Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Huang Jiaofeng said with a face full of guilt, "Her father and I passed away suddenly, leaving nothing for our child, only a burden. Your Honor, if possible, please pass on our remaining years to Xiao Juan as her inheritance."

Tears streamed down Li Juan's face as she shook her head continuously in her dream.

It was her sudden illness that had dragged down the whole family. Her parents had exhausted their savings and borrowed money from relatives to treat her illness. How could this be considered a burden?

The couple had no idea how long their daughter would live, as she had indeed suffered from a serious illness and her health was not as good as others. If she were to have a short life like theirs, what would become of her? The thought cut through their hearts like a knife.

They had nothing of value to give, but if the twenty years of life could be left to Li Juan, it would be good for her to live a little longer.

"Your Honor, we also think the same. Please give the compensated years to our child as an inheritance," the other spirits also pleaded to the judge upon seeing this.

There was never a one-sided sacrifice. If it hadn't been for their child in the living world, who, even though they were gone, still fought to repay the debt to Zhao Qingyun and burned the return card at the City God Temple, they wouldn't have been able to reclaim their stolen years so easily.

After they died, their child had taken on a debt for them, which made their hearts ache. This was all they could do.

The judge paused for a moment, then slammed the gavel down and declared, "Granted."

The spirits in the courtroom erupted in cheers, while Zhao Qingyun stood in the center, head down and shaking, too scared to speak.

The stark difference in treatment before and after death was too much for Zhao Qingyun to handle. His kids also called him an old fool, for favoring an illegitimate grandson and bringing trouble upon them. With three generations of their family involved in crimes, they couldn't pass the underworld's political review.

Li Juan kept replaying the second video, unable to cry but constantly hiccuping.

Yang Xing put away the phone and awkwardly promoted, "Want to see Zhao Qingyun get punished? I'll make a censored version later, and I can still send you dreams. Just burn some joss paper and books for me."

Li Juan was still immersed in the underground trial. She hugged her legs and sobbed, "Yes, I want to watch it. Thank you, senior."

Seeing her state, Yang Xing added, "Live well. Also, since we're from the same school, could you burn some textbooks for me? I want to study on my own."

Seeing Li Juan nod, Yang Xing was satisfied. He picked up a book beside him and gently waved it towards Li Juan. A cold breeze fell on her, and she quickly lost consciousness.

Before fainting, Li Juan vaguely saw Senior Yang Xing pick up the book's cover. She hazily remembered it was a classic pure love story from Jinjiang Literature. Did he read this too?

Li Juan slowly opened her eyes, hearing anxious calls by her ear, "Li Juan, Xiao Juan, wake up."

She saw the milky white canopy of her dormitory bed and instinctively reached up to touch her eyes, which were full of tears, soaking the pillow.

"You're finally awake. We couldn't wake you up, so Teacher Xu came to check on you," everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing her awake.

Li Juan saw Xu Qian, who had come over late at night. She sobbed, climbed down from the bed, and hugged Xu Qian tightly, saying, "Teacher Xu, I saw my parents."

Her parents were not highly educated and were even considered clumsy by many, but she knew clearly that they always loved her, even if it was in a clumsy way. Of course, she also loved them forever.

Xu Qian gently stroked the back of Li Juan's head and softly said, "You must live well."

Li Juan's eyes, filled with tears, smiled as she nodded firmly, "I will."

She would live well, cherish each day, and treasure the last gift her parents gave her—the precious twenty years of life.

*

"This is delicious, the grilled fish is so flavorful."

He Yunxiao picked a piece of fish belly from the grill, removed the bones, and fed it to the little gray snake.

It was the first time the little gray snake had eaten grilled fish, and the deliciousness made its eyes light up. It kept flicking its tongue, waiting for He Yunxiao to feed it more.

It was almost nine o'clock when they left the University of Science and Technology in Beijing. Knowing they were busy, they declined the principal's offer to arrange a meal and drove to a well-reviewed late-night snack shop.

