I used folk talismans to ward off the evil spirit.

Chapter 82 The Aftermath of Opening the Path, Impersonating the Phoenix (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

Zhao Chen was stunned for a moment, and was about to ask for details when a rustling sound came from the other end of the phone, mixed with cries of pain.

After a long pause, the other person's voice came through intermittently: "Team Leader Zhao, it won't let me leave. Please come quickly, there are many people watching—"

The phone hangs up.

Zhao Chen put away his phone, and under the curious gazes of the crowd, reported to Su Tie: "Director Su, it's Qin Jun from the former Fifth Squadron calling. He got caught in a willow tree in the south of the city, but he should be alright. I'll go check on him."

Su Tie nodded: "Okay, go ahead. Hasn't Xiao Cai been worried about not having any news lately? You should go too; people should enjoy reading about this kind of fresh stuff."

"Alright! I'll go and learn something!" Cai Liang picked up Jiang Huang and got up.

Zhao Jing also hugged the ginger juice to his arms: "I'll go too! Maybe I can be of help."

The police car drove out of the Department of the Supernatural and headed south of the city.

On the way, Zhao Chen briefly explained the man's situation: "Qin Jun, a surviving colleague from the Fifth Squadron, had been recovering from his injuries and undergoing rehabilitation treatment."

"He was supposed to report to our squadron in a couple of days, but this happened today. Everyone, go check what's going on."

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Sun Yijing asked curiously, "Where does he live?" Zhao Chen scrolled through his phone: "South of the city, I think—"

As they approached their destination, Zhao Chen slowed down. He glanced at the old houses lining both sides of the street and suddenly felt they looked familiar.

"Isn't this the street you used to live on?" He turned around and glanced at Zhou Xia.

Zhou Xia hesitated for a moment: "The address he gave me seems to be the building where I used to live?"

The car turned into a narrow alley, and from a distance, we could see a large group of people gathered downstairs, craning their necks and pointing at the big willow tree, making a ruckus.

Zhao Chen looked up and saw that the willow tree was as tall as a four-story building, with gnarled branches and green cascading down like a waterfall. Its lush foliage made it seem like a tree that didn't grow in the city.

The leaves were a glossy green, densely packed together, and sunlight shone through, scattering golden fragments on the ground.

Zhao Chen subconsciously enhanced his eyes with Yin energy, and when he looked again, a faint, clear light was faintly shining through the layers of green leaves.

Near the big tree, some people were taking pictures with their cameras, while others were laughing with their arms crossed.

Some people even led their children, pointing at the big tree and lecturing them: "Look at that willow tree, how spiritual it is! It hangs down bad people like that!"

The police car stopped, and Zhao Chen got out. Everyone rushed over and started talking at once, describing the "case".

He found the conversation overwhelming, so he asked Tao Li and Liu Qing, who were better at handling crowds, to take notes, while he led the others through the crowd to observe the scene.

Qin Jun was seen hanging upside down in mid-air, his head and feet dangling from the ground, his face flushed red.

His head was bald in large patches, with short black hair scattered everywhere, but there was no bleeding.

Unfortunately, his demonic possession seemed to be suppressed, unable to unleash its Fusion Realm power. It could only wave its hands wildly in the air, groaning incessantly, "Put me down, put me down—"

The willow tree remained unmoved, its branches and leaves drooping quietly.

Jiang Huang peeked out from Cai Liang's arms and immediately recognized the old willow tree.

It was stunned: This was its own home! This willow tree often stretched its branches into the window!

It looked around at the old houses and immediately knew: Yes, this is the place.

Remembering Jiang Jun's instruction not to expose himself, the little guy quickly shrank back into Cai Liang's arms, pretending he hadn't seen anything.

Ginger juice recognized it too, tilted its head up to take a look, and then quickly buried its head in Zhao Jing's chest, leaving only its round buttocks exposed.

Cai Liang and Zhao Jing assumed they were just shy and didn't ask any further questions, focusing instead on observing the scene.

An elderly woman surnamed Liu, a tenant in the same building, muttered to herself while carrying a shopping basket, "This big willow tree is a good tree. The 'guibuxu' hanging on my window is made of its willow branches; it's believed to bring good luck!"

A young man pushed up his glasses: "Everyone broke off these willow branches, and I haven't heard of anyone getting into trouble, but he got into trouble just because he broke one?"

He definitely has a problem!

The tenant, Granny Xie's, husband nodded in agreement: "That's right, that's right! This tree is sentient! It knows who the good people are and who the bad people are!"

Zhao Chen felt uneasy listening to these words. The only thing he was thankful for was that Qin Jun wasn't wearing a police uniform, otherwise it would have been a disgrace to the Department of the Supernatural.

He frowned slightly, about to step forward to deal with the situation.

