Chapter 098: Such a Sweet Melon.
"That woman isn't friendl—"
He hadn't gone more than a few feet when a gust, as cold as frost and snow, blew him back. The wind plastered his face and hair, causing him to topple and land on his rear. It wasn't painful, but he was dazed.
"What just happened?" Li Xù stared ahead, feeling there was something amiss.
He felt an icy hand brush against his face. The hand was as cold as frozen snow. A mirage-like vision appeared before him, revealing colors that he hadn't seen moments before.
A little girl in a dress stood beside him, tugging at his clothes, pouting as she declared, "You can't go there!"
That little girl was the same Huang Lingling he had met before. Yet now, she appeared somewhat translucent, less solid than when he saw her in the car. It wasn't that the girl was inherently transparent; Li Xu rubbed his eyes, suspecting the issue was with his vision.
"Why can't I go there?" Li Xu anxiously tried to get up. "I need to warn him to run."
"He... will be fine." A blue and white floral skirt whispered, its raspy voice emanating from where it wrapped around a nearby tree.
Hearing this, Li Xu looked up to see the floral skirt enveloping the tree trunk. Most of its form was tattered, and without any blood, dry flakes of its being cascaded down like snow. The damaged face of the skirt was now angled to meet Li Xu's upward gaze.
The sudden shock almost made Li Xu faint. As he was about to fall back, a cold presence from behind steadied him. With this support, he managed to sit up, taking a deep breath to compose himself.
Now he understood: it was the young girl, Huang Lingling, who had dragged him away earlier. The one who had shielded him from the summoned spirit was the floral skirt, which got injured in the process. Fainting because of its appearance now would be inconsiderate of him!
Thus, he tried to maintain his composure and asked with concern, "Are you okay? How are you holding up?"
The floral skirt shook its head, pointing in the direction of Chi Shen and the woman, "He can handle it. Wait here; we'll protect you."
Li Xu, anxious, glanced towards Chi Shen, noting that he was still talking to the woman without getting closer. It seemed the woman was wary of Chi Shen.
After a brief moment of relief, Li Xu's curiosity piqued, "So, I can just... see you all now?"
Huang Lingling, standing next to Li Xu, stared at him with her large, dark eyes, asserting, "We're powerful enough to be seen by you!"
She then scrunched her nose, "But most people can see ghosts in places filled with strong negative energies. You seem... different. We have to make a special effort for you to see us. Your aura might be incredibly dense."
Li Xu, leaning against a wall, attempted to stand and took refuge behind a stone barrier, shaking his head, "I wasn’t aware. Is the negative energy here that strong?"
The floral skirt gazed skyward, "I've never experienced such dense negative energy... well, except for that place I was taken to recently. It was even worse there."
From the perspective of the spirits, above this cursed mansion, a dense negative aura converged, enveloping the courtyard like a shroud.
It seemed like the epicenter of a typhoon of dark energy, yet inside this center, there was a strange calm, devoid of the oppressive energy.
Chi Shen stood right in the heart of this calm, facing Xu XiuYin on the opposite side.
Li Xu's shout only earned a brief glance from Chi Shen, while Xu XiuYin didn't react at all.
"Shen Shen, you finally came," Xu XiuYin's tone was rigid. She forced a smile, which looked eerily out of place. "Don't listen to what he says. Mom is here waiting just for you."
Chi Shen observed Xu XiuYin, noticing the knife in her hand, stained with fresh blood, matching the stains all over her hands.
Just moments ago, she had scared Li Xu away in this very manner.
A trace of puzzlement appeared in Chi Shen's eyes: "Why are you here?"
"Call me 'Mom'," Xu XiuYin gently corrected.
Chi Shen gazed at her, silent.
Xu XiuYin sighed softly and said, "RanRan is here. That's why I came. He's waiting for you. Would you like to talk to him?"
Chi Shen asked, "Talk about what? Isn't he dead?"
"He is indeed," Xu XiuYin acknowledged, "But for us, isn't death just the beginning? This was what your ghostly friend told me. Chi Shen, I understand now. If there's a powerful spirit by one's side, what does it matter if he's a ghost?"
Chi Shen glanced at his shadow, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face, "So you all really believed it."
Xu XiuYin's gentle gaze shifted subtly, feeling an inkling of unease, "What do you mean?"
"You... you believed his ghost stories." Chi Shen's smirk grew, "Ji XingChen, show yourself!"
A faint light emanated from Huang Qiang's kitchen, casting a long shadow from Chi Shen.
The shadow began to undulate, taking on a human form. The dark silhouette slowly gained facial features, hair, and limbs. The blackness faded, revealing a bespectacled, handsome young man emerging from Chi Shen's shadow.
