Chapter 180: The Disaster-Warding Note

“Huh?!” I was utterly astonished by the trigger conditions Mo Qingyan described, shaking my head repeatedly. “There’s no way I can do that!”

“I know it might be a bit much to ask of you, but isn’t it something you could overcome if you just push past that mental hurdle?” Mo Qingyan asked with a smile.

Still, I shook my head.

Mo Qingyan could only relent. “Don’t worry, I’ll have a reward for you afterward. I was already planning to teach Xiao Qing a spell, and if you can do this, I’ll teach it to you too. It’s an offensive spell, just like you’ve been craving.”

“Really?” My spirits instantly soared upon hearing this. An offensive spell was the true watershed moment, capable of elevating me from an ordinary person to an extraordinary one. It was a skill Yi Zhiqiu would never teach me, and for someone living in a strange residential area where a serial killer lurked, it was absolutely crucial.

“Of course, it’s true. And I can even give you an advance reward, just for helping me gather information on Yi Zhiqiu’s movements.” As Mo Qingyan spoke, she produced a red pencil.

“Minister, are you going to write that now?” Xushan watched Mo Qingyan with keen interest. She nodded, and the surrounding malevolent aura began to converge toward her.

As the Department of Paranormal Events was inherently situated in the liminal space between reality and the netherworld, and Long Middle School itself possessed an extraordinarily dense malevolent aura, a significant amount of this energy swiftly enveloped the red pencil.

Not only Xushan, but even Jia Cheng and Bai Yue turned to look at Mo Qingyan. Clearly, they were all extremely curious about what she was about to write, Bai Yue included.

I had previously witnessed a calligrapher use a magical brush to create a calligraphy piece that made me tireless in study and quick-witted in thought. Now, with Mo Qingyan holding her pencil, could she also produce such a spiritual artifact?

Mo Qingyan spread a blank sheet of paper on the desk. The red pencil in her hand, already imbued with malevolent energy, seemed to drip fresh blood from its tip after absorbing a substantial amount of the surrounding aura.

She began to write on the paper. There was none of the profound elegance that characterized the calligrapher’s strokes, nor did the resulting characters possess the artistic flair of soaring dragons and iron hooks.

Mo Qingyan’s handwriting was uneven, with horizontal strokes askew and vertical strokes wavering, the characters varying wildly in size. It looked akin to a middle schooler’s, or even an elementary student’s, scribbles in a homework notebook, though the ink was blood-red.

The written words lacked any poetic quality or profound meaning. They simply read: “To the person who sees this note, it will shield you from one disaster.”

How should I put it? It looked like a curse note penned by a middle school girl, except the content had been swapped to a disaster-warding charm. Could this truly be effective?

“Phew! It’s done.” Mo Qingyan lifted her pencil and wiped the sweat from her brow. It seemed writing those few characters had drained a considerable amount of her energy.

“Here, carry this paper with you. It can protect you from one disaster—not anything overly dangerous, of course, but things like being hit by a car, as happened last time, or being suddenly stabbed by a killer. It can ward off those kinds of misfortunes,” Mo Qingyan explained.

“Alright, thank you.” I took the slip of paper. The blood-red characters on it looked as if the blood hadn’t yet dried, and a faint wisp of malevolent energy clung to them. In this regard, it was similar to the two calligraphy pieces hanging in my home, except those emanated spiritual light, while this paper exuded malevolent energy.

“You don’t seem very surprised,” Mo Qingyan remarked, looking at me quizzically, as if she expected me to react with more astonishment to this ability.

“I’ve read about similar feats in books—’Words Blooming into Flowers,’ ‘Ma Liang and his Magic Brush,’ things like that. Senior Sister Mo Xue said this kind of ability falls under the category of talismanic arts. Since Senior Sister Mo is so formidable, it’s perfectly normal for her to be able to write a note that wards off disaster.” I showered her with praise.

I hadn’t told Mo Qingyan about buying the calligraphy pieces. In my view, the note Mo Qingyan wrote and the calligrapher’s works were essentially the same in nature; only the methods of writing differed slightly.

Moreover, the effectiveness of Mo Qingyan’s note was far inferior to the calligraphic treasures. Those two pieces only needed to be hung at home to continuously aid my learning progress, whereas Mo Qingyan’s note not only had to be carried at all times but could only ward off a single disaster.

Of course, the owner of that calligraphy shop used the finest paper, the highest-grade ink, and top-tier magical brushes and inkstones. Calligraphy was also his ancestral craft, practiced since childhood. Even then, he had to be in an intoxicated state to produce a high-grade piece, valued at tens of thousands.

Mo Qingyan, on the other hand, had certainly never studied calligraphy. The paper was just ordinary draft paper, and she merely used a pencil to casually write a note. The fact that it could ward off disaster was already quite remarkable. Given the differing circumstances, a direct comparison was indeed unfair.

“Since Senior Sister Mo has promised to teach me an offensive spell and even given me this disaster-warding note, I’ll definitely take care of tomorrow’s matter. You can rest assured,” I said, tucking the note into my pocket.

“Excellent. Then let’s conclude our discussion here for today. We should head out,” Mo Qingyan stated. Everyone nodded, and we exited together.

Upon returning to the Department of Paranormal Events, Xiao Qing was still providing consultations to students. This time, we all helped her attend to the remaining students and address their issues.

During this process, we encountered a student who was truly possessed by a ghost. The moment he entered, I immediately spotted a coiled mass of malevolent energy clinging to his back. Mo Qingyan also quickly turned her head to look at him.

According to the student, during the recent Ghost Festival, he had accidentally kicked over a bowl of chicken blood rice placed on the ground while walking. That offering was meant for a ghost.

Ever since that day, he had felt an incessant hunger. No amount of food could truly sate him; it only temporarily relieved the gnawing sensation. Recently, it had grown much worse; even eating the equivalent of four or five people’s portions offered no improvement.

He wasn’t fat at all; instead, he was gaunt and sallow, looking utterly malnourished. It was a mystery where all the food he consumed went.

He, of course, knew he had touched something he shouldn’t have that day. Kicking over the rice bowl had likely angered a ghost, so he came to the Department of Paranormal Events to see if they could resolve it. If not, he intended to visit a temple or Daoist monastery to burn incense and ask a master to exorcise the ghost.

“This is simple, Xiao Qing. I’ll leave it to you. If you can’t manage, I’ll step in,” Mo Qingyan said, patting Ou Zhiqing’s shoulder.

“Got it!” Xiao Qing once again held up the jade gecko. Just as before, she used a towel to cover the boy’s eyes, and then the jade gecko’s tongue shot out like lightning, piercing directly into the boy’s body, precisely at the location of the malevolent energy I had seen.

Immediately afterward, a translucent vengeful spirit was yanked out by the jade gecko’s tongue. It possessed only a grotesque ghost head, its gaping maw clamped onto the boy’s back, refusing to let go.

“Ah!!!” This time, the boy let out a heart-wrenching scream. However, at that very moment, Mo Qingyan decisively intervened, accurately plunging the red pencil into the ghost head’s glabella.

The vengeful spirit shrieked piercingly, and a large portion of its malevolent energy was absorbed by the red pencil. It was forced to release its grip and was instantly swallowed by the jade gecko.

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