"Wait! Don't!" Zhao Zhao reached out her hand, trying to stop it. The people around were in a complete mess, but the flames didn't show the slightest sign of weakening.
Just as the flames enveloped the bed and were about to reach the old Master Chen, a small paper dragon suddenly emerged from the small cloth bag Zhao Zhao was carrying. It spat out a stream of water at the flames, finally extinguishing the fire.
After putting out the fire, the small paper dragon slowly floated back to Zhao Zhao's side and affectionately perched on her shoulder.
The group of people stared at it, stunned.
"Su Yuan?" Zhao Zhao tentatively stroked the small paper dragon. The paper dragon nodded its dragon head, proudly puffed out its small chest, and rubbed its dragon horn against Zhao Zhao's face.
"Ah! It really is you! Can you see us here?" The appearance of the small paper dragon was about 80 - 90% similar to the appearance of Su Yuan that Zhao Zhao had seen in the Wuhuang Valley back then. Zhao Zhao felt very familiar and delighted when she saw it.
The small paper dragon flicked its tail and leaned close to Zhao Zhao's ear to whisper to her, "It's me. Don't be afraid. I'll stay with you."
"Okay!"
Fufeng watched from the side, twitching the corner of his eye. He thought that this paper dragon was much more honest than its real form and didn't bother to hide anything.
Looking at Zhao Zhao's beaming face, Fufeng shook his head and silently sighed. Tut, if we're talking about being good at flirting, it has to be this old monster who had lived for tens of thousands of years. How could he be so good at winning a young girl's heart? And yet he still insisted on being stubborn!
Alas, he didn't know when these two silly people would finally get together.
"Miss, don't you think you should explain this?" Mrs. Chen spoke up. Her cold eyes were fixed on Zhao Zhao, making Zhao Zhao can't help but frown.
It was a bit strange. Mrs. Chen's reaction was not like that of a human being in such a situation as Zhao Zhao had observed.
There was no anger, no curiosity, just calmness.
"I'm sorry. I don't know why this happened either, but I didn't do it on purpose. Please believe me." No matter how strange she felt inside, Zhao Zhao still apologized first. After all, the accident was indeed caused by her.
Song Yao frowned and stepped in front of Zhao Zhao to shield her. "The golden bird that flew out just now is an heirloom of our Song family. It has always been a symbol of blessing and protection. Just now, it suddenly spat fire. I also want to ask what's going on in your Chen family that made the divine bird take action without any warning."
The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Zhao Zhao noticed that since Song Yao came here, she had been repulsed by everything in the Chen family.
She didn't come to the Chen family to help them. She just wanted to find Song Changming.
"My father-in-law is possessed. You can all see his current state. I think it's probably because of this. I'm sorry, Miss Zhao Zhao. I was just too nervous at that time." Mrs. Chen also knew that this wasn't the time to assign blame. The most important thing was to solve the current dilemma of the Chen family.
"Xiaochu, have the guests arrived?" A clear and melodious male voice came from the door.
"A Jin!" As soon as Mrs. Chen saw the person coming, she hurriedly stepped forward to support him. Her eyes were full of worry. "Why did you get up?"
The man patted Mrs. Chen's hand to comfort her. Then he turned to look at Zhao Zhao and the others and introduced himself. "Greetings, everyone. My name is Chen Jin. I'm the current head of the Chen family. I'm extremely grateful to all of you for being willing to help our Chen family. Whether this matter succeeds or not, I will surely reward you handsomely later."
Zhao Zhao tilted her head and sized him up. Chen Jin's face was ashen, his cheeks were sunken, and the area between his eyebrows was black. He clearly had the appearance of a dying man.
But Mrs. Chen had said that both the father and son of the Chen family were in a coma. So what was going on with this Chen Jin?
"Mrs. Chen, didn't you say that your husband was also in a coma? Then what's this?" Chu Ming voiced Zhao Zhao's doubt.
"This isn't a suitable place to talk. How about all of you come with me to the study to discuss this in detail?" Chen Jin spoke in a very polite and refined manner. He clearly had received a good education.
The servants were tidying up the old Master Chen's bed, and Zhao Zhao and the others followed them out.
When leaving the old Master Chen's room, Zhao Zhao somehow turned back and took a look.
The servant was covering the old Master Chen with a new bedsheet. When the servant lifted the old Master Chen's arm, Zhao Zhao's pupils constricted. That totem, where did it go?
It was strange. Everything was so strange about the entire Chen family.
Filled with doubts, Zhao Zhao went with them to the Chen family's study. She thought that she must find an opportunity to ask Mrs. Chen about the totem she had seen that day.
And... the divine seal of her master.
In the study, Chen Jin coughed three times for every sentence he said. He managed to explain the matter with great difficulty.
Actually, there wasn't much to say. Chen Jin's waking up was completely unexpected. He just suddenly woke up last night.
"Suddenly? Nothing special happened?" Chu Ming pressed further.
"Yes, it was really sudden, without any warning."
"Did you notice anything strange after you woke up?"
"No. Except for being a bit weaker, there really wasn't anything strange... cough, cough, cough..." Chen Jin covered his mouth and coughed up a handful of blood.
"A Jin!" Mrs. Chen's face turned pale. She patted Chen Jin's back to help him catch his breath and said firmly, "You must go back and rest. I'll handle everything."
"I'm so useless." Chen Jin let his hand fall and smiled bitterly. He touched Mrs. Chen's face with his clean hand and was then sent back to his room by the servant.
"You've all seen A Jin and my father-in-law. I wonder if any of you have any ideas now? What on earth should we do to save them?" Mrs. Chen's face seemed to suddenly age. She asked with a vacant look in her eyes.
"He's not a skin-wearing corpse trained by Song Changming, nor is he like those ghosts that try to seize living bodies. I don't know," Song Yao replied, clenching her fists.
"Mrs. Chen, you mentioned the 'Celestial Master Song' before. Can you still contact him now?" Zhao Zhao knew that her cousin was looking for Song Changming, and she also wanted to figure out what was going on.
The air was silent for two seconds. Mrs. Chen poured a cup of tea and said slowly, "I guessed that the Celestial Master Song might be related to you. I can contact him, but not now."
"What do you mean?"
"You two came here for the Celestial Master Song. If I tell you his whereabouts now, will you still do your best to help the Chen family? Don't give me any guarantees. I'm sorry, but this concerns the Chen family. I don't want to take the risk. If you can successfully solve the problems of the Chen family, I will surely tell you everything I know about what you want." She was bargaining with Zhao Zhao and the others, holding all the cards.
"...Okay." Song Yao hated being threatened the most, but she had no other choice now, so she had to agree.
"Alright, alright. Stop making it so tense. Let this Great Emperor tell you. The father and son of the Chen family seem to be affected by the Gu Bell, a Gu technique for nurturing souls," Fufeng said, only willing to reveal his discovery after seeing that they had reached an agreement.
The Gu Bell? Another Gu technique...
Zhao Zhao's eyes involuntarily drifted to Lu Chukong, who had been silent all this time. She remembered that someone had once mentioned Gu techniques.
Maybe Zhao Zhao's gaze was too obvious, and the others' eyes also followed and landed on Lu Chukong.
The person being stared at was stunned for a moment, then let out a low laugh. "Ha... What? Suspecting me?"