21: Chapter 21 Aftermath and New Hidden Dangers

Xiao Juan's crying gradually subsided in Wang Guifen's arms, turning into weak sobs. The girl's face was still pale, but the persistent gloom between her brows had dissipated. Her hollow eyes regained focus, though deep fear still lingered.

The deadly dark red bloodline, under the dual impact of Lin Yuan's essence blood rune and his "Optimization" intent, had completely vanished, leaving only a faint, glowing Mobius strip-like mark on her forehead that was slowly fading with her breathing—this was a fleeting trace left after Lin Yuan's "Optimization" contract was dissolved, harmless and destined to disappear within a few days.

Lin Yuan sat leaning against the wall, enduring the dizziness and the pain in his internal organs, and quickly instructed Wang Guifen: "The evil spirit's core contract is broken, and the doll itself is now harmless. However, Xiao Juan's soul was frightened, and her vitality is severely damaged. For the next three days, let her get plenty of sunlight, keep her diet light, and have her drink plenty of brown sugar ginger water. When she sleeps at night, place a small bowl of glutinous rice at the head of the bed, covered with red paper. If anyone asks about the mark on her forehead, just say she bumped it by accident and it will be fine in a few days. Remember, do not let her go near water, hospitals, or graveyards for half a month."

Wang Guifen nodded repeatedly, holding her daughter tightly, tears streaming down her face: "Master Lin, you are our family's savior! This money..." She hurriedly went to rummage through the crumpled cloth bag.

Lin Yuan waved his hand, his voice weak: "Payment is not urgent. Take care of the child first. I will make a list for you later, mainly for the cost of medicinal herbs and special supplies, plus the basic consultation fee. It won't be much." He could see that this family was not well-off, and Xiao Juan would need money for her subsequent recovery.

"How can that be! You were hurt like this because of Xiao Juan!" Wang Guifen felt terrible.

"Do as I say." Lin Yuan's tone was gentle but firm. He struggled to stand up, walked to the doll that had turned into an ordinary rag, and carefully wrapped it in a special yellow cloth painted with purification runes, then tied it with a red rope. "I will take this away to dispose of it. Also..."

He looked at the two relatively calm halos of children's resentment wrapped in soul soothing guide paper on the ground, which were emitting weak waves of sadness. "These two were found at the ruins and should be other victims. I will find a way to settle them and let them rest in peace. You just need to know about this; don't tell anyone else, especially don't go looking for that 'Master' from before, understand?"

Wang Guifen thought of the substitute doll given by that "Master" and the talisman that had almost harmed her daughter, then thought of the two children's "remnant souls" that Lin Yuan had risked his life to bring back. She nodded heavily, her eyes full of gratitude and lingering fear: "I understand! Master Lin, don't worry, I won't tell anyone!"

By the time he left the Wang family, it was already late at night. Lin Yuan dragged his injured body back to the studio, nearly collapsing from exhaustion. He forced himself to stay alert, first disposing of the yellow cloth bag containing the evil doll (carefully burning it with a flame mixed with cinnabar and salt while chanting a simple purification mantra), and then carefully sending the two halos of children's resentment into the Composite Spirit Body Containment Field within his divine spark.

The grayish-white cyclone rotated slightly, accepting these two new "guests." The cyclone seemed to have grown a bit stronger, and the energy fluctuations inside were a little more complex, but the "Optimization" rune continued to operate stably, conveying an intent of peace and organization. The two newly joined resentment halos trembled uneasily at first, but under the influence of the cyclone and the rune, they gradually calmed down, maintaining a delicate balance with the original work-related injury resentment and the infant spirit phantom, each curling up in a corner.

Lin Yuan could feel that the "burden" on the containment field had increased, and maintaining its operation required consuming more of his mental energy and weak Power of Faith (though it currently still relied mainly on the residual aura of the soul soothing guide and the rune array). But on the other hand, the containment field seemed to have become more "fulfilled," vaguely showing a trend of evolving towards a more complex and orderly structure. This might be the starting point of what Boss Qian called "digestion" and "transformation."

