Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Wei Jianguo pulled his hand back as if burned, his heart pounding wildly and his limbs weak. He rolled down the car window and took a moment to catch his breath before fumbling for his phone to call his wife.

The ancestor's body was still lying beside him, stiff and breathless, no different from a corpse. Wei Jianguo clutched his chest, not daring to glance sideways even with his peripheral vision. When the call connected, he quickly lowered his voice and said, "Honey, come to the school gate at Nanming. Something's happened, and I need your help."

Wei Jianguo wouldn't dare entrust this to anyone else—if word got out, he'd never be able to explain himself.

His old man would definitely be asleep by now, and the only people he could trust were his wife and son.

"Mom, why is Dad asking you to come to my school this late?"

His son's wary voice came through the phone, and Wei Jianguo felt his racing heart calm slightly. "It's complicated—too much to explain over the phone. You'll see when you get here. Oh, and bring one of Dad's wheelchairs."

Bai Shanshan hung up, found the folding wheelchair at home, grabbed the car keys, and was ready to head out.

Wei Yao suspected that Old Wan had complained to his parents behind his back, so he insisted on tagging along: "Mom, I'm coming with you."

He'd busted his ass to appease Lady Golden Flower—he couldn't let things go sideways now and get screwed by Old Wan.

Bai Shanshan couldn't talk him out of it, so she agreed, then reminded him, "Shouldn't you at least tell someone before you leave?"

"Oh right, Mom, wait for me."

Wei Yao hurried to the shrine room to tell Lady Golden Flower where he was going and kowtowed three times. The incense in the burner was burning normally, which meant Lady Golden Flower approved of him going out. Overjoyed, Wei Yao scrambled to his feet and headed to the garage to find his mom.

As he pulled open the car door, Wei Yao suddenly froze, his eyes darting to the back seat before shifting back. He stiffly climbed into the passenger seat, quietly elbowed his mom, and hissed through clenched teeth: "Mom, did you see that?"

Wei Yao wanted to convince himself he was just seeing things, but his 20/20 vision told him that the Lady Golden Flower he'd just paid respects to was now sitting in the back seat.

Bai Shanshan was confused: "See what?"

"...Nothing."

Realizing his mom couldn't see it, Wei Yao kept his mouth shut, not wanting to scare her.

Wei Yao quickly glanced at the rearview mirror, then looked away. Half of Lady Golden Flower's face showed in the mirror, long black hair hanging in front of a deathly pale face, with what looked like a vertical black pupil behind it.

Wei Yao pressed his back against the leather seat, clutching his seatbelt for dear life, silently chanting "Namo Amitabha" and "Lord Laozi, hurry up!" in his head, pretending he hadn't seen a thing.

When they arrived at the Nanming school gate, Wei Yao got out on wobbly legs and went to find his dad: "Dad, what are you doing out here this late at night?"

He habitually bent down to stick his head through the open window to talk to his dad, only to catch sight of the "corpse" in the passenger seat.

"Holy crap, Dad, did you kill somebody?"

Wei Yao jumped back in shock, smacking the back of his head against the window frame. He crouched down clutching his head, tears streaming from the pain.

Bai Shanshan shoved her troublesome son out of the way and also saw the "corpse" in the passenger seat, but she was much calmer. After a second look, she recognized it—this was clearly the new ancestor the Wei family had taken in.

"Old Wei, what the hell is going on?"

Wei Jianguo had a look of utter exasperation as he struggled to push open the car door: "It's a long story, but basically the ancestor told me to take him to Jiahe Garden. My heart's acting up now, and I don't have the strength in my arms and legs to drive. I can't trust anyone else, so I had to call you."

With that, he held onto the door frame and got out, moving to sit in the back seat.

Bai Shanshan took over as driver, draping a blanket over the passenger seat to partially cover it up before heading toward Jiahe Garden.

From Nanming to Jiahe Garden was just a stone's throw away.

After parking in the underground garage, the three of them furtively moved the ancestor into the wheelchair and furtively took the elevator up.

Only once they were finally inside did the family of three all let out a sigh of relief.

Wei Yao stared blankly at the "corpse" lying on the sofa, still unwilling to believe that this young man in a shirt and dress pants was actually the Wei family's ancestor.

"Dad, is this really our ancestor? Could Grandpa have gotten it wrong?"

Wei Jianguo sat on the other side, rubbing his chest to calm himself down, and decided to go to the hospital for a checkup tomorrow: "If your grandpa says so, then it can't be wrong. And this one is clearly no ordinary person—even if he isn't, we absolutely can't afford to offend him."

