The Forensic Big Shot's Psychic Darling - Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Lin Yaoyao pulled her hand back slightly, startled by that wallet.
She stared at Qin Zhan for a few seconds, and only after making sure he wasn’t joking did she pull a piece of notepad paper from the desk.
“A highest-grade talisman can’t be drawn casually, and the materials are more complicated than those for an ordinary safety charm. Aside from top-grade cinnabar and handmade yellow paper, it also requires rootless water, peachwood ash, and bronze powder ground from Five Emperors coins.”
Qin Zhan leaned against the edge of the desk with his arms crossed.
“Keep making things up.”
“I’m not making things up.”
Lin Yaoyao picked up a pen and earnestly listed the required quantity for each material.
“Rootless water is rainwater that hasn’t touched the ground; my master left me a small bottle. I also have peachwood ash, so we’ll have to go out and buy the remaining few items.”
“What else?”
The tip of her pen paused, and she looked up at Qin Zhan’s hair.
“It also requires a strand of the wearer’s hair.”
A hint of wariness entered Qin Zhan’s brows.
“What are you trying to do?”
“Hair is connected to a person’s fortune. For a talisman to recognize its master, the wearer’s aura must be sealed into the talisman’s core. Otherwise, what gets drawn will only count as an ordinary talisman that anyone who takes it can use.”
“When you were preparing to draw one for Zhao Gang earlier, were you going to cut his hair too?”
Lin Yaoyao nodded.
“For the highest grade, of course.”
Qin Zhan’s expression turned even colder.
Not understanding which part of what she said was wrong, she could only continue listing items downward.
“Finally, one drop of fingertip blood is needed to anchor the talisman. The person themselves must be present for the entire process, and no one else is allowed to touch the materials.”
“Using talisman-drawing to swindle money, yet you sure have plenty of rules.”
“You were the one who asked for the highest grade.”
Lin Yaoyao pushed the list over in front of him.
“It’s still not too late to back out now. An ordinary safety talisman only costs two hundred, its effect lasts for three months, and it doesn’t require hair or blood.”
Qin Zhan swept a glance over the list and picked up his wallet.
“Let’s go.”
Lin Yaoyao froze.
“Where to?”
“To buy the materials.”
“You’re coming too?”
“Didn’t you say the person themselves has to cooperate?”
“You don’t need to cooperate to buy things—just being there when I draw it is enough.”
Qin Zhan had already walked to the doorway. He looked back at her.
“Grab your list. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
Lin Yaoyao hurriedly slung her bag over her shoulder and followed him out.
The first folk-custom supply shop wasn’t far from the Municipal Bureau. The storefront wasn’t large, and the inside was packed with incense, candles, and joss paper. Hearing that they wanted top-grade cinnabar, the shopkeeper took out a box of dull-red powder from beneath the counter.
Lin Yaoyao rubbed a pinch between her fingertips and shook her head.
“It’s mixed with red clay. Even drawing an ordinary talisman with this would easily lose its spiritual efficacy.”
The shopkeeper’s expression darkened slightly.
“Young lady, you’re not very old, yet you sure know a lot. This is genuine mineral cinnabar—thirty yuan for a single gram.”
“Real mineral cinnabar doesn’t disperse in water and doesn’t turn black when burned. Yours even smells like dye.”
Standing beside her, Qin Zhan directly shut the lid of the box.
“Let’s try another shop.”
The two of them headed over to the old district and found an old shop specializing in talisman paper and minerals tucked inside an alleyway. Lin Yaoyao tested three types of cinnabar before finally selecting a small jar with a deep, pure hue.
Seeing how professionally she chose, the shop clerk brought out several stacks of handmade yellow paper.
“Miss, are you drawing a safety talisman for your boyfriend? This paper is tough; it won’t tear easily when folded into a pouch. We also have matching red cords—tying it into a concentric love knot looks best.”
Lin Yaoyao quickly waved her hands.
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
The clerk looked at her, then glanced at Qin Zhan standing behind her, smiling even more warmly.
“Not right now, maybe, but there’s no telling about the future. All the young couples who come here to buy tokens of affection say that at first.”
“This isn’t a token of affection, it’s a safety talisman.”
“It’s all the same—protecting someone for a lifetime is best.”
Lin Yaoyao’s face slowly turned red.
Qin Zhan tapped on the counter, his tone cold and indifferent.
“Ring it up.”
Frozen out of his smile by Qin Zhan’s gaze, the clerk hurried to tally the items.
“Cinnabar, yellow paper, bronze powder, plus one red cord—that comes to one thousand two hundred in total.”
