Chapter 35: The Ritual

The business of finding cats could be handled by the sales staff, but finding people was the first such case since the studio opened, so Qin Qing decided to go herself.

An elderly person with Alzheimer’s has less self-care ability than a lost kitten.

Kittens at least know how to seek advantage and avoid harm, and how to hide. But an elderly person might not.

“Boss, I’ll go with you.” Qin Fanghao quickly took out her filming equipment from the cabinet and stood by Qin Qing.

Qin Qing understood her intention. If they could get the family’s consent to film some material for this first “finding people” case, it would be excellent positive publicity for the studio. After all, finding cats was a bit small-time.

“I’ll go too.” Lu Yang hadn’t received any assignments yet today and was playing games on the sofa in the lounge. Hearing this, he immediately jumped up and, without hesitation, closed the game interface. “I’ll drive, it’ll be more convenient.”

It was clear that the game hadn’t finished, as Qin Qing could hear cursing coming from his phone.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Without further ado, she gathered everyone and set off.

The client this time was a young, short-haired girl named Yang Xiaoyan.

Who knows how long she had been running around, her face was unnaturally red from overexertion, her T-shirt, with some loose threads at the shoulders, was soaked with sweat and stuck to her back, and her lips were dry, white, and peeling.

They waited at the door for Lu Yang to bring the car around.

Lu Yang’s car was as flashy as he was.

Shiny and smooth, with sleek lines and intricate details all over the body, and a very pleasant engine sound. Even someone who didn’t know much about cars would recognize it as a very “expensive” car.

Moreover, the dazzling car emblem was prominently displayed in the center of the wheel.

Qin Qing opened the back door and saw Yang Xiaoyan still standing there, looking at the car without moving. Qin Fanghao pulled her. “What are you staring at? Get in, you sit in the back with the boss.” She herself got into the front passenger seat.

Yang Xiaoyan sat awkwardly in the car, and Qin Fanghao handed her a bottle of water and a bread.

“Don’t worry, my boss is super capable, she’ll definitely help you find your grandma. Eat and drink something first, don’t collapse before your grandma is found.” She even used her own experience of losing a cat to comfort Yang Xiaoyan.

“Thank you.” Yang Xiaoyan gulped down more than half a bottle of water in one go, then took a breath and finished the rest. Her body finally seemed to relax a bit.

Anxiety was still clearly visible in her eyes.

“Senior, where are we going?” Lu Yang asked.

“Where’s the compass?”

Lu Yang took out the 8-inch small compass he was given from his bag and placed it on the center console.

Yang Xiaoyan’s gaze was instantly drawn to it.

Qin Qing: “Sit still, concentrate, and think about your grandma’s face.”

Yang Xiaoyan immediately froze like a wooden figure.

Qin Qing raised her hand, her index finger lightly touching Yang Xiaoyan’s brow. Then, she drew out something like a thread, as if extracting a piece of consciousness.

Her hand paused slightly in the air, then slowly turned her wrist, her index and middle fingers together forming a sword-finger gesture. She circled it twice in the air, as if worried that the extracted “consciousness” might be too long and fall to the ground, so she made it wrap around her fingers.

Then, the sword-finger pointed towards the compass, and she chanted, “Yuan Shi An Zhen, Pu Gao Wan Ling. Yue Du Zhen Guan, Tu Di Zhi Ling.” Then she looked at the compass and shouted again, “Go!”

The compass needle swayed, then left its original north-pointing direction, settling firmly in another direction, in defiance of common sense.

Lu Yang and Qin Fanghao were used to it.

Lu Yang directly picked up the compass, placed it on the stand, stepped on the accelerator, and followed the direction the compass was pointing.

“Let’s go!”

Qin Fanghao smiled and comforted Yang Xiaoyan: “See? I told you my boss is super amazing. Just put your mind at ease and focus on eating something.”

Yang Xiaoyan seemed a bit startled, looking bewildered: “What was that just now?”

“It was extracting the part related to your grandma from your consciousness to locate her direction,” Qin Qing explained.

Yang Xiaoyan’s gaze towards Qin Qing became fervent.

Qin Qing calmly leaned back in her seat to rest.