As a water snake, the little white snake naturally loves fish. Seeing Xi Xi getting fed by her dad, it immediately turned to Wu Heng.

Wu Heng: "Why are you staring at me? Got no hands?"

It actually doesn’t have hands.

The little white snake snapped, "I’m no lizard or gecko, why would I have hands?"

He Yunxiao even picked out the tiny bones from the grilled fish and replied, "Dragons have claws, don’t they?"

The little white snake was left speechless, whining in frustration, wondering when it could become a dragon. Should it go bawl in front of the Nuo God and Nuo Goddess again? The Nuo God would probably tell it to scram, and the Nuo Goddess would tell it to slither off.

The little white snake even has the guts to sass Wu Heng, and now, only He Yunxiao can keep it in check.

The little white snake gave up on Wu Heng and could only cast expectant eyes at Shi Xuan, who is its godfather.

Shi Xuan was indeed deboning the fish, but he passed the little white snake and gave the fish meat to Wu Heng.

Everyone immediately turned their eyes to him, and Shi Xuan said calmly, "He’s had a tough day."

That’s right!

Li Hao caught on quick and started frantically deboning the fish, saying, "Dr. Wu’s had a long day, I’ll debone the fish for you, I’m the best at it."

Haha, so Shi Xuan’s trying to be Dr. Wu Heng’s little pet, huh?

You and He Yunxiao are just groupies at best, hehe.

Black Fur No. 1 cheered, "That’s our Hao Ge for you!"

Li Hao snapped, "It’s Comrade."

Black Furs: "That’s our Comrade Li!"

The little white snake saw that its godfather Shi Xuan not only skipped the fatherly love but also dumped the fish bones he picked for Wu Heng right in front of it, so it could only open its mouth and bite the fish skin itself.

"Dr. Wu, you into seafood? Wanna hit up the ocean park on Sunday? They’ve got a mermaid show. We’ve got make-up classes on Saturday, so Sunday’s our only day off." Wang Dong asked while eating grilled scallops.

Wu Heng asked curiously, "A mermaid show? Never been to an ocean park—are they real mermaids?"

Everyone: "?"

What?

There are real mermaids? Aren’t those just in fairy tales?

"Of course they’re fake—just some good-looking folks in mermaid suits diving and swimming for shows. Heard it pays pretty well."

Hearing this, Wu Heng immediately lost interest.

Chen Zhao perked up: "How much do they make?"

Black Fur No. 2 said, "Not sure, but I heard part-timers can pull in eight or nine hundred a day."

Chen Zhao regretted deeply: "Is it too late for me to learn swimming now?"

My master’s always warning about the glitzy world leading you astray, but how can you not be dazzled? It’s all about the money! If he hadn’t come out, he wouldn’t know the prices outside were like this.

"Really annoying, don’t know when I’ll graduate, can’t even play, always reviewing, I couldn’t even join the cruise trip I was looking forward to."

He Yunxiao interjected, "Are you talking about the Dreamliner Cruise? You can try it for next year's graduation trip, but I heard there's a big show on this cruise, so we might miss it."

"Dr. Wu, we're not trying to flaunt our wealth, just making small talk," Li Hao quickly said, noticing that Wu Heng had been quietly eating the fish Shi Xuan had deboned.

Seeing that Wu Heng didn't mind, Li Hao looked at the gradually fading secret characters in his palm and asked, "Dr. Wu, our school is going to have a health checkup and vaccination in a few days. Are our random bouts of sneezing considered cured? If not, we probably can't get vaccinated."

Wu Heng took a sip of orange soda and said, "It's almost gone."

A group of teenagers quickly ate their fill at the late-night diner, but they didn't leave immediately after eating, just sitting at the table.

He Yunxiao used a skewer to dangle a piece of meat in front of Xi Xi, seeing the little gray snake standing up eagerly, he laughed, "Xi Xi, say 'daddy.'"

"Sss... sss... sss..."

