Chapter 21

Chapter 21

After Xie Qingfeng and Hao Jixin agreed to take on Old Master Zhang's case, Hao Jixin handled the communication with the Zhang family.

During the handover period, Xie Qingfeng first returned to his foster parents' home to reassure them. After staying for a day and receiving a message from Hao Jixin, he informed his foster parents that he needed to go to B city before leaving.

Xie Qingfeng and Hao Jixin planned to depart for B city the next day.

Since the journey was long, they decided to travel by plane.

Hao Jixin picked up Xie Qingfeng from the hotel, with a driver from his family taking them to the airport.

While waiting at the airport, Hao Jixin quietly shared what he had learned in the past two days about the Zhang family's situation.

"After my old man found out you took the job, hehe, he helped to gather some information. He’s made many connections over the years, so people were willing to share some details out of respect, but not much. We'll have to wait until we get to the Zhang family's old house for the specifics," Hao Jixin relayed everything he knew.

The Zhang family had indeed spent a lot of money this time, inviting several well-known masters from various places. Regardless of the outcome, the Zhang family would reimburse all travel expenses and provide a separate hardship fee upon departure.

Though it wasn't as much as the offered ten million, given the Zhang family's wealth, it was surely a significant amount.

Either way, this trip was definitely not a loss.

"Since you haven’t done consultations for others before and aren’t known in C city, to get past the Zhang family's scrutiny, we said you were a disciple of a highly skilled master. Just don't slip up on that," Hao Jixin, having witnessed Xie Qingfeng's abilities firsthand, knew he was capable of catching ghosts – not something ordinary people could do.

If it weren't for the master's low profile, he would probably have already been sought after to be venerated.

Xie Qingfeng hummed in agreement, saying he was a disciple of a great master wasn't untrue; his master was the national master of the Great Jing Dynasty, worthy of the title.

Hao Jixin continued, "This time, it's said that five experts were invited from different places, including one known by the Zhang family. Along with the master, that makes seven people in total. I’ll accompany you... Master, what are you looking at?"

Hao Jixin suddenly noticed that Xie Qingfeng, who had been quietly looking at one spot, abruptly raised his head to look somewhere else.

The movement was so abrupt that Hao Jixin couldn't help but follow his gaze, only to find the airport bustling with hurried people, nothing unusual.

Or perhaps he hadn't noticed something?

Hao Jixin thought there might be something supernatural there, shivering involuntarily and instinctively moving closer to Xie Qingfeng: "Mas... Master, it's not here, right?"

He felt a chill in the air around him.

Xie Qingfeng didn't respond, just frowning and looking into the distance, until Hao Jixin, who had started rubbing the back of his hands and expressing his fear due to the chilly and eerie feeling, heard Xie Qingfeng come back to reality: "It's just the air conditioning here, there's nothing else."

"Oh!" Hao Jixin immediately felt less afraid, realizing that being near the master always gave him a sense of security, but he was curious about what the master had been looking at.

Unable to resist his curiosity, he looked in the same direction, just in time to see a brief advertisement replaying on a large screen opposite them. A figure appeared in the ad for only three seconds, flashing by.

Hao Jixin: "Master, were you... were you watching that advertisement just now?"

What was so interesting about this ad?

Surprisingly, Xie Qingfeng hummed in affirmation and, as the ad replayed, unexpectedly pointed at the young man slowly appearing on the screen, asking, "Who is he?"

Hao Jixin stared dumbfounded at the person in the ad, a 17 or 18-year-old wearing a white shirt, with a cold and melancholic look in his eyes, holding the endorsed product and gazing quietly at the camera.

The image then vanished in a flash, replaced by a close-up of the product being endorsed and a flamboyant, illegible signature in the corner.

Looking at this all-too-familiar advertisement, Hao Jixin was in shock: "Master, you... you don't know him?"

Xie Qingfeng had already looked away: "Should I know him?"

Hao Jixin shook his head, thinking that after all, a master like Xie Qingfeng and ordinary people are different. If the master says he doesn't know him, then he probably doesn't.

Hao Jixin quickly explained to Xie Qingfeng: "That ad is actually four years old. I've seen it for several years now. It's the last and only ad Jing Mianfeng did before temporarily retiring from the public eye. However, I heard the contract is almost up, so it probably won't be seen anymore."

"His surname is Jing?" Xie Qingfeng was momentarily startled, wondering if it was because he had crossed over with the young emperor’s treasury, that he subconsciously thought the young emperor had also crossed over when he saw the treasury in the ad.

But upon closer inspection, he realized they were two completely different people.

Yet they looked very similar, especially their eyebrows and facial features, which could easily make someone mistake them for the young emperor at first glance.

But the differences became clear upon a second look.

Even though their clothes and hairstyles were different, their temperament and eyes were entirely different. The young emperor had always been a proud and rebellious cub since childhood, becoming more composed and restrained after ascending the throne.

The youth in the ad, however, had a melancholic look in his eyes, as if he could disappear into thin air the next moment, giving off an ethereal and elusive vibe.

Even though they shared the same surname, their names were different, so it must be a coincidence.

In the vast world, it’s not rare to find similar-looking people; didn’t he also look very much like his original self?

Having almost finished discussing the information he had about the Zhang family, Hao Jixin noticed Xie Qingfeng's interest in Jing Mianfeng and eagerly shared everything he knew.