He took the last bit of medicine left by Dr. Li, sat cross-legged to regulate his breathing, and slowly recovered his nearly depleted Power of Faith (only about 0.5 points remained) and his injured body.

At dawn, he received two messages.

One was 20,000 yuan transferred by Wang Guifen—this was almost all the savings she had. Lin Yuan was silent for a moment, then refunded 10,000, accepting only 10,000 for the cost and basic fee, and attached a detailed medicinal diet recipe and precautions.

The other was from Boss Qian, his tone somewhat grave: "Brother Lin, there were abnormal energy fluctuations in the shantytown in the west of the city last night, and then it calmed down. You handled it, right? Good job, but it was a bit too noticeable. Two pieces of news: First, someone in the black market is anonymously offering a high price for 'pure, frightened young children's living souls,' with strict requirements for the delivery to be secretive. The described characteristics... are a bit similar to the case you handled last night. Second, my informant at the 'Zishi Market' reported that before the market closed early this morning, a stranger was asking around about whether anyone had recently taken on commissions 'involving children's resentment' or 'destroyed a certain ritual site,' and their tone was unfriendly. Be careful lately, and watch your tail when coming and going. Also, I've emailed you the channel information you asked for regarding 'ley line stability' and 'spirit transcendence'."

After reading, Lin Yuan's heart sank. Sure enough, the people on Mr. Mo's side were reacting very quickly! Purchasing "frightened young children's living souls"? This was likely one of the material collection channels for the "ten thousand infant banner" experiment! And the stranger asking for information was most likely investigating the destruction of the "workshop" and the broken wooden plaque.

He had been targeted. Although the other party might not be sure exactly who he was yet, the scope was narrowing.

He had to improve his self-preservation capabilities as soon as possible and deal with these "hot potatoes" on hand.

Over the next two days, while recovering from his injuries, Lin Yuan began to deal with the resentful spirits in the containment field and that scrap of paper.

He first studied the "spirit transcendence" channels sent by Boss Qian. Regular temple or Taoist temple transcendence was expensive and the procedures were public, which could easily expose the origin of these resentful spirits and himself. Some secretive, reasonably priced "underground transcendence masters" were either uneven in quality or had complex backgrounds, which also carried risks.

In the end, he decided to adopt a compromise solution that fit his "Optimization" approach.

Through Hu Wei's connections, he contacted a retired, truly practicing, and upright old lay Buddhist. Lin Yuan did not reveal the specific source of the resentful spirits, only saying that he was dealing with some "poor spirits left over from history." He offered to pay and requested the old lay Buddhist to preside over a small-scale, private "Rebirth Buddha Ceremony," with the location set in a side hall of a small temple in the suburbs that had sparse incense but a quiet environment.

The old lay Buddhist checked the talisman Lin Yuan had "encapsulated" using a special method, representing the aura of the resentful spirits in the containment field (stripping away specific memories and evil energy, leaving only the most essential "call for help" and "sadness" information), sighed, and agreed, charging only for basic incense offerings and a small labor fee.

On the day of the ceremony, Lin Yuan did not attend in person but entrusted Hu Wei to represent him, delivering the encapsulated talisman and the payment. He himself stayed in the studio, remotely "observing" and "assisting" through the weak connection between his divine spark and the containment field, as well as the mental imprint he had placed on the talisman in advance.

Inside the side hall of the small temple, incense smoke curled, and the chanting of Buddhist scriptures was low and solemn. The old lay Buddhist held the ritual implements, his expression solemn, chanting the rebirth scriptures. Hu Wei and several other invited lay Buddhists knelt devoutly.

