Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Unable to check the small treasury at that moment, Xie Qingfeng paused briefly to suppress his doubts and continued following the group.

As they reached their destination, Xie Qingfeng frowned, looking at the bright red doors ahead and feeling an uncomfortable aura spreading around.

Xie Qingfeng instinctively stopped in his tracks, raising his hand to halt Hao Jixin, who immediately stopped, looking anxious, "Master, what's wrong?"

Before Xie Qingfeng could respond, a frantic shout came from inside the courtyard: "Master Zhang!"

Xie Qingfeng pulled out a blank talisman paper from his pocket, quickly drew a rune with his spiritual energy, and handed it to Hao Jixin, "Don't go in, stay here with this."

He couldn’t afford to worry about Hao Jixin now, especially since Hao wouldn’t be of much help inside.

Hao Jixin immediately clutched it tightly, obediently hiding behind a tree, "Don’t worry, Master, I definitely won’t go in."

This was the first time he saw such a serious expression on the master's face; something significant must have happened.

When the butler led the five masters to the courtyard where Elder Zhang lived alone, they saw Elder Zhang being choked fiercely by Daoist Cui, while a young man was desperately trying to pull Daoist Cui away, signaling for the butler and others to hurry and help.

As the butler and the five guests approached, they were shocked at the sight of Daoist Cui.

Daoist Cui, a renowned master known to Elder Zhang, was highly respected in B City, but now his face was ashen and he seemed to be out of his senses.

Elder Zhang had cleared the courtyard for the masters' visit, not expecting anyone to stay, but shortly after everyone left, he found himself unable to move again.

Daoist Cui was looking after him when the butler went to call the other masters.

But soon after the butler left, Elder Zhang was able to move again, only for Daoist Cui to suddenly start attacking him.

This was the scene the butler and others walked in on.

The butler tried to intervene but was effortlessly pushed away by the unnaturally strong Daoist Cui. Seeing the situation, the three Taoist priests quickly used control talismans they had prepared, which spontaneously combusted as they neared Daoist Cui.

Realizing their ineffectiveness, the three began to write new talismans and perform rituals, while the two monks took out a long string of Buddhist prayer beads, throwing them over Daoist Cui’s neck.

The runes on the beads, like binding charms, began to take effect upon contact with Daoist Cui’s skin.

Everyone sighed in relief, about to rescue Elder Zhang, but suddenly, the previously subdued Daoist Cui abruptly grabbed the beads and broke them.

The scattering beads on the ground changed everyone's expression drastically.

The two monks, clearly not expecting their ancestral ritual artifact to be destroyed so easily, were taken aback.

The three Taoist priests were sweating profusely with anxiety, needing to focus entirely on silently reciting their spells, afraid that any distraction would render them unable to create control talismans.

But it was evident that Daoist Cui, with his own cultivation and current frenzied state, was beyond the control of anyone present. Just as he broke the prayer beads and lunged at the two nearest monks, an arm blocked his path.

Daoist Cui's complexion was no longer that of a normal human, his eyes completely black, indicating he was possessed.

Angered at being obstructed, he roared at Xie Qingfeng, causing the monks nearby to pale and shout, “Be careful, Daoist Brother!”

To their astonishment, the next moment, they saw the elegant and fair-faced young man effortlessly grip Daoist Cui’s neck with slender fingers, silencing the previously roaring Daoist Cui, rendering him mute.

Xie Qingfeng, looking with disdain at the contorted face of Daoist Cui so close to him, simply lifted Daoist Cui's loose robe from the bottom, covering his face and wrapping his arms inside, flipping him onto the ground with a roll and striking him down with a punch, causing the ground to tremble.

Furthermore, the previously overpowering Daoist Cui seemed like mere cotton in Xie Qingfeng's hands, utterly powerless and defeated.

Xie Qingfeng pinned him to the ground with one hand, and with the other hand as a guide, he used his spiritual energy to directly draw an exorcism talisman.

Having cultivated for over a month, his skills had greatly improved, making him even more formidable. Such a minor possession was trivial to him, even someone of Daoist Cui's caliber with protective talismans could be controlled.

Unfortunately, Daoist Cui had brought this disaster upon himself, nearly costing his own life.

Xie Qingfeng placed the exorcism talisman directly on Daoist Cui's back. Without any suspense, he expelled the malevolent spirit, quickly wrapping it in the remaining robe and tying it with a belt, forming a bulge on Daoist Cui’s forehead.

The ordinary robe seemed impenetrable, trapping both the man and the spirit tightly inside.

The other five masters watched this scene in shock, completely forgetting to react, especially the three Taoist priests who had been halfway through drawing their talismans: ???

Did they even need to continue drawing?

***

At the same time, in a villa district some distance from the Zhang family mansion, the agent Liang Chenglei entered the front gate with a bag of groceries.

He headed straight for the kitchen's fridge, opening it to see most of the food still there, sighed, cleared it out, and then neatly arranged the fresh groceries inside.

After finishing, he looked up towards the silent second floor.

Unable to resist, Liang Chenglei walked upstairs to the last room at the end of the hallway, stood at the door, and knocked.

"Inside, there was not a single sound, a situation that had persisted for two years."

"Since that incident four years ago, his mental state had been off. Concerned about potential incidents, Liang Chenglei and the company argued hard to barely manage to let Jing Mianfeng rest for a while."

"But who knew this rest would last four years."

"In the first two years, he still visited a psychologist and would meet with others, but for these past two years, he locked himself in his room, refusing to see anyone, even me."

"Other than my bi-daily delivery of groceries and a maid coming at set times to clean and cook, Liang Chenglei hadn't seen him for two years."

