Chapter 28: Bracelet

Hearing Ryan suddenly shout that he had a headache, Brooks spun around, panic written all over his face. "Dad, what's wrong? Is it hurting again?"

In just a minute, Ryan was already drenched in sweat, clutching his head with both hands. "It's even worse than before!"

"Mr. Caldwell!"

Gabriel was stunned. He had just checked on Ryan a few minutes ago, and now it had relapsed and gotten even worse?

Hearing Brooks call him, Gabriel snapped back to reality and rushed over to check. "Mr. Peterson, what's going on with you..."

I was standing there, feeling anxious. Suddenly, I noticed a bracelet on the table that Ryan had placed there, and a wisp of black mist flashed by!

Right, how could I forget my "evil eye"!

I hurriedly stepped forward and grabbed the bracelet. "Mr. Peterson, how long have you been playing with this bracelet?"

"Are you crazy? My dad has a headache, and you're asking about this bracelet?"

Brooks was so angry he almost slapped me!

I quickly dodged and explained. "You misunderstood, I mean, Mr. Peterson's headache is related to this string of beads."

Everyone was stunned and looked at me in unison.

Gabriel pointed at the string of beads. "You mean it caused Mr. Peterson's headache?"

I nodded, seeing Ryan's headache getting worse, I quickly took out a black stone from my bag and handed it to Ryan. "Smell this, it should help."

Ryan, holding his head, looked at me suspiciously but still leaned forward and smelled it.

Immediately, he recoiled as if he had inhaled smoke!

"What did you make my dad smell?" Brooks shouted anxiously.

Gabriel stopped him and looked at the stone in my hand. "Exorcism Bloodstone?"

"Yes."

Gabriel smiled awkwardly. "That's a good idea."

Exorcism Bloodstone was made from the blood of a hundred kinds of extremely yang creatures like roosters, black dogs, and stove centipedes, extracted under the scorching sun.

Lorenzo mentioned that some of the raw materials were now hard to find, like stove centipedes, so today's Bloodstone contained at most fifty kinds of blood, and its main function was to ward off evil and suppress Sinwaft.

Half a minute later, Ryan's headache was gone.

He was still a bit worried. "Dennis, is this really cured?"

"It's better, but not completely cured."

Brooks asked, "How to completely cure it?"

I picked up the string of beads from the table. "Mr. Peterson, how long have you been playing with this bracelet?"

"More than half a year, I think."

"Think about it, did the headaches start when you got this string of beads?" I asked. Ryan thought for a moment and slapped the table. "Yes!"

"Then it's easy to solve." I covertly employed Sunstrike to brush against the bracelet a few times, and Sunstrike remained inert, suggesting that the Sinwaft on it was feeble.

I turned to Gabriel. "Do you have a Purification Pen with you?"

"Purification Pen?" Gabriel shook his head. "No."

Of course, in astrology, there's no such thing as a Purification Pen.

"We have one at home!" Brooks said and ran to the study, bringing back a Purification Pen.

I broke off a small piece of the Bloodstone, ground it into ink with water, dipped the Purification Pen in it, and then tapped the beads twice. The black mist flashed and immediately disappeared.

The bracelet, which had been slightly green, now returned to its original color.

"All done." I handed the string of beads back to Ryan.

Brooks leaned in. "So, what's the deal with this?"

"Well, this thing was probably taken from someone who died unnaturally, so it carried a bit of resentment, naturally affecting Mr. Peterson. But now it's fine, he can play with it as he likes."

Ryan gave me a thumbs-up. "Dennis, you're good. Gabriel is professional, and you're quick-witted, both of you have a bright future!"

He then instructed Brooks. "Brooks, make sure to give them a good reward."

Ryan wanted to keep us for dinner, and we couldn't refuse, so we had lunch before leaving.

By the time we got back to the café, it was already seven in the evening.

I decided not to open the café. Allen wanted to treat me to dinner, but I declined. After seeing him off, I went to Fiona's witch doctor clinic for a meal, cleaned up the dishes, and returned to the café.

After a shower, I lay on the bed, played with my phone for a while, and then fell asleep.

I don't know how long I had been asleep when I vaguely heard someone knocking on the café door.

In the silent, dark room, the knocking was eerie and unnerving, its rhythm echoing ominously through the stillness.

I frowned and opened my eyes, looked at my phone, and saw it was already past one in the morning.

Who would seek coffee at this late hour?

The notion crossed my mind that it could be an object caught on the door, swaying with the unseen currents.

"Damn, disturbing my sleep!" I muttered a few words, got up, and walked to the door.

I opened the shutter door, and looked out. The street lay engulfed in darkness, devoid of any signs of life, not even a stray animal in sight. I leaned out, scanning the surroundings, yet found nothing adorning the door.

It couldn't be a hallucination, right?

A wry smile played on my lips as I pivoted, preparing to shut the door.

Then, a voice pierced the silence from a shadowy corner, "Wait."