Chapter 139

Chapter 139

Upon hearing this, Shen Qiuji was instantly stunned.

"... I saw Ren Lingfeng appear by his side, more than once," he paused for a few seconds, then emphasizing the number of times he saw the ghostly woman in a blood-stained skirt, "Isn't that considered an encounter with the supernatural?"

Xie Yinxue looked at him, speaking softly yet with conviction, "It's you who saw the ghost, not Duan Wenqian. Just seeing a ghost doesn't necessarily mean encountering the supernatural."

Liu Buhua also sensed something amiss, "By that logic, shouldn't you be the one who encountered the supernatural, Qiuji?"

"How could I possibly encounter the supernatural?"

Shen Qiuji refuted Liu Buhua's claim, but found no words to counter Xie Yinxue's.

He was very clear that there was no sign of any haunting spirit around Duan Wenqian, except for the undeniable fact that Ren Lingfeng frequently lingered by his side.

Seeing both Liu Buhua and Shen Qiuji calm down, and with no evidence of any anomalies concerning Duan Wenqian, Xie Yinxue deduced that Shen Qiuji had been deceived by his newly awakened sixth sense.

"The place where Ren Lingfeng is buried doesn't have strong negative energy. Perhaps she genuinely sees Duan Wenqian as her own child and follows him, without any intent to harm. We'll perform a ritual on the mountain later to help her move on. It's likely Duan Wenqian was just genuinely late today," Xie Yinxue sighed softly.

"Oh," Shen Qiuji touched his eyes, frowning in confusion, "Should I go back to school for class?"

Seeing his puzzled expression, Xie Yinxue said, "Let's go home. I want to take a closer look at your eyes and see what's really going on."

Shen Qiuji nodded in agreement, "Okay."

Meanwhile, Liu Buhua started the car, preparing to make a U-turn back to Mingyue Cliff.

As they drove under a dense canopy of trees, they suddenly heard a light "clang" from above, as if something had fallen onto the car roof.

Given it was broad daylight and they were under the shade of trees, Liu Buhua assumed it might be something from the tree, perhaps a fallen branch, that caused the noise.

The young man, feigning sleep in the backseat, suddenly opened his eyes. They were blanketed in a pure white, even the pupils gleaming a luminescent snowy hue. He commanded, "Stop the car."

Xie Yinxue rarely activates his yin-yang eyes. When he does, it indicates the presence of spirits nearby.

After pulling over, Liu Buhua excitedly turned to Shen Qiuji, who was sitting in the passenger seat, exclaiming, "Wow! There's a ghost!"

Shen Qiuji immediately recalled the noise they heard from the car's rooftop earlier, "Is it on top of our car?"

Areas beneath trees, especially those like locust, willow, and banyan, are known to attract spirits. There's a folk saying: the cool shade under a tree might not just be because of the blocking leaves but could also be because of the presence of ghosts.

Thus, those who are weak or sickly are advised not to stay too long under shaded trees.

Their car was now parked under the dense shade of trees. It wouldn’t be surprising to encounter a ghost, but what was truly astonishing was that with Shen Qiuji around, how dare a spirit approach? Liu Buhua pondered this, keeping an eye on the rearview mirror for any movement in the back.

However, Xie Yinxue did not step out of the car. He merely rolled down his window, inquiring softly, "Why are you following us?"

Had Liu Buhua and Shen Qiuji been able to see what Xie Yinxue saw, they would have recognized the woman named "Ren Lingfeng", whom they saw in the photograph on the tombstone the previous night, now kneeling on the path, shielding herself from the sun filtering through the leaves, pleading, "I beg you…"

"Please, save Qianqian's mother…"

Even before Ren Lingfeng spoke, upon seeing her desperate demeanor, Xie Yinxue could sense she was about to make a request. What he didn't expect was that her plea was not for herself or Duan Wenqian, but for another seemingly unrelated woman in this affair.

Xie Yinxue had been sought for help by many people in his lifetime, but being beseeched by a ghost was an unprecedented event.

"What happened to her?" He shifted a bit to make some space and opened the car door, "It's quite sunny outside. Why don't you come in and tell me?"

Liu Buhua and Shen Qiuji: "..."

