Inside the car sat two people, one of whom was an old man with white, bushy hair and a bizarre appearance.
The old man was hunchbacked and emitted a strange odor, making him look like a witch doctor who had just walked out of some mountain village. His eye sockets were deeply sunken, and a fierce, sinister light seemed to flicker within his eyes.
Wang Zhou was also in the car, sitting in the passenger seat.
The child handed the item to the old man, and upon closer inspection, it was unmistakably a fragment of human skin tissue.
"Well done." A ferocious smile appeared on the old man's gloomy face.
"Master Liu, since we've got what we wanted, you can cast the curse now." Curiosity gleamed in Wang Zhou's eyes.
Master Liu smiled and nodded. "Naturally!"
"My young disciple is obedient and winsome, so people rarely keep their guard up around him. There was truly no one better suited to go and get a piece of Shen Qing's body tissue."
"This curse won't fail, will it?" Wang Zhou asked, somewhat doubtfully.
Master Liu gave a sinister laugh. "Young Master Wang has nothing to worry about. My Soul-Eating Curse is a fatal curse. Once someone is struck by it, the target will suffer excruciating pain."
"By then, you'll be able to manipulate that person however you want without any trouble."
"Good."
Hearing this, Wang Zhou was extremely satisfied, and the smile on his face grew a bit wider, as if he could already picture Shen Qing kneeling before him and begging for mercy.
"Master Liu is truly a master of the esoteric arts. I'll have to trouble you to put a lot of effort into this matter."
"Once it's done, I will pay you five million as a reward," Wang Zhou said.
Master Liu nodded in satisfaction. He took the item from the child's hand, took out a box, and dropped the item inside.
Snap!
A ball of fire ignited, and Master Liu closed his eyes and began to chant.
He seemed to be reciting some kind of bizarre incantation. As his gloomy, hoarse voice echoed continuously, a strange and unusual energy gradually began to radiate outward.
The scene was both eerie and terrifying, causing Wang Zhou beside him to shudder involuntarily.
While chanting the incantation, Master Liu opened another box, revealing a black centipede writhing inside.
The centipede crawled into the previous box, and then green flames flared up, completely consuming the centipede in the blink of an eye.
Meanwhile, inside a private dining room at the restaurant.
Shen Qing and Xiao Yuyan were having a meal. A dazzling array of dishes had already been served, their mouth-watering aromas enough to spark anyone's appetite.
Shen Qing picked up a piece of braised pork belly and was about to put it into his mouth when he suddenly sensed something was amiss.
A bizarre wave of energy came flying in from afar and instantly landed upon him.
Someone is cursing me!
Shen Qing abruptly stood up.
"A-Qing, what's wrong?" Xiao Yuyan asked, looking puzzled.
Shen Qing's expression turned solemn and gloomy. "Someone is cursing me."
"What? A curse?" Worry washed over Xiao Yuyan's face.
Shen Qing's expression quickly relaxed. He sensed the curse within his body and soon smiled.
"No need to worry, it's just a Soul-Eating Curse. The person casting it is merely in the Houtian Realm."
"I didn't expect to run into a spellcaster the moment I came down the mountain. I'd like to see who exactly this is!"
A sharp gleam flashed through Shen Qing's eyes.
"Third Senior Sister, stay here. I'll be right back."
With that, Shen Qing immediately left.
He hurried to track down the spellcaster's location and quickly strode out of the restaurant.
Scanning his surroundings, he immediately spotted a black commercial van parked in the alley across the street.
The fluctuations of the curse were unmistakably emanating from inside that vehicle.
Shen Qing walked straight toward it.
At that moment, Master Liu inside the car had no idea he had been exposed.
He was still chanting and performing the ritual, but soon, a slight frown appeared on his face.
"Master Liu, what's wrong?" Wang Zhou couldn't help asking.
"Nothing, I just need a little more time." Master Liu continued chanting, this time increasing his output.
He exerted all his strength, yet there was still no reaction from the other end; he could not sense the feedback that should have come with a successful Soul-Eating Curse.
How could this be!
Master Liu was taken aback, a look of shock washing over his aged, distorted face.
"This person is unusual. He's an expert."
"We need to leave, right now!" Master Liu cried out in alarm.
Wang Zhou was completely dumbfounded. Master Liu had been brimming with confidence just a moment ago, but his sudden and drastic change left Wang Zhou reeling.
"Master Liu, what on earth are you talking about? Didn't your Soul-Eating Curse already succeed?" Wang Zhou frowned.
Beads of sweat covered Master Liu's forehead, and a panicked look crossed his face. "No, my Soul-Eating Curse had no effect."
"The target withstood my Soul-Eating Curse. His strength is above mine."
"How is that possible!"
Wang Zhou was utterly shocked.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Suddenly, a series of knocks rang out, followed by the car door being yanked open. Shen Qing's figure appeared directly before them.
"Shen Qing."
Wang Zhou's expression changed drastically.
Master Liu looked even more terrified. "You... just who are you? How could you possibly ignore my Soul-Eating Curse?"
"It really is you!"
"Wang Zhou, you really are despicable, actually hiring a spellcaster to use such underhanded tactics against me." Seeing that it was Wang Zhou, Shen Qing spoke in an ice-cold tone.
He reached out, grabbed Wang Zhou, and yanked him straight out of the passenger seat.
Wang Zhou crashed hard onto the ground, filled with both shock and fury. "Let me go!"
"Who gave you permission to lay a hand on me!"
Wang Zhou looked up at Master Liu. "Master Liu, what are you standing around for? Hurry up and deal with him! I paid you five million to bring him down."
However, Master Liu was drenched in sweat at that moment, and the look he cast at Shen Qing was filled with dread.
Muttering to himself, he thought: *How could my Soul-Eating Curse have no effect on you? Could it be that you...*
"Impossible! You're so young, how could you already be a Xiantian Expert!" Master Liu's body was trembling slightly.
Shen Qing sneered, glanced at him dismissively, and ignored him. He raised his hand and slapped Wang Zhou across the face.
With a crisp slap, half of Wang Zhou's face instantly swelled up red, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Ah!"
"Shen Qing, how dare you hit me?" Wang Zhou gnashed his teeth, his gaze filled with murderous intent as he glared at Shen Qing.
Hah!
Shen Qing sneered. "So what if I hit you?"
"I spared your dog's life last time, but I didn't expect you'd still dare to show up in front of me, and this time you even hired a spellcaster to secretly harm me."
A chilling glint flashed through Shen Qing's eyes.
A towering rage burned within Wang Zhou's chest. "You've humiliated me over and over again. I will never let you off!"
"I am a core member of the Wang Family. If you dare to kill me today, the Wang Family will not let you off!"
Shen Qing swept a cold glance at him. "Don't worry, I won't kill you."
"But you'll be coming to beg me soon enough."
What does that mean?
Wang Zhou was taken aback.