Curled around the rib of the umbrella was a small dragon.

After Chen Yiming finished speaking, he cautiously glanced at Ji Ningzhao. Ji Ningzhao simply propped her chin with one hand, while the fingers of her other hand tapped absentmindedly on the sofa armrest.

Chen’s mother dared not urge her, and after waiting a while, Chen’s father spoke carefully, “Miss Ji, should I contact the Lin family to ask about the situation?”

Ji Ningzhao returned to herself and shook her head, asking Chen Yiming only, “Besides you and Mr. Wen, did anyone else who went that day have anything happen to them?”

Speaking of this, Chen Yiming felt rather frustrated, for after carefully recalling, it seemed only he and Wen Ruji were so unlucky.

Ji Ningzhao listened and nodded knowingly, then rose to her feet, saying, “No need to ask the Lin family. I think I already know what’s going on, but I’ll still need to trouble you, Mr. Chen.”

She paused, then continued, “In a few days, you may have to accompany me to that abandoned school.”

Upon hearing he had to go back to that school, Chen Yiming’s face fell instantly. He stammered, “A-again?”

Ji Ningzhao nodded, shattering his last hope. “Don’t worry, I’ll bring Xiao Xie with us. You’ll be safe. If you have time these days, take Mr. Wen to Xuanching Temple and pay respects.”

“After all,” Ji Ningzhao smiled lightly, “if not for the talismans from Xuanching Temple, it’s hard to say whether you and Mr. Wen would have returned unscathed.”

Chen Yiming was startled again by her words, but the awe Ji Ningzhao had established in his heart over these few days made him nod obediently.

Ji Ningzhao still had to return some files at the Special Unit, so she didn’t trouble Chen Yiming to take her home.

When Chen Yiming dropped her at the door, Ji Ningzhao whispered, “Keep an eye on your little bottle. No matter when, no matter who asks you for it, you mustn’t give it up.”

Chen Yiming instinctively touched the little bottle hanging around his neck and looked up at Ji Ningzhao’s pale, almost translucent face in the backlight. The uncanny, inhuman feeling he had sensed upon first meeting her surged back into his heart.

But Ji Ningzhao didn’t care about his momentary daze. She waved her hand and walked off on her own.

The Special Unit was as busy as ever, but Ji Ningzhao was received personally by the captain of Team One.

After verifying and archiving the documents, the captain spoke to her with great politeness, “We still need to trouble you to discuss the port matter with that being. It keeps frightening people at the port, making our work difficult.”

Ji Ningzhao couldn’t help but smile and nodded, “I understand. I’ll speak to her once I’ve handled my current affairs.”

With her assurance, the captain thanked her repeatedly, and respectfully escorted her out.

Meanwhile, upon receiving Ji Ningzhao’s message, Xie Qingfa began preparing in earnest. Although Ji Ningzhao was willing to help Chen Yiming, Chen Yishen had come to him first, so Xie Qingfa felt he could not dissociate himself from the matter.

With his master in seclusion, Xie Qingfa, as senior disciple, was in charge of the mountain. Before descending, he had to arrange everything properly. Besides, the situation with Chen Yiming was tangled and troublesome. Though Ji Ningzhao was involved this time, Xie Qingfa still prepared all the necessary magical tools and talismans.

He worked with a careful thoroughness, neither too cautious nor too reckless. This was one reason Ji Ningzhao, among all the younger generation of the occult in Hang City, was willing to occasionally associate with Xie Qingfa.

On the appointed day, Xie Qingfa took a taxi to the Chen residence. Ji Ningzhao had instructed them not to pick her up, so Xie Qingfa waited in the second-floor tea room with Chen Yiming, sipping tea.

Xie Qingfa knew Ji Ningzhao had chosen this day deliberately. Although it hadn’t rained since morning, the sky was gloomy, with low pressure that pressed upon the heart.

After a pot of tea, Chen Yiming saw the servant, whom he and his father had repeatedly instructed, respectfully welcome someone at the door.

Ji Ningzhao rarely dressed up. Every time Chen Yiming saw her, she wore simple white shirts and jeans.

But Ji Ningzhao was beautiful enough that anything she wore appeared elegant and refined. Anyone who met her had their gaze drawn first to her looks, not her clothing.

Today, Ji Ningzhao was dressed in rare black, her hair pinned up with a wooden hairpin. Strangely, although it wasn’t raining outside, she carried an enormous black umbrella.

“Ningzhao,” Xie Qingfa called from the window, “Would you like to come up and rest for a bit?”

Ji Ningzhao lifted her umbrella to look at them. The black made her skin appear even paler; her lips were faintly colored, her hair dark, brows light, lending her an eerie, ghostly aura in this weather.

Xie Qingfa didn’t know Ji Ningzhao’s exact origins. His master respected her deeply and forbade the disciples from prying into her background.

Xie Qingfa could sense her unfathomable depths, so even though Ji Ningzhao appeared to be his peer, he always treated her as a senior.

Sometimes, like now, Ji Ningzhao’s appearance gave Xie Qingfa a sense that she drifted beyond the world of mortals.

Standing below, Ji Ningzhao shook her head after closing her umbrella, gesturing for them to come down.

Xie Qingfa and Chen Yiming quickly set down their cups, grabbed their things, and hurried downstairs.

When Chen Yiming approached, Ji Ningzhao handed him the black umbrella. He took it absentmindedly, thinking she merely wanted him to carry it.

“When we arrive, open this umbrella and keep it over yourself,” Ji Ningzhao instructed.

Once she finished speaking, Chen Yiming was completely stunned.

With the gloomy weather and the shadowy, sinister school building, holding such a black umbrella inside seemed like a death wish.

Chen Yiming began to wonder anxiously—was Ji Ningzhao unable to locate the entity directly, and so brought him as bait?

Otherwise, why give him such an umbrella? He remembered reading on some forum that opening a black umbrella indoors was a method for seeing ghosts.

Ji Ningzhao glanced at him lightly, instantly guessing his thoughts.

She simply reached out, opened the umbrella herself, and held it over his head.

When Xie Qingfa had left the mountain today, he’d specially used a talisman to open his spiritual sight. Now, in his eyes, the three lamps on Chen Yiming’s shoulders and between his brows suddenly blazed with intense light.

And upon the umbrella, from the ribs to the fabric itself, a shadowy figure wound—a small dragon, its scales black tinged with gold, swirling mysteriously.