Chapter Ninety: The Body in the Refrigerator

These things, of course, were utterly unknown to Tang Li and Fu Yang.

They had now reached the most critical moment in dispelling the curse of the living dead.

Fu Yang was drenched in sweat, the spiritual force within him streaming endlessly into his fingertips.

At last, with Tang Li’s final cry, all the black filaments at her wrist converged into one spot and turned into a dark blot the size of a pigeon’s egg.

It surged along her jade-white palm to the tip of her middle finger, where it swelled into a ghastly lump.

Fu Yang reacted with lightning speed, drew a small blade he carried with him, and gently nicked it.

A stream of thick black fluid immediately flowed from Tang Li’s fingertip and fell into the bowl of clear water beneath.

A nauseating, putrid stench spread through the office. It was the smell of corpse oil.

As the black corpse oil drained from Tang Li’s fingertip into the bowl, she herself felt the weakness that had plagued her these past few days swiftly fade, her strength returning. The spirit, vitality, and vigor that had been drained from her were now flowing back into her body.

At last, when what came from her fingertip was bright red blood, Fu Yang took the tissues from the desk and wrapped her finger.

“President Tang, it’s done. The curse of the living dead on you has been broken.”

Fu Yang panted heavily, his face flushed red, as though he had just run a five-thousand-meter race or fought a bitter magical duel with someone. He looked utterly exhausted.

Then he took a talisman paper from his pocket, pinched it between his fingers, and flicked it lightly in the air.

With a boom, the talisman burst into flame on its own, startling Tang Li.

Fu Yang tossed the burning talisman into the bowl full of black corpse oil.

A plume of white smoke rose at once. In the end, the corpse oil was consumed by the talisman flame, and only a bowl of clear water remained.

“All done, President Tang. I’m heading out.”

Since the matter was resolved, Fu Yang had no intention of lingering.

He had only helped because he found Tang Li pleasing at first sight, and because she happened to be a fellow alumna of his university. His aid had been sincere and uncomplicated; he had never intended to demand any reward or job opportunity in return.

“Fu Yang, wait!”

“Is there something else, President Tang?”

Tang Li looked at him for a long while before speaking softly. “No words can truly express gratitude for such a great kindness. I, Tang Li, will remember this debt of gratitude.”

Fu Yang waved it off, saying she need not take it to heart. “Our university has an outstanding alumna like you, President Tang. I couldn’t bear to see you harmed by wicked people.”

“Then can you use your art to see who wanted to harm me? I, Tang Li, will absolutely not let him go.”

As she said this, the aura of a cold, glamorous female chief executive burst forth in full force, so overbearing that even Fu Yang found it hard to withstand.

“That may be a little difficult. But the living dead curse is rather special: curses of this kind take a long time to lay, and they must be sustained every day. Usually, the corpse oil is made into powder and mixed into water for the victim to drink... President Tang, think carefully. Who would have had access to your food and drink every day? The culprit should be among those people.”

Tang Li frowned and thought for a moment. In her eyes, a flash of chill would occasionally pass, so out of place on her beautiful face.

Fu Yang shivered again and sighed inwardly: she really is an iceberg beauty, a rose with thorns.

After a while, Tang Li finally squeezed out a sentence through clenched teeth.

“Every day, the water I drink and the food I eat are bought by my assistant, Xiao Hua. If there is anyone most likely to have done this, it would be her. But there’s no reason for it...”

Assistant Xiao Hua?

Fu Yang recalled the stylishly dressed assistant who had come in earlier with the candle and the clear water.

“Hmm, if that’s the case, her suspicion is indeed very high. Shall we call her in and ask? I’d also like to know whether she’s some hidden sorcerer from the Southern Seas. If she is, then we’ll have to call the police.”

In his mind, Wang Jian’s face surfaced.

Though that fellow was unpleasant and thoroughly annoying, he was indeed someone who got things done.

If he had not acted decisively to deal with the evil corpse demon tree at the botanical garden, there would likely have been many more troubles to follow.

“Hmph! Doesn’t he pride himself on being an agent of justice? If there’s a curse caster involved, of course we should have him deal with it.”

Tang Li once again called the office phone and asked for Xiao Hua. But very soon, she hung up.

“What is it?” Fu Yang asked quickly when he saw her expression darken.

“They said Xiao Hua isn’t at her desk. Someone else answered the phone.”

That was worth pondering.

Tang Li’s curse had just been lifted, and the person under greatest suspicion had vanished. Wasn’t that practically as good as a confession?

Of course, she might simply have gone out temporarily. So Tang Li dialed Xiao Hua’s mobile phone as well, but it still would not connect.

“Fu Yang, can you stay with me a little longer and help me look for Xiao Hua? Don’t go back yet. I’ll hire you on the spot today and count it as internship pay!”

“President Tang, I don’t want it to be because of—”

“Enough nonsense! If I say you can, then you can! A junior from my own university, my own college, and with excellent grades at that—of course you’re capable of doing the job.”

She slapped a hand down hard on the marble tabletop and stood up.

Her full, soft bosom trembled twice, and Fu Yang’s little heart trembled twice along with it.

Perhaps because she had long been used to giving orders as a president, Tang Li always spoke with a decisive, commanding tone.

“Damn it, didn’t she just say she’d remember my lifesaving kindness? Why is she still so fierce...”

Fu Yang felt as though ten thousand grass-mud horses had thundered through his heart, leaving it shattered.

Perhaps remembering that the young man before her was, after all, her savior, Tang Li forced herself to show a smile. “Sorry, junior. I’ve always been this kind of person. Don’t mind me...”

That was more like it.

Fu Yang followed the beautiful president out of the office with satisfaction, ready to check Xiao Hua’s workstation.

The employees around them looked on as the two emerged one after the other, all of them wearing complicated expressions. There was envy, jealousy, admiration...

“Zhao Tong, where did Xiao Hua, who sits beside you, go?” Tang Li asked a male employee with a frown.

“President Tang, Xiao Hua seemed to go to the break room just now. Right... she’s been gone for half an hour already...”

Half an hour?

That meant she had left the president’s office, gone to the break room, and then disappeared.

“Let’s check the break room.”

Tang Li said flatly, turning to head that way. The heels of her shoes clicked sharply against the high-grade carpet.

Fu Yang hurried after her.

The break room was fairly large, forty or fifty square meters.

It had a water dispenser, refrigerator, microwave, and other conveniences for employees who brought homemade lunches from home.

But now it was empty, so empty that not even a ghost could be seen.

“She’s not here.” Tang Li’s brows drew together, lending the cold beauty of the female president an especially striking allure.

Then she turned her head and saw that Fu Yang’s expression had become somewhat grave, his eyes fixed dead on the refrigerator.

“What is it?”

“President Tang, step aside a little. Better yet, close your eyes.”

As he spoke, Fu Yang stepped forward and stood in front of her.

He reached out and pulled open the large double-door refrigerator.

Inside was a woman curled into a tight ball.

Her eyes were wide open, her face twisted in terror.

She was already dead.

It was none other than Tang Li’s assistant, Xiao Hua.

The End of the Third Chapter. See you tomorrow.