Jing Mianfeng rose to fame at a young age, debuting at fifteen. With his outstanding looks, good temperament, and decent acting skills, he became well-known across the internet in just three years, and with his first movie, he became the youngest new actor to win the Best Actor award.

"All this happened four years ago. Even if we consider his age now, he would still be the youngest actor to win that award. Unfortunately, his parents had a plane accident, and after finishing this ad, he temporarily retired. It’s been four years now. There have been several false rumors about his comeback by his agent and company over the years," Hao Jixin couldn't help but lament the unpredictability of life. If it hadn't been for the plane accident, given Jing Mianfeng's popularity back then, he might be at the peak of his career by now.

After finishing, Hao Jixin looked at Xie Qingfeng and, seeing he wasn't surprised, wondered about the master's ability: "Master, did you figure all this out from Jing Mianfeng's facial features earlier?"

Xie Qingfeng hummed in response: "But that was four years ago; I could only see his fate at that time."

Hao Jixin became intrigued: "Does that mean a person's fate can change?"

Xie Qingfeng gave him a sidelong glance, noticing they were ready to board the plane: "Of course, wasn't your fate almost changed recently? Let's go."

Hao Jixin chuckled and hurriedly followed: "I was just lucky to meet the master."

As Xie Qingfeng turned the corner, he couldn't help but look back and once again caught the gaze of the person on the large screen, filled with melancholy and sadness, causing his brow to furrow.

He could only hope that four years later, the person's fate had changed, or that he had changed his own mind.

Otherwise, based on his facial features from four years ago, he would only have half a year left to live.

The flight from C city to B city took three to four hours. As it was inconvenient for Xie Qingfeng to meditate and let his consciousness wander on the plane, he simply took the blanket Hao Jixin handed him and closed his eyes to rest.

Usually unable to sleep in unfamiliar environments, Xie Qingfeng quickly fell asleep this time.

Perhaps because he had seen Jing Mianfeng, who greatly resembled the young emperor at the airport, Xie Qingfeng dreamed of his second encounter with the young emperor as a child.

The first time he met the young emperor, he was perched on the cold palace wall, eyeing the roast pigeon in his hand.

Xie Qingfeng looked up and, seeing the cub looking pitiful, instinctively offered the roast pigeon: "Do you want it?"

The cub looked at him warily, not taking it, but also not leaving.

Thinking he was hesitant about accepting food from others, Xie Qingfeng explained: "I follow a vegetarian diet with my master and don't eat meat. This was roasted by my fellow disciples, but they got caught and handed it to me. I was going to give it away anyway, and since we met, it's fate. You can have it."

Having studied with his master for two years, Xie Qingfeng was young but spoke with the maturity of an adult.

Especially in front of a cub much younger than him.

The cub still didn't move but listened to his words. After a moment, he suddenly leaned over the wall, stretching out his small body to snatch the roast pigeon, disappearing behind the wall before Xie Qingfeng could react.

"Hey, you..." Xie Qingfeng had just noticed the cub was barefoot in the cold and was about to ask, but then he vanished.

Thinking the other must be a young eunuch, he shook his head in resignation. He was also new to the palace and couldn't concern himself with too much.

The second time Xie Qingfeng encountered the cub was a month later, during the coldest time of the year. He was bundled up like a ball, tightly wrapped, carrying a stack of blank talismans to deliver to his eldest senior brother.

By some fluke, he took the route past the cold palace. As he was about to pass by, he heard a noise behind a rockery and went towards it.

As he peered around, he almost got hit by a stone. The fierce, wolf-cub-like youngster stopped throwing stones when he saw it was Xie Qingfeng.

Xie Qingfeng was initially startled, but seeing the dirty, bloodied forehead of the cub, he asked in shock, "Were you beaten? Who would be so cruel to a child?"

The cub, detecting the concern in his voice and seeing that Xie Qingfeng was also a child, let his guard down and retreated to a corner behind the rockery, hugging his knees and burying his head in silence.

The small, pitiable figure reminded Xie Qingfeng of the days before his master took him in when he was a begging orphan.

Xie Qingfeng quickly said, "Wait for me, I'll be back," and ran off.

After delivering the items to his eldest senior brother, he rushed back to get ointment for wounds and returned.

Fearing the cub might have left, he was relieved to find him still there. The cub looked up warily at the sound, saw Xie Qingfeng return, moved his lips, but then buried his head again in silence.

Xie Qingfeng squatted beside him, gently poking the cub with a finger, "You've hurt your forehead. Let me apply some medicine, okay? If we don't treat it, you might get a fever and fall ill."

The cub didn't raise his head or make a sound.

Since the time with the roast pigeon, Xie Qingfeng felt that the cub might not speak, but his body was honest. His silence meant agreement.

He moved forward to lift the cub's hair. The boy's hair had grown long, messy, covering his entire forehead and eyes. To treat the wound, he had to clear the hair first.

But as Xie Qingfeng revealed the cub's entire forehead and the boy looked up, Xie Qingfeng was taken aback, "Your fate..."

The cub's expression changed at the mention of fate, quickly trying to cover his forehead again, but he froze at Xie Qingfeng's next words.

Xie Qingfeng, with a furrowed brow, said, "Is my learning inadequate? Aren't you a little eunuch? How can you have the fate of an emperor?"

Realizing he had said something he shouldn't have, Xie Qingfeng quickly shut his mouth, but the cub had already heard and showed an expression Xie Qingfeng couldn't comprehend, "What?"