Ji XingChen observed the scene with an impassive face. From his gaze to his gestures, everything seemed to suggest: I'm not involved.
Chi Shen reached out to him.
This time, Ji XingChen did not grasp Chi Shen's hand.
Xu XiuYin, with furrowed brows, looked at them. Her knife clattered to the ground as she realized, "You set this up! You schemed against your own brother and mother!"
Chi Shen spread his hands innocently, "It's not on me. I just found out."
——
The night Chi Shen left the Special Security Bureau and met Xu XiuYin.
Ji XingChen willingly clasped Chi Shen's hand and looked at Xu XiuYin, "He's not alone."
Chi Shen looked surprised. Was Ji Xingchen doing this to appear less lonely, to show Xu Xiuyin he had company?
Ji Xingchen's gesture was well-intended. Chi Shen gripped Ji Xingchen's hand in return, saying, "It doesn't bother me," when Xu Xiuyin showed doubt.
Adjusting his glasses, Ji Xingchen remarked, "In death, I can be closer to him than in life, inseparable."
Under Xu Xiuyin's stunned gaze, the two left. On their leisurely way to the subway station, Chi Shen chuckled, "I suspect you're hinting at something."
Back then, Ji Xingchen had misunderstood him, but Chi Shen had already grasped the meaning.
— "I suspect you're insinuating something."
— "Are you hinting that Xu Xiuyin should let Bai Ran die?"
As it seems now, Xu Xiuyin has also come to understand.
"Did you say that on purpose for me to hear?!" Xu Xiuyin asked them, with a tone of shock she had never shown before.
Ji Xingchen didn't look at her. Bowing his head slightly and lifting his hand, he seemed to want to reciprocate Chi Shen's earlier gesture. However, unlike before, he didn't take Chi Shen's hand. He simply said, "Yes."
Xu Xiuyin stared at Chi Shen in disbelief, "You'd scheme against your own mother?"
Chi Shen replied calmly, "As I said, it's none of my business."
Li Xu, hiding nearby, was already too shocked to speak. His current state could be summed up in one phrase: Totally flabbergasted!
He turned to the two ghosts beside him, asking in a 'Am I dreaming?' tone, "Is that Chi Shen's mother?"
Huang Lingling nodded, "Yes, his mother."
Li Xu looked back at the woman in the floral dress, "His biological mother?"
The woman, covering half of her peeling face, responded, "Biological."
"Does he have a younger brother?" Li Xu continued.
Huang Lingling replied, "He passed away. He was a very bad pretty boy."
Li Xu, with an entertained look, commented, "I don't know what to say other than — impressive."
No sooner had their words ended than a sudden gust arose.
Huang Lingling and Su Huaqun shielded Li Xu from the gust. The wind didn’t reach him, but he was hit with a nauseating stench, reminiscent of organs left to ferment for days. Despite feeling the urge to retch, he strained his eyes to peer in the direction of Chi Shen.
"Even in death, I must get the full story. I refuse to be an uninformed ghost!"
"So, it wasn't my beloved brother who came looking for me that day."
The voice that emerged, intertwined with the foul odor, belonged to Bai Ran.
"I found it odd. Ever since my brother left the old mansion, he would only put on a deceptive smile. Why then, did he wear such a cold face when he asked about me?" Emerging from the kitchen was a dark mist with glowing, blood-red eyes; eyes that represented Bai Ran’s thirst for blood and intense hatred.
Bai Ran, his eyes burning with malice, stared at Chi Shen, "Brother, you may have thought that I died because you willed it. But you fail to realize that my death was my own choice!"
Chi Shen's gaze settled on Bai Ran's bleeding neck. He mused with a faint smile, "Quite courageous to linger in the pain of your dying moments. Does it bring joy?"
As Chi Shen spoke, the blood from Bai Ran’s neck gushed uncontrollably. Furious, yet managing to rein in his anger, Bai Ran laughed, "Hahaha, I want you to taste this torment, to perpetually endure the anguish of death!"
With almost bloodshot eyes, he hissed, "Being executed by the Security Bureau won’t turn one into a vengeful ghost, did you know? You might have schemed my death, but choosing this path was my own decision! Only by doing this could I come back and torment you, ensuring we die together!"
"I had considered that," Ji Xingchen interjected casually, as though discussing a physics equation, "Huang Qiang didn’t leave behind a spirit either. Perhaps the executioners, firm in their conviction and belief in justice, can cause a criminal's spirit to fade, avoiding a cursed existence. Alternatively, they might perform rites post-execution. In any case, no spirit lingers."
"So, Bai Ran couldn’t be judicially tried."
Ji Xingchen glanced at Bai Ran, as if he were an inanimate object, and continued speaking.
"I needed him to turn malevolent."