Hearing the price, Lin Yaoyao immediately put the red cord back.
“We don’t need this, I can braid one myself.”
Qin Zhan had already handed over his card.
“Include it.”
“That cord costs two hundred.”
“My talisman doesn’t use cheap goods.”
After swiping the card, the clerk packed the items into a red paper bag printed with a concentric love knot. Carrying the bag as she walked out of the shop, Lin Yaoyao felt the pattern looked increasingly off the more she stared at it.
“Should we switch to a different bag?”
“Waste of time.”
Qin Zhan pulled open the car door.
“Get in.”
Returning to the forensic examination room, Lin Yaoyao first wiped the tabletop clean three times, then arranged the yellow paper, cinnabar, and rootless water in order.
Watching her take out a palm-sized bronze censer, Qin Zhan couldn’t help frowning.
“Open flames are prohibited in the forensic room.”
“I’m not lighting a fire. This is used for mixing the cinnabar.”
Lin Yaoyao poured in the peachwood ash and bronze powder according to proportion, then added drops of rootless water. The originally dull-red cinnabar soon took on a fine, dense sheen, faintly emitting a light woody fragrance.
Preparing a pair of scissors, she walked up to Qin Zhan.
“Lower your head a bit, I can’t reach.”
Qin Zhan sat down in the chair, letting her draw near.
Lin Yaoyao lifted a tiny lock of hair from behind his ear with very gentle movements. As her fingertips brushed past the rim of his ear, Qin Zhan’s shoulders and back tensed slightly, and his breathing grew a shade heavier.
The scissors let out a faint, soft snip.
Several strands of black hair fell into her palm.
“Is such a small amount enough?”
“It’s enough. Hair is only meant to channel your aura; I can’t cut too much.”
Lin Yaoyao stepped back to the table and pressed the hair between two layers of yellow paper. Next, she took out a sterilized silver needle and held it out to Qin Zhan.
“I also need one drop of fingertip blood.”
Qin Zhan glanced at her. “You do it.”
Lin Yaoyao took his hand, her thumb pressing against his slender finger joint. The warmth in Qin Zhan’s palm was very high, making her own fingertips feel slightly cool in contrast.
The moment the silver needle neared the pad of his finger, she stopped.
“Just a quick prick, it won’t hurt much.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you shaking?”
“I’m not shaking.”
Qin Zhan lowered his eyes to look at her.
Though her mouth refused to back down, most of the color had already drained from her face. With the silver needle still an inch away from his fingertip, her gaze was locked rigidly elsewhere, not even daring to breathe too heavily.
Qin Zhan turned his hand over and took the silver needle away.
“Let go.”
“I can do it.”
“By the time you actually poke it, dawn will have broken.”
Without the slightest hesitation, he pricked the pad of his finger, and a bead of bright red blood quickly welled up.
Seeing that drop of blood, Lin Yaoyao’s throat tightened along with it. Suppressing her discomfort with great effort, she dipped a fine brush into the bead of blood and swiftly dotted it onto the center of the yellow paper.
“Done.”
Qin Zhan pulled out a tissue and pressed it against the wound. “You’re scared of even a single drop of blood—how do you normally draw blood talismans?”
“I’m only afraid of other people’s blood.”
“You’re not afraid of your own?”
Lin Yaoyao lowered her head to tidy up her tools.
“When drawing a talisman to save a life, there’s no time to be scared.”
Qin Zhan looked at her for a moment without asking further.
With the talisman’s core anchored, the next step was officially putting brush to paper. Lin Yaoyao smoothed out the yellow paper, holding the cinnabar-dipped talisman brush in her right hand while pressing down the corner of the paper with her left.
She closed her eyes and murmured a few lines of an incantation under her breath.
The tip of the brush touched down.
Yet the cinnabar, which had originally condensed into a clean line, seemed to encounter an invisible repelling force, scattering outward in all directions the instant it made contact with the yellow paper. The neat opening stroke immediately smudged into a messy blot, and even the strands of hair pressed beneath the paper began to vibrate faintly.
Lin Yaoyao lifted the brush at once, her expression turning grave.
Qin Zhan looked at the ruined yellow paper. “This is the highest grade?”
“It’s not an issue with the talisman paper.”
She re-examined the cinnabar, then raised her head to look at the man standing right beside her.
Sitting there, the yang energy surrounding Qin Zhan was even more scorching and intense than during the day. The moment the spiritual energy drawn by the cinnabar approached him, it was suppressed so heavily that it couldn’t take shape.
Lin Yaoyao pressed her lips tightly together and said in a low voice, “Your yang energy is too strong. I have to hold your hand to draw it.”
