Chapter 45

Chapter 45

◎The Borrowed Fortune by the Roadside◎

The area around the Administrative Bureau is a small commercial district, with shopping malls, office buildings, pedestrian streets, and even an underground food street.

Ji Nanxing usually leaves directly after finishing his business at the Administrative Bureau and rarely lingers nearby. It wasn’t until Xiao Ye dragged him around that he discovered there was an underground city here.

Taking the escalator down, as soon as they pushed open the door, the lively sounds of the arcade hit them. The rhythmic beats from the dance games, the intense sounds of competition from the racing games, and the giant cactus at the entrance swaying to the beat, welcoming them with a cute "Cute Cute" sound. The noise was so loud that even standing at the entrance, they had to speak close to each other's ears to be heard.

Xiao Ye asked Ji Nanxing by his ear, "What do you want to play?"

Ji Nanxing shook his head. Although it was his first time here, the bustling arcade didn’t particularly attract him, and he even found it a bit noisy.

Xiao Ye didn’t dare to take him to play anything too stimulating, so after exchanging a basket of arcade tokens, they first headed to the pachinko machine.

Pushing Ji Nanxing to sit on the chair, Xiao Ye explained beside him, "Insert the tokens here, then pull this handle, and the ball inside will shoot out. If it lands in one of the lit red slots below, you win."

Ji Nanxing looked at him with little interest, "What happens if I win?"

Xiao Ye: "If you win, you’ll get tickets. You can exchange these tickets for toys or figurines over there. Look, there are even game consoles at the counter that you can exchange for. Give it a try."

Seeing that Xiao Ye was clearly more excited than he was, Ji Nanxing reluctantly inserted a few tokens and pulled the handle. The small ball shot out, clattering against obstacles before luckily landing in a lit red slot.

Xiao Ye exclaimed with exaggeration, "Wow, great luck! You hit it on the first try!" He then coaxed Ji Nanxing to play a few more times.

Perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed by Ji Nanxing’s increasingly childish look, Xiao Ye rubbed his nose, toned down his exaggerated expression, and led him to another game. "Look at this coin pusher, the stack is so high. It would be so satisfying to push it down."

Ji Nanxing looked at the tall stack of tokens and the distance between the pushing rods inside, "This is like dangling a carrot. It’s not that easy to push down."

Xiao Ye quickly grabbed a seat as soon as someone vacated their spot and pulled Ji Nanxing over, "It’s all about patience. Look, it’s almost there. Let’s see if we can push these tokens down."

Ji Nanxing reluctantly went along with it. After inserting a few tokens, he didn’t need to do much else; the tokens he inserted would fall directly and be pushed forward by the machine.

He initially thought of playing a few rounds and leaving, but Xie Paner, the ghost who had been following him, somehow got inside the machine. She gathered ghost energy at her fingertips and, as Ji Nanxing’s tokens fell and were pushed, her ghostly hand pushed down the tall stack of tokens that had been stuck at the entrance, attracting others.

The person who had just vacated the seat turned around in surprise at the sound of the large stack of tokens falling. Others playing nearby also gaped in amazement, and some even exclaimed and came over to see the spectacle. After all, while the stack looked easy to push, it was actually quite difficult to topple.

Someone took out their phone to record this rare moment, while others applauded and cheered, clearly impressed. The person who had just left the seat was especially annoyed, probably thinking they should have stayed a bit longer.

This machine didn’t give out tickets but instead dispensed the same number of tokens that were pushed down. The coin dispenser clattered continuously, and the basket filled up quickly.

Xiao Ye was also amazed at his deskmate’s luck and couldn’t help but ruffle his hair, "Ji Nanxing, you’re amazing! I’ve never managed to push this thing down before!"

Ji Nanxing glanced at Xie Paner, who was making faces at him from inside the machine, and silently warned her not to mess around.

Xiao Ye carried a large basket of tokens as they moved on, "This is too much. What else do you want to play?"