Chapter 098: Such a Sweet Melon.
"That woman isn't friendl—"
He hadn't gone more than a few feet when a gust, as cold as frost and snow, blew him back. The wind plastered his face and hair, causing him to topple and land on his rear. It wasn't painful, but he was dazed.
"What just happened?" Li Xù stared ahead, feeling there was something amiss.
He felt an icy hand brush against his face. The hand was as cold as frozen snow. A mirage-like vision appeared before him, revealing colors that he hadn't seen moments before.
A little girl in a dress stood beside him, tugging at his clothes, pouting as she declared, "You can't go there!"
That little girl was the same Huang Lingling he had met before. Yet now, she appeared somewhat translucent, less solid than when he saw her in the car. It wasn't that the girl was inherently transparent; Li Xu rubbed his eyes, suspecting the issue was with his vision.
"Why can't I go there?" Li Xu anxiously tried to get up. "I need to warn him to run."
"He... will be fine." A blue and white floral skirt whispered, its raspy voice emanating from where it wrapped around a nearby tree.
Hearing this, Li Xu looked up to see the floral skirt enveloping the tree trunk. Most of its form was tattered, and without any blood, dry flakes of its being cascaded down like snow. The damaged face of the skirt was now angled to meet Li Xu's upward gaze.
The sudden shock almost made Li Xu faint. As he was about to fall back, a cold presence from behind steadied him. With this support, he managed to sit up, taking a deep breath to compose himself.
Now he understood: it was the young girl, Huang Lingling, who had dragged him away earlier. The one who had shielded him from the summoned spirit was the floral skirt, which got injured in the process. Fainting because of its appearance now would be inconsiderate of him!
Thus, he tried to maintain his composure and asked with concern, "Are you okay? How are you holding up?"
The floral skirt shook its head, pointing in the direction of Chi Shen and the woman, "He can handle it. Wait here; we'll protect you."
Li Xu, anxious, glanced towards Chi Shen, noting that he was still talking to the woman without getting closer. It seemed the woman was wary of Chi Shen.
After a brief moment of relief, Li Xu's curiosity piqued, "So, I can just... see you all now?"
Huang Lingling, standing next to Li Xu, stared at him with her large, dark eyes, asserting, "We're powerful enough to be seen by you!"
She then scrunched her nose, "But most people can see ghosts in places filled with strong negative energies. You seem... different. We have to make a special effort for you to see us. Your aura might be incredibly dense."
Li Xu, leaning against a wall, attempted to stand and took refuge behind a stone barrier, shaking his head, "I wasn’t aware. Is the negative energy here that strong?"
The floral skirt gazed skyward, "I've never experienced such dense negative energy... well, except for that place I was taken to recently. It was even worse there."
From the perspective of the spirits, above this cursed mansion, a dense negative aura converged, enveloping the courtyard like a shroud.
It seemed like the epicenter of a typhoon of dark energy, yet inside this center, there was a strange calm, devoid of the oppressive energy.
Chi Shen stood right in the heart of this calm, facing Xu XiuYin on the opposite side.
Li Xu's shout only earned a brief glance from Chi Shen, while Xu XiuYin didn't react at all.
"Shen Shen, you finally came," Xu XiuYin's tone was rigid. She forced a smile, which looked eerily out of place. "Don't listen to what he says. Mom is here waiting just for you."
Chi Shen observed Xu XiuYin, noticing the knife in her hand, stained with fresh blood, matching the stains all over her hands.
Just moments ago, she had scared Li Xu away in this very manner.
A trace of puzzlement appeared in Chi Shen's eyes: "Why are you here?"
"Call me 'Mom'," Xu XiuYin gently corrected.
Chi Shen gazed at her, silent.
Xu XiuYin sighed softly and said, "RanRan is here. That's why I came. He's waiting for you. Would you like to talk to him?"
Chi Shen asked, "Talk about what? Isn't he dead?"
"He is indeed," Xu XiuYin acknowledged, "But for us, isn't death just the beginning? This was what your ghostly friend told me. Chi Shen, I understand now. If there's a powerful spirit by one's side, what does it matter if he's a ghost?"
Chi Shen glanced at his shadow, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face, "So you all really believed it."
Xu XiuYin's gentle gaze shifted subtly, feeling an inkling of unease, "What do you mean?"
"You... you believed his ghost stories." Chi Shen's smirk grew, "Ji XingChen, show yourself!"
A faint light emanated from Huang Qiang's kitchen, casting a long shadow from Chi Shen.
The shadow began to undulate, taking on a human form. The dark silhouette slowly gained facial features, hair, and limbs. The blackness faded, revealing a bespectacled, handsome young man emerging from Chi Shen's shadow.
