The Exorcist
Book 7: Chapter 44: Spreading Information

“Ah Zhan.” Wan Li called him.

Ruan Zhan snapped out of it, thinking himself quite laughable. He hadn’t thought about these things in many years. In fact, due to Xiao Xia, he even wanted to forgive. But for some reason, he kept thinking of the past recently. Was it because his Calamity of Threes was at hand? Perhaps a person’s words become kind when death approaches, just like how a bird sings mournfully at the end of its life!

“I’m heading out.” He stood up.

“Where to?” Wan Li asked. He felt a wave of guilt as he acutely sensed the pain and sorrow in Ruan Zhan’s eyes. It was his fault for mentioning mothers and strange children. It wasn’t like he didn’t know about Ruan Zhan’s unbearable past. The one time Ruan Zhan got drunk, he had told him. Then, he refused to ever bring it up again. Those were internal wounds!

“To handle matters. Can problems be solved by sitting around? You also have work to do.”

“I knew you wouldn’t let me relax.” Wan Li responded, seeing Ruan Zhan recovering. That was how he was, burying everything deep inside. Sometimes he would let it slip in front of his closest friends, but he would immediately conceal it again. Since Ruan Zhan avoided the topic, Wan Li didn’t dwell on it. They just briefly discussed things before heading their separate ways.

Ruan Zhan’s best defense, to put it simply, was actually just to harass and counter-harass.

The two fiends thought themselves powerful and also weren’t willing to give up the city life. Therefore, they wouldn’t flee. However, this did save them some effort since they didn’t have to guard against it. But they had to wait for Bao Da Tong to return and confirm the matter at Creek’s Head Inn, before making preparations for the final assault. Before that, they had to repeatedly harass the pair of fiends so they didn’t have the energy to harm others. As long as things appeared calm on the surface, there wouldn’t be such a heavy police presence anymore. It would be easier for them to act moving forwards.

Ruan Zhan took on the role of harassing the fiends. It goes without saying that the fiends wouldn’t obediently sit still, and would definitely come up with something new. They weren’t scared of any retaliation. As long as Wan Li and Xiao Xia stayed in the bar, Ruan Zhan had no problems protecting himself. What they feared was the fiends harming others again. Therefore, Ruan Zhan thought of spreading rumors.

The city’s populace were jumpy due to the missing children’s case. Although the children had been found, they were like a bunch of vegetables. It didn’t seem like a successful resolution no matter how they saw it. Therefore, the turbulent emotions didn’t calm down. So they decided to spread some fake news on the internet. Namely, hanging a small mirror above the front door with a drop of chicken’s blood. If they downloaded a talisman from the web and stuck it behind the mirror, and finally set off a firecracker every night, they would be absolutely safe.

To avoid trouble, Ruan Zhan and Wan Li learned some ways to guard against IP address tracking from Ni Yang. They even went to a remote web cafe to disseminate this information. Within a day, through various social media and word of mouth, most of the city knew about it. The supply of small mirrors, chicken blood and fire crackers soon became insufficient to keep up with the demand. The amount of times the talisman was downloaded caused the website to freeze.

“Luckily the method only calls for a drop of chicken blood on the mirror. Otherwise, who knows how many chickens would have gotten slaughtered?” Wan Li sighed over dinner. “It’s really three people crying wolf. The entire city ended up believing these random things.”

“It’s probably a case of better safe than sorry.” Xiao Xia had recovered her spirits after sleeping for a day. She sat there eating with the two men. “It also isn’t that much trouble, and is quite easy to do. As long as some people do it, others will follow out of fear. Therefore, everyone will end up doing it. It’s a kind of crowd mentality, I guess. Society is made up of families, and within families, children are most important. No one wants something to happen to their kids. Even if some families don’t have children, their relatives and friends do. The information will naturally spread rapidly. Besides, even slightly older kids might get ‘kidnapped’. It’s best to err on the side of caution. A bit of work is nothing compared to the children’s safety. That’s what everyone would think.”

“True. Well, at least people selling mirrors, killing chickens and selling firecrackers all earned a sum. It could be called a windfall…” Wan Li’s words were interrupted by a burst of firecrackers outside. He could only stop talking.

The Nocturnal Revenant was in a commercial area. The first floor were made up of various stores while the higher floors included shops, hotels and office buildings. Theoretically speaking, no one should be setting off firecrackers here. However, when the sky darkened, waves of them still rang out. It wasn’t clear who was setting them off.

