, and Yan Shouyi saw an altar.
On the altar was enshrined a strange statue.
The offerings were even more gruesome: cockroaches, scorpions, and the bloody intestines of some unknown creature.
This was an altar dedicated to an evil spirit.
Yan Shouyi's brow furrowed.
Before the altar sat a person, head bowed, seemingly in deep piety.
Upon touching this person, the little dragon quickly dissipated.
This proved that this was the Xue Kai they were looking for!
They exchanged a look and, without hesitation, Yan Shouyi placed the Zhanpo Blade at Xue Kai's neck.
"Xue Kai, we found you," Yan Shouyi said.
However, the Xue Kai sitting on the ground remained motionless.
The two immediately sensed something was wrong.
Bang!
Xue Kai's body, like an overinflated balloon, instantly burst.
Then, countless bats collided with Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong and flew away in a frenzy!
"We've fallen into a trap!" Lin Zitong exclaimed.
"Don't panic, these bats aren't real."
Yan Shouyi shielded Lin Zitong with his body and casually took two talismans from his satchel.
The talismans turned into flames, igniting the bats, seemingly creating a chain reaction.
The sky-high bats were all set ablaze and then fell to the ground one after another.
Upon landing, the bats transformed into black talismans, consumed by the flames.
Yan Shouyi said in a deep voice,
"This is an illusion technique from our Lu Ban School."
Lin Zitong was surprised, "Why would Xue Kai know these?"
"It's unclear yet."
But Yan Shouyi already had a hint of the answer in his mind—the only possibility was that his father, Yan Chou, had taught Xue Kai the Lu Ban arts.
Yet, Xue Kai was so mysterious, and some of his actions were baffling to Yan Shouyi.
Why would his father teach such a person Lu Ban arts?
As the two were contemplating this, five people suddenly broke into the hair salon from outside.
They were the drunken, shirtless tough guys!
The tough guys walked in with smirks, their excitement soaring upon seeing Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong.
"So you were hiding in here! What, no money for a hotel, so you came to this place for a thrill?"
"Coincidentally, we uncles also want to do something thrilling, why don't we do it together?"
"This is our territory. If you cooperate a little, we promise to be very gentle! Hahaha!"
The appearance of these tough guys immediately revealed their intentions.
Yan Shouyi's expression darkened.
They had only come to find someone and hadn't provoked anyone, yet they had still been targeted by these scoundrels.
And judging by their bare chests and tattoos, they were clearly not good people.
"You stay back, I'll deal with them." Yan Shouyi stood in front of Lin Zitong.
Lin Zitong detested these people from the bottom of her heart. She gritted her teeth and said, "You don't need to. I'll let ghosts bite them!"
Yan Shouyi was taken aback, "Isn't that a bit much?"
"Don't worry, after being bitten, they'll only fall seriously ill!"
"Then... perhaps you should do it?"
"Fine, I'll do it then!"
Lin Zitong rang the soul-summoning bell without hesitation.
What she didn't voice was that, after being bitten, they would indeed fall ill, and the after-effect of the illness would be weakness.
These social elders were already not young, and after becoming weak, there would only be one outcome.
That was, their abilities would no longer work.
However, Lin Zitong believed this was the punishment they deserved. Only by rendering their abilities useless would they stop having evil thoughts.
The soul-summoning bell chimed, and a chill rose from the ground.
The five social elders also sensed something was amiss.
"This woman is incredibly wicked. Perhaps we should retreat first?"
"Damn, is this entrapment?"
"Why do I feel so uneasy?"
Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared behind the five men.
The shadow opened its mouth, revealing a scarlet maw filled with sharp, glass-shard-like teeth.
As the five men turned around, they were instantly terrified!
The dark shadow suddenly lunged out, grabbing a social elder. With a ripping sound—
The man's arm was torn off!
"Ah!!!! My hand! My hand!!!"
Screams echoed through the hair salon.
Yan Shouyi's expression changed, "You little brat, did you summon another ghost you can't control?"
Lin Zitong quickly said,
"It's not me! I haven't even unleashed my spell yet! This ghost has nothing to do with me!"
Nothing to do with her?
Then where did this incredibly ferocious evil spirit come from?
Yan Shouyi instantly thought of the answer.
Besides Xue Kai, who else could it be?!