“Have you heard of telecom fraud?”
Jiang Yin shrugged and gave a simple explanation under Wen Ling’s confused gaze.
“Our movements are exposed, so they made two preparations. If the assassination at the temple succeeded, they’d just kill us and escape the country.”
“If it failed, they’d wait until we returned to the hotel and use these supernatural tricks to curse us.”
“Don’t do anything right now. I’ve already reported it to the Bureau. We just have to wait for someone to pick us up.”
To be honest, Jiang Yin had been startled just now too, even doubting whether his Magic Bracelet was broken—how could it have no reaction at all in such a strange situation?
He only understood after pressing the alarm button and faintly hearing footsteps fleeing outside the door.
No wonder there was no warning. There wasn’t a trace of Resentment in the whole thing—how could a purely technological method trigger the bracelet?
Magic Bracelet: I’m being wronged to death here!
The sequence of events just now was probably like this.
It started with Li Zihan’s woman suddenly appearing outside the window, catching them off guard.
Then, they used pre-installed equipment to hijack the phone signal, using an AI Voice Changer to imitate Zhang Feng’s voice for a second wave of intimidation.
At the same time, the man in the duo appeared outside their door, banging furiously to create a terrifying atmosphere.
If the two inside had weaker wills and got scared, a seed of Curse would be planted. After escaping to a safe place or even fleeing abroad, the real curse killing could be carried out.
If it failed, they wouldn’t lose much—just lay low and wait for another opportunity.
If it had been a less experienced person, they might have really been scared—especially with that eerie, Resentment-filled infant in the temple nearby, while their Magic Bracelet didn’t react at all, which even made Jiang Yin doubt his own senses.
Obviously, the Yuan Ming Cult had mastered a Sealing Grudge Technique with an effect similar to Resentment Sealing from the soil.
But Jiang Yin was a programmer himself and had studied AI Voice Changers. He’d even played pranks on friends before. The moment he heard a lot of electronic distortion mixed in ‘Zhang Feng’s’ voice, he became suspicious.
When he found that strand of hair outside the window and burned it, it all made sense.
There were no ghosts from start to finish. It was just people scaring people.
Although the Yuan Ming Cult had mastered some supernatural methods, they were clearly not strong—at least nowhere near Magical Girls. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have to scurry around like cockroaches, afraid of the Bureau catching them.
This operation by Li Zihan and her group was probably a stress reaction caused by Wen Ling’s investigation into past events, because judging by the level of force from the other side, the attack Jiang Yin and the others suffered was far from a direct clash with the Bureau’s Magical Girls—just something targeting ordinary people.
“Jiang Yin, you’re amazing.”
Wen Ling’s praise was calm after hearing the girl’s explanation.
“Can I become as calm as you?”
Her eyes shone with longing. She wanted to be as strong as Jiang Yin, able to face those strange Incidents independently.
“All fear comes from insufficient firepower.”
Faced with her question, the girl only shrugged.
“It’s just that my firepower barely suffices.”
If not for several magical items and having enough magic within himself to suppress Resentment, Jiang Yin wasn’t even sure if he could be calmer than Wen Ling.
“You’ve already done great.”
To be able to clearly express herself in such a situation without breaking down emotionally—Wen Ling was already quite impressive in Jiang Yin’s eyes.
Honestly, he didn’t even think he could have done this before transforming.
As for his calmness?
It had been said before: Jiang Yin’s magic came with a forced-calm effect on the brain, and as the magic within grew, it even gave him the illusion that his thinking speed was increasing.
That was the real reason he could remain calm.
“Jiang Yin! Jiang Yin! If you can hear me, please respond!”
At that moment, Zhang Feng’s anxious voice suddenly came from the phone on the bed.
“I’m here, I’m here, Brother Zhang. The Bureau is unreliable—how can my Custom Phone still have its signal hijacked?”
“Nonsense!”
Hearing Jiang Yin’s relaxed tone, Zhang Feng, whose heart had been pounding since the forced comms cut-off, finally calmed down, rolling his eyes.
God knows how scared he’d been. In those two minutes of lost signal, half the Investigation Department had sprung into action, nearly filing a report to dispatch a Magical Girl.
Hearing this little white-haired brat still joking put him at ease.
“They were just in the next room using high-powered equipment to hijack the signal. What phone could block that?”
The Bureau wasn’t omnipotent—tech had its limits. As long as phones used base station signals, it was a matter of power.
No matter how amazing the Bureau’s anti-interference phones were, they couldn’t resist high-powered hijacking at close range. That’s just how it was.
“Can you catch them?”
“Pretty much. They really underestimated modern technology, thinking two sets of Fake Identity Cards and Fake Faces would let them escape? Do they think it’s still the 2010s?!”
“Heh!”
In recent years, domestic technology had truly advanced, to the point of leaving most people behind.
Not to mention, who knows how advanced the traffic police’s facial recognition AI is now?
Or how powerful the customs inspection tech has become?
Especially within the Bureau, a military unit overflowing with black technology—those mystical, spooky gadgets and even cutting-edge tech that makes you wonder if the Rabbit’s already roasting aliens on the moon’s surface are applied first.
Same point—if the Bureau were a useless department, and couldn’t handle something like this, the country would be full of cultists and monsters.
‘Li Zihan’ and her group could plan a few attacks and fake deaths when the Bureau hadn’t mobilized yet, but once it did, they stood no chance of escaping.
“Then I’ll leave it to you, Brother Zhang.”
“Don’t worry.”
After hanging up, Jiang Yin looked at Wen Ling, who was staring blankly ahead, clearly lost in thought, and shrugged helplessly.
“Though I don’t want to admit it, it seems I ended up as bait again this time without realizing it.”
“Next…”
“I want to know if Zhuo Xun-senpai is really dead, or rather, what role he played in that Incident back then.”
Wen Ling’s voice was low but incredibly firm.
“I want to know the truth. Now that things have come to this, I can’t accept going back to my old life not knowing.”
This was likely the final doubt in the whole case—especially since the information on ‘Li Zihan’s Death’ recorded in the Notebook had misled their investigation at the start.
“Then let’s investigate!”
Jiang Yin also felt something was off. There was probably an even deeper secret hidden here, and maybe these two attacks were just a cover for an even bigger conspiracy.