Zhang Weixi’s assistant had been waiting in the room. Upon hearing the knock, he hurried to open the door, but his face changed drastically when he saw Zhang Weixi’s appearance.
“What happened?” He quickly stepped forward and took him over, anxiously calling out to Zhang Weixi, trying to wake him up.
“He suddenly passed out while talking,” Jing Li let go of him and handed him over, then said, “I’ve already called the family doctor, and they’re on their way.”
Zhang Weixi’s assistant paused momentarily upon hearing this, then softly refused, “No need.”
“Don’t worry, it’s my own family doctor. They are very discreet.” Jing Li glanced at him, pretending to think he was afraid of the news leaking out, and explained nonchalantly, “Besides, it’s better to have the doctor come and check what happened since he suddenly passed out.”
“Really, there’s no need.” Zhang Weixi’s assistant still refused. He looked up and met Jing Li’s puzzled gaze. Fearing he might misunderstand, he eventually couldn’t help but explain, “We’ve seen doctors before, but it didn’t help.”
In fact, it did more than just not help. They had even gone to the hospital for checkups, but all the test results showed his body was perfectly normal. The doctor only said he was too exhausted and advised him to rest more.
But even during more tiring times before, he had never experienced this. And this time on the crew, he couldn’t be considered overworked, since even the strict director had been considerate of his poor health, scheduling his scenes during the day except for the necessary night scenes at the beginning.
Yet despite this, Zhang Weixi’s condition not only failed to improve but worsened day by day. He had almost suspected that he had contracted some sort of unclean ailment.
Of course, he kept these thoughts to himself and didn’t intend to share them with others.
After speaking, Zhang Weixi’s assistant carried him into the room, and Jing Li quickly followed to help. He frowned as he said, “How could this happen?”
Zhang Weixi’s assistant didn’t respond. The two of them worked together to help Zhang Weixi onto the bed.
Seeing Zhang Weixi’s pale, unconscious appearance, both men’s expressions turned solemn.
“How long has he been like this?” Jing Li glanced at him. “I haven’t seen any injuries, so he couldn’t have just fallen ill for no reason, right?”
“He was actually fine before joining the crew,” the assistant looked at him. Perhaps moved by the concern on Jing Li’s face, or perhaps due to the tension from the past while finally crumbling after Zhang Weixi’s collapse, he gradually let down his guard towards Jing Li. “I just feel there’s something ominous about this situation. Weixi-ge’s condition deteriorated inexplicably, and we can’t find the cause.”
“Weixi-ge’s mental state has been clearly worsening day by day. Not to mention the frequent nightmares at night, but even during the day, he would occasionally become dazed, and the situation kept getting worse.”
“No one would probably believe me if I said this out loud. They’d just think we’re being dramatic. I even started to wonder if he’s been cursed! If Weixi-ge hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve gone to find a master to take a look.”
“It does sound ominous,” Jing Li said, his heart moved. He asked casually, “But even if it’s a curse, there must be a reason, right? Think back to whether he ate or received anything unusual before his condition appeared. Maybe we can find the cause from there?”
“His meals are just the usual nutritious ones tailored to his body by the nutritionist – he’s been eating like this for years, so it shouldn’t be a problem.” Hearing this, Zhang Weixi’s assistant really tried to recall. “As for receiving unusual items… Oh, yes.”
“Speaking of unusual items, I do remember one. Before joining the crew, the company got Weixi-ge another job. The person who came to sign the contract gave Weixi-ge a black jade pendant. I thought it looked sinister at the time and even warned Weixi-ge about it. And the pendant looked smooth, but for some reason, it pricked Weixi-ge’s finger and drew blood when he took it out.”
As he said this, Zhang Weixi’s assistant seemed to notice something wrong, his eyes widening.
“That’s so strange?” Seeing that he had finally mentioned something substantial, Jing Li didn’t care about his inner thoughts and directly asked, “Where is that item? Can I take a look?”
Without any doubt, Zhang Weixi’s assistant, who was even eager to get rid of the item due to his unease, nodded and quickly walked to the corner where Zhang Weixi’s luggage was. He took out a box, intending to retrieve the black jade pendant and hand it to Jing Li. But as he reached his hand in, he hesitated and instead brought the entire box over to Jing Li.
“Here, it’s this one.” He handed the box to Jing Li. Seeing Jing Li about to directly touch the jade pendant, he couldn’t help but caution, “You should probably just look at it in the box. The more I look at this thing, the more uneasy I feel. What if it really is the problem?”
“It’s alright.” Jing Li smiled reassuringly, then reached out and took the jade pendant directly.
This black jade pendant was indeed identical to the one he had received before, though the patterns were simpler.
He examined the pendant for a while, then secretly channeled a spiritual force into it, directly severing its connection with Zhang Weixi.
The next moment, Zhang Weixi’s assistant saw black smoke suddenly emanate from the jade pendant, followed by a few drops of fresh blood dripping out onto the floor.
“This…!!!” Zhang Weixi’s assistant was so horrified by this eerie sight that he couldn’t even form a complete sentence, his eyes wide.
“It seems this thing really is ominous!” Jing Li also feigned a shocked expression as he stared at the pendant in his hand, while secretly exerting his power to completely dispel the remaining black mist from the jade, turning it into an ordinary pendant.
“You, you should get rid of it!!!” Zhang Weixi’s assistant finally reacted, instantly screaming and trying to knock the pendant out of his hand.
Jing Li casually stepped aside to avoid his hand. “It should be fine after clearing away those things.”
Moreover, the quality of this jade was actually quite good. If those messy things were removed, it would be beneficial for Zhang Weixi to wear it.
