Chapter 78

Chapter 78

Lai Yin Chai yanked the struggling living soul over, frowning at the person's face and said, "Why are you here again?"

Xie Zhi wanted to ask the same thing!

He wanted to roar but dared not offend the yin emissary, especially since he also knew this Lai Jun, who was a notorious bully in Nan Nuo Village during his lifetime. He never thought someone like that could become a yin emissary after death, and he wondered if his grandmother, old lady Lai, who was a spirit medium, had pulled some strings for him.

Lai Yin Chai was baffled. A living soul might occasionally leave the body, but except for those who could leave their bodies at will, the number of times a living person could leave their body in a lifetime was very few.

Why does he keep leaving his body? Could it be... he's sick?

Ghosts and demons do get sick, but most rely on their ghostly power to tough it out. The underworld doesn’t have many proper hospitals.

"Please, have mercy. I just left my body again; I’m not a ghost ready for the underworld," Xie Zhi pleaded repeatedly.

Lai Yin Chai examined Xie Zhi and nodded, "Fine, I’ll do you a favor this time. Come with me."

Xie Zhi: "?"

Do we have different ideas of what a 'good deed' is?

He wasn’t letting him go or sending him back to his body. Where is he taking him?

Lai Yin Chai indeed did not take Xie Zhi to the underworld. He dragged him under the locust trees, floating toward Chengde Medical Hall.

Before stepping in, he could vaguely see a tall figure at the consultation table, live-streaming. Who else could it be but Wu Heng?

Xie Zhi: "!!!"

Is this the damn yin emissary’s idea of a good deed? Taking him straight into the lion's den!

Damn it, a bully in life stays a jerk in death!

Lai Yin Chai floated in and sat on Wu Heng's consultation table, proudly saying, "You used to boost my stats, now I’ll return the favor. This guy keeps leaving his body for no reason; why don’t you give him a few jabs?"

Wu Heng thought Lai Yin Chai was twisting the meaning. Were they on the same page?

What he sent counted as a win for a yin emissary, but what Lai Yin Chai brought was just increasing his workload!

Wu Heng eyed the trembling soul with interest and smirked, "You’ve got the nerve to come back?"

Xie Zhi on the other end of the live stream exclaimed, "That’s how I look."

To be precise, every time she opened her eyes and looked in the mirror, it was Xie Zhi's unremarkable face she saw. Now, she felt weird watching "herself" float from the outside, it felt strange.

"...This is the soul that’s been in our daughter’s body?" Xie's mother looked at the screen in disbelief, her eyes wide open.

It was a very young man, probably only seventeen or eighteen years old. The living soul had many scars of soul discomfort, and the young man had a hint of fierceness between his brows. The couple had never seen him, but Xie Zhi’s expression felt familiar.

The couple looked at Xie Zhi and then at the young man opposite, feeling somewhat overwhelmed. They couldn’t believe a male soul had been in their daughter’s body for fourteen years.

For fourteen years, they had nurtured and cared for her like a flower, never realizing they were raising an outsider, and had cultivated a man-eating flower. The couple was seething with anger, too furious to speak.

"Hmm, seeing ghosts again, I'm used to it now, it's just seeing ghosts."

"I get it, because they are the parties involved and have a blood relationship, so they can see, but we can't."

"Disgusting, I really want to see what that sleazy guy looks like. I can't help but think he must have done a lot of sleazy things while in Xie Zhi's body, posing as a female."

"I'm so scared, my son also suddenly became a different person after a high fever, could it be the same thing?!"

"+1, my dad too, could it be that my dad's soul has also been replaced?"

Xie Zhi dared not look at Wu Heng, only saying, 'I am a living soul, you cannot harm me, I must return to my body.'

Seeing Wu Heng remain silent, Xie Zhi shouted angrily, 'What the hell does it have to do with you, shaman? Damn it... ah—'

Lai Yin Chai raised his hand and slapped Xie Zhi hard across the face, grinning eerily, 'Who the hell are you talking about? Say it again, let me hear?'

The yin emissary's slap was infused with ghostly energy, immediately making Xie Zhi see stars and feel dizzy, taking a long time to recover.

He almost forgot that the yin emissaries of the underworld are not as restrained as the police in the mortal world. This yin emissary was a bully in life and even more unrestrained in death, striking ghosts and demons without hesitation.

Xie Zhi covered his face, whimpering, 'It’s not my fault, it’s mine... ah, why are you hitting me again?!'

Su Dayi, pretending to sleep in the doghouse, almost died laughing, 'Hahaha, what’s it to you, shaman? Are humans really this stupid?'

