Sally and Crystal looked pleadingly at Whitney before running out of the convenience store, looking chastened.When Crystal and Sally had left, Sebastian walked out of Whitney's room with Larys, Vince, and the others."Sit down," Sebastian said to Larys and Vince as he pointed at the couch in the living room.After he was seated, Vince didn't wait for Sebastian to ask anything before he sighed and said, "Sebastian, we shouldn't have troubled you for this, but you're an expert in traditional medicine. Look at this photo."Vince took out a photo and handed it to him.There was a dried corpse in the photo, but based on what it was wearing, it wasn't a corpse from ancient times. It was wearing a modern school uniform. Judging from the height of the corpse, it was a young girl no older than 15. "Is this…" Sebastian frowned, trailing off. "Mr. Ballard, this girl went missing on the 8th. We thought she had run into some kind of pervert, and we were searching for her as a missing pers
Sebastian shook his head slightly. Even a witch doctor wouldn't be able to turn a living human being into a dried corpse within just two days, let alone a traditional medicine doctor.Sebastian had seen something like this before in Elton's home. There had been over 20 dried corpses there.However, those corpses hadn't had their internal organs removed. That meant that there were people capable of doing such a thing, but Elton had just been slightly less cruel.Or perhaps the internal organs hadn't held any value for him, while the organs were very valuable to the current murderer."I'm very sorry, but there is no such technique in traditional medicine. However, it does seem very similar to some of the corpse refining techniques found in the mystic sects. Elton Reynolds once used this kind of black magic as well," Sebastian said to Larys and Vince as he pointed at one of the photos. Vince glanced at the photo and looked as if he had been forced to swallow a bitter pill. He asked,
"Are… are there really… ghosts in this world?" Whitney asked, trembling.Sebastian laughed wryly and shook his head. He pulled Whitney over to him and said, "Actually, people are sometimes more frightening than ghosts. You're tired. Go and rest. I'll think of a solution and see if we can find Shannon."Whitney hesitated for a moment before getting up. She said, "Alright. I know I can't help, but if there's any news, please tell me as soon as possible."Sebastian nodded, and Whitney turned to return to her room.After she had gone, Sebastian turned to Lyanna and asked, "What were you talking about? Corpse-devouring ghosts?"Lyanna nodded heavily and said, "Corpse-devouring ghosts are a kind of revenant. They aren't hard to subdue for experts in yellow paper charms."Sebastian thought for a long time. He suddenly remembered a passage recorded in the Sacred Medicine Secret Annals.There was a kind of spiritual being that only ate human hearts. These spiritual beings weren't corpse-
Drew would never dare to offend someone whom even Harold, the mayor of Sunway, had to flatter."Mr. Tennyson, Vince mentioned that Mr. Ballard might have valuable insights into this case," Drew said in a carefully calibrated tone. He was only delivering Vince's will without adding any personal input, aiming to gauge the state's stance. "Oh?" Rufus Zenton, the state minister, was rather surprised.Earlier, he had called Belinda, hoping to enlist the Warrior League's assistance, but she had also recommended Sebastian to him.Rufus said firmly, "Very well. Tomorrow morning, your task force team will head to Steinberg and you will meet Mr. Ballard personally. Remember, Mr. Ballard will be leading this case, and you will personally assist him."Drew was startled. Sebastian would be in charge? What could a traditional medicine doctor possibly know about criminal investigation? Still, he dared not disobey Rufus. After all, Rufus had very strong connections. Even Tripp had only been ab
"Alright, alright. Let's just follow the orders from our superiors," Gerard said, turning to look at Sebastian and Whitney as they entered the office. There was a smug look on his face.Drew quickly introduced them to Sebastian. "Mr. Ballard, this is Officer Bellamy, the previous lead investigator. He's a criminal investigation instructor at the police academy and an experienced criminal investigator. He's been working with the state department in this field for more than 20 years."Gerard glanced arrogantly at Sebastian and inclined his head slightly. He didn't even stand up to greet him. As for Whitney, he barely even looked at her.Why would Sebastian have brought a woman here while working on such a big case? He didn't seem to be the right man for the job at all.Gerard was a famed criminal investigation expert throughout the whole of Sartvale, and he had been responsible for solving numerous high-profile cases.Even the crushed corpses case that had shocked the nation over te
Shouldn't Sebastian have tried to assure them and establish a good working relationship with them?None of the officers had expected him to be so aggressive as soon as he appeared. He had even told them all to leave!"Sebastian, we should probably tone it down," Whitney whispered. "After all, we'll need their help to find Shannon."Sebastian chuckled and said, "You want to rely on them? They won't find her even if they have ten years to do so!"The officers looked even more grim, especially Brody. He had never imagined that Sebastian would be so hostile to them when they were the experts in criminal investigation! He found himself at a loss for words."Hmph! Fine, I'll go! I'd like to see how you're going to solve this case!" Brody snapped, turning bright red with anger. He spun on his heel, ready to leave."Sit down!" Drew roared, slamming his hand on the table. "Which one among you is going to be bold enough to leave?"Brody jumped in fright, startled by Drew's outburst. The o
