Chapter 32

Chapter 32

After he'd said his piece, Xu Muchan paid no mind to how everyone else looked and headed out the door to get in the car.

Probably because his vision had improved, Xu Muchan was in an especially good mood, even thinking Uncle Wu the driver seemed friendlier. He sat down in the back seat, and Xu Wangchuan opened the door from the other side and got in, sitting beside Xu Muchan, putting on his best big-brother tone: "Muchan, your eyes have gotten a bit better, but you can't be so willful. Just 'cause you're in a huff with Mom and Dad, you want to board at school? If something happens at school, won't Mom and Dad still worry?"

He kept rambling, but Xu Muchan was staring at him, a little surprised.

This was the first time he'd gotten a clear look at Xu Wangchuan's face.

Xu Wangchuan was a few centimeters shorter than him, with fairly fair skin and bland, forgettable features. Wearing the Nanming school uniform, he had a clean-cut, studious look about him. But the red threads poking out of his skin wrecked that clean-cut image, making him look rather eerie.

The threads were see-through, pulsing faintly like veins, with one end stuck in Xu Wangchuan's skin and the other going through the car roof, stretching up to God knows where.

Xu Muchan asked Uncle Wu to wait, then opened the door and looked up. He saw those vein-like threads poking through the car roof, reaching up into the sky and vanishing into the clouds.

What was up there behind the clouds?

Staring at those scattered threads, Xu Muchan got the feeling something huge was attached to the other end.

As if answering his unspoken question, the heavy clouds suddenly blew apart, and at the edge, a corner of dark, faded red showed through. As more of that red corner came into view, clearer and clearer, Xu Muchan finally realized what it was—the God of Joy's red bridal veil.

As if it sensed someone watching, the huge monster behind the clouds slowly dipped its head. The tassels on the red veil swayed, and its neck was long and bendy like a snake's... As it moved, the red threads attached to it tugged along.

Xu Muchan quickly looked away and didn't dare peek again. He got back in the car, shut the door, and told Uncle Wu, "Uncle Wu, let's go."

Uncle Wu grunted in reply and pulled away.

But the God of Joy had clearly been roused. The red veil showed up outside the window on Xu Wangchuan's side, its cloth-covered face pressed flat against the car window, like it was trying to see inside.

Xu Muchan sat up straight, staring ahead, pretending the monster outside didn't exist.

Xu Wangchuan, though, started getting fidgety for no reason he could name. That creepy, hair-raising feeling was back.

Ever since they'd set up the new deity at home, he hadn't felt that way in ages.

Xu Wangchuan frowned and shot a look outside—just the scenery flying past, nothing there. But that suffocating feeling wouldn't go away. He rolled down the window and stuck his face near the gap, gulping in the outside air.

From the corner of his eye, Xu Muchan saw him nearly nose-to-nose with the God of Joy.

The God of Joy was in some weird state—a snake-like neck poked out from under the red veil, but two twisted hands reached up from below, grabbing the veil's edges like they were about to pull it off.

Xu Wangchuan, totally clueless, even poked his head out a little more, like he was about to duck right under the God of Joy's veil.

"Xu Wangchuan, roll the window up some. The wind's giving me a headache," Xu Muchan said.

Xu Wangchuan blinked, but he was used to playing the nice big brother, so he pulled back, gave Xu Muchan a smile, and rolled the window up.

The window shut the God of Joy out.

Xu Muchan felt way better and went back to resting with his eyes shut.

Today, the first two periods were homeroom teacher Wan Zheng's, as it happened. Xu Muchan wanted to ask about applying for the dorms, so he hurried after him after class.

"You want to apply for the dorms?" Wan Zheng asked, surprised.

Most Nanming students came from loaded families—rich or powerful—so most of them didn't bother with the dorms. Either they got driven home every day, or their folks bought apartments near campus. The dorms were only for scholarship kids from more regular families.

Xu Muchan nodded, his excuse already ready: "I feel like home's too far from school. The dorms would be more convenient."