Su Dayi glanced at the two small snakes hiding in the corner, keeping a wary eye on her, then closed her eyes and continued to feign sleep.

Lai Yin Chai was furious. Insulting his source of achievement right in front of him? He had just wanted to be merciful and let him see Wu Heng for treatment. Kindness in a yin emissary is a liability.

He really wanted to slap him a few more times.

The Xie couple couldn't help but cover their faces. How could he be so clueless? After raising him for fourteen years, he hadn't learned any sense of tact at all.

Xie Zhi became much more subdued, looking at Wu Heng and saying, 'The underworld cannot forcibly detain a living soul, my time isn’t up yet, and I will have to be returned to my body. Yin emissaries who capture the wrong living soul will also have their credits docked!'

A living soul's lifespan is not yet over, that’s the first mistake.

Secondly, capturing the wrong living soul could lead to the premature burial and reanimation of the living soul's body, that’s the second mistake.

Once investigated, the blame would fall on the yin emissary who made the mistake.

Lai Yin Chai's face was ashen. Everything else was negotiable, but that was merit that could promote him... he was truly cornered.

Who knew that doing a good deed would backfire like this.

Wu Heng smirked with satisfaction, 'You know quite a lot. The underworld cannot detain a living soul for now, and the reckoning can only happen after your death, but we in the Nuo River Eighteen Villages have jurisdiction over you.'

Wu Heng looked satisfied as Xie Zhi's expression changed slightly. He directly took a piece of yellow paper from the side, his fingers moving swiftly as he folded it into a three-dimensional triangle. Wu Heng reached over and pulled a burning incense stick from Su Dayi's half-burned incense pile, gently poking a small hole in the center of the triangle.

Wu Heng handed the triangular cube to Lai Yin Chai and said, 'You confine him here temporarily and send him to the altar of the Nuo God's temple.'

The villagers of the Nuo River Eighteen Villages were raised on the waters of the Nuo River. They have believed in the Nuo God since childhood, so it’s only fitting for the Nuo God to govern them!

The Nuo God can indeed govern evil living souls.

Xie Zhi's expression changed drastically, and he couldn't help but struggle, 'Wu Heng, you idiot, what right do you have to meddle in my affairs? Stupid yin emissary, even if you hit me, I'll still curse him! I don't want to go, I don't want to go to the Nuo God's temple!'

These remote mountain villages have many ancient legends about the Nuo God. The Nuo God and Nuo Goddess are very righteous deities. They protect the villagers but also hate evil, and there are many stories of them meting out punishment.

The villagers often use the Nuo God to teach children to behave properly and not do bad things.

"Hey hey hey, Dr. Wu, what are you doing? What right do you have to treat my child like this?" Old Man Xie shouted loudly when he saw the situation turning bad, threatening fiercely, "Don't forget we are very close to Chengde Medical Hall!"

Upon hearing this, Xie's father immediately said, "Dr. Wu, don't worry, I have friends in your province, I'll arrange for people to protect the medical hall right away, and our family will be there soon."

"Hey hey hey, I don't know what they said, but why does this feel like it’s heading toward a medical conflict?"

"You’re killing me. You’re close to Chengde Medical Hall, but do you believe I can hop on a plane right now to teach you two a lesson? Let’s see who has more people, you or Wu Heng’s protection association?"

"Medical trouble? If you cause trouble for Dr. Wu and he’s gone, who will treat my future illnesses?"

Old Xie was furious and said, "Dr. Wu, you’re just an unlicensed doctor. I haven’t reported your unlicensed practice to the police out of respect for our village ties. How I discipline my child is not for you to decide. Why are you dragging him to the Nuo God Temple?"

Wu Heng smiled and said, "I can have the Village Chief of Wuwa Village accompany us."

Old Xie: "..."

In traditional villages, outsiders can’t interfere in family matters, but the village chief can.

Although they are collectively called the Eighteen Villages, villages are always competing for water, fields, mountains, and roads. But now the situation is different. All eighteen villages are counting on Wu Heng to boost the local tourism economy. The Village Chief of Wuwa Village might indeed intervene in this matter, and it makes sense.

Old Mrs. Xie immediately sat on the ground and threw a fit, "What are you doing? My son’s soul was taken to the Nuo God Temple. When will he come back?"

Wu Heng said, "The length of your son’s misdeeds is how long he will need to repent before the Nuo God."

Old Xie and Old Mrs. Xie felt a cold shiver.

The time limit for a soul to leave the body is seven days. If it takes longer, the body will rot and stink. If they don’t want the soul to become a ghost, the only way is to quickly send him to the hospital and keep him on life support, waiting for his soul to return.

