Chapter 26

Neither of the two demons had ever seen a human cry with such pathetic abandon; it was ten times more repulsive than watching a cub wail.

"Shut up, you're noisy as hell!"

Hu Yuanfei directly sealed the master’s mouth. The master let out two "ah-ah" sounds, realized he could no longer speak, and curled up in the corner, clutching his legs in terror.

Lang Xiao couldn't help but shake her head, too lazy to look at him. Her gaze drifted over to Wu Zijie, who remained unconscious. Her eyes paused slightly; the boy seemed to be missing a soul. She didn't point this out, instead turning to look at Tongtong, whose figure had grown much more translucent.

"Do you still want to kill him now?"

Tongtong had returned to his human form. His eyes still held hatred as he looked at Wu Zijie. He was not old, but he remembered the despair of falling into the water and the harm that person had caused his mother. That morning, he had truly wanted to kill him. He had tried his absolute best to seek revenge, and it wasn't that he had given up, but his power was simply too weak; no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't kill his tormentor.

Now, as his body grew increasingly faint, he didn't know how much longer he could hold on. Perhaps he would soon dissipate into nothingness. All he wanted now was to spend his final moments by his mother's side.

Before he could say anything, a commotion rose from outside the door.

Tang Qianran had been having a nightmare, dreaming that she had found her eldest son only to watch him vanish from her sight once more. She woke up crying and, as she walked to the door, encountered her husband, who had rushed back from work.

Han Ming held her worriedly, trying to lead her back inside. "The master isn't here? Why are you crying? What happened?"

Tang Qianran shook her head. For some reason, her feet moved automatically toward the apartment across the hall. Han Ming called out to her twice, but she walked on as if she hadn't heard him. The Wu family’s door had been left open, and the two of them easily walked inside.

Upon entering, they saw Wang Hongying standing blankly in the living room. Her eyes were wide, her gaze dull and fixed ahead, her body as rigid as a statue. She didn't glance at them or make a sound, which was completely out of character for her.

It was bizarre.

Han Ming stared at Wang Hongying for a moment and waved his hand in front of her eyes. An inexplicable chill surged through him. He pulled his wife, who was still trying to move forward, back: "Don't go any further. This place is strange, and you're pregnant—what if something happens?"

Tang Qianran shook her head and bypassed Wang Hongying, heading toward Wu Zijie’s bedroom. They soon saw the figure standing by the door frame, the unconscious Wu Zijie on the bed, and the master curled into a ball. The room was messy, chilled by an eerie wind, with several talismans scattered on the floor, clearly showing that something had occurred.

Tang Qianran regained her senses and asked in confusion, "Why are you all here?"

As soon as Tongtong saw his mother, he appeared by her side, his small, translucent hand clutching her large one. In an instant, Tang Qianran felt the panicky feeling vanish; it was as if Tongtong had returned to her side, and her sense of peace followed.

The two demons watched the family of three. Lang Xiao said, "I think it is necessary for you to know the truth."

She walked over and kicked the master. "Do you have anything that can open the 'heavenly eye'?"

The master shrank his head, carefully pulled his bag over, and fished out two talismans. Of course he had basic heaven-eye talismans; after all, he needed them to see ghosts himself.

Lang Xiao kicked him to force him to open the heaven-eye for the couple, but since the master had lost a hand, he couldn't perform the ritual. Finding his fumbling annoying, Lang Xiao snatched the talismans and slapped them onto the couple’s foreheads.

Whether it was the right way or not, as long as it worked, it was fine.

Tang Qianran and Han Ming blinked hard, feeling their vision suddenly darken as many black gases floated in the air. Tang Qianran saw the son standing beside her and let out a sharp cry, immediately bending down to hug him.

"Tongtong! Tongtong, you're really here!"

Han Ming rushed over, moved to tears, and the family of three embraced, sobbing.

Once they had finished crying, Lang Xiao separated them. "This is Tongtong’s ghost. After he died, he kept searching for you in the pediatric ward of the hospital. It wasn't until you went there again that he found you and followed you home."

Tang Qianran’s eyes widened in shock and self-reproach. "H-how could this be? He’s been there for two years?! It’s all my fault, all my fault. If only I had known sooner... I never even brought him home."

The thought of her son searching for them in a strange place for two whole years tore at her heart. He was so small—how terrified he must have been.

"Don't blame yourselves. Generally, children who die do not become ghosts; most reincarnate immediately. You didn't know he was still there." Only those with lingering resentment and attachment would become ghosts, unable to let go.

After Tang Qianran finished her self-reproach, she remembered the truth Lang Xiao had mentioned. She wiped her tears, glanced at the situation in the room, and felt a flicker of unease. "Then why is Tongtong here now?"

Hu Yuanfei took over. "That is the reason for his death."

The couple looked up immediately. "What!"

"Let him tell you himself."

Tongtong snuggled into his mother’s arms. Because of his parents' presence, the resentment on him had almost vanished, and with it, the depth of his hatred for Wu Zijie.

"He pushed me into the water."

