Bai Ru's expression hardened, her delicate brows furrowing slightly. She glanced at Jiang Tao, then abruptly turned to Gu Yi and asked, "Is there something you're not telling me?" Gu Yi's body gave a slight jolt, and he couldn't help but turn his face away, forcing a dry laugh.

"Me... not telling you what?" Bai Ru's pretty face chilled, and she said coldly, "The protective jade pendants you gave Wu Zhongyou and Jiang Tao hold considerable magical power, yet the protective formation you set up in the room was broken so easily, and Li Jin was taken away just like that.

Tell me, you didn't do this on purpose." Gu Yi thought for a moment, completely gave up resisting, and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "OK, OK, I admit it.

In fact, I did make a small arrangement. I just discussed it with Jiang Tao to let those guys take Li Jin away." Bai Ru reached out as if to grab Gu Yi's collar, but halfway there, she let her hand drop.

She said resentfully, "Why?" Gu Yi, with a careful, ingratiating smile, proactively reached out and pulled Bai Ru down onto the sofa, sitting her down, and whispered submissively, "Actually, I was thinking it might be better to have Li Jin infiltrate them, directly find their lair, and then the two of us can strike straight for the dragon's head, capturing all the lurking troublemakers and the Ghost Head in one go. What do you think?" Bai Ru shot him a sidelong glance, clearly not buying it, and remained ice-cold.

"You think that's a good idea? You completely disregard Li Jin's safety, never once considering that if something went wrong, it wouldn't just be Li Jin—Wu Zhongyou and Jiang Tao could also be in danger.

Did you even think about that? What on earth is going through your head?

Didn't you even consider discussing it with me?" Gu Yi plastered a smile on his face while watching Bai Ru vent her anger. He sometimes wondered himself: if the person in front of him were anyone else, he might have immediately lost his temper or even turned hostile at the slightest disagreement, but facing Bai Ru, he not only had no temper at all, but he also felt a little bit afraid of her deep down.

He raised a hand and pressed down lightly in the air, his voice almost pleading, "Relax, relax. This...

first of all, I didn't consult you, but that was more or less something I thought of on the spur of the moment. I felt that rather than searching for the opponent's lair, it would be better to devise a way to plant a GPS tracker to guide us.

Of course, I didn't neglect their safety. As you saw, the protective jade pendants I gave Jiang Tao and Wu Zhongyou are the strongest, absolutely guaranteed to keep them safe.

As for why I didn't consult you, it's simple: I knew you wouldn't agree." Bai Ru folded her arms across her chest, fuming. "Of course I wouldn't agree." Gu Yi spread his hands wide.

"That's why I acted first and reported later... I apologize, I know what I did was a bit extreme, but rest assured, I not only placed the strongest restrictive spell on Li Jin but also used the Golden Needle Sealing Point Technique to ensure his body wouldn't suffer external harm.

Doesn't that cover everything? Besides, look, aren't Jiang Tao and Wu Zhongyou fine?

You also saw that those wicked spirits are desperately after Li Jin's body. I suspect they might want to use him for resurrection by borrowed corpse.

So, as long as the protective measures are in place, Li Jin's life should not be in danger. Now, just using the Tracking Talismans, the two of us can easily find the Ghost BOSS's stronghold.

Isn't that good? Please, don't be angry anymore." Bai Ru shook her index finger, her anger undiminished.

"Angry? Impossible not to be angry.

However, you will cast the Tracking Talismans for me right now to find the lair and locate Li Jin. If Li Jin is safe this time, I might let you off the hook.

Otherwise..." Gu Yi immediately interrupted her. "No problem, I'll do it right away." Bai Ru stood up and walked toward the door.

Gu Yi quickly asked, "Where are you going?" Bai Ru said coldly, "Get in the car. We're going to the sewer." Gu Yi rubbed his nose and quickly stood up to follow.

Bai Ru looked at Jiang Tao, who was still huddled silently in the corner of the sofa, and asked Gu Yi, "What about them? Do we need to find another place for them to stay?" Gu Yi said cautiously, "I don't think so.

Actually, have you noticed that throughout this whole affair, the targets have been the students who became targets, and everyone else is not a major issue." Bai Ru disagreed slightly. "What about Principal Hao?" Gu Yi scratched his head.

"I think he's also involved. Don't forget his grandson was also a victim, and possibly the very first one." Bai Ru thought carefully and found herself somewhat agreeing with Gu Yi's assessment.

Gu Yi chuckled. "Besides, staying here might actually be safer for them.

Don't forget, the most dangerous place is often the safest." Bai Ru waved her hand. "Spare me the cliché reasons.

Are your jade pendants still working?" Gu Yi nodded repeatedly. "Of course, they are the best, blessed and consecrated by a high monk." Bai Ru glanced at Jiang Tao, who seemed quite self-aware, and said, "You and Wu Zhongyou will stay in the bedroom.

Don't go anywhere." Jiang Tao closed his lips tightly and nodded vigorously. Bai Ru reached out and grabbed the collar of Gu Yi's shoulder.

