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The woman sounded quite distressed. Qi Bai Cha reassured her, "I saw her buying a cake with some classmates at a cake shop this afternoon. Maybe she's out having fun with her friends?"
"I initially thought Jingyi was just delayed because she was with her friends. But as time ticked on and she hadn't come home by dinner, I tried calling her and the phone was unreachable!" Zhuang Jingyi's mother spoke frantically. "I then called some of her close friends, and they said they parted ways halfway and that Jingyi was walking home alone. Do you know how dangerous it is for a young girl to be out alone at night? Her father and I were so panicked that we tried to file a police report, only to be told they don't handle missing persons cases unless it's been 24 hours. 24 hours! What if she's been abducted? She's my only daughter—if anything happens to her, I don't want to live anymore..."
"Please, try to stay calm," Qi Bai Cha said, knowing that words would hardly soothe her at this moment. "I will help in the search."
He ended the call, his expression turning solemn, and quickly put on the clothes scattered across the bed.
"Something has happened to a student in my class," Qi Bai Cha said as he buttoned up his shirt and put on his shoes. "I need to step out."
"Do you need help?" Fu Ming Ye quickly dressed as well.
Without turning his head, Qi Bai Cha grabbed his cellphone and car keys, and headed out, saying, "No need."
If it's a human culprit, he could resolve the matter swiftly. If it's something supernatural... Remembering the growing malevolent energy around the school lately, Qi Bai Cha tightened his lips.
Only he could resolve that.
Just as Qi Bai Cha was about to step out of the door, Fu Ming Ye called after him, "Wait."
Turning back, Fu Ming Ye quickly caught up and draped a coat over him, advising, "It's windy tonight; don't catch a cold."
Qi Bai Cha looked at him, nodded, and left.
Fu Ming Ye watched him go.
The moment the door closed, Fu Ming Ye's expression turned icy.
Being a deity, his hearing was excellent; he had heard the entire conversation between Qi Bai Cha and Zhuang Jingyi's parents.
The deity, whose affairs had been interrupted, was now in a very, very foul mood.
Yet, this anger couldn't be directed at Qi Bai Cha, nor the frantic parents, nor even the missing girl.
Therefore, whoever was responsible for the girl's disappearance was going to bear the brunt of this deity's full wrath.
Qi Bai Cha rushed to the underground parking garage, got into his Chevrolet sedan, took his seat in the driver's area, and pulled out his phone to send a message in the Grade 11 Class 1 chat group.
Teacher Qi: Anyone who walked home with Zhuang Jingyi today, please speak up @All members.
Zhu Qingxuan: Here! Teacher Qi.
Zeng Yirou: What happened, Teacher Qi?
Xia Fangyan: Has Zhuang Jingyi not returned home? Her mother just called me and Huang Mengjia, saying she hasn't arrived yet.
Wang Xuanyu: What? What's going on? Is Zhuang Jingyi missing?
Qu Sunsheng: Seriously? It's so late; where could she possibly be?
Zhuang Jingyi is beautiful and cheerful, and she's popular in her class. As soon as word got out about her situation, the class group chat exploded with messages. Many expressed their surprise and concern, quickly maxing out the message count to 99+.
The group admin has enabled a "No Chatting" setting for all members.
The group admin has disabled the "No Chatting" setting for all members.
Teacher Qi: Hold off on the chatter for a moment. Who was the last person with Zhuang Jingyi this afternoon?
Wei Xuan: It was me, @Teacher Qi.
Wei Xuan: After school today, I walked with Zhuang Jingyi, Zhu Qingxuan, Xia Fangyan, and Huang Mengjia. Jingyi and I were going the same way and parted only at the end, around 5:30 PM. I was waiting for the bus while she entered Huangshui Lane.
Teacher Qi: Understood, thank you.
Qi Bai Cha turned off his phone and drove out of the garage.
Huangshui Lane is a route Zhuang Jingyi would take daily to get home from school. Of all days, something had to happen today.
Zhuang Jingyi vanished around 5:30 PM, and now it's already 8 PM. If anything adverse has occurred, time may be running out.
The night scenery outside the car window sped in reverse. Qi Bai Cha gripped the steering wheel, his eyes darkening like the encroaching night.
From as gentle as water to as cold as ice, all it took was a change in his gaze.
He had already sensed something amiss at the school and had advised the students to go home early. Still, he had been careless.
If it's a malevolent entity, these ordinary students wouldn't stand a chance.
