Chapter 16: Thunder on the Horizon
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Li Xuan recounted the entire incident of Chen Letong’s possession. When he mentioned the prohibition against eating, the male officer paused in surprise and asked, “An adult can’t survive seven days and nights without food—how could a child possibly endure that?”
Li Xuan replied, “Curses are unimaginable to ordinary people, but they do exist. Chen Letong’s mother, Li Ruonan, filed a police report six years ago with a videotape of the curse. The two officers who viewed the tape that night both committed suicide by shooting themselves, creating an inexplicable unsolved case.”
The male officer shuddered; he had actually heard of this before. It was a bizarre case from years ago. They never suspected a curse at the time, assuming some other cause…
After a moment of silence, he asked, “Just over two hours left to reach seven days?”
Li Xuan nodded. “Please forgive me, but I can’t let you leave for now. I need to ensure the curse on her disappears.”
The officer asked, “As far as I know, this child has no familial relation to you. Is it necessary for you to go this far?”
Li Xuan countered, “You have no kinship with the victims either, so why risk your lives investigating and capturing the culprit?”
The air fell silent. Neither spoke.
Footsteps echoed through the dense fog. The officer couldn’t help but say, “Your motorcycle and the bloodstains are right nearby. It’s only a matter of time before they find us… Come with me. I can make sure she doesn’t eat for the next two hours!”
Li Xuan shook his head.
Others can’t do this!
Having promised A Qinggong, he must see it through to the end.
The Heavenly Tiller Rod in his hand began heating up again. He lowered his voice urgently: “That evil god is stirring trouble again. I’m already hiding in such a secluded place—how did you find me just now?”
The officer said, “The dense fog and swirling vortexes guided me.”
Li Xuan thought, This is bad. We’re in danger.
The officer smiled, “We can’t just start shooting… especially with me here.”
Bang!
The dull crack of a gunshot!
A bullet grazed his cheek, embedding itself in the bushes nearby, leaving a long scar on his face—just like Li Xuan’s.
Damn it!
The officer was furious. What’s wrong with these youngsters?
He gave Li Xuan a reassuring gesture and shouted outside, “It’s me, Zhang Zhengze! Don’t shoot wildly!”
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Figures flickered in the thick fog, accompanied by a shout from the young officer: “That’s Li Chegan’s voice! He’s got a knife and wants to die with the little girl!”
The male officer was stunned but furious. “Are you crazy? I’m Zhang Zhengze!”
The young officer retorted angrily, “How dare you insult me!”
Li Xuan finally understood and said, “They must be blinded and deafened by the evil god’s influence. To them, you probably look like the most vicious villain…”
Zhang Zhengze was at a loss. He had no experience dealing with such supernatural interference. “What do we do?”
Li Xuan thought for a moment. “We have to escape, buy time, stall as long as possible. I’ll try to dissipate the fog in the woods.”
Zhang Zhengze nodded, “I’ll lead them away!”
The curse’s existence confirmed that Li Chegan was the good guy!
Without waiting for a reply, he charged out, and sporadic gunfire rang out.
Li Xuan carried Chen Letong out and used the Heavenly Tiller Rod, dipped in the blood on his cheek, to draw a talisman on the soft earth—a Fengdu Thunder Talisman.
Within the Fengyue Sect, there are Fengdu and Dongyue doctrines. Dongyue forms the foundation, followed by Fengdu.
Their book, The Essentials of Taoist Magic, records many thunder techniques of the Heavenly Court’s Thunder Division.
However, the appendix of the Heavenly Tiller Curse serves as a master catalog, briefly introducing each technique; thus, only this thunder talisman and incantation exist.
Li Xuan drew the thunder talisman, stepped on the Seven Stars, wielded the rod like a sword, and chanted the thunder spell:
“Thunder’s command, summon the spirits. Earth’s decree, guests of blood sacrifice. Five thunder dragons and lightning, compel the heavenly soldiers, swift as the law!”
The Heavenly Tiller Rod vibrated like a high-frequency motor.
The tremors nearly forced him to drop it; his strength burst forth like a torrent, and he collapsed to the side.
Above the red cypress forest, faint thunder rumbled. Then, with a sudden crack, an explosive thunderclap shattered the silence. Those in the woods felt their eardrums buzz and immediately plunged into ringing, unable to hear anything else for a long time.
It was the loudest thunder they had ever heard in their lives.
The dense fog in the forest seemed to explode from the thunder’s might, scattering in all directions. Visibility gradually cleared.
“Holy—”
Zhang Zhengze, hiding behind a tree with a bullet wound in his arm, witnessed the fog vanish as if alive. Forgetting his pain, he exclaimed, “Incredible…”
As the fog dispersed, the officers regained clarity and hurriedly gathered around Zhang Zhengze.
“It’s Captain Zhang! He’s here, apparently shot in the arm by kidnappers—bleeding!”
“Quick, call for an ambulance.”
Seeing they no longer mistook him, Zhang Zhengze steadied himself and kicked one of the younger men, cursing, “You were blinded like ghosts, chasing me all this time. This wound was caused by you!”
Everyone was stunned.
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Zhang Zhengze didn’t explain further; with so many people, it would only cause trouble.
Someone spotted Li Xuan.
Zhang Zhengze recalled what Li Xuan had said and spoke: “There’s more to this than meets the eye. First, get Li Chegan to the hospital for emergency care! I’ll personally escort the little girl Chen Letong—her mother is nearly insane. She needs to see her first. Let’s move out!”
The young officer objected, “But your arm…”
Zhang Zhengze glanced at his watch and said, “Have you never seen me drive with one hand?”
After a simple bandage and pressure dressing on his arm, he secured Chen Letong in the back seat with a seatbelt and steered toward Li Ruonan’s residence. His colleagues took a side road, and he pressed the accelerator, passing by Li Ruonan’s door, increasing speed.
Li Chegan had fought desperately to protect Chen Letong.
Now the baton passed to him—to complete the final two hours.
Fortunately, nothing happened during those last two hours.
When the time was up, Chen Letong began violently vomiting in the back seat, expelling a large amount of filthy fluid resembling the black water found in the red cypress forest, emitting a foul stench.
Zhang Zhengze nearly fainted on the spot.
He rushed Chen Letong to the hospital, where he met Li Xuan and Li Ruonan.
In the ward, the doctor told Zhang Zhengze that Li Xuan’s body was extremely weak, his vital energy depleted—a result of prolonged overexertion.
Zhang Zhengze said nothing. In the red cypress forest, Li Xuan had dragged him into a bushy pit with immense strength…
The weakness was likely caused by unleashing that thunderbolt.
Li Xuan was receiving an IV drip.
He felt his strength slowly returning and marveled inwardly: illness descends like a mountain, but recovery is like pulling silk threads—overexertion must follow the same principle.
Yet the glucose in the IV seemed like a miraculous elixir, restoring him astonishingly fast…
Zhang Zhengze sat on a small chair by the bedside and said, “I’ve heard many ghost stories since childhood but never experienced one until middle age. Quite thrilling… though I almost got shot by those punks.”
He showed his bandaged arm.
Li Xuan asked, “How is Chen Letong?”
Zhang Zhengze said proudly, “I kept her going through the last two hours. She vomited a ton, got rushed to emergency, and her vital signs are stable. She’s just dehydrated and malnourished, now on an IV like you.”