That wisp of Black Qi seemed to disperse yet not fully dissipate, drifting unsteadily through the house. It floated along the staircase all the way down to the Basement Level. Liu Xiao followed Qi Yuqiu downstairs and said, “Besides the garage and entertainment room, there’s only the Servant’s Room on the Basement Level.”
Their family wasn’t large, so they had only hired one servant, Aunt Liu, who usually helped Old Madam take care of the child and cooked meals. Aunt Liu had worked for several years—she was diligent, capable, and discreet—so they had signed a long-term contract with her, offering a very generous salary. Liu Xiao truly couldn’t understand why she would do such a thing.
The Black Qi trembled and wavered, circling a few times outside the Servant’s Room before finally hovering above a floor tile in front of the door.
“This is the place,” Qi Yuqiu said, tapping the tile with the tip of his foot.
Liu Xiao gritted her teeth. “It really is her.”
In their home, besides family members, only the driver and the servant could come and go. The driver didn’t live there, so aside from Aunt Liu, it was impossible for any outsider to enter the Basement Level and bury something here.
Liu Rui’s expression also darkened. Aunt Liu had always been very kind to Jia Jia, and Jia Jia was very close to her—even closer than to him and Liu Xiao. He truly couldn’t believe that Aunt Liu would do something like this.
Qi Yuqiu stepped firmly on the floor tile, and the marble tile cracked with a sharp sound. Liu Rui quickly crouched down, removed the broken pieces, and revealed what lay beneath.
A small hole had been dug into the solid foundation, and a bowl-shaped container covered in mottled brown stains lay quietly at the bottom of the pit.
Liu Rui looked up at Qi Yuqiu. Qi Yuqiu motioned for him to stand up, then circled the area where the tile had broken. Looking at the three of them, he said, “Destroy this thing, and Jia Jia will recover immediately.”
Liu Xiao said excitedly, “Then let’s destroy it right away. Do we need to prepare anything? A Peach Wood Sword or Cinnabar? I’ll have someone buy them now!”
Liu Rui and his mother also urged Qi Yuqiu to save the child quickly.
Qi Yuqiu chuckled lightly. “I haven’t finished speaking. If we destroy it, the thing on Jia Jia will leave and go after the person it was truly meant for. That person, suffering a Backlash, might die instantly.”
As soon as he finished speaking, expressions of grim satisfaction appeared on Liu Xiao and Liu Rui’s faces. Anyone who would harm a child deserved to die from a Backlash—they certainly wouldn’t sympathize with someone trying to kill their son.
Qi Yuqiu reached out, picked up the container, and held it up to his eyes. “I said all that just so you’d know that those who do wrong will surely pay the price.”
“Now, I’ll begin.”
With that, he gently lifted the lid, revealing two Bronze Bells inside. Taking out one of the Bronze Bells, he showed that it was stuffed full of hair.
“On this, is your son’s Birth Date and Time, right?” Qi Yuqiu held the smaller Bronze Bell up to Liu Xiao. Liu Xiao examined it carefully and said, “Yes, it’s Jia Jia’s birth date.”
Qi Yuqiu nodded with a smile and said to Liu Rui’s Mother standing behind her, “Could you please take out the hair and burn it?”
“Why should I burn it?” Liu Rui’s Mother asked with a forced smile.
Qi Yuqiu walked up to her, holding the Bronze Bell, and looked down slightly into her eyes. “Explaining too much wouldn’t help you understand. Just know that if you burn it, the effect will be the best.”
Liu Rui and Liu Xiao looked at Old Madam with eager anticipation. As long as this thing was burned, their Jia Jia would return to normal!
Liu Rui’s mother took the bronze bell, her hands trembling slightly. She looked at the dull, lifeless hair inside, tears slowly welling up in her eyes, and a choked sob escaped her throat.
“Mom, why are you crying? Hurry up and do it!” Liu Rui handed her a lighter.
Liu Rui’s mother finally couldn’t hold back any longer. Covering her mouth, she crouched on the ground and sobbed, “No, no, I can’t burn it!”
Hearing this, Liu Rui and Liu Xiao’s expressions changed. Liu Rui crouched in front of her, gripping her shoulders, and asked, “Why can’t it be burned? Haven’t you seen what’s happened to Jia Jia? Mom, he’s your grandson. You can’t let your heart soften for someone who harmed your grandson, can you?”
Unlike Liu Rui, Liu Xiao’s eyes turned cold the moment Liu Rui’s mother crouched down. Why couldn’t it be burned? Any normal person, upon hearing a way to save their child, wouldn’t react like this.
Unless burning this thing would bring her a result more unbearable than Jia Jia’s suffering.
“Mom, don’t you want Jia Jia to get better?” Liu Xiao stared into her eyes and said softly, “He’s your own grandson, the one who hugs you every day and calls you Grandma. You’ve said before that Jia Jia is your favorite grandson.”
Liu Rui’s mother was frightened by Liu Xiao’s gaze and fell back onto the ground. The bell in her hand rolled to Qi Yuqiu’s feet. He bent down, picked it up, and handed it to Liu Rui.
Liu Rui looked at the bell in his hand, and a deeply painful thought surfaced in his mind. He stared at his mother and said hoarsely, “If you won’t burn it, I will!”