“Man, I guess I’ve realized the power of the internet. Not only does news get spread quickly, even fake news can immediately become real, with so many people believing it.” Wan Li shrugged. “But Ah Zhan, you’re really good at making stuff up. What hells? What harvesting virgins? However, is any of it effective?”

Ruan Zhan had been taciturn as usual. Now that Wan Li asked, he slowly said. “I mentioned the hells since it fit what people were already thinking. As for the method, they truly are traditional warding methods that can’t hurt. Although they cannot deal with those fiends, the ruckus caused by the people will stimulate the Yang energy and their fervor. It would definitely end up affecting them. They don’t belong here, and forcing it would come with drawbacks.”

“What if it pisses them off and they insist on causing harm in a show of force?” Wan Li asked.

“I’ll be patrolling both tonight and tomorrow night. Also, I have helpers. If they try to go after someone, those mirrors and the talismans will trigger an alarm when broken. My helpers will notify me, and even if I can’t get there right away, I will at least catch up to them.”

“But you have to be careful!” Xiao Xia was a little worried. “They might be using that to lure you into a trap.”

“Don’t worry, our Great Master Ruan’s fleeing methods are second to none.” Wan Li acted calm as he comforted Xiao Xia, despite feeling a little uneasy. “Now that you mention it, who is this helper?”

“Never you mind!” Ruan Zhan retorted, making it inconvenient for Xiao Xia to ask too.

Truthfully, that was his intention. He wasn’t able to explain to her where his helpers came from. Those helpers weren’t people, but paper birds from his bird tracking spell. His fingers had almost broken from all the paper birds he had folded last night. He had also used up around half of Bao Da Tong’s special ink.

“But you shouldn’t use the space warping spell, unless you’re running for your life.” Wan Li exhorted.

Ruan Zhan nodded. “I will head out via car tonight.” The space warping spell also required energy, and he wouldn’t randomly use it unless in special circumstances. After all, Bao Da Tong will return in two days at the latest. A great battle lay ahead and he would naturally preserve his strength.

Therefore, everything proceeded according to their plan. Ruan Zhan couldn’t find the fiend girl so he repeatedly harassed “Lil’ Tong”. He didn’t really fight him head on, but merely hid in the shadows like a predator constantly harrying his prey. His concealment spells were excellent and Lil’ Tong couldn’t find any trace of him. He also couldn’t reveal too much of his powers in front of Lu Yan, and was left frothing in rage.

The fervent air in the city also made him feel extremely uncomfortable, like a snake in a field of realgar. He also heard from his sister that her few attempts at catching children had all been ruined by Ruan Zhan, who had arrived in the nick of time. Ruan Zhan also didn’t fight her, and merely provoked her continuously. He didn’t know what Ruan Zhan wanted, but knew that they wouldn’t be able to live peacefully without getting rid of him. He had never been so infuriated since his three centuries of cultivation. He made up his mind to duke it out with Ruan Zhan. However, he was no longer a child. He had an adult’s thoughts and schemes, so he told his sister not to stir up anymore trouble. He was going to figure out how to kill these damned mortals, and how to make their deaths most miserable.

Of course, Yue Xiao Xia would be spared. It wasn’t that she was so beautiful or so charming. She had just been the first woman apart from Lu Yan to treat Lil’ Tong warmly and lovingly. This made her feel like a mother. He loved that sort of affection too much, so he wanted her! The modern world was great in all aspects except for the fact there weren’t anymore child brides. But no matter, he could arrange it.

Two uneventful days passed in the eyes of the ordinary citizens, but on either side of the city, two groups were meticulously preparing to deal with each other. Two days later, Bao Da Tong returned from Creek’s Head Inn.

The bar wasn’t open for business yet when he returned. Ni Yang and Liu Tie were also not at work yet, but the other three were all present. Ruan Zhan usually slept little. Having only slept a few hours in the morning, he was still filled with energy as he sat by the window, carefully drawing glyphs on several carved peach wood swords. Wan Li and Xiao Xia prepped the bar for business.

“You’re back?” Xiao Xia’s bright smile was the first thing he saw. “Did things go smoothly?”

“More or less. With your senior apprentice brother’s skills, everything naturally came easily!” He purposefully spoke casually, but the large rock on his heart still made it hard for him to breathe.

He glanced at Ruan Zhan and noticed the brush and ink in his hands were very familiar. Upon closer examination, they were definitely his own. “Hey, you went through my stuff while I was gone.” He cried out, but his heart was still a mess.

He could have returned yesterday, but tarried until now. He had never been one to avoid the truth, but this matter was impossible for him to relay calmly. Even now, while he joked, he wondered whether he should lie.