It was a summer morning two years ago. Tongtong had felt unwell and hadn't gone to school. Wu Zijie, who lived across the hall and had long since been expelled from school, was also at home. Tang Qianran was doing chores, and Tongtong, feeling bored, spoke to Wu Zijie through the window. Wu Zijie had asked him to play at the park and told him to sneak out without telling his parents, as a secret between the two children.

Tongtong loved such thrilling games and agreed immediately. He told his mother he was going to sleep, and while Tang Qianran was in the restroom, he slipped out and ran all the way to the park. The park had a large pond without any railings. On weekends, children loved to bring water guns there, and Tongtong loved to go as well.

The two children hadn't left together, and none of the neighbors knew they were playing together.

It was incredibly hot that summer morning, and there was no one in the park. Wu Zijie said there was a big golden fish in the pond. As Tongtong curiously leaned over to look, he felt a massive force on his back, and he fell straight in.

Tongtong struggled in terror; he couldn't swim. He wanted to call for help, but every time he opened his mouth, water flooded in. He heard Wu Zijie laughing on the bank, triumphantly saying that no one would save him, that he was going to drown, and that his parents would never see him again.

Filled with fear and horror, Tongtong screamed for his parents in his heart as he sank, filled with such deep unwillingness.

Just then, someone exercising happened to walk toward the pond. Wu Zijie fled quickly. Having grown up in the area, he knew every inch of the place and which paths to take to avoid being seen or captured by surveillance cameras.

Tongtong was rescued in time, but due to the shock, he passed away.

After several investigations, the police never identified Wu Zijie as the culprit, and the matter was eventually classified as an accident.

After the incident, Tang Qianran could never understand how her son, who had been sleeping in his bedroom, ended up in the park pond. He was such an obedient child; he would never have run off without telling her. But the event had already happened, and neighbors had seen him run out alone. With no evidence, she had to accept reality.

Filled with regret and fury, Tang Qianran wanted nothing more than to kill Wu Zijie right then and there. He was the one who had killed her child.

"I’m going to kill him!" She strode to the bedside, slapped Wu Zijie on the head, and was about to strike again when Han Ming grabbed her.

"Qianran, don't do this."

Tang Qianran turned back, her eyes red. "Are you trying to stop me? He killed our child! I have to avenge him!"

Han Ming was also consumed by hate, but he still had his reason. "Murder is against the law. Think about the baby in your womb."

"So Tongtong just died for nothing? Why does he get to keep living after killing someone, while I can't? Why!"

Even if the truth were revealed to the police, Wu Zijie wouldn't face any punishment. When Tongtong died, Wu Zijie was under twelve; he couldn't even be sent to a juvenile detention center. Her child had truly died in vain.

That slap finally woke the sleeping Wu Zijie. Seeing so many people in the bedroom, he shrank into the covers and instinctively called for his mother.

Tang Qianran glared at him. "Why wasn't it you who died!"

Wu Zijie shrunk further into his quilt.

Lang Xiao sighed. She hadn't laid out the truth to fuel hatred. She pressed down on Tang Qianran’s shoulder. "Tongtong saw Wu Zijie bump into you last time, and he wanted to avenge you too. He has been haunting Wu Zijie these past two days, but his soul power has depleted too much; he is about to dissipate. Cherish the time you have together; don't let hatred make you overlook what is more important."

Tang Qianran froze as if hit by a pause button. She locked eyes with Tongtong, who was looking at her with concern, and her eyes filled with tears again.

"If he dissipates, does that mean... he can't be reincarnated? Can you save him? I can pay—a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, whatever you want."

This was outside the demons' area of expertise. Though they were tempted by the amount, they had to give up helplessly.

"We will find someone to ask. Let's go outside first."

The master peeked at them, planning to make a run for it as soon as they left, but before he could move, he and Wu Zijie were bound in place by demonic power.

Passing by Wang Hongying, everyone saw her bloodshot eyes, which were bulging as if they might pop out. Lang Xiao said indifferently, "I forgot to seal her senses when I froze her."

This meant Wang Hongying had heard everything that happened in the room, but she couldn't move or speak, left only to stare in anxious rage.

An enraged Tang Qianran slapped her twice. They had been neighbors for years; it wasn't as if there hadn't been friction, but she had always operated on the principle of kindness and neighborly love, tolerating the other family. She hadn't expected that her tolerance would lead to her son's death. At that moment, she wanted to kill Wang Hongying as well.

Han Ming grabbed her hand and rubbed it. "Don't get angry, watch your health. Let me handle this next time." He also gave Wang Hongying two slaps; the parents were certainly not blameless for raising a child like that.

Wang Hongying’s face swelled up instantly, her eyes practically spitting fire.

The group returned to the apartment across the hall. After waiting for over half an hour, an old Taoist priest with an even more otherworldly aura pushed the door open.

"Where is that evil practitioner?"

"You're quite fast. He's across the hall."

Wang Wenyuan had sensed the ghost qi permeating the floor as soon as he arrived. He glanced at the little ghost huddled beside Tang Qianran. Having heard the brief account from the two demons, he understood the whole story. Cases like this were not uncommon; since the little ghost had not committed murder and had not turned into an evil spirit, he could still be saved.

He took out a jade medallion, chanted a spell, and pointed it at the little ghost, who was instantly drawn into the jade.