Wei Jianguo sat for a while, feeling a bit better, then stood up leaning on his wife's arm and said to his son: "I'm getting old, and I can't handle this kind of shock. Since you managed to appease Lady Golden Flower, the ancestor is your responsibility from now on. Try to get along with him."

"Stay here and keep watch tonight. We went through all this trouble—we can't let it go to waste. We need to let the ancestor know we're here for him. Your mom and I are heading home to rest."

With that, Wei Jianguo's head stopped spinning and his legs stopped wobbling. He and his wife quickly left, leaving Wei Yao with nothing but a heartless silhouette.

Wei Yao stared at the closed door: ????

Was he even their real son?

Meanwhile, Xu Muchan finally remembered what he'd forgotten.

When he'd gone upstairs, his brother had mentioned something about "coming to pick him up after school," but Xu Muchan had been so preoccupied with dealing with his homeroom teacher that the words went in one ear and out the other.

Xu Muchan: "..."

Guiltily, he looked down at the statue, which showed no reaction at all. He shook it and tentatively called out: "Brother? Brother? Are you there?"

Still no response.

It dawned on him that his brother was now possessing someone else's body, which was different from before. He pulled out his phone, squinted, and opened his contacts to find the number—his brother had saved it in his phone on the way back to school.

The number was right at the top. Xu Muchan tried calling, and it rang several times before someone picked up.

"Who's this?"

"Brother—"

Both voices sounded at once. Xu Muchan paused, his tone turning strange: "Wei Yao? Why is it you?"

"Damn, I was about to ask you the same thing—why is it you?"

Wei Yao now recognized Xu Muchan's voice too. When the phone had rung, it had scared him half to death. He'd spent a long time psyching himself up before daring to answer.

He looked at the "corpse" on the sofa, then down at his phone. The caller ID read "Achan."

He was about to ask why Xu Muchan knew his family's ancestor when the call abruptly ended.

Xu Muchan stared at the call-ended screen, his eyes subtly darting to the side. His vision was blurry and he couldn't make out much, but the shadows in the room seemed to have grown much darker.

Most importantly, he hadn't been the one to end the call.

Brother was here.

Xu Muchan set his phone aside, turning his face this way and that as he searched in confusion: "Brother, where did you go? I was calling you just now—why didn't you answer me?"

A tall figure loomed over him from behind, hands pressing down on his shoulders. The figure leaned down to look at him, voice low and heavy: "Achan's being disobedient again."

Xu Muchan lifted his face in bewilderment, his hazy eyes blinking: "Did I do something wrong, Brother?"

Wei Xilou, who was about to demand an explanation, was stumped by the question. Looking at the young man's confused, innocent face, he said, "Didn't I say I'd pick you up after school?"

Xu Muchan looked surprised, his eyes round and wide: "When did you say that? I had no idea. I thought you'd be waiting for me at home like you used to, so I came straight home to find you."

As he spoke, he held out his palm and lifted the palm-sized stone statue up a bit, as if to prove he really did come straight back to find his brother.

"Did you really go to school to pick me up?"

Xu Muchan tilted his head, his expression showing a hint of barely contained excitement, and his hazy eyes seemed to brighten.

Wei Xilou mumbled a vague "Mm," his tall frame completely encircling Xu Muchan. He thought for a moment, then said, "I'll pick you up tomorrow."

Xu Muchan nodded eagerly: "Okay."

Then he snuck a sideways glance at his brother, and once he confirmed his brother didn't seem angry anymore, he raised both hands in front of the person embracing him and grumbled: "Brother, after my shower, my nails turned black again and grew a bit longer. I also feel like my heart's beating way slower than usual."

On top of that, he felt his skin had become even paler. His skin was already very fair, but now it was so pale it was almost eerie.

"Is this a side effect of eating the Black Taisui?"

It was the only explanation Xu Muchan could come up with.

"Sort of."

Wei Xilou didn't elaborate. Instead, he grabbed the Mountain God Amulet from nearby and put it back on him, instructing: "The Mountain God Amulet can suppress ghost transformation. From now on, don't just take it off."

"What does ghost transformation mean?"

Xu Muchan frowned: "Does it mean that if I take off the Mountain God Amulet, I'll become a ghost?"

Wei Xilou avoided the question and instead picked him up, tucking him into bed and pulling the blanket up to his chin: "This isn't a bad thing, Achan doesn't need to worry."

Xu Muchan wanted to press further, but as soon as he sat up, an unseen force pushed him back down. His hands and feet were pinned down, unable to move, and the cold, hand-like sensation around his wrists and ankles gave him goosebumps. He immediately went still.