Lin Yuan could feel that within the containment field, those grayish-white resentment halos—especially the two children's resentment halos that joined later and some of the relatively "sober" work-related injury resentment—began to resonate, emitting a sense of relief, longing, and a faint gratitude. The rotation of the grayish-white cyclone became gentle, and strands of pure, milky-white light dots peeled off from these resentment halos, drifting along the invisible connection toward the ceremony site, merging into the compassionate aspiration power transformed by the chanting of the scriptures, gradually fading and dissipating.

This was true transcendence and liberation.

Inside the cyclone, most of the stubborn work-related injury resentment that had been deeply polluted by evil arts, as well as the core, deepest-obsession infant spirit phantom, remained. They had a weak reaction to the ceremony and were still immersed in their own cycle of pain.

The ceremony lasted for about two hours. After it ended, Lin Yuan could clearly feel that the "burden" on the containment field had been reduced by about one-third, and the consumption required to maintain it had correspondingly decreased. More importantly, he had gained a small stream of weak but pure aspiration power of gratitude from those transcended resentful spirits, as well as the positive emotional feedback generated by Hu Wei and the several lay Buddhists after participating in the good deed.

[faith reserve: 1.503] (The ceremony consumed some mental energy, but gained replenishment, a net increase of about 1 point).

[New faith connection: weak connection + 4 (Hu Wei and three participating lay Buddhists)].

[Deepened understanding of divine office: 'Optimization' includes guiding spirituality towards a 'better' destination (such as transcendence)].

[Status of Composite Spirit Body Containment Field: Total amount of resentment reduced, structure slightly simplified, stability slightly improved].

This was a good start. The remaining resentful spirits needed more in-depth, long-term "Optimization" to attempt transformation or appeasement.

Next, Lin Yuan began to study the scrap of paper and the information on the "ten thousand infant banner." He searched through multiple anonymous channels in specific ancient book databases and secret forums, paying some faith points (scattered points exchanged through the black market) as query fees.

The fragmented information was gradually pieced together: The "ten thousand infant banner" was a legendary extremely evil artifact that required the living souls or extremely pure resentment of children with special fates as materials, refined through complex evil arts. Once refined, it could control an army of resentful spirits, erode ley lines, pollute faith, and had immense power, but the refining process was infuriating to both heaven and man, and the risk of backlash was extremely high. It was occasionally recorded in history, all causing great disasters, and was later wiped out by the righteous path. Mr. Mo's refining of this item must have a huge goal.

And the "voluntarily" sacrificed child souls born in the "Yin Year, Yin Month, Yin Day" were likely to obtain a core material that possessed both "purity" and "extreme resentment," used to control and strengthen other resentful spirits in the banner, reduce the risk of backlash, and enhance its power. Xiao Juan was one of the targets that met the criteria.

"Mr. Mo... what exactly are you trying to do?" A chill grew in Lin Yuan's heart. The refining of such a large-scale evil artifact was definitely not as simple as a personal hobby; there might be a larger conspiracy or power struggle behind it.

He had to accelerate his growth and build his own information network and defense system.

He treated the scrap of paper with a special medicinal solution to ensure that the aura and handwriting on it would not leak, then carefully stored it away. This was important evidence and a clue.

On the afternoon of the third day of his recovery, the e-commerce client introduced by Boss Qian—Zhao Zong, the founder of "Cross-border Selection"—came to Lin Yuan's studio in person.

Zhao Zong was in his early forties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and business casual attire, looking shrewd and capable, but a locked, indelible fatigue and anxiety lingered between his brows. His company mainly dealt in cross-border creative home goods and designer products, with teams distributed in three countries and five cities, collaborating remotely.

