Chapter 3: Murder and Silencing

  Dongfang Lan got out of bed, grabbed Wang Long's hand and said: "Wang Long, I'm so scared." Wang Long patted Dongfang Lan's shoulder and said: "Don't be afraid, it's okay, I'll go check who did it, don't worry." Dongfang Lan still looked frightened, holding onto Wang Long's hand as if she was afraid he would run away.

  Dongfang Hong coughed awkwardly on the side, and Dongfang Lan quickly let go of Wang Long's hand, her face turning red as if painted with crimson. Dongfang Hong said in puzzlement: "Although I have offended some underworld forces outside, why didn't they come after me but instead came after Lan? This matter needs to be thoroughly investigated." After finishing speaking, he prepared to head downstairs, turned around and added another sentence: "You two chat first, I'll go arrange for someone to investigate this matter." Dongfang Lan and Wang Long nodded, as Dongfang Hong went downstairs to make a phone call.

  Dongfang Lansha said to Wang Long, "Wang Long, do you know who did it?" Wang Long thought for a moment and said, "I don't know. Let me take a look at the jade pendant on your neck."

  Dongfang Lan quickly took off the jade pendant from her neck and said, "This was given to me by my dad on my full moon day. He said it's our family heirloom, with a big 'gui' character on it. Isn't that strange?" Wang Long took the pendant and indeed found it to be one of the pieces of the Guimao Divine Ruler. He asked, "Little Lan, do you know the origin of this jade pendant?" Dongfang Lan shook her head and said, "My dad only told me that this jade pendant was left behind by our ancestors and can ward off evil spirits. I don't know its specific origin, maybe my dad knows. You can go ask him later."

  Wang Long nodded and said, "Xiao Lan, I have to go back now. It's almost dark outside. You should rest well at home, don't be afraid, everything will be fine." Dongfang Lan held onto Wang Long's hand and refused to let go. Wang Long had no choice but to stay with Dongfang Lan and chat for a while longer.

  It wasn't until 8 o'clock in the evening that Wang Long left Dongfang Lan's house after having dinner there. When he finally left, he learned from Dongfang Hong's mouth that his ancestor was named Dongfang Tianyang and was indeed one of the nine old men of Wumen.

  Wang Long arrived at a secluded place not far from the Dongfang Lan family, silently reciting the "Great Law of Returning Ghosts". Suddenly, a gust of yin wind blew beside him, and in front of Wang Long appeared a fat ghost resembling a round ball. The fat ghost bowed to Wang Long and said: "Master, hello! I am Gao Daxi, the head of the ghosts in this area of thousands of miles. What can I do for you?" Wang Long told Gao Daxi: "You help me keep an eye on the Dongfang Lan family during this time. If anyone is unfavorable to them, quickly send a message to the Ghost King Youming, understand?"

  "Alright, master, don't worry, if anything stirs up, I'll immediately inform the King of Ghosts." With a wave of his hand, Wang Long dismissed him, and Fat Hai vanished into thin air.

  Wang Long started the Soul-destroying Step, and by the time he arrived home, it was already 10 o'clock at night. Wang Long sat cross-legged on his bed, starting the "Primordial Witchcraft". With internal vision, he saw that the divine elixir sealed by the Demon Ancestor had a few more broken black lines than before, knowing that to fully recover his own divine powers would take a long time. He put aside distractions and focused on practicing witchcraft, only when his strength was strong enough could he protect his family and friends around him well. Today, because his power was not enough, Dongfang Lan was attacked, fortunately without injury, otherwise, he would really regret it to death.

  At night, when Wang Long was meditating with his eyes closed, the jade tube in the storage ring suddenly vibrated. Wang Long took it out and saw that it was a message from You Ming Gui Wang, saying that Dong Fang Lan and her father were being attacked. Wang Long quickly left his room and rushed towards Dong Fang Lan's home.

  Arriving at Dongfang Lan's home, the lights were all lit up and there were several armed police guarding the entrance, blocking Wang Long. Wang Long shouted at the door: "Dongfang Lan, I'm Wang Long, are you in?" A tearful voice came from inside the house, saying: "Wang Long, come quickly, my dad is injured."

  The armed police knew that Wang Long was a friend of Dongfang Lan, and quickly made way for him. Wang Long strode into the hall, only to see Dongfang Lan holding the injured and unconscious Dongfang Hong in her arms, sitting on the sofa in the living room with tears streaming down her face.

  "Wang Long asked anxiously, "Xiao Lan, what's going on?" Dongfang Lan cried out, "Last night I was sleeping when I heard my dad calling from the living room. I rushed downstairs and saw three men in black fighting with him. Since I've learned some martial arts since childhood, I helped my dad fight them off. My dad and I worked together to injure one of them, but he got seriously hurt too. When they escaped, one of them used some kind of move that made his hand emit black smoke, which was heading towards my dad. I was afraid he wouldn't be able to withstand it, so I blocked in front of him. Luckily, I didn't get hurt much. Later, I called the police uncles from next door and they ran away." Wang Long immediately understood - this was a sorcerer attacking Dongfang Hong because of the jade pendant on Dongfang Lan's body, which protected her from harm. What kind of grudge did they have against him that made them repeatedly target him?"

