Regarding the person Lu Xiong, Yan Shouyi knew nothing about him, but since his father-in-law, Lin Ruofu, had spoken up for him, it meant Lu Xiong was likely not a bad person.
Yan Shouyi fully believed Old Jin’s diagnosis, but at the same time, he was astonished. Who could be so malicious as to harm Lu Xiong in three different ways?
Now that the problem with Lu Xiong had been identified, the next step was to resolve it.
Yan Shouyi first suspected that something had been tampered with in the room, and the item closest to Lu Xiong was the bed he was lying on.
Thus, Yan Shouyi reminded Long Feicheng, "Little Long, it's your turn to shine."
Long Feicheng nodded, bent down, and searched around the sickbed. This was not only to help Lu Xiong solve the problem but also to gain favor in front of Lu Caiwei.
After searching all around the bed, Long Feicheng found nothing amiss. He then crawled under the bed and immediately let out a surprised "Yi."
"Did you find something?" Xia Zhi couldn't help but ask.
Long Feicheng slid out from under the bed, holding a yellow Taoist talisman, and said, "Just found it, stuck under the bed."
Yan Shouyi directly lifted Long Feicheng up and took the talisman to examine it.
"This is an Evil Curse Talisman," Yan Shouyi quickly identified the talisman.
Old Jin frowned, "An Evil Curse Talisman? It should be considered a type of curse. No wonder Lu Xiong suddenly went mad."
Although Xia Zhi didn't understand these things, she could infer from their conversation that this talisman was the culprit behind Lu Xiong's madness.
The perceptive Xia Zhi followed the clue and asked Yan Shouyi, "What sect's talisman is the Evil Curse Talisman?"
As long as the sect that the Evil Curse Talisman belonged to could be identified, it would narrow down the identity of the villain. Then, Xia Zhi only needed to follow this lead to quickly find the perpetrator.
This was the experience Xia Zhi had gained on the front lines. When encountering a case, she instinctively analyzed it and quickly grasped the clues, and the remaining problems would be easily solved.
Most cases did not require a genius mind; they could even be solved using a formulaic approach. Carefully planned perfect crimes were rare, perhaps not even one encountered in a year by Xia Zhi.
Yan Shouyi shook his head, his brow furrowed, "The Evil Curse Talisman is not a talisman exclusive to any particular sect, nor is its method a secret; many people know it."
"Then this..."
Xia Zhi was suddenly embarrassed. It seemed that directly identifying a suspect through this talisman was not feasible.
"However, we can think about it differently," Yan Shouyi reminded her. "This is a special ward, and there are police officers guarding the door outside. It's impossible for ordinary people to get close, let alone leave a talisman on the sickbed."
Xia Zhi immediately reacted and calmly analyzed, "The culprit couldn't have known which ward Director Lu would be admitted to, so this talisman must have been placed after Director Lu was hospitalized. If we investigate the visitors of the past few days, we can find the person who placed the talisman!"
In this way, the scope of the culprit was greatly reduced!
Once she understood, Xia Zhi did not hesitate and turned around to ask the police officers.
Meanwhile, Yan Shouyi said, "The issue with the Evil Curse Talisman is resolved, but Director Lu still has two problems: one is the depletion of Yang energy and the invasion of Yin energy, and the second is being cursed."
Old Jin said calmly, "The depletion of Yang energy is not a problem. I have a few prepared elixirs here; after he takes them and rests for a few days, he will be fine. However, the malevolent ghost that haunts him, and that curse, will still require your intervention."
What everyone did not know at the moment was whether the three troubles that appeared on Lu Xiong were all from the same person.
After all, the malevolent ghost possession, the curse, and the Evil Curse Talisman belonged to different factions.
Those who played with ghosts should not be sorcerers; sorcerers would just cast curses directly, they wouldn't cast hexes. People who cast hexes wouldn't play with ghosts either.
So, even though Xia Zhi was already investigating, Yan Shouyi had not been idle.
"Little Long, Caiwei, please get me two drops of Uncle Lu's fresh blood and a few of his hair strands," Yan Shouyi said.
The two immediately sprang into action. Lu Caiwei carefully pricked Lu Xiong's finger to collect a few drops of blood, while Long Feicheng used scissors to cut off a few of the sparse hairs on Lu Xiong's head.
As he cut, Long Feicheng muttered, "It seems being a director isn't easy. Uncle Lu's hair volume is truly touching. I apologize..."
After obtaining the two items Yan Shouyi requested, Old Jin also fed Lu Xiong the elixir.
Without the influence of the Evil Curse Talisman, Lu Xiong's complexion looked much better. After taking the elixir, he slept soundly.
"Brother Yan, what are you planning to do?" Long Feicheng asked.
"The malevolent ghost possession is simple. I'll make a dummy to lure the ghost over. Once we capture it, we can interrogate it, and we'll naturally know who is behind it."
Yan Shouyi paused and then added, "As for the sorcerer, I plan to use a soul-tracking technique. This sorcerer's strength should not be great. With my current skill level, I can remotely inflict severe injury and blood vomiting, damage his soul, and directly track his location!"
With his increased strength, Yan Shouyi no longer had to act so cautiously.
In the face of absolute power, all schemes and tricks are superfluous.
Old Jin looked at Yan Shouyi with admiration. Yan Shouyi's progress over the past six months had been rapid, and he had witnessed it all.
If it weren't for his companions having good talent and experiencing serendipitous encounters, they would have long been left far behind by Yan Shouyi.
With the plan in place, the next step was to implement it properly.
Yan Shouyi took out a piece of Yin wood, shaped like a human, which he had prepared earlier. He wrapped Lu Xiong's hair around it and dripped one drop of Lu Xiong's blood onto it.
A strange aura immediately emanated from the small wooden figure.
Placing the wooden figure by the window, the scent of blood wafted out. For a less powerful malevolent ghost, this wooden figure was more tempting than any fine wine or delicacy in the world.
The malevolent ghost that had been haunting Lu Xiong had already memorized Lu Xiong's scent. It would only feel that Lu Xiong had Yang energy again, so it would undoubtedly rush over without delay, ready for a feast.
After placing the wooden figure, Yan Shouyi immediately proceeded to the next step.
He took out a red string, dripped the second drop of blood onto it, and the blood was quickly absorbed by the red string. One end was tied to Yan Shouyi's pinky finger, and the other end was tied to Lu Xiong's pinky finger.
In this way, Yan Shouyi could establish a connection with Lu Xiong through this red string, and thus perform the soul-tracking technique to find the location of the person who cast the curse!
"Cranium Fierce General, Sense General Sang Tong.
Quickly exit the Nine Yin position, Starfire descends into the altar.
Chase souls a thousand miles, capture spirits swift as wind.
Kui Xing's thunder turns, Gang Yao's energy dims.
You who hear my command, obey as ordered.
Do not offend the Fengdu decree, for sins shall be eternally boundless."
As soon as the incantation for the soul-tracking technique was recited, a wisp of blood energy shot out from the crown of Lu Xiong's head, rushed out of the ward, and soared straight into the sky!
Long Feicheng quickly ran to the windowsill to look. He saw that the wisp of blood energy was heading straight towards a small alley outside the hospital!