"“Mianfeng, I know you blame yourself for what happened back then, but it's been four years. It's time for you to come out. If not for yourself, or your parents, then for the fans who have been waiting for you these four years... You need to move on,” Liang Chenglei stood at the door, pleading earnestly, sighing sadly. It was harsh, but he had to say it. Four years was the most he could fight for: “The company has made its decision. There's only half a year left on your contract. Either you make a comeback in these six months, or you're signing for another ten years.”"

"Liang Chenglei was just an agent. Over the years, he had said all the good things he could, but he really couldn't keep delaying things at the company anymore."

"Another reason was that he didn't want to watch a kid he had seen grow step by step fall into such decay."

"Still no movement in the room. If it wasn't for the maid reporting daily that the prepared food was being eaten a bit, Liang Chenglei would have already rushed in to take him out, worried that he might harm himself."

"Yet, he feared it might further provoke him."

"“Mianfeng, think it over in the next two days. I'll come over the day after tomorrow for your answer. Don't worry about your parents and relatives; there won’t be a repeat of the inheritance dispute from four years ago. The company will intervene. You don’t need to worry about these things,” Liang Chenglei stood there for a while longer, receiving no response. He raised his hand to knock but ultimately lowered it."

"Just let him have peace for two more days."

"Until Liang Chenglei left, the room remained pitch dark, the blackout curtains turning the entire room into a completely sealed and dark space, as if it were still night."

"Only in such darkness did he feel safe."

"After an unknown length of time, the shadowy figure curled up at the foot of the bed, hugging his legs, finally moved. Gaunt and skeletal, he got off the bed barefoot, as if making a decision, and groped his way to the bathroom, his back slightly bowed, thin enough to see his shoulder blades, finally pushing open the bathroom door into continued darkness."

"He ran his hand along the bathtub, filling it with water…"

"Twenty minutes later, he stood there quietly in the dark, his eyes void of life, before finally stepping into the bathtub."

"His mind flashed with memories - glorious, joyful, painful, bloodied, heart-wrenching, all culminating in his parents' death and the so-called relatives fighting over inheritance at the funeral."

"This is what they call family... Everyone is pressuring him. He tried to return to normal life, but standing among people, he remembered the words spoken over the inheritance and their pitying looks."

"What he couldn't forgive himself for most was his parents' death. He wanted to surprise them, so he tricked them into coming to him. If it weren't for his request, they wouldn't have been there at that time."

"They wouldn't have boarded that plane..."

"It's all his fault. If none of this existed, if he were not himself, there would be no death of his parents, no bloodsucking relatives, no ultimatums from the company, no sympathetic and pitying gazes, no schadenfreude from his peers..."

"Jing Mianfeng, lost in these thoughts, finally submerged himself in the water, his breath quickly engulfed."

"Just as he was about to suffocate and lose consciousness, a jade pendant around his neck suddenly emitted light, illuminating a small area in the pitch-dark bathroom."

"Jing Mianfeng thought he was hallucinating. He just stayed still, even hearing an illusion in his ears: Do you want to leave this place? A completely different world, swapping identities with someone of the same birth chart, to start a new life?"

"Jing Mianfeng thought he was probably dying. Was he about to be reincarnated? As for a new life, he naturally wished for it."

"He really didn't want to face all this anymore. He would rather choose to hide in the darkness, struggling to survive, than confront all that bloody cruelty."

"If only he could start over..."

"Almost as soon as Jing Mianfeng had this thought, the water, which had been faintly glowing, plunged into complete darkness."

"At the same time, the figure in the water also disappeared."

"But soon, in its place, another tall and slender figure appeared startlingly, and in the next moment, pitch-black phoenix eyes suddenly opened in the water, fierce and intimidating like a beast unleashed, chilling to the bone."

"Author's note: Next chapter is a V chapter, dropping ten thousand words, pushing my next work for pre-collection~"

"《Interstellar Live-Stream: Raising a Child and Cooking》"

"Synopsis:"

"Ning Jue transmigrated. The good news is that the original body's family is distinguished; his mother is from the imperial royal family, his father a high-ranking official in the Federation Research Institute, and his brother with double S-rank psychic powers serves in the Imperial Secret Service."

"The bad news is, with his family in trouble and no ability to protect himself, he was sent to a garbage star to fend for himself, along with a three-year-old child of unknown paternity."

"Ning Jue, a martial arts sect leader with full combat skills, looks at the child, who is actually a fluffy kitten, and is charmed by its fluffy fur and big round green eyes."

To support his child, Ning Jue registered an account on an interstellar live-streaming platform, broadcasting himself making ancient Blue Star cuisine.

On his first day of streaming, Ning Jue became an instant sensation.

#Uncovering the broadcaster cooking with rare ancient Blue Star ingredients#

#The Director of the Ancient Research Institute faints, all because#

#Can food made with ancient Blue Star ingredients be eaten? Isn't it poisonous?#

"The second day of the broadcast, the whole star system was stunned."

"#Can someone explain what species this is?#"

"#Shocking!! A certain platform's streamer turns out to be an extinct species from ancient Blue Planet?#"

"The Nth day of the broadcast"

"#Am I the only one who wants to be Star Baby's dad?#"

The person who posted the message received a special reply from a high-ranking account of the Interstellar Marshal, who had been missing for half a year: "No, you don't want to."

The entire interstellar community thought it was a fake account, but upon checking, they found it was indeed the Marshal himself: "???"

One day during Ning Jue's live stream of raising his child, he found a large, injured, and nearly dead cat. Considering its fluffy fur and large appetite, he thought, why not care for two instead of one?

"A celebration for those who love fluffiness!"

"But later... the big and small fluffy ones increasingly resembled each other."

"(Note: Ning Jue is the original body)"