Chapter 172: Chapter 170: Unwilling to Join

"Officers, for the record, I don’t know a thing about any of these trending topics."

"We believe you, Doctor Wen."

They believed her, of course. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so polite to Wen Ying.

Before coming, they had already done their homework, investigating everything about Wen Ying.

It wasn’t just about what happened after she inherited the psychological clinic; they had even investigated her entire life after being adopted by Grandma Wen.

They had also checked with the local police station and knew that they had taken—oh, no, bought—many peace charms from Wen Ying.

"About the livestream... if I said it was just special effects, would you two officers believe me?"

Wen Ying brought over two chairs, inviting them to sit as she spoke.

The two men didn’t answer. One of them, however, wore a smile that clearly said, ’What do you think?’

The other man was very stern, his eyes fixed on Wen Ying.

Clearly, they had come prepared.

"Officers, let me be clear. I’m really just a mostly ordinary—ah, no, perhaps a slightly less ordinary—psychologist. As for all that superstitious nonsense, I’m firmly in favor of stamping it out!"

The stern-faced man suddenly spoke. "Doctor Wen, since you can tell who we are, you must also know why we’re here, correct?"

Wen Ying didn’t speak. She didn’t want to get involved in this mess.

Wen Ying’s silence didn’t make the two men retreat in defeat. They didn’t seem to be in a hurry, just sitting there.

One had to admit, Uncle Zhang was a top-tier wingman.

Just then, Uncle Zhang walked in from outside the clinic. "Someone incredibly unlucky has turned up in Taohua Village, not far from here. What do you think, should we have her pay for a consultation?"

As Uncle Zhang walked in talking, he saw the two strangers sitting in the clinic.

Their aura was, at a glance, completely out of the ordinary.

"New patients?"

As Uncle Zhang stared, his voice suddenly trailed off.

The presence these two ’patients’ had was truly the strongest he had ever seen.

Stronger than the town mayor, stronger than the township head, even stronger than that high-ranking official whose position he didn’t even know that he’d met last time.

’So, are people this powerful patients of Little Ying’s?’

The man who had been smiling now had an even broader grin. "What’s this about bad luck? Doctor Wen, do you have medicine to treat that?"

Even if Uncle Zhang hadn’t seen much of the world, he could tell something wasn’t quite right.

’These two... they don’t look like Little Ying’s patients.’

"Ah, Little Ying, since you have guests, I’ll come back later." Uncle Zhang turned and left.

For some reason, as Uncle Zhang walked out the door, his back was slick with sweat.

The two men didn’t stop him. After Uncle Zhang left, the stern-faced one spoke up. "Uncle Zhang, owner of the grocery store next door. Since Doctor Wen’s clinic opened, he has looked after her quite a bit. He’s also bought some talisman paper from her, hasn’t he? During that recent bus accident, the only person to emerge completely unscathed was his son. And in a media interview, his son claimed he was saved because of a piece of talisman paper."

He spoke every word deliberately, his tone flat, but Wen Ying knew they had come with their homework thoroughly done.

You can’t fight city hall.

Wen Ying sighed. "Since you both know my methods as a psychologist are a little... special, I won’t hide it anymore. It’s true."

Just as the two men looked at Wen Ying, expectantly waiting for her to continue, she stopped.

She stopped talking, silently looking at them as if that was the end of it.

The smiling man was exasperated. "Doctor Wen, you don’t have to be so wary. We didn’t come here to drag you away or anything like that."

"I know. You want me to join the organization, don’t you? But I’m used to being undisciplined and can’t stand restrictions. I like my freedom. I appreciate the kind intentions of you and your superiors, but I’ll pass."

Wen Ying replied, her expression indifferent.

"So you do know," the stern man said, looking at Wen Ying. "Then you should also know that these things you’re doing aren’t suitable for public exposure, right? You’ve done this repeatedly, breaking the rules long ago."

Wen Ying looked at them. ’So they’re playing good cop, bad cop.’

’The bad cop’s threats have already started. Yep, here it comes.’

Wen Ying’s expression didn’t change. She remained nonchalant, her tone as casual as ever. "Officer, you’ve been having frequent nightmares lately, haven’t you? Judging by your features, you’re undoubtedly a man of integrity, but you’ve been deeply troubled by a lack of harmony in your family. If this continues, your family might just fall apart."

Hearing Wen Ying’s words, the man who had been so stern was visibly startled.

’None of my colleagues at work know about my family’s problems. It’s like they say, don’t air your dirty laundry in public. And my home is thousands of miles away from this little place. How could Doctor Wen possibly know?’

’Are her powers really that incredible?’

The man who had been smiling heard Wen Ying’s words and looked at his partner in surprise. "Old Jiang, no wonder you’ve been in a bad mood lately. Is this why? If you need help, you can just say so."

The speaker knew how much his colleague, Old Jiang, cared about his family—about his elderly mother, his wife, and his children.

’If his family fell apart, could he even bear it?’

The man called Old Jiang was nearly forty. Naturally, he hoped for a harmonious family, with children and grandchildren filling his home—three or even four generations living together.

But recently, he couldn’t go home because of work, and the calls from his family were constant. He had started to dread his phone ringing.

His mother and his wife, who had always gotten along, had recently started clashing for some unknown reason.

At first, it was just over trivial matters, but the situation had gradually escalated.

His job was to investigate strange phenomena, true, but this kind of family matter... as they say, every family has its own troubles. This wasn’t a problem the organization could solve.

’This is killing me,’ he thought.

’Why do I have to deal with this at my age? Why is being a man so hard?’

At this moment, Old Jiang looked at Wen Ying, his expression a mixture of doubt and anticipation. "Doctor Wen, since you can see my situation, is there a way to solve it?"

Wen Ying smiled. "I’m just a slightly abnormal psychologist. I’m good at treating patients, but as for your family matters..."

"Doctor Wen, please, just tell me. As long as it’s something I can do and doesn’t violate the organization’s rules, I’m willing to do it!"

"It’s actually not that big of a deal."

Old Jiang was speechless. ’Not a big deal?’

’I’m about to have a breakdown here!’

’If this keeps up, my career will be ruined, I’ll be ruined, and my family will be ruined.’

’This is a catastrophe that could destroy me!’

"Doctor Wen, I’m asking for your help."

"Your mother and your wife have just been tainted by something... unclean. That’s why their emotions are being stirred up in strange ways. Why don’t you think about it: what have they been up to recently?"

This was a major family crisis; Old Jiang would naturally not treat it lightly.