But being on life support in the hospital costs money. Over fourteen years, that could easily be two or three million, not to mention other expenses.

If they don’t want to spend the money, they can just pull the plug.

But… but he’s their only son! The only son of the Xie family, how can he die? Even if they have to sell everything, they must save him.

It was out of love for this only son that they came up with this plan to let him see the sights of the capital city, fearing he would live his whole life in these endless mountains.

"Wu Heng, I’m going to trash Chengde Medical Hall, you little beast," Old Xie picked up a hoe and shouted in anger, pacing around.

Xie Zhi was taken aback. So, "parents" do love their children and can lose their temper when worried. It’s just that before, the love wasn’t for her.

She didn’t know what she was thinking, but her mother suddenly gently placed her head on her shoulder and stroked her hair. Xie Zhi’s eyes welled up with tears.

"Hahaha, I get it, it’s like going to the Nuo God Temple for a rehabilitation stint? I wonder if they’ll have to do manual labor?"

"People need something to believe in, even though I’m an atheist."

"This isn’t Wu Heng’s doing, it’s the village chief’s decision. Back in the day, village chiefs really had a lot of authority and could decide many important matters."

"Thankfully, Xie Zhi spoke up, otherwise that creep might have gotten away with it. Good deeds do pay off."

'Alright,' Lai Yin Chai let out a sinister chuckle as he held the triangular block. He deftly hooked Xie Zhi’s neck with his soul-catching rope and, using his professional skills, quickly captured the struggling soul into the triangular block. The soul-swapping bell on Xie Zhi fell to the ground.

Sending him to the Nuo God Temple doesn’t count as underworld performance, but… it counts as merit.

Lai Yin Chai couldn’t help but ponder which was more valuable, performance or merit.

Old Xie cursed, "Lai Jun, you short-lived little beast, your grandfather made you Wu Heng’s guide boy, and you still died young. Your Lai family deserves to die out."

Lai Yin Chai’s face instantly turned extremely ugly. His father died early, and he was a posthumous child carried in his mother’s womb. His grandfather brought back Wu Heng and died in the rainy night. He was the only heir of the Lai family, but he still died, leaving only his grandmother.

Knowing it was true but refusing to back down, Lai Yin Chai sneered, "I’m climbing the ranks in the underworld, with a wide range of potential partners. I still have a chance to father a ghost child. If you don’t raise money and let your son die as a vegetable, he won’t have the chance to marry a ghost wife!"

"I heard a special affairs department has been established in the mortal world. You two better wait to be taken in for questioning."

Lai Yin Chai looked at Wu Heng, waiting for him to call the Village Chief of Wuwa Village to come and go to the Nuo God Temple together.

Wu Heng spoke in the language of the spirits: '...I’m about to release a lot of cloth masks, mainly ordered from Granny Lai’s handwoven fabric. The income will be decent, and we’ll live comfortably.'

Lai Yin Chai grunted and looked away.

The Village Chief of Wuwa Village and Zhou Dagui rushed over urgently. The Village Chief, having already experienced the incident with Yang Xing, was familiar with the situation. With a grim expression, he and the unseen Lai Yin Chai headed towards the Nuo God Temple, planning to settle things with Old Man Xie’s family later.

Old Man Xie, fuming, had already slammed the phone down. Looking at his son lying on the bed as if dead, he was filled with anger. But ultimately, he couldn’t blame Wu Heng, as it wasn’t Wu Heng’s medicine that brought him back.

"It’s all the government’s fault, with their lousy vaccines!" Old Man Xie cursed under his breath.

The couple, terrified of their family line ending, immediately got ready to head to the hospital.

A noise came from outside the courtyard. When they opened the door, someone flashed a badge: "Special Affairs Department of Hezipo Town. Please come with us."

Upon closer inspection, it was Wang Jun, who had been transferred to the Special Affairs Department of the town police station.

Wang Jun gave the couple a cold look. What does a four-year-old know about swapping souls? It was likely something the couple had arranged years ago.

-

"Man, I really wanna know what they said! It makes me want to learn about spiritualism and metaphysics!"

"Do you know about the 'Five Misfortunes and Three Deficiencies'? Once you understand, you wouldn’t dare to learn this stuff."

"Truly, 'poor mountains and bad waters breed troublemakers'... Not referring to Dr. Wu and other ambitious youths, but specifically to certain individuals."

Wu Heng crouched down to pick up the soul-swapping bell. In a living person’s hands, the bell turned into a paper doll, which many live-stream viewers saw clearly.

It was a paper bell, painted blood-red, looking extremely creepy.