Xie Paner, the ghost, stood in front of a crane game, pointing eagerly, her intentions clear.

Ji Nanxing had no choice but to say, "Let’s try the crane game."

After playing for over an hour and using up all their tokens, the two finally left. Xiao Ye carried a large bag of small stuffed animals in one hand and a half-life-size StellaLou plushie in the other, leaving no hands free to hold his deskmate’s hand. He could only keep a close eye on him, afraid he might lose him.

"Are you hungry? Let’s go get something to eat."

Ji Nanxing looked at his full hands, "Forget it, you have too much stuff."

Xiao Ye didn’t want him to go home hungry after playing for so long, "Come on, I’m hungry. Just keep me company, okay? Let’s go have hotpot."

It was getting a bit late, and there weren't many pedestrians on the way to the hotpot restaurant. From a distance, Xiao Ye noticed something pink on the lawn ahead: "Ji Nanxing, do you see that? Is that a stack of money?"

Ji Nanxing glanced over: "Just trash. Your eyesight isn't great, is it?"

Xiao Ye immediately defended himself: "I have perfect 5.2 vision."

Ji Nanxing looked across the street: "I want some milk tea."

Since it was rare for him to express a desire for something, Xiao Ye naturally obliged and turned to cross the street to buy milk tea. As for the pile of trash ahead, it was quickly forgotten.

Ji Nanxing glanced back at Xie Paner, who was bouncing around behind them. Xie Paner followed his gaze and then gave a thumbs-up.

After grabbing a late-night snack, as agreed earlier, Xiao Ye took Ji Nanxing home before 10 PM. With the pile of stuffed animals, Xiao Ye worried it might be too much for Ji Nanxing to carry alone: "Let me help you carry them upstairs. Is your family home? Since I'm here, I might as well come up and say hi."

Ji Nanxing shook his head: "No need, I can manage on my own."

Xiao Ye reluctantly gave in: "Alright then, I'll help you to the elevator."

Ji Nanxing took the stuffed animals and turned to Xiao Ye before stepping into the elevator: "I had a lot of fun today, thanks."

Xiao Ye smiled at him, his handsome features softening, his eyes even showing a hint of affection: "Get some rest soon. I'll take you out again next time."

Once the elevator doors closed, Xie Paner floated in: "Whoo, 'I'll take you out again next time.' Aren't you two being a little too sweet?"

Ji Nanxing, who never spoke freely in monitored areas, waited until they were out of the elevator to say: "Don’t you want the stuffed animals anymore?"

Xie Paner: "You're really giving them to me? Didn’t your classmate win them for you, pointing and grabbing whatever you wanted?"

Ji Nanxing: "Isn't this what you wanted?"

If she hadn’t been so eager to point at the claw machine, he wouldn’t have played.

Xie Paner cheered and dove into the pile of stuffed animals: "Young Celestial Master, you’re so kind to me."

Ji Nanxing took off his coat: "What about the thing I told you to pick up?"

Xie Paner said 'oh,' crawled out of the pile, and tossed a wad of cash onto the table: "How much is this? At least a thousand yuan, right?"

Ji Nanxing: "Open it."

Xie Paner, unsure what he was doing, obediently opened it, and a piece of paper with something like a birthdate written on it fell out.

Ji Nanxing picked up the paper, gave it a slight shake, and it burst into flames: "This is money used for life exchange."

Xie Paner gasped: "I know! It’s the kind of money left on the roadside. If you pick it up, you’ll get cursed!"

After saying this, Xie Paner widened her eyes at Ji Nanxing: "Then why did you make me pick it up? Won’t I get cursed now?"

Ji Nanxing: "This isn't about bad luck. This is someone trying to steal life. This is Yin Mountain paper, and it still carries the scent of incense, clearly used in worship. The birthdate is written in cinnabar mixed with the blood of three sacrificial animals. It seems the person trying to steal life knows their stuff."