Cai Liang stepped forward and said, "Don't do anything yet. This tree is strange. Let me see what's wrong with it."

He handed the turmeric to Zhao Jing, leaned over to the tree, placed his hand on the trunk, closed his eyes, and channeled his inner energy into the tree. He quickly sensed a power that could suppress things.

A moment later, he opened his eyes: "Brother Chen, this tree isn't a monster. It has the aura of a talisman, like a spiritual plant that has been enlightened; it's very intelligent."

"Besides, I think it didn't mean any harm, otherwise Qin Jun wouldn't have had the strength to call you for help."

Zhao Chen's eyebrows twitched slightly: "Then continue communicating with the willow tree."

Cai Liang placed his hand on the tree trunk, repeatedly sending signals of goodwill into it.

The willow tree trembled slightly, its branches swaying gently, as if in response.

Its consciousness was very confused and its expression was also very vague. It took Cai Liang a long time to discern that it felt a sense of grievance.

After a while, the willow branches slowly loosened.

Qin Jun fell from mid-air and was caught by Zhang Ming and He Hongtao in a flurry of activity.

"Cough cough cough—" Qin Jun slumped to the ground, panting heavily, his face deathly pale. "Captain Zhao—"

"Relax, it's alright." Zhao Chen squatted down and looked at him calmly. "Tell me, what happened?"

Why is this willow tree targeting only you?

Qin Jun lowered his head, his voice weak: "I—I don't know either. I just broke off a few willow twigs—who knows, they might have already turned into monsters! Monsters harm people without any logic!"

Zhao Chen didn't ask any further questions. He stood up and gestured for Zhou Xia to take him to the side to rest.

He turned to Cai Liang: "What did the tree say?"

Cai Liang lowered his voice: "It says that it doesn't really care if others break its branches, since it grows very fast anyway, and everyone helps it water and fertilize, so it's not stingy."

Zhao Jing looked at him suspiciously: "Senior brother, can this tree speak such complex words?"

"Artistic embellishment! The charm of journalism, you don't understand!" Cai Liang tapped him on the forehead and continued translating.

"But Qin Jun doesn't just break branches and weave 'Ghostly Impermissible Things,' he deliberately uses these objects to damage them, creating a force that makes the Ghostly Impermissible Things very uncomfortable. Each time he finishes, it feels like something unclean has descended upon it."

Zhao Chen remained silent for a moment, then turned his head and looked at Qin Jun, who was being supported by Zhou Xia, not far away.

He walked over, his gaze lingering on Qin Jun's face for a few seconds, before suddenly asking, "Fifth Squadron, are you the only one left to survive?"

"Yeah—" Qin Jun seemed a little bewildered, but his voice was three degrees weaker. "I guess—I was just lucky."

Zhao Chen looked away and didn't ask any more questions.

He walked aside, took out his phone, and dialed Deputy Chief Zhou Song's number: "Chief Zhou, there's something I need to report to you. Qin Jun might be in trouble. I suggest he be suspended from his duties pending investigation, and his residence searched."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, then Zhou Song asked, "Do you have any evidence?"

Zhao Chen said, "There is no direct evidence yet, but there are several points of doubt. I need support from the technical department."

Zhou Song responded, "You keep them under control, I'll send someone over."

After hanging up the phone, Zhao Chen returned to the center of the crowd and said to Zhou Xia, "Take him to sit over there and wait for the technical department to arrive."

Zhou Xia nodded and helped Qin Jun sit down on the edge of a flower bed. He Hongtao and Zhang Ming were secretly watching from the side.

The three men's magical artifacts were all on standby, ready to prevent Qin Junting from taking any risks.

Tao Li and Liu Qing then began showing their identification and persuading the crowd to leave.

The technical department arrived quickly.

Several people went upstairs to search, and in less than fifteen minutes, they found a wooden box in Qin Jun's room.

In addition, traces of the Guiyuan ritual were found on the floor, but they had been deliberately erased and would not be noticed without careful examination.

It is strictly forbidden by the Department of Divine Mysteries to conduct research on the power of the Abyss in residential areas, and Qin Jun must have known this.

The box was opened, revealing shriveled animal carcasses, charred willow twig fragments, and a bone mirror engraved with twisted runes.

Zhao Chen picked up the bone mirror, examined it several times, and his expression darkened.

He put the bone mirror into the evidence bag and told the technical staff, "Take it all."

The temporary sealing off of room 303 attracted a crowd of neighbors who gathered to watch and discuss the situation. Some people had seen Qin Jun wearing the uniform of the Department of Supernatural Affairs, and they even surrounded him demanding an explanation and insisting that Zhao Chen provide a guarantee of his safety.

"Don't worry, everyone, there's nothing inside. And I see everyone has hung up 'Guardian of Evil' and pasted 'Divine Rooster Talismans' on their windows—with these protecting you, everything will be fine." Cai Liang helped to reassure the crowd.

