I quickly snapped out of it and said, "Of course, I’m here to see you!"

　　"Me?" The cop looked confused. "Who are you? What do you want with me? If you’re here to file a report, just go to the station."

　　"Have you ever seen someone who wants to file a report casually strolling around in front of the police station?"

　　He froze, his brows tightly furrowed. I guess he realized I had a point. Anyone coming to file a report would be anxious and in a rush, not wandering around like I was.

　　"What do you want with me? Do we know each other?" he asked, all serious.

　　I smiled and said, "You haven’t been doing too well lately, right? Trouble at home, and your health’s been going downhill too."

　　As soon as I finished, his eyebrows tightened even more. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about? Keep it up and I’ll arrest you!"

　　I calmly held up three fingers. "Within three days, you'll come looking for me." As I spoke, I pulled out a pen and a piece of paper from my pocket, writing down my name and address. While writing, I added, "By then, it won’t be too late for you to arrest me."

　　He stared at the slip of paper in my hand for a moment before slowly taking it. I didn’t say anything more, just turned around and walked away, leaving him there, stunned.

　　I wasn’t just making things up. Some people go through periods of constant bad luck, one misfortune after another. It’s likely because they’ve been tainted by malevolent energy. If that’s the case, the only way to fix it is to change the magnetic field around them or adjust their physical and mental state.

　　As for that cop, he had too much malevolent energy around him. This kind of thing only happens if you’ve been in a place full of it for too long. The only two places that could be are his home and the police station.

　　However, the possibility of there being malevolent energy at the police station is pretty low. After all, a police station doesn't just have one cop; it's filled with people from all sorts of backgrounds. In a situation like that, even if there were some bad energy, it would be diluted. So, the bad energy must be in his house!

　　After leaving the police station, I didn’t feel like rushing back. Instead, I wandered around the city, thinking about the Bagua stone carvings at Huayuan Estate.

　　ThatEight Gates Talisman for Evil Suppression was definitely the work of a pro. After all, it's both good and bad, and not just anyone would dare use it. If the caster made even the slightest mistake, it could backfire—and that’s not even the worst part. The worst part is it could turn on the caster, causing harm to them.

　　What confused me, though, was that Huayuan community didn’t seem to have any issues with its feng shui. I didn’t sense the presence of any malevolent energy. Could it have been set up to suppress some kind of spirit or ghost?

　　The Bagua stone carving looked like it hadn’t been there long. Could it have been put there to suppress the spirits of the two people who died recently?

　　As I pondered this, I shook my head. My gut told me that didn’t seem likely.

　　It was almost noon, so I found a little restaurant to grab a bite to eat. I had just ordered when I suddenly heard someone call out, "Feng bro!"

　　I turned my head and saw it was Zhou Hu, the guy I chatted with last night.

　　"Hu Bro , you're here for lunch too?" I asked, smiling as he sat across from me.

　　"Yeah, I’m working at the construction site nearby. Figured I’d grab something to eat."

　　"Well, make sure you eat plenty. That work on the site is tough."

　　"Don’t worry about it, Feng bro. Whatever you’re having, it’s on me!" he grinned.

　　"No, no, you go ahead and order what you want," I said, sipping my tea.

　　Zhou Hu turned to the waitress and said with a smile, "Waitress, four steamed buns, a big bowl of stew, and a bowl of veggie soup!"

　　I couldn’t help but smile at Zhou Hu. He was a simple, hardworking guy. His skin was dark from the sun, and his arms were strong and muscular—definitely a man used to hard labor.

　　"Feng Bro, did you make it over to Huayuan Community?" Zhou Hu asked as he poured some tea.

　　"Yeah, I went, but didn’t find much," I replied.

　　“There’s something I remembered later,” he said, holding the tea to his lips but pausing before taking a sip, as if something was on his mind.

　　“What’s that?” I asked, looking at him.

　　He set the cup down and said, “One night after work, on my way home, I saw Brother Zhou Yong arguing with his girlfriend. There was another guy with them. They almost got into a fight!”

　　That definitely grabbed my attention. “A love rival?” I asked, leaning in.

　　Zhou Hu shook his head. “No, she called the guy ‘brother’!”

　　“Brother?” I repeated, surprised.

　　“Yeah, after the argument, Xu Xiaoli left with him.”

　　I thought about it for a moment, just as the waitress brought our food. Zhou Hu and I started eating while we continued talking.

　　"When exactly did this happen?" I asked.

　　"About a week before Brother Zhou Yong died."

　　The timing caught my interest. It was too close to be a coincidence.

　　“Do you know why they were fighting? Or what the guy’s name was?”

　　Zhou Hu shook his head again. “I was too far away to hear what they were saying. I’ve only seen the guy once and don’t know him.”

　　“Alright.” I paused, then asked, "What do you know about that Bagua stone disc in Huayuan Community?"

　　Zhou Hu thought for a moment. “You mean the one by the pool, right? Yeah, I know it. Why do you ask, Feng Bro?”

　　"When did they put that stone disc there? Was it before or after Zhou Yong argued with that guy?" I asked.

　　Zhou Hu took a bite of his bun, chewed slowly, then said, "Not sure when exactly, but it was definitely there before the argument. A few months ago, when we went to visit Brother Zhou Yong, that stone disc was already in place."

　　"I see," I muttered, thinking it over. If the stone was there before the fight, it couldn't have been set up to suppress their spirits. And the community’s feng shui seemed fine, so why put something like that there? And on top of that, they went as far as adding the Eight Gates Talisman for Evil Suppression?

　　There’s no way it’s just for decoration. Combining the Bagua diagram with that talisman creates serious power—it could even subdue a vengeful spirit!

　　"Has anyone seen that guy since?" I asked again.

　　Zhou Hu shook his head. "No, no one's seen him."

　　I put my chopsticks down and said, "Alright, keep eating, Hu Bro. This one’s on me."

　　With that, I slapped the money down on the table and stood up to leave.

　　"Feng Bro, that’s way too much!" Zhou Hu called after me.

　　I just waved him off, not saying anything more as I walked away.Now there was another lead: the man Zhou Hu had mentioned.

　　My gut told me this man had something to do with Zhou Yong’s death, and there’s no way he wasn’t involved with that Bagua stone disc either.

　　Who is he? Why did he step in during the argument between Zhou Yong and his girlfriend? If he didn’t have some kind of special relationship with her, none of this would make any sense.

　　The more I thought about it, the clearer it became—I had to go to River Village and find Xu Xiaoli.