The little white snake burrowed into a peanut shell, biting on boiled peanuts, thinking Uncle He was getting ahead of himself. How could it learn to speak human language so quickly?

Xi Xi stared straight at the meat, slowly and laboriously trying to say, "Pa... papa."

The little white snake suddenly popped up, balancing an empty peanut shell on its head.

Everyone turned their heads towards the little gray snake, Li Hao and the others even forgot about the toothpicks in their hands.

He Yunxiao looked at the little gray snake in disbelief, "Xi Xi... you can talk?"

Wu Heng had used a special method on him, allowing him to understand his snake daughter's snake language, but this wasn't human language.

Xi Xi looked at the meat, struggling to articulate softly, "Papa? Pa... papa!"

He Yunxiao carefully picked up Xi Xi from the table, wanting to cry and laugh at the same time, "Good, good! My little sweetheart."

Even though he'd never been in a relationship, he was experiencing being a father for the first time.

"Why can't we have one too, huh, Li?" Wang Dong and the others hugged each other, crying, "We want a snake to call us dad too."

They used to watch He Yunxiao's antics, but now they were envious of him. This was like raising a child.

Li Hao looked at the little white snake with the peanut shell on its head, asking, "You're a snake too, can't you let each of us have a snake? We have very strong emotions."

The little white snake: "?" Where would it get that kind of power?

The little white snake was stunned looking at Xi Xi, Xi Xi was so young, yet she'd already learned to talk.

It had taken it years to cultivate its abilities, slowly learning to speak human language from the villagers.

The little white snake felt a feeling of urgency, not from Xi Xi, but from her father, He Yunxiao!

It had finally earned Uncle He's respect through hard work, but now it was all for nothing.

"Xi Xi is the 'joy' of your seven emotions, naturally the strongest among all snake fetuses. Joy is an important factor in her spiritual growth," Wu Heng explained.

Xi Xi had never suffered since birth, always happy, plus she was smart and loved learning, how could she not progress rapidly?

"That's my girl, the best little snake in the world," He Yunxiao was extremely proud, even taking out his phone to record a video of Xi Xi, planning to show it to Mr. He and Mrs. He later.

His daughter could already speak, who knows when she might become human, he needed to keep a close eye on her, no guys with dyed hair, blond or otherwise.

Wu Heng patted the little white snake's dejected head, smiling, "Aren't you going to try harder?"

The little white snake almost cried, it wasn't that it didn't want to work hard, but its potential was limited.

Wu Heng saw the little white snake drooping its head and said, "I'll teach you how to spray water in a few days, a basic water spell."

After all, it's a water snake; different species might have different learning paths.

The little white snake originally wanted to say that it wasn't yet proficient in transforming into a branch, but seeing Xi Xi, who seemed to have made a breakthrough, already able to say single words like "meat" and "snake," it nodded in agreement.

The little white snake didn't doubt Wu Heng's ability to use water, as he was the child taken from the Nuo River, and he had always been deeply connected to water.

"If everyone's finished, I'll take care of the bill," Shi Xuan said, scanning the room.

Except for Chen Zhao, who was shrinking his neck to reduce his presence, Li Hao and the others immediately became anxious, eagerly vying to pay.

"You're all students, and he's the one who's earned money. Tonight, the bill is on young master Shi," Wu Heng intervened upon seeing this. "By the way, I'll order some more to bring back for Zhou Yi."

Li Hao and the others were all stunned, what?

Didn't everyone spend the day gossiping with Wu Heng? How did Shi Xuan end up making money? Where did he get it from?

After Shi Xuan settled the bill, the group left the late-night diner and each went home by car.

When the car drove into the Shi family's garage, Shi Xuan glanced at the car parked next door and his lips tightened involuntarily, saying, "My dad is back."

Wu Heng felt Shi Xuan's low pressure and said, "When you earn more money, you can eventually leave the Shi family."

Shi Xuan turned off the car and got out to open the door for him, saying, "I have other goals now."

