This Taoist priest is so unprofessional!

traitor?

These two words, like two red-hot iron spikes, pierced Yin Laowu's ears.

The color drained from his face instantly, and the arrogant expression he had just put on froze.

His sect, which he was so proud of, his last line of defense, and the trump card he used to threaten his opponent, were all turned into a death knell hanging over his head by a single, casual remark from the other party.

Yes.

What value does a scout have to a sect if he fails in his mission, exposes his whereabouts, and reveals the huge secret of "the son of the dragon vein"?

His fate was inevitably to be silenced as a traitor.

A despair a hundred times deeper than when he faced those black beetles, like icy seawater, completely overwhelmed him.

He's finished.

No matter who gets his hands on him, he's finished.

"No...no..." Yin Laowu's lips trembled as he uttered meaningless excuses, "I...I didn't..."

Zhang Chen was too lazy to listen to his nonsense anymore.

He withdrew his hand, and the "Seven Aperture Patrol Envoys" were put back into the porcelain bottle.

Zhang Chen decided to give him the most appropriate punishment.

He laid out the items he had taken from Yin Laowu on the ground in front of him.

Yin Laowu looked at his actions with a puzzled expression.

"What are you going to do?"

Zhang Chen ignored him and took out a few things from the canvas bag.

A small packet of cinnabar, a glass bottle half-filled with black dog blood, and a small calligraphy brush made of rooster tail feathers.

He unscrewed the bottle cap, poured the thick black dog blood onto the ground, then squeezed open the paper packet and sprinkled in the bright red cinnabar powder.

He dipped a feather brush into the dog's blood mixed with cinnabar, and a pungent, masculine aura instantly filled the air.

Yin Laowu's face turned even uglier.

He recognized these things.

This is the most powerful combination of exorcising magical artifacts.

Zhang Chen picked up the pitch-black compass, supporting it with his left hand while the quill pen in his right hand hovered above it.

The cinnabar blood from the tip of the pen dripped onto the strange runes on the compass, making a soft "sizzling" sound, like boiling oil being poured onto ice.

Wisps of black energy emerged from the compass, twisting and struggling in the air before finally dissipating into nothingness.

"No! Don't!"

Yin Laowu let out a piercing scream, a sound like a piece of flesh being torn off alive.

"That's my natal magical artifact! You can't destroy it!"

This compass is connected to his mind and spirit, and it is the foundation for him to perform the "Five Ghosts Moving" technique.

Zhang Chen's movements did not pause at all.

With a flick of his wrist, he quickly drew complex and strange runes on the compass with a quill pen.

What he drew were not proper Taoist talismans, but "spell-breaking incantations" specifically used to sever spirituality.

With each stroke, the compass vibrates more violently.

Yin Laowu's body also began to convulse violently. He felt as if his soul was being cut back and forth by a blunt knife, causing him unbearable pain.

Finally, Zhang Chen finished his last stroke.

The entire compass shuddered suddenly, emitting a soft "crack" sound, similar to shattering glass.

The eerie, blood-red runes on the compass instantly dimmed, losing all their luster.

It is no longer a ritual implement.

It turned into an ordinary piece of broken wood, covered with scribbles.

Zhang Chen casually tossed the compass to the ground.

He picked up the lock of hair and smeared it with a pen stained with cinnabar blood.

The lock of hair that was originally protected by evil magic instantly lost its spirit and became dry and brittle.

Then came the cufflinks, and the broken jade pieces.

Do the same.

After doing all this, Zhang Chen stood up, raised his foot, and stomped hard on the black compass on the ground.

"Snap!"

The crisp sound of shattering echoed through the alley.

Yin Laowu's body stiffened abruptly, and a mouthful of blood spurted from his mouth.

His eyes were wide open, staring intently at the pile of shards at his feet, the light in his eyes completely extinguished.

"To cut off your ritual implements is to cut off your hands and feet."

Zhang Chen's voice was calm, as if he were stating a fact.

"From now on, you will no longer be able to use any magic; you will just be an ordinary person."

For a sorcerer immersed in the world of magic and who views mortals as ants, this is more cruel than killing him.

Yin Laowu lay sprawled on the ground like a lump of mud, unable to even muster a resentful look.

Zhang Chen didn't even glance at him again.

