When Ye Mo returned to his place, Xu Wei hadn't come back yet. Although he had covered a shift for her that day, he had also made tens of thousands of yuan. For someone who was nearly broke, this was something worth celebrating. Still, this kind of thing wasn't something he could do often. The more he did it, the more likely his identity would be exposed. He wasn't yet capable of protecting himself, and revealing his powers in a place like this was far from wise. The world was not as safe as it appeared on the surface.
The next day, Xu Wei returned. But Ye Mo noticed her eyes were slightly red and swollen, as if something had happened. Still, their relationship was merely that of acquaintances, so he didn't ask.
In the following days, Ye Mo's life became very regular. If he wasn't at school, he was either cultivating or practicing martial arts. Now that he had some money, the idea of setting up a street stall at the night market was shelved indefinitely. He was somewhat surprised that, since Su Mei had been humiliated by him last time, she hadn't come looking for trouble again. That was fine by Ye Mo—less trouble meant more peace of mind.
What Ye Mo didn't know was that quite a few people were looking for him. Aside from Su Jingwen, who had bought his talisman, there was also the old man he saved at the hospital. On top of that, Wang Peng was also looking for him. Ever since Ye Mo had kicked him, Wang Peng's wrist couldn't bear any force—any exertion would cause it to dislocate, and even after resetting it, the problem persisted.
However, despite the old man flipping Likang Hospital upside down, there was still no trace of Ye Mo. It was as if he had appeared out of thin air—and then vanished into it.
Not only was Dr. Cui, who was originally on shift, questioned over and over, but even every doctor and nurse at Likang Hospital had been rounded up and interrogated. Yet they still couldn't find the young man with the medical kit who had used golden needles.
Xiao Wu did find Ye Mo a bit suspicious, since it was the exact day he had covered a shift that the incident happened. But she hadn't paid attention to whether Ye Mo had brought a medical kit. And when she heard from Xu Wei that Ye Mo was just an unemployed drifter, she dismissed her doubts entirely.
If it weren't for the undeniable fact that the old man's condition had improved, and considering the man's status, people might have suspected the whole thing had been fabricated by him and his granddaughter.
Meanwhile, Su Jingwen had been in a good mood lately. Not only had her mother recovered, but that annoying Wang Peng hadn't shown up either. Even her father, who used to keep nudging her toward Wang Peng, hadn't said anything recently. In her heart, Su Jingwen deeply thanked the man who had sold her the talisman—he had helped change her life.
"Jingwen, have you found that person who sold you the talisman?" asked a refined and elegant middle-aged woman sitting beside her.
"Jingwen" was, of course, Su Jingwen. The woman beside her was her mother, the same one who had been saved by Ye Mo's Clarity Talisman. Ever since she regained consciousness, Su Jingwen had spent every spare moment by her side.
After the shock of the Clarity Talisman, the entire Su family had been trying to locate Ye Mo. Not only Su Jingwen and her mother were searching for him—even Su Jianzhong, her father, was actively looking for this mysterious man.
Su Jingwen and her mother sought Ye Mo not only out of gratitude—although they had paid for the talisman, they now realized that the money they gave, a few tens of thousands of yuan, was likely not even worth a corner of that talisman.
Now fully aware of the talisman's rarity, Su Jingwen kept the remaining ones carefully stored and close at hand. She wanted to find Ye Mo not only to repay him further but also perhaps to obtain more talismans.
"No, I've gone to Haibao Garden many times, but I haven't seen him once. It seems the Wang family is also looking for him. I'm worried he might fall into their hands," Su Jingwen said. Ye Mo's image—wearing sunglasses and a low-brimmed hat—had appeared in her mind countless times.
Her mother smiled slightly. "Jingwen, do you really think someone like him would be afraid of the Wang family? Don't worry. Just keep an eye out. If you see him again, be sure to bring him home—I must thank him in person. If he refuses to come, then at least don't let him suffer in any way."
"Mm." Su Jingwen nodded. Her curiosity about Ye Mo had only grown. Ever since she had started wearing the Ward-off-Evil Talisman, she had felt much more at ease. Many times, she had wanted to test the power of the Fireball Talisman, but she had restrained herself—because she only had one.
Ye Mo, of course, had no idea so many people were looking for him. Even if he had, he would have pretended not to know. Right now, he had enough money, and his cultivation couldn't be rushed. With financial pressure lifted, there was no need to go to the night market. He was living quite comfortably—his days consisting of nothing but school and home, a monotonous but peaceful routine.
However, as he left the library today, Ye Mo felt that someone was watching him. And once he stepped out of campus, that feeling only grew stronger.
Not far outside the university gate, Ye Mo spotted a Land Rover SUV parked in a corner. From the look of it, there were more than one person inside, all of whom were watching him.
Ye Mo sneered. It looked like he had been targeted by whoever was in that car. Since reincarnating, he had kept a low profile. Unless provoked, he never made trouble. The only real conflict he'd had was with someone named Zheng Wenqiao. It seemed likely the people in that SUV were connected to him.
Ye Mo debated whether to confront them head-on or lure them to a secluded spot and beat them up when two bleach-blond young men got out of the Land Rover.
The two thugs walked straight up to Ye Mo, looked him up and down with disdain, and one of them finally said, "You're Ye Mo, right? Come with us. Heh, don't even think about refusing—say no, and you'll die a horrible death."
Ye Mo smiled faintly. So this is all Zheng Wenqiao could muster? Just a couple of street punks?
The two blond guys flanked Ye Mo, clearly trying to block any chance of escape. Just as they were expecting resistance and preparing to rough him up a bit, Ye Mo unexpectedly said, "Lead the way."
They were stunned for a second. One of them recovered, looked Ye Mo over again, and muttered, "Got guts."
Ye Mo ignored their chatter and calmly followed them into the Land Rover, as if he were being chauffeured rather than kidnapped.
At that moment, Su Jingwen happened to pull her car up to the front gate of Ninghai University and saw Ye Mo being sandwiched between two thugs and forced into the vehicle. She shook her head—clearly, this student had offended someone. Stuff like this happened every day; it wasn't her concern.
But as her eyes brushed over Ye Mo's face, she paused. Why does he look so familiar? His figure, his aura—something about him stuck in her memory. Had she met him before? Talked to him even?
Someone so familiar couldn't be ignored. At the very least, she had to find out who he was.
With that thought, Su Jingwen immediately called the police, described the Land Rover's direction, and began tailing it in her own car. She kept her distance to avoid being spotted and used a pair of binoculars to keep the vehicle in view.
Sure enough, the Land Rover headed deeper and deeper into the suburbs. Su Jingwen knew they were looking for a remote place to settle some scores. Someone could very well die out here. The SUV had begun to rock slightly—maybe they were already roughing the student up. Her anxiety grew, but still, no police in sight.
After another ten minutes, the Land Rover was swaying even more violently. Just as Su Jingwen's heart was about to jump out of her throat, a police car finally rolled up, sirens wailing—albeit far too leisurely.