Some viewers scratched their heads, staring hard at the thing in Wu Heng’s hand, while others found it somewhat familiar.

An employee goofing off at work suddenly blurted out, "A few days ago, while cleaning, I found something similar in my son’s bedside drawer. He said it was something he made in art class..."

The female employee remembered when her son suddenly spiked a fever, terrifying the whole family. She, her husband, and both sets of grandparents all helped out, and it took a month for him to fully bounce back.

After leaving the hospital, the family praised the child for becoming more obedient and sensible, saying he had truly grown up.

The female employee quickly shot a private message to the teacher, asking what was taught in art class. The teacher quickly replied.

They didn’t learn to make bells; that day, they only did drawing!

The female employee instantly got a bad feeling, her whole body going cold.

Many viewers shared the same thought.

Wu Heng took a look and said, "This is a soul-swapping bell. Judging by the workmanship, it’s mass-produced, decent quality but functional. Xie Zhi must have used it multiple times."

Hearing this, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

As the saying goes, when you see one cockroach in your house, there are already countless nests hidden!

Xie Zhi suddenly realized. No wonder she used to dream of living in a huge villa. Could it be that she had returned to her body then? She just thought it was a dream.

Xie Zhi probably didn’t understand as a child, but as he grew older and with Old Man Xie’s reminders, he realized what was happening. However, he couldn’t bear to give up the comfortable life of the Xie family, so he simply continued living that way.

"Dr. Wu, don’t scare me. My sister seems to be in a similar situation."

"So... so Xie Zhi might not be an exception? Just one of many?"

"I really want to curse. How is this any different from human trafficking? The psychological damage could drive some kids to breakdown, right?"

"...I feel like this might be an entire industry, and the more I think about it, the more terrifying it becomes."

"Does everyone remember the incident with the Dream Cruise? At that time, someone also wanted to choose attractive women to be escorts..."

Wu Heng raised his eyes, staring straight into the camera, as if warning certain individuals: "Some people think that by acquiring good things, they can usurp others' lives and become hunters, but you might just be a slightly higher-level prey in someone else's eyes."

When it comes to soul exchange, people tend to seek benefits and avoid harm. Generally, they want to switch to better families and healthier bodies, especially to prestigious families like the Xies in Beijing.

Such wealthy families hold more power, and to prevent the truth from being exposed, certain people have no choice but to follow orders, whether they agree or not.

This is just the beginning.

With a stern face, Wu Heng gently rubbed his slender fingers, creating a faint blue flame that instantly incinerated the paper soul-exchange bell.

The viewers aren’t stupid; they were quite frightened by Wu Heng's words and didn't dare to think too deeply, so they could only keep spamming the chat for help.

Wu Heng thought for a moment and said, "Those who can get vaccinated should do so first. Those who can't can schedule a live consultation with my disciple."

Chen Zhao, carrying two bags of items, was just stepping over the threshold when he met Wu Heng's gaze and paused, pointing at himself: "Wait, me?"

He could actually do live consultations with viewers? Ahhh!

Clearly, making the right choices matters more than hard work.

He’d show Dr. Wu how to cleverly solicit gifts from viewers.

He was no longer the impoverished Chen Zhao of the past.

The official metaphysical community was also shocked. Originally, everyone was atheists, and young people didn't believe in metaphysics at all, only in science. Introducing a vaccine to boost yang energy and repel evil spirits would likely draw criticism, and there was always concern about whether the promotion of this vaccine could be completed.

As a result, was there even a need for promotion? The Weibo trending list still had a hot search about this vaccine, with countless netizens begging for inoculation.

Wu Heng had almost become the promotional ambassador!

Wu Heng looked at the camera; Xie Zhi's soul had already returned to her original body, though she was still not quite used to it.

Wu Heng knew what the Xie couple wanted to say and said, "I'll send over a prescription for stabilizing the soul later."

Upon hearing this, Xie’s parents thanked him repeatedly, bowing deeply to Wu Heng one after another.

Xie’s father picked up his phone and sent a flurry of gifts to Chengde Medical Hall, instantly becoming the top donor of the day.

"Doctor Wu, if you have time, we must treat you to a meal," Xie’s father said repeatedly.

Although Xie Zhi didn’t like going to school, they were in the parent group, where he saw other parents saying that their children mentioned Wu Heng would be auditing classes at Jiaming No.1 High School. This meant Wu Heng occasionally visited Jing City, increasing the chances of meeting.

Wu Heng smiled and said, "Sure, I’ll look forward to the dinner when Mr. and Mrs. Xie have the time. For now, I’ll ask everyone to leave the call."

After saying this, Wu Heng decisively ended the live stream.