Wu Heng: "?"

When did he have other goals besides wanting to leave the Shi family?

Seeing that he didn't want to talk, Wu Heng didn't ask further, and the two walked towards the well in the Shi family's courtyard.

"You know to come back?" a stern middle-aged man in the pavilion said coldly.

The man was still wearing a formal suit, looking weary from travel, probably having just returned home and was waiting here.

Shi Xuan, a senior high school student, still had a curfew.

Seeing Shi Xuan silent, the Shi family head was accustomed to his son's coldness and shifted his gaze to Wu Heng beside him. It was visibly noticeable that he had a pierced left ear, wore some silver ornaments, and had snakes wrapped around both hands, clearly not something ordinary.

Seeing the Shi family head looking at his son, Wu Su was anxious but dared not rashly say that this was his son, only saying, "Shi family head, it's probably just a wandering spirit the young master picked up, let it go."

The Shi family head stared at the shadow at Wu Heng's feet: "?"

Isn't this a living person? How did it become a ghost in Wu Su's mouth?

The Shi family head knew that his butler came from a southwestern village, and although he himself wasn't very capable, his father, who was a village doctor, was quite impressive, probably knowing something.

Nowadays, even ghosts have shadows; this son is becoming more and more mysterious, who knows what he's brought back!

The Shi family head was angry and coldly said, "Take care of it for me."

Seeing the Shi family head leave, Wu Su looked at Shi Xuan and his own son. Although he wasn't clear how these two got together again, he advised, "Heng Heng, don't worry, ignore that old man, I'll protect you."

"And the young master too."

Wu Su felt that his son wanted his father's spirit to find him again, and the reason he kept following Shi Xuan was likely influenced by Shi Xuan's yin energy, but mostly because he missed his father.

Wu Heng smiled; he wouldn't let outsiders bother him.

"By the way, since you're here visiting Dad, I just bought a new gaming console but can't get past a level. Wait for me to go get it," Wu Su quickly said, hurrying back to his e-sports manager's bedroom.

His dad’s internet addiction is really serious.

Shi Xuan looked at Wu Heng and said, "Your dad is really good to you." The deep concern wasn't fake, but it felt somewhat unfamiliar to him.

From birth until now, he had never experienced paternal or maternal love—it was a luxury to him.

Wu Heng thought Shi Xuan was someone with weak familial bonds and was about to comfort him when Shi Xuan added, "Butler Wu treats me better than my own father."

Butler Wu had joined the Shi family as a butler long ago. Perhaps due to his personality or maybe because of the collar around his neck, Butler Wu had always been very kind to him.

In the cold Shi household, Butler Wu was one of the few sources of warmth.

"Will there ever be a day when he treats me even better?" Shi Xuan asked, seemingly casual but with underlying intent.

"Well..." Wu Heng scratched his ear, unsure how to respond, lightly kicking the stone bricks with his toes.

The little white snake chimed in, "Godfather, you could always adopt a godfather to experience paternal love!"

Shi Xuan remained silent, processing the suggestion.

Wu Heng chuckled and waved, "We’ll head back now."

Wu Heng jumped into the well and vanished from Shi Xuan’s view.

"Huh? Where’s my son? Has he already gone back?" Wu Su exclaimed, holding the new gaming console and looking around in surprise.

His son must have truly missed him to return so quickly after he left.

Shi Xuan took the gaming console, eyeing the eerie screen, "Butler Wu, let me help you play."

Shi Xuan’s father stood in the shadows of the trees, hands behind his back, his gaze cold and menacing.

His son was growing increasingly eerie and sinister. The well was already a magnet for yin energy, and who knew what had been summoned from it. He’d have to fill that well soon!

Zhou Yi was roused by Wu Heng in the middle of the night to eat the late-night snacks from the capital and woke up late the next day.

The height-increasing exercise method Wu Heng taught Han Ye had recently gone viral online, touted for its health benefits, with many fitness bloggers testing it.