Wan Zheng's face got even weirder, since he knew a thing or two about Xu Muchan's family. Such a family wouldn't need their kid in the dorms; even for convenience, they'd just find a nice place outside school.

But he looked at Xu Muchan's earnest expression, recalled the gossip he'd seen on trending searches, and figured there might be circumstances he didn't know about.

He thought for a moment and said, "The school only has one dormitory building. As far as I remember, the freshman dorms are already full this year. If you apply on short notice, there might not be a spot. Let me check on the situation for you first."

Xu Muchan clearly hadn't expected Nanming's dorms to be so tight. He paused, then nodded: "Alright, thank you, teacher."

Wan Zheng thought for a moment and tactfully added, "You transferred here not long ago. Whether it's academic or personal difficulties, you can always come talk to me."

Xu Muchan was a bit puzzled but nodded again.

Back in the classroom, Xu Muchan felt a bit deflated—his first attempt had failed before it even began. If he couldn't get a dorm, he'd have to rent a place off campus.

But housing near Nanming wasn't cheap, and renting would be another significant expense. Xu Muchan calculated his current savings: back in Yundong, he'd saved up about ten thousand yuan from working part-time during summer and winter breaks. After coming to Jiangcheng, Xu Zhifei had also given him quite a bit of allowance.

In total, he had about thirty thousand yuan saved.

That would be a lot in Yundong, but at Nanming, the annual tuition alone was a huge sum, and the academic pace was much more intense than in Yundong—evening study sessions ran until nearly ten. Xu Muchan figured he'd hardly have time for part-time work during the semester.

Luckily, he didn't have to worry about tuition this semester. Xu Muchan sighed, thinking he might look for a summer job when vacation came.

As for the regular term, he could only hope to find weekend work.

*

During the noon break, Xu Muchan, Wei Yao, and Wen Dajiang got a leave slip from Wan Zheng and went out through the school gate to the nearby police station to complete their statement.

Wei Yao and Wen Dajiang, probably experiencing for the first time leaving school through the front gate with a proper leave slip instead of climbing over the wall, were gleefully reluctant to head back. They said to Xu Muchan, "We've got an hour—want to hit the internet café and play some games?"

Xu Muchan had never played games and shook his head without interest: "You guys go ahead. I want to see about getting glasses and buying a phone, plus getting a new SIM card."

Now that his vision had recovered somewhat, he didn't rely on his phone as much, but he still needed one.

"Can you even get glasses for your condition? Why didn't you get them earlier?"

Hearing this was serious business, the two abandoned their gaming plans and dragged Xu Muchan toward a nearby optical shop: "Come on, there's one right near the school."

Xu Muchan vaguely mentioned that his vision had improved since morning and he wanted to get his eyes checked.

At the shop, Xu Muchan had his eyes tested: nine hundred degrees of myopia, plus one hundred fifty astigmatism.

That was a high prescription, but for Xu Muchan it was a pleasant surprise—it meant he could indeed rely on glasses to compensate for his vision problems.

However, high-index lenses needed to be custom-made. Xu Muchan paid, left his contact info, and walked out of the shop feeling a bit elated.

With glasses, he could attend classes and do homework like a normal person.

Wei Yao still found it hard to believe. He'd thought Xu Muchan's eyes were in bad shape, but now it just seemed like severe nearsightedness?

He shoved his big face right up to Xu Muchan: "Hey, can you see what I look like?"

Xu Muchan leaned back in disgust: "Two eyes, one nose, one mouth. That's it."

Wei Yao clicked his tongue: "Everyone's got two eyes, one nose, and one mouth, but only your Brother Yao is genuinely handsome!"

Xu Muchan's mouth twitched, and he ignored him.

Wen Dajiang rolled his eyes and shot back: "Look at you showing off. Xu Muchan's way better looking than you. If you want to see a handsome guy, why not look in a mirror?"