A cold finger pressed against his lips, and Wei Xilou hushed him: "Be good, Achan. Time to sleep."

*

The next day was a fifth-day. Xu Muchan got up early and went to the basement to pay respects to the deity first.

Xu Wangchuan was having breakfast in the dining room, watching his slow, deliberate figure descend the stairs with an unreadable expression.

Ever since the new statue was brought in, he could no longer enter the basement. It was as if an invisible barrier was keeping him out, so the job of worshipping the God of Joy on fifth-days had been entirely passed on to Xu Muchan.

It wasn't a great gig. Xu Wangchuan wouldn't say he hated it, but he definitely didn't like it.

But now that it had become Xu Muchan's exclusive duty, he wasn't the least bit happy about it.

Xu Muchan finished his worship quickly and was back in no time. Xu Wangchuan took a sip of soy milk and looked at him inquisitively: "How did your eyes just suddenly get better? The deity at home is very responsive. Did you make a wish to it?"

"If a wish comes true, you have to repay the deity. I can't afford the cost, so I don't make wishes lightly."

Xu Muchan turned to him and curled his lips into a smile: "How do you know the God of Joy is so responsive? Have you made a wish to it before?"

Xu Wangchuan's hand twitched, spilling a little soy milk. He grabbed a tissue to wipe it up: "I don't want for anything. I've got no wishes that need praying to gods."

"Is that so?" Xu Muchan replied airily, his tone giving no clue whether he believed it or not.

"The driver's here. I'm off to school."

Xu Wangchuan didn't continue the topic and got up to leave.

Through Xu Muchan's blurry vision, his straight-backed figure seemed warped and distorted.

Xu Muchan didn't go to school with him today because he had a morning appointment for an eye check-up.

After running all the necessary tests, they still couldn't find anything wrong. His eyes had gone blind for no reason, and now they'd recovered for no reason. The old professor looked at him with a fervent gaze, as if he were looking at a walking research paper.

Xu Zhifei had plenty to say about this and even began to doubt the old professor's professional competence.

Xu Muchan, on the other hand, was totally unfazed. After all, if something wasn't scientific, it made sense that scientific methods couldn't detect it.

After finishing the check-up, Xu Muchan went straight to school.

His phone kept buzzing on the way. He took it out and saw that Wei Yao had actually made a little group chat, with him, Wen Dajiang, and He Jiaqi all in it.

Wei Yao was way too chatty, and Xu Muchan couldn't make out the text, so he put on his earbuds and switched on text-to-speech—

Wei Yao was actually inviting the three of them to the Wei family's old residence tomorrow for the family recognition ceremony.

Wen Dajiang was the first to jump in, incredulous: "You're seriously going to accept that thing as your godmother?"

Wei Yao was displeased: "You ungrateful brat, show some respect to our godmother."

Wen Dajiang replied with a string of periods to show his speechlessness.

He Jiaqi chimed in: "Sorry, I've got family stuff this weekend. I don't think I can make it."

Wei Yao replied "No worries" and then tagged Xu Muchan: "Why'd you suddenly hang up yesterday? I tried calling back but couldn't get through. How do you know our family's ancestor? You even swapped phone numbers."

The person his brother had possessed was Wei Yao's ancestor?

The more he thought about it, the creepier it felt: "What's your ancestor's name?"

Wei Yao said: "The spirit tablet says Wei Xilou. Apparently he's the first ancestor of our Old Wei family. Even my grandpa has to kneel when he talks to him."

Xu Muchan had originally thought "ancestor" was just a way of saying someone was really old-school, but from the way Wei Yao was talking, it sounded like he meant a literal ancestor?

"Your Wei family's first-generation ancestor must have been bones for ages, right?"

Xu Muchan probed: "It's not like he could've crawled back out of his coffin."

Wei Yao grinned: "That's exactly what happened—he crawled out of the coffin. My grandfather saw it with his own eyes."

Xu Muchan: "..."

He felt a whirlwind of emotions, but also a sense of relief. At least his brother hadn't possessed a living person, so he didn't have to worry about Taoist priests finding out and hunting them down.

Wei Yao, hearing his silence, thought he didn't believe it and kept spamming him with tags: "You don't believe me? Next time I'll show you. Our ancestor can even do astral projection."

The car had already stopped at the school gate. Xu Muchan ignored the chatter in the group, locked his phone, grabbed his bag, and got out.

It was right after third period, and Xu Muchan went to the restroom to wash his face, but to his surprise, someone blocked his way the moment he walked in.

The blurry face in front of him was unfamiliar, but the voice was unmistakable. Xu Muchan frowned: "Jin Qi?"

