In late October, the sky in City S was clear and the cold autumn wind hadn't touched this southern coastal city. The city center was bustling with traffic, and vehicles formed long queues along the road.

Luobing drove nervously, passing several surveillance cameras along the way. It felt like there were malicious eyes behind each one, watching him intently.

He felt uneasy and didn't dare to speak much, fearing that he might leak important information. How he wished all of this was just a dream, but what happened later confirmed Gu Xi's conjecture--

The phone rang again, this time from the police station.

This was the tenth call Luobing received since he got a new phone. The previous nine were from acquaintances and relatives, which he didn't answer.

Luobing glanced at Xu Fang, sitting in the passenger seat, and saw him nod, so he reluctantly answered the call.

"Hello, is this Luobing?"

"Yes, officer, what's the matter? Do I need to do any paperwork?"

"No, we're just calling to comfort you. Many people may have suicidal thoughts after the death of their family members. We're concerned about your well-being, so we wanted to check on you."

The voice of the police officer came through the phone, soft and reassuring. But Luobing's hand trembled, and he tried hard to control the fear in his heart as he replied casually, "Haha, thank you for your concern. I'm fine. The important thing is to quickly bring the killer to justice."

"Based on the autopsy of Ms. Bai, it's unlikely to be a murder."

"Do you have any other leads?"

"Not yet. We'll inform you once we have any updates." The police officer heard the sound of car horns in the background. "You're driving, I won't disturb you anymore. Contact us if you have any further questions."

"...".

When Xu Fang and the others disappeared, the ghost would find ways to reestablish contact, and impersonating familiar acquaintances to make a call was the best method. It could manipulate someone else's phone to contact Luobing without leaving a trace.

Xu Fang, who had been killed by this ghost before, knew that it didn't need to dial a phone to establish contact, whether Luobing answered or not. The reason it made so many calls was to make people believe that "contact can only be established by answering the call." Since it realized that its ability was discovered, it deliberately made people misunderstand the scope of its abilities.

Just from this exchange, a lot of information about the enemy was revealed: first, the ghost had no memories related to "Xu Fang". If it remembered Xu Fang, it would know that this trick was meaningless and would expose its intelligence. Second, the ghost's abilities had become stronger. Previously, it didn't dare to attack Lu Xiaoming openly, but now, right after the mysterious incidents ended, it was using its abilities frequently. Perhaps the cooldown time for launching extraordinary incidents had also shortened.

Luobing didn't know too many details, but he understood one thing: the ghost had intelligence and seemed really clever.

After hanging up the phone, Luobing looked at Xu Fang in the passenger seat and forced a smile. "Gu Xi, where would you like to go next? I'll drive you there."

Xu Fang opened up the navigation on his phone and placed it in front of Luobing. "Follow this route."

"This...to the National Pharmaceutical Reagent Factory? Why are we going there?"

"To get some chemical supplies, like concentrated sulfuric acid."

"Sulfuric acid?" Luobing was surprised. "Don't you need to register with the police before buying that?"

"Who said I'm going to buy it? I'm going to steal it." Xu Fang casually mentioned something illegal.

"After you leave, it won't come here, right?"

"This place is close to the city center and crowded. It wouldn't dare to risk appearing in front of you if I attacked. If you're worried, come with me."

Luobing's face turned green. "I'm not good at stealing. I'll just wait for you here..."

When they reached their destination, Xu Fang got out of the car and came back in less than twenty minutes, carrying a large wooden box. It seemed like he had succeeded.

"Where to next?" Luobing felt a sense of guilt, as if he had become an accomplice. He didn't even know what kind of crime stealing these things amounted to.

"Let's go to your place."

"Which...which home?"

"The one closest to the airport."

On the way back home, Xu Fang remained extremely silent, holding the box and not saying a word.Luobing focused on driving, occasionally glancing at the box in Xu Fang's hand, with doubts rising in his heart: Can chemistry deal with ghosts?

It's possible to think about it. On TV, they use salt or dog blood to exorcise ghosts. Maybe using concentrated sulfuric acid would have a better effect.

Xu Fang lowered his hood and silently stared at the passing scenery outside the window, feeling a sense of pressure.

—The pressure from the author.

Due to concerns about being monitored for strange events, Xu Fang did not directly inquire about Lixin's situation, but instead decided to ask after returning to the real world. The result was that Luobing did not know Lixin, and he didn't even have a sister or a younger sister.

Luobing clearly remembered the monk who was killed by the ghost, which indicated that ghosts did not have the ability to erase existence. So Lixin and the others, whose existence had disappeared, were very suspicious.

The existence that can erase existence... It is highly possible that it is the author.

And Xu Fang knew nothing about the quantity, level, and purpose of the authors, and was even restricted by the "customer service consultation function" of the Horror Novel Web. Considering everything, this trip was more dangerous than beneficial.

The wise choice would be to give up, but the result would be never seeing Luoxiaoming again. However, he could avoid conflicts with the author.

How should he choose?

The answer is self-evident.

Since waking up, Xu Fang's goal had never changed. He just wanted to see her, and for that, many things were worth sacrificing. Only in this aspect, the sensibility in Xu Fang's mind overcame rationality.

——————————

Luobing had several houses in S City, and the nearest one to the airport was the top floor of the Ling'an Apartment in the eastern suburbs. Although it was in a remote location, the interior was luxurious, with various facilities from the study to the rooftop swimming pool. It used to be where Lu Qingyuan entertained out-of-town clients.

