Xia Luyao realized the seriousness of the situation, didn't ask much, and quickly pondered. "I remember there were scissors in the car we drove here, I saw them before."
Lin Beichen nodded, and the two of them quickly walked to the parking area and soon found a pair of scissors. Then, Xia Luyao watched as Lin Beichen, holding the scissors, started cutting two pieces of slightly yellowish paper in his hand.
Lin Beichen skillfully stacked the two sheets, and with the flick of the scissors, two identical paper figures appeared on the paper. "Lin Beichen, are you making paper figures?" Xia Luyao curiously asked.
"Yes." Lin Beichen replied and then took out the remaining cinnabar and started painting on the paper figures. Xia Luyao, although curious, guessed that Lin Beichen might be drawing some kind of talisman, so she didn't disturb him.
Soon, Lin Beichen completed the red talisman drawings on the two small paper figures. "Alright, everything is ready, let's go back." Lin Beichen said to Xia Luyao, then turned and walked toward the warehouse.
Xia Luyao followed closely, unable to resist asking, "Can these two small paper figures really rescue the hostages? What exactly do they do?"
Lin Beichen turned his head and gave her a mysterious smile, "You'll find out soon enough." With that, he quickened his pace.
When they returned, the standoff with the drug lord had reached a fever pitch. Lin Beichen went straight to Chen Ming and whispered instructions: "Go along with his demands for now, keep him calm."
Chen Ming's first reaction was to refuse, but Lin Beichen's firm tone made him reconsider. Lin Beichen continued, "Trust me, I have a way to deal with him." His confidence and outstanding performance tonight eventually made Chen Ming nod.
Chen Ming loudly said to the drug lord, "Alright, we will get you a car, just don't harm the hostages." Then he instructed the officers to prepare the vehicle.
Hearing Chen Ming's promise, the drug lord seemed slightly relaxed. At this moment, Lin Beichen took the opportunity to whisper a spell to the paper figure in his hand, then released one. The paper figure floated silently toward the wall, quietly approaching the drug lord.
As the paper figure neared the drug lord, the talisman on the other paper figure in Lin Beichen's hand glowed red. Lin Beichen smiled slightly—it had worked. The surrounding people were stunned by this strange scene and started asking questions. But Lin Beichen just smiled and didn't answer.
Suddenly, a gunshot shattered the silence. Everyone looked towards the source of the sound, shocked, only to see an officer in a panic, while the drug lord was in a fury.
In this tense moment, a sniper from afar was already aiming at the drug lord. He was considering a bold plan—to fire three bullets through the wall and directly kill the drug lord.
Currently, the drug lord's emotions were extremely unstable, and if he heard another gunshot, no one could guarantee he wouldn't react violently.
The sniper faced a difficult decision: firing might provoke the drug lord, causing the hostages' deaths; but not firing seemed to leave no other option.
He struggled for a moment and finally gritted his teeth, tightly holding his gun, and decided to take a risk.
He aimed at the wall hiding the drug lord, ready to shoot.
"Bang!"
The first bullet hit precisely where the drug lord's head would be.
The sniper felt a surge of joy; with this trajectory, two more shots and he would be able to hit the drug lord's head and kill him.
However, things didn't go as he expected.
When the drug lord heard the gunshot, his anger soared to the point of losing his mind.
"You dare shoot again!" he roared, "Do you really think I'm afraid to act?"
"That was an accidental discharge!" Chen Ming hastily explained and then whispered into the walkie-talkie to the sniper, "Leng Feng, who told you to shoot? Stop immediately!"
But it was already too late; the drug lord was beyond listening.
"Get ready to collect bodies!" he shouted, gripping his gun, ready to pull the trigger.
At this critical moment, Lin Beichen saw the drug lord losing control, decisively bit his middle fingertip, and quickly drew three blood marks on the paper figure.
He whispered a spell, and the paper figure in his hand began to float up slowly.
In the darkness, the blood marks on the paper figure shimmered with an eerie glow. With a wave of Lin Beichen's hand, the paper figure instantly turned to ash.
At the same time, the drug lord's index finger was on the trigger, about to pull it.
The hostages, in fear, closed their eyes, bracing for death.
However, just as the drug lord was about to pull the trigger, the paper figure behind him suddenly glowed red and seemed to merge into his body, disappearing without a trace.
In that instant, the drug lord's whole body went stiff, his hand motion halted abruptly.
He felt as though controlled by an invisible force, unable to move, and his finger couldn't pull the trigger.
Then, he felt a severe wrenching pain in his guts as if something was shattering them.
The immense pain contorted his face, blood filled his eyes, and it seemed like his eyeballs would burst out.
He then spat out a mouthful of fresh blood with a "wa!" and fell straight to the ground, dropping the gun from his hand.
"Thump!"
The officers in the precinct immediately rushed forward to check the situation.
They found the drug lord had collapsed on the floor, unconscious, with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
An officer quickly crouched down to check his vital signs and then stood up, shocked, announcing, "He's dead."
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this and began to chatter.
"What's going on? How did he suddenly die?"
"There's no visible injury on his body!"
"Isn't this too strange? Could it be related to the paper figure Lin Beichen burned?"
"Yes! I saw it too! After Lin Beichen chanted a few spells, the paper figure floated up! Then it turned to ash and the drug lord just dropped dead!"
The precinct's personnel were abuzz, finding the whole event eerily strange.
They couldn't help but turn their eyes to Lin Beichen, suspecting that it had to do with him.
However, the person in question appeared calm and composed as he walked over, his expression unchanging.
"Lin Beichen, what just happened to the drug lord? And what was with the paper figure?" Chen Ming couldn't help but ask.
The surrounding officers echoed the question, expressing their curiosity.
Lin Beichen looked at the group, their eager expressions, and couldn't help shaking his head with a smile.
He slowly started to explain, "It's really nothing special, just a Daoist talisman—a Substitute Talisman."
It turned out this Substitute Talisman was purchased from the System Store. One just needs to cut two paper figures and draw an "Possession" talisman and a "Substitute" talisman on them. Then stick the paper figure with the "Possession" talisman on the target, chant the spell and you can control them. Earlier, in the urgency of the moment, I used a Blood Curse to directly kill that drug lord. However, that drug lord did many evil deeds and deserved to die. So dying at my hand today was not unjust.
After hearing Lin Beichen's explanation, everyone nodded, although they only vaguely understood. Despite the story sounding a bit fantastical and bizarre, after experiencing the series of events tonight, they couldn't help but believe it.
Their gazes towards Lin Beichen also contained admiration and awe, and at the same time, Lin Beichen's ears continuously heard cold mechanical voice prompts, indicating his Faith Value was continuously rising.
Lin Beichen heard this and the corners of his mouth gently curved into an almost imperceptible smile. This operation was indeed worthwhile.
His Faith Value had increased by more than thirty thousand, which was quite substantial. In their astonishment, everyone quickly cleared the scene and then drove back to the precinct.
Sitting in the car, Lin Beichen, with nothing else to do, closed his eyes and started shopping in the System Mall. After all, with a rich stock of Faith Value on hand, not spending it would be a pity.
The System Mall was divided into multiple layers; in the past, Lin Beichen's Faith Value was limited to selecting only from the lower areas. But this time, with the substantial increase in Faith Value, it surpassed the hundred thousand mark, allowing him access to the fourth layer of the mall.
Lin Beichen didn't hesitate to enter the fourth layer, eagerly exploring the treasures within.
Various precious talismans and arrays came into view, and their prices were not cheap. Lin Beichen browsed around, feeling deeply moved.