Wei Yao glanced back and saw the youth walking behind them glowing white under the sun, his new bob haircut looking very neat and pretty. But he didn't dare say that out loud—Xu Muchan had given him the cold shoulder for that before, and he remembered it well.

With the model student Xu Muchan around, hitting the internet cafe for gaming was a no-go. After buying a new phone and replacing the SIM card, the three returned to school half an hour early.

But unexpectedly, they ran into Yan He at the school gate.

Yan He had clearly been waiting for them on purpose. As soon as Wei Yao saw him, he guiltily rushed over and slung an arm around Yan He's shoulder, trying to play it cool and mask his guilt: "Brother Yan, what brings you here?"

"Get off me, don't try to buddy up. I'm here for Xu Muchan." Yan He brushed his arm away with disdain, still remembering how this heartless kid had ditched him at the police station last night and bailed on his own.

Xu Muchan looked puzzled: "For me?"

Yan He studied him closely. He hadn't noticed last night in all the chaos, but today he immediately saw that Xu Muchan's hair seemed a lot longer. When they'd met at Rose Garden yesterday afternoon, his hair hadn't looked like this.

Remembering the fierce ghost in the ghost realm with waist-length hair, Yan He's heart skipped a beat.

"That ghostly thing we ran into in the ghost realm last night that looked exactly like you—I can't stop thinking about it. I'm worried it might do something to you... Mind if I take a look at your hands?"

So that's what this was about. Xu Muchan lowered his eyes and held out his right hand.

Yan He examined it closely for a long while but couldn't spot any of the abnormal signs his master had mentioned.

After getting back last night, he'd immediately video-called his master and senior brother. First, he'd filed a serious complaint against that Judge, asking his senior brother to pass along the dire situation of corruption among the current Judges when making offerings to Lord Cui. Then he'd brought up the hungry ghost in the 101 ghost realm, the black water, and that ghostly thing that looked exactly like Xu Muchan.

The hungry ghost had already been dissolved by the black water in the ghost realm, so that threat was gone—no need to worry about it anymore.

But that ghostly thing that looked like Xu Muchan was bugging him. Especially when he'd seen Xu Muchan outside Building Nine last night—Yan He had noticed a lot of things about him that seemed off, but there'd been no time to dig into it in the chaos.

Later, after telling his master, he'd learned a term he'd never heard before—"Heaven-born child."

His master told him that people born at the peak of yin energy during Qingming Festival were called "Heaven-born children." They had extraordinary talent, high spiritual sensitivity, and strong intuition—some were even born with innate knowledge. They often made excellent candidates for cultivating Daoist arts.

If they walked a long path, they could become major figures of great importance, even if not leaders of the Daoist sects.

But Heaven-born children, due to their special constitution, tended to die young. If they died naturally of old age or illness, that was fine. But if they died with deep obsessions and heavy resentment, they could easily become ghost kings—a great disaster for the mortal world.

Based on Yan He's description, the ghostly thing seen in the ghost realm was very likely a ghost king.

His master even guessed that the Red-Robed Judge had probably been killed by the ghost king too.

Because ghost kings naturally devoured their own kind to grow stronger.

Yan He's heart was pounding with fear. He barely slept a wink all night. In the morning, he'd wanted to go straight to the school to find him, but the school security was tight and wouldn't let him in. With no other option, he'd been staking out the Nanming school gate.

"No issues. Looks like I was overthinking things."

Yan He let out a sigh of relief. Following his master's instructions, he'd carefully examined Xu Muchan's palm lines, confirming not only that he was human and not a ghost, but also discovering that his fate was full of hardships and calamities—a poor, unlucky soul.

Such a smart and good-looking kid with such a miserable fate—Yan He felt a twinge of sympathy and a pang of guilt for suspecting him. To make up for it, he pulled out three protective talismans and handed one to each of them: "Jiangcheng's been unsettled lately. Don't wander around after school—go straight home. These talismans will keep you safe."

Of course, for someone as unlucky as Xu Muchan, it was better than nothing.

Yan He gave him another sympathetic look, then waved them off to go into school.