Sebastian didn't spare Gerard another glance. Turning to Whitney, he said gently, "Let's sit."Whitney's mind had gone blank. She could never have imagined that Sebastian would interact with the men from the state department in this manner.As Brody watched Sebastian lead Whitney by the hand to sit at the head of the table, he clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palm. He said through gritted teeth, "Mr. Ballard, you've never even attended a criminal investigation class. What makes you think you can solve this case?""What makes me think so? It's because I'm Sebastian Ballard! I don't care how amazing you are or how many cases you've solved in the past. Right now, I'm in charge!" Sebastian said impassively.He turned to look at Gerard and asked, "Do you disagree? If so, tell me what leads you've found. Any lead at all would suffice."The room fell silent; the officers were dumbstruck. Any leads? They didn't even have the faintest inkling. They had no idea what
The photo was of a long-abandoned construction site that had two unfinished buildings on it. It was surrounded by barren mountains, which were covered in dense woods. Ordinarily, very few people went there.Gerard glanced at the photo and sneered. It was a photo of the site where a young woman had died tragically just four days ago.From a criminal investigation perspective, crime scenes like that were not worth investigating at all. It wasn't the place where the first crime had been committed, nor was it the place where the last crime had been committed.They would be able to glean the murderer's modus operandi at the first crime scene and compare it to subsequent cases. However, that was clearly not required for this particular case, as there would be no other way in which someone could turn people into dried corpses.As for the last crime scene, Gerard and the others had already scrutinized it at least 80 times. There were no leads at all, which was why they were all at a loss.
Even though Declan had already said that the old man was only in shock and didn't have a cerebral infarction, the middle-aged man still wanted to hear the opinion of a young traditional medicine doctor like Sebastian! He must be either crazy or an idiot!"If he applies that needle, your father's complexion will go from pale to dark at once. When that happens, it'll only be even more dangerous," Sebastian said impassively."Stop talking crap, Sebastian! My grandfather is the elder of the Healer Sect! Are you implying that he's not as good as you are?" Bryce yelled angrily, pointing at Sebastian.He was furious. "Sebastian, are you doubting my skills in medicine? You're a rookie in the medical field. I only complimented you at the dinner table out of politeness. Did it go to your head?" Declan demanded curtly, his expression changing."You're trying to prick the acupuncture points on the base of the patient's neck as well as in the center of his chest so that you can unblock his br
"Wow, it really is Mr. Byrne Senior! Hello, hello!" A slightly pudgy middle-aged man exclaimed. He hurried forward and shook Declan's hand heartily.Declan frowned and looked at him for a long time, but he couldn't remember where he had seen the pudgy man before.There were too many people who tried to flatter Declan every day, and he couldn't possibly remember every single one of them."Who are you?" Declan asked, his brow furrowed as he shook the man's hand. "Mr. Byrne Senior, you're so busy, so of course you won't remember me! I'm Fritz Thomson! I had the pleasure of meeting you two years ago while I was shooting a documentary about traditional medicine," Fritz said courteously.Declan finally nodded. Fritz was either a reporter or a director. It wasn't surprising that Declan had forgotten who he was.Although the Healer Sect was also among the mystic martial arts sects, it was very different from the Nine Sects. The Healer Sect had always had close connections with the sec
Sebastian waved a hand slightly at the middle-aged man and said, "I'm not a genius doctor. I'm just an ordinary traditional medicine doctor. However, that old man is in a very dangerous situation. You must not touch him!"He spoke urgently when he saw that the middle-aged woman was propping the old man up so that he was lying on her lap.The middle-aged woman looked up at the middle-aged man. She was clearly hesitant.They were on the top floor, and the tiled floor was so cold. She didn't think that it would be safe for her to let the old man just lie on the floor. "Listen to Dr. Ballard! You won't go wrong!" the middle-aged man said quickly to her."Dr. Ballard? He's nothing compared to my grandfather!" Bryce exclaimed. He was annoyed to hear the middle-aged man addressing Sebastian so respectfully.After all, Declan was the elder of the Healer Sect. There were even numerous sage doctors who had to treat Declan with respect as their senior in the industry!Who did Sebastian th
