I used folk talismans to ward off the evil spirit.

Chapter 5 The Mirror World, Suppressing Objects and Communicating Spirits

Room 404 was completely silent.

A stench filled the air, making Jiang Jun's heart skip a beat.

He strode into the room and looked around. The layout of the studio apartment was very simple, and at a glance, he did not find any corpses or bloodstains.

"Thank goodness..." He breathed a sigh of relief and turned his gaze to the dining table in the corner.

Steamed fish, braised pork, and sauerkraut soup—that's quite a feast for one person.

But it was left there a few days ago, and now it's rotten and moldy, emitting a foul stench.

On the edge of the table, a bowl of rice was half-eaten, and a bamboo chopstick lay beside it, but there was no other chopstick to be found.

Jiang Jun frowned, mentally simulating the scenario: "He suddenly disappeared during the meal?"

He focused his senses and detected a sinister aura: "Something's amiss?"

Outside the door, neighbors who heard the commotion gathered around, chattering like a hundred ducks, giving Jiang Jun a headache.

"Boss Jiang, is Zhou from 404 alright?" Granny Xie asked hoarsely from outside the door.

Jiang Jun opened the door, letting them see clearly: "No one's home, don't worry, there's no murder, and nothing strange..."

The tenants wanted to come in, but he stopped them at the outside: "However, since I haven't seen him for a few days, he might be involved in a missing person case, so please don't come in, so as not to affect the police investigation."

Some people tried to squeeze in to see what was going on, but Jiang Jun blocked them with his iron arms and closed the door without saying a word.

"Haha, Boss Jiang, you're quite sturdy, you've got a real bull's stature..." the man said sheepishly.

Jiang Jun glanced at him, wondering how long the other party's rental contract would last.

After persuading the onlookers to leave, he called the police.

Fifteen minutes later, the police sent officers to investigate the scene.

Fifteen minutes later, officers from the Department of the Supernatural arrived.

They were also wearing police uniforms, but their shoulder insignia featured a classic Chinese design: the phoenix pattern.

The leader was named Zhao Chen, with a square face, giving off an air of righteousness.

He wasn't tall, but he was sturdy and had an inexplicable aura that was quite intimidating when he stood there.

The two team members he was with had very young faces and clear, naive eyes; they didn't look like public officials, but rather like high school students who hadn't graduated.

"Are you the landlord here?" Zhao Chen asked in a deep voice, "When did you discover that tenant Zhou Xia was missing?"

Jiang Jun truthfully recounted her parents' phone calls and what Grandma Xie had said.

Zhao Chen nodded, not mincing words: "Our initial assessment suggests it involves supernatural elements. But don't worry, the incident didn't happen at your house."

He paused for a moment, then said, "We will take full responsibility for the rest of the matter, including communicating with her workplace and parents. You just need to appease the other tenants."

Jiang Jun seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, then scratched his head in slight distress: "Officer Zhao, could I clean up her apartment and rent it out again?"

Zhao Chen frowned slightly.

The junior officer following behind him was exasperated: "How can you be like this? The person just accidentally entered the Mirror World, it's not like..."

"Xiao Liu!" Zhao Chen raised his hand to stop him, then turned and snapped his fingers at Jiang Jun. "You didn't hear anything just now. Go back and wait for the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs to notify you. They should give you a definite answer in half a month at the latest."

A sinister force swept over us.

A thought struck Jiang Jun. He suppressed the spontaneous counterattack of the suppressing power, feigning that he was affected: 'This power... does it represent oblivion?'

"Half a month? That's more like it." He muttered to himself, then left room 404 without looking back.

"What kind of people are these? They have no compassion at all!" the junior officer grumbled. "That damned landlord capitalist deserves to hang himself on a lamppost!"

*

Jiang Jun returned to his own apartment, 202, and watched the police and the people from the Department of the Supernatural leave from the window before lying down on the sofa to sort through the information he had gathered that day.

"A mirrored ghost world? Considering Zhou Xia's disappearance at home, it's probably similar to the afterlife?"

"It might be very dangerous there, but there's still a chance to survive, which is why the people from the Department of the Supernatural sent me to wait for further notice."

"And this power..." Jiang Jun opened his mouth and exhaled a sinister aura.

On the window, a flash of "Strange and Unforgiving" light cleaned it up.

Jiang Jun closed his eyes, pondered for a while, and realized something was wrong.

"This aura, although slightly different from the aura remaining in Zhou Xia's house, seems to originate from the same source."

"Could it be that the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs actually controls the power of the Mirror Realm?"

"Using trickery to fight trickery? Are there no immortals, Buddhas, or saints in this world?"

"Also, they seem unable to sense the protective energy within me? That's a good thing, it makes it easier for me to conceal my identity."

After organizing all the clues, Jiang Jun took out his phone and called each of the tenants one by one.

The emphasis was: "The Department of the Supernatural has inspected the house and found no hauntings or murders. Everyone can live here with peace of mind."

But ultimately, a tenant did have an accident.

Some people took the opportunity to demand a rent reduction, but he firmly refused.

He didn't make things difficult for the two households that wanted to terminate their leases. After settling the rent and deposit, he hired someone to clean up the mess himself, and they parted on good terms.

Too lazy to put up rental notices on the street, he called a familiar real estate agent and entrusted them to handle everything for him.

After everything was settled, he tidied himself up and was about to leave.

Suddenly, the "Sorrowful Ghost" talisman on the table trembled slightly, its purple and white light flashing, and its power increased somewhat.

Jiang Jun opened his folk customs notebook and was surprised to find that the progress bar had already completed one-tenth of the way.

"Over a thousand talismanic clones? Wow! The Department of Mystics has quite the resources!"

Moreover, the increased power of the talisman proves that they have put "Sorrow of the Ghosts" into actual combat, killing monsters and helping Jiang Jun gain merit.

"But where did they find so many strange creatures to test 'The Bizarre Encounter'? Could it be the Mirror World of Ghosts?"

"And where exactly is this so-called merit?" Jiang Jun carefully examined himself, the talisman itself, and the folk notebook, but couldn't find it anywhere.

But this examination led him to a new discovery.

"This 'Ghostly Sorrow' seems to have developed a spirit?" He concentrated intently, sensing a faint trace of spirituality from the jujube branch bracelet.

This spirit, though seemingly fierce, possesses an instinctive closeness and affection for Jiang Jun, much like a baby facing its father.

"The spirit of the talisman has become sentient?" He was greatly surprised and went to examine the "Ghostly Prohibition" on the window.

Sure enough, a spark of inspiration ignited within this willow twig weaving.

Unlike the fierce and cute "Gui Jianchou", "Gui Buxu" is somewhat timid, but not cowardly, but more like... social anxiety?

This is probably related to the power of the object itself.

"When they were first made, these two were just inanimate objects, but now they have come to possess a spirit. Could this be the wondrous effect of accumulating merit?"

"I am still in the stage of blind men touching an elephant when it comes to folk notebooks and talismans."

"Let's first harness its power, then analyze it step by step, perhaps even referencing the system of the Department of the Supernatural... In short, we cannot be complacent!"