Perhaps the scorching sun outside was less intimidating to her than the presence of Shen Qiuji inside the car. Hence, Ren Lingfeng declined Xie Yinxue's offer but, wary of wasting time, promptly recounted the events of the past days to him.

Ren Lingfeng's entanglement with Duan Wenqian began the moment she mysteriously received a tombstone.

She had been a ghost for twenty years. Twenty years ago, she died of complications during childbirth, and her newborn passed away shortly after crying a few times. Deemed unlucky by her husband's family and with her parents already deceased and no one to protect her, she was hastily buried on a hillside, wrapped in a straw mat, without a funeral or a tombstone, following local customs.

As for all this, Ren Lingfeng held little resentment. Women like her were abundant in her husband's hometown. Her only regret was never laying eyes on her child who didn't survive.

The child was a boy, and even in death, he was buried on the old family hill, separate from Ren Lingfeng.

Poor Ren Lingfeng, burdened by her unfulfilled desires, didn't reincarnate and became a wandering spirit in the mountains.

It wasn't until two decades later that a group unexpectedly erected a tombstone for her.

The gravestone bore her name and likeness, and alongside it, the name and photograph of another young boy.

As Ren Lingfeng looked at the boy, she couldn't help but think of her own son. She wondered, having been gone for twenty years, could her child have been reincarnated as this boy, with whom she now shared a tombstone?

Even if not... couldn't it be possible?

Ren Lingfeng admitted, she had harbored such a fleeting thought.

She missed her child so dearly and felt profound loneliness. How wonderful would it be to have her child by her side again?

But Ren Lingfeng was not a vengeful spirit.

Even after her tragic death, being treated unjustly by her in-laws, and years of her grave being neglected, she harbored no resentment. She felt only pity—pity for herself and for other women who shared her fate.

She could never bring harm to an innocent child.

Those who sought to use Ren Lingfeng's grave to harm Duan Wenqian probably hadn't expected that her spirit would be so benevolent.

Typically, the two most likely spirits to become vengeful are unborn children and women who die during pregnancy. Yet, Ren Lingfeng, despite wandering the earth for twenty years, had not turned vengeful.

"I know it's not good for me to be around Wenqian all the time, but I fear for his safety, so I always watch over him," Ren Lingfeng said, sitting up straight. Her pale visage could be seen as frightening, but her heart was purer than many living beings. "I only accompany him to and from school; I've never entered his home."

Typically, families would place protective talismans at their doorways to ward off spirits. In the presence of these talismans, even vengeful spirits would typically be barred entry. And even without such talismans, spirits cannot enter a home without an invitation or a reason.

"Invitation" means the spirit has been directly invited into the home.

"Reason" refers to a connection—like picking up an object one shouldn't have, uttering forbidden words, or encountering malevolent forces. Without the protection of a talisman, this can allow a spirit to follow you home.

Technically, since Duan Wenqian's name and photograph were already on the same tombstone as Ren Lingfeng's, she could easily have followed him home. But she chose not to, content with only watching over him during his brief journey to and from school.

"I have nowhere to go. After he returns home, I just stand outside his building, watching from a distance, and that brings me contentment..."

As she spoke, a gentle smile played on Ren Lingfeng's lips, the way any mother would smile when speaking of her child. However, as her words continued, her expression turned grave: "Currently, it seems I am the only danger to Wenqian. But his mother..."

Standing outside Duan Wenqian's home, Ren Lingfeng could see everyone who entered or left. Naturally, this included Duan Wenqian's mother, Duan Danmei. Being a spirit, Ren Lingfeng saw things that normal people couldn't.

Thus, she had seen the ghostly infant clinging to Duan Danmei's leg—a sight from just four days ago.

Now, that ghostly infant had crawled up to Duan Danmei's shoulder.

The fragile and vital neck of a human now lay within the grasp of those small yet terrifying hands.

It should be noted that Ren Lingfeng's reluctance to harm Duan Wenqian stems from her understanding of right and wrong, even in death. But ghostly infants, who never saw the world and couldn't distinguish good from evil, act purely on their innate desires filled with feelings of abandonment, pain, resentment, and hatred.