That “performance” just now, without any actual objects, had no practical meaning.

But she had grown accustomed to doing extra things in front of clients.

Because it really worked wonders, Qin Qing called it “psychological therapy.”

Not only could it soothe the clients’ anxious emotions, but for those who came in half-believing, she didn’t need to waste words; a performance like that was enough to convince many on the spot.

Qin Qing felt she was becoming more and more professional as a “diviner.”

To make this “ritual” seem more convincing, she had even studied diligently.

Her study material came from the Harry Potter movies, specifically the scene with the Pensieve where a wand is used to extract memory threads.

She practiced in front of the screen whenever she had time, and now she could do it very skillfully. As long as I believe there’s a thread at my fingertips, there really is!

As for the clients, they believed it even more.

Add a touch of Taoist Hand Gestures and incantations, a blend of East and West, simply perfect.

No one had ever doubted the authenticity of her “ritual”; in fact, when she performed her “magic,” those around her would habitually hold their breath to avoid disturbing her.

At first, she felt a bit awkward, but then she watched some Xianxia dramas and realized it was nothing. An actor must have conviction.

A “diviner” too!

Yang Xiaoyan kept staring at the compass throughout the journey, finding it very curious. With a clear direction to follow, she seemed less anxious than at first.

Qin Fanghao also kept talking to her to distract her, preventing her from being constantly tense.

“You and your grandma must have a very good relationship, right?”

“Yes, Grandma doted on me especially. When I was little, our family was poor. We didn’t have extra money for school lunch fees, so Grandma would bring me food every noon, a piece of bread or a bowl of noodles. All my classmates ordered milk, but I didn’t. Grandma would buy very pretty bottles and then grind soy milk for me every day with a stone mill to put in them for me to take to school…

“Grandma has been sick for several years. When she got sick, I was boarding in high school, so we didn’t spend much time together. By the time I found out, it was already very serious. I blame myself; if I had paid more attention, if I had gone home more often on weekends, maybe if she had started treatment early, it wouldn’t have worsened so quickly, and it wouldn’t be like this now. She hasn’t even had a chance to enjoy my success yet.”

Qin Fanghao: “You can’t blame yourself entirely. What about your family?”

Yang Xiaoyan was silent for a moment before saying, “My parents were also very busy and didn’t notice. They don’t understand these things either. By the time I noticed something was wrong and sent her to the hospital, it was already very serious.”

After a pause, she continued, “Grandma had gotten lost a few times before, but it was always a false alarm. Either she found her way back herself, or someone familiar saw her and brought her back. But this time, so much time has passed, almost 40 hours, and it’s so hot.”

“You can take some anti-loss measures for the elderly; there are many devices now,” Qin Fanghao advised.

“There are. I bought Grandma a smart watch for the elderly and anti-loss shoes. But this time she didn’t wear them when she went out. She only took a phone, probably because the calls from home were too frequent when she first got lost, and now it’s turned off. The police located the last place her phone was on before it turned off, not far from home. Maybe the battery was low when she left home.

“I sewed cloth strips with QR codes, phone numbers, and addresses onto Grandma’s clothes, but no one has contacted me yet.”

Yang Xiaoyan had been holding her phone the whole time.

Suddenly, she looked out the window and said, “This direction…”

“What?”

“It’s the same direction as my home,” Yang Xiaoyan said.

Qin Fanghao: “Then your grandma probably didn’t go too far.”

When Qin Qing first checked the location of Yang Xiaoyan’s grandmother, no map was displayed, indicating that the distance between the elderly woman and the studio was greater than 50km. So they could only follow the compass direction.

The car drove out of the city and onto a rural road.

Yang Xiaoyan: “My home is just ahead.”

Their direction of travel would take them past the Yang family’s house.

Qin Fanghao kindly said, “When we pass by, you can tell your family so they don’t have to search aimlessly anymore. They can wait for us at home, or come along if they want.”

Qin Fanghao knew the pain and despair of searching in vain, so she treated every client with the utmost kindness.

Following the direction, they found that there were very few surveillance cameras on the road. No wonder the police couldn’t find her; these sparse cameras were basically useless.