*

After breakfast, Zhou Yi followed the method at the entrance of Chengde Medical Hall, as he was in a somewhat sub-healthy state.

"Ah Yi, up already? Good, keep exercising, and don’t overthink things," Village Chief Zhou Dagui said, smiling at his grandson.

He walked inside, Wu Heng stood to greet him, and You Jin quickly went to prepare tea for the Village Chief.

"Little Heng, here’s the deal," Zhou Dagui said as he sat down, "Nan Nuo Village has gained popularity, and the high-speed rail project is ahead of schedule—we’re aiming to finish it by year-end. The town government wants to leverage this momentum, not just to boost Nan Nuo Village’s tourism but also to benefit all eighteen villages along the Nuo River."

"Have you noticed more tourists around the village lately?"

Wu Heng nodded, having seen a few tourists over the past couple of days who got excited and snapped photos of him.

"Our village chief, along with spirit mediums and sorcerers from nearby villages, has met to plan a large rural Nuo festival, aiming to create great videos and draw more tourists."

"Our village’s Lai Wazi is no longer here. Would you be interested in stepping in?" the Village Chief finally got to the point.

There are many requirements for participating in the Nuo ritual, at least a natural affinity for the mystical is needed, and there are not many young men and women in the village who can be selected.

Wu Heng agreed without hesitation: "I can do it."

Zhou Dagui was immediately overjoyed, knowing that Wu Heng was a good kid. He then asked, "By the way, old lady Lai said you need to be a virgin. Are you still one? They are very strict this time, saying they don’t want anyone who has kissed."

Wu Heng: "...Yes, I haven’t kissed anyone."

The Village Chief left very satisfied.

Wu Heng saw a few tourists who weren’t really sick. He took out the yin energy bracelet given to him by Shi Xuan from the box and placed it in the north position. He then placed a bowl of ice-cold well water in the southwest corner and lit incense in the east.

Once the setup was complete, he connected to the ghost network. However, when he tried to connect with Yang Xing using the underworld version of Monkey Search, there was still some lag, not as fast as 5G.

Indeed, it’s still not as good as Shi Xuan’s free mobile WiFi. He kind of missed him.

'Dr. Wu, many people have been burning joss paper and books for me. Thank you so much,' Yang Xing thanked him immediately.

With this part-time job, Yang Xing hasn’t been worried about running out of money in the underworld. Without financial worries, he has more time to study.

Compared to making money by shooting videos, Yang Xing prefers studying and teaching others.

The online classes taught by the gray and white snakes have started again.

Wu Heng sat at the other end, also looking at Gaokao questions, and could ask Zhou Yi and Yang Xing if he didn’t understand.

When it got dark, Wu Heng went live. As soon as he started, a flood of viewers joined, and even many verified accounts were lurking.

Xu Qian was the first to send Wu Heng a Carnival gift.

This morning, when she went to her mother’s bedroom, her mother looked like her beautiful self again, making her cry with joy.

Besides Xu Qian, a group of donors came out to send gifts, and Wu Heng’s gift list was overflowing.

"I sent a little something, thank you Dr. Wu for lighting the sky lantern for our old Zhao. If it weren’t for last night’s hot search, I wouldn’t have known who Professor Zhao Qingyun was."

"Don’t talk nonsense upstairs, our Hengheng has already said it was just a drone light performance."

"Wuwu, thank you Dr. Wu, Senior Yang sent me a dream with a blurred video of old Zhao’s punishment, it was so satisfying."

"I really want to know the reason why the sky lantern was successfully lit."

Wu Heng said seriously, "Everything happens for a reason, just do good deeds and don’t worry about the future."

Li Hao and his friends had just returned from their night study session. The young men leaned on the sofa eating fruit, their backpacks still on, completely worn out.

"Dr. Wu speaks so well, I am determined to fight for the communist cause, achoo—"

Why is he sneezing again?