To them, what could be more satisfying and joyful than having a mother?

It didn't matter if Duan Danmei couldn't mother a ghost child in life; in death, she could.

Ren Lingfeng wasn't sure how Duan Danmei attracted the attention of this ghostly infant – perhaps a past miscarriage or some other reason. Still, the pressing issue now was: Duan Danmei's life was in grave danger.

Duan Wenqian's continued safety is due to Ren Lingfeng's subdued animosity. But this mild resentment also means she couldn't bridge the gap between the living and the dead. She knew of Duan Danmei's peril but couldn't warn her directly.

All Ren Lingfeng could do was influence Duan Wenqian's dreams, hinting at the danger facing Duan Danmei.

They say a mother's bond with her child is profound. Duan Wenqian had faint perceptions of Ren Lingfeng's troubles, but he was too young to articulate his visions from the dream realm.

Even if he did explain, Duan Danmei would probably dismiss it.

She would think the child felt neglected and invented these odd tales for attention – that's what Duan Danmei thought when she received his call last night.

"Mom will be working late tonight and can't come home," Duan Danmei sighed, lowering the volume of her earpiece as Duan Wenqian's cries grew louder. "If you're scared, ask Auntie Zhang or Uncle Wen to sleep with you."

"I'm not scared! I really had a dream! A terrifying doll was clinging to you, trying to take you away from me!"

"You have to believe me, Mom! I'm not lying!"

"… Please, can you come home?"

Duan Wenqian's voice trembled, broken by sobs, barely comprehensible. Probably only Duan Danmei could decipher his words.

Honestly, hearing her son cry like this tore at Duan Danmei's heartstrings. But an urgent project at work held her back. As for his tales of spirits, she never believed in such things. She considered maybe she hadn't been there for him recently and promised herself a vacation with him soon.

Rubbing her temples, Duan Danmei soothingly said, "Alright, Wenqian, stop crying. Let me speak to Uncle Wen."

Seeing that his pleas had done nothing to sway Duan Danmei's decision, Duan Wenqian thought that his mother often seemed to heed Uncle Wen's advice. He handed the phone to Wen Cunye and said, "Uncle Wen, can you ask Mom to come home, please?"

"Alright, alright. Let me speak with her."

Wen Cunye, ever the patient father figure, took the phone and indeed tried to persuade her, "Danmei, are you really swamped over there? Wenqian is crying uncontrollably. Perhaps you could come and see him?"

"Come back? We're likely pulling an all-nighter tonight," Duan Danmei responded in exasperation. "There are so many colleagues still here at the company. How would it look if I were the only one to leave? Please ask Auntie Zhang to soothe Wenqian and put him to bed. He has class tomorrow."

"Alright then, take care of yourself."

"Alright, goodbye."

Duan Danmei hastily ended the call, showing a mix of impatience and reluctance to speak further with Wen Cunye. However, Wen Cunye felt elated.

Seeing the smile on Wen Cunye's face, Duan Wenqian assumed that his mother had been convinced to return home. He eagerly grabbed Wen's sleeve, eyes filled with hope, asking, "How did it go, Uncle Wen? Is my mom coming home?"

Wen Cunye was tempted to say something cruel, enough to make this child, who shared no blood relation with him, cry even harder. But with Aunt Zhang at home, he figured it was best to continue playing the role of a good stepfather until everything settled.

Hence, Wen Cunye patiently replied, nodding, "Yes, she'll be home as soon as she finishes her work."

Duan Wenqian had heard such reassurances too many times. So many, in fact, that he immediately knew Wen Cunye was lying. Since his pleas had fallen on deaf ears, making a scene seemed the next best option—it had worked in the past.

Duan Wenqian hoped this time would be no different.

Thus, he sat down on the ground, kicking his legs and began to wail, "I won't accept this!"

"No! No! I want my mom to come back now! Wahhh..."

Many adults, when confronted with a misbehaving child not of their kin, might feel the urge to give the child a smack, hoping to instill some discipline. Even with their own offspring, given enough provocation, they might harbor such thoughts.

But at that moment, Wen Cunye was remarkably calm. Even he was amazed at his own patience, perhaps because he knew the mother and son wouldn't be around for much longer.

