Chapter 37: The Bone-Eroding, Heart-Gouging Curse! A Meeting at the Door!

Zhou Quan looked surprised, thinking that Secretary Wang was indeed his father's most capable assistant to have settled the orphanage matters so quickly, especially considering the extensive paperwork involved.

"Sorry for the trouble," Zhou Quan said softly.

Secretary Wang dismissed the concern. "It’s no trouble at all. When are you available? Your presence at the ribbon-cutting ceremony is essential; not only did you initiate this project, but it will also help stabilize morale."

Zhou Quan nodded slightly, contemplating. "Let's make it the day after tomorrow. Sooner is better than later."

It had been many days since his parents' accident; he needed to make a public appearance to steady the nerves of those both inside and outside the company.

"How about four o'clock the day after tomorrow?" Secretary Wang asked.

Zhou Quan agreed, "That works."

"Very well, I will arrange it. Is there anything else you need?" Secretary Wang asked.

Zhou Quan answered without hesitation: "Calculate the total investment Weng Lin made in public welfare and charity, find the annual average, and starting this year, make a donation in the company's name equal to double that amount to support those causes."

After these words, there was silence on the other end of the line.

After a long pause, Secretary Wang asked hesitantly, "Are you saying that if Weng Lin donated ten million annually, the company should donate twenty million?"

"Yes," Zhou Quan confirmed.

Secretary Wang remained silent for two seconds before replying, "Since the accident involving the President, the market's outlook for our company has been grim, and our cash flow is extremely tight. We can spare at most sixteen million right now."

"If we were to pull out all that money, the company's capital chain would snap, with unimaginable consequences."

Zhou Quan fell silent.

His family's company was neither small nor particularly large; its total assets amounted to only a little over two hundred million. Among the many listed companies, it was an unremarkable player. Some real estate firms carried debts in the trillions.

"Calculate the annual average of Weng Lin's donations first and give me the figure. I will find a way to cover the shortfall," Zhou Quan replied softly, his voice firm.

Money was not the problem.

The paths for an Awakened to make money were vast and unconventional; the Grey Night Society had already demonstrated this for him. He himself currently possessed the Piercing Cloud Arrow and the Old Covenant Wolf King's ID badge—both of these treasures were surely worth a fortune.

"Very well, Young President Zhou," Secretary Wang inquired. "Do you have any other instructions?"

Zhou Quan thought for two seconds and replied, "No."

"I will look into it right now and notify you as soon as I have the details," Secretary Wang said.

*Beep, beep, beep*—a busy signal echoed from the receiver.

Zhou Quan turned off his phone and looked down at the Evil God’s Notebook on his lap.

After completing this simulation, he had gained another chance for talent extraction and three achievement points. Counting the one he already had, he now possessed a total of four.

"I'll save them for now," he mused.

The talent extraction opportunity could be kept for contingencies. If he encountered an enemy chanting spells before his next simulation, he would immediately acquire "Let Us Speak Chinese." If not, he could pull a different talent later. In any case, he would complete another simulation tomorrow, which would grant him two talent extraction opportunities.

He would save the achievement points as well. To enhance the "Old Covenant Wolf King's ID Badge," he needed eight points; he was currently four short.

Zhou Quan closed the Evil God’s Notebook. He glanced at his parents' faces, which had regained a faint trace of color, sighed softly, and turned to walk out of the room.

Zhai Qingwu was sitting in the living room. Hearing movement, she looked up: "Zhou Quan, come over here, I have something to tell you."

Zhou Quan frowned slightly, walked downstairs, and stood before Zhai Qingwu.

"What is it?" Zhou Quan asked coolly.

Zhai Qingwu looked down, saying nonchalantly, "I didn't help, and I even had my life saved by you. I don't feel right taking your money."

"Are you planning to return it?" Zhou Quan raised an eyebrow.

Zhai Qingwu shook her head: "Returning the money is impossible. As long as I am alive, not a single cent will leave my account."

"Then what is your point?" Zhou Quan asked calmly.

Zhai Qingwu looked up and said, "Hold out your hand."

Zhou Quan hesitated, then extended his right hand.

Zhai Qingwu flicked her finger, and a thin, pitch-black thread flew out from under her delicate fingernail. Before Zhou Quan could react, the thread burrowed into the back of his hand, nimbly winding around the ghost-face-and-fangs pattern, its shape winding and jagged, like a withered autumn branch.

Zhou Quan stared at the thread, and after two seconds of silence, said, "Don't feel right, so you're trying to kill me to silence me?"

"Why are you making such wild assumptions! I just gave you a curse!" Zhai Qingwu rolled her eyes at him, a trace of resentment in her gaze. "Don't you lack a way to control people?"

"This is called the Bone-Eroding Heart-Piercing Curse!"

"Make the person under the curse swear an oath; the moment they break it, the curse will activate and make their life a living hell!"

*Is Zhai Qingwu really that kind?*

A look of suspicion appeared on Zhou Quan's face.

Zhai Qingwu noticed his expression and said with a pained look, "If you don't want it, give it back! I only have one of this type of curse!"

"How do I use it?" Zhou Quan pulled back his hand. He was indeed lacking such a tool, and since Zhai Qingwu was offering, he would not decline.

"Use your intention. Whoever you want to curse, stare at them and recite the name of the curse silently—Bone-Eroding Heart-Piercing." Zhai Qingwu extended a finger, as delicate as a scallion, and tapped her own forehead.

Having said that, she lowered her eyes and examined the pattern on the back of Zhou Quan's hand: "I wanted to remind you when we first met—your tattoo is too conspicuous."

"When you're out and about, it's easy for people to notice. It would be best to cover it up."

Zhou Quan was slightly taken aback.

The tattoo...

He shook his head: "No need. Keeping it exposed serves as a reminder for me."

"Fine. I bought a plane ticket for tomorrow afternoon," Zhai Qingwu blinked. "The ticket was discounted, you don't mind if I stay one more night, do you?"

Zhou Quan nodded. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "Is there truly no way to deal with the curse on my parents?"

Zhai Qingwu glanced toward the room upstairs and furrowed her brow: "To resolve your parents' curse, you cannot use a detachment method; it must be erased directly."

"But to erase one hundred and four curses at once, you would need legendary treasures—like the tears of a God of Curses, the dew of the Mother Tree of Life, a newborn's vessel..."

Zhou Quan silently committed these terms to memory.

Zhai Qingwu added, "I will keep an eye out for these things for you. If I hear anything, I will let you know immediately. Consider it after-sales service for the ten million you gave me."

...

As the evening lights flickered on, the night grew dense.

Parked at the back door of the Guyun Pavilion Hotel was a cold-chain transport truck that looked completely out of place in the environment. The driver, unshaven and wearing a small red cap, looked somewhat sleazy. He leaned against the door and pulled a crumpled cigarette from his pocket.

"@#￥%）！#S=......"

After a short string of incantations, sparks erupted from the tip of the cigarette, igniting it on its own. The driver puffed on the cigarette.

At that moment, a man wearing a mask emerged from the back door of the hotel. He was holding a colorful cake box. He walked straight up to the driver and scolded him in a low voice: "You have some nerve, driving this vehicle into a busy downtown area. Aren't you afraid of being discovered by the Ninth Special Investigation Bureau?"

The driver exhaled a cloud of smoke and said something chilling with a laugh: "What if we are discovered? By tomorrow night, it's not even certain if this city will still exist."

His gaze shifted downward, landing on the cake box in the masked man's hands.

"Did you bring the head of Ullens?"