After Liu Hong married her current husband, he had always wanted a son. But they ended up having two daughters in a row.
Liu Hong was also anxious, but there was nothing she could do. Now, hearing Chu Mingjia say this, hope was rekindled in her heart. She even set aside the matter of the haunting, pestering Chu Mingjia only about whether her third child would be a boy.
The live stream audience was speechless:
【It seems she’s forgotten what she was supposed to be doing.】
【Having a son is more important than her life; smiley face jpg.】
【Sister Chu’s expression is very serious. Could it be that the third child is also a daughter?】
……
While everyone watched Chu Mingjia, waiting for her answer, she nodded. “Yes, it’s a boy.”
Everyone: “!!!”
Live stream: 【……】
Liu Hong grew excited. She immediately stood up and tried to grab Chu Mingjia’s hand. “Really, Master? I, what do I need to do?”
Chu Mingjia nodded. “You need to burn some paper money and toys for him. Otherwise, he will keep haunting you.”
Liu Hong: “…”
Everyone: “…”
The expression on Liu Hong’s face changed in an instant. She looked at Chu Mingjia with shock and hesitation, not knowing what to say for a moment.
After a long pause, she asked, “Wh-what do you mean?”
Chu Mingjia: “Exactly what I said. Didn’t you say you hear strange sounds every night? You commissioned us to help you solve this problem. That’s what I’m doing right now.”
Liu Hong was stunned for a few seconds, then her expression suddenly shifted. She stood up abruptly and said, “You frauds! I knew people like you would say any nonsense just to get famous! I don’t want your help anymore! Stay out of my business!”
Liu Hong stormed off angrily. The scene fell silent for a few minutes.
Han Fengchen ventured cautiously, “Sis, does she really have a third child?”
Chu Mingjia nodded.
Han Fengchen: “Then why won’t she acknowledge it?”
Chu Mingjia didn’t answer. The client had terminated the request, so the matter was dropped. According to the show’s procedure, they should now take on another client’s request, otherwise, the live stream couldn’t continue.
Yet Chu Mingjia didn’t move.
She frowned slightly, watching the direction Liu Hong had left, lost in thought.
The fortune woman who had helped Xu Chen borrow fortune had mistaken Chu Mingjia for her “Divine Lord.” Since the old woman was blind, she must have identified her by some other means, and Chu Mingjia’s aura was very similar to that person’s.
Now, Chu Mingjia sensed that same aura on Liu Hong. But Liu Hong was clearly an ordinary person. Could it be that the person behind all this had recently been to Qishan and even met Liu Hong?
Chu Mingjia stood up and turned to look at Jiang Mao. “Ah Mao.”
Jiang Mao: “!!!”
Thud. The camera in Jiang Mao’s hand crashed to the ground.
Everyone: “…”
Liu Jun, the driver turned camera assistant, quickly picked up the small camera, checked that it wasn’t damaged, and continued filming the guests.
Jiang Mao, however, was so nervous and flustered by Chu Mingjia’s single word “Ah Mao” that he didn’t know what to do with himself. He gestured awkwardly for a moment, then, realizing how silly he looked, shoved his hands into his pockets, pressed his lips together, and nodded. “Mm.”
The Mountain Lord had actually called him. Jiang Mao lowered his head, his eyes turning red.
Chu Mingjia looked at him. “Dig.”
Everyone: “???”
Jiang Mao’s expression remained calm. “Okay.”
With that, he went into the cluttered room, found a hoe, and pulled out an iron shovel, which he handed to Han Fengchen. He gestured toward the door. “Let’s go.”
Han Fengchen: “???”
Live stream:
【Ahhh, what?! They’re digging again?】
【The cameraman just dropped his camera because Sister Chu called him?】
【LOL, the camera shook so much I almost thought there was an earthquake.】
【What a shame, such a great ship, but the woman is already married.】
【Sister Chu’s live stream is so intense. Digging a grave every day, it looks like something big is about to happen again. I’m going to go ahead and tag the Qishan County Police Bureau.】
【Congratulations to Chenchen for successfully joining the grave-digging squad. Let’s see whose career collapses next; dog head jpg.】
……
Jiang Mao carried the hoe, and Han Fengchen carried the iron shovel as they followed Chu Mingjia around the first floor. Since they didn’t have the client’s birth date and time, and Liu Hong was uncooperative, Chu Mingjia had to search the area on her own.
The little jar ghost had been here last night. According to Liu Hong’s description, the jar ghost should be buried somewhere on this property, if not here, then nearby.
“It should be around here somewhere.”
Chu Mingjia came down from the second floor and walked outside. She searched the front and back of the house but still found nothing.
Meanwhile, Liu Hong, who had angrily called Chu Mingjia a fraud and stormed off, hadn’t gone far. She was holding a bag, clearly having just returned from shopping.
Seeing Chu Mingjia and the others standing at her doorstep, her face darkened. She said angrily, “Why are you still here? Didn’t I tell you? I don’t need your help anymore! You frauds.”