Today is Fu Ming Ye's birthday. Qi Bai Cha had planned to investigate another day. However, accidents rarely offer forewarning.
The car came to a halt near Huangshui Lane. The streetlights were broken, making the area desolate at night.
After exiting the car, Qi Bai Cha stood alone in the empty entrance of the lane. A late-night breeze stirred, carrying a tinge of cold.
A Snow Deity feels no cold, but the coat Fu Ming Ye had draped over him gave him a sense of warmth.
Huangshui Lane was a narrow and long alley with no surveillance and no street lighting. At the moment, it was eerily silent and dark.
Qi Bai Cha walked in alone.
A faint trace of malevolent energy lingered in the lane, its dark green tendrils visible on the walls. A malevolent entity had recently been here.
Demons and specters all carry this corrupt energy. The more malevolent their intent, the heavier the energy. If their hearts turn toward good, they can transform this malevolent energy into spiritual energy, elevating them to the rank of immortals.
Mortals don't possess this malevolent energy. But a Snow Deity possesses a clear heart and discerning eyes, capable of distinguishing right from wrong, good from evil, and human intentions.
The residual energy in this lane seemed to belong to a low-level demonic entity.
The trail went cold here. There was no further trace of the demon. Qi Bai Cha stood silently for a moment in the lane. With a gesture, he conjured a transparent ice orb in his palm, revealing the scene from two and a half hours ago.
The orb clearly displayed Zhuang Jingyi, wearing her backpack. She walked alone into the lane and was enveloped by a dark green malevolent energy halfway through, disappearing without a trace.
Even if there were surveillance cameras in this area, they wouldn't capture the malevolent energy emanating from the demon, let alone its true form hidden within the energy. All anyone would see is a person suddenly vanishing—countless unsolved disappearances throughout history have remained mysteries for this very reason.
Qi Bai Cha can see an ugly lecher wrapped in a dark green mist, abducting Zhuang Jing Yi and flying off toward the northwest of the city.
His fingertip once again conjured a snowflake: "Find this pervert."
Obedient to its calling, the snowflake danced briefly in the air before shooting off toward the northwest, serving as a guide.
Qi Bai Cha transformed into a beam of white light, swiftly following behind.
He could have done this more easily. If he were in his prime as the Snow God, locating a person through magical means within the span of six realms would have been trivial. However, with only one ten-thousandth of his divine power remaining, he can no longer sense the faint auras of mortals and must focus on finding where the demon resides.
To lift the seal would require setting up a barrier to gradually release his power, for an abrupt unleashing of his potent divinity could collapse the city. Resealing his powers would also take months. How would he then explain this to Fu Ming Ye? Cite a flare-up of hemorrhoids?
With the time that would take, Qi Bai Cha could have long since saved the person in question.
In an abandoned warehouse to the northwest, a demon and a ghoul were engrossed in ceaseless bickering.
The ghoul, its tongue half-protruded, clawed menacingly: "We should devour this delicious little human girl right away; I can already smell the aroma of her flesh!"
The repulsive demon swatted its claws away: "Get lost! You're so wasteful; such a beautiful woman should be kept to satiate my desires!"
"Lust, lust, that's all you think about!" The ghoul lunged toward the young woman who had already fainted on the ground, its elongated tongue stretching out, "I'm going to eat her!"
"All you know is eat, eat, eat! You're so useless," the demon sneered, yanking the ghoul's tongue sharply. "I was the one who caught her; how she's treated is up to me!"
"Hmph, had I not told you about the school as a good hunting ground, could you have found so many young, tender bodies? Would you have been able to peep under so many women's skirts in the female restrooms?" The ghoul fought back just as fiercely.
"It seems you both have quite a history of misdeeds."
A cold, clear male voice interrupted, causing the demon and ghoul to cease their squabble.
Both turned their heads to find an ethereally handsome young man who had appeared out of nowhere in the warehouse, looking utterly dumbfounded.
The guiding snowflake gently landed on Qi Bai Cha's palm and dissipated. He looked up, his facial expression gentle, yet with a bone-chilling coldness lurking in his eyes.
Exquisitely beautiful, as if a deity.
And indeed, he was.
"Who are you?"
"When did you come in?"
Both the demon and the ghoul spoke simultaneously.
Qi Bai Cha walked over to the fainted Zhuang Jing Yi on the floor and quickly assessed her condition. Thankfully, she was still unharmed.
