Dongzi’s kick was vicious enough; he hadn't intended to strike so hard, but a clear shoe print was already deeply impressed upon the foreman's face.

"Your right eyelid is twitching—that’s never a good sign. You don't do enough good deeds to earn any slack; at the very least, you should be earning the wages they pay you here. Look at what you do every day!" Dongzi scolded the foreman instead. Thinking back, Dongzi had only been here for two days, and the only reason the women favored chatting with him was because he belonged to the Fushou Hall.

Furthermore, Dongzi wasn't exactly a model citizen himself; he had come here purely looking for trouble. Fortunately, he had managed his temper quite well recently, and this had only been a light kick to the foreman.

The foreman, hearing Dongzi's explanation and realizing he was no match for him, dropped the matter. As he turned to leave, he deliberately asked one last time, "Master Dongzi, a twitching right eyelid—is it truly not a good omen?"

"It’s not good. You should be extra careful tonight, try not to let anything go wrong. When I, Dongzi, speak, I don't usually beat around the bush; I say what I mean." Dongzi turned and walked away.

The foreman trembled in fear, realizing this young man must have done many things against his conscience. He spent the entire afternoon listless. Seeing Dongzi working, for the first time, he proactively went over to help Dongzi, and the driver also began to work furiously. This sudden reversal left Dongzi feeling unsettled.

Dongzi sat in the foreman’s room to rest for a bit. Strangely, he soon drifted off to sleep. After a while, a chill, unsettling wind swept across his face, jolting Dongzi awake. "Where did that wind come from?"

"Master Dongzi, we’ve finished loading the goods. We just came in to catch our breath. Neither of us has done such heavy physical labor in a long time, and suddenly doing it all at once is quite taxing," the foreman explained, as the driver chimed in agreement.

Dongzi muttered unconsciously, "This wind isn't right. It's chillingly strange." He then quickly wrote two talismans and handed them to the two men. "Since you’ll be at the site, I’ll give one to each of you. Take them with you when you leave work tonight, consider it a blessing for safety." Dongzi folded the two pieces of talisman paper and handed them over. The driver tucked his talisman into his inner shirt pocket.

The foreman held the talisman, examining it. "A talisman. I've truly never seen one before." He then weighed it in his hand. "Pity it’s just paper; it would be better if it were gold." He then slipped the paper into his outer jacket pocket.

Dongzi stood up. "This place, it seems, was not a good place in the past, otherwise, an area with so many people wouldn't attract such a sinister ghost."

Dongzi finished speaking and left the breakroom. Outside, he helped the driver secure and tie down the truck's canvas cover. As dusk began to settle, he clocked out, went to eat with Yu Jing, and then returned to Fushou Hall.

As soon as Dongzi left, the foreman and the driver sat together chatting.

"Foreman brother, don't you think this job is frustrating? Being bossed around by a young whippersnapper. If he was right about this matter, then we can't fight him. If we keep pushing, we might not come out ahead."

"Forget about that business," the foreman said, pulling out the talisman Dongzi had given him from his pocket. "Look at this nonsense he drew. It's not even scrap paper, yet he acts like a big shot here, and he even kicked me! He throws his weight around as if everything he says here is gospel. Hmph. I don't believe in this hocus-pocus. 'Yin energy'? He’s just trying to scare us and play games."

"Foreman old buddy, I don't think he was fooling us. He seemed very serious when he wrote that. Besides, that gust of wind earlier was really unnerving; it made the back of my neck ice cold. I don't think what he said is necessarily false. It doesn't hurt to carry a charm." The driver, who drove for a living, tended to believe in gods and ghosts because they related to safety, and anything related to safety meant seeking peace.

But the foreman didn't believe it. "Fine, fine. If you want to keep yours, keep it. I refuse to believe I’ll die just because I'm not wearing his talisman." This man certainly had some nerve. The driver then took the foreman home, after which he went to his own home.

Dongzi returned to Fushou Hall and told everyone about the eyelid twitching at the site, and the incident with the foreman and the driver. Everyone laughed, telling him he was too impatient and prone to creating unnecessary drama.

But Dongzi remained unconvinced. He smiled. "People these days are funny; they all believe in an eyelid twitch. How big a deal can that be? Seriously, my right eyelid is twitching right now, and I'm just at home. What could possibly happen at home? Aren't you all here?"

Wang Xiaohe’s phone rang. She listened intently, looking uncertain midway through, then asked a question again before hanging up. Xiaohe then went upstairs to find Zhou Huan, and shortly after, both Zhou Huan and Xiaohe came back downstairs.

"Dongzi, get over here!" Zhou Huan’s expression was stern, cold as ice.

Dongzi had no idea what was going on, but hearing Zhou Huan call him, he hurried over to her side.

In the kitchen, Hong Kun laughed. "Haha, how about that? Still saying a twitching eyelid is nothing? Now the Master has summoned you. I’ll go see what’s happened to you too."

"Dongzi, a call just came in from the precinct saying a man was found dead in his home. He has no visible fatal wounds, nor any history of acute illness. The initial forensic diagnosis is accidental death. However, a large footprint was found on the man’s face. Investigations show that footprint belongs to you. Therefore, the Public Security Bureau has instructed us to keep you at home and not let you wander off until the doctor finishes the examination to determine if you bear direct or indirect responsibility for that kick."

"The foreman?" This news from Zhou Huan hit Dongzi like a thunderbolt. First, he couldn't believe his kick could kill a man. Second, he couldn't believe his own prediction was so accurate. And third, although he had sensed the sinister energy and given the foreman a protective talisman, did he not use it? Or was it completely ineffective? Dongzi fell silent.

"Dongzi, do you feel uncomfortable when you have to spend a few days idly? I don't think I've ever spoken to you this way before. I always thought you were a capable man who could sit still, an immeasurable genius. But why can't you control your temper? Why do you always resort to violence over nothing? If you must hurt someone, why must you provoke ghosts too? Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

Zhou Huan’s sharp reprimand upon coming downstairs completely mortified Dongzi. He thought for a moment, then turned back to Zhou Huan, asking aggrievedly, "Brother, I didn't do anything! I even gave them ghost-warding talismans when they left. Who knows if they even carried them? Besides, I kicked the foreman in the face—at most, I’d break his nose, not kill him!" Dongzi kept trying to defend himself in front of Zhou Huan.

"Alright, alright. First, tell me exactly what happened when you were all together. Then, I’ll figure out a solution." After all, Dongzi was Zhou Huan’s closest brother, and not just him—Zhou Huan was responsible for everyone at Fushou Hall, or he wouldn't be the head of the family.

Dongzi recounted the entire sequence of events to Zhou Huan. After listening, Zhou Huan nodded. "If what you say is true, then this matter is indeed connected to some kind of lingering spirit." Zhou Huan then told Xiaohe, "Call immediately and tell their medical examiner not to touch anything yet. I need to visit the scene. It seems our Dongzi has been wrongly accused."

"I'm coming too!" Since the matter concerned him, Dongzi volunteered for the mission.

Zhou Huan pushed him away with one hand. "Stay here with Hong Kun and behave. Bingyuan and Tianxiong will come with me. If you come, this issue hasn't fully cleared your name yet. You’ll just cause more trouble by going out looking for it. Stay put."

The four of them—Zhou Huan, Bingyuan, and Tianxiong—loaded their newest inventions and packed their gear, then set off on the road.