"Consultant Lin, I've heard so much about you. Boss Qian and President Zhang have praised you to the skies." Zhao Zong got straight to the point, his tone urgent, "My problem, simply put, is 'uncontrolled involution and the damn time difference.' The domestic team thinks the overseas team is inefficient and doesn't understand the market; the overseas team thinks the domestic team is blindly directing and doesn't respect creativity. Meetings every day, email wars, projects delayed, and two core designers have already left. What's even worse is that everyone seems to have fallen into a vicious circle of 'performative overtime' and 'anxious busyness,' with actual output getting lower and lower. I've tried adjusting KPIs, doing team building, and even hired psychological consultants, but the effects were not great. Boss Qian said you have a way to 'optimize' this invisible 'field,' so I came."

Lin Yuan listened carefully, while observing Zhao Zong with his spiritual perception. This founder was wrapped in thick gray auras of "anxiety," "pressure," and "frustration," and these auras were in continuous resonance with the virtual space (internet, communications) where his company existed, indicating that the problem had gone deep into the bone marrow.

"Zhao Zong, the root cause of your problem lies in the 'energy loss' and 'trust deficit' generated in cross-border, cross-cultural, and cross-time zone collaboration, superimposed with the 'anxiety transmission' effect prevalent in the Internet industry." Lin Yuan gave his diagnosis, "Simple system adjustments or psychological counseling are like patching in a torrent, difficult to reach the core. I need to conduct a 'remote energy field collaborative Optimization' for your team."

"Remote energy field collaborative Optimization?" Zhao Zong showed a confused but interested expression.

"You can understand it as reconstructing the team's 'psychological safety zone' and 'efficient collaboration frequency' through a series of carefully designed online collaboration rules, communication rituals, and dynamic adjustment schemes based on team energy status feedback." Lin Yuan explained, "This includes: redesigning the timing and duration of meetings (combining the biological clock energy cycles of members in different time zones); establishing non-utilitarian, pure 'inspiration sharing' and 'distress venting' channels; introducing a micro-incentive system based on positive feedback rather than punishment; and I can even design a set of simple 'energy status visualization' plug-ins for your company's virtual office space (such as Slack, DingTalk groups), allowing members to intuitively feel the overall emotional fluctuations of the team, thereby actively adjusting."

Zhao Zong's eyes lit up. These suggestions sounded both novel and concrete, hitting directly at the vague pain points he perceived. "This... can it really be done? How long will it take? How much does it cost?"

"Preliminary diagnosis and scheme design will take three days. After the scheme is implemented, you should be able to feel the easing of core conflicts and the improvement of communication atmosphere within a week. After a quarter, key efficiency indicators should have significant improvement." Lin Yuan quoted a price between the Zhang Qiming and Yongxin projects, "The fee is paid in three installments: after scheme design, implementation start, and effect evaluation."

Zhao Zong hardly hesitated: "Good! Consultant Lin, let's do as you say! This is the advance payment!" He took out his mobile phone to transfer the money directly.

Looking at the new funds in his account, as well as the system prompt [New commission accepted: Cross-border team energy field collaborative Optimization], Lin Yuan knew that his "Optimization Consultant" business was getting on track, reaching more high-end and complex cases.

After seeing Zhao Zong off, Lin Yuan stood in front of the studio window, looking at the city lights gradually lighting up outside.

His body had not yet fully recovered, powerful enemies surrounded him, and debts were pressing down on him.

But he had a new commission in hand, a gradually clarifying "Optimization" path, the "containment field" asset slowly evolving in his divine spark, and... although weak, the faith connections and aspiration power feedback that were accumulating bit by bit.

He opened the system, looking at the countdown that was still glaring, but no longer desperate:

24 days 03 hours 11 minutes.

The road was still long, and crises were everywhere.

But he had already stood up from the ruins and grasped his own scalpel named "Optimization."

Next, he would carve out his own territory step by step in this complex world intertwined with gods, humans, and capital.

The night grew darker, and in the shadows on the other side of the city, a pair of cold eyes were watching this brightly lit studio silently through binoculars.

"Found you... 'Optimizer'."

"Master's 'ten thousand infant banner' needs your soul... as the best 'harmonizer'..."

The whispering voice faded into the darkness, unheard by anyone.