Maintaining his gentle and elegant smile, Wen Cunye went to call Aunt Zhang from the nanny's room to put Duan Wenqian to bed. He then retreated to his bedroom, shutting out all the noise with a closed door.

After a long bout of crying from Duan Wenqian and Aunt Zhang's inability to console him, she decided to redial his mother's number, only to find it unreachable.

An emotionless automated voice informed them: "The number you have dialed is currently busy. Please try again later."

"Hello?"

"Mom... sob..."

The child's voice was soft and hoarse, clearly from prolonged crying.

"Qianqian, Mom is really busy right now," Duan Danmei took a deep breath, using all her remaining patience to speak gently to Duan Wenqian, "If you keep this up, Mom will get upset. You have school tomorrow. Go to sleep now, and I'll be home as soon as I can."

Silence from the other end, punctuated only by the sound of a sniffle and soft sobbing.

Duan Danmei pursed her lips. Without any response from Duan Wenqian, and not knowing what else to say, she glanced at her colleagues, busy with their tasks. She couldn't afford to waste any more time, so she ended the call.

"Wuh... Hahaha..."

Just as she was hanging up, Duan Danmei thought she heard the sound of a child's sobbing on the other end suddenly morphing into what sounded like a twisted giggle. Was it laughter?

Duan Danmei couldn't be sure; she had ended the call too quickly. She only pondered it for a few seconds before redirecting her attention back to her computer.

Unfortunately, it seemed her son wasn't willing to let her off the hook.

The familiar ringtone she'd set specifically for Wenqian began chiming from her desktop phone. Without even glancing at the screen, Duan Danmei knew who was calling.

Already stretched thin from her busy evening, and now with Wenqian's repeated interruptions, her patience had reached its limit. She answered the call, her voice sharp and loud, "Duan Wenqian!"

"Mom... sob..."

The pitiful cry came through the phone, the child pleading desolately, "Mom... I want to be with you... Can we be together?"

Assuming he was asking her to come home, Duan Danmei neither agreed nor refused but snapped, "Why won't you listen? I told you I'm at work!"

"Sob... But I miss you so much..."

After a few choking sobs, and before Duan Danmei could scold him again, the child's voice took on a surprisingly serious tone, asking innocently, "Mom, I'm here to see you. Can you open the door for me?"

Had her son come to her office?

That was Duan Danmei's immediate thought.

Out of a protective instinct for her child, she immediately rose from her seat, her heels clicking as she rushed to the office door. She reached for the handle and pulled the door open.

Of course, there was nothing outside. Just a chilling night breeze, cold as the touch of a corpse, eerily brushing against her face.

The chilling draft snapped Duan Danmei back to reality in the hallway. Wait, open which door? The main office door wasn't even locked; anyone could walk in by simply pulling it open. Besides, she was on the nineteenth floor, and she'd need to take the elevator down to the first floor. The reception desk was on the first floor, so which door was Duan Wenqian referring to?

Moreover, Duan Wenqian had no idea where her office was located, did he?

Only Wen Cunye in the family knew. But it was unlikely for him to bring Duan Wenqian to disturb her, especially not at this time. Could it be that Duan Wenqian was crying so uncontrollably that Wen Cunye couldn't handle it any longer?

"Wenqian, how did you come here?"

Duan Danmei asked, but there was no response on the other end.

She glanced down at her phone in confusion, only to discover that she wasn't actually on a call.

Did Duan Wenqian hang up the phone?

Duan Danmei tapped the dialing interface, intending to call back. Just as her fingertip was about to touch the screen, she froze in shock upon seeing the call history. Tonight, there was only one call between her and Duan Wenqian.

Moreover, that was the call Duan Wenqian made to her ten minutes ago.

But after that... didn't she receive two more calls from Duan Wenqian?

Duan Wenqian even asked her to open the door for him...

Duan Danmei was utterly perplexed. Staring blankly at the phone screen, she felt cold. She wasn't sure if it was due to the inefficient heating of the spacious hallway's central air conditioning or the cold breeze that just brushed her face. Either way, she felt as if icy hands were resting on her neck, giving her goosebumps.

Wait a second...