When Qin Jun was put into the police car, his face was ashen and his lips were trembling. He did not utter a single word of defense.

Zhao Chen stood under the big willow tree, looking up at the drooping branches.

The branches swayed gently in the wind, as if nodding to him.

"Have you gotten in touch with the landlord of this building, that young man surnamed Jiang? I remember he seems to have become a Ghost Rider?" he asked Liu Qing.

Liu Qing shook his head: "No one answered the phone. I asked a few tenants, and they said the landlord had given advance notice that he was going on a long trip."

"The water, electricity, and gas bills for this building have all been paid in advance, and the rent has been deposited into the landlord's account. I haven't seen any of the tenants recently."

Tao Li, standing nearby, guessed, "Perhaps they went to the realm of ghosts? These folk ghost-controllers are quite curious and adventurous—it's been three months already, could it be—"

Zhao Chen frowned and glanced at Cai Liang: "What do you think is the best course of action regarding this tree?"

Cai Liang thought for a moment: "Brother Chen, it probably doesn't mean any harm, and the people around it are very fond of it, so it's not appropriate to forcibly deal with it."

"I think we should stay where we are and observe for a while. I always feel that this is related to my teacher's successful path."

Zhao Chen thought for a moment: "Okay. Let's leave it at that for now."

He pointed to the opposite side of the willow tree and instructed Liu Qing: "Communicate with our brother unit and have someone come over immediately to install surveillance cameras. I need to monitor its movements 24 hours a day to prevent any accidents from happening."

Liu Qing nodded in agreement.

Jiang Huang peeked out from Zhao Jing's arms, looked at the willow tree, and softly uttered "Ah-bei".

The willow branches swayed, as if in response.

Zhao Jing looked down at it, and Jiang Huang immediately buried its face back, pretending that nothing had happened.

The police car drove away from the street. The willow branches were still swaying gently in the wind.

*

Inside the Juntian Palace.

Jiang Jun sat cross-legged on the throne, familiarizing himself with the power of the Transcendent Realm, when suddenly a thought struck him.

His consciousness spread out along the "Unspeakable Ghost" talisman in his home and landed on the big willow tree.

The willow tree's intelligence was still very nascent, like a blank sheet of paper, unable to express clear meaning, but Jiang Jun, as its enlightener, was able to quickly understand its meaning.

In fact, once the method of warding off evil spirits was established, these plants, including the large willow tree, became deeply bound to the warding off evil spirits.

Even if they are felled and used to make talismans, they are merely existing in a different form, not that they are "dead" at all.

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Each of the talismanic clones is a continuation of their lives, so the willow tree does not instinctively resist it.

Only malicious loggers like Qin Jun will be rejected and even punished by them.

Jiang Jun gently touched its consciousness with his divine sense, leaving a gentle mark as a sign of encouragement.

The willow tree trembled slightly, its branches swaying gently, as if it were smiling.

"He's quite a clever little fellow." Jiang Jun snapped out of his daze, a smile playing on his lips.

Perhaps because this willow tree was so close to him, it was more deeply influenced by the way of suppressing things, and its spirituality was particularly vivid.

With proper guidance, its future may be no less promising than that of turmeric.

As for Qin Jun, he did not show any abnormality before Jiang Jun went to the Abyss of Ghosts to undergo tribulation, which is why he was allowed to stay under Jiang Jun's nose for so long.

Unexpectedly, he has revealed his true colors over these three months. However, Jiang Jun was prepared for this and made many preparations. If he really endangers the safety of the residents, he will have ways to deal with him.

Unexpectedly, before he could do anything to the tenants, he was caught by Big Willow Tree.

"Oh, right—" Jiang Jun suddenly remembered something.

The art of warding off evil spirits has been developed and is increasingly integrated with the real world. The materials used to make these warding-off objects have also acquired the power to ward off evil.

This willow tree, being close to me, was influenced by my spirit and thus became the first to connect with it. What about other places?

Will the willow trees, jujube trees, and gourd vines also undergo similar changes?

Could there be some things that have already caused an even bigger stir than the willow tree?

Once the thought came to him, he couldn't sit still.

He followed the nine-colored glow and focused his consciousness on the various objects scattered across the blue planet, taking the opportunity to observe their surroundings and paying particular attention to the plants.

Countless naive spirits emerged in his perception, most of them with weak intelligence, acting only on instinct.

However, a few trees have already caused quite a stir.

That's fine, after all, plants are ignorant and even if they are spiritual, they still need time to grow.

But in one place, a rooster that was about to be slaughtered suddenly burst into flames and flew into the sky, where it was worshipped as a "phoenix". This made Jiang Jun a little uneasy.

He opened his eyes helplessly, looked at the boundless darkness outside the Juntian Palace, and laughed, "It's getting more and more lively."