Wei Yao clutched his talisman as they walked in, still muttering: "Didn't expect Taoist Master Yan to be so generous—making a special trip just to read your palm and hand us three talismans without charging a cent. My grandpa said his talismans are pretty pricey!"

Xu Muchan stared at his talisman, lost in thought. He felt Yan He's visit had some other purpose.

He looked at his own palm. The lines were faint, with lots of short branches. He didn't know how to read palms and couldn't see anything wrong, but recalling how visibly relieved Yan He had looked when leaving, he figured it probably wasn't a big deal—otherwise, Yan He wouldn't have looked so relieved.

In that case, no need to overthink it.

When school let out that evening, Xu Muchan hesitated briefly before asking Wei Yao and Wen Dajiang if they knew of any weekend part-time gigs near the school.

Wei Yao and Wen Dajiang obviously didn't need to work part-time, but they knew a lot of people. Xu Muchan was only familiar with them so far, so he had to ask—if that didn't pan out, he'd have to go door-to-door at nearby shops himself.

"Did your family go broke?" Wei Yao and Wen Dajiang were stunned, unable to figure out why Xu Muchan needed a part-time job.

Xu Muchan didn't want to go into detail, so he said vaguely: "No, I just had a falling out with my family. I might need to support myself from now on."

Wei Yao gasped: "Are your parents' hearts made of cement? Even if you fought, they can't just cut off your allowance!"

Xu Muchan figured these two wouldn't have useful information. His eyes began drifting to the shop fronts around them, looking for hiring ads.

Seeing him so distracted, Wei Yao immediately conjured up a dramatic soap opera scenario, casting Xu Muchan as the poor soul about to be kicked out and forced to earn his own keep. He threw an arm around Xu Muchan's neck and said with exasperation: "You're still in school—why look for a job? If you're short on cash, I'll give you some. I have more allowance than I can spend—you can help me spend it."

Then he lowered his voice: "Did that bastard Xu Wangchuan pull some dirty trick on you?"

Otherwise, he couldn't understand why the Xu family, with their only biological son finally found, would just stop supporting him.

Xu Muchan was about to push Wei Yao's arm away when he met a pair of cold, watchful eyes—Wei Xilou had appeared behind Wei Yao at some point, eyes narrowed slightly, gaze fixed on Wei Yao's arm resting on Xu Muchan's shoulder, lips pressed in a faint, ambiguous smile.

Xu Muchan: "..."

He pushed Wei Yao's arm off, gave him a sympathetic look, then walked without hesitation to Wei Xilou's side, tilting his head up with a delighted expression: "Brother, why are you here?"

Wei Xilou patted his head: "Came to pick you up."

Wei Yao beside them wore a look of utter shock, staring at Xu Muchan in disbelief: "Wait, why are you calling my ancestor 'brother'? Doesn't that make me several generations below you?"

Xu Muchan ignored him, silently praying he'd stop talking—the more he babbled, the faster he'd meet his end.

Couldn't he feel the murderous aura his brother was radiating?

Wei Yao really couldn't feel it. He'd fully accepted that Wei Xilou was his family's ancestor, and since things seemed to be going smoothly with his godmother, Wei Yao felt a growing warmth toward the ancestor who'd advised him to take her as his godmother.

He grinned widely: "Ancestor, Xu Muchan is the same age as me—how can he call you 'brother'? Shouldn't he address you according to my generation?"

Wei Xilou's mouth twitched into a cold, insincere smile: "Are Achan's family members all dead? That he needs you to give him money?"

Wei Yao was taken aback, but quickly interpreted it as the ancestor thinking Xu Muchan had parents, so it wasn't his classmate's place to spend money on him. Assuming the ancestor didn't know about Xu Muchan's situation, he explained naively: "Xu Muchan had a fight with his parents, and they cut off his allowance. He was about to look for a part-time job—how pitiful is that? Anyway, I have plenty of allowance; one more person spending it won't run it dry."

Wei Xilou nodded: "Seems you have too much allowance."

