136: Chapter 136 Substitute Doll

Han Jingyang stared closely at the Japanese man at the stairwell for several seconds before giving Liu Jing a meaningful look.

Without a second thought, Liu Jing charged forward and slashed fiercely with her blade.

"Bang—"

Ishihara Koanno vanished into thin air.

A wooden doll fell to the ground.

"A substitute?"

"And it even had an illusion?"

Zhang Zhiyang let out a muffled grunt, pulled out his walkie-talkie, and shouted, "Keep an eye on Number Five, Number Five has escaped."

Han Jingyang shook his head. "He is still in the villa."

"Are you sure?"

"It's a guess," Han Jingyang said, though he pointed toward the second-floor balcony and made a turning gesture.

Liu Jing understood immediately. She pretended to go to the balcony to investigate, but the moment she turned around, she slashed at the corner of the wall Han Jingyang had pointed out.

"Pfft—"

A spray of blood erupted.

Ishihara Koanno revealed his form and slowly collapsed to the ground.

The blade struck him right in the neck.

Even without a sharpened edge, as long as the speed was fast enough, it could still inflict massive trauma.

The battle was over.

Time to clean up the battlefield.

This was Han Jingyang's job, because no one knew if there were any powerful dharma instruments or traps hidden around.

Then, Han Jingyang's eyes nearly turned red with greed.

There was a pile of good stuff after another.

Just the protective amulets alone numbered seven or eight; aside from two that were damaged, the rest could still be appraised.

There were over a dozen other dharma instruments, with Shirakawa Yasunari alone contributing five.

Besides that, there was a complete set of twelve zodiac stone carvings and a set of three combined porcelain vases.

The twelve zodiac stone carvings were of unknown use.

The main function of the feng shui formation formed by the three porcelain vases was to create an all-encompassing barrier; in Old Qin's words, it was to conceal the secrets of heaven.

They were all good things.

He wanted them all.

Unfortunately, he could only prioritize choosing three items.

The rest would be split equally.

What a pity.

If there was another opportunity like this, he would have to find a way to take it all for himself.

Thinking this, he said to Zhang Zhiyang, "Boss Zhang, a set counts as one item. You have no objections, right?"

Zhang Zhiyang opened his mouth, then nodded helplessly.

He had objections, but he dared not voice them.

Han Jingyang and Liu Jing were too strong, especially Liu Jing, who was even fiercer than a god of war when under Guan Gong Possession, able to slaughter everyone in her path while wielding an unsharpened war blade.

"If it had been sharpened, how terrifying would that be?"

Facing such powerful individuals, one still had to give them some face.

Han Jingyang smiled. "Many thanks."

He unceremoniously tucked the twelve zodiac set and the three-piece porcelain vase set into his own pocket.

Then there was the substitute doll used by Ishihara Koanno.

Pick three items first, then split the rest.

"One for you, one for me."

Han Jingyang, of course, chose the ones that could be appraised.

Zhang Zhiyang let Old Qin handle it.

Every time Old Qin picked an item, he would cast a divination, and the accuracy was surprisingly high; over eighty percent of the items he picked were dharma instruments.

"True experts are found among the common people."

This saying was absolutely true.

After dividing the spoils, the atmosphere immediately became much more harmonious.

Zhang Zhiyang gave Han Jingyang a thumbs up. "Mr. Han, you and your partner are truly impressive."

While packing up the altar, Han Jingyang laughed. "If there are jobs like this in the future, remember to call me. The same rules will apply."

"Certainly, certainly," Zhang Zhiyang nodded, then glanced at Liu Jing, whose blue glow had faded. "Does she have any side effects?"

"None."

"None at all?"

"None at all. Why?"

"It's completely different from the spirit possession I've seen before."

"They are them, and I am me; of course it's different. Do you want to experience it?"

"Is there an opportunity?"

"Of course, but there's no telling when that opportunity will arise." Han Jingyang scanned the villa, which had been mostly cleared by the staff who arrived shortly after. Seeing no more scraps to scavenge, he said to Zhang Zhiyang, "Do you remember that peach wood plaque?"

"The one Sun Hailu wore?"

"Yes, you can wear it for fun."

"What function does it have?"

"You'll know once you wear it," Han Jingyang smiled. "That item should have been recovered; it was something I sold to Xu Xin. But now that it has become spoils of war and you've chosen it, I'll do you a favor."

"Thank you, thank you," Zhang Zhiyang quickly expressed his gratitude.

After thanking him, he asked in a low voice, "Mr. Han, can you open the Heavenly Eye for us?"

"Heavenly Eye? No, no, no. It's just a little trick, nothing significant."

"Then everything we saw was an illusion?"

"No, what you saw was real, but it can only be seen under specific conditions. Of course, once you cultivate to a certain level, you can sense it too." Han Jingyang laughed. "Don't worry, there are no ghosts or gods in this world. What you saw is just a natural phenomenon that currently cannot be observed."

"A natural phenomenon?"

"A natural phenomenon. Just like ice, it can form naturally or be man-made, but essentially, it is still a natural phenomenon. Human participation just adds some human elements to this natural phenomenon."

Zhang Zhiyang nodded thoughtfully. "Then, do the deities you summon have aggression?"

Han Jingyang asked in return, "Have you seen the Japanese shikigami?"

"I have."

"It's about the same, though the functions vary."

"Can it serve tea and pour water like a shikigami?"

"I haven't discovered that yet, but I feel it should be possible."

Serving tea and pouring water sounds simple.

In reality, it means these idealistic things can interact with the real material world, which is of significant importance.

Whether it's shikigami or the deities summoned by Han Jingyang, they can currently only interact with existence like Qi and souls, and have no effect on the material world.

But whether he will encounter that kind of "deity" in the future, Han Jingyang cannot guarantee.

Zhang Zhiyang nodded but didn't ask any more questions; after all, the occasion was not appropriate. "Mr. Han, thank you for today's matter. I'll clean up this mess first, and after dealing with these miscellaneous tasks, we can sit down and have a proper exchange."

Han Jingyang smiled. "I'm only interested in doing business."

"Alright, then I'll contact you if there's work."

"See you."

Han Jingyang nodded to Miss Tan and Old Qin, then led Liu Jing back to Jiguang Zhai.

Jiguang Zhai's renovation was mostly complete. The contractor, Ye Fei, saw Han Jingyang and Liu Jing and smiled shyly. "Boss Han, it will be finished in two more days. When do you have time to go pick out some green plants?"

"Just arrange it as you see fit."

"Alright."

"Go to Liu Jing for the payment."

"The payment isn't urgent. Actually, there's a matter I'd like to trouble you with..."

"Oh?"

"It's like this. I took a job in the city center to renovate a villa. We entered the site three days ago. On the first day, two workers were injured—they were disfigured by flying debris while smashing a wall. Yesterday, a worker fell from the scaffolding and broke his right leg. Early this morning, another worker was electrocuted and nearly didn't survive."

"That ominous?"

"I also think it's quite ominous, so I quickly had people pull out, and then I wanted to trouble you, as a professional, to take a look." Ye Fei added quickly, "Of course, charge whatever you should charge; I won't let you work for free."

"Have you inquired about what's going on with that villa?"

"I asked the landlord, but the landlord just took over the villa and doesn't know anything. I asked the property management, and they also said they haven't heard of any problems with that villa."

"What about the previous landlord?"

"Dead."