Volume One, Chapter Seven: Xiao Duo Becomes Entangled

"Damn it, I just bought this junk car and it's already broken?" Xiao Duo cursed as he pressed the air conditioning buttons in irritation, only to suddenly feel a cold wind brush past his ear.

He quickly turned his head and saw that the windows were tightly shut.

Where did the cold wind come from?

A sense of unease crept over Xiao Duo. He stepped on the brakes, intending to pull over, but no matter how hard he pressed, nothing happened.

"Shit, this damned car! Useless junk!"

Suddenly, darkness consumed his vision.

A pair of icy hands reached out from behind the seat and covered his eyes.

"Ah!—"

The car spun out of control and crashed into a streetlight before finally coming to a stop.

When he regained consciousness, Xiao Duo found himself lying in a hospital bed. His mother, Zhu Yaru, was asleep on the sofa.

His mind was still muddled, so he decided to drift back to sleep and call for a doctor in the morning.

"Woo... woo... woo..."

A woman's sobbing reached his ears. Annoyed, Xiao Duo pulled the covers over his head, thinking to himself that he would certainly file a complaint tomorrow—how could a so-called luxury hospital suite have such poor soundproofing?

But even with his head buried under the blanket, the crying didn't fade; instead, it grew ever clearer.

It was as if someone were weeping right by his ear...

"Mom, wake up. Go outside and see who's crying, tell her to shut up."

After a moment with no response from Zhu Yaru, Xiao Duo threw off the covers and looked toward the sofa.

What he saw nearly scared him to death.

There was no sign of Zhu Yaru on the sofa.

Yet Xiao Duo was certain he'd just seen his mother sleeping there moments before.

He got up and tried to leave the room, but no matter what he did, he couldn't open the door.

The woman's cries became louder, and now a baby's wailing joined in, the two voices intertwining.

Xiao Duo's head throbbed as if it would split open. He beat desperately at the door, shouting for help.

"Help! Is anyone out there? Let me out! There’s a ghost..."

His voice was hoarse with terror.

"Ah Duo, what's wrong? Don't scare me like this."

Zhu Yaru anxiously shook Xiao Duo's shoulder, her face tight with worry and fear.

"Mom..."

Turning his head, Xiao Duo saw a crowd gathered behind him—his mother, Zhu Yaru, as well as a group of doctors and nurses.

They all looked at him with strange expressions.

Zhu Yaru asked, "Ah Duo, what happened just now? You were shouting and banging on the door, and no matter how I called you, you wouldn't answer."

Xiao Duo grabbed his mother's hand. "Mom, I want to be discharged. There's a ghost here, I can't stay."

The doctors and nurses all looked displeased.

Zhu Yaru forced a smile, "What nonsense are you talking? I think you're still drunk from last night and just had a nightmare."

That was what Zhu Yaru believed—otherwise, why would her perfectly healthy son get into a car accident and then start acting so strangely? It had to be the alcohol.

Xiao Duo considered this and thought maybe he really was hallucinating from the lingering effects of drink.

He'd been in a foul mood after Chi Xingwan turned down his proposal the day before and had drunk heavily alone after the engagement party.

Yes, it must have been a hallucination.

Sleep now eluded Xiao Duo. He left all the lights on in the hospital room and stared wide-eyed at the ceiling for the rest of the night.

The next day, after a full checkup confirmed he was physically fine, he wasted no time in leaving the hospital for home.

He thought everything would be fine once he left the hospital, but that very first night at home, Xiao Duo heard the crying again.

This time it was worse: not only sobbing, but voices speaking.

"Why did you force me? You killed me. It hurts, it hurts so much. Won't you come and stay with me..."

Panic-stricken, Xiao Duo burst out of his room.

"Help! There's a ghost! Someone help me!"

His shouts shattered the silence of the main villa.

Xiao Jin stormed out of her room, furious, "Xiao Duo, what the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to scare people to death?"

She was in the middle of putting on a face mask; startled by Xiao Duo, she let out a shriek herself, and her mask cracked.

Xiao Duo had already bolted from the third floor to the first; nearly everyone in the Xiao family heard his cries and came to see what was happening.

Everyone except Xiao Rui, who was so obsessed with gaming that he’d installed extra soundproofing in his room.

Zhu Yaru had a splitting headache.

She quickly intercepted her son as he dashed about, "Ah Duo, did you start drinking again?"

Xiao Duo's eyes were bloodshot as he shook his head desperately. "No, I didn't drink. I'm completely sober. Mom, there really is a ghost."

From the sidelines, Xiao Peiyu interjected with a sarcastic tone, "Ah Duo, not to criticize you, but you’re too old for these attention-seeking tricks."

Zhu Yaru's face darkened.

Back when she first brought Xiao Duo to the Xiao family, Xiao Yue always outshone him. Xiao Duo was still a child then, so he often acted out to draw attention.

Xiao Peiyuan had always resented it.

Zhu Yaru turned to look at Xiao Peiyuan and saw the anger on his face.

Predictably, Xiao Peiyuan barked, "Go back to your room. Stop making a spectacle of yourself."

Xiao Duo had always been afraid of his father. That sharp rebuke snapped him back to his senses, and seeing the looks from the rest of the family, he wished he could sink through the floor.

But the ordeal was far from over.

Xiao Duo's condition grew steadily worse. He couldn't eat or sleep, and finally, one day at lunch, he collapsed in front of everyone.

Even the family matriarch was alarmed.

In the private room of the luxury hospital suite, Xiao Duo lay on the bed while, outside, the matriarch’s face was stormy.

"What kind of parents are you? Your son is in such obvious distress and you noticed nothing?"

Xiao Peiyuan and Zhu Yaru stood in the corner, heads bowed, not daring to make a sound.

"Speak!"

Xiao Peiyuan blurted out in fright, "Mother, it's not like I didn't notice. It's just that Ah Duo... he's been acting so strange. He said a ghost was haunting him."

The matriarch frowned deeply.

Zhu Yaru realized trouble was brewing. Her mother-in-law hated talk of the supernatural.

She quickly explained, "I think Ah Duo has just been under too much stress lately and is experiencing auditory hallucinations. I'm sure he'll be fine after talking to a psychologist."

"Grandmother, Mom, Dad, I'm not crazy—something really has latched onto me."

No one knew when Xiao Duo had awakened; he came out from the inner room, sticking to his claim.

Zhu Yaru shot him desperate looks, but Xiao Duo ignored her.

He appealed to the matriarch, "Grandmother, could you ask Chi Xingwan to come? At the engagement party, she said she saw black energy clinging to me. If she could see it, she must know how to help."

The matriarch gazed into Xiao Duo's eyes. Seeing no sign of deceit, she finally called Chi Xingwan.

Chi Xingwan had been waiting for this call.

She didn't care about Xiao Duo in the slightest, but he was a member of the Xiao family. If the resentment clinging to him grew any stronger, it would begin to affect the rest of the family as well—including Xiao Yue and the matriarch herself.

So, the moment she received the call, she took a cab straight there.

The instant she saw Xiao Duo, she examined the black aura around him.

It had indeed grown much stronger since a few days ago.

The matriarch said, "Xingwan, thank you for coming all this way. Xiao Duo says you can help him. Is that true?"

Chi Xingwan nodded. "I can help, but only the one who set this in motion can truly break it. He must sincerely repent if he wants to be free."