With that, he took out the lighter.
A flame flickered to life. Liu Rui brought the bottom of the bell close to the flame, and a strand of hair caught fire, emitting a scorched smell.
“No, don’t burn it! Give it to me!” Liu Rui’s mother’s expression shifted from guilt to terror. She lunged toward Liu Rui, reaching out her arms.
Liu Rui felt dizzy, as if he had been struck on the head with a wooden club, the pain so intense he could hardly breathe.
His own mother had actually cast a curse on his son with her own hands! How could such an absurd thing happen?
Seeing her husband standing there like a fool while Old Madam was about to snatch the bell from his hand, Liu Xiao rushed forward, grabbed her hand, and flung it aside, seizing the bell herself.
Once she had the bell, Liu Xiao didn’t hesitate. She picked up the lighter and ignited the hair inside.
The flame instantly consumed the flammable strands, leaving only a faint, scorched odor.
“Ah!!”
Liu Rui’s mother let out a piercing scream. She threw herself onto the ground, trying to catch the falling ashes. When she couldn’t, she frantically gathered the remnants into the crook of her arm, her cries filled with utter despair.
“My son, my son! You poisonous woman, you’ve killed my son!”
Liu Xiao snorted coldly. “Your son? I was only saving my son. What does it have to do with your son? Isn’t your son right here, perfectly fine?”
With that, she gave Liu Rui a push and hurried upstairs.
Liu Rui snapped out of his daze and asked his mother, “Your son? Am I not your son?”
“Xiao Rui!” Liu Rui’s mother clutched at his pant leg. “That was your older brother! I couldn’t just stand by and watch your brother suffer without doing anything. You have everything—you’re a big star, with money, fame, a beautiful wife, and a child. Your brother has nothing!”
“I really didn’t mean to harm Jia Jia. I just wanted your older brother to have a better life. That person said we were only borrowing a little bit of your luck for your brother. They never said anything would happen to Jia Jia! I regret it so much—Jia Jia is my grandson. I’m heartbroken that this happened to him!”
Liu Rui’s eyes were filled with disappointment. For the sake of his older brother, his mother could harm him and his son. He had always known she favored his brother, but ever since he entered the entertainment industry and started earning money, her attitude toward him had improved considerably.
He thought that as she grew older, she had finally begun to treat him and his brother equally. How naive he had been.
He had climbed up from the bottom, achieving a measure of success and fame. He thought he would be his mother’s pride. Yet why, even now, did he still fall short in her heart compared to that troublemaker of an older brother?
“Tomorrow, you should go back to our hometown and keep my brother company,” Liu Rui said, rising to his feet and looking down coldly at the old woman still weeping on the floor.
Liu Rui’s mother looked up. “Liu Rui, back then, your older brother gave up going to university for your sake. Now that you’ve made it, have you grown wings and forgotten how much your brother sacrificed for you?”
Liu Rui replied indifferently, “Your memory seems to be failing. Let me refresh it for you. In his senior year of high school, he borrowed money and never paid it back. On the day of the college entrance exam, he got into a fight with his creditors and was sent to prison. That had nothing to do with me.”
“I am your mother, and he is your own flesh and blood! If you abandon us, I’ll make sure everyone knows you’re a heartless, ungrateful son who cast aside his own mother!” Liu Rui’s mother shouted, her eyes red with desperation.
Liu Rui rubbed his temples and sneered. “Mom, you’re overthinking this. Go back and take good care of my brother. I’ll send money on time as usual. Don’t come here again.”
As soon as he finished speaking, his phone rang. His manager called to say that his older brother had been in a car accident and was in the hospital undergoing emergency treatment. The situation was critical.
Upon hearing this, Liu Rui’s mother froze, then collapsed to the floor, unable to move.
“I’ll arrange for someone to take you to look after my brother,” Liu Rui said, turning back to his mother.
After the two had left, Qi Yuqiu walked up to Liu Rui’s mother. “Do you want your eldest son to survive?”
The old woman’s face, once filled with resentment, instantly changed. “As long as you save my son, I’ll do anything you ask.”
“Then tell me, who taught you to Cast a Curse, and how can I find them?”
Liu Rui’s mother replied, “It was a Daoist Priest—long beard, long hair. I didn’t get a clear look at his face. We only met once, at East Suburb Park. I don’t have any contact information for him!”
Qi Yuqiu nodded. “After you return, apologize and make amends to the families your eldest son has harmed on his behalf. That might allow him to live a few more years.”
A life of lingering suffering would also serve as atonement.
Liu Rui’s mother repeatedly agreed, scrambled to her feet, and left.
Qi Yuqiu went upstairs and shook his head as he watched the car drive away. If the Old Madam hadn’t been so biased, she wouldn’t have raised her eldest son to become like this.
Just as he was sighing with emotion, a scream came from upstairs. Liu Xiao rushed down holding the child, crying, “Mr. Qi, why hasn’t Jia Jia gotten better yet?”
The child in her arms clung to her neck with a look of dependence, but his eyes were vacant, and drool kept dripping from the corner of his mouth.
“Because there’s still one that hasn’t left,” Qi Yuqiu said softly.