It's winter now. The central heating in the company building is on, and most windows in the hallways and offices are closed. In such a sealed environment, how could she feel a cold breeze?

Duan Danmei swallowed hard. Though she had never believed in the supernatural, she now felt that something was amiss. Gripping her phone, she was about to hurry back to the main office when the sound of the elevator "ding" announced its arrival.

The problem was, when the elevator doors opened, it was empty. No one inside.

Duan Danmei wasn't scared of the empty elevator. What truly terrified her was the simultaneous vibration of her phone as the doors opened. A text message appeared from an unknown number:

[Mom, I'm here to find you.]

Duan Danmei's eyes widened in horror. She shuddered violently and nearly dropped her phone.

Her heart raced. In that instant, the hallway lights went out, leaving only the eerie glow of her phone displaying that chilling message. Frantically, she tried to exit the message screen but couldn't. Without hesitation, she turned and bolted to the main office, thinking she'd be safe with her colleagues.

The main office was dark like the hallway, but there was a faint green glow emanating from some of the cubicles. Were those from laptops?

Trying to reassure herself and seeking solace in conversation, Duan Danmei said aloud, "It seems there's a power outage. I hadn’t saved my proposal. I wish I had worked on a laptop. I hope Word's cloud save is reliable."

Silence. An unsettling, absolute silence enveloped the main office.

Duan Danmei felt a chill crawling up from her ankles, her body stiffening even more. She wondered: Is this really my office?

Why is it so quiet?

Why isn't there the sound of mouse clicks or the tapping of keyboards? Why are her colleagues sitting at their desks, unmoved by the significant disruption of a power outage, as if they were lifeless?

Duan Danmei had so many questions, but she found herself unable to speak. She took hesitant steps towards her desk, not daring to look anywhere else, hoping to grab her car keys and go home.

But she walked for what felt like forever, her feet aching in her high heels, her legs feeling as heavy as if they were filled with cement. Still, she hadn’t reached her desk.

Duan Danmei knew this wasn’t right. The distance to her desk wasn’t this long. But too many things were off tonight. She took deep breaths, trying to keep herself calm and collected. After all, she had a son waiting for her at home; she couldn’t let anything happen to herself. If the heels were the problem, she decided, she would take them off.

As Duan Danmei bent down to undo the straps of her heels, instead of feeling the cool leather, she felt a pair of icy little hands gripping her calves. That explained the heaviness—there was a small ghostly figure clinging to her.

"Mama."

The owner of the hands called out to her. The childlike, androgynous voice sounded eerily similar to Duan Wenqian, but with an uncanny, ethereal quality that made Duan Danmei certain it wasn't her son.

"Mama~ Look at me—"

Perhaps frustrated by the lack of response, the voice cooed at her again, fingers digging painfully into her flesh, forcing Duan Danmei to look down.

What she saw was a ghostly infant covered in purplish bruises.

The infant had no teeth, just bare gums. Its eyes were undeveloped, appearing as dark voids. The translucent, bloody skin revealed clear organs beneath, and it held up a severed umbilical cord, offering it to Duan Danmei as it asked, "Mama, will you stay with me?"

This was the scene Duan Wenqian had dreamt about.

He couldn't reach Duan Danmei all night, and after crying himself to exhaustion, he drifted into a disturbed sleep, only to be awakened by the haunting dream.

When he woke up, he sat on the bed in a daze. Zhang Auntie, who came in to wake him up for school, found him like this and murmured, "Did Wenqian wake up by himself today? Time to get dressed; you have school."

Turning his head towards her, Duan Wenqian declared, "I'm not going."

"Huh?"

"I'm not going to school," Duan Wenqian threw off the blankets and jumped out of bed. Barefoot and in pajamas, he bolted for the door. "Is my mom home yet?"

He ran to the master bedroom, knocking frantically on the door. "Mama! Mama!"

Half a minute later, Wen Cunye opened the door. Duan Wenqian rushed in, searching every corner, but couldn't find the one person he longed to see.

"Hasn't mom come back?"

Bursting into tears once more, Duan Wenqian clung to Wen Cunye's leg, shaking him as he sobbed, "Mama! I want Mama!"