Chapter 7

Chapter 7

When Xie Qingfeng arrived at the hospital, his foster mother had already woken up. She was restless, with something on her mind, and had only slept for two hours.

She was talking to a caregiver when Xie Qingfeng entered. She immediately got up, muttering something, her expression a mix of caution and unease.

"Little... Little Feng..." Previously, out of sheer worry for Old Xie's safety, she clung to Xie Qingfeng as a lifesaver. Now regaining her senses, she remembered they were no longer a family.

The foster mother didn't dare to ask why he came to the hospital last night, probably having heard about it. Especially touched by his staying by her side all night, she was acutely aware that he was no longer their child.

Xie Qingfeng didn't mention that he had been kicked out by the Xie family. Telling or not, his foster parents couldn't do much, and it would only worry her more: "I brought some clothes and toiletries. Check if you need anything else, I'll go buy it."

The caregiver, seeing Xie Qingfeng's return, said she would go fetch water and left with the thermos.

The foster mother repeatedly said it was enough and asked Xie Qingfeng to sit down, but they found themselves at a loss for words.

The foster mother didn't know how to start the conversation, while Xie Qingfeng, not being the original person, preferred to speak less to avoid mistakes. Fortunately, the foster mother didn't overthink. The Xie family was modest, and the parents ran a snack stall, busy from dawn till dusk, spending little time with the original Xie Qingfeng.

Knowing the family's situation, the original Xie Qingfeng was obedient and helped at the snack stall during holidays. When he started high school, aiming for a good university to ease his parents' burden, he chose to board at school, further reducing their time together.

In his senior year, due to certain reasons, his personality changed drastically, becoming silent and reclusive, immersing himself in studies and rarely leaving home. The foster parents noticed something was off close to the college entrance exam but didn't inquire, fearing it might distract him.

But before they could ask, the issue of the child swap came to light.

So, seeing the now somewhat different Xie Qingfeng didn't raise any suspicions in the foster mother. After all, he had changed a lot over the year, and it was natural for him to be distant given his recent identity crisis.

Xie Qingfeng, noticing his foster mother's discomfort, stood up to buy breakfast, but she quickly offered to go herself. He refused, citing the need to care for his foster father.

He first went to pay the hospital bill. After paying, he was left with only a few hundred yuan, realizing the need to find a way to earn money.

Returning with breakfast, Xie Qingfeng heard subdued sobbing as he exited the elevator. He glanced toward the end of the corridor where a white-haired woman stood, facing away. Hearing someone, she quickly wiped her eyes with her sleeve and silenced herself.

Xie Qingfeng withdrew his gaze and headed straight back to the ward. That evening, when going to fetch water, he encountered her again.

He recognized her by her clothes. She was filling her thermos ahead of him, lost in thought and didn't notice it was about to overflow.

After Xie Qingfeng alerted her, she quickly snapped back to reality, turned off the tap, thanked him profusely, and hurried off.

As they passed each other, Xie Qingfeng glanced down and caught a glimpse of her face.

After seeing her, Xie Qingfeng's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes deepened. He quickly filled his water and returned to the ward.

Seeing him back, the foster mother urged him to go home and rest. 'Home' naturally meant the Xie household. She feared his biological parents might overthink if they knew he was still visiting here.

Xie Qingfeng hummed in response, knowing his presence indeed made her uncomfortable. Besides, there was no proper place for him to rest, only a small accompanying bed.

Xie Qingfeng put down the thermos: "I'll come back tomorrow morning."

The foster mother's eyes reddened. She opened her mouth to say he needn't bother, but deep down, she longed to see more of the child she had raised from infancy. She hummed softly, "Don't overexert yourself. It's fine to come later."

After agreeing, Xie Qingfeng left behind the clothes the original body had bought and then departed.

He first went to the storage locker on the first floor to retrieve his handbag he had taken out of the ward in the morning. Then, he checked into a nearby hotel, took a bath, changed clothes, and sat cross-legged on the bed to meditate.

When he had absorbed all the spiritual energy around him into his body, Xie Qingfeng opened his eyes and exhaled softly.

Glancing at the time, it was already past two in the morning. He took another shower, dried his hair, and was about to sleep when his phone on the nightstand lit up.

Xie Qingfeng walked over and lit the screen, seeing Hao Jixin's message popping up again [Jinx Jinx Jinx: Master!! Help meee!!!]

Xie Qingfeng clicked into it and saw that just a minute earlier, Hao Jixin had sent [Jinx Jinx Jinx: Master, are you available now?]

While he was reading, Hao Jixin sent another one [Jinx Jinx Jinx: Wuuu Master, can you come over? We can discuss the price!]

Xie Qingfeng frowned at the previous message crying for help, knowing Hao Jixin had five high-level peace charms, which should theoretically keep him safe from mortal danger.

Before leaving, he had also checked Hao Jixin's face and didn't see any imminent danger.