The top floor occupied too much space, so there were several entrances.

When going upstairs, Luobing reached out his hand, implying for Xu Fang to hand him the box, to show his gentlemanly demeanor... only to realize that he couldn't lift it.

"Wow, what's inside that's so heavy?" Luobing questioned, trying to divert his embarrassment.

"Various reagents, mainly glass." Xu Fang lifted the box with one hand. "Unfortunately, time is too tight, I didn't take any flammable or explosive items."

Luobing: "..."

(This guy looks so small, why is he so strong? Wasn't he supposed to be a "magical girl"? Did he use "anti-gravity" magic?)

Taking the elevator to the top floor, Luobing took out the keys, opened the door, and politely invited Xu Fang in through the main entrance. "Just treat this place as your own home, let me know if you need anything."

During this period, there were no guests, only cleaning workers came here to clean every week. The curtains blocked the sunlight, and the hall had a somewhat eerie atmosphere, devoid of human presence.

The living room alone had an area of ​​150 square meters, with an overall color scheme leaning towards oak. There were some potted plants, such as Ficus benghalensis and Dracaena fragrans, with no fallen leaves under the pots, indicating that the place was cleaned not long ago. The furniture layout had a somewhat post-modern style, except for the hallway, there were no overly spacious or crowded places, and the spatial combination was complex.

There were two glass staircases leading to the loft and the rooftop, and there was also an indoor elevator next to the staircase. Although it was located on the top floor, there were still three or four floors of height to the rooftop.

"How many communication devices are there?" Xu Fang put down the box and looked up to see if there were cameras or other things.

"I'm not too sure. There are televisions, computers, projectors... too many. Should we destroy them?"

"As long as they're not powered on, that's fine. Are there any cameras?"

"No."

"When will the petroleum arrive?"

Xu Fang had previously asked Luobing to pre-order 50 cans of liquefied petroleum gas.

"It'll be here in half an hour."

20 minutes later, the gas arrived. The gas company brought four vehicles. Under Xu Fang's instructions, Luobing commanded a few porters to move the liquefied gas cylinders into the study.

The porters seemed to be here for the first time and were a bit restrained. They skillfully placed the cylinders neatly in the study and bid farewell before leaving.

Xu Fang turned off Luobing's and his own mobile phones and placed them in a pre-prepared signal blocking box."I will stay in the study tonight."

"Can I stay in the same room as you?"

"Sure."

There were bookshelves on both sides of the study, with a large bathroom on the inside and a balcony facing the window. This was the best-lit place.

The room was spacious enough for two beds on either side of the bookshelves.

Xu Fang opened the suitcase and took out various containers such as bottle stoppers, test tubes, and dark brown glass bottles, roughly counting around forty to fifty items.

Xu Fang classified them on the table according to poisonous substances, corrosive substances, and radioactive substances.

Luobing stared at the bottles and containers on the table, casually picking up a small bottle with white powder, looking curious. Without finding any labels, Luobing asked, "Are you doing a chemistry experiment? What are all these?"

"Well, be careful not to spill it. The one you are holding is thorium nitrate, it's radioactive and can also explode."

Luobing quickly put the bottle down, stepping back a few steps from the table. "You're good at chemistry... Haha..."

Xu Fang ignored Luobing and gently took off their invisibility cloak and placed it far away. The upcoming experiment carried some risks. Although it wouldn't explode, it involved frequent contact with strong acids and bases. If the cloak got damaged accidentally, it would not be worth it.

"Wow!!" Luobing exclaimed.

"What's wrong? Did you see a ghost?"

"N-No... You... you..." Luobing pointed at Xu Fang, unable to speak properly due to being overwhelmed.

At this moment, Gu Xi was still wearing the chiffon vest and shorts that Hu Ying had bought earlier, showing off their fair arms and legs. They looked like a finely crafted doll, with a completely different aura from when they were wearing the eerie black cloak before.

"What are you trying to say?"

Xu Fang picked up a reagent bottle containing 98% concentrated sulfuric acid and poured 100ml into an empty beaker.

"So, you're actually human? You look so cute!" Luobing said, surprised and excited. "No wonder you want to exterminate ghosts, you just want to protect humans."

Clearly, Luobing was so focused on Xu Fang's face and figure that they didn't notice the slender hand with only four fingers.

Xu Fang couldn't be bothered to explain to Luobing and focused on the experiment in front of them.

They took a piece of Gussy's connective tissue and placed it in the viscous sulfuric acid, observing the spread of the light dots.

The hair in the sulfuric acid turned into light dots after 1.3 seconds, while the hair in the air persisted for 2 seconds before dissipating.

Xu Fang then put a strand of hair into the sulfuric acid without severing its connection to the body. This time, the hair in the concentrated sulfuric acid showed no signs of chemical reaction, and Xu Fang didn't feel any abnormal energy consumption.

The result was clear - Gussy was "insulated" from sulfuric acid. The reason the light dots dissipated faster in sulfuric acid was because the thermal conductivity of concentrated sulfuric acid was about 0.3W/mK, which was 30 times higher than that of air, causing the dots to dissipate faster.

But this test was not enough. In order to avoid accidents in conventional weaponry, Xu Fang needed to understand their weaknesses as much as possible. They needed to verify Gussy's body's tolerance to biochemical weapons from the inside out.