Yang Xiaoyan’s home was a self-built bungalow by the road, with bright yellow corn drying on the patio in front of it.

When a car stopped in front of the door, someone came out of the house to look.

Yang Xiaoyan got out of the car and called out “Mom,” but before she could say anything else, she heard a barrage of words: “Everyone at home is going crazy, we can’t even eat, and where did you hide? Your brother is outside, he didn’t even dare to drink cold water and got heatstroke and is lying in bed, but you’re so extravagant, you even called a Didi.”

Qin Qing and the others got out of the car and heard the “Didi” remark. Young Master Lu’s eyes widened, and he pointed at his nose, asking those around him, “Me? Didi? Do I only look like a driver? What kind of Didi drives such a good car?”

Qin Qing quietly snapped, “Shut up.”

Lu Yang looked aggrieved; it was too uncomfortable for a chatterbox not to talk.

Yang Xiaoyan looked a bit embarrassed and explained, “Mom, it’s not Didi. These are my… friends, whom I invited to help find Grandma.”

Her mother wanted to say something but didn’t.

She came forward with a somewhat stiff smile: “Look at me, really, Xiaoyan didn’t tell me beforehand. Come, come, sit inside, have a cup of water. Everyone in the village went out to help search, and you’re not familiar with the area, and the roads here aren’t easy. And you came all this way.”

As she spoke, she tried to pull them into the house. Unable to push her away, the three were pulled inside. She brought out watermelon and hot tea, being overly enthusiastic.

Yang Xiaoyan lagged two steps behind and explained to Qin Qing, who was walking behind her: “I’m sorry, please pretend to be my friends, don’t reveal your true identities. My mom thinks all paid services are scams.”

“No problem.”

The customer is always right, after all.

Sun Tongxiang, Yang Xiaoyan’s mother, also chatted with them in a familiar way.

Her husband was also in the house, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan.

Sun Tongxiang explained, “Your dad just brought your brother back.”

Yang Xiaoyan wanted to go find her grandmother quickly, but her dad said, “Your brother is lying down with heatstroke, and you’re back but you don’t even go check on him first.”

Yang Xiaoyan had no choice but to go check on her brother first.

Sun Tongxiang: “There’s nothing we can do about her grandma’s illness. She’s gotten lost a few times before. We don’t know how she is now.” She wiped away tears as she spoke. “Our family hasn’t slept for a day and a night, we’ve all been looking for her. I’m praying to gods and Buddhas that she’s okay. Her grandma has been so good to me ever since I married into this family. We’ve never argued or had a red face. I treat her like my own mother, even spending more time with her than my own mother…”

Yang Xiaoyan and a tall boy walked out.

Sun Tongxiang: “Feilong, why are you up? How are you feeling?”

The boy named Feilong sat down, looking refined. He smiled at the group: “Xiaoyan said we had guests. I came out to see. I’ve never seen Xiaoyan bring friends home before.”

He and Yang Xiaoyan looked very similar, but they gave off different vibes.

Qin Qing didn’t speak. Strangely, even the most talkative Lu Yang gave Yang Feilong a strange look and said nothing. Only Qin Fanghao responded, “You’re sick, so we won’t bother you much. We’re here to help anyway. Yang Xiaoyan, let’s go.”

“Okay.” Yang Xiaoyan quickly instructed, “Brother, Mom, you two rest well at home. We’re going to find Grandma.”

Sun Tongxiang’s husband stood up and asked with concern, “Where are you planning to look?”

Yang Xiaoyan said, “We have…”

Qin Qing interrupted her: “The elderly person certainly wouldn’t have gone far. We’ll look around the vicinity. An extra person always means extra help.”

Sun Tongxiang expressed her gratitude.

Outside the Yang family’s door, Lu Yang quietly leaned down and whispered to Qin Qing, “Senior, I feel like something’s off.”

Qin Fanghao: “I think so too. Their family is strange. Their elderly relative is lost, but everyone except Yang Xiaoyan is at home, letting the villagers search. The house is perfectly tidy, not a single thing out of place. They even remembered to have iced watermelon after such a big incident.”

Qin Qing glanced at them: “Not bad, you both noticed the problem.”