He took out his phone, recalled how to type, but not being used to it, he simply sent a voice message instead: "Location."

In the Night Sky Bar, Hao Jixin was huddled in a small private room, cursing his so-called friends who had nearly gotten him killed!

His friends were also huddled next to him, trembling with fear: "What's happening? Any news? Is the Master coming?"

They received a glare from Hao Jixin but weren't annoyed, instead responding with forced smiles. They meant well, after all; who knew the bar owner would hire a fraudster disguised as a master?

Hao Jixin, shaking, sent another message, clasping his hands in prayer and glancing at the triangular talisman stuck on the door, hoping it would provide some protection.

Fortunately, at that moment, a message notification sounded, more pleasing to Hao Jixin's ears than any sound he'd ever heard.

Opening the message, he found only two cold, indifferent words, yet they brought immense reassurance.

Hao Jixin yelped, immediately sending his location and the number of the private room on the third floor, then collapsed to the ground, his life seemingly spared!

The others trembled, but hearing the surprisingly young voice in the message, they voiced their unease: "Can this really work? Why does the Master sound so young? Could he be unreliable?" They were paranoid after being duped by the charlatan in the Taoist robe.

Hao Jixin snorted, giving them a disdainful glance: "Is that the same thing? See the peace charm on the door? If it weren't for that, that thing would've barged in long ago! That's what the Master provided!"

Without that charm, he feared he would have met his end in the storage room just then.

After parting with the Master in the morning, he had returned home, not daring to tell his parents about his ghostly encounter, fearing they would worry. He simply said he'd slept at a friend's house.

He then gave the peace charms to his parents and elder brother at breakfast. They twitched their mouths at first, but since it was the first gift from their youngest son/brother, they didn't comment and casually put them in their pockets.

As for his second sister, who was busy with a lab project at school and hadn't come home, Hao Jixin kept her charm.

Having hardly slept the night before, he finally lay down on his bed and fell asleep immediately.

After sleeping in until the evening and having dinner with plans to play games, Hao Jixin received a call from Cheng Jinzi and his group, asking him to come to the bar.

They claimed they had caught the malevolent entity and wanted him to witness the spectacle. After the bar closed, they planned to have the Master dispose of it, giving Hao Jixin a chance to see and feel avenged.

Convinced by their assertive tone, and having almost been harmed by the entity previously, Hao Jixin was curious to see the disposal process and took a taxi to the bar as it was about to close.

On his way back, he planned to drive his sports car he had left there.

He arrived at the bar around two in the morning, closing time, and went up to the third floor as agreed, seeing Cheng Jinzi and his group standing at the entrance as he stepped out of the elevator.

Nearby, the bar owner was grinning at him, standing next to a Taoist priest in robes, holding a compass and looking the part.

The owner, a friend of Hao Jixin's friend, Mao Yue, initially didn't take things seriously. But after hearing from Mao Yue about Hao Jixin getting peace charms from a Master, and considering the CCTV footage at the police station, he grew uneasy and didn't want to lose Hao Jixin as a valuable customer.

So, he decided to hire this Taoist priest, reputed for his expertise.

To convince Hao Jixin and prove to him, they invited him over to witness the “elimination” of the malevolent entity so he wouldn't have grounds to complain later.

Although the owner and Mao Yue's group had hired the priest, they didn't truly believe in such things, considering them just rumors.

They found it amusing that Hao Jixin had seriously sought a Master and obtained peace charms, suspecting he might have been scammed again.

Initially, the priest seemed convincing, especially since the bar was closed, and it was eerily quiet with just them and the priest on the third floor. The priest started by waving a peach wood sword around, then suddenly kicked open the door to the storage room.

They all felt a chill rush towards them, and before they could see clearly, the priest was suddenly flung backward with great force, crashing several meters away.

Simultaneously, the peach wood sword in the priest's hand flew up into the air and, spinning around, lunged straight at Hao Jixin.

Hao Jixin and the others were petrified by this scene, too terrified to even scream, helplessly watching as the peach wood sword aimed directly at Hao Jixin's face.

Hao Jixin was paralyzed with fear, unable to move. Fortunately, the sword that was hurtling towards him was suddenly stopped by something and fell to the ground with a clatter.

The sound snapped Hao Jixin and the others back to reality, and they began to run, screaming.

As Hao Jixin ran, he felt as if someone was chasing him from behind, and his chest burned several times. Eventually, they all rushed into a small private room, slamming the door shut. But then, they heard a sharp, eerie laughter outside, sending chills down their spines. Hao Jixin, trembling, pulled out two strings from around his neck; one of them had a peace charm at the end, now burnt to ash.

Clearly, it had just saved him multiple times, proving to be much more powerful than before.

Holding the peace charm in front of his eyes, the others realized something and huddled behind Hao Jixin, begging for protection.

Left with no other choice, Hao Jixin stuck the remaining charm on the door to prevent the entity from entering and quickly took out his phone to call for help.