Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Xu Muchan tilted his face slightly upward, feeling the subtle breeze brush against his cheeks and swirl around him, the hem of his sacrificial robes fluttering gently with the movement.

The sickening stench of blood and rot had completely dissipated, replaced by a cold, damp wind.

The wind grew stronger, causing the banners hanging around them to flap noisily.

The mediums standing in a circle around Xu Muchan and Xu Wangchuan looked around nervously—today's spirit-summoning ceremony seemed somehow different from usual.

They instinctively turned their gazes toward the high priest standing before the altar.

The high priest wore a brightly painted wooden mask on his face, spreading his limbs in exaggerated leaps and contortions—a dance with an extremely strange rhythm, wild and sweeping like the movements of a beast. He repeated the invocation spell once more, raising his voice: "Come—spirit—come—"

The drawn-out chanting rose again. Xu Muchan tilted his head slightly, hearing the huge thing coiled overhead begin to stir slowly, along with the synchronized footsteps of four people.

Their footsteps were heavy, as if they were carrying something.

Step by step, they approached Xu Muchan and Xu Wangchuan, then set down what they were carrying, the weight landing with a dull thud.

Xu Muchan quickly realized what it was—the gilded statue of the god that was to be enshrined today.

Xu Qingming and Xu Zhifei, following the high priest's instructions, lit incense and worshipped before the statue, after which it was Xu Muchan and Xu Wangchuan's turn.

But somehow, although Xu Muchan and Xu Wangchuan lit their incense simultaneously, before Xu Wangchuan even got to bow, the incense in his hand went out.

The high priest had to give him three fresh sticks.

Xu Wangchuan bowed again. This time the incense didn't go out, but it burned down unevenly—two short, one long.

People dread "three long and two short" (a coffin), incense dreads "two short and one long"—a sign of bad luck.

This time, not just the high priest, but the others' expressions also shifted slightly, murmuring to each other.

Xu Wangchuan himself realized something was wrong, looking anxiously at the high priest, but with that exaggerated mask on his face, he couldn't read a thing, so he could only ask nervously: "Great Master...?"

The high priest was also puzzled. When the Xu family had first sent this child to serve the God of Joy, he had been a favorite—so why all the weirdness today?

Thinking back to how something had seemed off during the spirit-summoning earlier, the high priest felt uneasy, but the auspicious time for welcoming the god couldn't be delayed, so he had Xu Muchan offer three more sticks of incense in Xu Wangchuan's place.

Although Xu Muchan couldn't see, he vaguely figured something had gone wrong with the ritual.

Thinking about how these people had gone to all this trouble, only for the "god" they summoned to actually be his brother, he bit his lip to hold back a smile and offered three more sticks of incense.

This time, the offering went smoothly.

Xu Wangchuan, who had been replaced, looked grim but dared not say a word.

After the successful offering, the high priest reminded them again: "The new god has returned home; from now on, you must worship with utmost devotion. The virgin boy must worship the god every fifth day—do not be negligent."

Xu Qingming nodded quickly.

Afterward, the heavy gilded statue was lifted again by the four men, and Xu Muchan and Xu Wangchuan were instructed to follow alongside the god's sedan chair, escorting the idol down to the basement.

With the statue in place, the rest was simple—just needed the chosen virgin boy to do the final worship.

Originally, this task was supposed to be done by both Xu Wangchuan and Xu Muchan together—more precisely, with Xu Wangchuan taking the lead and Xu Muchan assisting.

But today, for some reason, the God of Joy seemed to have it in for Xu Wangchuan. When the two stepped forward with fresh offerings, the fresh fruit in Xu Wangchuan's hands suddenly rotted and oozed liquid in an instant, emitting a powerful stench, with maggots visibly squirming out.

Startled, Xu Wangchuan dropped the plate with a clatter, and the rotten, maggoty fruit rolled all over the floor, making everyone scatter to get away.

Xu Qingming was also horrified. Remembering the earlier incense problem, he frowned and glared at Xu Wangchuan: "What's going on? What did you do to displease the god?"

The virgin boy serving the god was chosen and approved by the god himself, and Xu Wangchuan was even closer to the God of Joy than most. If Xu Wangchuan hadn't done something to tick off the god, none of today's weird stuff would have happened.

Xu Wangchuan's lips moved, but he was too guilty to make excuses.

Xu Qingming, seeing his adopted son look so guilty, held back his anger and shot him a cold glare.

Seeing this, the high priest made Xu Wangchuan step aside, and Xu Muchan finished the final worship ritual by himself.

After the ceremony ended, Xu Qingming called Xu Wangchuan into the study for a talk. Xu Muchan couldn't hear what was said, but it was obvious Xu Qingming was furious—when Xu Wangchuan came out, he looked completely wilted.

Xu Qingming, meanwhile, turned to Xu Muchan with a pleasant look and said: "Muchan, since the god likes you, you'll be in charge of the fifth-day worship for now."

The god these people had summoned was his brother, and Xu Muchan figured this way he could openly and properly worship his brother from now on, so he agreed without hesitation.

Xu Wangchuan, standing nearby, quickly looked up at him, his eyes cold and sinister.

After the ceremony, Xu Muchan returned to school as usual.

Wei Yao came right over as soon as he saw him, kicking his chair leg from across the aisle: "Hey, why were you gone for two days? Locked in the equipment room for a bit, and now you're scared enough to take time off?"

Xu Muchan didn't want to deal with him, but knowing this guy was hard to shake, he said: "Family matters."