“Urgent matters required it.” Ruan Zhan didn’t even look up, responding with four simple words.

“Right, ok, really cool.” Bao Da Tong nodded. “I wondered why so many women like you. Turns out it was because you were cool enough. Ok, well…I’ll head up first.”

“Hold on, what did you find out?” Wan Li blocked him, asking about the events at Creek’s Head Inn.

“Nothing…much.” He glared at Wan Li, blaming him for being nosy. He had been trying to figure out what to do ever since he saw that corpse. Now, he was still undecided and Wan Li’s question made it hard for him to respond.

“Did you run off on a scenic tour and engage in some dual cultivation without going to Creek’s Head Inn?” Seeing the straightforward Bao Da Tong hemming and hawing, Wan Li couldn’t help but ask. He knew Bao Da Tong usually messed around, but wasn’t someone sloppy when things mattered. He really couldn’t come up with any other explanation for his current state.

Great excuse! Great excuse!

Bao Da Tong was about to falsely confess to that when Xiao Xia interrupted. “He wouldn’t, Wan Li. There’s no way he would delay things at such a moment.”

Xiao Xia’s words made Bao Da Tong waver over lying again. Perhaps it was just a coincidence? It would still probably be best to tell Ruan Zhan. He was here to help him, and it wasn’t right to keep him in the dark. Besides, Ruan Zhan seemed cold and aloof. Perhaps he wouldn’t react too violently.

But maybe he should still think it over. How could he phrase it to be more tactful, less hurtful and less shocking!

“I’ll go take a shower first, change and then get some food and water. It’s boiling hot today, I’m about to get heat stroke.” Bao Da Tong clumsily played for time. He had always been good with words. His father often said he could talk the dead back to life, could talk lotus flowers to bloom in the winter. But why was his mouth so clumsy today? It turned out giving friends bad news was such a difficult thing. Perhaps he should tell Wan Li first. He was a psychiatrist, and would be better at handling something like this.

Furthermore…the possibility it was just a coincidence was very big!

“How about we get two ladies to massage you as well?” Wan Li though Bao Da Tong must have screwed something up or done something disgraceful, and thus spoke sarcastically.

He looked up and saw him glaring. Although he was still smiling, there was unease behind his eyes. Wan Li’s involuntarily trembled, wondering if something happened that was difficult to speak about.

“Hey, stop mocking him. Going out in this weather does drain a lot of stamina. Let him rest a little first, ok?” Xiao Xia said considerately, pushing Bao Da Tong upstairs.

Bao Da Tong signaled Wan Li with his eyes. A little surprised, Wan Li still followed him up. Ruan Zhan hadn’t moved at all while the two exchanged furtive looks. He was still focused on drawing glyphs.

Upstairs, Bao Da Tong dropped his mask, his expression deflating. “What should we do? Do we tell?”

Wan Li had no idea what he was talking about, but from his expression, it had to be something difficult.

“Did something happen in Creek’s Head Inn?” He looked at him seriously. “Speak clearly, just what on earth happened? Are we keeping it from Xiao Xia or Ah Zhan?”

“Ah Zhan.”

Wan Li was a little surprised. He had assumed it would be Xiao Xia. Ruan Zhan had experienced a lot. What was there that needed to be kept from him?

“Actually, I’m not sure. It isn’t logical, and besides, many people look alike.” Bao Da Tong wrung his hands. “Am I overthinking things?”

Wan Li nodded. “Since you aren’t sure, why not tell Ruan Zhan?”

“I’m worried in case it’s real. I said in case, since the possibility is extremely small. But…in case it is real, I’m afraid he won’t be able to take it.”

“With that stiff and cold temperament of his, he wouldn’t be affected even if the heavens collapsed.” Wan Li felt Bao Da Tong was a little strange. Theoretically, he should also understand Ruan Zhan. “Unless…it’s related to Xiao Xia. He becomes a mess whenever Xiao Xia is involved.”

“If only it involved Xiao Xia.”

“Then what is it, hurry and tell me. You’re stressing me out!” Bao Da Tong’s unease infected Wan Li, making him impatient.

“Don’t rush, just hear me out.” Bao Da Tong swallowed. “Initially I was also shocked. I mean…you know how I went to Creek’s Head Inn to investigate the corpse of an elder dressed in Daoist robes? The point was to check if he was related to those fiend children…but…but when I arrived, the corpse hadn’t decayed yet and the features were very clear. He looked like…he looked like Ah Zhans…old dad!”

Before his voice fell, an extremely quiet cry sounded from the door!