Xie Paner was shocked again: "Young Celestial Master! How could you do this! You made me pick this up and open it! Wuwuwu, does that mean someone stole my life?"

Ji Nanxing reminded her: "You're already dead."

Xie Paner, who had been hopping around, suddenly calmed down: "Oh right, I'm dead. So does that mean they stole life from a ghost? What happens then?"

Ji Nanxing smiled: "I don't know. I've never encountered someone stealing life from a ghost. I'm curious too."

The thought of a living person trying to steal life from a ghost made Xie Paner laugh, but she was still curious: "What would have happened if your classmate had picked up that money earlier?"

Ji Nanxing unwound the prayer beads from his wrist one by one: "It wouldn't have much effect. This kind of life-borrowing ritual works on ordinary people, but it's useless against someone with strong fortune like Xiao Ye."

Xie Paner pouted angrily: "Then why didn't you let him pick it up and made me do it instead!"

Ji Nanxing smiled at her: "Don't you wonder what happens when someone tries to borrow life from a ghost?"

Thinking about it, Xie Paner felt it was more fun for her to pick it up. Borrowing life from a ghost—she really wanted to know what would happen to that person.

Looking at the wad of money on the table, Xie Paner clicked her tongue and shook her head: "Only a thousand yuan to borrow a life? That's pretty cheap. What should we do with this money?"

Ji Nanxing: "You picked it up, and it's your life they're borrowing. Naturally, it's yours to spend."

Xie Paner's eyes lit up: "Then I'll buy a ton of incense for the gods!"

Ji Nanxing reminded her again: "This money can only buy two bundles."

One bundle of incense costs five hundred yuan, so a thousand yuan can't buy much.

Xie Paner sighed: "Two bundles it is, then. I'll have to cut back on my meals."

After two days of handling a bunch of stuff, Ji Nanxing could finally relax. He turned on some music, grabbed his clothes, and went into the bathroom for a soak.

Meanwhile, in a residential neighborhood, a middle-aged man with a pale, sickly complexion lay in bed, listening to his wife tutoring their child in another room. He felt nervous and anxious, but still hopeful that his wish might come true.

When someone has exhausted all avenues for help and endured the torment of illness, even the craziest superstitions become their last hope.

The idea of borrowing life through money was something he had heard about as a child from an aunt who was said to be destined by heaven. Some people are born with a divine mandate, their birth charts seemingly connected to the spiritual world, and his aunt was one of them.

When he was young, he often saw people coming to his aunt in their hometown, asking her to choose auspicious dates, preside over funeral rites, or inquire about their deceased family members in the underworld.

He still remembered the big, dimly lit house with a central courtyard, where the sound of dripping water echoed all the time. In the main hall stood a statue of a god he never dared to look at directly, flanked by candles that seemed to burn forever, their wax dripping and hardening into thick, weird shapes.

His aunt always sat in the grand chair in the hall, swaying gently and mumbling mystical words. The village children were too scared to approach her house.

If it weren't for family connections, he wouldn't have dared to step into that house either, except during the New Year when his elders took him to pay respects.

After leaving the village and settling in the city, he moved his parents in with him. Thinking about it, it had been almost ten years since he last went back home.

Two years ago, during a company-organized health check-up, his results were worrying. There was a shadow on his liver, and further tests were recommended.

Later, at a major hospital, he was diagnosed with liver cancer. It was already at an intermediate stage, and the situation was serious.

Even after spending all their savings on treatment, it only bought him a little more time. His son was still young, his parents were old, and a liver transplant from a relative wasn't an option. Not long ago, the doctors advised him to go home and rest, as the cancer had spread, making a transplant futile.

Targeted drugs were expensive and only prolonged his life. They were an ordinary family with no means to afford such costly treatments.

His wife discussed giving up treatment with him. They only had a small two-bedroom apartment left, their son was still in middle school, and they had four elderly parents to support. The huge medical bills were too much to handle. If there was a chance to save him, they would sell the house, but his illness was incurable, and spending more money would only buy him a little more time.