"Hurry up, we need to leave now." Gu Yi quickly replied, "Wait a moment, I need to rearrange the formation in the house." Bai Ru said impatiently, "Hurry up, and I hope I don't have to twist your ear." Gu Yi reluctantly rearranged the protective formation. Just as he said, before they left, he and Jiang Tao had secretly discussed it: ensuring Li Jin's absolute safety, Jiang Tao had agreed to help him execute the "No pain, no gain" plan.

The truth was simple: the formation Gu Yi set up wasn't completely ineffective, but the method to break it was also very simple—the main door was the weak point. It was likely the ghost realized this, otherwise, it wouldn't have possessed Principal Hao's body to go to Wu Zhongyou's house.

As for the protective formation around Li Jin, it was merely a shield composed of sixty-four peach wood tablets. Jiang Tao only needed to accidentally bump one out of place, and the entire protective formation would collapse on its own.

After Bai Ru and Gu Yi got back into the car, she gritted her teeth and said to Gu Yi, "If the restrictive spell you put on Li Jin doesn't work, I swear I won't let you off." Gu Yi managed a strained smile. "Trust me, absolutely not..." Despite her anger, even if Bai Ru strongly disagreed with Gu Yi's methods, she never doubted his capability, provided Gu Yi was serious.

She also knew this was just Gu Yi; you could call him unscrupulous, but you couldn't deny his skill. Bai Ru glared fiercely at Gu Yi.

Even though Gu Yi's eyes were problematic, he still felt the sharp, blade-like intensity of Bai Ru's gaze. The car drove toward the school, Bai Ru silent, concentrating only on driving.

Gu Yi tentatively asked, "Still angry?" Bai Ru's expression was unfriendly. After a long silence, she finally sighed helplessly.

"What's the use of being angry? It's already happened.

Getting it resolved quickly is the main thing." Gu Yi was silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed. "That's a relief.

I thought you were going to say something like how disappointed you are in me." Bai Ru snorted. "You know I wouldn't say things like that to you.

I'd just say you'll never change your ways." Gu Yi nodded with a sheepish grin. "Or you could say a dog can't change its nature." Bai Ru sighed, shook her head, and continued driving.

The journey this time was relatively smooth, reaching the vicinity of the school gate without incident. Bai Ru parked the car and turned to Gu Yi, saying, "Tracking Talisman." Gu Yi shrugged, pulled out several talismans from his pocket, quickly folded them into paper cranes, then pulled out a small plastic bottle with a talisman affixed to the lid.

Using a cotton swab, he dipped it into some red ink and dotted the eyes of the paper cranes. Bai Ru asked impatiently, "When did you get Li Jin's blood?" Gu Yi flashed a toothy grin.

"Just a tiny bit." After marking them, Gu Yi slightly closed his eyes, recited an incantation, and pointed his finger at the paper cranes. The cranes faintly emitted a pale red glow, then soared up, flew out the car window, circled the roof a few times, and flew off into the distance.

Bai Ru pushed the door open and got out, turning back to Gu Yi. "Next time you have a plan, you'd better tell me in advance, or don't expect me to pay any attention to you." Gu Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

Bai Ru saying that meant things were okay, or at least she was starting to cool down. The two divided the necessary equipment and began searching for the sewer entrance.

Gu Yi's tracking cranes flew a few meters above them, seemingly waiting for them to catch up. Although Wu Zhongyou had given them a detailed location for the sewer entrance, since the school was built, the entrance was now behind the bicycle shed near the school wall, making the location extremely hard to find.

It took them quite a while to locate the entrance. Gu Yi pulled an iron hook from behind him to pry open the manhole cover, shone his flashlight down, but this corner received no light, and the darkness swallowed most of the flashlight's beam, making visibility very poor.

They took out the masks they had prepared and put them on. To be honest, entering a sewer, especially a sewage well, was no joke.

If they were injured down there unintentionally, they might end up getting infected by germs instead of dealing with ghosts. Wu Zhongyou had been extremely lucky last time.

Bai Ru and Gu Yi didn't overthink it; the masks were just to reduce the foul odor. They hadn't considered any other protective measures.

Gu Yi beckoned, and the paper cranes circled in the air twice before diving into the sewer. Gu Yi snapped his fingers triumphantly, held the flashlight in his mouth, and was the first to climb down the ladder.

Bai Ru followed closely behind. Once both feet were on solid ground, Gu Yi swept the flashlight around front, back, left, and right, then whispered, "I didn't expect the sewer to be this spacious." Bai Ru shone her light on the sewage water in the central drainage ditch and said in a muffled voice, "Be careful.

If you step in, I won't be responsible for pulling you out." Even through their masks, both could smell an unusually foul odor—a mix of sewage, garbage, and putrefaction that hit them immediately. They illuminated the ground beneath their feet, watching the paper cranes hovering in the air and moving slowly forward.

The faintly glowing red cranes were especially visible in the darkness, saving them the trouble of losing their way. Whether it was psychological or the darkness causing illusions, Bai Ru constantly felt something circling around them.

When she shared this feeling with Gu Yi, he replied with surprising seriousness, "That's right. This place is saturated with very strange resentment.

This is a veritable death sewer."