  Wang Long quickly picked up Dongfang Hong and sent him to the nearby Armed Police Hospital, quickly dialing Lingyunzi's phone. Within twenty minutes, Lingyunzi brought Long Er to Dongfang Hong's ward. After taking a look at Dongfang Hong's injuries, he gestured for Wang Long to follow him outside to talk.

  Wang Long followed Lingyunzi outside, and Lingyunzi said in a low voice to Wang Long: "This is the method of the demon cultivators. I have been paying attention to Dongfang Hong for a long time. The woman named Irina next to him is very suspicious. According to our information, Irina may be with the Demon Ancestor's group. This time, Dongfang Hong was ambushed, possibly because he did not cooperate with Irina's actions, so the other side wanted to silence him. If they know some things about them and cannot use them for their own benefit, they will kill anyone. Several high-ranking officials have already been murdered by them, and Dongfang Hong is just one of the victims."

  Wang Long nodded and said: "Then we'll have to trouble Old Wu to send a few people to protect Dongfang Lan and the others. The other side is a demon cultivator, ordinary armed police can't deal with them."

  Lingyunzi nodded and said, "Alright, Dongfang Hong has finally come to his senses. We've been keeping an eye on him for a long time. However, he only did some minor things under Irene's confusion, nothing too serious. Sending someone to protect him is also necessary."

  Wang Long sank into thought for a moment, then said to Ling Yunzi: "Now that the demonic path is so rampant, don't we have any way to eliminate future troubles?"

  Lingyunzi shook his head, sighing bitterly: "It's not easy to talk about, as long as the Demon Ancestor is not destroyed, the world will never be at peace. But now no one can find the Demon Ancestor's trail, even if they do, it would be very difficult to kill him."

  Wang Long felt a deep sense of guilt and regret in his heart. His master's last wish was for him to take on the responsibility of protecting the Earth, but now he felt that he was not up to the task, allowing evil to run amok among humans. He truly felt ashamed before his master.

  Lingyunzi seemed to have seen through Wang Long's thoughts, patted him on the shoulder and said: "You don't need to worry too much, with time, I think we will destroy Muzong and give the earth a peaceful environment. It's just that now we can't figure out what kind of conspiracy Muzong has, once we find out their conspiracy, it will be easier to deal with."

  Wang Long nodded and said, "It can only be like this. I'll go see Dongfang Lan first. Her father was seriously injured, and she's also in shock. I'm afraid he won't be able to take it." Lingyunzi smiled ambiguously and said, "Haha, go ahead. Your little girlfriend is quite pretty." Wang Long cursed inwardly, "Disrespectful old man," and turned to accompany Dongfang Lan in the hospital room.

  Just as Dongfang Lan was crying on Wang Long's shoulder, Lingyunzi suddenly appeared like a ghost and said to Wang Long: "Little Dragon, come here for a moment, I still have something to talk to you about." Dongfang Lan quickly got up from Wang Long's arms like a frightened little rabbit, and Lingyunzi winked at Wang Long on the side. Wang Long glared at Lingyunzi fiercely and followed him to the corridor outside the ward.

  Wang Long asked doubtfully, "Old Wu, is there something else?" Lingyunzi smiled and said, "I'm disturbing you and your little girlfriend's intimate moment, I'm really sorry about that." Wang Long smiled and said, "If there's something, just say it quickly, don't keep talking nonsense."

  Lingyunzi said seriously, "It's like this, Wang Long. You're already a high school graduate this year, right?" Wang Long nodded, and Lingyunzi continued, "Don't go to high school next year. Go straight to CJ University. I'll help you get an admission letter from CJ University. When the new semester starts, just go there directly."

  " 'Why?' Wang Long asked, puzzled. Lingyunzi said in a low voice, 'This is originally the country's top secret, but I won't hide it from you. The background of CJ University is actually our country, and it's very complicated inside. Most of the students who can get in are children of high-ranking officials and rich merchants. You're going in to investigate which of our country's high-ranking officials and rich merchants are still practicing magic. We'll start with their children and then follow the trail to uncover the plot of the demon ancestor. I think it will be easy to start with their children, after all, these high-ranking officials' kids are used to living a life of luxury and pleasure. You're around the same age as them, and you can go to university without affecting your studies. What do you think?'"

  Wang Long thought for a moment, his high school courses were basically self-taught, and going back to high school would be unnecessary. Lingyunzi's suggestion was not bad. Wang Long nodded.

  Ling Yunzi said happily: "That's what I said, just wait for the notice at home." After finishing speaking, he turned around and took Long Er away.