Chapter 87: Can I Take a Look?

That damn mirage had the audacity to claim her feelings for her master were fake?

And that her master was beyond saving?

Just thinking about it made Li Qingran furious.

There was nothing to discuss—if it tried to stop her from saving her master, she’d just cut it down with a single sword strike!

The scroll Elder Jiong had retrieved was already glowing faintly, making it easy to spot even in the densely packed shelves of the fifth floor.

Li Qingran carefully picked it up and flipped through its contents.

It was a treatise on alchemy, split into two volumes.

The second recorded three pill recipes:

Golden Scale Skin Refining Powder

Hundred Herb Detoxification Pill

Dragon Tendon Bone-Tempering Elixir

Among them, the Hundred Herb Detoxification Pill was said to neutralize all poisons—even surpassing the formulas of Lingxi Valley. However, it was incredibly difficult to refine, especially since it required over a hundred rare spirit herbs.

Still, Li Qingran was delighted.

A heavy burden was lifted from her heart, and she smiled.

"Good thing I didn’t go to Lingxi Valley. If I had, I never would’ve found a way to cure Master’s demon poison."

"You may leave once you’ve memorized the scripture," Elder Jiong called from outside.

Li Qingran returned the scroll to its place and walked to the entrance.

"This is a transcript of Danxin Annotations," Elder Jiong said, handing her a jade slip. "It will self-destruct in twelve hours. You must memorize its contents before then—will that be an issue?"

"No problem."

She accepted the slip, thanked Elder Jiong, and left the Scripture Pavilion.

Standing atop the North Summit, she gazed at the rolling clouds on the horizon.

Stretching her arms lazily, she finally felt a sense of relief.

"Next, I need to gather the necessary herbs—and tell Master the good news. That’ll cheer him up!"

She giggled to herself.

Sect Master Su Qinian would surely help as well.

If everyone worked together, they would definitely find a cure for her master’s demon poison.

Once he recovered, he could return to the Sword Pavilion.

And then…

She could see him every day…

As that thought lingered, the tips of her ears turned bright red.

Quickly shaking off the embarrassment, she rang the bell at her waist.

A celestial crane soared over from the cliffside.

Hopping onto its back, she decided to visit Ten Thousand Swords Peak first to see the stele her master had left behind.

After that, she’d return to Luoxia Peak.

Meanwhile, in a police station interrogation room—

"Officer, listen, I barely even know that girl!"

"Oh? Then why was she in your hotel room? And she’s underage."

"I was trying to stop her from bleeding out!"

"So that’s why you took her clothes off?"

"How else was I supposed to dress her wounds and perform acupuncture? It’s not like I—wait, hold up. Do you think I have some weird thoughts about a kid?"

"Oh, so you do acupuncture? Are you a doctor?"

"No…"

"Uh-huh. Please, continue."

The officer casually flipped open his notebook, gesturing for Chen Huai’an to "keep making things up."

Chen Huai’an was speechless.

Shortly after Lin Lingling was taken away by the ambulance, the police had arrived.

Most likely, the hotel staff had reported the scene.

Given the bloodstains everywhere and the fact that it involved an underage girl, it was no surprise that they handcuffed him and took him in immediately.

"I’m telling the truth," Chen Huai’an sighed. "Just wait until she wakes up. You can ask her yourselves."

"Oh, we will."

"But until then, you’ll have to sit tight right here."

The officer’s expression remained skeptical, practically screaming, ‘I wouldn’t believe you if my life depended on it.’

At that moment—

The interrogation room door swung open.

A bearded middle-aged man stepped in.

He flashed his badge at the officer, whose face immediately stiffened.

The officer quickly saluted and stepped aside.

"This case is now under our jurisdiction," the man muttered to him.

The officer gave a sharp nod before exiting the room.

The bearded man turned to Chen Huai’an, his gaze scrutinizing.

"Chen Huai’an, is it?"

His eyes flicked between the case files and Chen Huai’an’s face—and he hesitated.

What the hell?

How is this guy so ridiculously handsome?!

It was unnatural.

Something was off.

He was already inclined to believe Triple Zero’s bizarre descriptions of Chen Huai’an—because the moment he laid eyes on the guy, he felt uneasy.

This was not a normal person.

And after visiting the hotel scene earlier, he had felt it—

An immense aura of demonic energy behind the sealed door.

It was a miracle that the hotel staff had the good sense to keep the doors shut.

Otherwise, that thing might have escaped.

The charms on the doors and windows were real.

They were the only thing keeping that demon trapped inside.

And yet—

The source of those charms was a complete mystery.

"I’m innocent."

Chen Huai’an sighed again.

Thinking this guy was just another police officer, he tried to explain, "I woke up this morning and saw that girl covered in blood at my doorstep. As a decent citizen, I couldn’t just leave her there to die, right?"

The bearded man let out a dry chuckle.

"Chen Huai’an, I completely believe you."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Chen Huai’an brightened.

"Then can I have my phone back?"

It had been half a day since he’d seen Qingran Baby, and he was getting antsy.

The bearded man was puzzled but still handed him the phone.

Then, he watched as Chen Huai’an eagerly tapped away on the screen—

Despite the fact that, from his perspective, the screen was completely black.

The more he watched, the deeper his confusion grew.

This phone… isn’t normal.

Could it be a demonic artifact or a spiritual object?

Since the Spiritual Qi Revival, all sorts of supernatural things had begun to appear.

Some of them were demonic artifacts—objects corrupted by demonic influence, capable of turning humans into demons.

Others were spiritual objects, possessing various mysterious powers.

These were highly sought after by cultivators.

If Chen Huai’an’s phone was a spiritual object, it would explain a lot—

The charms on the hotel doors.

The barrier keeping the demon trapped.

It all made perfect sense.

There was a simple way to test this theory.

A bound spiritual object could only be used by its designated owner.

But if it was unbound, anyone could use it.

After some thought, the bearded man casually stood up and walked over.

With a friendly smile, he said,

"Chen Huai’an, that’s quite an old model of a phone you’ve got there. You’ve been using it for years, haven’t you?"

Then, extending his hand, he asked,

"Mind if I take a look?"

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