The more Grandma Song looked at Guan XuXu, the more suspicious she became.
"She's so young, what can she really handle? Yuehua, you haven't been deceived again, have you?"
She turned to look at Mrs. Song, her eyes filled with doubt.
Mrs. Song's face darkened. "Mom! Although Master Jiang is young, she truly has real skills. Please don't speak nonsense."
She was worried about offending Guan XuXu.
Grandma Song clicked her tongue, not believing that such a young girl could have any real abilities. She must just be using her mouth to fool people.
Yuehua, her daughter-in-law, was highly educated, so what? She still couldn't compare to Grandma Song.
At least she had invited other masters beforehand. Otherwise, relying on this little girl would have been a lost cause.
It seemed that the family still had to rely on her.
Grandma Song wanted to cut down the little girl's arrogance, so she turned to Guan XuXu. "You say you have real skills? Then show me."
No need for too much, at least you should be able to wave a sword like a real master, right?
"Mom!" Mrs. Song was truly a bit angry, afraid that Grandma Song's attitude would offend Guan XuXu. She hurriedly turned to Guan XuXu and said, "Master Jiang, I'm truly sorry, please don't take offense."
Guan XuXu wasn't offended. She nodded slightly to Mrs. Song and walked straight past Grandma Song and the man performing the ritual, heading toward the bed.
From the moment she entered, she could see Song Yuli lying on the bed. Despite the chaos in the room, she showed no sign of waking up.
The man performing the ritual had been keeping an eye on the situation with his peripheral vision, but since he was still in the middle of his ritual, he didn't dare stop, maintaining a pretense of not being disturbed. He continued his incantations.
However, as soon as he saw Guan XuXu walking toward the bed, he suddenly shouted sharply, "Don't come closer! You'll interrupt my ritual!"
Guan XuXu turned her head slightly, glanced at him briefly, and then turned back, taking Song Yuli's hand to inspect.
Seeing that Guan XuXu completely ignored his warning, the man's face darkened. He abruptly stopped the ritual and turned to Grandma Song, "Old Madam Song! What's going on here? I told you not to disturb me during the ritual!"
Grandma Song also showed some displeasure and quickly said to the man, "Master Lu, I'm sorry. I'll make them leave right now."
She turned to glare at Guan XuXu, ready to ask her to leave, but to her surprise, Guan XuXu had already let go of Song Yuli's hand and turned to look at Master Lu. Her gaze was clear and emotionless, and she simply asked, "Master Lu, I assume you've confirmed what's wrong with Miss Song?"
Master Lu snorted coldly, "Miss Song attracted a little ghost. I've just been expelling it. But since you ignored my warning and interrupted my ritual, that little ghost escaped during the confusion."
His implication was that now the ritual had failed, and it was Guan XuXu's fault that Song Yuli hadn't woken up.
Guan XuXu smiled lightly, her eyes full of disdain, as if looking at a con artist.
"If you had any real perception, you'd know there's no evil spirit in this room. Miss Song is not being tormented by a little ghost. Rather, someone used dark arts to try and steal her life force."
Upon hearing this, Song Yongming and Mrs. Song's expressions changed. They quickly stepped forward.
"Master Jiang, what dark arts are you talking about? Is someone trying to take my daughter's life?"
Guan XuXu looked at them and said, "It's not her life that's being taken. It's the concept of borrowing life. I told you, Miss Song has a great fate. Her life is destined to be free of calamities and to be smooth sailing. Because of this, someone has targeted her life force and tried to borrow her lifespan to extend their own."
She then took Song Yuli's hand again and pointed out a faint red mark on her thumb.
"The red mark on her finger is the result of someone tricking her into signing a handprint, thus tacitly agreeing to the act of borrowing her life."
As for when this mark was made, it likely occurred during the ten minutes when Miss Song was missing, as Mrs. Song had mentioned.
Song Yongming and Mrs. Song leaned in to take a closer look and indeed saw a barely noticeable red mark on Song Yuli's thumb. It was clearly a mark that had been wiped off, and unless one looked closely, they wouldn't notice it.
After the incident with Miss Yuli, the couple was too anxious to save their daughter and didn't notice these small details.
Grandma Song, however, didn't believe it and leaned forward to look.
Song Yongming, no longer paying attention to his mother or the other master, looked at Guan XuXu with a grave expression.
"Master, so my daughter's life has already been taken? Can it be reclaimed?"
Guan XuXu looked at him and nodded slightly. "Yes."
Master Lu, seeing how quickly she had gained the trust of the clients, was clearly dissatisfied. He was about to say something to belittle her, but just as he opened his mouth, a figure unexpectedly approached him. It was the handsome young man who had entered with the Song couple.
He didn't know when the man had moved beside him, but now he was standing at his side, speaking in a calm voice.
"Shut your mouth. If you talk any more about my sister, I'll have you leave Song House horizontally."
His voice was soft and pleasant, yet the words sent a chill down Master Lu's spine. He froze for a moment, momentarily unable to speak.
At that moment, Guan XuXu took a small pen dipped in cinnabar from her bag along with a jade plaque.
She made a single stroke with the red pen on the jade plaque and then gently placed the jade plaque on Song Yuli's forehead.
Song Yongming and Mrs. Song, standing beside the bed, couldn't help but feel as though they were imagining things. The moment the jade plaque touched Song Yuli's forehead, they seemed to see a wisp of black energy sweep over it, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Guan XuXu then pulled several yellow talisman papers from her bag. Noticing the small movements from Jiang Huai, Guan XuXu subtly shifted her gaze, observing Master Lu's face, which was full of dissatisfaction and resentment.
Remembering his earlier gestures, Guan XuXu didn't think those movements looked impressive, but it seemed everyone thought a little dramatic flair would add credibility.
Grandma Song had earlier mentioned that she wanted her to show her real skills.
Guan XuXu thought for a moment. Although she didn't know how to dance, if it was about bluffing, she was certainly capable of that.
With that thought, she suddenly stepped back, her delicate and bright face instantly losing all emotion, her entire demeanor shifting to one of sharp focus.
She raised her hands, palms facing each other, and as her palms parted, five pieces of yellow talisman papers, which had been held between her hands, were suddenly pulled upright with an invisible force, standing neatly and orderly in her palms.
Just this move alone made everyone in the room, including Master Lu, widen their eyes in astonishment.
Then, she opened her lips slightly. Her voice was clear and flowing like a spring, yet it carried an undeniable force.
"Clear are the heavens, peaceful is the earth. With the fusion of heaven and earth, all gods return to their place. I command this, break!"
As her final word, "break," left her lips, she pushed her palms outward, and the yellow talismans, which had been standing straight in the air, immediately flew toward Song Yuli's bed.