Chapter 363: In-flight, Inside the Green Stone (Part 3)
Yan Junze took out an A-level Exorcist Travel Permit, flashing it before her eyes, "I've discovered there might be something unclean in the cargo hold. I plan to join forces with the exorcists guarding this plane after we land and have a few people check it thoroughly. Until then, the cargo hold should be temporarily closed. Please notify the captain; I need to see him."
As soon as she heard there might be strangeness in the cargo hold, Guan Hongna jumped, instinctively stepping back and clutching the red scarf around her neck.
Yan Junze's eyes flickered as he looked at her neck, asking, "I thought I saw a necklace under your scarf just now?"
Guan Hongna quickly adjusted her scarf and shook her head, "No, we aren't allowed to wear any jewelry other than watches during work hours."
Yan Junze nodded slightly, "Alright, stay with me now and call the captain over."
Soon, the captain, on hearing that there was another exorcist passenger on board who had detected something unusual beneath the cargo hold, hurried over with Duan Lin, the three-star exorcist who had been in the resting room.
The group gathered in the flight attendants' work area, where Yan Junze first showed his Exorcist Travel Permit to Duan Ning, saying, "I have a special sensitivity to strangeness and have detected something abnormal in the cargo hold, with a very strong strange magnetic field. Even combined, we might not be able to handle it, and it's dangerous to deal with during the flight, so I suggest we temporarily close off the cargo hold and not let anyone in until after we land and can investigate."
Duan Ning fell silent. The captain had no idea what to do in this situation and just looked at Duan Ning, waiting for his response.
After a moment, Duan Ning nodded, "Alright, let's seal off the cargo hold for now to be safe and deal with it carefully once we arrive at the destination."
The situation was temporarily stalled, and Yan Junze breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered something and pointed at Guan Hongna, telling the captain, "She may have violated the management rules; she's wearing a necklace around her neck."
"What?" The captain was a bit angry upon hearing this and looked at Guan Hongna.
Guan Hongna's face immediately turned sour as she clutched the scarf around her neck, looking down without saying a word.
"Guan Hongna, take off the scarf," the captain commanded.
Guan Hongna bit her lower lip, giving Yan Junze a resentful look, before slowly removing the scarf to reveal a necklace with a turquoise pendant around her neck.
"This has been given to me by my grandfather and father; they told me to always wear it for protection and to ward off strangeness, so I never dared to take it off," she explained, her face flushed.
Yan Junze and Duan Ning were both staring at the necklace pendant around Guan Hongna's neck, the turquoise stone.
After a long stare, both spoke simultaneously, "There's something wrong with your pendant."
At that, they exchanged glances.
"Damn, now that you've seen it, there's no point in hiding it. This must be mine."
Rewind!
Time rewound to when Yan Junze first encountered Guan Hongna alone.
Pointing at the red scarf around Guan Hongna's neck, Yan Junze said, "I have already seen that the necklace pendant is a turquoise, please take off the scarf, or I will notify the captain right now."
Guan Hongna, who had intended to argue, hesitated upon hearing his confident and justified statement and reluctantly took off the scarf, revealing the necklace on her neck.
"This necklace was given to you by your grandfather and father, saying that it can keep you safe and that you should Always wear it?" Yan Junze now seemed possessed, feigning calculation with a pinch of his fingers.
Surprised, Guan Hongna nodded.
The moment before the rewind, when they had seen the turquoise, both Yan Junze and Duan Ning, being exorcists capable of controlling magnetic fields, had detected a faint magnetic pulse inside the stone, a pulse so subtle that it was easy to overlook if one wasn't intently watching the turquoise.
After seeing it a second time, Yan Junze was almost certain that a strangeness was sealed within the turquoise.
"Ever since you put on this necklace, have you never encountered any strangeness again?" Yan Junze asked.
Guan Hongna nodded.
"No wonder," Yan Junze realized suddenly, "No wonder your grandfather and father said it could keep you safe. In fact, it has a more powerful strangeness sealed inside. Thus, other weaker strangenesses would get scared off, avoiding you."
"What?" Guan Hongna looked at him in horror.
"But do you know?" Yan Junze leaned in close to Guan Hongna, staring into her eyes, "This is like raising a tiger problem. While it may keep away other small wild beasts, the bigger tiger has always been lurking by your side, ready to take its chances and possess you in case of accidents!"