Countless netizens couldn’t help but marvel, Xie Zhi was truly the first patient to visit Chengde Medical Hall without any illness.

The bedroom became quiet immediately after the call ended, and Xie’s parents hugged her, breaking into tears again.

"Change it, everything should be changed. We don’t want this bedroom anymore; let’s turn it into a storage room and throw all his things away," Xie’s father wiped away the tears from his wife and daughter, looking at the room filled with Xie Zhi’s presence with disgust.

Xie Zhi, looking around at the luxury items in the room, asked hesitantly, "It’s a waste to throw them away; some of them are quite expensive."

The couple’s hearts ached once more. Xie Zhi had never thought throwing things away was wasteful, but they really couldn’t bear to see these items anymore. If someone wanted them, they could give them away, as everything was brand new.

"Zhi Zhi, if there’s anything you want, just tell Mom and Dad," Mother Xie tightly held her daughter’s hand, seeing through her body to another soul.

Zhi Zhi couldn’t think of anything for the moment, just said, "I don’t want to be a celebrity, I want to go to school, I want to learn to dance."

Zhi Zhi entered the entertainment industry, getting very close with those female celebrities, often rumored to be a lesbian, likely just out to hunt for romance.

Mr. Xie, tears streaming down his face, said, "Alright, if you want to go to school, then go to school. If you can’t keep up, take an extra year or two to catch up; if you want to learn to dance, tomorrow Mom will hire the best dance teacher for you."

"Thank you... Mom and Dad." Seeing the familiar face smiling, the couple felt even more heartbroken. This was clearly her due, but now it felt like a divine gift.

*

'What are you carrying? It stinks! Worse than a skunk’s stench,' Su Dayi couldn’t help but open her eyes, staring at the two bags in Chen Zhao’s hands and cursing.

'Attack, now’s the moment.'

Suddenly, a gray and a white snake rushed out, suddenly attacking Su Dayi, who was curled up in the doghouse.

Xi Xi opened her two sharp fangs, sinking them deep into Su Dayi’s fur.

The moment she bit down, she regretted it, underestimating the thick fat layer of this plump fox. She hadn’t bitten into the flesh, only the fur.

'Dare to bite me?' Su Dayi shouted loudly, immediately tossing the little gray snake aside.

'Xi Xi!' The little white snake, seeing Xi Xi being tossed aside, cried out in distress, dashing over fearlessly to catch the little gray snake.

Wu Heng simply watched the chaos, not intending to be a referee.

As Xi Xi’s abilities grew stronger, the little gray snake’s territorial awareness also grew stronger. Su Dayi had invaded their territory, so it was completely justified in her attack.

Especially since those two doghouses were bought by Eugene for the two snakes; they were the snakes’ property.

Foxes and snakes are natural enemies. A python can swallow a fox, but a fox can also eat a small water snake.

They started fighting.

The two slender little snakes and a barrel-shaped fox directly started fighting in the clinic’s hall, immediately sending white fox fur flying everywhere.

Wu Heng, seeing the flying fox fur, had a thought. He turned around and saw Chen Zhao placing the two bags beside the consultation table, grabbing a piece of yellow paper for wrapping herbs from You Jin in the pharmacy, squatting beside them frantically gathering fox fur.

"Hahaha, keep shedding, more! This is worth a fortune!"

Chen Zhao had seen Wu Heng and Zhang Dayong’s live stream. A single fox fur could have such great power—how much would this be worth if sold?

Selling to ordinary people might lead to trouble, but selling to the mystical sects would be fine!

Wu Heng calmly watched, simply took out his phone, and bought a dog grooming comb on the orange app.

Can’t win, just can’t win against Su Dayi.

Just rolling around scratching an itch could make the two snakes feel like vomiting blood.

The little white snake, seeing the fat fox open its bloody mouth, was nearly scared to death. It closed its eyes and rushed over shouting, 'Don’t eat Xi Xi, eat me!'

Xi Xi, wrapped inside by the little white snake, softly stroked the little white snake’s quivering scales with her tail, comforting, 'Big Brother Bai, she won’t eat us. She’ll get fat.'

Xi Xi had seen the live stream. Fat fox fairies are afraid of getting fat.

Su Dayi, with her bloody mouth open, stiffened for a moment. She thought what Xi Xi said made sense and silently closed her mouth, but felt very aggrieved. Her fox eyes rolled, and she immediately had an idea.

'Let me teach you a big lesson!'

Su Dayi, with a strong desire for revenge, stuck out her tongue and began licking the two snakes furiously, directly giving them a saliva facial.

Hehe, I won’t eat, but I’ll lick.