Wei Yao: ??

Before he could figure it out, Wei Xilou had already taken Xu Muchan's hand and turned to leave: "Let's go."

Xu Muchan followed obediently, not even saying goodbye to them, letting himself be led away.

Wei Yao looked bewildered, turning to Wen Dajiang with a grave expression: "Dajiang, don't you think—"

Wen Dajiang nodded before he even finished: "I do."

Wei Yao's eyes lit up, thinking his childhood friend was truly on the same wavelength as him.

Wen Dajiang looked at him with pity: "Your unspendable allowance might be flying away soon."

Wei Yao: ???

Xu Muchan got into Wei Xilou's car. The driver was the same one as before, but this time they didn't head back to Jiahe Garden—instead, they drove onto a road Xu Muchan knew well.

Xu Muchan looked out the window in confusion. "Are we going to Oak Manor?"

Wei Xilou's expression still seemed rather gloomy, but he answered Xu Muchan's question anyway: "Taking you to check out the new house."

"New house?"

Xu Muchan was even more puzzled. "Since when do we have a new house?"

"I traded some stuff to the Wei family for it. Didn't Achan not want to live with the Xu family anymore?" Wei Xilou reached out to stroke his hair, and when his hand slid down to the nape of his neck, he simply left it there, idly twirling the ends of Xu Muchan's hair between his fingers.

Xu Muchan's neck tickled and he shrank back slightly. He'd meant to dodge, but noticing Wei Xilou's obvious displeasure, he decided against it and nuzzled into his palm instead.

Sure enough, Wei Xilou's expression brightened quite a bit, and Xu Muchan seized the opportunity to ask, "What did you trade?"

He'd lived with his brother for seven or eight years and had no idea his brother had anything valuable enough to trade for a house. If he really had stuff like that, how were they so broke before?

As if he could read his mind, Wei Xilou closed his hand and gave the back of his neck a gentle squeeze, the way you'd squeeze a kitten's scruff. "I stashed some stuff in my grave back in my early days. I'd forgotten about them and only just remembered. I left a few days ago to retrieve some, but something went wrong halfway and I only managed to grab a few scraps."

"The Wei family was willing to take them, so I handed them over."

Originally, Wei Xilou had planned to handle it himself, but last night Xu Muchan had looked so pitiful—like a homeless little kitten—that he didn't want to wait any longer and went straight to the Wei family.

Old Man Wei was more than happy to take those scraps, saying they were heirlooms from the Wei family's main line back in the day.

Wei Xilou didn't care what he did with them; he just wanted a villa, plus the driver and the Bentley they were in right now.

Xu Muchan wanted to ask where the new house was, but before he could speak, the back of his neck was squeezed again, lightly. Wei Xilou said casually, "Does Achan like Old Man Wei's grandson?"

Xu Muchan's stomach dropped. Here it comes, he thought.

He gave a decisive shake of his head. "No. He talks too much. He's noisy."

It was impossible to tell whether Wei Xilou was satisfied with this answer or not. He gave a slight nod, his gaze moving inch by inch across Xu Muchan's face. "I thought Achan had finally made a friend at school. Old Man Wei's grandson is a Wei family member after all—there's no harm in you two being a bit closer."

Xu Muchan didn't take the bait and remained firm: "I go to school to study, not to make friends."

Wei Xilou rubbed his thumb against Xu Muchan's earlobe. "Is that so?"

"Achan had no friends in Yundong either. Your brother is so much older than you and can't always be by your side. It's fine if Achan makes some friends. I see kids these days always in groups, lively and noisy. Achan is always alone—do you ever feel lonely?"

Xu Muchan sighed inwardly, thinking that somehow it had become harder to appease him now that he had a human form.

He lowered his eyes and said softly, "Then as long as brother has time to keep me company, that's enough. I don't need anyone else."

Wei Xilou finally smiled in satisfaction, running his fingers through Xu Muchan's hair and giving it a little ruffle. "Achan is such a good child."