The ghoul immediately yelled, preparing to pounce: "What are you going to do with my food!"
The demon sensed something amiss and quickly turned to flee. This intruding stranger was clearly no ordinary man; he didn't even flinch upon seeing their inhuman forms. Could he be an exorcist who had come here intentionally?
The lecherous demon and the hungry ghost are both bottom-tier monstrosities, incapable of winning even against a mediocre Taoist priest. Initially, they were too timid to act, lurking in the northeastern restroom of the school to peep at people. Undetected for days, their audacity grew, eventually turning their malicious thoughts into actions.
Little did they expect a formidable obstacle to appear out of nowhere.
The lecherous demon had no sense of honor or loyalty; its only thought now was to have the hungry ghost trip up the man so it could make a swift escape.
Qi Bai Cha stood with downcast eyes, motionless, yet the warehouse door mysteriously closed itself.
The temperature within the room inexplicably plummeted by dozens of degrees Celsius, turning it into a freezer. Though demons and ghosts typically aren't sensitive to earthly temperatures, they could now tangibly feel the chill.
"You…" The hungry ghost abruptly halted, sensing that something was amiss.
The man before them was terrifyingly formidable.
Both the demon and the ghost exchanged a glance before pitifully dropping to their knees, crying and begging.
"We apologize, Taoist Master! We were momentarily blinded by our greed, thinking of doing evil deeds. We swear never to do it again! Please spare us!"
"I've never even consumed a human! Taoist Master, please spare me!"
Qi Bai Cha scrutinized them for a moment, "Your wickedness is deeply ingrained; your remorse isn't genuine. If I spare you today, you will harm others tomorrow."
He smiled gently, "Better to freeze you to death."
The chilling temperature targeted only the lecherous demon and the hungry ghost; Zhuang Jing Yi, lying unconscious, was completely unaffected. Just as Qi Bai Cha was about to lift her up, he suddenly paused.
Someone was coming.
Mortals mustn't witness non-human entities.
The lecherous demon and the hungry ghost, shivering from the bone-piercing cold, saw the young man wave his hand, and miraculously they found themselves enveloped in human skins they'd never thought they'd have.
…and forcibly armed with clubs.
These lowly creatures would have never managed to attain human forms in their lifetimes. Now that they were gifted with them, it signaled their impending doom.
When Fu Ming Ye opened the door, he found his brave little wife shielding a student. Two burly men stood before them, menacingly wielding clubs, glaring at the fragile, pitiable, and helpless Qi Bai Cha.
Lecherous Demon & Hungry Ghost: Our faces are contorted because we're freezing, okay?!
Qi Bai Cha, upon seeing Fu Ming Ye, showed a moment of surprise before lunging into his arms as if he'd found his sanctuary, "How did you find me?"
"I was worried about you," Fu Ming Ye embraced him tightly. "You scared me to death, taking on kidnappers alone. Are you alright?"
"It was terrifying," Qi Bai Cha admitted, still shaken. "How did you find me?"
"Phone location."
In reality, the Dark God had locked onto localized evil thoughts involving a school and a girl, following the trail of malevolence to easily locate Zhuang Jing Yi's whereabouts.
He hadn't expected his beloved Qi Bai Cha to be so capable, finding her so quickly.
What would have happened to Qi Bai Cha if he hadn't arrived in time?
The mere thought sent chills down Fu Ming Ye's spine.
"Take the student home. Leave these two to me," Fu Ming Ye said, furrowing his brow.
Qi Bai Cha nodded, lifting Zhuang Jing Yi and heading out. Getting her back home to her frantic parents was the immediate priority.
As for the lecherous demon and hungry ghost, already frozen to the core, they were too incapacitated to resist. Their remaining time was short, and any subsequent investigation would merely conclude they died from some unknown illness.
With Qi Bai Cha gone, Fu Ming Ye was left alone in the warehouse with the half-frozen demon and ghost.
Fu Ming Ye turned back around, his face void of expression.
Both the lecherous demon and the hungry ghost were too preoccupied with their own misery to speak. They had no concern left for this mysterious human.
But a casual remark from him struck fear into their hearts.
"A lecherous demon and a hungry ghost attaining human form—you must have had quite the twist of fate," Fu Ming Ye said, his eyes icy, his tone colder still. "Since you dared to frighten Qi Bai Cha, consider that twist of fate at an end."
The next second, a terrible wail filled the air. Both the demon and the ghost dissipated into black mist, vanishing completely.
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