Yu Hai had already experienced the taste of giving up on his own life—the despair, helplessness, and fear. But reality was cruel. For the sake of his son, he couldn't drain the family's resources completely.

In the end, Yu Hai agreed to give up. After returning from the hospital, his health deteriorated day by day. Even though he had decided to stop treatment, he still wanted to live. Lying in bed, his mind wandered, and he thought of his aunt from his childhood and the life-borrowing money she had mentioned.

He had his wife prepare some pig, cow, and sheep blood, got some ancestral worship paper, wrote his birth chart on it, wrapped a thousand yuan, and threw it out. He wasn't greedy; he just wanted a few more years, just a few more.

In the other room, Qi Mei, exhausted, was tutoring their son. Once mischievous, the boy had become much more obedient in the past two years. He knew his father was sick and that the family was struggling. He no longer had the luxury of being carefree and willful.

Seeing how much his mother had aged in the past two years, Yu Xiang whispered, "Mom, you should go to sleep. I'll finish my homework on my own."

Qi Mei smiled and ruffled her son's head, "Go ahead with your work. I won't hover over you. Just do it on your own."

Yu Xiang nodded and, without another word, lowered his head to focus on his homework.

Looking at her son and thinking of her husband, for a moment, Qi Mei truly felt she should just let him live out his remaining days. She would take care of the elderly and raise their son, fulfilling her duties as a wife. Continuing to struggle like this was exhausting for everyone.

But after more than a decade of marriage, how could she really bear to be so harsh? When her husband mentioned the idea of borrowing life and fortune, Qi Mei naturally didn't believe it. Such superstitious talk was obviously a scam, but seeing her husband so determined, she thought it would be the last time, just to offer him some solace. After all, the family really couldn't bear any more financial burdens.

While she was preoccupied with the household's daily expenses, meticulously calculating each cost, she heard the sound of vomiting from the master bedroom next door.

Qi Mei quickly stood up and rushed into the bedroom to find Yu Hai leaning over the bed, vomiting blood profusely.

Yu Xiang was petrified, and Qi Mei immediately dialed 120.

Yu Hai's parents rushed over that night and sat silently outside the emergency room, wiping away tears. They only had this one son, and their grandson was still so young. If their son were gone, what would become of them? What would become of their grandson?

Yu Xiang, now in junior high, was old enough to understand. After regaining his composure, he couldn't help but ask his mother, "Is it because of that money?"

Although his parents had closed the door when discussing things at home, he had eavesdropped on some of it. His father had been fine in the afternoon, even walking around the living room, but suddenly this happened at night. Even if he wasn't superstitious, the timing was too coincidental not to lead him to think along those lines.

When Yu Xiang's grandmother heard her grandson mention money, she thought her daughter-in-law and son had argued over money, causing her son to vomit blood in anger. She quickly pressed, "What money? He wants to live, and you're withholding funds, not letting him get treatment, causing him to vomit blood in anger?"

Already exhausted, Qi Mei couldn't bear such an accusation. She hadn't planned to hide anything and directly explained what Yu Hai had done with the borrowed life and fortune.

Yu Hai's mother didn't see anything wrong with what her son had done. Hearing this, she urgently asked, "So how did you do it? Did you make any mistakes in the process? Did you write the birth date correctly?"

Qi Mei didn't understand these things herself; she simply followed her husband's lead and recounted the events.

Yu Hai's mother felt that her son's sudden vomiting of blood was due to the borrowed life and fortune. These young people didn't understand such matters and likely just heard something and acted impulsively. She quickly grabbed her phone and called her elder sister, who was still in the village.

The aunt in the village, upon hearing this, scolded, "Nonsense! How dare you engage in something so detrimental to your karma! You're truly risking your lives!"