Wu Heng, in front of everyone, pulled out the silver needle from the heart of the small paper figure of Xu’s mother, and then connected with a new patient.

The little white snake looked at Wu Heng’s gray live broadcast screen and said, 'Wu Heng, you forgot to disconnect the ghost network.'

"The snake is hissing again, it’s so cute."

"I prefer the little gray snake, I think it’s smarter, I want to keep a reptile pet."

Wu Heng didn’t pay much attention, and saw a stunning girl appear on the other end of the call, and the viewers in the live broadcast room were screaming.

Wu Heng said, "Those with weak astrological charts, especially those born in the year of the Pig, Rabbit, Snake, Ox, or Rooster, get out of the live stream right now."

"Damn, Dr. Wu is telling people with weak astrological charts to leave without even asking about the symptoms? It reminds me of that ghost wedding guy’s red envelope. Is this girl dealing with a ghost?"

"I’ve got ginger in hand, so I’m good. My astrological chart is strong."

"I’m a Rabbit, so I’m outta here. I feel like this girl definitely encountered a ghost. Good luck to her, I guess."

"Wait, why does my friend say they can't join? They said Dr. Wu isn’t even on?"

The girl’s face turned even paler as she read the comments. "Did I really encounter a ghost?"

Li Hao and his friends sat cross-legged on the sofa, eating snacks and sneezing while expressing sympathy for the girl. "Poor girl, she’s really dealing with a ghost."

The girl had good taste—Li Hao noticed the decor and kinda liked it.

Wu Heng asked, "What are your symptoms?"

The girl shrank on the sofa and quickly replied, "My legs and feet are weak, I’m freezing, and even soaking my feet doesn’t help. At night, it feels like a ghost is pressing down on me. Also, I can’t breathe—it’s like someone’s choking me."

"Dr. Wu, the comments are all saying I encountered a ghost. Do you think it's true? Look at my face—I look like a ghost."

The more the girl thought about it, the more scared she became, and her speech sped up. "Something’s definitely off. There are men’s slippers in my house that weren’t there before, and I keep seeing a notebook full of wrong answers. Fruit pits keep showing up in my house!"

"...It’s definitely a ghost encounter. The yin energy’s making her weak. Dr. Wu, you don’t even need to make a house call for this."

"Something unclean can totally make you sick. These symptoms are quite typical."

"Look at her pale face—she looks lifeless. She must be seriously affected."

The girl freaked out at the comments and immediately turned the camera to show Wu Heng her surroundings.

When she flipped the camera, her place came into view.

Li Hao, Wang Dong, and their buddies frowned hard, staring at the images on the screen.

"Huh? Do we live in the same building as this girl? The decor looks so similar. Achoo—" Li Hao sneezed and asked with a dry laugh.

Li Hao got spooked and tossed the half-eaten apple into the trash.

But he threw it too hard, and the apple core hit the trash can and flew out, landing on the floor.

"Ahhh, Dr. Wu, did you see that? An apple core just popped up! Is a ghost messing with my body?" The girl tightly hugged her phone, trembling as she pointed at the extra apple core, fear evident in her voice.

Li Hao and his friends: "?"

They gulped, staring at the apple core on the floor and then at the one on the screen.

Even the bite marks were identical...

No way this is a coincidence.

Achoo—!

Wu Heng said, "I’ll send you a private message with a chant. Cover the camera, recite it silently, and then look to the left. Roommates, look to the right."

The girl, scared out of her mind, did exactly what Wu Heng said. The chant wasn’t hard, and she learned it after repeating it twice.

After reciting the chant, the girl cautiously turned her head to the left, covering her eyes and peeking through the gaps.

Li Hao and his friends stiffly looked to the right in unison.

Suddenly, their eyes met.

The girl screamed in terror, "There’s a ghost!! Dr. Wu, there really is a ghost, and there are several of them! It’s so scary, please save me."

Li Hao and his friends jumped up, screaming even louder, "Why are you freaking out? You’re the ghost, right?"