Wei Yao had no sense of boundaries, leaning in further to ask: "What matters?"

Xu Muchan truly ignored him this time, turning around to take out his recording pen and put on his earphones.

Wei Yao clicked his tongue in annoyance, turned back with a bored expression, and flipped open his textbook for morning reading. But as he read, drowsiness crept over him again—he propped the textbook upright to hide his face and slumped onto the desk, fast asleep.

It was still morning reading period. Xu Muchan, wearing his earphones, listened to the teaching material while mumbling recitations to himself, but as he listened, a faint static began to mix into the poetry being played through the earphones.

The static was like an echo, hidden within the mechanical female voice reciting the poems—unclear, yet with a strong presence.

Xu Muchan paused his recitation and listened carefully.

The mechanical female voice recited: "Moreover, life's length follows fate, and all things must end. The ancients said: 'Death and life are great matters indeed...'"

Another voice buzzed along: "Little brother, little brother, come play, play, play, play..."

Like a stuck audio track, the last word repeated and stretched endlessly, warping into distorted white noise.

Xu Muchan frowned and took off his earphones, only to find that without the poetry recitation, the buzzing voice was even clearer, seeming to come from his right.

His right?

Xu Muchan turned his face slightly toward Wei Yao's direction but heard nothing from him.

During morning reading, the classroom was filled with voices reading at varying volumes, which interfered with Xu Muchan's hearing. He strained to distinguish the sound for a moment and finally confirmed it was coming from Wei Yao's position.

Moreover, he had heard it before—previously it had been vague mumbling, closer to white noise, but now those indistinct murmurs had suddenly become intelligible.

Given what Xu Muchan had heard, he felt this wasn't a good sign.

Remembering that Wei Yao had vouched for him in front of the homeroom teacher and saved him a lot of trouble, Xu Muchan decided he could warn Wei Yao after class.

As for whether Wei Yao believed him—that was out of his hands.

Just as he was about to put his earphones back on, a sudden loud crash came from the desk next to him—Wei Yao shot up from his seat, knocking the books, the odds and ends on his desk, and the stool he'd been sitting on to the floor.

Wei Yao stared ahead with a terrified expression, his eyes wide and unfocused.

The noisy classroom went quiet for a beat, then quickly got loud again. Wen Dajiang, sitting diagonally in front, crumpled up a piece of paper, tossed it at Wei Yao, and grinned: "Old Wei, did you sleep yourself stupid?"

The paper ball snapped Wei Yao awake. His eyes finally focused, landed on Wen Dajiang's smug grin, and he flew into a rage: "Wen Dajiang, are you asking for a beating?!"

Wen Dajiang gave him a "why are you biting the hand that feeds you" look: "Class isn't over yet, don't yell—careful, you'll bring Old Wan down on us."

Only then did Wei Yao realize it was still morning self-study.

He hastily scooped up the stuff off the floor, righted his stool, and sat back down. The playful grin he'd had with Wen Dajiang faded, and his face went deathly pale.

That dream again.

Recalling the dream, Wei Yao felt his scalp and back tighten. Luckily, the classroom was packed—he looked around, felt a bit safer, and slowly relaxed.

But he didn't dare go back to sleep, so he just flipped open his Chinese textbook and started reading on autopilot.

After morning reading, a bunch of people headed out for breakfast. Xu Muchan had already eaten at home and stayed put, while Wei Yao, too rattled by the nightmare to eat, slumped listlessly over his desk, face on his arms, facing Xu Muchan's direction.

Just then, Xu Muchan turned his head. Wei Yao caught his unfocused gaze, shot upright, and looked away.

But then he remembered the kid next to him was blind as a bat and couldn't see a thing, so he turned back and stared at Xu Muchan without shame. Yet Xu Muchan remained facing his direction, completely still.

Wei Yao started feeling guilty again, cleared his throat, and went on the attack: "You got something to say?"

Xu Muchan said: "For your own safety, you should get someone to check you out. The things hanging around you seem to be getting worse..."

Wei Yao: ???

He burst out laughing and leaned across the aisle, getting right in Xu Muchan's face: "Little blind man, trying that trick on me again?"

He still remembered how this kid had pulled that trick on him once in the equipment room.

Of course, Young Master Wei would never admit he'd been a little scared back then. He leaned back in his chair, all smug: "Trying to scare your Brother Yao? You're way too green."

Xu Muchan couldn't be bothered with his jabbering and went straight for Young Master Wei's weak spot: "You've been having nightmares for days now, haven't you? If you don't take it seriously, it'll be too late—even the gods won't save you."

With that, he turned away, put his earphones back on, and continued listening to the lesson.

Wei Yao had helped him once; he was helping Wei Yao once. Now they were even.

Wei Yao lowered his crossed leg and frowned, studying Xu Muchan.

Xu Muchan listened intently with his earphones on, his profile calm and composed, utterly unaware that he'd just dropped a bombshell that left Young Master Wei rattled to the core.

After three minutes, Wei Yao couldn't sit still anymore. He dragged his chair over to Xu Muchan's desk, pulled off his earphones, and furrowed his thick brows: "How do you know I've been having nightmares? And earlier you mentioned my brother... how do you know I used to have a brother?"

His gaze was like an X-ray, as if he wanted to scan Xu Muchan inside and out.

Xu Muchan held out his hand for the earphones, and in a flat tone dropped another bombshell: "I heard it. And you didn't just have one brother—you had five."