Yu Hai's mother anxiously replied, "We really had no other choice, sister. Did they make any mistakes in the process? Otherwise, why would Xiao Hai suddenly vomit blood? Sister, he's your only nephew. Please help us."

The aunt, now in her seventies, had long since ceased dealing with such matters. But since it was her nephew, she couldn't just ignore it. However, after hearing what they had done, she concluded that the process wasn't wrong. Even if someone picked up the money, they couldn't borrow life, and it wouldn't backlash to take his life.

"Don't blame everything on that. Xiao Hai's body was already failing. It might just be a matter of days. Don't take this borrowed life business too seriously; it's merely an old legend. Fine, I'll calculate for Xiao Hai one more time. Give me his birth date."

Yu Hai's mother quickly provided her son's birth date. The aunt picked up a stone and scribbled a few characters on the ground, calculating for a long while before her expression shifted.

After a prolonged silence, Yu Hai's mother anxiously inquired, "Sister, can you still hear me? What's the outcome?"

The aunt gravely stated, "Prepare for the funeral."

Upon hearing this, Yu Hai's mother's legs gave way, and she collapsed to the floor. Yu Xiang and her husband were startled and quickly came to support her.

Yu Hai's mother clung to the phone, "Sister, please help me, help Xiao Hai. He's my only son. Sister, how can I live if Xiao Hai is gone!"

The aunt replied, "It was bound to happen sooner or later. He only had a few months left anyway."

Yu Hai's mother asked, "Are you saying Xiao Hai only has a few months left?"

The aunt angrily said, "He could have had a few months, but with this borrowed life and fortune, he has at most three days!"

Yu Hai's mother panicked, "Isn't borrowed life and fortune supposed to borrow someone else's life? How did it end up claiming Xiao Hai's life? Sister, what's happening? What did you deduce?"

The aunt explained, "Your Yu Hai borrowed life directly from a ghost. Borrowing life from a ghost, who else would perish but him?"

Yu Hai's mother gasped in shock, and her sister hung up the phone immediately. Such things that bring bad karma should never be messed with. She couldn't fathom how Yu Hai could be so unlucky as to try borrowing life from the dead. In all her years, she had never come across anything like this.

After the call ended, Yu Hai's mother clutched her phone, trembling with panic. She looked at her husband, her grandson, and then at her daughter-in-law, who stood coldly by. She stood up from the floor and slapped Qi Mei.

"Is it you? Did you think Yu Hai was a burden, so you encouraged him to do this life-borrowing thing, even borrowing from the dead, and ended up killing him? It must be you, you vile woman!"

Qi Mei was stunned by the slap for a moment. Hearing the accusation, she was so angry she could only laugh bitterly. She had even thought about taking care of Yu Hai's parents after he was gone. She never expected her mother-in-law to be like this.

Qi Mei grabbed her son's hand. "Let's go."

As for the person in the emergency room, she no longer cared. He was going to die sooner or later anyway. Over the past two years, they had drained their finances and worn themselves out trying to save him. She still had a son to raise and couldn't afford to waste any more on him.

Yu Hai's mother wanted to chase after them but was stopped by her husband. "Our son is still inside! Stop making a scene, will you!"

Watching her daughter-in-law walk away with her grandson without looking back, Yu Hai's mother sat back on the floor and wailed.

Even though it was midnight, the hospital was still bustling with people and cars. The mother and son stood on the street, and the tears they had been holding back finally streamed down.

Yu Xiang also cried beside his mother, not understanding how everything had changed overnight.

Qi Mei wiped her tears and turned to her son. "Go back to the hospital. No matter what, he's still your father."

Yu Xiang asked tearfully, "What about you, Mom?"

Qi Mei replied, "I'm going home. There's still a lot to do. And no matter what your grandmother says, don't listen to her. We never hid anything from you about your father. You're old enough to know right from wrong. This is karma, Xiangxiang. Remember, in life, you don't have to do many good deeds, but you must never do bad things. Once you do something bad, retribution will come, sooner or later."