Since Declan had coincidentally met Sebastian at the dinner table that day, he had thought of bringing the latter over to his side. That way, Sebastian could work for him. "Sebastian, I'm planning to make an exception and take you as my apprentice. What do you think?" Declan asked again when he saw that Sebastian was ignoring him.Sebastian continued to ignore him. Did he really thought he could be Sebastian's mentor? The old man must be crazy!"Sebastian, you should hurry and kneel to my grandfather! You're lucky to get him as a mentor! My grandfather hasn't accepted any apprentices for 20 years!"Bryce glared at Sebastian, whom he felt was being far too tactless. There were countless people fighting to have Declan as a mentor."Mr. Byrne Senior, I don't wish to have a mentor. Besides, no one is qualified to be one," Sebastian said impassively. "You little—"Declan was furious. Sebastian was far too arrogant! He was already humbling himself by deigning to take Sebastian as an
Bryce saw the anger in Declan's face, so he said reluctantly to Larys, "I'm sorry, Mr. Compton. I've acted impulsively."Acted impulsively? It would have been better if Bryce hadn't apologized at all. His apology had made Larys even angrier. He clearly had no respect for Larys at all if he could slap him just out of a moment's impulse. Larys was the mayor of Steinberg. How could he just let things go just because Bryce had said that he had been impulsive? "Mr. Compton, my grandson is young and ignorant. Please don't hold it against him." Declan had no choice but to speak up and apologize to Larys on Bryce's behalf. Larys could only nod. He smiled slightly and said, "Forget about it. Make sure that it doesn't happen again."Once everyone was seated once more, Bryce continued staring viciously at Sebastian. It was all Sebastian's fault that he had been slapped twice by Declan!He couldn't just let him go, but he didn't dare to cause any more trouble at the dinner table. Howeve
"People always say that you can see what a person is like from looking at their family. I can see that it's true," Sebastian said impassively.That was a harsh insult to Declan. It implied that Bryce's rude behavior was a reflection of Declan's lack of good character, and that their family didn't have good manners.Declan turned purple with rage. Ever since he had become one of the esteemed members of the Healer Sect, everyone in the martial arts community always spoke respectfully to him, especially those of the traditional medicine community. All of them were polite whenever they met him.However, Sebastian had insulted him thrice in a row, and each insult was worse than the last. Rosalie couldn't help but laugh. She leaned on Sebastian's shoulder and turned her head away, her slender figure trembling with the effort of not laughing out loud."You're terrible! You've insulted them so slyly!" Rosalie whispered in Sebastian's ear.Sebastian reached out to put an arm around her t
Sebastian's expression turned cold at once. What was so important about an elder of the Healer Sect? Was there any reason for him to make so many people wait?Besides, the banquet had been set at 9:00 pm, and both he and Rosalie had arrived on time. Why should Declan be treated differently?Sebastian had never had any patience with people who used their age as an excuse to do whatever they wanted to."Forget it. Calm down, both of you, and let's both refrain from saying anything else."Larys stood up quickly to smooth things over. Both Sebastian and Julian remained silent out of respect for him. However, they both exchanged icy looks.Now that the conflict had subsided, Larys leaned closer to Sebastian and whispered, "Mr. Ballard, I'll be honest with you. I can't afford to offend either you or Mr. Byrne. Please help me out and refrain from pursuing this matter further."Larys was being sincere. He was in awe of Sebastian's allies, but Declan had equally powerful allies supporting
Upon hearing Rosalie's words, Sebastian laughed wryly and shook his head.The Nine Sects wouldn't dare to say a thing to the Ballard Estate, who in turn thought nothing of the Healer Sect.Andreas snorted in laughter and said, "If you had said so 100 years ago, even I would have had to concede. However, times have changed now.""What do you mean?" Rosalie looked curiously at Andreas. It seemed that Sebastian's cousin was very familiar with the Healer Sect. "About 12 years ago, they went on the wrong path. If you check thoroughly, you'll probably find that the development of many new medicines was related to the Healer Sect. However, they are not the refiners!"Rosalie seemed to be deep in thoughts. Her brow darkened as she said thoughtfully, "Do you mean to say that the Healer Sect has abandoned the art of medicine and has decided to go in the direction of the art of pill refining instead?"This made Andreas see Rosalie in a different light.Medicine and pill refining were very
"Are you talking about your cousin? He doesn't look like a businessman at all, though. He looks more like…"Rosalie put her chin in her hands, her brow tightly furrowed. However, she couldn't find an appropriate way to describe Andreas.He felt very strange to Rosalie. There was a kind of energy he had that was difficult to express in words. "It doesn't matter whether he's a businessman or not. He just has to have money. Why don't we discuss it with him tomorrow? I think he'll probably support you unconditionally," Sebastian said confidently."Really? But if we develop a similar medicine, won't we be going against the Croydons? That doesn't seem right."Lorcan was a friend of Oliver's, after all. That meant that he was a friend of the Griffins. Rosalie didn't want to make such an important family their enemy in business. "With that contract, we have to show the Croydons that they shouldn't become ungrateful, nor should they use their force against us!" Sebastian exclaimed in a