He took out his phone, the screen illuminating his cold, stern face.

He waved towards the alley entrance, calling over Li Ming, who had been observing.

"What's wrong, Master Zhang?"

"Call the police right now," Zhang Chen said directly.

"Call...call the police?" Li Ming was stunned.

"Yes." Zhang Chen's tone left no room for doubt. "Just say that you caught the serial thief who has been stealing your company's packages red-handed."

Li Ming hadn't reacted yet.

Zhang Chen continued, "Those packages he's carrying are evidence. If the police ask, just say that the two of you subdued him together."

The alleyway returned to silence.

A flicker of emotion finally appeared in Yin Laowu's empty eyes.

It's bewilderment.

He couldn't understand the point of the other party's actions at all.

A few minutes later, the sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance, growing louder as they approached.

A piercing sound tore through the night sky.

The alternating red and blue police lights illuminated this dark old alleyway in a bizarre and surreal way.

Two policemen strode in and immediately spotted the group of people who had returned to the bucket.

A man with a bruised and swollen face, soaking wet, and a dazed look in his eyes lay sprawled on the ground, with several young people standing beside him.

On the ground, there were several opened express delivery boxes and a pile of unidentifiable trash fragments.

"Officer! That's him!"

Upon seeing the police, Li Ming felt as if he had found a pillar of support and immediately pointed at Yin Laowu and shouted.

"Our company has been losing a lot of packages lately, and it's all his doing! We staked him out for days before we finally caught him!"

An older policeman stepped forward, surveyed the scene, and then looked at Yin Laowu's miserable state.

He frowned and looked at Zhang Chen.

"How did you manage to catch him? His injuries..."

Zhang Chen looked righteous and serious.

He pointed to Wang Xiaoer, who was being supported by Li Ming and whose face was still somewhat pale.

"Officer, it's all thanks to my brave friend who stepped in!"

"When we found him, he was about to run away. My friend was so anxious that he tried to stop him, but he slipped and fell headfirst into the bucket next to him. Then he was knocked unconscious by a flowerpot that fell from upstairs."

Zhang Chen's tone was extremely sincere.

"Only then did we dare to step forward and hold him down."

The police were stunned.

Slipped? Hit by a bucket of water? Hit by a flowerpot?

This process sounds so... coincidental?

He looked at Wang Xiaoer with suspicion.

Wang Xiaoer felt a little guilty under their gaze, but he still nodded cooperatively, revealing a lingering fear on his face.

"Yes...yes, luck, pure luck."

The policeman crouched down and examined Yin Laowu's injuries. They indeed looked like he had been hit by a heavy object, rather than being beaten.

Then look at Yin Laowu's dejected appearance and the several packages next to him with the logos of courier companies.

With witnesses and physical evidence, the crime may seem bizarre, but it can be explained.

"Alright."

The older policeman stood up and waved to his young colleague behind him.

"Hand him in socks on suspicion of a series of thefts and take him back to the station for interrogation."

The cold handcuffs snapped shut on Yin Laowu's wrists.

Even after being lifted up from the ground by two policemen, Yin Laowu's mind was still blank.

He was a sorcerer of the Five Ghosts Sect.

He got arrested for stealing a few ordinary packages worth a few hundred yuan.

What is this?

What exactly is this?

Absurd, ridiculous, laughable.

Yin Laowu was put into a police car.

The sirens sounded again, then gradually faded into the distance, disappearing into the city night.

A wicked sorcerer who wreaked havoc in the underworld, ultimately finds himself imprisoned in the mortal world.

This is perhaps the greatest irony for him.

The alley finally fell completely quiet.

Li Ming let out a long sigh of relief; he was completely exhausted.

He walked up to Zhang Chen, so excited that he was incoherent.

"Master Zhang, Master Wang, thank you so much for today! I..."

"It was nothing," Zhang Chen waved his hand, interrupting his thanks.

He looked at Wang Xiaoer, who was also looking at him.

The two turned around and silently gazed at the cold, blue brick wall.

That place was once a home that trapped an obsession.

Now, their home is gone, their obsession has dissipated, and the poor mother and child are gone too.

The coldness and calculation on Zhang Chen's face slowly faded, and he became gentle again.

A hint of melancholy appeared on Wang Xiaoer's face.