Grandmother once said that no matter when, burning yellow incense over blood rice is meant to welcome spirits.
Wherever the spirit comes from, the yellow incense guides it there.
To do the opposite is to send the spirit away.
Mother Sun screamed in pain as a stream of black energy burst from her belly, accompanied by a pool of fresh blood flowing from beneath her.
The malevolent spirit had left her body, the pregnancy was lost, and Mother Sun fainted dead away.
The black energy charged toward me, intent on fighting me to the death. Just as it was about to hit me, it suddenly changed direction, drawn by some force into the space below my right ankle and absorbed into my body.
It was only then that I realized the plum blossom-shaped birthmark below my ankle had disappeared at some point.
My mind felt as if it had exploded, buzzing incessantly.
Was it because of Liu Xuanyi?
He had forced the Plum Blossom Coffin Nail called “Shen” from Feng Lao and driven it into the space below my ankle. After that, my body began to change.
I had opened my third eye and lost a plum blossom-shaped birthmark.
This was something I had never dared to imagine before.
“Shen.”
I called out unconsciously, and a sharp pain shot through the space below my right ankle. With a whoosh, the Plum Blossom Coffin Nail, as long as a chopstick, tore through my flesh and skin, hovering in mid-air.
The main room fell into dead silence.
Everyone stopped fighting, looking at me and then at the Plum Blossom Coffin Nail in disbelief.
Lu gasped sharply, “Impossible, absolutely impossible!”
I shot a furious glare at him. This old man had done who knows how many evil deeds, and the Sun family had suffered terribly because of him!
As I moved, “Shen” seemed to receive some command, whooshing toward Lu.
Caught off guard, Lu was about to be struck when a black paper talisman suddenly appeared out of thin air, igniting without fire and exploding into a cloud of black smoke.
By the time the smoke cleared, Lu had vanished.
“Shen” was gone too.
My ankle felt cold and painful, and I knew it had returned.
“My grandson is gone! My grandson is gone!”
Grandmother Sun crawled over, wailing like a ghost at the sight of the blood on the floor. She tried to scoop it up with her hands, as if to return it to Mother Sun’s belly.
She had gone mad just like that.
Sun Mingyue pulled her aside and tried to shake Mother Sun awake, but Mother Sun wouldn’t stir.
Sun Mingyue had no choice but to ask Liu Songyu to drive Mother Sun to the hospital. I endured my discomfort and helped with basic first aid to stop the bleeding.
After settling Mother Sun, with Sun Mingyue staying at the hospital to watch over her, Liu Songyu dragged me back to the courtyard house.
By the time we returned to the courtyard house, the lower half of my body was paralyzed. My face was dark and ashen, and I could barely breathe.
Shen Li was terrified, wiping my body and changing my clothes while asking Liu Songyu what had happened.
Liu Songyu stood by the bed, staring coldly at me.
She didn’t speak, her hands clenched into fists, her entire body tense.
I could actually sense that she was struggling.
She didn’t want to save me; she wanted me to die.
Liu Xuanyi hadn’t returned yet, and Shen Li didn’t know the full situation. If I died tonight, everything could be blamed on Lu.
Liu Songyu didn’t want me staying by Liu Xuanyi’s side, dragging him down. Tonight was the best opportunity. If she missed it, there might not be another chance.
I gave her a weak smile. She had saved me who knows how many times tonight and had also saved the Sun family. She owed me nothing.
Liu Songyu closed her eyes for a moment, gritted her teeth, and scolded, “You’re about to die, and you can still smile.”
She walked over, gathered her strength in her hands, and began pushing upward from my ankle, against the flow of my meridians.
I felt a surge of warmth flow into my body, and instantly, I felt much more comfortable.
“Do you know how to circulate qi?”
I shook my head.
“What about breathing exercises? The most basic kind—don’t tell me you don’t know that either!”
I quickly nodded, recalling the techniques Liu Xuanyi had taught me and the illustrations in that small book, and tried to practice the breathing exercises.
For the rest of the night, Liu Songyu stayed by my side, forbidding me to sleep and forcing me to keep practicing the breathing exercises while teaching me how to circulate qi.
From lying stiffly on the bed at first, to slowly sitting up, and then sitting cross-legged to practice the exercises, she was there every step of the way, guiding me through the essentials.
Only when dawn broke did she allow me to sleep.
Shen Li quickly brought me food, telling me to eat my fill before resting.
“Stay in bed for the next two days. You’re not allowed to go anywhere, and aside from practicing breathing exercises and circulating qi, you’re not allowed to do anything else.”
Liu Songyu gave these instructions while eating.
Shen Li asked, “What happened to the girl?”
“Greedy and overambitious—serves her right.”
With those words, Liu Songyu walked out. Shen Li called after her, “Where are you going?”
“To wash the car!”
·
I followed Liu Songyu’s advice and spent the next three days continuously practicing breathing exercises and circulating qi. My body grew more and more comfortable.
However, she never came to my room again.
On the morning of the fourth day, I woke up feeling refreshed and clear-headed. After breakfast, I told Shen Li I wanted to visit Sun’s mother at the hospital.
Sun Mingyue had called me, saying her mother had woken up but seemed a bit off, her gaze distant and unfocused.
I suspected it might be due to her fragmented soul being unstable after returning to her body, so I decided to go and help stabilize it.
After not seeing me for a few days, Sun Mingyue hugged me tightly as soon as she saw me, crying uncontrollably.
“Huai Yan, I’m so scared. I almost lost my mom forever.”
“Thank you. If it weren’t for you and that beautiful sister, I’d be an orphan now.”
I patted her back gently, comforting her that everything was over.
I went to check on Sun’s mother, and it was pretty much as I had guessed.
I told Sun Mingyue to complete the discharge procedures for her mother. When they returned home, she should burn paper money and bury hair in the corresponding places, after which her mother would recover.
Sun Mingyue noted everything down, and I headed back.
I couldn’t shake a lingering sense of unease, though I didn’t know what exactly was bothering me.
Leaving the hospital gate, I had to cross an alley to reach the other side of the road to catch a bus.
The alley wasn’t long, and it was daytime, yet I felt a growing sense of panic as I walked.
“Huai Yan.”
Suddenly, Liu Xuanyi’s voice came from behind me. My heart skipped a beat, and I turned to see him leaning against the wall, the corners of his lips curled into a mischievous smile.
Instinctively, I started walking toward him, saying, “You’re back.”
But as I got closer, I abruptly stopped and stepped back repeatedly. “No, you’re not Liu Xuanyi. Who are you?”
This person looked exactly like Liu Xuanyi, but he didn’t have vertical pupils.
Liu Xuanyi had a pair of amber-colored vertical pupils.
“You recognized me so quickly.”
The man transformed, turning into a man with his hair tied in a crown and wearing a moon-white robe.
He was about the same height as Liu Xuanyi but slightly thinner, with high cheekbones and upturned eyes. When he smiled, he exuded an irresistible… allure.
I was momentarily stunned, then turned to flee.
Clink!
The sound of a copper coin rang out. I immediately looked back and saw the Five Emperors copper coin that the Gu family had lost—my coin—being tossed high into the air by him before landing steadily back in his hand.
I clenched my fist and demanded, “You stole the Five Emperors copper coin! Who are you really? What do you want?”
“So soon you’ve forgotten me?” He toyed with the Five Emperors copper coin, kindly reminding me, “The Gu family’s ferocious corpse.”
I blurted out, “White Fox! You’re the White Fox who hijacked the escort mission!”