Chu Mingjia led Jiang Mao and Han Fengchen out of the yard. Liu Hong walked into her yard with her bag. As Liu Hong passed by, Chu Mingjia caught the scent of incense, candles, and ritual offerings, items typically used when worshipping ancestors or deities. Today wasn’t the first or fifteenth of the lunar month, it wasn’t a festival, and it certainly wasn’t Qingming. Why would she buy these things?
Jiang Mao’s expression was dark and gloomy. Han Fengchen hesitated and said, “Um… we haven’t returned their shovel and hoe yet.”
Chu Mingjia thought of a possibility. Just as Liu Hong was about to close the door, she stepped forward and held it open.
A flash of panic crossed Liu Hong’s face. “What are you doing? This is my home! If you don’t leave, I’ll call the police!”
Chu Mingjia said politely, “Ms. Liu, don’t be nervous. I’m here to help you.”
Liu Hong screamed sharply, “I told you, I don’t need your help! You’re all frauds! Get lost!”
Even the live stream audience could tell something was off about Liu Hong’s reaction.
【She must have a guilty conscience. Why else would she react so strongly?】
【As expected of Sister Chu, nothing gets past her!】
【But come to think of it, Sister Chu searched both floors thoroughly and didn’t find anything.】
【Could it be like with Lin Xiao, buried in her ancestral home? Maybe this isn’t their ancestral home?】
【It could also be buried on another piece of ancestral land. Their original family home might be somewhere else, like Lin Xiao’s, already collapsed and lost.】
……
Chu Mingjia didn’t say a word, but Jiang Mao had already pushed the door open forcefully, shielding Chu Mingjia behind him, and led the group back inside.
Seeing how assertive they were, Liu Hong grew very anxious. Flustered and uneasy, she clutched her bag and ran into the house, making a move to close the front door. But there was no way she could match Jiang Mao’s speed. Soon, Chu Mingjia and the others were back inside.
Chu Mingjia said to Jiang Mao, “I forgot earlier, there should be a cellar here.”
Self-built houses in the countryside often had cellars for storing food.
At the mention of a cellar, Liu Hong shrieked, “What, what are you doing?! I’m calling the police!”
Nervously clutching her phone, her eyes involuntarily darted toward a certain spot.
Understanding the cue, Jiang Mao immediately grabbed the hoe and headed to the backyard. Liu Hong ran after him, shouting, “Help! Robbery! Someone’s robbing me! Help!”
Chu Mingjia ignored her yelling and, following the direction of Liu Hong’s gaze, pinpointed a location. Jiang Mao and Liu Jun went over to check and indeed found a small iron door on the ground, secured with a lock.
The entrance to this cellar was far too well hidden.
The brass lock was easy to break, Jiang Mao smashed it open with one swing of the hoe.
As the iron door swung open, a wave of incense smoke wafted out. It seemed Liu Hong had been burning offerings down there quite often.
Chu Mingjia asked, “What are you burning down there?”
Liu Hong’s eyes darted around, her expression tense, but her tone remained harsh. “So what? This is my home. Do I need your permission to make offerings here?”
Chu Mingjia replied, “Of course not. But since you came to us for help, then yes, I do need to ask.”
She looked down into the cellar entrance. “Buried in here is your third child, isn’t it?”
Liu Hong shrieked, “No! I don’t have a third child! Don’t you—”
“I’m not lying.”
Chu Mingjia’s expression remained calm, but the look in her eyes as she gazed at Liu Hong had grown impatient.
“A person’s mouth can lie, but blood ties cannot.”
As she said this, Chu Mingjia was staring at Liu Hong’s right hand.
Just now, when Jiang Mao opened the cellar’s iron door, a pale blue line, invisible to ordinary people, had suddenly appeared on Liu Hong’s right wrist. That line led straight down into the cellar.
Han Fengchen noticed it too. He pointed at Liu Hong’s hand in surprise. “Her hand! There’s a line on her hand!”
Hearing this, Liu Hong instinctively looked at her own hand, but no matter how hard she stared, she saw nothing.
The live stream audience grew frantic, jumping up and down in their seats:
【What did Chenchen see? What line? What line?!】
【This is so eerie. Why is there a line on her hand? I can’t see anything in the live stream, ahhhhhh.】
【Same here. I’m seriously considering whether I should get some cow tears to open my third eye. This is killing me!】
……
Liu Hong said in a panic, “What line? What are you talking about?”
Chu Mingjia turned to look at her hand. “That’s the mother-child line. An unbreakable blood bond. Even if you refuse to acknowledge his existence, you can’t hide the fact that you are connected by blood.”
In this world, even if a mother and child are separated for years and fail to recognize each other when they meet, the mother-child line remains tightly connected. And even after the child dies, as long as their soul still lingers, that line will not break.
Hearing this, Liu Hong’s face turned pale, her expression fraught with unease. “No, that’s not true—”
She shook her head frantically. “He’s not my child! He’s a demon! He came to harm me! If it weren’t for the master who helped me, I would have died long ago… He’s a cursed star, destined to bring death to his father and mother. Thank goodness he didn’t survive. Otherwise, otherwise…”
She trailed off, unable to finish.
Han Fengchen frowned. “First a demon, then a cursed star. You’re really mixing Eastern and Western superstitions, huh?”
Everyone: “…”