Ever since the equipment room incident, Jin Qi had been on leave and hadn't shown up at school.

First, he was genuinely scared out of his wits—in just a few days, he'd lost a ton of weight, and his parents made him rest at home. Second, the video from the equipment room had gone viral in every school group chat in Jiangcheng. Jin Qi felt embarrassed, so he stayed home to recover and wait for the video's hype to die down.

But he was still feeling seriously wronged, so after resting at home for a few days, he came to school specifically to corner Xu Muchan.

"It was you who pulled that trick in the equipment room, wasn't it? There's no ghost at all—you're the one faking it, right?" Jin Qi had never suffered such a loss in his life, and now he glared at Xu Muchan with gritted teeth.

Xu Muchan smiled slightly. "What trick could I pull? I can't exactly make you wet your pants."

"You son of a bitch—"

Jin Qi was furious and about to throw a punch, but his two lackeys stopped him. "Brother Jin, let's talk it out. You can't throw a punch—if this blind guy gets hurt and files a complaint, we'll catch hell..."

Jin Qi's raised fist froze mid-air, then he slammed it back down hard. He pointed at Xu Muchan through clenched teeth. "Just you wait. You're gonna get it."

"And that little bitch in your class, He Jiaqi—she's the one who tipped you off, right? Tell her to watch her back walking home."

With that, Jin Qi turned and walked out, followed by a loud slam of the bathroom door, then the sound of metal clinking and scraping.

Jin Qi fastened the chain, hung a "Maintenance in Progress" sign on the door, and grinned at the people inside. "Consider this a little appetizer—a taste of what's to come."

Xu Muchan frowned and pulled at the door, only to find it locked from the outside.

Jin Qi hadn't left yet, clearly planning to enjoy the show. Xu Muchan put the phone he'd taken out back into his pocket and instead pulled out the small idol he carried with him.

He'd brought the idol along to keep his brother calm, worried his brother might think he was being disobedient again—but now it came in handy.

He pressed the idol to his forehead. "Brother, brother, I've been locked in the bathroom."

A few calls quickly brought Wei Xilou out.

The light in the bathroom dimmed slightly, shadows surged and coalesced, stretching and rising into a tall humanoid figure that bent down to look at Xu Muchan.

"Achan, what do you want to do?"

Xu Muchan's eyes flicked around, then he said, "Just open the door for me. I wanna scare them."

The moment the words left his mouth, the bathroom door, chained from the outside, began to shake violently, as if hands were desperately yanking on the door. The metal chain locking it pulled taut and strained, emitting a harsh screech.

Jin Qi, waiting not far away, burst out laughing. "Thought this blind guy had more guts—turns out he's scared shitless."

One of the lackeys chimed in with a grin. "Hope he doesn't wet himself."

Both lackeys were from the international department, their families' businesses depended on the Jin family, so they naturally fawned over Jin Qi, the family's golden boy.

Jin Qi's laugh died in his throat, his face turning cold as he glared darkly at the guy who said it.

The lackey belatedly realized he'd said something wrong and, going pale, quickly apologized. "No, Brother Jin, I didn't mean you..."

As he stumbled through his apology, a loud bang came from the bathroom door behind them. The metal chain wrapped around the handle snapped clean off and clattered to the ground with a sharp clang.

The three of them jumped, turning around in unison to see the bathroom door swing open, hanging crooked on its hinges. The blind guy walked out, his left arm raised like something invisible was leading him.

The creepy sight sent a chill down their spines, and for a moment, none of them dared to move forward.

"B-Brother Jin, what's going on with that blind guy?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Jin Qi clenched his jaw so hard his voice barely trembled. It reminded him again of what he'd seen in the equipment room that night.

Just then, the other one muttered, "There really isn't a ghost, right?"

"Shut the hell up!" Jin Qi barked at him.

The two lackeys fell silent instantly, staring in terror as Xu Muchan walked toward them, led by something they couldn't see.

Jin Qi stood frozen, watching helplessly as the blind guy strolled calmly back to class. Before going in, he glanced back at Jin Qi, then turned his head to the empty air beside him and said, "Thanks, brother."

The two lackeys heard it too, screamed, and took off running.

But Jin Qi was rooted to the spot, unable to move. A cold draft hit the back of his neck, like something was breathing on him. The sheer terror finally jolted his survival instincts, and with a scream, he ran off without looking back.

Beneath his feet, the dense shadow merged into his own and drifted away with him.

The screams one after another drew attention, and someone in the classroom poked their head out. "Who's screaming like that? Seen a ghost?"

Xu Muchan sat at his desk, in a great mood, chin propped on his hand as he reached into his bag and stroked the idol inside.