“How can it be fine? I’m sure it’s this thing causing trouble!” But Zhang Weixi’s assistant clearly wasn’t listening, and seeing Jing Li avoid him, he quickly reached out again to try and knock it away.
Amidst their struggle, the unconscious Zhang Weixi on the bed slowly opened his eyes. He stared blankly at the ceiling for a while before the commotion drew his gaze.
“What are you two… doing?”
Hearing his voice, the two arguing men paused, then Zhang Weixi’s assistant immediately turned to look at him, exclaiming happily, “Weixi-ge, you’re awake?!”
Zhang Weixi seemed puzzled by his excited demeanor at first, then slowly recalled the previous events, though not very clearly. “What happened to me…?”
“You passed out. Jing-laoshi brought you back.”
“I see.” Zhang Weixi blinked, then raised his eyes to Jing Li, smiling gratefully. “Thank you, Jing-laoshi, for bringing me back. I’ve caused you trouble.”
“No need to thank me.” Jing Li also smiled, then handed the jade pendant back to him. “Since you’re awake now, I’ll take my leave. This is your jade pendant. Your assistant mentioned it earlier, so I got curious and took a look.”
Zhang Weixi glanced down at Jing Li’s palm, blinking again when he saw the jade pendant. He clearly did not understand why they were discussing it.
However, maybe it was just his imagination, but the jade pendant now seemed more translucent than before.
His assistant, however, paid no mind to that and was still agitated to see Jing Li trying to return the pendant to Zhang Weixi. He immediately shouted, “Don’t keep something like this! I’ll get rid of it right now.”
As he spoke, he reached out to snatch it.
“It’s fine, there won’t be any more problems.” Jing Li gave him a reassuring look and avoided his hand, handing the jade pendant to Zhang Weixi instead.
The assistant made another attempt to grab it but was dodged by Zhang Weixi.
“What are you doing?” Zhang Weixi frowned at his assistant.
“Weixi-ge, you don’t know how evil this thing is. I just saw it emit black smoke and blood dripping out…” Seeing Zhang Weixi’s displeasure, the assistant hurriedly recounted what had just happened, but Zhang Weixi clearly didn’t believe him and reprimanded him for making a fuss over nothing.
The two immediately started arguing over the jade pendant.
Jing Li ignored their dispute and instead stepped forward, patting Zhang Weixi’s shoulder with a serious expression. “Rest well. Starting tomorrow, everything will be better.”
Zhang Weixi looked up at him, about to speak, but felt a warm flow transmit from the point of contact, causing him to pause briefly.
However, Jing Li had already finished speaking and stood up again, nodding at them before turning to leave.
Behind him, he could still hear the assistant protesting loudly, insisting that Zhang Weixi get rid of the jade pendant, and Zhang Weixi, though still sounding somewhat weak, clearly rejecting with more energy.
Jing Li silently curved his lips and quickened his pace back to his room.
*
After resolving Zhang Weixi’s issue, Jing Li began to think about the situation with the Dark Forest again.
From his previous conversation with that being, he could surmise that the mastermind behind the scenes had likely been injured, causing their demonic power to become unstable.
However, this did give him some time for investigation and preparation.
As long as he could uncover the identity of the other party, it wasn’t impossible to deal with them.
Previously, he had already instructed Hu Li to secretly investigate areas where abnormalities had appeared. Now, by starting with the demonic beings who had approached him, he might be able to uncover more detailed information.
With this in mind, Jing Li had his assistant bring a sheet of paper. He then closed his eyes in meditation for a moment before sketching out the face of the man he had seen in Zhang Weixi’s memory.
It took over an hour to complete the drawing. After carefully examining it to ensure no inaccuracies, he took out his phone intending to send it to Gu Tingshen and have him investigate any relevant information on this man.
As long as the other party had appeared with this face, there would definitely be traces left behind.
When he opened his phone, Jing Li realized Gu Tingshen had sent him several messages, interspersed with a few calls.
Previously, he had set it to silent mode for convenience.
Jing Li paused, then opened WeChat to find the screen filled with Gu Tingshen’s affectionate messages.
[Gu Tingshen: Baby, I miss you.]
[Gu Tingshen: You’re not done with work yet? I can’t sleep without hearing your voice.]
[Gu Tingshen: Baby? Where did you go?]
[Gu Tingshen: If you don’t answer the phone, I’ll… whine and roll around!!]
[Gu Tingshen: *whining and rolling around.gif*]
…
Jing Li glanced at the stream of messages, unable to stop the corners of his mouth from curving up slightly. Seeing Gu Tingshen’s concern after failing to reach him, he felt a tinge of guilt.
He quickly replied: [Sorry, I had silent mode on, so I didn’t hear it.]
As soon as he sent it, Gu Tingshen instantly responded, clearly waiting for him.
[Gu Tingshen: You finally replied!!]
[Gu Tingshen: If I couldn’t reach you again, I would’ve flown over to find you!]
Jing Li smiled and sent a kissing emoji. His peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of the sketch on the table, reminding him of the matter at hand. He quickly took a photo and sent it over, then wrote, [Please have someone investigate the man in this picture and send me his detailed information as soon as possible.]
Thinking it over, worried that whoever went to investigate might be detected and harmed by the other party, he hurriedly added, [Also, remember to be careful and absolutely do not let him find out.]
After sending the messages, there was a long silence on the other end.
It was quite a while before Gu Tingshen finally replied with an incredulous message: [Jing Li!!!]
This was the first time he had directly addressed Jing Li by name, and the exclamation marks alone were enough to convey his indignant emotions.
Jing Li was momentarily taken aback, but before he could figure out the reason, Gu Tingshen followed up:
[Gu Tingshen: After not contacting me for so long, you just want me to help investigate another man?!!!]
Jing Li: “……”
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