Ji XingChen observed the scene with an impassive face. From his gaze to his gestures, everything seemed to suggest: I'm not involved.
Chi Shen reached out to him.
This time, Ji XingChen did not grasp Chi Shen's hand.
Xu XiuYin, with furrowed brows, looked at them. Her knife clattered to the ground as she realized, "You set this up! You schemed against your own brother and mother!"
Chi Shen spread his hands innocently, "It's not on me. I just found out."
——
The night Chi Shen left the Special Security Bureau and met Xu XiuYin.
Ji XingChen willingly clasped Chi Shen's hand and looked at Xu XiuYin, "He's not alone."
Chi Shen looked surprised. Was Ji Xingchen doing this to appear less lonely, to show Xu Xiuyin he had company?
Ji Xingchen's gesture was well-intended. Chi Shen gripped Ji Xingchen's hand in return, saying, "It doesn't bother me," when Xu Xiuyin showed doubt.
Adjusting his glasses, Ji Xingchen remarked, "In death, I can be closer to him than in life, inseparable."
Under Xu Xiuyin's stunned gaze, the two left. On their leisurely way to the subway station, Chi Shen chuckled, "I suspect you're hinting at something."
Back then, Ji Xingchen had misunderstood him, but Chi Shen had already grasped the meaning.
— "I suspect you're insinuating something."
— "Are you hinting that Xu Xiuyin should let Bai Ran die?"
As it seems now, Xu Xiuyin has also come to understand.
"Did you say that on purpose for me to hear?!" Xu Xiuyin asked them, with a tone of shock she had never shown before.
Ji Xingchen didn't look at her. Bowing his head slightly and lifting his hand, he seemed to want to reciprocate Chi Shen's earlier gesture. However, unlike before, he didn't take Chi Shen's hand. He simply said, "Yes."
Xu Xiuyin stared at Chi Shen in disbelief, "You'd scheme against your own mother?"
Chi Shen replied calmly, "As I said, it's none of my business."
Li Xu, hiding nearby, was already too shocked to speak. His current state could be summed up in one phrase: Totally flabbergasted!
He turned to the two ghosts beside him, asking in a 'Am I dreaming?' tone, "Is that Chi Shen's mother?"
Huang Lingling nodded, "Yes, his mother."
Li Xu looked back at the woman in the floral dress, "His biological mother?"
The woman, covering half of her peeling face, responded, "Biological."
"Does he have a younger brother?" Li Xu continued.
Huang Lingling replied, "He passed away. He was a very bad pretty boy."
Li Xu, with an entertained look, commented, "I don't know what to say other than — impressive."
No sooner had their words ended than a sudden gust arose.
Huang Lingling and Su Huaqun shielded Li Xu from the gust. The wind didn’t reach him, but he was hit with a nauseating stench, reminiscent of organs left to ferment for days. Despite feeling the urge to retch, he strained his eyes to peer in the direction of Chi Shen.
"Even in death, I must get the full story. I refuse to be an uninformed ghost!"
"So, it wasn't my beloved brother who came looking for me that day."
The voice that emerged, intertwined with the foul odor, belonged to Bai Ran.
"I found it odd. Ever since my brother left the old mansion, he would only put on a deceptive smile. Why then, did he wear such a cold face when he asked about me?" Emerging from the kitchen was a dark mist with glowing, blood-red eyes; eyes that represented Bai Ran’s thirst for blood and intense hatred.
Bai Ran, his eyes burning with malice, stared at Chi Shen, "Brother, you may have thought that I died because you willed it. But you fail to realize that my death was my own choice!"
Chi Shen's gaze settled on Bai Ran's bleeding neck. He mused with a faint smile, "Quite courageous to linger in the pain of your dying moments. Does it bring joy?"
As Chi Shen spoke, the blood from Bai Ran’s neck gushed uncontrollably. Furious, yet managing to rein in his anger, Bai Ran laughed, "Hahaha, I want you to taste this torment, to perpetually endure the anguish of death!"
With almost bloodshot eyes, he hissed, "Being executed by the Security Bureau won’t turn one into a vengeful ghost, did you know? You might have schemed my death, but choosing this path was my own decision! Only by doing this could I come back and torment you, ensuring we die together!"
"I had considered that," Ji Xingchen interjected casually, as though discussing a physics equation, "Huang Qiang didn’t leave behind a spirit either. Perhaps the executioners, firm in their conviction and belief in justice, can cause a criminal's spirit to fade, avoiding a cursed existence. Alternatively, they might perform rites post-execution. In any case, no spirit lingers."
"So, Bai Ran couldn’t be judicially tried."
Ji Xingchen glanced at Bai Ran, as if he were an inanimate object, and continued speaking.
"I needed him to turn malevolent."
