"Okay... I will definitely hold on."
Qin Yan said, swallowing hard with a gulp, the fear in his eyes visibly clear.
For this big patron, Zhang Xiaoman’s service was very considerate. After confirming that the preparations were complete, he lifted his hand and launched the Soul Absorption Technique at him.
The Soul Absorption Technique itself does not consume any energy, but it has a cooling time of 30 minutes. Each activation can absorb 20 points of Dark Energy, which is just perfect for killing the Parasitic Spirit.
As the command to extract the target’s energy echoed in Zhang Xiaoman’s mind, the scene unfolded exactly as he had expected.
Energy flows, constructed of energy, burst forth from Qin Yan’s body, all streaming towards the palm of Zhang Xiaoman’s hand, whipping up a gust of wind around them.
At this moment, Qin Yan felt a slight force pulling him towards Zhang Xiaoman, but it wasn’t very strong, and he only had to adjust his balance slightly before stabilizing himself again.
Just as he wondered where the terrible howling mentioned by Zhang Xiaoman was, he suddenly saw a translucent face emerge from his belly.
Due to the angle, he couldn’t see its specifics, but the others opposite him saw the face clearly—it looked exactly like Qin Yan!
The face twisted in extreme agony; its mouth opened and let out a shrill howl that stunned everyone around them, causing them to cover their ears.
However, this was the spiritual attack let out by the Parasitic Spirit before its death; simply covering your ears was useless. One could only rely on their own mental willpower to resist.
Qin Yan felt a haze over his mind and stumbled as he felt weak, almost falling to the ground.
The Parasitic Spirit’s piercing howl lasted a few seconds, and the guests who had not moved away from the table now deeply regretted it. Compared to those sitting further away, they endured much more intense pain.
Fortunately, this Parasitic Spirit had not developed a very advanced stage, and it was much weaker than the one at Su Fu’s house last time. All the adults present could barely hold on.
This time Zhang Xiaoman didn’t feel any discomfort at all. It was just that because of the close proximity to the ancient, his ears felt a bit uncomfortable from the monster’s loud voice, but he did not feel any of the mental effects.
The reason was simple. It wasn’t because of the 5 points of spiritual power provided by the cloak but rather his newly acquired ability—Master of the Mind.
Master of the Mind not only doubles the damage caused by energy injuries but also makes one completely immune to spiritual attacks. This feature was perfectly validated at this moment, and Zhang Xiaoman no longer had to worry about being harmed in this way in the future.
As the monster’s form became increasingly transparent, its struggle grew weaker until it finally vanished completely under the unraveling energy flow, leaving behind a small orb on the spot.
Zhang Xiaoman walked over, extended his right hand, activated the Eye of the Starry Sky skill, and absorbed it in less than 5 seconds. The system’s notification echoed in his mind.
"Ding, Parasitic Spirit essence absorbed, points increased by 4."
At this time, Qin Yan was sweating profusely. Compared to the others, he endured much greater pressure. Now that he saw the eerie entity on his body finally destroyed, he couldn’t help but let out a long breath and sat down on the ground without any care for appearances.
"Huff, huff, huff~ It’s finally over, that damned ghost thing is dead at last! Hahaha! Little brother, your brother has avenged you!"
Qin Yan revealed a somewhat frenzied smile, his face reflecting both relief and pain.
Zhang Xiaoman, seeing the other’s state, felt quite complicated himself; in the face of these strange occurrences, humans really were too fragile.
However, at that moment, a scene that had once occurred at the Su family’s house suddenly surfaced in his mind, and combining it with what Qin Yan had just said, Zhang Xiaoman’s expression immediately changed.
"Wait a minute! You said before that your brother is already dead?! He died at the hands of the Parasitic Spirit?"
By this time, Qin Yan had already got up from the ground, and seeing the tone of the Mysterious Expert seemed a bit off, he was also very puzzled.
"Uh... yes, some time ago, after my brother came back from a trip to Qionghua City, he grew that human face on his body. I searched everywhere for a doctor to no avail, and in the end, he... Ah, if only he could have met you earlier..."
Zhang Xiaoman didn’t care about his feelings and urgently asked, "Where is your brother’s body now?"
"That... It’s still in the hospital. I came here in a hurry to find a cure and haven’t had the chance to give him a proper burial..."
"The hospital?! Not good! If there’s anyone else from your family there, tell them to leave immediately! If possible, have the hospital call the police right away, there’s danger there!"
"Ah? What, what’s going on?" Qin Yan was very confused, but upon hearing these words, he started to panic as well. "I don’t have any other family members. My brother and I relied on each other since we were young. The person handling the affairs there is an assistant I hired."
Zhang Xiaoman explained hastily, "Tell him to get out of there now. The Parasitic Spirit I just took care of wasn’t the one from your brother!"
Upon hearing this, Qin Yan was stunned, standing in dazed silence for a long while before snapping back to reality. Without hesitating, he took out his cell phone and started to dial his assistant’s number.
After a series of waiting tones, the result was that no one answered. Qin Yan looked at the Mysterious Expert beside him with a pleading gaze and spoke anxiously, "Master, what should we do now? The call isn’t going through... What exactly is happening?"
Zhang Xiaoman stretched out his hand and summoned the Purple Cloud Divine Sword that was stuck in the ground back into his hand, then said to him, "Things are probably very complicated. Let’s go somewhere else to talk."
By then, Qin Yan had also regained his composure. Standing on the platform discussing the issue didn’t seem proper, so he immediately turned around and led the way to another room.
Zhang Xiaoman followed closely behind. As he passed by Pei Laoliu, he whispered a few reassuring words to him, signaling him to return to Qionghua City first and that he would find him after finishing his business.
Master Liu didn’t say much, just expressed a complex sentiment and told him to be careful.
At this point, there was no need to continue the discussion session. The audience’s mind was completely occupied by the events that had just transpired, and now they were all discussing the Mysterious Expert who had appeared so suddenly. The noise at the scene instantly became raucous.
The Elder Mr. Ye Cang, who had been diagnosing Qin Yan earlier, was also full of excitement. He called over his grandson, Ye Yunxiu, and after an excited discussion, they asked for Qin Yan’s assistant and, following his lead, went to that room as well.